evientom

New heights

2010-10-10T19:54:00.005+11:00

Speaks for itself, yes?

thanks uncle brent!

2010-10-10T19:22:00.002+11:00

Hours of fun for the children? Priceless!

Spring Festival

2010-10-04T10:56:00.003+11:00

Big Day out at the Zig Zag Railway

2010-10-04T10:19:00.002+11:00

Our fourth annual visit to the Zig Zag railway's Thomas day. The children had a ball. It is funny to look at Evie on this same carousel ride she first tried at aged 2, when she looked so tiny. I'm sure it was faster and much scarier (well for mama looking on, anyway...)

Big Milestone!

2010-09-23T10:06:00.004+10:00

Evie & Tom were reading a story with Pa n Saturday night when out popped Evie's first baby tooth!

Birthday dinner

2010-09-14T17:26:00.000+10:00

Birthday boy's afternoon tea

2010-09-11T20:56:00.001+10:00

the boy is four!

2010-09-11T19:40:00.004+10:00

Mr Tom's last night as a three year old...

He was pretty proud at finally turning four.

Cake making....

The Cake...

The Royal Portrait :)

Trip to Sydney

2010-09-11T19:29:00.001+10:00

Busy few weeks here - last week of August we went to Sydney.

fun in the sun

2010-07-24T18:38:00.002+10:00

We had a wonderful week in Palm Cove. Swimming, sandcastles and icecream. what more do you need for a great holiday?!

Evie's piano recital 009.MOV

2010-07-01T11:11:00.001+10:00

Miss Evie's Piano Recital

2010-06-23T15:00:00.003+10:00

I will try uploading the video footage tonight, but in the meantime here is Evie outside before her piano recital (Ode to Joy, Waltz and All, Oh When the Saints) on Sunday. She was marvellous! Really enjoyed herself, and the audience. Even tossed in a little curtsey at the end!

Winter Magic 2010

2010-06-20T10:59:00.002+10:00

We took the train to this year's Winter Magic festival.

Evie modelling her beautiful new jumper. thanks Nannan!

Friday Fare

2010-06-14T10:47:00.003+10:00

Last of the birthday!

2010-06-13T10:38:00.002+10:00

Evie called this year her birthday festival, and she wasnt far off the mark. Seen here at bithday lunch:

Birthday dinner:

and birthday bedtime!

Birthday - Part 3

2010-06-12T19:20:00.003+10:00

The big day proper...how old?Warm up present....

And another...The main event!

Birthday - Part 2

2010-05-27T18:17:00.003+10:00

The 'friends' party...23 kids and a whole lot of fun :)

Birthday - Part One

2010-05-26T10:21:00.003+10:00

Evie kept telling us about her birthday festival this year....6 is a huge milestone! These photos were taken on the morning of her "friends party" on the Saturday - she decorated her own cake.

Friday fun

2010-05-23T16:23:00.001+10:00

New 'do

2010-05-22T20:21:00.005+10:00

I swear I was out of the room for 2 minutes...maybe 3. I left the children playing with their new plasticine.

The 'before' shots...

I returned to a handful of strawberry blonde locks...

Evie actually took the photos here...before, after, and well the scene of the crime.

Pretty strange and lopsided haircut. Pretty funny though, and while it never happened to me, practically a childhood passage, right?!\

Photos of Evie's birthday are coming. They are on the laptop which has been on tour to Hobart, Perth and now Adelaide. will post them when they return!

Book club anyone?

2010-05-08T16:15:00.004+10:00

Evie has always enjoyed stories. While she won't formally learn to read at school until next year, she has been interested in it for sometime. She enjoys reading to Tom - and started on the Peter Rabbit library today. Granted she is familiar with the stories, but they do make for hard reading!

But what took me by suprise was when Tom got bored and started looking at his own book, Evie continued through the books in the series, reading them to herself. Silent reading - and she is still 5!

Sweetest sweetnesses

2010-05-04T20:47:00.000+10:00

Let the sun shine in....

2010-05-03T21:16:00.003+10:00

7am Wednesday

7am Thursday

Holiday in Noosa

2010-05-03T20:47:00.004+10:00

Trip to the aquarium (actually it was horrible....dont go!)

Lots of great swimming

Lots of beach time and great walks

Lots of icecream eaten....

Easter

2010-05-03T20:16:00.005+10:00

We had a lovely, but quiet Easter in 2010.

Our Easter table, courtesy Evie n Tom

Our collection of painted eggs (our 4th year of painting this year)

EAster eggs painted in 2010 (fairly meagre because unlike years past we had no visitors to help. Nudge, nudge.....)

Cup of tea to recover from the chocolate....poor Tom ate so much chocolate he developed a nasty tongue full of ulcers. I took him to the doctor thinking ear infection, then the dentist thinking tooth decay. Plain old mouth ulcers but so nasty it stopped him eating for days. Talk about consequences for behavior!

Easter Sundaybikeride/walk (before the mouth ulcers and he could still smile about easter bunnies!)

Early (Evie was ready to hunt at 5am - eeek!) morning easte egg hunt loot. Tom's lasted about 1 hour...I still have most of Evie's in the cupboard which she has forgotten about!

2010-05-03T14:26:00.002+10:00

It's been a busy autumn with:

Ballet concerts

first term of full time school and now into term 2! this was taken on last day of erm 1 at the autumn festival on an apple farm in bilpin.

they are gone now, but summer and early autumn was all about the bean!

Out walking

2010-03-06T17:43:00.003+11:00

new camera!

2010-03-03T11:36:00.001+11:00

Our wee day out

2010-02-27T14:29:00.006+11:00

Apple picking in Bilpin

Visit to the park at Mount Victoria

Chips at the Blackheath park

2010-02-24T17:49:00.002+11:00

Evie has been rather unwell but she's back to climbing trees, which must be a good sign.

Tom is Tom!

weekend in Noosa

2010-02-16T11:08:00.001+11:00

First day at Kindy!

2010-01-31T12:15:00.002+11:00

new porches!

2010-01-24T08:37:00.002+11:00

Our old porches were rotten through, so we replaced them with lovely new ones! Goodbye rotten cypress pine with nails sticking up, hello beautiful, smooth, gorgeous merbau....

We've had a real heatwave the past few days so the children have enjoyed afternoons away from the westerly sun by playing on the front porch. Hooray - brand new playing space :) Oh and despite Evie's pleas we are not keeping the pink (undercoat) paint. The house is being painted in a few weeks which we have been dreaming about doing since we moved here some (gulp) 3 1/2 years ago. Hooray again!

2010-01-12T08:11:00.001+11:00

Happy new year!

City slickers

2009-12-31T09:04:00.002+11:00

Pre-Christmas visit to the city for lunch and to see Angelina Ballerina at The State Theatre.

Up goes the Xmas Tree!

2009-12-31T08:48:00.001+11:00

2009-12-23T17:51:00.000+11:00

Been a while....we've been enjoying the good weather!

2009-10-17T14:13:00.003+11:00

Hard to believe this was our 3rd year of the Zig Zag Railway 'Thomas' big day out. this was the best one yet!

Circle

2009-09-20T20:42:00.002+10:00

New to the children's play area is our Circle.

Due North is a heart shaped stump.

The children were very interested in the construction - Evie has already cottened on to the fact it is a clock, it represents the points of a compass and most importantly it is great fun to jump from one to the other!

The unfinished product.

The finished circle!

2009-09-07T13:53:00.002+10:00

As Evie said to me this morning, 'what a lucky day we had yesterday!" She was quite right. there are more photos to come - but this was the birthday cake moment!

(I think Tom realised he was meant to SHARE the pavlova....d'oh!)

2009-09-07T13:28:00.002+10:00

Tom started preschool on Friday - this is him leaving the house complete with backpack, lunchbox and a HUGE grin. I think the term is bursting with excitement.

2009-08-26T11:10:00.003+10:00

FINALLY! Couple of new photos....having problems downloading pics from my camera...so here are a couple from Baz' of the kids on holiday at Palm Cove
.

And here is the completed dining/lounge :) We are waiting, waiting, waiting for new blinds (not the best time of year to be blind-less!) and trying to find time to paint. We are beside ourselves
about how well it turned out and the lack of scratching and wheezing too!

Happy birthday Evie!

2009-05-20T21:19:00.003+10:00

Evie's first proper birthday party. Between the cakes, kids, candles, singing, I missed the kodak moment! Great fun though - Evie couldn't quite believe it when her classmates turned up to celebrate.

Tom is not one to miss out on ANYTHING

Musical statues...

Pass the parcel....

Recovery....with water crackers (mama had a red wine............)

Luckily I had reserved a special present wrapped in pink marshmallow wrapping paper!

The birthday table...finished the evening with a (rather manic) smile!

2009-05-12T12:11:00.003+10:00

I think the Easterbunny stole these photos....so am reposting them. This was our 3rd year of painting eggs and this year SP and Mel joined us which made it eggs-tra special :)

The kids went outside on easter monday to see whether they had missed any eggs from the hunt the day before. they couldnt find any so settled on making mud eggs....

2009-04-27T17:56:00.005+10:00

We are just back from a trip to Auckland. I realise now I did not take nearly enough photos. Tom's first meeting with Great-grandma - and Evie's second. Lots of kisses....

We also went to the Auckland Museum to see the Dinosaur exhibit. Nancy the T-Rex. Here is a model of her leg - with the kids being Nancies!

Great museum for kids - here is a lolly wall. Greatlt admired.

And a trip to the Auckland Aquarium for a Penguinathon!

Our last night in Auckland.

And a trip to this amazing kiddies playground at Cromwell Park. We would love this park around the corner!!

2009-03-24T14:54:00.002+11:00

Evie attended her first music festival earlier this month. She is a big Lior fan, even bigger nowthat she's met him! But the biggest attraction was the face painting.

Another weekend, another face-painting adventure. This one was rather, amateur, by comparison to the above. This one was from the school's bi-annual fair. This was taken at home later - complete with tutus.

So maybe a career in dance for Tom? My bet is an architect.....he even builds with shoes!

I've been meaning to post this for yonks - it features our 'missing' wall. Best thing ever.

2009-03-06T17:50:00.002+11:00

Bicycle built for two!

Evie's first ever 'Mufti' day. She was very excited and declared it "the best day ever". Yes well that would be due to the icecream sodas also part of the school day. Hmmmmm......

2009-02-27T10:00:00.002+11:00

What a month! Back to school for Evie. This was taken on her first day back at the start of the month. Evie was happy. Tom was not.

And this is our new kitchen :)

Lots of blogland raving about the 'no knead bread' made me take the plunge last week. Have made several loaves since. So easy and i see what all the carry on is about. Check it out!

Yummm. Off to make some more now.....

2009-02-01T20:45:00.004+11:00

Ah summer. Sorry for the sweltering for some, but up here in the mountains it's a glorious combination of hot/warm days and cool nights.

We head back to the school term routine tomorrow, which everyone (especially mama!) is looking forward to. Tom has made the rather brave step towards childhood with no more nappies. Woo hoo :)

The veggies are pretty happy about the weather too. We're getting the hang of this growing thing this year and now have our eye on a greenhouse. The kids eat green beans raw - pyo style and it would be great to have a longer season of those. and tomatoes. and maybe grapes.

But check out this gross slug - half a brick sized! it was so big i felt guilty killing it...but still did.

Christmas & Things

2009-01-11T21:20:00.008+11:00

What a lovely age for Christmas.....this was Xmas morning. Evie, bless her, stuck to her same routine of waking up and coming in to mum and dad's bed for a cuddle and had to pretty much be prompted into thinking about the Big Guy With the White Beard...
Next was a trip to Nan and Pa's for more presents (Tom is wearing his pressie from Great Aunt Desley complete with crazy Tom Tom grin)
And Nan's fantastic christmas lunch. Evie was very partial to the Trifle (We'd have let her go to town and eaten the whole lot were it not for the sherry soaked cake!) And we were proud to add another pav loving boy to the clan:

After a rather quiet new year en famille, Nan came up and we had lunch together in a great cafe in the National PArk which was great:

Evie very in her bunny head (which matches her brother's penguin). She wore it all day and it was pretty hot. I think the couple with the small baby on the table beside ours ought to have thrown a couple of gold coins Evie's way. Come to think of it we should have passed around a hat because she did get more than a few glances...

But most of all we are enjoying real summer weather this year:

2008-12-17T19:33:00.003+11:00

This photo is a couple of weeks old - but it's so funny I had to post it. This is a classic Tom "funny face" and the hat, wings, tutu and slippers were desperately pinched from Evie.

From one extreme to another. this was taken tonight. I think if there's a remake of The Young Ones he might get a guernsey, yes?
Our first fennel plucked from this year's crop.

And yes, it's Christmas soon. Evie is very into Christmas for the first time. We had a hoot putting up the tree although the photos were rather average. The kids have been suffering with the most disgusting flu and every shot saw poor little Tom's nose streaming...so will spare you that sight. Here is a sanitary Evie with the fairy and a distance shot of our Christmas Village.

2008-11-30T20:21:00.002+11:00

Tom baked his first batch of biscuits (Afgans for his kiwi heritage!) on Thursday. He carefully measured all ingredients and mixed them together. Bit of help from Mama and her mixer but he did a great job.

Today was a Christmas Fair at Grammar. As we drove through to the parking spaces, we realised we were driving behind SANTA and 2 ELVES riding on a fire engine. Things went up a notch in the back of the Subaru when they started waving at us! Lots of fun...photo with Santa (Tom was not at all sure but was ok because Evie was smiling I think!), a jumping castle, and assorted Christmas stuff. Like these ears:

After all that excitement, here is Tom taking a well deserved break!

Best of all, here is my first broccoli flower! It was delicious :)

Mama's first day of Christmas...

2008-11-26T19:35:00.003+11:00

Evie's infant school Nativity Play was today. I'm a christmas tragic and I have been looking forward to this all year. Evie was pretty excited to be an angel. And suitably excited leaving the house decked out in her costume:

Not really sure what she made of the performance, but this mama was smiling!

2008-11-21T21:15:00.002+11:00

Our 2008 garlic crop. Much bigger than last year. Some whoppers. Aim is to keep the biggest cloves to replant but we will probably eat them. Greedy, we are.

Indigo Fair

2008-11-16T19:46:00.002+11:00

Pony riding....not long until we are asked for one in the backyard.

Evie with her gems.

Tom fishing for tadpoles. Lucky for them he didn't catch any.

Evie gets her face painted while her brother and body guard looks on.

2008-11-16T18:56:00.005+11:00

It feels like "my babies" are fast turning into "my kids".

Big boy swagger....

but baby boy fingers still...

Our garlic crop for the year. The magpies have been flattening the stalks for the past few weeks. So have started to harvest.

Big, big, big cloves!

They still look like my babies here, though. Right?!

Tom Thumb

2008-11-14T21:00:00.003+11:00

And look at these absolutely divine oven mittens given to us from here. Too cute.

Driving Miss Daisy

2008-11-10T21:18:00.005+11:00

Baby brothers can be SOOOO childish!

We've also discovered what we think is a second blue tongue living with us - in the side yard maybe under the house. This one looks bigger than the backyard one. Evie has named her "Annabella". She (Annabella) is pretty keen on our strawberries.

One of life's great ironies.....

2008-11-04T19:14:00.004+11:00

Is that while we have caged vegetables in raised beds, we have strawberries which are, well, true fruits of the forest. They grow down the northern side of the house. The irony is that I tried in vain to grow strawberries in those green baskets. Great for leaves - lousy at berries. So this year we discover strawberries here. We didn't plant them. Weird huh? From a distance, the ripe berries are hard to see:

But if you look closely:

Some get eaten, like this one...but considering our vegetable protection measures, the thieves are pretty tame.

And we get a bowlful of strawberries. No compost. No mulch. No planting. No care. :)

2008-11-04T08:31:00.003+11:00

Little boy blue.

Look at me, mum, I'm a Nutcracker. The Wentworth Falls legend lives on, in our house at least.

Another 'pet' (as close as our kids will get, anyway!) is the blue tongue which seems to love our garden. Have not seen the snake again...hoping s/he's gone to live next door :)

2008-11-01T11:14:00.008+11:00

Following in the footsteps of our friends at hugoandelsa (check out her magnificent peas!) I'm posting some pics of our kitchen garden. We have bushrats/possums/bandicoots who demolished our beds last fall. Two consequences of this. 1) Our beds are now caged 2) I drive Mr Evientom pretty insane with my collection of veggies grown in pots. They each have netting contraptions or else I bring them inside/in the laundry at night. Truly. Bedtime for the veggies takes longer than bedtime for the children. Will post pics of the beds another time. Here is my veggie pot collection.

We have 9 tomato plants (3 cherry, 3 Stupenda and 3 Rouge de Marmande). 2 pots of rocket. 3 sweet basil, 1 lemon basil, one thai basil. 2 pots of beetroot grown for leaves (Bull's Blood and Chioggia), 2 pots of sugar snap peas, 1 pot of Purple King beans, a zucchini plant (black beauty) and various seedlings. I move them around during the day to get as much mountain sun as they can, when they can! So in the morning they look like this:
And in the afternoon they laze about over here with our new chairs:

This is a kaffir lime. (Housewarming gift from hugoandelsa actually) Wasn't sure it was going to survive our frosty winter but so far so good. I repotted into a pretty ugly/functional plastic pot....because I didn't think it would make it through spring. So much for my green instincts!

My herb garden. From right: mint, sage and thyme, and oregano.

2008-10-30T11:39:00.003+11:00

Our new pet. Not. But this Tiger snake (YIKES) has been sighted and this picture was taken when he was on the driveway outside Tom's room.

Look at the light in the dining room :)

Best mates...right then and there anyway!

2008-10-22T09:18:00.003+11:00

I've given us a face-lift for spring...new title photo is courtesy of Daddy's new router!

We had hail, sleet, then SNOW here today. Took photos but not worth posting because it just looks like rain. My poor little zuchinni seedling.....

spring saturdays

2008-10-19T11:41:00.004+11:00

The kids were invited to a fairy birthday party yesterday, complete with face painting! Tom was pretty much only interested in the food table...He discovered the fairy bread and marshmallows and well, ate them with such dedication and concentration. I fear his life will never be the same.
He looked pretty cute dressed as a fairy though.

Isn't she gorgeous!

These are our new (long thought about) chairs. Worth the 2 year wait! They are so comfortable - even for 3 - and are perfect with an early evening glass of wine for mama to recover from a fairy birthday party. Spring has been so sensational here...I even have hope for my tomatoes this year.

2008-10-17T16:43:00.004+11:00

Happy birthday (albeit belated) to our beautiful nan! what a great day. Evie missed out on a school excursion to Taronga Zoo (tooooooooo far from mama 'n papa for this year) but it was made up for more than enough for our Evie. Not only Nan-Nan but fairy-godmother auntie Hannah. Evie told me very seriously this morning that "Auntie Hannah told me I had to think of her EVERY time I wear these wings". I think she does too!

2008-10-12T19:18:00.013+11:00

We had the most wonderful weekend...a visit to Thomas the Tank Engine.

Evie was into it and took it in stride. Tom was completely and totally overwhelmed...speechless! Except for "I see Big Big Big Thomas". Clearly our wee country bumpkin :)

This photo made me laugh and laugh and laugh....! Seems Tom was still shell shocked and could not understand how his sister could be so flippant, and smiling about riding on his idol.

Evie worked and schemed to get the PURPLE horse. Mission accomplished.

Can't you see him thinking...Is this FOR REAL?!

2008-10-10T09:08:00.002+11:00

Our school holiday trip to Sydney....took the kids on a public transport extravaganza - ferry and a big blue bus! and a wander around Circular Quay and a trip to the MCA.

Thanks for the cupcake uncle! (PS: this is why I wanted to take him home to eat it!)

Tom's favourite new T-shirt. Thanks to the Great-Aunties Anne and Desley.

2008-09-23T19:10:00.002+10:00

Personally I think she ought to look happier about eating this home-made pizza....what does she do? Turn the smile upside down! I think Tom Tom's been getting a little too much attention with his wheezing-sneezing routine. Ah, siblings.

2008-09-21T18:48:00.006+10:00

We had a wonderful day at the annual Cirquinox Circus Festival yesterday. Evie wanted her facepainted (a first!). Finished the day with icecream for Evie and seedling care for Tom.

2008-09-20T08:40:00.006+10:00

We've had great spring weather the past few days so Mama has been out working the veggies as much as possible. Didn't have much luck with basil last year (planted from seed in the patch it got too too much rain and cold and not enough sun) so have gone for seedlings, much earlier, and in pots. Tom thought i had placed said pots in the wrong place, so had to move them. We used to joke that Evie would be a removalist, at 2, because she loved moving objects. Seems it is a family trait....

At last! THIS IS HOW I WANT THEM. I kid you not. He moved all 3 pots on to the grass, then back again. Then the proud look! (oh and as for the jocks we are starting on toilet training. Nappies are the only baby habit this mama will not look back on and sigh at its departure.

2008-09-20T08:40:00.004+10:00

Our evening singing/dancing sessions are getting more and more elaborate...with the latest "Welcome Back Sun'' theme including costumes and props, oh and Tom's wheelbarrow which is his current favourite. Inside and out. Not so good for the paintwork...

Tom is 2?!?

2008-09-19T08:34:00.002+10:00

I thought Tom's birthday deserved a post of its own. A few weeks past now, but he had 3 celebrations which isn't bad for a 2 year old! Here is the Sydney party at Nan and Pa's:

Mmmmmmm...Nan does GOOD CAKE!

"So where's this car my uncle Brent bought me...glad to see someone recognises the fact that I'm growing up and need my own wheels."

This one is mainly to show of the sunlight in the dining room. We love it!

2008-09-17T17:38:00.004+10:00

We're back! My laptop contracted some thing or other and has been out of action since July. Finally found someone locally to patch things up. Couple of photos from August follow.

Welcome-back-sun winter/spring bowl with blossom. This was very early August. We now have a bowl full of butterflies (paper) but no photo yet.

We went to Sydney the same week as World Youth Day. We were up the road from the Pope on his boat so went to check out the action.

We went to the zoo with friends that same week - the highlight was without doubt the cable car for the kids. Me - I have so lost my stomach for heights so was not thrilled when they all went back for seconds!

Biggest event of all has been the first step renos...this is before....

From the inside...these were taken before the builders had even finished...but well it gives you the idea.

Will be back with September photos (including the Boy's birthday!) tomorrow or Friday.

2008-07-23T10:47:00.002+10:00

Been having great difficulty with blogger and have tried to post more photos several times, only to have it crash. Aaargh! Fingers crossed this will work. Evie's first week at school went very well. It's not a small adjustment, given the size of some grade 2 kids! But she seems very happy.

At home before leaving for her first day.

With her proud Mama outside her new classroom.

Set to work already!

Can you see Tom? He's 2 kids over from Evie (left handside) and tell you what he would so love to be joining Evie in the classroom. He was (and still is) very grumpy to be left out of her exciting new adventure.

2008-07-08T19:33:00.003+10:00

Yesterday we made airplanes then took them outdoors for a maiden flight down the slide.

Evie's plane was very long - and extremely complicated!

So which uncle do you think he looks like here? SP I think!

Evie and her birthday present from Great-Grandma. It's a big hit.

Pa came to visit on Sunday, and it seems Evie picked up some career advice. In this photo she is carrying her computer in her library bag, her things in her backpack, and is off to the beach to do some work!

2008-07-05T16:53:00.003+10:00

We had birthday celebrations last night for Great-Auntie Anne. Icecream and candles, which met with great approval. Couldnt photograph the candles while lit because Tom really wanted to touch the flame. After blowing them out I couldn't get Tom to co-operate for a smile! Ah well. Happy birthday wishes!

Piano was tuned on Thursday. Baz thought the kids would find it interesting to see the insides of a piano...nope. Much less interested in the mechanics than they were going off for a dance...

By the way mum if you are reading this I finished the scarf and also casted off all by myself :) have started a scarf for Evie at her demanding...pink of course!

2008-06-29T19:20:00.003+10:00

2008-06-26T19:35:00.003+10:00

We are having beautiful weather this week and its hard to keep the boy inside....

Evie at her nightly recital. Seen here singing lullabyes with teddy called Mali.

Evie's drawing has come a long way since she started preschool this year. She made this drawing earlier in the week and it makes me laugh. Check out the anatomically correct ''Teapot lady'' on the right..........

Small glimpse of the winter flowers.

2008-06-24T19:29:00.006+10:00

Great weekend of celebrations for the Winter Solstice. Mama found these clever crayons which are for drawing on windows. We use them for celebrations - so of course they made an appearance over the weekend. One of Evie's is here:

Best of all was that Nannan came up the hill to see us for the local Winter festival. We were so caught up in the parade that no pics were taken. But as we were enjoying morning tea one of the march's characters appeared and offered a photo. Not appreciated by all it seems. Naturally, Evie is dressed as a fairy, and Tom as a goblin - but sadly it was too windy for the goblin to wear his hat :(
No Winter solstice is complete without cake. So says Miss Evie and here is proof.

2008-06-18T20:02:00.003+10:00

Evie starts at the local Grammar school term 3 and they had a special uniform fitting day for the incoming Transition kids today. Oh my. She was SO proud and SO excited. Busting. Admiring her gorgeous self in the mirror and shooing Tom away from the action as much as possible! The school colours are blue and yellow and the Transition children wear the sports uniform of a polo shirt and track pants. This takes some getting used to given her very strong preference for pink skirts, dresses, pants, actually everything (NB: not any pink...bright pink, ideally with sparkles) and she looks like a cross between one of those funny wee round things on The Night Garden, and a bumble-bee. Yummo!

However. No photos until the official first day of school. So says Mama bumble-bee to be. Keep tuned and all will be revealed on 22 July.

Instead some photos from today. Kids doing their gardening :)

2008-06-13T19:20:00.002+10:00

I remember so clearly when Evie became more "toddler'' than baby, but have not observed it as keenly with Tom. Too busy I think! But at home just with Tom this morning, it was so clear that he is 95% toddler, with a teeny tiny 5% baby. Perhaps these are not the cutest photos ever taken of Tom but they are so grown up. (cue sob from mama...)

2008-06-12T17:19:00.000+10:00

Evie dress-ups!
Peaches and cream...what else can i say?!

2008-06-11T16:01:00.002+10:00

He's back in the saddle again. Bit mindful of the ladder....not such a bad thing.

Evie and her home made hat...rather Amish, dont you think?

Hooray for dinner :)

And despite the cages, the veggies seem happy in their new homes which are critter proof.

2008-06-07T18:38:00.002+10:00

This is Evie and Tom being puppies and drinking milk from their bowls. Much excitement and licking!

Groundhog day with the outfits? Yup. Evie cannot dance without this outfit...although at size 1 and worn backwards it's rather busting at the seams!

Song title: "How Much is that Doggy in the Window''. Much funnier in real life. Speaking of which...must figure out how to attach video.

2008-06-03T19:29:00.003+10:00

Am aiming for daily postings because 1) these two are so cute 2) a visit to see Great-Grandma is in train so the more photos the better i say.

2008-06-02T19:09:00.004+10:00

We updated our seasonal bowl on Sunday for the first day of winter. The pumpkin stayed on from autumn...Evie's pretty keen on it and not eating it.

2008-06-02T14:29:00.004+10:00

Daddy! Ya Yu! (translation: where are you?!)
Evie planted these ''flowers'', telling us they are going to grow into big vegetables to give us flower/flour for bread, biscuits and cakes. Smart hey!

2008-05-31T09:37:00.002+10:00

Evie off to preschool.

Tom "Toking on phone to Nannan''

Tom and his new slippers . He loves them but can't seem to stand still long enough when wearing them for me to photograph.

2008-05-30T11:03:00.003+10:00

About a month ago our veggie patch was ravaged. Possum? bandicoot? We have both in and around the garden. We tried Tabasco spray...then nets...now our veggies are caged. For their own safety.

2008-05-25T17:00:00.002+10:00

Pics of Evie's birthday. Bit late because on the Monday Tom Tom had a bit of a fall on the playground in the backyard and kind of broke his arm :( Then he caught Evie's nasty gunky cold. So poor little fella had a pretty bad week. It ended well with a visit from Nannan and almost a week on from his fall he's doing much much better. Hooray. Now - would everyone do me a favour and not fall/hurt themselves/get sick...for a week even??!

She's 4! And (gulp) already talking about how she's ''5 soon''!

2008-05-13T16:26:00.004+10:00

As promised....pics from Evie's party with Nan and Pa and SP. We are all still recovering from the excitement! Evie is looking forward to another party on Friday. And a celebration with her friends at pre-school.

2008-05-13T08:16:00.003+10:00

These pics are especially for an old family friend, Linda S!...Taken on Mother's Day/Party for Evie. I will be back (hopefully this arvo) with pics of Evie.

2008-05-04T15:42:00.001+10:00

2008-05-02T20:40:00.001+10:00

Evie: "Mama dinosaurs don't live on the earth anymore, do they?''
Mama: "No Evie"
Evie: "They live on Playschool!, don't they?!"

2008-04-29T16:18:00.003+10:00

That time of night is fast approaching so no time to write, but these photos are too scrumptious not to share. Evie seen with her crown (a necklace gift from Great-auntie Desley which she now wears all the time as a crown) - she even wore it to Playgroup! Luckily its Steiner, so you know, they like the look :)

2008-04-24T11:04:00.002+10:00

A WORLD FIRST: "TAKE A PICTURE OF ME MAMA''

Evie also wanted a photo of Blanky posted.

Tom at his favourite spot. Seen here playing and singing the Bananas theme tune.

2008-04-21T15:02:00.001+10:00

Autumn leaves are lots of fun :)

2008-04-20T11:28:00.002+10:00

This is pretty gross really. Tom saw me put that crust in the rubbish bin...and went and fished it out of the bin himself and started munching on this really really stale bread. I tried taking it off him but he was so pleased with his hunting gathering and so cross when i tried to take it off him. So uh good for the immune system, or something, right?

2008-04-18T12:56:00.001+10:00

Tom, Nan and Evie at the markets

Uncle Brent's birthday...one of them!

2008-04-14T15:20:00.001+10:00

It's firmly fall weather up here now...Tom takes after his dad and never seems to feel the cold. Always warm inside he snuck out to make ''soup'' - ends up with Tom wet and he ought to be cold (I was!) but did not seem to worry him.

Tom Tom and nani-Pa
C'mon Nan-nan...please spring for a pair of BOY PJs!