20/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015."

Harrison, Amelie, Finley: Fun in the Autumn leaves

I had a lovely relaxing Mothers Day and got spoilt with homemade cards and goodies from the Mothers Day stall at school and a joint present of a massage that I can't wait to have!
We spent the day at home as Amelie was still not right from being sick with a tummy bug, it was nice just to hang out and play games.  We ventured out after Finley's sleep to the park down the road to play in the Autumn leaves which were everywhere and such beautiful colours.

Poor Finley ended up catching Amelie's bug on Monday so we had a quiet week around home making sure he was better.
By the end of the week he had come right so it was nice to have a play date with some friends at a local cafe and then a play in the park.

Harrison had his ANZAC presentation to the class on Wednesday and together with Matt they pulled together a really great powerpoint presentation full of photos of my Great Grandfather and photos of medals and some of his belongings from the war. 

Amelie is doing really well at school, she is well and truly settled and has made some lovely little friends.  Her reading is really taking off, it is so amazing how kids learn so much in that first year at school.

We've been playing a lot of kids music in the car as we go from place to place and Finley loves it, he's starting to recognise some of the songs and as soon as we hop in the car he's saying 'more, more' and clapping his hands! 

19/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015."

Harrison & Amelie: Collecting leaves after school at the park down the road.

Finley: I love our sleepy cuddles on my bed when you wake from your afternoon sleep.

We started the week off with a yummy dinner at friends of ours who live around the corner, so nice to be able to walk there and back.  With the weather cooling down I tried a new recipe of sticky date puddings with caramel sauce and they were delicious!

After all the rain we've had over the last couple of weeks we had a week full of sunshine and blue skies. 
We made the most of it by getting out and about at the park, walks by the river and collecting Autumn leaves after school.  It's been really noticeable over the last week how the leaves have changed and the trees in our suburb are looking so beautiful. 

I escaped on Saturday after soccer to the Finders Keepers design and art markets with a girlfriend.  We found goodies for ourselves as well as gifts from all the talented people from around Australia that sell their creations there.

18/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015."

Harrison: Looking so grown up with your big boys teeth coming through.

Amelie: That's your cheeky face!

Finley: You love trucks!

Harrison had his cricket prizegiving and enjoyed catching up with his team again and eating pizza!  They were all presented with a trophy which sits proudly on his bookcase along with his team trading cards that he got with his team photo.

Amelie and I had a movie date before the prizegiving and went to see the new Cinderella movie which we both really enjoyed.

Another rainy week causing more problems around the state and it meant that Harrison's soccer was cancelled on Saturday.  He can't wait to get back on the field again!
Quite fitting that Amelie had a rainbow birthday party to attend!

Finley started to say 'cuddle' this week, 'Mummy cuddle'.  I love cuddles!

17/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015."

Harrison: Not a care in the world.

Amelie: Always drawing.

Finley: You have discovered 'sticks'!

A relaxing last morning at the beach fishing, sandcastle building and a walk on the rocks.  We packed up and left in good time and didn't get stuck in any bad traffic which we were sure we would come across being the last day of the holidays.

I started the week by getting sick, obviously catching it from everyone who had been sick in the holidays. It really knocked me so just we had a quiet week getting the kids back into the school routine.  This term the kids are only doing one activity out of school which will make for a more relaxing time after school, last term was too crazy!

We had wild weather in Sydney and NSW with big storms and lots of rain, a good week to be sick and lay low. 

Harrison was learning about Anzac Day at school and was really interested in it.   He drew lots of posters that he displayed around the house.  My Great Grandfather served in WW1 so we found out a lot of information from my Mum and she sent over photos of his medals and other memorabilia.  Harrison has to do a presentation to his class in a couple of weeks at school so is looking forward to having these to talk about.
We all went to a dawn service and it was extra special marking the 100 year anniversary of Gallipoli.
The kids and I made ANZAC biscuits later that morning which we all enjoyed making and eating!

16/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015."

Harrison: Loving every moment exploring the Stockton sand dunes

Amelie: Last time you came here you were only one, this time you had a blast jumping down the dunes!

Finley: I'm free!

 We had a fun day out at the Western Sydney Parklands with the kids on their bikes and playing on the cool playground equipment.

The second week of the holidays started off pretty slowly with all of our playdates having to be cancelled with left over sickness from the week before.

We had a great end to the holidays though with a mini getaway to Port Stephens which is about three hours from Sydney.  We have been there once before about three and a half years ago so it was great to re-visit and see and do all of the things we wanted to try again.  It is such a beautiful area with such clear blue water, lots of marine life and lovely beaches. 
We rented a house just down the road from the beach which was fantastic with the kids.  We were very lucky with the weather and it was very warm so we could still swim and hang out at the beach.
I loved getting up early to watch the sun rise down at the beach each day and on one of the mornings we discovered numerous sharks feeding on mullet in the shallows!
Hiking up Mt Tomoree was also a highlight with it's breathtaking views, my legs hurt for days afterwards!
We celebrated Matt's birthday while we were away and had an awesome day exploring the Stockton sand dunes, climbing them,  jumping off them, running down them and admiring their beauty.  They are enormous and cover 32 kilometres!
That afternoon we walked through the Tilligery Nature Reserve and saw a koala in the wild! Well done to the birthday boy for spotting it!  On the beach by the reserve were thousands of soldier crabs running around, bright blue with red legs they looked awesome and provided lots of fun as Harrison chased them and tried to pick them up.
We also managed to see a dolphin and a group of stingrays swimming along the beach during the trip.  I love how we always see lots of amazing wild life when we're away and how all of the kids love seeing them too.
Harrison had spied fishing rods in the garage of the house we rented so on the last morning we went down to the beach at sunrise for the boys to try fishing.  Unfortunately we didn't have fish for dinner but Harrison enjoyed fishing off the beach for the first time.

15/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015."

Harrison: Having a swim on Mummy's birthday.

Amelie: Late afternoon play at the park.

Finley: Raa!  Fun at the Zoo.

I celebrated my birthday with a fun day out at Chinaman's beach with the family, just what I wanted!  They spoilt me with pancakes for brekkie, lovely presents and Nana cooked me a beautiful roast chicken dinner!

The kids had a great time doing the Easter egg hunt we did for them at home as well as being spoilt with lots of chocolate from the Easter Bunny and their Grandparents!

We loved having Nana staying this week and because it was the school holidays it meant we were able to get out and about to the park, do a bit of shopping and visit the Zoo.  We always love a trip to the Zoo and this time was the first time Finley really got into it and was recognising all the animals.

Harrison had his first soccer game of the season on Saturday and was very happy with scoring four goals! 

14/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015."

Harrison: All your dreams came true getting to go to the Cricket World Cup Final in Melbourne!

Amelie: At your ballet recital for the last day day of the term.

Finley: Daddy trying to distract you from being too noisy at Amelie's ballet recital.
Harrison and Matt had an awesome trip to Melbourne for the World Cup Cricket final despite the result.  Amelie and I watched the game from home and tried to spot them on TV!

It was a busy last week of term before Easter and the school holidays with our final swimming lessons of the summer and Amelie's ballet recital.  It was really lovely to be able to watch Amelie dance as she has been in the older age group this term now that she has started school.  All the girls that moved up with her have all improved and it was so cute to watch them do the jazz ballet component as this was their first term of incorporating this into half of the class.

We enjoyed another trip down the coast for Harrison's best mates birthday on Good Friday, albeit a little wet it was lovely to be a part of his birthday celebrations with lots of yummy food and kids running riot inside!

Nana arrived from New Zealand bright and early on Saturday for a week, it was so nice to welcome her back and show her our new house. 

Amongst the rapidly increasing vocabulary from Finley he spoke some special words for the first time this week, 'love you' which sounds like wuv u.  That sure melts my heart!