School holiday fun...

We're nearing the end of our winter school holidays (2 weeks). We had a bit of rain last week which wasn't so nice for getting outside and playing, and as it would have it, the kids have spent more time playing inside this week even though there is sunshine! Last Wednesday we had Lani's 5th birthday on Wednesday (the 27th). Daddy had to work in the morning, so we started the day early with some yummy pancakes for breakfast and some gifts for Lani girl. And of course cuddles and photos with Daddy.

Lani received so many beautiful gifts - lots of new dresses and leggings (she didn't have a lot of winter clothes!), some new books, crafting things (which she just loves at the moment!) and some Lego Friends packs (awesome that there's girly Lego available now). Combined with gifts from friends at her party, she was very very blessed!!

After lunch, Daddy was able to come home and we took the kids to a local Playcentre for the afternoon. Afternoon seems to be the right time to go, because although it was holidays and raining, it wasn't too busy! I guess everyone had taken their little ones home for naps.

Lani chose Pumpkin Soup for her birthday dinner, with ice-cream, jelly and custard for dessert. Yum! We didn't have another birthday cake as we had one at her party. 

Our little girl is growing up so fast. She has a beautiful spirit and loves her Mummy and Daddy so so much, and shows us all the time with cuddles. As with many little girls, she has a very special place in her heart for her Daddy. They do lots of things together. And she has him wrapped around her little finger. She can be fiesty though, and is sure of what she wants, and its hard to change her mind! I think she gets that stubbornness from her Mumma. She loves to play with her brothers, but is also super girly so is often playing in her room with her dolls, or asking Mum and Dad to do girly puzzles with her.

The kids went off to Nana and Poppy's house on Thursday for 2 nights sleep over! Fun for them, and kid-free time for Greg and I. Woohoo! It was so strange - but so nice to have quiet and lazy nights and mornings. Greg and I took the opportunity to go out for dinner to Hogs Breath Cafe on Thursday night for a yummy steak, and then ice-cream too. There's something special (although crazy!) about eating ice-cream when its cold. We did the same when we were in NZ two years ago! I was also fighting off a minor cold, so slept in the afternoons - much later than I would have. The luxury of waking up from a nap at 6pm was so strange, but so cool too. We really appreciated the time off! We spend Saturday morning driving around the northern suburbs of Brisbane looking at furniture, for a new desk for Greg, so we can shuffle those we have at home and set up a computer desk that the kids can use - particularly Jaidyn who will be in high school next year (my goodness!).

The kids had fun fishing and making wind chimes (and bazookas!) from bamboo with Poppy. Nana apparently got bored of fishing early on. They also were very excited to tell us that they'd bought some pet fish for Nana & Poppy's pond!

We enjoyed a nice quiet weekend after that, and Daddy is now on holidays, so we're enjoying doing some things together.

The boys have been REALLY busy and REALLY quiet (yay!) the last couple of days building Lego. Particularly Jai - we've hardly seen him!

Eli bought this awesome Lego book a while ago with his birthday money. It's been so good for giving them ideas of what they can make with the many many Lego pieces they have!! Jai's become quite the master builder!

Eli busy building a Lego 'base'...

Jai's Castle masterpiece. It is since even bigger with a drawbridge now too! 

Jai even made a photoframe out of Lego to put his photo with his Lego castle...

Lani and Daddy building 'Olivia's Treehouse' - one of Lani's b'day presents...

Mummy doing what I do - being pregnant and preparing lunch for the family...

Yesterday, when Jai decided he wanted to make a Lego photo frame, Lani and Eli decided they wanted to make a photo frame too, so we got out the craft stuff. While Daddy was out at the dentist, we decided to make him some photo frames so printed out a pic of Eli & Daddy and Lani & Daddy and made some gorgeous little pieces of art! Daddy will need to get a pin-board to put them on! The kids were very proud. I think they look awesome!!

Lani also got out her Plaster Mould set she got for her birthday and her and Daddy made the plaster of paris to set in the moulds, to hopefully paint today or tomorrow. Daddy had to be quick because it started to set quickly for some reason!!

And who can go past a game of Twister!! They are well aware Mummy has to sit out of this one though!!

It's nice having Daddy home for the holidays! While the kids have been busy building Lego, Mummy has had some time to do a little sewing... I'm pile high in quilting patches and sprocket pillow wedges at the moment! But loving it and can't wait to get them all finished for Lani and Rainby's shared room.

Here's what Lani's quilt will look somewhat like...

Arranging the disappearing 9 patch blocks for Lani's single size quilt... only the floor is big enough!

We are going to go to the movies to see BRAVE on Thursday and maybe have a little walk around SouthBank - we might even take the train in! And on Saturday, we are going with some friends as well as Uncle Jeremy up to the Medieval Festival - that will be lots of fun! We took the kids about 3 years ago but with two toddlers it wasn't as good - they'll all be at a good age to enjoy the festivities and we hope to see the jousting this time! I'm sure there'll be many more photos to follow from then!

Hope everyone else in Australia is enjoying their school holidays, and those of you in the US are enjoying summer break too! Hope its not too hot for you!!