Thanks Samantha

I was very excited when mum divided up the spoils of Samantha's package and gave me the candy coating I was after. I made these cake pops on the weekend and they turned out much better with the chocolate Samantha sent me than any chocolate I have tried here. So a BIG thank you to Samantha.

Below are some pictures from Carly's second birthday. It was a pink and white theme. Damian and I made this pinata, it is a camillia flower. The kids really liked it.

Jaylee giving it a good whack, it held together better than I thought it would, so all the kids got to have a turn of hitting it.

I borrowed a slide with a car, and this is grandad (graggy) giving carly a good push on it.

The only Carly wanted for her birthday was a cake, this is her showing mummy that she has some in her mouth.

The party table, all pink and white except for the cheezles that Damian insisted we have. According to him it is not a party without cheezles.

Papa's Treehouse

Papa brought us a new treehouse last week! The Scouts moved it out of a friend's backyard in San Diego, and my dad took it home and refinished the whole thing for us. Then, when we found William screaming, hanging upside-down from his cowboy boots lodged in the top rung of the ladder, Papa built us a William-proof drawbridge. For Hana and Lane, this has the added advantage of keeping him away from their tea parties on the top deck. Thanks, Papa!



...and a few more photos.

Just Pictures

Finally, some pictures. But sorry, no witty banter.

Will's new Sunday Best.


Hana's first school report - on Ponies.

Poor Will on his hand-me-down bike.


Selling eggs - those kids have earned enough to take themselves to Sea World!



Lane's Pink and Red Birthday Party.

Halloween

Damian knew today was halloween, but all he knew was that other kids might come around and ask for treats. Then at 5pm tonight the neighbours asked if Damian would like to come trick or treating with them. That gave me 20 minutes to come up with a costume. This was the best I could do. I made a quick hat out of cardboard and then got a pillow case and stuck stars on it and tied it around his neck with a bat (which was a peg) that we had made during the week. Mum had bought him the treats bag and I gave him the broom and he was set. It was a bit pathetic but it was all I could think of.

Mum and Dad's 50th Anniversary

Sam, mum and dad loved the quilt, it was fantastic

Mum and dad cut their cake. I put the original cake topper on from mum and dad's wedding cake.

Christina feeding Jaylee and Carly a cupcake.

Tammy and Jared Tucker with their new addition, Levi.

Lynne and Peter Bourne

Aunty Ellen, Paula and Emma and Uncle Ted

Kerry's gorgeous family

Belinda and Jeff Newling, Laura and Ross Russell, Karen and Chris Coulson.

Anne Krok, John and Anne Duffy, Tammy Tucker, John Krok and Pete Dunn.

Kerry told some lovely and funny memories of when she was growing up.

Mum and dad listening to Kerry's speech.

I just put the picture below in so you could see some of the decorations. I had 10 lanterns around the backyard and from each lantern I hung a stream of 5 gold hearts. Each heart had a year of their marriage with something that happened that year. It was so windy that the gold hearts got tangled up with the lanterns. I was just grateful that the dust storms we have been having had cleared for the party.

Damian's 3rd Birthday Party

For Damians party we hired a local hall and had a construction themed party.

All the boys liked the look of the construction site cake. They were all wanting to play with the trucks and crane.

We had an excavation game where we buried lots of toys and chocolates in the big sandpit. All the children were given a tool box and hard hat and had to be diggers and dig out the prizes.

The back of the dump truck is full of chocolate crackle rocks. I think Damian ate most of them.

Carly's 1st Birthday