Sunday, January 30, 2011

Weekend in Sydney

We've been meaning to get up to Sydney for a few months now, principally to see Cath & Eoin's Sydney residence, also for Ella to have another weekend playing with Aoife (while Katy tags along behind). We drove up on Friday night meaning that neither of our girls slept until after we arrived at 9:00. Despite this, both were up early as always, ready for a day with Aoife.

Saturday revolved mostly around an afternoon trip to the beach. The major novelty was getting there via both train and ferry, which had all three girls pretty excited (see photos of the ferry trip above). Sitting outside turned out to be the most fun of all. We got periodically covered in spray, were fascinated by the turbulent wake of the boat, and threw our magic wands (aka, sticks) overboard. Not to be outdone, Katy did her level best to lose her favourite toy (quack-quack the duck) over the back of the boat, but luckily Nat was on hand.

We found ourselves at Watson's Bay, which pretty much had it all: the kids could swim in the harbour, play in the playground, climb up to a lookout over the ocean and, best of all, buy fish & chips for dinner. We arrived home late in the evening, happy but tired.
Speaking of tired, after another morning of play we found ourselves driving home with two exhausted children, both of whom slept 3/4s of the way home.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Ella's Fairy Book

Inspired by the Tinkerbell movie, Ella decided today to make her own book dedicated to her Daddy. First we stapled coloured paper together. I had to 'write words' as said by Ella, while she did the drawings (well nearly all of them). Titled 'Ella's Fairy Book' it was fairly predictable as to the contents - lots of fairies! As you can see, the book did veer off fairies and into butterflies, the garden and of course the chickens!! I especially love the leaf hiding page - completed after a brief stint outside. Andy was really touched when he got home to have Ella excitedly show off her book and read it to him.

Here are a few extracts -


Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Togetherness

Ella and Katy have been spending more time 'playing' together. This often means Katy copies whatever Ella is doing. Here are some examples from the last month...





Painting

The girls decided to do some painting on the weekend. We purchased a canvas each for Ella and Katy to paint and hang in their rooms. All started well - using cotton buds as paint brushes. Mess started when little fingers found the paint pots! Their painting masterpieces haven't been hung up yet but will post some photos when they are.





Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Disney Live!

Ella joined Mia & Josh (with Susie and myself) attending Disney Live - Three Classic Fairytales at the AIS today. The three fairytales - Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella and Snow White were woven together by Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy discovering a hidden storybook amongst treasures.

The actors were more like mimers as the voiceover was obviously prerecorded which was slightly disappointing. The costumes, music, lighting and set design were all very spectacular.

Overall it was a fun - the kids enjoyed themselves and no doubt will be talking about it for some time to come.




Sunday, January 16, 2011

Finally!

Some warm weather has arrived! Saturday saw us play in the paddling pool in the backgarden. Great fun when you slide into the water.



Today I rode over to Dickson with the girls to meet up at the cafe with Andy and a huge crowd who were having post long run coffee. Then it was off to the Dickson pool with Belinda, Jase, Abby and Zoe. Such a nice pool - lots of grass and shady trees. A water park as well as 3 different depth pools. The girls had the most fun in the 0.5 - 0.9m pool. Ella was a mermaid spending lots of time under the water as well as trying to float/kick on her back. Katy meanwhile was finding her feet - wandering around, occasionally going under and splashing heaps.

On a more positive note, Ella has had an icy pole 2 days in a row! Big test will be tomorrow when she's at childcare but I'll cross my fingers for her.



Friday, January 14, 2011

Take a Deep Breath

Life with Ella at the moment is mostly enjoyable. She constantly surprises us - as seen in this picture where one morning all was quiet (that means trouble...) then Ella appeared sporting her new look - texta nail polish!


Most recently though our frustration levels have almost reached boiling point and it's all to do with toilet training. You see the most frustrating thing is that Ella pretty much decided to toilet train herself just before she was 2. We had very few accidents and in fact NO number 2 accidents at all. Then Katy came along and Ella decided that you got more attention when you had a nappy on so she reverted back into nappies for about 3 weeks before deciding she was a big girl again. Life was going great and I was thinking this toilet training business is easy!

Now several months after Katy was born Ella moved from the toddler room into the preschool room. She transitioned beautifully. Now for some reason unknown to us, she would occasionally bring home some wet clothes. We weren't too concerned - it's a big change moving rooms, having lots of fun and trying to keep up with the big kids! She'll sort herself out. The accidents then moved from childcare days and into days at home. Hmm not good but we're still not too worried and keep ignoring these accidents.

Late last year we thought probably after a bad day, of introducing a rewards chart. The reward for having 5 continuous dry days was a fairy outfit - wings, wand and skirt. Now things improved slightly. A few dry days here and there. Ella was even up to day 4 at one point. Then shortly after this the reward chart from her bedroom wall disappeared. In hindsight 5 days was too long.

Now Santa decided to take Ella's nighttime nappies leaving a nightie and hula hoop in return. There was hope that perhaps a dry night could help with the day stuff. After 2 weeks of listening to the washing machine do another load of sheets and mattress protectors we cracked! Ella nights were getting worse and she was tired from having interrupted sleep. Santa sent Ella a package containing a letter and 2 nappies!

In review, tactics have included ignoring/not making a fuss, lots of conversations about feeling full, who is out of nappies, being wet and smelly to a rewards system. Nothing seems to have worked so now time for a new tactic - removal of a special thing, i.e. an icy pole/ice cream which Ella is allowed a few times per week. The new rule is Ella is allowed an icy pole for dessert (every night!) but only if she has had a dry day. It's now the second day of this new plan and the icy poles have stayed in the freezer!

Looks like she is very determined (or stubborn?) wanting to do things her own way and in her own time. As far as we are concerned now, we're not reminding or prompting her but will change her when necessary and the icy pole reward will remain. Hopefully things will right themselves sooner rather than later. Suggestions are most welcome :)

Playtime with the Cousins

While Cathy visited the sports doctor in an attempt to fix her hip, Makhaya and Luca came over for a play. The four kids enjoyed each others company without too many interventions from me!

In the short time Makhaya and Luca were here they played monkey business, fairy snap and ate morning tea. Makhaya played the keyboard while the girls did some cutting and sticking. A great way to keep entertained on a rainy morning.


Thursday, January 6, 2011

Everyone is Going Short

Pippa joins Nat and Andy as the latest member of the Nandies to get a short haircut for summer. It's just a pity summer has been only 2 days long!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Molly & Rosie

The two most recent additions to our menagerie have now settled in, and I thought it was about time to provide you with an update of their progress and a proper introduction.
Above you can see Molly & Rosie as they roam the backyard, looking for bugs and snails, digging up all our mulch. Rosie (formally Ella's chicken) is the one in front -- slightly bigger and with more white tufts near her legs, while Molly (Katy's chicken) is behind. They like to hang out together as they roam around, and usually it seems to be Molly following Rosie (just as Katy follows Ella).


Now, I don't quite know why they like to roam around the yard, since we've spent such a large part of our summer holiday renovating their palacial quarters in the back corner of the yard. Here you see Katy showing off their gate (constructed from leftover scraps of wood) and coop constructed from a mixture of lattice & wire. Their little hutch (where they lay eggs and roost) is on loan from our neigbour, while we have a little Ella-sized platform on the far left so she can collect the eggs -- usually two per morning. Plan is to plant a fruit tree here to give them shade, but in the meantime we will use the shade-cloth in the corner.


While I've spent much of summer perfecting the chicken coop, Nat has got to work on other projects, most notably a new section of paving under the washing line (see above) -- a split level construction which is now all finished bar the near corner.

Oh, and in other breaking news, Katy is learning to jump and has demonstrated the utility of this skill by launching herself into the bath, head first and fully clothed, much to her own surprise.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

THE Dolls House

Andy and I were stuck on Christmas present ideas for Ella. Luckily an opportunity arose 10 days before Christmas where we had a 2 hour window to go shopping together minus the girls. Our main idea was some sort of dolls house as Ella has recently become more imaginative in the area of role playing. Shopping turned out well for us as we bought each others presents but unsuccessful for Ella. The dolls houses were either too big, too plastic or way too expensive. This later dolls house, a timber one made in Bathurst, got Andy thinking.

Yep so you guessed it we decided 10 days from Christmas to make a timber dolls house. A bit of a search on the internet saw us mock up a cardboard one to test for size and then it was all systems go.

Now the main problem was finding ella free time. Thankfully Bunnings was open til 9pm so getting the supplies was easy. Several nights saw me on bed duty while Andy disappeared out to the garage. I'm sure our neighbours loved the noise coming from the garage at 10pm! Anyway it all came together nicely with the finishing touches added late thursday night ready to be taken by Nana and Grandpa up to Guthega.

The house complete with wooden dolls and furniture now occupies prime position in the lounge room and receives plenty of attention from both Ella and Katy.




Saturday, January 1, 2011

Christmas @ Guthega

After a full week of work prior to Christmas as well as many late nights involving doll house construction and packing, it was nice to arrive at Doorack Lodge on Christmas Eve and finally relax (well after getting the kids off to bed and then unpacking).

As we arrived at the lodge just after 7pm, the cousins were all still up and very excited. Santa and his reindeers were well feed - chocolate biscuits, carrot, water, baileys and a beer being left out. Eventually the last cousin (if I can remember correctly was Josh) flaked out just before 10pm!

Christmas morning involved a fairly civilised wake up at about 6ish. Hogg family tradition saw the children discover their Santa sacks at the end of their beds which kept them entertained while some of the adults went running and others started organising the roast lunch.


Ella into her Santa sack and happily colouring in puppy.


Katy looking in her Santa sack and finding amongst the goodies a duckie cultery set which she knew what to do with and was very excited about.

By mid morning it was present time. As you can imagine with 8 adults and 6 kids this process not only took a long time with loads of chaos but was also heaps of fun.


Suspense building....all the cousins waiting to open their first present.


Showing off some of their goodies - Katy with a backpack from Nana & Grandad and Ella opening THE dolls house.

Too much excitement for little Katy so she headed off for a midday nap while the rest of us tucked into a yummy and very filling Christmas lunch. Andy lost his claim to the bone from the leg of lamb by Josh.



Katy did wake up in time to join in the feast although by that stage all of the kids were off playing with their new things.


The clouds and rain rolled into the valley in the afternoon preventing the trying out of christmas bikes and scooters but did provide the opportunity for puddle jumping!!