Girly swirly dresses

I've been meaning to get some pics for Aunty Carla in the dress she bought for Kyra. For good measure, I threw Lia into the dress Kasia bought some time ago as well and we had some fun in the sun this afternoon.





Then of course I had to give up the camera so Kyra could take some photos. I must say I was impressed with these... Santa might have to bring a camera for Christmas...

Super Cute!

Today I made two cute pigtails in Lia's hair. They are getting so long now I decided to make two teeny plats. The cuteness nearly slayed both Paul and I so of course, out came the camera to record the moment for posterity.

Shoba's 60th BIrthday Bash

Mum turned 60 this year. So dad went all out and held a birthday dinner for her closest friends and family at the Sir Stamford at Circular Quay. Not even the guests knew where we were going as dad had arranged a bus to drive everyone to and from the venue. We had a fabulous night, the girls stayed up SO late, but we very well behaved. Everyone had an absolute ball!

Around the house

Sam gave me some tips about shooting at a full stop higher than what I was and I wanted to try it out. Here are the results of that plus some new styles of post processing.

Kyra wouldn't put her dolly down for this shot. She calls it "EggBaby" (gift from Great Grandma Hutchison) which has stuck since she was about 18months old. She was sitting on the sofa patting its head and pointed and said "EGG!" and hence "eggbaby" forever more.

Looking so much older than 4 years old here...

What a scamp!

Winter fun in the sun

After a long spell of working too hard and not taking enough pictures I finally got to go out with the kids for some quality photo time.

Sam Pearce and I took her 4 kids, and my two to Nurrangingy for some afternoon photos. I came armed with a bag of lollipops and stickers. Here are the results...

(airbrushed for no reason other than wanting to try a new technique)

Lia the Hoon

Lia got this scooter ("coota") for her birthday from Paul and I. She has taken to hooning around the house in it. It is especially made for 2 to 5 yr olds - the handles dont turn all the way and the platform is wide. We got it for $39.95 from Toys-R-Us but saw the exact same thing at the new Rouse Hill shops for $119!!!

Anyway, this is Lia, the proud owner of 5 pairs of Dora undies. SO proud in fact that pants seemed to be overkill. She's wearing fuzy Dora boots to make up for having no pants.

Hat Parade

Aunty Kasia sent these cute Dora accessories, and so we just *had* to try them on and do a bit of a parade in the back yard.

Family shots at Nurrangingy

We decided on the spur of the moment to head out to Nurrangingy Reserve to take some photos and feed the ducks.

When we got there the pond was choked with algae and weeds and we could see bread floating in the water as the ducks looked on in apathy. Also surprisingly there was an event on as part of the Blacktown Festival and we got to see a couple of tanks very close up, patted a gorgeous horse called Toddy and scored free balloons.

I only mention the baloons as when we got to taking the pictures Lia refused to let me remove hers. (Note to self: next time take the pictures first)

Managed to snap off a few which are borderline happy snaps - but I am sure GraLinda was happy to have some pics with the girls.

Kyra's McDonalds Party

Kyra wanted a McDonalds party for all her friends. So slack mummy that I am, left it so late we could only get in on the 17h May.

When Kyra turned four on thr 6th of May she immediately assumed she would be turning 5 (logially) on her next birthday which she interpreted as her party on the 17th May. It took a fair bit of convincing to explain why she was stll four and not five!

About 10 kids, in a confined space all screaming and running around was a sight to behold. Thankfully the party leader was great, had them all under control with dancing and pretending to be elephants and crocodiles. They ate, they ran, they yelled, they consumed ice cream cake in large quantities.




McDonalds parties are a life saver.

Grandma Linda comes to visit

Grandma Linda (or 'GraLinda' as Lia says) came to visit for a 2 1/2 week flying visit.

Kyra and Lia both enjoyed having someone else paying them attention. Linda got roped into swing pushing (see below - even wearing a t-shirt with Kyra and Lia on it) feeding, bathing, soothing, cooking, and 'patting'. She made cassroles and vegemite sandwiches with equal ease and baby sat both girls (no mean feat) while we transitioned them to full time care.


Both girls seemed quite taken with Linda right from the start even before she gave them the presents in her bag. She managed to keep up a stream of suprises from her bag throughout her visit, which was a great strategy.

Kyra and Lia were very keen to pose for pictures


and Kyra insisted on snapping one of her grandma herself.

Kyra's 4th Birthday

We had an impromptu gathering on the day of Kyra's birthday. Kyra picked out her own cake, which I must say was an impressive mudcake from our local Michels Patisserie.

She got to enjoy a big whopping slice of the the cake and made sure to tell everyone that she was "a really good cake chooser". She also told Prinola that since she was so good at choosing cakes, perhaps she could choose one for Prinola as well on her birthday...

Aunty Carla comes to visit

After a few near misses, Aunty Carla arrived and spent the day with the girls. She was unable to make the party yesterday, so came laden like a packhorse with... you guessed it - even more Dora gear.

Lia got a whole stack of new Dora figurines to play with, as well as a new pencil case, markers and crayons. Kyra got a snazzy new knitted jacket, leggings and a giant stripey lollipop.

Note to Aunty Carla: always buy sweets in lots of two ;-)

We took the opportunity to get some much needed group shots of the two monkeys with their Aunty Carla.


Since they were wearing their new cord skirts from Grandma Mega, Prin and Tan AGAIN today (but this time with the matching shirts) we thought it would be good to get a few of the girls together so GranMega could have a pic on her fridge.