The Wiggles

It has become something of a family tradition for us to attend the Wiggles Concert each year on the day after the boys' birthday party. This year I was determined to get 'hot potato' seats which are the best seats in the house right in front of the stage. We were sitting in the second row and the view was phenomenal. The Wiggles present a spectacular show which keeps the thousands of pre-schoolers who attend on the edge of their seats.

This year the boys wore their Wiggles costumes. William was dressed as Murray and Oliver was Geoff. Imagine our surprise when Murray picked William out of the crowd and gave him a hi-5!! We were all so excited!

3rd Birthday

Oliver and William had their third birthday on 8th December. I couldn't help looking back through some of our earliest photos of the boys that morning before they woke. This was their first day at home after spending three weeks in the Special Care Baby Unit. They didn't even reach from my hand to my elbow. It is so hard to conceive of now.

An early photo of William with Grandad.
Uncle Rowan and the little boys.

Tiny Oliver and his favourite little teddy.


Brothers



And now after that little trip down memory lane we zoom through the next three years to the morning of their third birthday. Prior to this birthday the wrapping paper had always been the greatest point of interest. Times have now changed! It was ripped off without a moment to spare!

The boys received some German Bruder trucks which are very lifelike and contain plenty of interesting doors to open and shut. This truck is a cattle carrier.

William's favourite present was his Superman costume. He has become an absolute devotee of Superman over the past couple of months. Since receiving his costume he has hardly had it off. It is all I can do to peel it off him at night to get him into the shower!

We had a fantastic birthday party at home again this year. Inger and I made a birthday cake each. Oliver has a great interest in tea and coffee cups so I made his cake to represent a tea party.

William continues his interest in telephones so Inger made him a fabulous red phone.

The highlight of the party for all of the children was the bouncy castle. There was non-stop bouncing for over two hours. The boys were in tears when the man from Jay-Jays came to collect the castle!

Two gorgeous little guests, twin sisters Abbie and Lily.

Our family room in party mode. We had lots of balloons hanging from the ceiling.

The moment William had been waiting for - blowing out the candles!

And then - cutting his cake.

Mia exploring the contents of her take-home party bag.


More bouncing..........................
Britta and Tom were on hand for crowd control!!

Their experience shows!

Time to go home but not before a shot of our twin group.

The Luck of the Draw!

It is now nearly eight weeks on and my four little balls of fluff have become adolescent 'peeps'. Like any mother I have been anxiously watching how my babies develop. Being new to this game I wasn't sure how I would tell the sex of the little ones. So, I submitted these photos of them to 'Backyard Poultry', a very popular website of chicken enthusiasts to see what the experts thought. My first photos were rejected on the basis that I didn't show good 'comb' shots. This was somewhat disappointing as I had spent a good half hour trying to compose nice profiles of my chookies as I lay next to the coop. I had to enlist Inger to help me catch each chicken and then take a nice macro shot of each comb which could then be submitted. I am not going to subject you to the detailed comb shots as they are altogether too technical for a blog of this sort.

After some deliberation the experts have come to a verdict on my 'girls'. It seems that three of them may not be girls at all. The three grey chickens may in fact be cockerels which will be a bit tricky. The local council does not allow people to keep roosters in suburbia as their crowing is too noisy. So, they will probably have to be re-homed when they get a bit bigger. The other interesting point which came out of photographing the chickens is that they may be araucanas, a breed which lays blue eggs.

Twin Group Christmas Party

On 4th December I hosted the Christmas party for our twin group. We had 13 twins at our place which made for a pretty cosy time! We have a new mum in our group, Virginia, who not only has identical two year old twin girls but she has just given birth to her second set of twins. We were all speechless when we discovered this!

Despite all of the toddlers running around the party was very relaxing. All of the mums indulged in one or two champagnes each which may account for the level of bonhomie! We have all become so close over the last year, sharing a level of understanding that many of us have not found elsewhere. We are looking forward to the next year together. Another friend who is also a mum of 5 year old twin boys dropped around to deliver some tupperware I had ordered and she joined in with the fun as well. I was thrilled with the Madagascar lunch boxes I had bought for the boys.

Working in the Garden

We have spent most of this weekend in the garden, tidying it up in preparation for the boys' third birthday party next Saturday. We have invited several of their little friends and have hired a jumping castle for the occasion. It is sure to be a great hit! The garden looks lovely now after all of the weeding and trimming. Inger mowed the lawn and I trimmed the edges with kitchen scissors! It looks very neat now but my hands and back are a bit the worse for wear! There must be an easier way................. I used the electric hedge trimmer for the box hedges and lavender and was becoming fairly gung ho by the end. I think Inger was a bit concerned that we might end up with twigs rather than topiaries.

Our cherry tree has borne a bumper crop this year but as is usually the case just as the cherries are turning red they are decimated by our friendly possums and wattle birds. Overnight the tree was stripped bear. Now our first peach tree is heavy with fruit. The fruit is smaller but more plentiful this year. I don't know whether to put that down to the load of fertiliser I used or the lack of water the tree has had this year. Anyway I am going to need to find some recipes for the peaches before they all fall to the ground and rot.

The Hoya on our lattice has just flowered for the first time. The flowers have cream and crimson stars in their centres.

A Single Blue Egg

Look at what I found under our peach tree this morning! A single pale blue egg with mottled brown spots lay nearby. Sadly it was cracked. I don't know how it came to be dislodged from its home in the tree. It is a mystery...........

Ladybird Manor

This week was a landmark week. The boys started their transition to Kindy at a Montessori Kindergarten, the Ladybird Manor, near the Central Market in Adelaide. It is the first time I had ever left them anywhere so it was a big day for us all. I needn't have worried. They took to it like ducks to water and didn't want to come home at the end of the day. What seemed more incredible to me was that they had a nap in the middle of the day with all of the other children. Anyone who knows them knows that getting these boys to sleep is usually a feat of human endurance! Oh, the power of the peer group!! The centre itself is beautiful and exceptionally well run. It is in a 19th century heritage building which was formerly the site of the original Advanced School for Girls. The rooms are light and very spacious. The ratio of staff to children is one to five and the atmosphere is one of peace and serenity. The staff are highly trained and focus on each child's individual needs. They even have a chef to prepare the meals. They focus on play as a vehicle for learning. The boys will be attending each Tuesday.

Today was overcast and drizzling. We decided to take a drive up to stirling in the Adelaide Hills. Our first stop was the Steamroller Park. William and Oliver had not been here before. The park held a couple of challenges which the boys were keen to meet. They both climbed up and along this metal bridge which I thought required a great deal of concentration and balance.

They then had a lot of fun clambering over the old steamroller and playing in the cubbyhouses. We all played out the story of the three little pigs with myself playing the wolf threatening to huff and puff and blow the house in.

We then walked down through the Stirling township to one of my favourite little bookshops, 'Matilda Bookshop'. It is so well set out and has a lovely children's section. I could have stayed there browsing all day. I found some Christmas gifts for family and friends and the new Nigella Lawson cookbook 'Nigella Christmas' for myself. I'll be studying its pages for our Christmas lunch this year.

No trip to Stirling is complete without lunch at the Organic Market Cafe. The food is organic and largely vegetarian. It is usually buzzing with customers and hosts a changing display of local art. We enjoyed a platter of delicious dips with Turkish bread to start with. Britta and the boys then had Provencale bruschetta and I had a carrot and lentil soup which William shared. The boys finished with babycinos.

The next part of our journey took us to Sunset Rock which has been a favourite place of mine for many years. It is the site of a Uniting Church which is perched near cliffs which look directly out onto glorious bushland. It is always a place of peace and tranquillity where the only sounds are those of the abundant birdlife. Kookaburras flew overhead and laughed. The boys and I looked at the bushland and examined an ant's nest, moss rocks and different coloured pebbles. We threw little stones as far as we could out over the rocks.

The final part of our journey took us to Nairne to visit the Flower Garden the Nairne home of David Austin roses and beautiful outdoor furniture and water features. It was so relaxing to wander amongst the gorgeous flowers and shrubs. William and Oliver searched for fish in every fountain.

These Danish elves were a quirky reminder that Christmas is just around the corner!