Making Tracks

A couple of weeks ago, I took the kids to town for a train ride, their first ever train ride, on an old cane train locomotive that gives rides at the botanical gardens. It was another of Miss A's rewards, and both children seemed to enjoy the experience immensely.





This photo is of the locomotive.








And









This photo is of Miss A in front of our carriage.

Playing With Fire

In the wee small hours of Saturday morning, L and other members of the rural fire brigade left for Geata. The dry, hot weather has sparked fires in the region, many of which are in the Mt. Perry area. During the quieter moments, L snapped a few shots, and arrived home at about 11:30 Saturday night, very tired. Keep an eye out in the local paper for some photos he sent in of the Geata fires. Here are just a few of the 59 photos he took. Apparently he got a little "shutter happy" :D .

Steps to Greatness...

Well, it's been a while coming, but Master B is finally taking some regular steps on his own, albeit only when bribery is involved. In the form of a jelly cup. It's quite comical to watch really, he takes enourmous steps with his right foot, and tiny steps with his left foot. The result? Side-stepping, very, v-e-r-y slow side-stepping. He's still a ways from what one would really call "walking" but awkward side-stepping is close enough :D .

Random Pics

We recently acquired a rooster, as some extra company for our hens. He's a little bantam, so it might be nice to have some chicks that are a mixture. By about the third morning we were used to his crowing, and now L sleeps right through it.

The 4 ladies.












The proud young rooster, now with some hens to call his own.











Recently, at a potluck luncheon, We served pumpkin soup in a hollowed out MASSIVE pumpkin. It was quite effective.


It was so big, Master B could fit inside.







He really enjoys his food, this boy - just can't get enough!

"Fun-due"

On father's day night, we went to a friend's house for fondue - yummy!















And it was awesome entertainment when the cork was popped, except nobody noticed the sparkling grape juice going everywhere! Apparently the tablecloth has survived well, and is back to the original colour.

Sand Town

As Miss A's reward for earning 6 stamps on her "happy day chart" this week, she chose to go to the beach, to "build a whole town out of sand". According to her, there are 5 sandcastles in a town, so that is what we made...until our little town was flooded...

Master B enjoyed the sand immensely, until it was nap-time and it just all became too much.


















As the song goes: "don't build your house on the sandy land, don't build it too near the shore..."
Great advice.

First Words

Well, our little man sure is growing up fast! He has been busily adding words to his vocabulary for the last month or so. Here are some words we have been able to understand so far:
Other than a very primitive "mamma" and "dadda", the first word was "Amen", after saying blessing one morning.
He now says "mamma" and "daddy" quite clearly.
He greets me with "There! There! There!" when I pick him up from his cousins' house on Tuesday afternoons.
I've heard him say "no" once, I'm sure there's more of that to come.
Possibly following in the footsteps of his big sister, who strung her first 3 word sentence together at 15 months, he put two words together last Monday "I do".
And the most recent word he has learned (over yesterday and today): "puss".
There are more, no doubt, that I haven't thought of, but that will do for now, at least.

And Another Birthday...!

Four short days later we celebrated L.'s birthday...thank goodness we have a break for a while before the next birthday! I'm afraid there is such a thing as too much birthday cake...






Yes, it was as delicious as it looks, mm-mmm.

Master B Turns "One"

A couple of weeks ago, Master B had his first birthday, it's amazing how fast the year has flown. He sprouted his first tooth a few weeks ago and it is now about 2/3 grown, and he has cut three more that are growing rapidly. It has been a rather painful experience for the poor little boy. He did have a happy birthday, though, lots of presents, including a Thomas the Tank Engine toy, a Thomas the Tank Engine ball (goes nicely with all the Thomas the Tank Engine gear we got in his showbag this year), a toy train and railway set, a shirt (with the quote "so far so good" :D ), a egg carton shape sorter toy, which Miss A would like to claim as her own, a toy stuffed kangaroo, an activity center that straps onto his cot, some touch and feel books, and the floor of our lounge room covered in balloons, which is likely to provide enjoyment for the next week ..... and probably some more that I have forgotten by this time (oops). His cake, made by yours truly, was, you guessed it, a Thomas the Tank Engine cake, which he made a total mess of eating, and his nappy the next day looked as though the food colouring in the icing had gone straight through :D. Miss A ate her piece very neatly, not even a dob of icing on her face, just like at her 1st birthday party, where we actually had to put icing on her face to make it look as though she made a mess.
Uncle T made a special trip up for the birthday boy, and we all went over to Granny Mac's house on Sunday for lunch, where he received even more presents - a ride on toy and some bath toys all of his own! Yippee!






























As
You
Can
See
The
Boy
Gets
Progressively
Messier
As
He
Devours
His
Piece
Of
Cake.


If You
Watch
His
Eyes,
You'll
Also
See Him
Getting
More
And
More
Tired...

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

Well, as the post title says, children come up with the strangest - and cutest - things, often because they mishear something. Here are a few of Miss A's classics - I look forward to hearing what Master B's will be over the next couple of years...

From "Brahm's Lullaby"
Actual words:
Lullaby, and goodnight, you're mother's delight,
'Round your bed, Angels guard, and keep watch through the night.
Close your eyes, now and rest, may these hours be blessed,
Close your eyes, now and rest, may these hours be blessed.

Miss A seems to hear the last section as:
Close your eyes, now at last, may these hours be glassed,
Close your eyes, now at last, may these hours be g-lassed (very dramatic ending).

It's cute, but I don't know how it makes sense in her mind :D

From "Baa Baa black sheep"
Baa Baa black sheep have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full.
One for the master, and one for the dame
and one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

Miss A's version (about a year ago):
Baa Baa black sheep have you any more?
Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags four
One for the master and one for the game
and one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

I guess it could make sense...kind of?

From "El Shaddai"
El-Shaddai, El-Shaddai...

Miss A's version:
How should I? How should I?

Well, it is in Hebrew, so she wouldn't know any better, I suppose

Now away from songs, and onto a bit of childhood wisdom. Apparently, at least according to Miss A, the difference between boys and girls is this:
Boys don't know...and girls can't remember!

She says it very emphatically, as though it's a fact everybody should already know, I don't know how she came up with it...

One last little tidbit, Miss A is now recognising some letters, and started calling the capital letters "mummy" letters, and the lowercase letters "baby" letters, that's fair enough, however the last couple of days she has decided that the mummy letters should in fact be called "Bonnie" letters...go figure :D.