Happy Mothers Day

Hope you had a lovely Mothers Day - I certainly did, how could I not
being blessed with these three gorgeous girls! A mum for over a decade
now...what a journey.

Cross country

The girls all competed in a recent cross country event for their school
and did themselves proud, improving on their best times and really
enjoying themselves. Lauren was invited to run as well, despite being in
Kindy, and her 'team' came 2nd place, while Olivia's came 3rd. Ellen
took over 2 minutes off her previous best time, so a great day all round!

Horsing around

We had a lovely day recently with Uncle Steve and Miss Yvette and the
kids were delighted to have dogs to play with and horses to sit on, pat
and feed far too many carrots! Thanks so much for having us!

Nine

Livvy-lou turned 9 recently and we celebrated with a swimming pool cake
courtesy of Daddy (very cool dad!). She finally received the kneeskin
swimmers that she's been very keen to have for racing...nearly a year of
waiting, but the smile says it all! Happy birthday gorgeous girl - we
love you!

Shark swim

Olivia chose to swim with the sharks and rays at Seaworld as an early
experience for her 9th birthday. She and Daddy had a great time (an
adult had to accompany her due to being under 10 years) swimming among
the sealife and came out unscathed but with lots of stories to tell!

Fwd: Another birthday

Greg turned another year older recently, so we celebrated with my baked
chocolate cheesecake (yum!) and a relaxing afternoon with family.
A week or so later he swam in a fun meet that had an adults race at the
end after the kids had all finished and he came 2nd, so here he is with
his little ribbon :-) . The girls loved the fact that Daddy swam, and
they could cheer for him - he was just pipped at the post as well, so it
was an exciting race!

Another birthday

Greg turned another year older recently, so we celebrated with my baked
chocolate cheesecake (yum!) and a relaxing afternoon with family.
A week or so later he swam in a fun meet that had an adults race at the
end after the kids had all finished and he came 2nd, so here he is with
his little ribbon :-) . The girls loved the fact that Daddy swam, and
they could cheer for him - he was just pipped at the post as well, so it
was an exciting race!

End of the holidays

The last week of the holidays we ticked off the last few things on the
list the girls had written of things they wanted to do - all that
remained were a train ride to the city; visiting Mummy's new office at
work and checking out their artwork on the walls; lunch at Jackpot
Noodles (yum!); bus rides and doing the CBD 'thing' and then walking
over the river to the Lifeline bookfest where we spent a few hours
happily occupied and came out with bags a little heavier.
Over the long weekend the older girls were at a swim meet where they
swam very well, and met Christian Sprenger (gold medal breaststroker). A
trip to Mooloolaba to visit Grandma and Papa in their caravan heralded
the end of a great summer break!

First day of school and kindy

A beautiful day for the start of the school year. All the girls were
very excited to dress and head to school today - Grades 5, 4 and Kindy
this year.

Double digits

Ellen turned 10 late last year - how a decade has flown!

So many amazing times to recall when we think back on the journey that
she has had to date, and so much to look forward to. She has grown into
a beautiful young lady, with confidence, grace, determination, talents
aplenty and a desire to push herself to see how far she can go - oh, and
a rather competetive nature that shines through at different times
(can't imagine where she gets that from...). When she's not swimming
there's nearly always a book in her hand, sometimes with a pile beside
her as well!

For her birthday she chose (instead of a party) to go snorkeling with
the sharks and stingrays at Seaworld, and loved it!

Daddy and I are so proud of you Ellen and feel so blessed to have you in
our lives - keep shining!

Christmas 2015

Nearly a month ago now, so a very belated happy Christmas to all!