My Ballerinas

Did you do shows as a kid?  I remember putting together little puppet shows and having my parents sit and watch.  My girls love to put on shows!  

They had rules for this show.  No iphones except for photography!  

Looking at these pictures reminds me how different these girls are from one another - physically yes, that's obvious, but their personalities are also so different.  I love to see them developing into their own little person!

I had no idea what to expect from them at this age as far as getting along together, particularly as I did not have a sister, but they get on so well!  

Holiday Plans

We are so excited around here about the school holidays!  We've only just now finished breakfast and are getting dressed!  We all love slow mornings!

The older girls have each chosen two goals for the school holidays.  Sarah would like to learn to knit and do hairstyling and Hannah would also like to learn to knit and ride a bike.

Sarah is making good progress on her Granddad's scarf!  She's quite a good knitter and quite quick too.  I can knit but unfortunately I do not know how to fix her mistakes so I will be heading over to grandmas so she can teach me!

The girls also have goals to get better at something.  Sarah is working on her maths each day in a Maths Mentals book and Hannah would like to ready for Naplan next year and is working through a Naplan exam book.

I also have a goal, which I have wanted to learn since my first year of uni!  I'm going to learn how to make our own pasta!  So far I've found this recipe and this video so I'm hoping it will work!  If you have any tips for making your own pasta I'd love to know!

Tomorrow is Sarah's birthday so we will be heading out to the city to get her a new outfit! 


I hope you have a wonderful week!

Bedtime prayers

Every night without fail we say bedtime prayers.  Usually I go from one room to another beginning with Olivia, then Hannah, then Sarah.  I love bedtime prayers for so many reasons and I'm not looking forward to the day my children decide that they are too old for me to kneel beside their bed and pray.  Having said that, maintaining such a routine can also be frustrating at times.  At this stage in life, the girls refuse to go to sleep without their prayer.  It's those days when I'm so tired that I just wish they would put themselves to sleep and say their own prayers, but somehow I manage to pick myself up and follow through.

Bedtime prayers are different with each child.  With Olivia I kneel beside her as she lays.  She melts my heart every night!  Her prayers always begin the same - word for word.  She says:

"Dear Jesus,
Thank you for wonderdul world and
Thank you for this wonderdul day."

She will then pray for her cousin Lachlan and his family, for preschool and anything else that has been on her mind.  When she's finished I say "Jesus loves you, Olivia" and she will look up with the cutest, melt-your-heart smile and voice and say "I love you too Jesus."  This often leads on to a little conversation about Jesus and that he's watching over her as she sleeps.  It's such a beautiful moment.

Next is Hannah.  Hannah is my super routine girl.  She has to be laying in her bed while I hug her in a particular way as I kneel beside her.  I pray first and must pray for at least 5 things or it's too short (Hannah will say). I always begin by praying out loud and thanking him for something specific she has done that day or something to do with her character.  For example, thank you Jesus for sending me this angel.  Thank you that she was so willing to help set the table and is such a hard worker.  She always squeezes me a bit tighter right then!  I love it!  It's such a beautiful way of showing Hannah how much I'm thankful for her.  After I finish Hannah will say her prayer.  We then have about 3 big hugs, a few kisses each and she will go off to sleep quickly.

Next on to Sarah!  Sarah is changing at the moment and is so keen to grow up, but I still see glimpses of the little girl in her.  I pray for Sarah much the same as Hannah but Sarah will say a quick prayer.  Sarah's will always include, "put the angels at the doors, the windows and every entrance" and will finish with "oh, and forgive me for my sins."  Sarah will then want me to linger beside her as she tells me how lucky she is to have me.  She always asks for a song and sometimes I sing her a lullaby (with funny little inserst about her) or a church song like 'flow through me'.

Bedtime prayers can very often be a near-perfect ending to a much less than perfect day.  It's such a good time to thank God for them while they're listening and to pray for some of the things we're working on.  I'll often ask God to give them strength not to lie or not to follow the wrong crowd.  This is also a perfect time where the girls will open up and talk about things that are bothering them.  I know this a time the girls will never forget and will then go on to do with their children.

And just to include some photos, I found these on my iphone.  I think they're very clever!  

I'd love to hear if you have a bedtime routine.

I'm back!

Well here I am, back sitting at Olivia's door as she goes off to sleep!  She had been doing so well, going to sleep on her own, before we went away!  It's my fault I'll admit.  She fell asleep every night of our holiday on my knee.  She was sharing a room with Sarah and Hannah who were chatting so it was the quickest way of putting her to sleep.  I'm a softy when it comes to letting my kids fall asleep on my knee.  Maybe I'm subconsciously making up for when they were babies!

We went to Tarthra for 5 nights and stayed in a little cabin.  It poured, and I mean POURED for 3 of the 4 whole days we were there!  I loved it!  I loved having all my little ones couped up in a cabin with the wood fire burning.  I was totally at home!  The other day and a bit we squeezed in everything we could such as canoeing, swimming at the beach, swimming in a pool, a trip to Bega etc.

I'm not sure Josh loved it as much as me.  I could sense he was itching to get out.  He's not a big fan of being couped up in a cabin with 5 girls!

I didn't manage to take many photos as the weather was gloomy or raining so this is about all I got!

Here are some more photos of my big girls who went out to one of the Canberra Day festivals today with a friend!  I would have loved to go but Jessica was running a pretty high temperature by lunch time!

Why do they pose like that?

Sarah's new obsession horses!  First it was cats, then dogs, now horses!  I told her she can have a horse....when she has a car and a well paying job!

Hopefully I can finish uploading pics from Olivia's birthday almost a month ago later tonight!

Have a good week!

Sarah and Hannah in 2012

I like the idea of documenting the kids thoughts on their photos once a year.  Next year I'll try and get one whole side of the photo in a light colour. 

Hope you're having a good week!

Preschool Mini Album

I finished Hannah's this album for Hannah yesterday. It was heaps of fun and quite simple which meant I could get a bit done here and there.


As i said earlier, the original idea came from Elizabeth Kartchner. She's also putting a book out and you can catch a glimpse of it here.

Lonely girl...

What is it about Hannah that makes her think she always has to have someone to play with? Is it to do with her being the middle girl? Before Sarah went to school they were always playing together, last year Hannah played with the neighbour and now, if Olivia's asleep and Sarah's off somewhere she's always asking for someone to come over or to go somewhere. This is happening every day at the moment!
She has found a solution though - retail therapy. Today she said if she could go to the shops and buy something she'd be ok! They start young!