September 26th

Well, today got to a nice slow start. Louie had the day off so we had pancakes for breakfast. Made with buttermilk, of course :) Michael had a go at helping me make the mix and flipping pancakes for the first time. He did great! After all, it takes practice getting the whole flipping manoeuvre right.

 

Afterwards, we headed off to the library to veg out. We borrowed and brought back something like 30 items. It was windy and miserable in Melbourne today, so we needed some serious reading material to stay cosy and warm inside the house.

Serious reading material! This cake reminds me so much of Tanya, my sister in law and rainbow effect baking expert.

 

 

 

 

Sienna and Jacob played peek-a-boo while we were there. And then my advanced one year old killed it at chess (get it??)

 

I had the opportunity to serve someone in need tonight, and I had Nonna and Nonno to thank for, because they looked after the children while I was out. Our family is amazing.

I would like to take a few lines now to acknowledge some of my blessings. I know God loves and watches over us all. I would be ungrateful if I didn't express my gratitude for all His tender mercies.
- I am grateful  for my husband.  He is the man I chose to be my forever companion. We are good together. I am better for having him in my life. He is a choice father. How grateful I am for his love, support and for loving me even though I turned out faultier than the perfect bride he thought he was marrying.
- I am grateful to be a mother. Even though today I jokingly asked Louie if he could take a couple of them with him to work. They were driving me crazy! Though each of our children have come into our family on purpose (and not by surprise etc), I never thought i'd be the mother of four children. But here I am, and every day is an adventure. And we're in it together. Forever. That's the goal.
- I am grateful to know that 'families CAN be together forever, through Heavenly Father's plan'.

Spring holidays

I love spring. And I love having the kids at home for the holidays. It gets a little demanding sometimes though, like when they start each day asking what amazing thing we are doing that day. It's hard for them to understand that not every day will be an extreme adventure, like yesterday's full day visit to the zoo.
Today we had no plans. We just took the day as it came. No looking at the clock. No endless car trips to and fro. Today the kids played with the next door neighbours on the trampoline with the hose on. They got absolutely soaked (except Joshy, who hates water play). They caught a monarch butterfly - and released it again ( I reminded them butterflies have only hours to live). A few minutes ago Papi took them to the park - at sunset. And I'll be waiting for them with ice cream. Maybe a dvd will follow. And me? Well, I even had time to hand sew a headband for Sienna. AND I got the sewing machine to work again. Sewing projects here we come! I love the holidays.

Birthday celebrations

Today we celebrated Sienna's 9th birthday. It was such a beautiful spring day. We visited the Werribee Open Range Zoo and met up with Nonno, Nonna, Josie and Bronwen and her amazing kids.
Sienna dressed up as a zookeeper for the day, and prepared some facts about some of the animals we were going to see. I promise that this girl could truly become a zookeeper one day. Exactly one year ago for her 8th birthday we came to this same place to celebrate her birthday. She just loves animals!
Here are some pics of the day. A special thank you to Nonna who brought a party in a bag! We are so lucky to have her. Especially my children, who bask in the kindness and love of this amazing woman.  It was a wonderful day, and a great reason to celebrate our little princess.

On the safari bus with Jacob

A party at the zoo!



Safari here we come!

at Hippo's section

Sienna was so happy today!

Zookeeper for the day :)

with wonderful Nonna and friends

the Davenport girls are delightful!

After a full day at the zoo, Sienna and Louie got ready to go on a Daddy Daughter Date. They had so much fun!!! They had dinner and watched a movie. Sienna was beaming when she returned home. She had been a little sad that Papi couldn't be at the zoo, but after their date she told me it had made up for his absence earlier in the day.

A few days ago, we also celebrated little Jacob's FIRST birthday. We had originally planned it on his actual birthday (31st of August) but we postponed the celebrations because Abuelo was very ill in hospital. So we waited for him to recover and then did the party. Abuelo means so much to us, and it just  would not have made sense to have the party without him. Now, I really tried to take as many photos as I could, but I still managed to miss out some very important people: the grandparents. But they were there! I promise they were.

Here are some pics from Jacob's first ever birthday party:

Joshy and Tanya. She's so pretty!

 

Party food galore!

Trying to blow the candle. Everyone tried to help Jacob.

Sienna and Michael helped me make the party favours. So cute.

Louie did such a great job with the decorations :)

Just before party started

panoramic view of party food :)
 

The Cake. Generously provided by Los Abuelos. Amazing!
 

Playing with Uncle Andrew

With little Layla

Little Jacob. My one year old. My little baby.