Seems I'm under all sorts of pressure from some impatient people who can't wait 2 weeks till they see us in person, but want some piccies on the blog to see them through until we visit. I can't blame them really, we are such a photogenic family, it stands to reason that people just like to look at us. (he he he...)

We've had a busy couple of months. Here are some photos from our recent activities...

Maeghan 'helping' me make a cake.

Maeghan decided that Podger needed some company in his bed. Poor dog doesn't get much rest with Maeghan around. He's pretty tolerant. It takes a lot to annoy him, though Isaac has managed to find his limits.

Here are a few photos from our recent visit to Featherdale Wildlife park. We were able to get up & close the the kangaroos & koala's. We even featured in the making of some Korean travel show. Maeghan was the star of course. She showed no fear of the animals, though the emu was pretty intimidating.

Derrick running in the 1/2 marathon. He finished it in 90:12. Devastatingly close to breaking the 90 min mark for the first time.

Derrick' new toy...

My new hobby... daggy - but rewarding. I knitted this in about a week. In Bridget Jones Diary style I'm planning to knit Derrick a reindeer jumper for Christmas. He's going to love it.

End of another busy weekend...

Another sunday night sitting on the couch by myself, watching the finale of 'So you think you can dance'. Instead of sitting out on the deck, this week, Derrick is out in the garage, rearranging his tools and once again listening to talk back radio. At least I have the dogs to keep me company.

This week we celebrated Derrick's birthday with chilli con carne, black forest gateau cake and a bottle of red wine. Maeghan had a great time blowing out the candles & we had to re-light them about 4-5 times before she was happy. She was so funny, I think she thought we were singing Happy Birthday to her. Not long after we'd finished the cake, little Molly called us for a chat. She was so cute, all I could hear was a little 'Hi Ya' down the phone line. Maeghan had a little chat to Granny, though she is still a little shy on the phone.


This weekend we also finished a project that has been a long time in the works. Several months ago I painted the blackboard, this weekend Derrick finally had time to put it up and Maeghan loves it. It's really cool actually. It's quite big so in theory there should be plenty of room for the various kids that visit to draw. In reality, they will probably all want to draw in the same spot.


These are all of her own drawings. She's quite talented actually. Very advanced for her age.
Here are a few photos from Easter. We went up the coast to Umina for the Easter break. This week the weather has just started to turn cooler, but over Easter, the weather was fantastic. It was even warm enough for a swim.

BTW - Happy Birthday Martin for the 5th.

Our weekend activities...

Well, it's Sunday night here in Sydney & I'm sitting on the couch with the laptop, writing a blog (duh!) drinking a glass of wine and watching 'So you think you can dance'. Derrick is turning into an old man. He's outside on the deck, listening to talk back radio with a glass of wine & a bag of chips


Today we met some of Maeghan's little friends from our mother's groups at a local park for an Easter Egg hunt. Let me tell you, that girl was on a mission and can sniff out chocolate from under every rock. She was racing around checking under all the trees and taking the eggs out from under the nose of all the other kids. She had so many eggs in her little basket, she could barely carry it. I couldn't have been prouder ... he he he.


I've said this before, but she is growing up so quickly. We had our weekly swimming lesson this morning and she's going really well. She's jumping in the water now, swimming underwater and holding her breath for a few seconds. They make the lessons really fun, with lots of singing and actions around splashing and kicking. Maeghan loves her singing and action songs, so she gets right into it. Today she was promoted to the Advanced Aquatots class, which is just an extension of the skills she has been learning already.

I know all kids go through this, but she is seriously one little miss... I know what I want, when I want it, and don't try to make me do something I don't want to do! There is also one seriously stubborn streak going on in there. This afternoon, we had a 5 minute stand-off as I tried to get her to put some rubbish in the bin. Cheeky thing was deliberately missing the bin, I would make her pick it up again, she would hover the wrapper over the bin and then drop it off to the side. I had to try to not laugh - it was pretty funny - but sooooo cheeky.

Her favourite things at the moment include - listening to her playschool music and doing all the actions, tea parties with her teddy bears, drawing, drawing and more drawing and climbing into her arm chair and reading to herself. I've attached a little clip of her in her bedroom. There's a line in this book that says... 4 boys howling ... yow eeeee owwww. That's what she's reading to herself. She also takes the time halfway through to 'shhh' Podger from barking.

Elissa's 5th Birthday Party

Last friday afternoon, after school was out for the day, Elissa celebrated her 5th Birthday along with all the kids from her class at school. Talk about chaos. Twenty 5 year olds running riot at the local playground.

The birthday cake was a great idea, until we tried to move it. All the little ice-cream cones just toppled over and there was nothing we could to fix it. Despite frantically trying to tape the whole lot back together, our options were quite limited down at the park. Luckily Susanne had a spare set of cakes standing upright in a container and no-one knew the difference. Maeghan did not hold back at all when getting stuck into her cake. I think she started with a face plant right into the chocolate on the top. That's how I'd love to eat chocolate - no holding back just go for it.

She's getting sooo big now - it's hard to believe how fast she's growing. She's emulating everything the bigger kids do. Including climbing up high on all of the play equipment, which is bit scary given that she still seems to fall over a lot.

Maeghan and her Aunty Shell...

Well, she didn't eat much dinner after all the party food, but she had a good time and that's what birthday party's are ALL about!!!

Haircuts, daddy's boots and flower girl dresses.

Just a few quick photos to add to the blog. Last week I was sick of Maeghan's hair always getting in her eyes that I took her for a hair cut. The other motivation was that she she will no longer sit still long enough for me to pull it back.

The end result is this.... I think it looks pretty cute, though it took me a few days to get used to it.




















The following photos are just a few cute ones of Maeghan playing with Derrick's boots. The funny thing about these boots it that when I found her playing with them, Derrick had left them lined up against the wall at the back door. Maeghan was originally standing in them, facing the wall, unable to move because they were so heavy.

This photo was taken just after we opened the package from Jenny. She absolutely LOVED the dress and cried when I took it off her. It's a little bit big at the moment, but we'll make sure it fits perfectly by the time the wedding comes around. The dress is gorgeous and I can't wait to see all the girls together in their dresses.

And finally... just a quick photo of us taken from Michelle's 30th birthday party.

St Paddy's Day 2009

Once again, to celebrate St Paddy's day we caught the train into the city to watch the parade, followed by a picnic in Hyde Park with the thousands of other Irish ex-pats from around Sydney. The parade itself was much the same as last year and Maeghan had more fun running up and down the sidewalk than actually watching the parade. My favourite again was the big Irish wolfhounds. Derrick's favourite was the Guinness beer that he got to enjoy at the end of the parade.

After the parade has finish, everyone congregates up in Hyde park where they have Irish bands and dancers, amongst various other forms of entertainment. The place gets mobbed with people representing all areas of Ireland and most people proudly show their county jersey. We met a few of Derrick's friends for a quick catch-up, though I spent most of the time chasing Maeghan around.



Maeghan had a ball. She developed her own version of Irish dancing and didn't seem at all interested in dancing for the camera. I tried to get a little bit of footage, but she wasn't really cooperating for me. The dance is more of a stomp, stomp, shake, shake type of style really. It was a long day, but good fun and we had one very tired little girl by the end of it.



PS. Happy Birthday Peter.

Shoes, bags and attitude.

There are new obsessions in our household at the moment. Shoes, bags, babies, jewellery... and I'm not talking about me (or Derrick, maybe Derrick, but not when I'm around). It must be genetic programming because I'm sure I'm not that bad. Surely she's not role modelling off me!!!


The play routine these days usually involve lots of drawing, walking around in anyone else's shoes besides her own, pushing the little pram around the house and stomping like a dinosaur. Oh yeah - and she loves checking herself out in the mirror. Maeghan is really into her action songs at the moment as well and I usually have to repeat them over and over again. The really great thing about this is that they get stuck in my head ALL DAY. Funny thing is, Derrick was saying he did a 10km run the other day with 'I'm a little tea pot' going over and over in his head throughout the entire run. We're all suffering at the moment.





This photo is a few weeks old, but it was taken on the ferry to Darling Harbour with Pat and Stephen when they were in Sydney for a quick visit.

Perfecting the art of play...

With so many long hot days we've had lots of time to play outside in the evenings. Here is a collection of some photos taken during the summer.

The first set of photos were taken after a box for the new pool filter turned into a temporary cubby house. You know what they say about kids & boxes, they rather the box than the object that came in them. Well as you can see, this box was big enough for even Derrick to climb in - just!

The dogs are a regular feature in our outdoor activities. Just so everyone knows who they are - this is a photo of Gemma.

and this is Podger.

The mini has been out of action for a few months now, so it hasn't been out of the garage for a while, but every now and then it comes out so we can get to things in the back of the garage. This was one of those times and Maeghan seems have great fun playing in her big 'toy' car.

Derrick - On a break from working on the paving around the pool.

We've just had the Australia Day long weekend and after all the work that's been done on the house up at Umina, we were back up there for a few days break. The weather was sweltering. I think it was up in the 40's on the saturday, but thankfully a cool change came through on sunday and the temperatures dropped nearly 20 degrees overnight.

The water has been beautifully warm and we managed a trip to the beach each day for a quick swim and a play in the sand. Umina beach is one of a few beaches in the area that allow dogs to play off-leash & the dog's obsolutely love it.

Susanne and her crew came up for a day or say and in a rare moment, Maeghan and Isaac are actually playing happily side by side. They are getting better, but sharing is not one of those skills that comes easily at this age.