Busy Bee/Dog/Snake/Butterfly

They had a different lady taking the toddlers for nursery at Church on Lucas' birthday (5th) and they came out with lots of hand made treasures.

It was fantastic! They didn't need to open the toy cupboard once as they had engaging activities the whole time (2 hours is quite an achievement with 8 under 3).

The lesson topic/theme for the day was "I can be kind to animals" and I especially liked the spotty dogs ears. They all looked soooo cute!

So, the Monday after Lucas wanted to keep going.
Here he is saying "ssssss" as he rolls out snakes with the playdough they got to bring home.

His favourite activity ofcourse was washing up after painting and yelling "A" through the window at our neighbour Andrew.

Dad, Steve, I know this picture is terrible.... I know, I know.

Steve goes for a walk in the bush. What does he find?

Water Skinks, Water Dragons, Very Large Eels (ie size of pythons), Long Necked turtles, lyabirds, Azure Kingfisher, Huge fish.... about the size of a large dog...yes huge.
Well below are some photos of the walk. Enjoy.




Water dragon - the one that dot NOT bite my finger.

Yep...that's the one that chomped on my finger!!
Little monster bit it hard and then did the death roll on me to try and rip my finger off.

"Hee hee.... if Steve does that again I'll do a triple McCormack Pike Death Role"

Long Necked Turtle

Happy Birthday Lucas!

Lucas is now 2 years old (phew!). I didn't want to let it pass without doing something for him so here are some pics of his little party. Daddy was the entertainment of the day and had all the kids squealing with delight).
This is the Daddy monster in the tube tent. It was a rainy day so it was all inside.

Lucas and his cake. It's either a worm farm, or a fenced yard with worms coming out of the lawn (the "lawn" was grated Aero and the worms were the pink gummy snakes) with some butterflies.
I did my best to avoid all crappy colourings that make kids hyper - they're only little tykes after all :o)



THINKING OF YOU - Joshua Jeffree, I hope your episode at the emergency dept is well forgotten and your little glued up wound is on the mend. Hugs to Mum, thinking of you too!

Our Spring Garden (part lll)

The strawberry patch and the blue tongue lizard - see if you can spot him. Lucas is watching him wriggle off.


There's something comforting about the heady musky scent of jasmine in summer time. It's one of Steve's favourites (up in a hanging basket).
Bees are attracted to our garden at the moment by the lemon blossom and clover. It's perfect positioning for pollinating the strawberries around the tree.

Our Sping Garden (Part II)

New Blueberries

Lemon Grass going to seed

Roses growing over our fence

Lettuce with spinach in the background

The (Punnet-a-day) Strawberrie Patch under the lemon tree

In the Garden - spring is blooming

Lemon tree blossoms

Sage in the strawberries

Fruits of the undergrowth, below the lemon tree

Passion fruit up the fence

Cant wait for the Raspberries to come out.

Baby Bump Update

Ok as requested here are some pics of the bump. The first one was two weeks ago, then I POPPED.
I'm 28 weeks now and getting to that tired uncomfortable stage that I managed to avoid for quite a long time with Lucas. I really wish this little nut would move around as it's feet are constantly kicking down.
Had the glucose test and all is fine. Need to eat a tad more red meat (Steve says "yay!"). I'll have to defrost that leg of lamb :o)

Actually the pics don't look that different.. but the comments and comfort levels have certainly changed :o)

Spring Peas

This one little bush has given us so many peas!! You can see where it gets most sun as it's stunted one side. I planted these a few months ago but because of the cold they were slow growing (which is fine :o)

Lucas LOVES eating peas off the vine. He's also been very helpful this morning putting the celery seedlings in. He only trod on one but that was a bit of over excitement at the puddle made from watering them in :o)
Ears free of whisps. This is after his first hair cut. Still not completed but it's a start.
Here is the potato patch (dug out by Patrick Boyle) companion planted with some nasturtium that look flat as I've just transplanted it from the other side of the garden.
Celery seedlings are above that, then Lucas heading for more muddy fun.
Our strawberry patch is looking extremely promising this year and we're really excited!
The sage is flowering (companion plant) and all the onion weed cut out in an attempt to stunt it's growth.

Life of Lucas in the Garden.

There is so much to do in the garden. Here is just s snippet of what Lucas gets up to.

Chillin' out.

Trying to hit Daddy with a stick.

Daddy running away from Lucas so as not to be hit with stick.....again.

Helicopter......"Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh.

Digging dirt.

On the road.

All exams passed and now on the road for day and night shifts. Have already had some interesting experiences and have worked along side the police and fire services in a variety of events. Very much enjoying the experience and very lucky to get a great paramedic training officer. His name is Andrew and he is a great on road teacher. All in all going really well and now resting up with my four days off. Time to mow the lawn and recover from a grueling 8 weeks intensive training and studying.

The photos below are Lucas and I having fun in the garden just before I go to work.

Garden helpings

Last week Lucas was very helpful in the garden. He put soil and seeds into egg trays (eggplant) which I doubt will grow.
We also put basil, chocolate capsicum and Cinderella pumpkins in another tray with proper seed raising mix and a humidifying cover, so fingers crossed.
Here he is helping me clean out the olive brine out of the tubs that arrived. It was easier and more fun than I thought - especially with the mop to clean the bottoms.
Here's the bulk of water tubs awaiting collection (and waiting and waiting) in the drive way. We've had quite alot of rain so it's been funny to see people take them down and get sloshed on the head with olive/rain water :o)

I'm glad it's just an annual order.

Wanderings

The other weekend (can't remember how many ago) we went off to Fagan park again.
I love it as there's lots of room to roam and run. I was very happy to have Steve with us this time so I could happily lag behind carrying the lunch.