Monday 10 June 2013

23/52

A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2013.


We've had a quiet week here. My best friend went back to England, and I haven't taken the camera out much.
Mahlia: Yesterday, whilst hubby was studying, I took the girls for a bike ride/dog walk/play/duck feed. It was lovely in the sun. Mahlia tried to ensure every duck got some bread, and took it very seriously!

Leila: She'd spend all day on the swing I think. She took great delight in trying to 'get the phone' with those muddy feet.

Joining in with Jodi over at Che & Fidel.

Sunday 2 June 2013

22/52

A portrait of my girls, once a month, every month, in 2013.



Mahlia: A ferry trip to Palm Beach—a windy and exhilarating journey in the sun.

Leila: We trekked through bush to the secluded and private Lobster Beach. We had it to ourselves and spent the afternoon soaking up the warm sun and having a picnic.

Bump: HUGE! Only 15 weeks! We went to Sydney to show Laura the sights and to view the lights of Vivid Sydney.

Joining in with Jodi from Che & Fidel.

Sunday 26 May 2013

21/52

A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2013.




Mahlia: Looking so grown up in her new dress, catching the water dripping down the cliff at Terrigal Haven. Enjoying the afternoon sun.

Leila: A trip to the Hunter Valley, sitting in a knobbly old tree, holding on tight to her best friend's, Laura's, hand.

Little frog #3: My third little frog is cooking away nicely! 14 weeks, and it is going too fast! And yes, I am ridiculously large for 14 weeks—eekkkk!

I couldn't resist including the final photo. Exploring on the rocks at Terrigal, Mahlia holding Leila's hand and helping her climb up the rocks. I love the reflection.

Joining in with Jodi over at Che & Fidel.

Saturday 18 May 2013

20/52

A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2013.



Mahlia: Little Miss Grumpy at the beach. She came good after a while though and enjoyed the sun and sand.

Leila: Collecting autumn leaves on a walk past the bats.

Joining in with Jodi over at Che & Fidel.

Sunday 12 May 2013

19/52

A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2013.



Mahlia: She really is a daddy's girl. She'll run to him to ask him for something she knows I'll say no to, as he finds it so hard to say no to her. On the carousel holding his hand, safe in his arms.

Leila: Looking very relaxed with daddy on the paddle board. They'd been searching for fish.

Joining in with Jodi at Che & Fidel. 

Sunday 5 May 2013

18/52

A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2013.



Mahlia: A trip to the Gosford Show, and she sure loved all the animals! She cuddled and petted everything living thing she saw, even holding an alligator. That little chick felt the love, and burrowed inside her cardigan for a closer cuddle.

Leila: Also loved the animals, but had a ball in the fire engine and the police Porsche—was obsessed with putting the seat belts on—safety first!

Joining in with Jodi from Che & Fidel.

Saturday 27 April 2013

17/52

A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2013.



Mahlia: Hubby dropped us off at the beach one evening with the dogs before heading off to teach yoga. I told her not to get wet as we had to walk home. That made it even more exciting chasing the waves. The lure was too much, and she was dripping but didn't complain on the walk back.

Leila: Watching her sister, contemplating joining her in the shallows, but decided to continue hunting for shells. I unintentionally left the dog's leads in the car and faced the walk home with the girls and the dogs loose. Luckily they were so tired after playing on the beach the dogs heeled all the way home.

Joining in with Jodi at Che & Fidel. A stand-out for me from last week was the frolicking in the autumn leaves over at oscarlucinda.

Saturday 20 April 2013

16/52

A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2013.



Mahlia: Wearing her new sunnies, and she looks so grown up. It scares me! Where is my 4-year-old?

Leila: Standing atop the hill, planning her route down. There were tumbles and giggles, and when she saw the 'big boys' rolling down the hill, she just had to join in. No fear this one.

A standout favourite from last week has to be the lovely Lamb and her gorgeous, brand new little brother Fox.

As always, joining in with Jodi at Che & Fidel!

Sunday 14 April 2013

15/52

A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2013.



Mahlia: She picked up a selection of balloons that we had left over, all of different sizes, and named them mummy, daddy, big sister and the baby in order of size. So we got creative and added faces and hair! Unfortunately the daddy's head shrivelled up slightly the next day!

Leila: We headed to Toowoon Bay for a family day at the beach before daddy headed off to uni for a week. Leila is standing in a hole, which Mahlia then started burying her in. She stood in her hole how ages!

A favourite from last week is Chloe's delicate touch over at Forever Lovely.

Joining in with the lovely Jodi at Che & Fidel!

Sunday 7 April 2013

6 years ago I got very lucky x

It is our 6-year wedding anniversary today. We have had our fair share of ups and downs over the years. The ups obviously include our beautiful girls, we've been fortunate to travel frequently, we have a lovely home and we have each other. We've faced many challenges—hubby had a kidney transplant when Leila was 8 weeks old, and I made the decision to leave my full-time job in order to spend more time with the girls, and therefore we sacrificed our main income and have been in a pretty unstable financial state.

We still have our worries and stresses but I know we will still be going strong until we are old and wrinkly.

We celebrated by walking to our local restaurant with a view, The Cowrie in Terrigal, just the two of us! We sat outside and enjoyed an amazing view and a delicious meal, and had a conversation without being interrupted with 'muuuummmmmmyyyy' 'daaaaaaadddddyyyy' every 2 seconds. It was good.

I love my man x



Photos by Delisser Photography.

Saturday 6 April 2013

14/52

A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2013.



Mahlia: The skies cleared and we headed back to the beach. She enjoyed it from every angle possible. The girls were deliriously happy to be back and managed to bring half of the beach back home in their hair and Mahlia's left ear. 

Leila: The playroom was suspiciously quiet while I was making dinner. I cautiously popped my head around the door, wondering what mischief I was about to encounter. Instead I watched Leila reading. Mahlia would pass her another book once she completed the last. Mahlia set up her dollhouse in the sun's rays. If only it could always be this peaceful! She looks so grown up here.

A favourite image from last week would have to be of Advay over at The Art Side.

Joining in with the 52 Project over at Che & Fidel.

Sunday 31 March 2013

The week that was ...

Well, this week has been undeniably better than last week, thank goodness. We've all been of better health. By Monday Mahlia was back to her happy self and went to Montessori without a mention of a sore tummy. She did miss her swimming on Sunday but I took Leila—they both love their swimming lessons. We then walked over to the local beachside market to browse the stalls, have lunch and listen to some live music.

After we returned home, I unsuccessfully tried to get Leila to have an afternoon sleep (again... grrrr). The weather was beautifully warming so we decided to go to the beach for a late afternoon swim/paddle board/snorkel. I went snorkelling and it was absolutely stunning—the visibility was good, the sun's rays were cutting through the water to highlight the rainbow of the underwater world. And the fish were aplenty, of all shapes and colours. A truly magical moment.

Hubby then took the girls out on the stand-up paddle board around the boats. This is relatively new experience for Leila, but she loves it as much as her big sister does. Our time on shore was spent recreating a sand giant from one of our books:
Mahlia found one of her Montessori friends just as we were about to leave. Hubby took him out on the paddle board and we enjoyed the last hour of sun.

Tuesday we celebrated my baby's 2nd birthday—read all about it here. She seems to have really grown this past week too.

And Friday we finally made it to the zoo. The girls slept soundly the night before, so awoke full of energy and excitement. Traffic was minimal, as were the crowds at the zoo. The girls had a ball. Desperate to always see more, we managed to cover nearly everything. My personal favourites were the meerkats, big cats, chimps and the young gorillas playing (although the daddy gorilla really did look sad and very bored, which in turn made me very sad too). The girls loved everything, but were particularly excited to see the zebras.

A perfect day for my perfect girls.

And today was Easter Sunday. We had an egg hunt in the garden, and Leila struggled to understand why she couldn't eat all her eggs today. We practiced bike riding and spent some time at Nana and Pa's, before getting take away for dinner.

I hope you've had a lovely Easter! x

Saturday 30 March 2013

13/52

A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2013.



Mahlia: LOVING our trip to the zoo on Friday for Leila's birthday treat. She was ridiculously excited and just couldn't get enough of all the animals.
Leila: Her birthday lunch at our local Japanese restaurant. She couldn't get enough of it, and ate more than the rest of us, each piece of sushi is inhaled in one piece. My big girl now, and she does seem to be so much bigger all of a sudden.

A favourite from last week is the jumping-on-the-bed action at Blog a la Cart!

Joining in with Jodi and the 52 Project at Che and Fidel.

Tuesday 26 March 2013

My baby's 2

My baby girl has turned two today. I'm struggling with it a little if I'm honest. She's still my baby!!

We've had a lovely day together as a family. It started with a few presents, each one played with or read  or worn before moving on to the next.






We then took Mahlia off to school and Leila, daddy and I headed off to the dog park where Leila could ride her new balance bike! It will take some getting used to but she's enjoying it so far—I can't wait to see them both riding off together.



We made our way back home, where I decorated the cake I baked last night, and daddy took Leila out on the paddle board. Hubby is now teaching yoga every evening, so we decided to take Mahlia out of school early so we could have a birthday lunch celebration. One of our favourite places to go is Crave Sushi in Terrigal, and the girls love their Japanese cuisine. Leila devoured her soft shell crab, salmon and avocado sushi and the edemame.


The girls then had a ridiculous amount of fun at the water playground at The Entrance.








With two very tired girls, we headed home for the all-important birthday cake.




A jam-packed, fun-filled day and she loved every minute of it. She is so cheeky this one, but oh so gorgeous! I love her to pieces, and she amazes me every day with the things she learns, says and does. I feel so blessed to have her in our lives. I Uv Ooo Leila xxx