Beautiful Bella

Bella got a makeup kit for Christmas from Aunty Leah and Uncle Tony. She absolutely loves it! She's always asking if she can have  her makeup kit down. She goes a little crazy with the amount of makeup she puts on. Vinnie got a kit too but apparently shows some restraint.

Leah thinks she looks like a Broadway star. That was one of the nicer comments we received on his makeup application. I have offered her services as a makeup artist to Sonya for her wedding but she hasn't confirmed yet.

Making Cheese

Matt got a cheese making kit for Christmas. He's been busy making halloumi and ricotta. He's a very good cheese maker. It tastes so much better than the supermarket. Bella loves the halloumi on the BBQ and Zach is keen on eating all the ricotta! Now Matt would like to open a boutique cheese business. I think this might be a dream for retirement!

Zach's actual Birthday

On Boxing Day we made Zach another Teddy Cake and the family came over to celebrate him turning 1.

It was so nice everyone made the effort to come despite it being Boxing Day and Tony and Leah going caravaning the next day. Zach enjoyed the cake a little too much. When we weren't looking he ate lots of blue icing!

Christmas Day

On Christmas Eve we went to church and sung lots of Christmas Carols to get us all excited about Christmas. Santa even made a guest appearance!

Bella and I made sure we got Santa a cup of tea and biscuit ready as well as some water for the reindeer.

On Christmas morning, Bella and Zach were both very lucky to receive scooters from Santa. 

We had waffles and pancakes for breakfast. We enjoyed a nice walk/scooter to the playground. In the afternoon we went out to Nanny and Grandad's house for a yummy BBQ dinner. Bella managed to stay up to 11.30pm seeing all the Christmas lights on the way home. Zach did pretty well staying up until about 10.30pm. The kids were both spoilt rotten with lots of great presents!

Our first cherry tomato

We have six pots with very big cherry tomatoes growing on our deck. Our first cherry tomato was ready just in time for Christmas. They are delicious!

Zach's first ride on the bike seat!

Zach is such a big boy he now gets to go out with Daddy on the bike seat! Since Matt first took him out he keeps wanting to go again. He gets us to put on his socks or shoes on and then walks over to the door waiting for us to take him down to the garage. He's also obsessed with his helmet.

Time for a photography course!

We were supposed to have a photoshoot in the weekend but it all got a bit difficult so we decided to postpone until early next year. We decided we'd try and make use of our fancy camera and take a few pics of the kids. We did get a few nice shots despite some dodgy lighting.

The good news is Matt has decided I should do a photography course as I just love photos but I'm terrible at knowing how to get the best results!

My Big Kindy Girl

Bella has decided she'd like to wear his hair in pigtails so she looks like her other Kindy friends. She looks so grown up with her hair tied up. I'm sure she'd pass for a 4 year old.

Safety First!

Zach just loves his bicycle helmet. Sarah bought him a plastic trike for his birthday which he can normally get on and off but occassionally he falls over so we thought we should have him wearing his helmet when he was riding it.

 

He's decided he doesn't ever want to take his helmet off and everytime we try to take it off he crys. He does love hats but we think he must feel safer with his helmet on. We certainly feel more at ease. I think we should have got him one of those baby helmets as he is always getting into mischief. The other day he climbed out the window of the toy car and found himself in the starfish position with one hand on the kids table, one leg on the kids chair and one arm and leg in the car. He soon realised it wasn't a sustainable position and started whimpering. He's also discovered it's fun to stand up in his trolley and start wobbling about while not holding onto anything! I think he's been watching the skateboarders on our street too much!

Mr Messy!

We've been calling Zach Mr Bump but now he's got his walking sorted I think we need to change his name to Mr Messy! It feels like I spend the majority of the day feeding him and cleaning up his mess!

As you can see by his bib he loves to eat food and then spit it out. This results in very large piles of food under his highchair and everywhere else. When he's finished he loves to throw any remaining food as far as he can just to ensure maximum coverage. Lucky he's so cute!!!

Bella and Zach taking out the kids!

Bella and Zach both love Bella's big birthday pram. I think Zach just loves it because it's got wheels and also because Bella wants to play with it so it must be a good toy.

Here they are both taking Bella's kids (she has numerous soft toys, dolls and imaginary people who are her children) for walk. Bella has decided she doesn't need to wear a top on a hot day as Daddy doesn't. Hmmm!

Merry Christmas Moochi

When we were cleaning out our plastic bags we found a cat food sample. Bella wrapped it up for Moochi for Christmas. Bella loves wrapping things up!

Moochi normally stays away when we come to visit these days but she decided to come and open her Christmas present and was pretty happy with what she found!

River Fun

Last weekend we finally introduced Zach to our private River beach where we have spent lots of time swimming and playing on hot summer days.

Zach loved it! Bella and him were covered head to toe in muddy sand.

What cute boys!

Here's a couple of pictures of Matt and Zach looking extra cute!