Joel and Alice

What have they been up to lately....

1. They love playing together! Building with the duplo is a huge favorite!

2. Outside!! This last month we have had really mild comfortable weather so the kiddos have been outside lots and they love it! They got a slide for Christmas and while Alice is very happy going up the steps and down the slide over and over again, Joel has decided to start "extreme toddler sliding" so he sneaks different toys to the top of the slide, like is scooter, and tries to ride them down the slide. And has even moved the slide to the edge of the deck so he flies into the air!

3. Joel had his first homework for pre-school. Daisy dog got sent home and we had to write in her diary about what she did in our house! Wow that was a bit of a challenge. I felt like we needed to make it sound like we do more than watch TV and eat! So I let Joel think of something fun and he decided we should take Daisy round to the neighbors to jump on the trampoline. It was very sweet and I feel like we had a decent diary entry to write.

4. Alice- loves to dance!! Any music she loves to shake her little bum!

5. Everyone is excited about the new baby! Daily the kids get my belly out and kiss the baby and wait for kicks.

Not a very exciting entry but we needed something to get us going again!

Christmas

There have been several different great stories from Christmas but this is my favorite...

Joel was still trying to work all this Christmas thing out. From early on Joel knew what he wanted, a remote control crane, and that was all he could talk about. Until about a week before Christmas he started asking for everything he saw, and then he got it in his head that he wanted a "big green bike with a bell!"

When Phil got home from work that day he asked Joel what he wanted for Christmas and Joel said "I'll get what I'm given."

Poor little guy. I think my efforts to prepare him for the fact that he wouldn't get everything were a little too strong.

*he did the the "big green bike with a bell" and the remote control crane!

Mum why did you call her "Alice Grace No?"

* Something we haven't had to say much in the last year, but we will hear a lot of in the coming year!! Alice is also a climber!

Joel in America

Joel has commented on some of the difference in America.

1. The cars have much bigger wheels

2. The toilets have lots more water

3. The fridges are the other way around

4. The lights on fire engines are red not blue

5. The grass is longer

Will add more as the come=)

The Good Samaritan

Joel has always loved the story of the Good Samaritan or as he calls it "the sad man". I found Alice outside crying and I asked Joel what happened and he said "We were just playing 'the sad man." Upon further questioning I found that Joel was pretending to be the robbers that stole from the man and beat him up and little Alice was the unsuspecting man walking down the road.

He said "I made her sad and took her things. Now she is the sad man. Mummy you can be the one to help her." I'm so glad we have taken the time to teach our son this valuable story!! Yeah for Bible stories!!

Alice's Birthday

Baby Girl is 1!! I just can't believe it! She is growing up so quickly at the moment. Very very sweet. She has fallen in love with Daddy. She gets so excited when she sees him which Phil is loving and Joel remains her best friend. Joel loves running around with his little sister and having a partner in crime!

Homemade!!

I have lots of friends that seem to be getting married at the moment and I am loving a lot of what I am seeing. People are going the home made look! It might be more about saving money but why should a wedding cost the earth? I know that often people have friends of the family have can give a "perfect" product at a reduced price and that's not what I am talking about. What I love is do it yourself with REAL lumps and bumps!

It's like for our street party we could have bought expensive beautiful multicolor bunting that was perfectly strung from light post to light post, but instead we had hand made bunting with different types of fabrics that didn't quite cover the street, but it made our street feel so cared for. It was beautiful and unique!

I don't mean cheaply making something look expensive I mean just embracing our own artictic ways and make things.

Our society has made us think that everything has to be perfect but that isn't real!! And I think it makes us lose the value of things. Everything is so dispensable.

My kids are a bit poorly today so I am making them homemade bread and soup. You can easily and cheaply buy both of these but the home made version has love mixed in and I think that makes it extra special!