Our couch...

...is more comfortable if the cushions sit on YOU, rather than if YOU sit on the cushions.

Ooh, lookey what I got!

The sweetest little hat in the entire world!

Well, technically it's for one of my boys, as you can see:

(Isn't he CUTE?)

This is a pilot hat, from the lovely Cadi over at MaeheGirl.

One more, because I love the way this hat makes my 2 1/4 yr old look like the baby he still really is, at barely 2 years old. 

And another...not sure what that pout was over, but see, he really is just a baby.

 At just 2 years old and all 17 kilos of him, oof.

And the big guy had to try it on too, of course...

It is a beautifully made little gem, and will be one of those things you hang onto once the kids have grown out of it, unless I have a special little person around to gift it to.

Cadi is a very talented knitter and has some amazing projects on her blog, go take a look!

Thanks Cadi, we looove it!

Feeling the love...

Oh yeah, a good trampoline...

How did I let the kids hog this last time we stayed here?

Guess who hogged it this time?

Woohoo, I'm still on a high!

 Ha, bad pun intended.

School holidays are kicking my butt!

Two weeks of school holidays and oh boy, I now see why many parents breathe a sigh of relief when school goes back. Not that my kids are even in school yet, so what hope do I have when they are??

Mr 5 has 12 hours of preschool a week, not a heck of a lot, but just enough to give us some breathing room. Add to that a weekly gymnastics class and swimming lessons and the week starts to actually seem very busy.

And now, two WHOLE weeks of time to ourselves.

Which I thought would be great, the kids seemed a bit over being told to hurry up and get your shoes on/find your hat/go and pee/grab your goggles/where's your drink bottle/I TOLD you to do it five minutes ago/quick/hurry! etc. But the boys (and I) are all getting on each other's nerves, what with too much inside-time due to winter and no other kids his own age/strength for Mr 5 to bounce off.

I actually feel like I've started a new job. This is the first time I've had both kids home ALL THE TIME. Last school hols they were both still in daycare one full day a week. No longer.

So my plan for next school holidays:

Buy (ahead of time) 1 million glue sticks for the hot glue gun.

Buy 10 rolls of sticky tape.

Stock up on cardboard boxes and random sheets of styrofoam. 

Have a few meals in the freezer.

Have cookie dough ready to go, in the freezer.

Have a giant stack of new library books.

Have all bike/pram tires and footballs pumped up.

Fence that darn front yard.

 (Proving to be more difficult than originally thought, due to the planning amendment that needs to be amended...)

That's all that comes to mind right now.

My butt has been saved for next week however, we are again (unexpectedly) house sitting the mansion.

And that follows on from a free weekend (actually last weekend) at the snow!

Ok, so it was just free accommodation, but still, that's usually a very exxcy part of a snow trip.

And it did actually snow, though it was still technically low season by a few days.

Mr 5 was in H.E.A.V.E.N.

We're hoping to get back there this season and up the slopes ourselves, which I haven't done since I was preggers with Mr 5. Yoiks!

Aren't they cute?

So, on the menu for this week is....

a zoo trip (we're 20 minutes closer to the zoo from the mansion, so yay for that)

cookie making

walking the dogs - both kids loooove to do that

a play date or two - all our friends love to visit us at the mansion

orange and lemon gathering, from trees around the border of the mansion property

lots of tree climbing/trampolining/scooter riding/sandpit digging

kumquat wars (the mansion driveway is lined with kumquats that go uncollected)

Deep breath....

See you on the other side!!