Papa Visits 2

Papa was incredibly helpful for the two weeks he stayed with us. He spent days in the extreme heat of Summer unpacking and organising Clinton's huge shed. I wish I had taken before and after photos as it's hard to describe how enormously daunting the task truly was. Papa was super helpful around the house too; putting out the rubbish, hanging out and taking in the washing, cleaning the kitchen, washing the dishes, babysitting...the list is endless. I was able to get the last boxes unpacked while he was there and settle the kids into school. Plus the kids loved having Papa to play with them, as you can see in these pictures in the pool. He's extremely patient with us all and we feel so blessed to have him in our lives. 

They love it when Papa throws them in the pool

Three on one, poor Papa!

I tried to get a nice photo of Papa and the kids before church, but inevitably someone's eyes were closed or someone wasn't looking in every photo!

One of Zara's first words was "Harra" she loves her big brother!

It was Papa's birthday on the day he flew home so the night before we had ribs for dinner and a birthday cake (covered in mint kit kats and cherry ripes - Papa's favourites).

Zara is thinking, "let me at that cake!"

After the cake...haha!

Words can't express our gratitude for Papa coming to help us during our move. He's always serving and helping others and we appreciate his good example in our lives. Thanks for all your help Papa, we hope you got some rest when you got home. 

First Day of School 2017

I was so grateful that I had Papa staying with us for the first week of school. It was much easier taking the big kids to school without Zara. This is Alissa's first year of Kindy and she was really excited to be going to her new "big girl school." I had to include all these photos of her because her facial expressions were priceless!

Sienna in year one, Alissa in kindergarten and Harrison in year five. 

This is my favourite photo of them all! 

Harrison was so happy to be in his best friend Michael's class. He really hit the jackpot this year with his teacher Mrs Campman-Withers. She's fantastic! Harry had a wonderful first day. 

Cute notes the teacher left on all the students desks

Harry was lucky to have lots of his friends in his class. Michael, Tobie, Zachary and Jaxon.

I don't know why I didn't get a photo of Sienna in her classroom. Her room was in a bit of chaos that morning and maybe I was too distracted. Sienna is in a split year one/two class. She was happy to have her friend Lily in her class but unfortunately many of her other friends were in different classrooms this year.

Alissa is in Mrs Morris's class this year. She happily got stuck into the activities on the tables.

A sweet gift of bubbles from her new teacher

A gift from Alissa's teacher to the parents

Alissa didn't shed a tear and happily said goodbye to me. I went home relieved that she was so settled. She goes to school 2 days one week and 3 days the next, a five day fortnight. 

Papa Snow Visits

Moving house during school holidays seemed like a good idea but it was hard getting stuff done with 4 kids home! Luckily the new house has a pool as it gave the kids something to do. Clinton had to work all through January and the thought of unpacking and sorting through his shed was daunting. Papa offered to fly over and help for a couple of weeks at the end of January. We were so grateful! The kids had a great time playing with Papa - Zara instantly warmed to him, I think she must have remembered him cuddling her through the night as a new born. 

Zara got into the habit of following Papa around and tugging on his pants to get him to pick her up. She would put out her hand and signal for Papa to give her food and drinks. She loved having her own personal slave! They were very cute together. 

Papa happened to be staying with us on Australia Day and we were able to take the boat out (thank goodness, Papa doesn't have great luck when it comes to our boat! It's either shocking weather or the boat breaks down). We enjoyed a lovely morning at Marney Bay. 

Papa is very patient with the kids, he stood in the water for ages as the kids jumped to him from the boat. 

I love this photo of Harrison jumping into the water!

We bought this cute fold up high chair from K-Mart, I wish we'd had one of these with the other kids. Great for toddlers who are crawling and getting sand all through their food. 

Zara really likes the water and having swims with Mum