Better late than never...at least the NY msg isn't too old!

December...the bits b4 xmas

We had lots of fun in December. Here's Mummy and Nicky "driving" around with Zoe and Marcia at the WRB Xmas BBQ:

Daddy and Nicky enjoying a book at our local coffee shop (Josh, the barista extraordinaire, in the background):

Nicky scored a construction set... make your own airplane and racing car:

Amelie came to visit and shared her favourite iPod viewing with Nicky (leaving Mummy, Jez and Sarah to catch up):

Working hard...

Early training for corporate life - Little Fella asleep over his "work".

Emptying the bins

Thankyou to whomever gave us these two chairs (must have been in my forgetful early phase of mummyhood!). They are now dutifully employed being bins, ripe for the emptying, complete with bin truck noises and that helpful shake at the top. This is also a game that can be played by two - Mummy and Nicky emptying the bins interspersed with "..and RUN!" laps around the yard.

Girraween adventure

First baby 'cino

Order's in...



....not too sure about this, looks a bit fancy. And not as big as Mummy's...

...WOW!

Daddy's got a new (race) bike

Too cool for...

...kindy! Hey, Miss Fleur, how YOU doin'?!

Modern Art

Kids are funny...

... so anyway... you might remember our good friends Gordo and Mary stayed a little while ago. Well Gordo went on a side trip (one of those buddhist/meditation 10 days of silence type trips - hey, he's one of the original hippies!) and rolled back to 29 Twelfth for a stop over before heading back to Darwin...

Well, our little mate was quite taken with 'Gogo' ... when Gogo had been in seclusion for a good week, he pointed to a bottle in the fridge and asked "Gogo foud?" What the?! ... we looked and he is pointing at a bottle of ginger beer - definitely not ours and not referred to previously ... he must have seen Gordo drinking his ginger beer and putting it in the fridge! ... and when we dropped Gordo off at the train station (and explained the train-plane-home sequence) he hasn't stopped asking after him since... "Gogo on that toot-toot?"... "Gogo plane?... "Gogo home?" ... which has manifested into Gogo fwying da plane? fwying da da (helicopter)? Must be that have been a touch of transendental in that time away.

Funny stuff right there...

The 5 and O...!!

Big thanks at Teresa for baking and organising my 50th for the past week!! A great barby afternoon with all sorts of great food and all I had to do was burn some of it on the barby (actually I did pretty well with some supervision from Timsta). It is always good to get together, sample decent booze and excellent food with the company of friends... and to cap it all off I get my to favourite deserts in one helping - the 5 is T's famous double choc brownies (with Amie's rum balls as a last minute addition) and the O is her pavlova with lots of cream and strawberries!! Doesn't get much better than that!! Big XXXX to you Honey....


Grumps entertained Nicky or was it the other way around? It was great to see the kids having a ball - funny they don't seem to mind who is playing the game so long as there is a game to play...

Woohoo!! My first pushy...

Mummy helped me along on my little balance bike just to get me going... but!...


... I was zooming along before you knew it!

Visitors

Our most excellent Gordo and Mary type friends arrived the other day to spread a their own special mix of smiles and giggles... it is always wonderful when these old hippies flit into town ... always on the way to adventures of course...

... What? Like this? You want a nice natural photo like this? No problem!...

All aboard!

It's the mummy roller ride! There is obviously a lot of fun to be had joining Mummy stretching. Other fun around the house recently has included a spot of painting:

and a pinch of spicy cooking:

fun with Daddy's shaving cream:

and waiting for the rugby to start (we wish it hadn't):

Pristine!

After an adventure on the toot-toot, Nanny and Nicky had a lovely time wandering Roma St Parklands whilst Mummy visited a nearby neurologist to have brain scans announced "pristine" - just a nasty flu virus getting on my nerves. A celebratory coffee was had on my return. A wonderful day in so many ways.

Crikey it's been awhile! more walking photos 'cause we take the camera walking and we take photos of us just for you!

Here is a wet day at Mt Cootha... our little mate gets an armchair ride and is getting very relaxed in the pack... I have leant him out a bit to get a photo but have to say that the Wilderness Equipment childcarrier is an absolute godsend... when a child leans like this in other pack the weight transfer would be very uncomfortable for the dad... but with the 'X' frame of this pack a significant proportion of the childs weight gets transferred to the diagonal hip and so remains very even and balanced... also the raincover actually is effective and covers all the pack! amazing!
We got back to Binna Burra in the Lamington National Park on the last weekend - finally! ...been a myriad of little chores and events that were conspiring to keep us away... our little mate has really taken to gadgets especially if Dad or Mum have just been using them!

One of the things about new beds is that little boys can climb out of them if they are not that tired... he then stands at the door and crys out, "Mummeeee" ... waits a bit then, "Daddeeeee". If no action is forthcoming then we may hear a cry starting from a small attention getter and once or twice a large attention getter... but mostly he'll settle for a listen to see who might be around, perhaps a little "Hello?" and then a little hand slides out under the door... what Daddy can resist not having an ET moment with his little fella?!!

Happy Birthday, Nicholas!!

It all started the previous Saturday with our mum's group birthday party. A cake constucted by cupcakes and deconstructed by our 2 year olds. Zahlia enjoying a chocolate one and Lauren in the background.

Nicholas's actual birthday was on the Thursday so not much happened. A fun day with Mummy including a visit to the park, climbing a tree:






But then, Saturday, the bed is finished. Let the party begin:

And a special semi-trailer truck cake. Yum! How good are those oreo wheels slightly softened by the chocolate ganash icing?
Happy Birthday, beautiful boy. We love you xx

Happy Birthday little mate!!...

Ahhh... finally... very happy indeed with the outcome...

... and the little fella gets his first look with a little friend - Marcia... seems ok Dad

... yeah ok - it's really cool dad - ta!!!

Shellac...

Shellac is a natural coating used by furniture types for centuries... it doesn't fade much over centuries, is very hard, gives a very warm feel and look and is easy to work with... comes from the substance secreted by a south asian beetle in protecting its eggs... beetle spit... kinda...

sanding back the first fill coats of shellac on the foot end... head end nearest camera...

putting together the frame for the first time to accurately determine foot and head board lengths...

... then back to shellacing and sanding... you can see in the bottom right the head end top surface is starting to glisten well after just a few coats...

all the mattress tub boards are held by jigs off the floor so it is easier to coat the routed edges as well...
... using a shellac 'rubber' is the best way to apply shellac over a large flat surface... it holds a good 'charge' of shellac and by using pressure you can very finely control the amount of shellac deposited...