Brisbane's newest train fanatic.

Saturday rolled around at this house and a case of the grumps had taken hold of Han, so the kids and I treated him to some Daddy alone time.

While Han flexed his muscles at the gym and caught a movie we headed to the Ipswich rail museum which is always a big hit.  Last time we were there Hugo slept through the whole thing and the small pockets of awake time were filled with milk.  It was so interesting this time to take him back and see how much more interested he is in the world around us.

That, and this kid loved trains.

Otto raced around all the exhibits, climbing on the trains, working out how to get the simulations to work.  It is amazing to see how even in a few months his ability to problem solve has changed.  Sometimes I catch a glimpse that gives me hope that we will indeed move past the irrational three year old!

I always love the grounds of this museum, so old and well conserved.  All that red brick and architecture that feels as though it was not only planned to be functional but beautiful at the same time.  Unpretentious and unassuming, so much of the new buildings have lost "feeling", these exude warmth to me.

We had time to do a tour offered of the blacksmith area.  It was definitely a highlight for all of us, Otto joined up with a bunch of older boys and stuck with them through the whole tour.  His Independence is amazing me, I can see lots of ignoring and eye rolling from him in my near future.

The best part of the day was certainly the extra "I love you's" and enthusiasm for such a good day on the way home.  It makes the tiredness really worth it, when you see those happy faces.

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Otto:  Rescuing the watering can from over the fence.  He finally managed to get it with that broom too!

Hugo:  This little one loves planes, his world stops for the few minutes it takes for them to fly by and  we all pause and watch with a smile as we waves at them from below.

Croup and the nasty barking cough have once again descended on our house, leaving us all with little sleep and a newfound love of coffee.  I had heard that the first winter season of Kindy was tough, we are all starting our dose of olive leaf today!

As always, linking up with Jodi over at che and fidel.

Oh my heart.

I could fill this post with mothering longings for the baby to stay a while longer, commiserations that time is fickle and gone too fast.  But, he is happy, healthy and a pure delight.  One more month of his first trip around the sun and I couldn't be prouder of him, and us.

Our littlest love.

Happenings.

A portrait thanks to Otto.
Oh the attitude of a three year old.
The sweetness of an almost one year old.
This weeks gorgeous market blooms.
Our tree climber.
On my 33rd birthday.

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Otto:  The bug obsession continues, this guy hung around with us for half an hour before finally flying away.
Hugo:  He is getting so fast on the walker, I am thrilled for him and really looking forward to walking somewhere holding two little hands in mine.

As always, linking up with Jodi.http://cheandfidel.blogspot.com/

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Hugo:  Sat and played with Otto's train for such a long time, concentrating hard on the movement of the wheels and workings of the pistons.

Otto:  A new helmet to match the flames on his bike, he was ready to "ride like fire"!

It is nice to be able to join in with Jodi again now that we are settled.  I like that doing this project gives me pause to stop and reflect over the week we have had before moving forward to the next one.

Teething sucks!

I am sitting here, looking out over our street as the rain taps on the window, sipping my tea in an effort to not drink anymore coffee just yet.  Exhausted.  Hugo is teething, a common occurrence for all kids around this age, you finally get them sleeping through the night, just getting used to the idea of a good solid sleep again when little white teeth start forcing their way through gums.

A matching pair for the bottom ones shouldn't be too far away, and then sleep will be restored, until next time anyway.  While we wait though Nespresso can rest assured that we will be keeping them in business.

We have had a quiet week, gearing up for Kindy to return next week and a faster pace of life, the break has taught me how much Otto has changed in the first term.  Gone is my little boy, he is fast becoming the independent child I always knew he was going to be, our conversations are so much more thought provoking, less mundane and much more challenging for me to have all the answers.

There is a bond happening here too, these little boys are starting to play more, fight more over toys and attention and look towards each other for fun than ever before, it is thrilling to watch.

Let's all hope that tonight brings with it some more sleep for us all.  Happy weekending!

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I will slowly be catching up with the portraits as I get the time to go through old photos.  For now, here is the one from last week.  I didn't get a photo of each child, but a combined one, we were ready to head out for the day, the first day in weeks where we weren't running errands or unpacking and it was all about fun.

The Ipswich art gallery had a free shadow puppet show, which was amazing, I have never seen one before and was besotted with the art form, which is sadly a dying art.  The elderly gentleman who performed was brilliant, he sang, told jokes and had each child hooked for the whole half hour!

Not too far away is a brilliant park and playground which was the perfect end to our day.

Linking up with Jodi

Phew!

I am back, sitting here tapping away on the keys enjoying the cool Autumn breeze from our new (to us) bedroom.  We have finally moved in, I can honestly say that while moving with two children is harder than one, it still hasn't trumped moving countries at 34 weeks pregnant.

A few days before Easter three men with missing teeth descended on our rental house and managed to drop many things, forget to load onto the truck a ridiculous amount and tell as many sexist and demeaning jokes in my presence as possible, but they got it (mostly) done.  I feel safe to say that I am a pro unpacker, the bulk of it was done within two days and our living areas are now complete.  All looks well just so long as you don't look in the storage area under the house!

It has been a great move, we are so happy in this house so far.  Each time I open another cupboard I discover a gem from the past, broken hearts written in the depths of children's cupboards, old newspapers and discarded boxes of matches.  I am in vintage heaven!

I am discovering the light, where it greets us in the morning and the best spot to have those first sips of coffee.  

Of all the dreaming and brainstorming I am pretty keen for this carpet to be amongst the first things that go, under that gorgeous pattern is some beautiful hard wood floors just crying out to be polished and shown off!

Over the next few weeks I will be taking the photos all ready to be labelled and put into our before album, as we start the designs for the first of our many projects.  Exciting times ahead here and I can't wait to share it all!