Swans Clinic

On Tuesday in the school holidays Dad and I took the kids to the Sydney Swans AFL clinic. Daniel participated in it last year and it wasn't the best experience. Fortunately this year it was awesome! I signed both Daniel and Eliza up for it but decided if Eliza wasn't keen she could just stay with Dad, Alexander and I. On the way Eliza kept saying that she was a bit worried and didn't think she'd want to go onto the field. On the way I was reminding her that Daniel would be with her and that he would look after her. She decided that she'd give it a go. Daniel was an amazing big brother! I'm so proud of the way that he looked after her.

As we walked to the SCG we walked past Longmire. So cool! He gave the kids a high 5. I wish I had the guts to ask for a photo of him with them. Anyway, was still cool to have him say hi to them. Once we entered the SCG the kids were called onto the ground. Fortunately this year the kids were left on the ground, doing different skills in front of the stand. Daniel held Eliza's hand all the way down to the field. Once everyone was in their groups the kids started doing some skill based activities. Daniel and Eliza had Jordan Foote as their Swans player with them which was cool. They started with doing running through the sticks. Daniel and Eliza did that together.

Daniel was so good to keep Eliza close to him. A lot of times he pulled her arms around him to have her stand behind him.

Whilst Daniel and Eliza did the skills, Alexander hung with Dad and I. 

He was very curious about Cyggy.

But when I encouraged him to go up and give Cyggy a cuddle he wouldn't have a bar of it and clung to me. So I got to have a cuddle from Cyggy instead.

The kids did a few more drills - passing, trying to handball to each other, running through the ladder, handballing into the target. It was so lovely seeing Daniel and Eliza smiling so much! The kids then went over to get the autographs. They did really well and got a lot of signatures from the players. Very cool. Dad and I enjoyed looking at them all while the kids enjoyed their sausage sizzle.

As they walked back over from the signatures Daniel was again holding Eliza's hand. Bless. Adam Spencer (the MC) went up to them and asked them what their names were and who they were looking for. He then announced 'This is Daniel and Eliza. They are looking for Mummy, who is also called... Mummy. So Mummy if you're out there head down to the gate.' Then as the kids kept walking he said 'She changed her name a few years back in honour of the legendary Shane Mumford, aka Mummy. I also have it on good report that Mummy is very friendly with a guy called Daddy... Or maybe not. I really should just think those things.' Everyone had a chuckle. 

He then announced 'And if everyone could give Daniel a big round of applause for being such a good big brother. He has held his sister's hand all the way back from the signings table. What a champ'.

It was really nice to see him be recognised for the way that he looked after Eliza.

After the sausages we then headed back to the car. The kids were given an AFL ball each (which Alexander was excited to hold) and a poster of the team. 

All up it was a great day! The kids can't wait for next year.

After a week we headed to the park and Daniel wanted to take the AFL ball. We spent some time kicking it and I was so impressed with his kicking. He has pretty good direction with it. I can't wait for him to start Auskick, hopefully next year.

Blessed

Tonight during bath time I couldn't help but sit and watch my kids and think how blessed I am. All 3 of them were doing their own thing. Each has their own strengths, each has their own interests. Each is uniquely and beautifully created and I have the blessing of being their Mum. I just felt so blessed. I can't wait to see how these cheeky monkeys grow up. To see the people they become. Being a mum isn't an easy job. Raising 3 kids is full on at times but I wouldn't change it at all. Their smiles, their laughs, their curiosity. It was just nice to sit there, to take the time to watch them and to be appreciative of them.

All busy playing

3 cheeky monkeys. I am blessed

Silly faces photo

And then back to playing

 I love my kids. I love that I get to enjoy moments like this. I'm trying to be intentional about stopping and enjoying these sorts of moments.

Daniel's Birthday Party

On Saturday 1st July we met at a local community centre to celebrate our Daniel's 5th Birthday. His first party with his friends. Preparing for a party takes a lot of effort and mind space. Earlier in the week I asked Daniel if he wanted to decorate the party bags to give to his friends. He was pretty keen to. He started by drawing racing cars on the bags but then found that took a lot of time and was a bit tricky so he then changed to drawing fire engines or a picture of himself or his friend. Eliza also helped with decorating the younger kids' bags with colours and rainbows. 

The kids also had fun packing each of the party bags. They included (and I forgot to take a photo): popcorn, a pencil with rubber, toy racing car, sheet of stickers, little toy (spinning top/whistle/slinky/ball maze). 
The night before and the morning of was filled with preparing food for the party. But it was well worth it. The night before I created Daniel's cake. He had chosen the racing track and it was pretty fun to make. 

The track is made

Cars and decorations included - starting lights and checkered flag

Craig Lowndes has to be winning. Flag is made with a licorice allsort and icing

The finished product

The best part was that I had bought him a Craig Lowndes car to sit on the race track. I hadn't told Daniel about it so it was an excited surprise when he noticed in the morning of his party.

Very happy with his cake

Noticing the racing cars

Hey look, it's Craig Lowndes' car

Wow!

I love seeing their reactions each time their cake is made and they see it for the first time. It makes it so rewarding. Then it was time to prepare the other food for the party. Tiny Teddy and Milky Way Bar racing cars were so very cute to make!

Traffic light fruit skewers were also fun and looked good and went down a treat at the party. Crazy ideas that I have.

Once everything was ready we hopped into our cars (yes, multiple cars to get all the kids and things to the party) and then set everything up ready for Daniel's friends and family to arrive. It was planned to be quite a casual party with just a couple of games being played. James decided to set up his coffee machine to make coffees for the adults which worked perfectly! He enjoyed being a barista for the morning too.

I made roads to put into the sandpit which Daniel and Eliza went straight into when we pulled them out. Daniel even commented saying 'Mummy. You didn't make enough roads for my party. There needs to be more to fill the sandpit.'

The equipment that is always there was a huge hit as well.

The food table was set up. Popcorn cups, hummus and vege traffic light cups, date scones (thanks to mum), slice (thanks to mum), brownie, racing teddies, the cake. The amount of food seemed to be pretty good.

I am very proud of these!

Look at my cake!

The box cars were set up. I had a lot of fun making these and am so glad that some of the kids enjoyed running around in them.

Pin the Wheel on the Car was also set up and Mum did an amazing job at running that game for me. 

As the kids arrived some got straight into having a go!

There was also a drawing table where the kids were able to design their own racing car. Quite a few kids enjoyed sitting down and drawing.

The party ran very smoothly. I'm so grateful for all the help that I had from both family and friends! It was lovely having Malcolm and Julie come down to join the party too and they did a great job at taking so many of the photos! Mum was an awesome help at doing pin the wheel on the car (like I mentioned before) and also being the music lady for pass the parcel. Sam and Siobhan were on bird watch at the food table, stopping the birds flying down and helping themselves to the food. People had fun conversations, the kids enjoyed playing together.

Eliza spent most of the party inside with Grayma under her blanket. It made Grayma's day and was very special

The swings were popular

Daniel showing his friends his cake

The box cars were a hit (once they were pointed out and encouraged to be used).

We got all the kids to sit down in a circle ready to play Pass the Parcel. It went well having 2 parcels (because the paper wouldn't fit around 1). They kids were pretty excited about their prizes too.

Then it was cake time! We had to wait for Daniel to finish his mouth full of food first (only my boy would do that) and then he enjoyed being sung to.

Blowing out the candles was quite an effort for Daniel. Maybe 5 is too many. Ha. I loved this photo sequence which Auntie Jenny captured on camera. It really did take this long for him to blow them all out.

Everyone then had a bit more of a play, ate cake and had fun. It was then time for people to head off. Daniel gave each friend their own party bag.

Alexander just loved holding the balloons and walking around with them. Definitely a way to keep him occupied for a while.

Daniel was very spoilt by everyone! He enjoyed opening up all of his presents and has had a blast making many different lego creations, playing games like Operation and playing with his different toys. A very lucky boy.

Happy 5th birthday Daniel! I hope that you had a wonderful party, that you felt very loved and spoilt. I loved watching you smile the whole day as you played with different friends and chatted with different family members. I loved watching you see your cake and play with your new cars. I hope your 5th birthday party was a time that you will remember for a long time!