The Smith Crew

Brianna made a bag for one of her friends today … First time at the sewing machine! (Mummy helped guide a little and did the pedal, but she did all the rest.) She took the photos too.

March was an incredibly busy month at our place (I realise some may think that it’s always busy here… but the last month has been even more so!). As well as all the ‘normal’ things we do from week to week, in March
* Brianna turned 5 (I don’t feel old enough to have a 5 year old!)
* and started playing hockey,
* we had our church missions conference,
* took two day trips to the sunshine coast to visit friends,
* Ellia broke her leg and was in a cast for a week (after two late night visits to the childrens emergency department with Daddy) then a brace for another three weeks,
* Heidi (a friend of mine) and I started a new program at our church for littlies (2-4 year olds) on wednesday nights,
* Daddy went to Kingaroy for two days,
* the rest of us went to see the QLD orchestra play Peter and the Wolf (Mrs John came too)
* Brianna and Malachi spent two days at Granny’s house,
* we had a busy easter with a trip to the redcliffe festival of sails and to rocks riverside park for a bbq with friends,
* did lots of sewing as we prepared for Adrian and Julia’s wedding (also in march, 4 of us were in the bridal party - Malachi wore his first suit!),
* Daddy turned 28 and started playing basketball again and
* Ezra started rolling over!

Now for the photos

The Smith Crew and the Caitens Clan @ the Sunshine Coast unit the Caitens were staying in.

We all went and played putt putt together. It was slightly crazy, but enjoyed by most!

The two little men particularly enjoyed the helicopter inside…

and the motorbikes!

Miss Grumpy-pants with her leg in a cast (she wasn’t actually grumpy, she just didn’t particularly want her photo taken)

On a ride at the redcliffe festival of sails

Enjoying sno-cones

With the Caitens and McClures @ Rocks Riverside

The first hockey game!

Uncle Adrian and Mr Malachi in his suit (it’s serious business!)

Ezra pulling faces earlier in the month… he’ll be 5 months old on Thursday… time has disappeared!!

This is the “real” dress that was made for Brianna for a wedding last year. I posted about the trial dresses I made for the girls here and here. She was a big hit on the day She and Ellia are going to be flowergirls for my brother’s wedding at the end of March - but we were able to find dresses last year for them so I don’t have to sew them! (Just need to get started on my bridesmaid dress and finish one for one of the other girls!)

October was a busy month (what’s new) with lots of birthdays! We started the month with a Breakfast BBQ for Grandad’s Birthday. Daddy’s new job has been going really well, the kids are enjoying seeing him a bit more than before, and we’re all enjoying our “Thursday outings” (because he works the weekends he takes Thursday off to spend time together and rest). We went to the Lawnton pool one week - the kids thought that was just fantastic!! They were particularly impressed with the new swimming clothes too and the crocodile - or “croc-coc” if you ask malachi.

Brianna has started going to art classes on Monday afternoons. We all went the first few weeks but it got a bit crazy. A friend offered to keep taking just Brianna - so for the last three or so weeks she has been going along on her own and just loving it (particularly the part where she gets to play with all her “friends”!)

We had a tea party with the McClures, Mrs John and Heidi for Bella’s birthday. She picked out all the balloons/plates/etc (any suprise that they’re all purple??!!) and thoroughly enjoyed the whole event. She spent most of the weekend of her birthday telling everyone that she was “three now” and that she’d had her birthday - she still has moments of realising that yes, she’s still three, and just how exciting that is even now a few weeks on

Malachi got in on the building action when Daddy converted an old double bed to a low futon for the girls room:

I have a new sling for the baby

And Bella asked if she could have one to match

We’ve also finally added some pets to our family! Last week we bought a fish tank and two gold fish. We plan to add some more fish, but were told to do it slowly so that they have time to adjust. Apparently their names are Libby (Brianna’s fish) and Sabby (Bella’s fish) … but that has a tendency to change depending on what time of day you ask them
So now that October is over, it’s time for baby to arrive! I was hoping that maybe he/she would make his/her appearance during October to add to the already long October list, but it would seem that he/she is more keen on November - perhaps even sharing a birthday with Grandma Joan?? I’ve been really enjoying my midwife visits, collecting all the bits and pieces we need for the birth, talking to the children about the new baby … not enjoying the heat quite so much, and still working on patiently waiting for bub to arrive (some days are easier than others!!) but all in all we’re all doing well, enjoying putting some energy into redecorating the house now that we have a 12 month lease signed (will put some photos up sometime soon), and enjoying our family and the ministry opportunities the Lord has given us!

I’ve been trying to build up the girls collection of “basic” type skirts (skirts that go with more than one of the tops in their wardrobes!). I did these ones today with some $4/m fabric from east coast fabrics, the ribbon and buttons cost more than the fabric!!!! (Brianna chose the ribbon and buttons when she and I went out last weekend) Am yet to try them on, but will try for some action shots once they’re on!