Sam turns 4

Well good evening, my fine friends. The rain has been tumbling down in Old Hobart Town all day. Nothing better than hearing its patter on our tin roof. Or thinking about the good soaking all the little treasures we've tucked under the soil in our garden are getting. Not long now and they'll be poking their heads up, all ready to put on a spring spectacular for us! So as I sit here with my mug of hot chocolate, I thought I'd share with you some snaps of our celebrations of Sam's recent 4th birthday. Yes, my baby's growing up!

Here he is, as proud as punch to be wearing his new badge.

Here are the troops, reading for The Great Unwrapping.

Miss India delighted in making him a card. Bubble writing is her preferred style at the moment.

This was the noisiest and craziest present. Thanks Mr PB!

This was the most imaginative one. All three of them will put this to good use. It's genius in the way one side is a theatre and the other a shop. 

These wooden dominoes will provide the greatest challenge to them. There will be maths involved in the placing of them the right way. And lots of fun starting the big donger to knock them over!

This wooden harbour set is the sweetest. I've sure my Dad is looking on approvingly. It's a little bit Scandinavian and delightfully tactile. Not to mention colourful. Hours of fun to be had with it!

Here's a little close-up so you can appreciate the detail.

And the pièce de résistance is my attempt at the Australian Women's Weekly's car cake. It was my first use of fondant icing since Joshie's 1st birthday. I was rather glad with this effort.

The smile on his dial is all I need as a verdict!

And to think he'll be starting Kinder next year. My word. No longer do I have 3 under 4. It's all happening here! Right in front of my eyes.

Now I'll bid you adieu and race to the telly to watch the Ashes. Being a cricket tragic and all, you know! Night.

Celebrating Mothers' Day 2013

Bonjour! Oui, c'est moi. Just popping in to thank you so much for your heartfelt responses to my last post. Please know how much your words lifted my spirits. However, it threw the cat amongst the pigeons for some so I edited it and some comments - life's complicated enough right now.  Anyway, onto lighter news. Here are some highlights of my Mothers' Day 2013.

Having a photo of me with the pixies is such a treat. Bed hair and all!

They helped Mr PB whip up some scrambled eggs and bacon. Mmm!

Here's Joshie's card spelling out Mothers' Day. Bless him. I've never been called awesome before!

Miss India's card gave me a huge hug!

They raided my Liberty stash and wrapped my pressies in it.

I was treated royally. Here's my lucky haul. So much goodness there. The Liberty handkerchiefs were the most amusing part. Mr PB had managed to nab some fabric from my stash and get a friend to hem it for him!

Some bubbles were duly poured.

Then our parents came over for lunch. Here are the three mums being toasted.

It was a glorious autumnal Hobart day so we enjoyed spending it outside. Simple pleasures.

And that, sweet Planetarians, is a wrap. How did you spend your Mothers' Day? Do tell.

Celebrating Easter 2013 on Planet Baby

Bonsoir, you gorgeous Planetarians. Thanks so much for your enthusiastic responses to my last post about Planet Joy. I'd love to bottle your enthusiasm! And speaking of which, that's how Easter was embraced here this year. We had brunch here with a couple of families with youngsters - there were 6 adults and 12 under 12! Much hilarity ensued. I'll let the photos do the talking.

The Great Easter Egg Hunt

Here's Miss India with her bounty.

And Joshua.

Followed by Sam, saying "Cheese!" as only he can!

Here are the assembled hunters.

Sammy found eggs in the unlikeliest places.

Here's India's basket, early on in the hunt. They all had a hoot!

The Grand Tugs-of-War

Then we followed up with some good ole tug-of-war races. Hilarious. Just look at the concentration.

And then the kids beat the dads easily!

My Easter craft

The pixies loved the Liberty bunny ears I made them.

Still smiling on cue for his Mum at age 7. Long may it last!

And this little chappy was getting tired after a long day.

My three little bunnies hit the sack early. And just like that, another Easter was over. More memories salted away - love it! How was your Easter? Do share - I'm all ears!

Starting the new school year

Oh my word. Thankyou ever so much for your warm welcome back to Blogland. I have been staggered by your interest and kindness. It has really buoyed my spirits. I'll respond to your comments shortly - I'm still finding my bearings a little. So, the next catchup post is about the pixies starting school and daycare for 2013. I relish taking photos of them to mark the occasion. They'll be a treasured family series once they've all left school. So in keeping with my new habit of shorter, more photographic posts, I present these beauties to you.

Joshua was so proud to be the leader of the gang here, resplendent in his new rugby top with its turned-up cuffs! He was heading off to Grade 2. 

India was so excited about starting full-time Prep, after only 3 days a week Kinder last year. She wore big girl plaits and clasped old Tommy Dog tightly. She's had an enormous growth spurt lately, to her delight.

And Sammy brought up the rear, all ready for Daycare again - one day a week. His best buddy Mike the Monkey accompanied him.

Miss India settled in straightaway, bless her. Love that pencil grip ☺.

She was as happy as Larry when we left her on the mat.

Joshie, meanwhile, gave me a Mum-please-hurry-up-you-are-embarrasing-me look!

I then took Sam to daycare. Alas, there are no photos of his arrival. After talking it all up with him, it was disappointing to discover he had moved rooms (news to us), didn't know his new carers and his friends weren't there. All hard to take when you're 3½! Thankfully, he soon settled in, to my profound relief.

And so another year starts. Next year, I'll have all three of them at school! I can't imagine what that will be like. Right, short post over. Next time, I'll fill you in on Planet Joy's growth. I'm looking forward to that!

2012 on Planet Baby: our year in photos

Bonsoir, mes amies. Oui, c'est moi! I know, it's an uncommon occurrence to have me posting on consecutive days. But I do love a Good Old Wrap-up. 2012 has been such a rollercoaster of a year. It started with my hope of 'simplifying my life'. That all went pear-shaped on 9 January 2012 when Mr PB lost his job and was book-ended by the same thing happening on 10 December 2012. A close friend remarked the other day that we'd had 'an annus horribilis'. I could easily succumb to so labelling it. But I won't. There were some definitely some upsides. I want to count our blessings and emphasise the positives. I know my Dad would be geeing me up to do just that. Anyway, without further ado, here are my highlights of our 2012.

January

My precious pixies in a rare photo as a trio. They're hard to pin down, my rambunctious littlies!

February

My darling big girl started Kindy. She was proud as punch. Faithful Tommy Dog was there to bear witness. As usual.

March

We delighted in watching Tasmania's victory in the final Sheffield Shield roster match of the season, sending them into the Grand Final. 

April

We relished sharing PB HQ with a large number of friends and their children as we celebrated Easter with an Easter Egg Hunt in the garden.

May

My baby enjoyed Mothers' Day as much as I did!

June

I thoroughly enjoyed doing the 30 Day Self-Care Blueprint with wonderful Deb and Kirri. I learnt so much about myself.

July

I cherished watching Sammy grow up overnight into an inquisitive toddler. Here he is on his 3rd birthday, tackling this puzzle for the first time.

August

My siblings, Mum and I finally laid my darling Dad to rest, nearly a year later. I think he'd appreciate this view of his beloved River Derwent.

September

Our efforts as gardening greenhorns finally bore fruit with this fragrant erlicheer.

October

Armed with my newly won iPhone, I soon became addicted to the mistress called Instagram.

November

By now, Planet Joy was humming along beautifully. This is one of my first custom orders.

December

And to end, here are my four favourite creative Instagram snaps I took. A fabulous reminder of how far I've come this year, health-wise.

Thanks for your warm companionship in Blogland in 2012. And bonne année, mes amies! I wish you only the best of health, happiness and prosperity in 2013. I hope it's truly an annus mirabilis for you all.