Merry Christmas

Will probably take a bit of a blogging break.

Have a wonderful Christmas! Much love from the Birks Family.

Carols and Candlelight

Attending Carols in the Domain here in Sydney has become a bit of a tradition for our family now. People often say to us that we're brave to try and manage it with young kids and such big crowds. We love it though and have learnt a few new things each time that we've gone. so this year was definately our best one yet. I think the most important thing is to set aside the whole day for it and not be tempted to try and get other things done as well. We got there nice and early, parked at the Domain carpark ($12 for the whole day, yeah!) and parked as close to the exit as possible (saves long queues getting out at the end of the night). Come prepared with some sort of sun cover. It always seems to rain so its good to have shelter while you're waiting as well as shade from the sun. A big size picnic blanket, plenty of snacks, changes of clothes for the kids and plenty of sunscreen and you're all set.
Sam watched our spot for most of the day, while I took the boys for some adventures through the city. A ride on the monorail, another visit to Santa's train at Myer, a play in the water fountains at Darling Harbour. There is so much fun to find for kids in Sydney.
It also helped that a friend of mine was able to organise tickets to the VIP section for us. We were literally a stones throw from the stage. Hyrum couldn't believe it when the Wiggles came out, I think it actually freaked him out a little to see them in person. This was one of my favourite moments though, when Leo Sayer sang "White Christmas" a snow machine of sorts sprinkled snowflakes across the stage and it floated out into the first few rows of the audience. It was magical for me, amongst all the beautiful lights to see snowflakes falling around me.
We met some lovely people on the day too, lots of fun families sitting all around us (one who offered to take this family photo for us).
Each of the boys crashed at different times during the evening. They had so much fun though and were amazingly good. I have a feeling though that any future Carols would be a let down now compared to this year. We may just have to retire from the Carols scene after this, and just remember what a perfect day we had!

Tough Days

Ashton was a bit cheeky last week. He decided that sleep was entirely overrated, and he wasn't going to have a bar of it. Each night he slowly eliminated it bit by bit, thinking I wouldn't notice, until Thursday night he went for the full marathon and persisted to stay awake from 11:30pm until 5:00am.
Now I could blame the perrennial toddler scapegoat, "teething". I could blame the nagging runny nose that won't go away. But I think really, he just wanted to see what was on TV at 4:00 in the morning. So I gave in, we watched an hour of the US Today show, and that was it, he went straight to sleep and hasn't bothered me at night since.
I think the hardest thing for me to adjust to from having kids is the at times torturous lack of sleep. When I'm feeling my most frustrated though, I just look at those chubby cheeks and cheeky grin, and I deal, just that little bit better.

Imaginary House Shopping

We are still quite a long way off from buying our first house. But that doesn't stop me from doing some imaginary house hunting once in a while. The great thing about imaginary house hunting is there's no price limit! I found this beautiful house the other day and just fell in love with it. I don't know whether it was the romantic vines up the side of the house or the fact that it was my favourite colour that got me.
I love the exposed beams in this living area and the natural light (must have lots and lots of natural light!)
The house is located a stones throw from the beach. Can you imagine the sound of waves crashing creeping into this room at night?
Ohh, love it, love it, love it.

Remember this

Remember these little gifts from my sister in law's shower a few months back?
Well, my neice sent me these photos of how her bulb is doing. I'm not sure how everyone elses faired but I'm glad to see at least one bloomed.
To see how little Jared is blooming go here.

When it rains...

Here in Sydney we have been having some crazy weather lately. Very tropical, humid all day, culminating in big storms in the afternoons and evenings. Today, the storm really hit and we got a bit of whiteness in December (hail that is). We were round at Sam's parents house and got some great photos of the boys exploring in the hail.
I was actually at home when the storm hit. I saw the clouds come and thought we were just going to have another downpour so I ducked home to close windows and get some things in from outside. I was in the backyard when the storm hit with a fury, I ducked into the garage and threw down the door. I could hear the hail pelting and all I could think was my poor car!
We have converted our garage into a playroom and work area, divided by shelves. So I climbed over the shelves to get to the door linked to the house and out the front to check on my car, but by this stage the hail was the size of golf balls and all I could do was stand there and watch.
We were lucky the damage wasn't worse, just some tiny dents in the car that hopefully Sam can fix himself. Sam's brother round the corner was not so lucky, the skylight in their kitchen was smashed in and there was a lot of damage to his car.

The drama was all pretty exciting though and the boys thought it was the greatest thing ever. This is probably the closest we'll ever get to snow in December!

Family Love

Little Joshua was Blessed on Sunday. These are some photos that my lovely Mum and beautiful sister in law Sally passed on to me. We have so few photos of all of us together (someone is always holding the camera!). So I was so happy Sally took these for us.

To see some amazing family photos go here. This is my brother and his family and the photos are unbelievable, the kind that give you goose bumps they're that beautiful!

Why Daddys are Special

My Daddy is super special. He takes me on speedy boat rides.
And shows me cool things like great big bridges.
He takes me to fun places, like this park with the giant mouth that looks like it could eat me up!

He shows me how to get blown away
And lets me ride down super steep slides.
He teaches me how to drive.
And he even looks good in a dress.
My Daddy is special because he's my Daddy. And no one knows how to have a fun day like him. Yeah for uni being finished for good! Bring on lots of Daddy Days Out!