The Dower Family

After six VERY along weeks of holidays, these two are finally back to school and we all couldn’t be happier. Eve is thrilled to pieces to be a big grade one girl, to finally wear the proper school uniform and to get big girl homework (we’ll see how long that lasts!). Ol is happy to be back because he really missed hanging out with all of his mates, he loves to learn and he couldn’t wait to meet his new teachers again. Personally, I couldn’t wait to get them out the door and back into the daily routine. I think they were really starting to miss it.  Plus they may have been driving me absolutely bonkers with all of their squabbling!!

A photo from each of the past twelve months. You are happily sleeping after a first big day of being a nine year old.  In what is a tradition around here, I want to share some of the things that I will always remember about you at this age. - you still eat like a caveman.  I am constantly telling you that ice-cream/lasagne/custard is not a finger food - you can be quite the little worrier.  You ask me every single day if I will pick you up from the exact same spot.  I do.  Every, single time.  But still you fret. - you love Harry Potter even more than last year.  I thought once you'd read all the books it might fade.  It hasn't.  A muggle like me can't possibly understand. - You struggle to tell a lie without cracking a smile.  You even cover your mouth when you are trying to convince me you are telling the truth.  A classic giveaway. - You are just the right height that I can put my arms around your shoulders and cud...

This sweet pea and I had a girl’s trip down to Sydney in October to spend some time with Aunty Alicia and Uncle Guy before they headed off on their big global adventure. I thought I was taking the easy child with me and was totally in for a relaxing trip. I couldn’t have been more wrong! The first day was alright, apart from buying her the wrong ice-cream, which she refused to eat until I bought another one which met her strict criteria. Rainbow. I should have known. Luckily Uncle Guy was more than happy with the first ice-cream. We had a great visit to the coolest play centre near Al & Guy’s place. Lots of insta worthy photo opportunities! It was also the perfect place to catch up with Aunty Tahlia.

Six.  SIX?!? How can you be six?   You started school this year. I've never seen a kid so super confident walking through those school gates. You hardly gave me a backwards glance as you settled into your new class, making new friends and learning new tricks.  You really have just rocked it.  I've missed having you around with me as my little buddy, coming with me on errands and entertaining me with your crazy antics.  The house feels empty without you in it.  You've made all the connections with reading and writing.  It's all coming together and it's so exciting to watch.  You can pick up books from your shelf and I can see the absolute delight when you can read the words from the page.  You sit at the table and write out words, asking me to spell them to you.  Sometimes you even write me notes, telling me you are sorry for something you have done, or telling me I am the meanest mummy in the world because you didn't g...

We spent Easter with all of the cousins under the one roof.  Luckily the Easter Bunny was still able to find us!

It's been a crazy start to the year with Eve starting prep AND moving house but we are still here. As a proof of life here are our two not so little ones chilling out on the couch tonight. Still driving each other bonkers but also loving each other like crazy. Xx

Wasn't it just days ago that I was writing the seven birthday blog? How are these years flying by so quickly?  This year seems especially quick.  Everything feels rushed, like if I close my eyes I'll be writing a nine birthday blog.  And I'm certainly not ready for that.  So before another year passes, let me tell you some of the things that I will remember about my beautiful boy from this year: - he has become obsessed with Harry Potter.  He is just about to start the sixth book but he is constantly going back and revisiting the earlier books.  He dressed as HP for Halloween this year (like he was ever going to be anyone else) and is constantly jabbering away about all the characters and how it is so unfair that he is a muggle.  I have said that I need to read the books too so I can figure out what he is going on about.   - We have kicked the butt of allergies even more this year, moving from taking medicine everyday to having a ...

We took an early Christmas holiday on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas.  Here are some of our highlights.

Friday's are usually a pretty good day in our world. The end of the working week, school parade and sometimes even tuck shop. But today we took it up a notch with a cheeky day off school and a trip to Movieworld (thanks to our yearly tickets it cost us nothing to go today).  The kiddos had an absolute blast going on all the rides that Eve could fit on. I basically just lined up in the heat for rides that I wasn't even going on which really proves just how much I love these two ratbags. We then settled ourselves in for a play and a splash at our favourite family secret beach. A couple of seagulls came to visit but otherwise we had it completely to ourselves. 

These two little cuties kicked off nippers season down at the Gold Coast today. We are looking forward to an awesome summer ahead!!

It's been ten years since Nick and I got married and a LOT has changed in that time.  Luckily they are all great things.  Since I spend so much of my time now editing other people's beautiful wedding, I thought it was about time to update our very dated, documentary style wedding footage.  

Okay so this one can be filed under the ridiculously belated category. I was going through photos on my phone when I found pics from when Nanna Freddie took the kids to the Brickman Experience (aka Lego!!) at the convention centre. The kids had the most amazing time, and not surprisingly so did I! 

The birthday girl got well and truly spoiled for turning five but I have to say that one of the best presents was a trip to Sydney with Nanna Freddie to visit Aunty Alicia and Uncle Guy. Nick got to stay behind and enjoy the peace and quiet while we headed down to Sydney for a three day mini-break.  Not that it was terribly relaxing, what with a trip to Luna Park and a day at Taronga Zoo.  It sure was fun though. Click on the video above to check out what we got up to.

We have had you now for five years.  That's half a decade. Half the time your Daddy and I have been married. No wonder we couldn't imagine a life without you in it. You've gotten so big and grown so very much in this past 12 months.  So let me share with you some of the things that I love the very most about who you are at this moment: - Your full name is Evie Alice Snuggle Buggle Dower.  You are quite possibly the cuddliest person I have ever met in my life.  Your sweet little on the lips kisses are just beyond. - You have approximately 57.5 gorgeous freckles on your nose. Everyone tells me that they looks like I've painted them on.  - You call ping pong Bing Bong - You absolutely love to have a good dance with wild shaking hips and lip syncing.  Lately the words to songs have really started to kick in and you even seem to know the words to "Advance Australia Fair" from parade. - Your favourite songs on Spotify are Barbie Girl and Rockin'...

In just four more sleeps our tiny Eve will be five years old. I just want to bottle up her gorgeous four year old self so I made a quick film to remember her at this age. You can also have a sneak peek at her riding without training wheels for the first time.  Look at her go!!

Quick, I've got five minutes to get you all up to speed on what has been going on around here lately. In big news, we've got a brand spanking new library in our little patch of the world. This is super exciting for a bunch of book lovers like we are. It's bright and big and there are heaps of great spots to curl up with a book or a magazine too. I think we went there three times in the first four days it was open! We've also had a bit of island time, despite the cooler weather. The kids might not have been able to swim in the chilly water but they sure had a good time fishing and stomping around on the beach discovering all kinds of treasures.  A trip to the dentist might not seem too exciting to us but these two were counting down the days until their appointments. Eve was especially pumped to wear the glasses and ride up and down in the chair. Ol was more interested in watching the television in the ceiling.  In...

Just a little snippet of our trip so far.  This week we've been to the zoo... I'm surprised they let us out. We are such a bunch of animals! We've also been to the waterpark where we spent the day going on as many scary rides as we possibly could. Which is plenty if you are Ollie, but a few less if you are a slightly shorter Eve.  She's been making up for the loss of the waterslides with lots of pretty and cheap dresses and all day swimming.