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A portrait of my kids, once a week, every week, in 2015.

Mahlia: After a long bike ride with daddy on a hot, muggy day we all had a play in the park. She is still finding her feet at Steiner, and has said she is a little bored. We've spoken to her teacher so hopefully they can give her some extra work to keep her busy. She has such a passion for learning, and I'm worried she might lose it if she isn't stimulated more.

Leila: Rosy cheeks and a sweaty forehead, she is counting down the days to her birthday. She makes friends wherever she goes and at the park a little boy was cuddled, kissed and hands were held. That hair is always in her face.

Archer: He is an eating machine at the moment. I stopped breastfeeding him this week, which is bittersweet. I'm ready to have my body back and hopefully get a bit more energy, but I am struggling with cutting the cord with my baby again. On a positive, he is actually sleeping better though.

Joining in with Jodi at Practising Simplicity.

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A portrait of my kids, once a week, every week, in 2015.

Mahlia: Cooling down her sister, and everything else in her radius.

Leila: This is her smile for the photo face.

Archer: Reading books in his room. I hope her loves books as much as his sisters do.

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A portrait of my kids, once a week, every week, in 2015.

Mahlia: After her first full week of Steiner, she stated it was good but very tiring. She is still having sleepless nights and a sore tummy every morning, but once she is there she is happy, and comes home telling us about her day. She's spending lots of time outdoors and learning German! It will take some time for her to feel properly settled but we are getting there. She ended the week by going out for a paddle with daddy on the lake—she's doing it all by herself now!

Leila: This little one has settled right into school. She has been moved up into the 'big kid's' group as she's starting to read and write quite well!! She has such a lovely group of friends. Here she is at her friend's birthday party, where they dressed up in they're favourite fancy dress outfit. Cutest little nurse I have ever seen! I loved listening to her talk to her friends about her upcoming birthday and princess party!

Archer: And he's walking!! At 14 1/2 months, he just got up and toddled along, and he's been waddling around ever since! And he's climbing too. He is very proud of himself being able to get onto the sofa and back down again. Two more teeth have also emerged, which explains his clinginess recently. With little hand gestures, he's communicating quite well, and if we correctly say what he wants he lets out a a cheeky giggle. No more baby but he's at such a fun stage now.

Joining in with Jodi at Practising Simplicity.

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A portrait of my kids, once a week, every week, in 2015.

Mahlia: At the end of her first day of primary school! And flying high. The build up has been pretty intense for her, which resulted in nightmares most nights for the past few weeks. After a rocky start to the day, she went into her new classroom and had a good day! She started on Wednesday, and by Friday it all got a bit much and she had a bad tummy and a temperature so had the day off. She assures me she is looking forward to going back though. Fingers crossed. I must admit, I was very teary (not in front of her).

Leila: This cheeky monkey takes forever to eat her breakfast most mornings, and it drives me crazy!! But those eyes, and her smile… Hubby went in to give her a kiss when she was asleep one night, she stirred and said "I love books". Bless her.

Archer: Daddy and Archer have been going on a few walks together, and Archer loves it. Today he grabbed his hat and crawled/shuffled over to daddy showing it to him, indicating he wanted a walk. He gets so excited when his daddy's around.

Joining in with Jodi at Practising Simplicity.

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A portrait of my kids, once a week, every week, in 2015.

Mahlia: Last week of school holidays, before starting at big school. We had a mummy/Mahlia day out, just the two of us. She asked to go to Sydney on the train, so we did! We got the little train through the Botanical Gardens and hopped off near the art gallery where Mahlia wanted to visit. She loved looking at all the different paintings and sculptures. We then went to Hyde Park for the Sydney Festival but missed most of the activities. She was happy just looking at the buildings and wandering around. It was a perfect day.

Leila: Her first week back at school this week and she is now going three full days. She's settled right back in and we've had no tears. I think Mahlia and Leila are enjoying a bit of time apart from each too. Archer and Leila's bond is growing and they play chasing games nearly every day, Archer squeals with delight.

Archer: A classic Archer expression, where he screws his little nose up! He took two steps this week, but is in no way inclined to try it very often. He still prefers his funny crawl where he has one foot up pulling himself along. He also has to feed himself nearly every meal - I don't remember this independence happening so soon with the girls!

Joining in with Jodi at Practising Simplicity.

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A portrait of my kids, once a week, every week, in 2015.

Mahlia: A play date at the beach with friends. She is becoming so much more confident in the ocean now, duck-diving under waves and trying to body-surf back in. She's also mastering stand-up paddle boarding on her own!

Leila: This is the face we get when we ask her to smile for a photo. She tries so hard to give her biggest smile, that her hands are in fists!

Archer: He loved sitting on daddy's paddle board at the beach and was practising climbing on and sliding off again. He had to have the paddle resting on top too. Sandy cheeks, sandy ears, sand everywhere!

Joining in with Jodi at Practising Simplicity.

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A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015.

Mahlia: After catching waves on an overcast afternoon at the beach, she came in shivering. Those eyes are so deep and kind of enchanting. I could stare into them all day.

Leila: A face of determination, one that we see a lot of. She had to follow her sister up to the top, despite my warnings. Looking rather bedraggled after getting dumped by a little wave.

Archer: Watching on as his sisters climb on the rocks, he points and grunts to indicate where he wants to walk to, and expects a walk into the garden after every nap.

Joining in with Jodi at Practising Simplicity.