The Martinellis looking even more pleased with themselves - with every good reason!!Grandma Muz grabs a quick cuddle And after a few birthday beers, not sure who is asleep on whom!!

Lunch at Quince Orchard … the strawberries seem to go down well.. and yet all I get is a dry old rusk ..Round the table for Sunday lunch 3 more lovely ladies see who’s beginning to get a bit more mobile and is this another cheesy grin developing!Meanwhile, its never too early to get them working!

Today was Elliette’s Halloween-themed birthday party, so we decided to dress Evie as a chicken. (Here in the U.S. you don’t have to dress as something scary, you can be whatever you want. Or, rather, whatever your parents decide will look most ridiculous):Evie looked at herself in the mirror, said “chicken!” and then said “buk buk buk,”and then just went on with her day, seeming perfectly okay with the idea that she’d be a chicken all day.Elliette was dressed as a skeleton; here Evie gives Elliette’s new horse a test-ride (note the mimosa in the background: champagne & OJ are a key ingredient to any successful kids’ birthday party that starts at 10am!):Then birthday cupcakes with a fireman, a cowboy, a dinosaur, and a chicken (from the waist down only):For the rest of the afternoon, Evie just kept saying, “Yay, cupcakes!” at random moments. She clearly takes her cupcakes very seriously:And then back home, where Evie eagerly got into an outfit more to her liking:Just returning a few texts, Mummy, I’ll be right there…P.S. For an outtake, i.e. sad chicken, check out Rob’s Facebook profile.

Chloe was so excited to meet “Baby Alex” and spent most of the day following Bex and Alex around wanting to cuddle him, kiss him, help Bex wind him - she even started advising Bex on when she thought Alex needed a drink!

Here is a proud Chloe holding her newest little cousin.

Then with Bex and Alex

And finally, Megan wanted in on the action …. this then prompted Chloe to tell Megan “Be careful Megan, he is not a toy!”

We just received a huge bag of hand-me-down clothes from our friends Simon and Kitty, so of course Evie Bean was in her element, putting together yet another unforgettable outfit. Please note how the socks are carefully coordinated to match the slinkie:Cheesy grin!I just love the look on her face in this photo (below) for some reason:Fortunately, she still lets her mummy dress her sometimes (though it seems that we both overlooked any kind of hairstyling that day):Having a cuddle with Nana, who was visiting from L.A., and one of the many toys that came in the bag of hand-me-downs:

Well there have been a lot of firsts for Alex recently - here we can see him wrapped up for his first trip out to lunch with Bex and I (for those interested Alex is modelling the ‘09 collection of Nan-nan cardigans, a trendy woolly hat - a gift from us Bunts, and if I am correct in remembering the PJ’s underneath came courtesy of Caroline!)

After 10 days in his PJ’s, we decided it was time for his first outfit - cords and a t-shirt - adorable!

Safe in the arms of his Dadand of his Mum!A bit of down time with Grand-dad! Now that’s one cute little fella! well gone! Looking good Bex!!

Our local library held a special event for the 40th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. First, we gathered around while Sandy, the children’s librarian, read the story. Evie points out the sun:Then it was craft time! We made caterpillars out of toilet rolls, paint, glue, glitter, pipe cleaners, and stickers. Very Blue Peter.Elliette shows off her caterpillar and her cheesy grin:Then it was snack time! Check out the table Sandy had set up with a little bit of each of the foods the caterpillar ate his way though (even spinach for the leaf part). Lorelei and Elliette brought along fake veggie sausage for any Very Hungry Vegetarian Caterpillars.Evie was not such a big fan of the spinach or the pickles:But the chocolate cake, not surprisingly, was a huge hit:Happy Birthday, Hungry Caterpillar!

I popped out the room for a few minutes and came back to find 1. the kitchen looking like it had been burgled, but 2. my two little girls lying next to each other giggling uncontrollably - neither would tell me what was so funny, it was their little secret, and that is just fine with me!