| An Autumn Holiday |

We took the boys on a mini holiday over ANZAC weekend.

We spent a day in Queenstown, watching boats, climbing trees, and buying wine.

We did our first whole-family walk up Mt Iron (the littlest one made it all the way to the top; the biggest faceplanted onto a rock and is now sporting an impressive black eye), scootered alongside Lake Wanaka, and climbed things we thought we couldn’t climb.

We recharged our batteries, ignored much of the outside world, enjoyed the autumn sunshine, and returned home feeling rather relaxed.

It was blissful.

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Currently: 1 Jan 2016

1. Listening: at this very moment, to birds chirping in our front yard, and my husband “trimming things” out there. I should be worried – he is an…..enthusiastic trimmer. Earlier, I was getting my dance on with a global top 50 from Spotify because it was sunny and hot which requires, nay, demands, good tunes played a little louder than normal.
2. Eating: anything from the barbecue, and delicious things from Chelsea Winter’s latest cookbook.
3. Drinking: lots of water and a cheeky glass (or two) of Little Goat Creek pinot gris. It’s organic, which is a little bit hipster of me, dontcha think?
4. Wearing: a denim mini I bought from Gap in London about a week before I found out I was pregnant with my biggest monkey, a floaty top from House o’ G, and no shoes. No shoes. Dunedin is HOT.
5. Feeling: sleepy, and I don’t even have the excuse of being up ’til midnight last night. I made it to 11pm, but couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. My eyes are a bit dry and scratchy…hayfever, you suck.
6. Weather:  hot. By Dunedin standards, anyway. The sun has shone all day and the sky has been bluest-blue. I’m sure we’ll be getting rain soon, but meh – I’m enjoying the summer regardless.
7. Wanting: chocolate. Uh-oh.
8. Needing: sleep, water, and the motivation to do some form of exercise.
9. Thinking: about the year ahead, and hoping inspiration strikes to ensure something marvellous happens in 2016.
10. Enjoying: hanging with all three of my boys, the sunshine, and empty washing baskets. And fresh sheets on the bed.

Joining up with top gal Melissa of The Best Nest xx
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2015: The Year of New Adventures

As Christmas and the end of the year approach, I find myself looking back in wonder at every new adventure my family has had this year. It’s been a big one, and to say we’re tired is an understatement. However, it’s a pleasant tiredness, the way you feel after a full day spent in the garden; we’re weary, but we can see how far we’ve come, and it’s satisfying.

One of the biggest changes around here would have to be Tiny turning five and starting school. After a rough first day, my biggest his found his rhythm and absolutely loves school. He started the year not being interested in writing or reading, and is now often found with his head in a chapter book, reading quietly to himself. He’s made some lovely wee friends and likes to come home and share what he’s learned with his little brother which is so sweet to see.

Pickle also had a big year, finally starting kindergarten. He would go every day if he could, but has just three sessions a week; his friendships have been developing over the year and while he’s not as talkative as his big brother, he’s very good at articulating his ideas and games to others.

Both boys are currently Avengers-obsessed, and Pickle has joined his brother in thinking Lego is the best toy ever. They play together so beautifully, and Tall and I often remark how we feel a bit redundant because they don’t need or want us to play with them anymore!

Pickle and I had the pleasure of attending very good friends’ wedding in Fiji, which was amaaaaaazing, and as a family we embarked on a tiki tour from Dunedin to Taranaki and back again in the last school holidays. Tall’s sister welcomed a gorgeous baby boy into the world, I got to get my rock on at Rod Stewart and Fleetwood Mac concerts, and my braces finally came off.

I’m sure there’s been many more highlights, and there has been some sadness, but mostly, 2015 has been a good year, and I’m looking forward to more fun times in 2016.

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas, surrounded by people you love, and a marvellous start to 2016 xxxxxxxxx

 

Mama of Boys

Things I never thought I’d say:

“Knees back, hips forward, now PEE!”

“Where did this Lego man’s hands go?”

“Please don’t fart on your brother!”

“Sure, you can go dressed as a superhero cowboy.”

“How did poo get on the wall??”

“What on earth possessed you to put a rice bubble in your ear??”

“Stop wiping snot on your sleeve!”

“Who put the barbecue tongs in the bathroom?”

“Yes, you do look cool in my boots.”

Pickle is Three

He’s determined, stubborn and incredibly headstrong.

        He’s cheeky – a joker – and doesn’t follow the crowd.

He’s affectionate, a lover of babies, cuddly, kind and compassionate.

He’s smart, and imaginative and dreamily creative, and a little bit silly.

He’s a huge fan of stories, drawing and Lego, and anything his big brother is doing.

He’s THREE and he’s ours and we love him.

Happy birthday, baby bear xxxxxxxx

This Guy…

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband, and our boys’ amazing daddy.

We love you and think you are super-cool, especially for so willingly playing the role of Villain at Tiny’s superhero party
xxxxxxxxxxxxx

{{FIVE}}

My biggest baby turned {{five}} today.
Five is so big yet still so small, but the changes it brings are huge.
After the Easter holidays, he will start school, and everything will be different.
I know that it will be amazing and that he is ready for this, but I also know that he is suddenly very aware that everything will be different too.
Yesterday he cried, and my heart broke as he sobbed about how he won’t see his friends anymore. We wept together in the car after kindy.
How do you explain to a five-year-old that you can still be friends with people even if you don’t see them every day? That can be so hard even as an adult, but somewhere along the way we must just understand that those threads bind us to our friends no matter how close or how far we are.

Tiny turning {{five}} also means we have been fumbling our way through this parenting thing for five years now.
I think we’re doing okay so far, if Tiny is anything to go by.
He’s awesome.
He is kind, caring, funny, smart, compassionate, empathetic and generous.
He loves his friends and his little brother; he enjoys his own company, but will happily engage with anyone.

{{five}}
Crikey.

Happy birthday, my biggest baby
xxxxx

A Spring Wedding

At the end of October, Tall’s little sister married her lovely fiancé in a wonderful ceremony at The Farm. The day we arrived was wet and windy, and Tall’s mother was a little bit stressed…but the wedding day dawned sunny and bright, and the weather held out for a beautiful day. Our biggest was a very proud, and very handsome, page boy, and our littlest looked pretty suave in his shirt and tie.

Sharing Spaces

You know those times when someone asks you to make something happen, and you instinctively say “yes” because you just know it will make them insanely happy?

Tiny’s wish was granted last Friday, and the excitement on both boys’ faces when they saw their beds side-by-side was immense.

Something so simple has made my babies incredibly happy, and even though we moved into a bigger house so we could have more space, I couldn’t think of a better use of the extra. Turning Pickle’s room into an upstairs “playroom” makes perfect sense, as they both like to take themselves up and play away from the boring adult stuff anyway.

Those little hobbit doors in each room? We think they’re connected – there’s a loose panel in the wall of the one in the shared bedroom – but we’re not going to tell the boys until they’re a little bit older. But – FUN! Both rooms are a work-in-progress, but I think they look pretty good for just a few hours’ moving of stuff. We plan on painting over the flowers and replacing those floral-monstrosity curtains, and I’m looking for a suitable desk to pop in the playroom for my sewing machine, but for now, we’re happy with the spaces as they are.

The “couch” in the playroom is Pickle’s old cot, simply with the drop-side removed. I’ve covered the ugly mattress with two cot blankets, and even though the cushions don’t match, Tiny arranged them and thinks it’s the most comfortable couch everrrrrrr.

(Please feel free to contact me regarding where we might have purchased items shown)

The Next Phase

Sitting in the semi-darkness, waiting for Pickle to go to sleep in his big bed for the first time. He keeps calling out for a big cuddle, and it’s taking all my strength not to lie down and envelope him in my arms.

He looks so small, lying cocooned in his new big duvet. His cot mattress is on the floor, to make it easier for him to get in and out of the bed, and I can’t help but think he looked safer behind the bars of the cot.

For the past seven or eight months, he’s been waking in the night, and I’ve stumbled across the hall, blindly picked him up, and tucked him into bed beside me. The theory is that if he wakes now, I can slide into his bed for a cuddle, and slide out again once he’s asleep.

In reality, I think I’m going to miss having his tiny little body squished next to mine in my big bed.

I’ll miss waking up with his soft, fine hair tickling my face, and the occasional head-butt-in-the-teeth followed by, “Are you okay, Mummy?”

I’ll miss him shooting upright as soon as Tall turns on his bedside lamp and announcing, “It’s morning time! Time for break-bix” (a confusion of breakfast and Weet-Bix).

However, it is time for me to reclaim my nights, and my sleep. The past two years of broken sleep are catching up on me.

But as I sit here, I can’t help but wish, for the umpteenth time, that time would just slow down.

Just a smidgen.