Drawing in the wet, dark nights of late autumn in New Zealand

Last week was a crazily wet one in Wellington (and much of New Zealand) and, with the short days of late autumn, there’s stark few hours for out-door fun after school; so we’ve been keeping dry at home and enjoying some drawing.

Any parent with more than one child will concur; it’s a bonus when all is harmonious between the siblings in the home. Last week I witnessed one of those ‘golden moments’ that make parenting all worth while. I glanced through the glass-panned French doors, from our living area to the hallway, to see the oldest of our three daughters (age 11) teaching her youngest sister (age 5) some drawing tips. It was a beautiful moment to see on a dark, wet evening, one that made my heart glow, with such warmth and pride.

Our oldest daughter has been increasingly creative lately and was presented with a Principal’s Award, at school, for her focused and diligent work in all areas of design (she’s been designing and making a tote bag). When she’s not drawing, and pinning up her latest certificates above her desk (got a great science badge in marine biology, and another in forensics), she’s stretching out with our beloved family dog, Monsieur Cocoa.

Our middle daughter, age 9, has been really focused at school too. She auditioned to be part of a rhythmic gymnastics group at school, which some older girls are tutoring. She was so thrilled to get into the group and to have an excuse to spend her Tuesday lunch-times stretching and jumping around! She’s also been invited to participate in a ‘Tournament of Minds’ team – which will mean getting to school for 7.30am on a Wednesday morning, as well as spending one lunch time a week practicing.

She made a lovely Powerpoint presentation for me on Mother’s Day (10 May in NZ), which she exhibited on the television first thing that morning.

I didn’t have any plans or expectations for the day, but it turned out great – thanks to the weather being glorious (which always helps!). Hubby cooked up a fabulous brunch, after we’d been on a walk with dog first thing. We came across this fabulous sculpture, made by a local, out of natural beach materials, on our walk –

Here’s hoping for more sunshine days between the rain showers – and lots of happy, harmonious, sibling drawing time when it does rain!

To finish up, here’s a drawing (with a lick of paint and colouring) my five year old did today (it’s Tuesday, she should be in school – but she’s sneezing all over the place and we agreed it better not to share the germs!).

This is a picture of ‘Jemma’ (Dan TDM – aka the Diamond Minecart – other half) – which my 5 year old daughter asked me to photograph and send via Twitter! She says she’d like to marry someone like him when she’s older!

And here is Alice, in her rain coat, on a day when she did make it into school! She’s proud to have learned to skip this past week too!