You have to celebrate the good days when your children try their best, because they want to from their hearts, and achieve a great outcome in what they set out to do. There’s so many other days – that aren’t worth storing in the memory banks (even though they leave a torturous feeling on your […]
Alice
The Photo Gallery | Together
A long weekend gave us time to be together as a family – even if, at times, my mind wasn’t all ‘together’ with it! In my mind there are always people floating around – physically distant from me, but close in my thoughts, that I wish to be together with – for a moment in […]
Things I’m Loving – this last OFFICIAL week of Summer (but I’m giving it 3 more weeks!)
So much to love this week – but then the sunshine and continued light evenings make it very easy! Loved seeing young Alice write the first letter of her name in the sand at beautiful Lyall Bay… Sophie had a fabulous play at the beach with Alice too. I love Sophie’s enthusiasm for the water […]
Sharing a final fix of New Zealand’s flora & fauna in Wellington
After six wonderful weeks together, my parents flew home to the UK on Tuesday evening. Their visit was particularly poignant, as it might be our last time together – or at least for a long time – in beautiful New Zealand. The man of the house started a new job mid-way through last year and, […]
Simply the best! Happy 3rd Birthday Alice!
She woke full of sniffles, & tired with a cold, but giggles came soon – when we sang Birthday greetings, all five of us together, in the bedroom. We had no big party to stress over, just kept it simple, and it turned out to be the most wonderful Birthday (almost) ever! It was Alice’s […]
Our third born daughter turns three – what will she have in store for us?!
Today is the eve of our third daughters, third, Birthday! She’s been an absolute blessing from the moment she corkscrewed out into the world, au natural, to be caught in my hands. I got lucky third time round, with the birth of my dreams, and the beautiful experience has definitely made for a very contented […]
From health to sickness overnight
Poor young Alice has been sick since 1am this morning. She’s not held down anything, food or liquid, and has a temperature. It’s one of those darn 24-hour tummy bugs. I’ve been ill too (thankfully not actually spewing!) and have spent all day Sunday cuddled up with young Alice (who is thankfully a ‘happy’ sick […]
The Gallery | Bond
The youngest of my three daughters, Alice, has an incredible bond with her Grandfather. She runs to her Grandma with equal affection and words of love, but the laughter and smiles on her face, when she’s with her Granddad, are something saved just for him. When they can’t be together they chat away on ‘Skype’, […]
Little Miss Explorer – Wellington’s South Coast
Every Sunday, throughout the summer, there’s a special place in Island Bay that we often visit. Its flags flutter, in the almost certain breeze, and giant fish kites welcome passers by into the old bait house that is now a treasured centre of marine education for locals and visitors alike. Located on the shores of […]
Things I’m Loving with a touch of icing sugar, paper chains & random elephants…
This was the week that started with three daughters at home. A Monday that witnessed mass paper-chain making, faces in plates of icing sugar and a Christmas elephant made out of an old milk-bottle! A Tuesday and Wednesday spent mostly at home, with two daughters (whilst Charlotte enjoyed end of term fun and shared lunches). […]
Miss 2 on a crazy learning curve
Miss 2, going on 3 (in February), is having one of those developmental leaps that all parents are familiar with. It’s a fun time (and very busy) stage, but glorious to be a part of her daily discoveries and learning. She’s singing her alphabet, recognising letters, shapes, all her colours and numbers and counting objects […]
Sunshine Wednesday & I’ve only stepped outside to shoot a rocket!
It’s nearly 10.30am and I haven’t had a coffee. The first two hours of my day were a whirlwind of lego building adventures with Miss 2 – Alice – block tower building, a rescue mission on the stairs from a lava flow, a shooting sock and a pile of leaves (Grandma and Granddad in England […]
Two feet at two
She likes to feel the ground below, learning fast to watch for dangers. She sprints so fast, for one so young, unhindered by straps and leather. Her feet feel the rough and smooth, preparing for life’s journey. She learns to tread gently on some ground, where others she can pound. Thorns and stings can slow […]
The air was infused with a heavenly scent…
I took a drive, after dropping Charlotte in late to school yesterday (she’s a diligent, hard working student – but is unfairly afflicted with hay-fever). I ended up at the Lady Norwood Rose Gardens in Wellington. I was pretty sure the roses would be in bloom by now (I’ve been away on holiday and only […]