This afternoon the man of the house flew to America on business for eight nights. My oldest daughter, who turns ten this year, was beside herself. She clung to his leg with all her strength, so hard that he couldn’t prise her off – and how could he – his heart was hurting too. How […]
Learning & growing
The Christmas tree(S) are up & peace has been restored.
I blame the shops for having decorations up from beginning of November. By the end of November my children are dragging the decorations from beneath the stairs in readiness for the 1st December. The first day of our Kiwi summer now coincides with ‘tree up’ day in our house. With the 1st December falling on […]
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 […]
Things I’m Loving…
A Monday that started with rain and wind, where the only sign of summer was the strawberries on my muesli, gave us a breather in the afternoon. Sunshine peeked from between the clouds as Sophie and Alice ran around Katherine Mansfield Memorial Park playing ‘peek a boo’ with their little wooden dolls. After school pick […]
A Royal Visit & A Partial Eclipse
It was a trooper of a day in the coolest little capital of Wellington this Wednesday. The cold southerlies and rain of Monday took a hike, over the hills and far away, whilst the sun sat strong in the sky (albeit partially eclipsed by the moon). It was definitely a day for royalty- as Prince […]
Lemonade stand for Red Cross and the ‘Hurricane Sandy Appeal’
So proud of the girls this week. They made their own lemonade, having looked up a recipe on the Internet themselves, and then decided to set up a stand and sell it to raise funds for the Red Cross and the ‘Hurricane Sandy Appeal’. I first got an inkling of their idea when I walked […]
Things I’m Loving – Holiday memories connecting to our everyday lives…
⤠I’m slowly getting back into the groove of multi-tasking madness that is family life, but with plenty of post holiday memories still lingering on… It’s not only me that’s still reflecting on all we did – even young Alice is a chatter of her holiday memories. As we made our way downstairs the other […]
Raw reality of my poor house-keeping, from the eyes of a friend’s son….
A friend came round this avo, with her wonderful children and her 9 year old asked to have a go with the camera – amongst the blurry ones, there’s some really cool ones and also many that highlight my poor house keeping! There’s photos zoomed in on dusty shelves, the sofa with the carefully positioned […]
Thoughts on gravity on a Monday from my 6 year old
Last night, as I was getting Alice off to sleep, I was vaguely aware of Charlotte and Sophie telling their Daddy (at 8pm) they were going to write up some science (they frequently do unexpected things at unusual times of day!). So, this morning, when I came downstairs (at 4am something with Alice) it made […]
Getting into our stride without the man of the house & ‘Under the Mountain’
Four sleeps since the man of the house went away. Four sleeps till he returns. After the initial shock, myself and the girls are now getting into our stride (with the wonderful help of our friend – and nanny – Frances – who’s been round for a good few hours most days this week). Evenings […]
Being strong is hard
I’ve been in tears. I’ve just upset my two oldest daughters. With my husband, Dan, away I should be offering extra comfort – not choosing this time to pick battles and talk ‘big picture’ concerns. I suppose with him away I see the ‘holes’ more clearly – it’s easier for two people to smooth them […]
Flying solo this week :(
The man of our house left on a jet plane last night. We’re not used to him being away. When I was a little girl my Dad was away every week or so – for two to three weeks at a time (I don’t know how my Mum coped!). There were lots of tears from […]
Eight months into our first year of natural learning
I like the term ‘natural learning’, rather than ‘home schooling’ – as over the last eight months we’ve definitely been doing more natural learning than creating a school like environment in the home. I didn’t enter into this as a choice from the outset – but a reaction to my child’s anxiety at being in […]