Faces of a decade....

On this day, 10 years ago, I had laboured for most of the night before and was snuggling up to my first baby girl. What an absolute trip!!!!

I remember being in shock, sleep deprived, sore and overwhelmed but so very much in love. I couldn't stop staring at her, in awe at finally meeting her. I had chatted to her often over the past nine months but it certainly was better face to face!!

I'll never forget Mark's face. Smitten is the word that comes to mind. I think maybe more in love with her than I. In fact as soon as she was born he had whisked her away to introduce her to the entire hospital and I hadn't even had

a decent cuddle yet!!!!!!!!!!!

I had intended to choose ten shots for her ten years, but struggled to narrow it down. Here are a few for you to enjoy.

Milk drunk.

Certified basket case!!

Fun to holiday with.

Curious.........and experimental.

She'll never support the Blues....

Damn cute!!!!

Cheeky.....

A sister to Molly.

A reliable source of Christmas cheer.

School girl.

Flower girl for Aunty Hayley and Uncle Ben.

Loving sister and cousin.

A doting sister to Phoebe.

A good friend.

Nature lover :-)

ps Uncle Luke's cell by the way!!!

A decade of parenting scares us a little. We hope we haven't caused to much damage :-)

To describe Caitlin in a nutshell: bubbly, happy, vivacious, loving , creative with boundless energy. Mark and I can't believe we made something so gorgeous for the world.

So we celebrated tonight as a family at the Takapuna 'Lonestar' The kids were so full they fell straight to sleep as they hit their pillows.

Can't be going out on the town without a bit of rock n' rolling!

Happy Birthday Caitlin!!!!!!

xx

Mozart eat ya heart out!

Here is Phoebe's 7 second composition on piano, in the key of G...............I think.

Not sure why, but those 7 seconds have been watched over and over in our household and tears of laughter shared. Gee she makes us giggle that girl!!

and the photo sequence of the child prodigy at work........

......and so she begins.....

Middle C is stuck again mum!!!

A little vocal accompaniment...

Even your tongue can add to the overall effect.

Ta da!!

xx

Ten yr olds and cell phones????

So......

My almost ten year old (in SEVEN days) told me recently that she is the only kid in her class to not have a cell phone. She tried to convince me that 27 of the 28 students have them. Whatever......!!!!!!

..........or do they????

Good grief! Am I really that out of touch with today's youth? I simply looked at her and said no. Explaining that cellphones required money to purchase and maintain and why would she need one yet anyway. It's not like she's going to to parties and needing to call me to come and help her escape some drunk teenage git..........yet.

A few days after this complaint and request from her I allowed a mate of hers to come and play. Geez, I am out of touch. Ten year olds don't play afterschool anymore. They surf the net, chat to each other on facebook and then talk about nail polish colour and the movies they will 'catch' in the holidays. Anyway.....when I greeted the girls at the end of the day, here was the friend chatting on her cell phone to her mum.

Mmmmm got me thinking............maybe I'm missing out on some mother daughter bonding stuff here. Is this the new method of communication between child and parent? Well, not in my house, but maybe I should try and remain open minded!!!

Thankfully my VERY NEARLY ten year old still talks to me, most of the time, and is beginning to understand the concept of working for your luxuries. Which is exactly what I consider a cell phone to be at her age. Me? until about five years ago I hated cell phones. I had one, but rarely used it on a daily basis. My biggest annoyance was the fact that anyone could suddenly find me where ever I was. Sneaking around the shops was not an activity of privacy anymore!!

Now, especially after moving away from many family and friends I wouldn't be without it! Leaving my profession for a while for my other job; mum at home, has meant the cell phone is a lifeline to the outside world. The ADULT world................Not the R18 world, just the everyday contact that a 18month old just can't provide.

So there will be no cellphone until much later, which I'm sure then we will appreciate as we sit in the lounge, curlers in hair and shot gun on shoulder. Waiting for the 'boyfriend' to bring her home from that dreaded party.

xx

Itchy inspiration!

Monsieur Mossie'

As night draws near and the lights dim, Monsieur Mosquito bows.

'Mossie' as he is known for short, slips into bedrooms across towns.

He comes to dance you see, among the curtains and nets.

He performs his ballet above softly breathing heads.

On his head sits a beret, the colour of Merlot.

Round his neck swings a locket with his mother’s wing and left toe.

But on his feet he has slippers……des pantoufles to be exact.

Look closely you’ll spot the Loui Vuitton mark underneath the tag.

It is his voice that he’s better known for, rather his slippered toes.

Not the tenor required for Carmen, but a soprano of higher tones.

His trebles are truly falsetto and particularly enticing to Papillon.

But Chien are not the problem, it is the sleepy, ignorant human!

Monsieur is faced with trouble as he begins his evening rounds.

He clears his throat and begins his song, three octaves above the ground.

Monsieur Mossie quite simply believes that an opera must be shared.

Imagine! Waking in the morning with a voice that much revered!!!

You see a bite from le femme mossie’ is simply just survival.

Without a solid, bloody meal she will never become maternal.

But the nip from Monsieur Maestro is quite simply a musical feat.

To bless others with his vocal talent is his intention, gift and treat.

Alas! Monsieur may come to blows with backs of hands. Intention? Kill!

Yet his LV brand slippers allow him permission to pirouette across on the sill.

You may not be aware of his performance or flying through la masion.

But you will hear his hum as he warms up for his harmonic song.

So, this evening as you lay your weary head below the window.

Enjoy the breeze that whispers in and makes the curtains billow.

Watch the shadows choreograph themselves across your painted ceiling.

And if you hear a faint cough………..followed by treble humming,

Smile and sleep assured you will be a soprano by the morning.

(Who says Facebook conversations are a waste of our time?!! Cheers for the inspiration Scott.)

xx

Phoebe goes shopping!

Logging in for the day.

Right baby let's do some shopping!

I love your dress baby.........it's a bit like mine!!

Oh no baby!! You have food on your face.

Don't worry baby, I'll clean it off!!

Just a minute baby, I've seen pair of goggles I wanna buy!

Right baby, let's pay for these.

Punching in the total.......

Hate it when the keys get stuck!!!

xx

Rapunzel, Rapunzel........

The Auckland Skytower.

So Saturday was forecasted to be clear, until lunchtime at least and we thought it was about time us Cantabs' did the touristy thing. The Skytower was the next thing on our list and the kids were REALLY excited.
I was determined to go up. One, because it seemed important to have it crossed off the list for us as a family but it was certainly a personal achievement for 2010. You see, I am am terrified of heights. I hide it well, easy really, just avoid every possible activity that might take me beyond the height of my own shoulders. The subject of heights and my fear has not even been the topic of conversation between myself and family or friends. I have kept this one to myself.

Anyway, much earlier in the year I did write a post about setting myself goals for 2010. Feeling the fear, and doing it anyway has become one of them. :-)

Phoebe sitting on glass floor

The platform you can choose to walk on if you wish!!! Outside, with a harness on. OMG!!

Fear...........it's a funny thing. Not funny 'ha ha' but funny as in you think you have the fear under wraps and then it jumps out and bites you where it really hurts. I managed to climb the Eiffel Tower years ago at the age of 19 but I was with friends, backpacking and had the 'post tower beer' in mind to keep me going. I braved the tower ...........and I won!

I did the Blackpool Roller Coaster, very reluctantly. which was described to me as the highest and fastest in all of Europe, possibly the world......at that time. This was kindly told to me while I was standing in line about to crawl into the darn thing. But I did it, got the crazy 'eyes closed, hair standing on end' photo to prove it. I fought the coaster.....and I won again.

I have been back on a plane several times, avoiding looking out the window and shoving my nose in a book each time in a desperate act of escapism. I braved the air....and I won once again!

So then we bought a beautiful Villa with 12ft ceilings, with decroative trims that I loved but were stained and in a poor state at the time we purchsed the property. Hubby was travelling quite a bit for his job at the time so I got up the biggest ladder I have ever seen and painted the entire ceiling myself. I braved the ...........etc etc you know how it goes.

Phoebe and Molly were quite taken by the fountains on the bottom floor.

So. I did the Skytower. Couldn't manage the very top level, but Mark and the kids did and they loved it. I didn't walk on the glass floor, but the kids did that also. Even Phoebe eventually convinced herself she wasn't going to fall and sat on the stuff. MAD!!!!!

This little sign I think was intended to provide comfort. But I was still looking around for a paper bag to breathe into as I bent down to read it.

I am amazed that FEAR, which is essentially an emotion generated in our brains can manifest itself in the physical form. I literally freeze on the spot, my lungs need jumper leads to get started again and get this primal urge to run, jump, anything to get away. Frozen yet wanting to dash. The fight or flight instinct possibly???

BUT I DID IT

In my 'glass half full' attitude which I prefer to live life by I can confidently say that I'm pleased that I did. The view was awesome, thank very much Auckland City. (Thank you also to some very clever engineers that got me down in one piece in an extremely efficient and speedy lift).