Fun With Stamps.

This one figured out pretty quick that his decision to run an ink stamp along the wall wasn't a great one. Toothpaste and hard work went into cleaning his handiwork off the walls himself. Thankfully, there was at least one willing sibling to help him out.

Papa's meatball soup for reunion dinner. Something to look forward to about CNY every year! 

A Hug and A Playdate.

Our big boy snuck down after I'd put the younger ones to bed. I was in the kitchen pouring myself some water when he wrapped his arms around my waist. He said he knew I'd had a hard time putting the littlies to bed because he heard the little lady crying. That was incredibly sweet of him.

He had a playdate at a friend's house today. His friend's parents dropped him home to us after taking the children to a nearby playground. The parents only had good things to say about him. They said he'd eaten everything offered to him at lunch and put his own plate away after he was done. An "angel", they said he was. We took it with a pinch of salt, but it was interesting to see him through someone else's eyes. We told him we were proud of him and the way he carried himself in his friend's home.

Finally, we asked him if he said grace before the lunch he had at his friend's. He did! Quietly by himself, but yes nonetheless.

:) 

Games & Supper.

Night time seems to lend extra excitement to any playdate. Our neighbour's girls came by at 8pm to play board games with our two older ones. All the children were buzzing with excitement! We were a little surprised by their energy but on hindsight, it shouldn't have come as a surprise, seeing how novel an event it was.

A late night snack was the cherry on top of a lovely evening for them. 

Cheers to the approaching end of what's been a lovely summer break. Now let's hope these guys all sleep in tomorrow. 

Chicken Curry & Pikelets.

The past few days have truly been rough: we're transiting our littlest to her own bed at the moment (currently a mattress on the floor beside us). Taken together with a stomach bug I had earlier this week, and a little man who was also unsettled in bed... The husband and I hardly got good quality sleep. Thankfully, tonight seems to be the smoothest it's been so far. Fingers crossed.

This is chicken curry I made from scratch. I'd been wanting to get this right for awhile now, and it was really satisfying to finally get it. I made a pretty large pot of it and it's lasting us quite a few days. Yum. 

Also learning something new was our big boy. He mixed up some batter himself and cooked pikelets for breakfast this week. His attention span usually flits from one thing to another pretty quickly, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him follow through the cooking process. Proud of this one.

With school opening next Thursday and Omicron seemingly building up momentum in New Zealand, I'm glad we got our older ones vaccinated last week. Apart from some soreness on the injection site, they were both fine and in good spirits. 

The challenge at the moment, I find, lies in taking the government's evolving  restrictions/covid measures on the chin whilst navigating our own way of living fully and meaningfully in this time. The pandemic is proving to be a long-drawn marathon rather than a sprint. 

Precious Summer Days.

Summer has been great for the garden, with fruit ripening and veges thriving.

Our first harvest of nectarines were teeny tiny but deliciously sweet.

Tomatoes are having a great time and the corn is enjoying its time in the sun. 

Also enjoying the summer are our children. Our big girl is learning to play the recorder and the husband has been enthusiastic in helping her along. 

The playground has proven to be a versatile play space. Today, it was lovely to see it turned into a reading nook.

We're cherishing the last of the summer hols before we dive into the school year. It's already looking interesting before it's begun, thanks to Omicron. 

An Omelette for Dinner.

This humble bean omelette was centrepiece at dinner this evening.

Beans, grown in our garden by the husband. Omelette, carefully cooked by our big girl (with assistance).

Our little man, who usually detests vegetables in all forms, loved it and probably ate about half of it before dinner. Our little lady probably saw his enthusiasm and followed suit. 

I didn't expect it to be as big a win as it was. But, keeping it real, they're just as likely to suddenly dislike it the next time I decide to make it!

Our little man and a neighbour around his age have been getting into little tussles here and there. We do our best to stop it from happening but there was a slapping fight one day, apparently not started by the little man but no one knows for sure. 

Later that day, the husband was asking him how he felt during the fight.

Little man: I tried to slap him harder but I couldn't because my hands are too tiny.

Probably not the answer the husband was looking for, but he said it so sincerely, we had to stifle our laughs.

Sigh. This little man really keeps us on our toes. 

Happy 2nd Birthday!

The sassiest of our littlies turns two today! 

To celebrate, we went strawberry picking. We loved eating while we picked, and the sprawling fields were not busy at all. 4 kilos of strawberries (and more in our stomachs) cost $28, @ $7/kg.

Last night, a glass panel in our oven door shattered while we were baking her birthday cake. It was very unfortunate, but no one was hurt and we managed to finish baking the cake in our neighbour's oven.

I'd initially planned a two-tier cake, but we made do with a smaller one given the turn of events.

It was a good reminder of what's important in life: the best things don't have to come in fancy packages... All you need is love. 

There was lots of it to go around today.

Happy birthday, Banana. We love you ❤️

Parent/Child Dates 2021/22.

The last of the parent/child summer dates 2021/22 concluded today. Our big girl and Papa went rock climbing earlier this week.

The little man was hankering after frozen yoghurt after seeing both his older siblings get some on their dates, so... For the third time in three weeks, that's where I went. We went for a dip in the local pools first, which he enjoyed, but the highlight was by far the Froyo.

The enjoyment probably has to do a lot with picking out from the buffet of lollies available for the choosing; reminds me of the Pick N Mix my grandfather used to buy from 7-11 for us children to enjoy. The sour ribbons were the best, and still are. 

Papa and I enjoyed the dates with the children this year, more so than we did last time round. We learned a little from our experience and put a blanket ban on Happy Meals as a date option. (Might need to ban Froyo next year!) It certainly pushed the children to get creative with their date ideas and we saw more active and sporting date options too. 

They're already brainstorming ideas for our next set of parent/child dates, which must mean they at least enjoy this as much as we do.

3 weeks, 6 dates. It'll be a matter of time before our little lady joins in too. It's been a good run and we're grateful for the gift of time and opportunity to do this with our children. 

Play Date with the McVeys.

I'm looking forward to the day the "Dab" no longer needs to be a part of every photo. ( but I think I'll just let it run its course.)

The McVey children spent the day with us. The bigs were happy to see their friends again after the Christmas break. 

I took the children on a bush walk this afternoon and we ended up playing on the beach at low tide. A good part of it was muddy mangrove so the boys ended up knee-deep in mud at some point. Our big boy managed to lose both his sandals in the mud when he got stuck. He was a little bit sad about it and said so. Ever the sentimental one, it was no surprise, coming from him.

When "you can always buy a new pair" didn't work, I told him about the time I, as a child, dropped my Lion King watch in a lake. (It might even have happened in New Zealand, now that I think of it.) It's hard dealing with our children's negative feelings and not being able to do anything about it. Making small light of it, or minimising the negative feelings are tempting, but we generally do our best to stay with the discomfort and acknowledge the feelings, even if we can't make them go away.

I guess having a good personal story to demonstrate empathy doesn't hurt either. Maybe that's why I dropped that watch all those years ago. :) 

The Rug Doctor.

It has been a big day.

We rented the Rug Doctor to clean our carpets. And no, it's not an actual doctor (according to our children), or a movie (according to Val).

We shifted all our furniture so we could clean under them. We uncovered marbles, Lego pieces, Nerf gun bullets, the head of a Frozen doll, crumbs (lots), several uncooked spaghetti strands (don't ask me why), magnetic tiles... A family's hidden treasure.

We rented the machine for 8 hours and got the job comfortably done in 6. The husband started to feel under the weather as he cleaned. 

Val happened to be coming for dinner and stayed to help with bedtime routine while the husband went to bed early. He fell asleep before the babies at 8.30pm. Val played games with the older ones and read them a story before tucking them into bed.

I was glad for Val's presence today. I'm also grateful for the faithfulness of the husband to do the menial work that needs doing around the home. Our home is now refreshed and more ready for the year ahead.

We're well and truly spent from all the organising, cleaning and heavy lifting today.

At bedtime:

Our little lady tried to drink water from her bottle while lying down. She ended up with a rude shock when she poured water on her face instead. 

Our little man didn't chuckle the way I did, but he did go and get her a new PJ top to change into. He picked out a Paw Patrol one he knew she liked. For all their bickering, it's heartwarming to witness moments like these. 

Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

Our mother/son date took us out on the ocean this morning: Kayaking!

I think it might have been one of my first times kayaking too. The focused, rolling motion of arms on paddle came easily and felt natural. It was cathartic, and lovely to be out on the water where it was quiet. I might have to do this again. Our big boy enjoyed himself too. He's getting the hang of paddling, but in his excitement often mistook faster paddle strokes for greater distance covered. He did great for a first time though. I think we'll be back. 

Frozen yoghurt with pick-your-own toppings is always a highlight for our big ones. This one went all out with his toppings, as you can see. :) Happiness in a cup.

Bikes on an Adventure.

Four bikes in or on the car and this is how we roll. First time loading them up! 

Big girl: I'm glad my bike is in the boot because if the bikes fall off, I still have my bike.

So much faith she has in her father and the bike rack!

The bikes made it safely to Maddills Farm, where we got a good ride in before the children hopped onto the spider web our little man was on just yesterday.

The bikes made it back home safely too. ;) 

Hot Chocolate Happiness.

Twas our little man's turn for a date with dad. He woke up asking if it was time to go for hot chocolate with dada. He was excited! 

Go for hot chocolate they did, and more. Think raspberry custard donut for breakfast and a marshmallow to accompany the hot choc! Yum. 

They went to Maddills Farm playground after. 

Listening to his recount later on was sweet: 

About morning tea: "I had a hot chocolate and a marshmallow! I had a doughnut. And a knife!" 

About the playground: "It had a big red spider web, and so many things. It had a trampoline, it was amazing. There were lots of people. And it was hot."

Our older ones went on a playdate with the neighbours to preschool to play while their dad prepped the local preschool he runs for the start of term. They helped to clean, had lunch and got to have ice cream after their work and play.

The little lady and I were on our own for the morning. We went on a bush walk nearby and sat by the water to enjoy the breeze and sunshine.

The end of the day was bumpy, and felt like the littlies reserve their worst for me. Tantrums, crying and whining at the end of the day.. That was tough to absorb. I had to take a moment and left our screamy little lady with papa while I took a shower. There's only so much my ears can take.... Things felt better, and less overwhelming after a shower. 

The summer holidays are passing faster than I think. 3 more weeks to the start of school on 2 feb. So little time! 

A Walk and A Squabble.

We started our walk around the Orakei Basin with an extremely cranky almost-two year old. She'd scream if you so much as looked at her wrong or suggested something she didn't like (like taking off her sandals, or something outrageous like carrying her.)

We soldiered on. We spotted cormorants catching fish, swimming and roosting. The tide was low in the basin and we saw the sluice gates open to let water in and fill up the basin. It was fascinating. We saw morning glory and I told them how it was my favourite flower as a child. Of course, their next step was to ask Papa to grow that in our garden for me.

We stopped for a break and these guys clambered right up this. All in, the walk took us almost two hours. It was ice cream weather so we stopped for some fresh fruit ice cream on the way home. Yum.

Our big boy got himself into trouble today. An older boy on our street was teasing him and calling him "baby". He carried on with the name-calling even though our big boy asked him to stop (probably didn't help that our big boy was smiling when he said "stop it").

Finally, our big boy chucked the swing seat in the boy's face in retaliation. That stopped the boy all right, and also made him cry.

Had our big boy walked away from that name-calling child, all would have been fine. By hitting out at the boy, he now bore responsibility for the retaliation. We all understood why he did it (and have probably considered doing something similar ourselves), but he still had to apologise for physically hurting the boy in his anger. 

Such a hard lesson to have to learn, but we told him he will encounter more of these people in his lifetime. While we cannot control how others behave, we can control how we respond to them. Hitting isn't okay, and in future, he needs to remember that he can remove himself from situation by walking away.

By the end of the day, the boys were playing together again. All in a day's work for the children on the lane. 

Sunday, Outside Church.

It started out a typical Sunday, we dressed for mass and made it to church with time to spare. The older children went in with papa while I lingered awhile at the car with the younger ones. That's when things started unravelling.

Our little man complained of an itching in his nether regions and suddenly couldn't seem to stop scratching. (It was a pimple/mozzie bite in the end that was easily managed at home.)

It turns out our big boy was coughing intermittently in church and better off outside, what with covid heightening everyone's senses to sickness of any kind.

I spent mass outside with the boys and littlest lady. Our big girl wanted to stay for the whole mass... Something I was very heartened by.

We ended up, for the first time, praying a whole rosary together.

The Rosary mosaic at the grotto made the prayer more engaging for the children and the time passed quickly.

As we were leaving church, we spotted an acquaintance we were just chatting with:

Me, chuckling: Oh no, she's so friendly, she's talking to everyone. Her poor husband! 

The husband, in jest: Oh? I know exactly how he feels.

Oops. 

These Shoes Were Made for Walking.

The cool weather afforded a great incentive to go out to explore the Kepa Bush this afternoon. It was about an hour's walk with several flights of stairs on an undulating terrain.

We spotted tui, silver fern and a 300 year old native tree along the way. Val came along too and I think it was a game changer. No complaints from the children at all, and our big girl found a kindred spirit in her.. They brought up the rear and took their time pointing out the sights and sounds.

Watching a tui eat berries in a tree

Not to be outdone, our little lady asked to get down from my back and walk towards the end. With great focus, she navigated the stairs and made it to the carpark. Victory! 

        Our little man was in his element. 

Val declares herself our official family photographer. :) 

This evening, our big boy upset one of his friends when he was a little too insistent in his quest for a hug (physical touch is a big love language of his). She ran home to hide in the end.

We got him to write her a letter of apology and apologise in person. 

Over fish and chips, Papa took the lead in discussing the importance of boundaries and respect for the opposite sex. Because it was relevant, he touched a little on puberty as well. It was an engaging discussion that had our big girl leaning in to contribute as well.

Upon reflection, I'm grateful that he thought it important to discuss respect/boundaries/puberty with our children. Besides being a strong male role model for our son, he's also managed to weave puberty conversation into everyday conversation with his open, matter-of-fact approach. A few laugh out loud moments definitely kept it light but meaningful.

Movie Date.

Our big girl was up bright and early and for once, was the one reminding me to get changed to leave so we wouldn't be late.

We got there with lots of time to spare. Popcorn was a must, and the availability of free refills didn't hurt either. There were only 4 other people in the cinema with us.

We watched Sing 2, which, in our big girl's opinion, felt like "the people who made the movie had too many ideas they wanted to put in". I couldn't have put it better myself, i wouldn't recommend the movie if you have to pay to watch it. The company was great, though. She observed that this is the third movie date we've had but the first that we didn't have a baby in tow.

Frozen yoghurt after the movie is always the highlight of the date. I think there might have been more lollies than frozen yoghurt in that cup! She was so pleased, though, look at that smile.

This girl knows what she wants and it doesn't take much for her to be content. I'm glad to have had that time with her while papa looked after the others at home. (I'm pretty sure they behave better for him than for me!) 

Growing Up Fast!

I looked in on the older children before I went to bed as I always do, but today, I saw our big girl stretched out and noticed how big she's growing.

In my mind, she's my baby girl and forever 5. But in reality, she's turning 7 this year. It's mind-boggling how slow each hour goes by, yet how quickly the days fly past.

Our big boy had a date with dad today. These are their spoils from the arcade: 

Tomorrow, it's my date with our big girl. We're going to watch a movie, and before bed, she reminded me not to "sleep in" tomorrow because we have a movie to catch. :) 

Summer Bush Walk.

We went on a bush walk this morning, hoping to escape the sweltering heat. The trees provided welcome shade, but little respite from the sticky humidity. We loved seeing the fairy houses tucked away in the bush. It's also a popular rock hunting spot and the children enjoyed looking out for painted rocks as we went. 

Our little man is an active one and led the way easily while his older siblings struggled a little more behind. We're hoping to build up to longer walks this summer. This one took us about an hour.