Two fifth birthday parties this weekend kept us on the go.
One dinosaur themed party out in the wilds of Whitemans Valley at Short Straw Cafe. A combined fifth and second birthday for Aarnav and little brother Neil.
The whole archaeologist expedition was a bit lost on Mylo, but he kept himself happily entertained in the outdoor play area nonetheless. And the rain held off till just when we got back in the car to leave. Brilliant.
Sunday morning we hung out at home with Grandma and Grandad, and Mylo took to his trike for the first time.
It reminded me so much of when Noah got on that very same trike for the first time at the same age. We recorded a hilarious video of some Bad Parenting which we still laugh about to this day.
Mark then headed off to do his annual Akatarawa Attack mountain bike race, while Noah (a.k.a. Donkey) and I attended his friend Phoebe's Shrek Dress Up Party, leaving Mylo in Grandma & Grandad's capable hands.
The party had been planned to perfection, including some great Shrek-themed games and a special visitor (Fairy Trina) rounded out a fun filled afternoon.
But....
I can't help but feel the sadness tinged with celebration. This weekend marks the beginning of the end. Fifth birthdays mean change. An end to carefree daycare days, hanging out with a wonderful group of friends as they all begin to turn five. Noah's birthday isn't till August and most of his close friends are starting to leave, and all of them will have left for school by the beginning of April.
It's a year of change ahead. I hope that for Noah, being the 'big kid' on the block for a while will be an enjoyable experience. A chance for him to blossom and be a leader amongst his younger peers. I hope he can embrace the change and not feel 'left out' by being the only one not yet at school. We will have to try and extend and challenge him more outside of his daycare experiences where we can.
Noah is such a kind and gentle soul with a beautiful heart. He is a loyal friend, and has established some wonderful relationships with his daycare friends over the years. But with this kindness and gentleness, comes an oversensitivity and a tendency to cry easily. Sometimes it is tough parenting a boy made in such a gentle mould, because people naturally expect him to be rough and tough just because he is a boy. I've often felt myself needing to explain away his shyness, or sensitivity which really frustrates me. Because there is nothing wrong with being kind and gentle, is there? It's just that 'society' proclaims men must be tough, and anything less is seen as wimpiness.
We try and help him as much as we can to embrace new experiences even if it is by slowly getting used to them over a number of times until more often than not he decides that he 'loves' whatever it is. Like the hydroslide at Karori pool. It took about three or four trips, first visit petrified and would only go on once, second visit conceded to go on twice, third visit about half a dozen times, and now we can't keep him off it. This is just how we do things in Noah's world.
We also try to play down the frequent bouts of tears when he hurts himself saying 'you'll be fine, be brave, no need to cry'. You know, I really don't know if these are the right tactics but this is just what we find ourselves doing.
As a parent, its natural that you would always want to shield your child from any hurt or pain. Its hard to accept that there are times when we just can't protect them from it, even though it doesn't seem fair. But, this is life we're talking about. And it's not always fair - at least not by what we define as our concept of fairness.
So, regardless of what lies ahead, we love without ceasing, we support through thick and thin, and we continue to pray for God's hand to guide us in parenting our beautiful boy through this year of change.
And I'd love to hear from any other parents out there parenting shy or sensitive kids how you have approached and supported your child through big changes in their lives.
Grandma & Grandad UK arrived safely yesterday afternoon. And we slotted back right back into conversation as if we only saw them last week, not last year or two years ago. Happy sigh.
♥ Telepathy ♥
I don't really believe in telepathy. Far from it. But how else do you explain Grandma & Grandad bringing a very excited 4-year old his absolute heart's desire and they didn't even know that it was?! I'm talking about a little boy who has been talking for months about being Darth Vader for his Star Wars dress up party for his 5th birthday - which is still SIX months away. With this comes very frequent requests to get a Darth Vader dress up costume so he can be the real deal. And guess what got packed into the English suitcases and brought half-way around the world? Yuh-huh!!
When I first saw the costume, my first thought was 'oh Mark must have told his parents about Noah wanting to be Darth Vader'. Meanwhile, he was thinking the same of me. But very quickly we realised that it was a complete fluke, and they had spotted an absolute bargain at Marks & Spencers. Originally priced at 20 pounds, they had waited and waited through the sales until it came down to an incredible 3 pounds - that's $6 NZD. I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E. Especially when you think that a similar costume here would be at least $50.
And they nearly didn't buy it as they weren't sure if it would be too scary for Noah?! He hasn't taken it off since he got it although he hasn't asked to sleep in it.......yet. It even makes the real Darth Vader deep breathing noise. Amazing coincidence hey!
And I'm going to be taking lots of leaves out of Simone's (the Queen of Parties) book using some of her ideas when it comes to planning the big Star Wars Party.
♥ A new toy ♥
We've been holding out and holding out to keep the old laptop going and going. But with less than a 50GB hard drive and only 750MB RAM which just about qualifies as an Ark these days, I've had more and more frustrating moments over the past few months where Mr. Laptop hasn't even been able to cope with even 2 applications open at one time. A relatively quick photo editing job can drag on for hours..... and the heat its been generating has been somewhat concerning...have half expected it to blow up at any minute. So, yes we've splurged a little. But its an investment for the long term. Albeit a funky, shiny red one. Oo la la. So if I'm a bit absent these next few days, it's cos I'm trying to get all the old onto the new, downloading all the apps again...yawn....but it's gotta be done!
♥ Russian Fudge ♥
We loaned our other car to our good friends Sally & Olly for a few days when theirs kept mysteriously breaking down. Olly returned the car the other night, weighed down by a box carrying Russian Fudge. I am a complete sucker for it. Seriously. And Sally's Russian fudge is the best ever. Truly. I dare you to find a yummier version! I think I ate about 10 pieces in that one night. Must.stop.eating.it.
♥ Flag Waving ♥
Sometimes its the small things. This little guy was completely made up by a free flag Grandma picked up at the Vellux Ocean Race party down on the waterfront today.
♥ My South American Drug Lord ♥
Don't ya think? Trying on his shiny new top and hat from his mum and dad.
♥ Progress ♥
My thoughts have been with the Treacy family all this week. As I mentioned on Monday,a wonderful girl whose blog I read (Jaz) had to have brain surgery on Monday. Things didn't go to plan during the operation, and as a result it looks like Jaz will have a longer road to recovery than anyone expected. But God is an amazing God, and the many prayers that have been sent on High on her behalf this week are sure working, with some really great progress being made especially in the last day. You can read Jaz's story here, which is lately being written beautifully by her husband Mark. He is doing an amazing job being a wonderful daddy to their three beautiful girls who are really missing their mum as well as being Jaz's rock during this difficult time. Know that the prayers continue from here.
I'm linking up to Paisley Jade's new Things I'm loving linky this week too.
Version 2: Not sure what happened to version one. Somehow in the middle of trying to italicise a 'p', my post posted. Of its own accord...aaargh. But I'm not finished yet....wail. Delete. Let's try that one again, shall we!
Not sure if you've read the Winky Wonky Donkey book, but it's quite apt for our week. You'll note that even the canvas slipped from its usual straight place on the wall.
Sickness hits, abates, then the next bout hits afresh another victim, abates, only for the next poor soul to go down (last to get hit was Mark last night). And so on. So a quiet weekend all round. No waterblasting, no painting, just surviving. One foot in front of the other.
But the donkey mask and tail is good to go for next weekend..
We ate in style (when we felt well enough), the highlight being Jamie's classic mince and onion pie on Saturday night, homemade pastry and all. The boys then had to put up with my hodge podge fish finger/hash brown concoction last night when Mark fell victim to 'the bug'.
Today Noah and I made Jaz's Lemon Lover's Slice in honour of her.I thought and prayed for her as we baked. Such a big day in her life today. It's not every day you undergo brain surgery. We wish you a speedy recovery. And your slice rocks too, I've lost count of how many pieces I've already eaten today :-)
Last night while I was washing up, I had a moment. This moment. It made my week.
I looked up from the sink and my little boy had climbed on the couch all on his own and was reading to himself. My heart just melted in a puddle on the floor. Truly.
And finally a walk to the park this afternoon ended our long weekend. The perfect tonic to counter a wild, wet weekend and being cooped up in a sick house!
There was climbing, and flower picking. Swinging, and play acting.
Mylo was fascinated by every bike belonging to every other kid at the park. Had to prise him away from them time after time. One nice lady did let him sit on her kiddie's bike for a bit which thrilled him no end. He was made up.
This little guy just clean chucks himself headfirst down the slide. Apparently there IS no other way. Hilarious. That was until he caught a random bounce and smacked his head on the slide. I think you can even see the head smack in the pic below...ouch. Tears and a blood nose but no real harm done.
We also spied a few wild blackberries by the side of the road on the way home and pounced!
Well we've got 3 days to get piece ourselves back together to a picture of full health now before English Grandma & Grandad arrive. They've already left England, and are winging their way to us via 2 nights in Singapore.
Well the canvas has been straightened once more, the sickness IS abating for the third time, and we wait in eager anticipation of Thursday afternoon's joyful reunion!
Nothing that has gone before matters. The successes, the failures in my walk with you. None of it. Today is a brand new day. Brand new. I am clean.
You have given me this verse. And so I reflect.
Create in me: you are THE Creator. The first creator. The creator of all. You have the power to create anything and everything. So to create a clean heart in me? It can't be the hardest thing You've ever had to do, really?
Renew a RIGHT SPIRIT. I've always wondered what that meant. Maybe its a heart that shows the true characteristics of God. The virtues of the Corinthians love chapter for a start. A heart that is: kind, humble, patient, not jealous or proud or rude. Not demanding or irritable, doesn't hold a grudge. Rejoices in the truth. Always protects, always trusts, is always hopeful and always perseveres.
Yes that is the spirit I want in me. All of it. All of it.
Cast me not away from your presence: oh Lord please don't turn away from me, as dire as our relationship might be right now. I could bear many things but never this.
Take not your holy spirit from me: he is my connection to you. He's my still small voice. He's that uneasy feeling when I know I've been absent for way too long. Even though I don't deserve it, please don't take him from me. I need him. Just as much as I need you Jesus my saviour and the love of you God my father.
Restore unto me the joy of my salvation. Even though the words are Thy I'm going to say My. Because I want MY first love back again.
That passion that can't get enough of being with you. I want to know again the total joy of the knowledge that right here right now I.am.saved. For eternity. And the pure pure joy that knowledge brings. There is no other joy in this life that could even come close when compared to THAT joy. And I've known the joy of finding the love of my life in this life.
I think you'll agree that my hubby did a sterling job with the waterblasting last weekend. Everytime I look out the window I just sigh with happiness. It looks so clean and fresh out there. I ♥ hubby.
♥ Awesome Sunrise ♥
And all I have to do to see it is pull back the curtains in the morning!
♥ Dressing Up for the fun of it ♥
And who needs a reason when you look this cool!
♥ Empty Icecream Cones ♥
Watching all 4 of my boys hanging out on the deck munching ice cream cones (well not the cat!) on a balmy Friday evening = bliss.
♥ Good Timing ♥
Is it odd to say that I'm loving the fact I held it together at work yesterday whilst feeling rather crook, in the end calling hubby to take me home an hour early. Held it together in the car, held it together in the front door, made it to the kitchen, got out an icecream container and that was that.... suffice to say I spent the next 3 hours hugging the toilet bowl more than not. I've never had such a violent episode. But thankfully it was only for 3 hours, and yay for making it home in time!
♥ This Book ♥
I did it. I finally read a book. I LOVE books - I used to read voraciously growing up. I so want to get back into reading more. And what a book to choose! Thanks Leonie from Kiwi at Heart for the recommendation. It's a good thing I was at home recovering from last night's bug and not wearing any makeup that could run as I bawled like a baby through the latter part of it. And thanks Becky for lending me your copy. Wahoo, another thing ticked off my Summer Bucket List 2010! Next up, is the Bronze Horseman recommended by Sarah of Catching the Magic.
♥ Visits by butterflies ♥
This little fella (or gal, it was a bit hard to tell!) flitted and fluttered around us for about 10 minutes the other night. Even landing on Mylo's rear end and in my hair at one point. He/she was so friendly and darted here and there amazing us with his/her aerobatics and friendliness. The boys were both entranced.
♥ A little boy who thinks he can ♥
No matter he's still about two years too small for this bike. He just wants to be in on the action.
♥ Very Berry Goodness♥
I love seeing the wineberry bush laden with berries this time of year. Tonight's pick was probably about 30 berries. Wow. And the little guy can't get enough of them either. I ♥ wineberries.
♥ Google ♥
Noah has a Shrek dress up party for his good friend Phoebe's 5th birthday next weekend. And promptly informed me he wants to go as Donkey. Sheesh, couldn't ya have found something a bit simpler - I'm not exactly known for my sewing skills to whip up a donkey costume! But never fear, Google is here. Came to my rescue beautifully. Look what I found, a printable Donkey mask. Yeah, baby! Now if I can just make it, and make it look half good.....no pressure!
Not loving so much....
Tissues in the wash
How is it possible that ONE tissue could make SUCH a mess?! Seriously, someone needs to invent a non-disintegrating tissue...like yesterday please! There's definitely a market for it. I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd love this invention?!
♥ It's a long weekend ♥
So I know we only just got back from holidays, but its a long weekend here in Welly this weekend, and after a week of sickness we could all do with some down time, chilling out together and getting prepared for our big day next Thursday.
Which brings me to....
♥ Countdown: T-6 ♥
That means only six days until English Grandma & Grandad arrive. We haven't seen Grandma since March last year, and Grandad since this time two years ago. And what a reunion it's gonna be! Travel safe, lovely mummy and daddy, you'll be with us before we know it!