George

When I was turning 13, my parents gave me 3 tickets to my first concert. I choose 2 very excited friends and, dressed head to toe in white and fluro, we saw these 2 lads. Our hearts fluttered as we danced and sang and felt like every song was being sung to us. I remember it was Andrew Ridgely's birthday and the entire audience sang Happy Birthday to him. I also remember standing around outside the gates, screaming, as we waited for the boys to leave the venue. Our vigil paid off when our heroes not only stopped but got out of their limos to say hello and sign autographs. Do stars still do that today?

Fast forward 25 years. This time I was the lucky recipient of a paid ticket from a friend. We danced and sang but this time we knew that every song was most definitely not being sung to us. There were a few WHAM! songs thrown in to satisfy the remnants of our collective teenage desires and a few gay anthems to keep the rest of the audience happy. Our man could still swivel his butt and grooved his way through the best of our favourite tunes. The thirty-somethings in the audience went home to their sleeping children with songs in their heads wondering at all the amazing things that have led them to this place 25 years later.

images via here and here.

Two

Our gorgeous girl, who makes busyness out of every minute of her days, is two. A strong head and gentle heart, she is inseparable from her brother, the other pea in her pod. She will be the little girl bringing home the strays pleading can we keep it, can we keep it? And of course we will because it is very hard to say no to her little face and her brown eyes. She is already so aware of her power to persuade and the effect she has on people she encounters.

A few weeks ago I saw this illustration over at flossy-p. Titled Wilderness, it spoke of Ellie. Her bravery, her gentleness, her stubbornness and her peace. Our girl who mothers her teds with such tenderness, who can bait her brother beyond distraction, who butts heads with me countless times each day and who melts her father's heart with a glance epitomises this girl. It was the perfect picture to hang above her big girl bed.

Miss Ellie, Happy Birthday. You are the joy of our joyfulness.

PS The other handmade gift Missy received this birthday was this sweet dress made by Sophie from Barefoot Babes

Free thinking

Another way to wear yesterday's newly acquired accessory.

Vancouver 2010

original story and image via

This story arrived in my inbox this morning. My sports mad brother is loving the controversy that is unfolding in his adopted home town over our Boxing kangaroo flag.

And these arrived in our letter box this afternoon.



These boxing kangaroos can't wait for "Vancouver" to start so that they can spot their Uncle .
If only it was that simple

Summer holiday

A new adventure for us this summer and a return to simpler pleasures.

Cooking and eating outdoors

Finding shady spots to eat lunch

and quiet spots to swim

Walks at dusk

and plenty of time to just hang out with each other.

Night-time Picnics

The littlies are getting into night picnics this summer. Before Christmas we went to Carols by Candlelight in Sydney's Domain. Based on the success of that event, we took them back to the domain for an evening of African music.

Play dough, cars and tea sets kept the heeby-jeebies at bay, while papers and people watching were enough for the adults as we waited out the hours until showtime. The drizzle of rain did little to dampen their enthusiasm for a night under the city skyline. They danced and played and ran through the picnicers. Oh, and there was a free photo booth that had them intrigued. It took alot of effort to lift those two babes high enough to get us all in and then they sat squat to wait for their little photo to pop out. Small things.

Leaping into a new decade

They say that you should start the New Year in the manner in which you intend to proceed. Unfortunately I spent New Years day doing housework only to hear this proverb a day too late.

The Rooster and Tools threw caution to the wind and plunged into the new decade. Nothing could hold our fearless boy back as he followed his father, leaping so quickly that my camera only captured his little splash.

We brought the new year in with just our little family. The zoo, an evening swim, pizza at one of our faves and a DVD. We clean forgot about the fireworks we have seen every year and went to bed 15 minutes before the stroke of midnight.

Our summer has taken a vacation. Our garden is lush with all the rain but we need some sun so we can open up our van and get to work before we head away on the weekend.

Hope your New Year has been filled with little bursts of sunshine.