What to do with daylight...

I know what to do with moonlight - sleep sleep sleep. Boy,do I love to SLEEP! Of course, I'm lucky to get enough of it, as you do when you have small kids around the house. And the bloody gym that opens at 5:30am doesn't help either. I had such a good workout yesterday and my muscles are reminding me today that they are there - good to know! I have to resolve to not sleep in so much and get there more often... A possible barrier [oh and there are lots of possibles!] is that I have told Bella I will take the side off her cot this weekend, so she will be able to get up whenever her little heart desires, and she can open her door these days too. Fraz is NOT a morning person and if I am absent [at gym] and she happens to decide she wants to be up at 6am.... I won't be a popular person with my bloke. Tough! [Now that she has given up her day sleeps she does tend to sleep in until after 7am so it may be OK.]

Some of you may be surprised to hear that Bell still sleeps in a cot, but she fits it, so, there. She is only a fairly tiny person still - yesterday we walked down to collect Lockie from school and we saw a small boy with his mum - the lad was the same height as Bella - he was actually 20 months old as opposed to Bella's 32 months...

Recently Lockie and I had his class's Zoo Sleepover and we had a great time. The weather was drizzly and cold in the morning when we walked around the zoo with our guide, but the evening before was divine and very informative. We were able to go behind the scenes and learned a lot more than you learn when you trek around the zoo on your own. We slept in a large function room, on mattresses [marae-style] but 32 kids aged 7 and 8 are quite excitable in a herd like this and it was a wakeful night for we parents [6 mums and 1 teacher]. We did enjoy it but enjoyed getting home and drying out too.

Pretty

As Bella has just pointed out to me - this is HER tree, at least it is the only tree right outside her bedroom window. Such a gorgeous Autumnal sight. We think it is a fruit tree but have no idea what fruit it may bear.

We invited the kids' Nana to dinner for Mothers Day, and Lockie has carefully wrapped her present and written in her card... I could have won big time if I had bet that she wouldn't come and there we go... still, she has a busy life. It will have to be all about ME instead! We are going to see a human circus in the morning - 'Circus Quirkus' - which should be fun. And I may even get dinner cooked for me [or ordered via a telephone!], so that will be pleasant. I feel absurdly cheated that I have no Mum to buy a pressie for this Mothers Day - commercialism ingrained in my head it seems!

NZSO rules!

On Wednesday I went to a rehearsal of the NZ Symphony Orchestra at the Michael Fowler Centre. It was an early afternoon affair, with tea and bikkies with the Mayor of Wellington beforehand! The music was just magical and my friend, Judi, and I sat there quite entranced. Time passed so quickly and after a while we had to sneak out to feed the parking meters, and then had lunch and sneaked back in for some more 'musical chocolate' - my term which means it was really delicious to listen to! Later I met my boys over at the hospital for Lockie's paediatrician appointment, where the news was all good and we left the hospital feeling rather pleased with ourselves - Lockie's health is really good so we must be doing something right.

Our house is getting the exterior painted this week [and next] which is a pretty messy and noisy job - at least until the sanding is completed. The all-women middle-aged crew are very nice, and their Pekinese, Ty, very hairy and cute. I don't know if the lawns will ever look the same again though - paint chips and dust galore has decorated the grass with off-white and pink [that's the undercoat]. And there's certainly plenty of dust/dirt/paint chips that creeps inside on a daily basis.

Less than two weeks now until the Zoo Sleepover that Lockie's class is participating in takes place. I have volunteered to be one of the parent helpers who come along. Should be fun! I don't expect to get too much sleep though...

So, lots of excitement going on here!!! How about you?

Another birthday!

Here are the kids giving Dad some last cuddles before they went to bed, on his birthday. Funnily enough, Frazer was snoozing on the couch before the shot, and again soon after... He'd had a late night the night before and had spent much of the day looking after the kids while I went to our annual National Cf Conference, here in Wellington this year. The 3-day conference is an awesome chance to meet up with other Cf parents and Cf adults, and compare notes, etc, plus hear some excellent speakers on a great range of relevant topics. Next year it is to be held in Taupo and I am determined to get Fraz there too! I met several new people, including a local man in his fifties, who told me he had been diagnosed at age 33. Wow. I have so much to discuss with Lockie's paediatrician when we see him on Wednesday for his regular 3-monthly checkup. Lots of new ideas for us to think about when it comes to Lockie's care and treatments.