For the Life of us

Well technically it is nearly Spring because September is just around the corner (even though we have had a blast of icy weather bringing snow to Auckland - yes snow to Auckland! How crazy is that?! Spring always drags with it a sense of change and new beginnings, however corny that statement might seem. There is just something wonderful about the sun starting to make longer appearances, slowly the jumpers and scarves make their way to the back of the cupboard and lovely flowers start to dot the scenery of life - it is just a lovely time of year. Not quite here yet, but coming (thank God! Not sure how much more of Winter I can handle). Life seems to be keeping in tune nicely to the season, changes is mostly every aspect of our lives at the moment. I do like change for the most part, especially good ones like we have had. Gav has now finished 3 years of study meaning he has found his way into a new job and now with the propsect of another one on the horizon. Our little baby Abigail ha

I have no real reason for blogging today, except that I am frustrated by a story my aunt told me yesterday and I have run out of people to tell... I have come to the conclusion that we all live in our own little 'bubble worlds', some more than others. Hopefully being Christian, 'Christ-focused' & others-centered, our bubbles are bigger than ourselves. But it is sad when you hear stories of people who have made life more important than other people. It was actually a fairly comical order of events, sort of a comedy of errors which started with my aunty from Hamilton wantint to drop her CV in at a school in an unfamiliar area (Huapai - yup that's right, I'm naming and shaming). To cut a long, stressful drive's story short, the party of 4 (being my aunty who is not familiar with Auckland at all, my elderly grandad who saldy has dementia, my grandmother who tends to worry and is not all that familiar with Auckland either and my little 3 year old cousin who i

So yes it has once again been a while since I've made time to blog. I've decided to let that be the case though as it is really an unrealistic expectation of myself to do this any more regularly unfortunately. I am amazed by people who blog every few days or every week, what great discipline...I however will lower my standards for this blog to a less frequent update. Winter has finally arrived. I was hopeful for a while there that we may just skip that bitter cold stage as we had quite a good, warm run for so long! That obviously lends itself to walks and park visits and all the wonderful 'out-doorsy' you can do with little people. I have still tried to do some of that, but havent been quite so successful in dodging inpredictable bursts of rain or remembering a towel when we go to the park, making it very short times out for myself and Abby and we usually resort to a Mc Donalds play area or the inside play park at the mall which in turn means the healthy, outdoors outin

This Queen's birthday weekend has been lovely, I have to say. It has involved no real plans aside from the Friday night Youth Event we hosted, which has been wonderful. Not that I don't like being busy, I thrive on it really, but it is nice every now and then to throw to-do lists and schedules out the window. Mum and dad have been away with my youngest brother so it has just been a house-full of us kids. Us kids and Abigail...and granny and grandad who is really like one of the kids these days. So it has been a full house and a fun house and we still have a lovely day off tomorrow. Just for fun, here's a bit of a look into the little, even simple moments that have made the weekend memorable so far... Abby icing cupcakes and getting more icing on the plate and on herself than on the biscuits! She wasn;t bothered though, kept her busy for ages! Watching Abby jump in puddles down at Long Bay beach, such a serene setting - and this is supposed to be Winter! Love it!

I did a bit of writing the other day. Something I used to do all the time and have slowly stopped, sadly. I just felt inspired by something that has crept it's way into my life and my family's life and has just become normal. The problem with living with a problem is that you tend to slowly forget that life used to be quite different. I started to think about what if it was me, or my husband who slowly started to forget. All our memories, everything we've done and shared in life just simply forgotten. When I actually started to think about it, I felt so compelled to write. Not just a factual piece about two people I love very much and who are facing a challenging life now, but rather seeing who they are now with the contrast of who they used to be. Names have been changed incase I ever use this piece in anything, but those who know me and my family will recognise the characters. Here's a tribute to two very special people; one who has forgotten so much and the other who

I find it ironic that the post in succession of the one about how I'm sorry I never blog anymore, is around 4 months later! I won't even try and make excuses this time. Yes life IS busy, but I like busy, I don't think it's a bad thing unless of course you don't manage your time very well. I like to think I do ok, it's just sometimes things like Facebook and Trademe accounts don't help very much. The reason for this post is to let off some steam, even if no-one even reads this, it's just theraputic somehow... I recently watched a show and then a sequel to that show, about some rich and famous English footballers wives. The typical set-up for a reality TV show; they leave their families, nannies, cooks and fancy lifestyle to experience poverty first hand. It just so happened that the place they went to was in Cape Town (where I'm from), a mere 20 minutes from where we hung out. It is so sad looking back now, we all knew there were poor people and some

I know this might seem silly, but i recently felt so moved by the situation someo

I know this might seem silly, but i recently felt so moved by the situation someo

I know this might seem silly, but i recently felt so moved by the situation someo

I know this might seem silly, but i recently felt so moved by the situation someo

Not even a month ago, around 200 excited young people crammed into a campsite in Ngaruwahia and left there knowing who they are in God, having a total 'identity make-over' . It saddens me to watch the news tonight and see that just around the corner from where we had camp, a little girl, not even 7 months old, has has her life taken away from her so prematurely. It is not so much the story, as sad as it is, that makes me cringe because we all know there will always be sick, troubled people who do this kind of things to helpless little kids. What saddens me more are the many who are keeping silent; the total disregard of a life. A woman in the community who spoke up was subject to vandilism, a spraypainted fence with words about her being 'a naak', reflecting the totally skewed view of some very deceived people. How sad it is that with no one speaking up about what happened, the mother, step-dad and an uncle who all lived in the house with the little girl aren't

I honestly thought Abigail was sick a few weeks ago. She changed alomost overnight! Not even kidding. She went from a delightful, compliant little angel to a strong-willed little 20 month old who seems to think she is 3 or something. I definitely am enjoying having a little person who can actually communicate, the enetertaining and enjoyable moments definitely FAR outweigh any bad one's. But the 'moments' are undeniably there. A transformation from angelic to goodness knows what, in a matter of seconds. What is mostly referred to as 'terrible two's' ; the 'phase' of children's life I didn't believe in until a month ago. It really is easier to let kids get away with things like shouting, screaming and talking rudely and that's what's so hard (sigh). Gone are the days of a gurgling bundle of joy falling asleep on my chest during an episode of my weekly TV show or lying, playing quietly while I have a coffee with a friend at the mall

It has been a few months since my last blog / apology for not writing often enough... nothing's changed.

I find myself without excuse as to why it has taken me 9 months to finally sit down and write... yup, no excuse...not one. Business is sadly an excuse for everything and the only one I have. So many wonderful things have happened in these 9 months, mainly just everyday life and being able to watch a little baby become a little girl with a distinctive personality of her own. It is fascinating to just sit and watch her and sometimes I find myself doing just that; just sitting watching her as she plays quietly or potters around murmuring or singing. It has just ticked over into 2011 and the list of things we've done is already filling up. A biggie is our trip back to South Africa! Abigail and Gavin both met my family there and we met his, it was quite the reunion. It was there that Abby spent a night away from us for the first time. Although I did miss her terribly, the slight distraction of 4-star accommodation on the Waterfront and a night of fine dining and a movie did help a littl