Ex libris - horsie books

Thank you and big ups to all the wontoks who provided the Barronitties with horsie books.

We now have:

Our Farm thanks to Granny and Poppa
The Farm thanks to Auntie Rose
Fritz and the beautiful horses thanks to Nana Anna
Ponies thanks to Nana Anna
I love my horse thanks to Gran
Horses and ponies thanks to Auntie Laura
My Farm thanks to Nana Pat

We also have a plastic horse and horse float, a throw-your-leg-over-and-giddy-up horse on wheels and a ride-on cow

Also, a new and improved knee horse ride - tandem - two knees = two kids and lots of laughter - all to William Tell's overture of course!

If anyone, at anytime, would like to borrow a horsie book or horse related memorabilia from Bax' horse phase , they are more than welcome.

Mothering Sunday

Sunday morning: I took Bax to visit Poppa at the local am-dram theatre. G's dad has been working there of and on for 27 years! At the moment he is building sets for a production of Michael Frayn's Noises Off! He is a dab hand with a hammer and saw so very good at doing the fiddly bits. We stood up on the stage while everyone worked around us. I loved it and could have stayed all day helping out but once Bax had scaled the heights of the tallest ladder either of us had ever seen - twice! We shuffled off to buy the doings for a grand lunch.

Sunday afternoon: G finally got away from it all and went to a movie!

And after having my aunt and uncle for lunch (very tasty they were too!) Bax and I put Izzie down for a sleep and hung out together doing nothing much.

Later we sat in the garden and played with the hose. The dog got very hyped up running back and forth through the sprinkler spray and when Bax decided to join in the two of them went crazy running around the garden squealing (or barking in Django's case).

When izzie woke up she and Bax had a swim in the paddling pool. Jumping in and out, splashing and giggling. It is getting cooler here so within 20 minutes they were both shivering. G surprised us all by coming home early. We ran the two gubba baths with big piles of hot bubbles and the two kids sat in the garden doing more of the same but this time without shivering. Bax spent ages pushing one of the little plastic balls he got for his FIRST birthday under the bubbles and watching it bounce up into his face. He always does the same gag too, he puts bubbles on his chin and says Santa or he puts bubbles on the ball and says Santa ball, or bubbles on Bubba and says Santa Bubba. He cracks himself up. When the bubbles all disapper he scrunches up his fist and puts it up to his chin as a beard and says Santa - will he keep going on about Santa for another ten months do you think?

We got the kids into bed early - a lovely Sunday full of adventure and visitors and some potty successes and fun and laughter.

Of course when I pulled out a work shirt to iron it and Bax said , without missing a beat, "Work. Byebye. Talk telephone" It stung a little. But heydeho.

Meine kleine madchen

Here is Miss O in her dirndle -she looks exactly like her mother did when she wore a dirndle at her father's German beer hall and restaurant, nearly thrity years ago.

Chinese cuties

(Excuse the funny looking image, I am working with prehistoric technology today and have had to jury-rig my image editor)

This is a pic from the night we stole Auntie H and Miss O and the four of us went to the Chinese Lantern Festival.

Remind me: Why do we bother?

What with one thing and another it was definately time to pull a sickie and spend some time at home yesterday. Auntie H dropped of Miss O so she could go into town and do something grown-up. I took Miss O to the "shopper market" as Bax calls it, to get supplies and then we came home, Bax and izzie woke up and we put together a marvellous picnic and went to the zoo.

All the way there Miss O and I sang "We're going to the zoo zoo zoo" and Bax would say quitely "Me too too too".

Got there, hauled everything out of G's truck. Two buggies (one a double). A bag. A picnic box thing called a Tiffin which i got from GAS for Christmas. Two drink bottles. A picnic rug. All three kids sat in a row on the grass verge, Bax ("You're in charge") coralling the girls into line.

Luckily kids are free at the zoo (Bax calls it the zoom) because it costs an absolute fortune for adults to get in so it all evens out in the end.

We were there on a fabulous day it turned out. it was very empty of people so the animals felt relaxed enough to come right up to the fence/glass/moat. We saw lions, elephants, hippos, giraffes, zebra, baboon - all very close. Bax seemed to enjoy it - especailly when just the hippo's nostrils appeared out of the water. Miss O liked the chickens. Izzie was quite captivated by the lions.

We had our picnic. The kids liked that bit the very best. The five of us found a round table and four chairs right by the lions which was pretty cool.

We went back round the way we'd come because we had decided that bax and Miss O could choose the direction we went if they walked rather than rode in the buggies. We ended up in the kiwis which I used to be really spooked by when I was a littlie but Bax liked so much he kept running in a yelling that he was home.

After only an hour and a bit we all hiked back to the car, got them to sit on the grass in a line again, piled everything back into the truck and went home.

By the time we got there, Bax was bawling, Miss O was screaming, G was a bout to jump out the window onto the motorway rather than stay with us, Izzie was looked very sleepy, and i was wondering to myself: Was this a good idea or should we just have stayed in our own garden and played with our own animals.

Auntie H came and got Mis O and told us all about apple trees. Later when the sun was going down and Izzie was asleep i took Bax out into the garden and told him to set about climbing our little apple tree just to see if he could. He looked at me as if I was mad , I told him there was a buck in it for him if he made it to the top (just kidding). He climbed happily up, picking appleas as he went, only broke one small branch and when he did get to the top he crawled out onto the branch hanging down just like a little to sawyer, or like the lioness had at the zoom. He looked so happy and peaceful.

Another thing: Huge love and majesty to our movie star Phoebe.

Other people's children

I wasn't with my own kids this weekend as I flew to Gisborne to attend my aunt's wedding (to Mike who she has been with for 15 years). G and the littlies dropped me at the airport, Bax crying that he wanted to go on the plane and see GAS (Great Aunt Sheridan) and Apple Mike (Uncle Mike) - but poor BAx, it was just me who stepped onto the tiny 20 seat plane and zipped through the clouds, down the coast to Gissy.

100 people at the wedding - lots of family and lots of old friends I have known since I was a little kid and my aunt lived out the back blocks on the East Coast. There were a few kids but most people, like me, had left the brood at home and were letting their hair down and cutting the rug.

As with most weddings it was sandwiched between two days (Friday and Sunday) of family meals, so I did get to see my cousins in action as parents which was very interesting.

I have three cousins, two of them have kids. Jacob has Kate (2) and Mim has Bree (5) and Lucy (1 and a half). My father Simon has a four year old, Maddy. Also, Apple Mike has a grandson called Luca who is 3 and a half months, son of Daphne, who is really a cousin too now that Apple Mike and GAS are married!.

Wow.

The first thing I noticed was that family politics do trickle down to the littlies and all the adults don't seem to notice because they are so busy defining, adjusting, and manouvering their own relationships. Who wont' play with whom. Who has better toys. Who can stay up later. Whose antics get the biggest laughs. All these things really matter (to all of us!).

The second thing I noticed was that if you give them long enough all the troughs and rises seem to even out and they all just get on with playing. The problem is that these family things only ever last a very short time and we only have them once a year at the very most, so the evening out only happens an hour before everyone is packed into cars and driven in opposite directions.

The wedding itself saw Bree dancing and singing, and acting as ring bearer. Kate trying to get a little of the lime light on the stage but being manouevered stage right by Bree. Maddy sitting politely on the steps but talking to her mum in the front row during the serious bits of the service. Lucy sleeping through the whole thing, only getting up at the very end to delight everyone with her hilarious facial expressions and funny "I just learnt how to walk" walk. Luca sitting in his daddy's arms while he, Luca's mum, aunt and uncle sang acappella.

I can't help but wonder what Izzie and Bax would have added to the mix. In some ways I wish I had had them there to show them off; but then again, they are so precious and innocent that I'm glad I could enjoy the politics and drama without having to pull them into it too. Tt is so easy to get on your high horse and tut tut tut when no-one has the chance to observe and opin about you as a parent. And, it's so nice to watch people who knew as children parenting their own children who are so like them, doing the same things, playing the same games. Ah families, round and round and round we go.

Love

Much love to Phoebe and mummy L today.

And because I am lacking in bright, funny, intelligent things to say, here is a link to someone else's blog. Here we find Jolisa encountering the first few weeks of being Mummy to a four year old boy (so I thought Lovely L especially may enjoy it)

http://www.publicaddress.net/default,busytown,73.sm

Sugar crash

After the excitement of the weekend both kids are all floppy and cuddly and sleeping lots. Bax loves Fireman Sam and is currently ensconced on the couch at home watching it with G saying wistfully in the background, "Now are you sure you wouldn't rather watch the Winter Olympics instead?".

Izzie spent the day with Nana Pat and had a wonderful time by all accounts, having tea and chat with the ladies and going for little walks in the pram (she seems to like the little umbrella pram we found on the side of the road in Dulwich more than the big beautiful kiwi made jobbie we paid a fortune for - sort of goes along with her attitude about her bed, portacot better than big beautiful kiwi made wooden thingee we paid a fortune for!) I bet your bottom dollar she will be the kind of person much happy in a hammock cast between a couple of palm trees than an actual hotel bed with proper sheets and reassuring air-conditioning - hmmmm sounds like someone else I know!

I was just reading Auntie Lee's blog (www.thedoyliekids.blogspot.com) and she reminded me to tell you about her son Jazz and Izzie eating birthday cake together. They demolished big slabs of the stuff, and I had applied so much thick sweet icing that they pracitcally painted their highchairs with it. They finished off their meals with iceblocks - red for Jazz and green for Izzie (I'm not sure if I approve, but seeing as I was the one to hand them out, I am somewhat to blame for the whole affair). Neither of them had encountered an iceblock before and Izzie especially kept rubbing it through her hair and ears. My mate Holly and I took great delight in making telephone-ringing noises and then watching Izzie plaster the iceblock onto her ear and then we'd say in a little girl voice"Hello Izzie speaking" and it completely did look like Izzie was talking on an iceblock phone.

Any how de hoo the high chairs were so covered in muck by the end of it all that G had to waterblast them the next day to get them clean again.

I'm rambling - I too am on a bit of a sugar crash today.

One more thing: Izzie's hair has bushed out so much that when I woke up and she was tucked up between G and I fast asleep, I had a face full of strawberry blonde curls. All her nicknames: Blossom, Peachy, Strawberry Shortcake, suit her so much. She is an absolute poppit.

And another thing: In all the hoopla of the weekend festivities I forgot to acknowledge the wedding of Sue and John, our canal boat comrades, although far away still very dear to our hearts for all our adventures and wine drunk and good laughs - happy to you John and Sue!

A weekend of parties

What a full weekend! we had a wonderful party on Saturday. 14 children running amok. Little groups of adults spread across our lawn eating, chatting, laughing, drinking.

Piles of meat meant G and his mate Gray manned the bbq from about 6 to 8.30.

We had all Bax and Izzie's ride on toys out - plane, tractor, four bikes, cow; as well as ball pool, swimming pool, castle tent with tunnel - and all the kids just zoomed up and down between courses of dinner, cake, ice blocks, fuelled on apple juice and soda water.

Many drifted away as night fell. The few that were left sat around among the candels and coloured fairy lights as we filled both Gubbas with hot bubbly water and threw the children in, two at a time to splash and wash and calm down. Then towels, odd assortments of what-ever-fits-wear-it outfits, and Izzie to bed as the others curled up on chairs and laps. There was a brief moment of chaos-returned at about 10 when we turned up the music and those still awake enough to danced on our brand new paved patio - Bax was in the midst of that of course and finally went to bed at 11 still claiming he was too awake to sleep.

And then last night, bax and I went and kidnapped Auntie H and Miss O and the four of us went into town to push our way through the crowds at the Lantern Festival in Albert Park. That was a smash hit too, especially the "peanut butter chicken" that is satay on a stick. Miss o was wearing a bright red chinese dress, red mary-janes, and had her hair in high bunches. bax was wearing a white chinese jacket, a ben Sherman t'shirt with iceblocks on it, black shorts and striped yellow and black boots with bees on them. We had to stop about 12 times for people who wanted to take pictures of Miss O and everytime Bax would match into the shot too and hold her hand.

it was a bit mad of us because we nearly lost them in the crowd about a trillion times, they refused to hold hands with either Auntie H or myself and would only do so with each other. Also, they kept sitting down in the middle of the constantly moving crowd and then telling us to "sit-down too". Who in their right mind would take two two year olds to a park with 50,000 people in it? Crazy white folk.

more to come but here's the best

Everyone's gone home and we had a lovely time. Especially Izzie. All sleeping now. Full details to come when I'm more awake.

A particularly lovely catch up from across the ditch

http://www.kangabarrons.blogspot.com/

Daddy

Ok so sometimes the dishes aren't done and the nappies are still in the washing machine and the dog hasn't been walked, and Bax has developed such a love of pies that "Little pies" has taken over from "Little cakes" in his favourite things lexicon. But the kids are always smiley and their hair is always clean and their outfits are always bright and 'creative' and their days are always adventures. And when I watch from a secret spot and see G down on the floor with all the little tea sets and cooking paraphenalia around him and he and two happy kids drinking imaginary tea from tiny cups, or G making a dolly and a teddy dance and hug and walk around to the delight of his small but warm audience, or when I see him crouched down on a tiny trike giving Bax a race even though his knees ache, or making little plates of yummy things to eat for lunch even though he's so tired he can't think of what to eat himself, i couldn't care less that the floor needs a vaccuum.

It's a photo finish but...

Gran wins by a nose.

Got home last night and a very happy Bax came running up to me with a "happy to you parpel" sent by Gran. Inside: a pop up book called I love horses! A HORSEY BOOK - finally.

Bax was so so so happy he took it to bed.

On his way to sleep he whispered "Nanu Gran"

See? I told you Nanu was better than please!

Welcome home

This is our house from above. Drive down the little lane. Park under the trees. Walk up the path, past the little cottage garden Nana Pat gave us for Christmas. Up the steps. In through the front door which is always open because the cat is too short to use the cat flap G put in last weekend before breakfast. Down the hall past Bax' bedroom. Into the open plan kitchn, dining, living. Then out the back, past the hall to Izzie and our rooms. Down the steps to the paved patio. There's the sleepout ahead of you to your left, and beyond the garden full of trees; plum, apple, citrus, feijoa, a cabbage tree. Under the plum is the swings, but don't swing too late or the mossies will get you. Back up the path, past the bikes, into the house. Cuppa tea, cheese scones. The dog will follow you "outside Django". Pull up a chair, have a chat. You're always welcome.

Nanu nanu

In an attempt to install manners in our boy we have introduced Thank you as well as please. Bax says it "Nanu". The lovely thing about Thank you is that he uses it when he really is thank full rather than just when he really wants something. You see "Please" is really just a big exclamation mark on a demand, like Can i have a chocolate? "PLEASE!!!" As if to say You have to give me what i want because I said Please!

Nanu on the other hand is said when he already has the thing he wanted so there is no added incentive - he just says it because it's nice to say.

Two examples from this past Waitangi Weekend. On saturday Nana Pat and i took the kids to Matakana for the day. Across the road from the truley awful Farmers Market was a very cool second hand market and Bax fell in love with an icing tool - you know the type with all the nozzles - like a big hyperdermic needle. This one is a german one in its original 1950s box and with all its bits - very much like the one I had as a kid. For $8 a real bargain so we bought it. The next day while he was asleep I made some very simple sugar biscuits and some pink icing and he spent a long time icing them (with some help). We put them all carefully under the fly umbrella while they cooled. When the icing had set he carefully gave one to Daddy and one tbubba and took one for each hand for himself. There was a long silence as he munched his biscuits and looked admiringly at his icing piper. When he said "Mummy" I turned around and he had a big pink sugary grin on his face "Nanu Mummy" he said. My heart melted.

Then yesterday before he had his nap i said that we would go for a picnic in the park for dinner. As the kids slept G and i completed a three day marathon of laying pavers on our 4mx4m patio outside, I hit my thumb with the mallet, G was achy and tired and cross, and by the time Bax woke up neither of us felt like going to the park, bu the first thing Bax said to me when he woke up was "Picnic now?" How could we not?

An exhausted G opted out and stayed at home, but I summoned the last of my strength, packed as many bits into our picnic bag as I could fit, and took the kids and the dog to the park. We loaded up the buggy with hamper, juice, two kids, blanket and ball and walked the dog through the bush and back around in a loop to the picnic area. Then we sat in a little circle and ate our food. IT WAS BRILLANT. The three of us (and the dog) had a wonderful time eating cold sausage and grapes and cheese and crackers and chips and juice. Bax was in heaven and Izzie too loved helping herself to all the bits and not having to be strapped into the high chair. On the way homw Bax let out a big sigh and said "Nanu Holidays!"

In Izzie news: Ms Izz has nearly four teeth (one at the top just pushing its way through now) and is nearly standing up un aided.

Happy to YOU!!

Poppa's birthday last night. We all gathered at the ranch for victuals and moonshine.

Cousin Josh was there, much to Bax's delight. The two of them rolliced around the house playing cars and chatting, then we threw them in the bath. Bax thought it was so funny that Josh scrubbed his feet with a little facial brush Granny gave him. After their bath they lay on all the pillows in Granny and Poppa's bed and watched Postman Pat. When we had to leave Bax yelled No No Not!!! and to that everyone in the room laughed which sort of defused his attitude!

Poppa and Cousin Josh walked Bax and I down to my car (G had taken Izzie home to bed an hour or so earlier). It was pitch black. We stopped on the path in a gap between the trees and Bax looked up and said Stars! Night night sun. There was no moon.

At the car Josh and Poppa said their Byes and Night nights and Bax said Bye Josh Bye Poppa Happy to you! and off we went. Out of the dark Titirangi valley up onto the main road. All the way home I said what do ducks say? And Bax quacked. What do sheep say? and Bax baaaed. I can't tell you how cute and funny he is. He says things like Sun sleep and Dada Awake. He said the shops were asleep and I said they were closed. To that Bax said Wash your clothes! And then when i laughed he said Mummy Funny.

I can have real conversations with him now. Conversations that make me laugh and think and conversations that let loose a little tear or two. Conversations that I want to hold on to and make last for ever. Conversations that really only last the trip home and then into bed. I guess they are conversations that will keep going when we see each other next, and conversations that will just keep going in and out of days and moods and road trips. Quite frankly even these first few fragments are the best conversations I have ever had - you know what I mean.

I promised you photos