.....and a Happy New Year!

Please be safe everyone over this New Year period. Look after your babies, take care on the roads, be careful. Too many car crashes and violence on the News at the moment, it's all very sad.
I'm looking forward to our New Year: tomorrow is going to be around 34 degrees (that's about 93F), perfect beach weather, and then we are going over to a friends house for a Barbie (cook out, not the doll), a few quiet drinks (not me, I'm driving) and a quiet farewell to a pretty good year. Our host is 35 weeks pregnant with her first baby, so it's not going to be a 'go crazy' party, but we are with good friends, so it will be delightful.
2009 has been a pretty good year. It's gone quick, as they tend to do. It's been busy - two small children, no surprises there! I've been running all year, don't feel like I've gotten anywhere, but I did two fun runs and I managed to run twice a week most weeks, so that's one of my last year's resolutions achieved.
Jim hasn't traveled, so it's been great having Daddy at home, it's meant he's managed to do some things for himself and also just be around for the boys. That will probably change in the New Year, but I'm not complaining. To have a whole year with him being away of a total of about 10 days is amazing, and I made sure I enjoyed it and appreciated it, especially as he does bath time every night! We have also lived in the same place for the longest amount of time since Uni (College). We have moved pretty much every two years since Jim has started work, give or take a couple of months. We have now been here for 3 years. I'm feeling nervous, but I'm also just making the most of every day. Going to the beach every possible moment, enjoying being in my own house, appreciating having school friends and family all within a 100km (60 mile) radius. I know it's not forever - that is the life we have chosen. But I really feel I have settled now, I have made some new 'Mummy' friends, I love my lifestyle (see the photo of the beach that I never got around to posting: I took it one morning when I was running), and we are very lucky. The only down side is the commute for Jim. It's ridiculous. He spends a lot of his week in the car. So I know he can't do that forever. I'll just make the most of life while I can and take it on the chin when it comes..............
Happy New Year everyone, I hope it brings lots of good times and big belly laughs,
....and don't forget to just go with the flow...........

Merrrrryyyyy Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful friends all over the globe.
Once again I only got some Christmas cards out and they were late and the others are still coming. I sound like a broken record! I say the same thing every year. Anyway, to all of you who read this blog and email me, thank you for keeping in touch. I love to hear from you and hear your news and I think of you all very often. I hope you all manage to see some family and have a happy and safe time together. We hope you 2010 brings many blessings and wonderful memories.
Shelly and Chris: I hope that maybe your family grows and you can enjoy the encompassing chaos!Hee, hee, it's great - seriously!
Caroline and Steve: I hope you continue to enjoy your new place and your busy little toddler - never a dull moment!
Caroline and Eric: I hope you have a moment to step back and look at your amazing, beautiful family and relish in all their delights. No doubt you are busy, but the love in your house must be abundant.
Sabine and Tako: I don't know if you check this blog but if you do, I think of you often and am constantly inspired by you. May 2010 bring many more adventures and stories to keep me amazed and entertained!
Chelsea and Dayven: I love our sporadic contact and you know how much I look forward to your blogs. Have a wonderful white Christmas, Hadley's first, and I look forward to more chats in 2010.
Caroline and Pat: Can't wait to hear more of your travels and adventures in the New Year. Thanks for the emails, I love hearing from you.
Karen and Jensy: thinking and missing you all always. Enjoy your first white Christmas (and lots of it!), I will endeavour to stay in touch more often - warning: I ALWAYS say that, but I will......promise.
Sue, Pete and Kids: miss you especially lots at this time of year. Keep on having heaps of fun and have a great Chrissy.
MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone,
lots of love and cheer,
Naomi, Jim, Tom and Angus xxxxxxx
Merry Christmas everyone

Running Mummy

I acheived a personal goal last week. I have been trying to get back into running all year. I did my 5k (3mile) back in May which I really loved. So at that time I entered myself into a 12km (7.5 mile) run which was on last week. I hadn't lost as much post-baby weight as I had hoped, and I wasn't very fast, but I ran it, and I ran the whole way. I loved it too. Everyone thought I was crazy because it was pouring rain - see photo. It wasn't cold as it's Spring here now, but I was sopping. My shoes at the end were squelching as I walked back to the car! I had asked Jim to bring the boys down to the finish line to see Mummy, but when I finished it was so wet, I figured he wouldn't have bothered, so I just went straight back to the car. When I rang him, he told me he was there standing in the rain - what a dedicated husband! Sorry about that..........I need a running buddy though. There isn't a running club in my small town and none of my old friends from around here are into running. I missed Kristen and Shelley very much - I was thinking lots of you girls on Sunday. There was people at the starting line standing around together chatting and laughing and I was thinking of Steamboat and all the other runs we used to do together. I used to run with my sister when we lived in the same town many years ago, but it's a bit hard now that we are 1.5hr away from each other.
So it's the beginning of many more, I'm doing a run along the beach in the New Year. It's a 10km from one town to the next, along the beach the whole way - I'm excited. Running is the best.

A Photo Diary

Hi all,

I just haven't been able to prioritise any time to blog at the moment and I feel overwhelmed at the emails I need to reply too, the blogs I need to write about and Christmas and Christmas cards looming. I love more than anything that I have maintained friendships all over the world and I am determined to keep in touch with those friends. Hence, the blog has gone by the wayside this year. Well, it means there is always room for improvement!
So please find photos following and short comments on what we have been up to over the past couple of months. Thinking of you all and hope everyone is looking forward to Christmas and/or enjoying the Holiday Season.
Mum and Angus having a cuddle.
Tom looking through the fence to the neighbours house. Joseph his best friend used to live there until they moved to the USA. He misses him lots and this day was wishing, I think, that he still lived there so he could go over for a play.

That is a lion at Angus' feet. There is an fantastic outdoors zoo that we took the kids to in October. It's called the Werribee Zoo and it's amazing and very respectful of the animals normal habitats and environments. This is a huge enclosure with rocks, dirt mounds, grasses and even an old 4wd landrover in the enclosure (just like Africa I suppose?). Anyway, between us and them is just a thick plate glass window from the ground to ceiling of our 'lookout'. So there was about 5 cm (1inch) between Angus and this HUGE lion. It was so fantastic and they looked so cuddly. It was great. Why the lions chose to hang out there rather than anywhere else in their enclosure was unclear, but it gave us a great experience so not complaining.
At the Hippo's enclosure there were real hippos but there was also this 'playground' for the kids to play on. So much fun.



These are photos from Melbourne Cup. It's the biggest race day in Australia (horse racing) sort of like Kentucky Derby or Royal Ascot. We had a completely child free day with much champagne and decadence. It was so cool, I felt like a little part of the pre-mummy Naomi was back. I suppose it's always there, sometimes it just gets lost in snot, breakfast cereal, dribble, sand, mud etc. etc. etc. We had a great day with my friends Andy (adding a photo soon), and above Anne, Shannon and of course my wonderful man Jimmy.
Today is our Anniversary - 8 years. That spins me out.

As Time Goes By......

Just after I wrote my last blog, my sister arrived from Dubai with her three kids. We had a pretty good time but it was hectic. We tried to do lots of fun things with the kids while they were
here. Aquarium, Museum, Zoo........Tom and Angus LOVED having them here (and me too of course!), Tom is still talking about his cousins. They had so much fun and Sue's kids were wonderful. Even Cal, who is turning 12 was happy to play Superheroes with Tom or race cars. It was so cool. I wish they lived closer so we didn't have to squash it all in to 4 weeks, but it's still good to see them no matter for how short.By the end of the trip even Angus was saying his version of Suzi and Lucy and he would just not leave Calum alone. Wherever we went, Calum had to carry him. Hope to see you soon guys.........

It's True!

Brotherly love does exist, even if it is momentarily! Angus was feeling a little under the weather earlier last week and we had explained this to Tom. So we put some Dora/Wiggles/Sesame Street on the TV while dinner was being prepared. Next thing I was racing for the camera to capture this moment. It is great when they play, laugh or hide from me together. They think it's hilarious when I 'pretend growl' at them. I can only imagine the mischief they are going to get up to together, and I'm glad. But then a blink of an eye and Tom is kicking Angus in the face and Angus is stealing a toy from Tom and normal life is restored.
Oh, and a farewell to the bike. Earlier this month, Jim said goodbye to the beloved Harley. NOTHING to do with me, I didn't care if he kept it, but he didn't really get to ride it much since having number two and he wants to get back into surfing, so he decided to pass it on to another Harley lover. I'm sure a tear was shed. .

Mummy, I can't read.....

We have had another busy month catching up with friends (Hi Bev!), visiting Daddy at work (very exciting) and making it through 5 rainy days in a row with two active boys who love being outside (Mummy bordering on insanity!!). But the time has passed, we are all a month older and we are happy. Angus is walking and is sooooo proud of it. It's just an absolutely adorable age and I can't get enough. Tom is getting older and more independent and much more knowing, and it constantly takes me by surprise. We are going through the stage of him deciding whether he still needs an afternoon nap or not, which is fine. But when he's is ratty and naughty I know he needs a little break. So, I had him down in his room the other day trying to convince him to take a rest. As part of the negotiation, I was saying, "well, if you don't want to go to sleep, that's fine, but you have to stay in your room, so you can play cars, play with your dinosaurs or read a book." I was going on and on and he's protesting, but through teary eyes he looks up at me and says, "But Mummy, I can't read" and burst into tears. I couldn't help myself, I had to laugh, which I know seems mean but it was very funny at the time. I then suggested he just look at the pictures and think about the story. He is starting to know letters and what starts some common words, so I suppose he's becoming aware about being able to read as such. He's a funny kid. Today we were down at the farm and his 8 y.o. cousin and her friend were also visiting. Tom was smitten with the 'big girls'. He sat down beside them and said, "hi girls". Tell you what, he's learning his moves early. ;-)
I went for a run yesterday morning and I wished I had a camera with me. I was running along the beach as the sun was coming up and it was magical, glorious, completely amazing. I might take a camera next time I go down there, someone else has to see this.
Next week things step up a notch as my sister (Aunty Suzi) and her three kids come back for a 4 week holiday. We are very excited about seeing them and spending time doing stuff together. Tom's really excited.
The reason I haven't been blogging as often is that I'm working a bit from home, so any spare time is taken up with doing that. I'm loving the mental challenge and although sometimes it's a bit of a juggle, I really get a lot out of it. And it's winter and it's cold and I'm looking forward to the first signs of Spring.....can you tell?

Just before June passes me by too....

Another month is flying by and it's cold, cold, cold. I went up to see my friend Clare and her new baby Lenny for a couple of days and also visited my friend Kylie who lives close by, her son Ryan (Tom's little mate) and her bump (she was about 36 weeks when I saw her so..........any day now!)

It was a lovely little holiday, it's just hard with two busy boys who get bored very easily when Mummy talks for too long ( if you know me well enough, you will know this is ALL the time!) So we worked it out, but as with all aspects of life, things just happen a little different these days. I'm just grateful to all my friends who put up with the stop-start sentences and losing track of what I was saying. Being interrupted because, "Mummy, is there a toilet here?" and having a little monster who loves sticking his finger in my mouth whilst trying to say, "mouth" and sticking his finger in my eye, whilst trying to say, "eye", all while I'm trying to carry on a conversation.
We went up to Melbourne to visit Aunty Caz the other day. She comes down to visit us all the time, so I thought it would be an exciting day out for the boys to go to her house. Grandma came too, so the boys were lavished with attention and treats and it was a lovely day for us all. I'm going to try and get up to Melbourne more often to catch up with some friends and try and take Tom to see Daddy at work and also see more of Aunty Caz.
We are lucky that Jim's brother Des and his wife Olivia live just 10mins away so we get to catch up regularly. Their baby girl Molly is the same age as Angus so it's really fun to see them play together now. They are very similar in size and milestones so they make great playmates. (By that I mean, Angus can't sit on Molly and squish her or anything cause she's smart enough to get him back, hee, hee!)
We also went down to the farm to see Grandma and Grandad earlier in the month. Grandad was heading off in his motor glider for a flight so Jim and Tom went to the airfield to see him off, Tom couldn't contain his excitement!
Jim's dad has been flying gliders for a long time (more than 20 years???) and he has been buying, doing them up and then selling them for a while also. Like people do with apartments I suppose, but he does it with gliders. Anyway that's his thing and he loves it and they live in such a beautiful area of the world, it's a very picturesque way to spend a Sunday afternoon; gliding around the Great Ocean Road.

MAY - I'm back on track (just......)

May started off with Mother's Day. What a very special day it is. In Australia, there is a national Fun Run that is held each year on Mothers Day that raises money for Breast Cancer Research. So I decided that I would use the local race as the chance to get back into my running. I had been running just twice a week since April and it was only 4km (about 2.5 miles), so I thought it would be a good place to start. The photo isn't that flattering at the finish line but you've got to start somewhere! The little boy beside me is one of Tom's friends - Joseph. I did the run with his Mummy, so he was running the last little bit with us.

It was great, it was a lovely morning and Jim brought the boys down to see Mummy in her 'race'. I did it in 24 mins which was pretty good considering I have zero fitness and I felt excited about it. There is a race I'm aiming for in November now (12 km) and then if I stay on track a half Marathon in April next year, but we won't get too excited. I'm finding it very hard to even find the time to fit in a third run at the moment because running with the double pram is just too heavy. Next came THE WIGGLES! This was Angus' first concert and Tom's third. The boys both loved it and Tom was getting up and grooving around while Angus was just so excited about Wags the Dog - see the Photo.


Then was my birthday - hip, hip, hooray for me. I had a lovely day and Jim did lots of good things for me including booking me a wonderful massage at the local Day Spa and then we went out for a lovely dinner and it was all very celebratory.
And finally, my boys getting themselves into mischief.......

It's been a while.........APRIL

Hello! I'm back. After a very long time I have finally found some time to sit down and Blog. It's been a busy time but things are settling a little now - well for tonight anyway!
Let's start where we left off:
APRIL
Birthday month! Both boys had their birthdays in April - yes I have two Aries and they are true to their star sign. Tom had a very special birthday with a train trip to Melbourne, visited the Museum where a new 'Dinosaur' exhibit is showing followed by the train trip home and birthday cake with Grandma and Pa (see photos).

The museum had a 4 ft robotic dinosaur (there's a person in it) roaming around for the kids. Tom was convinced the dinosaur had come to visit him especially for his birthday as it gave him a kiss (snuffle) as it went by. He was just in seventh heaven the whole day. It was wonderful.
Next was Easter which was spent with family and generally a great weekend. Can't remember details other than it was sunny, we saw my family on Good Friday and Jim's family on Easter Sunday and it was a cruisy weekend. The boys had a lot of fun with Daddy at the farm on the 4-Wheeler!


Angus' birthday was next and we put on a bit of a show considering it was big No.1!
Invited family and some friends around, some games, presents and cake with a candle and a very happy birthday was had by my little man. Gee kids love being sung Happy Birthday to. Angus was so pleased with himself, it was just beautiful.

Hip Hip Hooray for Holidays!

We have just had a wonderful week up north in a beautiful town called Byron Bay. It is famous for being the most easterly point of Australia and has a wonderful big lighthouse. It has a beautiful beach, a cruisy atmosphere, great diving (for Jim) and warm weather. Yes, my friends, it is Paradise here on Earth. Jim and I hadn't been since 2002 although we had been a couple of times before that. I had honestly forgotten what a magnificent place it is. We got there, yes lovely, nice apartment for the week, lovely, walk to the beach, through the sand dunes, look up and.........OH MY GOD! This beach is breathtaking. Crystal blue water, white sand, gentle lapping waves,(unless you are on the point, where it's big waves that all the surfers love!). We had a wonderful week of playing in the water, digging holes, walking everywhere. We hired a baby sitter one night and went out for dinner at a very nice restaurant and I had a little too much wine for the first time in at least 18 mths if not more, it was great! The boys were so happy because Daddy was around ALL the time, we kicked the beach ball around, we chased seagulls, we even did a bit of star gazing. We also had our good friends holidaying at the same time, so this photo is of all the kids hanging out after a full on day at the beach. A bit of Lightening McQueen to relax in front of after a busy day isn't a bad thing at all! Photos don't do justice, but memories do, but for you all, I've just included some photos.
The last one is just my boys the other morning. They were actually talking to each other. I took a video of it too, but I'll have to wait for Jim to be home to load that one on - beyond my capabilities. It's definitely moments like these that get you through the 'hitting your head against the wall' days.
Hope you are all well...........

A new Photo

Finally, I have updated my profile photo to include both my sons. For no reason had Angus been omitted, other than I hadn't got around to it. It's a shocker of a photo that I took myself whilst trying to get Tom to look at the camera and Angus to stay on my lap. I think it took around 8 photos and then Tom just starting refusing to even participate. Talk about a magician! Anyway, it will do.
It's a long weekend here and so our family is heading up country to visit our good friends Sim and Clare. Clare is about 1 week off having her baby, but because we won't get up again for a while, we thought we would make the most of spending some time with them, before their world gets turned upside down - in a good way, of course.
Will blog soon with more photos,
go with the flow.........

First Day of Kindy

Preface: To almost everyone who reads this, the term Kindergarten is going to have a different connotation. So, where we live, there is a short 'activity' session/s called 3y.o. Kinder, then there is 4 y.o. Kinder which is school preparation, then there is the first year of Primary School, which is called Prep (as in Preparatory year).

Tom is eligible for 3y.o. Kinder even though he isn't three yet, but because of being in a small town and a shortage of facilities he didn't get into the Kinder sessions for this area. Until last Tuesday. I'm in the car and get a call from the local Children's Activity Organiser asking me if I was still interested in Tom attending Kinder. Mind you, I'm on the way to work and she needs to know 'now', so that she can be sure she has enough numbers for the session to go ahead on Thursday - yes, two days later. So after a couple of emails to Jim we decide that a three hour session once a week will be a good thing for him and I accept the position. So Wednesday was spent finding a 'Kinder' bag and then Thursday after a very short lunchtime nap, my little boy was ready for his first Kinder day. He was so tired but so excited, it was cute. So after a little, "I want to stay in bed" tantrum, as I'm trying to put on his shorts and shoes, a fair bit of bribery from Mum, a quick snap to commemorate the day and a dash in the car, I think we made it only 10 minutes late with a very excited little boy.
He loved it, I knew he would. New toys, new teacher to impress and show off to, new songs and dances to learn and a new playground to play in. Couldn't be better.
I was a proud mama, to say the least. Anyway, he's going to do this for two years, otherwise he would be starting school very young, but next year, he might get into two sessions which will be great.
Go with the flow...........

Fire Storm

A note to all my OS friends who may have heard about the fires in Victoria. They are worse than what you may be hearing on the news. They aren't anywhere near us and at the moment I'm not aware of anyone I know being involved but I have a few contacts to check up on. Fingers crossed and prayers being said. This wasn't a case of silly people doing stupid things and getting caught in a fire. Victorians especially are bush fire aware and especially those who live in rural areas are given much education about how to maintain their properties and how to act in a bush fire. Very much like Mid-westerners in the US and hurricanes, people are prepared. This fire was horrific. The media was going on and on about how Saturdays weather conditions were to be the worst ever and honestly, I thought it was a media beat-up on Friday. I had my English neighbours asking me advice on how worried they should be and I gave them some tips but told them that they would be fine. If the fires had been in our area, we may not have been fine. We were just fortunate that no-one flicked a cigarette butt out the window of their car in this regions, because that's all it would have took. We were very worried about Jim's parents farm, but thank god, nothing happened in their area. It was so hot and dry and windy here on Saturday that I hung a load of soaking wet washing out and no more than 15 minutes later I collected it off the washing line and it was crispy dry.
The people caught in the fire, were packing up to leave the area, or were fully prepared to save their property and knew how to do it, but were just overwhelmed. Normally a fire front travels at the speed that you may have minutes to react if you are in the area, people are reporting that they had seconds. That their hoses and water pumps were just doing nothing, they had no hope.
Children have been lost, parents, brothers and sisters. Men and women volunteers are doing 24hr shifts fighting these fires because they just don't have enough resources. This fire front is 80km or 50 miles wide. So while Jim and I and the boys were enjoying an ice-cream on the beach taking a photo to commemorate the hottest day on record in our area, people were losing everything they owned and even their lives (unbeknown to us at the time of course).
So the fire is a really bad one and those who did escape literally have the shirt on their backs, but that's more than those who got caught out. It's not out yet but it's not directly threatening any towns right at the moment, but it's still windy and anything could happen.
I just wanted to let all our friends know that we're all good, but it's not a very good situation at all.

Speaking of.....

Talking about kids growing up too fast, here is a photo of Angus.
He just pulled himself up on the couch for the very first time.
His motivation? The remote control. He didn't know I was watching, and he had to put in a lot of effort to get his little bum off the ground, but he was pretty pleased with himself once he did it. Now the fun starts, he is going to be getting into everything I can just tell! What he did next was the worst of it though, he proceeded to point the remote at the T.V. and started pushing buttons. He's 9 mths old! It's frightening how much they take in from such an early age. Anyway, just wanted to share a positive thought to balance out the last blog.
Cheers!

Blessed be

The start of February has come and gone and the year is pelting along again all too quickly. Our family is safe and well and for that I am so grateful. I am very distracted at the moment by something that happened in Melbourne last week. On the first day of school, a father was driving his two sons and his four y.o. daughter to school and as he was crossing the largest bridge in the area - one that is very tall to allow for shipping vessels, he pulled over to the side of the bridge, grabbed his daughter from the car and threw her off the bridge. Witnesses say it literally happened in seconds. She was rescued, but later died. And every time I think of it, it just breaks my heart. I can't help but think of what happened in the car to cause him to snap, what was he saying to her as he grabbed her, was she pleading, "Daddy, no"? I know this is really somber but it is just the most tragic thing I have heard of in a long time.
I wonder whether she was just being an annoying four y.o. (as they are) and not listening to her dad, or singing loudly or telling him to change the music on the radio, or asking for McDonalds or.......... what could a 4 y.o. do that is so bad?
And it makes me wonder whether in an age where our kids are exposed to so much more information and learn a lot at an early age, are our expectations of them too high, are we just forgetting that they are just kids? When I see in mag.s all this bullshit about designer kidswear and 'spa dates' for 6 y.o. birthday parties it just makes me angry, because it is so hollow and doesn't give kids what they need in the stage of life when they are just lapping up every thing they see and here. And I wonder whether parents now have unrealistic expectations of their kids behaviour just because they dress like 13 year olds? Are they expecting them to sit quietly in a cafe, or go and play on their own without parental interaction for long periods of time? Maybe too many parents just want their kids to sit quietly in front of the T.V. or computer so they aren't bothered by them or their noise, or have to put in too much time or effort. I know in this case it was an extreme and the man is now under psychiatric care (unfortunately too late), but being in the midst of having a toddler and all their 'special' behaviour and being out and about in public and amongst other mothers and their opinions, I just can't help wondering if we have it all turned about.
Do you know that at the moment in a magazine, there is an advertisement for an 'ecologically friendly, recyclable cubby house' for $80.00. It's a fucking cardboard box! I'm serious, it's a cardboard box that has been cut out with a roof and a chimney and little windows and amazingly(!) - kids can decorate it themselves (i.e. scribble all over it with crayons).
I have actually cut the advertisement out to keep because it spins me out so much. Look at Jim's and Tom's creation a while ago, including lookout, all for nothing....
Anyway, I'm sorry for the sad news today, but it is really bothering me that this sort of thing can happen in a country like Australia where there is Child Protection services and all sorts of departments that are supposed to be in place to prevent this sort of thing, and then I just think of that little girl and how scared she must have been and I get upset all over again.
Will have some happy news next time I write...........

Funny Toddler Comment #517

Playing outside with Daddy on a summer afternoon.
Dad," Run Thomas, run fast, gooooo like Lightening McQueen!"
Toddler: "I can't run like Lightening McQueen, he's a car!"
He must think we are so dumb..........

Brrrrrr - Happy New Year!

Here's a family photo at our recent trip to the Aquarium. It was the first time I'd been to this aquarium with the only other one I've visited being the Chicago Aquarium. And I was really impressed. It was pretty cool and both the kids loved it. I would go so far as to say that take away the Beluga Whales and dolphins and it would be comparable to the Chicago one. But that Dolphin and Whale pool looking over Lake Michigan is pretty phenomenal. Note the shark at the top of the photo!
Well despite the fact that its supposed to be the height of summer here, it's freezing! Yesterday, Jim and I were getting around in our Uggies and Polar fleeces - ridiculous! And I would assume that all the thousands of people that have decided to holiday here over the past two weeks are probably pretty disappointed too. I am avoiding going to the shops at all costs, it's that busy, we just eat grass for dinner. Okay, so that's exaggerating, but I'm either shopping late at night or first thing in the morning, with at the most only one child because the middle of the day is just too hectic. We went to the beach today, but I think mostly because we felt we had too. It was only about 19 degrees C. and the water was icy, but Tom thought it was great and was splashing in the waves. Angus and I just relaxed on the beach towel. He loves the beach too as there is so much to watch and see. I think the seagulls are his favourite, but all the other kids are very fascinating as well. I hope you all had a happy and very safe New Year. We kept it pretty low key, too much hard work with young kids - but I had a good friend staying (Clare) and we haven't seen each other very much at all this year, so it was just wonderful to have a chance to chat and catch up on all the stuff that's been going on in our lives. Clare is six mths pregnant with her first baby also, so we had much bonding to do in regard to becoming a mother and that was really nice for me.
These couple of photos that I've included are from Christmas eve (setting out the biccies and beer for Santa and a carrot for the Reindeer)
and Santa's footprints the next morning, leading from the chimney to the tree.
I think the leaving a snack out for Santa has to be my most favourite tradition. I remember thinking it was great that Santa had a munch when he got to my house each Christmas and I think the same is happening all over again as you should have seen Tom's face the next morning when he saw the plate. It was priceless. He was absolutely astonished at the fact that Santa had eaten the biccies and the Reindeer had taken a bite out of the carrot. Nevermind that he'd drunk all the beer as well! It was a lot of fun for all of us. Christmas is such a special time of year. I know that's a cliche, but it really is. People do generally make an extra effort to be more thoughtful and considerate. And aside from being very busy as we all over-commit ourselves, it's just lovely that the focus remains on being together and spending time with family and friends. Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely memory of the holiday season just passed and are looking forward to an interesting and diverse New Year. Don't forget to go with the flow, whatever that might bring...............HAPPY NEW YEAR!