Finn, Clara Mouse & more

Finn has a new friend. Clara Mouse! How sweet is she? Finn has a lot of hand-me-down toys but when I saw Clara I just knew they would be BFF's. 

Max also has a new toy. A paddling pool!

Finn is still king of the baby gym......

And brotherly love has been well and truly established.....

Sweet times.

xxx

Sticks

At last! A brilliant idea to make use of Max's mounting stick collection! Found over at this blog.

xxx

French Dream

Some of you will know that I am a card carrying Francophile.

Obsessed from an early age with all things French.

I moved to Paris from NZ, on my own, not knowing a soul, about 7 years ago.

(Okay, so I only lasted in Paree for a couple of months, but by then my life had taken a curious turn. I had met my future husband and my heart wandered to London.)

I used to joke with Richard that I had moved to Paris to marry a tall, dark French man and ended up with a short, dark Kiwi!

So, seven years later, here we are in London. (Which is like living in NZ with a thousand times more traffic and people.)

Mmmmmmmmm.

And yet, my French dream is still alive.

And a few cute little 'Frenchie' things have happened lately.....

Max is doing a French class at nursery. So, as well as learning Spanish (from Dora the Explorer! He knows all his colours and numbers.) He can also speak a little French. 

The park we go to all the time is full of French children as the Ecole Francais is right across the road. It is seriously like being in a park in Paris. Chic little French children everywhere. J'adore!

And finally, we have a proper French family living next door! They are so lovely and are into BBQ's almost as much as we are. We can hear them over the fence, sitting outside and chatting away in French to each other. 

So even though I didn't end up living in Paris, maybe, just maybe I have found my little bit of Paris in London.

xxx

Thought for today & a challenge

"Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,  

Seal it for Thy courts above."

I am feeling challenged in the area of my 'online' life. 

Facebook especially. 

Is it wrong to feel a bit twitchy if I can't update my status and track my friends every move? 

YES, I think it is!

I have decided to unplug from FB for a week and see how it goes. Eeeckkk! 

xxx

All that's missing.....

Yep! All that is missing from the picture is ME!
Love everything about this pool found over at the ever brilliant Desire To Inspire blog.
Hope all you London peeps are enjoying the sun at last.

xxx

It's all about the styling

My breath was taken away when I spied this amazing Swedish country home over at Desire To Inspire this morning.

Amazing amazing!

More proof that white is always right. Add your colour through textiles & furniture and BAM! you've got a winner.

I love that the owner has limited her colour palette to blues, green and browns and really added interest through pattern and texture.

Oh, and could I please have a wee sewing nook like hers too. Thanks.

Today I'm loving.....

 This woman - "Little Paris Kitchen's" Rachel Khoo & and all her voluptuous, lipsticked loveliness.

 This book. Makes me feel like I am doing okay and has given me a few giggles along the way.

These nail polishes. I am sporting the hot pink on my toes. Happy happy feet indeed!

xxx

Deep

"You fulfill yourself by denying yourself, preparing the people you can’t live without to live without you"

xxx

Becoming a Mum: The ultimate before & after

I have been thinking about this post for a few days now.

Life before kids, and life after kids.

No one would dispute that having children irrevocably changes your life.

I was thinking the other day that sometimes I barely recognise this frazzled specimen! Hair is (mostly) unwashed, necklines stretched from yanking to gain boob access, flat tummy & waist a distant memory. 

So that's the outside, but what's going on underneath?

What has happened to the passionate artist? What has happened to the global traveller?

The creative side of me seems squashed under a mound of playdoh and baby wipes.

Is it a time issue? I have maybe 2 hours of 'free time' a day when Finn is sleeping and Max is at nursery.  But this time is mostly taken up with cooking, cleaning and generally keeping my family running smoothly. So maybe time is not on my side.

Is it a priorities issue? Possibly. I feel like right now I have to put the kids and Richard first. My babies need a lot of care and attention and Richard is working hard to provide a great future for us. My role is to support and nurture.

Do I not care as much about those things that seemed so important before the kidlets came along?

Career, clothes, interiors........... Maybe. I still have an interest in these things, but not like before. 

I am excited to think I may have some kind of career in the future, but it seems a long way off just now. 

I still like clothes, but I don't have time to keep up with 'fashion'. I am a bit of a disaster in the fashion stakes at the mo, but I admire others who are workin' it! 

Interiors, yup still LOVE interiors. My life is mostly set in the interior of our home so I guess my creative outlet is what I call zhooshing. I do a lot of zhooshing!

So what is the outcome of all this rambling? 

I guess I want to ask the question - do you feel like the same person since becoming a Mum?

Are you still working/creating/exploring?

Do you have ambitions and dreams which are being put on hold while you raise your family?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. 

xxx

For Max

Child.
Sometimes I wonder - where did you come from?
I study your face, looking for a sign, a flicker of familiarity.
You are flesh of my flesh, but a picture of your father in every way.
Your spider leg eye lashes evoke sighs of envy from female admirers.
Your short, strong legs run rings around me, yet when you fall into coma-like sleep at the end of the day, I forgive you everything.
Smooth the damp shock of hair from your frowning brow.
Plant a kiss there which says to both of us - we will never give up.

xxx

The Wedding

My sister Abby & Shaun married on the 13th of April at Brackenridge in The Wairarapa.

The previous day had been so cold, rainy and grey. The wedding day was beautiful, bathed in a golden glow of autumnal light.

Abby looked amazing.

The following are my favourite photographs from the day.

The photographer Renee really captured the attitude of the wedding, fun and fabulous.

xxx