At the moment we are parked in a campground with just a little stream separating the bus from the beach. The boys spend their days casting buckets and unbaited hooks (we’ve resigned ourselves to the fact that there are not, and will never be, fish in that meter-wide trickle of water) from the little bridge … Continue reading River adventures
Letting a child struggle to do something without interfering is one of the challenges of parenthood. Seeing this 2 1/2 year old get into his ‘jamies by himself is a pretty sweet reward though!
Every time I cut my children’s hair, I swear I’ll never do it again. Hairdressers are there for a reason, I tell myself. Then a couple of months and two shaggy boys down the track, those scissors start whispering to me again, and my fingers start twitching….
Sometimes parents need a pick me up too.
An inquisitive bird, the Kea is known for stealing and dismantling anything it can get it’s cheeky beak on, including the rubber from around windscreens and the lining from running shoes. Note to the wise: for your own safety, don’t leave your luggage unattended.
Life whizzes by, and babies who needed sleep every couple of hours but never would turn into boys who only need a Mittagsschlaf (thankyouthankyouthankyou), and then into bigger boys who don’t nap at all, but can be found, every now and then, zonked out on the couch when you thought they were just reading.
Ugh, I really really don’t like trains with faces. I don’t know why I drew this – it’s kitschy, and cheesey… wait, yes I do know why. Elliott loves trains. And it turns out my brain can’t bear to draw just a normal train, it has to draw a ridiculous one with curtains. Oh well, … Continue reading Day 68: Train of thought
10 minutes before leaving the house for a 1 year old birthday party I ask, “Do you guys want to put some nice clothes on for the party?” I depart with two cowboys, but draw the line at weapons.
Elliott is all about banging things at the moment – everything he hits is either a bell or a drum, so he was stoked to find a xylophone when we visited friends the other day. I’m not sure how stoked everyone else was – man those things can be loud!
I was feeling really grouchy after my two year-old was given pretty much his weight in chocolates the other day. It would help a lot if, before dolling out sweets, people could check (out of sight/earshot of children in question) with the parents first! Rant over.
This drawing was inspired by a conversation with Otis, who was telling me that cyclopses and pirates are really similar, given that they both only have one eye.
I love witnessing perseverance in my boys – it’s such an important attribute. Otis generally is pretty disinterested in colouring-in, but he was given a book of masks which involve cutting out, sicking stickers and colouring. At first he was happy with white patches all over them, but upon studying the instructions he realised that … Continue reading Day 62: Maskmaking
I’ve realised that I can draw my own boys from memory pretty well, but upon challenging myself to do the same with a small friend, I couldn’t for the life of me even really remember what she looked like. I sort of gave up and elaborated instead.
My boys have spent most of the summer mostly naked on the beach. Even yesterday, although it’s definitely autumn, they couldn’t help stripping off and running in and out of a chilly stream for an hour.
A quick sketch while trying to cook tea with a two-year-old. Otis slipped outside and I could see him perched on a rock for half an hour, watching divers swimming around in the reserve. It was chilly, the rocks were hard and sharp, and he was in heaven.
It seems crazy that the staff at our national museum, Te Papa, hadn’t found it already but, would you believe, Otis uncovered a complete Mosasaur skeleton in their sandpit!? Nuts!
