Freezing ... freezing .... freezing Saturday

I am not kidding - temperatures over the weekend were down between 5 and 7 degrees - oh so cold! We braved the conditions and Josh still played ripper on Saturday morning. I swear we needed a hose at the end of the game. Josh had a fascination with the mud and how far his rugby boots could 'sink' and after he got used to the soft landing when he fell, he became even further amused at how far he could slide. Mummy is re-thinking Joshua's future as a rugby player !!

The Mustangs suffered their first loss this season, albeit by only one try. Match report said ... Joshua was in absolute ripping form today, and topped the rip count with Tom at 6. Throw in a typical Joshua try - off the shoulder of the ball carrier on the line - and he had a fine all round game. He could easily have got more tries today too. The best thing about Joshua’s play today though is that he goes forward quickly from the restarts, pushing the opposition onto the back foot. Great play, Joshua.

Josh was also scheduled to compete in the 7's Tournament this weekend in which they were going to play 4 games in a day. It was cancelled on Sunday due to the appalling weather and I must admit that both Mummy & Daddy were on bended knee praying for a further cancellation on Monday - and our prayers were answered! The chill factor in the air would have made it very difficult for both the players, let alone us poor spectators on the side for over 4 hours !!

Coach Kevin giving away some team secrets at half-time

Anita & Vish then came around for dinner on Saturday night to celebrate her recent graduation. They had been on holiday in Wanaka and bought Josh a NZ Rugby hat, scarf and gloves - so thoughtful and oh, so warm !

Dress Up day at School

As a fund-raiser, Joshua's school had a dress-up day whereby you could come dressed as your favourite story book character and donate a gold coin which went towards a local community garden project so that the residents in the housing development can have access to home-grown, good quality and well-priced fruit and vegetables.

Josh was a little hesitant to start with and the only 'costume' we had in the wardrobe was Spiderman (thanks to Aunty Elizabeth & Uncle Stephen of a year or so ago who sent it out from Canada). However, Daddy made a mercy dash to Toyworld last night and purchased Spiderman's hand-glove that 'fired' rubber cobwebs - well that sold it !

Josh couldn't wait to get into his outfit this morning and looked ever so cute - the 'puffed' muscles in the top made him look like a very athletic spiderman and he had all the poses. I have been told that all the children had to stand up and introduce themselves as their character - apparently Josh stood up and said 3 words .... "I am spiderman" and then fired one of the jelly-like rubber cobwebs that went whizzing past the teacher and 'smacked' into the art wall. The shocked teacher's response .... "gosh Josh, I wasn't expecting that, maybe the cobwebs can sit on my desk until we break for lunch" (well handled Mrs Whitehead!).

Needless to say there were a lot of spiderman antics at lunch-time !

Gorgeous Teacher Mrs Whitehead as Princess Fiona from Shrek with another teacher

Freddie as Richie McCaw (on a bad hair day obviously!) along with Spiderman Josh

Beautiful Cinderella Georgia with Spiderman

Issac as Scarey Shrek (even Spiderman looks a little scared !)

Spiderman ready to fire his cobwebs - look out !!!

and lastly ... Spiderman at lunch-time showing his stunts

Introducing Sarah !

This is Sarah !! Sarah is a BIG part of our lives. We met Sarah over 3 years ago through another friend and Sarah started to babysit Josh - and in those days Daddy & Mummy used to have a date-night once a week. We have never believed in 'lots of babysitters' for Josh and instead have fostered a special relationship with both Sarah and Granny Cranney who help us out.

Over the years, with work pressures on all of us and moving houses further away from each other, the regularity of seeing Sarah has changed. However, Sarah has a hugely busy life, she is a very hard-working lawyer and has recently set up home with her partner. We feel incredibly lucky that Sarah is still happy to come and spend time with Josh and so we book her in when we can so that Mummy & Daddy can re-enter the couples/adult world and see friends, a movie or simply go out for a meal.

Josh genuinely looks forward to seeing Sarah and has a very special relationship with her. They play all sorts of games, read books and tonight even played Scrabble (wow now that was a surprise !) Mummy & Daddy went out to see the movie "I've Loved You So Long" starring Kristen Scott-Thomas - it would have to be one of the deepest and enjoyable movies Mummy has seen for a long time - highly recommend it !!

Oh the concentration

We are hopeful that Karate will be very good for Josh in the long-run ... certanly from a self confidence point of view in being able to defend himself but also the discpline of listening and concentrating. But tonight there was certainly a great deal of testosterone flying around and some boys certainly do get carried away when given a chance to flex their muscles - as a result Josh suffered a kick to the head and another boy clipped his ear after he decided to crawl over the top of him !

Sensei Chris was right onto it though and both boys had to go and sit on the side of the mat and apologise to Josh. It took all of Mummy's strength not to go up and nail those 2 boys to the wall !! Maybe Mummy needs the discipline of Karate !!!

Grandparents/Grandfriends Day at School

Joshua's school had "Grandparents' Morning" - what a special thing to do. Sadly for Josh ... Grandma was sick that day (she was so upset not to make it) and of course Grandma & Grandad are in England and it was rather a long way to come ... but we are so fortunate to have another grandma in our lives - Grandma Cranney. Josh was so excited to see her, came up and gave her a big hug and then very proudly took her back to his classroom. Mummys & Daddys were not there, just the children and their grandparents sharing stories, reading, doing activities, having morning tea, and then a Hui in the hall. Granny Cranney is renowned for giving Josh a lollipop whenever she sees him and today she brought in a packet with enough lollipops for all the class - and the grandparents. Josh was so proud to be giving out the lollipops.

Where would we be without you Granny Cranney, you are a very special part of our lives ....

Phew, what a storm

Definitely an inside day today ... the airport has closed, the ferrys have been cancelled and the wind & rain continue to batter and bruise Wellington. A good day to spend indoors so we had a lazy start with brekky in front of a dvd and then Josh stayed in his jarmies until late morning to do some painting and building.

We then went to Yusei 6th birthday party at Lanes Bowling Alley. 14 children in total and they all have a wonderful time - happy birthday Yusei !

A VERY Windy Saturday

Well we awoke this morning to the ominous start of a horrendous storm. We managed to have our game of rugby though (afterall, you have to get your priorities right!!) - it was very funny to see the little ones running with a back wind, the wind seriously was so strong that their little legs couldn't keep up with the pace their bodies were being forced to run at times!).

Josh played a blinder of a game and was rewarded with 'Player of the Day'. The pride a parent feels can be quite overwhelming at times and the heart sure can pound ! And in the words of the coach in his after-match report .... "Joshua was equal top ripper with Cian and Tom today. He was also one of only four Mustangs to score a try against a tough Wolves defence, and once again it was a trademark Joshua Turnbull try scored because he chased the ball carrier closely. Joshua also pulled off the best rip of the day when he chased a Wolves player all the way to the line. Given the final result was a draw, we asked the Mustangs to make sure they NEVER stop chasing an opposition player with the ball, and Joshua did exactly that today. For his all-round game today and especially for his game winning rip, Joshua was awarded Mustangs Player of the Day".














And then onto swimming lessons to remove the rugby mud from the knees (comes in quite handy having the swimming lesson straight after rugby!). As Josh was the only one who turned up today he had a one-on-one lesson. Driving home from swimming was rather spectacular along the coastline as the waves reached as high as 14 metres - eeek!!














Home to hunker on down with the fire on and a girlfriend, Donna, for dinner. Here we have Josh organising his social life by making a call to Donna's son Charlie for a play date !

Such good friends

Enzo had just returned from a 32 day camp trip with his school and was down in Wellington for a few days. He wanted to see Josh so as a surprise came along to school pick-up with me ... Josh was so excited to see Enzo and Mummy wishes she had got her camera to capture Josh as he went up and gave Enzo the biggest hug and a kiss and them wrap his little hand in Enzo's and walk with him to the car, making sure he never let go of his hand! Enzo came home to play for a few hours and introduced Josh to his new IPOD -- wow, this IPOD is truly amazing and it can almost speak, sing and dance all on its own .... Josh loved it (afterall, it is technology!) and Mummy is very worried that it may be on Santa's list !!













Even though Enzo now goes to Wanganui Collegiate and we do not get to see him often, the bond he has with Josh is so strong and Josh just adores him. Enzo is very special with Josh - and always has been.

Proud Godmother

Tonight Mummy went to join Jaime and her family & friends to celebrate her graduation. When Jaime was 13 years old, she asked me to be her godmother on the basis that although she already 'had one' that person had been chosen by her Mum and she felt she wanted to choose - suffice to say I was very touched and have embraced the role willingly ever since - Jaime is a gorgeous girl and we are all very proud of her.

Well, the capping ceremony had taken place earlier in the day. Jaime has a BCA majoring in media, marketing and law and is about to head off to Los Angeles, Vegas, New York and then the UK for her OE before coming back to open a door to the world of business back here in NZ. There were many speeches, but one line that stood out to me was her Dad who said "when I held Jaime in my arms as a little baby I felt proud, but today I feel so VERY proud". How the years pass .... I wonder and sometimes ponder ... what will Josh choose to do with his life ?

Jaime and her dad Maarten

The Karate Kid

Well, is this cute or what ????? Josh arrived at Karate this week in his 'offical' robe and white belt. It made such a difference to his self confidence - looking like everyone else.

The ultimate aim of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants" .... Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Japanese Karate

Our weekends are just not long enough...

Well .... it rained and rained and blew and blew most of the weekend - thanks Wellington! However Josh has taught us that if you have a warm coat on and are prepared to have fun and adventure, you can still find plenty to do and that is what we did !

We had a gorgeous weekend - it all started with rugby training on Friday night and then the game on Saturday. Josh only played half-a-game this week and it didn't really give him time to 'get stuck into' the game, but he still had fun. And the beauty of having swimming lessons after rugby on a Saturday means that it is a quick way to get rid of all the mud - and after the rain we had, there was plenty! Why is it that boys love stamping in mud with their rugby boots on?

We then discovered a new 'crazy mini golf' course in the most unusual place, right next door to the local tip - an eccentric guy has created an imaginative course using nothing other than recycled materials from the dump and the course wraps itself around a car with a thumping big rock sitting on top of it, a man-made rusted out rocket ship and plenty other 'crazy' things. The owner has plans to also put in a luge and an outdoor water slide to be heated using methane gas from the tip - talk about 'out there' !







Our very own special Granny Cranney then came in on Saturday night to play with Josh whilst Mummy & Daddy went to celebrate Barry's 68th birthday - sadly this will be his 'last' birthday before he goes into a Home. Dementia can be so cruel, Barry didn't realise just how special the night was or that we were actually all there for him. We found this very sad but at the same time it offered some solace as well to see that Barry seems happy enough within himself and in his own little world so perhaps the transition into a Home may not be as dreadful for him as we think.
Sunday we took Grandma out for morning coffee, visited ToyWorld to get some new train track (yes, Josh still LOVES his trains) and then out to H2O Extreme so that all 3 of us could race down the 3 water slides, chase each other round the river ride and roll around in the wave pool. Josh loves it when we go down the 'black' water slide (which is in darkness) as a family with the 3 of us holding onto each another in 'train' formation and screaming 'yahoo' at the top of our voices (yes, we all behave like we are 6 years old!!).

We spent over 2 hours in the pool and it felt like only 20 minutes, we had so much fun. It is lovely to see Joshua's confidence in the water now and he doesn't hesitate to go on all the water slides and today even had a try to balance and run along the inflatable 'rocket' - go Josh !!

And then home to .... play trains (as you do !). Roll on bedtime !!

Help, we need the tooth fairy back

Only a few days after the last visit, we are going to have to write to the tooth fairy again. At school today, Josh lost his second top front tooth - as we understand, he got accidentally 'bumped' by one of the other boys which knocked the tooth out which was only hanging on by a shred anyway. Josh is delighted as he was worried how his mouth-guard would fit with such a loose tooth for rugby this weekend - afterall, you have to get your priorities right!!
What a toothy smile Josh - and look at the gap they have left - mmm, I wonder just how big these new teeth are going to be ?!?!?!

Beautiful Wellington day

Yes, after what seemed like forever, the sun came out today with crisp clear blue skies and no wind - bliss ! So after school today, we made the most of it. Mummy & Josh biked down to the local dairy for a 'treat' along with Huddy running alongside (or in front or behind!!). We are so lucky where we live - the village has been caught in a bit of a time warp and the children still walk and bike down to the local dairy after school or on their way to the beach or park. It is just lovely, so relaxed and safe, and one of the few reminders that Mummy has of a simple childhood which is what it should all be about.

From there to visit Grandma and then down to the beach & park - what a picture to see the blue calm of the sea and the golden ember of the sun on the far hills as it goes down.

And we then met Daddy down at the swimming pool for more fun! Oops, then we had to make the time for homework and a reminder that it is, afterall, a 'school' night.

Josh LOVES the computer

You might well wonder why the computer in the home office is now password coded? Because, quite honestly, if it was not, Joshua would be on it whenever he could! He simply LOVES the computer and we are astounded at how natural he is on both the keyboard and also in finding his way around it.

In a heartbeat he has switched it on, fired up the Internet, gone into google (or as he calls it ... gooble), scrolled down Favourites and into Games. We remember only too well when we could not find Josh one morning at 6.30am just after his 4th birthday only to discover he was sitting in the office, having turned on the computer, used the mouse to scroll down into Games and select Golf (no I don't think this is the way that Tiger Woods started!)

We appreciate the computer will be an amazing learning tool for Josh in the future but at this age and stage he seems to want to use it only for games. However, with Sara's help from speech & language, we have introduced some learning and more educational based games as well and the reward for doing the studies on the computer is his choice of a game - yes, sadly bribery is now used in this house !!

Dear Josh ... simply said

After such a lovely Mother's Day, it made me think of my life without possibly the privilege and opportunity to be a Mum ... and it reminded me of a story that I once read that a mother wrote to her son and I would like to share this with you...

Dear Son

You are my beloved boy,
daring and delightful
playful, energetic, curious
and very funny.

How lucky I am to have the gift of you in my life
I love watching you tackle the world with enthusiasm,
a willingness to get down and dirty and with a bit of 'boy craziness'

Time after time you warm my heart with your smile,
your laughter, your silliness, and your extraordinary individuality.

I think a lot about how to be the best mother I can to you
I try to do and say the right thing
And even though we know I often don't or say the right thing
Just know that I am giving it my all for your journey

I'm amazed by how smart & creative & capable you are
How your mind is filled with so many awesome dreams & ideas
Do you know how incredible you are ?

I wish for you wonderful life adventures,
meaningful friendships and opportunities to pursue
your greatest passions.

Though boys are known for being "tough guys" I wish for people
to be kind to your heart and to realise that strong on the outside
doesn't mean unbreakable on the inside.

Whilst I can't promise you a trouble-free journey
I can tell you that strength is born amidst the struggles
and disappointments

My heart aches when I see you sad or hurting
I want so much the best for you and it's hard for me to sometimes let go;
to let you choose, explore, experience and, at times, regret
My love for you is just that great

I see part of my job is to teach you to be a thoughtful,
well-mannered young man
And to treat women with respect and kindness.
You just might have a "lady" in your life someday (yikes!)

I'm so proud of you for who you are
I want you to feel proud of you, too.

I try not to give 'parental advice', but can I mention a few things ... Take the hight road as often as possible ... let go of anger ... think twice before you talk or send an email ... forgive it's a small world when it comes to knowing someone who knows someone ... and when you think I "can't possibly understand" I hope you realise that I just might.

I love you more than words can ever say
From head-to-toe tip,
you are my beloved boy

.... I couldn't have said it better myself Josh - you mean the world to us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being our beloved boy.

Happy Mother's Day

Yes, you guessed it ... Mother's Day ! Well mummy was very spoilt. She was woken up this morning with 3 bouncing boys on the bed - yes, Daddy, Josh and even Mr Hudson (alias 4 legs) was lifted up for cuddles. Josh had made me a very special card and he and Huddy gave me a lotto ticket (fingers crossed!), some scratchies (we won $2 and Josh was very excited) and some of Mummy's favourite perfume which was getting very low (observant Daddy!). And then the boys under the guidance of Daddy made Mummy a soft-boiled egg and toast soldiers !

PS for those of you reading this .... and for the record .... no I have not dyed my hair blond (Joshua's wish that we look alike); I do not dress in all the colours of the rainbow and resemble an alien ... and fisherman's' food is not fish & chips, rather my name for spaghetti bolognaise because it was a way to encourage Josh to eat it one evening before going fishing - and the name has stuck !

Tonight we then had Mummy's Mum (grandma) around for a roast dinner and gave her a card and some home-baked heart cookies which Josh helped decorate (uh huh, you should have seen the mess after Joshua had applied the icing and sprinkles but they were done with so much love!).

Joshua has now decided that we should have a "Joshua Day" - we didn't like to remind him that he has a "Joshua Day" about 360 days of the year as it is!

Highlight of the day .... when I had finished reading stories to Josh this evening in bed, he put his arms around my neck and said "Mummy this is a never ending cuddle, I am never going to let you go"