Tis Halloween

... food & drink and witches brew ... the only thing we still need is YOU !

Invites went out ... we had 100% turnout and we piled 23 children into the garage which had been Halloween-themed and decorated - plus their Mums & Dads - so quite a crew ! We started off with fish & chips for the kiddies followed by spider cupcakes (made by friend Clare and they were honestly the best looking cupcakes I have ever seen!!). All the children were then given Halloween bags which had been made and sewn by Josh's grandma - all individually named (very special indeed as they can use those bags for many years to come). All the children were given a few lollies to start, a cracker to pull as a 'trick' and a little LED light that was made as a ring to wear.

After all this, we 'hit' the streets - a tad daunting when we started off with 23 children in tow and about the same number of parents !! However, Seatoun is so geared up for it, the children had a blast and all came home with a rather large stash of goodies and fortunately a little tired from all that running from house to house ! It's official, we have all survived another successful Halloween Party !

Lazy hazy almost-to-be summer days

Every now and then we get a glimpse of our summer that is 'just around the corner'. We truly love those days and always grab the chance to take 4-legs (Huddy) and 2-legs (Josh) to the beach to climb over rocks, explore and, in Huddy's case, swim ! And we then dry out at the park afterwards! Roll on summer !

T-Ball has started ...

Rather than cricket this summer, we are playing T-Ball. Josh's rugby Mustangs are mainly from Island Bay, so we wanted to really encourage a team sport for summer that was with his Seatoun buddies, and in particular, some of his class mates. So he now plays for the Red Eagles t-ball team and we train every Wednesday at the local park and play every Saturday. Josh has taken to batting like a duck to water and at Saturday's first game, he hit some beauties to score a number of home runs. However, we need to practise our throwing as we realise that none of Josh's sports to date have been about throwing!
















And if Huddy is not careful, he will become the T-Ball mascot - as he is for the Mustangs. Here he is slowing Josh down and insisting that he too get out there on the field !

Piano Man

Josh truly delighted in sitting down at this keyboard - fortunately the main sound was turned off and only he could hear how good or bad he sounded through the headphones - only thing was that every now and then he would sing and then ... everyone could hear ! Suffice to say, we are not quite getting requests for his autograph just yet and Mummy has not been replaced as his manager !

Fish & Chips with Nicholas

'Big boy' Nicholas (an affectionate term Josh uses for his 'older' friends to distinguish them from his own aged friends with the same names). Anyway, big boy Nicholas and his dad came over on Friday night for fish & chips. Nicholas is Mummy's godson and without wishing to sound biased, he is such a lovely young man and truly has the world at this feet .... rather cute on the eyes, charming and is both academic and very sporty (currently has some amazing PBs for swimming, particularly free-style, and has competed overseas ... but his main love is rugby).

The boys played forever on the trampoline and then came inside and Nicholas downloaded a game onto Mummy's phone so the 2 of them spent some time investing in getting future RSI of the thumbs !! What is it about boys and technology?!?!?

Josh is Super Star TODAY

Josh was very excited ... he had been chosen by the teacher to be Super Star at school and have the coveted privilege of sitting on a chair and helping the teacher all day. When I asked him why he had been chosen, he told me ... "because I did very good printing and tried hard at poetry and .... I kissed Mrs B......, the teacher, and gave her a hug". Mummy was rather concerned that Joshua is trying to use his charm and woo/bribe the teacher with affection at this age and stage - oh dear !!!

Supportive & Kind Georgia

Dearest Georgia .... twice now she has come along to watch and support Josh at his swimming lessons this term. Just quietly ... I think Josh is simply thrilled to have her there. Georgia stands by the pool, calls out to Josh and at times runs up the pool alongside Josh whilst he swims. Tis very cute, we are going to miss you Georgia when you go back to Auckland.

After swimming the deal is that we go to the park as Georgia loves the bars and particularly loves to hang upside down !!

Cousin Rosheen comes to Wellington

Cousin Rosheen (Mum's brother's daughter) came to Wellington for a girl's weekend so we managed to steal her away for an evening to come home for dinner. Grandma has always been very fond of Rosheen - and it was lovely for me to spend some time chatting and getting to know her a little. Hope she had a fun weekend !!

Double-Trouble

Enroute to the park we stopped off at the diary to get a 'treat' and here they are in the back of the car! Let's also not forget the little dance routine they showed me at the swimming pool that apparently their teacher is working on with them (mmm,not sure about the posed squat position, they look rather cheeky if you ask me !! - and yes Josh's tongue is very red from his popsicle !!

Term 4 means Athletics

Yes, the school have started training for Athletics Day at the end of term. Mummy managed to be at home when Josh and his class practised the circuit. It was very sweet ... all the children called out "hello Cherry" or "hello Joshie's Mummy" as they ran past !! Run Josh ... run !

The Movies

Mummy took both Josh and Georgie-girl to the Walt Disney 3-D Movie called "UP" which they both enjoyed. These 2 always seem to make one another smile - note the toothless grins, the toothfairy has been rather busy!)

Fun in the sun - on the grass & upside down

A gorgeous day so we all decided to go around and try the new 'Chocolate Fish' cafe. We then frolicked on the grass, Daddy became a bouncing board and a most comfortable seat and then Daddy and Sarah showed us all how to do cart-wheels - pretty impressive !

Playdate with Yusei

We discovered a new park today after school and both Josh and Yusei ran ... and ran .... and ran - and laughed and laughed! There is something very special about children's laughter and giggling, so infectious and uplifting. Fingers crossed for 2 tired boys this evening.

Joshua's 15 minutes of Glory

It started with Joshua practising his flexibility and tackling/ruck skills with Daddy - and then a good luck kiss from Mummy .... the rest is set down in history ...

On Saturday 17th October 2009 Joshua and his team, The Mustangs' were asked to be one of 6 invited junior teams to play at the WestpacTrust Stadium (or as Wellingtonians call it ... 'the cake-tin') as the curtain raiser for the 'big' game of Wellington vs North Harbour. Rather than the curtain raiser, they thought the kiddies would get more 'impact' if they played at half-time - so as the Wellington 'Lions' ran off, the Mustangs ran on. I have to say it was a very emotional moment seeing them run on - they looked so tiny - and both Mummy & Daddy felt an incredible surge of pride! Although not a huge turnout, we still had around 8,000 spectators, so wow, what an opportunity ... how many people wait their entire live to have a chance to run onto the pitch at the Stadium and here is Josh at age 6 !

And then, the officials had to choose one of the 6 junior teams to be 'team of the day' and yes.... they chose the Mustangs, so all of them got a free movie pass, a certificate to say they had played at the Stadium and an interview on television ! Oh, what a day !!