There and back again.....

My contact course..... what can I say. Instead of the glorious family holiday where we spent hours in a hot car, driving 8 hours off to Palmy I hopped instead onto an aeroplane and whisked off to test my children story writing skills. The course was awesome, and hard, and challenging and incredibly worth. I wrote and wrote and occasionally ate the disugusting food the student cafe served up for really quite unreasonablly high prices. Sadly, the cruisy week I promised Chris vanished. Cameron was ok, little tyke just kept on trucking but K devolved into a sad, weeping little heap who got sent home from kindy on the last day. Lets just say the whole airport heard his scream of MUMMY MUMMY when I arrived. I got to enjoy the luxurious surrounds of the Air NZ lounge as my new BFF let us in. We ate and drank, surfed the net, wrote some stories and had an awesome time waiting for our plane. And best of all was getting off the other side and seeing Chris and the boys...Not so good was having to knuckle down and produce the next assignment in 3 days... especially as I had a TCANZ meeting to minute. That was a disaster too. The train was well late, the car not drivable, I had to be collected from Mt Albert train station and I only got home at 3:30. To say Chris was happy to see me would be an understatement.

Birthdays birthdays everywhere!!

So, it's my birthday again. Not fair how that happens every year. However the blow was lessened by a gloriously warm and sunny day :) Presents were pressed into my not unwilling hands, and kisses dispensed liberally (that would be the boys, I received the usual warm handshake from Chris of course). So I had a lovely cake free day. I would have murdered anyone who brought cake into the house after we had to eat the first birthday cake, then the second. I was caked out!! I did enjoy my delicious dinner of roast lamb - mmmm so yummy!!

Party time is here again!

The week ticked on but one little pirate waited anxiously for Saturday - also known as PARTY DAY! The day dawned rainy, then sunny, then rainy, then sunny..... For Kieran's 4th birthday party.....his pirate party!! K tried on a variety of Pirate costume parts on the day before choosing the ultimate outfit. Snacks were procured, food cooked, and the hordes descended. Man those kids could eat! Finally, the pirate treasure was brought out and the candles lit. Lets just say that the treasure chest cake that Chris and I slaved over for hours the previous night was friggin awesome. Kieran loved having his friends at playcentre, the treasure hunt in the sandpit (in the snazzy treasure chest box I painted that morning) went down well with the kids and we all had a blast. We tidied up at the end and Chris drove Sue and the boys home while I vacummed then locked up. I then had a lovely stroll home on a warm sunny day.

A great birthday party for a great little boy!

Happy 4th Birthday Kieran!!

Kieran's special day really started last night, when Chris and I blew up nearly 30 balloons and scattered them across the bedroom floor. Or maybe it started before that, when I discovered that his bike was the wrong size and had to move heaven and earth to get a replacement. Aaah yes, the bike saga. Basically we headed into KMart to procure a velocipede. I now now that bike buying is best done just before xmas or well afterwards, and not in early January when KMart has zero stock and no display bikes out. We therefore purchased a 50cm bike, paid more to have it assembled and bought a lightning McQueen helmet for Mum and Mike's bday pressie for K. So I call the store on Tuesday to check if they have training wheels. The guy on the phone sounds perplexed and says "we don't offer training wheels for bikes aimed at 10 year olds." This is where I panicked, and begged and pleaded for him to find a 40cm bike. To his credit he managed to find one. Problem: Bike assembly guy is only there on tuesdays - and he has already left. I called Chris and we made the decision to get bike assembled and collect it after I get back from the Massey contact course. So, tuesday night we have no bike. Instead, I blow up 30 balloons and scatter them across the boys floor. I decorate Kieran's place setting and pile up his presents. The next morning we wait, and wait, and wait. Yup, K is having one of his rare sleep ins. Eventually poor Chris has to leave for work. K staggers down half an hour later and enters an orgy of present unwrapping. He loved the helmet, the wooden blocks, the fishing rod, the scribble and learn, and the birthday cards. He was over the moon. He and Cameron were down on the floor making like architects, K still wearing the bike helmet :)

I love you my Kieran. You are a wonderful special loving little boy and I can't believe we've been lucky enough to have you in our lives for 4 years now :)