4/31 {the january project} like mothers, like daughters...

>> new friends, forever friends <<

>> bathing chelsea's feet in waterbeads... an act of loving service to start things off right?! haha <<

>> long farewells and promises to write (and FaceTime!) at the train station. always so hard to say goodbye <<

As mentioned, my dearest friend Heidi and her family have been visiting us from Hawaii after nine very long years. In this missing decade, we have both been transformed by the role of motherhood and so many of life's joys and heartbreaks. As excited as I was to see her again (and I was verrrrry excited) I was also just beyond thrilled at the idea of our children meeting at long last too. I know we both hoped our girls would connect but I think we were both truly shocked and moved by how deeply they did. A sweet and true little friendship developed over their visit, these two little ladies connecting over so much, comparing similar parenting rules (ha!) and sharing favourite books and games. Chelsea slept in Lily's bed with her and we parents got so busy talking that night we did not realise till 11.30pm that they were actually still awake, giggling away and 'talking about life' apparently. Oops!!! Then they did it again the next night!!! We could not even pretend to be miffed, as secretly we just loved to see their bond deepen. What's a couple of late nights when you are building a lifelong friendship? #nopressure #justalittle  ;) 

Chelsea and Lily, my prayer is that your friendship will bless you both as your mother's friendship has deeply blessed and encouraged and inspired me. I never even dared to dream when we became friends as young teens that decades later we would have daughters of the same age one day who would also become friends, who could also talk all night without drawing a breath or ever, ever running out of things to say. May you both receive even a fraction of the love and support and strengthening of faith that we have both drawn from our friendship.

 {a photo a day in January}

P.S. I should state the obvious, that I clearly generally fail at choosing just one photo a day! A minimalist I am not!! Ha. But hey.. my project, my rules, right!? ;)

3/31 {the january project} a new bond

One of my oldest, dearest friends, Heidi, and her wonderful family came to visit us all the way from Hawaii... after nine years apart and now five children and many, many life stories between us. Not only was it beyond wonderful to have time (precious time!) to talk and talk and talk, but it was also such a blessing to see our children together. One of the sweetest surprises was to see our young boys Davis and Miles (aka MilesDavis, haha!) immediately connect. Two boisterous boys, they spent the entire time roaring in each other's faces, playing cars, racing around in circles while giggling hysterically... they were in heaven but not as much as we were, just having the privilege to watch them form that special boyhood bond. 

{a photo a day in January}

2/31 {the january project} slippin' and slidin' into the new year

A classic Australian childhood staple.... 

In the middle of a bitterly cold Canberra winter they will genuinely request for the Slip'N'Slide to be set up.... so needless to say they are thrilled when it actually gets warm enough to use it!!

{a photo a day in January}

1/31 {the january project} sheer delight

A fresh new year is upon us....

It looks so wonderful and yet veiled in those hazy unknowns.

Yet my children seem to know their future looks so bright, they prepare by donning shades!

Freshly arrived home from our annual time away, unplugged and together at a christian family camp, we all take a little break before commencing unpacking all our filthy clothes. My boy relaxes by wrapping himself in the sheer curtains by our bed, cackling to himself all the while. He finds delight wherever he goes.... and somehow is already cooler than I ever will be, wearing those shades?!

{a photo a day in january}

#highlightsreel // cousins at the cape

Well, it probably looks like all we do is go to the beach, but really it's just the only time I bother to lug my big camera along these days.... I think the key observations here are both that I am falling more in love with the beach while also getting a lot lazier when it comes to taking photos. Who am I anymore?! Ha!

Anyway, a couple months back, we drove down to the Victorian coast to spend a delightfully low key long weekend with my little sister, her partner and their three little girls. We stayed at their family's beach house and basically did nothing but chill out, wander down to the beach for walks and plenty of beach play... and then stayed up late chatting and playing Uno after the kids went to bed each night! It was nothing short of bliss!

Best of all was seeing the cousins now getting old enough to really enjoy hanging out and playing together... making memories and building those family bonds, hurrah! They really had a blast.

May there be many more adventures to come!

#compulsaryfamilyfun

So thankful for family and for time spent together... it's a rich blessing indeed xx

a letter-writing journal // staying connected with your kids

As our children grow and especially once they head off to school, it can be a little jarring to realise that they are becoming their own little people, with emerging private worlds of their own. It is a glorious thing of course.... we want them to be independent! But like most parents, I've also been really aware of wanting to keep those channels of communication open as they start to venture into the big wide world! Especially as these early years slowly but surely morphing into the tween years (and, like, 'tweens' didn't even exist when I was one, lol)... and then the teens. Eeeek...what a ride we have ahead!

I am not even sure now how this precious routine emerged. Something to do with a glut of beautiful little notebooks and a very eager little letter writer and pen pal. My eight year old daughter, Lily, is the kind of kid who pre-writes responses to her pen pal friends so as soon as a letter arrives she has one ready to send in reply. Ha!!!

So, about a year ago we began to write letters to each other in the pages of a journal. These notes were written 'in secret' then the book was surreptitiously placed under the pillow of the other person for them to discover. Often accompanied by a few eager and not-so-subtle hints of 'have you looked under your pillow lately??'

There has been a beautiful and gentle evolution to these letters, especially as her writing skills and stamina have improved over time and her desire grew to write more and more. Lily had the idea that we should ask each other a question in each letter, which we then answer, as well as writing about our day, our thoughts and anything that's happening in our family. It's even been a safe place to write about miscommunications and some hurt feelings. Sometimes, the journal has been passed back and forth several times in a day, other times a week or even a month can go by before it is delivered under a pillow again. Life gets in the way, you know! And that's okay.... the journal is there when we need it. Sometimes I need a few reminders before I get a chance to reply and sometimes I have to teasingly request a little return mail from my daughter too!

How fascinating it is to have a peek into her world, to hear about her favourite things and to be charmed by her questions and insights about life and family and her many dreams and big ideas. She is her own little person, and so utterly lovely to get to know. She is getting to know me too, in a different way (as a real person, not just a mother haha!), as we ask each other questions as friends do.

Right now she is an open book (no pun intended!) and I love how easily we can share our hearts. But in years to come, when emotions and hormones, peers and other influences pervade, my hope is that this simple little journal, and the trust we have established along the way, might provide an avenue to continue to openly communicate with each other through the written word, at times when speech may otherwise fail.

It's also been a bonus to have all our notes bound safely into one book rather than loose papers that often get waylaid... or is that just me?!  Best of all has been having a blossoming conversation with my daughter that I hope and pray will continue to evolve and mature over the years as we do the same.

Day by day, letter by letter, we grow together xx

Take me home, country roads....

On the long drive home to Canberra from Brisbane, we took a short stop through the little country town where I lived till I was about nine. It was my first time passing through since I had children and while I duly expected a fun little trip down memory lane with my babies, I was rather surprised to be hit pretty full force with a strong wave of emotion and nostalgia. 

It was surreal to say the least, to see my own trio of children standing in front of the house I lived in at their age, part of a sibling trio myself. So many fond memories of that simple little country life, running around barefoot and grubby with my sisters. Feeding scraps to the chickens and bringing the cows up from the paddock after school... yes, those were our chores. How sweet it was to share some of those old stories with the kids. They could barely believe I lived somewhere so 'exotic' haha... and they also found out that we had our own pony. Uh oh!!

How can it be that life moves on, through so many winding paths, and yet this little farmhouse remains, basically identical to the day we left it....those two palm trees, the fig tree, the huge pepper tree on the right, the loooooong driveway (felt like miles as a little kid) which we walked to and from the bus each school day... often I was also lugging my cello.

The same rusty old mail box still remains.... looking even rustier and a great deal wonkier, yet still standing, still in use. I remember being terrified of spiders when I reached inside for the mail.

When I was about four, my grandmother bought some of our land from us to build a house next to ours. We had a connecting driveway about 100 metres long and we loved running along it to go visit her after school, where she would teach us to garden (we each had our own little garden bed set aside for us) and to bake (we each had our own particular biscuit recipe we would bake with her each time... sadly I can no longer remember what mine was though). Oh, Granny. She was very old school, super strict, a lady of the highest order...tough as nails yet as elegant as an aristocrat. All about manners and decorum and so on. She was strong and she was amazing, having lived a fascinating life filled with writing and theatre and travelling to Europe as a Red Cross nurse in World War Two. She spent so much time telling us stories and family history, walking us through the house and showing us all her incredible family heirlooms and antiques. She passed away when I was about twelve and I often wish I had known her better, as an adult. To have soaked in and better understood her stories, who she was as a strong, creative, passionate woman.

Her mailbox still stands. Her hand painted lettering fading but still neat and tidy after all these years (thirtyish?!)... I expect our surname got scratched off by new owners! But 'Weetwood' still remained. Granny named her home thus after the heritage listed home that had been part of our family in decades past. How lovely it is to see 'Weetwood' still standing.

As we stood there, taking photos of the mail box, the current owner came driving up. Being the country, he was friendly - even when discovering some random family taking photos of his letterbox!! And being the country, he still knew of our family, remembered meeting my Dad. We had a good chat about the neighbours living in our old home, and how long he had lived at my grandmother's place. He chuckled and said he had always meant to update the letterbox but never quite got around to it. Life moves slow in the country and I could only be grateful for that thread still connecting me to my past, a thread far stronger than I expected it to be.

Thank you, country roads, for that trip down memory lane..... nothing quite like a heavy dose of nostalgia x