Where did my baby go?

Tyler is 10 today.TEN!!!! I spent some time late last night scrolling through the photos from the first 4 months of his life and reliving the memories of those precious, sleep-deprived days and nights. We have a family lunch tomorrow and then his party (10-pin bowling and pizza) on Sunday so I will do a big post after that with lots of pictures. Promise! 

Southland is the place to be this winter

While storms rage over the rest of the country on a semi-regular basis leaving uprooted trees, floods, slips and power outages in their wake, Southland has escaped and although cold and sometimes wet and windy, we have got off rather lightly so far. Of course August/September when the lambs are due is often a different story.

Not much to report: 

Tyler is waging a campaign for a basic cellphone so he can text with his friends. ALL of them have a phone Mum don't you know??! While Chris and I are not averse to this (it will truly be a basic phone with only the ability to text and make the odd phone call to us) he is having to earn it with good behaviour and so that is extending the process somewhat :)

He has been playing table-tennis on a Wednesday, pairing up with one of the girls in his class and they have been doing quite well.

We are enjoying the fruits of summer's wood gathering/chopping/stacking as the fire keeps us toasty warm on the cold nights. Tyler has claimed the big lounge suite chair as his and sometimes invites Pedro (who is not getting any younger) to join him.

Chris is busy at work, as he has been relief crew-leading for the last couple of months. He is also starting to do a bit of fitness work in preparation for his Golden Oldies rugby trip to Argentina in September. 

I've been doing lots of singing (including at the funeral of my old boss and mentor which was very sad but an honour). I have a concert on July 13th where I have some solos and a duet as well as choral work and then there's a little break, which will be welcome and allow me to focus on my repertoire with my singing teacher. 

Vignettes

A few pictures from the last week or two. 

Wee dude now has glasses for distance, which is definitely helping at school. 

He discovered the joys of sewing (didn't get that from me!) and has made various things including a cushion for Pedro.

Mothers' Day he presented me with this tissue flower he made at school, complete with Cookies n Cream Hershey's chocolate in the middle. Said chocolate has long since been devoured.

Apart from that, not much to report as we hunker down inside with the cooler temperatures.

I've moved!

I've moved by blog over to here - come and visit :)

I've moved!

I've moved by blog over to here - come and visit :)

Time flies when you're having fun. Or getting older. Whatever.

Having been gently but firmly taken to task for the yawning silence on this blog, I will try to remedy it as best I can.

The first term of school is over for Tyler. He is in Year 5 and is doing very well according to his teacher at our recent parent-teacher interview. He is also still progressing nicely with his swimming and will start in the main pool next swim term. 

He continues to grow like a weed and is vastly amused that he now fits my shoes (no, you will not be seeing photos of him in my high heels) and is hanging out for the day when he is taller than me. Which I don't think will take much longer as he is about up to my chin.

We acquired a bunny which Tyler named Mr Nibbles. 

Chris has bought a road bike (Honda Fireblade CBR900) as a project for winter. I'm still singing away - currently in the throes of the annual Easter sing-athon - and blogging over at (A)musings of a Lyric Soprano.

One of my fellow 3GW (Three Good Women) got married and we (the remaining two GW's) sang a duet at her wedding. You can read about how I came up with just the right piece of music here

And so to some photos and video.

Mr Cool Dude

Motorbike Exhibition at the Otago Museum

Mr Nibbles

3GW at the wedding - the bride wore blue!

A partial recording of the duet - sorry about the sound quality.

What do you mean - it's nearly 2014?!

Well how embarrassing - no blogging since early October. And here we are post-Christmas Day and rapidly approaching 2014. 

Since then I've had a '0' birthday, Tyler has finished Year 4 with a very good school report and we've just had a lovely Christmas. 

So here's a few photos to help recap the last few months:

Pedro went from this - 

To this - 

Tyler dressed as Count Dracula for Halloween

I had my '0' birthday

Chris got us a new toy

And Santa visited

So a good ending to the year - although apparently we are doing a repeat of the Nevis trip tomorrow with some friends, one of whom is a rally driver. At least we have a 4-wheel drive this time. I think that helps...!