Sunday 6 April 2014

Monthly Snapshot {March}

The month of March usually signals a change in Canberra. Cool to cold days and an acceptance that the hard Winter months are approaching. A contrast this year is that March was warmish. More time to spend outdoors and even a weekend where the kids danced and ran through the backyard sprinkler. Strange, but wonderful all the same.

This month our Finn turned six. When he hit five years old I could still kid myself that he was still "little", but not with this birthday. He seems grown up. Since starting Kindergarten he has matured and is showing more and more confidence in and outside of school. He is still playful, funny and sensitive but school seems to have given him a chance to foster his independent side, to find and sustain friendships and become immersed in learning. As a solitary man by nature, it has been a long road to feeling comfortable within bigger groups for our Finn, but here he is now, confident and happy being within a class. He's a delight to be with; a curious soul with a tender heart and a lover of all things LEGO. He is six and we love him so.

{hanging out on her new bed}
{writing in her diary}
{We have a reader in the house. We are excited but Finn is in disbelief. "Mum I can't believe it! Did I just read?" Yes you did! YES you did!}
{childhood= bandaids on your knees}
{miniature train rides}
{Unlike Finn, I thought Harper didn't possess my obsessive list-making gene. Seems I was wrong. On our days together she starts the day by requesting that I write down everything we are hoping to do within our day. }
{decorating a cake to celebrate the end of the school week for Finn and one of his friends. Harper was certain she didn't want any help from me. "Mum, I am going to make it perfect. But I'm going to make it MY perfect." Code for 'please don't give me suggestions on how this cake should look.'}
{$8 glow in the dark board from Kmart. Brilliant motivator for writing!}
{"Finn said I could play with his LEGO. He did."}
{this gal is obsessed with technology. We're by no means a high tech family but Harper makes her strong interest known "So mum....do you know when I can get my own phone?" She's four. FOUR! This is Harper doing her "letters and numbers", meaning I open up Microsoft word and she types up all the names and words and numbers she knows.}
{good morning big six year old}
{birthday present. I have no idea how he perseveres with these challenging LEGO packs. He got stumped on one section of this creation and I tried to help him. It took all of my brain power to work it out. I was genuinely relieved when he said that he could press on without my assistance.}
{a small birthday party. The theme was the super specific sub-section of LEGO, 'Chima'. I campaigned for weeks for a generic LEGO theme but Chima won in the end.}
{I was stumped when it came to creating a cake for this theme. Let me just say the interwebz  isn't overflowing with helpful hints on how to create a Chima cake. In the end I mashed together I few ideas I saw and this was the result.}
{brothers. Thanks to the gorgeous mum of these two adorable lads, Kate, for snapping so many of the images from Finn's day. You are the best.}
{"how is your cake, Finn?" THIS FACE}