Documenting Delight: day two hundred and ninety five {sausage sandwich on election day}

Documenting Delight: day two hundred and ninety one {scoops of kiwi fruit}

Documenting Delight: day one hundred and sixty one

Documenting Delight: day one hundred and forty nine {CERES & lunch with friends}

{in a seed pod at CERES}

A little family holiday to a fun and funky city was well earned but the real reason we make the trip to Melbourne was to spend time with our dear, dear friends Melinda and Chris and their two girls. Chris was our friend when Lachie and I were living in Sydney and only newly dating. We were long living in Canberra before the beautiful Melinda came on the scene. In fact the first time we met Melinda was the day before our wedding.  With young children we have only visited their hometown once before, on their wedding day three years ago. Thanks to phonecalls, cards, letters, emails and of coarse Facebook we have remained firm friends despite the distance. Setting a cracking pace Melinda and Chris have welcomed two delightful children, Maggie and Edie, since our last visit. I was beyond excited to hug these two gorgeous girls in the flesh.

To spend three days with this kind and loving family, to see the three older children bond so quickly, to soak up the gentle and patient approach to parenting this couple practise all left me wanting to bundle them up and take them back to Canberra. I am forever grateful that their family is closely connected to ours, but at the same time I do get a tad bit sad that we live so far away.

{baby edie. 3 months old. adorable.}

{miss maggie. 2 and a bit. pure cuteness}

So on the last day together we got a bit sentimental and walked through their wedding venue, CERES, before joining them for lunch one last time. A long lunch where we watched our kids play, where I cuddled baby Edie and tried to push away feelings for a third baby and where my love and respect for our friends grew even more.

{ahh yes, edie's here. I'll just put her on}

{once finn got over the shock that he was actaully allowed to draw on the windows with these textas, he whipped up a pretty impressive picture of a street sweeper}

{alrighty then I'll just be loading up the two plates for lunch}

{delicious lunch prepared by Chris. with heston blumenthal’s triple cooked chips no less}

{a parting gift for harper from melinda. custom made winter clothes for harper's much loved jemima doll. is that not the sweetest gift?}

Blessed to travel this parenting journey with others.

Blessed to have firm friendships where distance doesn’t interfere (much).

Documenting Delight: day one hundred and thirty nine {my vegemite kid}

{"I not need a face washer"}

Documenting Delight: Day one hundred and five {party time @ Kids Pantry}

Today Finn headed off to a party for one of his Playgroup friends, Audrey. Finn was taken aback when we hopped in the car without Daddy, and without Harper. As we drove into the party venue driveway  Finn caught my eye in the rear vision mirror, “Mummy, are we having some Finn and Mummy time?” “Yes we are my lovely one”. Party + one on one time with Mummy = one excited little guy.

The party was held at the Kids Pantry. This place provides a party with a twist. The cake, party games, music are all there but the main event is a structured cooking class, where the party guests cook some of their party food. Genius idea.

{Cutting up the pizza pinwheels}

The kids were gently guided through three recipes; pizza pin-wheels, ants on a log (sultanas, cream cheese on a celery stick) and decorated cupcakes. I can *just* handle cooking with my two kids, so I watched in awe as three instructors kept 15 four year olds engaged and on task, and the mess under control. I felt like high fiving the instructors afterwards. Finn was in the zone; full of concentration and bombarding the instructors with questions....and lots of follow up questions.

{Instructor: "Would you like some chocolate with your strawberries?"
Finn: "Oh yes, I think I would"}

For Finn, a foodie in the making, this party made his weekend.

Documenting Delight: Day ninety nine {easter sunday}

A simple Easter Sunday with my little family. Call us mean (oh, go on!) but Lachie and I made the decision to ease back on the chocolate this year. Not so much Finn, but sugar makes our little wild child, a bit more wild. So this year we gave them a new cup each, with three little eggs in them. They seemed chuffed with this, although Finn was utterly confused by his cup that read ‘early bird’. We reassured him it was apt.

{Early bird? Who me? }

{Our little snow bunny}

{Just chillin' with my hot cross bun and banana}

Documenting Delight: Day ninety seven {good friday}

A beautiful lunch was held at Lachie’s sister and brother in law's house in Sydney for Good Friday. It was jam packed day; Easter egg hunt for the kids, cousins at play, a beyond delicious fish meal, a belated birthday celebration for Finn and a family coming together in a time of sadness.

Documenting Delight: Day sixty two

Friday nights come with the family tradition of a post dinner “special treat”. Or if you are Finn, you simply name Fridays, “Special Treat Night”. As parents, Lachie and I are conscious of establishing healthy eating habits in our household. We have always followed the advice that our role as a parent of toddlers is to decide what food to serve and when to offer it, but that our children decide whether or not to eat and how much they’ll eat. Finn and Harper have both experienced fussy eating fazes but these have always passed quickly when we stick to our family food principle.

We are also aware that eating in a balanced way means that sweet foods will be part of their diet. I am quite partial to the odd Allen’s Retro Party Mix so it would be hypocritical of me to place a no-sugar stance upon my kids. We strive to set up an eating atmosphere that minimises these foods but we feel that putting a total ban on them may lead them to seek sugary items out without our knowledge, possibly in an indulgent manner. Special Treat night is just one way that we highlight that sweet foods like ice-cream/ice-blocks are a “sometimes” food. They are not evil, but they are just a very small part of what makes up our healthy diet. On reflection I wish I had called this night something different as I have read that calling sweet foods “special” elevates them above healthier choices. Bugger. Finn coined onto this phrase from the first time I uttered the words so really there was no turning back.