Kioloa Goodness

Just got home from 5 lovely days at Kioloa Beach! Sadly, we forgot the camera so the memories will be preserved here instead. There would have been some lovely shots, like of Evie's tiny footprints in the sand, her croc footprints next to Daddy's croc footprints, Evie having breakfast with 10 lorikeets and a dozen ducks, a mob of roos racing off at the sight of Evie running towards them (half their size!).

It was so nice to just be among the bush and wildlife instead of the hussle and bussle of wonderful inner west life. Evie met all the neighbours and their dogs and always had her eyes open for the next person to walk past so that she could charm them with her wave and enthusiatic 'Hi', it is so much easier to get to know the other campers with a little one in your life!

Other good bits included roadside cherries from young, having your dinner cooked for you on the BBQ every night, our new annex on the camperoo, beating Mike in Carcassone by 1 point, boggle, finding blue clawed crabs in the rockpools and having lovely family time without the interuption of any TV! Oh, I almost forgot to mention- Evie slept in her own cot each night, all night, without any tears- amazing! and even went to bed before 9pm each night... now to see if we can bring that golden goodness back to real life!

Family goodness....

I have had lots of extended family time lately, not for extended periods but with my extended family!

Mum's wedding kicked things off with a great party of all the family members celebrating her marriage to Dougie, she is now Mrs Oldfield and thoroughly enjoying it from all reports! Mum was a gorgeous bride dressed in a lovely purple dress strolling through the park behind her gorgeous grandkids! It was a great day and absolutely wonderful to have cousins entertaining Evie for the day too, not to mention yummy food, a very happy mum, the company of my siblings and the rest of the gang! Unfortunately my Camera died and i don't have a photo to post yet- but hopefully later!

This lovely occassion marked the second of two major events in my family this year- the first being the birth of Alexander Ian Gregory Graham- my new little brother, born to my Dad and Cathy earlier this year. Gosh he made Evie look big! And to think that Evie now has another Uncle- we went shopping for her uncle, not aftershave but a cute little '000' outfit!

Yes, so family stuff continues to happen and we continue to embrace it. There have also been many less significant but mightly joyful family moments including coming home last week to a clean home and freshly cooked casserole courtesy of Julie, my servant hearted mother in law!
Today's fish and chip lunch with my grandparents followed by dinner with aunts, uncles and cousins just adds to the goodness of having family. My family is a huge blessing.

Progress?

Last night Evie came a step closer to saying mum, exciting seeing that she has been saying Daddy for months. She has even been saying Taj for several weeks (the bunny!), so some intensive work at the dinner table led to Evie pointing at me and finally saying... "Bum". So now she can point at Daddy, bubba, Taj and Bum. She did make me laugh with silliness!

She can do stuff!

This eerily quiet blog needs an Evie update for those of you reading from afar! Our little girl is growing up, this weekend she started to walk! She can now wander from room to room and even shake her maracas as she goes! It is so very cute to watch her little legs carry her around the house. Again, this significant milestone was reached in the company of her cousin Rhys, also 12 months old, who has been showing her how to walk since he was 9 months! (Rhys also taught Evie how to crawl- he is a clever boy!)

Evie has also discovered other important skills like how to lick yummy food off her fingers and how to open and empty mum's wallet. She has learnt her first animal noise and 'woof woofs' at all dogs (including the Kleenex dog in the toilet paper aisle at Coles) and other animals that catch her attention!

Evie' s favourite words are Hi and Bye and are accompanied by a generous wave and hearty smile, it's a nice way to leave for work in the mornings.

She is a real joy!

poisoned...

Had a horrendously gross and intense bout of food poisoning on the weekend- nothing like that to help you appreciate good health again! I can't be sure, but can I suggest avoiding the butter chicken at Summer Hill Indian Home Diner. Feeling 100% again now- hooray!

Cheaper than Jetstar!

Mike and I went off to Lakemba today for lunch, a bit of a random idea after hearing rave reviews about a lebanese restaurant, 'Jasmine's', during bible study this morning. Mike had the arvo off today so we all popped into Maisy mazda looking forward to a mixed plate of goodies. Sadly, Jasmine's was shut.

On the up side, it felt like a cheap airfare to another country really- I was very excited about the strong cultural differences there, the dress, the signage, the facial expressions, the tone of voice, the food, the butchers... oh and the strong presence of Canterbury bulldogs jerseys!

We ended up having yummy Adana kebabs for lunch and coming home with Kafta and lamb Souvlaki for the BBQ. Mike didn't seem to share the same level of excitement, well atleast not until he spotted the Campo's coffee.

Lunch break!

First day back at work has come and gone- hello to John, farewell to Evie, clean clothes, big hugs, new clients, lunch break, phone calls, still clean clothes, and a 45 minute early mark! It was joyfully familiar, a real blessing to be able to return to such a warm, respectful and creative work place. My office still looks the same- a shame really, it needed some interior decorating, but I will soon be downsizing to a smaller office to fit my smaller hours- 2 days a week, so no ongoing issues there!

The joy of returning to work was closely accompanied by the mixed feelings of leaving little Evie at home. Evie's feelings didn't seem so mixed- she was very happy about being looked after by grandpa. As I held back the tears as I waved her good bye, she was in full swing waving me off excitedly through the front security door with a huge smile across her gorgeous face- and this seemed to be the theme of her day! Praise God for such a smooth transition and for retired Grandpa's who know how to entertain!