Tuesday, January 29, 2013
winter
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Quiet Time
I am really enjoying these last lazy days, the ones between Christmas and going back to school. The girls are playing at their natural pace, enjoying doing the things they want to do when they want to do them. We get to lay around in our pajamas until lunch time, and there is no morning rush where (no matter how hard i try) i lose my cool. We have stayed fairly insulated from the outside world, and it has been nice to reconnect and to spend quiet and not-so-quiet time together.
Friday, January 04, 2013
365
I decided to do a 365 photo challenge this year. I will be posting my photos toy Flickr stream as well as a tumblr that I started for this purpose. If you would like to see my attempt at taking pics that aren't 100% about ruby and esme, please have a look occasionally. I can't promise they will be great, but I can promise that they will be there.
A few of my friends are joining me in this endeavour. We have decided in retrospect to go with a daily prompt, after beginning the month with a colour idea (tungsten glow). where we are getting our prompt is at: photo-a-day
A few of my friends are joining me in this endeavour. We have decided in retrospect to go with a daily prompt, after beginning the month with a colour idea (tungsten glow). where we are getting our prompt is at: photo-a-day
Thursday, January 03, 2013
End of year
The last month of 2012 was incredibly busy. Ruby was getting ready for her P1 nativity, in which she was a Twinkling Star. Esme was getting ready for Santa, and everything that comes with that when you are 3 years old and actually "get it" for the first time. We were all doing a count down until our visit from Nana and Papa Arty. We spent time getting all decorated, and presents wished for and bought. It is a crazy month when you have two little girls who are enthralled with all the magic that happens at the end of December.
With the wish list came the realisation by the girls that they really didn't have anything they truly needed. Sure there were some new toys that looked very cool, and crafty things won't go wrong when found under the tree on christmas morning. But the girls needed to realise again how lucky and privileged they are, and not everyone has such a carefree life as they do. We spoke to the girls and suggested that in lieu of one of their gifts this year, that they use that money towards a charity of their choice. Of course we had to explain what a charity was, and all that, but the girls were really excited to be able to choose a charity and then help others in this world. Ruby has been learning to read in P1, and i have told her that not all girls get to go to school let alone learn to read, and that in some countries there are no books or schools for children to go to. Ruby decided that she wanted her money to go to those children, especially girls who wanted to learn to read like she is doing right now. For Ruby we chose the charity Room to Read http://www.roomtoread.org/. Esme, is completely enthralled with elephants right now, so she wanted her donation to go to "elephant babies who have no mommies or daddies", so we chose The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/. We hope to have this become a tradition that we do every year with the girls.
It has been a long year with many milestones, great memories, and we have much to look forward to in the coming year. It is hard when you are in the midst of the daily grind to step back and assess your life and realise that it is wonderful and that you have much to be thankful for. This year, whenever I hit a tough patch I thought of my friend Becca whose son Ben has been battling cancer this past year. He turned 2 in October while undergoing Chemo for a cancer that he was given a 5% chance of beating. I can't imagine how hard things are for them, and I think about them daily. when i am frustrated with esme getting her shoes on or with ruby not wanting to practice her phonics, i try to remember that it is nothing compared to what Becca and her partner Tom are dealing with everyday. They have spent Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years in UCLA medical centre, and here's to the hope that Ben will be home soon, and cured, and able to show us how wonderful and beautiful life is for decades to come.....
With the wish list came the realisation by the girls that they really didn't have anything they truly needed. Sure there were some new toys that looked very cool, and crafty things won't go wrong when found under the tree on christmas morning. But the girls needed to realise again how lucky and privileged they are, and not everyone has such a carefree life as they do. We spoke to the girls and suggested that in lieu of one of their gifts this year, that they use that money towards a charity of their choice. Of course we had to explain what a charity was, and all that, but the girls were really excited to be able to choose a charity and then help others in this world. Ruby has been learning to read in P1, and i have told her that not all girls get to go to school let alone learn to read, and that in some countries there are no books or schools for children to go to. Ruby decided that she wanted her money to go to those children, especially girls who wanted to learn to read like she is doing right now. For Ruby we chose the charity Room to Read http://www.roomtoread.org/. Esme, is completely enthralled with elephants right now, so she wanted her donation to go to "elephant babies who have no mommies or daddies", so we chose The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/. We hope to have this become a tradition that we do every year with the girls.
It has been a long year with many milestones, great memories, and we have much to look forward to in the coming year. It is hard when you are in the midst of the daily grind to step back and assess your life and realise that it is wonderful and that you have much to be thankful for. This year, whenever I hit a tough patch I thought of my friend Becca whose son Ben has been battling cancer this past year. He turned 2 in October while undergoing Chemo for a cancer that he was given a 5% chance of beating. I can't imagine how hard things are for them, and I think about them daily. when i am frustrated with esme getting her shoes on or with ruby not wanting to practice her phonics, i try to remember that it is nothing compared to what Becca and her partner Tom are dealing with everyday. They have spent Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years in UCLA medical centre, and here's to the hope that Ben will be home soon, and cured, and able to show us how wonderful and beautiful life is for decades to come.....
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