september-- a big month

i have not given up... i may be 6 (ok now 8!) months behind but we will get back on track! and now a trip down memory lane....

september began with liam's first day of kindy! we've been going to the steiner playgroup since shortly after arriving but today was the first day i dropped liam off to spend the morning with louise, who he knew from playgroup, and the other 2 teachers, jean and margaret. it was exciting for liam as we had talked about it and "going to kindy." felt like a big deal.

a week later we celebrated papa's birthday with our first overnight away since my 40th birthday in vancouver ( and thus only my second night ever away from lee). we decided since it was just one night and we wanted to feel like we were actually going far away to go big.   the place did not disappoint but as is always the case with one night away, time flew too quickly. we didn't even get a chance to take advantage of the billiards room, indoor heated pool, grass tennis court, skeet shooting or croquet.

maybe next time.

it was pretty fun pretending to be country gentry for a wee while and perhaps because it is nz, or maybe just because these folks are very well trained professionals,  we felt totally at ease even though we were a bit out of our element ;) we drank too much wine in the cozy fire lit dining room with a couple of wealthy mid westerners and ended up getting into an almost argument about gun control. they left via helicopter in the am before we ran onto them again. haha.

sunset from our cottage

palliser bay as we left the estate

we came home the next afternoon to celebrate papa's birthday with liam! liam had spent the overnight with a team of 3 very good friends who alternated the time with him... lucky us. and him! he had fun and didn't seem to miss us too badly at all.

                                 apple pie- the fave :) i was pretty happy with that little banner

slays me

the boys were happy with the pie :)


september was also a big month for me. the culmination of about 4 mos "free time" work: co-organizing a gala event for liam's creche- crossways communty creche:

we were a team of 3 and i was involved with every stage from outreach within the creche community, to greater community outreach, to organizing the green screen photobooth that matthew ran . i gathered half of the auction prizes myself, got big discounts on all of the food, planned and designed the menu and ended up head chefing with a team of 2  the night of. we raised over 7k, making 5k after expenses. it was a great fun night and a lot, a lot of work. i probably wont do that again. ha.

wonderful lady friends gathered to make 200 gyoza dumplings ( recipe and donation from the lovely tomo)

 testing fondu recipe and technique before making for 60+

my fondu recipe. 8 pounds of cheese people. expensive imported cheese!

live auction

tough choices

 

matthew set up and ran a green screen photo booth that took our 70's era dressed guests and sent them back in time... i have been looking for the comped shots but can't access! will have to add later

my co-chair and i

and finally some everyday cuteness from my wild fennel loving boy

 

closet fort - not usually much of a climber!
he said he was up in a lurch

naked chef

we need to do more of this! 10 mins outside of town

spring bloom from our garden

UPDATE: somehow i managed to leave out my notes for this month and it was a big one for another reason... mid month liam started getting out of diapers in earnest.!! he stopped pooping in them first.

he started going to the toilet at kindy and at creche. On Oct 1 he had gone 5 days with no nappies :)

also impish defiance in full effect.  as well as greater fear of the dark-- the shadows are scary

and some kinda awesome things liam said:

i'm a big 3 yr old boy now. i am going to steal the plans.

- and what are you going to do with the plans?"

when the sun comes up we are going to the zoo

i miss papa. actually i miss henry joan. actually there are 2 girls what are going to come back from 

europe. elise and henry joanie.

i'm eating the nuts what have the protein.

no..... not really.

on a sick day liam and i watched fantasia ( i love that movie! beautiful bioluminescence half a century before avatar ;) and liam says: they look like atoms- who told you about atoms- 

i don't know. - what are atoms?- i don't know.

and the little neighbor boy says to liam: you've got more toys than me! to which liam replies:

you've got different toys.   smart boy <3

liam can now take off his own clothes (mostly) and wants to wear just blue. the boy knows what he likes and it is not very often subject to change.

xoxoxoxoxo