I'm keeping my promise

I'm baaaaack! Let's just tacitly agree to ignore the fact that the return is some 3 months later instead of the following week. Thank you :)

Ok so bad mother that I am I did not take any pictures of Tyler's birthday! In my defence it's because we were having so much and I was busy DOING stuff. 

Highlights from the last few months:

Tyler went on his first school skiing trip. Chris went too as parent-helper. It was lovely day and he enjoyed it but I don't think he has a burning desire to spend his winters skiing. Our bank balance rejoices. 

He started playing basketball in a school team and is enjoying it. The team are all new at it so they're a bit like headless chooks at times but very enthusiastic chooks. 

Player of the Day 

He's back into softball. This year he is in the Wallacetown U13 team as his skills are sufficient for him to be there despite being only 10. 

Of course all that running around (he's also still doing waterpolo, touch and swimming lessons) means that a boy and his Dad need a bit if a nana-nap on a Sunday afternoon.

Last night his class and 2 others had a sleepover at school. It was supposed to be a campout in tents but the weather did not co-operate although the toasted marshmallows still made the cut. Unfortunately he was feeling a bit crook so I got a call late evening to go and pick him up. A good sleep-in has left him feeling a lot perkier this morning and softball has been cancelled due to the rain, so a nice lazy day for us all.

So what else? Chris has a great trip to South America. The Stuffed Hawks won all their games, he ate loads of enormous steaks, saw a lot of interesting sights and most importantly brought home lots of prezzies for us :) 

Stretching before a game - looks like it hurts a bit - those legs aren't getting any younger.

Typical tourist shot in front of the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio.

I am still doing lots of singing - two more major concerts to go before Christmas. The first is on 7 December (the day after my work Christmas party - not good timing) with A Capella Singers where I have duet and a solo in the Saint-Saens Christmas Oratorio and then the following weekend a concert of Bach & Handel where I am singing 'Let the Bright Seraphim' complete with chamber orchestra and solo trumpeter. Am excited and terrified in equal measure! 

Hard to believe there is only 3 weeks of school left for Tyler and then Christmas will be upon us. 

Where did my baby go?

Tyler is 10 today.TEN!!!! I spent some time late last night scrolling through the photos from the first 4 months of his life and reliving the memories of those precious, sleep-deprived days and nights. We have a family lunch tomorrow and then his party (10-pin bowling and pizza) on Sunday so I will do a big post after that with lots of pictures. Promise! 

Southland is the place to be this winter

While storms rage over the rest of the country on a semi-regular basis leaving uprooted trees, floods, slips and power outages in their wake, Southland has escaped and although cold and sometimes wet and windy, we have got off rather lightly so far. Of course August/September when the lambs are due is often a different story.

Not much to report: 

Tyler is waging a campaign for a basic cellphone so he can text with his friends. ALL of them have a phone Mum don't you know??! While Chris and I are not averse to this (it will truly be a basic phone with only the ability to text and make the odd phone call to us) he is having to earn it with good behaviour and so that is extending the process somewhat :)

He has been playing table-tennis on a Wednesday, pairing up with one of the girls in his class and they have been doing quite well.

We are enjoying the fruits of summer's wood gathering/chopping/stacking as the fire keeps us toasty warm on the cold nights. Tyler has claimed the big lounge suite chair as his and sometimes invites Pedro (who is not getting any younger) to join him.

Chris is busy at work, as he has been relief crew-leading for the last couple of months. He is also starting to do a bit of fitness work in preparation for his Golden Oldies rugby trip to Argentina in September. 

I've been doing lots of singing (including at the funeral of my old boss and mentor which was very sad but an honour). I have a concert on July 13th where I have some solos and a duet as well as choral work and then there's a little break, which will be welcome and allow me to focus on my repertoire with my singing teacher. 

Vignettes

A few pictures from the last week or two. 

Wee dude now has glasses for distance, which is definitely helping at school. 

He discovered the joys of sewing (didn't get that from me!) and has made various things including a cushion for Pedro.

Mothers' Day he presented me with this tissue flower he made at school, complete with Cookies n Cream Hershey's chocolate in the middle. Said chocolate has long since been devoured.

Apart from that, not much to report as we hunker down inside with the cooler temperatures.

Time flies when you're having fun. Or getting older. Whatever.

Having been gently but firmly taken to task for the yawning silence on this blog, I will try to remedy it as best I can.

The first term of school is over for Tyler. He is in Year 5 and is doing very well according to his teacher at our recent parent-teacher interview. He is also still progressing nicely with his swimming and will start in the main pool next swim term. 

He continues to grow like a weed and is vastly amused that he now fits my shoes (no, you will not be seeing photos of him in my high heels) and is hanging out for the day when he is taller than me. Which I don't think will take much longer as he is about up to my chin.

We acquired a bunny which Tyler named Mr Nibbles. 

Chris has bought a road bike (Honda Fireblade CBR900) as a project for winter. I'm still singing away - currently in the throes of the annual Easter sing-athon - and blogging over at (A)musings of a Lyric Soprano.

One of my fellow 3GW (Three Good Women) got married and we (the remaining two GW's) sang a duet at her wedding. You can read about how I came up with just the right piece of music here

And so to some photos and video.

Mr Cool Dude

Motorbike Exhibition at the Otago Museum

Mr Nibbles

3GW at the wedding - the bride wore blue!

A partial recording of the duet - sorry about the sound quality.

What do you mean - it's nearly 2014?!

Well how embarrassing - no blogging since early October. And here we are post-Christmas Day and rapidly approaching 2014. 

Since then I've had a '0' birthday, Tyler has finished Year 4 with a very good school report and we've just had a lovely Christmas. 

So here's a few photos to help recap the last few months:

Pedro went from this - 

To this - 

Tyler dressed as Count Dracula for Halloween

I had my '0' birthday

Chris got us a new toy

And Santa visited

So a good ending to the year - although apparently we are doing a repeat of the Nevis trip tomorrow with some friends, one of whom is a rally driver. At least we have a 4-wheel drive this time. I think that helps...!

♫♪ ...when I'm 64 ♪♫

Me, giving Tyler a big hug after coming from work: Do you still love me?

Tyler: Of course, why wouldn't I?

Me, teasingly: Oh I thought you might have forgotten me.

Tyler: Of course not, I'm still young.

Me: What difference does that make?

Tyler: Well when I'm older and you're old and crinkly, I might love you just a wee, wee bit less.

Me: !!!!

In other news, I won some bling at the annual Vocal Competitions recently (I'll blog about it soon over at (A)musings of a Lyric Soprano)

Last weekend I took Tyler and Anton to Riverton for a bit of crab-hunting and ice-cream-devouring.

Happy Holiday

A regular reader (Hi Rosina!) has gently pointed out that I have been very remiss in not posting photos here for some time. So without further ado, here is a traverse through our Gold Coast holiday.

At Dunedin airport

Kookaburra alarm clock

Sea World - we could pat these stingrays.

Pirate ship fun

Dinosaur Island

Pingus!

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary which we loved. Tyler got to tick two items off his bucket list - hold a koala and hold a snake.

At Movie World, the Harry Potter shop. Tyler now has his own wand.

Wet N Wild - the Green Lantern rollercoaster. That's Chris and Tyler nearly at the top.

Tyler turned 9 while we were away. Cupcakes sufficed for a birthday cake.

One of the four pools at our resort

We had a fabulous time and would like to go back again. Still paying this one off though!

♫♪ We're all going on a ...spring holiday.. ♪♫

A short post - yes I know, I owe all two of you Gentle Readers a long one! But I promise the next one will be long and photo-filled as the Campbell-McLeod family is off for our very first proper family holiday - hooray! We're heading to the Gold Coast for 9 days of theme parks and wildlife encounters and while we are there, Tyler has his 9th birthday. So an extra memory card has been purchased for the camera in anticipation of frenetic photo-taking.

We will be staying at Turtle Beach Resort in Mermaid Beach. We have the Super Pass for Wet 'n' Wild, Movie World and SeaWorld Theme parks and we will be visiting Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary where Tyler is very keen to cuddle a koala. 

See you soon!

What a mother loves to hear

Yes, we love to hear "I love you Mummy". Can never get enough of that one. especially if accompanied by snuggly hugs and kisses. 

But this one of Tyler's has quickly become a favourite of mine: "I'm just going to use my imagination". Accompanied by the turning off of the laptop/tablet/Nintendo and followed by sounds of swishing imaginary swords and cries of "I will defeat you" coming from the bedroom/hallway/back yard.

Why I bake

Time for a photographic update.

Tyler and his best friend Caleb who came for a sleepover. They decided to sleep in the lounge and gathered pretty much every single cushion and pillow in the house and arranged them in a large square which they then covered with blankets. The little rat bags were still chattering away at 2am!

Big bro Anton visited recently before heading off to Christchurch for a new job.

Rosina came and stayed with us for a week. While she was here I managed to scrape the side of her car (which was about to sell) with a loaned car (a Subaru WRX STi). Amazingly enough she got offered the same for her scraped car down here as she did unscraped in Christchurch. Chris reckons the salesman will get a telling-off!  Anyway she's still talking to me :)

Today Tyler asked if we could do some baking and decided on Gingerbread men and chocolate chip muffins. I got the ingredients together for the Gingerbread Men and asked him if he wanted to sift the flour. "No thanks" "But that's what we need to do for baking" With a cheeky grin he said "Oh I just want to EAT the baking!"