A very merry...

Season's greetings to one and to all. 

We are surrounded by family in a place we love, looking forward to the end of a rather difficult year.

We have planned a peaceful beachside break to rewind and refresh.

I hope you have plans for the same. See you on the other side. A x

A little Christmas spirit...

I had done zip, nada, nothing to inject any Christmas spirit into our house... until yesterday.

The boys have plenty of the stuff course. They have already met Santa twice -  although the first encounter (at a neighborhood bbq in the local park) rather failed to convince. I think it was the fact that all the kids chasing him for lollies pulled his red pants off.

The guy you see above was a professional and his ho-ho-hoing did the trick for all the kids at my youngest son's new pre-school.

The boys also received their own message from Santa this year via Portable North Pole - it's a little cheesy but you should have seen the looks on their faces when they watched the personal message from The Big Guy. Try it with your true believers.

Unfortunately my second son's ever changing needs are a little hard for Santa to meet. He wanted blue curtains for Christmas and that darn internet Santa has now promised to deliver them.  Although when I asked him ten minutes ago what he'd like he'd changed his mind again. Now he wants a plastic tree and some plastic flowers. And looked at me as though I was an aging lunatic when I asked what exactly those were.

Now that the Christmas spirit has descended (well, our tree is up) I've decided to make Retromummy's rocky road for my son's classmates.

It's the least I could do.

I'm a big fan of the 'least I could do' policy at this time of year.

Flat Stanley...

The keenly observant among you may notice that that large green dip is in fact a volcano and is in fact in Auckland. And yes we do now live in Melbourne.

I am playing blog catch up. 

That is Flat Stanley and this year he came to stay for a week or so with us. He'd been with my old university friend and blogger extraordinaire Jane. Now Jane would not have taken I don't want to think how long to post these pictures... (Actually I know how long - I just checked and it was way back in June. Cripes.)

I love the Flat Stanley project - it's nearly as old as me.

Actually the book is WAY older - written in 1964 about Stanley Lambchop who gets squashed flat by a falling picture and so can post himself to see his friends (I don't want to spoil the ending but in case you're concerned he gets restored to 3D with a bike pump.)

The literacy project sees school kids connect with the world as they send Flat Stanley on from country to country. Of course now you can do it online and as an iPhone app. Our Stan was old school.

We took him to one of our favourite spots in Auckland - Mt Eden.  I wouldn't mind posting myself back there for a stroll.

Stan didn't say much but I think that smile means he liked it. 

Our new door....

Oops. In 2010 I posted 136 thoughts on 136 separate days. In 2011 I have posted just 55 times (now 56).

I think that sums up our year. It all feels a blur. We sold a house, nursed two boys through two broken bones and a decrepit old crone with a slipped disc (me), juggled the administrative nightmare of moving with a husband with a highly stressful job - all first world problems and nothing at all compared to the woes of others I know.... in the middle of it all we reluctantly left New Zealand and gratefully returned to Australia.

I think it's the 'so reluctant to leave' and 'ever so grateful to return' that have me confused. Part of me misses terribly our lovely villa life in Auckland, the other is loving Melbourne with close family close by and the nervous, excited thought that we might actually stay here for good.

I think I have had very little brain space left over this year. As well as a return to part time work I have dived headfirst into the school and pre-school communities - all part of my usual impatient approach to settling. I find it so dull being new and not knowing anyone.

My oldest friends - who I will see over Christmas - have demanded I find my blogging mojo.  We are celebrating with a pre-festive lunch to discuss our New Year resolutions. I can't think much past 'lose three kilos' and 'find a better hairdresser.' My haircut is dire but I know I can do better than that.

Off to dig out the camera and see what you've missed about my last few months.

Oh yes and this is our new Melbourne front door. So like a villa door don't you think?