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the boys and i had a quiet weekend. i needed to go to Reverse Art to get some supplies for school. with the boys in tow we ended up with ALOT of supplies. they had a bag and i could hear them planning in the isles, Hugo telling Arch "dont get too much of that we might run out of space, we don't know what else there is"they filled their bag and their eyes were shinning with ideas as we go in the car. as i drove home i went past an electrical store and saw some discarded boxes... i pulled over, put them in the car. by now Hugo had reached fever pitch and was busy planning and couldn't get home quick enough.

the afternoon was spent making a cubby for two, i stayed and helped and the few hours of fun we had was great. its so easy to say "I'll be back in a moment I'll just put the washing on, or I'll just do the dishes"... but i resisted that temptation and stayed in the moment and it was fun.

after a wonderful afternoon of imaginative play the boys then continued on with their fun in the bath. bath time was hours ( not quite but it seemed that way) of lotions and potions with tubes, funnels, plastic bottles, pumps and giggles.

costumes

hugo's school concert is on in a few weeks.....
some one remembered that i sew, so i am busy sewing up 24 grade 1 costumes for Hugos class (i have been given strict instructions to make 24 exactly the same costumes and not to alter ANYTHING !!!!) some people take volunteering a little too seriously.....the costumes are ok, i think we could have added a bit more life to them, but hey what do i know i'm just the bunny that gets handed hugos class to sew and then another classes to sew but is also told in the same breathe that they need some "real sewers" to make jackets.......hmmmmm lucky i'm doing it for my son not this lovely parent that has noooooo idea !!!!!

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a day with Arch.......

choosing a croissant before we hit the supermarket for our weekly grocery shop..

scooting to school to collect Hugo

Having a rest in the sun on the way to school

picking "flowers" on the way home

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stopping to look at the view and enjoying some time out in the snow..... building a fairy house for the snow fairies

right place right time

after finishing skiing this morning we were at the bus stop waiting to return to the Big D to collect Arch..... but he had been skiing the big mountain all morning (for those of you who know Mt Hotham he was skiing the Village loop) and was at the bus stop with us !!!

exploring melbourne

after the run we wandered around Melbourne. its something we don't do enough.... Hugo was fascinated with federation square before the race and i have made a mental note to take them back in one weekend we are home soon.

as children both john and i went into the city with our parents, and both of us always got to go to the block arcade to haighs chocolates... each time we are together in the city we always take the boys as well.... the boys loved it and they were really interested in the mosaic floor. as we wandered around Collins street, degraves lane, Elizabeth street and up to hardware lane to Auski we stopped and looked at the beautiful architecture of some of the buildings.

you forget how lovely our city is and i am glad we stopped and took the time to explore briefly.

a new experience

this morning i was up early to compete in the Run Melbourne.

this was my first organised run. it was great i loved it. it was a beautiful crisp (cold) Melbourne winters morning. we arrived in the city just after 8 and my race started at 9am.

john and the boys came with me to support me which was great.

the atmosphere and crowd was amazing.

i had thought i wanted to run the 10km in an hour, as i started i was running alongside the 1 hour pace markers and after about 2 km i realised that i wasn't running to my full potential and found my own feet and took off. the course was great and i finished in 57.45 minutes. i was wrapped.

next year.... half marathon.......

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a picnic in the lounge room eating homemade pizza's for dinner. a fun way to end the week.

life

it doesn't take much to put things into perspective.
the above image was taken last week, one morning when we were skiing. i stopped and watched the view and took stock of all around me.
the 10 days at the snow have done wonders for our family unit. the boys and i reconnected on a level where we have had all day and 2.5 weeks to share many special experiences.
john and i skied together each morning and finally after a long time i felt re connected as i shared many a chair lift ride with him and raced him down the hill. we have been fairly distant recently with him starting up a new business... i guess its life and you get stuck in the rut but moving away from routine and home for 10 days was exactly what we needed. i enjoyed his company and shared many special moments together.

my nitty gritty whinges about family dynamics are nothing compared to dear friends whose lives have been turned upside down with such a jolt that you spent days/weeks wondering and trying to make sense of what is happening. i guess its all relative but it certainly makes you stop and look around and appreciate your loved ones.

so i guess as the week starts and we are all back at school, working and juggling activities and experiences its important to remember to stop and look around each day and appreciate whats right there... family. to smile and say i love you and to hold whats important close.

i know i will be.

my little buddy

Hugo and i have had a great time these holidays. we have had heaps of fun together at the snow. i have watched him shine on and off the slopes. he has been confident and proud of his achievements, reliable and caring towards arch, helpful and lots of fun to be around.
talking and expressing whats been going on in his head and his day.
and he is a little gun on the snow, a strong confident skier.

fireworks and night skiing

proud

this afternoon after ski school the 4 of us hit the slopes.
Hugo has progressed to level 4 today in his lesson groups and is skiing amazingly strongly and well.
Archie is the talk of the ski school, they all know him and call him by name. yesterday he was at level 1; teddy bears, today he skipped level 2 and is almost finished level 3, in jumping joeys in his section. he is unbelievable. he was skiing with the 4-5 year olds today and was the leader of the pack, working on his turns !!!
it is an amazing progression from Saturday when he was skiing between our legs to today where he skied most of the mountain this afternoon with us and at the end of the day he and Hugo were skiing on their own on the summit trainer lift, which is a poma lift,. doing lap after lap till the lift stopped !!!!

blue bird days

this is starting to turn into a skiing blog, sorry.
we have had beautiful blue sky and sunny days, bluebird magic. the boys have gone to ski school each morning allowing john and i to have a ski together all morning and then ski together as a family in the afternoon.