Growing Kiwi's

Oops, time is whizzing by and I realise our lives have been so full that I haven't had the time to post comment!

This has been a busy winter term (I still find it very odd to describe June as winter), with all kinds of activities and events for the girls. I find myself, like many a mum, scooting round from one activity to another. But the difference here is that instead of the traffic holding us up, we are stopping for cows crossing the road or to buy mandarins or tomatoes from a cart at the bottom of somebody's driveway - much more of a fun way to get held up in our view!

I have become an expert at building a fire but nevertheless miss the central heating, especially first thing in the morning. Oh how we were spoilt when all we had to do when cold weather threatened was flick that switch. For the first time in her short life, fils 4 does not want to get up in the morning, much preferring to snuggle down with her luke warm hot water bottle and fake a coma. Fils 3 is now an expert at getting dressed under her duvet. She carefully lays her next day's clothes beside her pillow so enabling her to not have to emerge from her warm bed in the morning until she is fully dressed. Fils 1 appears 10 pounds heavier each morning, winning the prize for who can wear the most layers and fils 2 just tries to get away with making us believe she has hibernated!

Most days we are soon warmed up by the winter sun and the pace of life between rugby, soccer, ballet and church. The kids appear to becoming more Kiwi as each day goes by as their English accents disappear and they even have to hesitate to remember how they once spoke. The NZ accent seems to roll off the tongue more naturally now. There was never any hesitation when it came to supporting the All Blacks, long forgotten is the euphoria of watching the Lions win the Rugby World Cup. Yes as I watch them all enjoying the fun of picking their own Kiwi fruits from the vines of our friend's crop, I realise that we seem to be growing our own!