22nd Sept - Through Their Eyes

     Shared experiences is what really makes memories, we all have scores of memories from our past, how many of yours include only you? Sure we've all had special times on our own but most likely your fondest memories include other people too, whether that be family members, friends, co-workers etc...

     Memories are made when we share an experience, I was reminded of this yesterday when Rebecca and I were pushing our girls in side-by-side swings at a park in a town we were strolling through. She said, 'it's great to look through their eyes' that statement struck me. We have been to numerous towns, villages and cities and now with two little ones who we are either pushing, carrying, holding the hand of or attempting to corral going to these places is a whole new experience. Sure we have had a wonderful time together but for 17 years it was her and I, of course friends too but often on our own traversing through shops, getting a drink at a cafe, and visiting touristy sites. Now that has all changed.

     We still love popping into shops, having a browse around although much of what we see are ideas of what our oldest would like to have or what our youngest has picked up off a shop shelf and is now playing with in her buggy. If we are shopping for household goods its a brief glance as we swiftly move to the next aisle since the girls are quite uninterested in the colour of a basket or which brand of toothpaste we should get. Shopping has taken on a different perspective, one that is through their eyes, what might they like, which cartoon themed yoghurt would be best, what colour hair barettes, these are not an issue that we've faced before.

     It is really exciting to see through their eyes, practically everything is new. Whether that be the surprise of the rushing river yesterday along the path we walked or the numerous dogs we passed each one drawing a 'woof woof' from our youngest. Would I normally notice the difference in the speed of the water or the fact another dog trotted our way probably not, but yesterday I did. Would we take note of the colour of the leaves on the many trees as we stopped for a short snack. Would we stop for a short snack or just eat while we went? Would we take the time to gaze at the vegetation around us, for that matter would we even go on that walk, maybe not. We find ourselves heading to parks, on walks, watching children's DVD's, and building dog parks and cat houses out of duplo, to be honest they look the same to us but not them.

     Have you tried watching a film like Underdog or the Lady and Tramp with a three year old, they find 'scary' parts that wouldn't even make me flinch. They can see aspects of characters that we are invisible to us. Right now I'm looking over at our youngest who's trapesing around our front room with sunglasses on just because they were they to be picked up. All the while attempting with everything within her abilities to press any key on the computer. What does she see through her eyes? A darkened room surely, but also a room full of endless possibilities. Just to keep you abreast of what is going on she is now poking me in the eye with a Tombliboo (character from In the Night Garden), do you know how hard it is to type with a 17 month old cradled in your arms while she pokes you in the eye?

     Their eyes see much more than ours do, in our front room we see a huge pile of toys. What do they see, a never-ending well of playing with this and picking up that, dropping a plastic horse to pick up a book or a pretend stethoscope. One minute playing doctor, the next watching a DVD, then peekaboo and to finish off the five minutes an attempt at putting on a shoe. So much of what they see is new, it needs to be explored and handled. Imagine if we took time to explore what we saw around us, if I picked up the newspaper and made myself aware of the days news, or if I read that book I have been intending to read.

Speaking of new, each night we read a couple of stories followed by stories from our children's Bibles. All of the amazing stories from Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, Daniel to Jesus they are all new, from creation to the flood, Jonah in the whale to the Christmas story. What do they see in these stories? From the looks on their eyes wonderment and interest. I remember being a little boy and hearing the extraordinary stories read to me by my dad before bed or the miraculous stories of missionaries from the around the world at children's church. It's amazing how quickly children pick up on the stories of the Bible and the power of the gospel. What a treasure it is to finish off our days by praying together right before going to bed. I think that Rebecca and I are learning more about everything around us as we look through their eyes.

10th Sept - What I like about you

I know that the Romantics originally thought about what they liked, but I've been doing it too. What I like about you, that's a great thing to think about concerning anybody. Having that train of thought for our daughters, it's simply not a difficult task. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a few of our favourite things, this time a different song parody, it's just some of the things we like about you...

seeing the concentration in your furled eyebrows during the relentless pursuit of connecting the clasp of a strap

hearing the invitation 'come out here daddy' to join the girls in the playhouse in the garden

your smiles

after mommy finishes praying when you ask me to pray before going to sleep

the creative imagination that we see brimming each day

how peacefully you lay down for an afternoon nap (at the same time which is great for us:)

just hanging out at the top of the slide at the park and shooting the breeze

the excitement when you've walked, up to 8 steps at a time

you love books, whether they be small, board, stories or info it's all interesting to you

the squeals of joy as we traversed through Peppa Pig World

there's way more that we could pen but ultimately

you are both

2nd September - A Little Window (Normal Life)

     To some normalcy might be boring, to others it is just what the doctor orders each day. One thing I've said to many people and we've said to ourselves was that we'll be finding a new normal, but we don't know what that will be. For those of you that really like lists, order and procedures then I predict you'll totally enjoy this entry. For those of you who are more abstract thinking, random and couldn't care less about the details of daily life than I'm afraid you might be bored, but I'll leave that up to you.
     Yesterday marked the fortnight anniversary of the girls being with us since the handover. In some respects it feels like time has flown by, but then we look and see it's only been 14 days. Family goes on, being a family is not just a getaway which ends or even a school year which seems long but is over by July. This is life, it's not a segue or a long-term babysitting job for a friend, this is life. This is our family, each day up and at 'em by around 6:30ish (hopefully not earlier than that:) and then hanging out a bit with either a short video, books, numerous stuffed toys then onto eating breakfast, getting dressed, maybe going out, certainly playing some more and then before you know it it's lunch time. Hard to believe that 6:30-12:00 can go so quickly, but the clock doesn't lie.

   Nap time, it's a win-win for all parties involved. The girls need it, we need it, not that I always take a nap but from time-to-time I do snooze at that point. It gives us a chance to take care of some phone calls, put out washing, tidy up the kitchen, eat our own lunch and most importantly recharge. That might be in the form of surfing the net, playing a game together, and simply hanging out. It does seem as though the clock lies during this time though, it does seem to fly by and before we know the girls have emerged from their afternoon slumber. Usually full of gusto, not always but often ready to tackle the world. This is the best time for our youngest to work on walking around the house and to work on wearing her glasses, as you can imagine being 17 months she is not a big fan of having something placed on her little face that she is not supposed to touch.

     We've settled into quite a consistent routine, I assume this is because we both understand the value of routine and having ways of doing things. I'm not convinced we'll be able to keep to these as stringent as we presently are but during this special time of bonding it is fabulous to have these procedures built into our lives. So after waking up there is often a snack, generally a trip to a local park, feed the ducks, drop into the shops, play some more whether that be indoors or outdoors. Somewhere in there Auntie Lizzie gets home from work and joins in the fun of whatever is going on at the time. Once 5:00 rolls around everyone starts getting antsy for dinner, requests for snacks, juice etc... heighten and table/food preparation kicks into full gear so that by 5:30 we're all seated at the table for a family meal together. This is an important aspect of our daily lives and even in the hustle and bustle of life we hope to keep this paramount in our house.

     Once dinner is over it's our family time watching a video on the big screen, for a couple of weeks it's been Paw Patrol, I'm sure that will change soon to some other hotshot cartoon but for now we enjoy an episode together. From there it's clean-up time, that might be the living room, front room or bedroom or all of the above. It depends on where, when and how many toys/books were dragged out from their respective box, basket or shelf. This time flies by and after getting upstairs the bubbly bath is already drawn and ready to jumped into. It must be a real treasure to relax in the bath right before each night, talk about winding down. After getting on night clothes on it's time for a story or two followed by a Bible story and praying together. From there goodnight kisses are given and both girls are safely tucked into their nest. What follows is a couple hours of adult time and solitude until 6:30 am the next morning rolls around.

     Our lives are not like they have been for the last umpteen years but as I told a friend this week I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm sure by the time some of you read this post our routines and timings will have changed but that's OK, people change, little ones grow up, they grow out of shoes and clothes and even start eating green stuff eventually. We're up for it all and look forward to many days together in the future, but we're definitely making memories and
savouring the moments of today.