Coffee & Cupcakes

At the family funeral I attended recently, Josh's aunt said something that has stuck with me since and has cause me to ponder many things. She said in relation to the death, through suicide of her husband: "we can choose to remember him by the circumstances around his death, this way allowing bitterness and anger to take root, or we can choose to remember the man we knew for the 60+ years before this! creating a memory of joy filled moments." Part of why that amazes me is because of the strength it must have taken to read that sentence in light of the circumstances but since it has made me think so much about how quickly we judge people and situations... Let me add a moment of light-heartedness to this post. A few weeks ago, it was my lovely friend's birthday, to help Josh and I offered to take her two boys out for a walk while her and her hubby organised the house. Now allow your imagination to wander as you see a young-ish couple walking toward you with what you m...

Happy Father's Day! As I write this my own incredible Dad is recovering from a month trip to the Philippines. I always joke to friends that my dad is quite a legend in the Philippines, and he is but he is also quite a legend in my eyes to! So here are some things that make me incredibly greatful to be able to celebrate my Dad today: - despite being in his fifties, my dad still acts like a 21 year old at times and I love it. He is one of the silliest, funniest people I know (even if it is sometimes at his expense), definitely worth sending him a party invite. - he probably unknowingly taught me as a teenager never to get drunk enough to need an ambulance because it could be him picking me up ... I'm sure this saved me from many drunken mistakes and always ensured I was sober enough to get home safely and in one piece! - Every year for the past 10 years he travels to the Philippines to co-ordinate and set up Theology course which help locals to learn about faith and grow in...

Welcome to another part of my mind... Some would say I am quite a competitive person, I don't like to lose - in fairness who does! I have constant competition with my husband, who can run the most each month, including the fastest mile and fastest 5k. My running buddy is also quite competitive and this means I now can't stop running, as that would be losing to her...not happening! I play scrabble with all of my family members and there is a definite pressure to win, thankfully my dad always "lets" me win...(sorry Dad)! Board games in our house are a genuine nightmare, not only am I competitive, I am a pants loser!! Whoever loses in my house is pretty much expected to be grumpy for the rest of the evening! Now here is where it gets worse... Today my daughter was allowed to bring home the nursery school teddy, Morris. I was instructed by my daughter that we had to do lots of fun things with Morris and then write about it in his diary - that was it - I was off!! This...

I thought I would send a little update on life with my little girl, as the last time I posted about this it was a heartbreaking read! Firstly, can I say Thank you! I was overwhelmed by the response from many of you, e-mailing, commenting, texting, sharing your stories with me and offering your words of wisdom - it was amazing. I hope for those of you still facing this battle this post offers hope and assurance of a better time... Josh and I had tried it all, we sat down and spoke with Kezzia about how much it was hurting me to see her respond this way - we put her in time out every time she wiped off hugs or kisses, to shown her it was naughty to treat Mummy in this way... But my nothing seemed to be working! So after much thought, counsel and prayer we decided to completely ignore it - we praised her for her positive behaviour and when she give me a cuddle or kiss, we OVER emphasised how lovely it made Mummy feel. The result was that initially she was highly confused as she was use...