And March Begins...

 It's been a weird couple of weeks. Looking back it feels like so much has happened but it's been in all the intangible, invisible areas rather than something I can point to and say yes, that was the thing that exhausted us all. Orion got his Economics GCSE results and he got another 7 which equals an A. He also took part in a dance competition with his class and they won which means a trip to London for the nationals in July. Thea took her Lamda exam and has been rehearsing like crazy for the showcase which is this weekend. Half term meant a pause in all the evening classes but the days were full of back to back playdates and meet ups which they don't normally have time for, and in all honesty I could do with a few days completely off... perhaps for my birthday! 

Looking at the photos that have ended up in my folder for this month, they aren't the prettiest but they definitely sum up the past two weeks. 

Time spent at a funeral home and watching a grave being dug as part of the photography GCSE for Thea. 

Time at the beach in between showers with the smalls. 

Remembering all the letter of the week crafts the big ones used to love and doing them all over again.

The art group at Russell Cotes, and getting a glimpse of this one's sketching and being surprised at just how much progress has happened over the last year. He's planning to return to Arts University Bournemouth in September now. 

The seriously weird stuff teenagers come up with when they draw collaboratively. 

The most delicious excuses Gabe makes me to fall off the dieting wagon. He made macaroons this week at cooking as well as this strawberry and white chocolate layer cake at home! 

A long awaited afternoon lunch with some of my favourite people from my yoga teacher training course a lifetime ago. 

Making nana's stew.

Making mum's juices everyday (yes that's asparagus!).

And of course, the thing she looks forward to making all month long... the kiwi crate!

Nighttime Wanderings & The Best of the Rest

Travelling with a toddler does limit some of what you can do, and more than that... just how much you can do in one day. Our new thing though is to have nighttime adventures for the older ones which in Venice didn't include the by then exhausted Gabe and his crutches. 

The only time to be alone with the bridge of sighs.

A very different feel to the Square. 

So the best of the rest... 

We finally (after getting lost on two different attempts) found Marco Polo's house.

A Venetian masks photoshoot...

Saying goodbye on the bus back to the airport...

Gabe enjoying the extra special treatment and transport services given to him by the Italian airport staff... he, Ayla and I were driven to the plane and given a lift up to the door so we could get comfortable before everyone else. 

Ayla Turned 5

Many many things have happened and are unfolding, while I wrap my head around those here are a few updated that are well overdue. 

First and most importantly, this tiny girl of our got bigger, learnt how to roll, grab everything in arms reach and started eating food!

4!

I have many many photos to look through from December so I'll be posting a lot over the next few days but for just now... my littlest girl is now 4 months!! She is blowing raspberries, and grabbing her 'an fish' special toy, and has taken her first roll over. Time is flying by but I feel more present and like I'm not missing quite so much of it all, so in the blur of family life chaos something must be right.

The Blessingway

Three weeks before our beautiful Ayla arrived I had a very special day, and although it's been so long since it happened (a lifetime it feels like), I really wanted to mark it here and share the photos. 

It was my Blessingway, and for those of you who haven't been to one, it's very much like a spiritual, sacred version of the modern baby shower. The fundamental difference being that you don't shower the baby, you shower the mother, and not with material things but with the love and support of those women closest to her. The women who she feels complete trust with. 

For me this was so significant in so many ways. Having only moved here 5 years ago, I spent a good few of those years feeling lonely and isolated. Sure I had a busy world around me and my children had friends and so did I, but there is a huge difference between casual friendship and real deep connection. I was lucky enough to find those connections and after time, looked up to find myself surrounded by strong, beautiful women. Women with heart and integrity. Women who know themselves and have no need for 'one upmanship', bitchy behaviours or shallow chitchat. I have a community now in which I can always be honest, which is an incredibly rare and precious thing. 

And the beautiful thing is I get to share that with my daughters. 

The blessing way was an opportunity to celebrate womanhood in all its forms, but especially motherhood. It's to acknowledge what the woman has gone through, is going through and what is to come, and to demonstrate the support and community which surround her. 

Oh and there's often some henna bump painting too!

Each woman offers a bead to the mother to be put onto a chain. As the bead is threaded the women say a few words about the bead they have chosen and what it represents, words of encouragement and of celebration of their relationship and of the mother herself. It's a very powerful and emotional ceremony. This chain can be worn or held during birth or just placed in eye sight, to remind the mother of the support that is reaching out to her. To remind her that she is not and never will be alone.  I held mine, during that first half an hour when I couldn't reach my midwife and Tom was busy filling the pool and dealing with the children. At that moment in which I could have felt alone and a bit scared/daunted at what was happening, instead I ran each bead through my fingers, recalling their words, their eyes and their love toward me and the support felt tangible and very very real. 

Our maidens decorated baby t shirts for Ayla and played together as they watch their mothers, and soaked up the message that this is womanhood, this is motherhood, this is what community should look like and this is what they should expect for themselves. 

And of course, as with every good gathering there must be cake!

I felt like a goddess, I felt loved and I could really feel what I have been lucky enough to be a part of here. It is something I passionately believe all women should have, and all women should know about themselves. We are powerful individuals but together we are unstoppable.