90/365 New Adventures

Today.

Today was the first day of our new adventure. Today my beautiful boys started school. Our family's adventures in homeschooling have been some of the most wonderful years of my life. And the most  exhausting, lol, but I am eternally grateful for these extra years spent in each other's gaze. I am taking comfort in the knowledge that we have so much "home-and-world-learning" (as I'm calling it ;) ahead of us together as a family... there are still many adventures to come! They'll just fit around a more traditional schedule of holidays and school hours. 

The best part? Both boys are excited and happy. I am so proud of them :) We picked them up this afternoon, rushed them out for icecream, and - I never thought I'd be saying this but - I think they look super-cute in their uniforms! #love.

87/365 Om

Om Mani Padme Hum.

This was my late-night-realisation-that-I-hadn't-taken-a-photo save. 11:30pm. I rolled out of bed and picked up my camera with sleepy eyes, surveyed the darkened room for inspiration and quickly knew what it would be... the loveliest thing about being home - apart from being able to see your friends and family of course! - is having your favourite things around you. Travelling is so minimal, so spare, which is definitely one of it's joys but your home tells so many of your stories.

I could tell the stories about these two pieces. But it's almost that time again and my eyes are getting sleepy again and instead I want to share the Dalai Lama's translation of the infamous mantra. My own food for thought as I drift to sleep.

"It is very good to recite the mantra Om mani padme hum, but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast …. The first, OM … symbolizes the practitioner’s impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha….
The path is indicated by the next four syllables. MANI, meaning jewel, symbolizes the … altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassionate and loving….
The two syllables, PADME, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom….
Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable HUM, which indicates indivisibility….
Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha…."

- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

x

86/365 It's All About The Hair

Wow.

Hug decided to get his hair cut short. His first back and sides. And, even though I lurve his hair wild and curly (he really has awesome thick hair which he clearly gets from his dad) I am shocked by how much I like it! Oh my, I think we are going to have a hearbreaker on our hands! xx

81/365 Zzzzz...

T has been working so hard. 

His second night in the house since we got home... and he fell asleep on the couch while I was in the shower. Apparently I should have woken him up! But I couldn't bring myself to ❤

77/365 Home

Even though I loved being away, there's nowhere quite like home is there?! x

63/365 And Then There Were Seven

Have you ever tried to take a photo of your son? 

How about your son with his first-grade best friend? Yes? 

How about your son with his once-best-friend-before-we-moved-10-hours-north AND his brother AND his best-friend's brother and HIS two-year-old triplet sisters? 

Ha! Got you there ;)

I can not believe I captured a shot where they are all visible in the same frame! Full post to come... :)

54/365 Blessed

On my way back from the airport I had to stop for this beautiful sunset. Feeling so blessed to live in such a naturally beautiful place and so happy to be back with my babies now! I reallllly missed them. #love.

31/365 Love

Today I got to meet my newest nephew...

Awww, you are BEAUTIFUL little man. You and your darling big brother make my heart sing!

29/365 Growth

We are home. 

Well, not exactly "home" just yet :) but we are back in Australia and staying with family for the next few weeks. The boys are so excited to see everyone. We are ALL so excited to see everyone but I know how much they have been looking forward to this moment. 

I didn't foresee how strongly they would feel the call of home. That's been one of the key differences of travelling with them at 8 and 10 compared to when they were babies. Their connections here. The things they have missed.

And coming home... I start to see the growth. The changes that have happened over the past few months. Not just the height and the different pattern of teeth. But them. They are changed. They've been around the world; they've seen Shakespeare performed at the Globe, slept at Oxford University, been to book festivals and theme parks and countless science museums. They've climbed the Eiffel Tower and seen the sun set over Prague. They have conquered the Tube, the Metro and the high-speed ICE trains. They have swum in the Persian Gulf, eaten Yum Cha with throngs of Chinese New Year shoppers and ordered their own macarons at Paul in Paris. In French. They've experienced so many new things. And their ever-forming minds will continue to expand as they reflect on these memories.

It's a beautiful thing. This combination of appreciation for the familiar and also for the adventure. I look forward to watching them unfold and grow even more over the next few weeks as we settle and slow. Like the masses of juicy mangoes and this beautiful pineapple growing in Nanni and Poppa's garden. Ripening :)

26/365 Happiness Yoga

Our last morning at Green Camp. 'Laughter Therapy'  and Happiness Yoga. Could there be a better way to start the day? 

20/365 Blessings

Offering blessings to the Gods. Ubud, Bali.

10/365 Brotherhood

Playing Shops. 

Campo de Fiori, Roma.

You played for hours. Selling each other an assortment of books, pots, pans and the toys you've gathered along our travels. There is nothing else your daddy and I love more than hearing you happily immersed in imaginary play together. 

Blessed. Our final days with the Gyuto Monks of Tibet.

I don't have the words.

To do these sweetest of days justice.

Blessed. And to-be-forever-remembered.

So I am just going to let the photos speak. x