ok, so I’ve been having a few issues with the old blogspot.com site, so I thought I’d see what else was out there, and I discovered wordpress.com.
Who’s to say whether or not a new blog will guarantee that I will still be a regular blogger, but hey, I start the year out with the best intentions anyway.

Charlotte aged 7 months, Ashley aged 4 years, 11months
Christmas was a fabulous time for us this year. On the 23rd, Ashley had her 5th Birthday, which started things off and rolling. I’m still in disbelief that my “little girl” is about to start school! Seriously, I don’t feel like it was that long ago that she was as little as Charlotte! None the less, come February 2nd 2009, she will officially be a part of the school community, (which she is very excited about!)
On Christmas Eve, Ashley got completely into the spirit of things, helping me to tidy up the lounge so that Santa wouldn’t trip over anything and hurt himself. Next, we got the cookies and milk sorted, along with the note for Santa and, of course, the bowl of water and carrots for the Reindeer. Lastly, we made sure that the key was hanging on the outside of the door so that Santa could get in, (we don’t have a chimney, so Grandma helped out and got a key with instructions on use for Santa). She then, without protest, got herself into bed and fell asleep relatively quickly, I just wish that the same could be said for her little sister!!
Charlotte decided that she wanted to stay up and see Santa, and at 12:45am, I finally had had enough, so I put her into her room still awake and let her put herself to sleep. Again, that didn’t seem to take too long either. Thank goodness for small mercies.
Christmas Day was filled with much excitement from Ashley. It’s the first year that she has really understood the whole concept of Santa and Christmas, so it was a lot of fun to watch. She was chomping at the bit to get into the presents under the tree, so Santa had delayed her for a while by filling up her stocking with all sorts of goodies. After we got over all the excitement of present unwrapping and paper everywhere (Charlotte loved eating the xmas paper, made for interesting nappy changes) we headed over to mum’s for the “Anderson Family” Christmas lunch. It was lovely and the weather was well behaved too, so the BBQ went without a hitch. I think everyone felt very spoilt and entirely overfed (well, I did anyway) which, let’s face it, is the entire point of Christmas Day isn’t it? We then headed on to Whangaparaoa for the “Dye Family” Christmas, which again was filled with fun and laughter and LOTS of food!!! My 2 girls got incredibly spoilt, and by the time we headed off home at 10pm, we were all weary but smiling. Both girls fell asleep on the way home, and altogether, it was a lovely day.
And now, 2009 has started, and with it comes the usual “New Year, New Start” assessment that is always fun. Actually, this year I am looking at it all quite seriously, and a few big changes are going to be happening in the Dye house in 2009, but I’m still looking into things right now, so I’ll keep you posted as things develop.
To one and all, wishing you all the best and hoping all your dreams come true in 2009.