Wednesday, September 19, 2012

A Valentine's Day Party and an announcement...

All good things come to an end...

The squeak of a swing in use, the pitter patter of tiny feet and the tinkling of children's laughter surrounded me. Red, pink and white balloons hung from the room like garlands and paper hearts adorned the walls.
It was my daughter's first birthday party.

The theme was Valentine's Day and cheesy love songs wafted through the speakers whilst children played pin the heart on the cupid and hunted for hidden hearts amongst the playground. We were blessed with an abundance of sunshine, so the hall we had hired and decorated held only a few guests with the majority of them enjoying the surrounding park lands. I spent months planning and preparing, but on the day the little one decided to sleep during my decoration time, so I gave instructions to my husband and hoped for the best as I stayed at home with my sleeping beauty. I have to say, although it didn't turn out exactly as I had envisioned, he did a spectacular job bringing her birthday to life.

We had a whopping 70 guests (the husband assured me that most people wouldn't come, only two were unable to make it), so needless to say I was rather busy attending to everyone, organising games and ensuring there was enough food, all with a 10kg toddler on my hip (as I expected, Miss V was a little overwhelmed by all the people and only wanted to be held by mummy). Whilst it was wonderful seeing everyone, next year will definitely be a more intimate affair. I didn't take any photos of the day myself, but luckily I have a few snap-happy friends who did, so I'll share a few with you.

The children's dessert table included:
  • red apples
  • fresh strawberries
  • home made strawberry and apple juice
  • coconut and mixed berry yoghurt
  • gingerbread men
  • mini vanilla cupcakes
  • and the birthday cake which was a strawberry and white chocolate mud swirl

Valentine's favourite part of the day was when daddy pushed her on the swing. And of course later at home when she got to rip open all of those gifts :). 

This year has brought a lot of change and new experiences for me. And I must admit, that before my daughter came along, I ignorantly assumed that I could just 'fit her in' to my life without having to change much. Boy, was my head up in the clouds. As it turns out, young kids aren't very fond of fine dining or long days at the beach or large events etc. What they do want is PLENTY of time with mummy and daddy to play and explore. Watching mummy typing on her laptop is not something Miss V endorses and with only 1-2 hours a day of alone time, after the housework is done and lunch is eaten, I am lucky to have enough time crumbs left to do one yoga pose or read a few pages of a book. 
And thus it is with a feeling of sadness that I have decided to say goodbye for now to my Greedy Gourmand. There are so many items on my 'to-do' list that I just can't justify spending the rather long time it takes to blog one entry, even if it's only once per month. Especially as I have decided to try to home school Miss V myself for the first 6 years of her life, and as with anything I do, I want to give it my everything and make it as enriching and fun for her as possible. Needless to say, my plate will certainly be full.

I don't want to say 'Goodbye for good' as who knows what the future holds as I do very much hope to return one day.

But for now, I wish all my treasured readers days filled with fine weather, fantastic company and most of all, fabulous food.



Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Chocolate, pear & vanilla tart


One year has passed since I held my daughter for the very first time.
One year since I became a mother and learned the real meaning of true love.
One year filled with more happiness, fatigue, love and amazement than the twenty five before it.
For me, this year has passed much too fast.

Each day I try my best to lock every moment I spend with her safely in the vault of my heart. For I know that soon, the particular squeal she makes when I 'find her' will disappear. And the way she smiles so proudly as she hands me whatever crumb, coin, paper remnant she has found on the floor will soon fade away. For she will never be as young as she is today, and with each day that she changes, some things are lost to make way for the new.

But today, which never held any significance to me,  is now so utterly precious since it became the day my daughter was born.

Although you will not read this dearest daughter, I want to wish you a wonderful birthday. I wish that life will give you more happy birthdays than you can dream of, each one more magical than the last. I wish that I will be there to share them with you and to help you blow out your candles until you can do it yourself. And most of all, I wish that one day, you will love someone as much as I love you.

Happy Birthday Valentine
xx