Dear Lola,

When March 15^th rolls around each year, we have BIG reason to celebrate. For it was on this day 27 years ago that an adorable babe breathed his first breath of air, & in doing so begun his journey to find us.

 It’s no wonder then that there's a heavy sense of excitement in the air, swirling up emotion and feelings of thankfulness, love, happiness & peace.

Presents, hot tea, lots of cuddles & kisses, a little bit of sunshine, family, take-away, singing & a cake, should do the trick in making Papa feel that extra bit special today. 

  

Opening presents is a seriously fun business.

Ritual staircase farewell of a morning.

Presents from us. Cushion, gardening shears, painted bowls, Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy on blu-ray, champagne, skateboard print, coat hooks, birdhouse, bookmark...

Most of this year's gifts were surprises. A few of my favourites were... this cool print by ashleypercival to remind Papa of his skating roots.

 

This screen printed & hand painted tea-towel

Which we made into a cushion for our room.

The cushion was one of your favourites too!

This cheeky wicked witch bookmark, which was on Papa's wishlist.

 A birdhouse that you have adopted as your new dolls house.

 And... our biggest surprise for your Papa. I wanted something for our new home that Papa could look at and be reminded of his 27th year & just how much we love him. 

That's when this antique mantle piece walked into our lives... only a few weeks back.

And the labour of love began...

First job was to remove that lovely peach coloured paint (all three layers of it), to restore it back to wood. At which time I learnt that paint stripper can be your best friend & your worst enemy. The stuff works like magic to eat up the paint, but hurts like a wasp sting when it makes contact with your skin!

Second job - remove a majority of the paint with a chisel. This tedious task was made easier by the help of Oma & your little ol' self!

 Third job - sand, sand & sand. Then sand some more.

With limited time & no feeling left in my hands, we didn't quite end up finishing the job... But we got real close & should have it complete by the time we move in. Especially now that our secret has been revealed to Papa, we're pretty sure he'll want to have a go at the sanding. 

Wowee, all this excitement and we haven't even had Papa's party yet! 

Here's to another year overflowing with adventure.

Your mama