Little Anne of Avonlea

Well Miss Lily made my dreams come true and asked to dress up as Anne of Green Gables for book week this year. She's a true Anne lover and was so excited to be her. Primrose and her even decided to swap middle names, so now our Lily Josephine is now Lily Anne! We will see if it sticks. I made her dress over two days from special green gables fabric I bought in Canada in hope of this day arrive. The apron was made from fabric my grandma left to me. The hat also came from Canada but has been well loved in the dress up box for many years. Lily loved it and it was my absolute pleasure to make it for her. 

'Reading is Magic' { Book Week 2024 }

Another book week roles around and it was all systems go in the Catton household. I love it and it's the one dress up celebration I really get behind so we tend to go all out. We are book week purest, the character has to have originated from a book and the kids spend the month before thinking up and planning their costumes. I think they did great this year!

Just a little Birthday Day Dream

As part of my 40th birthday celebrations Levi booked us a trip to Day Dream Island for 5 days to escape the winter and have some time just the two of us. We've never really had a 'sit on the beach all day' kind of holiday and both of us were looking forward to eating, sleeping, swimming, reading, repeat for a few days. As always this was made possible by my wonderful mum and dad who came and looked after the kids and the farm while we were gone. We both love a little train travel, so we decided to catch the train down to Sydney, do some exploring and take our flight to Hamilton Island the next day. 

F O R T Y

Well it has happened, I'm forty. I don't feel like I imagined I would at forty, I think I imagined some level of maturity that still evades me, more self discipline maybe? Ducks in rows. But I've learnt life isn't so linear. Really though it's only the number that feels slightly unsettling. In truth I feel like life has been very kind in working for my good. The things I have dreamed have come to be, so much so there barely feels like there's time to give all the good the attention it needs. Maybe capacity is the word. I long for the capacity to be all I want to be and live fully in the life I love.  

Birthday Twins

I have a birthday twin - Chloe Pailthorpe. It has been a surprising and very lovely addition to my life, who knew sharing a birthday could be so grand?! I recognised Chloe as a kindred spirit right from our first meeting and we have grown to be the very best of friends over the years. Every year that we have known each other, we have celebrated our shared birthday, the 12th of August with morning tea's, dinners out, going to the movies. I find I look forward to my birthday even more now and it is so true that 'happiness shared is happiness doubled.' Both of us also share the love language of gift giving so each year we have the fun of dreaming up something special for each other and then the joy of opening our gifts and watching the other open theirs. It is truly a highlight of birthday season and a special bit of magic in my life.