First Things First

There was his first day of school and then the first time he flushed the toilet and washed his hands without having to be reminded. There was the first time he said I love you to me and the first time he offered to set the table without being asked.

When I became a stepmother to Z four years ago, he was four years old and could already walk and talk, dress himself and put himself to bed.

It's not that I thought all of his milestones were behind him, but that all of the significant ones that make parents reach for their cameras had already been lived before I met him.

But then last night something happened. I walked into the bathroom where Z was running a bath, and there he was, casually leaning against the wall, his feet in the water, his head buried in a book.

A book! Not a picture book, or a school reader, but Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox.

"Don't forget to scrub your knees," I told him.

"Yep, I'm just going to finish this chapter," he replied.

I raced out of the room and called my mum.

"He's one of us!" I squealed.

Four

PJ, Z and I celebrated our four year anniversary yesterday.

I was at work, and halfway through the afternoon I received this photo from PJ:

I called to giggle my gratitude, and casually mentioned that he in fact had a thought bubble coming out of his mouth.

Five minutes later, this arrived:

Four magical years, indeed.

Happy anniversary, boys! I wouldn't want to share this odyssey with anybody else.

The Plant In

Hello hello from Sydney!

We drove up five days ago to start working on the Food Forest project and have another six days of digging and planting to go.

It's all very exciting. In a few short days we have gone from this

to this

and will eventually go to this:

If you live nearby, come and say hello and check out our progress. And if you want to get involved, please come along to our Community Plant In Day this Saturday July 11th from 10am till 4pm.

We will have planted all the fruit and nut trees by then, but we'd love it if you could bring a clump of something edible, Cadigal and/or beneficial from your home or community garden, to plant on the day.

The location: St Michael's Anglican Church, Surry Hills. (Corner of Albion and Flinders, near Taylor Square.)

If you're a Facebooker, you can join in the fun here.

Why not bring a picnic and make a day of it.

Hope to see you there!