The Best Christmas Lights In Christchurch

It is SO much fun to rug the kids up on a summers nights and take them to see the Christmas Lights around Christchurch. No matter what age your kids are, I guarantee they will be in awe. Especially for the kids who are usually in bed before the sun goes down! (Or go without kids! You wont regret it!)

If you've seen the "most famous light show in town" that everyone goes to, and you're looking for something much more christmas'ey and lovely, dare to be different and head in the opposite direction to Parklands instead!

There are so many lights to see in Parklands, you won't regret it!

In Christchurch in December the sun sets around 9.30-10pm. We feed the kids a late dinner and start to head out about 9pm. By the time we are in Parklands the sun is already starting to set and the lights are on full show! They are stunning!

I've made a wee map below of the hot spots to check out, let me know if you have any favourites that we can add to our "must see" list next Christmas!

PARKLANDS Must See Christmas Lights (2014 - but I'm sure these will be applicable in the future! Go for a drive and find out! :))

For a nice drive

Mairehau Road - There is a great drive by home that has so much to look at! If you have young children, ask them what they can see! See if they can spot the things you can see.

Royal Park Drive - WOW! So many lights!! Up and down the street people are in the Christmas spirit! They save the best till last though, right at the end of the street you'll find a fabulous house that you can walk through the property of. Make sure you get out your car and go for a stroll, they have done their home up so well. You'll know it when you see it.

Tamarisk Place - The owners of this home are certainly enthusiastic! They are out every night to talk to the light tourists and often dress up as Santa!

Donnington Street - Nearly the whole street is done up in lights! This is worth a verrrry slow drive down.

Leave me a comment if you end up visiting any of these places, or if you have any must sees in the area we can check out ourselves!

Have fun, with or without your kids! And Enjoy celebrating Christmas! xx

Love, Sophie x

A Dresses For Cambodia UPDATE :: The Response

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Colour me stunned! Your response to the #DressesForCambodia campaign has absolutely blown me away! I expected a few of you to respond, maybe three? Instead, I have had emails from all across New Zealand, people I don't know are telling me people I don't know shared my post and they would love to be involved in making a dress for a Cambodia street child.

This all came about because of one of my favourite human beings - her name is Sarah. Although I don't know her that well, we have been in touch for the last 7+ years. She lives in Cambodia, and inspired me to no end with her complete love of others and her faith and dedication to serving them.

She told me about an organisation in Cambodia that picks up street children each morning, aged 2-5 (let that sink in) and they clothe, feed and teach them for the day. Mostly, the children are given soccer uniforms to wear. 

I'd like to think that a girl can appreciate a pretty dress wherever she is in the world, so I asked Sarah if I made some dresses for her, would that be something she thinks would be useful. To which she said would be amazing. To be able to give beautiful handmade dresses of love from across oceans, to little girls who may feel hopeless and alone. 

I had in mind to make 20 dresses by myself, which Sarah was delighted with. When I posted it about it on my blog, I was blown away, and... actually... (I'm a little nervous putting this out there)... I think we might end up with more than.... 100!! Thats just a guess. But it seems entirely reasonable now! 

How CRAZY! 

When dresses start arriving and I have more of an idea of how many we will have, Sarah will make contact with some other organisations to see if she can spread the love.

Closer to the time, I would also like to do some fundraising to pay for the shipping to get them to Cambodia. Sarah was going to slip my 20 dresses into a crate she was taking over with school supplies, but I think she might need a bigger crate now ;) More on that later.

Here's my original post, which has the information you'll want to know before you start sewing. And if you're not a sewer - it also has info about how you can sponsor a dress for $15! 

Man. I love you ladies so much. 

Lastly, I'll leave you with a totally cute photo of Jacob, sporting the first dress that has been made for #DressesForCambodia :: Made by Bridget. He's a size 6-9months, wearing a size 2! Totally adorable. 

READ MORE:
Information and details on Dresses For Cambodia
Want to know more about me and what I do? Check out The Sisterhood , or browse this blog.

Dresses for Cambodia

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A few weeks ago I was thinking about how this year I wanted to use something that I am good at to help others, when into my mind popped my friend Sarah, who for the last year has been living and serving in Cambodia. She is back in NZ right now visiting her family, but will be returning to work at a mission school for the next few years.

Sarah is an incredible person, I admire her a lot, she has a love of people I can't even begin to comprehend, so I really wanted to be able to help equip her to do the loving on our behalf across the seas.

Sarah told me about an organisation in Cambodia that picks up street children, aged 2-5 (let that sink in) and clothes, feeds and teaches them for the day.

Usually, they are dressed in soccer uniforms. I thought that perhaps I could make some simple dresses for the girls to which Sarah said Yes please!!

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I have in mind to make 20+ 50+ 100+dresses for young Khymer girls that Sarah will be taking back with her in May to deliver, and any extra she would like to give them to their older siblings too.

A simple peasant dress will do well (as pictured), it's nice and stretchy so it can do a range of sizes in a top / tunic and will be able to grow with the young girls.

I wondered, and here's the part I'm nervous about; Would you join me in making dresses for Cambodia?

It may not be saving the world, but to me a smile across from across an ocean is a little bit like heaven coming to earth. Will you join me in making some more smiles in Cambodia?

Here's some details:

• Size's 1-7 wanted (please include a size label, like these cheap ones from Pattern Postie)
• Here's a tutorial for a simple peasant dress
• I would prefer if you did a peasant dress style, as its light and easy to get on and off and can grow with the girls, but if you really must do something different please make sure the shoulders are covered.
• Use only nice fabrics that you would be proud to dress your own children in. 
• When selecting fabrics, look for nice natural breathable fabrics (cotton and linen are great!)
• If you can't sew and you want to be involved, you could donate fabric (good quality vintage sheets, or unused pretty fabric) or money for fabric ($15 would sponsor a whole dress with brand new fabric). Just get in touch to ask how.
• They need to be finished and on my doorstep by April 15th 2015 :)

Yay! Will you join me? I'm super excited about this project, and I'll be starting this week! Let me know if you plan to join, and please share this post with your crafty/global loving friends

Love,
Sophie
xxx

you can email me on sophie{AT}moo2.co.nz for more information 

READ MORE:
The Response to this post
Want to know more about me and what I do? Check out The Sisterhood , or browse this blog.

Millas Fairy Tea Party

A few weeks ago we invited one of Milla's best friends around for a Fairy Tea Party. 

Her friend is newly fairy mad, and passes her days sprinkling glitter around her garden. I thought it would be cool if we gave them a little taste of some fairy magic, so together her Mum and I arranged a special party just for them.

Milla was SO excited for this party! 

The night before I set up her fairy tent in the lounge with fairy lights, a bright quilt, and I hung tulle from the ceiling to cover the entrance way. When her little friend walked in she was so amazed and excited, which instantly made it worth it!

The girls quickly tested our their flying skills on the trampoline. Kenzie said "I'm going to fly to Australia!" as only a 3 year old can say so adorably. 

After flying practice we sat down for some morning tea that was delivered by the fairies. The girls poured themselves some warm raspberry 'tea' and drank from pretty china tea cups, and Amanda made a beautiful morning tea for them - marshmallow sprinkles, melon star wands, toadstool cupcakes. It was delicious!

I think they got a big thrill out of drinking from big tea cups with a real tea pot <3 p="">

After morning tea we layed out some wand making supplies and with a little supervision the girls decorated their own wands.

To finish it off, Amanda surprised the girls with a wee bag that the fairies had gifted them. Inside were some fairy stones, some fairy dust and fairy stickers.

We sprinkled the fairy dust around our garden and put the stones in the lavender pot.

It was such a great morning and a really easy no-fuss party to throw for the girls! We organised it in a matter of days, and our girls were so surprised and in awe throughout the morning it was truly magical (for them, and us!)

Most of all, I loved that we were able to celebrate a new stage and expand on something one of the children was really into at the time. As I parent, I hope I can continue to be deliberate and creative in following my kids interests. 

I'm glad for good friends to share these experiences with!

Thanks for coming to play at our place! 

Love, Sophie & Milla x

(and if you're wondering, Katie the little sister was on a special daddy date during all of this!)

Hello 2015!

Hello! We are back from summer holidays; from the sunshine, fun times and adventures with our whanau. Back to... early mornings, routines, and countdowns till the weekend. 

We had a great summer holiday and I have a whole list of posts I want to create to record our memories here, and I really must do it before the moments pass. First, I wanted to stop in and plant my feet back down in this space and then go from here.

Peace. Sophie x