The Realisation of a Life Long Dream

When I was a little girl I had a best friend, Kim. Kim's mother and my own had a very different view on children's diets. My lunchbox usually had some healthy home made biscuits or cake or some fruit. Kim's had Wagon Wheels. I love Wagon Wheels. This was reflected at Easter time too when my mother, knowing it was likely to be gone by lunch time, would usually gift me with one large or several small Easter eggs (a wise move, although we will never again speak of that year we got Carob Easter eggs instead of real chocolate). Kim would get significantly more than this most years and chocolate not being a novelty and she having some self control, many of her eggs would sit on top of a cupboard in plain view for days. WEEKS even. I still don't have that kind of self control. Every time I would go and visit my eyes would stray up to the eggs. In particular, The Humpty Dumpty Egg. It was full of SMARTIES. Willy Wonka himself could not have come up with a more fantastical idea. It was a chocolate egg and inside there was more chocolate covered with a crisp, colourful shell. It was, in effect, CHOCOLATE COVERED CHOCOLATE. Be still my beating heart. For years my eyes would stray to that Humpty Dumpty Egg. I am sure it exasperated her that I would sit for long periods of time gazing at The Egg instead of playing. I have vague memories of her asking her Mum to cover it up at one point so I would come and play. We moved away and Kim and I lost touch. I still remembered The Egg. Each year as Easter came around I would sternly tell myself not to be so silly and each year I would look on the supermarket shelves and see it looking back at me. The Humpty Dumpty Egg. But I refused to allow myself to be so, well, CHILDISH - and secretly was afraid Humpty couldn't live up to the hype of my childhood adoration. After I got married I mentioned it to Beloved and pointed it out on the shelf. He snorted and told me Easter Eggs are a little bit Pagan and not really his thing. Hopes of my getting Humpty Dumpty as a romantic gesture were kind of dashed. Fast Forward to this year. I was walking through our local supermarket and there on the shelf was Humpty, still full of smarties, still looking back at me. No longer white with a clown like grin and a box with a brick wall painted on the front. Humpty has had a face lift, he is purple and rides a skate board. But he couldn't fool me, I recognised him. The poetry of chocolate covered chocolate. There was a tag below him this week - PRICE REDUCED.

So this afternoon I snuck out of the house and ran accross. I BOUGHT my Humpty, all the time telling myself that it was silly and childish and after 26 years of wanting it, there was no way it could live up to the expectations built up around it.

I hid in my bedroom and at him, sharing small crumbs with Andrew to keep him quiet so the other children wouldn't find me out (who told him what chocolate is?).

I ate every bit. And. It. Was. GOOD.

Christmas at our house

I printed out some bookmarks from activityvillage.co.uk for the kids to colour in thinking we would laminate them for gifts.
A sweet gift for grandparents and such.

Billy:
I am colouring this rabbit red....
because it got hit by a car and runned over.

Christopher:
I'm colouring in this penguin red because it got runned over....
by the rabbit!


*sigh*

A Whimsy Wander

Mary at Owlhaven invited her readers to share their own Whimsy Wanders and I felt inspired.


* One day Beloved and I want to take the kids on a tour up the east coast to Cape York and back with a camper trailer. I want to go so we can visit my friend in Sydney, my brother-in-law in Queensland, the place where Beloved and I shared our first kiss and some other memorable/touristy places. Beloved wants to go for all those reasons and to go 4 wheel driving.

* I love hiking but haven't gone on a proper hike for years and years. When the kids are old enough I want to do the overland track with them as well as a bunch of other tracks. Beloved doesn't hike - he can 4wd to the other end and meet us there!

* The other day when I wondered what the next ten years of marriage will bring, I was only half joking when I suggested another 5 children to Beloved. (I think he was only half joking when he rolled his eyes and laughed at me)

* I wish every day that we could move further east to be closer to some good friends we have over there.

* I would love to get a pirate style heart tattoo with MUM across the middle of it on my shoulder. I considered the idea of some fancy ink with each of the kids names on it, but wonder if I will run out of arm.

* I would gladly move into a large shed to live. Beloved wants to build us a big fancy house one day, I told him he could have as large and fancy a house as he'd like if I could have as many children as I liked to help clean it :)


What about you? Do you have any whimsys you would like to share?

Presents and loved ones

In this yuletide season I have been contemplating presents and giving and reminiscing about Christmases past. Presents was a point of contention when Beloved and I first got together. You see, he is of the kind who refuses all hints or clues as to what a person may want, looks for hours to find the perfect gift then gives it with a quiet humility that belies the work he put into choosing it. I am of the type that takes a gift, appreciates the idea and then exchanges said gift for something I actually wanted or regifts it to someone else so it doesn't clutter up the house with yet more stuff.

You can see our problem.

Gifts I have gotten for Beloved over the years have been many and varied from touching, sentimental, well thought out gifts to "whoops, I forgot, did we really get married on the 23rd?" and honestly I haven't loved him any less on the "whoops, I forgot" occasions! He has kept everything. Even the little note books I wrote for him in our courting days full of reasons I think he is special and the dozen or so Johnny Cash CD's (with a few doubles in there) because, well, he likes Johnny Cash and it was quick and easy to grab a few CDs. I get chastised if I try and throw any of it out.

I never have really got the fuss over gifts personally. I don't think I am that hard to buy for and honestly am not phased at all if I get nothing but a cuddle and a kiss and a "Merry Christmas!". If I do get a gift I prefer it to (a) not clutter up the house or need storage of any kind (b) be something I actually NEED or (c) be cash or a gift voucher so I can get what I actually want. One of my favorite gifts to receive is mulch - because it breaks down and doesn't clutter the house and doesn't require anything other than being spread on the garden! I don't expect people to read my mind, just don't expect me to hang on to something I neither need nor want. I can appreciate the thought while someone else appreciates the gift. I am told there is such a thing as being TOO pragmatic about such things.

I forget to water plants he buys me even though I love gardening, I drop, break and loose things on a regular basis (in general, not just his gifts, it's just what I do) and I forget that he gave me something and donate it to charity on occasion too. I remember one year when we were still newly weds he gave me a HUGE, very difficult cross stitch reasoning that I had been doing cross stitch a lot lately so a cross stitch would be a good gift. I asked him if he would mind if I used the bits to make something that was a little less ugly than the picture on the front of the kit. Tact, it seems,is what he should have got me for Christmas.

We have come far since those newly wed days though.

I now try and be a little more thoughtful, a little more tactful and a little more appreciative. He now understands that "STUFF" isn't my thing and if I don't seem enthusiastic, it isn't because I am not enthusiastic about HIM! I now TRY and remember things like birthdays and anniversaries (I did forget this year though) and he now listens when I say "Hey, I need some place mats for the table I can wipe down, if you want an idea for Christmas there's one!". I try not to throw out or donate gifts and he doesn't get quite so upset if I do have a foggy moment and accidentally do.

Because the thing is, the real gift we give each other is smooth edges.

Like river stones rubbing against each other as they turn over in the water.

Over the years we have become better versions of our selves as the Holy Spirit rubbed us against each other.

Which is what relationships, all relationships, are all about.

So when you feel like throttling a friend or relation this Christmas Season, stop and think. This moment could be your true present from them. An opportunity to become a better person. They could be being your river stone.

Maternity shirts that I kind of wish I would wear

...but never ever will because I object to people reading my chest.


Stand Back!
I have my own gravity field.


Due for Delivery June 2010


Full Hands - Fuller Heart
(there's not much room in the womb either)


I grow people inside me
what's your superpower?


Gestating and lactating since 2003


No, I'm not having quads
thanks for asking.


We have two girls and two boys
This one's the tie breaker


Possible Middle Child Inside


And my personal favourite


BLESSED

I can't sleep

Well, that's not true. I daresay if I lay down and closed my eyes I'd drift off eventually. But Beloved isn't home. He's been away since Thursday night and it is now Sunday night - wait, Monday morning. There are a million things to do (aren't there always?) and bed does not look quite so inviting when it is just me in it. Each night that he's been gone I have stayed up SO late doing STUFF. Important STUFF. And I am beginning to realise how much I rely on him to stop me in the evenings. How much I rely on him to be taking care of it all, to lock the doors and turn out the lights. To invite me to sit with him for a bit and wind down. To wake me gently and guide me to bed where he folds me in his arms and lets me rest - warming me through and through. How much I rely on him to remind me to recharge my batteries so I have reserves for tomorrow.

I miss you honey, see you in the morning!

Weird childhood memories my children will have #682

Mum crying as she reads 101 Dalmations and the puppies are stolen.

I have only read the book about fifty times - Poor Pongo, Missis and Perdita! Poor Dearlys and Nannies! Poor Puppies!

How to make your living area sparkle-arkle!

In Five Simple Steps

Step 1: send older two children away as a special treat with Daddy to visit overnight with Nanny and Poppy.

Step 2: put two younger children to bed for their afternoon nap

Step 3: Eat a whole block of DARK chocolate with bits of raspberry through it while you surf the 'net and otherwise procrastinate. You may feel slightly queazy toward the end of the block, but persevere. Reason that Beloved doesn't LIKE raspberries so it would be downright CRUEL to leave it and eat it in front of him.

Step 4: Get a sugar buzz/caffene high LIKE NO OTHER YOU HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED and clean everything in sight including the two younger children who have now woken up from their naps.

Step 5: By the time you have finished step 4 you will have fed and put the children in bed again as it will take a few hours, even totally buzzed. Wonder as you put your breastfed infant to bed why she is so chirpy and wide awake at bed time. Look around at a job well done and push aside the niggling temptation to go and get another block so you can get the kitchen/dining/bathroom area done too.

Things that get me everytime #1

a certain almost-two-year-old creeping onto my lap while I am trying to type, covering his own eyes then flinging his arms out while yelling "BOO-YA-HA!!" then saying "kiss" and planting a sloppy one right on my laughing mouth.

A chuckle.....

How to wash a toilet
This was simply too much of a time saver not to share it with you.

1. Put both lids of the toilet up and add 1/8 cup of pet shampoo to the water in the bowl.


2. Pick up the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.

3. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close the lid.
You may need to stand on the lid.


4. The cat will self agitate and make ample suds.
Never mind the noises that come from the toilet, the cat is actually enjoying this.


5. Flush the toilet three or four times. This provides a 'power-wash' and rinse'.


6. Have someone open the front door of your home.
Be sure that there are no people between the bathroom and the front door.


7. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift the lid.


8. The cat will rocket out of the toilet, streak through the bathroom,
and run outside where he will dry himself off.

9. Both the toilet and the cat will be sparkling clean.


Yours Sincerely,

The Dog

Home Organisation Tips

This is a snippit from this weeks Old Schoolhouse newsletter. Worth signing up to if you aren't already.


The Familyman
Todd Wilson, Familyman Ministries

Having me talk about decluttering a house is like having . . . Ruth Beechick talk about the reasons why you should send your kids to public school. It goes against my slob nature. But because I just hate leaving my "familyman space" blank, here are a few tips I shared in the Spring issue of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine:

So here it is: The Familyman's Guide to Home Organization.

1. If you haven't worn it since high school, throw it out.
2. If an undergarment has more than 6 holes in it, throw it out . . . unless it's your husband's, which is good for up to 20 holes.
3. If you pick it up and don't know what it is, toss it.
4. Do not purchase or accept a game or craft with the word "pieces" on it.
5. To help in the organization process, consider giving up your children for adoption.
6. Flypaper strategically hung around the house works like hangers for those hard-to-store items.
7. The space under the bed is meant to conceal things. In fact, if you place one concrete block under the foot of each leg on a king-sized bed, it increases that space by 60 cubic feet, virtually eliminating all bedroom clutter.
8. By frosting the door of a shower stall, it can double as a food pantry.
9. Forget those 25 10-gallon plastic containers, which will end up empty in about six days anyway . . . instead get one big 250-gallon plastic container.
10. By placing TWO concrete blocks under the foot of each leg on a king-sized bed, you can store most of the contents of your garage, including a riding lawnmower and industrial-strength snow blower.

And above all . . .

Be Real,

I cried laughing...

For those of you who don't know, my sense of humor can be a little - um - dark sometimes.


Are Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing Children For The Apocalypse?

a clip

Award

Jillian from homeschooling4Christ was kind enough to give me an "Honest Scrap Award"!

I am supposed to tell you ten honest things about myself. If you look around on this Blog long enough you'd probably find a few more than ten things, but anyway.....

(1) I firmly there are few works of fiction in the world that cannot be improved with the addition of a talking dragon and reading Lord of the Rings was a high point in my literary life.

(2) I can't decide what I would dress up as if I ever went to a Sci-Fi/fantasy convention, but I would dearly love to go to one anyway. I see-saw between a Firefly character, something from Monty Python or something Tolkinesque.

(3) I have a thing for chunky, dangly earrings at the moment. It is cheeper and less permanent than having "Warning: this person may not be as conventional as she first appears" tattooed on my forehead.

(4) I love dirt and gardening with a passion and have only recently and reluctantly given in to wearing gardening gloves. I miss the dirt against my hands, but it makes it easier to quickly attend to children without having to first wash my hands.

(5) I am currently reading the third book in the Empire series by Colin Igguledon. It puts some living colour into early Rome and I am loving every minute, in spite of the absence of talking dragons.

(6) I love making schedules, timetables and lists but sadly have a little less love for actually DOING the things on those schedules, timetables and lists. As a consequence, I can happily while away hours writing while the house falls apart!

(7) I could quite happily spend a month without seeing another person other than my family and when I was studying I would deliberately spend a week or two in complete solitude (as much as you can in the dorms!) without socialising with anyone. I am not a people person!

(8) I have to remind myself that I was "busy" once too and to stop being a snob when I get frustrated with people who claim that they are "sooooo busy" because they have two kids, one school aged and at school and they have to keep their (completely built) house tidy. I have to remind myself that not all people are as insane as me and "Busy" is in the eye of the beholder.

(9) I did Bible Study today with a documentary on TV for the kids and Christopher sitting on my lap doodling on my notes page - it actually worked quite well all 'round!

(10) I believe more bookshelves is 90% of the answer to the issues I have with keeping a routine and being organised at the moment. I may not be right, but I am clinging to that belief until I am proven wrong (preferably by more bookshelves!)

I am also meant to choose 7 blogs to pass this on to, but I am going to cheat and say go to my blog roll on the right hand side of the page and pick seven, they are all great!

Warning - swine flu rant - kinda

I have canceled a trip to Victoria because it is Swine Flu Central. I heard somewhere that it has the most cases per capita in the WORLD (Victoria - the place for drought, fire, earthquake, disease, foxes, rabbits...) and if the kids or I get it, a possibility using air travel, Jon has to be quarantined. This has the potential to cost us a LOT of money. Self employed = no sick pay! So we are opting to limit our travel there for now.

But over all, can we all calm down a bit please???



Let's get a grip, use common sense and basic hygiene. Quarantine yourself if you have ANY flu, for the sake of the immuno-compromised (the very young, very old, chronically ill etc.)

Is it any wonder flu and other illnesses spread quickly when we have so many children going to school and daycare ill? Parent's unable/unwilling to take time off from work send their kids in making them little petri dishes. People trudge off to work/social events/errands regardless of their health because we are so afraid to STOP to REST to let our bodies, minds, souls HEAL. We are so afraid to ask for help, ring someone and ask them to drop into the shop to get us milk, because we don't want to bother them. Charity is a dirty word and to think that our care would REQUIRE another person to alter their day is unthinkable. So we battle on, spreading our germs. Spreading our illness and hurt as effectively as a crop duster. We go and go and go until we break and then are shocked when a doctor can't just give us a pill and make it go away.

Hmmm, somewhere there I stopped talking about the swine flu and this became about something else.

Anyway, can I suggest that we all stop the panic and use some common sense.

Oh, and stay away from Victoria. I don't know about you but I am waiting for the brimstone to start falling over there!





A cheerful heart is good medicine

Not Me Monday

It wasn't ME who laid in bed all day this weekend reading a novel while Beloved watched the children AND cleaned the house.

I would NOT have, under ANY circumstances, hammed it up a bit and pretended to be a little sicker than I actually was just so I could finish a novel in less than 48 hours and have naps.

I certainly would NOT have done the above the day after spending most of the day in bed reading to the kids, playing stories on the computer for the kids and putting on movies for the kids while I read or napped. And I most definately would NOT have put on the puppy dog eyes when asking Beloved to put together tea after my "hectic" day being sick and taking care of the kids.

Head over to My Charming Kids to find out what others have NOT been up to.

It's strangely therapeutic.

a completely FICTIONAL conversation, kinda

This conversation so totally DID NOT happen in my house. Well, not that I'm admitting anyway.

A discussion on financial priorities.


Someone who we shall refer to as ME said: Well I don't really NEED more clothes, but I'd love to get some more books and stuff for the kids.

Someone who we shall refer to as BELOVED said: Honey, when will you need those books?

Me: soon, by next year maybe. Now would be helpful you know.

Beloved (slowly and patiently): and do you have anything to wear to the wedding in October?

Me: Yes, kinda, sorta. This top would be fine with some black slacks surely. I don't want to overshadow the bride you know!

Beloved: Yeeess, I don't MIND you buying clothes and things you know, you do NEED them.

Me: but clothes wear out and books, well, they last forever. They are a much sounder financial investment you know. Better than PJ's anyway.

Beloved: Don't you only have one set of PJ's now?

Me: No, I have more than....wait, define "set"

Beloved: Honey, I'm not saying don't get the books. I am just saying, perhaps you can DELAY getting the books for three months or so and get some clothes and things for yourself now.

Me: But-when-I-buy-clothes-I-get-them-then-I-get-pregnant-or-loose-weight-and-they-don't-look-any-good-on-me-and-I-have-less-money-to-spend-on-books-and-I-know-you're-right-and-being-reasonable-but-I-want-books-I-hate-buying-clothes-and-these-books-would-be-really-cool. Hey, can we get bookshelves instead?

Off to reread an old post titled: Gift Wrapping: a wifely confession

A random look into my bookmarks.

You can tell a lot about person by the links in their bookmarks! Here is a quick non-blogging selection of some of mine.

Storyline Online

TALIS The Tasmanian State Library

Jacket flap

Free sewing patterns

Lion Brand Yarn has lots of free patterns

Blue Letter Bible, great for Bible Study

recipezaar

ohdeedoh

Christian Audio

I thought this was sweet....

OK, Not for kids but funny

Just a warning, I wouldn't let my kids watch this quite yet as the language isn't SQUEEKY clean and it may give them ideas so you may want to put on the headphones or wait until your little ones are in bed.

It made me laugh 'till I cried and also made me a little scared - the one trying to take the photo is Billy and the one with the yellow tie is grown up Christopher I am sure.