Making Memories.

This morning I am at a park in town with my kids.

As I watch them play I begin to think.

How much longer will they enjoy me taking them to the park? I love watching them play and develop their gross motor skills, and their social skills. I love that we are outside enjoying this beautiful environment, and not stuck in front of some tv show.

This coming year Little Miss 4 'qualifies' to go to kindy, but with limited kindy places out here I have decided to do kindy through distance education. Early Childhood is, after all, my background, and I am really lookong forward to the quality bonding I will get with my daughter.

But, as her schooling time grows closer, I am a little sad that soon I wont have as many opportunities to take my kids to the park. I think it will be a great excuse then to pack up the camper and explore different parks a little further away, after all, I will have a little more time on my hands to prepare for things like that too!

4 sleeps till christmas!

Just in case you had lost count, there are only 4 sleeps left till christmas day, HOW EXCITING!!!

Well, I hope you are excited?

A few weeks ago I went to big town with Little Miss 4 and we passed the santa photo shoot in the shopping centre. She got a little excited and waved, cautiously. On our return past I asked if she wanted to give him a cuddle. She was really excited and keen until I got her out the trolley and the mood went down hill from there. So I didn't push the issue, put her back in the trolley and off we went. She happily waved as we went past and that was it. I didn't mind at that stage as I wanted a picture with both the kids, and as Master 5 was absent from our outing, we decided to see Santa again another day.

We have since had a few christmas events where 'Santa' has made an appearance. Master 5 declared that one of the Santas was not real cause he had string through his beard. Mind you he was wearing footy shorts and a pair of thongs too! All the frestivities have toughened Little Miss 4 and made her more trusting of the big red guy, and lately she has taken to giving him cuddles everytime we see him.

It was a little magical yesterday at the shops (sounds like all I do is shop!). We saw santa at one shopping centre and the kids said 'Hi' and gave him cuddles and they even got a little gift, then we went to the next shopping centre. They had a santa chair and christmas trees but no santa. By the time we got out of the supermarket, guess who had arrived? Yep,'Santa' had arrived. He must have finished up at the last place and magically made his way to this place too! Boy that made the kids day! It excites me that my children are avid believers, keeps the magic more real, and gives more meaning to christmas.

I have gotten christmas pictures every year with my kids, this year being no different. In the past I have not cared if the picture was good or not, I just wanted one. And every year they have not disappointed and there has been one sad child in the pictures. I must say after our false start with our santa aversion this year, our picture turned out pretty great.

Shoes!

Master 5 read Little Miss 4's christmas stocking to her "Santa, Put Yourself in My Shoes".

Being the clever little girl she is, Little Miss 4 went over and read the stocking back to her brother, "Santa, Put Myself in Your Shoes".

Thinking about what she had just said, Little Miss 4 asked me "are Santa's shoes big enough"?

Misconception.

A little while ago when we went to town, there was a big fence around a construction site. On the fence was the construction company signs with their name on it. Driving past Master 5 got really excited and exclaimed they were building a beach!

Now, last time I looked, that is not what I saw, and couldn't understand why he would think such a thing, but I let him live in his hope of an inland oasis.

Just recently, when we drove past, he finally understood as most of the company signs had been taken away and a new one stating a petrol station was opening soon.

Makes you wonder why we all can't be as simple (or complicated, depending on what day we are at) as a 5year old. Beech Constructions, you really let my son down!

Colourful!

It is so hard to relinquish creative control of the christmas tree to the kids, when you have been the only person decorate it for many many years. But this year, I did. Completely. Well, almost!

I have previously had all gold decorations and loved my tree. But this year I had to use some of my tinsel for a school project, so when it came to buying more (with Little Miss 4 in tow), the choice in colour was no longer mine. So purple and green it was. 

Having picked up my 12yo niece this morning, she is staying with us for 2 weeks, I had a nice helping hand to set up the tree (so much so that it made it easier to sit back and watch!). So each child had a colour to decorate the tree with. As hard as it was to watch Little Miss 4 put all of her baubles together, I just sat on the sofa and let them do it.

Then it came to the lights. Oh well, at least it was not as noticable re-adjusting them!

And next to put up the other house decorations and lights. Might wait a little while until it cools down!

Getting busier!

I like it when things fall into place.

I have had a rather busy week, and more to come but this time of year I guess that is inevitable!

After a busy day shopping in spotlight :-) today, I am finally home and happy with my purchases (although I don't think I will be shopping again anytime too soon).

I have been a little worried lately that mabey Little Miss 4 wont be doing kindy of any kind next year. I did not enrol her into kindy in town, but am trying for a distance education approach. I sent some paperwork away a few months ago, and was getting worried we might not make it into the program, but I get home today and there is the email awaiting more information! Looks like things are falling into place.

I know she won't be socialising by doing kindy at home, but she is extremely social anyhow, and I don't feel this is an issue for my Little Girl! She has a best friend, and lots of playmates we regularly catch up with, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. And I am pretty darned excited to have this opportunity to introduce lots of special 'learning' things to Little Miss 4 in a Mummy-Daughter situation. We already have a special bond and I am sure this will go a long way in cementing that for her future.

My head is now buzzing with excitement! All the crafty stuff I bought today and the projects I have in mind. Now this kindy opportunity is becoming more realistic. Wow, add that to all the outdoor adventures we have!

Cheers to opportunity!

Having.

I have had a frustrating week. With my housework. With my kids. And a few other things.
 I am slowly getting into the Christmas spirit, bought some lights the other day, just need to find time to put them up. And so we go on knowing we have it good, being frustrated, sometimes totally flustered and feel like we are out of our depth, but then you hear some news and you realise how lucky you are to HAVE.

We have a house to live in.
We have furniture to sit on and sleep in.
We have food to eat.
We have transportation and pets and friends and a lot of 'creature comforts'.
We have healthy, mostly happy children.
I have a caring Husband.
I have an emotional heart.

And as much as our emotions (rational or not), can be a nuisance sometimes, it serves to help us know ourselves better.

I was often told before I had children, I would make a great Mum. At the time I thought they were right because I love children. And having had 2 of my own, has brought so much joy to our lives.  My career in childcare taught me how to 'play' with children from birth to their first year of school. But, as much as I love my children, I feel I am at a loss now my son is in school. We talk and play, but I have not had much to do with school aged children attitudes and thinking. And boy have we had to deal with a developing attitude!

I still know I am a great Mum, but when you have your cranky days, and there is no time out for Mum, it is a little hard to recover from. Thankfully, my DH has granted me a shopping trip to our next big town 2 hours away (Little Miss 4 will be in tow, but that is dealable), and my only destination is spotlight. Hhhmmm, wondering what I come home with tomorrow, puts a smile on my face!

Finishing off......

So, we went back downstairs to finish off our outdoor area, sweep sand into the cracks and finish off the edging, and ended up with a sandpit?

Seriously! We laid a few extra pavers under the dog kennel and I thought the following area was perfect for a sandpit! It gets shade from about midday so wont be too hot, is close enough but far enough away and we had plenty of sand left over too, so why not?!

Master 5 helping Daddy.

Kids cleaning while we enjoy a cold one!

Kids filling up 'their' sandpit.

Enjoying their hard work!

And that ends our weekend (asides from dinner tonight, happy to say we are off to a local hotspot hence I don't have to cook!).
I must say we came out of it a little worse for wear, sore backs, a dislocated finger, lots of cuts and bruises, but I really enjoyed doing all that we did even though I don't have any aspiration to do it again!

Always busy!

Wow!

A long weekend off for my Hubby and we decide to stay home! No camping (mabey a drive to check out a nearby camping spot!), but no camping this weekend.

There is much to do though. We decided to stay home to get some work done here, and that we did. A while ago we purchased some outdoor pavers for our entertainment area outside, and they have been 'sitting' around ever since. Last week we 'acquired' some lengths of wood we needed to help begin the outdoor area, and today we done it.

We amazed ourselves and actually paved the whole area in one day (a 6x4 space). It did take a while to get the ground right (don't want water pooling in silly places), but once that was done it was pretty easy going (lol).

Well, easy is a bit of an exaggeration! DH went to get the sand at 715am, and we packed up at 630 this evening!

Oh well, the results are great and I can't wait until are in a position to get the outdoor setting I have been eyeing off for a few years!

Before and after.

A long day, we worked hard (thanks to Kels mate who came to help, it was really appreciated, both our backs were killing!). It is not completely finished, but totally useable and will potter around a little more tomorrow.

Working hard.

Another weekend camping trip! Just a quick one to see some friends, and that is what it is all about. Having fun, enjoying your time and sharing new experiences with our children.

It was a little rainy and I am pleased to say the water stayed out! I am so amazed at how well our kids sleep in the camper too, they are usually fast asleep within 5 minutes. And not scared of the dark! Mostly.

The camper is now cleaned and ready to go again. Next weekend we are heading off, again (makes me smile we have these opportunities :-)

 I have been busy preparing my garden (finally). I needed to make it do proof to save my seedling from being eaten. I am hoping this new solution will keep out the chickens also.

The garden at the front is the kids and that is Master 5's huge sunflower after the bees had de-pollenated it! The next one is my now 'dog proof' garden, the third is where the chooks currently reside, the 4th currently has my strawberries which will go into the new garden soon, and the last one is where the chooks are due to move to.

I think my biggest accomplishment is the green grass! As long as it gets one good soak a week it seems to be surviving.

As it is getting hot around here, we have been splashing around the pool a bit, which helps to give the grass a good soaking too!

My other hard working feature has been to clean out our old stuff we no longer use. Kids toys, camp stuff we had which we got double of when we purchased our camper trailer, baby stuff (high chair, porta cot), and things generally taking up too much space and not being used. It has been very energising making space in and around our house, I highly recommend it!

Double ouch (and a little bit of embarrassment)!

We just got back from the park. It was a lovely afternoon to go and I rode my pushbike with the kids. Sitting on the grass watching the kids play, I snacked on some carrott sticks and blueberries.

Whilst there, I got a lovely call from my Mum.

Sitting, eating and chatting, while the kids play in the sand.

Suddenly I felt a pinch. Ouch!

I stood up and (luckily there was hardly a soul around) I put my hands down my pants and pulled out an ant.

Then, it happened again. So I go searching once again down the back of my pants at the park.

Nothing embarrassing about getting ants out your pants when you are in public!

I now have two swollen bites on my bum (did I mention I had to ride my push bike home too, lucky it is just a fanny seat!).

So, instead of holding the ice brick on my bum, I have put it in my back pant pocket and am sitting down, what a relief!

Sorry Bec, definately no pictures of this one!

Funny :-)

Little Miss 4 has been developing her counting skills of late, and successfully counts past 10. That is where it goes downhill and numbers get mixed and muddled in a rather cute way! Thinking about her counting today, reminded me of a funny counting incident the other day.

Lately, when our children have been getting into trouble (they surely are NOT angels!), instead of getting a smack on the bum, DH has been making them do push-ups. Not as easy as it seems (although Master 5 does love his exercise), it was Little Miss 4's turn for her punishment. I was in the kitchen and heard her Dad say '10'.

After a moment of whinging she got down and started counting.

"One"

"Two"

"Three"

"Four"

"Ten", and got up. She is only four and already knows how to shortcut things! Boy it made me giggle, lucky I was in the other room!

Last minute....

We had decided to go to a local river to camp over the weekend just gone. The day we were due to go, I was informed that there was an event happening down there and it would not be advisable to go at this point in time. The river is just over an hour from our house.

I was in town preparing for the weekends adventures, when DH called. I told him what I knew, and by the time I got home, he had decided it would be great to go see his sister for the weekend instead. So, with an hour until school pick up, we frantically finished packing the camper and car, picked up Master 5 from school, and set off on our 6+ hour camping journey!

As long as the drive to and from seemed to be, it was a fantastic weekend with both my sister in laws and their families. All the kids had a blast, and I am glad my children have these opportunities to get to know their cousins.
We spent the morning at the local town pool, which was not a bad temperature, but still cold if you ask me! As my Sister in Law is a qualified swim instructor, she took the kids in the pool for a little lesson!
At lunch, we went down to the local creek for a bite to eat and a chance to wet a line (go fishing), then back to town for the kids to play together in the park. A bbq dinner followed by quiet a few drinks rounded out the day just nicely!

The following morning it was time for us to leave (just a quick trip down). It was a great weekend catching up, albeit a rainy/cloudy weekend, but we seemed to have made the most out of it.

I must say (and I am sure you are all used to it by now), I did not even get any pictures on my phone, because I left it back in the house when we went out! Oh well, there will be plenty more adventures to share with you in the future!

Childhood.

It means nothing without children, and as I watch my children playing at the park this afternoon, I wonder why we are always thinking about our future. There are times I wish we did not have to look ahead and plan for what is coming because we are having so much fun. And other days I feel guilty for stopping and having fun because reality is a b#@(h and there is always another bill or basket of laundry to tend to.

I am at home now, kids in bed, Hubby off to work, and I am left to my own devices.

I am really over tv, computer games, and housework. Can't play with the kids and am not currently reading anything, so the only thing left for me to do is clean or cook. How boring. But it needs to be done. I guess this is just one of the joys of getting older. The future. You HAVE to do your own housekeeping cause you no longer live with your Mum (or Dad, whomever was your main housekeeper).

Some pictures of our adventures last weekend. We went into an underground sapphire mine, fossicked for sapphires out of purchased buckets of dirt , and fossicked in a creek behind our campsite.

I had a great childhood (in my opinion), and no matter how much money, time, and location may affect us, I want my children to have a great childhood also. I think we are doing a pretty good job so far!

As I re-read what I have just typed, I awaken to the realisation that we are off camping again tomorrow. I am hoping this time there is a tree to string up my hammock (and that I actually get a decent amount of time to relax in it)! So I had better go, ideally to find my camera and its charger so I may be able to take some decent pics this weekend.

Pictures!

They always come at once cause that is how I roll!

Birthday brekkie, dutch rusk with strawberries, sugar and cream!

Having fun at her party.



My birthday pressie.

Slime-ing fun with friends.

Somehow we got a pirate looking wink at the rodeo!

The sunflower seed was planted in the kids digging garden and has slowly grown for a while, to peak just around my birthday, it is about 150cm high. The native bees are indulging in all the pollen the sunflower has to offer. And I just had to take the shot of my girl taking the shot of the sunflower. She still has not got the hang of taking her finger away from the 'lense' so all her pictures at just shots of fingers, not that she can see her finger in the viewfinder!

Brave and scary all at once!

The wonderful event of Little Miss 3 becoming Little Miss 4 has brought on a new task - 4year old needles :-(

I have Little Miss 4 booked in tomorrow for this glorious occasion, and am a little anxious. I want to tell you what Little Miss 4 said to me tonight, but you need some background to start.

A few months back, Master 5 had a splinter. Oh dear, what a drama it is for him to get splinters out. I mean, he watches his father donate blood at red cross, he watched the nurse stick the needle in him during a blood test earlier in the year, and his 4yo needles were no problem at all, but the moment you need to get a splinter out, it is amusing to know all this and the sobs he still gets out! Not just a don't do it sob either, a great big girly wail and it does not stop until you do (ie. give up or get the splinter out).

So, during one such occasion, I convinced Master 5 if I hurt him while attempting to get his splinter out, he could pinch me back. It worked as a distraction for a second, but that is it.

Tonight while Little Miss 4 and I were discussing her predicament tomorrow, she starts telling me how brave she will be, growling at me and putting up scary hands etc, then she gets real serious and says 'can I pinch the doctor?'.

I had to stop a second to remember why on earth she would want to pinch the doctor, then it dawned on me and I told her we would have to see! What a funny little monkey she is.

Love!

The weekend just gone has sparked some controversey with my local friendships.

I have not said anything to anyone as I am sure everyone already knows what has happened, and they are entitled to form their own opinions.

All things aside, what has prompted me to write about this is another blog I follow 'Teacher Tom'. He is a male preschool teacher somewhere in America and has some fantastic 'kindy' ideas which I have previously implemented with my children. I read one of his recent blogs and it goes on about gender differences.

It talks about love in all of its forms, but the one that really hit a button was the 'love' boys have for each other even from such a young age (more mateship type love, where they don't give a toss about the little things and get over them or even better, don't make a fuss about them at all).

As a teenager I tended to hang around the boys more often, they were great company and there was never an issue which could not be resolved. After I finished school, I spent a lot of time hanging out with my brothers friends. When my Husband and I started dating, we hung out with 'the Boys'  (his mates), and eventually made friends with more family oriented people, thus hanging out with other couples. Since having kids of our own, and being a stay at home Mum, I have found a few good friends in our local town and really appreciate their company, and hope to be friends for many years to come.

But, after this one particular incident, it has made me wonder about my life before kids where I just hung out with the boys. Why can't everyone be as forgiving as the boys I used to know?

After chatting with my DH today, we are both happy to move on from this 'incident'. No matter what happens around town (or in life), the only friend I really need is my Husband!

I will leave you with this from Teacher Tom
(http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/the-boy-im-supposed-to-be.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TeacherTom+(Teacher+Tom)

Love is way bigger and way more complicated, and also way simpler, than most of us imagine. It's nurturing and roaring and soft and hard; it flexes and reposes; it whispers and it shouts. Love is that thing that fills us up with not just ourselves, but with everything and everyone around us. It's a sigh and it's an explosion.

Happy Birthday!

Wow, what a weekend! We celebrated Little Miss 3's birthday on saturday to much success with all her little friends. She had a blast, and it was so nice having a good bunch of kids play together.

So, tomorrow is her actual birthday and when I put her to bed tonight, she held up 5 fingers saying she will be this many tomorrow! Whoops, the party message obviously did not get through to her, and she thinks she is 4 already, with tomorrows festivities giving her a whole extra year in just 2 days! Very cute, but it must just have been the way it was said as my Nephew, who is here for the party too, had a really confused look on his face when he was told about tomorrow! Oh well, they learn eventually.

I am so fortunate to have my family around this weekend. My brother and his girlfriend helped me out this evening, eating cupcake tops and helping me assemble presents. I have really appreciated the help.

This evening once the kids were in bed, I set about getting everything ready for tomorrow. First step was a cake. We had leftover princess muffin cases so I decided a red velvet recipe would be perfect. As I took the beautifully coloured cakes out the oven, I re-read over the recipe and noticed the cocoa powder was not mentioned in the method! Oh well, they are vanilla flavoured red velvet cupcakes now! Not that I think anyone will notice in the morning.

My next step was to wrap the persents (after tidying up the kitchen for the millionth time this weekend). Firstly we assembled the few items, and next it was wrapping. The gifts turned out better than I had hoped and are all now sitting nicely in Little Miss 3 nearly 4's room. Lets hope she comes and wakes us up in the morning before opening her gifts!

My final objective of the evening was to tackle the mounting laundry pile which needs folding. Well, that can wait until everyone leaves tomorrow!

Sorry, I have no pictures of the party, but am hoping I get some sent to me. My camera battery was flat and I had misplaced my phone during the party, so I am relying upon my guests to provide me with their snaps of the day!

My boys best friend.

Master 5 has grown up with our dog Tiger. Tiger is a dobermann cross and a decent sized dog, but Master 5 has never had any fear of getting close and personal with him.

They have such a relationship that Master 5 sits on the dog bed and tells Tiger stories and secrets. I think I will have to bug the dogs collar just so I can keep up with what is happening!

So, the other day when I was under the house and I saw my boy with his dog, I just had to take a picture. Very cute is all I have to say.

Poor chicken.

The other day we noticed one of our chooks not looking/walking too well. After a day she was looking no better so I decided to do some research into what could be happening. It turns out she was egg bound (had an egg stuck in her cavity).

A very amusing phone call to my DFIL who is a farmer, led me to the conclusion the chook should be put down, but not wanting to dig that hole (DH was not home at the time), other methods of relieving the chook were researched. The most effective I read about was a bath. So, once DH had come home, we set about relieving the poor chicken.

 

After the first bath we let her run about the yard, but an hour later her bum was still sagging to the ground, so another bath was had. After this bath, she started heading for the chook pen, but having trouble getting over the garden beds I decided to help her up. I locked her in the pen, and 20minutes later there was an egg!

 

Yay, but the next day she was walking funny again. My DFIL warned this is usually a recurring problem. Will see how she turns out (I don't plan on holding a chook in a hot bath for 20minutes every day).

 

Much to my DFIL's disappointment, the above is the only picture I took of the situation, I did not have the opportunity to get any happy snaps of the probing which took place thanks to my DH!

Lies????

Little Miss 3 (is just a week away from being Little Miss 4!), keeps getting caught telling lies. Oh dear, but the worst thing is sometimes I can't tell, until her big brother ratts her out!

So today, when Master 5 told me his sister ate one of those blueberries, I asked her and she said yes. It just so happens those blueberries happen to be a weed (knotweed I think). When I asked her, she said she did and also fed Rusty some too, so I told her that was naughty and they are poisonous.

At this point my mind starts racing, oh dear, what has she done?  Keeping an eye on her for the rest of the afternoon, she showed no signs of any distress. This evening, before I put her to bed I asked just one more time and she now changes her story to 'no, I did not eat them'.

I stared her down for a minute, asked again, and she began to have a worried look on her face. She was just about in tears, so I asked what was wrong. She sulkily replied she did not know they were poisonous. Giving her a big cuddle I had to reassure her she was ok.

This seemed to work, so we had another chat about eating things out of the garden (which she now says she didn't), as this was not the first time.

I love my kids, and pray nothing bad ever happens to them. Tomorrow, after having mown today, I will check the yard over again for those naughty weeds, just to be safe!

It is not supposed to happen to me!

When we go away the kids get sick or hubby gets injured, but I am usually all good and the 'carer', cleaning up messes and fussing over injuries.

Unfortunately, these holidays the tables have turned. Not in a bad way (thank goodness), just a slight muscular injury meaning I can't do many things with my main arm.

I read a post from a friend saying you can do anything with one hand when you have to hold a baby, and you know, I think I would rather have to hold a baby than have an injured arm. I can't hang out the washing, brush my hair, get dressed, the list goes on.  Even going to town (hubby driving) with the kids holding my hand, I am so scared they will jump up and pull my arm down.

It is frustrating as these things don't uaually happen to me. And all I did was lift my Little Man so he could see a boat.

Oh well, I think it might be time for a rum! To be consumed with the aid of my left hand of course. Enjoy your holidays.

Rules and more rules

Dropping Master 5 at school this morning, I was on my way back out across the oval when I saw a teacher walking towards the children playing on the oval.

There are rules in our little school that morning time is to sharpen pencils and such to get ready for the day, not to play. Now, I am really frustrated with this in the first instance as at the beginning of the year the children were banned off the fort before school due to lack of supervision. A decision was made and the kids could play on the fort if a parent was supervising them. Aside from this they were told to get some equipment out and play on the oval. Fair enough I thought.

As the year has progressed, rules have changed and now (as I mentioned), mornings are for day prep to avoid injury, they are no longer allowed to play. So when these children were told off for playing marbles on the oval I was a little irate. I don't ever recall getting injured playing marbles as a kid, and kids are spending 6hours a day at school, I don't see the harm in letting them have that 10 minutes of extra play before school in 'their time'.

Master 5 came home at the beginning of the week and we told him we were having a bonfire that night (cooking our first campfire damper). He said he did not want to because his teachers have told the children in the class to have an early night so they are ready for the next day. Seriously, I was livid. My son is awake for an hour and a half in the morning before he starts school, and has about 3and a half hours in the evening with us. In this time he is fed, clothed, washed, doing homework, and is supposed to play and be part of our family, but now his school expects him to get an earlier night than he already does? He is at school for just over 6 hours. Fair much? I DONT THINK SO.

MESSY FUN!!!

I know I have been neglecting my duties as a fun and educating Mum lately, so this week we have been busy busy busy playing!

A few days ago I cleared the dining table and gave Little Miss 3 the playdough. She loved it, as she always has. Only thing is I have been too busy to 'let' her do it. Not anymore. It is time to get involved again!

The only thing which broke my heart more is when Master 5 came home from school, he was willing to give up our bonfire that evening (over which we cooked some dinner), to play with the playdough. Apparently they don't get to play much like that at school anymore.

So the next day I set up an activity for Little Miss 3 which I have been wanting to do for a while. We got out the kids plastic table, the wooden building blocks, and a tin of shave cream. Her task was to 'cement' the blocks together! She had lots of fun, though I am not sure what was the best part, cementing the blocks or washing the shave cream off her hands! After we had finished, we hosed everything down and left it in the sun to dry. It was still out when Master 5 came home, so I told him what we had been up to and both my children had fun working together for another hour!

Good old faithful dog watching over his kiddies.

Our girl and her chickens, she catches them in the yard herself!
 

Waiting Games.

DH had a bad tooth ache the other day, so he had an appointment and got it fixed. With pain still radiating, we are back for a quick check to make sure all is well. I am sure he will be fine after a round of antibiotics. 

But it has me thinking. We are always waiting. Waiting at the dentist/doctors, waiting to go on holidays, waiting for the bank balance to grow, waiting for the kids to get home from school, and the list goes on. 

DH and I were discussing swimming lessons this morning for the kids. I rang and enquired and have decided to start up, which Little Miss 3 will love, but Master 5 will be stoked as their lessons will both be at the same time, no more waiting for him! This will be his first out side of school activity all year. Little miss 3s music lessons were supposed to be expanded to include preps and year 1s, but it is still in planning, so he is still waiting for that. Hopefully he will enjoy this now instead!

Whatever you are waiting for, make it worthwhile, make sure the wait is worth the end result. 

Planning and putting it to action!

We have been planning for some time, our first big camping trip. So last weekend it finally became time, we packed up and went on our very first adventure.

Not having been to our destination in the past, it was very exciting to be going somewhere new, for the first time in our camper trailer.

Now to begin with, I have to go back to the day before. We needed to get electric breaks installed into our car to accomodate the extra towing weight. This was an easy task, but time consuming. I had to leave home at 530 with the two kids, to drive 2 hours to where the car would have its 'surgery'. They needed the car for the whole day, which was no problem as they gave me the loan car to use.

I was lucky to have this time in town, as I managed to get those last few items we needed to have a successful weekend away. And we also got to start our holiday with a trip to the local zoo. It was nothing like the big zoo's around the country, but a nice small one which our kids managed to enjoy just as much.

The day went along fine, and I returned to collect my car at closing time, only for it to take another 45minutes for them to finish the job. Frustrated, as I still had to transfer all my belongings and 2 car seats back to my car, I finally left and made it back home sometime around 10pm. Wow, I was wrecked but, after puttting the kids to bed, I undloaded the car and began packing ready to take off in the morning. Finally made it to bed by midnight and fell fast asleep!

We got up excitedly the next morning, finished packing and were on our merry way. A quick 3 and a half hour drive saw us to our destination. After setting up our camper, we settled down for the night in our new surroundings.

When we woke in the morning, we decided to venture into the gorge. I am so proud of my kids, Master 5 just trudged along with the rest of us, and Little Miss 3 stepped it out as best she could too. We walked about 8klms round trip, over cute little creeks, along sand banks, past towering cliff walls, to some of the most stunning scenery.

The next day we contemplated another walk, but decided on checking out the rock pools. Only a 200metre walk. It was so nice down those tracks. I was amazed that in Central Queensland in the middle of a national park you can find 'beaches'. Long stretches of sand, surrounded by rocks and creeks trickling (and sometimes flowing) through. The water at the rock pools was so clear, the kids almost jumped right in. I think they would have if the other tourists (foreigners) did not make such a scene about how cold the water was! It took them a bit, but they eventually jumped in, although it did not last long.

We all crossed the shallow creek down the gorge a little, onto the rocky bank and the kids began skimming rocks (their favourite passtime of the weekend). We had so much fun. We are already planning our next trip out there!

The zoo.

So, I really should be going to bed at this ridiculous hour, and after my busy day to town, and the weekend ahead (early weekend starting tomorrow), but I just wanted to share some pictures with you all while I had a moment.

We had to get some work done on our car to accomodate our new home, and this had to be done in town 2hours away. So this gave me an opportunity to get those last minute things and have a day with my kids. I must say it was a pretty good day, early start and all. When we got home this evening, I realised my children had been awake for 15+ hours, which is a massive effort for them, considering all we did.

We were told a while ago there is a zoo in town, so today was my perfect opportunity to go check it out. The fact it was free was even better. Not too sure about the sounds, Little Miss 3 tred carefully around inspecting everything, and listening intently to all her big brother had to say about the animals escaping! He sure knows how to tease.

Off camping tomorrow, so plenty moren pictures next week.

Sleeping dingos.

Not too sure just yet what that sound is.

This is where the Chimps got out. There were so many hand prints, the chimps apparently went all over the place!

Where's Wally?

Kangaroos were too sleepy too.

At least we got to pet these ones!

The cassowary enclosure.



Friends, family and camping.

This weekend our goal was to go camping.

Done! Yay, we had a great time.

A quiet evening by a fantastic bonfire with some easy going friends and we had a lovely time.

Though, I must say it was cold. We have not had many camping experiences to date, gear which we thought sufficient to see us through. But I was wrong. Our sleeping bags are nice and warm, but I can't recall ever using them in the middle of winter. And last night, warm is something I was not. I ended up with 5 layers on top and 3 on bottom with 2 pairs of socks and a beanie. Little Miss 3 was coated with as much clothing as me, although her sleeping bag (we thought she had a proper one), is only a kids cheapie. It was teamed with a nice warm quilt, which I had to keep getting up to wrap back around her. She often woke throughout the night complaining of the cold and pushing her blankets off. Our stuff during the night became really cold, and to touch felt like it was wet, which is why I assume she was kicking them off. Every time I put the blankets back on her she made me rub them until they were warm.

When I was not readjusting her blankets, trying to warm back up under my own blankets, she still kept me awake by chatting in her sleep. Firstly about patting the 'bucking bull', then had a giggle over feeding the horse apples, and every other hour she was chatting about something but I was too cold and tired to remember what they were about. Many more giggles is all I can remember, and one scared No shouting segment! Very cute, but extremely tiring at the same time.

Master 5 had a great sleep, and did not stir at all until the morning. As did my DH.
The morning in the camper was great, the canvas is pretty heavy and the kids stayed asleep until just before 7, it was nice and dark in the tent. Hopefully in summer the darkness will prevail and keep us cool-ish too!

In the morning we got up and stoked the fire back up to warm us while we waited for the sun to warm things up. Whilst sitting there, I noticed water start to drip rather quickly off the roof of our friends house, and then realised it must have frosted overnight and it was now melting.

Kids beds ready.

I got too tired last night to finish this blog, and it is now monday morning. Today we are having a dog trainer out to help us with our terrible puppy. It is kind of a last resort for us, to help us get him to stop chewing absolutely everything. We know it is a puppy stage, but has been ongoing for too long now, and we want it to be done with. It has been hard not too pass him on to a new home, so will see how this training goes.

Tent, set up.

Kids asleep.

Going to bed.

Children!

Well, my husband will be pleased with this post.

I have to say, it is days like these I wondered why I ever wanted more kids (no we are not having any more).

I love my kids, it is very true. We sing a very lovely goodnight song every night regardless of how mad we have been throughout the day. And today was a fine example of the madness encapsulating me.

Master 5 and full of independent attitude, woke up happy this morning, but his mood quickly changed. I don't really know why, but it has been building all year and I am pretty sure he is a tad jealous of Little Miss 3 staying home with me every day he has to go to school. So this morning before he even got dressed, it was on. All I could do (cause there is no way I can lift his wiggling bum onto his bed to punish him) was walk away and ignore him. I shut myself in my bedroom and waited a few minutes, then had to go and help Little Miss 3 get dressed for the day. I walked straight past the Master 5 who was full of attitude, and began my day.

After about 20 minutes he finally came round and did as he was aksed initially, and the morning seemed to go smoothly, for the next 20minutes.

We drove to school today as wednesday is music day for Little Miss 3 and we head straight to town from school. I had forgotten her ukelele so while the kids were buckling themselves in I ran back up to get the instrument. I came back to tears and screams and OMG I had had enough. At school I told Master 5's teacher that if he did not do his work properly this morning he was not allowed to attend soccer (an elective we have chosen, which just so happens to be held during class time, though we take home extra work to make up for what he misses). I found out he was fine today and really enjoyed his soccer. I was thinking that is great, hopefully this afternoon is much nicer.

Boy was I wrong.

Without going into detail, both children ended up in their beds for a period of time until I had calmed enough to allow them to play quietly in their bedrooms. This is where they stayed until dinner time, as I did not want to deal with anymore unnecessary bad behaviour. Needless to say, Master 5 just has a listening problem, and instead of having play time after dinner, he had a story and went straight to bed.

It feels like it has been such a long day, and now I can't wait for my dear husband to get home with a good drink!

Always something to do....

The past few weeks I have been busy.

Well, it feels like it anyhow.

Well, to tell you the truth, I have not really done that much.

I lie, I have done bugger all. Sorry.

But I have had the opportunity to play with my little girl. Little Miss 3 is growing up so quickly and having been in our situation the past few years and needing to work I do feel I have missed out on a bit with her. It is reallly haunting me the fact she goes to school the year after next.
The past few weeks I have not been required to look after our friends children so have had more time than usual to ourselves.

So I have been taking time to play. And just hang out with her. We jumped on the trampoline the other day, invited friends to music makers last week (which she adored), and have had time to build some leggo contraptions.

I am finally feeling more like my old, responsible, self and am making a concerted effort to ensure my house is clean (since I hurt my back, my cleaning gene has disappeared). It is still not perfect, but I can only do so much around the sleep shifts which happen in our household.

We have been loving our bonfires, collecting sticks and burning up empty boxes. It has been a bit of a challenge keeping our beloved Rusty dog away from our sticks, there are plenty around the yard, but he has seen fit to take from our collection and redistribute them back over the yard.

I took the challenge (it was not too hard actually) to read my first novel in about 5years. Took me about 2 weeks, but done and dusted, now I am thinking about what to read next, but not too willing to jump in to something else as I have trouble putting a good tale down!

And I have been getting our next garden bed ready for planting. Am not sure if it will be a potato garden yet, but it is almost ready, just need to fence off the last corner to keep the chickens and dogs out.
Today I fenced off a corner of the yard which I have been clearing out, and it is now ready to be sewn with grass seed. I have a bay leaf tree which is going in this corner, so I need to keep the dogs and chooks away from here too, to keep my grass growing.

My DH picked up some wood a few days back, and I plan on making some sort of bench which I will turn into a makeshift greenhouse, so I can grow seedlings safely away from that beloved puppy whom seems to get into everything.

And finally, this weekend will see us take out our new camper trailer for the first time. We are pretty excited, but totally anticipating no sleep due to the cold weather! But it will be exciting all the same! I will make sure I charge the camera batteries and hopefully have some pics for you all next week.

Adios!

A nice day

I have recently added to my family 2 little boys on an occasional basis! I babysit a friends boys during the week as she begrudgingly, has gone back to work. It is nice to have the distraction from my everyday tasks, caring for another persons children I am more in tune to do kids things. This week I have not had the boys, and today has been my first day in a long time I have not had any plans and my DH was at work.
So it was just Little Miss 3 and I.
Not sure what we would get up to, we dropped Master 5 off at school and strolled home. She determined the route we walked, and it was nice to go a different direction.
We did not get up to much, she watched movies on a portable DVD player at various places around the house (I love seeing her chill out and laze about to watch a movie as her attention span does not usually last that long!).
I attempted some laundry, sweeping, just the usual. Around mid morning I decided (since the sun was uncharacteristically shining) to air the bedding and wash sheets. Together we stripped my bed of its covers and proceeded to have fun jumping on it together, and I realised how much I had missed laughing with my children. Since my girl was little I had to work, so she was in childcare, and I have realised that I missed the early years of her development unlike my son. So I am really getting to know her now. And I have to admit, it was fun to jump on my bed!
After sorting out the bedding, Little Miss 3 asked to do some painting, so without hesitation I got out the painting pallett and off she went. A lovely love heart today, and more to come tomorrow.
After lunch we had a sleep in our freshly made-up beds (without blankets), and I accidentally snoozed until 1pm. Missing my chance to mop the floors (so I thought), I decided that some reading was in order (after the dishes), and to my surprise Little Miss 3 slept until it was time to get our boy from school. I had hoped for a rendezvou to the shop for a snack, but time was ticking so off to school we went.
A quick detour to the local park for a play before the masses stopped in, saw us invited to a birthday party (at the park), and we ended up staying until dinner time (about 5pm). It is days like these I am thankful for my overcooking and frozen meals!
What a great day, hope yours was good too!

Totally pooped.

So, I took my 3yo daughter on a date this morning (maccas for a baby cino). We had a lovely time giggling (like girls do!) and enjoying our little treats. She then informed me it was not a 'date' unless we went to the shops. Since our grocery delivery was short some strawberries (her favourite), I decided that could be our excuse to stop at the shop.
I was very good and all we purchased were the strawberries!

Getting back to my 'pooped' story, when we left maccas all refreshed and ready to go, I noticed some horizontal scratches down our car door, 6 to be precise.

Not happy, sooooo totally not happy. Our car is only 2months new.

Did I mention I was not happy? Seriously, it looked like someone had dropped their bag (or something similar) down the side of our car, not once but twice. I mean how rude can people be. I make a super effort to ensure my kids, my car, and my belongings do not touch other peoples cars, and I get abused like this. It is as if doing the right thing does not pay.

Oh well, it had been done and the only thing to do was move on. Disappointedly, we went home. I decided to try and polish out the scratches, so a car wash was in order. Little Miss 3 was happy with that and enjoyed spraying the hose everywhere (whilst I was out of reach!). Once dried, we parked the car under the house and went upstairs for some lunch. When my precious girl had gone to bed (I do still enjoy a lunch time rest period, but not today), I proceeded to polish the door which had the offending scratches on it. Luckily they were only surface scratches (probably couldn't scratch past the dirt on the car!), and most disappeared pretty easily. There is still one scratch which was a little deeper, hopefully it will come out when we have the car detailed at the next service.

The only problem with polishing one door, it looks funny, so I had to do the other 3 doors, and the bonnett. The car looks pretty shiny now (will see how long it lasts), and I am totally pooped.

PICTURES!!!!!

A long time in between but here are some pictures.

 A day at the Weir.

 Our bonfire.



  Our girl.

Scenery from Rockhampton going west.

And again.

Nearly home.

Pictures???

I tried to upload pictures from my phone but apparently it does not support the software required (??WT??) so will have to wait for now. Plus my camera (yes, I found it!), is still on holidays with family. Hope to get it back in the next week or so! Gee, I love my camera hehehe.

Holiday time!

Yay, we are just heading home from our first family holiday in such a long time! We have had a wonderful time, the best part (asides from catching up with family) would have to have been the spa bath in our motel. We made use of it morning (as in 630am) and night. Little Miss 3 upon waking, would  come into our room and after waking me (why change routine and wake Daddy), we would enjoy the spa to ourselves! Beautiful ocean views, lovely beaches and plenty of sunshine, who could ask for more?
Obviously we could, we bought a camper trailer while away, now we can go anywhere and not have to worry about the motel, just hook up and go. We are looking forward to picking up our camper and taking it out for a weekend here and there. All I can say is life out west has been really good to us!

Busy busy

Well, not really, more so pre-occupied.

I am letting you all know that this is the last blog I will post to facebook. I am limiting my online social networking because I feel it is taking over my life and I am not being the person to my children whom I want to be. I will still blog, but you will have to come back here to check it out (lisakccook.blogspot.com.au).

A friend recently mentioned she would like to see some pictures of where we live, and as we have driven around the past few weeks I have noticed our environment and how different it is from one step to the next. As much as we are 3hours from the coast, we are definately not in the desert. Our region is called the Central Highlands, but it is still remote compared to where we have lived in the past.

Sorry I have not got any pictures this time, but will get some for you all soon (when I find that elusive camera!).

To start to be a little descriptive, from our front balcony and directly to the right (we are on a corner house), we have a set of train tracks. They are behind a 6foot fence, and only run a block further north, past our house. These are the shunting yards where the broken wagons and loco's go awaiting to be repaired. The main track is across the highway 3 blocks south, we can see these from the corner of our yard, down the walkway beside the shunting yards. Almost directly opposite our house (but over the other side of the shunting yard) is a lovely little park and skate bowl. We do have to walk 2 blocks towards the highway to go around the shunting yard and cross at the crossing to get to the park. Across the crossing is also a small library (think the size of the average living room), and behind the library is the school (about 500m from our house).
Back on our front balcony, looking out over the houses we can see the tops of the tablelands, a lovely mountainous range with waterfalls and all. I love watching the rain clouds cover the mountains, They seem very close by from this view.

Had better go entertain some kids, till next time..........................
Cheerio!

Restricted.

So.

Our monster puppy.

He pulls the laundry off the line, chews on anything he can get in his mouth, so much so that he is usually seen with something hanging out of his mouth (typical toddler).

A few weeks ago I purchased dog coats online. A decision I did not take lightly, but felt our older dog needed something to keep him warm living here (it is a tad bit cooler than where we used to live). Not a cheap item to buy, I did my research and found the best one for our dogs.

They got delivered, the kids thought they were great and couldn't wait to put them on their pooches! That evening we set about to do just that. The dogs were a little excited at the extra attention, but did not really get what was going on. Everything fit just perfect so off we went for the night.

Night three, the dogs knew they had a good thing going with these coats, so were happy to let us put them on, and it was an easier process this time. When I got up in the morning, the older dogs clip had broken off the strap.

I was going to deal with it later.

Until I got told I should check out what Rusty (our monster puppy) was doing.

OMG.

I was furious.

How much more trouble could this puppy be, seriously?

He had literally taken the coat of the older dogs back and torn it up.

After calming down, and telling Little Miss 3 her dog could not wear his coat that night, or any other until we have a solution, I stewed over what to do.

In the pet shop the other day buying more dog food, I contemplated the different dog coats (it is still cold and getting colder, apparently). There were none which impressed me enough to be Rusty proof. Feeling disappointed, I amazingly had an idea - a muzzle! I know it sounds a little mean, but it seriously works. We only put it on at night (and then the coats), but he has accepted that this is what needs to be done (for now).

And the bonus part?

I can leave my laundry hanging on the line overnight again :-)

A windy day.

Today was Master 5's first school sports carnival. An exciting day filled with anticipation of what was going to happen next.

It was the perfect day, a nice sunny morning with little cloud cover, the house was warm so we dressed appropriately for the upcoming day and off we went.

I had packed a small picnic and our drink bottles. We had a blanket in the pram (we walk most places around town, cause it is so easily located).  We got to school as the kids were warming up, and everything was starting to happen. Little Miss 3 did not get out of the pram initially, her little legs were purple due to the cold breeze, so I went back home to get her some pants and a jacket. All was good and she began to enjoy herself.

A quick lunch visit from our friend and her kids, a bit of cheering along, and Little Miss 3 plodded off home with them, leaving me to cheer on the kids alone.

Master 5 was a little unsure as to what was going on, he knew it was sports day, but this was his school and I am sure he was thinking he should be in class learning something!
First activity was shot put, followed by long jump, then high jump and a sprint. He placed 3rd in each event except high jump, and was very proud of his efforts.
There were points in the day we were sitting around waiting for the next activity, and Master 5 kept asking to go home, but we perservered and saw the day out.

It was a little windy, but a nice day. I am currently feeling a little wind burnt, and think it is time for a bath before I cook dinner, and a moisturising face mask too!

Sharing the love.

We not long got home from morning tea in town with our little Family, and the boy across the road came over for a play.

I love that we are finally in a place where the kids can have friends over, without the parents having to stress about weekend cleaning cause we are working all week (forget that my DH works shift).
It warms my heart to hear my children playing and entertaining their friends when they come over. I love listening to their childhood conversations, they are so innocent and truthful with each other.

Well, that is all I have to say for now, just sharing the love!

Little Miss 3

When Master 5 was only 2, and Little Miss 3 was a wee little baby, I made a book for my little man all about him. Nothing fancy, I just got on a printable website and the book format was already there, all I had to do was insert some individual text and voila, a book was made. It was only printed on basic paper and not contacted or anything so it is looking a little sad.

It has to be a favourite book of both my children at the moment, and as such I have been promising Little Miss 3 I would make her one also. So, tonight I have re-discovered that particular website, and am currently printing out the makings of her personalised story. I need to print out pictures also (lucky I bought ink today), to cover the generic pictures which the story comes with.

I know she will be proud as punch in the morning and can't wait to show her.

Now, I know it seems everything is about my little princess of late, but as I explained to Master 5 just a few days ago, he had his turn about everything when he was little. He understands, but is a little apprehensive to accept the facts, so we will just have to deal with the reassurrance that both our children are loved equally.

Ciao!

Making Music

Little Miss 3's favourite day of the week. Today is music makers, a class where she gets to be loud, play with different kids, lots of different instruments and have heaps of fun! She absolutely loves it, and it has everything to do with her fantastically motivated, totally enthusiastic teacher! She does a great job getting everyone involved, while incidentally teaching the kids about musical terms and introducing them to things they might not see for many years like a violin, using a microphone, and did I mention it is so much fun? It is hard not to join in!

I am so glad I have the opportunity to expose my daughter to these things.

On another note, it was so hard to get Master 5 ready for school today cause all he wanted to do was come to Music makers, even though he has never been before, he just knows he is missing out on something special.

What a month!

Wow, I have not done a blog for just over a month, sorry!

It has not been deliberate, just a series of unexpected events.

Firstly, we have a car! And what a story that was (lol).

Ok, after having no car for about 6 weeks, we finally got our new car at the beginning of the month, and so began my busy month. We were hoping the new car would be ready on the tuesday, and I would go get it from Brisbane, but it was not ready until the friday, so we went and got it and travelled straight out west for a family members' 50th birthday. During the weekend our 2day old car sustained a windscreen chip and our 2day old car hit a kangaroo! Wow, what an experience, now the kids call all dead roos on the road mine (how special!).
The following weekend we were supposed to go to the farm to begin the final chapter of Sausage (our ex-pig), but my DH had other plans! A concussion at football saw me picking him up from hospital on Mothers Day Morning, vetoing our trip away. Sausage lives another day (for the minute).
This weekend saw us at the farm finalising the chapter of Sausage, and the kids handled the death of their pig rather well. They  began by petting it and saying 'I Love You Sausage' and half an hour later she was strung up and headless (the kids did not witness this process though). Little Miss 3 would not go near the strung carcass, but we got a great shot of Master 5.



I scored a Thermomix this month (Yay!), so monday was spent mincing Sausage and packaging all the extras like ribs, medallions etc into the freezer. Sausage's second last chapter will come when she gets turned into sausage, and the final chapter will be when my husband enjoys eating the sausage.

I cooked up some of the ribs for lunch today, and my girl kept telling everyone her Dad was eating Sausage, the other kids were not impressed when they could not see a sausage though!

So, on top of freezing Sausage, I began caring for a friends children on monday, as her maternity leave has expired and she unfortunately had to go back to work. Alas, I get a baby around the house to cuddle and make giggle, and my Little Miss 3 has a friend over to run amok with! I am not used to such a busy house anymore, so I think I will need an early night tonight.

It has become overcast here again, and getting cool. So I need to get off my butt and do some laundry while I can!