a daytrip

A little daytrip to Barrenjoey lighthouse...

warm and fuzzy moment

The downside to working an evening shift is missing bedtime snuggles, but I tell my children that I always go in to kiss them good night when I get home.

This is what I found hanging on my Little Possum's bed:

No further comment necessary.. :)

master and apprentice

Padawan Doodlebug had to pass the next stage of his apprenticeship with Jedi Geek master MOTH teaching him how to build his own lightsaber computer. After a trip to Geek Heaven Computer Parts store to buy the necessary parts, they sat themselves down in the middle of the kitchen for this most important Rite of Passage. It was hard to tell who enjoyed it the most, but at the end of it the kids have a working computer and Doodlebug has earned his very own polyester shirt complete with pocket protector.

The decision to build a new computer was made mostly because the kids insist on using ours complaining that theirs is too slow...... spoilt, they are :) In my day I was lucky to have a stick to scratch in the dirt with for entertainment. OK, I admit that's a slight exaggeration...

(On a completely different topic I can report furious activity on the quilting front.... The promised auction quilt has had a couple of re-pick moments but is progressing beautifully)

summer.....sea, sand, sun.... Christmas

On my trips around BlogLand, I have wistfully read about first snowfalls and seen picture- postcard-beautiful photos of wintery landscapes and Aurora Borealis. Just by looking at the photos of fir trees, branches laden with snow I can feel the cold air and remember the sensation of the little hairs in my nostrils freezing and of the chill of snow falling down your neck from one of those branches. I have suffered snow envy.

But, then I remember that at the moment the grass is actually greener on this side of the fence, quite literally.... and then we have a day at the beach like yesterday, and I am happy to be walking around barefoot in summer clothes and not rugged up for a polar expedition!

Just in case

patterns in the rock

Life is good

The stork has landed....

Molly the guineapig is the proud mother of these seriously cute little piglets that were born today. We won't know their sex for a few weeks yet, but Doodlebug wants to call the black one "Darth Vader".

"There were five in the bed...."

.......and the little one said "roll over, roll over".....




Our babies slept in our bed for the first 6 months of their life, and they still occasionally seek us out in the night. A mass invasion like this, with all 3 children climbing into our bed in the night, is rare.
It was a bit of a squish, and as soon as MOTH and I got up in the morning they spread out.

Co-sleeping beyond those first 6 months was not a conscious decision, it just happened that way. But I am happy to provide a middle of the night snuggle. I believe it will come to a natural end as the children mature, and I will probably miss waking up with a little one curled up at the foot of the bed, or sleeping peacefully next to me. (The boys are really quiet and still sleepers, and most of the time I don't even wake up when they crawl into our bed).

I could look at their sleeping faces for ever.....

a girls' morning out - cricket and nature

Yesterday it was finally Little Possum's turn to start the cricket season. The family schedule looked impossible to juggle with Turtle's match starting at 8am, LP at 8.30 and Doodlebug at 9am - in 3 different locations, miles apart. But somehow it all came together, as it always does.

Kanga cricket takes place at an oval a mere 10 min walk away along beautiful, tree-lined streets and through a bush reserve. There are no photos of LP's cricket debut as she was a little overwhelmed to start with, and mummy involvement was required. We practised batting and bowling and LP concentrated really hard once the initial apprehension had given way. Another possible reason for this apprehension could be that LP is the only girl in this group of 50 or so children. I have no fear that she will cope with that, battle-hardened as she is having 2 older brothers.

An hour into the 90 min long session LP declared herself tired, and decided that cricket was over for this morning, thank you very much. We stayed and watched the other children for awhile before walking home.... slowly... there was so much to do along the way.

blowing dandelion seeds

taking a little time out to just sit and enjoy a handful of "fairy blossoms"

tree climbing, always tree climbing

he loves me, he loves me not...

my chore for today:

"It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a viking to raze a village"

or, in this case, a rumpus room.... my viking decendant children are taking their heritage far too seriously!

these boots were meant for walking............

.........back to school and back to work. It's end of the weekend and end of the school holidays and 4 pairs of freshly shined shoes are sitting in the hallway ready for the morning. One shoe so shiny it attracted the attention of a little moth. Good job MOTH..... :)

Today.....

I should have done this: But I did this:
(the light is funny..... the fabric is actually white....) This is a drawing that Little Possum made. She drew a princess and a castle, both will be turned into stitcheries and LP wants them made into a cushion.

There are a million things that need to be done around the house today. But.. in line with Carli's prompt, I spent the day re-energising in nature with good friends. We did not make it to nature untamed but had a pleasant time in a park stitching, talking and listening to our children playing in the nearby bush trying very hard to catch some wild rabbits.

Now that we're back I have an hour to do my June Cleaver best to clean and cook dinner.

perfect day

"Oh it's such a perfect day,

I'm glad I spent it with you.

Oh such a perfect day,

You just keep me hanging on,

You just keep me hanging on."

(- Lou Reed)

Blue sky,

sunshine,

lying on my back on the grass listening to the kids who are happily engaged in play

(in a mudhole surrounded by reeds, bamboo and fallen logs)

riding bikes on the BMX track,

picnic on the grass,

birds singing,

beautiful wattle trees, little golden puffs against the blue sky

(have you noticed how they look like they're tied on with little yellow ribbons?)

driving home in a car full of muddy, smelly, contented children

glorious

perfect, simply perfect!

(but sadly I had left the camera at home........ lesson learned!)

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Peter!

This poor man always gets a little left behind because Father's Day falls right after LP's birthday. There was no time for breakfast in bed this morning before church, so we had a little Father's Day picnic in the garden with left over party food at lunchtime instead. The kids had all made Daddy something special - LP had made the tie, Doodlebug painted a canvas and Turtle made a special drawing.

They all came to pose for photos one by one.... by birth order oddly enough.

Penrith Lakes

On Saturday we (minus Doodlebug) headed out to Penrith for a bit of an outing, driving through Windsor and Richmond on the way. We should have continued on to the Blue Mountains, but will save that for another time. In Penrith we found the lakes, with the Olympic rowing lake and white water park. There's a biketrack all around the lake which is 5 km around and we were interested to see how LP would go for that distance. Easy peasy... must be all that rope skipping she's doing :)
I really should follow her exercise regime! Running everywhere, never sitting still, skipping rope at any given opportunity....