ANZAC day - Lest we forget

A sprig of rosemary in remembrance of Anzac Cove, where the rosemary bushes grew in abundance

Every year, LP goes to Grandma Marnie's house to make Anzac biscuits. These biscuits were called Soldier's biscuits until after Gallipoli and their origins are fascinating: During WWI mothers and wives were worried about their men receiving adequate nutrition. The problem with sending care packages to them was the length of transport from Australia to Europe and the lack of refrigeration. So these Soldier's biscuits came about. Biscuits with as much nutrition as possible packed into them - oats, coconut, sugar, bicarb soda, water and golden syrup or treacle to bind everything together in lieu of eggs.

This is the "Hobart", a navy light cruiser that Peter's granddad served on. We honour his contribution to WWII on Anzac Day.

And every Anzac Day Pop (Peter's Dad) marches in the big parade in Sydney. We watched the parade on TV and waited eagerly until we could see him wave. Next year I would like to take the kids to the dawn service, and go into town to watch the parade. I'd really like for the children to learn to appreciate the significance of this day, to learn to truly honour the memory of all who have fought and to learn true gratitude for the blessing of living in a country that is free and prosperous.

deepish random ponderings

Part of my morning routine is to have a little roam around the Blogworld. These blogposts do many things - some posts amuse and entertain as I read of the events small and large that form part of the daily lives of my blog friends. Other posts inspire creativity, and then there are the posts that inspire me to think and ponder.

This particular morning there are 2 posts that sent me down a particular path of thought. First I read the latest update from our friends Mark and Tash over in London. Tash is battling secondary breast cancer. In Doodlebug vernacular what is happening to her stinks, but she remains such a positive and vibrant person.

While I was digesting the latest news which isn't good, I visited Jordan over at the Wonderwheel and her beautiful piece on faith and its place in parenting. One particular point Jordan brought up was the belief in "everything happens for a reason" and how she prefers to turn that around to believe we can find reason in everything that happens. Jordan wrote her piece so beautifully that I won't butcher it by trying to paraphrase what she said, but I wanted to think out loud for a while over here instead.

I believe in an omnipotent, omniscient Heavenly Father and that He has a plan for us. This means that I believe things happen for a reason or purpose even when I don't see clearly what that reason or purpose is in the short term. Usually the reason can only be seen by hindsight.

Life on earth may appear random in the way good and bad things happen to people. A bit like a boardgame e.g. Monopoly where landing on the "chance" box means drawing a card that might earn us a blessing or a tribulation in a completely random fashion. But, according to scientific theory, nothing is truly random. What might appear random to one person might have a pattern to another. All the bad things that happen such as war, natural disasters and disease are part of our earthly existence. So are the personal disasters or trials we face in our life. Are these things random? Are our reactions to them random? Some people find faith despite disaster or even because of it while others use these things as a reason not to believe in God.

I believe that everything happens for a reason and that the reason is for us to find reason or purpose in everything, to find faith, to find good in ourselves and others and to use this for good.

love in my mailbox

That one thing I miss the most with the arrival of email are good old-fashioned letters. These days I go to the mailbox only to collect a wide selection of envelopes that usually never contain anything warm and fuzzy. Then every once in a while there is something special.... like today!

Tusen takk Joanna for my beautiful "Pobody's Nerfect" journal! I love it!!! LP was most envious of my special book and most put out that I wouldn't give it to her. So, now I'm in trouble because I promised I would make her a journal of her very own. Tutorial please, Joanna?

school holidays!

On this first day of the school holidays, it's a wettish, grey day outside. So we made a cubby in the playroom instead of our planned outdoor one. The finished result is not just your everyday ordinary sort of cubby, but a mansion with 4 little rooms and a waterfall outside (the blue sheet).

so much fun!

"on my night table..."

my little item in the sidebar makes it look as if there are only one or two books on my night-table.... this might be true, but lately my collection of "to read" books has grown to the extent of no longer fitting on the nighttable, and I had to move them to the top of the dresser. This picture does not include the ones waiting for me in the bookshop that I have ordered in......

My name is Mari and I am a book-a-holic.........

boomerang

Doodlebug has studied the colonial era in school this term. As part of these studies the class visited Cockatoo Island and the whole school had its Colonial Day. For their end of term project, the children have to make and present either: 1. A ship like one from the First Fleet, 2. A model of Uluru, 3. a model of a settler's cottage or 4. a boomerang. They also have to write a report about their chosen model. Doodlebug wanted to make the boomerang but needed some assistance from MOTH. The opportunity arose on Friday when Doodlebug was off from school with a high temperature and MOTH was working from home. They went down to The Shed and got to work.

This photo was taken around the time Doodlebug's temp spiked again, hitting a toasty 40.8/105.5, and judging by this photo he was feeling the chills despite the outside temperature still being pleasantly warm.

MOTH gave a hand with the curved bits, but Doodlebug did the cutting on the straight lines, thanks to the guidance of a laser line. Very cool apparently..... :) The finished product was then sanded. That was enough for an exertion for one day, and Doodlebug had a long sleep after this.

We continued yesterday with the finishing touches - the painting. We had researched traditional Aboriginal designs and Doodlebug decided he wanted to do the dot painting rather than painting a kangaroo on it. MOTH had cut out some extra boomerangs for the others so they could have some fun too, and yesterday afternoon we set ourselves up on the deck with paints and cotton buds to make dots.

And here are the finished products, didn't they do well?

Traditionally the owner/maker of a boomerang would decorate it with a design that had some significance to him. In that spirit all the children chose their own patterns rather than copying the designs we had found on the Net. We have possibly the very first boomerang with a Pokeball on it........

Last, but not least, we had to check if it flies.

the game of two halves

and so soccer season starts again. Doodlebug was struck down with a virus, and to his great distress was not able to play his first game. But Turtle was excited to play his first game. He was trying his very best. Every once in a while as he stole the ball off someone I would hear a "sorry" and I was about to be really impressed at the manners and sensitivity of my boy...... then I heard what he said after... the full sentence was "sorry..... but you don't get to score a goal this time". He played very well and was awarded the "player of the game" trophy at the end. To top that off, I bought him a sausage sandwich from the BBQ and his bliss was complete :)

my little angels

their wings are slightly tattered around the edges, but still...... when I see them asleep I suddenly can't remember the frustrations of "Witching Hour". The boys decided this week that they would like to sleep in the same bed. Fine by me. Their sleeping arrangements have always been changeable - from separate rooms to sharing rooms and back to separate rooms again. Our bed is also a favoured stopover in the night. They are so adept at sneaking into our bed that most of the time I don't wake up - they just slide in under the doona and snuggle up - They are thankfully not restless sleepers!

our latest acquisition

is a great hit with the kids! I have wondered about getting a hammock for some time, so when one came up on Freecycle I jumped at the chance of giving a pre-loved hammock a new home. Turtle and LP came with me to collect it and we assembled it this afternoon. The kids have never been on a hammock before, so they took a few attempts mastering the art of getting on it.....

oooooops......

Finally made it........ sort of......

homeless no more.....

Turtwig has long wanted a little place to call his own. Although sharing Turtle's bed was not all bad, he quite often found himself under the bed, having fallen under there in the night. The dust bunnies were friendly enough but brought out Turtwig's allergy. Also, the decor under the bed left much to be desired - drab colours and bad lighting.

So, Turtwig requested that Turtle design him a house. Turtle gladly took on the task, drew a house that MOTH helped to turn into proper plans using ruler, protractor and compass (Turtle had a great maths lesson in calculating angles etc). A trip to Bunning's followed in order to get the materials and colours worthy of Turtwig. A day in the shed using MOTH's new jigsaw, Turtle's new tool belt and some pots of paint resulted in a beautiful new home for Turtwig.

He is very happy and is hoping to feature in Pokemon Better Homes and Gardens.

I have waited long for this...

We have 2 passionfruit vines in our garden. One is a grafted one from the garden centre, the other transplanted from the compost bin. That sounds very much like the parable of the tame and the wild olive tree, now doesn't it? We have a tame and a wild vine..... For the last couple of years I have waited in vain for flowers and fruit. It obviously wasn't getting the right combination of light and rain. But, as I went out to have a look at it today, I discovered dozens of buds and flowers. Mostly on the wild one... I will be guarding our treasure, because I can't wait to have some fruit!!! The cockatoos and possums will probably like them too, so I am going to find some nets to protect my vines.

life in the trenches... Easter instalment

We are wondering where the Easter Bunny might be able to leave the eggs this year as we have rearranged things in the garden somewhat since last year. The cement mixer might be a new interesting hidey-hole and perhaps inside the "witches' hats"?. Maybe we'll even find some bunny paw prints in the concrete......?



Not that the boys will be fooled. .. A few months ago Turtle announced that the Easter Bunny doesn't exist, and he knew this because Doodlebug had informed him that Daddy had been spotted early in the morning putting eggs around the garden, and besides everyone knows that rabbits don't lay eggs. Not even the sultanas I left on the doorstep and the driveway had them fooled.... Doodlebug said "they're not rabbit poop, they're sultanas!" and he proceded to eat one. He should be glad he was right, I suppose :)
LP still enjoys living the dream though, so we will have a hunt around the garden.

My word cloud...

A new little image has turned up on my sidebar. It's a word cloud from Snapshirts. I found out about this from the fabulous Jordan over at the Wonderwheel, and immediately had a "me too, me too!" moment.
The selection of words fascinate me. "mud" and "trenches" feature strongly, as do "accidental", "children" and "trampoline". Quite funny, really. It' ll be interesting to see how the cloud changes if I try it again in 6 months. Mud will probably still feature....

One of those funny little moments

At the dinner table LP was busy discussing her "boyfriend" (who btw does not know he is her boyfriend.....) and telling us she had only given him a cuddle and not a kiss. Stacy is obviously not the only one with a little Infants' school romance :)

Then she said "I know what colour J's box is". MOTH and I looked at each other, and I am sure my face mirrored his in looking stunned. If you are wondering why..... we have just completed cricket season, and a box is the plastic shield used by the boys to protect their Bits, so this is what first came to mind..

MOTH - "box?!"
LP: "yes, he has a blue lunch box".......
she looked a little surprised that this revelation would elicit a huge bellylaugh from her parents. We did not enlighten her.

it's Colonial Day!

It's not an officially recognised on-the-public-calendar sort of event, it is one of those school activities that I was convinced yesterday exist solely for the purpose of challenging parents...

The kids' school are making a day of it, with activities, food, games and crafts from the colonial era. The children were all supposed to turn up in costume. Doodlebug and Turtle both decided they wanted to be convicts, and LP settled for being a little colonial girl rather than a convict urchin.

I had the "brilliant" thought that I would save money by making the costumes rather than spend money on hiring them for the day. Although, in the middle of assembling it all it struck me that maybe the parents who went to the costume shop had the right idea after all.....

While hunting for fabric dye for LP's dress, I bumped into a couple of other mothers who were also going the DIY route. We exchanged Ball and Chain ideas and accessories. Quite a bonding experience, really :)

Despite moments of stress, unpicking seams etc, I actually really enjoyed doing this. It was fun creating and also reminiscing back to my own primary school days when my mother made my costumes for me... I remember feeling very proud and special then wearing her creations and I wanted my children to share in some of that feeling.

This morning the boys decided that their costumes weren't quite authentic enough. Doodlebug wanted to look like he had been whipped, and they both wanted to have rips on the knees and sleeves as well. I resisted the urge to squeak as they were cutting into my masterpieces. But they were both very happy with the result, and were excited to go show off their costumes.

I had tried to convince them they would probably have authentic bush tucker for lunch - roasted goanna, kangaroo, witchetty grubs and damper. LP looked doubtful, but decided that I was probably joking. The boys didn't take me seriously for a minute.... I obviously didn't keep a straight enough face..

our weekend guest

Being a dog person and having grown up with dogs in the family, I miss their presence. So when friends asked if we could mind their dog while they went away for the weekend I was more than happy to accept.

Chelsea is very well behaved for an adolescent dog..... in fact she was better at taking instructions than our children. The children generally enjoyed having her around, playing 'fetch' and taking her for walks, although in LP's case I think it was hard to tell who was taking who for walkies.... Chelsea would pull her along at speed. So for safety, LP restricted her dogwalking to the garden.

LP was less than impressed at losing one of her"Littlest Pet Shop" toys to "Jaws". But, to have only one decapitated little plastic bunny was not a bad result. Having been warned about Chelsea's fondness for soft toys, we had hidden every teddy with sentimental value.

The timing of our dogsitting weekend was perhaps not the best, it turns out Chelsea likes mud as much as the kids do. The difference is that she, clever though she may be, did not see the significance of the red/white tape. The mud puddle was apparently a perfect place to cool down after a long walk, so she laid down in the mud for a little rest. She was not impressed at the indignity of a public shower with the garden hose afterwards.

But despite the hosing down she seemed to enjoy her time with us.

A picture book...

We have a little author in the family. I rediscovered this piece of literary excellence the other day when I was cleaning out my deskspace. LP wrote this story around Christmas time, it's a story of a little kitten who was scared by a dog, hid in her basket, and then the mummy cat came and scared the dog away so all is good....
I particularly enjoyed the illustrations.

accidental gardening

look at these beauties.... the yummiest, sweetest cherry tomatoes I ever tried. Ironically they are also from the only tomato plant that I didn't plant. My feeble attempts at cultivating tomatoplants failed miserably and I was left with my accidental garden.
Our accidental garden is growing among the camelias at the top of the garden, this is where we dig in the debris from cleaning out the guinea pig hutches. So our tomato plant grew from recycled seeds that were planted encased in their own little pods of fertiliser.... LP is tickled pink by this plant because one of her favourite books is Moya Simons' "My Amazing Poo Plant"

life in the trenches... part 2

And this is what it looks like now..... The mud dried out and today the landscapers came and poured concrete for us. Thank goodness for the back door so that I could still get in and out of the house. The wet concrete is obviously going to provide a nice child magnet.... it's just begging for a little handprint or some initials. So, I will have my work cut out trying to keep it pristine.

Depending on the weather we should have a nice new path and step ready for when I am hosting the Book Group later in the month.

life in the trenches...

Well.... it seems the fad of turning your yard into a mudpit has spread from Carli's place. A couple of days ago a little yellow digger arrived in our garden - at 7 am no less. This work was obviously not unexpected, but it wasn't supposed to start for another couple of weeks. However, the wife of the digger man is expecting a baby any day, and had told him in no uncertain terms that he was not to schedule any work beyond this weekend. So he asked if he could move the digging day. Fair enough.

Within hours the concrete driveway and the lawn to one side of it had been transformed. And then as luck would have it, we had a torrential downpour of rain, making a lovely pool of mud right at our doorstep.

FIL gave strict instructions to keep the children out of it as he was worried about the piles of dirt collapsing. Well, you know my kids...... so can you imagine trying to separate them from the best thing to happen to our yard for ages? They came home from school and 3 pairs of eyes practically glazed over, they were so excited by what they saw....

I guess I'm a little oppositional too, because I let the kids in to make mudpies on the strict condition they did not climb over the mounds of dirt.
I obviously hadn't been specific enough as LP decided the trench between the mounds were not covered by the agreement and was therefore not off limits. Her talent for finding loopholes would be put to good use as a lawyer... (or politics?....)

As you can see the boys decided that swimmers/boardies were most suitable (easier to rinse off in the shower afterwards. They are nothing but practical...)

On day 2 most of the water had drained out, and we had some lovely clay to work with......

On day 3 FIL turned up and saw obvious evidence..... I suppose it was naive of me to think he'd find that little clay sculptures were a natural occurrence..... cue another admonition.

By the way..... did I mention that the rest of the landscaping will still happen on the scheduled day? Let's see, that's 11 more days of trench warfare....