humbling

today we went to St Andrews and spent the day in the most glorious autumnal Sunshine.
a friend we have made from kinder last year, her parents home was destroyed on black Saturday. 3 families went up to lend a hand on Sunday.
weeding, planting fruit trees, building shelves, digging, removing rumble, and providing support.
the day was beautiful, the children had a ball.
i stopped at one stage and looked around me, a big sigh escaped from me and i had tears in my eyes. happy tears, tears of joy that all these people i was surrounded by, good honest people that give, everyone was doing their own thing, hard at work to make a difference to these people. the children were laughing and having the most fun i have ever seen. there were no fights or squabbles all day, there was too much fun to be had sliding down hills, playing in the mud, fossicking for treasure, collecting broken bricks.
it was a sense of community, a sense of giving.

baking

one pear galette yum yum yum
i love days where i can bake.

finished

I've done it. i have finished Archie's beanie. this is the first real piece of knitting that i have finished. on Tuesday night i was close to finishing and i think i was thinking too much about john, dropped a stitch couldn't work it all out, so undid the whole lot and started again. so really i started this on Wednesday night and finished it tonight. i am really proud of it, and arch loves it.

thanks to Michelle from twoandsix for posting her beehive beanie pattern on her blog

reality check

on Monday i got a call from John to tell me that he had admitted himself to hospital with chest pains and a numb face.
I raced to his side, to hear that they weren't sure, possibly a stroke. we need to run some tests.
after nearly a day of waiting, tests and conversations, finally a specialist arrived to diagnose Bells Palsy.
he spent 2 nights in hospital, under observation and tests.

i wasn't sure whether to take the boys in, but on Tuesday night we went in and had a picnic dinner of McDonald's (a rare and special treat seeing as it was opposite the hospital !!) the boys lay and watch the TV in johns bed and then found that they could move the bed up and down :: oh the joy - for them, not for the man next to john. we made a hasty retreat home .
this was a wake up call for us, to slow down and appreciate the good things :: our kids, each other and all we have.
it made me stop and think, life is too short for petty squabbles and the mentality "i will do it tomorrow, or i wish this wold hurry up and finish, or soon..." we need to live in the moment, take each day as it comes, enjoy every moment we can. children teach us this, and i know i need to stop and take each day as it comes and enjoy all that i have.
a good thing to come out of it is he has a clean bill of health and he has stopped smoking.

weekend happenings

a busy weekend doing lots but not much. Saturday we spent in the garden, raking, weeding creating a shelf for the boys to use while in the sandpit and a new garden by their cubby.
Sunday we went to a friends for lunch.
a good mix of family and friends.

new beginnings

this morning after we dropped Hugo to school, Arch and i went to our local Steiner playgroup. after a few persistent phone calls from me, the leader of the play group rang me yesterday and offered us a place on a Thursday morning. of course i jumped at the chance, and so this morning, with a piece of fruit in hand we went to our first session. no sooner was arch out of the car he briefly stopped so i could take a photo and then he ran up to the front door.

this is the first time i have done anything solely for arch, with arch ( how bad is that!!) but we had a magical morning. he settled into the groove of a very established group of children and parents ( not sure if i did as well as him!!) and happily played and experienced the mornings activities. we had been to visit at the start term and Archie loved it and so today was no exception.

i love parts of the Steiner philosophy especially for early childhood. i love to simplicity, the creativeness, the gentle rhythms, the flow of play, song, creativeness.

Receive the child with gratitude

Educate them with love

Let them go forth in freedom.
Rudolf Steiner

we had a lovely peaceful morning and arch was asleep in the car before we got home.i am looking forward to our Thursday mornings together, to continue building on our relationship.

retail therapy

a quiet cup of tea, using my new mugs from one of my favourite stores.

its amazing how a bit of retail therapy can make even the darkest days seem so much better.

creating

my boys will find any opportunity to create. friends of ours have a holiday house in the country near Noojee and are renovating. Hugo got cabin fever inside so went out and built his own house from the timber scraps.

enjoy

Lightning McQueen made with love last night for a friends little boy
i hope he likes his cake and eats it too.

..a smile

i saw a brief smile like this today, brief but it was there and a twinkle in his eye........... he's on the improve
its amazing what a dose of antibiotics will do to get rid of tonsillitis

knitting

i have spent the week knitting. since starting our knitting group i have been doing a little bit here and there but because i have to concentrate on counting ( i have to knit 20 purl 14 knit 20 each row and then the alternate row is reverse) its hard to sit and talk , watch the kids, etc so i have been making excuses. each night recently when i have gone to pick it up i have been tired, so haven't done any. but this week all i have done is knit and i am loving it, so hopefully i might finish this sooner rather than later as i went shopping today for my next project.

a day of cooking

with Arch sick, listless and sleeping most of the day i managed to get some cooking done.
:: choc chip cookies for Hugo after school and his lunch box
:: Chicken casserole for dinner ( a new recipe)
:: minestrone soup ( a new recipe) for the rest of the week
:: Apple and apricot crumble for dessert.

oh and i sat and knitted with Arch by my side as well.

a quiet day

its not often i get cuddles all day and he falls asleep in bed, but after a restless night of vomiting my little man is sick and exhausted. he curled up in bed and fell asleep.
so a quiet day at home should mean that i catch up on all my chores :: i have lit the fire and i am putting my feet up for a while. Internet ?? knitting ?? reading ??

my day

:: the statue of the African lady is the present that Hugo picked from his mothers day stall.

:: beautiful flowers from the boys

:: rainbow bread - the boys favourite from a local shop near mum and dads

:: lunch

bliss

what is bliss?
::is it the silence and peace as the day draws to a close and my two babes are in bed?
::is it knowing that i will be off to knit very soon and catch a few hours for myself?
::is it listening to the fire crackle?
yes to all of the above.

NO to

::a phone call to say that my husband has just finished his meeting and is just dropping into the footy as friends are there.

::missing out on my knitting

::going to bed and then being woken by Archie calling me as he is vomiting.

how quickly it all changes !!!

Mothers Day

last night we came down to mum and dads at the beach.
after lots of cuddles and stories at bed time from Grandma and Popeye the boys quickly hopped into bed and were eagerly awaiting mummy's day.
as i crept down the hallway to check they were quiet i overheard this
Archie: " Hugo, my bike Hugo?"
Hugo : "its outside arch, you can ride it tomorrow. you have to be quiet"
Archie: "Hugo Hugo"
Hugo; "arch go to sleep tomorrow is mummy's day"
Archie: "Hugo, my bike Hugo"
Hugo: " night night Arch"

i crept away not wanting them to hear me.

i awoke this morning to Hugo's very eager present giving.
he had a mothers day stall at school and had taken money and chosen a present all by himself for me. he was SO excited. " do you like it mummy. did i make the right choice ?" of course you did Hugo. i love it.
john took the boys out to buy flowers and then we went and had breakfast by the beach. we then spent the rest of the morning at the beach writing in the sand, chasing sea gulls and playing in the water.
we then went back up to the house and had lunch.
we spent the afternoon playing Lego, reading books, building sandcastles. as we packed the car and headed home the boys slept.
as we tumbled inside at home we lit the fire and had a quick dinner.
thank you boys for making my day so wonderful and special.
you are all i will ever need on mothers day and every day your smiles, laughter and sense of fun is more than enough.
i certainly have the greatest gifts ever Hugo and Archie.