Happy birthday to me.... YIKES!

On the 21st of December was my birthday. I had a lovely day relaxing with my Mum, my kids and Daz. We didn't do anything real exciting, which was fine by me. I just enjoyed the simplicity and relaxing activities of the day, and being spoiled with gifts and love. That evening we headed out to look at Christmas lights, which is a tradition in our family.

(Excuse the dodgy photos, but it's soooo much easier uploading photos from my iPhone instead of the SLR)

(This one is in time to music!!)



Towards the end of the evening, we dropped into a petrol station to get the kids an icecream. As I was getting out the car, I noticed the attendant RUNNING madly around the register and over to the door. As the kids piled out of the car, the attendant had locked the doors and put a sign up saying it was only fuel purchases only. I was annoyed. How rude! Little did I know that God was putting us in position for something important.

We had to travel further north to get an icecream, and then head back to the route we were going to take to look at the rest of the lights and head home. That added 15 extra minutes to our outing. And those 15 minutes were going to count. We headed home, tired and happy - then as we were whizzing past homes towards our own home, I turned to look at all the dark homes, and saw flames engulfing one living room of one house. FIRE!! "Honey that house is on fire!!" I said urgently, who promptly did a u-turn and we headed back. Thank goodness my Daz is not a "Someone else will get it" sort of person! The house looked abandoned, as some of those houses are, so Daz pulled out his phone and started to call emergency and I stayed in the car. "What number is the house?" he asked, but my night vision is so terrible, I had to get out of the car and walk right across the road and stand in front of the mail box to see the number. God used my dreadful eyesight, because to my horror I could hear banging and screaming from the inside of the house. There were people stuck inside! All the windows were covered in security screens, locking the tennants in the burning house. I ran back across the road to and told Daz to tell 000 that there were people trapped inside, and then I ran back over trying to work out where the banging was coming from. I couldn't pick it. I scanned the house looking for faces, or anything that would tell me where they were. A man pulled up behind our car, noticing me running backward and fowards across the road franticly and after seeing the flames, he jumped out of his car. I yelled out to him, "There are people trapped inside!!"

By now the whole living room was ablaze and the glass was popping and there were small explosions in the house. I was utterly terrified, but that man bravely assessed and worked out where the banging and screaming was coming from. They were trapped in the adjacent garage, right next to the flames. He ran over and quickly opened the door, and out came 3 children, their grandmother, a heavily pregnant mother and the father from a cloud of smoke. I lead the three children and the grandmother out and up to the footpath, the children sobbed and looked back at the flames with terror in their little faces. Something I cannot erase from my mind. It's stuck there forever I think! I turned back to see if the rest of the family were following, but the father had collapsed on the ground, metres away from the exploding glass and the terrible heat of the flames. The man who let them out had gone looking for a hose or something so I was alone. It was far too dangerous to be this close to the house, the flames were getting bigger and quickly taking over the house. I went back for him grabbed his shoulders and shook him "Mate you can't stay here, it's too dangerous, you need to get up!" He didn't move.  "Common!! You have to move!" I said more urgently. The heat of the fire was burning my face and I was absolutely terrified (My lips were cracked and sore after that 30 second encounter with the flames) Somehow I managed to get him to hear me, hauled him up and lead him to the footpath where it was safer.

I looked back at the flames and the roof had caught alight!! Fire is not a slow mover, let me tell you!!! I stood with the family as they watched their home burning before their eyes, saying nothing and just allowing them to cry and sob. Daz asked them about gas, did they have gas in the house? Yes they did? Where was the mains? They had no idea. The neighbours who had gathered to spectate, heard us say "Gas" and all quickly retreated to the other side of the road.

The fireys arrived within 10 minutes and made quick work of the flames, that by now had taken over half the house. A medic arrived not long after that, and I quickly spoke to him about the father and that he needs to be treated for shock. The medic told me he couldn't treat him straight away, and the children were his priority. He asked me to stay with the father and monitor him until he was able to get there. Daz helped the fireys, relaying the information we had learned from the family, as the family stood by shocked and relatively incoherant, unable to think clearly and quickly. There is gas, but unsure where the mains are, there are pets inside.... I learned as I stood with the family, that it was deliberately lit, someone threw a flammable bomb into the living room, where the father was sleeping, surrounding him in flames. This was then passed on to the fireys who then taped off the whole area.  

God really put us in that place at the exact right moment so that lives would be saved, and we could help. Not many cars were driving down the road at that time of night... and it's likely that if we didn't see the flames, no one would have seen it until too late. 5 minutes later and that family could have well died of smoke inhalation in that garage, or burned from the roof that was burning above them.  If we had gotten our ice creams from the first service station, it is likely we would have driven past this house that would still be sleeping and dark - with a fire just about to be lit.

And next time something inconvenient happens again, like that service station attendant did... I am not going to complain. God could be positioning me for something else... although I hope it's not as crazy as this last episode!!!  

Well now we know.

On Wednesday we went to Autism SA for EJ's ASD assesment. Yeah... well... that wasn't a fun experience let me tell you. It's tough sitting in the interview room being peppered with questions, that were mentally draining. I can't remember what EJ did at 9 months old to ask me for stuff!! LOL EJ spent the morning playing with another specialist in the next room while she watched him and took notes on his behaviours towards her and to play.
EJ was diagnosed with Aspergers - quite convincingly. His social skills are so lacking, even I was surprised at his anti-social behaviour towards strangers. He didn't engage, he didn't look at the woman, he got upset when she tried to play with him or talk to him. He only spoke to her if it benefited him, or he was interested in the topic. It was such a shock to hear my son being described as egocentric. In other words... all that is important to him, is himself and what HE likes. That's really tough to swallow.
It was also very devastating to hear that this is a life long battle for him, and he will always struggle with it. He will manage it, and if we get him help in the right areas he will do a lot better.

So... we now have to toss aside SPD, and start from scratch. New therapies with different approaches and new therapists - along with more to throw into my very full plate. I've deferred from Uni, because my health hasn't been very good, and now I am glad because I don't think I could balance uni with helping my little guy manage ASD. If I feel myself begin to topple, I will be ditching other stuff as well. I'm afraid it's going to have to be THIS family first, other people later.

How do I feel? Numb. Sad. Like my whole world has been turned upside down and I'm left to try and make sense of everything. Happy - because he's going to be getting the help that he needs and we are going to receive help as well, instead of trying to understand all of this alone. Joyful, because my son is quirky, unusual, and has "a higher order" of thinking (so I've heard it described). Blessed, because I live in a state where they have services coming out it's ears and I won't be on mega-waiting lists for anything. Supported, because I have friends I can turn to who have ASD kids themselves, and they are willing to walk with me and offer me their hand while I try and get my bearings. So many different feelings!!

On the upside.... it's best that I am EJ's mother.... because I'm not the kind of "sit back and be passive about it" kind of woman. I will be his advocate, and I will fight tooth and nail for him to have every opportunity to succeed in life, no matter what issues he has. He may have a diagnosis, but look at him!! He's still the cheeky, adorable, funny, quirky little guy he was last week.  And I love him to pieces. He is my flesh and blood, born from my body (destroyed my body too!!) and ASD will never change how I feel about him!

Duh Mum!

Milly saw a fire engine whizz past on our way to the shops. Mum and I were talking about it with her and imitating the noise. Molly pipes up with: "no mummy! It doesn't say urrrrrrrrr it goes neenor neenor"

Here we go... again.

Life has done a bit of a lurch lately. Nothing dreadful, but still a lurch...

EJ has been regressing, quite steadily since starting school. Meltdowns are a daily occurrence once more and there are certain "traits" that have been becoming more and more prominent the older he becomes. Daz and I have been worried about him and have been hoping that he would settle back down and go back to his "normal" self.  9 months on and he is not anywhere near back to where he was. We WERE waiting for him to settle down again before taking him to the speech therapist, because he doesn't learn well when over-stimulated. We felt like we couldn't wait much longer so I took EJ to the speech therapist to get him assessed again and to see what speech therapy he will need. It turns out his speech has done very well, and he will only need a handful of sessions. Although he has some short term memory problems (this explains why he never does what I tell him repeatedly to do!) and will promptly forget things very quickly. He needs visual aids to remind him of things. My house is starting to become covered in signs for EJ! LOL
The speech therapist recommended getting him assessed for Aspergers. Suddenly things started making sense. Lack of eye contact, no hand gestures (you have to work hard to get him to point at something) obsessive behaviour, shutting down in social situations, poor social skills..... and the list goes on. I took him to the paediatrician and he strongly recommended assessment for Aspergers. So we are back to square one again, going through assessments and waiting on waiting lists for help. Thankfully with Autism SA, there is only 8-10 weeks to wait.

SPD is very similar to Aspergers, so there shouldn't be a huge adjustment to make - although on the upside there is SOOOO much more support and services available for Aspie kids. That will be good for him.   

Oh boy!!

Darling Mop is having a teary evening and everything seems to be just dreadful in her world... this moment. Daz suggested I try and explain to her about hormones and how they produce irrational  strange moods. She just sat there blubbering as I tried to tell her that her body will start to change one day and grow into a woman. But before that there is lots of hormones floating around and can effect ones mood. She might feel like crying and have no real reason to. Or she may feel angry over small things. These things were ok, and I tried to tell her I understood why she may be feeling a bit fragile. She asked me what will my body change into. I was tempted to tell her an elephant, but I restrained. Afterall this was a very serious moment. So I attempted to explain menopause in a way an 8 year old would understand. I told her that my body would say "STOP! no more babies!!" whereas hers will change to be ready to have babies.

"I don't want to have a baby!!" she burst into a new wave of tears.
"Oh no darling, you won't, you need to have a husband to have a baby."
"I don't want to have a baby at all." she sobbed.
"That's ok. If you don't want to then that is your choice. But you don't need to think about that now, you are still a girl and without a husband."
"Having a baby is really painful..." she howled, tears streaming down her cheeks "Especially if it's a boy!!"
I couldn't help myself. I laughed. I laughed and laughed. She glared at me, crying her little heart out, which made me laugh all the more! "You are making me worse!!!" she accused. I gathered my little girl into my arms and hugged her. "You are just giving me material for my blog" I soothed her.
"You will keep this private won't you?" she asked as she sobbed on my shoulder

Not on your life kiddo! :)

I'm glad I didn't explain menstruation to her!! Imagine how devastated she would be!!!

I love you...

I took Milly to the ladies while we were at the shops. While we were in the cubicle I whispered to her: "Psssst. Milly! I love you!"

Milly looked and grinned mischeviously "I love you bigger!"

Me: I love you bigger than that!

Milly: I love you bigger than this toilet

Me: I love you bigger than this room!

Milly: I love you bigger than the shops!

Me: I love you bigger than our country!

Milly.... *brief pause* I love you bigger than your bottom!!!

*snort*

It was a good place to nearly wet yourself laughing I spose. Ahhh she's a sweetheart!! Taking after her sister I suppose who when she was little was looking at her backside in the mirror..

"Mummy, I have a little bottom.... but you have a BIIIIIIGGG bottom"

thanks girls.

Camping/4 Wheel driving trip 2011

These school holidays have been busy yet very relaxing for the kids and myself. We have enjoyed not having to be up at certain times, rushing to get to school, rushing off to school pick-up etc. The weather has been really beautiful - almost spring-like in it's warmth and sunshiney goodness.

A new friend of mine that I made from craft group asked our family to join their family on a 4WD/camping trip in the Flinders Ranges during the school hols, which we eagerly agreed to. So we set off up to Hawker, a 4 hour drive away, and were awestruck by the beautiful ranges that we drove through to get there. We set up camp and then relaxed for the rest of the evening, playing games, & drinking hot coffee/chocolate. Although the days were sunny and relatively mild the temperatures plummeted when the sun set, making it very cold at night. I had 6 layers on and a double wool blanket and still felt icy cold!

The next day we were up and ready for our 6 hour 4WD trek that we were about to do through the Flinders.


*Aboriginal etchings on a rock*










*The kids climbed this massive hill after lunch - can you see EJ at the very top?*


*Here he is again*


*Mop went up to get him*














*The kids and Daz contributing to the big rock pile at the peak of our journey*


*Curious little eyes watching us*




We had an awesome time and it was very refreshing and a much needed break for all of us.

8 years ago....

8 years ago with a cry of shock and surprise that the heavy bulk within me had suddenly left my body, I took my first step into the unknown world of motherhood. A wet slippery body was placed into my arms, and I stared into the still face of my daughter, her mass of black hair sticking up all over the place, looking sooooooo completely beautiful. The cord was cut, separating her from me completely physically,  so she could grow and be her own little person. 8 years ago I didn't even think about what she would be when she grew, for now, she was my tiny and beautiful Mop.

8 years ago I learned how completely and utterly heart-wrenching having a child of your own torn away from you and taken off to have medical treatment so that they could live. I learned that 4 hours can feel like a lifetime when you don't know what is happening to that beautiful little girl you held just for a moment.

I learned what effect that little life would have on me when the doctor told us grim news about our baby. Possible brain damage. Possibly going to be flown to a far away hospital during the night. You can't take her home. You can see her, but you can't hold her. You can't take her home. We don't know what will happen. We don't know what happened. I also believe in a God who would help me, no matter what the outcome. I learned that before Mop was a day old, that I had to place her into the hands of the Father and trust him. I learned about real joy and jubilation when 5 days later, against all odds, I took my baby home.

8 years ago, I began the steep learning curve of motherhood - and it's something I would do again and again and again.

8 years ago, God gave me my beautiful baby girl. 8 years ago she was still a baby, today she is a tall, long, smart, beautiful, sweet, funny girl with a big smile, a big heart and laughter that sounds like bubbles.

Happy birthday my Mop. I love you bigger than the galaxy.

I can smile at the storm

Lately I've been teaching the kids all my old Sunday School songs - omitting Father Abraham because that is officially THE most annoying song on earth! Anyway, I taught them "With Christ in my Vessel, I can smile at the storm" complete with leaving out the words so they sing "With____ in my____ I can_____ at the________"

The other day a storm landed on us, thunder rumbled, the rain pelted down... it was pretty amazing. I was at the other end of the house, and Milly came running down to me, looking scared. She doesn't like storms. "Mummy!! It's storming!! It's raining and thundering and windy!" I tried to calm my girl down, seeing she was really worried about it. "Darling, we are inside, don't worry, we are safe here." She looked up at me with a crooked smile, "That's ok, because with Christ in my Vessel, I can smile at the storm" and off she went. :)

My prayer is that one day she will have Christ in her "vessel" and that she will have the same complete confidence in her Saviour.

Remind me not to ask...

Me: Lunch time Milly! What do you want for lunch?

Milly: Hmmm.... Marshmallows!!!

Me: Uh no. Marshmallows are a sometimes food. You need to have proper and good food for lunch.

Milly: Oh. Marshmallows and chocolate then!!!

It's over...

..it's not you, it's me. I am just not that into you anymore....I think it's time we took a break. You are too needy...

And if you haven't cottoned on yet, I'm talking about uni.

I'm FINISHED for the semester!! WOOHOO!!!
I did my final exam yesterday and I feel like I did fairly well in it. So now I am having a nice long break before next semester, which starts at the end of July.

So you should see more of me now that my time has been freed up.

My poor neglected blogs :(

I can breathe.... almost

I cannot begin to tell you how utterly and completely NUTTY it's been around here. Not because there has been a lot on, but because Uni was all consuming. Last week I wrapped up all my assignments and lectures and have started breathing once again...
I have an exam on Thursday, and then that will be it for a while. I have made the decision to pull out of a subject and only do 1 for a while. The stress of the work load is making my body break down and deteriorate. For those who don't know, I have a psychosomatic condition (see I did learn something this semester!!!) called Fybromyalgia - and the symptoms increase in intensity when I am stressed and overworked. I can't manage the work load of second year subjects as well as effectively manage my family. I am sad to say that I wasn't a very good homemaker and Mummy this semester. I have to put my role as Mum and wife first, and have to do what I can manage.

So... for all those readers who call me super-mum....you can see that I'm not really.

So what's been happening around here?

Mop: Sat the NAPLAN test - and loved it. Funny girl! We have had some issues with her social skills and the poor love has struggled to build relationships with the girls in her class. We understand that it's typical for gifted and intelligent children to neglect building their social skills, but we didn't want her to suffer and be lonely during her school life. So we have been working on building those skills, and it's working because she is making more friends and valuing the friendships she is building.
We had a proud moment: Mop came home from school one day saying that some year 6 boys were bullying her and saying that she was a "failure". I was pretty angry, but I kept my cool and calmly asked her if she spoke to a teacher about it. She had, but she couldn't find the boys to identify them (Mop's school has zero tolerance to bullying).  I had a chat to her about it, and tried to get her to understand that she wasn't a failure, and that those boys were cowards, ganging up on her when she was alone. She matter of factly replied: "Oh well, I know who I am on the inside and that's all that matters. Besides, they are pretty pathetic, year 6 boys ganging up on a 7 year old girl!" My mouth dropped open in surprise! What a very mature outlook. The very next day, the boys found her and started on her again, she turned around, faced her bullies and laughed in their faces and told them they were bullies. It shocked them. They haven't returned. :) Atta girl Mop!!!!



EJ: is plodding along. He is going through a very loud silly stage at the moment which drives us up the wall, but I seem to remember my brothers doing it too. So I guess it's normal.
His SPD seems to waver between good and bad. Some days he's feral, some days he is calm and copes well. We are addressing certain behaviours of his that are not acceptable and starting to crack down on them. I don't care what his issues are, he can't behave like that. Things like screaming at us in rage, hitting, spitting etc.
One really good thing is that he has finally stopped whining about going to school. Usually he would refuse to get dressed, and sit their and whine "I don't want to go to school". It was a habit. He gets into ruts and even if he DID want to go to school, he would say that. Last week he got really sick with croup and he had to stay home for three days. He was climbing the walls and by the end of it, asking to go back to school. We sent him on the fourth day.... and we have not heard one whinge or whine out of him about going to school. It's such a joy now in the mornings.
He is loving school and they are stretching him and exposing him to more and more. They take him to full school assemblies, something I thought he wouldn't be able to do for ages!! He loves them!! He enjoys his lessons and is doing brilliantly.



Milly: Has been growing up so fast!! She's really a little girl now and not my baby. She refuses to let me cradle her anymore and wants to cuddle "properly". Excuse me! I'm not ready for that!!! :) We had her down the hospital a few days ago with pretty bad croup. We had 4 nights of it and it was dreadful. Waking up every few hours, wheezing and coughing and crying. Last night she seemed to finally shake off the flatness.
Not much else to say, except she has been very tolerant of her Mama burying her face in text books and pretty much leaving her up to her own devices. She is very independent and usually goes off to play with the dog or plays some other imaginary game.



Not much else has been happening. Daz is working hard as usual, and is doing well. He has done amazingly while I have been so flat out with my studies. He's supported me and has done the jobs that I have not been able to do.

In August we are going to a Foster Care Information evening. Fostering is something that Daz and I have been considering for many years. Our hearts are heavy when we think of children who are not being raised by parents who cherish them, living in hotels and supervised by a social worker. We have space in our home and love to give and we would like to make a difference in someone's life by providing them with love, family, education and an introduction to Jesus. When we go to this information evening, it will pretty much help us decide whether to go ahead with it or not.

Something else that I have just started is getting more into photography. If you would like to see my work, I have set up yet another blog: Sunshine Lollypop photography and that's where I'll display it all as I learn and get better. I may do some photography as a hobby and a way to earn some extra cash. Depends if I get asked or not eh!?
Now that uni is mostly over I've had some extra time to start some projects that I have been wanting to do for a while. I've started doing some journalling, which you can have a look at on my creative blog: Skipper's Creative Expressions and I have really loved doing it. My next challenge is to learn to knit!!

Righto... better go have some breakfast.
xxx

Look Mum...

Milly: Look Mum!! COWBOYS!!!





Me: *Chuckle* Uhh.. no darling. They are soldiers. 

It's official! I breed geniuses!!

:) Milly Moo, such a clever little girl - 3 years old and she knows most of her phonetics and can read small words. :)  I'm so proud of her!!

Beauty advice

Milly: Mummy, why are you going to the hairdressers?
Me: Because I need a hair cut and color.
Milly: Why are you coloring your hair.
Me: Because it needs doing.... (which really means I am starting to look like a skunk)
Milly: What color will your hair be?
Me: The same, dark brown.
Milly: Oh. I think you should color your hair pink! Coz pink is my favourite color!

Thanks darling, I'll keep that in mind.

Aging disgracefully

Milly (to my Mum): Nanny, what you doin'?
Nanny: I'm crocheting.
Milly: What you making?
Nanny: A blanket.
Milly: Who is it for?
Nanny: For a little old lady.
Milly: Oh. Is that for my Mum??


Milly: Nanny... Nanny? What you laughing at? What's funny? Nanny, why are you laughing????

*insert image of Nanny laughing so hard she was crying*

I however found it a little less amusing. A little. :P

I'm not dead...

.. just incredibly busy. Uni work load is horrible - it's far too much for me to cope with. Unfortunately I can't pull out, so it's a matter of sucking it up and getting on with it... and when June arrives, I can catch up with the rest of my life.  I'm annoyed that 1 subject alone takes me more time than 3 subjects put together!! Grrrr...

I better get back to Sociology.

My non-traditional son.

EJ to Milly while standing in the play kitchen...

"Milly, I'm making dinner. But you can't cook because you are a girl!"


YES!!! That's my non-conformist, non-traditional son!!! I love the way he thinks and sees the world. Though I'm unsure of why he thinks she can't cook, and what a girl has to do with anything.... but still. Funny as!

teehee!

Mop's prayer this morning: "Thank you Lord that Mummy didn't die when she walked up that big hill this morning."

Almost died, but not quite. Live to see another day. :)

Crazy days!

I can't believe it's been so long since the school year started. It's been crazy busy over here as our lazy summer days have turned into a strict routine. Having an extra kid in school, even though he isn't home, is still incredibly busy. When the kids come home, it's crazy!! 2 lots of homework to help them with, 2 lots of reading, 2 lots of words, whether they be spelling or sight words. It's nuts!!

Milly settled into Kindy very quickly and as soon as she arrives she waves goodbye to me and runs off. At first I was just a teeny bit miffed... she could have at least PRETENDED to need me!! But once I saw how hard it was for mum's with kids who were hanging on to their legs, crying, I became grateful for my independent little lady. She is a social little butterfly, and at floor time, she is always in the very middle of all the kids!

Mop has had a bit of a rough start to the year. She has been teary and tired and has struggled with the long days, plus all the homework that comes home afterwards. She hasn't been sleeping particularly well either which makes it worse. She got hit in the eye by some boy (who was promptly disciplined) throwing a cricket set at her, and she sported a swollen bruised eye for a few days. Poor kid. She loves her new teacher though, who seems to be this really cool, laid back, Uncle type of guy. She comes home full of enthusiasm about all she is learning and doing, which is good!

Then there is EJ. He's taking a lot longer to adjust. He cries and whines and whinges all morning while getting ready for school. He cries and whinges and rants when you leave him at school. He settles down fairly quickly though, then enjoys the day at school. Then when it's time to pick him up, he will be melting down in the carpark (which is awful!) and he meltdown multiple times during the afternoon, until bedtime. It's hard. If he can't settle down soon, I may make an appointment with his psychologist to try and help him. He HAS to go to school - I can't keep him home when he starts up, otherwise he develops a pattern and will continue to do that, expecting me to keep him home.
Since starting school his language has gone backwards which means he is in sensory overload. Understanding what he is saying is becoming a task and a half. So EJ hasn't faired so well, poor little guy.

I started Uni last week, and I'm enrolled in Sociology and Psychology - both very interesting subjects so far. The work load of psychology is a doozy, but sociology is pretty light so they balance each other out.

A few weeks ago, a friend of ours gave us a piano to use for Mop as she learns. Their friends own it, but are overseas living currently and have no plans as yet to come back to Australia. So we have it. Mop loves playing on it, and I love to listen to her tinkling on the ivories every day for her practice.

Last week I started going to a craft group - on thursdays. It was nice to sit with my quilting with a few other young mum's and have a gasbag. Last week I also started going back to the gym. Now that I have a few free mornings, I am going in the morning, and Zumba classes start up next week so I'll be attending those 2 nights a week.

So the days are filling up with all sorts of busyness - and we are starting to get into a rhythm which is nice. I dislike wasting time, and pride myself on good time management. I get asked all the time, "How do you ever fit everything in?" I just do. :)

Daz and I have been planning a trip away over Easter. Our past plans have always been to go visit Nick and Bec in Brisbane, but they have moved to New York now, so that is a bit unachievable. So this year we are heading to Canberra. We will catch up with our many friends there, see the sights and then head down to Melbourne where we start our trek home along the Great Ocean Road. I have been wanting to do the Ocean Road for many years now, and you can't imagine just how excited I am to do it!!

This weekend we had some very sad news, which has rocked our family. Some close friends of ours, which we see very often, and our children are great friends, called us to tell us some news about their son. Their 3 year old little boy (who is also best friends with Milly moo) had been diagnosed with Leukaemia and treatment is commencing today. It was dreadful listening to the father share what was happening, while he was breaking down in tears. I was shocked. Very shocked. All we can do is pray and stand with them as they walk this awful journey of cancer and chemo.  It was hard telling the children about what was going on. Milly doesn't fully understand, she thinks that he has an ouchie in his bones, and he's in hospital, but that's ok, because you get iceblocks for morning tea in hospital!  If you are a praying person, and believe that God can intervene, please pray for the little boy and his family. He is 3 years old, still a baby really, and he's facing the fight of his life. The family are struggling to come to terms with this, naturally. They need all the divine help they can get!

So life has been definitely up and down all over the place. I hope that things start to settle down as we adjust to everything.

Off to School 2011

I'm sitting here... all alone. There is no noise. There is no chatter. There is nothing. I can hear myself breathing, that's how quiet it is. Why so quiet?

Today was the start of the school year. And all three darlings left their Mamma at home, while they are off getting some edumakation.  EJ started Reception today - he was confident walking into the school yard, he was happy to see his new teacher, he walked straight to his classroom and sat down at his desk. He was happy to see his cousin sitting across from him, and he was happy to sit down with all the other kids for floor time. I then said goodbye cheerfully and left him to it. I didn't want to spend time drawing out the goodbye, just in case it panicked him. And that was it. Bye bye EJ.

Then I took my youngest to her pre-school. She waltzed on into her classroom, waved goodbye to me and sent me on my way. And suddenly.. I was alone. All alone. No one to chat with, no one to play eye-spy with on the way home, no one to sing Old Macdonald with... in fact.. I listened to MY music and sang at the top of my lungs, without any little voices requesting we sing Twinkle Twinkle.

I am all alone. In 10 minutes, I will have to go back and pick Milly up from kindy... I've spent the whole first morning alone... blogging! :) What fun!

I just hope I get used to the silence...

Here are some pics of the morning...

Here is my big kindy girl.... just wanting to get going, and was pretty intolerant to Mama and her camera. I could her it in her voice when she said "CHEESE" through gritted teeth in THAT tone.


And here is my beautiful big boy - so excited and ready to go.


And all three heading towards the car.


Righto... in 3 minutes I need to go pick up Milly Moo. :) YAY!!!! Someone to play with!

Girly bonding

A few days ago I announced to the girls that it was hair-cut time in preparation for the new school year. Mop was excited and complained of her hair making her hot and being too heavy. I understand - her hair is super super thick, and when it gets too long it gives her headaches. So I asked her what she wanted. She said she wanted her hair cut up to her ears and a fringe. I negotiated and said "How bout up to your shoulders first? And if you want it shorter after that, we will do it. Once it's cut, it's done - and if you didn't like it it would be too late to do anything about it."

This is the results:



She loves the length and loves the fringe. She looks so different and so grown up.

Then it was Milly's turn. I just cut an inch off her hair and gave her a fringe too. Her hair is very fine and there isn't much of it, so she can rock the long hair look.

This is the results:


The girls had so much fun together, getting a new look and laughing together being girly.

I marvel at my girls: they may be 4 1/2 years apart, but are close, and love each other to bits.

A fresh realisation...

Yesterday we took EJ down to the uniform shop to get his school uniform. Tears pricked my eyes when he came out in his little school uniform, looking pretty proud of himself. In 1 1/2 weeks, my little boy will be a school boy. YIKES!!!

I'll take you riding in my car....

Remember this disaster?

Well finally we have come out on top, got the blasted thing repaired.... and traded it in for a new one!
Well... not brand new... second hand... but new to us.

Here is our new broom broom.....



We pick it up when the leasing company get their act together. :)

Apart from the woodgrain interior, it's got amazing features including an in-built DVD player and air conditioning in the room for the kids. We can't wait to get it, so then we can start going on weekends away in our caravan once again. :)

I'm so glad the old car is gone and we can start again with this lovely broom broom!

Christmas Day 2010

It's been so crazy busy around here so I haven't had time to put my Christmas pics up.

Christmas day was a wonderful day for everyone. It was so wonderful to share it with all the family and the kids LOVED having their cousins around to eat with, play with and share the day with.

The day started for Daz and I around 7:30 - the kids were still sleeping, so we crept out of bed and started the early preparation. One by one, sleepy children emerged, rubbing their eyes and murmuring their "merry christmas". We crowded into the lounge room and began opening presents.

We have a small glimpse of the moments of the day.

Here are the kids, cheering and excited about the presents!



... and it begins!



Milly unwraps her quilt I made her...



...and starts testing it out for comfort.


Caitlin unwraps her quilt I made her...


EJ finds the pillow I made him....


Mop was pleased to get another Wii game


Milly stoked to find her Christmas present behind the pillows (we did a treasure hunt for the smaller gifts!)


EJ test driving his new scooter.


Daz happy with his new BBQ cleaner


My necklace that I got


Milly's school bag for starting kindy next year


I also received a watch with my beautiful babies in the face, smiling at me!


A new cook book from my bestie in New York!


A BBQ apron for Daz.


Bath toys for Milly Moo


I sooooo wanted this soooooo badly... and I was stoked to get it! Lark Rise to Candleford!! (Excuse the bed hair!)

A new cubby for Milly


A nice shirt for Daz


and looking good is not complete without smelling awesome!


Mop was thrilled to get this Barbie set... mainly because she now has a Ken doll. :)


Lots of princess dolls for the little princess.


EJ with a marble maze game that he is thrilled with!!


The Christmas table...








... and here it is again, with all my wonderful family at it!


More present opening with the family...