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.

It's been a busy week!

What a busy week it's been! I'm just a tad tired!

So what's been happening?

I finished uni for the semester. I'm really happy with my assignments and how I went about it. Now it's just a matter of if my lecturer/tutor is happy with them. :) I have also decided to up the ante a bit and start doing more subjects so I can get a move on and hopefully start working a bit sooner. I am taking on 2 subjects and an intensive this semester which is significantly more than my usual 1 subject per semester. EJ is a lot more content at home and isn't melting down as much and can handle my attention being elsewhere for a bit.

I've been creating and crafting a lot in the afternoons since I finished uni. I've finished 2 major projects - and have already made my Christmas list for the things I want to make. Check out my creations here

Socially we've been rather busy, which is fun! It's great to get out and hang with friends, old and new.

I've been doing some photography for our church and that has kept me busy and out of mischief. I've had fun doing it and have been happy with the results.

Next week is looking to be just as busy, which is fine by us. We like the thought of hanging out with more friends, a trip to the zoo (thank you B & N for the tickets!) and I'm not sure what else... I think I'm due for a hair appointment this week - I've got the skunk thing happening!

Oh yeah, I'm doing another photo shoot at my Mum's house for this guy to publish Her house is more victorian than country style, but still... he asked her for photos. :)

Right.... Daz has made me bacon and eggs for tea, so I better go eat them like a good wifey! :)

1 month today...

.... and we are taking off to QLD. Bec and Nick will be invaded by the Skipper Mob.

We can't wait.

Mop is hanging out to go to the Ginger Factory again so we can buy gingerbread.
Daz and I just can't wait to spend time with our dear friends and relax a bit.

While we are away, an old school friend of mine is housesitting for us. She lives in Darwin usually, but she is coming down to have her baby and needs a place to rest and relax after the event, and for her family to stay. Our place is perfect. It's got lots of baby stuff all ready for her to use. This is an awesome arrangement!

I guess I better start booking places to stay soon for on the way up and way home again and reviewing the packing lists - since Milly is no longer a baby and we don't need to take all that baby "stuff".

We are going away next weekend with friends to Renmark. Looking forward to that too. It will be nice to chillax and do nothing but make sure the kids have an awesome time. I hope to squeeze in a trip to the markets for me - but other than that... eh... it's about the kiddies.

Life is crazy busy lately, but I am just so content and happy with it. I love my course, I love creating stuff - it's actually becoming a bit of an addiction. I love my family and love my kids. They are all such treasures. Life is going well.