September Sunshine

Aside from one very cold snap here this week, Spring has definitely sprung in our corner of the world. The children and I have been enjoying lots of sunshine, morning and afternoon. I seriouslylove this time of year!

I have been packing away winter woolies, bringing out and sorting summer clothes, and starting to think summery thoughts. :)

Beach day with Will last week

Since playing Marian in "The Music Man" early this year, I have been walking daily around the lagoon/parkland in our town. I am now blessed to live only 1 minute from this beautiful place, and William and I enjoy walking around the track every day after dropping the older kids to school.

The Lagoon early morning

And the Lagoon at sunset....

It's so nice to get out doors. So much of our time is spent indoors and it's important to get plenty of fresh air! I know the walls start closing in on me if I don't get outside enough.

A lot of my indoor time at the moment is being spent learning choir music...... it is such a challenge, so much hard work, but I really am loving it.

Spending hours every day at my piano may exhaust me, but it sure makes me happy.

Happy September, Spring, sunshine.... and music!

Spring!

It's spring! So so happy to have winter behind us. It sure has been a cold one.

Today was the first really warm day so far, and William and I took advantage of the weather and headed to the beach. I actually had 3 long walks today, in different places, just to be out in the sunshine.

A beautiful day with my littlest boy.

So many nice things happening in my life at the moment, I wouldn't even know where to begin but its just been one of those happy weeks. :)

Hope yours has too.

A Little Celebrating!

Let the fireworks explode, the streamers unravel, the balloons fill the air, the music play! Today, we celebrate 700 posts at Ferns by the Fireside!

I asked you to tell me what you would like me to write about on this landmark occasion. ;) Okay, it's not really a landmark occasion but it feels like somewhat of an achievement!

So, here goes.

Amanda said "I would like you to talk about the expectations you had for your blog when you started. How is it different, and how is it as you imagined."

Well, I started my blog back in 2008 when several of my friends had started blogging. I thought "yay! a chance to write!" I do love to write my thoughts and express myself through the written word. It also seemed like a good way to journal our family's life. As for expectations, yes, I think it's pretty much been what I expected. I expected it to be fun, fulfilling, to bring me joy and be a way to connect with other women who blog. It has met all my expectations. :) I didn't know I would continue to blog for so many years, and so regularly. And I can't imagine that changing really. I could probably do this forever quite happily!

Renata said: "Congratulations on almost 700 - that is impressive! I really like Amanda's ideas. Also would you share how your faith in God has been strengthened through this difficult time you're currently going through".

Great question. Well, my faith in God is very strong at the moment. I do find, like most people, that when life is going along swimmingly that you tend to rely very much on yourself. It's easy to think that yes, we are in control and yes, we have our life quite sorted and everything is fine, thank you very much. :) When difficulties arise, whether it be poor health, troubles in relationships or an issue with a child, we turn to God in prayer. I believe He uses these times to strengthen our bond with him. This season for me has been a reminder that the world is a fallen, broken place. The ideal I had for my family is currently not the reality and that makes me so sad. For a long time I have clung to visual pictures of the "ideal" life - I have striven hard to meet these ideals, and they haven't always been realistic. This isn't in itself a bad thing, I would actually consider it a positive thing. But. God is teaching me that despite our brokenness, His love prevails. In spite of our circumstances, He is here. He truly does never leave us or forsake us. He is very present here in this home - He provided the children and I the perfect home in the perfect location, at the perfect time. He has taken care of finances. He has surrounded us with people who love us unconditionally. And He continues to provide the children and I with opportunities to grow and experience joy. All of this reminds me what an awesome God He is, and how very much He loves his children. So I guess the answer is - God is using this experience to draw me closer to Him, and for that, I'm very thankful.

Jen said "I would love to hear why you started a blog in the first place."

Thanks for your comment Jen - I think I answered your question in my response to Amanda's question! I started it to journal my thoughts and keep a record of the things happening in our family. :) The children and I love looking back on older posts as most of our best photos have been uploaded to the blog!

Melanie said "When I put my daughter to bed, each night I have to come up with a story about when I was little, so maybe you might write us a story about when you were little? Either that, or your 700 favourite books? (hehehe)"

Hmmmm...... I think I'll go with telling you a story about when I was little! As much as I love books, listing 700 of them would be somewhat too time consuming. ;)

Wow Melanie, first let me tell you that I love your bedtime tradition! My kids would love to hear more stories of when I was little!

They like hearing this story. When I was 8 months old I reached out to a little orange teddy bear when I was sitting in my pram, in a pharmacy. I was insistent I wanted him. :) My Mummy bought him for me, and he became my most favourite toy. She tells me the story of early one morning when I was about 15 months old, waking up to a blood curdling scream. She raced into my bedroom in the semi darkness to find me cowering in one corner of my cot. Orange Ted was right down the other end in another corner, and I was pointed madly at him. On closer inspection, Mum realised that his little black nose had come off, and was sitting in the opposite corner of the cot! I was seriously freaking out! Right then and there, at 4am, Mum sewed Ted's little nose back on. And I promptly fell back to sleep, cuddling him in my arms. :) To this day, I don't cope gracefully in a crisis situation! If one of my kids has a badly scraped open knee, I feel like cowering in the corner of the room just as I did when Ted lost his nose!! Of course, I don't. ;) Ted went on to have many more adventures, such as falling in the family swimming pool and losing most of his stuffing. Mum had to sew him a brand new body. I must remember to post a photo of him for you - I still have him, sitting in my bedroom. :)

Trish said "Congratulations Saminda! I would like to know what advice you would have for a new blogger just starting out."

It's great to see you blogging Trish! I like that you have chosen the theme of gardening. I think with blogging it's good to have a basic theme - it helps give your blog an identity. :) My advice would be to fall into a rhythm of blogging that you are happy with. Don't lay pressure on yourself to blog more often than is realistic. With four beautiful little people in your life, I know you are busy! So keep it simple. Sometimes blogging regularly - even just a short post with a picture and a caption - a few times a week can help keep the flow of your blog. But I have had, at times, weeks where I haven't found the time to blog. Accept this and don't put pressure on yourself! Blogging should be fun, and a reflection of who you are. And don't blog for other people, blog for yourself. :) Having said that, please include some photos of your gorgeous kiddos in your garden - I don't see enough of them!

Amanda said "Congrats Saminda! I would like to know your favourite Bible verses (maybe your fav 3?), why and what they mean to you. I love hearing how God uses His scriptures in peoples lives!"

This is a hard one. I have so many favourites that it is hard to narrow it down to only 3. One of my favourites I have in my sidebar - Psalm 4:23 - "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." I also cling tightly to Proverbs 3:5-6 - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." :) Um...... only one more! Well this next one I love so much that I bought a canvas with the verse printed on. It hangs in my kitchen, where I spend most of my time.

Psalm 46:10 - "Be still and know that I am God". For me this is a daily reminder to slow down, to breathe, to trust, and to listen to what He is telling me.

I also asked my children to share their favourite verse with you. They both chose the same one! Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd. :) They really love this verse, I think because it's full of the quietness of God's strength, and all His promises to us.

And finally, Wendy said "Saminda, I would be interested to know how you feel that complete strangers can follow your life through your blog and you have no idea who is looking. I have met you through a friend, but have been following your blog and would love to know your perspective on Internet and personal security as I would be afraid that people could know so much about myself."

Wow. Big question! Do you know, this is not something that genuinely worries me? I don't know why - many bloggers I know use false names for their children and basically keep all personal details private. I understand their desire to do this - I have just never felt the need to, for myself. For me, there is something exciting about the not knowing who is reading the blog! I tend to hear from a long lost friend (or someone I barely know!) from time to time say "oh, I love reading your blog!" I actually enjoy thinking about who may be reading and enjoying seeing our family grow. Having said that, I don't tend to give very personal information away (though I do tend to share my emotions fairly openly; this is just how I'm wired!) But as for the town we live in, the school my children attend, etc., these details are not included in the blog for privacy reasons. Maybe I just hope and trust that the world is still a fairly honest place? This is probably naive but I pray that whoever's out there reading is genuine- family, friends, or friends I just haven't met yet. :)

There! I hope this has answered your questions and I thank you, faithful readers, for sticking with me through 700 blog posts! I know some of you have been reading since The Beginning. :) Have a great weekend everyone.

Life Changing News

Last week I received some life changing news. I am happy to tell you, the news is good news. :) In fact, the news is great news.

In a somewhat random and spontaneous 48 hours, I was told the executive producer and artistic director of the internationally renowned adult choir, The Australian Voices, were coming to my town to promote their current touring show, "Moon". After meeting with these amazing men to discuss the involvement of local singers in the opening number of the show, they informed me that they are also recruiting new members to join the choir. They asked if I would like to audition. I knew very little about them. I went home, logged on to their website, and did some research. I was inspired.

One of the main purposes of this choir is to commission Australian composers to write music for the choir, music about things which are iconic to our country. Then, they tour the country and the world singing this music. It's contemporary, it's unique, it's very complex at times, and very very beautiful. And it seems that while they do sing some more traditional, classical music, a lot of their contemporary pieces are very theatrical, incorporating elements of theatre such as lighting, projections, and costuming. Wow. I wanted to be part of it.

I spoke to Stuart. I spoke to my extended family. I had the full support of everyone. So, I went back to the theatre that afternoon, and I auditioned. It was gruelling. I had to sight sing a very difficult, chromatic passage the director had written on the whiteboard, having never heard the passage played. On my second attempt I sang it correctly! I also had to sing some difficult intervals, and in my best "choral voice" - no colour, no vibrato please - I was asked to sing our National Anthem. It was intense. I loved every minute. :)

They told me clearly that they still had a week of touring/promoting/auditioning to do, and very limited places to offer. I wouldn't hear anything for a week at least.

The very next morning I opened my email inbox and there was an email from the producer. The title of the email was "Welcome to The Australian Voices". I could barely breathe and I sat there for a full minute before opening the email! But it was true, my audition was successful and they were offering me a place in the choir!!! :-D I was (and am still) absolutely shocked!

I am so very very grateful for the incredible support my family and friends have shown me at this time. I have negotiated with the director of the choir regarding my availability for the remainder of 2011 (and negotiations will continue into 2012). He has been helpful and very flexible, understanding that I live 3 hours from the city (where the choir is based) and have very young children. My job now is to learn all my parts by myself, from home - no easy task I can assure you! The music is beautiful but a challenge to learn and to sing. I will be singing 2nd Soprano, which was my part when I sang in the Queensland Youth Choir for 7 years as a teenager. This whole process is bringing back fond memories of that time!

As for international travel, well I considered myself ineligible for that. However upon further investigation, and financial consideration, it seems I may actually be touring with the choir this year to Europe. Europe!!! And here I was thinking I wouldn't get overseas until I was in my 60's! Yes, they - sorry, we - are touring through Germany and France this November/December. The choir covers the cost of all travel and accommodation once in Europe. I will need to pay for my flights from and back to Australia, but if the tour is financially successful, the choir will reimburse members for flights also. The tour is for 3 weeks, but as my brother is getting married on December 10th I will only be going for the first 2 weeks. May I admit I'm grateful for that? 3 weeks away from my children would just be too long. In fact 2 weeks will be very very hard.

I'm going to have to fill my suitcase with photos of them! :( And already I'm planning to make a CD for them, with a spoken "letter" for them to listen to from me each day. And a half hour or so of me singing the sleepy songs I sing to them each night at bedtime. Hopefully this and a few other little things will help the time of separation which will be very different for us. My wonderful parents are going to help Stuart out with the care of the children - and thankfully, the 2nd week I'll be away is the first week of their summer holidays. Then I'll be home and we will be having a big family wedding and holiday time!

And I will have had my first experience of Europe. Singing. Music, travel, adventure.

God is so profoundly good, and surprising! Why he has considered me worthy and free to go and do this, I do not know. But I do know that before and after I auditioned I prayed over the decision - that it would be his alone. Honestly, this was not planned (at least not by me :)) so I didn't mind either way. He has allowed this. It feels like a beautiful gift and I'm blown away by the musical opportunities this choir will provide for me, whilst still allowing me live here in the country town where my children - and Stuart - are so settled and happy. To have all those big city opportunities without actually having to move truly is an answer to prayer.

Those of you who know me will understand that this is COMPLETELY out of my comfort zone! The very idea of leaving my family and friends and travelling to a foreign country with people I don't even know terrifies me! So maybe God is going to use this to teach me and grow me. I imagine it will only do good things for my confidence - an area I've always wanted to improve in.

Praise God for life changing surprises!

_______________________________

Stay tuned for my next post - my 700th post! Please leave a comment here if you would like to contribute.

Friendship!

One of the things Saraya really struggled with while we were homeschooling was a lack of little girls to play with and share life with. Most of the homeschooling families in our area have lots of little boys! And of course she has two younger brothers.

For Saraya, one of the best things about going to school this year has been making friends. She is a fairly shy little girl who certainly loves to bury her head in a book (and tells me she still visits the library to read quite often at lunch times), but she has connected with several like-minded little ladies who love to have fun and enjoy somewhat grown up, thoughtful conversation. :) Saraya's beautiful friend Suliana is one of them!

Last night Suliana came for a sleepover and the girls sat up to watch "A Little Princess", one of Saraya's favourite movies. I love it because the main character Sarah is such a model of courage and kindness, despite all she has to endure throughout the story. Then there were lots of games of hide and seek, drawing, reading and general girly giggling. They had a great time!

I'm so grateful for friendships, both for myself and my children.

___________________________

Thanks to those who have already commented on this post. Please, if you ever drop in and read my blog, if you are a long-term follower or a brand new reader, I want to hear from you! It's a chance for me to discover who is out there, and for you to let me know what you enjoy reading here or have always wanted to know! :)

Creative Opportunities for Elijah

Elijah Samuel is such a dynamic, creative little guy. No matter where he is..... playground, bathroom, dining table eating dinner..... he is bopping and grooving. He just has music in his veins, and he's seriously been like that since birth! He is still tiny for his age and I think of him as my little pocket rocket. ;)

He is studying jazz dancing this year in the best dance school in town. His teacher is amazing, very strict and expects a lot from the children - but they rise to meet the challenge. And he is loving it. A lady who came over recently asked Elijah "So what are you into Elijah? What do you enjoy?" His answer was "Dancing, suits and top hats". !

Recently at Prep, the two classes combined to perform a story dance to Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Woah. Amazing stuff. It's worth seeing this for the costumes alone! I'm hoping a recording will be online at some stage so I can share it with you. The kids were divided into four groups - Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. Elijah is part of Summer - he is the "Storm Master" who rises majestically out of a painted cardboard box, and brings thunder and lightning to the stage. His facial expressions were priceless! This is him in only part of his costume.

And with the little girl who played the bee in Spring. :) She too is a little dancer and they are great friends! So nice to see my boy coming out of himself more at Prep, happy to just be who he is and to have opportunities to grow and perform in the area he loves.

______________________________

Thanks to those who have already commented on this post. Please, if you ever drop in and read my blog, if you are a long-term follower or a brand new reader, I want to hear from you! It's a chance for me to discover who is out there, and for you to let me know what you enjoy reading here or have always wanted to know! :)

A Golden Day with William

Today I am really really missing my children. :( Saraya and Elijah are in school, and William is at kindy. And unless I pop out for a visit at school tomorrow (which I may well do), I won't see them until Saturday morning. I have a sinus infection too, and feel kind of lousy - and the weather is so bleak that I think it's adding to my blue feelings.

But yesterday - ah, yesterday. Yesterday truly was one of those Golden Days (despite the rain outside). Breakfast seemed leisurely, we had time to chat and read a few stories before taking the older two children to school. William and I met a friend and her son at the park and enjoyed a long walk (once again between showers!) while the two boys chatted to each other in their prams which was very cute.

We came home and had some fruit and set about finding all the little bits and pieces of toys to return to our wonderful Toy Library - then headed off to exchange them for some new ones. This really is one of William's favourite outings!

The next few hours were spent at home again, cleaning and washing (for me) and exploring all the new toys (for Will).

We had a break around noon and made a batch of hommus (great recipe). It turned out well and Willy and I enjoyed a hommus and crackers/carrot sticks/apple slices picnic on the kitchen floor. :)
We ended the day by playing the card game "What's Missing". Will loves games and is quite good at them I've found. The Toy Library stocks lots of these toddler/preschool games, and books too. I borrowed out "More Secrets of Happy Children" by Steve Biddulph for myself to read.

I feel so blessed to get this special time with my littlest boy. Love all my babies so much!

____________________________

Thanks to those who have already commented on this post. Please, if you ever drop in and read my blog, if you are a long-term follower or a brand new reader, I want to hear from you! It's a chance for me to discover who is out there, and for you to let me know what you enjoy reading here or have always wanted to know! :)

Rain in the Garden

We are having a very wet week here in south east Queensland. The late autumn winds are howling day and night, and the rain has been almost constant. I have managed a few walks in between showers, but for the most part William and I have spent the last three days indoors.

Yesterday I caught a glimpse of the front garden in the wet sunshine - the clouds had parted for a short time - and it looked so pretty I wanted to photograph it.

I don't plan on planting too much into the gardens as I'm not sure how long we'll be renting here. So far I've planted some lavender, strawberries, parsley, rosemary and daisies into the front garden beds. They're nestled among the petunias which were already there. I would like to plant sunflowers in the garden bed running alongside the house, and maybe a couple of pumpkin vines in the corner of the backyard.

With spring around the corner I may not be able to contain my gardening enthusiasm. But for now, we're happy staying cosy inside with warm cups of tea. ;)

__________________________________

Thanks to those who have already commented on this post. Please, if you ever drop in and read my blog, if you are a long-term follower or a brand new reader, I want to hear from you! It's a chance for me to discover who is out there, and for you to let me know what you enjoy reading here or have always wanted to know! :)

A Picture of Peace

Breakfast over, little ones gone off to play, and only the sun shining warmly through the dining room window remained. The sun and a few stray dishes.

A picture of peace in my morning.

________________________________

Thanks to those who have already commented on this post. Please, if you ever drop in and read my blog, if you are a long-term follower or a brand new reader, I want to hear from you! It's a chance for me to discover who is out there, and for you to let me know what you enjoy reading here or have always wanted to know! :)

700th Post is Coming Up!

Oooo, I just noticed I'm only 8 posts away from reaching 700 posts!!!! Amazing!!!

So I wondered..... what should I post for my 700th post? Tell me, please. :)

I'm not going to run a contest where I choose one person - instead, for every comment left on this post, telling me what you'd like me to share / write about / post photos of etc. etc., I will do as asked. I will include what each of you asks me to, in my 700th post. Depending on the response I get here, it could be a mammoth post. :D

This will be fun!! Roll in the comments... and, go!

Edited to say: Thanks to those who have already commented. Please, if you ever drop in and read my blog, if you are a long-term follower or a brand new reader, I want to hear from you! It's a chance for me to discover who is out there, and for you to let me know what you enjoy reading here or have always wanted to know! :) Many thanks.

Just Dropping In

Well it's 9pm on a Friday night and it's been a loooong week.

Monday through to Thursday was busy busy with the children. Aside from school, there were after school and evening activities every day! Very unusual for us and far too busy for my liking. But we did enjoy a visit from my parents on Wednesday which was great - they came up to see Elijah perform in a school concert Wednesday evening. It's nice for him to have their support. :)

This morning I woke up feeling a bit under the weather (run down probably...) so I've had a very quiet day. Aside from a short visit from a friend, I've been on my own and managed to watch the WHOLE season of Downton Abbey - have you seen it? It was wonderful! I'm just disappointed I have to wait until next year to see the next instalment! I had a long walk this afternoon and have done a bit of housework this evening. Time for bed soon.

I hope everyone's weekend is full of good things. :)

My Favourite Kind of Tradesman

My favourite kind of tradesman visited me this week.

He doesn't charge a cent.

Fixes things I didn't even know were broken!

And is as cute as a button.

Thank you William David, I think I'll keep you!

I Love to Write

I really really do. Sometimes I can't think of a way to coherently tie my thoughts together, so I avoid putting pen to paper..... or fingers to keyboard...... but not today. Today, I want to write. So I will.

It is Friday. It is late winter but already you can smell that spring isn't far away. The coming weeks will bring warmer weather and longer days. I'm looking forward to that. This has been a COLD winter - and this is a very very cold house. My next door neighbour Stan, a darling 90-something year old man who lives alone ("my wife died 4 years ago dearie" he told me through teary eyes the first time we spoke at the fence) tells me he has lived in very cold places in his life, and this winter Maryborough has been as cold as any of them. He is right. Spring can't come soon enough. These houses are built for summer's heat, not winter's chill.

This morning I determined when I woke up that I wasn't doing anything until I had finished reading Water for Elephants. I had planned to read yesterday but ended up having a friend visit in the afternoon and stay through until late last night. We managed to watch "Once" and "Julie and Julia" - both fantastic movies by the way! Julie and Julia is a must see if you're a blogger. ;)

So.... I read. I read and read and read. I ate some porridge and had my coffee..... 10am came around and still I read. I finished it about 10:30 - it was so wonderful, read it please!!

I got dressed and went for a blissfully uneventful bike ride round the park. I say uneventful because yesterday's ride was erm.... not. One of the pedals happened to fly off when I was half-way round the track. Thankfully I didn't topple or hurt myself (which would have been a typically me thing to do.... still, the pedal is close enough) - but as I rooted around in the grass looking for the lost pedal two pristine-looking joggers in their "proper" running gear jogged past me. "Ha, I'm ... I'm.... just having issues with my pedal" I stammered quietly as they glanced at me. They didn't reply.

Half an hour later I was home, having unsuccessfully tried to reattach the pedal and failed (you need a spanner or wrench or something - neither of which I own and certainly didn't have with me on my morning ride) so I walked the bike home, pedal in one hand, broken bike in the other.

A friend reattached it for me last night while I was teaching a singing student. And so this morning I was thankful to make it all the way round the riding track, and home again, uneventfully. It's a beautiful day outside.

Since then I have tackled some housework, begun my next book (Ahn Do's memoir "The Happiest Refuge" - he's an Aussie comedian and the book is highly recommended), baked a dozen raspberry and choc chip and a dozen apple and cinnamon muffins for the kids' lunch boxes next week, and tidied up the front garden beds a bit. They have flowers, strawberries and herbs planted in them, but they're not mulched so I'm having to pinch the weeds and grass out of them fairly often. Picked a bunch of petunias and daisies for the dining room table.

I then looked up the 2002 blog of Julie Powell which inspired the film Julie and Julia. It's fascinating! Wish I had time to read the whole thing - all 365 entries. :-)

And now..... well, I'm here, writing. Did I mention I love to write? If I could find someone to pay me to stay home and write all day long I'd be supremely happy. So long as I could break free and (be paid to) sing on stage every so often. Sounds perfect to me - any offers?

Alas, it is time to go fold the mount everest washing pile in my bedroom. Then a walk. Then roast a chicken and make a salad for dinner. Then coffee with my dear friend Petrina tonight.

Thanks for listening!

Oh Dear...

... I have failed at regular blogging yet again.

Life continues on as always.

The children wake, I feed them, organise their uniforms and lunch boxes, take them to school, spend the day with William, pick up the children, feed them, help them with homework, readers, organise pyjamas, bath them, feed them .... I think you get the idea.

And of course there is the laundry and the grocery shopping and the meal planning and the appointments and just the things of life which soak up time.

And so blogging falls by the wayside, again. Forgive me?

In my *spare* time, I have been exercising rather a lot - walking from home to the lagoon / walking track nearby, walking the track, then walking home again. Every day in fact. And I just purchased a second hand bike so will be riding that a few days a week as well. William and I often walk to town too, to the shops or library or the bank. He always claims he will "walk please Mama, the whole way there" - then proceed to 'get tired' after 3 minutes. I always take the stroller for that reason. Never go on the word of the toddler. ;) After my gallant effort exercising pre- Music Man, I have gained a few kilos again. I'm determined to lose them!

Also, I have been reading. Have you heard of Mireille Guiliano? She wrote the popular "French Women don't get Fat", which I thoroughly enjoyed some months ago. I just read her third book, "Women, Work and the art of Savoir Faire", which I would also recommend. Then came "Oranges are not the only fruit" - a rather controversial novel which I wouldn't really recommend but did captivate me for the 24 hours during which I read it. I am now reading "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen, having seen the film a few months back. It is a wonderful book, highly recommended. :)

So begins my "weekend" tomorrow (Thursday), as the children spend the next two days with their Papa. I have plans to walk to town to market shop for fruit and veggies, do some cooking, laundry, teach four music students, have coffee with a friend Friday night, clean the house, take some walks and bike rides...... and read. And probably tackle some (much needed) piano and singing practice as well. All these things are good things, things I look forward to doing, and things which will distract me from missing my babies while they are gone. Most of all I look forward to Saturday morning when they'll come home again.

What are you up to this week? What are you reading?

New Home Tour - The Finale

There are many more things I could show you around my new home, but I'll leave you with this final picture. I know as I blog about our daily lives you will see lots more of it anyway. :) And maybe some pics with people in them again!

A perfect spot to sit and have a cuppa. I love the open layout of the front verandah, it's very welcoming and inviting. I'm standing by the front door to take this photo. Just to the right of the cane setting is the front stairs.

We really are loving this home. It's a challenging time we're going through as a family, and I'm so thankful to have been provided with this house - it has such a lovely feel. Everyone who visits agrees.

The children are all doing well. The weekend has arrived! We had a simple dinner of bacon and eggs tonight, and I allowed the children to stay up for extra stories and to watch "Masterchef" which is always a treat for them. :) And I got some extra cuddles in with them....

Tomorrow I am heading to the city to see the new musical "Doctor Zhivago" starring Anthony Warlow. For those of you overseas who may not have heard of him, he's a very talented Aussie tenor and one of my favourite singers. I'm rather lucky to have a friend who now works at the Lyric Theatre and can purchase cheap tickets! Then tomorrow night I am also seeing an amateur production of "Beauty and the Beast" (free ticket this time!), so it will be a very cultural day. Then Sunday morning I drive the 3 hours back up here to sing in a local Choral Society concert that afternoon! I feel tired just thinking about it. In fact it may just be time for a warm shower and bed. :) Night all.

New Home Tour - Saraya's Bedroom

She will be 9 in October. Already I am noticing little changes - wanting her own space a bit more, seeking play times with her friends, sitting quietly at her desk doing her homework instead of tearing around with her little brothers. I am glad she has her own bedroom in this house. But glad also that it is 'joined' by an open doorway to their room. ;)

But with all these changes Saraya Catherine is still my little girl. She is Mama's helper, she still shadows me whenever we are home together. She still comes in for a cuddle in the middle of the night. She can still fit in my lap. I hope she will always come to me for a cuddle and a chat when she needs one.

She loves her bedroom and so do I! It's snuggly and cosy and has 2 walls of windows which see out into the back garden. Her bedroom is filled with dolls and teddies and of course, books. It speaks of Saraya in all her girlhood wonder. :)

New Home Tour - My Boys' Room

My two beautiful, rumbustious, noisy, loving boys share this bedroom. It has an open doorway into Saraya's bedroom which makes night time settling very easy - I can sit on the mat between the two rooms and pray with / sing to all 3 children at once! It also means one CD player (in Saraya's room) for sleepy music plays to all 3 children.

Elijah Samuel's bed

And William David's toddler bed

The rooms are quite small but certainly big enough for them at their ages for the moment.

I really love how the boys room turned out. :) It has the vibe of a little boys room! Lots of cheeky giggles and play times in here. Oh, and sleeping. :)

Hope you're enjoying seeing my new home. I'm looking forward to getting this tour done so I can blog about some other things!

New Home Tour - My Sanctuary

My bedroom really is my sanctuary. I am now parenting on my own 5 days each week and it is exhausting at times. I love having my own space I can retreat to. I really love this big airy room. There are no curtains, and a street lamp right outside, so it's pretty bright during the night. :) But not so bad in this current winter weather with the sun rising a little later. Summer may be a different story!

And I've fallen in love with my beautiful big bay window. :) Hoping to make it even comfier with lots of cushions at some stage.

Thankful for this little sanctuary!

New Home Tour - Back Garden

Hmmm, not too many photos to show you unfortunately! A few I took the other day are 'up and down' shots, and I can't seem to get them to upload the right way up! They're all on their side.

But here are two little glimpses for you of my back garden.

Just the right amount of grass for me to take care of. Lots of shade, shrubbery and a nice garden wall. Oh, and a climbing tree! And swings. :) I hope to add a sandpit and cubby house at some stage.

Until then, the children have claimed the old (though freshly painted) shed/garage as their Clubhouse, and have spent many hours adventuring out there. Not sure what the adventuring entails, but they always come inside completely grubby and exhausted so it must be fun!

Probably the most exciting thing about our back garden is that right in the back corner is a big mound of dirt. The children put on their 'work boots' this morning, took up their gardening tools and went digging for treasure. :) I swear it must have been the resident's rubbish heap 50 years ago - they have found all manner of bottle tops and miniature glass bottles, tiny chipped pieces of china plates (which Saraya is painstakingly piecing back together) and who knows what else. Each item gets doted over and discussed as to it's identity- then gets a wash under the garden tap, and placed in the special 'collection box' they are using to present their finds. Filled in the entire morning today!

And after all that treasure hunting and pancakes and baths to freshen up, the back yard archaeologists enjoyed some cosy time indoors watching a movie. It is winter after all! A lovely Sunday.

New Home Tour - My Kitchen

It's where I spend most of my time (even the laptop lives on the kitchen bench!), so I was so thrilled to discover this house had a brand new kitchen. Yup. Never been used by anyone before me. :)

It's practical, has heaps of cupboard space, an electric cook top, a one drawer dishwasher (yay), and it's the warmest room in the house on these cold winter mornings (double yay!).

I love this feature. It's meant for pretty plates, but since I don't collect those, I've used it to display my favourite cook books!

The view outside my kitchen into the backyard where the children play. It's the one clear glass panel in the house, and I'm thankful for it! I like being able to see out. :) There is a fabulous climbing tree (mango) in the back corner, and the one covered in pink blossoms is a peach tree. Hoping to get some fruit off it in the summer. More of the backyard tomorrow!

Home

When God is in your heart, love is in your home.

A good friend gave us this reminder (along with some strawberry and tomato seedlings - oh, and chocolate) as a housewarming gift. I love the little stone so much I've added a picture of it to my sidebar.

This is the outside of my new home. It has a cottagey feel. I really love the front verandah area, the lead light features throughout, the sculpted ceilings and the front garden beds. Just enough to potter in, but not too much to take care of. Since taking this picture William and I have weeded out those baby beds (leaving the Petunias and the daisy we planted the week we moved in), and have added some lavender, strawberries and tomatoes, parsely and rosemary. Just enough. :)

Thank you for your encouraging comments on my last post.

Melanie said "I don't believe you have been anyone but who you are in your blog" - she is right. I have never deliberately tried to be something I'm not - but I have put this pressure on myself at times. It's a personal thing, hard to explain. :) But thank you Melanie, and everyone, for sticking with me!

More photos of our new home to come, promise.

God's Grace. And Changes.

I sit here in this house, this gift of a house, on my gifted - borrowed - laptop from a dear friend, and I'm overwhelmed by Grace. Why Lord? Why do you care for us the way you do? We are so undeserving. I for one know I keep stuffing up. In my parenting. In the way I care (or rather, don't care) for others when I should. In my personal life.

Yet He persists with us.

Thank God, literally. Because I wouldn't want to be walking this life road without His protection and grace. I simply wouldn't get very far.

I have just finished a book, once again gifted to me by grace, from a dear friend who apparently saw the book online and thought of me, having it posted right to my home ("why again Lord? I haven't been the friend to her that she deserved, yet still, grace....) - and it has brought both challenge and joy to my heart.

"Somewhere More Holy" by Tony Woodlief. Tony also has a blog I visited this morning, and I know I'll be back. :) Challenge - that I need to be more authentically ME in my writing. Forget any signs of false perfection in my blogging friends, for what you will be receiving (I hope) is honesty, the raw truth, and authentic, bare-souled me. For that is what I found in Tony's writing, and I so appreciated it! Joy - that I can see this parenting season, while my little ones are little, as more precious than I have ever seen it before. I got that from Tony too. He and his wife Celeste lost a child, see - so their perspective, their life experience, is somewhat different to mine. A little girl whom they lost to cancer - and what that did to Tony, his relationship with God and with his wife and the whole of humanity. Four little boys followed that little girl. He too has been shown grace in the wake of tragedy and sin (his own). Get hold of the book and read it, I insist. ;)

So, a blog overhaul is about to occur. It will still be me, yes, but a more honest me. A less "must make my blog look as beautiful as possible" me. I hope you'll still visit.

Please read my revised "about me" profile bit. If you're a new reader..... well, it tells you a bit about what's going on for me right now. If you're an old bloggy friend.... well, you know how much I love you all and I hope and trust you will hang in here with me through this life season I'm in. I used to think so much about me was defined by the choices I make - babywearing, homebirthing, homeschooling, country living, cloth nappy using, etc. etc. And yes, our choices do define us to a degree. But guess what? I was then, and am still, Saminda. I no longer homeschool and my marriage has broken down. But here inside, I am still me. I still cry, and laugh, and sleep, and eat, and love my children so much it hurts, and cook meals for them, and read, and sing, and blog.

I reached a point sometime last year where I was just plain exhausted. Like, really really exhausted. And I got sick, and spent numerous hours in hospital, and had tests, and was told I had a minor condition with my heart for which I needed medication and some lifestyle changes. A few months later, our children were enrolled in the local Christian school. And now, I find myself here. Instead of looking out the window and seeing trees, I see houses. I can still hear the wind in the trees, and the birds whistling, but I hear cars too. Lots of them. I can walk with the children to town to visit the library, or friends. Or walk the other direction and you get to the parkland / lagoon / walking track. It's a different kind of nice.

I am getting used to this new "normal", for us. My children's own resilience and trust and acceptance of this both overwhelms and challenges my own thinking. They are, truly, amazing little people. They have this trust of us - their parents - and if we say this is the best thing for our family at the moment, and tell them it's an adventure, and that it's fun and exciting having two homes (and we have done all of that, and more - we have never conveyed this change as a 'tragedy' to them) - than that's what they believe. And they are amazingly settled and at peace with it all.

I worry about them, and all of this, which I suppose is natural. But alongside my worry there is sunshine and children's giggles and music and friends popping over often and walks in the mornings and cosy dinners together at night.

God's grace abounds. I thank Him. And I thank you (in advance) for your acceptance of me. Writing is a release for me, and I look forward to doing more of it and being the most authentic me I can be.

Oh my...

So tired tonight, but I simply must blog something!

I took photographs of my new home the other day, but I'm having issues loading them up. Hope to share them with you soon.

Things are going pretty well, the children have returned to school for term 3, and I am basically now all finished setting up home here. It's feeling very homey and cosy now and I feel blessed with the way God has taken care of all the little details for us.

This is a recent photo of Saraya meeting the lead from Mary Poppins, Verity Hunt-Ballard. :) As you can see she was very excited!

We lost our beautiful Molly cat this week. :( She got a paralysis tick and we didn't find out until she was in the final stages. She died at the vets just this afternoon. It has been a very sad day. I'm thankful the children are handling it all very well - they really do amaze me, they're so resilient and so understanding. My heart has broken for them today though.

That's all. Just wanted to touch base with you all and say "I'm still here"! I do still pop in on your blogs. And I'll try to blog more regularly, though I can't promise anything. ;)

Beautiful Moments

Life is so full of beautiful moments. I've had a blessed few days with my Mum visiting.

She brought a puppy dog cake, it was adorable!

The children planted a daisy plant into the front garden yesterday morning, all by themselves.

And I had the special honour of spending last Sunday afternoon at a high tea, as part of my town's annual "Mary Poppins" festival. Maryborough is the birth place of Mary Poppins author P L Travers, and our special guest at this year's festival was Verity Hunt-Ballard, star of the current Mary Poppins musical in Sydney!!

I sung a solo piece at the high tea, and the singing group I'm part of ("The Sisters") sung two songs as well. Singing for Verity was a little overwhelming to say the least!

But she was incredibly down to earth, friendly and encouraging. :) And she happily signed a poster for my three children. She shared her musical theatre journey with the 100 or so people who attended the high tea and it was a wonderful afternoon.