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!

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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! :)

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.

My Big News

The big news in my little world is that circumstances have led me to move out of our acreage home (which still hasn't sold) and into a little cottage in town. It's a rental but after a week of moving and unpacking and pottering about this little house, it's already starting to feel like home.

It's our personal journey and I have hesitated to share this part of it with you, for fear of being reprimanded / criticised / discouraged. I'm not going to go into the details of how and why we have made this choice as part of our journey of separating, but we have. And yes, there have been tears and moments of fear and doubt, but I do truly believe that this step is an important one for both Stuart and I - the chance, for the first time in our adult lives, to live as separate, individual people. I know God is with us through this, and He will not leave us or forsake us. I hang on to that hope.

My beautiful children are all doing very well. I missed them terribly these past few days, as I was busy setting up this home for them and Stuart was spending the weekend with them. They came this morning, and it was so wonderful to have them arrive and soak in everything. I cherish them so much, and treasure my time with them now more than ever before.

My Mum arrives tomorrow to spend a few days with us, and the kids are so excited to show her everything. It's kind of exciting living in town again after 18 months out on the land. The kids and I even walked to town late this afternoon (an easy 10 minute stroll), had dinner (I'm still without saucepans until tomorrow!) and popped into Bunnings to buy a bath plug and some little brightly coloured kid chairs my children have had their eyes on for awhile. We walked home with the chairs stacked on top of the stroller, in the semi-darkness. They thought it was a great adventure!

I appreciate your prayers and ask for your support at this time. I look forward to sharing some photos of my new home once I've finished the unpacking.

Photographs in May

I love photographs. I love the stories they tell, the memories they evoke. I love looking back on them. And I love to share them. Right now I want to remember that in spite of all that's going on in my marriage, life continues on. The children are thriving and growing and experiencing life in all their childhood wonder. I want to remember that. So here are some photographs of my beautiful, beautiful babies from the last few weeks.

There were Mother's Day cards and precious little gifts

Dress-up day at school - she went as "Annie" ;)

A visit with my Dad in his nursing home

Brother-sister cuddles

and silly time. ;)

A trip to the beach

and a birthday party.

And to Elijah, a birthday party = an opportunity to wear his suit. ;)

(He also wore it to the free dress day, along with a black umbrella - he was Gene Kelly from Singing in the Rain!)

For me, there have been moments like this.

And this.

Time to think, and be, and enjoy the wonder of my beautiful children and this life we have all been given.

Happy Children

It's what we all strive for, isn't it? Happy children? A peaceful home? Laughter? Contentment?

I am blessed to tell you that I have happy children this week. And lots of laughter, contentment, and a peaceful home to boot!

I can assure you it isn't always the case, but right now, things are beautiful. My little bubbly wonder is playing and growing and being adorable. His two-year-old chubby cuddles are my delight. My middle boy has found joy in Prep! He was awarded 'Student of the Week' this week for exceptional behaviour and helpfulness in his classroom. He thanks me all the time for letting him go to school! And my big girl is just so settled at the moment. She is calm, and helpful, and happy. She reached the big '10 sticker' mark in her sticker book at school yesterday, and chose a blueberry scented eraser to bring home. :) She was thrilled! She too adds to her prayers most nights "thank you for school".

Thanking God for happy children and His incredible blessings over us this week.

Sunday at the Park

Stuart had some work to do yesterday afternoon, so I decided to take the children to the lagoon in town to visit the playground and the wildlife. It was too beautiful an afternoon to stay indoors!

Cool and refreshing (and messy) water and sand play...

We took bread to feed the ducks...

How sweet to spend our Sabbath afternoon surrounded by peace and beauty.

I love this photo of my two eldest sitting and marvelling over the black swans. :)

William and I returned to the lagoon this morning after his swimming lesson. It is about a 45 minute circuit to walk around, which is excellent for me. ;) He sat in his stroller and enjoyed the view while I pounded the pavement. More about exercise / health etc. in a later post this week. Lots to share!

The End of an Era and a Jesse Tree

I have been taking my children to Mainly Music for 6 years now - since Saraya was 2 and Elijah was in my belly. :) William has been coming along since conception too! Today was Christmas break-up day, and the end of an era for my big two children who will not be able to attend next year. They will be busy at school.

Of course I took lots of photos! Here's some to share.....

Thank you beautiful Petrina for 6 wonderful years of fun! We love you!

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And this afternoon we found some branches and sprayed them gold and started our first ever Jesse Tree. It was exciting!!! The children are getting into the idea already, of following along with God's story, His story from the very beginning through to the coming of Jesus, anticipated and planned since creation! I cut out and laminated all the little 'ornaments' last night, the Bible verses and stories are printed and ready, and I'm so looking forward to this Jesse Tree being part of our Advent and our anticipation of Christmas Day.

Wishing you an Advent filled with the peace and joy of Jesus' coming.

More Spring Fruit

William is still unwell, and only granted himself (and myself) a total of four hours sleep last night. :( We're groggy and a little out of sorts today.

Still, it's Market Day in our little town so we took ourselves out of doors and walked the streets, met some friends, visited the library and restocked our book stash, and lunched at one of our favourite cafes.

William is now napping, the older children have retreated to their bedrooms, and I am soaking up the quiet.

And Market Day always brings loads of fresh fruit into the house, so all is well in the world!

A Creative Morning

Oh, the freedom of being little, and home, and having time.

The joys of finding old ballet shoes and cowboy costumes hiding in the shed (you'll remember these Mum!)

The pleasure of cutting fabric.........

.......... and turning it into something new.

The fun of playing pretend.

And all this in just one morning!

My Elijah Boy

I've noticed some big changes in my beautiful Elijah boy over the past few weeks. He is changing and growing and developing at a new pace.

He suddenly just seems more grown up. The feeling is, for me, bittersweet. :)

He has taken quite an interest in drawing lately, and makes all sorts of little things which delight me. Not just drawings, but characters which have names and interact with one another. Last week he made a "backdrop" (a forest picture with a big slit in it to stick puppets through), and a whole collection of little puppets (drawings of animals and people and clouds and raindrops etc. all stuck onto little coloured matchsticks). He has performed little shows with them. He is so imaginative.

He is getting quite interested in numbers. He loves to work out little sums, and is constantly seeing patterns everywhere.

His interest in space continues. He has found a craft project which he wants to try in one of his big sister's art books. It is basically making cards with pop-out astronauts and planets. etc., and it looks quite tricky. But I want to say "YES!" to him. He is such a gracious, patient little guy and I just love saying yes to Elijah. So make the cards we will.

He has learnt to buckle himself in in the car.

He has learnt to wipe his own bottom, all the time. ;)

He has started to put on his own socks and sneakers; he gets out of the bath on his own, dries off and gets pyjamas on all by himself. :D He gets up early every morning, and finds things to do quietly in his room. By the time we get up (at the oh so late hour of 6am or so :)), he has quite a few things to show me.

Perhaps some little boys Elijah's age have been able to do these things for awhile already. That's okay. Every child develops at their own pace. Eli is small for his age (still wearing a size 3 at 5 and a half years old), he hasn't lost any teeth yet (no wobblies yet either), he doesn't even own a 2-wheeler bike (Christmas is coming though! Hang on Elijah!)......... he is a little man who is taking his time growing up.

But growing up he is.

I'm so proud of my Elijah Samuel. He is a beautiful, sweet little boy who will never eat a bite before giving thanks for his dinner, and making sure we all do too. Who kisses and cuddles me all the day long. Who is humble and kind and won't lay a hand on William despite the hits over the head he receives from time to time. Who tells me I'm the best cook in the whole wide world. :D

Love you Elijah! xx

A Day at the Beach

It's just been one of those weeks this week where lots of fun things have been happening! I've really enjoyed taking my children places and doing fun things as I'm feeling much better. Yesterday we went to our Music group in the morning, grocery shopped, came home and had rests and did a little school work, then went to the pool in the afternoon for a swim. Then today I packed a big esky and took the kids to the beach, the park and the water play park! It was a great day. Bed soon, though - I'm tired. ;)

And tomorrow just happens to be our town's annual "Children's Day in the Park" which promises to be another great day out. Thankfully Saraya tackled all her math on Monday which has freed up the week a little. Still a few literacy activities to go, and more cooking - she has cooked something every day this week so far which she has loved. I've taken a few photos so will share at the end of the week. We have been very inspired by the show Junior Masterchef so declared this week "cooking week" in our house! It's been rather tasty (though I wish I had a dishwasher :)). Happy Wednesday everyone!