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.

Hello Autumn!

This week we have said goodbye to summer, and hello to autumn. How I love welcoming in this cooler season! There is a crispness in the air in the early mornings and the evenings. The days are still warm, but I know jumpers will be pulled out soon enough.

Yesterday afternoon the children packed up little bags and headed out into the cool garden for some creative play.

The sky over our heads at about 5 o'clock. The seasonal change is something you can literally feel all around you, isn't it?! Amazing.

Molly is always close by the children - she is like a puppy the way she follows them around!

My chatterbox William. He literally never stops talking to me about what's on his mind.

Elijah is back at school now, though still not quite 100%. Soon after I took this photo he came inside and asked me for a warm bath. I put lavender oil in it, and lit a candle for him. I also played one of his favourite sleepy cd's. :) He stayed in the warm water for a long time, and after pyjamas were on and dinner eaten, he was off to bed. He is feeling much better today.

Saraya and William stayed out until dusk. They put on some warmer clothes and told me they were off on "an adventure" - all the way up to the letter box. ;)

These two children are great mates. I was given a much-needed night off rehearsing last night, so things were much slower paced here. It was bliss just to watch the children play and appreciate the simple things.

Today is cleaning day and William and I have just changed all the beds and put on the feather doonas with fresh covers. It is a nice feeling to be cosy-ing up the house. Autumn will bring more soups and stews, lap blankets at night, earlier dinners and (hopefully, God willing) more sleep-ins from the little people in the house.

Hello Autumn!

William and Molly

William and Molly are great pals. Molly seems to be the more tolerant of our two kittens, hence her fondness for our burly William. :)

I caught the two of them the other day, curled up quietly, "resting", as Will explained to me, on the play table.

Of course.

An Inside Morning

Well, the weather is setting the mood for our days at the moment. Wet, grey, windy, rainy, cool, bleak = an excuse to stay indoors and do cosy indoor things. :) It may be spring in theory, but it sure doesn't feel like it! We're all still in winter pyjamas and I'm still drinking (herbal ;)) tea all day long. It couldn't be any more different to this time last year, when we had had 8 months of total drought!!!

Anyway, today William was really unwell with a flu. I put on the most comforting music on hand, and we pulled out some bits and pieces to do. It ended up being a lovely morning!

Remember this puzzle? Well, today she pulled it out again and reassembled it with all the blocks of pieces in the box. :) Fun!

William is heavily into puzzles at the moment - more of the peg puzzle kind. ;) So we sat and did at least a dozen of those.

Elijah - not so much. He just sits and stares at all the pieces, feeling overwhelmed I think.

Then he enlists help.

And gets it done!! :D Nothing like some team work.

When all available puzzles were completed, this fairy took to plaiting rainbow thread and decorating herself.
She still adores her wings Jane! They have held up well - they're 4 years old now, amazingly!

Dancing and twirling to the music.

And the piece de resistance was finding my old Connect Four game. Well. These boys just loved it. I don't know that they ever quite got the idea of it, but they sure had a great time.

Especially William, who happily posted those red and yellow coins in random slots for a good hour or more - and forgot all about his stuffy nose and his chesty cough, for awhile.

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!

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!

A Morning at the Park!

A good friend had her 30th birthday today, and we all gathered at the park to help her celebrate. There was 24 children in all (the older ones all homeschooled, plus lots of littlies!) so it was quite a gathering.

William trying to catch a bubble

Climbing up so high

Games with friends

I love this park. And my friends. :) It's been a great day. We even bought nectarines and peaches at the markets today - and it's HOT so it really feels like summer is just around the corner!

Trying Contract Sheets

With one more term of homeschooling to go before summer break, I am trying something new with Saraya. I am writing her a Contract Sheet full of activities, and giving her five days in which to complete them. It will be very interesting to see how she spaces her work. :) I am hoping this will be a less stressful way of schooling her for the remainder of the year. It gives her a little more control over what she does when, whilst still complying with the work I set her. With all my sickness lately I just don't have the stamina / endurance / patience I have always had - and it's very frustrating! I'm booked in to see the cardiologist in the city on the 14th October, and am hoping and praying for answers and treatment options there. I am feeling okay today, but still not usual self.

Here is Saraya's Contract for this week (only 3 days to complete these as it's already Wednesday)...

And what do you think she chose to do first??

Yep, that's right. Bake the cake. :) Thankfully this is a recipe she can do independently!

Saraya seems pretty enthusiastic about this idea, and I am too. Of course these activities are only part of how time gets filled around here.... there is copious amounts of independent reading going on, as well as creative play and art and craft and outdoor play and trips to town. Right now all three kids have built a house on our trampoline, complete with a sheet for a roof and our little plastic table and chair set to eat at! They've taken their pillows out as well. For Elijah, we are starting "Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" this week. Just gently and quietly together, to help him cement his letters and sounds before starting Prep next year. He enjoys the cuddles and one on one time with me.