Feminine Friday - my up-do

Putting my hair up isn't as easy as it used to be, but not impossible!  Trusty bobby pins and a sprig of jasmine from the vine on the front stairs did the trick.  :)

Let the celebrating begin!!

A gift arrived for Saraya yesterday and we decided to let her open it, just to spread the gifts out!

Oh, and how cute is he?!

An Update

Thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions re: the party.  I think I'll take shifts with a couple of friends caring for Will here at home.  The party is being held at our church 5 minutes away.  I think that will work, though I'm a bit nervous about leaving William..... he's still only little and he's a real "Mamma's boy", especially when he's not well!  :(  I'd like to be there to be part of the "formal" bits of the party, but will probably miss quite a bit, sadly.  

It's funny, my post on Sunday regarding Undivided Worship........  I mentioned that one thing that divides us from God is our circumstances.  Easy to pray and praise when things are great, but harder when they're not.  Well, I'm getting plenty of practice with that one this year. :)  A few days ago I didn't know that William was going to get sick.  Again.  I think his immune system is still a little compromised after having had that chest infection at 3 weeks of age.  He seems to be picking things up and struggling with them more than the other two children ever have.  Thankfully he's breastfeeding, and will continue to (God willing!) for another year or two.  I hope he'll fully recover and be a strong healthy toddler by then!!  I find it hard seeing my kids sick.  At least it's usually a rare thing.  Will's doing pretty well today though.  He seems a bit uncomfortable, but I've been bathing him in lavender baths and putting some special cream on his spots.  He had some panadol before bed tonight and is sleeping at the moment the longest he has in awhile.  

I'm tired and I'm trying to remember what it's like when we're all well.  It's been a bit of a nasty winter up here.  But I've always been one to try to focus on the positives rather than the negatives.  Even more so in the last few years as my faith has grown, but still there have been plenty of struggles for us as a family.  Take this past 18 months for instance...........

*  Losing our closest friends.

*  .... and losing more than $20,000 because of that loss of friendship.

*  Stu's broken leg.

*  Stu's injured eye.

*  Saraya being hospitalised.

*  Some health issues with me.... pregnancy, migraines, mastitis, etc.

*  William's challenging birth.

*  William being hospitalised.

*  A very unreliable car, causing all sorts of issues.

*  William getting chicken pox. :)

*  And the list goes on .........

BUT I can think of many many blessings too.  And these are what I try to think about on a daily basis.  There is absolutely no point in stressing about things beyond our control (easier said than done, but possible!)  Lean on God.  Ask Him to help in every situation, and praise Him in every situation.  Here are some blessings of mine, good things for which I'm ever so grateful .............

*  A wonderful, wonderful husband and 3 beautiful children.  The chance to journey through this life together, to live and learn and grow side by side.

*  A lovely home- my very own "house of dreams".

*  Our finances holding out through the storm of this year!

*  Help and support from beautiful friends and family.

*  A new car, which we're picking up this week!  Praise God!

*  A new haircut. :)

*  Plenty of good food to eat.

*  My garden.  And dreams of what my garden will be. 

*  The spring weather.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is

 pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise - keep thinking about these things".  Philipians 4:8

"Turn all your anxiety over 

to God because he cares for you."  1 Peter 5:7

Our spotty little William

Saturday afternoon William started to get a few spots on his arm.  By today there were many more.  Both the other children had chicken pox last year, and these spots looked a lot like them.

So today I took him to the doctor, and would you believe it, he has the chicken pox.  My little 4 month old with the chicken pox!  My poor sweet bubby.  Apparently it's going around at the moment.  It is nearly 10pm, and he's up sitting on my lap.  He's getting lots of special attention! 

Does he seem worried?  No.  In fact, I'm sure he thinks the whole thing is hilarious.

I on the other hand could sleep for a month.........

And I have NO idea what to do with Stu and Saraya's big birthday party this Saturday.  I can't not be there, but William will still be contagious.  Help!!!!!!!  Any ideas??

Undivided Worship

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, the Apostle Paul makes an admonition — we are to "pray without ceasing."   I have got better at this over the last few years, and these days my conversations with God are frequent.  

"Thanks Lord for this day"

"Thanks God, I asked you for 4 hours straight sleep last night, and I got it!!"

"Oh God, I'm SO tired..... please please please help me get through today....."

"God, I need inspiration, I don't know what to cook tonight"

"God, give me patience.  This children are driving me crazy right now!  Aaaaggghhhh!!!"

"Thank-you Father for my home and family.  Show me how to best minister to them today"

"Lord, bless my husband today.  Keep him safe and bring him home to us soon"

.........etc., etc., etc., etc.  The conversation goes on and on.  Since learning to lean on Him and converse with Him throughout my day (and often nights too) I feel supported and encircled in love and protection.  I feel peace, calm (most of the time!), and answers to the many questions which cross my mind.  It is beyond a blessing, and I can't remember how I ever got through anything before I got to know God personally in my life!

But today at church Gwen spoke about the 3 things that can detract from truly worshipping God.  Really spending time just devoted to Him, learning more about Him and praising Him for all He's done for us.

1.  Our circumstances.  It's easy to praise God when everything's great, but harder when things aren't going so well.  

2.  Our self-reliance.  Believing that we can do things on our own, and that all good things that happen are because of what we've done.  

3.  Distractions around us.  Spending time with God (church, Bible-study, prayer, listening to worship music, etc.) but thinking about other things while we do it (kids, work, what we're doing tomorrow, etc.)

As I was listening, I realised that I really struggle with number 3.

As a Mum......... as a person, my mind is full of many distractions.  I don't really create within my day a time to give JUST to God.  When we're busy I think it's valuable to be able to "pray without ceasing" as we go about our day.  But I also realise I owe it to God to give Him my undivided attention as well.  Just as my husband and children deserve one-on-one attention from me, so does my Heavenly Father.  I know that sometimes I can sit and read a whole passage of  my Bible, yet at the end of it remember nothing of what I've just read. 

 

So today I am thinking about how I can discipline my mind to not think about other things while spending special time with God.  I still need to tend to the needs of the children, but I think other things can wait.  Like the phone ringing, or the mental shopping list I'm making in my head. :)  This week I'm going to try some undivided worship.  I know when I spend time with God first, everything else falls into place!

(I have no idea why this font is so small.  I can't get Blogger to make it any bigger!  Sorry. :()

Our little William

I've been having fun taking photos of William this week.  He is really really changing and growing up way too fast!

Thought you might enjoy these.....................

tummy time

first solids...... he tried a little mashed banana yesterday and LOVED it!!

just laying around............ his favourite activity :)

I'm so enjoying him.  No matter how tired I am, or what else is going on, it's a blessing to have a baby in the house.  So refreshing to have this new little life.  May I take good care of him Father!

Wordless Wednesday - Off to a clown party, 1, 2, 3

Off to our little friend Georgia's birthday party last Saturday!

Conversations with Elijah

Saraya is back at school today for her last term of grade one.  I can't stop thinking about how she is getting on.  I miss her! 

Thank goodness I have Elijah here to keep me company.  :)  He made me laugh this morning.......

See this romper William is wearing below?  He has this on today.

Elijah asked me what it says.  I said "Always ready for a cuddle.  Kiss, kiss, kiss".  "No Mamma" he replied, "It says hug, hug, hug."  "No sweety", I begin to explain, "those x's are kisses.  hugs are written with round circles".  He was quiet for a moment then said, "Well I think kisses should be round like a round mouth kissing someone.  And the x's look like crossed arms cuddling someone."  Well how about that??!

A Psalm for today - the sunset

"The Heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples have seen His glory."  Psalm 97:6.

6 Random Facts

Renata tagged me for this meme "6 Random Facts about me". I was actually going to post some random bits tonight, so I'll combine the two and call this "6 Random Facts about my day".

1. We put the cot up for William. The two little boys enjoyed having a cuddle and watching the mobile above them for awhile. Very cute!

2. William and ELijah's room is basically done. I'm not sure if I'm happy with the layout yet; still fiddling with that but I'm happy with how it looks. Except maybe a blue overload?? It just sort-of happened that way!

3. This is Saraya writing a plan for decorating a pair of shoes. She has written a list of what she needs, and here is tracing round the shoe to draw a design of it on paper. Tomorrow we are all going to the birthday party of one of Stuart's prep children...... it's a clown party, a costume party. So today Stu picked up a pair of $2 shoes from an op shop for Saraya, and they decorated them tonight before she went to bed. I like the way she plans things out on paper first!! She's always done this. I like how they turned out.




4. Today Elijah wanted to paint. I find I so often say "no", so today I said "yes". He worked away for awhile and created two masterpieces for his bedroom wall. All this before packing up and walking to town to do the grocery shopping. Stu and Saraya were out at Prep; school goes back on Monday so Stu was out there planning. Saraya was playing. I mean helping. :) They picked us up from town late afternoon. It was a nice, full day.

5. We've been watching a series on the ABC called "Life at 1". It's following the lives of 10 families over 7 years. Amazing. Last night's episode was studying the health of kids, specifically the risks of becoming overweight and obese. It was interesting timing because Stuart and I have been thinking loads about health lately. Neither of us are really overweight but just want to be much much healthier and fitter than we are. Funny though, in thinking all this through we were thinking of our own bodies and not so much about role-modeling for the children. Now that's at the forefront of my mind. We feel determined to be more active, not just for us but for them!! (Hence the unnecessary walk to town today. I actually love walking with my children, just need to allocate the extra time for it). Stu has recently joined the gym and is enjoying getting into that. I'm still dealing with the whole migraine issue, so am taking it easy just walking nearly every day and really watching what I eat. I've completely cut out caffeine and am cutting right down on wheat. I think it's helping.

6. Hmmm..... a 6th random fact? I'll choose a photo taken a few days back.

We have a sandbox in the backyard and Saraya and Elijah had a blast in it the other day, burying the hose under mountains of sand and watching the water spurt up. They kept trying to stop the flow, and were in fits of laughter about it gushing out every which way! BTW, is that a tiger in our sandpit????

A Mother's Thankful Heart

I recently read a book called "The Power of a Positive Mum" by Karol Ladd. It was a great read. In the book was included this poem, which really lifted me up the day I read it. Thought I'd share it tonight. (forgive the spacing; Blogger isn't behaving and won't let me do it the way I want to!!)

A Mother's Thankful Heart

I come before You Father

To thank you for this life

The blessings you have given me

As a mother and a wife

I'm thankful for my children

As I watch them grow and play

Knowing that each moment

Will live for just today

I'm thankful for the laundry

For the dust to wipe away

I'm thankful for the problems

That make me stop and pray

I'm thankful for my husband's job

The roof above our heads

I'm thankful for our daily food

For the comfort of our beds

I'm thankful for the errands

The phone that always rings

I'm thankful for the tears we cry

For the joy that laughter brings

I'm thankful for our family's love

The way we sit and talk

The simple games we often play

The picnics and the walks

I'm thankful for the little things

That make up every day

For therein lies your love, Lord

And the wonder of your ways

I'm thankful for the memories

That life has brought my way

I count it as a blessing

To be a mother every day.

Wordless Wednesday - He'll make a fine man one day

A new room!

We have been busy doing a room change-around this week. What was Saraya and Elijah's room will now be Eljiah and Will's room. And what was our spare, crafty room will now be Saraya's little girly bedroom.

Here are some pics of our renovations thus far.........

What was the craft room...... being disassembled and cleaned from top to bottom

Last night........... Saraya getting settled in her new room

We still need to organise curtains, hence the draped sheets on the windows :). I'm no seamstress (unfortunately), but they really do need to be handmade for these windows. They're an unusual design, and there's lots of them which means lots of light, draughts and heat to block out. Still a project I'm thinking through.

We moved Saraya's furniture in yesterday (all but her wardrobe, still coming from a friend) and she had a good night's sleep. I wasn't sure how she and Elijah would go sleeping on their own for the first time, but both slept through!

Her room is looking pretty and I'm hoping it will be a peaceful place for her to play and relax. Tonight we have Daisy here for a sleepover so the girls are trying the room out; we had a swim this afternoon at the town pool, baths, dinner, colouring-in, a story, and now both girls are sleeping, exhausted I imagine!
I'll take pics of the boys' room once it's finished........... lots more little bits and pieces to do yet. Such a long process, but the results will be worth it!

Oh, and Andrew......... I'll get onto your request for a gardening post soon!! You'll see pictures of a very very neglected garden - but I thank you for giving me extra motivation to do something about it!

A Psalm for today

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path". Psalm 119:105

Saturday Swap Part One

A long time ago, my friend Cathy and I talked about the idea of doing a child-swap once a month... to create a free Saturday for us as couples to spend special time together. Today was our guinea-pig run, and Chloe and Declan spent the day with us. We had a blast!! All the children were absolutely exhausted and should hopefully sleep really well tonight. :)

This is what we got up to...........................

Making home-made strawberry jam, Jamie Oliver style

Declan entertaining us with his music on the back patio

Rest time = watching Deigo and Dora and reclining on cushions

William enjoying the entertainment of having extra kids around!!

Enjoying a swim in the paddle pool................. great that it was such a warm day today. :)

A walk and a play at the park nearby our place. One of the horses who lives in the Pony Club grounds next to the park came over for a chat and to eat the grass offered by 4 willing feeders!

Making octopus craft before tea (thanks Tamra for the idea!) I'll post a photo of the finished art tomorrow....



After a child-free day, Cathy and Gary joined us for dinner at our place. I don't have photos of the main, just the dessert (can you tell we are all sweet-tooth's around here?!). Orange jelly with strawberries, and donuts which we embellished with our homemade jam from this morning. Instant jam donuts!! It was great to share dinner with friends.

We finished off the evening with a spontaneous dance session in the living room to the kids worship song "Fruits of the Spirit" which Saraya and Chloe know from school. The boys joined in too! Tomorrow at church is a special children's service which will be fun for all. Apparently there'll be more singing and dancing then too. What a weekend! Thanks so much Chloe and Declan for coming to spend the day with us. We loved having you! ;)

Why not give this child-swap idea a go with some friends of yours? It was easy for us to have these 2 little ones over for the day; and it forced Stu and I to stop work and just have some genuine fun! I know their Mum and Dad had a pretty relaxing day too. :) I'm looking forward to our turn next month, and I know Saraya and Elijah are already looking forward to it too!!!