Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Christmas time is beaut!

What a lovely Christmas we have just had. Santa was a generous fellow and was good to all of us. The Rooster still keeps asking "Is it Christmas time?". I have told him it's Christmas until the tree goes down and then we have to wait another year to do it all again. A year is a long time for a three year old so it is met with such a big sigh of disappointment. I have consoled him with the fact that he has a birthday to look forward to, but even that seems a millennium away.

It is such an exhausting time of year for both the littlies and the adults but I feel a little sad that it is over. It was such a magical time this year, the Rooster's first real Christmas. He loved the countdown on the advent calendar and the carols (or harols as he was calling them at one time). He loved collecting the post each day and looking for his name on the cards from far away places. He took such delight at putting out his sack and the goodies for Santa and his reindeer to feast on after delivering his gifts. I wish I could I could bottle his excitement when he came downstairs and discovered that Santa had come and had left the treasures that he wished for.

But, I do love the down time between Christmas and New Year, eating leftovers and catching up with friends at a much slower pace. I am looking forward to the summer with my family. We have a list of things we would like to do with the kids, visits to the zoo and the beach, but I am mostly looking forward to the slow days at home. Late starts (for the one who gets the sleep in!), going out for coffee, playing with the kids with no rush to do the next thing and lots and lots of pottering about the house.

Eye Spy...some bling!

This weeks Eye Spy Sunday comes courtesy of Hoppo Bumpo.

I am not really one for gadgets or expensive possessions, but Santa came a little early this year and delivered this little bit of bling at work this week. I must admit I am a little scared of it. I have had it for 3 days and have yet to get it to do its stuff. It has just sat winking at me, coaxing me to play with it. All I have to do is download something or other, set up some kind of account and people tell me I'll be set. Fingers crossed. The ludite in me is a little nervous!

Ta dah!

Because my daughter has masses of silky, shiny hair and because I have spent way too much on hair accessories in just 10 months to keep said hair from flopping in eyes, I thought that I might try my hand at making this little things.

Eye spy....a burst of colour

I am not by nature attracted to the colour yellow, but since I have acquired my beautiful African mother and child I feel like I need to have something else yellow sitting at the other end of my buffet. These lillies sceamed out to me on Saturday and have been smiling at us all weekend.

This weeks theme comes from Flossy-P and the whole shebang is put together by Cindy.

One more sleep to go

...till my brother and his girl fly in from Canada. We are all very excited. The Rooster is at his Nanny's tonight sleeping over so that he is around for the morning run to the airport to see all the "aeroplanes", oh and Uncle Marty too!

So, its just the girls tonight here at Banjo Place after a very long trip home. There must have been a fatality on the highway as it took me an hour and a half to crawl home in the rain. And then the rain made the transfer of a sleeping baby impossible (ohh, to have a garage attached to the house, or even just a garage at all!)

Here comes Santa Claus

I can't help but post this photo cos it's just so darn cute. The Rooster knows that Santa is the Man. He also knows that he has to have a conversation with this odd looking man if he is to get the things on his list (how else will santa know?). However, he is not entirely convinced that sitting on the lap of a complete stranger in a red suit is the thing to be doing. My neice, who is 12, is wiser. She has worked out that a nice smile and a handshake will do the trick and that magic happens on the eve of the 24th.

Insomnia

The girls of this house had a bit of insomnia last night. Missy called out at 9.15 and then proceeded to squawk and giggle and kick and kick until she was propped up, nose to the top of the side rail. There was no way she was going back to sleep. So, rather than fight it, she came downstairs. Much to her delight. You could see the YEAH! all over her face. Her Daddy kept watch until this little face peeped over my screen.

Was it a full moon, because 2 hours later, I had the same problem. I hate lying awake. I hate tossing and turning and checking the clock. I give myself one hour of this kind of carry-on before I get up, do something and then try again to get to sleep.

Last night's something was Christmas cards. I love Christmas, the tree, the decorating, the lights but I hate the packing away come January. I always feel sad taking down the cards and putting them in the recycling box. Over the years I have been putting away all those special cards that are just too beautiful to become someone's toilet paper. They deserved more.

A little second hand joy for christmas tucked into envelopes ready to be posted off tomorrow. .

Eye spy something in my garden

Eye Spy Sunday is a new game concocted by Cindy at BugandPop .This week's theme is from Curlypops . Since we have a few things of note in our garden, I thought I would play too.

We call this tree the pom-pom tree.

It explodes each December with it's fuzzy pink, lilac and white balls.

The Rooster thinks it's neat having a Christmas tree in his front yard.

It fills the entire frame as you look out of Missy's window.

I have no idea of it's name and have yet to see another like it.

If we ever move, this is the one thing from our garden that I will miss.

Three little monkeys sitting on a bench

Silly Season

It's very quiet here tonight. The Rooster is exhausted. He met Santa today. Santa even gave him present! It had his name on it and it was made with a lot of love. The Rooster was in awe and wasn't a bit shy at meeting him.


It was a day of childish silliness. For running naked through a sprinkler on a steaming hot day. For eating jelly in the shade of a big jacaranda tree. For licking red icing off a cake when the adults weren't watching and for playing chasings, barefoot with your little mates thinking that this is the greatest fun you are ever going to have.

The Wrangling Rooster

The Rooster is one of those kids who has to sit back and survey a situation, sussing it out, before he will commit to doing something. He didn't crawl until he could do it correctly. He never cruised, he just got up one day and walked across the room. He doesn't dance unless he really, really likes the song and he knows that no-one is watching him.

So, it came as a great surprise today when he was the one to jump up and say he wanted to be first to go horse riding. No careful watching and planning, he simply put on a helmet and up he hopped.

He loved every minute (although he thought it was a little bumpy!). He rode past ducks and goats and a windmill. He was on top of the world. It was one of those times in life when something was done with such little thought and the experience was amazing.

Watch out world, here I come.

Missy is on the move! And into everything. She has obviously been watching very carefully over the past 9 months, making a mental note of where all the good stuff to meddle with has been stashed. She is as pleased as punch with her new found freedom.

Good for some, not so good for others. The Rooster's world has been turned upside down. He no longer has control of all the toys, deciding who has which toy for how long. This is a frequent sight in our house.

"No Missy. No! They are MY trains"

This is...my favourite thing in nature

Three buttons has been hosting this lovely meme over the past little while but like all good things it has ended. Ahh...it's never too late and I like this one too much to let it pass me by.

This is my favourite thing in nature (at the moment). I love how it climbs along my front veranda and how its gorgeous smell hits me everytime I pass my opened front door. I especially love it's heedy smell on a warm summer night. It reminds me of the evenings as a kid where you could play outdoors till it got too dark to see any more. Our house was covered with it. And it reminds me of being in love.

A very, very, busy day

Today was one of those wonderful, spontaneous days that come along every so often. After a disastrous start we decided that the only way we were to survive was to abandon all plans and go on an adventure. A really big adventure. It needed to involve a train ride (which was almost aborted due to track work), the art gallery and some Christmas cheer.

But first, let me backtrack a little. For the Rooster's second birthday he was given a beautiful book called "What colour is that". This book has entranced our little fella for the past year taking him on a journey through the art gallery and some of it's paintings. We have talked about one day going to the art gallery and seeing some of the pictures in real life. With his little book tucked under his arm, today we hit the gallery. It seemed that so did the rest of Sydney. We were hoping to pop into the Monet exhibition (it was not ALL about the boy) but with the queue about 100 metres long, it made sense to try for another day.

The Rooster loved the gallery. He spotted some of his favourites from his book and stood in front of each painting with his book open looking down and then up. He was hooked. It was one of those moments that your heart swells for your kid. Missy did well too. She squawked away like the cockatoo she dreams of becoming and kicked wildly in her pouch. Her time will come, although I have the sneaking suspicion that when she is let loose we will be chasing her down yelling "Don't touch that! Nooooo....!"

Every year when I was little (and most years as an adult!) we would go into town to see the Christmas windows. I can remember those days quite vividly and hope that my children will fall in love with the magic that is Christmas. The rooster is charmed already. He cannot wait until our tree goes up and is patiently counting down the days on his calendar. The windows had him mesmerised but what really made his day was this really big tree in Hyde Park.

He also thought that the fountains and paths were pretty good too. He took one look at the shiny smooth track and thought that his red car was just what he needed to make the most of our pit stop for lunch.

It's very quiet here tonight. The children were calm after their big day in the city and went to bed without fuss. The Rooster's last words as he lay in his bed were, "Mummy, we had a very very busy day!"

A Day in My Life

For the last few months Little Jenny Wren has been hosting A Day in My Life. Very simply, its a log of the small, mundane but often interesting things that can happen in an "ordinary" day in our lives. It happens on the 14th of the month, so over time, it should occur on a different day giving picture of the week. So ,without further ado, I give you A day in My Life for 14th of November.

5.20 A wake up call from Missy. A little unfair as she had only gone back to bed at 3. A quick feed and with the insistence from my husband, back to her bed in the hope that she would go back to sleep. Hooray she did (a minor miracle as she has NEVER done that before)!

5.40 Eyes closed and almost asleep when little footsteps sound at the door. Its the Rooster up far too early. After almost an hour of fidgeting we finally give in and Tools takes him downstairs.

6.30 Ahhh. Close eyes. A quick nap before I have to get up for work.

6.45. Phone rings. Its Missy's carer informing us that she cannot look after her today as her little boy is sick. A minor hiccup. One of us has to take the day off to look after her. We didn't realise when we decided on family daycare that, not only do we need to consider times when we are sick and our children are sick, but also when the carer and her children are sick too. I have 5 periods on today. Too much to sort out at such late notice. So Tools decides to stay with Missy.

8.20. Get into the car after getting everyone sorted for the day. Lunches made for the Rooster and I and food sorted for Missy who is staying with Tools for the first time. I know he will go marvellously well today, as well as have some precious bonding time with his daughter. Am exhausted and have barely started the day! Can I go back to bed now?

8.50 Homeroom done and a free period to have a coffee and sit and get sorted for the day. I check some emails and read through the postings in my pigeon hole.

9.50. Year 9. Frequency distribution tables. Mundane stuff. Today is the last day of a long service block I am doing for one of the teachers in my faculty. Will be glad that it is over as some of his classes are not very pleasant. It is also the last day of formal lessons for Year 10. A double after recess with 4 kids. We play some board games to while away the time.

1.30. I walk outside towards one of the demountable buildings. The heat is stifling hitting the thirties but with a great slog of humidity (a storm is brewing somewhere...). It's going to be a long afternoon with year 7 and 8!

3.10. Yeah. I made it through the day. Am most excited about getting home and seeing my kids.

3.30 Missy has had a great day with her Dad and the Rooster is hot and exhausted after his day at pre-school. I manage to convince everyone that a cool bath is in order before Nanny and Poppy arrive for babysitting duties.

7.20 Children are asleep and we leave for a rare night out together. Music in the Quad is on at my school. As we drive towards the venue the skies open up. A massive storm hits the Quad drenching everything. One of the bands leaves as their equipment is ruined. Everything very quickly gets moved into the hall but it is just not the same as being outside.

10.00 Sad but true, we come home early. Not at all surprised to see Missy up and on Poppy's lap. Give her a quick feed to settle her and crash in the hope that she will do the same thing. Not sure that she does as I can hear her as I'm dozing off. Tools assures me he will take care of it for me. He is a treasure.

Day is done. Typical? I would say fairly. Now there is just the weekend to tackle. some friends for lunch and some much needed pottering around the house.

A born free moment

An unexpected coffee with friends today. Child-free. 40 minutes of uninterupted chat washed down with a great flat white. A born free moment. I could hear the music in my ears as I was driving away from the house. Ahhh....its the little things that keep you going.

Watercolours

When the Rooster was a newborn, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a unique Mothers Group. An annex of The Womens Room, the mothers group was a place where new mothers could meet to nurture our soulful and creative selves. Along with the sleep deprivation, feeding issues and poo talk we had time set aside to discuss the more pertinent issues such as The Myth of the Perfect Mother, Door to Motherhood, Motherguilt and Loss of Self. After our discussion we would have the opportunity to express ourselves in various art mediums. It was truly an invaluable experience and I have met some amazing women who I would now consider some of my best friends.

Three years on and the group is still running. Today's topic was sibling rivalry, ever so relevant after the birth of a new baby. After a short meditation (no easy task with children and babies moving about) focusing on a walk in a garden, our art activity was to paint the flowers we visualised using watercolours. This is what I came up with.

The Rooster had a go as well. He likes to draw cars and splats in his favourite colour green.

This was just what I needed today. I feel re-energised to begin my working week tomorrow where there is often very little time for a little head space and creativity.

Purple Haze

When I was at Sydney University many many years ago, the blooming of the Jacaranda tree in the Main Quad signalled that it was final exam time and that I should be doing more than lolling about under its branches. Now when I see that first dash of purple, I know that it must be halfway through term 4 (more exams and then reports) and that Christmas and the heat of summer is on its way.

The Rooster has rediscovered " purple trees". We live in the Blue Mountains and Jacaranda's are prolific in this region. Last year, he delighted in spotting purple trees as we drove about our neighbourhood. His language skills were not strong enough at two to get his mouth around Jacaranda, so "purple trees" they were. This year our chatterbox can say pronouce anything we ask of him and so, from my little backseat driver I hear, "another Jacaranda Mummy!" .

Hope

Yesterday was a history making day. Barak Obama became the President of the United states. A man so full of hope that he motivated a record number of voters to come out of their homes and vote for change, to make their voices heard. He made them believe, that as a nation, they could make a difference. And they did. Against all odds the impossible became possible.

Obama is an inspirational man for our times. He is proof that the underdog can come out victorious. I feel hopeful that the world could change under his leadership and hope that his dreams for an inclusive, peaceful world become his reality.

Embrace the Morning

I am not a morning person. My husband is also not a morning person. Sod's law would suggest that in our case we would produce children who are morning people. Three years ago our son was born. We like to call him rooster. We have fought his natural tendency for 3 years. His room has ventians and blockout curtains and not a smidge of daylight enters his darkened room. Yet there is something out there that is kickstarting his brain, telling him it's the morning and time to play with his beloved cars and trains. He knows that it is not morning till "7 o'clock" (we can only fool him for so long!) and yet there he is at 5.20 on the floor of his room, brooming his cars.

He at least is sorted. He will get out of bed, and at three, can easily amuse himself with his books, toys and music. His sister is another story. Missy is 8 months old and another rooster. She wakes at 5 for her morning feed and is not content with dozing through the morning until a respectable hour is reached. She is ready and raring to go.

I have raged against the dawn for too long. It seems that it is my fate to be a morning person. So today I embraced the dawn. With children content and a husband with generous spirit intact, I went for a swim. At 6.30. The pool was empty. I didn't have to fight for lane space and I didn't have to listen to the aqua aerobics. It felt good. Really good. My children were still happy when I returned and my glow wasn't diminished.

Maybe I can be a morning person (for now anyway).

PS. I can't wait until my children are teenagers and they want to sleep in....but sshhhhsh...don't tell them that!