Ah! The serenity!

I was really lucky to have my best friend here last week.  Unfortunately life is busy at the moment, so for the first part of the week she got to follow me around and experience the chaos of it.

But Thursday we got to sit around and chat, and Friday we took off on a spontaneous adventure.

After school drop-off, we gathered some morning tea and water and jumped in the car.  I drove us up to the tablelands nearby.  There's a lookout up there where you can see the plains below, and the craggy sandstone cliffs of the tablelands around you.

It's the first time I've been there and not had other groups there at the same time.  And it was SO quiet!

We decided to go back to the car and get our morning tea.

As we sat there enjoying the view, an eagle soared by, in front of the lookout - probably only 10 meters away from us.  We watched it flying around in the thermals, rising higher and higher, before it headed off in another direction.

This was taken when the eagle had moved further away.  When we initially saw it, it was only a couple of metres from the railing.

It was so lovely and peaceful, and felt incredibly special.

Instead of heading straight home, we decided to go and have a look at the river (the Fellas and I went there another time).  Apparently we've had a bit of rain recently, because there was the definite smell of rotting vegetation, somewhat similar to seaweed on the beach, and we got a bit muddy walking up the tracks next to the river.

But despite the smell and mess, it was great to hang about for a while watching the water go by, looking at those amazing trees, and chasing butterflies like a lunatic.

We headed back home and had lunch before school pickup.

The day was such a lovely contrast to the busy-ness of the first half of the week, and it reminded me that, even when I don't have friends staying, I need to make the time to have spontaneous adventures, and find places of serenity in my home, my town and the surrounding area.

Friends and nature are just, plain good for the soul :-D

Christmas joy

This evening has been one of those "essence of Christmas" times for me.

I've been watching the "Carols in the Domain" re-run (one of the two major Christmas carols productions here in Australia), and baking macadamia and white chocolate shortbread.  The Christmas lights are on, I finally finished my outdoor decorations and installed them this afternoon and they're looking good.

I'm thinking about my family and the things that have made Christmas for me in the past.

As a kid it was definitely presents.  Actually, as a late teenager/early adult, it was about presents too, but the fun, cheap, gag presents that we all bought each other for our Christmas stockings.  There were an awful lot of laughs involved in that!

Carols are definitely a major part of Christmas too.  I love singing them, listening to them, and watching them on Christmas Eve on TV.

Growing up, a big part was church as well.  Not as a tradition or religious element, although there was that as well, but more as a celebration and fun with my friends, who I definitely felt were like family.

I remember sneaking out of bed when I was a kid to sit by the Christmas tree and just look at the lights.  Then as I got older, I got that same sense of wonder and magic and "special-ness" from wandering around and looking at all the homes with outdoor Christmas lights.

This evening we also booked tickets to see "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" on Boxing Day.  Seeing a new-release movie on Boxing Day became a bit of a tradition around the time the Big Fella and I got married.  It started with the first Lord of the Rings movie, actually!

I guess I've just been enjoying the quiet evening, the break from the rush and chaos that this season can bring.

And being thankful for my life and those around me, past and present.  I am so blessed in every way.

In these last few days before the BIG day, I wish you love, laughter, excellent friends and family, and a few moments to reflect and relax and simply enjoy the season.

Home!

We had a 4am start.  And I'm such a morning person!!!  But that's what you gotta do to catch your 6am flight.

Mum got up to say goodbye, and dad drove us to the airport.  I hate goodbyes, but I hate short, early morning goodbyes even more because I always feel like that hug wasn't long enough and I wanted to say "I love you" just one more time.

Anyway, I'd checked in online the day before, but we needed to check our bags through.  They have an ATM-style check-in at Melbourne airport with a couple of airport staff there to help you out.

We got the lady's attention and started the process when the Little Big Fella started jumping up and down.  Yep!  You guessed it!  He had to pee!  Right now!!!!

Of course, you can't just leave your bags with anyone at the airport.  And of course the closest toilets weren't exactly close.  So here we are running through the airport, just after 5am, dragging our bags and trying not to drop anything.

Thankfully we made it!  Yay!

We went back and finished our bag check-in then went and found our gate.  We were flying home with a different carrier than we did on the way down, and on this flight we had a breakfast included.

The Little Big Fella decided to "drink" his orange juice with the tiny stirring teaspoon.  It took forever!!!  But he was happy so where's the problem?

We had an hour or so in Brisbane between our flights.  Guess what we did for most of it.  We went up and down the escalators.

Down.

Up.

Down.

Up.

Down.

Up.

Down.

Up.

At least a dozen times.

But, again, the Little Big Fella was happy, and we weren't in anyone's way, so where's the problem?

Finally we were on our final leg home and I was anxious to get there.  I was tired, sick of being mummy 24/7, and ready to see my husband.

And when I saw him, I have to say he was looking fine!!!  He's been losing weight and working out, so when he turned up in his jeans and t-shirt, with his growing muscles showing, I did a double-take.  I know it was only 12 days, but he looked really good!

Okay, okay, I'll move on.

We went and had some lunch and did some food shopping then we were on our way home.

It doesn't matter how good a time you have when you're away, or how well you were looked after, or how comfy the bed was where you stayed, there is no place like home!

And even though there was lots of unpacking and cleaning up to do (the Big Fella had been away hunting for the past 5 days so all his camping gear and washing was added to what we had brought home), it was still home, the Little Big Fella was back in his normal space and routine, and I was ready to relax and recover from the great time we'd had catching up with family and friends and having all kinds of adventures.

A dream childhood

I sometimes wonder if my son, despite (or perhaps even because of) being an only child, is having a dream childhood.

If I were to ask you what a dream childhood for a boy might look like, what would you say?

Maybe riding bikes?  Maybe even motorbikes?  Check, and check!

Maybe fishing with dad?  Check!

Maybe doing all kinds of handyman things with dad?  Check!

Maybe lighting fires (not bushfires, obviously) and learning to play with them (safely)?  Check!

Hmmmm, what else goes into a dream childhood???

Dogs!  For a boy, you'd just about have to say dogs, right?  Check!

Playing in mud and dirt and sand?  Check!

Kicking the football around with dad, maybe even with mum too?  Check!

Lots of food?  Check!  A bit of junk food?  Check!

Dressing up as superheroes probably needs to go in there too, right?  Check!  Oh!  And movies!  Check!

And then there's the stories that I used to be told by my parents about the golden era of their growing up years.  I'm sure you've heard similar ones.  You know!  The story that goes something along the lines of heading out to play with your friends, only coming home to eat or when it gets dark?  Running or riding around, playing, getting into harmless mischief, knowing that any of the mums will tell all of you off if you get into not-so-harmless mischief... you've heard that story, right?

Well, the Little Big Fella will now be able to tell his kids those stories because today, at about 10am he raced into the house desperately trying to find me.  A couple of the people who live in the cul-de-sac behind us only get to have their kids during the school holidays, and the kids were calling out to the Little Big Fella to join them.

Who could say no?

So off he went!  And you know what I felt?  Guilt.  Guilt!  Do you believe it???  I felt guilty because my son wasn't under any single person's direct care.

Are you kidding me???

Thankfully I quickly realised that he was living the dream so I put away my guilt and happily fed him when he came home for lunch, before running out again to play for most of the afternoon.

And when one of his new friends climbed over the fence to play at our place for a while, I fed them jelly (it is school holidays after all), and they played until it was nearly dark and they were called inside for dinner.

At one point, late in the afternoon, myself, my next door neighbour and her backyard neighbour met for a quick chat in the corner of our yards.  And we smiled about the fact that our kids are getting to live this dream childhood.

Oh!  And if you're wondering what I did with my essentially child-free day, I cleaned the office and planned for our trip next week.  Yep!  Livin' the dream :-D

A fishy foray

The Big Fella had a day off today and earlier in the week had given the Little Big Fella the idea of going fishing.  So they'd been up to the little dam and put in some pots for yabbies (apparently they call them "crawchies" here).  We got the gear together, collected our yabbies and pots and headed out to a fishing spot on the other side of the next town.

You know, when a "local" gives you directions to an awesome place to fish, it's probably worth getting lots of details about it.  The directions were to take the first road left after the weir wall, then turn onto the track after the 2nd cattle grid.

Uh huh.

We pass the weir wall and drive... and drive... and drive.  Finally we find the road to the left.  There's a cattle grid right at the turn off.  Sweet!  1 down!

We drive... and drive... and drive.  Finally another cattle grid.  No tracks.

O-kay...

We drive... and drive... and drive.  Another cattle grid.  Hmmm.  The only track has a gate, covered in chains, and a big sign about trespassers not being welcome.

Uh huh.

We drive a little more, seeing if maybe there's another track.  Nope.

Call me old fashioned or what have you, but I don't like the idea of going onto someone's property, without speaking to them in person, if they have a sign suggesting they don't like people coming onto their property!

So we turned around and headed back to the weir.

There was a little 4WD track that ran along side the "river" so we took our brand new, awesome car down it :-D  The car did a great job and we found a little spot to have a go at fishing (after running into (not literally) an older couple who'd parked in the middle of the track, then taking a serious 4WD track to get past them).

We pulled up and got out the gear and the Big Fella set up a line, hooked up the yabby and cast it into the little pool.

There wasn't an awful lot of action so the Little Big Fella ate a jelly.

Then the Big Fella decided it was time to sit down and have a beer and a chat while they were waiting.

No idea what they were talking about here, but it was obviously of worldwide importance, given their expressions!

After a little while we decided that this spot was lovely, but it didn't seem like a good fishing spot.  So we packed up and moved on.

We looked at two different spots above the weir, but we decided to drive down the other side of the little "river", again giving our new car a good test drive as a 4WD.

And here is where we stopped for the rest of our fishing adventure:

Not too shabby, hey?

The Big Fella baited up again...

...while the Little Big Fella splashed around in the water (did you realise it's winter here at the moment????).

And then it was time to fish!

But, there weren't any fish biting here either!  That obviously means you need to walk further downstream :-)

There was this amazing tree that made the perfect picture frame of my Fellas.

It's funny.  There's not much that warms a woman's heart as much as seeing her husband and son happily spending time together.

Can you guess who the Little Big Fella's current superhero is?  Here's a clue; check out his fingers:

Any guesses?  Wolverine (of course!).

With no fish action, we decided to pack up for today and head to the pub for lunch :-)  But first, we had to set the yabbies free!

A bit of a nap in the arvo, and a bit of footy on the TV and there you have an awesome Sunday!

The Balancing Act Called Motherhood

As well as re-creating our whole house (well, that's almost how it feels), I've been pondering the dilemma of modern motherhood lately.  Or perhaps I should say modern parenting because Dads get their fair share of this one too.

You know what I'm talking about; the balancing act between work and home, hands-on and hands-off, nurturing and discipline, child's needs and parent's needs... and on and on it goes.

When we moved here I expected to be able to find a great Family Day Carer (although, I didn't expect anyone to live up to SuperCarer's standards really), then get a job and complain about how hard it is to balance work and motherhood.

But it hasn't quite worked out that way.

So for me, right now, the balancing act is particularly between my needs and the Little Big Fella's needs.  And I don't think the balance is great just now.

I'm an introvert.  That doesn't necessarily mean I'm shy - it means that when I'm exhausted or overwhelmed or basically need to recharge, I need to be alone.  And at the moment, that's just not happening.

Instead, I'm getting constant touch (mostly licks actually - from the Little Big Fella ??? and the dogs), constant interruption (normally with requests for food or to call a friend to play with), and no chance to recharge.

And it's making me an absolute cranky pants!!!

Obviously, for all our sakes, I need some time out.  Because our balance is out!

So what do I do?

Well, for starters, tonight the Big Fella and I made sure the dishes were done as soon as dinner was finished.  That takes the evening load off, just that little bit.

Also, luckily, the Little Big Fella was pretty tired tonight and crashed in bed as soon as he'd had his shower.

Then the Big Fella and I watched a TV show together before he went off to work.  I painted my nails at the same time (it's weird that a bit of care and attention to your nails can re-set your head).

And now I'm taking some time to read a bit of parenting stuff online (like this one about guilt, and this one about the core of parenting) and blog about my failures :-)

The house is quiet and nothing is demanding my attention.  It's not late so I don't feel guilty or concerned about how tired I'll be tomorrow.

I feel relaxed and re-set and ready to take on the challenge again tomorrow.

And you know there'll be a new balancing act to conquer tomorrow, because that's what happens in this life they call "parenting" - there's always a challenge!

Turning 4

A couple of days ago my Little Big Fella turned 4.

It's official.

He's now a "big boy" (according to him at the very least).

And because I'm blogging, I get to be the soppy mum for a minute and say I'm so proud of who he's turning out to be.

He's smart and funny and entertaining and fun to be around.  He can be generous and exceptionally loving.  He loves playing with his friends, but is also happy to play alone (lucky really, given that he's an only child!).

He's just as anal as me about things being done "right".  He's very good at demanding to be heard (especially if I'm on the phone or talking to someone else) and he generally knows what he wants.

I'm enjoying watching him change and grow and discover, and I wonder what kind of a "big boy" he'll be, and what kind of man.

Anyway, enough of the self-gratifying reflections, let's get on to the good stuff!

The night before his birthday, the Big Fella and I blew up a few balloons and hung them in the living area, and I put the present from us and from one set of grandparents on the table.

When he woke up and came to the living area he was stoked by the balloons! Amazing how something so small can be so exciting when you're that young :-)

Then, of course, he saw the presents and was into it!!!  We started with the one from the Big Fella's parents.

Now, the Little Big Fella hasn't made paper planes before, so didn't really understand what his new (BIG) book was about.  The Big Fella just happened to have picked up a foam plane the day before but hadn't put it together or shown the Little Big Fella.  So to give him an idea of what you can do with paper planes, he made up the foam one.

 
Obviously the Little Big Fella had to have a go too :-D  And he LOVED it!  No doubt that book will be regularly referenced in the future!

Well, as much fun as planes are, there was another present to open so we dragged the Little Big Fella back to the table to see what was there.

Insert side story here:
The Little Big Fella has been thoroughly enjoying the few dress-ups that he has over the past few months, so I'd considered buying him another one for his birthday.  But I hadn't gotten around to it.

So last week I was looking at super hero costumes online.  You know, Iron Man, the Green Lantern, Spiderman...  I couldn't decide which one I thought my son would like best, so I decided to get him involved.

I sat him on my lap and we looked through a few pages of boys costumes.  He was quite taken with the Green Lantern... until he saw...

 

Yep, it is!  Darth Vader!  Not a Jedi costume, but Darth Vader.  This is what he chose out of all the superheroes we looked at!!!

Of course, he had to try it on and show himself in the mirror straight away :-D

 

That costume stayed on him almost literally all day!  And most of the next day too!

He wore it when we went to playgroup (and unfortunately accidentally hit one of the kids with his light saber).

He wore it when we got home and for the afternoon.

And he wore it when we went to the park for an Easter event held by our local Lions club.

Suffice to say, he's happy with his birthday present :-)

When we got home from playgroup, the Big Fella had been to the post office and discovered another present for the birthday boy.  This one was from my parents.

It was an Iron Man 3 figure with car and guns and it got an absolute workout! It almost got taken to the park in the afternoon, but thankfully I was able to talk the Little Big Fella out of that one.

The Easter event at the park that afternoon was great fun too.  Funnily enough, the Little Big Fella thought it was his party in the park!  He got to play with his best friend, and plenty of his other friends.  They had sno cones (crushed ice with incredibly sweet coloured syrup) and fairy floss and a little jumping castle!!!  And the Little Big Fella won a prize for the Easter hat he'd made in playgroup that morning!

Talk about a massive day!

Originally I'd planned to have a couple of the Little Big Fella's friends over for a small party, then have a cake at the park for everyone.  But because of playgroup and then the Lions event, I'd decided not to.

But the Little Big Fella kept talking about having his friends at his house for a birthday party, so I decided to go ahead and have one.

Unlike previous parties, I didn't want to spend weeks (months) preparing for it and wanted to make it pretty simple.  So I made a superhero cape for each of the boys, got some cardboard masks, a Spiderman pez dispenser and a bag of teddy biscuits and made that the party bag, intending to give it to each of the boys as they arrived.

As well as the balloons we'd put up the day before, I stuck some streamers around the place and that was it for decoration.

For food I just did a plate of fruit, a bowl of chips (crisps), and some party pies and sausage rolls with sauce.

Well, unfortunately the party with a few friends didn't quite turn out as expected.

The Little Big Fella's best friend went camping first thing on the day of the party.

Another friend woke up with a tummy bug that morning so couldn't come.

The third friend's mum had booked an appointment with the hairdresser so couldn't get to the party.

So only one friend (and his sister) ended up coming.  And they had a great time and the Little Big Fella thought it was awesome!  He even took off his Darth Vader costume and let his friend try it on!!!

It was definitely the most laid back party I've done so far, but apparently it was still a success!  Hip, hip... hooray!!!!!

A wonderful day

It's funny.  When I think about the day we've just had, it doesn't seem all that fantastic.  And perhaps, if we did the same activities on another day, it would seem like just a good, or regular day.

But looking back on today, I feel wonderful.  I feel happy.  I feel closer to my Fellas.

We got up early and travelled to our nearest large town.  We did a little shopping and then the Fellas took off to the outdoors and gun shop, while I went and spent some of a Christmas voucher the Big Fella gave me.

After lunch at KFC, we headed off to the dam nearby and spent a couple of hours splashing in the water, exploring and skipping stones.  And laughing.  There was a lot of laughing!

And I guess that's why it was such a wonderful day.  We spent time together, playing and laughing.  I think that days like today, particularly moments like those, are the times all these inspirational posters that say, "live, laugh, love" are about.

We got to live together, making the most of the moment, laughing and learning to love one another more.  If only we could all have more of these kinds of days - acknowledging the beauty in life and one another!

Relax! It's Christmas!

At last!  It's Christmas day.  Yay!

And I gotta tell you!  This has been a great Christmas!!!

We woke up at about 7:30 and slowly began the present opening process.  There were a lot of presents for 3 people!  The Little Big Fella oscillated between dropping presents to open the next one and wanting to stop and play with the ones he opened just a minute before.  It was slightly entertaining ;-)
  
He absolutely loved all of his presents!  It was fun to watch him enjoying each of them throughout the day.  And to know that we'd chosen some of the ones he loved most.

We all got Nerf guns and had a fun little shoot-out before lunch :-D  That brought about much laughter and was definitely one of the most fun times we've had together in a while.  That probably sounds sad, but it was fun.

"Look at what Santa brought in my sack Mum!"

Can you tell he likes Nerf guns?

Checking out the moving eyes on the froggy book from Nanna

Oh my goodness!  What a mess!  And that's not even all of it!!!

After all of that fun we decided it was breakfast time so I made a little egg and vege scramble and the Big Fella made some garlic toasted turkish bread.  Yumm!

Well, then we had to play with more of our presents!  You know, I got some awesome gifts!  Including a Kindle and a tablet!!!!!  Seriously!  Isn't that awesome???  And I'm writing this blog post on my tablet!  It's taking a little longer because I'm just getting used to it all, but this is cool!

We got to chat to our families on Skype.  I love that we can be so far away but interact with them so easily.  It really is a blessing of the modern era!

We've spent a bit of the time today watching movies and just hanging out.  I love spending time with my Fellas!

We had a delicious lunch today too!  A roast turkey with cranberry and apple stuffing, a waldorf salad with blue cheese dressing, and a tomato salad with a basil-based dressing.  Very yummy!

I'd also made an ice-cream pudding, which we forgot to have at lunch and ended up having for afternoon tea.  The Little Big Fella and I love ice-cream!!!

And then for dinner we had some yummy cheeses, deli meats, and a bit of fruit... as well as a bit of wine.  It was just the perfect way to end the eating day :-)

So now I'm sitting on the couch, next to my wonderful husband, watching a movie and writing this blog post.  I'm a happy woman right now :-)