It's all about perspective

Lately a few things have happened that have me thinking about Perspective, namely the way that different people see things, deal with things, interpret things. I think that sometimes it's easy to just get caught up in your own world and how you see and deal with things, you tend to forget that for others their view is slightly different or the total opposite, as the case may be.

The first conversation I had was with a very good friend of mine who has two beautiful little kids the same age as Muddy Preschooler and Muddy Girl 2 (really have to work out her nickname!). I offered to make a birthday cake for a mutual friend, and she commented that it was too much for me to do that with the kids. It was a preschool day so I only had my 3 youngest cherubs, so it would be easy (well easier than with 4), I said as much to her and she laughed. I hadn't thought anything of it, but she had thought it would be too much trouble. For her personally she is challenged by 2 children and baking a cake, but for me, it was easier with 3 than 4. My parenting perspective versus hers, both very valid and based on experience and what each of us is able to tolerate.

The second conversation I had was about the weather (Muddy Hubby's favourite topic). I was talking to a medical professional here in Sydney and he asked where I was from and we made small talk about farming etc, and I commented that 'I never thought my life would revolve so much around the weather', he very seriously stated that 'Yes, my life too revolves around the weather, whether it's sunny and I can go for a surf, whether it's raining and I can ride my bike to work'. For him that was his perspective and how the weather affected him, whilst for me I was thinking of our farming income, the fact that each day of rain meant a decline in the quality of our wheat and consequently in the price and then our income! PERSPECTIVE!

Then My Muddy Puzzler and I pulled out an old M. C. Escher Puzzle of mine from when I was a teenager (I used to love his puzzles and images). Again I was reminded that depending on how you look at something it can take on a whole new meaning. Not only that but also that just because someone has a different perspective does not mean it is any less valuable an opinion or idea or experience or choice.

Ascending and Descending

I know that it seems the most obvious thing in the world, that everyone sees things through different eyes, but for me it's been a really nice reminder to stop and listen (which I love to do), and remember to look at things from all angles, especially when making decisions.

My Muddy Puzzler

When I was pregnant with Muddy Girl 3, I was in a bit of denial, I kind of sailed through in a haze of work and two busy Muddy Girls, thinking I'll deal with it when the baby arrives. Even once my maternity leave started I didn't think too much about how I was going to cope, I just assumed I would have to. Somehow I did, it helped that she was a dream baby, slept, ate, giggled and everything was easy, she just fitted in. Then she turned One and man oh man did she change! It was like she realised 'I have to stand up for myself or I'm not going to get anywhere or anything'! Our Muddy Girl 3 has a VERY strong will, she will set her mind to a task and make sure nothing stands in her way.

I have started calling her my Muddy Puzzler, partly because I am still puzzled as to how she went from the MOST easy going baby to the MOST headstrong of my Muddy Tribe, but mainly because of her love for all things Puzzle. It started with 2 piece puzzles, she would sit there and put them together, then pull them apart and start over. Then she moved onto the wooden shape puzzles, and she would do them over and over. Her next puzzle mastered was the Tupperware Shape-O (a favourite of mine from when I was a kid). Then we moved onto floor puzzles, and gradually the pieces are getting smaller and the puzzles are getting bigger, with more pieces.

Nana has a lovely collection of puzzles and over the week that we've been here Muddy Puzzler has done and redone the entire collection multiple times. We have been able to distract her with trips to the park, putting up the Christmas Tree, watching the buses, reading books and doing a small amount of craft, but she will always come back to the puzzles and has barely touched any of the other toys.

It's an interesting process to watch her complete a puzzle, she seems to have this knack of picking up a piece and knowing just where it goes, or laying her hand on just the right piece. It probably comes back to Muddy Hubby's systematic mathematical brain, as she just logically works through it. Definitely different to me, who flaps a bit and gets a bit vague at times! It's been really lovely to just spend some one on one time with My Muddy Puzzler and tomorrow we get to go home to My Muddy Hubby, Muddy Preschooler and Muddy Girl 2 - HOORAY!

Working away on yet another puzzle

All Finished

Always a smile

Never misses an opportunity for a swing, especially when her big sisters aren't around to push her off

Exploring



Climbing up high, as much as I encouraged her not to!

Heart Sick

Muddy Hubby and I came to Sydney a few days ago, with the intention of only staying two nights. We'd go to our appointment and head home the next day. As they say the best laid plans........it's now been 4 nights away and this morning Muddy Hubby flew home to our eldest two Muddy Girls.
It's not that I mind being in Sydney (in fact I love a Sydney mini-break) but being the organised person I am I am not coping well with the unplanned extension. Firstly I definitely did not pack enough clothes for any of us, secondly I didn't pack enough formula or nappies and thirdly and most importantly, I am not coping at all well being away from two of my Muddy Tribe. Not only am I constantly worrying about their routine, getting to the bus on time, making sure the lunch box is packed for preschool just the way Muddy Prsechooler likes it, but I'm worried that they're missing us too.

I feel heart sick being away from them. We check in twice a day on the phone, my Muddy in-laws are yet to discover Skype! All reports are that they are having a lovely time, they even slept in for them (an unheard of thing in our house) and I am sure they are getting thoroughly loved and spoilt. It doesn't help that my very well meaning Muddy Mum-in-law says in happy tones, 'you don't need to worry you know', as if it's the simplest thing in the world being away from your children!

Now while I will miss Muddy Hubby as I stay on for a few more days with Muddy Bubby and Muddy Girl 3, I feel a little less heart sick knowing they'll be sleeping in their own beds, playing with their own toys and at home with their Daddy. I have no doubt they are VERY well looked after by the Muddy in-laws, but there's something about wanting your kids to be with their parents to feel complete and safe.

I am very much looking forward to all of my Muddy Family being together again (in hopefully the not too distant future), and know that I won't feel complete until we're all sleeping under the same roof again. Then I'd give it a day or two and I'll be wishing for another mini-break as they all start pushing each other to the limit!!

Muddy Preschooler - God Bless the Camera Phone so you can always have photos of your kids on hand!

Cheeky! Muddy Girl 2

Oh how I LOVE Balmoral

It was a wet and cold day on Thursday in Sydney, and after our appointment Muddy Hubby and I headed out for some lunch together, just the two of us. Unheard of really, a rare opportunity! I took Muddy Hubby to one of my favourite places in Sydney - Balmoral Beach. Oh how I love Balmoral, no matter what the weather or time of day. It also holds special meaning as it was where my best friend Laura got married (you can read about that here). It's also where my beautiful Mum first lived when she moved to Sydney from Canberra, and where I spent many days and evenings with friends just chilling out over my high school and uni days!

Sometimes I think it's even better on a wet and cold day, because you get a front row park, get to walk the boardwalk without having to dodge hundreds of people and don't have to wait too long for your lunch. You can actually take the time to enjoy the beauty of the place, made even better on Thursday by it just being some quality time, and child free time, for Muddy Hubby and I.

Love the little bridge and the serenity

So lovely to stroll along without people everywhere

My Muddy Hubby is really a big kid at heart!

The Value of Good Friends

Before I had my Muddy Preschooler, I didn't really have many friends in town. Muddy Hubby's circle of friends mainly consisted of his brother and cousins, with only a couple of other friends. Then I started antenatal classes and I met the most wonderful group of ladies, and this antenatal group has grown to be my close circle of friends out here. I know that whenever I need anything they are always there for me. They are always there to listen and not judge, and to offer advice when I am in desperate need of some!

There is just no way you can place a value on these types of true friendships. To give you an example, last Friday afternoon we headed over to a friends for Friday afternoon Harvest drinks (usually without the boys, but due to rain there were a couple present). Everything was going great, the kids were playing together beautifully, we managed some good quality catch up time, then Muddy Preschooler comes up, lays down on my lap and says 'I want to go home Mum' (VERY unlike her who always wants to stay til the end so she doesn't miss anything). Needless to say I was happy to oblige, as I too was feeling a little weary, I was about to stand up when she jumps off my lap and much to my mortification, vomits all over the kitchen floor!

It was one of those moments where you think - is this really happening. I scooped her up before she could vomit again and held her over the sink as she was again sick and very distressed. Before I knew it I was ushered into the bathroom, my friends had the shower running ready, they cleaned up her mess without a second thought. Now bodily fluids are not the most pleasant job in the world, yet my beautiful friends didn't hesitate to step in and help me out, as I know I would do for them in the same position. That to me is a true friend, always there for you, no matter what the situation.

The Car Sickness Gene

I have always been blessed with a relatively strong stomach (Thank Goodness), I have never got car sick, I can read, write, do practically anything while the car is in motion and not get sick. Muddy Hubby on the other hand (and all his siblings) are afflicted with the car sickness gene. My Muddy-in-laws always talk about how horrible their car trips were as they all had ice cream containers, were always pulling up because someone was sick, and, when you live west of the Sandstone Curtain, you can't get to the lovely coast for holidays without traversing long and winding roads. Needless to say the same applies to us, for us to reach the coast we have to go through windy mountain roads. We thought we were doing pretty well with our Muddy Girl 1, until she turned 2 and started to be sick on car trips, I thought that's not too bad, one sick child. Unfortunately the car sickness gene has struck again and our Muddy Girl 3 gets car sick on most long trips.

Yesterday (thanks to the horrendous rain) Muddy Hubby and I have squeezed in a quick trip to the coast for an appointment. We left Muddy Girls 1 and 2 behind and bought with us the two littlest Muddy Kids. The trip started out OK, both cherubs slept for the first leg, and just as we pulled up for our first stop Muddy Girl 3, lost her morning tea. It breaks my heart to see any of my kids sick, especially when there's not much you can do to help them. We cleaned her up, let her walk around for a bit and get some fresh air and she insisted on having something to eat!

The next leg again started out OK, Muddy Girl 3 filled Muddy Bubby's capsule with books, a hat and her water bottle. Then just as we were heading through Lithgow, Muddy Girl 3 started to lose her lunch, she held tightly to the ice cream container, willing herself not to be sick. Muddy Hubby's theory is that you should just sleep through it, so we encouraged her to close her eyes and go to sleep. I have never seen her close her eyes so tightly! But eventually she went to sleep and slept til just a few minutes before we got to Nana and Grandpa's house. I am not looking forward to the drive back and I am praying that the car sickness gene doesn't strike Muddy Bubby! In the meantime we'll try the car sickness lolly pops, the wrist bands and if worse comes to worse Phenergan! Anything to help stop my Muddy Kids feeling so sick and miserable, because it breaks my heart every time.





Muddy Girl 3 uses the Capsule as her storage



That look of pure misery



Please let me sleep

The Joy of a Smile

This morning when I rolled over and opened my eyes, as I heard three little sets of feet come wandering down our hallway, I saw the red sunrise, red light reflected through my window onto the bedroom wall. Now while the light was a beautiful colour, I also knew it meant it was going to rain (Red in the morning shepherds warning!). It took a few hours, but eventually it arrived and it's still raining, that slow gentle rain, that is continual and just adds up in the rain gauge. This afternoon this is what the rain clouds looked like and it still pretty much looks like this, it's not moving anywhere anytime soon. Which is a little bit depressing and really doesn't make for a happy Muddy Hubby. In fact it makes a grumpy housebound Muddy Hubby!

Someone must have been looking over us today though, as miracle of miracle, both our 2 eldest Muddy Girls actually had a decent daytime sleep! Pretty much unheard of nowadays, they both have my stubborn streak and fight a day rest with every ounce of their being.

This rest time meant I had some just lovely time with Muddy Girl 3 and Muddy Bubby. In the midst of my Words With Friends addiction ( I admit it, I am 100% addicted), I took some pics of Muddy Bubby on the iPhone and continue to be enraptured by our little Muddy Bubby. The way his expressions change in the blink of an eye, how he can go from serious to smiling, from chubby to slim, depending on how he's held or looking at you. It will forever light me up from the inside.

Chilling out while Mummy plays Words With Friends!

 

So Funny!

Chatting away

What is that in your hand?



So in this dreary depressing weather the joy of my Muddy Tribe's smiles help to bring sunshine and happiness to this house! The rain is set to stick around for a few days, it's a bit too early to bring out the Christmas Tree, which is what we did last year when it started raining like this, I think I'm going to have to be a little creative about how we keep ourselves entertained, to ensure we keep smiling!

The little things

Sometimes it's easy to forget that it's the little things that keep our farm going, like checking the dam, the gates, fences, feed etc. As I am again a Harvest Widow (also at times known as a Sowing Widow or Shearing Widow) some of these jobs fall to me, my Muddy Mum-in-law and my Muddy Sister-in-law, we've each got a few mobs of sheep to check, dams and troughs to check and sometimes clean. I actually really enjoy doing these kids of jobs, keeps me busy and the girls always like a trip up the paddock.

Today I dispatched Muddy Girls 1 and 2 to a Naming Ceremony with my Muddy Sister-in-law and Muddy Girl 3 and I headed up the paddock, while Muddy Bubby stayed with Nana for come quiet time. Muddy Girl 3 and I don't get much one on one time together so it was nice to check sheep together. As always, she had a running commentary on everything, telling me where Muddy Hubby had shifted the sheep to and where the troughs and dams were we had to check. I'm glad she was on the ball! I just wish she was a little bit taller so she could do the opening and closing of gates, I counted 4 gates to open and shut both on the way up to the paddock and on the way back, at least my legs were getting a workout!

Stopping to check a trough, Muddy Girl 3, issues instructions from inside the ute!

 It's one of those Hazy days here, neither sunny nor cloudy, just a greyish haze, not really good for photos. The bright side is that it's too windy for it to rain and the wind helps to dry out our crops for stripping.

The sheep's hoofprints tell me they've been sneaking down for a drink, and lucky me none were bogged so I didn't have to pull any out of the mud!

Tomorrow's little job is to check the mob of sheep next to the yards, to make sure none got themselves stuck away from the water. I'm just hoping Muddy Hubby's fences are built strong, because fencing is one skill I have yet to master, I somehow get myself tied in knots with the wire each time I try to help!

Cooling Down

The rain is gone (for now, expected back tomorrow onwards) and it has been HOT HOT HOT here, it has pushed us all to breaking point and exhaustion. We only have air-con in a couple of rooms, and being confined to them with 4 Muddy Kids gets a little bit trying at times. The kids don't have air-con in their rooms, so rest time is a little bit of a challenge, as is bed time when it's steamy and there's no relief. Our favourite part of the day has become the late afternoon, when enough shade comes across to be able to pull out the paddling pool. It's like a total mood change happens as soon as we pull out the swimmers, and outside we go.

I had one of these same paddling pools as a kid, I can vividly remember my Dad filling it up for me, and splashing around in it for ages. So for me I am loving reliving my youth with buying one of these for my kids. The Muddy Girls spends ages playing in the water, moving water from one place to the next and wetting each other! It's the best $23 I have spent (we're on our second one, as we wore out the first one) and gets us through a long HOT summer, even Muddy Hubby likes to have a sit in it when he's around and the Muddy kids are playing, or even if they're not.

Teamwork

Happy Muddy Girls

Muddy Preschooler Cooling Down

Revenge!

Muddy Bubby and I taking it all in.

Revived with Colour and Friendship

I had forgotten how good it feels to have time for myself. To enable myself to relax and think about just me for a little while. My beautiful new car has already hit 10,000km so it needed a service, and it also needed the roof racks fitted, which the dealer forgot about when we bought the car! This meant they would need the car for all of the morning and a little bit of the afternoon. Lucky for me my wonderful mother agreed to look after Muddy Bubby for the day, so I dropped the Muddy Girls at Day Care and set off for the Main St for some time on my own! I even managed to fit in a sneaky Pedicure after dropping my car off!

As soon as Day Care drop off over, straight for a coffee and a quiet read of Style,
while checking out the happenings in the main street.

The highlight of my day though was lunch and an afternoon of shopping with a VERY good friend. I hadn't seen my friend Jen in a few months, in fact last time I saw her I was still pregnant with Muddy Bubby, so I was very much looking forward to a good catch up. We hit the best Cafe in town for a long lunch, including  dessert, then we did a spot of shopping in one of the little gift shops in town (there's only 2 of them). I'm not sure that after my little spending spree Muddy Hubby will be letting me spend the whole day in town on my own again. I scored some BEAUTIFUL new earrings (Thank You Jen), a new wallet (who knew Eel Skin could be so soft), a lovely necklace and I managed to tick off some birthday, baby and Christmas presents on the list too.

A spot of shopping helps to soothe my soul. I've got a thing for Blue at the moment.

My Beautiful New Wallet, with a HUGE amount of card slots

All in all a lovely day, I came home feeling very refreshed and lighter in my heart, and the day was capped off by the spectacular coloured sunset. Muddy Hubby always says that a red sunset means no rain and a red sunrise means it's going to rain. Needless to say he was pretty happy to see red in the sky, and today he's headed back north with the aim of getting the Header going again, Fingers Crossed.

Red in the Morning Shepherd's Warning, Red at Night, Shepherd's Delight

Much to Muddy Hubby's Delight, he took the Red Sunset as the rain is gone for a bit - Lets get back into it!

The Weather Forecast

It's raining again and this is the weather forecast for the next week. Pay close attention to the start of next week and the amount of rain expected.

This is what we ended up with last year after lots of rain on some of our wheat. They don't pay much for this sort of wheat.



Elders Weather is Muddy Hubby's favourite website, so much so, that it is the home screen for our Internet browser. He checks the weather whenever he can, or asks me what the weather's doing if I've been on the Internet. I'm not too keen to look at the moment as it keeps telling me it's either raining or going to rain. And all I have going through my head is the children's song:

Rain, Rain, Go Away, Come Again Another Day!

A big first.

Today was a very big day for our Muddy Family, our eldest little girl went to big school for her Kindergarten Orientation! As of next year she will no longer be my Muddy Preschooler, but my Muddy Kindergartener (not sure that is a word, but sounds good to me!). It's such a massive thing when your child starts school, especially when it's uncharted territory because she will be the first of our Four Muddy Kids to start her school journey. I know that it's ONLY orientation, but it's still a prelude for what's to come on 30th January (we've been sent all the info).

The day didn't get off to such a great start, I slept in, got out the invitation to orientation and realised I had forgotten to RSVP to let them know we'd be coming (a frantic phonecall to the school assured me that they had a name tag ready for her)! Then Muddy Girl 2 bit Muddy Preschooler on the arm (a little bit of jealousy going on at the moment). I also had to do a Harvest drop off to my Muddy Mum-in-laws before we could head into town. I was VERY worried about how we were going to go as she asked questions non stop all the way to town 'where will you be, who's going to be there?, what will you be doing in the hall?, what will my teacher tell me?, what will I learn?'. Muddy Preschooler also announced that she wasn't going to drink anything because she didn't know where the toilets were! I answered these questions as patiently as I could and we managed to arrive on time, and I reassured her they would show her where the toilets were!

I must say I have never been so grateful to have her already catching the bus, as she walked in and before I knew it, she had several Year 5 and 6 girls saying hello and taking her down to play in the playground before she had to line up and go into class! Off went my Muddy Almost Kindergartener as happy as could be, while I was tearing up at how well she was doing and how overwhelmed I was feeling! It couldn't have been a better start to her school life. I think though, that I'll probably need a full box of tissues for her very first full day in January!

They each got an Orientation bag with their name on it, a workbook of activities they did and a spider they made.



Our Muddy Preschooler explaining her workbook to Muddy Girl 2



She loves this workbook, sat down tonight and kept practicing her writing and colouring! It's going to be a long few months until January.

I love the space

As a mum to 4 Muddy Kids I do sometimes feel like I'm pushed to the limit. Some days are brilliant, some days run very smoothly, with only a few little hiccups (a day with no hiccups is an improbability), and other days not only do I feel like I'm chasing my tail, but feel like, if one more thing goes wrong I just might cross over into insanity. It's these days that I love the space. I love the fact that we have several thousand acres on which to entertain the Muddy Kids. I love that I have the space to have a fantastically big house yard, and an orchard (thank you to the Muddy in-laws for establishing when they lived here) in which the girls can explore.

Friday was one of those insane days, it started out pretty OK with my fabulous Card Party and once it was over things went pear shaped pretty quickly, I had 2 very tired Muddy Girls, one overtired Muddy Bubby and one Muddy Preschooler to pick up who would also be tired. Things just seemed to steam roll until Muddy Girl 3 covered herself and MY bedroom in PERMANENT Red Marker, right before we had to race out the door to meet the bus. In case you wanted to know Eucalyptus oil and Hairspray work wonders at removing permanent marker on a wide range of surfaces, including the doona cover and Muddy Girls.

I won't bore you with all the little things that made my day a shocker, but by the end of it we all went to bed exhausted and I resolved to have a fresh start in the morning. It's the space that helped, we spent a lovely morning outside, exploring in the orchard, playing on the swings, running around outside. After rest time we got out the paddling pool and had more fun with the space, with no neighbours to annoy and no limit to the fun that could be had.

Don't get me wrong, I think the city is fabulous and I love it ('spoken like a city slicker' as Muddy Hubby would say), it's just for me as a Muddy Farmwife and mum of 4 Muddy Kids, for me the space is my saving grace, the one thing that turns my world from insane to delightful.

Muddy Preschooler exploring the Fig Tree

Muddy Girl 3 exploring the garden

Muddy Girl 3 ALWAYS loves a good Hat

The Red Permanent Marker on some chubby legs

The Laundry Run

I have said before how lucky I feel I am to live where I live (at least when the weather's doing what Muddy Hubby wants it to do). Today was another fantastic reminder of how lucky we are. Muddy Hubby and the crew have been stripping our wheat up North since Friday, so today it was time to do a run up, take some more meals up and bring home 4 men's dirty washing, so they can have some clean clothes sent back up in a day or so. Before Muddy Bubby was born we used to pile the Muddy kids into the trusty dual cab and off we'd go, now it's my trusty Kluger (which I absolutely adore) which has already proven itself able to cross paddocks when needed! So I packed up all 4 Muddy Kids, made a couple of batches of muffins, made a couple of phonecalls to see if there were any extra special requests for me to bring up, and away we went.

The boys camp in swags in a variety of caravans, trucks and old bed frames, the toilet is a long drop, with an old toilet sitting on top (very flash compared to what it used to be) and the shower is a bit of poly pipe hung in a tree with a shower head screwed on the end, very classy and so not my cup of tea, but more than functional for Muddy Hubby and the crew (my Dad included, Pitt St Farmer that he is).

We arrived just in time to have morning smoko with Muddy Hubby, while he waited for his turn to load his road train full of wheat to cart into the silos. The Muddy Kids had a great time checking out the caravan and finding out who was sleeping where, trying out the beds etc etc.

They got to ride in the road train up to where they were loading wheat, then Muddy Girl 1, Muddy Bubby and I jumped in the tractor with the chaser bin and collected a couple of loads of wheat from the header. Our day was captured in pictures by Muddy Girl 1 who commandeered the camera and took some not bad photos that sum up our day.

At the end of the day I've come home with 4 very tired, but very happy Muddy Kids and 4 Dusty (not Muddy) bags of washing, and the reminder that we are lucky to be living the life we live.

Muddy Girls 2 and 3 checking out the water set up

Bottle time for Muddy Bubby and rest time for Muddy Brother-in-law

Muddy Hubby in the road train

Muddy Bubby's first ride in the tractor (I love my Baby Bjorn)

The overloaded Header unloading wheat into the Chaser Bin

Waiting for the Header in the tractor with Grandpa



My second love......Stationary

Oh how I LOVE a good bit of Stationary! I go all weak at the knees every time I get a catalogue for Officeworks or look through our Office Stationary Catalogue. I especially LOVE cards, wrapping paper, note paper. These are things I think you can never have enough of, as they are a fabulous way of sending thank yous, letting people know you're thinking of them and of course to mark special occasions. I have found the most lovely range of cards, gift wrap and note cards from Phoenix Trading and we are lucky enough (one of the few times we are out here) to have a consultant working out here.

Now I am not really a partyplan kind of person, I'd rather just invite my friends around for a good catch up rather than invite them over to have a salesperson try and push their product onto them. In saying that though Phoenix (or at least our consultant out here) is the total opposite, she simply sets up, has a chat while we have a cuppa and then you can just browse and pick out things you like and anything she doesn't have she orders in and it arrives within a week! EASY! So, I was brave and hosted a Card Party. Muddy Hubby thought it was hilarious, kept cracking jokes about 'Do you even know how to play 500' or 'Have you brushed up on your gin rummy rules'. Then he got jealous when he saw the morning tea spread I put on!

Some of the lovely cards I purchased to stock up my supply

Some Funky Notecards and Christmas Cards

I now think I have enough cards and notecards to last through next year (and possibly beyond, but don't tell Muddy Hubby). I am also feeling braver about the party plan thing, they're still not my favourite thing, but with the right person, can make for a lovely morning!