Grandparents Day

Last week we had the pleasure of celebrating Grandparents Day at school. Last year my Muddy Organiser had no grandparents in attendance, this year she was lucky enough to have one. Thank Goodness it was the one she'd written the story about to display in the classroom.

 

I love days like these because you get an insight into what they're doing in the classroom, what they're writing in their sentence a day book or about their weekend. Funnily enough there are several mentions of playing with my sisters and going to the pub! I swear the teacher must think we hang out drinking all weekend!

 

Anyway My Muddy Organiser wrote a delightful story that ends with her telling everyone that my mother-in-law cooks and gardens for me! If only I was that lucky!

 

12/52

Muddy Puzzler - Caught dancing in the sunlight
Muddy Pixie - 'I want to practice writing my letters for when I'm 5 and I know them all'
Muddy Baby Boy - On the tools, even if they're made of cardboard
Muddy Organiser - That loose second tooth, just won't come out

A portrait of my kids every week in 2013, linking up with the very talented Jodi at Che and Fidel

Grateful for Organising Tasks

No, this is not my house but things like this make my heart sing, sad really! source

I am the kind of person that when things start to get very busy and out of control my head races, I can't switch off and everything just starts to snowball and I feel very unsettled and I don't like it one little bit. This has been my life lately - unfortunately.

What I have found over the years though is that if I take a some time out, even just a few minutes, to reorganise something in the house then I am instantly a little calmer.

Sometimes it's going the whole hog and rearranging bedrooms, sometimes it's reorganising the filing system. For me today it was cleaning out the spice cupboard, you know the one that has countless amounts of herbs and spices, often multiple jars of the same one, mostly out of date because you just bought them for that one recipe you had to try and haven't been back to use ever since.

My spice cupboard is a big one, it also has all the food colours and gels, the stocks and the salt and pepper shakers in abundance, so it was not a small task, but it was a calming one. Getting rid of the excess, even alphabetising the herbs and spices to make them easier to find, all served to give me a small semblance of calm heading into the weekend and for that I am grateful.

Linking up for 52 Weeks of Grateful, hosted over at Village Voices by the lovely Bron. Such a fantastic place to visit.

Just Hanging Out

Yesterday afternoon the garbage bins were almost full, the atmosphere was right, the roast was in the oven and wouldn't be ready for a good hour, so Muddy Hubby and I loaded the kids in the ute, chucked the garbage bins on the back and took the kids to the local tip. Now it may not seem like such an exciting thing, but a trip to the tip on a Sunday afternoon can also mean a detour via the local pub on the way home.

The Muddy Kids had their choice of an ice cream or a packet of chips to share, the ice cream won hands down. So we perched them up all in a row and while Muddy Hubby and I enjoyed a quiet bevvy and a chat with some locals the kids devoured their ice creams.

It was just us as a family hanging out, just damn lovely really. The joys of living where we live, where a trip to the tip is a highlight.

Somehow I think in 10-15 years time they'll still be perched up at the local pub all in a row, just not with ice creams.

Grateful for Good Friends with a Hammock

After feeling very sorry for myself last week and my lack of friend contact Muddy Hubby and I made the decision to get away from the farm for the day and go and visit some very good friends we hadn't seen in a while. It was just lovely and wonderful and delightful. I felt like a kid in a candy store getting to spend time with friends, soak up the time away from the farm and spend the time catching up and just chatting like good friends do.

 

The Muddy Kids were entertained, they spent a large portion of the day on the tyre swing or in the hammock. So quite simply this week I am grateful for the hammock swing for keeping my Muddy Kids entertained so we could chat with friends and enjoy being away from the farm.

 

 

Linking up over at Village Voices where the lovely Bron hosts 52 Weeks of Grateful. What are you grateful for this week?

 

 

 

11/52

This week has been all about determination in our household, for our portrait a week, every week in 2013.

Muddy Boy - Determined to carry Grandma's chook bucket despite it being as heavy as him - he did it too.
Muddy Pixie - Determined to be a turtle - it lasted at least an hour
Muddy Organiser - Determined to accessorise all the outfits just right, even when playing outside
Muddy Puzzler - Determined to do whatever she wants - despite being told not to climb on the ute

Joining up with Jodi at Che and Fidel where there are some absolutely stunning photographs linked up each week.

A Bonus Day

source

Yesterday was supposed to be a big day, I had to take 3 kids to our nearest big town so my Muddy Organiser could have a follow up appointment with the ENT. It was going to be a long day, it was going to be traumatic, as my Muddy Organiser was going to have a nasendoscope examination and I knew she would not like it one little bit and I had been mentally preparing for how I was going to get her through it for a few days.

Much to my joy the appointment was cancelled, and rather than doing the 200km round trip I got a bonus day at home. 3 loads of washing, a sparkling clean car inside and out, some gardening, some farm stuff, some cooking and some time just at home with my 2 youngest Muddy Kids was just what I felt like.

I love a bonus day, I find that mentally because I think it's an extra day I am so much more productive, I keep on the move and power through my jobs, feeling really good because I'm crossing things off my list. I don't know why, as really I know it's the same as it would have been on my non-work day, but the power of the mind is a curious thing. Now if I could just find a way for it to trick me into exercising more than I am I think I'd be on a winner.

Do you have the same thing going on when you get a 'bonus' day or is it just me?

The day they saw my bra

After all her initial bravado about catching the bus my Muddy Puzzler has turned all that on it's head and it has become a battle to get her on the bus in the mornings. It's not that she's crying, it's not that she doesn't want to catch the bus. Her answer when I ask her why she's upset is 'I just want you'.

 

Yesterday was the worst day we'd had, I ended up climbing on the bus with her (those steps are big steps), sitting her down on the seat next to a little Kindergarten girl while I tried to peel her hands off me and she kept repeating 'I just want you Mum, I just want you'. In the process she has pulled my top down and every kid on that bus copped a look at my bright purple bra (no, I kid you not, it was purple).

 

It breaks my heart, but the bus driver and the other kids on the bus tell me she stops 'crying' just after the door closes and she's fine the rest of the trip, it's just the actual getting on the bus that seems to be the hard bit. The bus drivers are wonderful and the preschool staff are always so good at getting her off the bus and onto it in the afternoons, I'm just not sure how we overcome the actual first bit of the bus trip. At the moment though I cry each time the bus drives off as I'm wracked with mother guilt. I know that if I start driving her in (which isn't always possible) then it will be back to square one and even harder when she next has to do it, so for now I'm sticking to my guns and you can be sure I'll be wearing high-necked tops from now on!

 

10/52

 

 

Muddy Puzzler - Loves the swing - until the motion sickness kicks in

Muddy Boy - So proud to climb up there by himself

Muddy Pixie - Getting so clever at steering the ute and staying on the dirt road

Muddy Organiser - Exhaustion at the end of a long week

 

A photo of my kids each week, every week for 2013. Linking up with Jodi at Che and Fidel.

 

 

Grateful for good friends.

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At the moment I miss my friends, friends both near and far, things being so flat chat has meant that I haven't had the chance I usually do to make phone calls, have an occasional cuppa with my friends or even run into anybody really. The focus has been on work and home, trying to get that balance right and keep things moving.

The thing is though that for me it's my friends that keep me moving, that keep me running on an even keel. Yes Muddy Hubby is fantastic and he and the Muddy Kids are my world, but sometimes I just need a friend to bring things back into focus.

So this week I am grateful for my friends, because I know when I finally find some time they will be there for me, to listen, to laugh and to just enjoy spending time with. Because that's what good friends do, just be there for you, even when you don't have time to call them!

I am delighted to watch my Muddy Girls start to make more friends and I am hopeful that one day they have built a strong friendship network just like the wonderful one I have.

I get such joy out of them coming home and saying 'I made a new friend today' and hearing all about their new friend and what they did at school or preschool together. We sit down and we talk about the importance of friendships and being nice to everyone and I can't wait til they realise the true value of good friends who will always be there for you.

Yes, this week I'm grateful for good friends, you know the ones, they're always there for you no matter what.

Happy to be linking up with Maxabella for 52 Weeks of Grateful over at Village Voices. Please check it out, you'll be pleased you did.

How's The Serenity

When I was on full-time maternity leave I could go a week or two without leaving the farm, without seeing friends or having any social outings. One week I could cope with, more than that and I would start to get a bit snappy, a bit insane as I started to feel the isolation. Then of course when I did make it out I'd be a bit socially excited and talk non-stop and flap and be absurdly happy.

Now that I'm back at work, ironically I long for an occasional week at home, a week where I don't go anywhere or do anything. I know in myself I couldn't do it full-time all the time, that I thrive too much on the company of others to not work and get out an about.

What I miss though when I'm in town and working is the peace, the fact that I walk outside and the birds are soaring in the sky, the chooks are clucking away and the occasional train goes past, but other than that it's peaceful, like Michael Caton said in The Castle - 'How's the serenity', that's what I miss about home when I'm at work.

I am now working 3 days a week, and I must admit am struggling to adjust to adding a third day, I know it will come in time, but for now, until I hit my stride it's a struggle. Remembering what happens on each day, trying to make sure I've made enough lunches in the morning for everyone and trying to let go of that mother guilt as I walk out the door for work is hard.

I'm thinking about some kind of schedule or calendar, but haven't found one that I really love yet, so I'm thinking I'm going to be making my own, any suggestions welcome! Until that's finished though my brain is on a bit of overload and the mother guilt is running high. It does however make me cherish those days at home, to spend a little bit of one on one time with the kids and soak up everything I've missed on my work days and enjoy the serenity.

Grateful for Rain

It's been busy, at home, at work, in my head, things have been going along at a fast pace and I am scrambling to keep up with it all. The best bit about this week though has been the rain, up until this morning we had had 59mm, that my friends is glorious rain for us, the last decent rainfall we had was in July last year, so this was very welcome, as things were getting dry and everyone's confidence was getting low.

So this week I am grateful for the lovely rain we've had, for the fact that even though I'm in a bad mood, the rain kind of matches my mood and it's made Muddy Hubby very happy, so that is a good thing.

I'm also grateful for the lovely Bush Mobile that comes once a fortnight, it lets my kids get dirty and messy and have lots of fun and my only thing to clean up is their clothes. It's a win win for us.

I am grateful for the afternoon routine of feeding the animals, to stroll outside and spend some time feeding the animals, getting to know them and watching the kids joy as they feed them and care for them.

Lastly this week I am grateful for shovels at the back door, so that we are always prepared when the snakes are about. We got another one at the back gate this week, it was dark and my wonderful sacrificial snake dog alerted us to it, and Muddy Hubby was quick to act, stopping the snake from getting our precious dog, so yes, I am grateful for shovels and for my snake sticks which are now charged and working in the garden.

Linking up for 52 Weeks of Grateful over at Village Voices. Bron hosts a great link up every week, definitely worth checking out!

9/52

 

Muddy Organiser - So proud of her pretend play and cooking up a storm to deliver to her family

Muddy Pixie - Such joy in riding the rocking horse while singing 'Ride a horse to bambury cross'

Muddy Organiser - The joy of playing with play-doh at bush mobile, because I don't let her do it at home.

Muddy Boy - It's big, it moves and I can push it.

 

Linking up with Jodi at Che and Fidel for 52 - A Portrait a Week for 52 weeks in 2013.