13/52

A Portrait of each of my kids every week in 2013.

Muddy Baby Boy - Fresh from his nap, keen to get out of the cot and going
Muddy Pixie - Checking out the Ring Tailed Lemurs at the Zoo
Muddy Puzzler - Riding a Rhino
Muddy Organiser - Content to just sit and watch the Giraffes, in awe of them

Joining in with Jodi at Che and Fidel for 52 A Portrait a Week

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cupboard, you know the one that has countless amounts of herbs and spices, often multiple jars of the same one, mostly out of date because you just bought them for that one recipe you had to try and haven't been back to use ever since.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.