Holidays and my sisters head.

Its starting to get hot. Although Summer is still a few months away,we have officially begun the Christmas countdown, {93 sleeps people!!}  the fans are on and the blow up pool is out. And school holidays started yesterday.

 

{no that is not a lipstick mark on Luka’s cheek- he is constantly into the face paint pencils and making himself into a dinosaur}

Eden has new togs and I now rule all little girls under 4 must wear a swimming cap- because it is adorable, and really, how long could you get away with this……

 

She is not as sad as she appears, just sick of being hosed by annoying brothers.

My sister came over and the kids helped wash the Arsa.

 

Yes, the Arsa is her car. And this is her leg

 

Yes, its fully tattooed.  We all call her Belbie, and have done for so long that if anyone asks me about Michelle {her real name} I think ‘who's Michelle?’ She is so awesome , my baby sister. There's no one else id rather sit up with until 3am talking about everything.

 

I told her she looked like just a head sitting on top of the car. She would hate me posting this,so of course, here it is.

Eden doing the prickle walk. We’ve had no rain and everything is so dry. So our yard is covered with prickles. Different prickles for each season. And different walks for each prickle.We have burrs right now, and its a slow careful walk because they only hurt if you step hard on them. Bindis on the other hand, you need to run really fast through, preferably hopping a bit too.

I'm looking forward to the next 2  weeks. I found the cutest cafe yesterday while we were on an op-shop trip   { I know January is a while away but I have been planning Eden’s 3rd birthday since June. Alice In Wonderland themed, requiring lots of trips to Lifeline searching for teacups and candelabras} and cant wait to take the kids for an old fashioned ice-cream soda while we are surrounded by Elvises {Elvi?}

But right now its time to collect the eggs and sort out loads of clean clothes.Hubby is going to mow his mothers yard, Cara is at work, Dakota is at rehearsals and Rani is at her friends house, so its just me and the 3 babies { Jai would HATE being referred to as a baby, but Luka doesn't mind}. Rest assured its NO quieter with the 3 big girls gone. Not one bit!

Oh its it sooooo good to be blogging again. x

More.

 

Sometimes its hard to know if I'm doing a good job. You know, as a mother. I mean there's no rules, and all I can do is my best. Overcoming feelings of inadequacy has always been part of my life. Mainly i wonder,why do people think I should i be doing more?

 

 

I'm struggling with the whole photography thing, Ill be honest. It used to be the love of my life,and i do still love capturing everything, but i get the camera out less and less. If i want to be a photographer, do i have to accept every job that comes my way? Do all the jobs i have no interest in? Its true that I love taking photos of my friends children, but after the  wedding I did on the cheap and never got payed for, then got abused because I refused to hand over more photos, I've become, well, disillusioned.

And you know, I'm busy. Flat out entertaining Luka and Eden all day and trying to keep the house clean. Is it bad that Im so anal about the house? 6 kids and an inside dog take about 5 minutes to trash the place and all day to clean up after. But am I wrong? Should I be doing amazingly well and getting jobs every week? Because I’m not.

Should Luka be in Kindy? Should Eden be weaned by now? { Ill admit I don't care in the slightest about this and respond with a wholehearted NO but man am I sick of people whining about it} Should we move so the kids can have their own rooms {again, i think No but why is it so hard to speak my mind?}

Should I be wanting to work by now, is it bad that I'm more than content just staying home with the kids? Should I be thinner, have better clothes { Eden has 47 outfits, I have about 3} care more about better clothes? And makeup? Is it awful that we rent and I have given up on ever buying a house of our own? Should I be telling Simon to get another job, rather than sticking it out with his current employer,continuing with the union strike, battling for the payrise, losing hours and money. Everyone has their opinion.

More. Its always about doing more.

 

{ Please take no notice of her grubby shirt, proof I rarely stage my photos haha}

Im trying my hardest. Honestly, I tell myself the kids are still little, I can work when Eden starts school {oh I will be a sobbing mess} but I cant deal with people telling me what I should be doing. Im 32 you know? When does it stop- the criticism I mean? The feeling of having to live up to someone's expectations ? Is it just me, maybe a lingering symptom of depression?

I love my life. But why isnt my life good enough for so many people?

 

{ I swear the next post wont be so depressing}

* yes I know, the photos have nothing at all to do with the text. But hey, I havent posted photos for aaaaaages!}

Stuff you may of missed

Since, you know, I’m the worst blogger ever!

The Bean turned 2! {and believe it or not is almost 3!} At the moment she is doing great, still in a size 6-12 months clothing, so teeny weeny, but  has reached all her milestones only a little late, and is now the chatterbox of the family. I just melt all the time at the things she says, I mean i turn to mush when she comes for a cuddle and says ‘ Are you my best friend?’  She is still breastfed, my longest yet, thank goodness she is tiny so I don't get disapproving looks yet.

 

 

We made the hard decision to put Frodo to sleep. The vet visited and told me he was so riddled with arthritis his shoulder was frozen permanently. We didn't want him to have to deal with the freezing winters we get here. Frodo was only expected to live 12 months, and he was 4 and a half. Even the vet was crying when he came for his last visit. Dear old Ivan, I've known him since birth, he has seen a lot of our animals come and go, I've never seen him like that. Frodo was loved by everyone in the village, and he now resides in our lounge room, in a beautiful cedar box with a plaque. He would love the fact we finally let him live inside :)

 

The monsters- they are still awesome, still driving me crazy. Cara has decided to study midwifery after high school, so there has been lots of meetings and planning, she has 2 years of school left, then straight off to university. Dakota finished the high school musical, and signed up the next day for the Cultural Centre’s performance of Narnia. Rani is still antagonising everyone, always. Has become obsessed with ER {yep, the tv show} and chickens, she has 4 hens now. Jai is almost in year 3, still obsessed with Lego, cars and weapons, has also added Star Wars to his list of favourite things. Luka, The Fatboy- remember that??- is still adorable, still loving and cuddly, still a mamma's boy. Eden and Luka are best mates, play together constantly, so much that Eden is picking up his American accent { he really really has one its so funny!}.

So much more has happened, its been almost a YEAR since I've blogged {hangs head in shame} but I'm glad i finally remembered my password, glad i can blog again at last. If anyone actually reads this, {re}introduce yourself please! Direct me to your blogs {again}. Its good to be back.

I remembered my password!!!!!

Im BACK baby!!!

School Holidays are upon us

So here is a picture to tide you over until a real blog post later today…

Nightmares

Start like this: 9pm, Friday night, 1 kids goes down with what I think is food poisoning.

By Sunday night I realized it wasn’t food poisoning, the 6 people vomiting tipped me off .

The only one who didn’t get sick was Luka, even though Rani spewed on his head while he was asleep.

The kids missed Trick or Treating, even though we had bought costumes, and stuffed the mailboxes in the village with notes containing balloons for people to attach to their gates if they didn’t mind supplying the village* children with lollies  {we have a lot of elderly people in the village ,  and that way if people don’t want the kids knocking on the door, they just don’t hang up the balloon- brilliant idea I thought, I read it somewhere, and there actually was a lot of balloons up }

So so so thankful we now live in a house with 2 toilets.

{back later with Luka’s 4th birthday post- poor little man was sorely neglected while we were all feeling sorry for ourselves and cradling our buckets.He did, however, get his wish, Buzz Lightyear, who has kindly kept him entertained while they act out the entire movie Toy Story 3.}

* Whenever I call where we live ‘The Village’ I get an image in my head of the residents of Minden chasing strangers away with a pitchfork. You know, “Get out of our Village. Outsiders arent welcome!!!” sort of thing. Its not like that at all, in case you were wondering,- there is just a giant sign at the entrance  that says Minden Village*

2 Hours

No, my hand was not caught under a rock {btw, how hot is James Franco teehee} , rather, this is the amount of sleep I've had this weekend.

Why is it that kids always ALWAYS spew at 3am. Well, it started at 9pm, but there is always one at 3am too. Poor Jai, he was so sick. And I felt proud that I can clean up puddles of vomit without vomiting myself! He seems to be feeling better now, Cara has just come down with it, so that’s 2 down, 6 to go! Lots of lemonade, dirty washing and buckets lying around at the moment {and can I just say that I am getting a Hills Hoist soon and am overly excited about it- the clothes line we have now can fit 2 loads of washing on it, I have 3 loads squeezed on it , a load of blankets and towels washing now, and another pile of clothes waiting patiently. So I fully expect to love the clothesline guy as much as I love the air-conditioner dude}

I have had a few photoshoots lately. I have to say that getting a photo like this

makes me really love what I'm doing! I mean, I know I don’t have backdrops or studio lighting {dream dream} but so far everyone seems to like the photos, and I'm sure ill be set up properly very soon {lusting after backdrops and those mats that look like wooden floors etc.} And I just laybyed the Canon 60D!!

Now, im going to lie down with Eden and watch a crappy movie. But heres some more pictures anyway hope you had a great weekend, not involving vomit!