A field of yellow daisies

 

I spotted it while driving by {because i had cased out another spot and as i drove there this morning- they were mowing!} and had to return, camera in hand, Eden wearing a divine dress i found at the op-shop.

Its going to sound cheesy but these pictures existed in my head long before I actually took them. Since she was a bean, i pictured her running through a meadow of daisies , flowers up to her waist and her giggles filling the air.

She’s come so far, my sweet final babe. And she has so far to go.

And these pictures, like so many others of her, remind me that even though there are hard days, rough days, I don't want to get out of bed days….

life is filled with fields of yellow daisies. Sometimes you just have to be patient and look.

New traditions and other things.

I have been so ready for Christmas for about 3 months,so, as you can imagine, I have been very busy covering my house in silver and purple, and scouring Pinterest for ideas. There is a pile of wrapped presents under the tree and a pile of wrapped books ready to be read each night of December. But in-between trips to the cheap shop, there's been time for blowing puffballs, growing watermelons and visits to the waterpark…

Eden is scared of those fountains- she loves splashing in the puddles, but as soon as the fountains fire up, she's outta there!

Her silly face- has a silly voice to go with it:)

Im very excited about this Christmas. I’m planning a whole lot of new traditions, Our Elf has arrived {Noel- pronounced Nole, because Cara wondered why we had a decoration for Noel when we dont even KNOW anyone called Noel} and the kids each have a small tree of their own in their rooms.

This time of the year is so special to me. I know it should be stressful , and it is, but it reminds me of when I was little  and every morning is so very frustratingly exciting knowing that its getting closer and closer .

The kids are almost finished school for the year, and Luka is off to Prep next week for move-on day {all the kids move up to the next class for the day} which is sure to make me weepy.

They’re best friend, those two. Eden is going to be lost next year.

{note- there is no-one at the waterpark because I’m nuts and turn up at 8:26am to avoid crowds- my catchphrase has changed from ‘ Where's Luka!!!’ to “Eden! Get back here! Stay where i can see you!’ and she's so tiny she's hard to spot in a crowd}

Ill be back with some Christmas prep photos soon, right now i have cookies to make with my Fatboy, who is sadly no longer the Fatboy, still not Luka though, its Louie or Lugala now.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving {and please tell me someone made the giant turkey covered in bacon i saw on facebook}, its waaaaay to hot for turkey here, that's for sure x

Finally

I got a {2nd hand} iphone!

{top to bottom, left to right}

The boys playing ps3, guess which biscuit Eden made? , someone's been rearranging the blocks again,elephant hairclips are the cutest, a foggy morning, “read me a story ?” , Gwendolyn, two little brown haired babes,after lunch nap, Luka off to kindy, the road home, mummy’s moment of weakness,Eden putting ‘Biebs’ to bed, still sleeping in mums bed, Luka is sick, love country sunsets, bowl of coffee!! , a windy morning, cutest spot in the house, her angry face..

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!

 

Waiting on Summer

Its starting to get hot here. Not as hot as it will get, but as the days get longer and we drag the pool out of the garage, I feel summer approaching.

While the bigger kids finish up the school year {6 weeks to go} the babes and I drive with the air conditioning on to escape the heat, ending up at deserted parks where I can sit in the shade of giant trees and watch them run wild.

 

I sit there and watch them run and play and chase birds and eat dirt

and it makes me happy.

I hold their hands on long lazy walks to spot koalas in the gum trees, laughing when Eden wakes it up with happy squeals when she finally spots it.

sit with Eden in the shade, listening to birds and bugs, while Luka spends forever looking at birds.

And before we know it, its time to come home, and meet the kids when they get off the bus, everyone tired and hungry and hot. Time for dinner and baths and homework and real life.

And they go to bed talking about that koala.

A belated birthday post

Happy birthday Mr Ed, Fred,Freddy,Freddler,Jai Ethan.

It has been 7 years since we had our first son join our family of girls.7 years to learn about bugs, and dirt, and how high we can climb –current record-shed roof. We have learnt to identify cars at a glance, and praise people for their driving choices {at the grocery shop, to a complete stranger getting out of his hotted up Holden, ‘Nice car mate’

7 years, and I can still remember the words your daddy spoke when I told him the scan showed a boy, “Bulls*!t!!!'” lol

7 years of superheroes,and guns,and an obsession with karate.

You have been in school for 2 years, and I admit I underestimated you, and your concentration span.You love it, and are doing great! But next time when you have a magic trick due in, it might be good if you mentioned it before Friday morning.

We took you to movieworld for your birthday, showered you with lego and weaponry and a Batman castle cake.

You gave yourself the black eye

Typical.

7 years and it feels like yesterday you joined us, with your little buddah face, a clone of your beloved Daddy.I love you so much Jai, my first son, big brother,little brother, Im so proud of you, and cant wait to see what you become!

Those grey hair moments

Its Jai’s 7th birthday on Tuesday. And since his godfather was here for the weekend, we took the boys, Eden and Rani, to Movieworld.

It was a gorgeous day, sunny and hot, and started out with Jai’s dreams coming true…

{he was so excited about meeting Batman, had been practicing what to say for weeks

“mum, what if I say , Batman,I’m your biggest fan?” {hysterical giggles}

And Luka? Well, his favorite is Scooby Doo. But he was a little star struck!

Lots of rides, overpriced food, the kids were having a ball. Luka got chocolate ice cream all over himself,like a chocolate beard, and I was forced to take his shirt off to clean him {and Eden} up.

Then, it happened. Now can I mention we had FIVE adults watching FOUR kids. I spoke the dreaded words {which I say at least 15 times a day, such is my paranoia and his love of running off}

“Where’s Luka?”

He was gone. In a theme park. We all just split up, running. I ran into a shop to see if they could get a message over the loudspeaker or something. The lovely lady asked for a description.

“3 years old, shaved head, boardshorts, no shirt, very dirty feet” – here’s the part where I start feeling like the worst mum in the world.

 No shirt!! why didn’t we bring spare clothes!! And why didn’t I make him put his shoes back on!!! And why did I let go of him AT ALL!!! {this is what I'm saying to myself in my head}

I turned around and saw Luka, perched on Nate’s shoulders. It had been about 7 minutes. And I have at least 40 new grey hairs.

{ I was so worked up –or ‘distraught’ as the shop assistant put it- that I then proceeded to panic…

“Where’s Eden???!!!!!”

I was carrying her.

Apart from that, and when Jai went to ‘look for Daddy’ and took forever to come back, it was a good day. I don’t do scary rides though. I’m just there to carry the bags while I wait for others to have rides haha.

 

Next time, maybe I will buy one of those leash things like I've threatened in the past.