And so that was Christmas....

...it passed in a whirlwind, which it always seems to do. It's always over way too fast.

This Christmas was filled with happy moments, laughter and not a little drama occasionally.

Christmas eve Del's parent's came up from Bunbury to stay with us, along with his sister and two nephews who were over from the UK. The day was spent mainly in preparing for the big day, my planning and preparation of the food and home went smoothly but I can't say the same for Del. In getting the bbq ready he discovered that it no longer worked, so desperate last minute repairs were undertaken, knowing that the very next day we were hosting a BBQ Christmas lunch for 15 people. To say there was a little bit of stress would be an understatement! Luckily, positive thoughts prevailed and the bbq was hobbled into some semblance of working order.

I must say it was lovely to have family around on Christmas eve and an evening walk to look at the Christmas lights really added to the merriment. Charlie was so excited about Christmas but thankfully was so tired out by evening he went to sleep straight away.

Pity the same couldn't be said for the older boys, who were sleeping outside in tents (due to lack of room in the house!). Mark my words, teenagers still get excited and silly on Christmas eve! Finally sometime after midnight 'Santa' was able to drop off a whole sleigh's worth of presents.

Not too many hours later we were all woken by Charlie, followed by some tired teenagers (not so clever staying up half the night being silly, was it now?) and the mammoth though much relished task of unwrapping began.

By lunchtime we had a house full of people, having fun and eating well, though some of the desserts didn't cope too well in the extreme heat. It was a joyful, fun day surrounded by loving family, and I tried desperately to close my eyes to the mess my house had become. Which was hard for me as I find I can't relax when the house is a mess, and boy was it a mess that day. I restrained myself from cleaning away every scrap of wrapping paper, packaging, plates and glasses and went for a swim in the pool instead.

A much wiser decision given the 40 degree heat.

Boxing Day and today were spent relaxing in the pool some more and slowly getting my house back in order (of course!). I have till the 10th January off work, and I have nothing more pressing on my time than ensuring my little vegetable garden is watered each morning.

Bliss.

Though at the moment I'm not too sure how to fill my days, I want to just laze around and do nothing, but that is so unlike me it's hard to actually do nothing. Maybe I'll just read some of the books Del gave me for Christmas and spend lots of time in the pool.

Sounds like a good plan to me.

An Aussie Christmas

I know, I know.... I've neglected my blog shamefully, but am happy to say it's because I've been having such a fantastic time that I've hardly had time to get on the computer.

Life is busy as I finish up work for the year, plan our Christmas/Solstice family celebration and spend time with Del sister and her boys who are over from the UK for a short while. Way to short a while.

The following video isn't your usual Christmas song, and for all my Northern Hemisphere friends it may give you a little perspective of what Christmas here is like. Although the song is very tongue in cheek, scarily it's also a fairly accurate account of Christmas in Australia!

And so to everyone Merry Christmas/Solstice, enjoy your family and friends, stay safe and count your blessings.


Without further ado, enjoy "Aussie Jingle Bells".

The 'I'm too Busy to Write So Here Are Some Photos' series

Hmmm.... I see a theme developing here.

Lately it seems that whenever Charlie plays with his big brothers,

a lovely scene like this.....



soon turns into this ....



And again, from this...



...to this....



and finally to this .....



Poor Corey seems to be copping the brunt of little Charlie's over active affection.

I hope that it's just innocent enthusiasm.

Or we may have a problem......

Boys, boys, boys.

Corey's 13th birthday party is over.

And I'm sad.

Call me crazy but I loved having a house full of boys. And teenage boys at that.

I loved being surrounded by boys, they're just so much fun.

As a teenager myself, I read the books Little Men and Jo's Boy's by Louisa May Alcott, and dreamed of one day opening a school/orphanage for boys, just like the character in the story. Secretly I would still love to do this, though I think my husband would try to talk me out of it.

In the stories she had such adventures with her boys, loved them so much even when no one else did and received love in return. And that's how I feel when I'm surrounded by boys.

I have my own three boysof course, so am well on the way to achieving my secret dream, and when they bring home friends and the house is full - I love it.

Not most people's cup of tea I suppose, to be surrounded by loud, active and always hungry boys, but what I love most is the joy they bring. Boys tend to get a bad rap, you should hear the comments I get when I say I have three boys. Though contrary to popular belief I find them to be full of life, so open and filled with energy and happiness.

I have a great rapport with all of the boys who filled my house, they talk to me, and have said they tell me things they don't even tell their own mum. One of the reasons I'm doing a double degree in Counselling, specialising in Children and Parenting, is to be able to work with kids one day, helping them and their parents to achieve a wonderful life.

Give them love and attention, keep them engaged and active, and boys are just wonderful.

I'm blessed to have three boys of my own, as well as the joy of knowing their friends.

Boys make me smile.

Fashionable and Fabulous Friday

Friday again? Already???

My goodness does time fly by so fast.....

This afternoon Corey has his 13th birthday party.

Lots of boys + going paintballing = lots of messy boys.

Then back to our house for a sleep over / pool party.

Needless to say I have a very busy day getting things organised, so lets get on with the photo shoot.



Again I cheated and took these photos earlier in the week.

Tuesday I believe it was. I had just got back from going to swimming lessons with Charlie.

This skirt is one of my favourites, looks nice and is comfortable enough to wear all day long.




The black top looks fairly plain and simple from the front, but then I turn around and ......




I just love the detailing on the back.

Ignore the fact that I really needed to wear a strapless bra with this top for best effect. As I said I threw this on in the change rooms after swimming.

Whilst taking the photos I thought to myself it would be one of the only recent photo shoots without extras, but then came along my gorgeous little monster to play peek a boo.

So Del took over as photographer to capture the fun.

Where's Charlie and Mama?................



Peek a boo!




Oh mama, not yet! Get the timing right!

The 'I'm too Busy to Write So Here Are Some Photos' series.

Army Cadets Formal Dinner - 20 November 2010

Just Your Average Day .... in Photos

Having horsey rides.


Baking yummy muffins.


Doing dishes.


Taking time to smell the flowers.



Having more horsey rides.



Making school lunches.



Eating an ice cream cone for the first time - and loving it!



Being studious.



Being cute.



Being silly.

Just your average day in the Eccentricity household.

Fashionable and Fabulous Friday - Better Late than Never Right?

I've had a crazy busy weekend but I'll write about that in another post.

Right now, it's time for more important things - like Fashionable and Fabulous Friday.

So these photos were actually taken on Friday, but have sat in my camera until today.

Here goes :



This was a spur of the minute, brand new combo of existing clothes from my wardrobe.

It was a slightly cool summers day, so on went my warm and comfortable boots, but I still wanted to have a touch of summer, hence the lovely pink cotton skirt.

Del's comment when I walked out was "You're very pink today".

Not sure whether that was a compliment or not. You never can tell with my husband.


Hmmm.... what IS that intruding on my photo shoot???

Shoo!

Oh, it's just Charlie's elephant Zambi.

But he's a little high for Charlie to be holding him.

Next think I know Charlie and Corey pop around the corner laughing hysterically together.

Kaiden even stuck his head out the bathroom door to see what was going on.



Corey obviously in a very silly mood, started kissing Zambi. I threatened that I would post pictures of this on my blog, and still he continued.

I guess it goes with all the other embarrassing photos I have of him over the years.

Nothing tops the photo of him wearing my bra and knickers though. No, he was not a toddler who didn't understand. He was 9 years old.

We never let him forgot that particular incident.

But I won't be posting that photo. I can't embarrass the poor boy too much.

Or can I?



I love living in a house filled with my crazy and fun boys. It keeps me smiling.

A Summertime Christmas

Last weekend, in the middle of a heatwave, we put up our Christmas Tree.

It was 38oC that day.

And our air conditioning was broken.

The pool was not fit to swim in either.

Needless to say we were hot.

Hence the nearly naked photos of Charlie.



Listening to Christmas songs such as "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" while putting up the tree in the heat, was the ultimate irony.



Why, hello there Santa, so nice of you to drop by.



Charlie was eager to get started with the decorating.

Surveying the tree.....







For some reason Charlie insisted in putting the decorations as far into the tree as he could reach.

It obviously makes sense in his mind to do so.





The finishing touch.... affixing the star atop the tree.... with a little help from Kaiden.







And the finished product...


It's definitely starting to feel like Christmas around here.

I can tell by that little bead of sweat, slowly trickling down my back.

A Short Early Morning Conversation

6am this morning.

Me half asleep on the couch trying to desperately to wake up. Charlie watching tv and playing next to me, quite happily awake and full of energy.

Charlie : "Mummy, you're broken"

Me : "Huh, what? I'm broken?"

Charlie : "Yes. Broken. Look at the state of you."

This book .....

.... is one I can't recommend highly enough.

Although not Buddhist myself, the concepts, ideas and strategies detailed in this wonderful book have enriched my journey through motherhood greatly.

I would recommend it to every mother.

Buddhism for Mothers : A Calm Approach to Caring for Yourself and Your Children - by Sarah Napthali can be found at Amazon Books (which is where I got it from).

Please treat yourself and read this book.

You and your children deserve it.

Someone's a smarty pants.

This was for a Statewide Science test of all Yr 7 students.



To decipher :

The green band on the left is the range of 80% of students achieved, with the arrow being the average.

The dot, that one waaaayyyy up near the top .......

..... well, that's MY boy.

*smug grin*

Fashionable and Fabulous Friday is back

After a small glitch last week resulting in no Fashionable and Fabulous Friday post (I know you were all so disappointed - ha!), things are now back on track.

Today's outfit is totally impractical from a 'work from home, running around after a two year old suburban mum' type perspective.

But hey, you only live once!



See what I mean? Skirt short enough that when I bend down to check the letter box later I need to be careful the neighbours don't see more than they bargained for! Ooooh, I am bad!!

I do love this outfit, as to me the colours are perfect for summer and not least the fact that both items were chosen and bought for me by my darling husband.

The skirt was bought from Marks & Spencer in Hong Kong (Del was feeling homesick for UK shops I think!), after me having had a look around the store and declaring there was nothing I liked, Del had a look and came up with this skirt. And a great blouse to go with it (not pictured this time).




Thanks honey, I love that you have great taste in clothes and don't mind shopping for me!!!

The shirt I'm wearing is a latest acquisition that Del bought for me as a surprise from Fred Perry in the UK. A month or so ago a package arrived from the UK with three Fred Perry shirts - one for Del, one for me and one for Charlie.

I'll try to get a photo soon of Del and Charlie wearing their matching shirts. Can anyone say 'mini- Del'?

As per usual I had my fashion assistant with me every step of the way today.



Hi Charlie!

Now move, mummy wants to pose.



I think I've created a fashion monster. He spends all the time hogging the mirror.

Hey kid, scram. This is my photo time!!!



In this photo Charlie is trying to look at the back of his head in the mirror. Try telling a stubborn two year old that it won't work. It just makes him more determined.



Until he gets distracted by some other interesting thing.

"Oh wow, it's my Thomas!".

They do say that fashion models are fickle.

The Vege Patch

From small beginnings just two months ago ......



....we now have this :



I'm simply amazed by how wonderful this experience of growing our own vegetables is.



A bit of water and a bit of love and they thrive.



This is our little froggy garden guardian, who watches over our plants ..... he was made by Corey many years ago when he was a gorgeous little boy (now he's a gorgeous big boy.)



We have cherry tomatoes ripening.

I picked the first three of our tomatoes today and oh my, were they delicious. So sweet and firm, mmmm.


The cucumber is flowering....



.. and already we're having a bumper crop of cucumbers with many more to come.

I can foresee us having many many salads this summer!


This is our Leaning Tower of Asparagus.

I've figured that this asparagus plant is the teenager of our vege patch. It's really not doing anything and can't even be bothered to stand up straight.


The capsicums have finally decided that it's time to flower.

And I must say they have very pretty flowers too.


We have a 'mama watering can' and a 'baby watering can'.


Both get put to good use.

Charlie is an avid gardener, and I often find him filling his watering can from the dogs water bowl.

Great for the plants, not so great for poor Trooper.


We've been loving growing our own vegetables so much, that we want to plant more.

Many more.

I have packets of seeds ready to go and Del went out and obtained this corrugated iron vege-planter. For free!

I'm itching to get the soil in and get planting.



So far we've filled the base with straw and will soon get the soil. Corn, beans, peas, lettuces and herbs will soon fill this planter.

I'm enjoying working in the garden, helping Mother Nature do her thing, and I'm thrilled that my boys know exactly what food looks like in it's natural form, and that it doesn't actually grow on supermarket shelves!