Somebody turned 3 today!!!!

Today is Charlie's 3rd birthday. Here is where I make the comments such as 'where has the time gone', or 'my baby is growing up' etc etc.

It's all true, where has the time gone, and where has that little baby gone?

But it's not a day for looking back, it's a day for FUN, and we had a fantastic day.

Here's a few of the highlights......


A brand new train set.



Then playing racing cars in the box the train set came in.



A new soccer ball.



And testing it out.



Birthday cake!!!



Making a wish.

3 is a very important birthday. Especially to the person turning 3!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!

It's still Winter.... I think.

All weekend I kept on thinking to myself "must find time to blog, must find time to blog". And do you think I found time?

Nope.

Days seem to fly by of their own accord leaving me reeling and trying to remember which day and even which week it is.

I do know it's August, and I do know it's still winter despite the sunshine we got recently.

How do I know, I hear you ask? I think this speaks for itself....


Clear skies and cold mornings = frosted up windows that provide endless fun.

Especially as it means I can continue to snuggle under a blanket on the couch and stay warm whilst watching Charlie and hearing his running commentary on everything he's drawing.

That boy never stops talking!!!

And this is where my lovely husband would interject that Charlie gets that particular trait from me. Hmmm.... he may be right.



Charlie was so pleased with his 'artwork' that I decided to get up and get the carmera to record it for posterity.

And so you all out there reading could also appreciate the masterpiece. Enjoy!

And We're Back In Business Again......

Well, now that I'm finally back in this space, my dear neglected blog, where I can write whatever I want, I really don't know what to write.

It's been so long, too long.

I guess I could write about the trials and tribulations of the past months, the illness, anxiety and stress. But that's all in the past, I want to look forward and to focus on the positive.

Who wants to read about depressing stuff like that? Certainly not me!

So, focusing on the positive, what have we been up to these past few months, I hear you all ask?

Well, lets just have a little look, shall we?

Picnics in the back garden, making the most of the last of the warm Autumn days before Winter extends her cold fingers around our home and garden.

My two biggest boys took part in the ANZAC Day celebrations as part of their Army Cadet unit. I'm so proud of them.

Not least for braving a very chilly autumn morning in thin cotton shirts.

(Not really fair that I was nice and warm in a coat and woollen scarf, was it?)


Someone finally got a big boy bed!

At first he was so overwhelmed he burst into tears at the sight of it. Then once Daddy showed him how much fun jumping on the bed and pretending to sleep to trick Mama was, he loved it.

And even though he's been sleeping in the big boy bed for months now, he still doesn't get out of it when he wakes up. I guess it hasn't yet occurred to him.

Thank goodness.

Though the yelling of "Mummy I want to get up NOW!" gets a little tedious at 6am every morning.


We've made numerous masking tape racetracks for Roary and other assorted vehicles to race upon. Giving Mama a much needed 5 minutes quiet time to work/tidy/doze off. (It varies on any given day).


Another favourite game is stealing Daddy's boots to show us his impression of Jake the Peg by Rolf Harris. We then find discarded boots all over the house.

(Yes, my husband owns multiple pairs of Union Jack Doc Martins)

(Don't even ask!)


And lastly, there has been lots of this going on.

Shmushy face Charlie cuddles are simply the best.

That's it for now folks. Hope you enjoyed the picture heavy update.

I'm off for some more of those shmushy face cuddles.

What? Life with no TV?

A week ago a man came and took our tv away. All 97kg of it.

It was rushed away for emergency care. Prognosis was not good, it might not make it. It may even end up in tv heaven.

It's barely 4 years old.

But that is most definitely a lifetime in tv world, it seems.

And with our tv's exit, so began our journey of life with no tv.

The first few nights were well occupied getting Charlie to bed by 8pm (ish), getting some work done, then sitting down to read a book.

A book! In the evening? Fancy that!

With so much spare time I finished the book in 2 days.

I then twiddled my thumbs and wondered what to do next. It was then that I realised I was tired. Very, very tired.

Without the distraction of tv to numb my mind, and put me in a catatonic state, I realised I was tired. So I went to bed.

Only to lay awake for hours. And hours.

And hours.

Frustration would be an understatement at that point.

From what I've written you'd imagine that I was a tv junkie, right? But actually, no. I don't watch tv during the day at all, and only sit down about 9pm with a cup of tea to watch an hour or so of our favourite recorded shows. We don't watch for the sake of it, we record only tv that we actually want to watch.

But going without even that small amount of tv watching, was dearly felt. After a week I realised that there are times where I enjoy just sitting there being entertained and informed, to sit and watch, drink my tea, snack on a bit of chocolate perhaps (just a little bit) and do absolutely nothing after a hectic, long and sometimes stressful day.

So last night we caved in. We set up the laptop in the bedroom, settled in with cups of tea and a box of valentines day chocolate and watched a movie.

It was bliss. We realised what we'd been missing all week. So nice to just sit and watch and relax.

Today Del rang the tv repair place.

We'll get out tv back next week.

Then perhaps all will be right with the world again.

The Secret

Anyone out there read the book 'The Secret'? Or seen the film?

I've just finished reading the book for third time, and it's one I plan to read over and over again. Till it all sinks in and stays there.

In a nutshell the big secret is........

.... the law of attraction.

Like attracts like.

Think positive and it will happen. And all that jazz. It's sounds simplistic and it is. But it's oh so powerful.

In the book it talks about people learning the secret and wanting 'proof' that it works, so they ask for something specific like finding a feather or an unusual object coming to them. Such an unusual and unlikely thing, that it confirms for them the power of The Secret.

So I thought, if it worked for them, it will work for me.

So I followed the steps.

1) Ask : state what it is you want to happen in a positive way.

2) Believe : really really believe it will happen, with no shadow of doubt. Visualise yourself receiving the thing, holding it, seeing it or hearing it. Really feel as if it's already happened, like a memory you're reliving.

3) Receive : be open to it occurring, be aware of things around you. Don't be so caught up in the treadmill of life that you don't notice.

For two whole days I did these three steps over and over, whenever I thought of it, in quiet moments and before I fell asleep at night.

Ask, believe, receive. Ask, believe, receive.

Then I let it go. I thought no more of it, I let the universe take over and make it happen.

Then having forgotten all about it, three days later I was astonished to receive this :



Well, blow me down. The Secret works.

You see, I had asked that within the week for someone to tell me I was wonderful or something I did was wonderful. Call me needy and wanting praise all you like, but when I was trying to think of what I wanted to ask for, that thought just popped into my mind, so I just went with it.

Please have someone tell me that what I'm doing is wonderful. Not just a good job or a thanks for that type of comment, but something extra and unexpected.

And this postcard from Renshi Graham (my martial arts instructor) was certainly unexpected. I had never received anything like it before, and neither had Kaiden or Corey. I was amazed. It worked. It really worked.

Then just to top things off, and complete the lesson that like attracts like and one good thing leads to another, something else wonderful happened.

I went to our local second hand bookshop specifically to buy the first book in a series I love, that I had read but didn't have a copy of. I asked if they had any books by the author but all they had were other ones I had already read. I expressed to the lady that I was a bit disappointed as I was really hoping for a particular book.

She looked at me funny for a moment, then reached behind the counter and pulled out the exact book!

The publishers rep had been to her shop just the day before and left a copy of the book I wanted. It was a 'not for sale' copy, just for the owner of the shop to read if she so wished.

But instead she gave it to me. For free.

I could hardly believe it! Perhaps these are both something that could be passed off as coincidence and luck, but I'm sure you've all heard the saying "we make our own luck".

I'm now trying to apply The Secret all the time. It will take time to be able to learn all the things to apply to my life, to have them sink in and be a natural part of who I am, but I now believe with all that I am, that I can create my life.

I urge you to read the book or watch the film.

At least watch the clip below if you have time (it's the first 20 minutes of the film). I would love for you all to give it a go and see what amazing things happen.

Wax On, Wax Off

Today's cryptic blog post title is an attempt to lead into talking about my martial arts training via a Karate Kid reference. But somehow I don't think my mind works along the same lines as other people and therefore the post title relating to the post content connection may just come across as a bit lame.

Ah well. I can't be bothered to change it now. Lame post title it is.

You never know, I might get a whole new readership from people searching Google for things like 'best way to wax my car' or 'how to put leg wax on'.

A big shout out to all those car cleaning enthusiast and leg waxers out there. Welcome to my blog. Sorry to disappoint but I don't tend to mention car wax, leg wax, or other type of wax very often.

In fact this is probably just a one off wax mentioning time.

Ok. So back to martial arts training.

So how to start this? Oh yeah.... ouch.

And more ouch.

I have bruises and pains, tired muscles and a head chock full of techniques.

And I also now have my blue belt.

Finally, after such a long time to get there, due to unexpected time off for illness (mine and Charlie's), I finally achieved my blue belt. Things start to get serious now. I'm half way to black belt, a goal that I aim to reach in 3 years.

Now that I've moved up in the martial arts world (in my mind at least!) we are doing lots of technical stuff but also lots of fun things too.

For weapons training we're focusing on the nunchucks for the next few months. They're a great weapon to use, lots fun as long as you don't knock yourself on the head mid swing. Not so fun then.

Last night we were learning Brazilian Ju Jitsu, which I love doing. It's hard, in a very controlled way, and totally different to all the other types of martial arts I've done. Slow and controlled, relaxed but strong. Rolling around on the floor wresting with the others reminds me of being a kid - you just got to go with the flow and enjoy it.

Before my training session last night, Kaiden had his Muay Thai (Thai kick boxing) training, which I watched, only to have my Renshi (teacher) try to convince me to give it a go myself. Kick boxing isn't something I ever thought I would want to try, but the more I watched, the more I thought to myself "I could do this".

So I've decided that next week I'll do back to back sessions. An hour of Muay Thai, followed straight after by an hour of Zen Do Kai.

Call me crazy.

Alright now, everyone say together : "You're crazy!!!"

So there you have it, a rambling, nonsensical post about my dreams of black belted glory and delusional perception of physical capabilities.

Welcome to my blog.

Stress-less or Stress-free?

I apologise for no Fashionable & Fabulous Friday post yesterday. Life has been too..... hectic, distracting and unfullfilling lately.

I've noticed my tension increasing, the clench of my jaw tightening, that tell tale sign of stress within me.

I don't want to feel like this.

Surely there is more to life than the hamster wheel of work, house, kids and commitments?

I want to stress less. No. Scratch that. I want to be stress free.

I found myself needing something, something that's been missing. Then I realised.

I haven't meditated in such a long time.

I've let the distractions of the mundane duties of life... well, I've let them distract me from the moments that make me smile and relax.

So I took a quiet moment to go back to The Meditation Society of Australia website, and restart the free meditation course they offer.



Within minutes the tension had eased.

Eased but not yet gone. I think that will take a little more time and consistency. But it's a start.

The lesson I did was titled 'The Meaning of Life' and was just so fitting for how I've been feeling lately. Here's a short extract :

Wisdom is simple; it is knowledge that craves complexity.

One of the main sources of stress is not having clear life directions or goals. So often we are caught by the urgent things in our lives – our material responsibilities and day-to-day struggles – that they create their own vicious cycle within our minds. This is what we may know as the 'tension loop’.

The 'tension loop' confuses meaning with movement.

Just like a computer, the mind processes data from many sources. The more programs you run in a computer, the less time it can spend on each program before having to go and process a little more of the next. The time the computer spends switching from program to program makes the computer run slower and slower until it may break down or stop.

The mind works in the same way. Only our programs that run around in circles using up the minds resources are our fears, anxieties, doubts and worries. As we run out of resources, the mind (unlike a computer) speeds up. It becomes so involved by the number of things that it has to do that it spends more and more of its time switching from one to the other, drawing us further into the superficial and further away from the analytical and obviously the intuitive or meditative levels. We find that we can’t concentrate for very long, we’re flighty and scattered and it is self-compounding. This 'tension loop' can be permanently transformed only through calming the mind and allowing a deepening of our awareness. We need to identify the negative thought patterns in our lives and transform them into positives. For example, worries are perhaps the most insidious of all negative thought patterns as within the mind they are like a program that loops or is never completed. They use resources, create stress, and are happiest when nothing is ever resolved or an ‘end-point’ reached.

In the end, however, the real problem is not so much that we may be stressed or sick or having a nervous breakdown, the real problem is that we have confused ‘busy-ness’ with our life meaning. Meaningful goals become less and less clearly identified.

If like me you've felt stressed and overwhelmed by the demands of an everyday, modern life, then please feel free to take a quick look at the website and maybe even listen to one of the short, free meditations they offer.

Trust me, you'll feel better for it.

We Spend Most of Our Day Doing This ........

...... just hanging by the pool.






Don't be too jealous.

Hehehe.......

The New Year, and Lots of Lovely Nothingness.

As I sit here typing up this post at my new desk, given to me a Christmas gift from my wonderful husband, I look around my home.


My stylish new desk! I'm almost tempted to start back at work a week early in order to make full use of it. Almost.


And I feel full and content.

Little Charlie is asleep, my two older boys are outside fixing up a scooter so they can ride to the local deli to buy ice cream, my hardworking husband is ... well... out working, and I am luxuriating in the benefits of having an extended period of time off work.


Important work being undertaken.

I can potter around my home to my heart's content, doing a little bit here and there as the mood strikes me, resting and reading as and when I want to. A little bit of swimming here and there with all my boys, much playing of cars and trains with Charlie and lots of indulgent eating is going on around here.


Percy, friend of Thomas.
It seems I'm usually relegated to being Percy, while Charlie stars as Thomas. Only fair I suppose given it's Charlie's production.


This quiet, simple life fills me with joy. It's a wonderful novelty to have two whole weeks off work, and in the summer holidays too.

This may all sound sickeningly sweet and essentially boring, to those of you rushing through your life with so many things pulling you this way and that, to the point where you fall into bed at night exhausted, but my intent is not to inflict my contentedness upon you, but simply to...... hmmm.... express how I'm feeling right now, I guess.

That's what one's own blog is for, right?


The view from my desk.


But I am aware that all too soon, this idyllic summer break will be over for me.

I'll be back to juggling work, children and home. But after a lovely little break such as I've had, my batteries will be fully charged and ready to take on all the little daily challenges life will throw my way, be ready to grasp opportunities to grow as they materialise and be ready to cope with any sleepless nights yet to come.

January has been a wonderful start to what I intentionally predict to be a magnificent year for my family. Under the influence of this Capricorn month, grand and ambitious plans are being laid that will alter our future in most wonderful and fulfilling ways. I look forward to the fruition of our dreams as the year progresses.

(And, no, I'm not pregnant, nor planning to be. Just in case that thought crossed anyone's mind!!!)



View of our 'Library' from my desk.


Kaiden and Corey are on their summer break till February, which means a whole month remains of sleeping late, swimming and lazing around for them.

I envision come the beginning of February, it will be a rude shock for them to have to conform back to the society standard of a life regulated by the clock. Poor dears!



Creative Corey. Made from skateboard and scooter parts.


One thing I'm excited to report is that the power of intention has manifested beautifully in my life recently.

My life is magnificent.

And the more often I say, the more it magnifies the magnificence!

Ask. Believe. Receive. The Secret.

I feel I'm achieving my aim of living in the now, and I'm loving it.

And I sincerely wish the same for all of you.

With all my heart.

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".

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.

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.

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.

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!