Picture Update

Birthday twins

The boys enjoying the circus - part of the birthday celebrations.



The boys were invited to a Garden Tea Party for a sweet 5 year old friend.




Complete with balloon animals...




and yummy treats.



The bush telegraph at work - news spread that Cameron could play the guitar and sing.  Here he is performing at the Wowan/Dululu Mother's Day morning tea!!



Me and my boys, Mother's Day 2012.



Holidays for us now.  Looking forward to 3 weeks of family time and visiting friends.


Blessings,

And Sasha turns 5

I have been wanting to post pictures of Sasha's birthday celebrations since we returned from holidays, but it feels like we hit the ground running so I never had time.  I decided it must be done before the month changes, because April brings two more birthdays to celebrate.

Sasha's birthday fell near the end of our holidays but we made a special trip to Maryborough and threw him a ten-pin bowling party with friends and family.  He had a blast.

How cute are those little shoes?

We had a great time as a family during the holidays.  We went on three separate trips and home for just a day or so to wash in between.  I was a bit worried at first that it would be too much travelling but I tried to stay positive and it went really smoothly.  It was so wonderful that during these holidays we were able to see all members of both sides of our family (even if just briefly, Uncle Berty!).

The last day of holidays was our 8th wedding anniversary.  Cameron took one of the boys grocery shopping, brought dinner home for us and a surprise present as well (which was just what I wanted, so someone was listening!!!).  It's funny, I have two photos on our fridge of Cameron and I.  The first one was taken when we were first dating and the next one was taken close to 8 years later.  Check it out - we still have the same pose.

Anyway, here's to us.  May there be many more happy years together.

Hopefully I won't be a stranger to my own blog.  I'm working on it.

Blessings,

The Sweetness of Boys

Raising boys is tough work.  They are loud, rough, full-on, loud!!!  But you know what?  There is such a sweetness and tenderness about these boys that makes it all worth it.


I sent Eddie downstairs to draw a picture for me with chalk and I'd come down to check it once my cuppa was made.  This is what I found.

Follow the arrows

... Down the path

Round the bend ...

Awwwww.    Sweet!

Sasha sped past me down the driveway, calling out "I'm just getting something".  When we arrived in Wowan there was a large pot at the driveway filled with dirt.  For six months it has just sat there, filled with dirt.  A few days of heavy rain and what do you know ... colourful blooms.

My bouquet from Sasha!   Sweet.

As Isaac has been toilet training (and now is all done!), he has obviously been spending lots of time in the bathroom undressing and dressing again.  As I help him put his pants back on, he leans on my shoulder and whispers "Mummy, you are lovely".  Sweet.

And my man?  Took the boys on some errands and encouraged me to meet a friend for a pedicure (my first ever pedicure) on the day we were to travel back home from a week away.  Sweet.



Check out my flip-flop tan!


Counting my blessings,

Blessed

My man.  I am truly blessed.  Today I got a lovely surprise.  We all went to get some groceries and I left Cameron at the checkout to pay while I herded the boys off to the toy bike to wait for Daddy.  When he finished I told him I just had to pick up a script and then we could go.  But instead he told me that he got extra money out after paying for the groceries and he would like me to go to the shop and pick out some clothes!  Wow.  Oh my goodness.  I was almost speechless (almost).  He even suggested we go right then and he would keep the boys amused for as long as it took.  The icing on the cake was actually finding something that I liked and that fit me well. 

I've felt run down for a while and then the cold/flu thing grabbed me last week, so I feel like Cameron has been picking up a lot of slack lately.  So I'm truly counting my many blessings tonight.

Blessings to all,

Holidays, Celebrations - and now for the routine!

Five weeks of holidays flew by like I knew they would.  The back-to-work date sat on the calendar as a distant engagement but before we could blink, it was upon us.  Usually after a good break we are refreshed and ready to get back into the routine … this time it is different.  Going back to work for Cameron was a chore; not having him with us was a struggle; and it has reinforced our plans to have him retire sooner rather than later.  We’ll kick the plan into high gear and try to be patient, keeping an eye on the prize!

It was a week of celebrations for us.  Not only Easter celebrations with family and friends but also Cameron and Eddie’s birthday yesterday.  We ended up celebrating Cameron’s birthday on the Wednesday (complete with cake) and then having the Thursday to celebrate Eddie’s birthday (with more cake!!).  I think they both enjoyed their days.  I’m not sure if we’ll always have separate days for them but it worked for this year. 

Photo courtesy of Eddie



Eddie's last night as a 4 year-old



I must admit I have thrown routine and order out the window a bit.  After being so run down leading into the holidays, we tended to just spend time with the boys and not worry too much about school, structure, routine or anything.  Starting to pay for that a bit now though, as they boys really thrive on routine.  I’m not a strict clock watcher or anything, but I know my boys respond well to a plan and purpose to the day so I really need to find out where Miss Motivation went and get her back to work!!  There’ll always be tomorrow though, because today we have to worry about settling in Eddie’s birthday present.  Mistake #1 – assuming that when your child asks for a dog he will choose a compact and manageable one.  

Meet Mutley!!!

Blessings,