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,

February!!!

It has been such a busy season for visitors.  We love having visitors and I think we counted about 10 overnight visitors in the 6 months we have lived here!!  That's amazing.  It got to the stage where the boys would wake up and say "who is coming today Mum?"  Funny.  It has been a bit of a struggle to get back to routine though but now we are back to no visitors and obviously we miss everyone and want them to come again.  Such is life.

It's been a while since I posted, so I am thinking this will turn out to be a long post that rambles from one topic to the next and includes heaps of photos!!  Here goes:

School is back in full swing for us.  We are finishing off "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons".  The boys are reading well now but we still have about 15 lessons to go before we complete the book.  After that we will move onto First Language Lessons and Writing With Ease. 

We are pressing through with our Math curriculum but we may well switch before too long.  One of my boys really needs manipulatives to help him along a bit.  We've heard great things about Math-U-See so that may be where we go next.  My boys are still so young so I am really letting them set the pace and not expecting them to complete pages and pages of worksheets each day. 

I need to focus on Character Study for my boys also.  We've noticed a few behaviour issues that I really don't want to become a habit, so I really want to focus on working with the boys regarding patience, obedience, not arguing, and also having a good work ethic.  They are old enough now to be able to remember simple chores.  The laziness habit is trying to show its ugly head ("it's too hard", "I'm tired") so we are going to nip that quickly also.

Anyway, on a personal note, I've been reading some great books lately and one which really made an impact on me was 'Reshaping it All' by Candace Cameron Bure.  It's not that I had lots of weight to lose or anything like that but I find that I eat out of habit.  I am not conscious of the things I am putting in my mouth sometimes.  I'm not being religious about it but I am just noticing my decisions and using will power.  For instance I will stop half way through a meal and check whether I am satisfied (not full, but satisfied).  Most of the things in the book I knew already, but for some reason it just clicked with me and it has been the tool for me to change the way I approach food.  I am already noticing a change in the way my clothes fit, so that is a nice extra.  I want to keep this up!!!  So I probably should put some encouraging verses and quotes from the book around the house for me to remember and apply.

Ok, so let the photo deluge begin.

Yay to be able to tick things off the plan!!

Note to self - do not turn your back when a 3 year old has a marker.





So amazed that Eddie was able to complete this.  He had no help whatsoever.

Eddie and Sasha won prizes for the library's summer reading competition.  So proud.

And the mobile librarian knew we had three boys, so asked the library for another prize for Isaac.  Showing off his watch.  Sorry about the scary eyes!!!

Our excitement for the day.  Rescue chopper lands across the road.  Always attracts a crowd.

Cameron has a couple of weeks off after this rotation.  During this time we will be able to celebrate his sister's birthday, Sasha's birthday and our anniversary.  Good times.

Belated Happy New Year greetings to you all,

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,

Eddie's Top 3

Eddie loves to take photos and he is actually getting quite good at it.  The other day he asked if he could have a turn with the camera, so I told him to take three photos of what he loved about Wowan.

So, here they are:

# 1 - "Daddy's work car".  They never seem to get tired of seeing the Ambulance.  Even if we are on a trip to a larger city, they will always call out when they see an Ambulance.

# 2 - You may not be able to see this, but it is a sprinkler!!!  I don't know if I can add anything else to this one.  I assume he likes it because it is a tall standing one and it waters most of the yard??  But anyway, it made the list.

# 3 - The trampoline.  Cameron's lovely sister and her husband gifted us with this trampoline so it was the boys job to help Daddy put it together - and they did an amazing job.  It is very large and has been in use every single day since it was assembled.  Has even been a great tool in making new friends.

So there you have it; Eddies top 3.  I love that he is easily pleased.

Blessings,

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,