Jonah is 5 today!

How's the scary dad in the back with the carving knife & crazy hair?  Holy Cow that man cracks me up.

So our baby is 5 years old.  We have reached a milestone in parenthood.  It is rather thrilling.

He sauntered through at 6:15am saw his pressies on the floor all wrapped up and waiting and that was it.  No happy birthday song as we carried the pressies through...no waiting for the other kiddies to rub the sleep from their little eyes.  Oh no.  He was all action.  The paper flew, the boxes were flung, and a hungry look was in his eyes.  'Are there any more?'.  Hmmmm.

That is in deed a store bought cake.  I am proud to admit.  No stress and nonsense in the kitchen this morning - hoping the wonky oven wouldn't burn the edges for me.  Just a nice, simple cake and voila! Happy child.

A bonus that 2 of his cousins were here to sing and eat with him - it totally looked planned, I know.  The things my kids put up with.

5 Things I love about Jonah

1. His adorable kissable pink lips

2. His precious voice when he croons some love songs & the odd primary hymn 

3.  The way he'll be adamant that I read him a bedtime story and close his eyes moments after and be fast asleep.

4. His total focus when he's puzzling at the diningroom table - and his sheer determination to place the last piece.

5. His sweet prayers - he really tells Heavenly Father about his day, and how he's feeling.  

We are blessed abundantly from above.  We see it, and thank Heavenly Father often for trusting us with these little people.

The fact that they've made it this far with us a miracle :)

Love to you all.

xxxxx

Being able to receive...

In church on Sundays we are taught about giving.

I know we punt this alot in Primary with the little ones...helping others, making them happy and thinking about them.

I think we should be putting as much emphasis on the receiving part.

Cause I reckon as many are giving, there are plenty on the receiving line.

And mostly, they don't know how to receive the act of kindness.

A note on the side....

Two words that I hear alot - cause I also say it alot are 'Fine' and 'Okay'.

These two words have taken on a whole new meaning.

When you ask someone you know, "How are you?", immediately your internal warning system should start beeping - if their reply includes either of those words. Fine & Okay no longer mean that.  They mean, 'I'm struggling but my head is above water' - or 'I'm getting by...barely'.  And more often than not these words are said with a smile.

So, here's a tip. Put your arm around them, not both just one - it could look bad, and then you say...'Really?'.

And when they open up - you listen. Really listen.  Don't do all the talking. I'm realising that most women usually have a break down at church and then feel much better afterwards. Just slightly embarrassed. 

Here's the bit on receiving - this is what I've been learning lately...when people offer a kindness, and you really need it...no matter how hard it is to say...say YES.  If it helps, close your eyes when you're saying it cause it will give you some inner strength.  And then say Thank You...with a smile.  Don't get all gushy and too grateful and keep saying Thank you ALL the time.  A sweet personal note will do.

And don't feel guilty for saying YES.  We feel guilt at the drop of a hat - but it's not normal and should be deflected with GRATITUDE.  Concentrate of happy grateful feelings towards that person and reciprocate when you have the capacity to do do.

xxx

What do I want in life?

I wrote that in my journal 2 years ago.

Sometimes, when you are a mom, wife and daughter - you spend all your time meeting every one else's needs.

Right?

Right.

And then one day, you sit and think.

Think. Think. Think.

What do I want?

What makes me happy?

Mostly, it's to make everyone else happy, and give them what they want in life.

There's always a sacrifice though.

Isn't there?

You don't do the things you always saw yourself doing.

Or you don't go to the places you always wanted to visit.

I have made a list.

Of all the things I want to do, experience, all the places I'd like to go.

This makes me happy. Very happy.

In trying to discover what makes me happy(and don't get me wrong - my FAMILY make me VERY happy) I discovered my Smosh Art.

That really fulfills me.

And makes me happy.

But it all started with a list, and planning, and searching.  I'm so glad I found it.

Hugs to all.

Our Weekend

This past weekend brought us some guests.  

The Pereria Family & Granny Joan Von Brughan.

We had a very busy house - filled with very happy children and happy adults.

Cousins are great - especially the far away cousins, so when all the children are together it's just love & adoration non-stop.  I love that.  There's no time to get too familiar and start any nonsense.

We enjoyed a Sunday luncheon at our house, with pudding and a show - Brod sweetly entertained us on his guitar. The Slabberts, Pereria's and Von Brughan's were all together again.

Monday brought with it some shopping for Claude, Joan & I, and then lots of beach time, sand and laughter.

This morning...was departure time - which brought some frowns and tears from my little ones - but really, it was special to be together again.  Family is everything.

Here are some pictures to remember it by...

Claudette, Luis & Andre(he's totally posing for this shot by the way)

Joslyn & Erlank. Jos is an amazing teacher, and Erlank is studying (he just got back from his 2 year Mission for our church in January of this year)

There's Brod strumming his way along

Joan, Vanessa & Paul - try strain your eyes - sorry the lighting was bad

Ethan, Phoebe, Sophie & Renaldo

Noah with Nana Joan

Ethan, Noah, Warrick & Jo - off to a sleepover

Celebrating Renaldo's 12th Birthday - excuse the blurry shot!

over exposed depiction of happy cousins :)

Saturday's simple pleasures

This morning I headed off to our local Farmers Market with 4 kiddies in tow.  Wrapped in our Winter woolies, and loaded with our pocket money - we hit the stalls and had lots of fun.  Phoebe & Sophie were thrilled with their purchases, fine new clothing for 1 baby born and 1 build a bunny.  Noah & Jonah proudly carved their new cheap from China plastic swords - bravely fending off the locals with their huge dogs attached to them on a leash.  I purchased 4 little wooden children made by "Phresh hand made and recycled".  They are part of the Jacaranda family series. Precious.  They fit in perfectly with our current decor and it thrills me to no end.

Brod went on a nice long adventure up the hill on his mountain bike (since the ride there was uphill, you can imagine that the ride back was pretty quick.  We both pulled into the driveway at the same time.

All the kids jumped out the car and immediately assaulted him with their brand new wares.

It's been raining, and it's very cold again - so the fire has been roaring away in the fireplace all afternoon.

There are 6 little monkeys jumping around upstairs getting ready for bed....4 are my own, and 2 have been loaned to me by Claudette, Brod's lovely sister.  Tiago & Kianu are hanging out with us for the night.

It's sure to be an adventure.

It's 20h05 and my bed is calling my name (up since 2:30am so it does make sense).

We've been chatting through a plant all afternoon 

Our fire crackling away all arvies

Cheerio.

Yay for Thursday & Good friends

It's a gorgeous hot winters day in our neck of the woods today.

Hooray!

Today has been a better day, in fact the past 3 days have gone better than Monday - and that's a very good thing.

Monday was a stinker of a day.

I am very grateful that each day starts a new, fresh experience and I can try be better with each sunrise.

I have been drinking plenty of Rooibos Tea lately and eating lots of cake.  I have been having plenty of friends popping by to visit over the past month.  My social card has been rather full - and that has been rather thrilling.

Sherene, Waleska, Carmen, Samantha, and Amber to name but a few.  I do feel blessed that friends care and to have a multitude of close buddies to hang with throughout my life.

Friends are the stuff life is made of.

They make me smile.

And I do get to enjoy a good cuppa in their company too.

Not a bad setup, for sure.

X X X

To Re-do a day

On days like today - I wish I could push the re-wind button.

Nothing has gone well.

And it's on days like today, that I should remain in bed, with the television on and have no contact with the outside world.

Not because I'm depressed or mourning - just because it's an off day.

I said something stupid to an old and dear friend, I said something nasty to my child (of course I was just responding to a nasty comment from him - he's 5 - and I'm 32 so I should be the mature adult and bite my tongue). I did not teach my children like I should have, I should not have started cutting the bushes in the garden - because now I've left the job half done. And I should not have worn this mid-autumn top, because I'm freezing and too lazy to run upstairs and put something warmer on.  I also should not have said 'yes' when my 8 year old asked to turn the television on at 12pm - I think it's still on.

Today - I declare myself an unfit mother and wish to run away and hide.

Enough said.

Going to run now. And hide.