Missing and Giving

Summer is over.  There is still a little warmth in the sun, but nobody is jumping in the pool now.  There was snow at our local ski hill this week.  Snow!  Plus friends from home are posting beautiful Spring photos on facebook.  I miss Spring. Crocus peeping through the ground, crisp air, white legs making their first appearance in months.  That said, I love Fall here.                                                                                                    I miss my family.  I feel blessed to have seen so many of them this year, but I miss being close to them.  Maybe it is because I am attempting to shop for Christmas so I can get my parcel in the mail next month.  On that, any fabulous ideas for truly fabulous people who deserve thoughtful gifts? I try to think what I would like to receive to inspire me, but I would always request books or suggest a charity giving gift.  One year I sent my sister (who always manages to ignore my requests for gift ideas) this email.                                                                                                                                                                                     Please................................................................................. 

oh please, could you answer with 5 or 6 ideas, maybe a couple under $20 and as many others as you can.

Think of segments of your life:

Something for your home:

Something to help have an adventure:

Something for a hobby:

Something to bless you:

Something frivolous:

 Something to encourage you to dream:                                                                                                                                               Ok, copy and paste, just right what comes to mind, don't over think it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   And she did.  And it was awesome.  I would have never guessed she wanted her own fishing knife, because our Dad (the most generous man in the world) tended not to share his in the boat when fishing!  

 

Nyah is five

Five years ago, pink came into our lives.  I had heard via my husband that we were 60/40 expecting a girl.  I didn't believe him (or the ultrasound guy that told him while I was out of the room!). I took blue to the hospital. I was wrong, she is all girl.  Favourite colour is blue, her favourite tea is hot chips.  Favourite holiday is at the Bridport house. She wants to be a "parist parist" when she grows up just like Auntie Manda (that would be an occupational therapist).  Pretend friends still abound and play dates are much loved.  This year we decided to keep it small and just had a tea party with Olivia and Lisette, full of treats that we mainly melted rather than cooked due to how dangerous it is to have the oven on at the moment with Zeke climbing everything.

She thoroughly enjoyed her day, and had calls from home as well as Thailand and Wales.  I'm not sure I even knew anyone overseas when I was five.  We treasure our princess and are thankful for all she is.  Happy birthday Nyah.  We love you.

A heavenly birthday

7 years ago today Mum died. I wish she was still here. She didn't get to meet these two precious small children of mine. I'm sure she would have loved having a grand daughter. A fact I know to be true, as she bought two smocked dresses while she was sick, for WHEN one of us managed to have a daughter. A baby was always welcomed by Mum. She was a mothercraft nurse before she had me. She was a baby whisperer. She would have been down on the floor reading books to Zeke. Convincing him to sit still for just a little while. I miss her.

Day one, or a continuation or something

The photo is from Zeke's first day on this Earth. Today he is almost 9 months old. It has nothing to do with this post, but I just realised all my recent photos are on E's computer, so this will have to do.
Kids in Canada went back to school today. Yah. This allows us to re-establish the rhythm of full on schooling again. Due to having Zeke, summer holidays in Australia and now a second summer in Canada, school work has been, well, light. Not today though Zurg. Today we went hard. I. Am. Exhausted. I have calculated there are 70 days of school before we break for Christmas. 69 to go!

Imagination

My girl. Oh my girl! I have just spent a little while collecting supplies for her. I wasn't sure why the specific things were requested. What would she make out of small elastic bands, teeth floss and sticky tape? Well after a lot of instruction, it turns out she was making braces for her teeth, just like Caitlin's at kids church!

Waking Up

Waking up as a statement makes me think of the dreadful days following my Mum's cancer diagnosis. Every morning waking up only to be hit by the realisation that I was living in a new much darker reality. My Mum was sick, dying, and there was nothing (beyond a miracle) that would save her life here on Earth. Nausea and dread were my feelings everyday.
Now, 6 years after her death, I no longer experience these feelings. I (mostly) wake up filled with joy. Maybe it is my precious three month olds grins from the crook of my arm, or knowing I get to wake up next to my lovely husband and then spend another day living my dream with my four children. Maybe it is having a greater appreciation for life. Life is short and so precious, and I am blessed with knowing this at a younger age than many through the loss of a parent. That said, if I could trade this knowledge to have her back here, healthy and well, I would. I want to live my life awake. Knowing that I have lived, truly lived each and every day, no matter how many days I get.
Joining with

Me

Random things about me, purely because I love reading other peoples on their blogs.

We live at the beach every summer. Traditionally we build one huge pyramid, then the kids attempt to destroy it. It is usually still there for a couple of days.
My second toe is longer than my big toe. This made pointe work miserable for me as a teen.
I always wanted 4 children. Now I have 4, I feel another couple would be just fine.
I read, alot.
I hate balloons popping.
I insert myself into stories to my kids. As in, "remember when we went to the snow".
Twice I've managed to convince my kids I had served them steak for tea, despite having not yet served them dinner at all. Then I served them eggs.
I dabble with raw food, and once made myself sick by drinking juiced watermelon rind.
I rock at giving birth. I suck at being pregnant.
My sister and I ran a small ballet school. It was so fun.
I have had the same pram for 12 years, and I still love it.
I hate purple.
I lost my Mum at 28. I feel blessed to have known her as an adult.
I currently have four incisions from surgery last week, and I'm too scared to take off the bandages.
Shoe shopping fills me with dread.


Yep, that is enough for now.