My Little Ballerina's.....

Yesterday Scarlett and Lily had their Ballet Recital, It's their second year at ballet and last year Lil was very upset and frightened at the prospect of being dropped of at the theatre without mama (this is surprising as Lil is usually quite brave in these situations and Scarlett freaks out) anyway this year my girls and all of the littlies were so excited, they had so many questions,  there was so much noise and anticipation "do we go up yet Miss?"  "Excuse me, when can we put this (bright red lipstick) on?"  (only one little sweetie attempted this herself) and  yes I got called Miss and Renee and Mum!??  I just loved it it's such an exciting day, these little angels are so brave and cute and the older girls are so beautiful and nurturing as they pop down to admire the cuteness, taffeta and make-up everywhere amongst the 4 & 5 year olds.

I am most definitely "one of those Mums" although I'm modest out loud, inside I am bursting at the seams!!!  I've never been so proud seeing my baby girls so excited and independent for a moment as they go out on stage.  It's their thing, we as Mama's  only watch them at the end of each term on viewing day so its very exciting for the families to see the big performance.  I have tears in my eyes each and every time I watch them dance if I was alone those tears would wet my face.  

My sister in law is a dancer and my mother in law was very involved and adored the ballet as do I and so it's a family thing for us also, I know my beautiful mother in law watches these little angels from heaven with a proud tear in her eye.

Ands so now we enjoy a break from buns and tutu's, they will be replaced with bathers, salty hair and tanned skin.  xx   

I would like to...

Be within the first twenty women to finish a fun run.
Learn to use our Nikon manually
Be pregnant next year,
Be a peaceful, happy mama everyday
Find the time to indulge in more creative activities
Grow a flourishing veggie garden
Watch my daughters dance in their end of year recital
Be there for my husband
Have a big messy Christmas full of family, wrapping paper, food and laughter
Sew some curtains
Remember all of my childrens funny and inquisitive moments
Hold my husband tight

Eddy Spaghetti..........

Love this age.....

Love the games....

Love the cuddles and the snuggles.....

Love the funny stories.........

Love the belly laughter.....

Love the acts of kindness...........

Love the boy things, the fascination with diggers and "fighting things" and how things work....

Love the bond between his siblings and his Dad....

Love him.........

Holiday fun!

Sleep ins (in theory), not having to rush out of the door (stay at home mum),  weather warming (very slowly) Yes It has been been September holidays!  Some holidays we spend at home intent on staying in our pajamas for as long as possible, others we might go away as a family usually a beach of some description. These holidays (of which Ben has been away for most of) we've been enjoying day trips. It's been relaxing and exciting, coming and going as we please and only travelling an hour or two here and there so apart from a few snacks not much planning is involved...relaxing.

There is so much to offer children these days and much of it dosen't need to be expensive.  I recently  came across an app which locates the nearest and dearest local parks,  fantastic if your'e planning a road trip with children and also for discovering new playgrounds in your local area. Also the local library, I think many family's have forgotten about the old  library.   Library's are such a great tool for children's imagination and learning they offer a range of Cd's and Dvd's as well as storytimes and activities for school holidays, not forgetting the thousands of books on offer.  The best part  is that its  free and younger children can enjoy a little independence browsing and choosing there own books. Another loved  freebie is of course play dates!  What child does not enjoy having friends to play with while us parents enjoy the company of others, whether its at a park with a picnic or inside with a coffee its so lovely to ignore the call of the ironing and catch up with friends instead.

With a little more free time on our hands we've made a couple of trips to the beach these holidays, wind in our hair, salt on our lips and the smell of summer evoking glorious memories!  My children love the beach as do my husband and I and we love to nick down for a coffee while the children run free and we all reinvigorate!

  My sister and brother also live in Ocean Grove and Geelong so it's lovely to catch up especially with a new bub in the family...we are all absolutely smitten, she is adorable....Ahh!

With school holidays comes the release of many new children's films at the cinema and I try to take the children most holidays.  It is, as many of you know quite expensive but its such a lovely holiday treat for all.  These holidays we saw Madagascar 3 it was fantastic the children and their cousin loved it as did my sister in law and I.  Another treat for the children was a visit to the Werribee Open Range Zoo.  We caught up with a bunch of Ben's family and had a great day.  The weather was glorious! The children were free and the animals were beautiful especially the Meerkats and Giraffes.  All Miss S wanted to see were the Giraffes and while we were driven through their paddock the keepers were feeding them they came so close we could of touched them so so beautiful,  it was a wonderful experience. We love Giraffes!!

And so now we are coming to the end of the holidays and they've been wonderful, even the days spent at home tackling the ironing while the children put glitter everywhere.  We made popcorn and planted veggies and picked flowers too.

Next week is the begining of  the final Term for the year, wow where did that time go?!!  I'm excited about summer and the girls Ballet recital and my up and coming first ever fun run! The count down is on....

We are delaying the new term though with an impromptu camping trip!!  Ben is home and we're taking the camper trailer up to Mallacoota and then on to Pambula for a week or so where we will meet up with my Brother and Sister in law and their bubs at her parents beautiful property.  All very excited, the girls have already packed  and once the weather clears we are off.

I hope everyone has enjoyed themselves these holidays and kept safe and well! xx

Reflecting on their first....

Today I have sore tonsils (thanks Emmy!) and am a little bit Blah and although I've been good and hung out the washing, vacuumed and mopped I cannot be bothered doing anything else, I'm done!! This is frustrating  but I'm not going to fight it, so here I am on the computer while Ben and the children are out....Bless him.

We've had a ball these school hols and I cannot believe that after one more term my girls will be in PREP and Mr Spaghetti  in 3YR KINDER.  I'm so excited for them and yet I can already feel the sadness and sentiments rolling  in.  We are nearing the end of such a large chapter....Their first.  What a long beautiful journey of amazing accomplishments and sleeplessness, watching these three little babes grow and become these wonderful, funny, beautiful, clever people with such big personalities and hearts.  I did not know that I could love them so much, I did not know that they would make me laugh and feel so proud and also drain me of EVERYTHING at times.....

I did not know that I would find some aspects so easy and some aspects so challenging...a work in progress.

My advice to women thinking of babies is to be proud and confident as a woman,  accept change, love and appreciate yourself, know yourself and be ready to give and to learn extreme amounts of patience. Be honest, enjoy and indulge in the little things and trust your self.
I love being mama to Lily, Scarlett and Eddy and Step mum to Cooper, four special little hearts held within mine. xx

Our Home

In our home on any day you may find;
There's drawings on the walls, and children being kind;
There's yoghurt in our hair and of course a bear in there.
There's a blanket cubbyhouse and cushions on the floor;
There's coffee on the stove and a knock at the door.
My beautiful son yelling frustratedly at me; "I'm able! To do it myself don't you see and I really don't mind if it bothers you and me!"
There's most likely noise and singing and  laughter, although sometimes there's roaring and a guilty mama after;
 And so I cry on the phone to my husband in Perth so supportive and loving every cent he is worth.
There's hopefully music playing and bottoms wriggling to the beat,
And me dreaming of the summertime oh I miss the heat.
There's wood on the fire and washing on the line;
 There's dishes in the sink and never enough time;
There's lifes little messes and toys all around and so many delightful moments waiting to be found.
Life is what you make it that is what they say, a home is where the heart is.... Have a happy day. x

Melting moments

My darlings are in bed,  they've been asleep now for nearly two hours I've just been down to check on them and they've not moved.  Last night Mum and Dad came for dinner which was lovely and relaxed although Mr S did not want to go to bed he's so stubborn and yet so gorgeous.  When he's fighting the idea of sleep we have a little routine,  if that fails  I put him to bed once again and then after closing the door  (he sleeps with it closed) I wait in the room with him until he gives in and snuggles into bed.  I usually sit in the rocking chair trying not to count the minutes although I've had to stand lately as  he's been getting on my lap, I don't want to get into the habit of rocking him to sleep no matter how lovely it is.  So Mr S is snuggling into my legs as little ones do, chatting away and eventually asking "why aren't you speaking to me mummy?" followed by  "mummy I love you, I love you, why aren't you answering me" so once again I repeat that it's time to sleep and once he's in bed I'll tuck him in.  Three times he walked towards his bed and then turned away at the last minute "stubborn!"  Eventually he snuggled down and we had our kisses and our "how much I love you's"  and then half asleep my three year old said to me "mummy I'm sorry I hit you before" tears welled up in my eyes as they are now.  My beautiful boy did throw a tantrum earlier and did whack me gently though surprisingly in the face as a result.  Now just before sleep he's thinking of what he'd done and is saying sorry to me, oh melt my heart I would go through it all again for that moment with my handsome boy.
 It had been a funny few days before this highlight, I've mentioned before at times I feel as though the children are getting a little cheeky, not listening or doing what is asked of them, and Mr S seemed to be crying in protest more regularly, I was lacking patience and tolerance at times.  I wish I was always my calm, happy self  that's how I would describe myself although some days its as though I've run out.  I'm now recording these days to see if it's hormonal.  If so can anything be done? Damn those hormones honestly don't we women have enough to deal with!

Anyhow my point is that today compared to the previous three was easy and flowing, a normal good day.  And this is how it began....I was awake lying in bed wishing I could make the children breakfast and myself a coffee and crawl back under the covers with my book, although I had my group training session that I do love.  Right at that moment "bang crash!!!!! Time to get up.  As I got to the kitchen the girls almost started crying worried looks on their faces "mummy it just..."   Oh those angels, they'd decided to put away  the groceries that had not yet been put away and after a few to many heavy items on the top shelf of the fridge the shelf slipped out, ooops....  I hugged my darlings what a sweet sweet gesture,  I was so proud of them and as I looked up from our cuddle I noticed the large box of fruit that they'd unpacked high into the fruit basket a beautiful colourful prism. Bless them...

I am often upset with my efforts as a mum I find some parts come easily and other parts or times are such a struggle, sometimes I'm so riddled with guilt and other times I'm cruising along dreaming of another! Looking back on moments like these though I'm thinking at this moment that its okay and that they are beautiful, caring children and Its not so bad the job that I'm doing, at this moment.....x

Shake things up a bit

Morning all!  The days are getting slightly warmer and we've even seen the sun for a moment or two recently.  One cannot help but think of sunny happy days ahead where lifestyle turns to outdoors, bare feet and sun kissed cheeks. Oh I cannot wait, have recently begun feeling a bit of cabin fever, I feel as though we are watching to much t.v, we need to get outside for an entire day and play and play and play.  I'm also over colds and such bugs....yuck!!! so over it although I have noticed this month that bugs are short lived, our immune systems are finally gaining some strength.
Earlier this week I was reading Planning with Kids  Nicole gave an overview of her routine during the week, I love getting insight into other women's days how do they manage? What do they let slip from time to time? Which are the main priorities within that household and most importantly I always come out with a handy tip or two.  The thing that stood out for me in this blog was that playtime with the children was included, it's obviously an important part of the day and one that I sometimes find tricky to include each day.  So after reading this blog I felt inspired and changed things around in my routine, we usually have play time in the arvo and usually its after the cleaning or a busy day out of the house and before cooking dinner and bathtime, looking back now I'm thinking "der Jodes!!!, tired, busy, hungry time of day!!!" what was I thinking???  So last week we changed things, after breaky and clean up we played (it worked out well as Little Bear was recovering from a bug and we weren't planning on being anywhere all day) It happened naturally actually the children were asking for me to join in and so we built towers and Mr Spaghetti the dinosaur knocked them over, we built leggo houses and castles and after an hour or so I set up a little doctors bag with bandages and syringes etc and the children went on to play nurses while I began on the house work.  I couldn't believe the calm through out the house everyone happy and satisfied, and in giving the children the full attention for that hour they were content on letting me do my thing for an hour before lunch.  After lunch we made muffins together as a yummy treat.  The girls made rasberry and chocolate (cocoa) and Mr Spaghetti and I made Date and Sultana, all without sugar and packed with oats, almond meal and chia seeds, a drizzle of Maple Syrup before putting them in the oven and fingers crossed.  Wow, these were great!!! I am still getting use to this old oven and create more disasters than wholesome goodness in the cake department, but these worked a treat I forgot to mention we used Jalna Vanilla yogurt (no sugar) also and it gave them a lovely moist texture. MMmm mmmm, we were very proud.
So what is on for today, well you wouldn't believe it Little Bear and I came down with sore throats last night and Little Bear a temp also, so today another day at home no ballet or kinder.  A light  lunch lots of fruit and I think a bush walk afterwards.  We fed the kookaburras on Sunday it looks as if they're building a nest in a tree at the front of our house we shall take the binoculars out with us for a closer look.  And a bit of house cleaning ....of course.
I went for a 4km run with Mr Spaghetti in the pusher yesterday, my leg felt great and I noticed myself smiling half way through.  It felt so wonderful,  a beautiful day at the lake, still and misty and not as cold as previous mornings and Mr Spaghetti and I were just happy.....Such a lovely way to be and jogging 4kms I had time to enjoy it,  a lovely distraction for the hard work of my legs and lungs!!
I hope you all out there are enjoying your happy days and if your missing out on them lately hang in there and  perhaps shake things up a bit.  x

Happy thoughts before bed

I'm on my way to bed, I feel drained and sleepy and am going to bed earlier than usual which is another of my little challenges this week.  It has been a long day, very emotional and I've thought way to much, am sure that I shall sleep well tonight and a new day should be there waiting in the morning.  I did go for a run today which of course helped but I later realised that my phone is not working at all and so have missed my husbands little message's throughout the day which always give me strength.
 So happy thoughts before bed, I have a beautiful little life that I'm very in love with, I am still challenging myself and growing as a person, meeting wonderful people, my beautiful husband is home in 3 or 4 sleeps, I found words of encouragement and although written by a stranger I'm sure they were aimed at me, my 3 little angels are safe and well tucked up in their beds dreaming of their special places and I remembered to lock-up the chickens  tonight (Jack frost has been out of late). Nighty night. x 

Simple and sweet

 Siting here in our backroom looking out into the surrounding bush watching the heavy clouds rambling through with each gust of wind, I've a moment to stop and enjoy one of the most rewarding yet simple things in life....A peaceful cuppa.
 Little Bear and Miss S (who now prefers to be called Little Rabbit) have had an exciting dress-up day at kinder and Mr Spaghetti has had an unexpected nap  and so now after healthy snacks in the car and warm milk at home they're content on being content...yay!!!
So in this moment of calm I'm looking out at the view and thinking back over the last few days and looking forward to the weekend ahead. We are now on holidays, we've a relaxing weekend approaching, I'm feeling happy and not drained as is often the case (new work-out routine to thank for this),  and my big accomplishment this week running the local lake 6km non-stop!  The thought however that is lingering in my mind at this time is when my darlings came to my bedroom recently requesting that I hop back into bed while presenting me with a bowl of  Weetbix and cold milk a glass of water and three beautiful smiles....Breakfast in bed! Melt my heart and how I cannot wait until they're old enough to use the stove and make me a coffee.
Simple little things that when taken note of  can be delightful and add difference to your day.  Letting a smile from a stranger reach your heart and uplift your mood, chatting with a neighbour as people generations before us did, complimenting someone knowing you may have helped turn their day around, catching up with good friends who make you feel great, three empty plates at the dinner table veggies and all, seeing the dining room cleared of ironing, a beautiful bird call that can be heard over everything else, a party invitation, listening in on a sweet imaginative conversation between children, romantic text or compliment from a loved one, chivalry and beautiful manners, and of course the smell of fresh washing that has dried on the line. Ahhhh.....Take note and let the simple things delight.x

Make it hurt!

It's 12.30pm, I've just devoured a salad sandwich, full of salad mind you, it was one of those messy ones that you'd rather be eating at home than in a public place.  I certainly gave the kids a run for their money, Little Bear and Miss S are five and Mr Spagetti is three and they still make such a mess when they eat, it's quite ridiculous.  They have manners and I insist they use them, they must sit at the table until they've finished and they try really hard to use cutlery for the majority of the meal, I understand fingers are often quicker and to be honest if they're intent on getting the food in quickly than two things, they are eating a healthy meal and my efforts (this time) were  worth it.  So I'm now having a cuppa and have just eaten 2 rows of top deck (please ignore this), actually it was 3 rows, however I have also just carted a very large wheelbarrow of wood from the wood shed to the bottom of the back steps and then carted armfuls (about 10-12kg) up the steps into the wood basket about 6-7 times (take note of that part).  I am feeling great!  Why???
About six weeks ago I was invited by a good friend Mrs Spunky to join a fitness group Crabtree Fitness Profesionals.  Great idea I thought, I'd just started walking six km on Mondays and was enjoying the uplifting feeling, of both my spirit and my buttocks.  An added bonus was that my little ones could come and play with the other children, I just had to turn up......that easy!  So after arriving on day one of my new Wednesday routine, I was all smiles, the sun was shining and all of the women were really lovely and of varied ages, and weights.  Off we went full of enthusiasm,  jogging and jumping and lunging and twisting our way through the 45min class. Whoa, I thought I was going to vomit, what a shock to my system.  With a laugh we all made it back to our cars, we were all in pain but you couldn't wipe the smiles of our faces, we had done it and week by week our fitness and energy levels were going to rise!
Now here I am 6 weeks in and I love it, when it gets hard (and we expect it to)  we make jokes and laugh our way through and then when it gets harder (which it does) we call out to each other with encouragement.  By the end of the session we are relieved and proud, so, so proud.
Here I am now feeling healthier, sexier, more confident, content and happy and it's all due to one little hour of my time focused on me!  My advice is to get out there! Be happy, surprise yourself and clear your mind. x