Feeling grateful and reflective

I'm not whingeing today. phew. Thank heavens the 'woe is me it's raining too much' episode was short lived. I'm not very tolerant of myself when I'm in a mood. Good thing my family is *very* tolerant - or blissfully ignorant ;) which is much more likely.

Been thinking today about what my 'one word' for 2008 might be. "Peace" has served me well in 2007, even though I don't think I've tried very hard with it. There are a few new words in contention, but unless I'm struck by a flash of inspiration in the next couple of days I may well stick with 'peace' for another year.

The end of a year always makes me think hard. Here are some quotes that resonate for me today, from a new site I've discovered.... http://www.inspirationpeak.com/

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good." Author Unknown

"I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit." Dawna Markova

peace and love
xxxx

ps we're heading home tomorrow so there will be photos soon :)

Noosa

is not as much fun when it's raining non stop. The really sad thing is I'm probably the only one going stir crazy. Mark, Ruby and Max are relaxed and chilled and still swimming every day.

We've had Christmas at Noosa - a rare Christmas adventure on our own. It's been peaceful and quiet, just what we wanted.

On Christmas Day we had long and leisurely lunch at the Boathouse Restaurant - it was perfect. The food was delish and the views up and down the river were beautiful. We all had a really lovely time and Ruby and Max were pleased to be able to take a few special toys from Santa with them so they could play between courses.

Even though it's been raining every day, and is progressively getting more and more set in as the cyclone is building up off the coast :O, we've been out and about quite a bit this week - to the movies (we loved the Bee Movie), to the river, to UnderwaterWorld......specifically to see the Crawly Creatures exhibit. There's a lot of hype about this exhibit but there's really very little to it. The most impressive of the crawly creatures were the BIG spider crabs. They were incredible. Ruby's favourite animals at Underwater World was the seals and the hermit crabs and Max's faves were the clownfish and the spiders (even though we didn't actually see spiders). My faves were the spider crabs and Mark's were the otters. I don't think the otters looked very happy though. Their enclosure was small and grubby.

We braved the shops today. Mad but true. I really wanted to buy some new runners so we all tripped down to Sportsco and I happily bought the most expensive shoes on the 40% off table. They were a good buy and are unbelievably comfortable. If they weren't so ugly, like all runners are, I'd wear them all the time.

I've taken a *lot* of pics but can't download them to the laptop, but will definitely post some when we're home in a day or two.

Hope your Christmas was happy and sane.
xxxx

Christmas in the city

We made our annual Christmas pilgrimage to the city yesterday to look at the big tree, the beautiful lights, the Myer Christmas windows and to ride the Santa Express. It's a good tradition that Mark and I started the year of Ruby's first Christmas. The kids love it. I love it too. We went with our good friends Jan, Col, Ella and Huddy and another dear little boy called Nathan. It was nice to have dinner together in the Queen St Mall as all the lights were coming on around us. The kids had a great time running around, going a wee bit mad and crashing into people who were walking through the Mall.









I think the green heart is a new addition to the tree. I love it. I wonder who thought to add it. It's a lovely touch.

My fave decorations are the reindeer. They look best at night time when they are all lit up and glowing. Beautiful.

Christmas seems more frantic than ever this year. Sadly. I'd love some moments of quiet through the madness but I can't see it coming for a while yet.
We're off to the shops this morning to buy a few more gifts and then this afternoon, we're all excited about going to see The Wiggles.

peace and love to you
xxxx

The answer to the big question

....did you watch Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy? If you did, you'll know that the answer is 42. But maybe you don't know the question. I don't think Arthur ever found it.

Anyway, it was my birthday yesterday. And this year, as I'm now 42 (sob), I'm expecting some great revelations about the meaning of life, the universe and everything. I didn't find it today, but I know I have another 365 days (cause it's a leap year) to discover it. If you find the meaning of life, I'd be happy for you to tell me so I don't have to keep looking. ;)

I had a good birthday for a work day. We went out for dinner on Sunday night - to Mt Cootha. Lovely. And dear Jan made a cake for me that we had at the park Sunday lunchtime. Thanks Jan. And happy birthday to Ruth who has also just had a birthday. x Mark finally put my treadmill together and I used it last night for the first time - hooray for me. Feeling all fit and self righteous now even though I know I'm still porky.

R+M were very excited about my birthday and told me constantly that "it's very special" and "you're very special mama". Loved that. Max was calling me "big birthday girl" - loved that too. :)

Anyway, here's some pics from yesterday:

looking a bit shabby here, but it's the end of the day and I'm allowed to look shabby, cause I'm 42!

me with my cake-lovin' mates.

I got some great pressies this year - the treadmill :O; a pedometer, some gorgeous stuff from Perfect Potion, jarmies, a new teacup, books.......and.....a pair of thongs. A work mate couldn't believe I didn't have thongs, so he bought me a pair - just gorgeous. Or maybe not. Perhaps I don't wear thongs because I have *ugly* feet! You know, they're actually pretty comfy to wear. Don't tell.

these 2 are up for a party any time of day or night.

see - ugly ugly toes. Blergh.

Every year, I buy the Courier Mail on my birthday so I can get the special birthday report for the year ahead. This year, it says: "Because the new moon falls today, this will be a year of firsts. You will make discoveries about yourself and about life. A year when you dare to be different and accept any challenge you meet. Life will change." Oh dear, that sounds big.

Here's to the year ahead and new beginnings.

peace and love to you

xxxx

End of year ballet finale

Wowsers, what a production. Ruby's end of year ballet concert was spectacular and she loved every single minute of it.

Mark, Max and I went to both concerts and our friends Jan and Ella came along to watch as well. During the first concert we sat in the front row which was great cause Ruby could see us and squeal and wave. During the second concert we were in the middle of the audience. This wasn't so great. Ruby was distracted because she kept looking for us in the crowd. Towards the end of their dance Ruby stopped dancing and just stood looking out into the crowd. The other koalas kept dancing. The other koalas exited stage left. After what felt like a very long time watching her stand out on the stage on her own, Ruby realised she should have left the stage. She tippie toe ran to the exit stage right. Oh dear. She realised she'd gone off the wrong side and then tippie toe ran back across the stage to exit on the other side. Everyone thought it was choreographed. Phew.

We've had a fun year of ballet.

peace and love

xxxx

Cannot get enough of Mika

surprising really, cause he's super nerdy, but I LOVE him. Love, love, love this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsyOr71F-0w

love love me
xxxx

Red lippie and a hair bun make a ballerina beautiful

Apparently.

We cannot believe the LISTS (and lists and lists) OF RULES that continue to come home from ballet each week - all in preparation for the end of year ballet concert. For a first time ballet family, it's overwhelming. We have about 16 separate pages of instructions that we continue to refer to and cross reference, just to make sure we're doing the right thing on the right day in the right order. The consequences are severe. Apparently ;). The wrath of Miss Jill or Miss Annette could be crippling. We don't want that. So we're towing the ballet party line. With scary consequences.

For example: who'd have thought we would ever slap handfuls of hair gel into Ruby's hair? Or search the shops for a hair bun that exactly matched her hair colour? OR specifically buy a brand new bright red lipstick for our 4 year old daughter? Not me. But that's all happened this weekend.

Today was the first of many rehearsals for Ruby's end of year ballet concert. It was an exciting day. Ruby - and 7 other little 3 and 4 year old girls - have been practising for weeks. Dressed in koala costumes, they climbed the stairs to the stage today full of excitement and nerves. They waved and jumped and jiggled and even did a little bit of ballet on the stage. It was fantastic.

Ruby looked amazing and she loved every single second of it. Thank heavens. I was stressing out - considerably - that the bun would completely fall apart at a crucial time during the "Give Me a Home Among the Gumtrees" performance. Realistically though, I sprayed enough hair lacquer to keep that bun in place until she turns 30.

Here are some before pics of the first ever full face of makeup of our precious girl.

Just beautiful.

peace and love to you from us.

xxxx

Max and his girls

Max loves girls. He loves Huddy too, but he *really* loves girls. These photos make me wonder what kind of havoc he's going to wreak on young girls' hearts and lives in about 10 years time:

yikes.

peace and love to you from us

xxxx

He's a big boy now

....or so he says. He's still our baby though.

Here's a quick pic of the happy smiling boy at his party last weekend. It's been a very full couple of weeks, so I'll post more pics soon - of the party, Australia Zoo, the wedding...........



peace and love
xxxx

I can't believe it

I can't believe that in just one short week's time this beautiful baby boy:



- my beautiful baby boy - who now looks like this:



will be 3 years old. Baby days are gone. Just big kids 'round here now. *sob*

Other news:

• I'm feeling as free as a bird this week - I've packed in my study. The guilt is gone. I don't have the time, the money or the motivation to keep studying. The reality is I will never be a teacher - so I was relieved to give it away. I started doing Education because I felt like I had no options. Those days are gone. I'm feeling fabulous with the decision.
• We've decided to spend Christmas at Noosa. We've booked a week at a 'family friendly resort'. God help us.
• Max has decided on a Wiggles' party for next weekend. He's also announced that daddy will be making the birthday cake - which must be blue and must feature all of the main Wiggles characters. The cake making will be fun to watch. ;) Mark's never made a cake.
• I'm heading to Wollongong and Canberra for work this week. Amazingly, I haven't travelled for nearly 7 or 8 weeks.
• It's Mark's birthday this week too. We're planning something special because for the last few years his birthday has been overshadowed by Max's - which is just 2 days later.
• Ruby has become *very* observant of body flaws. Big bottoms, baldness, fatness, skinniness, double chins, moustaches on women.......nothing escapes her critical attention. Sadly. Mark and I haven't fared too well under the spotlight. :(
• I've lost 3 kilos! Hooray for me. Only 7 to go and I might look a bit more like the person I was before I had babies.

Be happy and calm. peace and love to you. xxxx

"I don't want you to choke and die.....

cause you're my best friend" said Ruby to Max today. Phew, good thing.





Hope you're enjoying the beautiful Spring weather as much as we are.
peace and love
xxxx

Today we....

went for an adventure to Daisy Hill Koala Centre.


We saw 3 koalas. 2 were sleeping and the other one was madly jumping from tree to tree. Ruby and Max were impressed.

There were some fun things to explore,

Lots of space for running and playing

And we made some new friends.

Max was convinced the baby wallaby wanted his dummy so he left it in my bag. Ruby wasn't convinced the baby animals might want to suck her thumb. ;)

We'll definitely go back - next time we'll take a picnic.


peace and love
xxxx

Anticipation

Anticipation is a crazy emotion. I usually feel sick to the stomach when I'm really working myself up for something - whether it be good or bad.

On a single day last week, there were 2 separate events I'd been anticipating:

1. reading Hemingway's "The Old Man and The Sea" and
2. going to the dentist for root canal therapy.

I had been meaning to read Hemingway for a very long time, so finally put it on hold at the library. When I got the notice it was at the library, it was 5 days before I could pick it up. I thought about it a lot - I love reading and "The Old Man and The Sea" is a classic, isn't it? Classic schmassic. I was bored witless reading it. All that anticipated pleasure quickly disappeared.

And the dentist. Well that was anticipated pain. Apparently the everyday dental anaesthesia isn't strong enough for me. Little wonder I've always found visits to the dentist excruciating. But it seemed doubly so when the dentist was working on the nerve in a tooth. Anyway, after 6 visits to the dentist in 8 days the team of dentists at the clinic finally figured it out and I was booked in for root canal. I was terrified. I anticipated unbearable pain. I expected to tough it out to just fix the bloody tooth. I anticipated fainting. I took Mark with me to share all this. But the dentist worked some magic (6 different lots of anaesthetic) and there was no pain. Unbelievable.

Apparently anticipation is a basic emotion in psycho evolutionary theory. I believe it. It's amazing how we (or is it just me?) can build things up in our mind to be far bigger and much greater than they are in real life.

peace and love
xxxx

2 seconds after this

Powerhouse - Fathers Day
Originally uploaded by Kathryn Thompson

Max turned to me and said "I love her you know, she's a beautiful sister". Very sweet.

I'm on 2 weeks holiday. Lots to say. Will post more later.
peace and love yada yada
xxxx

The week that was....

It was lovely to have Nanny and Poppy staying with us this week. Ruby and Max enjoyed it *very* much. Especially the daily trip to Donut King! Yikes.

It was great to celebrate Mum and Poppy Lloyd's birthdays while they were with us in Brisbane. On Saturday night, the girls (Kath, Ruby, mum) had a big night out at the ballet. We saw the Queensland Ballet Company perform AliceinWonderland. It was sensational! Energetic, colourful and whimsical. Brilliant music and beautiful ballet. Ruby was suspicious of it being real ballet because no one was wearing pink and no one was wearing a pretty ballet skirt. She's a tough judge, but she absolutely loved it. Watching her happy little face through the performance was almost as wonderful as watching the ballet. :)

We had a public holiday in Brisbane on Wednesday for Ekka - it's a real treat to have a day off work in the middle of the week. After a delicious lunch at Bulimba we went book shopping at my fave bookshop Riverbendbooks. We bought some great kids books and more bookmarks, for me of course, because I'm addicted to them. We then had a slow potter - in the rain - down to the river to watch the ferries.

Lately, Ruby has been making a big effort to accessorize her outfits and is progressing beautifully towards her goal of becoming a fashion icon. Here's a pic of her on Ekka Show Day.

In other news: Ruby is excited with her new game "Let's Go Fishin'". She's nearly mastered it, while Mark and I are struggling to catch one fish. She's going crazy quoting Nemo lines while she plays. Which is funny, but "I'm having fish toooooonight" terrorises poor Max whose frightened of the sharks.

Max is still just perfect being Max. Still frightened of dinosaurs. Still enjoying green apples that 'taste like green in the rainbow'. Still afraid of dirt on his hands. Still a mummy cling-on. Still *loving* (read - obsessing about) The Wiggles and mourning the loss of Greg. Still intense. Max is very excited about the new yellow swing we bought yesterday because he's well and truly outgrown the baby swing.

Mark has finished his massage course at College. Hooray.

Kath is suffering with a sore tooth. Suffering is an understatement. The pain is excruciating.

Have a happy week! I'm excited about a visit to the dentist tomorrow. ;)

peace and love

xxxx

Facts lacking order, purpose, cause, or predictability

I've been tagged by Penni - to list 8 random things about myself. *sigh* I always find making lists about myself soooooo hard, but here goes:

1. I loathe housework. Not just the usual "oh I don't like housework" kind of thing, but real deep down loathing. I really can't see the point of housework., except maybe for the fact I don't like living in a tip.
2. I've just finished reading "WeneedtotalkaboutKevin" It was disturbing, confronting and quite, quite brilliant. I think it will be one of the "must read" books I reluctantly recommend for a long time to come - along with "Shadow of the Wind" and "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" and "Year of Wonders" and others.
3. I'm about to start adult beginner ballet lessons. I've got the ballet slippers and I'm ready to go. I just need to get home from work at a decent hour on Friday evenings to be able to go. I'm excited.
4. I got the job I applied for recently, which also happens to be the job I'm doing. Don't ask me to explain how that works. :) I'm relieved and excited. It's a good job - crazy busy and very challenging, just the kind of job I like.
5. I always burn the bottom of cakes. My defence is the temperature gauge on the oven is odd - it's European and doesn't list temperatures, just numbers - makes no sense to me.
6. I love Christmas. Love it. Love, love, love it. I get very very excited at Christmas time. I love all the traditions. I love our Christmas tree. I love Christmas decorations. I love Santa. I love Christmas carols. I love making Christmas cards. I love preparing Christmas lunch. Christmas is special.
7. My favourite animals are platypus' and bilbies. Such gorgeous creatures. Ruby has taught me the importance of identifying my favourite animals but she's disappointed I don't have a favourite jungle animal. Although I do like King Julian on Madagascar-The Movie. ;)
8. If I didn't dye my hair, I reckon I'd be completely grey within 6 months. Terrifying but true. I sometimes wonder if I should just colour my hair grey and be done with all the regrowth drama. Maybe in 10 years time.

Actually you know, that was surprisingly easy. The rule of the tag thing is that I should in turn tag another 8 people, but I've never really liked chain letters, so I'll just say - if you would like to share 8 random things about yourself with the blogiverse, do it. I'd love to read them.

peace and love to you on this sunny Saturday afternoon.

xxxx

A new and interesting experience

For the last 2 days I've been doing some work for Access on a clinic accreditation committee. I'ts been a new and interesting experience for me. Access does fantastic work providing information about infertility and reproductive health. There are many good reasons to do volunteer work for Access........here are 2 of them:



peace and love
xxxx

Ingredients for a happy weekend - rain, sand, good friends and too much wine

We went to Noosa last weekend and had a fabbo time relaxing, playing, celebrating :), eating, drinking and having fun with Jo, Matt, Asha and Lulu.

We need to get away more often - it's amazing how relaxing a weekend can be when you're not looking at all the jobs that need to be done at home and feeling guilty about it.

I didn't take a single photo all weekend. I took the camera but the batteries were flat and I can't believe I forgot the camera battery charger. *agh* Anyway, I love this cute pic Matt took of Max and Lulu throwing sand - as only crazy 2 year olds can.

Hooray for friends and hooray for little kids who don't care if it's sunny or raining at the beach and hooray for happy weekends.

peace and love xxxx

The more they grow.....

the more they stay the same.
2005

2007



She's becoming more and more rubilicious. :) Don't you think?
peace and love
xxxx

photos by Rachel Richter

Massage Clinic

Mark is doing the last subject of his Associate Diploma and it's an intensive Massage Clinic subject. He's going to college two nights a week and all day Saturday for 4 consecutive weeks. He's really loving massage and is actually getting *really* good at it.

We're all loving Mark's massage talents:




I had a massage too. Thankfully no one took a photo. :)
peace and love
xxxx

It's official

The photos are back from Rachel and they provide rock solid proof that I'm a great porker.

Never before have I been this heavy without being pregnant. I'm not happy with that. Not happy at all.

So it's official. The diet started yesterday. Keep me honest. If you see my eating something that's dripping with fat, knock it out of my hands and give me a big slap. I need some help!

It's likely I'll be a grumpy beast without my latte's and white chocolate and raspberry muffins. *sigh* Be kind to me.

Not sure yet exactly what my diet strategy will be. But for now, I'm just trying to eat less! I want to squeeze in some exercise too, but I have to figure out how to reorganise my day to make time.

peace and love
xxxx

End of term ballet concert

Ruby is amazing. Yesterday was her end of term ballet concert. She danced (and skipped, and marched, and twirled, and swayed) beautifully. She had a great time performing in front of a crowd, even though it was only a small crowd of parents and grandparents and other hangers on, like brothers ;)

It's a joy to see her confidence and sense of self blossom as much as it has over the last few months. She's growing and changing and becoming more independent every day.

Here's some pics from the big event:

Here she is meeting one of her loyal fans after the concert:

Today we went for a nice long bike ride along the Esplanade. Today's achievements: Ruby rode her big bike without being pushed. Hooray. Max climbed to the top of the climbing frame to go down the slippery dip. Big hooray!

Have a happy week.

peace and love xxxx

More photos with our fave photographer.

We met up with Rachel Richter on Sunday afternoon to have some family pics taken. We've been lucky enough to have Rach take photos of the kids every 6 months or so. It doesn't seem like that long ago we had the last pics taken, but Maxie was still just a baby boy in the last pics - like this one below.

\

Rach has given us a sneak preview of the latest pics on her blog. Thanks Rach. xxxx

peace and love to you from us.

Happy Birthday Queen

Doesn't it seem bizarre that we mark the Queen's birthday in Australia in June, when it is actually her birthday in April? It seems a bit bizarre that we get a public holiday for her birthday at all, but I've had a lovely day off work, so happy b/day!

It's been a full and fun weekend. Mum and Lloyd came for a visit which was great and we pottered around together on Saturday - going to ballet, going to the shops, having cups of tea.....

On Sunday, I'd arranged to go to one of Rett's classes, with my dear friend Jan, at the Brisbane Scrapbook Convention. I'm glad I did, it was fantastic. Rett is a calm and fabulous woman and I loved her class. Wish I'd had more time to do more classes. *sigh* Anyhoo, this is the little book I made....documenting some of my fave things around the house.

Inside, I've included pics and details about - our house :), the front verandah, my Willowtree figurine collection, my first piece of original art (a glorious pastel), books and tea. Things that make me happy.

Ruby and Max were a bit sad that nanny and poppy had to go home.

But they've bounced back from their glum moods to spend the afternoon colouring in and trashing the house.

Off to Canberra for a few days this week. Not excited at all about the cold weather in Canberra but I'm very excited about seeing my dear friend Cindy's new baby, Paige.

peace and love

xxxx

This is a catch up post :)

Last weekend the kids and I were thrown out of the house so Mark could finish an assignment. Garrrrrrumph! The weather wasn't great and it was a bit cold, but we had fun anyway.

We started off with a visit to Poppy Woods for morning tea:


Then we went for fish and chips at Scarborough beach:




and then to the park for some adventures before it started to rain:

A fun day. No great photos of Max because he was having another 'not smiling/not looking' day.

peace and love
xxxx

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Briohny ......an experience unique to blogging I think. Thankfully, the questions are kind of easy - although I've never been good at choosing 'favourites' of anything!

1. Four of my favourite jobs
2. Four of my favourite local places
3. Four of my favourite foods
4. Four of my favourite international places
5. Four name's of people I am tagging

1. four fave jobs: mmmmm - I loved working at Concord Hospital and I loved working at the Queensland Fire Service and I loved working at Comcare and I loved working at Fair Trading. They were all *really* great places to work. I've just started a new job this week. I hope it becomes one of my fave jobs.

2. four fave local places: the Wynnum esplanade; my house (love sitting on the front verandah with a book and a cup of tea); Bernadette's cafe in Wynnum (our regular hangout place for morning tea) and North Stradbroke Island.

3. four fave foods: only 4? That's hard! I love icecream - but only good quality creamy ice cream. I love risotto. I love bread - really, really love spinach and fetta damper and toasted cheese sandwiches too. I love Indian food - butter chicken with naan - mmmm.

4. four fave international places: good grief. Considering I've only been to NZ, this is hard. There are lots of places I'd love to go though. So I'll live vicariously and say: Paris, London, Las Vegas, the place in Asia where the orangutangs are - that I can't think of right now.

5. four fave friends to tag. :)
DustyJo
Penni
Samantha
Leanne

Have fun.
Have a happy weekend. I'll be back with photos.
Peace and love
xxxx

Happy Mama's Day

for my dear mum and all the mums I know - happy Mother's Day for yesterday.

I was loaded up with some fantastic pressies - a photo frame made at kindy, a certificate that says I'm the "best mum in the world", an enormous painted paper flower, some great artwork and other little sparkly bits. All fabulous and very proudly delivered.

We went on a lunchtime cruise on the river and then had more drinks and coffee at Riverside with some friends. I had a lovely day.

peace and love to you

xxxx