Wake up & smile .. the world really is beautiful!

Naturally I ran to grab my camera and take some pics for them.

Then of course before too long the girls caught wind of what was happening and came sashaying outside all dollyed up ready for their photos.

The girls are cousins too but are 5 years apart.  Ironically my middle son was born just 3 weeks earlier than his girl cousin making them equal cousins too but the whole girl/boy doesn’t gel so well.  Thankfully the 3 youngest get on like a house on fire and spent every waking moment playing together.

I had to throw in the last photo too … Sarah lost her first tooth while we were staying there.  Too cute!

It was delightful to watch them so excited as they watched the opening ceremony. So excited that they promptly ran off to grab the world map featuring the flags and hysterically pinpointed out each country and it’s flag as they made their way into the arena.

That’s the kinda teacher you just can’t pay for .. Geography, history, media & art all rolled into one lesson!  C’mon Aussie!

Myself & some other wonderful mums jumped at the chance to organise the decor & glam up the night.  We transformed a boring dull Year 10 classroom into a fiesta of sparkle & bling and a sea of silver & blue as chosen by the class.  It was labour intensive but “our kids were gonna have the best shebang in the history of Year 7 at Sunrise” … and that they did.

Our tiredness was swallowed up in an instant by the sheer delight on their faces that night as they entered the room for the first time and marveled at the transformation that had taken place .. and all for them!  All we could do was sit back & enjoy their delight, their smiles, their humour, their marvel & their comradeship.

It was a bittersweet night because they have all grown up together in the same intimate class mostly from grade 2, knowing that they would soon be apart.  Some are staying on for high school there and others, like Liam are moving out to a different high school.

I lavished the opportunity to photograph them all but like many of my shoots I can’t share here on the blog for privacy reasons … but here is one of my boy, oddly enough merely sitting for me as I setup but I love it – I love outtakes!

I know he reads my blog so .. “Congratulations of graduating to high school son … we’re sooo very proud of you babe!”

Mum & Dad
00xx

Some photos of the glammed up room above   |  View all the photos

I often reminisce about the joys of childhood running through the sprinklers with squeals of delight and spraying water over my friends as we basked in the glorious sun with such carefree spirits.   But sadly in my reminiscing I am also saddened.  Saddened for the fact that my children have rarely ever had the chance to experience that same innocent, carefree and sheer fun of being able to waterplay under the sprinklers & hoses.

With water restrictions tight here in Australia sprinklers are not allowed and very minimum hose use per week in an effort to ‘save our water’.  We really are the land of “droughts” & “flooding rains” and our weather is becoming more and more unpredictable.

So at the risk of being “told off” or worse “fined” I let the kids have some “waterplay” this weekend (as you can clearly see my lawns & plants need it!!!!) and sat back and watched with a sense of contentment & a smile in my heart as my two youngest kiddos squealed with delight dousing each other with water and enjoying the GOOD LIFE … under the sprinklers.

Today’s kids are robbed of so much … even the sheer joy of such innocent fun.  A time to reflect on our past and help them embrace their future.

Today was a public holiday so we decided to go out for a family day driving around the countryside. These are types of events that memories are made of. We had a blast!

We stopped off at a bakery for lunch and as we returned to our car we were gobsmacked by the sight that awaited us …

seriously!  .. a pig in a seatbelt in the back of a little red Zephyr

If anyone can explain this mystery I’d be delighted to hear it.  Leave a comment below

Does this sound familiar to you? Yes, unfortunately for my kids my responses are usually the result of how I’m feeling. *Hangs head in shame*.

Ok, so I’m not obsessive but I do have to turn away even at the playground just so my kids can have fun, learn & experiment without mum calling out “careful, watch this, watch that” …. uggggh! sounds horrible just typing it.

I had a big wakeup call this week whilst I was home sick.  Hubby took our 3 kids to the Royal Adelaide Show with another dad and his daughter. (Brave men … they did an excellent job BTW!!!!). Anyway, back to my story … I was home sick and I get a text from hubby saying our son No2 who is 8 years old is ON (not going on so I can protest … but actually ON) the MEGADROP!!!! Aaaagh! NO WAY! I exclaimed.

The pangs of horror filled my body as I remembered the feeling of that insane ride at the show last year.  You get dropped from 45m at a speed of 204km/hr and I’m not exaggerating when I say I felt like I had died and been plunged to the depths of the earth on my way to hell itself.   Now don’t get me wrong, I love crazy rides but this was one I vowed I would never do … but unfortunately was forced to accompany my 12yr old and not forfeit the $20 we had just spent when we realised my hubby couldn’t go on with him.

Yes friends, I freaked out!  I was home and he was there and there was NOTHING I could do about it.  The thought of my poor little baby on that ride really sent my heart into a spin.  Would he be ok?  Would his little heart & body take it? … and so on and so on.

I anxiously waited for another text to tell me he was ok.   But instead of text message I heard a small still voice inside.  At that moment I felt a sense of peace and assurance.  As I sat and thought about it for what seemed like 10 mins but was all of 3 or so minutes I said to myself “you know what Cindy, get over yourself girl!”.  I realised at that moment that when I say “no” or “put a jumper on” or “be careful” that I’m saying it because of ‘me’.  My kids are kids and they NEED to be kids and they need to be allowed to do kid things.

Sure they’re gonna fall and get hurt and there’ll be tears … that’s ok (reminder to self).  As long as I’m there for them when they fall to cuddle, console and encourage, I know they’ll grow up stronger, more courageous and more confident and more fulfilled.

[View with PicLens]

And YES, he was OK … he LOVED it!  He screamed … but he loved it.  Next stop was the killer rollercoaster.  He had an absolute ball and I learned a very good lesson.  How can I begrudge my kids that?

I was reminded again this week to DANCE like NOONE is watching!  Have you danced today?

Unlike my other two, it’s rare that he lets me photograph him so I’m delighted to have captured the many faces & facets of my boy that truly reflect who he is.  Needless to say I just had this printed 20×30″ for our wall.  Yeah baby!

Mumma loves you sweetheart xxx

Ps.  … and in case you’re wondering?  Yes! He does read my blog

So here are some bugs of another kind that found their way into our home (well garden anyway) as I took some time out in respite in the glorious sunshine but wasn’t able to post ’til now.

I love this little guy .. I sat and watched him for ages.  Love his colours, the way he is so intricately made (woot! woot! God) AND I was completely amazed by the way  he moves.  He has 3 legs either side at the front, nothing in the middle, something (dunno what to call it) near the back and just a little further another something (guess you could call it a tail *smile*).   He’s incredible to watch as he moves and then he stands up (for ages!!!) and swings his body around from side to side having a good look around and then moves on as you can see in the pics below.

Yeah I know some of the shots are a little out of focus but I was using my macro extension tubes and have to manually focus & it’s darker than normal .. and this little guy does not sit still!  (… and add to that I was lying on the pavers with lens about 3cm away from him and didn’t want to squish my little friend. Now remember this little guy is teeeny as you can him crawling along the edge of a brick paver on our paved driveway.

Hmmm, well we seem to have a swarm of these furry dudes lately but they look fabulous … again intricately designed by the Great Creator!
Oh and throw in a spider for effect.  I wanted to get more of him but the bees in the lavendar bush were kinda scary!

And last but by no means least … this little guy!  I first discovered him while dropping some rubbish into our bin and as I let go of the lid unbeknownst to me, he was sitting right next to the rim where the lid would land.  As I went to move the bin I saw this little foot hanging out and let out out a guilty shriek as I realised I may have unknowingly crushed this poor little critter.  I lifted the lid and to my horror I saw a squash line across his abdomen.    Oh dear!  Anyway, long story short, we saved the poor li’l guy and watched his progress for a few hours on and off.  Now he’s gone on his merry way … I hope he’s ok.

Well I’m certainly not a bug person but I was more than happy to spend some time with these bugs in the hopes of leaving behind the ‘sick’ bugs awaiting me back inside.   Stay well my friends xx

We played Monopoly together (yes, the Aussie one) and I managed to come up trumps! Yes friends, I beat Paul … holla!

I must admit that I seemed to score all the luck and poor Paul ended up in jail a grand total of 6 times (I’m still chuckling),  and was the most consistent & generous contributor to the free parking loot … which I very gratefully scooped up near the end of the game.  The kids enjoyed it too learning lots of business & life skills LOL.   Ahhh! fun times.

Happy Birthday Your Royal Majesty … and thanks for the holiday!