kids

A scroll through my iPhone to find photos of the kids led me to this one. I can't remember where it was taken, but it does a good job of revealing their characters. They are both confident kids but Emily is a little more adventurous and Sam watchful.

yep, I am on holidays

It is 9:25 and I am in still in bed. The computer is fired up and I am lazily catching up on blog reading. Amber has just served me breakfast in bed. Day four of my holiday and I feel a magnificent combination of relaxed and energised. A result of the vast space away from the clatter of the kids and the copious amount of walking we have done every day.

Dear Sam and Milly

I miss you a lot. I am here with Russell and Amber having fun. These photos will tell you about what I did today...

We went to a big farmer's market.

The farmer who grows the strawberries we buy at the supermarket was there.

There was a man who makes pretty cakes called Macaroons. His name was Monsieur Macaroon (he was from France - like Madeleine).

After the market we went for a drive to the mountains.

On the way we saw men who were paragliders (like the floating banana).

This is the man running and jumping off the hill,

and taking off so he can fly in the air!

We stopped and had lunch, the hotel had a dog called Leo. He was VERY BIG.

There was a bird in the car park too. There are lots of crazy animals in Queensland.

After lunch we went for our bushwalk through the rainforest.

Amber hid inside a big tree.

Russell walked up the path.

I swung on a vine.

We walked to a waterfall.

BUT... the most amazing thing was, that we saw an enormous SNAKE on the path.

This photo of Russell's hand will show you how long it was (it was longer than Big James is tall !!!)

After that we walked back through the rainforest to the car where there were more Bush Turkeys which look like this.

Now it is dark and almost bedtime. I will be home in two more sleeps. I love you LOTS and LOTS.

Love,  Mum

xxx   ooo   --- 

walkies

There are few things sillier than putting a lead on a bunny and taking it for a walk. The focus in this photograph is compromised due to the my inability to control laughter at how seriously Sam and Milly are taking the whole process, clueless to how ridiculous this process actually is.

....cold

The temperature dropped below zero last night in Geelong. This morning the lawn was covered in frost; the kids helped Michael scrape and hose ice from the windscreen; walking to school was ditched in favour of the car; my leather gloves came out of the drawer. All the signs are here - winter has arrived.

funny - no?

How great is this? The WWII "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster was revived a while ago and is all over the blogoshere and has been for years. There is a website where you can create your own poster and I am a little pleased with my humour here. I am actually tempted to order one.

happy birthday hrh

Sam asked me why today was a holiday and both he and Emily were absolutely fascinated at the idea that we were having a holiday to celebrate the birthday of the Queen. Try explaining the concept in a way that a 3 and a 5 year old would understand it, it does sound like a fairytale. These were the kids' questions:

Does she live in a palace? Does she have a crown? Did she say that all the people could have a holiday? Are there princesses and princes? Is she the Queen of me? Are people all over the world celebrating her birthday? Did she used to be a princess?

While my politics mean I would vote for a republic in a heartbeat - this was a sweet, whimsical conversation and it gave the kids a sense that the world might be a lovely, fairytale place. And that can't be a bad thing?

wonderful #43

 

I love having a desk with a view. I spent have hours there writing reports this week.While this photo doesn't show much beyond the lounge room (iPhone camera), rest assured I have a great view of the silver trunks of the birch trees and the autumn leaves on the crabapples in the front garden; and even the lounge room is a nice thing to look at.

Early morning view of Brisbane.

new play room

The creation of a proper study eliminated the dining room but meant that the nook was freed up. I have reorganised it as a games/toy/play room for the kids. It is lined with their puzzles and board games. They love it, often racing in to do a puzzle after a bath (as here) or grabbing a board game when they get home from school.

nests

The kids have been sick for almost two weeks. It started with the Flu, moved to Slap Cheek, and then Gastro. As I write this we are almost 24 hours since the last vomit. Through it all the kids have been amazing, lots of lying around on the couch moaning and groaning but also lots of playing calmly, making nests in the lounge room and being kind to each other. They drag their quilts in, stack cushions from the armchairs as high as they are allowed to go and sit together chatting, eating morning tea and recuperating.

skater girl

She is speedy fast and can't be captured in focus but Milly is teaching herself to skateboard.

tree dahlias

I think we are growing the world's tallest Tree Dahlias. They are at least 4 metres tall, pink single flowers and white doubles. They give the impression of a jungle. They are actually way too tall for where I planted them, there will need to be a revised plan for next year - perhaps along the side fence?

some progress

Michael took down the balustrade this weekend. It has been on my list for a long time and it looks as great as I imagined it would. The verandah feels twice the width. Sam and I have already had a few games of down ball (four square to the South Australian readers). Milly is teaching herself to skateboard out there.

cute, but this will not help me write reports

Both kids have had gastro this week. We are all exhausted. Sam is home from school for a Pupil Free Day. Report deadline looms. I have stolen away to try to get them done. Emily keeps coming in for a cuddle. Time to give up - play some monopoly, do some puzzles and read some stories. I will return to reports tomorrow when Michael can dispense cuddles.

sneak peek

It isn't finished by any means, but I woke up on Friday with the idea that I would turn the never-used formal dining room into a study and the narrow room I was using for a study into a kids' room. I spent the afternoon moving furniture, leaving a pile of stuff on the verandah for Michael to take to the shed. I then spent Saturday trying to regain a modicum of order before we had lunch guests on Sunday. While this may have all been work avoidance (my reports are due in a week) it was incredibly satisfying. I will finish it off this weekend and take some proper photos (did I mention the glorious view through the front room, out the windows, past the verandah to the front garden?). I love it already.

beware the pinkie promise

On Saturday I "pinkie promised" Sam that we would go for a bike ride along the river as a reward for cleaning his room. I spent the better part of the day reorganising my study and a toy room. By 4pm the sky was looking a little grey but I was reminded of my obligations under the binding contract of pinkie promises. We packed raincoats and bikes and set off. We set off in a light mist but within quarter of an hour it was raining solidly. The kids loved it, we rode (I walked) for an hour and came home for hot baths and snuggling up on the couch to read stories until dinner time.

welcome

Charles Ross Jansen. Born very early this morning; weighing 3.6kg; measuring 54 cm. We are very excited to have a cousin and nephew added to the family. For Milly it is about no longer being the baby. For Sam it is about symmetry - having the same number of boys and girls.

wonderful #42

 

Every morning Emily opens the blinds behind our bed. She always asks first (sometimes she wants to do it a little early) by saying "Can I do the sunshine please Mama?"

Kale flowers from Amber.

winter two ways

 

At midday today Amber and I both took a photo, Amber stuck her head out of her shutters and snapped hers, I walked to the front verandah and took mine. Two very different versions of the winter sky.

at the moment I am...

reading...

House Rules by Jodi Picoult - actually I haven't started it, I have it on loan from the library and I will start it this weekend. My past experience with Picoult is that it will be totally absorbing yet ultimately unfulfilling. Never mind, I will read it nonetheless.


listening to...

Tuesday Morning by The Pogues. A random mention of a lyric from this song on Spicks and Specks had me running straight to iTunes to download it. Listening to it brings back lovely memories of 1999 - a most important year in my life and this song had prominence in the soundtrack.

teaching...

Creative Writing to a group of really smart Year 9s. They are lovely and while I normally enjoy the lunatic element of teenagers in a classroom it is so lovely to have 24 engaged, smart kids hanging on to every word and producing great stuff in our weekly Writers' Workshops.

work life balance ????

I've just agreed to increase my work to 4 days a week for the rest of the year. I am torn by the fact that I really love it when I am there but I also feel that I should be home with Milly plus the issue of "keeping house". Financial imperatives have won out and I have committed to doing it for 6 months. I can't even contemplate the full implications yet but if anyone has any tips on how they manage work, motherhood, and also occasionally mop the floors - let me know!

I think it will have start with getting up earlier in the morning - urgh!

kids' artworks

The kids sent a package to Amber last week, 2 Chomp Bars and some paintings. She received them today and send a text message/photo to show them hanging on her fridge. Emily's painting is on top - a portrait of Russell and Amber holding hands. Sam's painting is of New Years Eve 2008/09 when we watched fireworks from Russ and Amber's front garden in Geelong (apparently it stayed in his memory as he has painted it over a year and a half later!).

snap

Playing snap with Emily. She does very little in a restful way, always wriggling and rolling, hopping and running.

school photo 1 of 13

We collected Sam's school photos this morning. His expression is classic Sam - it is cute and even makes me a little misty eyed. I can't imagine what his last school photo will be like, when he is 18 years old - what a staggering thought!