i'm happy

...happy to say goodbye to this year, and tomorrow, hello to a new year.
i'm thankful that all the people i adore are safe and well.
and finally i'm a bit excited about the new things that this year will bring. fingers crossed x
my sweet brother has given us some "party poppers" to welcome the new year with a bang!
i'd really love to take the kids to see some awesome fireworks, but without a trip to melbourne in the next few hours (which just isn't going to happen) i can't see it happening. i'll have to plan for it next year.
so happy new year blessings to you X

cheesecake bliss

Christmas was a really sweet day.

Sweet with love and togetherness and happy children and sweet food and quietness at home together. Sweet with my mum and brother visiting us in our post lunch-time tiredness. Sweet with the pure magic of our children.

In the afternoon I went outside to water my gingko in a pot and I found this flower. A present from my garden. I planted this magnolia about 7 years ago and it has lived on the brink of death for all of those years. It is mostly dried up leaves. Here on Christmas day it gives a perfect, beautiful white flower. I filled with joy when I found it. Awesome.

Today, boxing day as it is called, is the discovery of new games, new adventures for their imaginations. Cleaning up, putting away...all at a very relaxed pace. Coming down from the hectic, excited month it has been. It is also of course, cheesecake for breakfast. Pudding for lunch, and I don't know what for tea. Lollies if the kids had their way.

And I can't help it, but the thoughts of what is next are already popping up. Next week, new year, next year.......

missing

for some unknown to me reason i can't post a photo tonight. which is a shame because it's christmas and i have some colourful christmas photos. it's all very bright and shiny and colourful and energised here at home. the kids flutter around me all day...they have been chasing butterflies in the garden. there has been much list writing happening and i have been attempting to cook. it's something that seems to me like it should be relatively easy. but i always seem to forget something...that or the recipe is not the whole recipe- you know like the ones my mum gives...that are so vague and are always missing a bit of this or a spoon of that.
i found out tonight that most of my christmas cards have gone in a parcel i sent to my sister http://melindatrees.blogspot.com in japan. she received her parcel and many christmas cards today. how funny is that. now i know that the postman is doing a fine job...it's just my brain that is a muddled mess half the time. i will still send them when they return. late , yes, but i made them with a lot of love and patience. i have to send those well travelled cards.
so tomorrow is christmas eve..i've decided i'm going to try to sleep in. yes..try. and then i'm going to have a wonderful excited day with these three indescribably gorgeous children and my sweet hearted boy. of course there will also be some reindeer food making. today amelie asked whether i would like to sit on santas knee?

i can feel it getting closer

pinata lasagne and canneloni

today was the day of pinata making. sindri and amelie helped me stick and begged me to let them fill it with treats..but it is a surprise what falls out of our christmas tree. i hope i have made it strong enough. usually murray has to give them some big whacks at the end because ive made them too well. oops. this one will have to cope with quite a few kids...it will be pretty hanging in the tree for awhile anyway.

today was also vedas last day of grade 2. do u know how much i love these days? SO much. she got her report which told us shes amazing just as we suspected...and that she had missed 38 days of school this semster ..jeepers! lucky she doesnt need to be there to learn how to read or write.

today was also the day of cannelloni making. except i didnt have many cannelloni shells so i made a combination cannelloni lasagne....which amelie had fun saying cannelloni and lasagne over and over again. shes loving learning new words lately. its a pity she didnt enjoy eating it so much. and as for sindri well forget it. one day he will shock my pants off and eat green vegetables. he will wont he?

a photo i hope

wow.. i have my photo posting powers back. thank goodness.

well we are having some happy christmas moments. amelie sings her christmas carol medleys...i saw mummy kissing santa claus..jingle bell rock..rudolph the red nose.... she's getting into her own adorable little christmas groove. this isn't a photo of christmas baking...but i hope i have a photo of our awesome gingerbread house sometime next week. ( that's hoping we make it). tomorrow we send our christmas cards off and away. phew! now we can reclaim the kitchen table for maybe a night. before the next crafting cyclone comes along. we don't get to eat at the table very often, which is a shame. i would like to.

the buying of presents isn't going so well. i did get a cool book for my boy and myself today which i am excited about... but otherwise...i'm hoping santa has found something special for our beautiful angels.

so now i'm off to bed and hoping tomorrow i have some more patience for my kids when they are scratching moaning pushing and crying. i need to feed them some really healthy food, which is hard when they moan so loudly and refuse to eat it. in desperation i put some rescue remedy in their bath today. i think it may have worked for a little while. or was that just the happiness that comes with being clean and smelling of lavender? i will keep putting rescue remedy into their food and drinks and see what happens..lol...or maybe i should drink the whole bottle when i wake up tomorrow...lol. oh its really not that bad! two more days until official holidays begin...yipppeeeee.

christmas carols

i really need some practice in naming posts. i have no idea how to do it. how does one get witty? there is a skill to giving good titles. i wish i had that skill.
tonight was christmas carols at school..veda sung like an angel with her friends..they were almost too cute to watch without me bursting from inside out with love and adoration! really!
sindri thought it was awesome because he got the biggest glow stick he's ever had (and he LOVES them). amelie wanted to be one of the big girls, singing, dancing and running around..(with boys eeeeeek!) but she couldn't. and it got freezing cold. the wind kept blowing little dust storms through, and into our eyes. it was nice anyway to be there together, huddled up close, listening and watching these beautiful children sing for christmas.

its gone from ridiculously hot to freezing cold. in one day! this morning we were outside doing a dance because there were a few spits of rain. veda was trying her hardest to get it to pour..but mother nature refused. fair enough, but sad too. veda is feeling the drought too in her own 8 year old way. :-(
i took sindri christmas shopping today which was fun. fun because we found some cool things and fun because it wasn't a long exhausting shopping trip..which is how shopping usuallly ends up. kids have so many other things to do than hang around shops. and really...after seeing the utter junk they are selling in the shops i have access too...for crazy prices.. i really can't be bothered shopping either. how sad is that! lol. problem is i'm not inspired to make either. jeepers.....i wonder what santa will be bringing to our home this year. maybe he's bringing change. a great gift :-)
i had a great conversation with my sweet sister and baby hana today. im so so hoping she decides that yes that was a wonderful idea we came up with. god..how exciting that would be! i think i would burst!
so my angels are all snuggled up warm under their doonas and quilts. . i will try to post a photo...lately i can't seem to post photos and i don't know why.
anyway..i really should be finishing my christmas cards now..instead im off to find some more energy in my sleep :-) goodnight.

3 amazing kids 1 sweet hearted boy and me

so the house is a tinier more spacious. the garage sale was a success. the kids had the most fun with their own stalls selling their own stuff. they are forever inspiring.
with the drought hanging over and around us like a big ugly shadow, theres this strange state we are living in...one of much sadness, disappointment, uncertainty and probably anger. whilst also being permeated with the excitement and joy and carefree-ness of three small children in december. its hard and its a blessing at the same time.