Diddled

I bought some road side peaches the other day. I love road side stalls, I feel like part of a community, neighbours helping neighbours, suburbans helping out the local farmers and benefiting from cheap produce. This stall sold flowers and peaches, how lovely. This was a very security conscious road side stall. With security camera, a sign telling you you were being watched and a large padlocked box to put your money in the romance of a country road side stall started to fade a little. As I looked at the two boxes of peaches left on the shelf they seemed alright, I even lifted a few up to see what the peaches underneath were like. Everything was fine so I chose box number 1 and put my $5 into the security box. All the while trying to look honest and show those security camera's I wasn't a thief. When I put the box into the back seat of the car a swarm of fruit flies rose from the peaches and into my face. So I tried to blow them away and I checked the peaches again, they still seemed ok, I had half a mind to swap boxes, but what would the security camera think!! I kept my chosen box and drove home with the windows open in the hope that the fruit flies would flutter out the window. When I got home I transferred the peaches into a fruit bowl, anticipating the soft, sweet deliciousness that comes with the first bite of a lovely ripe peach. That's when I found the soft spots on just about all of the peaches, they were all strategically placed soft spot down in the box and had been slowly rotting. Hence the large cloud of fruit flies. I lost my desire to take a bite as I felt I had been diddled. By the next day there was only one or two edible pieces of fruit left as they just seemed to wilt drastically over night. Nothing more disappointing than spoiled fruit, I like my fruit to be just right.

The possums have been having a feast the last few days, they don't mind the soft mouldy spots they just eat around them and leave the bad bits. I don't think I'll be going back there again.

Our weekend

It has been a very hot weekend. Luckily for Sam he chose the best activity as part of his birthday celebrations. After a hot Friday afternoon with friends over from school for some cake and ice cream, Saturday morning was spent ice skating with just the family.

Surprisingly there weren't many people ice skating and at times we almost had the whole ice rink to ourselves. It was so cool and refreshing.

There were a few bumps, bruises and tears, we even had to get the frozen peas out for the egg on the back of Ethan's head.

Toby learned to ice skate by himself, but still needed a little help and a pull along for a ride.

Sunday came and it was present opening time, it was still very hot with record highs of 40 to 42 degrees all across the weekend.

As Donald had been doing a little extra work on another project we ran out of time to ice one of Donald's cakes. So instead we did a Lisha special, cut the cake in half and added cream, strawberries and blue berries and a little chocolate shavings on top.

I think we plan to ice the rest of the cake tonight as our family home evening activity.

*10*

Happy Birthday gorgeous boy

My how you have grown

And so beautifully too!

A hot day

A 42 degree day. An after school party day. Some handball in the driveway, a spot of apple bobbing to cool down and we can't live without the cheezel chomp. Some cool jelly and some mad fungi faced cup cakes. A fun start to Sam's birthday weekend. Ten on Sunday. Who knew ten years would fly by so quickly.

Junk mail and family heirlooms

Our letter box is getting jammed everyday with Christmas catalogues, I actually don't mind looking through some of them. Others get tossed straight in the recycling otherwise a mountain starts to pile up on the dining room table. Donald, Sam and Toby were looking at the toy catalogues the other day and Donald pointed out a cool lego star wars tie fighter. Toby piped up "Donald we're not supposed to tell Sam that we got him that for his birthday"...silence.....ooops! Sam: "I don't think you were supposed to say that Toby". Poor Tobs had been keeping quiet for a whole week and hadn't told Sam the surprise...just inadvertently.

I was looking at the David Jones gift catalogue and found this lovely icing set:

and then I went to the cupboard and got out this lovely icing set:

It was my grandmothers and we've been using it for years. It's what Donald started his cake decorating with.

We have graduated to a piping bag with some new nibs, but we often revert back to the older icing set, it just works so well.

I love old family heirlooms and I love that they last too! I couldn't tell you how old this icing set is.

I think I'll have to ask my mum.

"No unforgivable curses in the house....please!"

There are spells flying through our house at the moment. The biggest battle of wands and wizards, morning, afternoon and evening. Sam and Ethan are back into reading the Harry Potter series, Ethan is up to The Goblet of Fire and Sam is just beginning The Half Blood Prince. They are enraptured again in J.K.Rowlings world of wizards again. They go through cycles of reading Deltora Quest, Star Wars, Pokemon, Harry Potter, Asterix and Obelix and Tin Tin. The cycle changes but Sam and Ethan will stay on the same path together, they have a lot in common. Then Toby will fall into the same pattern of play. It's wonderful and important to me that they play together. They are all on the same wave length, there are times of trouble when one gets a little too bossy, the tears come and they go their separate ways. Mostly they just 'get' each other. I love it, I love my boys, I love their world. It is a little crazy but fun.

Shooting spells across the room with flag sticks as their wands, they run around stunning each other, making the others eat slugs or bugs. Sam has written down a list of spells, he's researched through all of the books and is now using it as ammunition against his brothers. Toby has his own spells...."Nyaaaah what's up doc? Stupefy!!", all the while wearing bunny ears and aiming his wand.

Expecto Patronum is one of their emotionally charged spells....it's all in the delivery.

Sam and Ethan have only watched the first two movies up until recently as they get a little deep and dark. Sam is susceptible to night mares so we try and protect them from watching movies that would leave a fearful impact on them. Sometimes the books are scary and anxiety producing while reading them but the boys just love to eat them up, so do I. We made a deal with Ethan, if he reads the Prisoner of Azkaban then we'll think about letting him and Sam watch the movie. He did and we watched and they loved it....which is why the spells are flying around the house. No unforgivable curses in the house....please boys!!

Hand made

I was so blessed this year for my birthday many thoughtful friends and relatives made my day feel very special. I wanted to share with you the wonderful hand made presents I received from some beautiful friends who put much love and time into their gifts.

A few days before my birthday I met up with my friend Debbie in the Blue Mountains and she proceeded to bestow me with presents. She made for me, with her scrap booking skills, a recipe stand, she knows how much I like cooking.

Debbie also used her talents to decorate a clock as well. I love them both they add such a splash of light and bright colours to my kitchen. Every time I look at them I think of Debbie. I really like how gifts can create a memory (whether it be good or bad). I still need to choose a photo to place in the little clock window, Debbie knows I love photo's too!

Now my next hand made present was a joint effort by a group of lovely ladies from church. We have grown to love and appreciate each other over the past few years and work together in our church callings. This is a gift that keeps on uplifting me and bringing me joy, tears and chokes me up every time I pick it up from my bedside table to ponder over. It is a little book, a pocket size book, that was put together by Stacy. She is a champion digiscrapper (digital scrapbooking). An idea went out, emails got sent around and Stacy pulled it together, I didn't have an inkling.

What's funny is I never knew how they felt about me until they presented me with this wonderful gift. Sure I knew that I had a connection with each of these beautiful girls, but I didn't realise how important these friends could be and how wonderful I felt when they wrote birthday wishes and thoughts for me in this little book.

Stacy compiled everyones letters together and waved her digiscrapping magic wand, added a few perfect touches and ribbons and the most genuine thoughts came alive.

I think every one should have one of these books made for them. In fact I think it should be compulsory. Who doesn't want to know what good things people see in them. It was quite a confidence booster, I felt very loved, very, very loved.

Stacy also whipped up these lunch box coupons which have been laminated. A fantastic idea, my boys love to feel special too, it puts a smile on their face in the middle of their school day...I like that.

You can find Stacy and her digiscrapping marvels over here.

A yoga day

Flowers for the bunny

A hot hazy sky

a yoga day...

with my little man...and I feel good.

Are you interested in starting yoga...and you live in the North Western Sydney region... Come and meet the lovely Jessie, my yoga teacher, this Saturday 9am at a Yoga by Donation class, details here or click on the link in my side bar.

Trunk or Treat smell my feet...

Give me something good to eat.

Chop my head

or pick her nose

bob for apples

Or strike a pose!

I don't want to be buried in a pet cemetery!!

From left: Don the scary doctor, Lief, King of Deltora, Sammy severed head, Asterix and a Hippy Flower child full of love and peace. We had our Halloween Primary activity at church this afternoon, a warm afternoon, with lots of cakes, games, lollies and trunk or treating (trick or treating from car to car). There were lots of costumes and decorated cars. Ours was a pet cemetery decorated by Donald and the boys. Click on the photos to get a closer look at the head stones, they make me laugh.

Lollypops and Jellybeans

....is what you get when you turn four.

Building a lego house for panda and friends with your mum.

A handful of jellybeans and a lollypop is what you get when you turn four.

Playing with the car racing track,

watching the cars go round and round.

Lots of jellybeans from the doctor,

and a lollypop from mum when you turn four.

Visiting with pre-school buddies,

playing pirates and jumping on the trampoline.

Being four can be lots of fun.

Battling swords with your brothers or

being mesmerized by Richard Scarry's books.

Munching on Jellybeans and Lollypops

make those four year old immunizations

seem like they never happened.

Oh what a brave little man you are Toby,

what a brave little man...and only four.

Approaching Motherhood (a step back in time)

October 1999, New Westminster, British Colombia, Canada. Soon to arrive first born of undetermined gender...Samuel arrived a month later, 9lbs 3oz.

Season: Autumn, Canadian Thanksgiving, pumpkins, orange leaves and all things Halloween.

Good Morning

The quiet before the molten sun begins to lift slowly over the bay islands.....breath in....breath out.....relaaaaax.