Baby Blanket

I was worried when Joseph started school as to how my little man, Flynn would cope, being third boy, he has spent his lifetime trying to catch up, be like his big brothers and he does a pretty good job of it, but sometimes I feel sad, sad that he dosen't play like other three year olds. He's much happier fighting baddies and goodies than looking for gnome houses.

The old saying,' One door closes, another one opens' is true. He now likes the idea of being the big brother and directing Alice, which she happily obliges, for now.

Dan built this cubby for Flynn's birthday last year, It is in this book.
The older boys got to help Dan with this project, they loved it!

I made this baby blanket for a girlfriends baby, I got Mum to help with the elephants, thanks Mum.

I have not made blankets for Alice and Joseph, I saw a gorgeous camel blanket pattern, for Joe, and I'm still looking for a sweet one for Alice, I like the idea of fairys but I like real looking fairys not cartoon, abstract ones. Any ideas?

P.S. Still no rain, I can't believe it's been 8 weeks with no rain. We have only a raintank which we use for inside and our garden, admittedly it's a big tank, but we are down to the last three notches.

First day of school

My sweet Joseph, starting school, a big day for both Mum and child.
When asked that afternoon "How was your day, Joey? He typically answered 'it was alright "
the next morning when getting him dressed for school, Joseph asked 'where are we going today Mama?' I said 'Your going to school', and Joey said"But I did that yesterday, do I have to go again? sure do Joey, sure do.

The Victorian fires seem to be under control , thankfully. It's been a difficult time trying to come to terms with so much loss,
I would like to share two uplifting stories;
I think this photo has been in the world news, of a firefighter holding a koala's hand and giving him a drink of water. The koala drank three bottles, he looked so grateful. What some people might not know is that even though koala's look cuddley, they're not, they could claw you in seconds.
A man went back to his property to find everything burn't, as he was walking around he saw a charred ball on the ground. As he got closer he realised that it was one of his hen's, so he went to bury it and as he picked it up, six little chickens ran from under her. Tears well up when I think of this story, a mothers instinct to protect her children, always.

Fire

We've been on high alert here, scanning for fires, yes we are safe, the fires are not near us. Droughts, floods and fires are so much apart of living in this country, but this fire is like nothing we've seen before. 5000 homeless and 130 dead, to date. there is nothing left, these towns are like ghost towns now.

We live in the country and like most people we have a fire plan,Ours was to stay and fight the fires, thinking that we are prepared. but this fire is not behaving like a normal fire,no-one is prepared, people only given minutes to evacute, people leaving their homes and not making it to their carport, we are in disbelief, we are all in mourning.

But with all this devastation, you will hear a story, story of mateship, of unsung heroes, of communties rallying together when all around is black dust, of the tireless work these volunteer firefghters do, and I'm proud, proud to be apart of this great land.

School's back

Jim's first day back at school, I swear all the children have grown a foot over the summer holidays, lovely to see those smiling faces.

Our school is a small Steiner School in a rural setting, if you ever get a chance to go to a Steiner open day, it's a must. The way the children learn in these years is so very beautiful, the head, heart and hands all weave together in such an enriching way. If I had to sum up Steiner education in one word it would be... practical yep, practical, interestingly, if I had to sum myself up in one word it would be the same word. Suse over at pea soup has written why they chose Steiner Education for their children, it's a great read.

Doting Nieces

O.K. so the main reason I love going home is that I get a break, its so nice to just sit and enjoy the children, without having to think of the other million things that I need to get done in a day.

I loved, loved, loved watching my neices looking after Alice, they did everything for her. Such patience and warmth, It warms my heart to see such love, what wonderful Mama's they'll make.

Today is the last day of the summer holidays, we have had such fun, Everytime we have holidays I think to myself why don't I homeschool? It's so nice having your chicks close by, But I'm not a superwoman, and all those Homeschooling Mama's are. I'm always so very inspired when I visit Homeschooling blogs.

School Holidays

I love Christmas,but, like for most people,I find it exhausting. We always spend the week of christmas to new year with my family on the Murray River, I love it, it's so nice not to have to think about anything, just enjoying family times with lots of laugher.We stayed a few nights at my eldest's sister's home, and the children got to ride their cousins ponys.

Alice wanting yet another pat of the ponys.

It gets so hot on the Murray, you just have to be up for a water fight at any moment, last week it got up to 48 degrees celsius or 118F,thats railway track meltingly hot. Dad said that the last time it got that hot was 1936 and that year was wet....we can only hope.

Christmas Day

Oh, I forgot the Christmas Tree.