For the Love of Sushi!!

Today I officially lost my mind, I was completely insane, crazy in the coconut. I had this idea, because we don't have many takeaway options out here I thought that I would make something for dinner like we would buy for a lazy Friday night dinner if we lived somewhere where we did have takeaway options..... I had this great idea to make sushi for dinner, easy right.

I shared this idea with my husband as he left for work at lunchtime "okay" he said.... Okay?? Why didn't he say "you crazy woman why do you want to make this afternoon miserable for yourself, don't you realise that I am going to work now and won't be home. You have four children..... four! and one is a baby who wont let you put him down, another is a 3 year old boy who cant play outside cause its 45 degrees and waits for his sisters to arrive home to send them crazy by chasing them around the house, your 6 year old is tired so don't talk to her or look at her the wrong way especially on a Friday afternoon and your 8 year old wants to come home and read and relax. Feed them toast or cereal, your night is going to be hard enough. I love you bye honey" Noooo he didn't point any of this out he simply said 'okay' and left.

So the afternoon progressed with me believing blindly in some insane sleep deprived craze that these kids would play happily, maybe watch a movie together while I all Martha Stewart/ Nigella like merrily rolled sushi for our dinner in my clean kitchen.... Well that sure didn't happen.

It appears Miss 6 doesn't actually like sushi, or rice paper rolls or any thing else that resembles dinner, she likes apples and cereal but just don't ask her what cereal because she doesn't know... cue meltdown no 1.

Little love didn't want to be put down as he hadn't all day. He is perfectly happy to smile if he is up with you walking around or sitting on your lap but try to put him on the floor, rocker, bumbo or in the swing in the lounge room and he drops that bottom lip faster than Miley getting her gear off....cue meltdown no. 2.

Master 3 even kitted up for the occasion up in full police dress with a hat, sword and shield to chase his sisters around, he wanted to know why real police don't have swords and even took to destroy the lalaloopsy mini village his sisters had set up in their room using said sword.... cue meltdowns no. 3, 4 5 and 6.

Miss 8 helped with the dinner preparations until she got bored with the interruptions and eventually tried hard to melt into the background, dissolving in corners of the house to avoid the babysitting and breaking up of fights she was doing on my behalf while I floundered with rice, tofu avocado and cream cheese.

 

Somehow sushi got made, and my dear husband arrived home in time for his dinner break on the front veranda with 4 polite kids happily eating dinner, Miss 6  happily declaring that "we are in Tokyo for dinner tonight" and me asking 'why didn't you tell me I was crazy for attempting this and next time I have such a crazy notion can you please give me a reality check and hand me the weetbix'....

 

The Gift of Caring

"Eyes are for seeing

Ears are for listening

Mouth is for speaking kind words

Heart is for loving

Hands are for helping

and Feet so you can walk the world"

R.Fox 2005

 

This is a little saying I made up (as far as I know) when Miss now 8 was born. I looked at her in all her beauty, her eyes, ears, mouth, hands, heart, feet in all their perfection and thought what are these parts for, what am I going to teach her to do with them, how can I mould her to do good in this world, be better than me and this saying came to me. Its been whispered to all four children as they drift off to sleep, it's been sung to them while they giggle on our laps and its also been asked of them "what are your hands for Master 3?" I hope they take it with them through life and eventually they get it.

 

Its the simplicity of caring that makes all the difference, just kindness. Caring for animals, plants, other people can bring such joy, more joy than receiving. Last week I briefly forgot this. I was over the whinging, cooking and cleaning, I was tired and lonely and I was thinking all about me. I forgot to look out and I was miserable. Then I watered the plants..... and my attitude changed. I looked out, I saw the plants were growing and it was because of me. I was giving life to them literally through this giving, giving of my time and effort to water them and they were living and growing, beating the odds of my black thumb. Then I thought about all the other things I had done that morning, making breakfast, cleaning up, washing, packing school bags all the tasks that I had taken for granted were also acts of giving, caring for others..... these little others that I am sending out into the world each day. My attitude changed instantly.

 

Coming up to Christmas worries me. Our children have so much, so many things and throughout the Christmas period they get so much more, presents, food it's all in abundance for the season and its easy for us to get lost in it all. To focus on the receiving, on what you have and haven't got, what you want. This year I am going to try and turn it around a little and emphasise the giving to others. Not just physical things (although that's easy to for kids to understand) but the giving of yourself, your time, energy. I want them to look, listen, love, help and be kind wherever they travel in their magical lives.
 



It is my hope that our children turn out better than me. I hope they are better at giving, focusing on others, caring, sharing and helping. Whenever they feel sorry for themselves or miserable I will ask them, what can you care for? who can you help? I will ask them to look out not in.  I will buy them a plant, or a fish if I have to.  I hope they gain confidence and self worth  from doing this and discover the joy and light that this brings, creating their own ..... beautiful days.
 



Embrace the circus

Welcome to the circus....

 

Well its Friday afternoon and this has been a long, tough week and my husband left for work about 15 mins after school finished (smart man). I have got through this week by running and exercising, counting to ten, using denial, smiling (some faked) several hissy fits, putting my hands over my ears and singing "lalalalala" really really loud and stamping feet. All really mature ways of dealing and some were really successful some not so (I personally recommend the 'lalalala' method)!! Anyway I have read some blogs this week that really helped me exhale and feel 'normal' for feeling all out of wack especially Emily at The Beetle Shack http://www.thebeetleshack.com/I love her beautiful photography and magical writing. So in this tradition I am doing a 'keeping it real' for this weeks entry.

 

At the moment I have kicked the girls off the Monster High website to write this blog.....Monster High ewww gross for 8 years I avoided Bratz, preached positive body image, natural beauty then let my guard down now Monster High have invaded our house and their minds through the computer all that hard work undone in one website!

These girls are so enterprising they have worked out that I like exercising and will offer to 'babysit' their brothers so that I can.... they then negotiate fees with me. I have paid them close to $10 this week!!

 

 Master 3 had eaten nothing but muslie bars and cereal all day (week) then wanted a sandwich this afternoon whoo hoo I thought then he broke a whole jar of jam, glass and jam everywhere, (still one piece in my foot...) as strawberry jam laced with glass isn't a safe filling option I asked "what do you want on your sandwich now?" "My favourite" he replies "what's your favourite today?"  12 minutes of negotiation later he reveals vegemite, cheesymite and parmesan cheese is in fact his favourite....of course it is!!! Said sandwich was made and 'tada' actually eaten...Winning!! 

He has also taken to finding random objects to chase his sisters around with... sticks, rolling pins, brooms... he thinks its funny (they don't), sometimes it is!!

 

Little Love was 4 months this week, he is almost sitting up and moving lots so much so that he may or may not have fallen off a bed this week oops! As my luck had it I hadn't made the bed and the pillow was still on the floor from the night or 3 before and he landed on it I may now not make another bed until he starts walking just in case!!

 

I could go on, you see life with kids is crazy, chaotic, and life at the moment resembles a circus. My husband and I are in our own game of survival where we are outwitted, outlasted and outnumbered constantly EVERYDAY!!

I need to start doing this blog again to feel less isolated, some weeks I don't travel further than 200 metres in a single direction, some days the  ipad and the computer seem like windows into the outside world from the little dome we live in here and the circus that some days feel like. Its easy to see occasional pictures and get an impression of life with children from it, but their reality is always like your reality, washing whinging, cleaning and chaos but among it all at the heart is LOVE that's why we do it and keep doing it day after day. So fellow Mums out there embrace the circus as ...one of these beautiful days.

 

 

My selfie attempt this week for #fmsphotaday got bombed x 4

 

 

Afternote...... As all these days  aren't always beautiful I'm sure I was on a fluffy cloud of love when I thought of the blog title.... it now makes me kinda want to spew I am looking at changing it to "@ the Fox Den"  what do you think?

Look for new posts on Fridays!!

The world has started turning again...

The world has started turning again.... for a while it stopped. Why did it stop you ask?.... well I had another baby, just like that!

 

 

 Now this is our 4th baby the 4th little person that we have created, and loved before we saw and we are so incredibly blessed. Through the experience of bringing these 4 little people into the world I have come to understand that from the moment they are born your whole world changes as if it stops. It seems like the world has deconstructed and layers peeled away , things that were so important just hours earlier are suddenly so trivial, all that consumes you is the basics, food, shelter, sleep and love. After a period of time gradually the layers come back, washing gets done, the quality of food becomes important and slowly life gets back to the new normal rhythm... which is now why I am writing a blog after two months absence.

The experiences of the last few months have given me so much inspiration for future blogs from, Ironman races, challenges remote mothers face, natural therapies, my new toy 'Mixxy' the Thermomix, I have so much to share and record over the next few weeks.

 

But first a little about our new addition, his name is Xavier but I call him my 'Little Love', he was 4.05kgs born after a 20 hour labour. It was my 4th pain relief free labour and I am not keen to go through labour again....ever. He is lovely and beautiful and strong and determined, he commands attention and I don't think he is going to be any quieter than any of the other (noisy) kids.

 He has already bought so much joy into our lives and one of the greatest parts of having a new baby is seeing the love and joy it brings to the siblings. He may be a sports fan because we have bonded over Le Tour, Wimbledon and the Ashes in the late night feeding sessions. He feeds well and is getting chubby, he sleeps okay we are working on it..... We are all in love with him welcome Xavier to .....these beautiful days. 

 

Rodeo Day

Last weekend was our annual town Rodeo, this is a big deal, it is the social event of the year.

For weeks the school kids have been talking about the Rodeo, How long till, it's on, Who's coming into town for it, What they are wearing (NOT skirts and dresses Mum...how embarrassing!) and what's going to be there. The local Rodeo happens the first weekend in May and hundreds of people come into town for the weekend. They come in on Friday night from the outlining stations (large cattle property's) and towns around the area, camp in the showground and make a weekend of it.

Kids dressed and on their way for the day
(note no skirts or dresses)

 

Most of the action takes place on Saturday, which is where we were all day.

I fed the kids a huge breakfast of healthy cereal, juice, eggs and toast, knowing that it was going to be the only food with any nutritional value they would eat for the whole day and then we took off. Once there I gave Miss 5 and Miss 8 their boundaries (don't go through any fences, sit back from the arena, stay in front of the food stalls and don't go near ANY animals) and some money and said goodbye, it would be hours before I would set eyes on them again. They watched a little of the action, ate, went on the jumping castle, ate some more and mostly socialised with their friends. I love small town living because the freedom these kids are getting to experience out here is so different to the life they could have at an event like this in the city.

 

The Action

 

 Now this year being our second ever Rodeo Master 2 had a little more of an idea, he didn't try to climb the fence to pat the bulls, he even seemed wary of the broncos (horses not the football team) as they bucked in the arena and he got the whole idea of the Rodeo, calling out "Hold on" and "stay up there" as the crazy men tried to out last each other on the animals. One of the events is Steer Wrestling where they let a steer go in the arena and a person (men usually because women have more self preservation) try to grab the steer by it's horns and wrestle it on the ground. Master 2 was concerned because  he wondered "are the cows dead Mum?".... "no they are just stunned mate" "that looks like fun then Mum" arghhhh here lies my concern that he will end up wanting to have a go at it or be a Rodeo Clown one day. The Rodeo clowns that  distract the beasts in the arena are insane... absolutely crazy, I'm not sure how much they get paid but I'm sure it's not enough to be playing with huge, crazy, furious animals.

Boys checking out the action

Now I'm not sure of the whole ethical side to the Rodeo circuit, yes I'm vegetarian, but Rodeo's are a huge part of the country life and part of our decision to be out here is to not only share new experiences with the kids but ourselves as well so for the Rodeo weekend every year I will be there watching the action with the rest of the town.

We came home for a rest (okay I rested while the kids played, high on sugar) then went back for the nights action. The school kids took Master 2 with them to sit on the side of the arena for the night, he now knows more about Rodeo than me and came back with pockets filled with lollies and a can of coke.

 

Ready for Round 2

 

 

 

When the Rodeo part finished the band started then at 9:30pm after Master 2 had fallen asleep on my belly I had to locate Miss 8 on the dance floor and take three tired kids (and one huge exhausted pregnant Mum) home. Miss 8 was a little sad because she was having so much fun dancing..... ummm I wonder who she gets that from!!

 

Miss 5... this is what I took home x 3

 

So that was Rodeo weekend for another year, they kids are already asking how long to the next one, while I am still recovering from this....'beautiful day'.

 



My Kids Eat Ants.....

The other day Mr 'These Beautiful Days' came home from work

 "where's the kids" he asked, "out the back eating ants" was my response. Now 18 months ago this would have been met with horror, or at least a "kids stop eating the ANTS!!" but here and now it's a perfectly acceptable pastime. The ants they are eating are green  and they do bite but when you learn how to  catch them and eat them they are high in vitamin C and protein and they taste a little like lime. The kids learnt how to eat the ants where kids learn all sorts of things.... at school lunchtime. One of the loveliest things about living in a community that has a high Indigenous population is having our 'city kids' exposed to some of the threads of Australian Indigenous culture and eating ants is just one of them. Often the kids will bring a few ants inside for Mum and Dad to eat.... and we do. This is our way of encouraging them to keep accepting and exploring the experiences that life here is offering them.

 

 

 

The other bush tucker they have 'got in to' while here is to suck the nectar from the Red Bell shaped flowers that grow at the post office. Whilst I collect the mail they scatter collecting the 'good flowers' then run around eating them and comparing tastes. The nectar from these flowers is super sweet and like having a drop of watery honey or sugar water. There have so far been no reactions and the kids are always careful to check for bees first before picking the flowers.

 

      

 

I love that the kids are learning that not all food has to come from the shops and are experiencing a life here so different from their city life.

On the down side we have recently had two snakes in our yard eeek!! The first one was an Eastern Brown snake.... you know only the 2nd deadliest snake IN THE WORLD!! Our beautiful almost 10 year old dog was found to be 'playing' with it under the trampoline by Miss 5. Now Miss 5 reacted beautifully she ran inside and got help straight away, it was comforting that she knew what to do.

 

 

 
The snake was almost dead and we called the dog away..... a nervous night awaited us while we waited to see if she came down with any symptoms but we are so thankful that our dog didn't, and managed the encounter bite free. You see with animals its at least an hour and a half to the nearest vet and a bit over 2 hours to the nearest after hours vet, so a snake bite is almost guaranteed to be the end for any animal out here. The town has recently lost 3 pet dogs to snakes so we were incredibly lucky!!

A week later Miss 5 was playing outside when she screamed and ran inside "Mum there's another snake!!" she screamed as she stood there terrified and shaking, (I later discovered she had stepped on it with the rubber thongs). I put on boots this time to investigate and found a very dead python with beautiful markings. It seems our canine snake catcher had struck again! This time I was sad to see such a beautiful snake come to its end.

 

From these snake experiences we have all learnt a lot. I am proud that the kids are reacting well, coming and letting us know as soon as they find the snakes. I feel worried that we have had 2 snakes in out yard in two weeks after never seeing one here before. I feel worried for the kids and dogs playing in our yard, but I know that the chance is that our big dog will seek the snakes and I am proud of her for protecting her family, I hope that she continues to be lucky with it. I am surrendering to the environment we are in, and controlling what I can by, educating the kids, being a little more careful (without freaking everyone out), and we have our snake response kit handy with pen, bandages and hospital number. I was so happy Mr 'These Beautiful Days' was around when we had the brown snake and I really need to 'get my snake on' so I know what to do in case there is a next time. There is not always help so close by.

I am continually thankful for the experiences that we are being exposed to the good and the bad and I love watching us all grow (hopefully with more of the bush tucker and less of the snakes) from....'these beautiful days'.

 

 

One lucky day...

So I am having another baby soon and I am getting so excited at the thought of meeting this new, bonus, mystery baby sometime in the next few months, but whenever it gets to this stage of the pregnancy I make an effort to spend a day and record it with the older sibling. I have been so incredibly lucky that I have had one on one time with all my children before the next one comes along, and at the time of the next one they have been between 2 1/2 or 3 so they have been old enough to hold a conversation with (and still young enough to throw an awesome tantrum). I have also been so incredibly lucky that our family situation has given me this time with our toddlers.

 So with Miss 8 before her younger sibling came along we went shopping, got our nails painted at a salon, her hair trimmed and had coffee (her babychino) and a sweet treat together. With Miss 5 we had coffee at a cafe together, went to the park then McDonalds for lunch before Master now 2 was born.

These days have always been about concentrating on the child for the whole day, just one special day where they have my full attention before they have to get used to sharing me all the time again. So yesterday was Master 2's day..........

We started the day by reading books...He loves reading books at the moment

especially anything with animals and crocodiles in them.

We then said goodbye to the sisters or "stinkys" as he now calls them. He called out to them from our back deck as they wandered through the backyard to school for the day.

We then set to the most important task of the morning making the coffee. My husband usually spoils me by making me one to two coffees everyday so I dont use the machine alot, but he was away so we had to make our own...... I think we did okay...

I usually try to sit outside watch the chickens roam, have my coffee, call my mum, check facebook during this time. Master 2 loves playing with the chickens and Luna is his special chicken. Luna is all grown up now and fully recovered from her near death experience, she is by far the tamest one of our chicks and Master 2 catches her easily in the backyard for a cuddle most mornings.

We had one job to do today and that was to take our rubbish to the dump there is no council rubbish service out here! This is a job Master 2 loves because we don't use the car very much so it is such a special treat for him to get to go in the car. We loaded up our rubbish, drove to the dump and dumped it in. For those of you who haven't been for a long time this is what a country dump looks like.... a big hole in the ground filled with rubbish.

Master 2 loves cooking, so we had to make something.... so we made jelly for desert, he turns the jug on I do the pouring and he does the stirring. We also made banana mango smoothies for afternoon tea with frozen banana and mango, milk, chia seeds, sustagen and honey (his recipe).... they were delicious!!!

My little mate in into Lego Duplo at the moment he loves it.... so while I sat down and had a cup of tea we made some boats and cars and other crazy things with the lego. He loves playing with it and also loves packing it up himself....... I hope the packing up thing stays with him his whole life!!!

No my aim most days is to tire this little buddy out, you see he has boundless energy and needs to run around outside for a few hours every day, just so he goes to sleep at a 'normal time' most days I try and do at least one of these activities with him either before the 'sisters' get home or just after they do otherwise he drives them crazy. Yesterday I spent the whole afternoon out there with him and he loved it!! I can see the baby spending many afternoons in a rocker under a tree while we run around like crazy doing his favourite activities.



We played cricket





Climbed Trees



Jumped on the trampoline

After our busy awesome day together he was tired out and went to sleep at about 8pm. I am so lucky just to be able to spend this time one on one with him before his new sister or brother comes along. Just getting to know him and interacting with him, watching him grow and change. Its so lovely just to have a record of this special day.....just one of .....'these beautiful days'.