My Weapons....

 

This week has been a little focussed on weapons in our house. Possibly because master 3 ended up at hospital at 8am Saturday morning getting his head glued together as a result of a Spinjitsu fight with one of his sisters who shall remain nameless. Her weapon was a medal, Master 3 thought it was great and has not learned a thing from the experience.

 

 

We all need weapons in life, things that we arm ourselves with to make the daily battles a little easier, a bag of popcorn for the kids at the shops for example.  A few weeks ago I was feeling a little 'meh' tired all the time, hot all the time, grumpy and a little shouty some of the time you know just 'meh'. Then I thought what can I do to make this all a little easier and I remembered a book I read recently by Paul de Gelder 'No Time for Fear'. This guy was the Navy clearance diver attacked by a shark in Sydney Harbour a few years ago. One line from the book jumped out at me.... "use sleep as your weapon". Which got me thinking.... I had been staying up late till about 11pm every night just to have some me time, but I was waking up at least once a night for Littleloves feeds and then up for good at about 5am without any downtime during the day... so even though I was getting a couple of hours me time every evening I really wasn't sleeping enough. So I decided to 'use sleep as my weapon' and set myself a bedtime. 9pm knitting needles down, 9:30pm bed, and it worked!!So I have achieved something Mum and Dad never could at 32 I finally have a bedtime.....(My Mum and Dad will be sitting in their recliners with a bottle of Red between them reading this and giggling and I say it now guys... you were right all along!!) For two ish weeks I have kept up this bedtime and I feel great, Littlelove has even slept through a few times since and I think its because I am feeling relaxed and not so tired so his feeds have been better!

 

 

 

At the same time I also set myself a Yoga challenge, to do at least 10 mins of Yoga every day. Its so easy as a Mum to let everyone's needs come before your own. There is ALWAYS something that needs to be done, washing, ironing, cooking, cleaning, the list is endless and its so very easy to put these tasks in front of any time for yourself so I the spirit of paying myself first (thanks Oprah) I decided I would make it as important as one of those other things and set myself the goal at least 10 mins a day! Some days I only get 10 mins done right before bed as a relaxation. Other days I manage 20 or 30 mins when its still dark and its just Little love and I awake, but its been lovely getting to do something just for me every day!!

 

 

With Christmas coming up its lovely to be heading into it feeling good and refreshed. We are heading away on holidays soon so it will all fall by the wayside while we are away, Life is too short to go to sleep at 9:30pm when you are on holidays and visiting family you see once or twice a year but when we get back and I start feeling 'meh' again I know what I need to do to feel better.....Get my weapons back!! I only hope that the kids can adopt sleep and yoga as their weapons of choice at some stage otherwise there will be more hospital visits I'm sure!!

 

The Mail Run....

We don't get mail here everyday, we don't have letterboxes or firm street addresses. In the past we have collected mail from couriers on the road and iPhones for people who live at the end of the street have been delivered to us. None of the houses have street numbers on them, and the actual street numbers are 'creative'.

All other mail arrives at the post office 3 times a week Mondays. Wednesdays and Fridays. This only happens when the mail bus isn't broken down, the roads are open and it isn't a public holiday.

The mail truck also brings out the papers so we only get newspapers on these days too. I love reading the Sunday Mail and I have been known to still buy it on a Wednesday afternoon (if  Monday was a public holiday and it doesn't get to town till then). I know you can download it..... but it simply isn't the same (I feel the same way about reading magazines online).

Its about 200 metres from our place to the post office where we collect the mail, This trip has been known to take close to an hour some days.... (or 6 if we happen to get convinced to stop by the local pub for a 'quick' drink on a hot Friday afternoon). The local pub just happens to be across the road from the Post Office and always has icey cold drinks and a playground for the kids. When it only takes an hour its because of finding shoes and getting them on kids,  locating helmets, bikes, prams, opening gates, closing gates putting dogs in or taking dogs with us. We normally see at least one person and have a chat along the way.

Then there is the challenge of getting all our 'mail' home. Now since I moved here I have become pretty darn good at online shopping, which is why its a juggle to get everything and everyone home. In fact I have given up on the mail run entirely after this effort...

 

I am glad I sent my husband in his troop carrier for this run and I may send him every time until after December 25. We have to be organised for birthdays and Christmas out here. I try and put my online orders in 4-6 weeks before the day I need it so that we have it in plenty of time.

Its only fair that I share my online shopping expertise.... so here is where I go to contribute to our mail.

 

1. Booko http://booko.com.au/ this site compares all the online book websites for prices. Type in the name of the book you want and it brings up where they are available with lowest price first including postage. How cool is that?

 

2. Catch of the Day http://www.catchoftheday.com.au/ this site is only good if you are looking for something in particular. It releases a few deals at midday NSW time everyday, if what you are looking for isn't there close the page or app I repeat 'Mum CLOSE THE PAGE!' or you will end up buying all sorts of things. There is a fair amount of postage depending on the item so you have to factor that in to the deal.

 

3. Grocery Run http://www.groceryrun.com.au/ I have shared my grocery experiences here before and grocery run is great especially for bulky bigger items, toiletries, muesli bars, vitamins and general household goods. It has $11 flat rate shipping... if only there was a similar site for fruit and vegetables out here.

 

4. Made it http://www.madeit.com.au/ This site is all hand made items. I love searching for quirky gifts. Many of the items can be customised with fabrics or sizes. Every item I have bought off here has arrived beautifully wrapped making it perfect for presents.

 

5. Fishpond http://www.fishpond.com.au/ This site has free postage!!!  It has books, DVD's, toys and did I mention Free Postage! It's great for birthdays and prices are usually better than many real shops.

 

6. Wiggle http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ This is my husbands favourite site for sport stuff, he loves it. It has great prices and good variety of stock and all the brands. Wiggle also has Free Postage!!

 

7. Bulk Wholefoods http://www.bulkwholefoods.com.au/ Okay so we have recently got a little healthier and its difficult to get some of the foods we are eating like Goji berries, chia seeds, raw cacao, raw almonds LSA mix, and coconut oil at our local supermarket so we order them online and get them delivered. The postage is free if you spend $150, which is easy to do when you are buying in bulk.

 

Okay so these are my favourites, so far I'm sure I will discover more as time goes on and I am sure even when we live in a spot that isn't so isolated that I will still do lots of my shopping online... especially when I don't have to walk a whole 200 metres past a pub on a hot afternoon with all my shopping oops I mean mail!!!

Meet Mixxy....

I would like to introduce you to the hardest working member of our household...... its Mixxy the Thermomix.

A Thermomix is an appliance that pretty much does like.... everything. They are expensive but this cost has been so worth it for us because of what she can do, (she is female because she can multi task) and we didn't own most of the appliances she replaces. Enough about how good a Thermomix is I could go on forever but today Mixxy had a busy day.

We started of with a juice for morning tea, this had carrot, celery, kiwi fruit, apple, ginger, ice and water. 60 seconds speed 10....done!! I make this juice a few times a week when I am feeling like I need a pick me up, its an easy way to get a vitamin kick and I can drink with one hand (duh I'm not 2) but the other hand usually has little love attached to it. 7kgs of this pure gorgeousness makes the basic things like umm eating hard! 

 

 

Next up was morning tea for tomorrow..... It is a little sad  in town at the moment because a few of the teaching staff at the local school are leaving at the end of the year, so we are having a party at the hall for two of the girls tomorrow and we have to ... bring a plate. So I employed Mixxy to make some bliss balls. Almonds, LSA, rolled oats, chia seeds, coconut oil, dates, sultanas, apricots, raw cacao.... 30 seconds speed 10 then rolled in coconut.... easy as. The kids actually love these, so do I especially after lunch with a coffee so I made a double batch, some rolled in cacao and some in coconut, yummo tomorrow all sorted.

No we haven't been tasting them at all!!

 

Now my lovely husband is working tonight... again, something about not wanting to be home Friday afternoon, hey I wouldn't be here either. The kids are all nuts by this time of the week crazy in the coconut..... so I wasn't going to make the same mistake as last week I cooked dinner at lunch time. I used Retro Mummy's Thermomix Pasta recipe you can find it here http://retromummy.com/2013/04/07/pasta-e-fagiole-in-the-thermomix/ . Mixxy made it so beautifully, no hidden nasties in the pasta sauce, only one bowl so simple and it made plenty so I think Saturday night dinner is done too!!

 

 

Mixxy had a busy day but she wasn't quite done yet..... lastly I made a special Friday afternoon tea for the kids CINNAMON SCROLLS!! this is super special because it has sugar, white flour and butter, things we rarely eat. They took about 3 mins to make in Mixxy and close to 30 mins in the oven (which was pure love because I hate having the oven on when its 40 degrees outside and the air conditioning isn't working), but it was worth it they loved them.... okay so did I!!

The pastry with the cinnamon sugar before cooking was so pretty and sparkly

 

 

So mixxy was done for the day she has retired for the night all washed up and put back together on the bench.... until tomorrows adventures, Thanks Mixxy!!!

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.