It's been a while

I saw that it has been a whole week since I have blogged so I thought I better do one even though I really don't have much to say.
I have been spoiling myself by reading two novels this week which means not much has been getting done. One was a really enjoyable read. It was called 'Wild Lavender'. It is a historical fiction piece from around the 1920s to 1940s, set in France, mostly Paris. It follows the career of a music hall singer who becomes Paris' brightest star. What I especially loved was that it used real people from the time disbursed within the story. People such as Josephine Baker and the Count. I am also afraid to say too much more in case I give away too much of the storyline but the main character is almost virtuous for today's standards. I read a comment by the author which talked about how she was not comfortable writing sex scenes and therefore there were none originally in the book. Of course the publisher thought it needed to be spiced up. The author did well to stick to her guns though and relented only to put in a one page long scene. Please don't get me wrong I have nothing against sex, I even have two daughters to prove it, but by many authors writing the most detailed descriptions of intimate moments I feel it they are corrupting my own imagination. A few well considered words can paint a thousand images- I'm not an idiot. I would really be able to tell you the name of the book I once read where the author simply states something along the lines of 'and she looked up to the stars above'.
Anyway I'll get off my soap box now.

The other box I read was Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult. I had read another novel of hers called My sister's Keeper which was good but I was kind of disappointed in this other book. I guess mostly because it conflicts with my own beliefs, it deals alot with religion and organised religion. In any case I have enjoyed reading again as it makes me interested in the world around me and the lives of others.
I guess because I am restricted to some extent by small children its like having contact to a world outside my own.
I love reading and I certainly hope to pass this interest on to my children.

Happy Birthday Gorgeous Husband

Well I do it for my girls so I thought I would do it for my boy. Tell the world what a wonderful man I am married to.
Today is his birthday and something happened today which really demonstrates to me just what sort of man he is. Today I decided it would be a nice treat if I took the girls to have lunch with Daddy. They were both so happy when we picked him up and having lunch they were both chatting away happily. Then we drive Daddy back to work and Princess realises Daddy is getting out of the car and the tears start. Mummy drives off and Daddy waves bye bye and then cries of first shock that Da Da is not coming back and then real tears start, not just from one but now Sweetness has got into the act. I try not to let this be about me because I know my girls do love me. But it shows just what type of Dad my gorgeous husband is to our girls. The girls sob when he left because they love him that much that when he goes away their world is not the better place that it is when he is around. I can sympathise with the girls because I feel like that too when he goes out the door each morning.
My gorgeous husband is more than just a wonderful father and a GH, he is a 'good' man. You know what I am talking about. He is one of those people that just live their lives making other peoples lives around them joyful. Not necessarily in a laugh out loud kind of way but a 'hey there's ______, and I'm really glad that they're here' kind of way. People are relieved to see him because they know they have someone to talk with not at or to. He is just a live my life humbly and try my best to please God type of man. And I just respect and love him so much for that.
Happy Birthday Gorgeous,
thank-you for being the man you are
thank-you for being the husband I married
thank-you for being the loving father you are
thank-you for being the example of Christ in our lives.

The best weekend

I feel so very blessed by my family. This past weekend has been ever so lovely. We decided to go to the coast on Saturday morning and it was such a joy. Sweetness had been quite sick at the beginning of last week and on Wednesday and Thursday a new tooth came through too. She was not like herself at all, she would follow me around just crying and crying. And then Friday she woke up back to her old self and it certainly made me realise what a gorgeous baby girl I have.
Anyway we had a great time at the beach even though the water was a bit cold still. Princess thought that she really wanted to swim in the sea, especially after she received a swimming ring for her birthday but after testing the water for a few minutes she had decided that it was not worth the cold waters. Sweetness was loving eating the sand and generally just crawling around watching all the action.

In the afternoon we did some yard work. Yep you guessed it I did the mowing. Loved the end result. My gorgeous husband also was involved this time as he received a whipper snipper for his birthday (which is on Wednesday) and he did the edges.

So it was great to come home today after church and sit out on the lawn with my family and eat our pies and cakes on the freshly mowed grass. There is truly nothing I love more than the enjoyment of just being with the ones I love, lying out the grass or beach and looking up at the most beautiful blue sky.

Down with a thud

Nothing can bring one down to earth with a thud more than seeing your child suffer. Once again my poor little sweetness has come down with something. This morning Daddy brought her in to mummy for her morning feed and she just wasn't letting go. Normally she is up as soon as she feels satisfied and is then crawling and moving all over the bed. No she just laid next to mummy and then got enough energy to get up on top of mummy and just laid there.
My poor baby has a temperature and our thermometer is not working properly and that is just making this mum even more paranoid. We have done all the old faithful things such as a luke warm bath, a cool washer and of course baby panadol well actually the other one but I am in no mood to figure out the correct spelling.
I know there is a good chance that she will be all better in the morning but right now there is nothing more important on this earth than my most precious girl and I don't like seeing her so quiet and sad looking. It is so hard for her to feel this way and it is just horrible to watch her go through it.
I know that you (I mean me) tend to think that I need this for them or they need another new hat or another pair of shoes. Now I realise that they really can get along without all of that and I can to. I just don't want her to be sick anymore or if that is impossible how about not sick for a long (long) time.

Princess

These are my thoughts on my princess.

When I first found out I was pregnant with you I knew that you were going to be this amazing creature with so much strength. When we were told it wasn't likely to happen, God said 'well if you want one, see how you go with this unique gift'.
Unique you were and are. Never could we imagine such a small package create such a loud noise. Even today you can make yourselves stand out in a crowded shopping mall.
Watching you grow and change each day is such a special gift. I know that all parents think their child is special and I am certainly no exception with you. You can just light up a room, when you choose to.
Yes you must definitely choose because you have such a strong will that someone is not going to make you do anything that you don't want to, in your opinion. Life is going to be difficult for you because of this. I am going to try hard to help you, sometimes it isn't a pleasure but because of it you will be a pleasure, not just for me but for everyone that you meet.

I understand when you meet new people you are not the girl who gives people your megawatt smile. You are polite and say hello when asked and that brings me great joy. I understand that before you really open up with people you first have to know them. You need to observe them and take them in. I never understood this trait of yours until I realised that not all children have it. Your sister definitely doesn't:) I never realised that you never used to hurt yourself much, we never really had to teach you many safety things because you worked out so much on your own. I remember you opening and shutting the screen door just back and forth, back and forth and people would be scared you would get your fingers caught. You never did and now I think it was because you had already sussed it all out. You knew straight away that I don't put my fingers there because it will hurt. You are so observant of things around you. You would stare all the time, especially as a baby and you would work the world out. Sure sometimes you would still have accidents but now I can see that you really look to understand, which is funny because I seem to be the complete opposite. Maybe you will teach me a few things along the way too.
My Princess is such a wonderful child for so many reasons and I want to tell the world all about her. I know its self-indulgent because I really do like to talk about her too much really and I have become one of those mums. But its her birthday and time has gone by so quickly, I think I am entitled to a little 'isn't my baby wonderful' session. She is just so wonderful, clever, beautiful spoken, well-mannered, gorgeous, cautious, funny special little girl and I am just so thankful to God for her.

Birthday Party

Today is my lovely Princess' birthday. It's only pictures today but soon, hopefully tomorrow, I want to copy someone else's idea and record a few thoughts about my little 'big' girl. She is 3, three, tree today!

Australia Zoo

Next week is Princess' 3rd birthday and in many theme parks you need to start paying for your children once they turn three so we took the opportunity, well me and my parents and we took the girls to Australia Zoo.
As you can see from the photos it truly was a most excellent day. I really can not express what wonderful girls they were. I was a bit concerned because of other events through the week but today the girls really excelled themselves. I want to say what a blessed mother I am but then it might come across that I only feel blessed when the girls behave in a certain manner which isn't true but you know what I mean. I just had a really great day. A perfect day would have been if my GH could have come too.
There was lots of animals to see and as I am writing this I am remember just how big the zoo is because my legs are aching from all the walking. There were crocodiles, koalas, kangaroos, tigers, elephants, snakes. Oh I must tell you how brave Princess was today. I don't have the photos but I will try to upload them from my parents but Princess had her picture taken with a baby alligator and then with a large snake. She wasn't scared to feed the elephants or any of the farm animals. I little girl really is a big girl now.
I hope you enjoy the pictures:)