Our week on the farm

The school holidays ended today...schools in tomorrow for another ten weeks....

Fraser and I headed to the farm with friends for our last week of the holidays....

There we discovered...

Peace and quiet, all bar the deep mooing of the bull..... 

The fun of hanging out with a friend....
 

The intricacies of being on a farm during calving season....

How nice it was having the opportunity to have hands on with the locals..
 

Collectible roadside finds that stretch the imagination....
 

The most friendly and welcoming of farm folk....
 

That technology still had a little place out in the fresh country air...
 

The beauty of uninterrupted sunset watching....
 

The tricks employed to join an orphaned baby with a baby less mumma....
 

That cows have the biggest eyes to stare you down......
 

The most spectacular views only found in the big open spaces of the country...
 

Quirky little gems in the middle of the  town ....
 

Being up close and personal and discovering that it was really fun....
 

Taking time to discover even the smallest beauty..
 

Exploring hidden gems with loads of history...
 

A little kid fun in a neighboring bigger town thrown in for good measure .....
 

It was such a  great week spent with great friends.......it has set us up for heading back to school.....
The weather has turned a bit bleak  out the doors we must all head tomorrow...

Here's to a happy Term Two.

This week...

First week of school holidays done....we have had a mixed bag of weather and it appears to be going to continue into this second week also.

Some of the things I am thankful for this past week are.

* Movies on the couch with my boy.

* Movies at the cinema with friends...and very interesting conversations to go with it.

* A dreaded dentist appointment done and not as painful on the purse as I thought.

* A quiet home alone day to recover from the dentist visit.

* Coffee catch ups with friends

* Back to my morning with "Make a Wish" and having my boy tag along was fun.

* Fun play catch ups at the adventure park with cousins which meant sitting and chatting with my sisters.

* A phone call that booked my first day of work for next term

* Chickens that insist on being at the back door to be let in the house. All is Ok 'cause they have been laying plenty of yummy eggs.

* Those same chickens following you around when you are outside like little puppy dogs.

* Finishing two good books,

* An afternoon of baking in preparation for a little getaway for two of us this week.

* The steady fall of rain that made for a gloomy day...perfect for cooking up a storm. 

#1288  The suggestion from my boy that I please take my camera and take pictures this coming week so I can make a photo book of our week. I said only if there was fun for me to photograph and not full of technology playing....."of course mum I plan on doing lots of exploring!. "

Have a great week coming... I am offline for most of the week on a little farm stay with my little guy and some friends.

My growing list of thankfuls 
 

Informed decision

I took our 11 year old son and his mate to the movies today.
We made a deal that they could either have overpriced popcorn and soft drink in the movies or I would buy lunch after the movie....his choice.

He decided on lunch after wards.....

We watched the movie and then I needed to take a call just before we returned to the car. So I left the lunch venue choice up to the two boys.....

This is the conversation that resulted.....

So boys where are we headed?
Hungry Jacks
Ok ...why did  you choose that place.....( to be fair I had made the choice narrower between McDonalds and Hungry Jacks) 
Well because they have no added hormones and they have a new type of chip!

Oh that is a well thought out choice I said.....

The friend turned to my boy and said....what are hormones again?
At this point I tried not to chuckle out loud...

My boy responded with ...you know....there are all sorts ...like the ones that help you grow...

His friend now enlightened  seemed happy with that explanation ....

We proceeded to their choice of venue to "enjoy "lunch. 
  Wow the power of advertising was just underlined for me in that moment.

Please don't judge me for the choices in lunch....sometimes you just have to do it and oh by the way their chips are rather tasty!

Last Week

Oops...what happened to last week??? Oh that's right full time working that's what!
I was doing so well until about Wednesday,  then the wheels kinda fell off....It is so long since I have worked full time and two weeks of it was a complete shock to the system.
So the camera didn't come out just a few snaps on my phone camera.....

But some great things to be thankful for.... 

*Totally thankful for two weeks of work almost all of it in the same sweet class of year 3's at the school I am able to walk to and from each day.

* Extra count on my steps too as the class was doing daily swim lessons that required us to walk to and from the pools.

* Great staff at the school to guide me and help me really gain my confidence back in the classroom

* The energy to get up and get those exercises done in the morning....catching glimpses of the sunrise over our back fence.

* Early to bed times to try and stay on top of it all.

* New soccer boots.....exactly the ones he wanted...under budget and on the shelf.

* A new soccer season with a really great coach and great team mates.

* New shoes for me and half price at the checkout.

* The first of a few kid sleepovers for the holidays

* Lunch out to celebrate family members

* Accommodation booked for an upcoming weekend away and bonus upgrade without the cost.

* A cool start to the school holidays....thundery storms and broody skies

* A quick friends catch up just on sunset to end the week.

#1274 School holidays.....for all but one of us.....we will be sure to be extra kind to that one who is working hard for us all. 

My complete list of thankfuls is ever growing.....so important to see the blessings that are given every day.

  

This week...thankfuls

Another week full to the brim.....so many things to look for amoungst the busy times...things to be thankful for.

* An out of control pumpkin vine....that at last count has 6 pumpkins growing on it and I dont think it has finished making more.

* Learning new skills....clipping the chooks wings so they can enjoy being free range more.

* Capable daughters who only needed cheering on from the sidelines.

* Coffee dates with the boy to find out about his trial day at High School.

* New experiences and the preparation for the big day that produced much joy and excitment.

* Autumn days that are filled with sunshine and blue skies.

* Completing the daunting task of application forms for opportunities next year.

* A week of work at a school close enough to walk.....and the blessing of another full week coming in the same school and class of delightful Year 3's

* Hitting the four week mark of pushing myself physically and seeing some results...enough to spur me on for another month.

* A couple of spontaneous coffee dates with my man...squeezed in after work.

#1261 Friends......oh the power of friends in your life.


Last week of the school term ahead of us.....a full week of work for us all.....thankful in anticipation for all that is coming our way.

Have a great one. x 

My growing list of thankfuls here.

 

The Girl Milestone.....AKA The Ball

While I am on the subject of feeling emotional about milestones...

This weekend our girl had her Year 12 formal....The Ball......

Wow talk about being out of my comfort zone....feeling like that time just flew by so so fast!

Despite the many horror stories I have read and heard about....this was a really lovely experience for me as a mum.

She took it all in her stride....organised herself with minimal fuss and presented herself beautifully when the time came.

She knew what she wanted and the only  little meltdown upon returning from the makeup sitting was averted really quickly by some calm thinking.

She had lovely friends to share the night with and they revelled in their opportunity to be so grown up for the evening.....who am I kidding they are almost grown up ..pretty dresses or not.

The whole preparation was a long way from my own experience  .....mine was lovely but oh just so much more simpler....nails and professional makeup were never on my radar and mum made my very simple but elegant dress for the evening.

I have enjoyed watching our girl maneuver through this time and was super proud last night as she drove off in the Stretch Hummer with all her friends.

Apparently being the Belle of the Ball was never on this girls radar...but being voted Best Dancer of the night by her peers was certainly the highlight of the night for this dancing girl of ours.

Now just to get back to a little reality and the business of finishing this year in style and working hard at chasing down those opportunities for next year and beyond.

The boy milestone

This week we hit a milestone in our family.

It was transition day for high school for our boy .

He was excited....I was not...

He didn't really know what lie ahead...I did

I am struggling to come to a heart place where I can see my self sending off my baby....to the jungle...

Well, we still have the rest of this year but this day was all about forcing me and enticing him in the next year and all that lies ahead.

My consolation was that his big sister was able to walk through the gates with him....give him a hello as they passed during the day , then walk the walk home with him.

He was a little disillusioned by the"big kids" around the school who seemed to be acting like "idiots"....oh such a harsh reality of joining older kids and going right back to being the little kids.

I was proud of him though.We encouraged him to apply for one of the specialist programmes on offer and as we "work-shopped" the application form he pushed through the overwhelming task of it all.

My heart is sad though that as siblings they won't be high school walking, talking buddies....but I am trusting that he can have just as smooth an experience as his sister in the next 6 years.  

Me, I will be working on putting on my big girl pants and coming to grips with the passage of another chunk of time and the realizations that it brings....I will no longer be the mum of a primary school child.....one child at school.....

But hey I get ahead of myself....lets just go back to being ready for the Monday morning that is on our doorstep tomorrow. x