Sick days and Gratitude

It has been a seriously crazy week and a half here.

Firstly we had Sarah and Hannah come down with the flu and 4 days later Olivia and Jessica catch it.  It was a shocking flu!  Olivia and Jessica were hit particularly bad.  None of my kids have never been so sick before!  The annoying thing was that just when they were starting to look like they were on the mend their temperatures would shoot up again well into the 39s.

Last Monday morning was the worst I have experienced and I was right on the edge of my seat wanting to take Olivia to hospital.  I knew that if I could get her temperature down she would be ok, but it was early and we had to wait for the chemist to open to buy more panadol.  Olivia was hallucinating and seeing all sorts of things in the room.  We can laugh now about the things she was saying but at the time it was scary.

At one point Olivia was telling off Sarah for being in her way of the TV - we had neither a TV or Sarah in the room!  Other things she said was "I don't know how Daddy can balance on the roof", and "look at the big rings on the wall", "wow, look at the big snake mummy", and "I have ants on my socks!" Once we got some panadol into her it was only about 5-10 minutes until she was making sense again (and I was a shakey nervous wreck!)

Anyway, since seeing this quote a few months ago I began a gratitude journal - just one line a day.

And since there is always, always, always something to be grateful for, here's what I wrote last week:


-  It's only the flu
-  Mum and Dad calling several times a day to check on the girls.
-  Our awesome family doctor who understands and communicates well.
-  Downton Abbey (Thanks Kylee!)
-  For panadol, neurofen and vicks
-  Mel's lemon meringue blessing
-  Good old family favourite Honey Rissoles and ice-skating in the city
-  Josh's helpfulness
-  A pastor not concerned with popularity but our salvation
-  The smell of Coco Chanel perfume throughout the house since Jess broke the bottle on the tiles!

So if you're looking for me this week - I'll be disinfecting everything :)

Have a wonderful week!

Ten Things

I am a fairly organised person.  I do not like to do things last minute, I hate it when I can't find something that I need and and I can not relax in a messy house.  I am, however, not necessarily a tidy person so I kind of work against myself! When I was little my mum would ask me to tidy my room so I would organise my closets and draws.  It didn't matter to me if my room was messy but it had to be organised!

Saying this, since having the girls I am finding it more and more difficult to stay organised and up to date with the things I need to do.  As I'm writing this post it is school holidays and the kitchen still has breakfast dishes all over it and the kids are watching ABC Kids in their pyjamas!  I definitely do not claim to be an expert.  I am learning.

Since I love the organisation blogs that inspire mums to work more efficiently, I thought I would just share a few things I have learnt over the past 10 years(!) as a mum that help me keep organised.

(I love this!  I'm not sure of the source though)

1.  Be up before and dressed before the children wake up and enjoy some quiet time to get on top of things.  I usually unstack the dishwasher, take the load of washing out of the machine, take care of the animals, prepare lunches for the day and get breaky ready.  Occasionally Jessica will wake up early but she's happy to have a bottle and watch ABC kids until breaky time.

2.  Have a fortnight of meals planned.  I only shop once a fortnight, so planing meals and having all the ingredients is essential.  Short trips to the shop for extra things can take a long time with little ones and I always tend to get extra things I did not plan on getting!

3.  Have a tub for each child.  These tubs are used for different purposes.  When I am folding the washing I put their folded washing into the tubs.  Sarah and Hannah put theirs away on their own and I help Olivia to do hers.   If the house is getting messy, like today, I will get the tubs out and fill them up with their belongings to pop away.

4.  A basket or tub at the end of the bench.  I am always finding random stuff left on the kitchen bench or through the family room.  I just pick it up and put it straight into the basket so I can stay on task with whatever I was doing.  When it's full  one of us will pop everything away.  This also helps the children to learn where everything goes.

5.  Put a load of washing on at night and wash every day!  Ideally I would fold and iron and put everything away on the same day but this is one of my downfalls.

6.  Have routine morning, afternoons and evenings for the children.  Between 7-9am and 4-7pm we have a fairly strict routine for getting out the door and getting homework, piano, bathing, etc. done.  I also must avoid the Internet in these times or my very best intentions will fall apart!

7.  If possible prepare in advance.  Whenever there is something coming up that I have to do such as Sunday School lessons or organising a party, I try to do as much as possible long before the mad rush.

8.  Prepare dinner early.  I often cook or prepare dinner in the morning to avoid the mad rush toward dinner time.  Having all the ingredients in the house and fortnightly menu definitely helps!

9.  Put the girls to bed on time.  This is not always possible with church commitments and busy evenings but it is definitely worth striving for.  All my girls (even Sarah who is 10) are in bed by 7.00-7.30 (unless The Voice is on!!)

10.  When I'm feeling snowed under, remind myself that this is the season of life for now and one day when my kids are all grown I'll miss it!

I'm always keen for new ideas if you want to share any tips to keep your household running smoothly!

Lullabies

When Sarah was a baby I wanted to have a special lullaby that I always sung to her, and all my children.  I remembered this one from 'Lady and the Tramp' - one of my favourite childhood movies.  I watched the movie and wrote down the words.  I don't even know if Youtube was around in 2002!

I have sung this song to all of the girls and they all love it!



Another lullaby we sang for Sarah was Rock-a-bye Baby but Josh changed the words to:

Rock-a-bye Baby, sofly to sleep,
When the moon shines, we'll hear not a peep,
When the dawn breaks the baby will stir,
And sunshine and morning, come to greet her.

I  love lullabys and have quite a collection of bedtime songs on my playlist that I play.  Here are some of our favourites that we sing:
I can sing a rainbow
Go to sleep now little one (Ballnina Bambino),
Warm little Kitty
Flow Through Me
Brahms Lullaby

I'd love to hear your favourite lullaby!

Mothers' day

I hope all you mothers out there had a wonderful mothers' day!

I certainly did, although I missed having my own mum in town.  I think this might even be the first time I have not been with my mum on mothers' day.  I miss you Mum!

The girls and Josh spoiled me with slippers and cute little cards and gifts they had made at school.  They declared that since it was mother's day I had to sit down and they would serve me.  That didn't last long because at the rate they were going it would have been lunch time before we got out the door!

We had a wonderful mothers' day service at church with several women and children sharing about their mothers and their experiences of motherhood.  A few of us sang 'the mom song' which was fun!

In the afternoon we came home for leftovers which suited me fine and I even managed to fit in a nap which I NEVER do!

I always find the time around mothers' day a very reflective time for me.  I tend to examine myself as a mother and can be quite harsh with myself and my expectations.  This year was different.  Not because I am doing everything I need to do or because I have lowered my expectations but because I have become more aware of the reality of motherhood.  I can not do everything, keep my house spotless with all washing and ironing up to date.  And that is not what motherhood is about anyway.  To me, in this season of life, being a good mother is about nurturing my children; being there when they need it most, praying for them, helping them, disciplining then and teaching them.  I saw this quote recently:

Available as a printable here 

I like that!  Anyway, I had not really planned to write about motherhood!  I don't share personal thoughts about myself easily.  I guess I just wanted to share this to encourage other mums to be yourself and not compare yourselves to others.

Anyway, I hope that all makes sense!

Have a wonderful week!

One little word.

The one little word seems to be the new years resolutions for many in blogsphere. I have had a 'one little word' for the past few years and I've been thinking about what my word will be this year. I have thought about having something spiritual or a word that will focus on getting fit again but I keep coming back to the same word!


My word may seem trivial and totally unspiritual, and uninspiring to you but in this season of my life, having young kids and staying at home full-time, I tend to forget to do this. I get so busy trying to keep the house tidy and keep up with washing and organising that this little thing gets neglected.


Can you sense the stalling..... I don't usually share things like this!

Anyway, for the sake of keeping myself a little bit accountable but also letting my guard down a little I will share my one little word for 2012.  

Hopefully throughout 2012 I can share how I'm going with this one little word :)

Have a wonderful week!  And don't forget to play!

Seven things...

A little reminder to get my priorities in order this week :)

Seven things for the week are:
1. Lots of hugs and kisses for the kids (and Hubby too!)
2. Relaxed bedtimes with a story and snuggles
3. Scrap a page for Olivia
4. Get into the garden
5. A meal from my new slow cooker (Thanks Pam!)
6. Try a farm animal from fondant
7. Cooking with the girls.

Sounds easy enough?!

Have a lovely week!