Rainy Days.

My ideal way to spend a rainy cold evening is curled up in a cuddly blanket, reading a good book, with a cup of cocoa or hot tea nearby.  As with most ideals this never happens or at least hasn't in as long as I can remember.  The reality is that there are always 2 little ones around that seem to need more attention and entertaining on rainy days.

We had one such evening last Friday night.  We had a full day already and by late afternoon I wanted nothing more than to slip my warm p.j.'s on throw on a movie and settle in.  This was not on the cards however, since we had already committed to having 4 children from church over from after school until the youth group that night at 7.  Their mother is out of the country for a month, so we thought we would give the dad a bit of a break.  The kids are 13, 9, 6, and 4 and wonderful but absolutely FULL of energy.

We were sitting here amidst flying balls and children literally running all around the room when I was thinking, what can we do to occupy all of them without planting them in front of a tv which I hate.

 Ed was on wrestle duty.  They all had a blast.

What was something kids from 3-13 are interested in that I already had on hand, that wouldn't end up with something or someone broken? 

Cooking of course.  We pulled out my new and much loved mixer, broke out my favourite cookie recipe, all donned aprons, and set to work.  It was so much fun working there together, albeit  a little bit messy.  We had one egg on the floor, a bit of flour everywhere, and lots of sticky fingers, but in the end we had some yummy cookies to take a share with the other young people at the youth group that night and even some for them to take home as a treat.  

 Tilly and Favour manning the mixer

 Emmanuel toasting the pecans (sorry slightly blurry, need to use my real camera instead of the iPhone)

Tilly always ready to pose.

Here we are joined by Glory, Rejoyce, and Nathan as we rolled out the cookie balls. Ignore my scary look think I must have been watching Nathan doing something.

Nate is always ready with a helping hand.

We had a blast with the kids and when the night was over sleep came sweetly.  

Doing this also made me think about how important it is to add doing things like this to our schedule.   I am so incredibly blessed to have someone working along with me, but not everyone is.  I'm sure we all know single parents balancing it all on their own and working non-stop to do it.  I just encourage anyone reading this to think about how you can help, whether it's a meal to ease that need, or taking the kids for a while to give them some down time.  Or men if it means you looking to be a role model for kids, especially boys who don't have dads in their lives.  Also if you are a single parent, or even if you aren't and you need some help, please reach out and ask.  Sometimes people are willing and able they just don't know where to start, and until we are involved in each others lives and getting to know each other better we don't know where there is an opportunity to serve.   This week try to do something to make a difference.  

Cleaning out

I almost didn't make this post because of the lack of organisation it shows in me, but thought, hey we all have our trouble spots and it's good to show projects resolved.

We have been working on various cleaning/organising projects around out house lately.  We have a list of things that need to get done we keep on the refrigerator for those moments when we have a bit of time and think. . . hmmm  what is there to do around here.  I find having a posted list works best for us because it gives us focus.

This is a different list than just daily chores, they tend to be things that are important but not urgent needs.  One project for me is our front hall closet.  It currently contains, wrapping paper and bags, tubs of medicine, gifts for people, my sewing machine and bins of fabric, it is a bit of a mishmash in there.

 Today's chore with organising the closet was to go through the 4 tubs (that's right) 4 tubs of medicines and throw out anything expired and tidy it all up.  It terrified me when I had it all out on the counter to organise to realise just how much medication we have on hand.  We tend to be minimalist when it comes to taking medicine, I guess that it why it surprised me so much.    We only take a multivitamin each and I can't tell you the last time I took something for a headache, but there it all was, something for every ailment.  I think much of it came from our recent bought of what I like to refer to as the plague.  The month long sickness that kept morphing from one symptom to the next after we returned from our trip back to the U.S.

So first things first, I removed all the tubs from the closet and put everything out on the counter to go through.

Can we all say Yikes together?

There was much sorting and much purging being done here.  

And the piece de resistance. 

That is right, you read it correctly, the expiration date on that medication is 2000!   It was only one small pill, how did this little thing find it's way here and why in the world do I still have it?  I have to admit I was tempted to keep it just for humour value, but the need to clean was too strong and a picture would suffice Guess it was about time to do a thorough sweep of the medicine boxes.

Now it's all neat and tidy and restricted to one bin.  

All similar things are put into labeled baggies so they are easy to find, and I have much more room in my soon to be craft closet.

Do you have an area that seriously needs sorting?  What are your trouble spots?  How do you attack these and keep them organised?

Family Day

We've discovered that with some things if you don't schedule them in to your day or week then they tend to get overlooked or pushed aside .  This was the case with our family time.  Although we do spend a lot of time together each day, playing, reading, and just the mundane day to day, we weren't taking focused time to spend together enjoying each other as a family. 

 It seemed like there was always more to do than time to do it, people who needed us, chores that needed getting done, lessons that needed to be written etc.  Since we are blessed with working with a church we try to be flexible with our time and energy, so our family days get moved around a bit, but we schedule in at least half a day of focused family time each week.  

Family day can constitute different activities (a list of ideas is composing itself for a later post), some family days we spend the time working together and try to emphasise the point  that as a family it's important to help each other.  Other days we try to do something fun and different.  

We have started scheduling this day in each week and it has been something we all look forward to.

Our family days are usually on Thursday's but the way things fell this week we were together on Friday instead.  We went to the chiropractor this morning, then headed down to Fremantle, one of our families favourite areas in Perth.  They have a wonderful fruit and veg market, all sorts of yummy little places to eat, and a great playground. 

First off we hit up the markets where we bout some yummy fresh fruit.

Then we grabbed a family favourite a couple of homemade organic (that means healthy right) donuts.  They kids got a chocolate filled one and Ed and I shared a blackberry jam one.  YUM!!! I was enjoying eating them so much that I forgot to take a picture until after we were all through.

 Then it was off to the playground to expend some energy before the rain set in.

 She is such a cheese.

It started to rain so it was back to the car to head home for some much needed naps.  Nate couldn't quite make it home.

Aren't they sweet when they are asleep?  

It was such a great morning spending time together enjoying each others company, we are so blessed.  

What kind of things do you enjoy doing together as a family?  Do you have special time each week set apart to spend together?  

Spring has Sprung

September is my favourite month here in Perth.  If you are contemplating a trip to the land down under this time of year is  spectacular.  

We were not in Australia last September. We were able to take a trip home to see our families in the U.S. and take a side trip to Paris.  I most definitely would not have traded that trip to be here, but it has made me appreciate the brilliance of this September even more. 

Everywhere you look there are blooms.  Driving along, the medians of the road are awash in pinks, purples, and yellows.  Wildflowers and trees are full of colour.  As barren and dry as Australia can be, it shows it's full colours through September, and makes it hard to imagine a time that is not filled green and lush and vibrant.  It is a glorious time of year. The time of year that makes you glad to be alive and able to spend time outdoors.  

The air is starting to get warmer.  The sun seems to shine brighter.

The kids can play outside and absorb a little of nature's vitamin D.   This is the first time we've been able to open up the sand box since last summer because the sand has been so wet.  (Ignore the weeds, that is on the to do list)

We've planted a little garden.  We are growing lettuce, spinach, a couple different varieties of tomatoes, capsicum (aka bell pepper), and garlic.  We also have a lemon, lime, and mandarin tree growing along with a few herbs.  The kids love helping with the garden and were so excited to get to harvest their first greens last night for a salad we were taking to friends.  

We didn't have a clothes dryer the first 4 years we lived here and even though now we do, I try to use it as little as possible, so the nice warm sunshine is very welcome.  The clothes on the line dry more quickly and come in smelling of sunshine and warm air. 

September is beautiful here, and even though I miss the fall back home, we are SO blessed to be able to enjoy the splendours of spring.