Weekend and Phobia

Happy Monday everyone,

It’s been a quiet and hot weekend in these parts.

Saturday was very uneventful as hubby worked and I tackled housework. Saturday is my cleaning day, the day I restore our nest to its livable conditions. I guess with me working full time, I gave up to the fact that my house it’s not gonna look like a catalogue photo every day (not that it ever does anyway). I must say that I personally think we are doing really well, that means I don’t fall into desperation every time I walk in through the door. I do the dishes every morning before leaving and my laundry is always washed (folded is a different story).
So on Saturday after hubby got back from work, we went swimming. It was 39C here and we were cooking. Sunday wasn’t much different, after church we got to hang out with some real cool friends, we went for a drive enjoying the cool air conditioner, more swimming. The weekend never lasts long enough.

Weekends are great but I have a confession to make. Lately I have been feeling scared.

TERRIFIED

I have one word for it: Cockroaches

It seems like we have an infestation at home. I have phobia of cockroaches. Actually my whole family does apart from my mum. My dad, two brothers and a sister, we all inherited this illogical fear of the ugliest and grossest bug there is. At the moment we’re getting one or two every day which is way too many. I honestly haven’t even seen a cockroach in a long time (8 years of New Zealand living and one year of Australia – but it has changed since I moved to Perth – we live across the road from the river and also a swamp and it does not help that we have scorching hot weather either)

I have a super trained eye that can spot them even in a dark room. This super powers do not work in other situations but I am a super cockroach spotter. Hubby thinks it’s hilarious that I completely freak out and I can’t be in the same house as a cockroach. So you can see how having an infestation is a problem. A big problem. It leads to extreme paranoia, visions, loud screaming, tears and loss of control.

Yes, we are gonna get the house sprayed for bugs. They have a waiting list, it’s the high season apparently.

Meanwhile I am armed with my cockroach spray, super vision super powers and tissues (for my scared tears)

Things that kids say

I am not likely to post on the weekend as we have no internet connection at the moment (I know!!)

But I wanted to post today to reassure myself that I am indeed back this time. So here I am and this is a short post but it's funny.

My boy is 5 - and I love him, I love how his little mind works and how he asks 125673456 questions in a single minute. But lately he has been saying the funniest things, like:

'Mum, why didn't you name me Josh, I want to be called Josh...' Ok, why didn't I know that before?

and

'Mum, when am I going to be a street kid?' No idea where he got that from

And he also decided that armpits are really disgusting and he makes me laugh everytime he sees someone's armpit

Love my boy

The resurrection of the blog

Well, it's me again, trying to resurrect my blog...... again!

Every once in a while I have the urge to write my thoughts and feelings, but have not had the courage to commit to writing a blog again because I know I will get busy and I will be likely to stop... again.

But here I am and this is what has been going though my head and my life lately. I have a lot on my mind so I am just gonna write. And I better let you know, in case you are looking for clever writing or words of inspiration, I am sorry to disappoint. I am just going to write and post this, and that's usually my writing style. It might not make sense sometimes, other times I must just say a lot on a lot of different subjects in one single post. It's just a warning and I do hope you stick around.

So where to begin? Just a brief catch up on how things are going in our corner of the world.... the weather has been very hot which means lots of swimming. We are really blessed to live very close to the beach, so we enjoy it whenever we can. Summer has officially ended and we are in the middle of a heat wave - it's supposed to be 40 degrees on Sunday (102F). As a family, this is the hotter summer we experienced, moving to Australia we knew the weather was a lot hotter than what we are used to, and I must say we are coping quite well.

I am still working full time but this time, I am mostly enjoying it (apart from being too tired in the evenings). Hubby is back at work but still deciding what is best for us as a family after being off work for so long (due to spinal surgery). Kids have been busy with school. Elijah has started school full time and that means my baby is finally a 'big boy'. Where has time gone?

I have been so caught up with the busyness of life and sometimes it's so hard to appreciate moments, specially when I am so tired and grumpy.

At lunch time yesterday, I found myself reading a blog about a mom and her little girl drowned. The grief, sorrow that come to her and her family and it really brought tears to my eyes as I read her journey through her beautiful writing.

I really felt so blessed to have my kids being healthy and happy, even if they drive me crazy sometimes. It made me vow to myself that I will try really had not to let the 'green eyed mummy monster' visit us anymore. I love my kids with all my heart and I want them to remember me as being a good and patient mum, and not being impatient and intolerant. It's so easy to get carried away and get wrapped up in our own moment, it's hard to decide which battles to fight instead of fighting them all and die from exhaustion and guilt. Kids always seem to quickly forget our wrong doings and forgive us and love us no matter what and that's amazing.

Being a parent is tough. Because we love our kids so much but sometimes other things get the best of us. Tiredness, grumpiness, moodiness - you name it. But think about it, we are so blessed to be able to kiss our munchkins good night even if we are having a bad day. Some parents don't get to do that anymore. And it is so sad. I feel so sad for that mum. I felt her raw emotions and prayed and prayed that I NEVER get to feel them.

So the lesson learned here was very strong and very real. I will love my little ones because they grow up very fast and soon I will be missing the times they were little. I will renew my vows to myself every time I feel like green eyed mummy wants to come around. I never want to see that lady again.

I am back!

Long time no see! A very long time no see!

I am not going to give excuses for being away for such a long time. Let’s just say life happened and I went along with it. A lot has happened since I was last here, so I better start from the beginning…

Well, when I last wrote here, we were living in Mt. Gambier, South Australia. We now live in Perth, Western Australia, and we lived in Adelaide for 6 months. A lot of moving around, yes, and this is why…

When we decided to relocate to Aussie, it was because my hubby was offered a job in Mt. Gambier. We had a five to ten year plan to stay there – but God had a different plan for us. We arrived in Mt Gambier in June 2010, by the time it was January 2011 it was clear that my hubby was in a lot of pain. After visiting doctors, and eventually a surgeon, it was established that he needed spinal fusion surgery! And 6 months recovery after surgery – which meant I would have to go back to working full time and he was going to do the stay-at-home-dad for a while. So with that in mind, we moved to Adelaide in April 2011, so I could find work and it was where surgery was going to take place.

He finally had his surgery in July, and thank God it all went well. What did not go well was my job search. I wasn’t able to find full time employment and I had temporary jobs for the whole six months we were in Adelaide. God blessed us immensely during that time, gave us some life long friends, and we were never in need of anything. But the stress of not having a stable income was taking its toll on our family and after 6 months of searching, we decided to broad the search to Perth, for two reasons: I have family here and Western Australia is going through a massive boom economically because of the mining sector. So I started applying for jobs and a week later, I kid you not, I had a full time job. So it was like having a confirmation on what we had to do, so finally, in October this year, we came to Perth.

We have been here for nearly 4 weeks now and we love it. The kids started going to a Christian school and they are very happy. I have started working and really enjoy my job. One last thing that needs to fall into place is, we going to move to our own house on the 19th November and we cant wait. We have been staying with my brother and his wife, in their ONE bedroom apartment. Let’s just say we are a bit squashed and my kids don’t have control of their volume sometimes, hehe.

What a journey! Even though we feel like we haven’t had a ‘proper’ start here in Australia, we can definitely say we have seen God’s care all the way. God provided for us in a way we would not think possible. He used people to bless and humble us when we saw no light in the end of the tunnel.

Sometimes it’s hard to understand why things happen the way they do, but no matter what happens, God is always there. Which in itself is a very humbling thought, why us, the undeserving people who are always impatient, unsatisfied, worried? Because He loves us – why? - that’s mystery in itself.

yep, it's me!

I know I have not been as good as writing here as I should. I have been trying to get inspired and write meaningful things but to be honest, I can't seem to find my light.

What have we been up to? Well... not much. You know the same old wake up-get ready-clean-cook sort of routine. I have been venturing out a little but the weather has been so miserable that it's hard to plan anything. Ughhh, wet weather is not great is it? The lawns are so long now it looks like we live in the jungle. But can't mow them until this rain decides to give us a break.

I found a really cute shop in town, it's an antique shop and I love it. I also have been browsing around, getting to know this place a bit better.

Other than that, I am planning Allyah's birthday party which will happen next weekend. It will be at the park - weather permitting of course. For the first time, I will be making the decorations, so watch this space....

If there is anyone that even still reads my blog, don't be shy! Say hello! Make my day :)

Who's the bargain queen??

I AM THE BARGAIN QUEEN!
Well. I have to admit. I NEVER pay full price when it comes to clothes or shoes. I actually mean it, our money is hard earned and I dare not pay $50+ for a pair or pants of shoes. No my friends, this mum does not do that. And I must add that I don't have anything against people who does, just so we're clear. I love second hand shops and half of my wardrobe is thrifted!

So today I was in town and after I got a call from school to come and get Isabella who apparently was sick (trust me, that child is NOT sick, she can really put it on - so we're home and she wants to play outside, hmmm, sorry dear, sick people stay in bed...) I ventured into one of the shops here and I was giddy! Give me $20 and I can get a lot. To be exact, I spent $18. I got two jackets for me, one pair of really good pants for Isabella, one for Allyah, one for Elijah, a toy spider man and toy ten pin bowling game for the kids! So, two jackets, three pair of pants and two toy items for $18!
Not mentioning when I went to K-Mart I got a jumper for $5 and a maternity skirt for $3 (the skirt is very vintage and I wear it as a top... I should take photos!)

I only buy good quality and I have to like it, I don't buy it just because it's cheap. But it is always cheap and that's a bonus!

Like I said, bargain queen is my middle name!

Maybe I should expand and share my bargain hunting tips? Would anyone be interested in that? Leave me a comment if you would!

I LOVE fridays!

Even if I am at home and my days are pretty much free (well... we are not counting housework and climbing Mt Laundry here - even though they do take a lot of my time, humph) there is something about fridays. Would you agree?

Is it the " I don't have to get up so early and rush like a mad woman to get the kids to the school bus" feeling?
Or the "even though hubby is working this weekend we still get to spend time together as a family" feeling?

I don't know but whatever it is, I just have to declare my love publicly: Friday, I love you. You are wonderful and you make my heart sing!
Hehehe

Now that that is out of the way, here is the linky party for today:


If you are here for new friend Friday, welcome!! Make yourself at home :)

who knew

that moving here would keep me away from blogging? Ugh, I am finding hard to find words to write even though we got lots going on, there is nothing going on really if you know what I mean.

I have been busy being a stay at home mum and trying to conquer Mount Laundry - the weather has been atrocious and we haven't got a dryer. We have an awesome fireplace that has been on non-stop and I do try and dry the laundry but it takes two days to dry and I can't keep up.

Tomorrow we have an appointment with a doctor - to enroll in the system which will be handy. There is so much that needs to be done and I am so not used to being at home. Sometimes I get so tired, just because I am not doing anything, like yesterday, I could have gone to bed mid morning, I was so tired - but my handsome little boy is not interested if mum is tired or not.

My house is starting to look normal. I finally organised the boxes we sent over and the kids are sleeping on beds, unlike hubby and I - we're still floor bound until we decided to buy a new bed due to Jason's back pain issues - but that might take a while yet.

So even though life is busy, it is uneventful.

I need something to do though. I don't like staying home all that much, I need some brain stimulation.

Feeling crafty and church news

Yesterday for the first time I got my stuff out and created something. I had no idea what it was going to be when I first started but I ended up with this:

I know everyone is making these, but they are so awesome, and I really love fabric flowers, so why not? Isabella loved it too and she wore it the whole day and everywhere we went, people asked where I got it from, so it's specially nice to say I made it myself.
(I must say photos are not great as I have not got a camera and I have been taking photos with my Iphone)

Once the girls start school next week I will have a bit more time to start all my crafty projects, I have been craving for some crafty time - but it is specially hard to do anything when the kids are around.

I have been here for three weeks now and I can say that we found a church to go to. This is such a relief, we can start to become part of a family again. It's amazing how God's people embrace you just because you love Jesus! No matter who you are or where you are from (cheesy Backstreet Boys song, hehe).
Last Sunday we went to the Mount Gambier Baptist Church and I was truly overwhelmed by people's friendliness. Everyone took their time to come and introduce themselves and talk. So we were the last ones to go home, I think for a first visit that is pretty good. We were invited for lunch, for dinner and a birthday party! We couldn't go for lunch as Jason was busy, but dinner and birthday party was great, it is so good to meet some people, people you get along with and have lots in common with!
So we went back to the same church yesterday, and again, people are so friendly! So we got a couple more invitations and met some more people. I don't think there is a better way of connecting with people and forming friendships. I just feel like one of them, there were no clicks, no exclusion because we are new, they made us feel welcomed, no matter what!

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

John 13:34-35


PS. I am linking up to:



:) Leave a comment if you feel like it!

Trying to create new normal

We have been here for two weeks now. Time flies doesn't it? Since we got here we have been trying to create a new normal, which has been kids hard as it is school holidays for the next week and a half, which means I still did not get the chance to explore town properly - I would not even attempt it with three kids in tow.

We knew it would be a big change, and it is. Everything is different from what we are used to. If you think about it, even things like TV programs and how the mail system works. So we still have a lot of discovering to do. I can't imagine what it would be like to go to a different language speaking country - at least that is the same, minus the Australian accent!

The kids spend most of their time playing outside, we haven't got any toys, well, a couple of toys, but my kids love being outside even if the weather is miserable like it has been, this week we did have a couple of days of sun which is great. So they make huts, they make houses, mailboxes, they cook in their little pretend stove, they breathe the fresh air, they spend a lot of energy!

As for me, I am still getting used to not rushing around. Going from full time work to being a stay at home mum is quite a big change. Now I do the laundry, dishes, tidy up after the kids... I have to admit, I do like being busy sometimes and I will need to find myself something to do soon, not work, just perhaps, recreational purposes courses? Hmmm... I really need to have a look and see whats available, I am thinking I want to learn to sew! So I can carry on with my crafts, I can't wait to get back into it again.

We finally bought table and chairs - something I always took for granted. After two weeks eating standing up (kids cant eat on the couch, the spill their food in the carpet - BIG MESS), it's great sitting at the table as a family again. Normality is slowly creeping in and I am happy about it.

ON Friday, Bella turns six! Can't believe she will be a big six year old. It's quite scary! We're having a little party for her, we have invited a couple of people, hopefully it will give me a chance to get to know some people better too.

I think that's it from me today. I am finding it hard to remember to write in here, I think I am still a bit out of sync with my routine, but we will get there... eventually.