Only one life

Holiday reading. Jay thought he'd join in this time:

and meanwhile Joshua actually said he'd finish the dishes for me (totally his idea) ! I must say I had to get this on on camera. And check it out - he's actually smiling! Love, love LOVE it!

Well so far we have pottered about the house, Josh had a go at a Lego building Challenge in local shopping centre, stocked up on library books, we've had fun with an apple slinky machine and now Josh is off camping with Grandma! Haven't ventured too far with snoggly noses and barking coughs:)

I have found that the children just love for me to join them outside - to swing them on our tree swing, to lift up their legs onto the swinging bars, to lie in the grass while they jump all over me, to show me their goofy antics and when they turn ten to try out their new song lyrics :) Can't help but think of how quickly life passes and how important is the here and now...

When Papa arrived home tonight he said there was a car accident which blocked up the road a very long way in both directions. The cause: a fatal car accident. Someone didn't make it home from work. I guess you can see how my thoughts travelled?

Only one life, t'will soon be past.

Only what's done for Christ will last.

More Changes

Change. There has been a lot of it in our lives lately. Putting our Joshua in school (the sort you have to drive them to and let them sit with a bunch of other kids behind desks), trivial things like a pair of glasses for me (discovered I might just need some when squinting to see smaller print), Daddy starting work in the city (for the first time in our married life he now works outside the home!) watching my baby go from crawling to walking, discovering that my first born is not too far from adolescence and ... the list goes on.

Hmmm... some change I welcome, other things I am still adjusting to. I'll probably just begin to adjust by the time the next big change arrives. Sometimes change leaves me with that knotted- stomach-type-feeling. At other times I embrace it, like something new and treasured. And so I find myself at the present with all sorts of up and down feelings. What I love most is the certainty of Christ. Even though I age (squinting at small things, starting to look a more 'motherly' and less young and lithe... well maybe I just never was lithe, but you get my point...) and though I cannot stop (and really, would I always want to?) the changes around me.... I relish the fact - NO - I am satisfied, completely satisfied in the fact that Christ , MY Christ is still so very much the same as when I first came to know Him.... or rather as even Eve, the 'mother of all living' found him! The Lord don't change at all! Amen and Amen!

Framed!

Hanging pictures on the wall seems to be one of those jobs I leave till last... I am ashamed to say we still had Owen and Josh's very young photos on the wall - the other two... well hadn't made it yet... until....

I finally got some prints done and decided to use the odds and ends of frames I already had ... I was a bit nervous...

David had the great idea of laying the pictures out how I wanted them on a large sheet of card (or 9 joined up). Then all we had to do was measure down how far the hangers were on each picture, stick up our card and drill away (hoping, desperately hoping that all the holes were exactly right). Not really keen on the abstract, drill-holed look.

Well here's the finished product (one picture has the reflection of the light on it). Hard to see the touch of blue I added and the actual photos but maybe you get the idea?

I stuck two laminated printed out butterflies (moths?) there too, for good measure...

I like that I can easily print out smaller prints to update it. Can also add frames in this arrangement. I think it needs something tall-ish in the corner (bunch of fresh , full-bodied flowers), but sure beats looking at only half of my kids on the wall.

PS - as for those earlier photos I blogged about and had you vote on.... turns out some little fingers had fiddled with camera settings and they were an unusual size (narrower) so wouldn't work with frames very well...

I love walking by that wall and thanking the Lord for my beautiful family!

Dressin' up

It all started when the teddy fashion garments were re purposed into other, more creative statements of art:

mademoiselle in her ballarina netted leotard skirt - aka fascinator extraordinare:

undergarment princess

something a little arabesque?

some fashion statements being much more contemporary statements of colour rather than functional;)

And who couldn't resist such stuff and nonsense?

Potato people

Bubs went down for a snooze. Rosa and I snuggled up on the couch with Owen's library book, "Potato People" by Pamela Allen. I believe Owen has borrowed that one before, at least once....

After meeting the character Grandma, I loved the book. Nothing like a grandma who is willing to romp around on the floor with her grandson and make these creatures:

And so we decided to join her. Out came the potatoes, pins, string...

Here is my little crafter

The finished people. Kind of like us really. Mother and daughter. Fun

I guess in a couple of weeks we'll look quite wrinkly.

Enduring

Muddy roads, streets, a whiff of that 'flood smell' when we drive home, strange debri hanging up high in trees, litter lining the streets (gutted houses) and extra council workers, bob cats and 'flood tourists'....

that has been the 'norm' in nearby suburbia. While the floods didn't come near to our home we cannot be overwhelmed by the impact the floods have had on nearby surrounding suburbs.

David took this interesting photo after helping a friend clean up the mud which swamped her home.

...her Bible:

Aren't you glad the Word of God endures forever even when the paper ones don't!

Summer fun

Washing up was never so fun as when you have someone to share it with.

Half-size noodles are perfect for letting out steam! (clear out little ones:)

great way to get your brother for all those annoying things:)

Making water bombs.

Gotta love summer fun!

gifty things

Here are the little gifts I put together for some very special teachers. The team of teachers/teacher aides that teach Owen are a very special bunch.

Simple post-it-note covers. For Owen's class teacher and teacher aide I made simple boxes with a few extras.

I know they work so jolly hard! I just know. As a mum of one special need boy I know. I am so thankful for their help. Oh, how I wish they could know just how much I appreciate their dedication! Not sure I am good at expressing myself.

Shepherd boy Chrissy cards...

Thankyou Mr.Gupta!

For some cheap holiday fun check out this site:

http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/toys.html

I just love it~!

glorious mud!

Mud, mud, glorious mud! It truly was worth the clean up afterwards (well I still have more to do...) but I love the look on their faces.

It filled an otherwise boring and rainy Saturday afternoon.

Joshua especially loved the dirt factor so much that he has been begging to do it again.

Now what have I done?