FIVETRIBE

School News It has been so long since my last post and I feel the need to just capture some photos and thoughts for posterity. The obligatory school photo – very sweet The girls are both doing exceptionally well at school. They enjoy every aspect of school life; I can already see the peer pull on Rachel as her relationships are cemented with these young classmates she has had for 4 years. I am thankful for each of my kids friends – each one of them kind and loyal. I remind myself now that I need to pray regularly for the relationships that my kids form with friends as they grow up – as an adult I remember very well the importance and influence of friendships. They recently had Grandparents Day at the school – I am so grateful that we live close to at least one set of grandparents – the kids so love having them come in a look at their classes, workbooks etc. The kids put on a little recital and generally just spend time showing their grandparents what school is all ...

I am either suffering writers block or my blog is just boring the inspiration right out of my head. Honestly, its like….bleh. Here are a few headlines going on – sometimes bullets help clear the cobwebs. Levi has 8 days left of school and then is on holiday until the end of January. This scares me. He is not like my girls…he expects me to PLAY with him all.the.time. In these 8 days I have to get so much done that I am not sure I know where to start. My char also leave me in 8 days. She will be gone for 2 months too. I know I sound like a princess but stuff it. Being at home for 2 solid months alone with my kids with no home help in this slab of a house that requires constant cleaning is NOT exciting for me at all. Bah humbug I am hoping Russ takes a week (or more??!!) off to break the holidays a bit. BUT I am really relishing the thought of a break from school routine and extramurals – no rushing, no deadlines. We are finally paving our patios and our pool. Its been 5 ye...

The weekend has gone by in a blur. Thankfully. When Russ is away it can draaaag by painfully. The kids have been a bit out of sorts and I have had to raise my voice a bit more than usual….eventually I banished them to the playroom and told them to find something QUIET and INDIVIDUAL to do…I couldnt take the squabbles any longer. love it when my kids play and get creative. this space in my home is the bomb! Levi collected  the little bike on Friday that he won in the Airmune lucky draw at our local mall….it looks better than it is …. sadly it is severely substandard chinese junk. One rotation on the pedal and the chain comes off…. Anyway – there was great excitement that we *won* and he will get his picture in our local paper. Rach is over the moon with her hair. She has very frizzy, unmanageable hair and for years has yearned for straight smooth lockes.  I found a local hairdresser who has been able to use a protein treatment to smooth her hair for a couple of we...

I have been reading through some of my old blog posts and realised I simply do not take enough photographs of our everyday lives anymore. I can easily identify what it is I LOVE in my old posts – I love getting such a clear picture of how I spent my time year by year. I love seeing how the playroom looked back then and how it has evolved as my kids have grown up. I love seeing certain items of clothing my kids used to wear. There is so much in the everyday that we simply dont see unless we begin to look for it. I need to get back to basics with blogging. It is not about only telling highlights, funny or sad stories. It is not simply for amusement or a place to vent. It is first and foremost an everyday record of our daily lives. With this in mind, I kept my wildfire in my back pocket today and simply took random photos. I know these will tell their own story in years to come. She wanted to *scrapbook* the cover of her new drawing book. Setting ...

Levi had his tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy yesterday. We were at the hospital by 7.15am and decided to fast along with him in sympathy. (he ate supper the night before)  The ward was pretty darn full and they went in age – from youngest to eldest which meant he went into surgery at 1040am…. The calm exterior didnt fool me...i know that look and those busy little fingers. My brave boy, keeping it together. We had a 3.5hour wait in that ward. Not ONCE did he complain – not about hunger, thirst, boredom – NOTHING. He is amazing; I remember he was exactly the same for his gland op in January. We did a fair amount of people watching, listened to some music, played some games but mainly we just hung out. It was such a blessing to have Russell with me – just his calming presence was so reassuring. Russ went into theatre with him to be with him until he was under. I couldnt face doing that again after the last traumatic experience. I must add that EVERY woman there had ...