Monkey Tails.

It was a morning spent visiting with our friends. The children picked "monkey tails" at the park and here they are making a raft out of them. 

It's been an incredibly heavy week as we've had to front up and make hard calls about a relationship our family has had. After struggling for some time, we made the decision to step away in favour of something more life-giving. Feelings are hurt, words have been exchanged, and it's a lot to grapple with at the moment. Still processing this. 

"If you can keep your head when all about you   

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too; 

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise...

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!" 

- If, by Rudyard Kipling 

Primary School Orientation.

Our little man had his primary school orientation this morning, and met his teacher and classmates. It was such a blessing to discover that he already knows two children in his class. 

The bigs and some of their friends crowded in the classroom to be with him as our little man walked in for the first time. He confidently explored the classroom, but got teary when I left to go for a briefing by school leadership. 

Thankfully, Ella, a familiar face and classmate, came to the rescue and stayed with him. They played together throughout morning tea and have already requested a play date. 

 

The bigs came to check in on him at morning tea and I was glad to hear him call out, "bye mum!" as he dashed back to play after handing me his lunchbox.

A new chapter awaits, my dear. 

Monkeys.

Just another morning spent on the walls for these two. :)

The School Fair & Our Loot.

We spent the morning at the husband's college school fair. 

our little man on the bouncy castle

It's been years since we last went for the fair and the children were brimming with excitement. They each had $20 to spend on toys and they sure got their money's worth.

Puzzles, board games and other knick knacks filled our boot (I'm glad I drove) and they spent the entire afternoon playing with all the toys. Best money spent because no one asked for tv or screen time once all afternoon.

My first time playing Battleship.

What a day!

The boys are also moving into a shared room tonight. Our big girl has been quite apprehensive about the move as she's shared rooms with her big brother for as long as she can remember. It's a big change for her. She's rooming in with us for a few days until she gets her bearings. 

We've spent some time doing up the boys' room so it feels like they are moving into a new space. More decor to come from them and the budget they've been given.

Our big boy's own bedside space inside what used to be a wardrobe. (We removed the door and repurposed the space.)

The week ahead will be full, and promises to zoom by. Here we go, into week 9.

Sacrament of Confirmation.

It's been a whirlwind of a week that saw our big boy receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. 

Our dear friend made many sacrifices to be there for him as his sponsor and we're very grateful.

We're over the HFMD bug but our big girl was not feeling great earlier this week and was home for a couple of days.

messy play with tapioca pearls and food colouring.

Our family is currently enjoying putting together jigsaw puzzles. 500 piece ones are manageable and at $3 each from the Op Shop, it's forgiveable if a piece is missing. Our extendable dining table means that the work-in-progress can live on one side while family meals can still happen on the other side. It's entertainment that's constantly available and it's hard to walk by without trying to put in a piece or two!

March has been a full month. Looking forward to the weekend.

Doodle.

We took down a wardrobe door over the weekend and the children were thrilled to be able to doodle all over it. 

Celebrating St Joseph's feast day, the children got to exercise their carpentry skills:

I'm glad Papa was on hand to guide them. Playing to our strengths.

St Joseph, pray for us.

Morning @ The Games Arcade.

Our plans to visit the games arcade this morning were derailed when we found sores on our littlest lady. Round 2 begins!

No matter, we got lolly bags from the dairy and staged our own indoor arcade games, thanks to the creativity and flexibility of our bigs.

Claw machine:

Bowling:

Guess-where-the-candy-is by our master trickster. Even Aunty Val was invited to play when she happened to make a video call while this was going on.

Not fun to be going through the motions again for the bug, but just making the most of the situation. We indulged in pizza and chicken nibbles because the little man can eat again, and while our little lady still can.

On The Mend?

The little man slept well last night, and I'm hoping we're turning a corner. He was in better spirits and able to play. He asked to do "volcano", which essentially meant baking soda and vinegar play. One thing led to another and.... Well I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

There was a fair bit of clean up to do after, a large part of which involved pink bathtub water.

He ate and drank a little more than he did yesterday. He also seemed much more keen to have something other than yoghurt, smoothie or ice blocks. So determined, that he slurped his entire dinner of udon soup through a bubble tea straw. Success!

That's one determined little fellow right there.

Getting the children involved in craft to prepare for St Patrick's Day on Friday.

School's closed tomorrow as primary and secondary teachers will be going on strike. It's a pity that this country hasn't recognised how valuable teachers are and that this needs to happen regularly for them to be given better working conditions.

Mouth Sores Are A Pain.

The husband and I were battle-worn soldiers at the end of the day and it showed in our tired rosary at the end of the day.

Our little man struggled with not being able to eat his favourite foods today. He requested noodles for lunch and burst into tears, screaming, when he realised it hurt too much to eat any of it. We have an expanding list of food to eat when he's better, that he says will feature all in one meal:

- Pizza 

- Noodle soup

- Blue cheese and crackers

- Miso soup

- Bolognese pasta

Yoghurt, smoothies and ice blocks sustained him today.

His response to the inability to eat is revealing what a foodie he is, and a savoury one at that. 

The littlies enjoyed a bit of messy play thanks to our neighbour who brought over some baking soda ice cubes. The addition of shaving foam, vinegar and food colouring made for a solid 45 minutes of engaged play.

It's an uphill struggle at the moment, but there is hope in remembering that this too shall pass.

HFMD.

Our little man has Hand Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD). It has been a trying day. His mouth ulcers have made basic activities like eating and teeth brushing difficult and it's hard to watch him struggle.

Our bigs had this back in 2016, but I don't remember it being quite as hard back then. One day at a time.

Making "sweet apple" aka stewed apple for tea

He managed to make pie crust for quiche. 

His symptoms got worse as the day progressed, and he started the day in good spirits. The way it's looking, we might be sucking on ice blocks and watching lots of tv tomorrow. He's in bed beside me now... Fingers crossed for a smooth night.

Child's Play.

Our bigs were hard at work this afternoon, creating a Lego model of our parish, complete with Holy Mass in progress. A great way for them to learn the names of objects in church and pay closer attention to the order of the liturgy. It was beautiful to see creativity intersecting with the divine in child's play. 

I made traditional hot cross buns for tea today. Not everyone's cup of tea but I figured I'd do something different before I make the chocolate version later on. I enjoyed them more than I thought I would. 

I'm glad the weekend is here. March is turning out to be quite a full month, and our little lady is working her way through a particularly screamy phase at the moment which is not so much fun. Her tantrums far outstrip those of her siblings, possibly even them all put together. Praying for the grace to ride through this with her. That or a good set of earplugs.

Sweet Treats.

Our littlest lady greeted Papa this morning with a chirpy,"I sleep in my bed!" She had indeed slept through the night in her own bed. Success! The sticker chart our big girl made her is proving to be an excellent incentive.

It was a pretty relaxed day for the littlies and I at home; we watched a little bit of TV and made meringues & doughnuts for the family. The littlies tried their hand at piping meringue and cutting out doughnut shapes. 

The bigs were delighted to have such a decadent afternoon treat ready for them after school. 

Our big boy surprised us all by offering to babysit our 5 month old neighbour while his mum went to pick his older brother up from kindy. All four children showered heaps of affection on this little guy while his mum was gone. I took a back seat and kept an eye on them while enjoying a cuppa with the husband. It's moments such as these that give us a glimpse of our big boy growing in charity and trustworthiness as he heads toward adolescence.

Transitions.

Our big boy receives the Sacrament of Reconciliation at church tomorrow, the first of three sacraments he will receive over the coming months. We've had many conversations with him and he's as ready as he will be. 

The last few nights have been spent transiting our little lady out of our bed, three years and a bit after she moved in. She's decided against moving rooms and has chosen a mattress on the floor of our room. She's not happy at all about the new arrangement and she's made her displeasure clear. "Why do I always have to sleep there?" There have been tears, too. Yet, for the sake of quality sleep for the husband and I, we will persevere. 

Our little man has graduated from above-mentioned mattress and is now in his own room, on a top bunk. Our bigs have swopped in and taken it upon themselves to keep him company. They're both sleeping in his room with him, one in the bottom bunk and one on the floor. We're very blessed to have the bigs who are nurturing and loving siblings.

Puzzled!

Two evenings of puzzling away and our family has completed our first proper puzzle, all 500 pieces of it. Given the nature of the puzzle, it was just within reach for our youngest ones but challenging enough for us adults too. 

Continuing first thing this morning:

Our finished work:

It was something everyone could do, and everyone had a part to play in ensuring our youngest ones felt included too. Our little man was surprisingly independent at picking a section and working at it. Our littlest was exhausted by the end of the first evening but she refused to go to bed until it was done.

We puzzled along to our current favourite soundtrack, The Greatest Showman, and the children sang along to all their favourite songs. It was such a wonderful experience and the memories are the best part.

Done with the puzzle, our little man got busy tonight helping with the week's cooking. He's making Japanese curry for lunchboxes.

Playground Day and Homemade Yoghurt.

"I don't need your help, mum. I can do it myself." Spoken like a little boy who's getting ready to go to primary school. :)

We're soaking in as much time at playgrounds and parks as we can, these days, especially with the lovely weather we have been having.

We spent a good amount of time wandering among the trees and looking out for cicada shells. Cicada nymphs live underground for years and emerge to shed their exteriors and mate. We collected many of the shells on tree trunks. Nothing like a good treasure hunt to pass the time!

We've recently started making our own yoghurt at home. Our big boy, who doesn't usually eat the commercially bought yoghurt, loves the home made stuff. Funny. Thanks to a thoughtful gift card from Ligna, we received a box of yoghurt making accessories and sachets this afternoon. The sachets are mixed with water, put in a hot water bath in the yoghurt maker, and left to set for about 8-12 hours. Each child got to choose a preferred flavour of yoghurt. We've got a brood of children looking forward to having some freshly made yoghurt tomorrow morning.