the quilt

it's cheating really, 'cause technically it isn't finished yet. i ran out of red binding tape and still have three sides to go. but i couldn't resist trying it out. of course i initially imagined my kids dressed like they were from a catalogue posing happily. instead we went a la naturale - daggy clothes covered in lunch!!!!

home sweet home...

did my kids grow heaps in 6 days?? they met me at the airport last night which was a lovely surprise - N came running to me as the gate doors opened. i am sure he looks taller.

although i was working it was great to have a break and a bit of time away [shhhh - don't tell!] but any longer would have been too long.

and the hole in the backyard? i came home to our maple tree, planted. hopefully in a few years it will bring lots of shade for the kids to play under.

and look what was also on the camera. somebody who should have been sleeping got up to mischief with the nappy cream. needless to say the cd player in the background was plastered inside and out, so could not be rescued.

in Darwin i got to sleep all night. i even got to nap in the afternoons. i got to read lots, and to take my time eating. coffee was drunk while it was still hot! a cooked breakfast was provided each morning and my bed was made everyday.

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i took my journal while i was away (forgot the camera) and did something i don't usually do - read back through past entries. it was nice to read this:

13 May 2007: I think I'm pregnant. I've been feeling sick all week and it reminds me of being sick when I was pregnant with [N]. Will find out tomorrow. I hope so.

14 May 2007: I am 7 weeks pregnant! I knew it.

15 May 2007: Saw Dr M today. He calls this a miracle! He did an ultrasound to check all is where it should be. I saw the baby's heart beat. :-)

i don't usually get too personal, but when i got home i just had to check my journal from 2004, when i found out i was pregnant with N. it was quite different because we had to have assistance falling pregnant the first time:

25 October 2004: the gardenia is flowering and i am pregnant!

1 November 2004: Dr M said: "first of all, congratulations!" he did an ultrasound to check where the embryo was, and it was in the right place. there was a dark 5.8mm circle and that is the baby!

i'm about to head off with work for a few days. i know at night i will miss kissing my kids fluffy heads, but i also know as soon as my head hits the pillow i will be fast asleep!

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post in pictures

post #2

this is what we have been doing all afternoon. listening to Elizabeth Mitchell cd's. i came across her via another blog - can't remember which - but the music appealed to my memories of being little!
the song the whole family has really been getting into is "little bird". we love it and N particularly has enjoyed dancing to this one - coming up with some very cute moves, unless he sees you watching him ;-)

let us now praise famous men

...is the title of a book that i would like to read (one day in my lifetime...). i first came across it in about 1992 when i was at the UC library supposedly studying. i always ended up browsing in different isles to where i should have been researching!

it is a book based on a collaboration between journalist James Agee and photographer Walker Evans that began as an assignment from Fortune magazine to report on the lives of Alabama sharecroppers. the photographs are famous, in showing the conditions that the poorest of the poor lived in 1930's America. photography is a great record of life. i like seeing how different people live their day to day lives - whether it is another country, another "class" or another time in history.

These photographs are from Walker Evans documentation of 1930's sharecroppers.

i know my paternal grandmother lived through some harsh times as a child, with a WWI veteran father who caught rabbits as a living. but i was never able to glean much information from her about her childhood. maybe that's why i am so interested in photographs and stories like this. i try to imagine life for my grandmother as she grew up. these are some pictures of her brothers and sisters.

gorgeous morning. i'll send N out to play straight after breakfast. lawns were mowed last night. we have now lived in this house for 18 months. it is really nice to see the second round of seasons, and to stop and look at the colour in our garden. the next thing i'd like to tackle is the deck. we want to sand it back and re-stain it, build a gate for the top of the stairs for summer, so the kids can play there and i don't have to worry about A. maybe even move N's kitchen out there. here are some pics of things - colours, people, food - in our garden. if i knew how to do a mosaic of them i would. (grateful for suggestions...)
i have added another book to my list. i am enjoying Paula, but i think next i need to read some fiction. i went passed this the other day. as a bibliophile, i know you should never judge a book by its cover... but that is usually what attracts me to something. that and the title.

soon i need to go to Darwin. one of the few trips with work i need to do. it was that or Dili, so i'd rather go to Darwin where i know i can get on a plane quickly if i needed to, rather than Dili where AirNorth fills up quickly, and only has the one flight in or out each day. i am nervous about being gone for five days. A has been so clingy lately - even if we are sitting on the lounge and D i holding her, she is having a great time, but as soon as i get up to do something she cries. the nights have been worse - last night only slightly better. she is so tired, but screams when i leave the room. i come back and pat or hold her, depending on how distressed she sounds and she instantly closes her eyes. the second i put her down or walk away, the screaming starts again. last week i started to put her in bed with us because i was too tired to be up and down so much. then she sleeps through. i realised last night that when i went to settle her she sat up out of my arms and leant towards the door. so it is what she wants - to sleep with us. i would love it, only i don't think it is that good long term. besides, n comes in to our bed at about 4:30/5:00 in the morning. so there is a lot of activity in our house between 11pm and 5am!! four nights on my own, in a hotel room sounds luxurious. i am already fantasising about the magazines i recently bought, that i can finally read from cover to cover. about taking a book on the plane and doing nothing but read except for when my food is brought to me. best thing is that i get to fly business class, so lots of leg room. maybe not such a good thing - my boss suggested we get the same flights. he likes to talk. doesn't he realise being thousands of feet in the air, strapped in a chair is my only truly "alone" time??? :-) i'll have to put headphones on...

but in reality, i know i'll be stressing at night about how everyone is coping at home. David has taken a couple of days off work to be with the kids, so i am sure all will be well.

progress

finally, i have started the first page of A's album!

monday at Floriade for over-due family time!

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Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:12-17

busy, busy, fun day

"Choose your battles wisely ~ give patience where patience is due, and continually ask God for wisdom in discipline."

i saw this quote the other day, and i think it is a good rule to live by when it comes to kids!

well, i have finished the top of my picnic blanket and now need to buy the fabric for the back. church has a fabric sale, but as D is usually working on those Saturdays I would need to try and get a bus. and as the weekend bus system isn’t that great it would literally take me all day with two grumpy kids. besides, someone has been having fun buying plane tickets, train tickets and phones in FINLAND using our credit card number so i am reluctant to purchase anything at the moment. finishing the blanket will be slow.

and now, for our big day out! today gran, N, A and I caught the steam train to Bungendore to have lunch with D. I am sure N thought he was going to see Mr Conductor! it was a lot of fun. 1 1/2 hours each way and two hours to spend in Bungendore. i'll just include a few pics to tell the story. land, i picked up a gorgeous children's book for $3. printed in Japan, in 1963. i love the illustrations!

of course when we came home there was only one thing to play with...