my parenting philosophy III

actually that's silly 'cause really these are just things i like - but it sounds more formal this way...
i LOVE wooden toys. not because it is popular or fashionable - i just really like how they look and feel.
a couple of things i think are gorgeous:


and my kids enjoy them.

i wonder if i had so much fun with toys when i actually was a kid?!

heading north

we had some nice times, catching up with a friend who is currently living overseas. while he was here we looked at real estate in Denmark. i fell in love with this room for my kids to play in (i'd take the beds out and have a perfect the playroom).

and the grass there is green!
so Clara, as soon as the house is ready give us a call and we'll arrive on your doorstep with kids and bags in tow!

thank you A A Milne

Wind on the Hill

No one can tell me,

Nobody knows,

Where the wind comes from,

Where the wind goes.

It's flying from somewhere

As fast as it can,

I couldn't keep up with it,

Not if I ran.

But if I stopped holding

The string of my kite,

It would blow with the wind

For a day and a night.

And then when I found it,

Wherever it blew,

I should know that the wind

Had been going there too.

So then I could tell them

Where the wind goes...

But where the wind comes from

Nobody knows.

-from Now We Are Six

favor ida lee mai ha'u

or, “read to me”
how lovely – the Alola Foundation has had one of Mem Fox’s books translated into Tetun. check the pictures out - it is lovely!
i credit my mum with sowing the seeds for my love of books and reading. she took the time to read to us every night. i remember being excited about the Lucky Book Club at school, and how much i loved looking through the book catalogue. when i was older i loved my 1/2 hour reading in bed before the lights were turned out. i can remember reading through the Trixie Beldon series, whilst eating bread and honey.

literacy is something dear to me. we were watching a current affairs story on Pakistan, about the number of children who aren’t in school due to the need for hard labour on minimal wages to help support their family. i said if i could change one thing in the world, it would be that. i believe the right of children to an education, at least up until the age of 12 is one of the most important there is. and the current state of the rights of the child is disgraceful.
other good literary projects here in Australia are: the Little Learners' Literacy Fund, and with the recent fires in Victoria, Borders had a campaign where you could buy a book to donate to schools and libraries, and they would match it with another of equal value. so for a big company, they do good.

my parenting philosophy II

read, read, read. here is a nice blog about children's books.
listen to good music together.
be aware of what your kids are watching.
use paper, glue and scissors.
tell them you love them everyday.
kiss them always. (especially when they are teenagers!)
and always pray together.

some days are a little more melancholy than others. no real reason. the little things just seem bigger. and harder.
maybe it is because my weight seems to be "sticking" more than it ever has before! which is annoying me more than it ever has before...
maybe because i am not really enjoying my job these days. or because there is another job i want. actually, it isn't even a job that exists - but i sent my cv off to someone and they asked to meet me and have a chat. so if you pray, please pray that they'll say "sure come and work with us part time on your terms!" ;-)
or is it because my 3 1/2 year old, who breezed through the "terrible two's" seems older, wiser, and seems to be making up for lost time? really he is a good boy - i guess he just has his days too - and today it collided with one of mine. so that leaves me tired and a little fragile - particularly if i don't feel i handled things as well as i could have.
funny though, that the ones that can cause us the most stress in a day, can also give us the most joy!
tonight D is away fishing. and it is the perfect opportunity for me to catch up on lots and lots and lots of sleep, but i had a pile of folding and a pile of ironing. so i did the folding, pushed the ironing board to the side and pulled out two years worth of magazines to browse through. and found the perfect birthday cake for N and i to make on Sunday. he is looking forward to blowing out the candle for me... (notice i said the candle!)

a child's prayer

after the story, after milk, i say prayers with N at bedtime. lately he has been praying for things spontaneously, without prompting. last night amazed me as he asked Jesus for specific things. it was interesting to see what was on his mind. knowing he had swimming lessons the next morning, he prayed this, all by himself:

"dear Jesus, please let my teacher not put my head under the water.

dear Jesus, please let me not go in the deep end.

dear Jesus, thank you for sitting on the wall."

we don't like to push him to hard, and his teacher is more concerned about him retaining some confidence than about pushing him. so today i will speak to her, and ask that she doesn't push his head under the water, and that he can sit on the wall in the deep end, rather than jumping in.

then we can have a play in the "little pool" where he is happy.

sometimes i think slow and gentle is better.

interests

i don't so much have "spare" time, but i do have lots of things i like doing when the odd 15 minutes or so presents itself. at the moment i am enjoying a couple of stitcheries. they are actually parts of different tote bags etc. one day when i get around to buying fabric and making the bags, i'll have the stitchery panels ready!

i have also made 31 December 2009 my goal by which to have the cross stitch blanket i started when N was a baby finished. now it will be for A, but that's ok as it is probably easier to make it girly than to make it boyish. i don't know how my eyes will fare though. cross stitch isn't kind to eyes.

and what is on my bedside shelf? my current reading is as follows: Gilead on public transport and at lunch while i'm at work. a gorgeous story written in the form of a letter by a dying man to his son. i'm keen to get it read, as there is another book by the same author i have my eye on. Ragamuffin Gospel ~ i try and read a couple of pages before bed. i'm enjoying the refreshing it is bringing to a basic Christian message. i also delve into The River when i feel like it. you can't talk to people working on the land and not be struck by the ways (good and bad) we have impacted the land around us. finally, The Red Tent hasn't been picked up in a while. although it was raved about, and the story is ok, i think i was expecting more...

speaking of books, First Tuesday Bookclub is now back. this week they discussed Grapes of Wrath. one of those American classics i have picked up a number of times and mentally shelved it on my "must read before i die" list... another of them is Farewell to Arms.

my blessings:

~ my kids (always)

~ the friendship i find in my husband, and a bit of time together last weekend

~ a new egg basket, brought back all the way from Fiji

tears of sorrow, tears of joy

D and i travelled to country NSW for a family wedding last weekend.

i knew it was going to be a bit of a rollercoaster weekend – D’s aunt and uncle who lost all of their worldly possessions would be there, taking comfort in the tears and hugs of family for the first time since the fires.
hugs and tears to also offer much needed strength to another uncle and aunt, going through an indescribable trial of their own. His word says He stores our tears in a bottle [Psalm 58:6]
and all the time, thinking of my beautiful and brave sister.

i always look forward to visiting the farm. i love the quiet faithfulness of the families here. i am encouraged after being with them, knowing the strength in our faith, remembering the simple things of grace and trust.
i wake up to views like this. we plan to take N and A for a holiday in the coming months. perhaps at harvest time, when it will become a working holiday for D.
thoughts of wide open spaces appeal to me. of lots of laughter, time for cooking, gardening, sewing.
these are the things that surrounded me this weekend::