At the bottom of the Garden

VERY tired now, so just some pics :)...

Gathering for the ritual...


Casting the circle...


After we all burned out written out wishes for the coming year, the kids cast salt on the ashes and made their own wishes :)...


Then we got started on the Maypole, it starting out very orderly...


That didn't last long, hahaha...


Once the kids lost intereste, the mum's started trying to figure out it out and realise it would probably take a lot of practice to make it look "professional" :D...


And still going (that's a lot of ribbon there!)...


Aw, but didn't it turn out pretty! This lovely Maypole will now take up residence under the family bed of a friend who is hoping to be pregnant very soon! ;)...


And then it was time to feast!


We also got some EXCELLENT news of a friend who POAS today (such a great day to do this) and discovered that she, indeed, IS pregnant!!! Whoo Hoo, Congrats hon!!!

Ah, the air is thick with festivity today! It's my favourite Sabbath of all! Beltaine, the sabbath of fertility! A time to dwell on all the new and growing things around us in the final month of Spring!!! A time of new beginnings!

I'm having a few friends around today to celebrate Beltaine and to reflect on our wishes for the coming year, the dreams we're willing into fruition, and the projects we will to grow and prosper!

I've finally found a reason to wear this top I bought in Bendigo some three years ago that was too small for me then, and is getting too big for me now, I'll have to sell it soon, but I just wanted an opportunity to wear it once... So, ALREADY a dream is coming to fruition today for me :D!

Merry Belatine one and all, may all YOUR dreams come to fruition!

Advocating Inventor

Oh, yay! I finally figured out how to load this... I didn't find this to be very accurate about me in a lot of ways... It says I get energised by social interaction (i.e. I'm an extrovert), which isn't true at all... It also says something about me not judging readily, and while I would love that to be true, I know it's not... But somethings are true, so go figure...

My bigger boys had a loooooong sleep today after all the excitement yesterday... Erik just woke up now (2.50pm) after going to bed at midday... Luey is still asleep. Bryn slept till about 2pm, but two hours isn't unusual for any of them in recent months... I love it when they have a long sleep the day after lots of people have been over, or we've been out on a big excursion, because I'm usually whacked out too. It shouldn't suprise me really. Both Dave and I are introverts, and I guess the boys must be too, interacting with other people takes it out of us all...

Ok, I'm considering myself tagged after reading Jayne's blog... Didn't realise this tagging was going on, so didn't feel left out, but glad Jayne put out a general tag, so I didn't have to go check every blog to see if someone else had by chance tagged me, hahaha...

Here are are the rules to play:
List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets.
Tag 5 friends and list them.
Those people th…

The dining suite has arrived!

I'm soooo happy! It looks great in the space!



AND when we had a closer look, we discovered it's a Diamond Creek Furniture Collection table - the same furniture makers who made our much loved Kitchen table (which is now Dave's study table)... That means it's solid as a rock! Couldn't be happier! We had originally ordered dark blue seats, but they were out of that fabric, so we've got a kind of mushroom brown seat colour instead, but that's cool because eventually we're hoping to get a dark brown leather lounge...



It's funny, I feel so grown up now, hahahaha!

Ok, I think I've been watching far too many dance movies of late (I'm collecting them), all that Dirty Dancing, Flashdancing, Centre Staging, and Footloosing is starting to effect my clothing choices for the Buddha boy...

Well, he may not thank me for this in years to come, but AREN'T these the coolest baby things; one of my Jamtots covers (I now have six; mottled blue-green, mottled red-orange, blue with rainbow applique, dalmation print, tiger print, and leopard print)... The leggings are from HUGGALUGS, bought them at the Baby Expo this last weekend, proceeds from these go to a camp for children suffering with cander (in Canada, mind you, not Australia, but still)... You can check them out here http://www.huggalugs.com.au/ ...

What's going on? Every single blog on my blogroll (nearly typed bogroll, hahaha) is updated - has there been a blogging frenzy, or is blogroll finally getting it's act together???

In other news, my new dining table is arriving tomorrow!!! I'm so excited, whoo hoo! Dave and I have to move furniture tonight...

Speaking of Dave... He's in the dog house atm, for allowing the boys to watch and M rated Batman movie one day when I was out, AND encouraging them not to tell me... The end result was, of course they told me, but they chose to do so when I had a visitor, in one4 fell swoop showing that I don't have a clue what goes on with my kids when I'm out, and that Dave doesn't respect my (or the ratings board's) opinion on what my kids are exposed to...

Then I went and made it far worse by telling Dave off in front of the kids, which had the twofold negative effect of making him totally pissed off so that now he won't even acknowledge me if I bring it u…

Took ourselves off to the Baby Expo today. Braved it with the kids, gotto say it's MUCH easier to go without them... I think they had a grand old time; they got balloons and hot chips, lollipops and yogurt, a turn on a giant enclosed trampoline and apple juice... They were pretty well behaved overall, but they definitely needed a stern talking to on a couple of occassions... But mostly it was all good, right till the last 10 minutes... Then Luey spotted these wooden bikes that were retailing for an astronomical, and rather ridiculous $309, and he wanted one, and no matter what I said to try and explain I just didn't have that sort of money, he didn't want to know, and then he started screaming, and I mean SCREAMING!!! I carried him SCREAMING out of the main expo area, and as far as I could down the foyer (which wasn't terribly far, because I had Bryn in the ergo on my back)... I put him down, but he refused to walk, I started to walk away but he wouldn't co…

Thought I'd post these here today... The first photo was taken of me in November of 2004, when I weighed 106kg (had just lost 6kg!)... The second one was taken of me this morning weighing in at 75.3kg... That is the amount of weight I've lost in the past year... I don't actually have a photo of me from a year ago because I had wised up after seeing the pics taken the previous November, hahaha! But basically, after have Bryn I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 106lg within about a month... I've still got another 10kg or so to go (8kg to be within my healthy weight range for my height and gender), but I'm sooo so happy with my progress this year, I just had to share (because I know most of you don't read my weightloss blog, hahaha)...

In other news. I had my first therapy session yesterday, and I've happened upon a therapist who is as perplexed about why our society would employ controlled crying andsleep centres as I am, yay!!! She seems really n…

I want to send a tshirt to John Howard (and a matching one to George Bush) with the above slogan in it - something for them to wear on 36+ degree in OCTOBER in MELBOURNE!!! Oh come on, this can't be NORMAL???

The boys and I have spent the day indoors. Erik thought he wanted to play outside until he got out there for 10 minutes, that's the last I heard of that, hahahaha!

I LOVE our airconditioning. I don't think I could ever live in a house without it again...

Likewise I LOVE my treadmill because once i got the boys down for their lunchtime nap (all three of them), I turned on the AC and then went for a 5.66km walk/run... Just couldn't have done that without AC or the treadmill, yay!

The boys are pretty stoked because Dave just rang and suggested a fruit platter and yogurt for dinner! I'm not arguing, wasn't looking forward to baking fish and steaming vegies anyway (our kitchen gets the Western sun in the afternoon, wouldn't you know)...

This was Dave's …

Ok, I think all of you have read this elsewhere, this blog is mostly for the benefit of my family that might be reading here :)...

Checked out the boys' new school today. First off, they both loved it and are keen to go! Erik wants to start right away this term, but we've explained that he'll be going to weekly transition sessions on Thursdays throughout November and then the Principal suggested he do two half days and a full day in the class he'll go into next year, so he has a chance to get to know the kids...

Luey will do the transition sessions with Erik, they're mostly for Luey anyway, as he'll be going into preps.

The school seemed very relaxed, and informal, though with classrooms etc. but there were kids wandering between classrooms, and school buildings doing stuff the whole time we were there. Within each classroom there were different activities as well, so in one classroom they were learning about the concept of "half" in time, reading th…

Hmmmm, ok they kept referring to type II diabetes in children as being "an epidemic"... What's with calling everything that suddenly increases in numbers in the population "an epidemic" even when it isn't strictly contagious???

Ok, so yep, children these days are suddenly developing a type of diabetes that used to be referred to as "adult onset" or "mature age" diabetes, where the risk factors were; being over 40, being a smoker, being pregnant, or being overweight... And children are developing T2 because they are more and more overweight, apparently one in six children is overweight or obese (I was surprise to hear the number was so low, tbh)...

But then they start taking to a parent of a child with diabetes, and she says her child led a "normal
childhood, ate lollies, went to parties, watched tv blah, blah, blah, and developed T2... This mum has diabetes herselr, the classic insulin dependant child onset variety... So, she has…

Got off to a slow start today but did a fair bit once I got going...

Moved my alter from the foot of my bed to the left hand side of (what used to be Dave's side of the bed)... Then moved the change table from the lounge room to the foot of my bed. Also went through my wardrobe and pulled out all the size 18, size 20, and size 22 clothing and packet it in big bags to give to the Salves.

Moved Bryn's shelf and toys from the corner opposite the tv (in the lounge room) to where the change table used to be - this frees up that corner where Bryn's toys were for the treadmill that is arriving on Monday...

I've still got to contact the Salvos about coming to take away the stuff I listed there other day...

Dave and I figured out today that in the two years since moving here (today actually) we've acquired the following large furniture items...

Large lockable cupboard for the boys room, for storing their reference books, puzzles, games etc. (that we don't want wrecked!)Lar…

Ok, started applying the stronger tar ointment last night, and the cortisone cream this morning, and tonight I'd guesstimate that Erik's psoriasis is about 20% better today than it was yesterday! Oh, I really, really hope I'm not being overly optimistic! His scalp is still pretty bad, but we're not treating it the same way as the rest of his skin...

We had a "not nice" experience on the bus today with a couple of old biddies commenting out loud (I'm sure they thought they were whispering, but then they must be half deaf!) that Erik looked like he had, what they assumed was, chickenpox... They then wonderfed out loud why on earth I'd take a child with chickenpox out of the house, and expose the general populous to his contagen... Grrrr, I couldn't help myself and corrected their assumption and told them pointedly that he had psoriasis and he was very self-conscious about it! Gawd, he was sitting about a metre in front of them, and I could tell …

Ok, I'm not really one to wallow, so when I'm feeling down I tend to start looking around for ways to make things better, make myself feel better...

I write lists - so here are a couple...

Things I want to get rid off (donate to charity)
Rocking ChairIkea blue chairWinnie-the-Pooh pramBlue footstoolRound kitchen table and chairsIkea fold out futon bed (I'm really po'd that this thing started to fall apart so quickly, what a waste of money, grrrrr)My fat clothes (not at all pissed to be getting rid of these!!!)Various mismatched crockery and cutlery from the kitchenOther items i want to sort through and cull...

Boys toys (this isn't really a big job, they don't really have a lot of toys that are broken or outgrown, but they do have a lot of stuffed animals, especially Bryn)...Sort through Bryn's clothes and pack up his baby clothes (not ready to get rid of them yet)...Sort out of filing cabinet, and make much better use of it.Get dave to sell his A3 scanner (he …

Ok, the dermatologist was surprised at how little effect the treatment he'd given us had had... He's still sure it's viral, not stress induced psoriasis (which is a relief to me)... He's prescribed a stronger ointment and more of it... Erik has another appointment in a month. Meanwhile the Dr is going to consult a Paed. psoriasis specialist colleague of his about Erik having UV treatment. He's concerned about exposing Erik to so much UV at such a young age - the youngest he's done this treatment on to date was a 10 year old...

Dave asked point blank if we'd ever get rid of the psoriasis and the Dr said we definitely would - we're clinging to that hope...

Ok, the dermatologist was surprised at how little effect the treatment he'd given us had had... He's still sure it's viral, not stress induced psoriasis (which is a relief to me)... He's prescribed a stronger ointment and more of it... Erik has another appointment in a month. Meanwhile the Dr is going to consult a Paed. psoriasis specialist colleague of his about Erik having UV treatment. He's concerned about exposing Erik to so much UV at such a young age - the youngest he's done this treatment on to date was a 10 year old...

Dave asked point blank if we'd ever get rid of the psoriasis and the Dr said we definitely would - we're clinging to that hope...

These are from Bryn eating his corn from dinner last night (we had fish, carrot asparagus and corn on the cob - the only thing he didn't eat was the asparagus because I thought it was a bit to stringy for him, but he LOVES corn)... See the cheeky bugger threatening to drop the cob off the high chair? That first pic of him giggling is in fact his reaction to me saying, "Oh no you don't!" He thought it was hilarious and kept teasing me with the cob, LOL, cheeky bugger!

Anyway, I put these pics up today to give myself a little something to smile about... I've felt myself slowly sinking into a bog of depression in the past few days. I'm feeling at such a loss about so much in my life atm. It's been a while since I felt like this last.

I also took some photos of the big boys yesterday and realised just how bad Erik's psoriasis has gotten... I won't put up pics here of it because he doesn't want people to see, but I feel so bad for him, and t…

Ok, time to put up some more pics, these are a few days old... I allowed my camera to be kidnapped a bit the other day and came home with nearly 200 photos so I've put off downloading them and sorting through them and playing with the photos, LOL... Many of these were taken at a play group meet up... The golden toned ones of Bryn were taken at home without a flash just after his bath (when his hair is just beautiful!), they're ever so slightly fuzzy because of the shutter speed, but it gives them a lovely soft focus look, so soft! Finally, at the
photos of the tie dyed top, at the bottom are of a top Leah dyed for Bryn, with a great little wizard on it, very cool!

Ok, I've just organised an appointment to see RM primary school in a weeks time (with family in tow)... The principal knows I have a 7 year old who has been homeschooled, that I'm interested in enrolling as well as a possible prep enrolment - if Luey likes what he sees...

And, I just left a message with the other counsellor who's name and number I was given of Friday, to try and arrange some counselling...

These feel like such HUMUNGOUS steps, I can hardly believe I'm doing this! I have to believe this is for the betterment of all our lives, so we can be the happy, harmonious family I so badly want up to be!

I realise a lot of you have NO idea what I'm talking about, that from where you're sitting we seem fine, LOL... In a way I'm relieved you think that... Living in our house for a week would probably shock most of you. The yelling, the threatening, and then there are my temper tantrums. It's not quite like a story from ACa, but wow, it doesn'…

Stole this from my uncle Joi's site :)...

This is my Cousin Johann Ingi, pulling a face just like our uncle Joi - isn't he a cutie?! Such big eyes! Anyway, made me smile!

I'm starting to realise a few things - they may seem like "duh" things to all of you out there in cyberland, but to me they're kind of just sinking in...

As Dr Phil says, do I want to be right, or do I want to be happy?

I've been measuring myself up against other parents, in a bad way... That is, I've been trying to tell myself, if X with 5 or 7 kids and no car and no external support can be a homeschooling parent, then I sure as hell can! This isn't true. Same as with any parenting practice really... I say, if Y can cloth nappy all those kids without a dryer, then I should be able to to... Again, not true... If Z can have a homebirth with kids in the room, then I should be able to as well...

Why do I beleive these things? Why is it I will ignore the blantantly obvious (my own unhappiness, the children's unhappiness, Dave's unhappiness) just because I feel I "should" be able to do what someone else is doing, based on the variables I…