happenings around here...

We spent a day at the farm as we were taking one of dad's old truck up to be stored...it was a long trip...seven and a half hours but the girls were fine...We had lots of stops on the way as we were only going 60 - 70 km / hour...So a day playing with the boys then back to Perth...And a visit from Ben's parents today with one little cousin in tow...And a cousin and a friend over to play...so the girls had fun in the pool...And not sure what else is happening for the week...other than it will be hot for a couple of days with 38 -40 C forecast...so lots of swims I think - Lissy

thirteen months...

Morganne is now thirteen months old...she still only has six teeth but is managing to eat a variety of foods...She is rather keen on mashed potato at the moment and shredded chicken and seems to like watermelon and pasta too...she has all sorts of cute facial expressions...she can be very cheeky...and she says "OH!" a lot...so cute...and mostly lets us know what she wants! One of her favourite pass times is climbing on chairs... and into bean bags...though she cannot always get off...And she loves music and playing the piano...she will sit there playing for hours...she is liking swimming in the pool too...She weighs about 10.3 kg and is about 77cm long...so she is growing taller but there is not much change in her weight in last couple of months...she loves to follow E around and play in her bedroom or the playroom...And she has great fun with her big cousins...And she has discovered the dirt...She is not weaned and wakes too much at night but this will pass eventually...she is still standing and crusing around the furniture but is much more steady so I am sure walking will be on the agenda soon...She is getting quite fair hair with lots of cute curls...And she is lots of fun! - Lissy

dreaming and children in need...

I am dreaming that one day my house might look uncluttered and dreamy something like this one... Rubyellen's House...I always see houses on blogs and magazines similar to this that I like...a collection of character pieces and serene and white and uncluttered...may by the end of my year of SIMPLICITY I will get there! I have plenty of art and character pieces, furniture and so on but too much other stuff cluttering everything up! And a lot of painting to do!

I have been working on our clothes as I said...and have sent about 10kg of kids clothes off to The Children of the Forest...they now have babies up to 16 year olds so I try to gather stuff and send it off a few times a year...I also sent things like pencils, crayons, hairbrushes and so on that they are in need of...postage is expensive but it is a nice way to spend money...and I hope that it makes a little difference to the lives of the children there...

Our girl Por por yii sent us two letters - one for Christmas and one for New Year with some photos and art work...she is lucky to have her sister with her...
Evangeline and I are in the process of writing back to her. What I do is little in the scheme of things but each bit each person does to positively affect the world around them in some way adds up...and it makes me happy - Lissy

aaaaaaaargh....

All I want to do at the moment is some scrap booking or something...but that is not going to happen...because

1. My work station is one BIG mess....and I even cleaned it up a bit yesterday! The rest of the room is bad too!2. I have been clearing out our clothes as part of my decluttering the house...see post below...

3. We have had lots of play days this week after getting back from Dongara...Mum's group on Tuesday, (see posts below) and then Alli and the boys came on Wednesday...she is looking GREAT by the way! This is not a great pic....but cute...and Alli took this one...Alli has the rest of the pics from the day....and E's best friend Eden came for a few hours yesterday then E went to her house until after tea...
4. And the house needed cleaning...and the washing needed doing...and the ironing too...

5. We are off to the farm for a few days again tomorrow...

oh well...might try and pack a little bit of scrapping stuff to take with me...And to finish off here is our littlest one...I hope you have a good weekend planned - Lissy

simplicity...

SIMPLICITY

This is my word for 2009 (see Ali Edwards blog)...

In 2007 I chose BALANCE and last year I chose REMEMBER...

I was thinking all of December as to what my word for 2009 should be...and I have decided on SIMPLICITY...I really need to simplify many areas of my life...not just decluttering the house (though that is a BIG part of it)...but also making our lives less complicated and more grounded in the everyday ...weeding out the unnecessary stuff...


sim·plic·ity (sim plis′ə tē)

a simple state or quality, as of form or composition;
freedom from intricacy or complexity
absence of elegance, embellishment, luxury, etc.; plainness
freedom from affectation, subtlety, etc.; artlessness
The state of being without complication
singleness, homogeneity, purity, uniformity, clearness, unity, integrity, monotony.
The quality of being plain
plainness, stark reality, lack of ornament, unadornment, lack of sophistication, bareness, rusticity, homeliness, freedom from artificiality, severity.


I have found the words a great way of focusing on aspects of our lives in the last two years...so here is to the year of SIMPLICITY - Lissy

goodness me....

Goodness me...it's happened again...I am a bit slow in passing it on sorry...any way this time it is from Mel Goodsell...an oh so talented scrapbooker, crafter and blogger...the award came with these words:
This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of the prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attentions to these writers! Deliver this award to 8 blogger’s who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award.

Thanks Mel...celebrating real life and friendships is what my blogging, scrap booking and craft means to me for sure...
Now eight bloggers....hmmmmm...lots out there...in a random order...all lovely and talented girls...

Alli
Rach
Janelle
Chris
Libby
Sharon
Carole
Kim

Go and celebrate the every day - Lissy

mums and kids...

Today we caught up with our mums group at a kiddies water park in Maylands...E wore her surf gear....see post below!

There are nine of us in our group...two were away on holidays...but we all still catch up regularly...except one who has moved over East...but she was here for a visit which was great!Here are the first batch of kids...Three are expecting bubs...some very soon... It was a lovely morning with a great bunch of friends...And mum came over for tea - Lissy

a few days at the beach...

We have just spent a few days at the beach...up in Dongara where Ben's parents have a beach house...it was great...the weather was good...Ben's dad taught Evangeline to boogie board...Both girls had fun with their cousins...Morganne had her first experience of the beach...she liked the sand but not the water...And the second day E really got into the boogie boarding or surfing as she calls it! With a new boogie board and surf gear!It was a wonderful break and I have lots of photos to scrap book now - Lissy

a new year...

Happy New Year...2009...Mum stayed last night and we all spent the morning out in the garden, weeding and mulching everything...the retic wasn't working while we were away at the farm so it was all look pretty sad...especially my vegetables...Morganne had a snooze in the pram...Then the heat chased us all inside...Morganne is pretty please with herself these days as she can climb into the chairs...And she loves music...
Evangeline is as chirpy as ever...
And look I took a decent photo! I was holding Morganne at the time so it was a blind shot...and I love it!
E and mum had a swim...then everyone but me managed a nap...I am packing for a short trip up to Dongara to Ben's parents beach house! We were supposed to go yesterday but Ben decided it was too hot! Well happy new year all - Lissy