A Precious Moment

I overheard our 3 1/2 year old daughter say this prayer the other day, while in the midst of her playtime...

"Thank you Jesus that there's no lions or tigers in our house and that you don't let them in. Amen."

Out and About

Monday I decided we needed to get out of the house for a while so after a trip to the library to swap over some books, we headed to a nearby park to have a picnic lunch and play.

By chance, we met up with some friends which made the time even more enjoyable. While there, we heard the constant beating of drums which we soon discovered was due to a couple of people practising (presumably for a gig) on a jetty at the other end of the park. They had varying sorts of tribal drums.

On approach, my daughter began dancing with all her might to the beat. There was no accompanying music, just purely the beat, and she just loved it!

Must be the fact that drumming is in our family has something to do with the delight she took in dancing around to the beat - my dad and my husband have been drummers in the past and my brother does regular gigs with his drumming. Mmmm... Maybe drumming lessons OR dancing lessons might be in the future.

Today was an Underwater World day. We have annual passes so we tend to visit every few weeks or so, but our daughter never seems to tire of looking at the same things over and over.

A lunch time treat

She does actually like this guy - it was just a long day!

A Journey into the Abbey

I recently watched an incredible DVD borrowed from the local library called "The Abbey" (http://www.abc.net.au/tv/theabbey/). It is a 3 part "reality style" documentary put together by the ABC a few years ago.

It follows 5 ordinary Australian women who spend 33 days and nights living in a Benedictine Abbey (http://www.jamberooabbey.org.au/html/home.htm). Of the 5, who were varying in age, there were 3 "lapsed Catholics" (or who had some background of faith), one lady who was "searching" through all kinds of religions and practices, and the youngest of the group didn't believe in God at all.

My interest was sparked a while ago after reading a review on the series. The result was an incredibly humbling and emotional experience as I watched the interaction between the nuns and the "outsiders". On a number of occasions I just found myself thanking and praising God for the amazing events that unfolded during that month in the lives of these 5 women.

The nuns openly welcomed these ladies into the midst of their sacred daily practices (which requires prayer 5 times a day starting at 4.30am, and a lot of silence used to reflect and allow them to "go deeper" with God).

"You must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest awhile." Mark 6.31

They very lovingly listened to each of the women talk about their life experiences (good and bad) in groups and in one-on-one sessions, not once showing any sign of judgement or taking offence, even though the ladies were quite upfront with their opinions on varying topics. These Benedictine nuns plain and simply shared God's love with the women and had the most profound (but simple) timely statements to offer them in the midst of their struggles.

Sister Hilda was one of the nuns who walked the journey with them, and it was amazing the wisdom she shared. Some of Sister Hilda's Pearls of Wisdom - http://www.abc.net.au/tv/theabbey/pearls.htm

I have to admit, my idea of nuns up till now has been that they are quite "religious" more than "spiritual" and I felt that locking themselves away from the world would surely make them unable to relate to your everyday person. How wrong I was!

I was struck by how "in tune" with God these nuns were and it was completely obvious they were His vessels being used to reveal His heart to the 5 visitors at the precise place they were each at along their searching or spiritual journey. It was evident that each of the 5 women were impacted (some more than others) on a spiritual level during their time there, even though the strict practices of the nuns weren't always followed by them.

By the end of their time in the Abbey, one lady had made a decision to follow God, another was working through issues and heading that direction, two were getting their lives back on track, and the one that didn't believe in God, had started to see things differently.

I don't know what happened to those women afterwards but certainly during their time at the Abbey, there was no denying that God's presence was very real in the midst of their experience.

I'm so glad I chose to watch this series. On completion, there was such an excitement in my spirit and an absolute wonder as I had seen God's love shown over and over to these 5 Aussie ladies, and in turn watched them slowly respond to it!

Morning Devotions

I've just gone back to reading a morning bible story to my daughter at the breakfast table. It's something I did when she was younger but with the way our lives have been over the last year, it unfortunately went by the wayside.

At the moment, I'm using a great book called "The Jesus Storybook Bible" by Sally Lloyd-Jones which is fantastic for her age group.

A few days ago I was reading the story of Abraham and Isaac to her, and the end of the story reads...

I can't explain what it is about this simple statement that almost reduced me to tears in that moment. Perhaps it just displays the incredible trust and love Jesus has for the Father - even when He was facing certain death - knowing He needed to be that sacrifice for the world.

Even now as I'm writing this, it's still profoundly impacting me... Perhaps I needed the reminder. Ah, the beauty of a simple faith, looking through a child's eyes.

My daughter continually amazes me with her statements of simple faith - "Jesus is in my heart Mummy"; "Jesus will look after me Mummy"; "Jesus is always with me Mummy"; "God loves everyone Mummy"; and then the questions - "Mummy why doesn't everyone love God?" - well it's like this baby...

The Break

Well our little girl has her first "break". It's only a green stick fracture (really it's a very tiny crack in her wrist on the xray) but it's enough to put her in a cast for 4 weeks.

She was supposed to be having a rest in her bedroom, when I heard a loud bang followed by tears. She'd fallen off a tiny table (not even 30cm high) and landed on her arm.

On initial inspection, she was saying "I can't move my arm" but about 5 minutes later, she'd stopped crying and could move arm and hand so I nearly didn't go to the doctor, but thought I should check - just in case...

I was very surprised when he said it was fractured and she would need a cast. I really expected the xray to show nothing and thought I would be written off as another case of the "over protective mother" who runs off to the doctor needlessly.

We'll here she is within hours of having the cast on - looking quite pleased with herself! Of course, we had to ring all the rellies to let them know what had happened.

A few hours into the night though and she was in tears saying, "I don't want my green stick fracture!"

These photos were taken a few days later - she had just been jumping off her slide so clearly she hasn't learnt her lesson from all this.

Being the little daredevil she is, I'm certain we're in for years of heart stopping moments, but hopefully this will be the only one requiring a cast and sling.

Seal Kisses

D loves the seal show at Underwater World so usually as we leave, we need to go past the seal statue at the Wharf so she can give it a kiss.

Just to show how much she's grown lately, this photo below was taken in October last year...

And this was March this year...

A Nice Outing

This year we bought Underwater World annual passes (given that it's so close to home) and it's such a perfect little outing to do with our 3 year old.

The great thing is that we can go for just an hour or as long as we want. Great for a rainy day when you're going stir crazy and need to get out of the house.

I recently took her for a visit while the Easter holidays were on. She really enjoys walking through the tunnel underneath to see all the fish and sharks. She's just learnt about "schools of fish" so she spent the whole time saying, "There's another school, and another...". We always take time to say "hi" to the otters (even though they're nearly always sleeping) and her favourite thing of all is the seal show, and this time there was a brand new one so she was in her element.

And when it was time to leave, there was a huge inflatable Dora and Diego jumping castle with built in car, slide, etc at the Wharf. She also got to ride on a little "boat" and posed in front of the shark and crocodile statues.

All up, it was a great morning!

A New Day

Our 3 year old daughter recently had her first day at kindy.

Hubby and I had decided that she could really benefit from one day a week in a different environment, meeting new kids and learning to take instruction from a teacher. So we enrolled her a few weeks back and then regularly discussed it with her until she started so she knew what to expect. We told her how fun and exciting it would be and all the sorts of things she'd be able to do while she's there.

The day before her first day, I suddenly start to think, "Mmm this might be a little sad (for both of us)". And then the big day arrives! Mummy's got everything labelled and lunch box packed. We say goodbye to Daddy in the morning and off we go.

Well, we arrive at kindy, walk in the door and she's off. Not so much as a look back and she's playing with her (soon to be) friends. So I loiter around a while, putting her bag in the right spot, and lunch in the fridge. Quick chat to the teacher. Then - "Honey Mummy's going now. Do you want to come and say goodbye?" D (from a distance, waving) - "Bye Mum".

So I guess it wasn't all that sad for her, and I'm happy to say, I ran around like a crazy woman all day doing so many jobs that I didn't have time to feel sad either. She's been twice now and absolutely LOVES it! She keeps asking, "Is it kindy day tomorrow?"

Now I think we both look forward to Fridays.

(She still tells me when we get home though - "I missed you Mummy" - which is nice)

Aw, my little girl's growing up so fast...

The Little Mummy

2009 saw the birth of a number of new siblings to our daughter's friends in mother's group. As such, she's been surrounded by babies of varying ages throughout the year.

D is quite the little mother - she always has been. She loves playing with her dolls - feeding them, putting them to bed, pushing them around in their prams. She also is naturally drawn to babies. If there is a baby in the room, she will go to it. If there is a baby on a TV show, she will point it out. If there is a baby in a book, she will be sure to spot it.

One day after returning home from swimming lessons, she went off hunting in Daddy's office for something. After seeing one of the mums carrying her new little baby in a carrier, she went and found my old carrier, and this was how I found her...

Music in the blood

Our daughter LOVES music - singing, dancing, banging around on instruments, shakers, blowing whistles - anything musical!

Early in 2009, Daddy introduced her to an iPod shuffle

She's recently taken to making up her own little songs. She sung one to me the other day and told me "Mummy, it's not on any of my CD's" and I said "No", at which she continued with "We should put it on a CD"...

We also currently have on loan from the library some "drum shapes". They are actually proper drum skins with large thick edges that you can hold while you hit them. So one day on her own, without any prompting from us, she got into my cupboards and found some plastic containers, placed the skins on top of them, set them up around her in formation (just like a drum kit) and started playing them.

Anyhow, that's an aside. Last year, I took her along to a music class for about two terms and she really enjoyed it. There were some photos taken during one of the sessions. Here's a few...

The Family Camping Trip

Hubby's eldest brother decided that for his 40th birthday last year (in February), he wanted the whole (extended) family to go camping at Lennox Heads. It was a feat to organise with young children in tow, but was a really great time! It was our sister in law's birthday the same day so it was a double celebration.

For his actual birthday, we all went to a cool little Mexican restaurant not far from where we stayed. We had two very tired little girls at the end of the night though...

And so 2009 begins...

We had the in laws staying with us over the Christmas / New Year period so the house was full and there were lots of family gatherings.

All the kids in our mother's group are born within weeks of each other, so it is common that in December / January we have a string of birthday parties to attend.

And so began 2009...

Grandpa's birthday party

Sharing Mummy and Daddy's air conditioned bedroom with the cat

A friend's birthday party



A shopping treat - free face painting



Family outing to Mary Cairncross on Australia Day



No photos please! - Just kidding...



Our 15th wedding anniversary - Aunty Kate was staying at the time so we got to go out for a real posh (child free) dinner! It was lovely...

Highlights from late 2008

The last time I was blogging towards the end of 2008, our daughter was about to turn 2.

Here's some photo highlights for the remainder of 2008...

Combination swimming and sliding

2008 Christmas photo shoot



Yes those are undies!



Practising fishing with Daddy and Amir (the cat!)



Doing a bit of building



Opening presents...



...with a bit of help



Trying out the new blackboard



The birthday girl arrives at her party (led down the stairs by Daddy) - I love this photo! I think it's really special.



Ready to blow out the candles



Exhausted at the end of a great party!



Christmas and birthday presents - new tricycle and blackboard



Tuckered out on Christmas Day - new Princess pillow and doona set



Fishing with Daddy and Grandpa (with her new rod!)