Where are the words??

Certainly not here, on this poor, cobwebbed blog.

And they're not in my diary either - I think the last time pen touched paper on those pages was new year's eve (and I don't think I even finished that entry).

The words are also missing from, er, Word. Yes, those plans I had for writing a short story have come to very little indeed.

You know what is frustrating? The words, they are all in my head! Spinning around and keeping me awake at 4am. And that is not terribly useful. Just annoying!

Anyway. I will get there. (Sigh)

***



On the home front we appear to be winning the potty training war. After months of having no idea of what we could possibly mean by 'you can make the wee come out!' T has finally had the penny drop. This is very exciting!

T is going to the potty about 15 times a day, just because she can!

She currently has this weird thing she does with her eyes, where she kind of stares into space with her eyelids half closed and eyeballs rotated up. It looks awful. And it is causing me to freak out in the middle of the night. 'Could it be a brain tumour? Maybe she has a brain tumour...'

One of our dear friends is an eye specialist. I took T to see her in her rooms; she's been checked out. Ain't no brain tumour, just a weird thing she does with her eyes. To freak her mama out...

Meanwhile, E is killing me slowly and painfully with his whining and failure to do simple tasks like put on shoes or brush teeth when he's asked to. This was really getting me down until I was chatting to some of the mums of other kids in his class and they all said, 'Gosh, we're getting that too!'

Glad to hear it's not just me. I have a bit of a theory that kids are always one step ahead of us (well, the eldest kid anyway - as they're the ones forging into uncharted parenting territory) and sometimes they throw us right out and need to catch up to where they're at. I think E is at one of those points right now.

So I spend my days being firm with him, in an effort to rein in his annoying behaviour. Then I feel guilty that I've been too tough on him. I am all over the place.

This morning I did a little treasure hunt for him and the final prize was two chocolate freckles. In response to my written clues he wrote me a note and it read: 'Dear Mum, Thank you for the freckles. I don't deserve them. Love E.'

I was flabbergasted and a bit horrified.

I mean, I've just been trying to teach him a few boundaries, I don't want to crush the kid's spirit!! My goodness, I felt so guilty.

Anyway. We do our best. Right?

Glut

It's so lovely having an abundant vegie garden, as we generally do. But sometimes the abundance is all a bit much.

Here are yesterday's pickings:



Quite what I am going to do with that many cucumbers, I am not sure!!

What will this year bring?

Ooh, I love the start of a new year. Optimism is at its peak and it's exciting to think of what might be ahead of us. Well, that's the way I'm approaching 2012 anyway.

2011 wasn't the easiest of years, plenty of challenges and sadness were thrown our way. But this year is going to be different, I can just tell.

For me, the creative itch is getting too hard to resist. Perhaps it's a holiday thing, but I feel the need to write and write and write. I want to enter a short-story competition that's open till March. I'm not sure why this particular competition appeals to me. Maybe it's the push I need to sit and write something that's not 'work', as 99% of my writing is.

I hope I can do it.

I also hope I can make time this year for a little break or two. After Christmas we had a couple of days away in a glorious spot called Barrington Tops - a national park with pockets of subtropical rainforest.

I booked a cottage there months ago, because I have a dislike of intense heat and crowds. I figured that it wouldn't be too hot, being up high and rainforesty and all. Needn't have worried on that front - we've had the coolest summer in a long time. I also wanted to keep clear of the coast - too busy this time of year.

And so we wound up here.





The kids had a ball. I suspect we could have booked a dirty rat-infested shed and they would have had a ball. It's all about being somewhere different and having a bunk bed to sleep in (woohoo).




My hope was to do a few short walks in the national park with the kids and chuck some rocks in the river. That's about as ambitious as I was prepared to get with a 2yo in tow.






Well, this place was perfect. Right on edge of the forest (just a few metres from our cottage), loads of short walks that were manageable for T. The lad loved swinging on the 'jungle' vines.





The weather was kind to us. The birdlife! Amazing! Am seriously in danger of becoming a twitcher. I saw a kingfisher! And a lyrebird! In one day - was so chuffed.




We played tennis and cricket and ate dinner on our beautiful verandah.

Perfect.




Boy, did we need that break. And what a lovely way to start what I hope is going to be a happy and successful year.

Amen to that.

Car-trip conversations

Don't you love some of the things kids come out with while you're driving? I want to remember this one:

Scene: way home from school

E: "Mum, did you know some kids don't believe in Santa?"

Me: "Really?"

E: "Yeah, they don't think he's real ... is Santa real, Mum?"

[pause]

Me: "Yep!"

[boy thinks]

E: "The kids who don't think Santa's real, when they wake up and see their presents, they know that God brought them."

Me: "Mmmm-hmmm" [stifling giggle]



I love how this little guy thinks...!

Neglected

What a sorry state this blog is in! The poor neglected thing. I've been wondering if I should just close it down, or lock it away or something ... but then I think, no, I'm not recording as much of my kids' 'little' years as I'd like to. Closing down my blog would probably only make matters worse.

As with so much in life, it all boils down to time. And energy. And choices. I should make myself sit down and attend to this blog at least once a week, but often after a week of being paid to write lots of words and then doing freelance bits and pieces from home, it's not all that appealing. I'd rather flop in front of the telly or curl up with a book.

Anyway! We're gearing up for Christmas here. The tree is up, even if it does need a few extra decorations.



The kids had a ball putting the "bobbles" on it. I was busy draping tinsel when I noticed T was awfully quiet - and we all know what that means. She'd been industriously pulling all the strings off the "bobbles", making them, well, dead.




Today my boy went off on a harbourside picnic with his whole school. Seeing those five huge buses lined up outside the school gates gave me a lump in my throat. He's getting so big. Here we are, just about finished kindy already. Wow.




We had a thank-you morning tea for classroom helpers at school yesterday and everyone had a lovely time milling about and chatting. The principal called the room to attention to make a little speech. We all hushed to listen to what she had to say. T must have decided the principal projected her voice that little bit too well because she started yelling over the top of the principal, "Too noisy!" and "Mum, it's too noisy!" Thankfully everyone saw the funny side...!!

Some people have all the luck...

... and last week I was feeling like one of them!

Because Shaun and I got to go on a beautiful four-day walk in South Australia. On our own! With no kids! Just us! And ... it was, ahem, work (if you can *really* call what is essentially a wonderful, delightful treat 'work).

Anyhow, that's what it was.





I am reluctant to give away too much detail here because obviously my story hasn't yet been published (or written). But can I just say that the 'luxury camping' experience was every bit as fabulous as it sounds.







We got to enjoy all the best bits of being out in the open without any of the irritating chores and lugging stuff it normally comes with. Hooray!




We walked all day and relaxed by a roaring campfire all evening, glass of beautiful SA red in hand. Sigh.



We walked with another couple who were just lovely company and a guide who knocked our socks off with her incredible local knowledge.



And the wildlife? Astonishing. We're talking wedgetail eagles in their nests, native budgerigars swooping above our heads, sweet little emu chicks, euros galore and even a sighting of some native hopping mice.



It was a heavenly break.

Two.

And so this little lady turned two last week.



I thought I would be sad to see her turn two, and I guess I am a little sad that the baby years are done and dusted forever, but too many friends have lost babies now that I actually feel pretty lucky to have passed through the baby years safely.

The past two years have not flown. They have not plodded either; they've just passed as usual and to me it's like our T has always been around.



So here we are, firmly in toddler territory now. It's like a switch turned on around her birthday and suddenly the merest thing can escalate into a full-scale tantrum.

But hey, I've lived through many a tanty, I'll survive these ones too.



When she's not face-down on the carpet (or any available surface, really) she is my big-eyed, funny, inquisitive, chatty, downright gorgeous girl.

She makes me smile so much - I just can't get enough of her!