My Daybook: 12th December, 2016

Outside my window…

it’s a quiet summer morning, I’m up early before my family arises as it’s the only time I can concentrate when writing 🙂  Temperature is predicated to rise to 35C/95F today so enjoying the cool of the morning

I am thankful…

for my husband, this man, this life, so blessed to be married to my soulmate. We celebrated our Wedding Anniversary this week, twenty four years of married life, we’ve packed so much living into these years, it’s been an adventure. Giving thanks to Our Heavenly Father

I am thinking…

Christmas shopping; shopping for eleven children, my husband, a couple of sibs and grandmothers takes time. I’ve done all our present shopping online this year except for PC’s, so stress free that way with far more choices. It is time consuming but so is physical shopping, this way I don’t have to battle for parking space or end up with sensory headaches

Learning all the time…

winding up the academic year, mostly focusing on the older children who still have maths to complete. The younger children finished all their grade level maths last week, it’s amazing what a little motivation brings forth. They wanted to have a couple of friends come for a sleep over but we’d said not until their maths was completed and some still had many lessons to do, they knuckled down and a few hours later all was done!

Celebrating the liturgical year……

Advent is racing along, we’ve just passed Gaudette Sunday (third Sunday in Advent) so time to add colour to the Christmas tree. Every family has different traditions, in our family we set up the Christmas tree (plastic as pine needles hurt as they die) on the first Sunday of Advent, decorating with purple only. Once we celebrate Gaudette Sunday we add all the other colours, so tree should have been done days ago but not there yet

From the kitchen…

mostly salads, some afternoons it’s really too hot to eat at all, salads are the solution. Looking forward to being able to create Christmas in our lovely new kitchen, oh the space!

I am creating…

redesigning my Aussie Books website (it’s currently a mess) using the Sydney theme with the assistance of James Stafford’s tutuorial. Slowly making my way through the tut, learning and implementing, yesterday I was excited to discover a free logo maker tool, first to visualise then to create

I am working on…

need to start wrapping Christmas presents, I always prefer to wrap presents early as wrapping on Christmas Eve puts me in a very unjoyful like mood 😉 We also celebrate Bella’s third birthday Christmas week, so preparations for her birthday need to be finalised

I am going…

have already been, went out for dinner with my husband for our Wedding Anniversary, just the two of us, a lovely night. We ate, we talked, we walked, just the two of us 🙂 Talking just the two of us, last Sunday it was just us sitting together in Mass, precious. The girls had gone the night before, the little ones were home with the girls and the boys were serving, so there we were in the pew, just us. Reminded me of life before babies, short as it was when we could pray uninterrupted.  A parishioner said after Mass, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen just the two of you together at Mass.” It happens but not often

I am hoping…

to create wonderful family memories this Christmas and I’m sure we will. Our Sydney boys and Rose will be home for two whole weeks!! We can’t wait!! It’s been six months since Einstein was home, eighteen months since Carpenter and Rose were last home, yes we’ve seen them in the interim; we attended Carpenter and Rose’s Graduation, had Christmas together in the City last year, attended a my brother’s wedding, enjoyed a family holiday and just travelled South to see them, but this time they are coming home!!!!

I am praying…

• for our friend’s daughter, her increasing epileptic seizures have resulted in tests and now her family wait on the neurologist for test results, praying…
• for the safety of our City children and my brother as they travel home Christmas Eve, they’ll be leaving late Friday afternoon and will travel through the night into the wee hours of Christmas Eve morn, starting prayers early
• praising the Lord for my husband, this man, this life, so blessed

I am pondering….

subtleties and the ability and inability of others to interpret them. What people don’t say can be just as profound as what they do say, it pays to listen to and heed the silences

I am reading…

I’ve been so busy with Christmas preparations lately that some days I’ve gone to bed without having read at all! So unusual for me not to read daily, I’m a fast reader who averages two hundred and fifty books a year, so it feels most strange not to be reading, I’m sure it’s only temporary

I am listening to……

it’s time to pop the Christmas music on, less than a fortnight till Our Lord’s Birthday

I am hearing…

children waking up, the hot days tend to foster late nights and slow starting mornings

I am struggling…

to not take on more projects. Christmas tends to have that effect on PC and I, we become inspired and ‘bite off more than we can chew’ some years, well me manage to chew but I admit we’re often a little crazy or maybe alot. It’s the time of the year you tend to notice all the building/house/shed/yard/farm projects that need completing or become inspired to begin, this on top of Christmas preparations. Every year we tend to tackle some major building projects at this time, last year it was the roofing, just before we headed South for two trips within two weeks for Graduation and Christmas. This year we didn’t have a building project lined up so we ‘set out’ to find one 😉 we actually began plans for installing an inground pool, not quite second hand but it had been sitting in a paddock for years, then sanity returned and we realised whilst it was a brilliant deal, it wasn’t the right timing for us, God will provide later

Clicking around…

I’ve come across some gems but haven’t manged to save them to diigo as they have changed their layout and I haven’t manged to work out how to bookmark, when I have a spare moment I need to google for a solution

Around the house…

I’ve been on a cleaning spree it makes me rather giddy with happiness, my family think I’m rather odd 😉 First I was honoured that PC asked for assistance in cleaning his shed, major moment!!  Such fun and I was mostly respectful that I was in his space, only had to be reminded a few times 😉 Lots of ‘stuff’ given away, thrown out and organised, shed is now walkable through. Inspired I then went on to clean all the building materials off our deck/verandah, we couldn’t walk out there. Gave away several large items, rehomed others back to the shed and re-organised what was left, that space is usable and attractive again. On a roll I then moved onto the shipping container which could no longer even be entered, dragging everything out I sold some items, gave away yet more and reshelved the rest. Then I turned my attention to the house which only needed a little de-clutter. Such a wonderful feeling 🙂

One of my favorite things…

having all my children home, counting down the days. I know I’ve already said that but just in case you didn’t comprehend how excited I am I’ll mention it again 🙂 🙂 🙂

A few plans for this week…

• to take the younger children Christmas shopping to buy their gifts for one another. Whilst I and the older children have done our shopping online the younger children still need to shop. Planning on arriving at 8.30am to easily find a park and beat the crowds, more enjoyable that way
• our swim squad kids have a fun lesson Friday, expect it to include relays and the slide

A little peek at my day…

• to enjoy reading through a stack of Christmas books with the younger children
• last swimming lesson today, should have concluded last week but late afternoon storms have meant several cancelled lessons. First rumble of thunder means all kids are called out of the pool, valid concerns of lightning strikes