♥ I Love You, Cupcake ♥

Love thy cake.

This might be a brilliant principle to live by when you’re 3. For those who have got to the stage where you’ve added a zero to the end of that number or another higher number, cake intake may need scrutinisation.

My little guy celebrated his 3rd birthday today. I didn’t want to do a post-birth recount here. I’m dedicating this post to him and his love of cake.

Of the 6 kids here there was only one that didn’t bust-a-move to the table where the cake ceremony was about to take place. All the others yelled, ‘CAKE’, and ran like their pants were on fire.

So the candles were blown out without any foofing on the cake (extra tasty bits a.k.a as spit) and a big cheer rang out. I was too busy worrying about the 3 year old with the knife in one hand to concern myself with what the other hand was about to do. The birthday boy decides to grab a handful of icing and stuff it into his cake hole. While this made most erupt in laughter, a few stared agog at the spectacle. This inturn made him think he was funny so he launched in for another handful while I did my best to hold my heffalump back. We did get some great shots of the chubby cheeks with nothing but icing between them.

There were a few refusals from the adults when cake was proffered. Not quite sure if this was due to people watching their waistline or not wanting 3 y.o cooties. Regardless my little guy was definitely not of the school of thought, ‘a minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.’

Have your cake and eat it too while you can, kids!

P.S Here’s your really big slice, as promised, Grandma Cranky.

Images from: here and here.

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A Versatile Kinda Love

I just love the word versatile.

I would like to thank Kimberly at Words for JP for my 6th award this month. If you haven’t popped over to Kim’s please wander in and be prepared to stay a while. This lady renders me incapable of speaking with her poetry. I don’t comment often because I wouldn’t know what to say other than ‘wow’ and that would get redundant after a short while. If there was a ‘like’ button that was in caps I would click it every time.

The requirements for this award are as follows:

• Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
• Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.
• Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
• Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.
• Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

7 things about me you may not already know:

1. Faced with an entire block of chocolate to myself I’d still only eat a few squares.
2. I am surrounded by three very strong males: Bull (Taurus), Lion (Leo) and a Ram (Aries). My star sign is Sagittarius-The Archer.
3. I am the least funny of all my friends but they are true friends as they still laugh at my jokes.
4. My family and I live in the southern suburbs of South Australia.
5. I plan never to post photos of my children on my blog (which I’ll go into in a later post).
6. I love creating of any sort: art, craft, music, dance and writing but am no good at some.
7. The spotlight and I are not comrades.

This may be a little controversial but I do not intend on following the guidelines to the letter. This is the part where you’d normally see the list of 15 blogs I would highly recommend you go and take a gander at. ‘Er, where’s the list, you say? Please read on.

I’d like to extend a warm invitation to all bloggers who visit this page to add a blog of their choice in the comments box. Whether it’s your first time round these parts or you’re part of the furniture, please feel free to suggest away. It could be your own or one that you would highly recommend to me. Add multiple blogs if you wish. This is open-ended time wise and not limited to the normal 15. All I ask is that you put in the link instead of just the blog name so I can link straight to it.

I assure this is not a case of lazy blogger syndrome. I would love nothing more than to further my reading in as many corners of WP as possible. Once I have visited a blog I can create my list and do a pingback to each site. So I will be doing what the award asks-just in reverse order this time.

Gee, I really am versatile!

Lots of love

Kelly

A Life of Love

Loving the life I live.

I lose my temper at times but I love you.

I get frustrated when you are stubborn but I love you.

At the end of each day I am grateful that I have the chance to love you.

Your life is a gift of love to me.

The Gift of Life

Everybody Knows:
You can’t be all things to all people.
You can’t do all things at once.
You can’t do all things equally well.
You can’t do all things better than everyone else.
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else’s.

So:
You have to find out who you are, and be that.
You have to decide what comes first, and do that.
You have to discover your strengths, and use them.
You have to learn not to compete with others,
Because no one else is in the contest of *being you*.

Then:
You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.
You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.
You will have learned to live with your limitations.
You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due.
And you’ll be a most vital human being.

Dare To Believe:
That you are a wonderful, unique person.
That you are a once-in-all-history event.
That it’s more than a right, it’s your duty, to be who you are.
That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.
And you’ll be able to truly enjoy your life and find true happiness…

Author
Unknown

I was inspired to share this poem after reading Amber’s post over at “Normal is the New Boring”. I cannot claim it as my own.  Poetry is not one of my strong points. I’ll leave that up to brilliant bloggers like Kimberly at Words for JP.

I first read this poem many years ago and have since lost the paper copy I had. So I went looking for it online knowing some of the key lines that have stuck like glue in a crevice somewhere inside my grey matter. When I did locate it I found more than I’d been searching for. I love finding true treasures and this website is one of them. It has many more poems that may inspire you or someone you love to be the best ‘you’ you can be. You might find me over there again later beckoning you in. Click here to visit Teens Self Help.

Love your life.

Kelly.

Image from: here.

Just a Minute for Love

Love in a minute.

Is that all you’ve got? Is that all it takes?

It’s all that I have so that’ll have to do for now.

How many times a day do you say, ‘just a minute,’ or, ‘in a minute,’ to someone you love? I don’t think I’d want to know the answer to that question myself. My kids would probably be able to tell you though. And for them being asked to wait a minute is probably comparable to an adult being asked to wait an hour. When I asked my nearly three (year old) to wait for just a minute today he cut his own hair again and it’s his birthday tomorrow. Sigh. What else can I do? We’re off to the barbers in the morning to see if Tony can make it any less noticeable. I don’t think it’s going to make much difference though so all photos will be profile shots of his left side.

For a fair portion of today I have thought to myself I’ll do my blog in a minute. It hasn’t happened until now-6 hours later. Now I only have a minute (or two) before I am blogging tomorrow.

On a completely different tangent did anyone else out there make the correlation between there being sixty seconds in a minute and that one’s resting heartbeat is supposed to equal 60 also?

Anyhoo. I’m going to finish tonight with a challenge I’ve set for myself. Many people talk about what they might do if they knew their time was coming to end (their time was up). Normally this would mean making plans, fulfilling dreams and telling the people closest to them how much they love them. I’m going to do that right now but in only 60 seconds, starting now…………

My boys,

I love you with all of my heart

With every beat of your heart

please remember that.

I love the smell of your hair

the touch of your skin

and your smiling eyes.

You amaze me,

fill me with delight and wonder

and you are proof that I achieved greatness.

If you only had a minute what words would you choose for those in your heart?

I love you every second, with every beat.

Image from: here.

Lovebug Hug to Dog, Frog and Hog

Hugs from the Lovebug are going out today to Dog, Frog and Hog.

I received a warm and carefilled hug from Words for JP a.k.a Kim and her bunch including Pee.

I’m inturn hugging Dog, Frog, Hog, Rat, Cat and Co. via Tania Ingram. If you think I must be drunk on love, head over to Tania’s blog. She might even greet you with a wag. Enjoy your first award, Tania. There will be many more to come (CBCA Award would be the best)!

The HUG Award© was initiated by Connie Wayne at A Hope for Today at http://ahopefortoday.com, which promotes hope, love, peace, equality, and unity for all people.

The HUG Award© is for people with an expectant desire for the world, for which they:  Hope for Love; Hope for Freedom; Hope for Peace; Hope for Equality; Hope for Unity; Hope for Joy and Happiness; Hope for Compassion and Mercy; Hope for Faith; Hope for Wholeness and Wellness; Hope for Prosperity; Hope for Ecological Preservation; Hope for Oneness

The HUG Award© recognizes and honors those who help keep hope alive in our current world, which is plagued by war, natural disasters, and economic recession.  They nurture hope, in any of the above areas,  by the work they do, or in their personal lives with things such as blogging, public speaking, charity work, etc.

The HUG Award© is for people who, without giving up or compromising their own religious, spiritual, or political beliefs, are able to nurture hope and respect the dignity of all people.

The HUG Award© is for those who, without bias or prejudice, use their resources and gifts to make the world a better place for everyone.

The HUG Award©is for people who have a hope or an expectant desire that the work or talents they use in things such as blogging, public speaking, charity work, etc., will make a positive impact on the world.

These people do not have to actively use the word “hope” in their work or creative talents.  They only need be conscious of their desire to make the world a better place for everyone.

These people use their available resources–a smile, a hug, a helping hand, a listening ear, a voice, time, money, possessions, education, personality, talent, websites and blogs—to make a positive impact on the world and make the world a better place to live.

Best Moment Award-Love the ‘Like’

Awarding the people who live in the moment,

The noble who write and capture the best in life,

The bold who reminded us what really mattered –

Savoring the experience of quality time.

RULES:

Winners re-post this completely with their acceptance speech. This could be written or video recorded.

Winners have the privilege of awarding the next awardees! The re-post should include a NEW set of people/blogs worthy of the award; and winners notify them the great news.

RESOURCES:

• What makes a good acceptance speech?
  • Gratitude. Thank the people who helped you along the way
  • Humor. Keep us entertained and smiling
  • Inspiration. Make your story touch our lives
• Get an idea from the great acceptance speeches, compiled in MomentMatters.com/Speech
• Display the award’s badge on your blog/website, downloadable in MomentMatters.com/Award

ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

I would like to thank Stacie at MingoMomma for including Free Little Words in the list of blogs she deems worthy of this award . I’m not sure if any of my ‘moments’ would be classified as ‘the best’. I think this award should be claimed by my kids who give me material to work with every day. I’ts taken nearly a month for me to get to this award (6 awards and counting this month) so fear not if you’re a winner and you don’t do it immediately.

I’ve decided to do things a little differently this time around. I’ve compiled a list of 15 blogs I have NEVER visited. They have taken a moment to come and see what mine is all about and left their mark (like). So if anyone would like to join me, I’m off to broaden my horizons and see what else takes my fancy and maybe has me veture out of my ‘normal’ reading circles.

THE WINNERS OF THE BEST MOMENT AWARD ARE:

Other Shoes

Kandy Sparks

A Blog about Life, Technology, News…

Breathtaking Memories

Daily (W)rite

Love Protection

Rantings of an Amateur Chef

Live simply, travel lightly, love passionately & don’t forget to breathe

Happy Faces Blog

Bunny and Pork Belly

The Right Hue

Five Little Monkeys

Angworld

Pocketful of Sugar

Tutor Doctor

Don’t forget to celebrate with your followers! Tweet your success with hashtag #MomentMatters. Congratulations, winners!

Kelly.

I Love You When You’re Sleeping

Guest Post by Belinda Tidswell.

I love you when you’re sleeping.

“The only thing worth stealing is a kiss from a sleeping child.”- Joe Houldsworth

I used to sit there for hours when my kids were babies and watch them peacefully sleep. They looked so cute and innocent. Then they would wake up and that vision quickly fades from your memory, wrapped up in all that the day throws at you, feeding, nappies, vomit!

Now that my babies are a bit older, I still check on them each night before I go to bed. I sleepily take each of them to the toilet and give them a final cuddle, sometimes more for me than for them. It’s still nice to have contact with them but hear no sound. Pure bliss! There’s no, “Mum, he hit me on the head with a car,” or, “Mum, she’s got my teddy”. I am not a fan of listening to the sibling battles in our house. My ears are very sensitive to the screeching and screaming that accompanies it! I like calm and quiet.

I especially loved you both when Grandma and Grandpa had you to sleep over at their house recently when my other half and I celebrated our anniversary. It felt very strange to go to dinner and not have to worry about discipline and the slight embarrassment of unexpected events that accompany public outings with children. It’s funny how my husband and I spent half the evening talking about our children. I did miss that I didn’t get to tuck them in and kiss them goodnight.

I know I had better enjoy their sleepy moments while I can. As they get older they will start to think I am a bit weird, checking on them in the middle of the night! Unless I have reason, that is, to believe they’ve escaped out of their bedroom window to go to a party!

Sleep well and sleep in my loves. xxx

(Bonus point for those of you who find the ‘hearts’ in today’s image).

For those who dare to care this is Belinda’s debut as a blogger. She is my go-to-girl for everything-all things kiddish, groaning and, most importantly, wine. I would like to publicly offer my sincere heartfelt thanks to Belinda for taking the time to write this. I know you pondered every word Bel and I think that shows in the fine blog entry you have created.

Image from: here.

Hair, There and Everywhere, I Love You

I love maintenance-free (almost) boys hair!

Thank your lucky stars, if you have boys, you don’t have to perform hair miracles like the one shown here on this gorgeous girl’s head. I’d be in a world of panic if I had to recreate this at any given time-let alone on a school morning! Don’t get me wrong, as a kid my Barbies had some of the best hair do’s on the block. Now, I’m armed with a comb and that’s it. If you need any product or zhuzhing, go see your father.

Bed head or bed hair makes me giggle. I wonder what they might have been doing overnight to get such a small amount of hair into such a state.  And try as I might those cockies won’t stay down. You can dampen, comb and pat down as long as you like but they’re there for the long haul. Anybody who sees my sons in this state must think I don’t give a hoot what they look like.

I also love the fact that we only have to use a small amount of shampoo and hey presto! You’re done. No conditioning necessary, just a towel-off and you’re good to go. In Winter it’s also a bonus as it takes only minutes to dry.

When the times comes for the next round of haircuts, which is does all too quickly with boys, were off to the barber’s. I take little boys in with me and I bring out little men. Their heads are lighter and so is my purse. There’s something about having a close call with the scissors that makes them look more grown up than they really are. One thing the boys love is sitting in the big swivel chair and getting raised up high into the air like a king on a throne. The best part for me is that both of my children go mute as if under a trance as the clippers do their work. Maybe it’s fear they’ll lose an ear or the sensation of the vibration rattling through their skull.  Possibly they just like checking themselves out and are admiring the view. Who knows?  The transformation they see take place before their very eyes may be the reason or they might be in awe of the dexterity which is displayed by Tony, our barber who rocks.

Perhaps this is why both boys, at around the ages of 3- give or take, have taken a pair of scissors to their own hair. No. 1 took a chunk right out the front of the fringey part in his hairdressing endeavour. No. 2 only recently went for a near-to-the-scalp chop on the top right hand side of his head. I am assured that most kids do this at some point. This is where being a boy and wearing their hair short comes as a bonus. It doesn’t take long for the hair to grow enough so that it’s less noticeable. Then it’s back to Tony to get him to fix up their foray.

I wonder if my kids’ generation will go through a long hair phase like the boys did when I was a teenager? Hopefully they’ll have a job by then and be able to buy their own hairdryer. I’m not planning on competing with my sons for mirror time.

I love your 1-minute hair styles.

Image from: here.

For the Love of Rocks

Rock a bye baby. Rock around the clock. Crocodile rock. I love rock ‘n’ roll. Rock the Casbah. Rock your body. What rocks your world?

The rock ‘n’ roll kind of rock is not really what you’ll find here. It’s also not a geological discussion about the rock of Gibraltar. There’s no game of rock, paper, scissors going on and it isn’t a pet rock fetish image post.

It’s simply about the good ol’ stone type of rock. You know the ones found in the garden.

My youngest is the collector of all thinks rock. They are gathered from the ground, carried around in sweaty clenched fists and then stuffed deep into short pockets. Some are discarded as a matter of course. Others are left, long forgotten, to dwell in a resting place until reunited with their fellow rock garden friends. Some of the favoured rocks get taped to a piece of paper to make nature scenes. I wonder how these rocks feel.

My favourite, however, are the ones left in the dark crevices of pockets where they mingle with dirt, lint and tissues. They’re about to go for a spin and if they’re lucky they’ll be flung free from the depths and be shiny and clean when they come out of the washing machine. Yes, these are my most cherished rocks. They have already been through so much and yet they threaten to deem it necessary for me to buy a new washer. If I’m really in luck I’ll hear them clunking around in the machine mid-cycle. Deep sea diving past my elbows through the murky water and dodging seaweed-like clothing, blindly trying to reach the illusive culprits is not one of my favoured activities.

Stern warnings ensue with sweet child o’ mine and a detailed description of what rocks can do to washing machines. It seems to make little difference as he runs off to find new rocks to freshly pluck from the dirt, squeeze tightly in his palm and then firmly plant in the safety of a pocket. Pet rocks are not far off. I can feel it in my bones. At least they shouldn’t go through the wash.

I love you. You rock!

Images from: here and here.

You are the Apples of My Eye and I Love You

I love my sweet apples.

Apples with skin on or naked? The results of this poll will determine how I eat apples for the rest of my days. That is, if I can get more than 10 apple lovers to respond to this post.

The reason I’m asking is because recently my son who is 5 has asked to have his apple a la natural. I know the facts about apple skins and how many nutrients are crammed into its natural packaging. My concern is what I can’t see and what I can feel. Apples are naturally coated in a wax to make them shiny and appealing to the eye. Goodness only knows what attaches itself to the wax or what was already on the apple before it was coated.

It would be safe to assume that everyone has heard the saying, ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away,’ since it has been around for nearly 150 years. As a side note I was interested to learn from phrases.org that the original version was, ‘eat an apple on going to bed, and you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread,’ which was a Pembrokeshire proverb. I think I can safely assume that eating an apple, skin or not, is better than not eating the apple at all.

The apple skin debate raged for about 5 minutes in our home. Personally I’m of the opinion that Master 5 has alterior motives (when did he learn manipulation skills?). Wobbly teeth season hit our place at about the same time as the request for skin left on. I think he’s looking at having the ledger in his favour with the tooth fairy. Not exactly a get-rich-quick-scheme but one way or another he’ll get to eat his apple. Lucky he’s not William Tell’s son otherwise that apple would have an arrow smack-bang through the middle of it.

So whether you and your kids prefer their Granny to their Pink Lady, be a sweetie and weigh in on the debate below.

I love you every day! How do ya like dem apples?

Image from: here.

I Love You Kids

No kidding! I do love you.

Ok, I’ll put all goat/kid jokes aside for the express purpose of your reading pleasure plus your inward groans will accompany me into the wee hours otherwise.

Have you ever noticed the similarities between a kid and a child? Seriously! There’s many that can’t be overlooked. When I started thinking about it the more I questioned whether baby goats were named kids first or whether we call children kids frequently because they resemble a baby goat in behaviour.

I recently saw a ‘Parenting test’ on FB that suggested yet-to-be-parents take a goat into the store when buying groceries. ‘Be sure to pay for everything the goat eats,’ was the key to that little test. I can imagine taking a goat and being banned from the store for life. I wonder if children ever get banned?

My kids seem to think they are goats of the mountain variety and will try and scale a vertical surface to perch on a ledge at the top. ‘You think that’s a good idea? Don’t you watch the goats? They fall off you know!’ It’s a fact that mountain goats don’t live as long as their flat dwelling cousins.

Baby goats are all legs. The way that they jump in the middle of running is nothing short of funny. Young children don’t walk anywhere. They run, hop, skip, jump, turn circles, side step and prance like a horse from point A to point B.

A goat’s call is ‘maa.’ Some kids call their mum the same. Female goats can be called nannies. Hmmm?

Goats can be very stubborn creatures. Ditto for my boys.

And what’s with the headbutting? We may lock horns once in a while but I love my kids.

Drop me a line or two about how kids are goat-like. It’d be great to hear your stories especially if they feature kids called Billy.

I kid you not-I love you.

Image from: here.

Put a Little Love in Your Heart

Only space for a little love today.

Today I had only a little space reserved for love.

The parking lot in my heart was full.

My head was at work today while my heart was full of love for my boys. That only left a little for all the mini peeps. My heart kept leaping back to the fact that my preschooler will officially be in Preschool next year.

You see today I stepped out of my Loading Zone where I happily go about delivering packages of learning. When I relief teach (sub) I normally teach primary school aged kids (5-13  here is Australia). Today, for the first time in 19 years I taught Kindergarten kids.

Wow! What a jaw-dropping, eye-opening experience. It was not dissimilar to having 30 clones of my little guy. The only differences were some were wearing frilly stuff and I didn’t have to wipe one single bum.

Today I got paid what most would consider a tidy sum to push swings, paint, sing songs, amuse, read, do puzzles and play. Hey, isn’t that what I do at home every other day for a big fat zero? So why did today go so slow and all the days at home whiz by like a police car chase scene? Today was a No Standing Zone exactly the same as any other.

I have no clue. I’m still trying to work out if it’s the best or worst part that I get to do it all again tomorrow and Thursday.

So this post resembles a beat-up old Vee-Dub or the Mini that may not be able to fit everything in that I’d like to.

I hope the brakes are fixed by tomorrow night though because it’d be nice to be able to stop.

Please note the RESERVED signs where only my boys are allowed to park.

Image from: here.

I’m Guilty of Loving You

‘I do love you. I plead guilty as charged, Your Honour.’

Drag me off to solitary. Take my smartphone away. Bread and water is all I deserve! Can I please have a side order of love though?

Yesterday marked the first day in 77 that I did not post here on WordPress. Nothing really razzle-dazzle about that except for the fact that I intended to blog everyday for a year. I feel as if I have quickly gone back on a promise to myself.

On the upside my family and I had a lovely day. I was ever-present and shared the joy of my gorgeous neice turning 4.

I was still ‘around the place’ yesterday. I read and read and read. I commented when I felt the desire to. But I had this niggling feeling. Was I being the ever-present wallflower that I am in Facebook land-lurking in shadows like a spy in the lives of others? I was feeling the love but not sharing it!

How do I achieve the balance I am searching for?  Another solution danced through my mind over the course of the day as I offered advice to another blogger who had asked for my opinion. Why can’t we take our own advice? Why do we have to hear it from our own mouths or through depressed keys to give voice to our own thoughts for our own sakes?

I’m going to keep my little tidbit to myself for the moment. I might need it while I’m in the hole. I’ll gladly share if I can just nibble away at it and be allowed to join the mainstream population again soon.

You are the key to my handcuffs heart.

Image from: here.

I Love You Because……

………(pregnant pause).

‘Yes, you love me because………….’

‘you don’t fart in bed like Dad does.’

I asked my boys tonight why they love me. I was prepared for the, ‘because you’re my mum,’ response. I was not prepared for the answer I got instead.

After clutching at my sides for quite some time and then regaining my composure we got back to the question that was still hanging in the air (luckily nothing else was in the air).

Responses from Me First were:

‘We do cool stuff together like go to the playground and skate park.’

‘You make yummy bikkies.’

‘When I hurt myself you kiss me and make it all better.’

‘I love your cuddles. They make me feel safe and happy.’

Answers from Me Too were a little less defined but included:

‘You make yummy lunch.’

‘You play trucks with me.’

‘You love me.’

So what is one to glean from all of this? From a 5 and 2 y.old’s perspectives it seems that I am meeting their needs. We break bread together, not just biscuits. We play, laugh and learn together. They see love and they feel love. Is there anything else children of this age need? Perhaps I’m oversimplifying life but of bigger concern than that would be overcomplicating.

I love my kids. They’re unique and spirited children. They’ve got scars and bumps and are rarely scar-free. Their enthusiasm is contagious even if their energy is not. They put life in my years and grey hairs on my head. They amaze me, irritate me and leave me speechless. They give the best leg hugs and smooches in the business.

There’s nothing else I need from them. Do they need anything else from me?

What do your kids love about you? Perhaps ask them and see what they say. Witty, soppy and left-of-field are all valued here.

I love you just because.

Image from: here.

I Love You From the Bottom of My Heart?

Whichever way you read it, I love you is the only part of the message that matters, yes?

Mixed messages are commonplace in our society. They are used in advertising campaigns, for the purpose of humour, daily conversations and many other reasons that I won’t go into now.

When I ventured into the realm of blogging I had no clue that it would have such a massive impact on my world. Mixed messages abounded on the topic of blogging-the best time to post, content, engagement, advertising…and the list goes on. I was overwhelmed to say the least and still am to an extent when I look at my stats.

For those of you who love a good stat overview:

Posts: 79

Views: 1772

Best ever views: 86

Comments: 257

Followers (Inc. publicize): 154

I don’t know if these are high, low or inbetween what a new blogger could possibly expect. To be completely honest, I don’t really care. All I truly care about is the good folk from across the world who have taken just a moment to see what I have to share.

For me that is the essence in all of this. I set out in my delapidated dinghy near-on 3 months ago wondering if I would find another soul on my journey who would give my thoughts a voice. Many of you have-you’ve made it all worthwhile.

Before I began I had made the decision to write and post daily. In retrospect this was unrealistic. If biting off more than one can chew is true here then I took a large chunk off an elephant. I quickly realised that it wasn’t just about posting. It was about reading, connecting, commenting and engaging. Regrets? No. Changes? Yes.

Daily posting without reading is not doable. Reading without posting or commenting would be okay if I didn’t feel a compulsion to express my thoughts creatively. A compromise is deemed the only solution.

So, it is with this goal in mind that I have made the only choice I see fit and turn this boat around and paddle like billy-o for dry land at knock off time on Fridays. I’ll still be around but I can focus on THE most important part of the week which is, of course, the weekend with my fellas-big and small x 2.

To my followers who hit that like button for every piece of writing I post, I do love you from the heart of my bottom. That’s because I sit on it to write and stillness is something I don’t do well normally. A warm, heartfelt…..

for those who take offence to any thought of my posterior.

Enjoy your Sunday everyone.
My family are off to my neice’s 4th birthday. After all, family comes first!

Kelly.

xoox

Images from: here and here.

I Love You Haiku

The Ideas You Love to Have

What a lovely idea!

The light’s on but it might pay to check if anybody’s home. It seems that little revelations are par for the course today. I’m just not sure if they’re occuring inside a head that’s capable of light bulb moments today.

Thursdays seem to be a wall day for me. I don’t hit it. I can’t put my shoulder to it and break my way through. It flattens me to paper thin.

As I sit here in my unkempt home I know something’s off-kilter. Things around here normally reflect the fact that I’m pretty house proud. Not today. I don’t care. My youngest sits here playing with playdough while he eats it and we have a dialogue about why we shouldn’t eat it-just pretend to. Everyone’s happy. The sun is shining. My brain whizzes at its normal speed but it’s just not sure which direction it should be heading in.

You see, I’ve had an idea. I don’t think it’s a good day to have a bright idea. I’m not capable of processing it today but I’m not sure if I’ll remember it tomorrow. Maybe it’ll just be replaced with another idea because my grey matter seems to fire them off at regular intervals. This one’s another blog idea but that just makes my mind boggle because I spend quite a bit of time here already. Do I have anymore minutes in my day to spare? No. Can I leave my house unclean indefinitely? Um, no. So where do I pull more time from? I have NO idea!

I’ts similar when one of the boys has an idea. I try to focus on what their idea is but my mind always sneaks back to, ‘where are we going to find the time for that?’ or ‘when is that going to fit in?’ They’re always full of ideas and I adore the index finger in the air that accompanies their wonderful brainwaves. My little one’s idea of a good idea normally includes food or play. Pretty easy to manage. The big guy’s ideas normally involve going out or making stuff. A little more involved and a bit more time consuming. Still fairly easy to manipulate into a day.

Had any good ideas lately you’d be prepared to go public with?

Love your idea.

Image from: here.

I Love You at Any Cost

Love doesn’t cost a dime.

Thank goodness! People everywhere would be shelling out a whole heap more cash if you had to go and purchase it at the store or online.

So whether you’re ‘classified’ as residing in the uppercrust of today’s society, good old-fashioned working class or the working poor you can give your children love with the best of them.

I may not have a money tree but I have a mountain of love for my boys. With one at school and one still at home I work part time to provide a little extra income for our family. I could work full time but choose not to so I can spend time with my youngest before he heads off to kindy next year. We can’t afford to go on overseas holidays or indulge their every whim but we provide bucketloads of love from which they can fill their pails. Once they’re both at school their teachers will see them more waking hours than I do. So I’m not willing to sacrifice this time I love for money.

Imagine having to add love to the cost of the weekly food bill! The little monsters angels cost enough as it is. The in-depth research I conducted on news.com states that the Federal Government in Australia estimates that it costs $384,543 to raise a child to 18. To break it down that’s approx $21,000 per year x by how many children in your family. For me that equals one massive hole in each pocket. All is well though because Love = Free.

I love you freely.

Image from: here.

Liebster Award. SWEET!

Liebster=sweetheart, beloved person, darling.

I would like to thank Kim at words4jp’s blog for including Free Little Words in the list of blogs she deems worthy of this award . She visits my blog daily and comments almost as often. I really do feel loved.

The Liebster duties:

1.  Post 11 facts about myself.

2.  Answer the 11 questions posed by the nominator.

3.  Pass the love to 11 other bloggers &

4.  Pose 11 new questions for the newly ‘loved’ to answer.

So to start with I’ll answer the questions that sweet Kim has posed:

1.  what was your first job? Holly’s restaurant inside KMart serving food to lovely people who used to leave dirty nappies (diapers) on their food trays.

2.  favorite subject in school (lunch and gym do not count:) – Art and Maths (the former I loved but wasn’t very good at and the latter I didn’t love but was very good at).

3.  If you had to pick your last meal ever – Prawns with fresh squeezed lemon and thousand island dressing

4.  first pet (a rock or imaginary pet will qualify) – A guinea pig whose name escapes me (I must have truly loved it)!

5.  girls – one piece or bikini / boys – trunks or Speedo-At my age one piece for girls and never ever speedos

6. the one place in the world you want to see before you die – Egypt

7.  most famous person you have ever met – My 5 y.o. (well he’ll be famous some day)

8.  to explore the depths of the ocean or the galaxy – Galaxy absolutely. I’m a star gazer.

9.  do you prefer the first 3 Star Wars films (the original 3) OR the 2nd three Star Wars films – Neither as I’m not a Sci Fi fan AT ALL. I can hear the boos now.

10.  your ultimate wish for all of mankind – No more wars or bomb building.

11.  prefer winter weather or summer weather- After the heatwave we’ve had (8 days in a row over 30°C) give me some snow. We don’t get snow at all here so that seems like a nice idea. I’m sure all the snow dwellers suffering through blizzards will disagree with me here and think that I’m living in a tropical paradise.

Since having my last award bestowed upon me I have made it my goal to search, seek out and find blogs that are outside of my beginning reading preferences. Some of these blogs I am new to and hope that they will accept the love that is being offered.

Now the sweetest part of all-nominating 11 other blogs which show and share their love of live and all things bloggable:

On the Fence
Field Notes From Fatherhood
Squarehead Teachers
AllAboutManners
Have Fun With It!
Wine and Cheese (Doodles)
BumpyRoadToBubba
Momisms-My Moments in Motherhood
Plan B-each
Poke N Grits
inspirationenergy

If you’d love to sweeten someone’s day and show them what a darling you think they are have a look-see over at one or more of these blogs that are, in my opinion, all worthy of the beloved (Liebster) title to me.

And finally the 11 questions for these awesomely amazing people to answer and give us a little insight into their psyche. Hang in there till the end. They start tame but then……..

1. Toilet paper over or under and are you a scruncher or a folder?
2. Are you a cat or dog person?
3. What chore do you absolutely hate doing?
4. If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be and why?
5. What is something you learned in the last week?
6. Which celebrity do you get mistaken for?
7. What’s one thing your parent/s did that you swore you would never repeat with your own children and you have followed through with?
8. If you could have a room full of any one thing, what would it be?
9. What do you value most in other people?
10. If you could only see the world in black and white plus one other colour, what colour would you choose?
11. Do you believe ‘half the fun is getting there’?

Love and virtual hugs to everyone

Kelly.

My Heart Melts With Love For You

Your love melts my heart.

Noooooooo! Not another sappy, love-filled post. Nah. It’s about something completely different so read on if you’re wondering where this might be going.

When it’s 38°C outside there’s only one thing to do. Stay cool and keep calm.

It’s been above 30 for over a week with high humidity on most of those days and a 39°C day to come tomorrow.

After a few days you can notice the strain on people as we face yet another day of high temperatures. Employing any method possible to cope with the weather and keep your wits about you at the same time is essential. It is far too easy to let your patience fray at the edges with the added concern of keeping everyone as cool as possible.

Our strategies for survival over the past week or so have been to:

• plan outings for the morning-that way we’re not all stuck inside all day long
• fill the 9Ltr water container in our fridge at night ready for the next day
• make fruit juice popsicles/ice blocks to have in the afternoons
• use spray bottles to mist our faces when out in the middle of the day
• water the lawn in the early evening with the sprinkler so the kids can run under it.

A trip to the beach early this morning did have my heart in a drippy state but I wasn’t suffering from sunstroke. I was able to sit in the shade and watch my family at play. This is not something I do often and must remember to take a step back and observe the three men in my life at regular intervals. They are more important to me than wearing thongs on my feet as I navigate the searing sand. My heart may have warmed in that moment but it had nothing to do with the temperature. When we returned I felt energised and calm at the same time even though I looked wilted, windswept and gritty. The kids had a blast and no-one got burnt.

Surviving the extremes in your part of the world? Care to share how you cope?

My heart melts with yours.

Image from: here.