Joshua's 4th Birthday

I got to spend an afternoon with my biggest little man in December.  Rory was invited to his friend Joshua's 4th birthday party at the indoor play centre in Albany, so I took him, while my mum looked after Flynn.

He had a ball going down a huge inflatable slide, and I was so proud of him for being so brave.  The party was a smorgasboard of all of his favourite foods - chicken nuggets, chips, sausage rolls, fairy bread, and a delicious icecream cake.

I'm all for outsourcing kids' birthday parties - it makes it easier for parents who are time-poor, or aren't gifted in the areas of cake decorating.

5 More Dero WA Towns

Yep, I've visited more than five 'holes'....

1.  Northam
2.  Narrogin
3.  New Norcia (not dero so much, but it gives me the creeps)
4.  Manjimup
5.  Carnarvon

5 Dero WA Towns

Bound to offend...but, hey, it's my blog, my opinion. ;)

1.  Meekatharra
2.  Katanning
3.  Jerramungup
4.  Moora
5.  Gnowangerup

I Am Australian by The Seekers

I thought it was appropriate to post these lyrics on Australia Day.  I love my amazing country and the diversity of the people who call it home.

We are one, but we are many,
And from all the lands on earth we come.
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian.

Lyrics from here.

It's Just Like Riding a Bike

This phrase has always annoyed me, because riding a bike has NEVER been easy for me.  I've always suffered from poor balance and I haven't been on a bike since I was 12.  I've struggled with climbing, general clumsiness, driving a manual car (because I find it hard to co-ordinate easing my foot off the clutch and my other foot onto the accelerator at the same time), lack of co-ordination when learning particular dance moves, and my gross motor skills were quite poor as a young child.  It seems Rory has similar issues.  Only in the last few weeks I've been wondering if we both have some form of gross motor dyspraxia.

But this is the year I've decided to confront my fear of riding a bike.  I mentioned in my 5 Hopes For 2017 that I don't want to miss out anymore.  Since my brother-in-law has just bought Duncan and I new bikes as presents, now is the time to start.

Maybe one day I'll join the Ride for Compassion.

For now...baby steps.

Did you know there are classes to help adults learn to ride a bike?  It turns out I'm definitely not the only one to struggle with this.

Four

I can still remember what it was like having skin-to-skin cuddles with him when he was born.  Now my big boy Rory turned four yesterday!

We celebrated his birthday early by having a party at our place last Saturday.  His last two birthday parties have been in Perth, because we were up there for other things.  This time, it was nice to celebrate with his local (and some visiting) friends. Since it was going to be 35C, I had organised for it to be a morning of water play.  Then it turned into a mud fest.  It's amazing how the simple things can keep kids amused for hours.

A Thomas-themed party for a Thomas-mad little boy.

These things were great shelter from the hot, hot sun.

Mmm Cheezels

Bubbles are always a winner.

Mud, glorious mud.

This was my first attempt at using fondant.  I'm not a baker and it's

definitely not perfect, but I'm happy with my effort.  Rory loved it,

so that's all that matters.

Nice to have a family photo.

Flynn loves balloons.

We came up to Perth on Tuesday as I have a week's worth of appointments.  Harvest was STILL going when we left (it has finished now, thankfully), so Duncan was unable to come with us.  My mum is here, helping me with the kids while I go to my appointments.

Yesterday, Rory, Flynn and I headed to the city to catch up with our friends, Sam, Aria and Boyd.  We planned to drive to Cockburn Central Park and Ride and catch the train, but there were no parking spots!  So, I tried Murdoch Park and Ride....no parking there either!  We ended up driving in (Rory took the disappointment of missing out on his first train ride very well).  I took a wrong turn, couldn't find a parking spot and ended up scraping the car on a post (thankfully it's not too bad).  What an effort and a misadventure!  I was feeling quite hot and bothered by the time we finally got to the Fire Station Museum.  The kids had a ball!

The rockclimbing wall was a hit.

Rory was stoked to sit in a real fire engine.

Fireman Rory to the rescue.

There were uniforms and hats there for the kids

to dress up in.  I dressed Firey Flynn in his fire engine
shirt for the day, then seconded him to the SES. He
was not happy.

It was way too big and heavy for him, but he
looked sooo funny toddling around in it.

Then we had lunch.  Rory loves babycinos.

He was so excited to catch up with Aria, who is also four.

Can you believe it has been four years since this precious moment?

5 Hopes For 2017

1.  Confront (and hopefully conquer) some long-held fears and phobias.  More to come in another post.
2.  Submit my novel to more publishers.
3.  Try to have regular quiet times.  I don't want to set the bar too high (it's hard to go from pretty much nothing/sporadic times to daily, so I'm aiming for 2-3 times per week, then build up).
4.  Continue to sell baby stuff and other items to raise money for Christian ministries.
5.  Adjust my weekly routine now that I'll be a kindy mum, which will include taking Flynn to playgroup on either Tuesdays or Thursdays, while Rory is at kindy.

What are your hopes for 2017?

Six Years Yesterday

Where have those six years gone?

I wish I could give her a hug.

2016 Hopes: How I Went

Well....2016 wasn't a very productive year AT ALL!

1.  RECOVER!  I have a myriad of appointments to arrange and attend this year to aid my recovery - physiotherapy, chiropractic, counselling, hospital follow-ups, blood tests.  It's doing my head in already.
I don't think I recovered much at all.  There were so many moments during 2016 where I should have returned to hospital.  I enjoyed counselling (I found a Christian counsellor in Perth that did appointments via Skype), but I'm not sure it's really had much of an impact.  I guess it's just an ongoing and LONG process.  I had physio regularly, but will need surgery to repair my abdominal diastasis. 

2.  Send my book to more literary agents and publishers.
I got my submission to Fremantle Press ready with just weeks remaining in 2016.  Now, I just actually have to print and post the thing.

3.  Have regular quiet times.  We're only 15 days into the new year and I feel like I'm failing already.  But maybe if I was succeeding I'd be tempted to become proud.  Thank the Lord it's all about His grace.
My friend Amanda sent me a devotional for my birthday, which I found very helpful.  If I wasn't part of a KYB Bible study, which required weekly preparation, I think I would have sadly neglected my Bible altogether.  I think it shows where my heart is, that I don't see reading God's Word and praying enough of a priority.  It's the being still part that I find hard, just enjoying God's presence without thinking about the next thing on my to-do list.

4.  Declutter and sell things to raise money for missions or whoever the Lord places across my path in need of money.  As soon as Flynn outgrows the baby stuff, IT'S OUTTA HERE.
I've sold a fair bit of the baby stuff so far and donated some to our biannual church missions stall.  It breaks my heart to know there will be no more bubbas for us, so I try to list the stuff for sale quickly, so I don't think about it too much.

5.  Read and comment on other blogs more.  I failed dismally at this last year as I was too preoccupied in keeping my own blog afloat. 
Sorry, I don't think I did very well at this at all.

Oh well, onwards and upwards....
Stay tuned for my 2017 hopes.

Quote of the Day

God will not protect you from anything that will make you more like Jesus.
 - Elisabeth Elliot

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Jim Elliot