Summer Holidays

Now that school holidays are on us and the summer is here the question arises ... how to entertain the Ferals?
Hmmm... the idea of sending them out to play on a busy highway has I must admit crossed my mind on the odd occasion but I don't think I would come out very squeaky clean or win parent of the year if I put that into action .. so what to do?

We are going camping for a few days soon with friends to a beach to laze about while the Ferals get up to mischief.  They are of an age where they can be trusted .. sort of .. to do the right thing so we can give them some freedom.  They know where we live and will return home when hungry is my motto.

Camping will hopefully make them sleep and the thought of them going to bed grotty with sun kissed faces I do find rather appealing .. until we have to return home and all the washing begins.

I am hoping to take them to the cinema to see something .. don't know what yet .. but I know I better start saving now as this is very expensive by the time one adds tickets, pop corn, drinks and what ever they can manage to con out of me. Then the choice of seeing one in 3D or not.  That adds another expense.  The Ferals still tend to think money just appears out of majic holes in the wall and it is an never ending supply .. oh reality will hit one day.

But things do not always have to cost the earth.  Hub has been ordered by the manager ie : me, to take them away again for a minimum of 4 nights.  Oh my selfish self is hanging out for this time of clean house and not having to whip up some sort of food that partly resembles a meal.  Bring it on I say !!

It will also be a good chance for them to do some bloke bonding as they learn to grunt, scratch their crotches and learn the finer points of being a good Aussie bloke.  Hub will also be responsible for EVERYTHING ... ahhhh ... but truthfully I might miss them a teeny bit. 



Curly Feral with his
creation

 Today we have made a ginger bread house, fudge and rocky road.  They are continually asking to do something else but the inner domestic goddess is pulling me..and I must say very reluctantly.. to the kitchen to prepare for the onslaught of Christmas.  They like to help but do get tired of it easily.  As the Curly Ferals said to me once that he is glad he is a boy as girls have to do too much work...hmm

We will I am sure take many trips to our local beach so they can catch up with friends and go hunting for crabs.  We can whittle many hours away doing this as I catch up on my reading while sporadically yelling to stay in view and not to throw rocks at each other. Yes a relaxing trip to the beach is defiantly called for. 

We will have friends over to play and maybe some sleep overs.  I will attempt to think of ways to keep them happy but they must also learn to occupy themselves.  WE have a very large garden, billy carts, animals, cubby house and games.  Surely I wont hear the cry of "Muuummm I am bored !! "  No surely not !

This year the holidays have been shortened but approx 2 weeks.  Part of me is sad for this but the other part is doing the happy dance.  By the end of 8 weeks they usually were becoming bored and fidgety so this will help.  They will gain this lost holiday time by having another included through out the year.  This will work well I figure. Its a win win for us all.

So to all the others starting the perils of school holidays I say good luck.  They are only young for a small time and it really is a magical sight to behold.. Happy kids on holidays.

Cheers Dilly xx

A year in reflection

Well 2012 is nearly at an end.  Has it been a good year? Have we / I achieved all that was set out to accomplish?  Can it be looked back upon fondly as a positive time?  Yes and no to all those and more.

A year .. 365 days this leap year.  The year I turned ..ugh.. 42.  The year that my Ferals have showed signs of growing up into the men they will eventually be.  A year of highs and lows, laughter and tears.  I think most could identify with some of this.

January 2012 started with a bang on the foreshore of our local city with friends watching the fireworks with the Ferals having a wonderful time playing chasing's amongst all the others there.  They say how you spend the last and first few minutes of a new year can set the tone for the year ahead.  I'm not sure if I believe this but one can only hope.

School for the Ferals in the year 2012 has been positive.  They have both had to grow up and learn to take responsibility for their actions.  They have had to learn to be more tolerant of others. But what I have asked most of them is to be kids..warts and all.  This I feel has been a success, with a few bumps and bruises to the body and ego.  Its a learning time for them both.

I have managed to gain more employment.  I now rush between 2 jobs as well as trying to be a domestic goddess.  I am afraid the domestic is a bit on the back burner for the moment.. but goddess ... yep some things never change !!

I find I am exhausted but satisfied with myself more now.  I feel like I am contributing more financially and although I am not sure how long it will last I will endeavour to make the most of  this new found job.. If nothing else I have met some great work colleagues and friends I am sure to keep.

This year I have managed to drop weight at times but it always seems to find its way back home.  I have learned to give up ever trying to have the house tidy for more than 5 minutes.. it ain't going to happen.  I have reminded myself that the sun will always come up tomorrow no matter how hard things feel at times. It has been an interesting year.

Hub has worked his butt off this year.  To be honest there are days when I wondered who the person was who walked in the door after not seeing him for a few weeks.  Now we are in bush fire season I am sure this will only increase.  He loves his job and is lucky enough to be appreciated within it.

This week my Ferals will perform in their end of school year concert.  How I am looking forward to seeing their smiling faces on stage.  The curly boy will not tell me what he is performing but I do know he will be in a recorder .. yes those instruments that we parents block our ears for ..group and also a class item.  The Weed on the other hand has informed me he will be dancing.  I cant wait to see him dance.. a born dancer this may be the only time I see him perform..because lessons are for girls apparently !!  ( I have posted this a bit after the concert and it was FANTASTIC ! )

It will also be the final week for being at their current school as next year they will be moving.  This decision as plagued me most of the year and I know I will be shedding tears come Thursday 20th.  My head had to over rule my heart and it was not easy.  All I can do is hope I have made the right decision.

The year will see the Curly Feral turn 10.  Where has the time gone??? The Weed will be 8  ... 8 ..how on earth did that happen?  They grow up too fast as the saying goes. 



A summers field near home



Summer is here to take us in into the new year.  Dried up paddocks and hot days on the beach await us. We are going camping in January with great friends.  Days and nights of hanging out just relaxing.  Oh how I am looking forward to this.

I am sure 2013 will be a great year.  It shows all the signs of it from this time.  I consider myself lucky to be able to reach it.. to experience it for all it will have to offer. 

2012 will give way on the stroke of midnight... to herald a new beginning and to take us through another year of our lives.  I think if I do choose to make a resolution it will be to just make it through the year ahead with a smile and being grateful for the chance.

So I say to all I truly hope that 2013 will bring you all love laughter and smiles.  To bring the strength to tackle the challenges that are bound to cross our paths.  But most of all I personally will look back on 2012 with a smile and a tear and to 2013 .. I say bring it on !!!

Cheers Dilly xx

That time of year again...Ho Ho Ho!

Its coming ..Coming with astounding speed.  Its coming to make the weeks leading up to it a time of over excited kids and questions of how the hell am I going to afford it..  Yep its Christmas.

Christmas.  Ok lets ponder the meaning.. the birth of Christ.  Now I have to admit I do not believe in what this time is meant to represent in the biblical sense.  We are all entitled to our own opinions and I consider mine no more correct that anothers but this is my view. 

Why do I celebrate it then?  Well I suppose it has carried on from generation to generation as a way of expressing their beliefs in a way that represents who they are.

Christmas to me and the way I choose to celebrate it represents the love I have for my family.  It is a celebration of what my family means to each other.  It is a time of showing my appreciation to them and celebrating all they are to me.  That is my Christmas.

Christmas when I was a kid was such an exciting time.  I, as most kids, saw it as a time of lots of pressies under the tree and a visit from Santa.  It was not till older that I came to appreciate all that Christmas really means to me personally.

When a child we would have wonderful lunches in which we would stuff ourselves full on a hot day with food far more suited to a cooler climate.  We would then lay around like large beached whales with a contented grin and swear to ourselves that the next year we would not eat so much..yeah as if !!

We would see cousins that we had not seen for ages.  A coming together of childhood innocence and games.  A time of sleepovers and giggles till late at night.  Oh how I loved these years.
My Grandmother was the centre of the family .  She would sit and watch us kids with pure adoration as we opened pressies to squeals of excitement.  She worshipped us and after loosing her things have never been the same.  But now they are different.  A good different too.  My mum is now Grandma and I see her watching her grandchildren with the same devotion.  Its a comforting sight.

The expectation of Christmas for kids..well mine anyway, can be overwhelming.  The Ferals behaviour usually heads on a downwards spiral at this time.  Combine that with the ending of the school year and the school holidays it can be a difficult time.

The Ferals , as most I would assume, have a Santa list a mile long.  Santa looks at this list I can assure you with a heavy heart as he wonders where the money will come from to make their dreams come true.

Peer pressure does play a part in the items they choose to ask for. They want to have the same as the kid next door so they don't feel different.    This Santa though tends to start the shopping around June so what they get and what they ask for often are two different things.
I try to consider their ages and go for the ' cool ' stuff.  I like things that encourage them to go out side and play. I want them being kids and enjoying the short years of their childhood.

We all do, myself included, often get wrapped up in the material side of Christmas.  We forget about what truly is important.  We forget about others who are not so fortunate. We focus on ourselves and our own safe cocoons.  Not everyone has a safe haven.  I am one of the lucky ones.

So as Christmas fast approaches I have nearly finished my shopping.  I have spent far more than I can afford but that's what mums do.  I know the excitement at 2.00am .. yes 2.00am  .. I am not joking..as the Ferals get up to see what the Big Red Man has brought them, will make it all worth while. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and take from it all that you hope and believe in.  If I can have a wonderful day with my Ferals and family then I can honestly say I have received more than I could have ever wished for.

      Cheers Dilly xxx