Flippers Floaties and Sunburn

So, we've been spending alot of time at the pool lately, escaping the crazy heat. I mean suffocating, wish you could lie in the middle of the floor naked, kind of heat. The kids love it, and start begging to go from the minute they drag me out of bed in the morning. I can understand why. Jumping from the edge of the pool like an acomplished acrobat, kicking around with your friends, cold icypoles and shady spots on the grass, it far outshines hanging out at home in the heat. Yesterday though, we hid inside. It turns out i didn't reapply the sunscreen as early as i should have. Okay, i forgot to reapply it at all. I'm paying for it dearly, hissing as i pull my shirt down onto my shoulders, which are lathered up with vitamin E cream. I have to giggle just a little as i brush my hair, trying not to look at the big white sunglasses which have been burnt into my face. The kids were devastated when i said we needed a break from the pool. They're oblivious to my tomato-like appearance and the careful way i move around, trying not to make my shirt move and rub on my shoulders.

The dissappointment didn't last long though, we found other ways to fill our time.

We got a start on the Christmas pressies for family and friends.

We did a little something for the bedroom doors. I got caught up on those 'recent' photos of the kids that everyone always wants but which i never seem to have any of.

So, a productive day, but now i'm going to creep away and find something cold to hold against my cheeks while trying not to accidently scratch my shoulders.

Season of Thanks

How much do you LOVE the holidays? Especially Christmas. I'm a sucker for filling the stockings to overflowing, not feeling content until the presents are flowing out from under the tree so that you trip on them in the dark while looking for the remote. I think my excitement exceeds that of the kids in our house.

We have planned Christmas's, one year with our family and the next with Alwyns. As a compromise, Christmas Day is at home. The kids get to go to bed buzzing with anticipation, and awake in the morning to find Santa has been and dropped the motherload on our Loungeroom floor. We spend a few hours drinking in the shining faces as they discover the treasures inside the wrapping paper, and then start an extravagant breakfast of bacon and eggs, hot buttery toast, garlic mushrooms, and fried tomato and onions. This with a good tall COLD orange juice is BLISS. And the best part? We get to eat it in PEACE, while the kids are busy in the lounge with their new loot. Then arrives Grandma and Grandpa, Auntys and Uncles, and friends laden with MORE gifts. So begins a day of excited squeals, over eating and drinking, and too much sunshine. I'm sure i'm not alone in wishing this day would last forever.

This year however is slightly different from most. Instead of travelling to Alwyns Mum's house on Boxing Day, we'll be travelling to Airlie Beach to spend a week frolicking in the pool, visiting the beach until the chafe disables us, and staying up late around the campfire with good company before heading off to sleep under the stars. This year my Christmas WILL last that bit longer, and with Christmas cookies and rumballs a plenty, a car load of unnecessary Christmas paraphenalia, and a good book, i'm off to what i think comes as close as you can get to paradise.

The worst part is, I have to PACK! Ugh. I've left it as long as i can. With only a week and a half till we leave, i think it's time to get things sorted out.

But there's just so many more pressing matters that require attention!

Maybe the packing can wait a bit longer.

Summer, Sunshine, and Satisfaction

It's elusive, we chase it, and no matter what we surround ourselves with, some of us never achieve it. I thought i had it, then lost it somewhere for a while amongst the sudden early awakenings, the indecisive breakfast orders, the random outfit choices, the lost car keys, the exhausted pigtail vs ponytail discussion and jamming a few more completely unnecessary items into the already overflowing nappy bag. I question my sanity and wonder what possessed me.

Remembering my sunglasses are on top of the fridge at the last minute as i'm shuffling out the door with a 6 kilo nappy bag, a 10 kilo toddler with breakfast still on his face, a sobbing 3 year old who doesn't want to leave her blankie at home, and an indignant 5 year old who wants to go and play at her friends house all day instead of do the groceries with her Mum, is enough to drive me bonkers. I think I scare the Postie with my licensed-to-kill look as he scoots up onto the grass i've slowly nurtured and babied to an almost acceptable shade of green.

We push on, and i surprise myself with the patience that blesses me as i try and get 3 kids out of the car and into the trolley with minimal sweating and complaining. It lasts through to the end of the grocery list, and we've managed to only damage 2 things, which i'm sure we can find uses for anyway. Then comes the dreaded checkout, and we are stuck between someone who has managed to pick up every item in the store which has no tag, and someone who obviously thinks my kids are hillarious, laughing when my toddler throws the bag of onions out of the trolley, which encourages him to throw more. I smile politely, chasing onions all over the floor and waiting for a wedge of pumpkin to hit me in the back of the head, looking up in time to see the other two kids load up on chocolate bars from the confectionary stand that i've parked the trolley too close to. Its an understatement to say i'm relieved as i battle a trolley that just wants to go left, a load of kids and my own weight in groceries accross the sloping parking lot.

The afternoon wears on, a blur of arguments and tears and screams of 'i don't want a bath', 'she hit me', 'i'm hungry' and 'when's Daddy coming home?'. My patience perseveres and eventually it's bedtime. We argue about going to bed, i try to be encouraging, i promise a fun and exciting day tomorrow if only sleep can be achieved, and after a 30 minute 'discussion' i win. They fight sleep admirably, until finally i check and their eyes have closed, probably involuntarily and much to their disgust.

Ahh, blessed silence.

I feel worn out, ready to sleep for 3 days straight, and glad that the groceries last a whole fortnight. It seems like a crazy daily existence, where i remember some things, but forget heaps. I get alot right, but get plenty wrong too. I manage alot of housework, but have to decide what to let slide. I get minimal time to myself, and what i do have is shared with my husband. It's a loud, sticky, exhausting life.

But it's the excitement in their faces when i pull out a 'Go-Gurt' (Yogurt in a tube) at the end of the day to treat them for 'behaving at the shops' (which is code for not running screaming up and down the isles or damaging more produce than i can afford to buy) that has me thinking 'that wasn't so bad'.

Its like a cup full of sanity.

Its the squeals of delight as they mush down more of my hard earned green lawn that has me thinking 'Bugger the lawn'.

It's like an injection of patience.

It's the moments when they can't be without each other, even though they fight about every little thing. Just a little bit of love.

And its that tiny little smile on that tiny little face when your day reaches it's end and you're ready to be committed.

Ahh, there it is, I believe i've just found it again. That right there is Satisfaction.

So i hope today, amid the chaos that is life, you manage to find time to love those little things, and find your little peice of Satisfaction.