A chat over coffee....

 

I've just had a wonderful morning with my baby girl Ruby

We dropped Finn off at preschool for a "make up day"

from when he was sick a few weeks ago, then

Ruby and I  did a little shopping and went to a local

nursery for morning tea.

Ruby enjoyed her Baby Chino and a play in the playground,

while I relaxed with my Skim Flat White and watched the water....

We also shared some fruit skewers and honey yoghurt!

Yummo!!!

What a great way to start the day!

She is now tucked up in bed having her rest....

as for me.... can't keep avoiding the  housework ....

Hope you've all had a great start to your day too!

Love

Danni xx





I'm so thankful to be able to have times like this!

Vintage revival

Some of you may remember a post I did

click here 

back in April about our Vintage Visits...

Well I am ashamed to say that it is now November

 and we have only just made our first visit back since

Finn asked me if we could go - so we did.

The night before, he packed his "packpack"

( as it's affectionately known as around here)

 with "instruments" ( his harmonica, tambourine, keyboard, guitar)

- so that if they wanted him to -

he'd play to them while Lilly danced!

How could I resist?

It was just so great going back - good to see some familiar faces

 and meet some new ones.

When we weren't greeted by "Stan" in his wheelchair as we entered the building - I feared the worst.

I worried how Finn would take it... so I checked with one of the nurses so that I was prepared in case he asked about him.

 Sure enough after about 3/4 hour Finn tugged on my shirt and said, "But Mum - where's Stan today - do you think he's grumpy?"

I explained that Stan was in heaven now,  that heaven was such a beautiful happy place full of love - that it was impossible for Stan to be grumpy any more...

Finn thought that was awesome and even told the Big Cheese that night at the dinner table. He said " Guess what Dad - Stan will never have to worry about being grumpy ever again cause he's in "heathen" now with Kramer and Molly" ( 2 pets)

While so many of the vintages have confused thought patterns and memory losses, some are stricken by cruel physical ailments that take over their once healthy bodies.

 "Milly" suffers from Parkinson's but her mind seems unaffected.

Her opening words to me were "I thought you'd forgotten us - where is Ruby and Finn?"

I joked a response but it was like a knife through my heart.

We were sitting having a chat with "Dolly" 

 - one of our favourites

- and she was stringing random words together in sentences that made perfect sense to her in her poor muddled mind.

Finn waited til she finished

 - nodding all the time as she was talking - like he "got it" -

then told Dolly that he was now 4 -

and held up 4 fingers.

 In a moment of complete lucidity, Dolly held up her hand,

all fingers outstretched

and said

 "5 soon?"

 and Finn put his little hand up to hers - his palm facing towards hers!

 Oh My!!! It was SUCH a precious and wonderful moment between 2 beautiful souls -

 it touched me so!

It inspired me .

I asked some of the staff what the residents gave their families for Christmas...

after confirmation that they struggle with new ideas

I put forward my suggestion.

An idea was born.

I was so exited and inspired I couldn't wait.

Two days later I went back for another visit -

 this time sans kids

( "Lillian" did ask where they were - quite concerned that I forgot them and left them somewhere all by themselves!)

 I took photo "portraits" of the residents

(who had  or gave permission to do so ) to give their families for Christmas.

 I had such a fun morning - chatting, joking and laughing with the Vintages -

 trying to get the essence of who they are or once had been in a snapshot.

I'd love to be able to share some of them with you -

 however I can't due to privacy

( but have included one of "Dinga's" hands)

Their eyes and hands tell a thousand stories

and I hope I managed to capture that and do them justice.

I am looking forward to our next visit. Ruby wants to wear her "ballerina" outfit to show them - and I can't wait to see their faces

Danni xx

Hmmmmm....

I just have to start with this ~ I took this photo,

and while it is a little out of focus,

I just LOVE it - and it is straight off my iPhone -

no instagram or any other app -

that is the colour of the sky the day I took it!

I've been in a bit of a blog fog lately...which is why I've probably relied so much on photos in my last few posts.

There is so much going on in my head and so much I want to write about that I'm not sure where to start, and how to make sense of it all....

Then I remembered Van Gogh's words:

"If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint"...

then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced"

Wise words.

So - here I am! Maybe I'll start with some photos that I've taken recently... I'm using photography as my creative outlet at the moment ( we've all gotta have one, right???) - Plus these images just make me smile - even if they're not techinically perfect! 

As I've mentioned several times before here , here and here ...music impacts my life in a big way. Here's what's been helping me lately. We sing this at Church and I just love it.

Power Of Your Love

Sometimes I feel like I need more of a guiding hand - then I realise that it's there, I'm just not using it! I get too side-tracked sweating the small stuff...

I'm trying very hard to pull myself out of the funk that I'm in at the moment - but sometimes the magnitude of things overwhelms me and I succumb to old ways.... silly, I know.... but in the words of good old Neil Diamond

"...everyone's got rainy days

it isn't so much if, but when"

The sun has been shinig beautifully today and spring is definitely on it's way - the flowers are blooming, the weather is warming up and the kids are loving playing outside again ! So I've focused on that today!

Talk again soon - I'm writing about "Truths" too at the moment - it's pretty confronting - and I think that's where my "block" is....

Love

Danni xx

There's a hole in my bucket...

Part of why I started this Blog in the first place... (besides being so completely inspired by Meredith at Count It All Joy was because I was feeling a little "blah" and negative. So I thought that maybe by putting my thoughts "out there" and by making a conscious effort to be more positive and to try to see the good/happy/colourful/positive things in my life and concentrate on those as opposed to dwelling on the negatives that it would help.

And it definitely has.

But I also think I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to constantly be "up" and positive about EVERYTHING - at least on a surface level and how I presented myself to the outside world.

Truth is, I took this so much to an extreme ( a tendency of mine) that it actually became a bit of a facade. Not in the kind of "fake it til you make it" way - which was my intention... but more of a " no, you're not allowed to have a down day... you can't feel like that .... you have nothing to be sad about... you just can NOT feel blah anymore in any way about any thing..."

I realise that this put added pressure on me. Correction - I put added pressure on me.

I'm only human, right?

While of course I was actually seeing the Colour in my world and being thankful for all the blessings in my life... I too felt that my bucket was near empty.

 I remember years ago our wonderful [now retired] family GP told me that it was a wonderful thing that I gave so much to others and that I cared blah blah.... but that if I was constantly watering others from my bucket... and mine wasn't getting replenished in the way that it needed to be... then my bucket was going to run dry! It was one of those "ah-hah" moments for me. Might sound simple and logical but at the time it was the only thing that struck a chord.. .and I set about filling that bucket up again... or finding the way to let others do that too

I realised the other day that the red light was flashing on my bucket gauge and I needed to do something about it. I needed to acknowledge that I have needs to ( they are actually quite simple I think) and to take responsibility regarding them.

I had a conversation with a family member that perhaps put things into perspective for me. I think I've said it before that it's funny how it takes someone else to reinforce what you already know yourself. I was on a little bit of a "poor me" rant and she gently reminded me of a few home truths. Not nasty ones, but ones that made me realise that I'm feeling sorry for myself about the things that actually make me who I am and that make me the happiest.

I remembered also, the words from a couple of addresses at Church over that last few weeks about : Truths ~Your own truths and what they mean to you and Healing ~ That I can still help and heal others (pain) and remain doing what I love but must remember to draw strength from other places so as not to "sap" my energy and take on board others issues. That's where I was going wrong...

Maybe my bucket wasn't nearly empty... I think there was just a hole... but I fixed it Dear Reader, Dear reader.... fixed it!

 

Danni xx

One of the Kids Favourite Books of all time...

At the moment Ruby and Finn have a couple of favourite books that they will sit mesmerised listening to for hours on end... over... and over.... and over.... you get the idea,right?

I love that they love books and to be read to. I try to keep the books rotating on a regular basis but you can tell the favourites... the  dog-ears and milk-stains are a dead give away!

This one is the flavour of the month right now!

The Wonky Donkey - Craig Smith
With gorgeous,cheeky illustrations by Katz Cowley


This is an absolute favourite here - at any time. It is guaranteed to produce fits of hysterical laughter and edge of your seat anticipation as they try to remember which description is next - or try to work out from the illustrations.
It's about a Donkey, see... but that endearing Donkey only has 3 legs... so he's a Wonky Donkey. You then discover that he only has one eye, which makes him a Winky Wonky Donkey.... Finn's favourite is when you realise that he smells real bad ( you can imagine the illustration that would appeal to young boys for that one).. and so it goes on until he is a :

Spunky Hanky-Panky Cranky Stinky-Dinky Lanky Honky-Tonky Winky Wonky Donkey!!!
( It's fun to read too )

Hee-Haw!

Danni xx

No Matter What...

Who would have ever thought that I'd be using Boyzone as an influence

or inspiration for my blog...
or at all really????

I heard/listened to/sang this song at Church the other week,

and haven't been able to get it out of my head ever since.
( see, I told you that music has a big influence on my life
-it has a way of talking to me and makes me think)

It was only after talking to my beautiful, honest
and skeptical friend ,
(who is here from overseas at the moment)
that I realised and had confirmed just how much
I love my Church,
what it represents
and how much it's helped me to grow.
So Thank You dear friend x

I'm slowly learning to have faith
in my faith

I'm slowly learning to have faith
in me!

"No matter what they tell us
No matter what they do
No matter what they teach us
What we believe is true "

I LOVE that line:
What we believe is true
My beliefs are my truths,
just as
your beliefs are yours.
Isn't that great?
Even when I'm not certain of what my beliefs are,
and even if our beliefs vary,
isn't it nice to think that they are still valid,
that they still provide comfort and peace to us,
as individuals?

Listen to the song here (click)

 

Lots of love to you ALL

No matter what

 

Danni xx

Keep smiling..

Busy times at the moment..

Am missing the time to Blog,

but here are some photos of things that have made me smile lately

Snuggle time with my babies in the morning

The fact that despite there being a 2 seater lounge, plus 2 small

kids fold out lounges...

the kids choose to get a book each to sit on to eat their

afternoon apples!

Go figure!

Don't think I really need to say anything do I?

My grubby bub!

Again... speaks for itself, really!

Finn playing " I spy with my little eye.."

My wall decal in the downstairs toilet

On the way home after dropping the kids at preschool today.

I LOVE AUTUMN

Hoping you've had lots to make you smile in your world lately too

Danni xx

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there!

What does Mother's Day mean to you?

For me it's significance changed significantly

( that kinda sounds wrong but I like it, so bear with me)

once I became a Mum.

For me - it's obviously still about my Mum, but it is also a time for me to

count my blessings and to give thanks that I have the privilege of being

a Mother myself.

There was a time in my life ( a very sad, lonely and sometimes bitter time) when I never thought that

I would ever hear a little voice call me Mummy. It was a time when everyone around me seemed

to be having babies or were pregnant. Mother's Days were always very hard for me - for while

I was giving thanks for my own wonderful mother,

my heart was aching and breaking in two because I was not one.

It was all I ever wanted in the world and I did not have it - I would have traded anything.

 I was starting to give up hope.

How was I to cope with it if that was what was meant to be for me?

But...

Like the saying goes... "All good things come to those who wait" and I am now blessed with

two of the most precious beings on this earth after a 7 year journey.  

As you may have read in a post a couple of days ago, the Big Cheese and I have decided

no more babies for us....

So this Mother's Day - for me, is about my babies.

Finn - my beautiful blue eyed boy.

What a miracle you are and what joy you brought into our lives.

I never thought I could love anyone as much as I loved you from the moment you were born.

I felt totally complete the moment I first held you in my arms.. like the part of me that

had been missing for so long finally clicked into place.

You were such a beautiful baby - with this ginger hair and big blue eyes...

nothing like we'd pictured you to be.

You were even more perfect.

Three and a half years on and you are still the love of my life.

You have the most wonderful laugh, smile and sense of humour.

Words of affirmation are your love language and you know how to use them.

My favourite is: "Mum... I love you so so much" - I could listen to that forever.

You constantly amaze and amuse me little man.

Sure,there are times too, that you drive me crazy...

( Once when I muttered that under my breath, Finn said -

 are we turning left or right, Mum?)

....but I wouldn't change you for the world.

Thank you for being my baby boy.

I LOVE you more.

My other little surprise miracle Ruby.

After all the years of trying to have Finn - you were such a welcome surprise!

The bond I felt with you was immediate - you were my little girl. You were

as dark as Finn was fair and I loved that about you. And so so pretty -

My little cheeky chops.

My little snuggle bunny. To this day 2 years on, you still "assume the position" on my left

shoulder when you need a Mummy "tuddle"

You are such a little smoosher - you love your cuddles and kisses.

Physical touch is your love language as are acts of service - you love to help

and are the first to give someone a kiss or cuddle if you think they are upset or

have hurt themselves.

I'll never forget the first time I heard you say

"Besh you Mummy" in the car after I sneezed. You are just so sweet.

I love that you love your big brother so much and that you have a wicked sense of

humour - never lose that twinkle in your eye sweetie - it will get you far.

Thank YOU for being my baby girl.

I love you more.

Thanks Mum for giving me such a great example to follow.
Love you

Danni xx

You know....

.. how things just seem to come along when you need them... like a song on the radio that makes you smile from a distant memory just when you're feeling a bit blue...or you just happen to find exactly what you were looking for .. in the most unusual place?? That kind of thing? Are you with me?? {Well as an aside .. I don't believe these things are coincidences.. but that's a whole other post ( stay tuned) }

But....

What I wanted to share was that I had one of those moments this morning! Things here are a little... let's say "strained" at the moment ( just cause of the renovations)

 and I wasn't a very nice person to The Big Cheese last night...

actually, we weren't very nice to each other, but I was out of line.

 We even went to bed on a sour note - not something we make a habit of doing.

I was wondering this morning how to address it when I came across this

from Louise L. Hay:

"Share your good with others. Kindness, love, and appreciation are the greatest gifts you can give."

Just what I needed to put things back in perspective at just the right time. Coincidence?  

And then I saw this:

Maybe I should start to  smile more?!?

Have a wonderful Peace-full day

Danni xx