Santa Claus is coming to town...and Elmo and Mickey Mouse and Mary

So, many years ago my husband said to me "I don't want to follow the whole Santa myth/lie thing with our children". I was mildly devastated. My memories of christmas as a child were so wrapped up in the magic of Santa's-midnight-dash-across-the-Pacific-to-struggle-down-non-existent-chimneys-in-his-fur-lined-suit-in-40-degree-temps-just-to-give-me-presents.   *pant, puff...breathe*    I felt in that moment that i had been a little ripped off, that i wouldn't get to share and re-live my Christmas memories with my children.

Fast forward nearly 4 years later and here i am pondering how i can get rid of this ridiculous Santa idea from my 3 year old's head. Here's how it went....

Mummy-  "Remember when we talked about Christmas last week with Nonny, Harry?"
Harry-  "Huh?"
Mummy- "We said Christmas is someone's birthday? Whose birthday is it? "
Harry-  "Ummmm.....It's Santa's!"
Mummy-  "aarrgh, NOOOO! It's not Santa's birthday, it's someone very special, do you know who?"
Harry-    "Umm......mummy's birthday?"
Mummy- "Well, yes it actually is mummy's birthday but that's beside the point. It's Jesus' birthday! Hooray there will be cake and a party just for Jesus."
Harry-    "What about Mary?"
Mummy-  " Mary was Jesus' mummy but it's not her birthday. Mary is a good mummy but she's just a mummy not special like Jesus (Please don't repeat this to your quasi-Catholic Nonny)."
Harry-  "well...what about Elmo?"
Mummy-  "sweetie Elmo doesn't really have anything to do with Christmas"
Harry-   "He does mummy he does! And soon Santa is coming!"
Mummy-  "Darling Santa isn't coming, mummy and daddy give you presents so that we can celebrate Jesus' birthday!"
Harry-  " No you don't mummy, no you don't. Santa and Elmo bring all the presents mummy. 
              
              Mummy can i something to eat?"



And that was the end of our Christmas conversation. So my fear initially was that Harry would miss out on something special but now i realise that I'm actually going to have a hard time convincing him that the great and powerful media circus is feeding him a big fat Christmas lie. So i continue to tell him about Jesus and we play with our nativity scene and i keep answering questions about Elmo, Santa and Mary. I am now going out of my way to avoid big fat shopping centre Santas, NO ONE is taking the glory for my present buying.

Happy Birthday Jesus. xx

Harry playing with our home made nativity scene

Splish Splash!

So Summer is fast approaching here in Brisbane and that means alot of water play! We've had lots of Harry's friends over lately and spent time splashing around with buckets, watering cans, containers and figurines.

Water play is such a fantastic sensory experience for small children and helps develop early mathematical concepts such as volume and measurement.

And summer wouldn't be complete without a few good watermelon sessions. Yum!

Strawberry Shortcake anyone?

There is nothing better than a fun and successful family outing. Anyone with a young family knows that even the best laid plans can go pear-shaped when overwhelmed with nappy bags, hats, dirty hands, whinging, snacks, giant overstuffed strollers, whinging, nap times and more whinging. You get my point?

So, we had a very successful outing last Saturday when we visited Gowinta Stawberry Farm. A great place for kids to run, taste, pick and frolic amongst the massive strawberry patch. You simply pay for what you pick and they are totally cool with lots of small (and big!) hands tasting as they pick. Its really easy to keep an eye on the kids and Harry just LOVED being there.

Having my children involved in cooking is really important to me but having them understand where food comes from is even better. We have a vege garden and small strawberry patch at home but to come to a rural environment and be involved with the land is really special. Being there really inspired me and I've decided to write a book/blog/thingy with 50 or so fun family (and sometimes frugal) ways to hang out as a young family. So stay Tuned!

He ain't heavy.....

Just for funsies! Here are my two boys around the same age as babies.




                                             Harry Jesse; 2 months old here.
                                My sweet, affectionate, wild and crazy joyful boy.

Flynn McArthur; 4 months here.

My cuddly, soft, sweet and observant little-sleep-camel of a son.

Holiday! Celebrate! Pt.2

So after our fun adventure camping, i decided that i needed to have some tricks up my sleeve for the second week of the holidays. Daddy and i had planned a 'redo the garden day' which also involved a rather nice family outing to Bunnings. (Who knew you could get seedlings, coffee, cake AND a moments peace on a swinging garden chair with your snuggly baby as your big one plays happily in the enclosed playground all in the one place!)  *sigh*  Bunnings, you make a mother happy. But aside from that, i had no plans.

Enter the magic of the great colour-it yourself cubby house! I found it at Target reduced to $15 from some ridiculous price and snapped it up. The i had to hide it in the laundry room for a few days.

After a little wrestling with the actual construction of the cubby house (much to Harry's amusement), it finally emerged in our lounge room as a crafty piece of playing goodness.

So since then we've spent a few good hours colouring in together AND removing felt pen from various places around the house. Note to self: 2 year olds cannot be entirely trusted with a box of felt pens. There's been puppet shows, hiding games, colours, counting and play dates with his cousins. In my humble mummy opinion, a well spent $15. Viva La Holidays!

Holiday! Celebrate! Pt 1.

Huzzah! The school holidays are upon us and my little army of men and i decided to take off to the rainforest camping for a few days.

No pressures, no stress, no cleaning or washing or phone calls or internet.

We hired a 'safari tent' that had a little wooden balcony, beds and was completely water proof which was the best part because boy did it RAIN! It rained and rained for the first day or two which saw us all huddled on arrival on the balcony drinking cups of tea and eating all the delicious treats i had baked. Muesli slice, vegan chocolate cake and vegan pumpkin walnut bread (for this recipe see an awesome blog called 'Joy the Baker', you can click the link below)

Harry enjoying his 'tea' .

So after a delicious afternoon tea i presented Harry with one of his many 'surprises' - a toy story torch.

Mark eating muesli slice.

The first 24 hours were a time of winding down as Mark and i spent time reading 'Pride and Prejudice' together, drinking espresso (yes, we do good coffee even on a camping trip) and eating dark chocolate. I also had some delicious baby time with my little sweetie Flynn.




The view from our tent was gorgeous. When rainy, it was misty and magical and when clear we could see all the way to the Gold Coast high rises.

Harry enjoying the rain and his new umbrella.

When it eventually stopped raining we got to make a fire (yay!) and toast marshmallows.








We also took a drive around the hinterland and my hubby took some snaps with his new fancy DSLR! Here's a glimpse...

The best part of camping though was spending time just hanging with each other. It didn't matter if it  was eating pancakes from the BBQ at midday or snuggling under the doona at night reading stories. It was great to take a step back from our lives and appreciate each other and just how awesome God is in planning families:)

He's just a little man.

What has been happening at the Blackmore Ranch?
Well, Mark and i both got new cameras and are enjoying pursuing our collective hobby together. It's coincided with our month long fast of TV and Facebook that was inspired by the need to give our marriage a little spring clean!




In other news, my darling first born Harry has 'been in the wars ' as they say. On sunday we had a dash to emergency as harry had dislocated his elbow. Apparently a fairly common injury in childhood, it broke my heart to see his little arm dangling there and to hear him say "Mummy, hurt my arm" The whole time at the hospital he was cheerful although quiet and it really is quite evident the character that God has put in him.

He is a man of joy.



Even when he was a small baby his nana used to look at him and say "There's a smile in his eyes, a joke resting on his lips!" It's true. What moves Harry is a silly face, a funny voice, a crazy movement. Joy is to be his strength in this life. Thank you God. Take 2- Today he woke up unable to walk on his right leg and spent the morning scooting around on his knees. Poor little bunny. After a visit to his beloved Dr Seema (who may i add is 'da bomb and gives a good lolly every visit) it was discovered that he has a virus that causes inflammation in his hip and knee joint. It will pass and leave no damage. But every time he slithers to the floor from a chair or comes crawling around the corner making some wild exclamation it just makes my heart melt! Good on you Harry. Mummy's little soldier.

Boys, They go adventuring!

Hey all.

Life is crazy busy at the moment.

In the absence of posting longer material, i thought i would post a photographic journal of what my boys have been up to.
Enjoy!






Harry chasing our rogue bantam chicken Strawberry. We found her nesting on a clutch of eggs in a strawberry field on a farm at the sunshine coast. So we brought her home and she is our beloved house pet. She always tries to sneak inside when the door's open!







Harry and Daddy at the 'Railway Workshops Museum' at Ipswich. It was a fantastic morning together and a gorgeous museum to go to with everything from railway antiques, model railways and a miniature railway yard. (pictured above)








Flynn meeting his cousin Amos.







Harry giving Flynn lots of cuddles and kisses. They love each other already!








Harry and Daddy getting ready for church. A boy's gotta have good hair!








Have we been busy? Enough said!

Things to do 5 weeks after giving birth.....

Baby Flynn is 5 weeks old today and it has flown by.

So what did i do today? I went out and bought a bath mat. I mean a massive, shaggy, green, mother-of-all bathmats.

Why?
Because for 3 years i have stepped out of our shower onto my cold bathroom tiles and cursed the fact that we don't have a bath mat. I have grabbed and stood on vagrant towels, dirty clothes, strewn laundry...anything rather than face those arctic, angry tiles.

So today i passed a rack of 'luxury' bath mats at the outlet mall and was mesmerised by their textural goodness. I was lured into their spell by the promise of decadent softness underfoot. To step freely from my sacred 5 minutes of hot consoling water onto the taj mahal of bath mats is a 'luxury' this sleep fractured mother cannot live without.

So i bought it. Happy 5 weeks old my darling.

Welcome back Kotter, indeed!

Head full. Body slightly shaky. Many thoughts chase away the sleep with a smile. One resounding sentiment surfaces...

IT IS FINISHED.

Flynn McArthur Blackmore has arrived- 7pound 1 on Monday morning 12 July at 11:20am.

"Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty i'm free at last"


The pregnancy was nothing short of traumatic but the birth was beautiful. A moment of fullness, ripe and complete. I will blog my birth story very soon i promise but for now know that it was extremely good. Today i just wanted to dance over the delicious little things that have crossed my sleepy mind this morning....

- Okay my son is smelly. Who knew such a small bundle could fart with such potency? Flynn, i love you but you stink.-
- Mooo! woke up to wet rings of milkyness on my t-shirt. Hhhhm, milk's early. Happened last time. Totally forgot and suddenly
memories of that moment come flooding back to me. Sitting on my bed chattering away with my mother-in-law. It was a
shock then but today it's a comfort. An old familiar friend returning.-
- I can drink tea again! I can drink it without needing to throw up after! And for that matter i can drink booze and eat cheese
and freakin eat whatever i want whenever without fear of nausea or heartburn or indigestion.Thank you body.-

And lastly, God has never left me nor forsaken me. Never once, the whole 9 months. Even into the birth....especially into the birth. I feel fortified from the inside. Filled with God's strength for surviving 9 months of darkness.

Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty i'm free at last.

Secret Women's Business

So i have a million thoughts running through my mind these days.
About Labour
Babies
Birthing
Women

How to get them out in a succinct way? I'll start like this...

I was at a women's group full of mums the other day and i made the comment " I wish other women had talked more about birth to me before i had my baby". The reply came thick and fast " Would you really want to know about all that pain?" "People only tell their bad birth stories" "It would scare you way too much". The truth is i was really looking forward to labour with my first baby in that unprepared way that only a first time mother can be. But i thought "Why don't women tell their stories?". It's true that the most vocal are always relaying stories of inductions and 36 hour labours and horrible hospital experiences. Yet i find myself still asking, Why don't women tell their stories? Maybe we have medicalised and hospitalised birth so much that only the stories that are full of drama are worth the telling. What about the simple labours? the quick labours? the unexpected labours? the different, calm or beautiful labours? Where are the collective stories about them?

I am sick and tired of labour and women's sexuality being secret women's business.

In fact not even women really talk about these things so i guess it's more like secret woman business.

Birth is the pinnacle of a women's sexuality. Birth is the perfect expression of the love between a husband and a wife. Birth is about family. It needn't be hushed or swept under the carpet or left for a few women to discuss. It should be collective knowledge.

Listen men, rise up and be strong and take your god given place in the birthing experience.
Women, let's begin simply. Tell our stories......

The way to his heart.

One of my sweetest memories of primary school is coming home to find my mum making pikelets. She would be standing in our kitchen cooking them on the big electric frypan singing "I've got pikelets hot off the griddle" Hot, sweet pikelets dripping with butter and jam are the best afternoon tea a kid could ask for.

So, i decided to make pikelets with Harry yesterday. Our first venture into cooking together, i was a little unsure how this would go. He shook with excitement at the suggestion and eagerly hopped up onto the "big" chair to do some mixing. To my great suprise he actually followed my directions to "pour this in here" and "mix this together" without much drama. Though when my back was turned i did see him shove a whole handful of flour in his mouth! I even got out the big electric frypan to cook them just like my mum (doing them any other way didn't seem right!). I left Harry licking batter off the wooden spoon as i submerged the mixture in hot, sizzling butter. They were delicious! Harry and i sat at the table and nattered like two old ladies and munched and crunched the pikelets until they were all gone. It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon together.

And all you feel now is the scarlet in the day....

So i'm sitting here, having many more braxton-hicks contractions than i think is decent at 28 weeks, and pondering what has unfolded in my life this week.

To start with, i finally acknowledged that i have been suffering from pregnancy related depression. It came on me a little over 2 weeks ago like a soft, sad blanket and refused to leave. I do not like this depression. I do not like its heaviness. I do not like its stubborness to budge despite my best efforts. It rolls over me, wave after wave. On monday i finally cracked and realised "I can't cope with this. I need help" .
So, i prayed and i made a doctor's appointment. That day ended with me having had a long meeting with my doctor, a sobbing phone call to a mental health crisis centre, a rather calm phone call to my hospital's mental health assessment team and a short phone call to a new psychiatrist.
I was scared.
I knew i needed medication to correct this imbalance in my brain but at what cost?
What would taking it do to my baby?
How could i live with myself if my baby was born suffering withdrawals or side affects?
I knew that i had to go to God with it. God knew my pain. God knew the medical help i had sought and God would guide me into the hands of the right decision makers like the gentle and loving Father that he is. So i gave my mental health, my baby and my situation into his hands.

Peace.

It turns out that my new psychiatrist is wonderful. I can take a certain medication to help me during this time and i suddenly have the full support of an extensive team of health professionals that include my psychiatrist, doctor, pharmacist and midwife.

Peace.

Now to the pesky business of my blood results-
low iron; easy!
possible gestational diabetes; God's got it!

God's got me, he's got me, he's got me, he's got me....

I love my mother-in-law. Sitting at her house, on her computer pondering just how very lovely she is. So, thought i'd post a picture of her and my firstborn son, Harry Jesse. xx

Women with great blogs inspire me,
To keep moving, to keep seeing my almond branch every day.
I'm at home alone with children yet connected to a bigger sisterhood.
Something that is creative and loving and peaceful and fresh.

Birth stories, a new recipe, tie dyed singlets, a birthday cake.... i love our tribe.

Easter Traditions...(for lack of a witty title)

I love tradition. So does my hubby.

We go through phases of traditions in our family life. Like "British Night" that ran for a good year every saturday night. It consisted of watching one of my now all time favourite shows "Doc Martin" followed by "The Bill" and eating a turkish meal of grilled lamb, homemade hummous and pita bread. We've had "Pizza Night", "Family Fun Night" and"Bacon-and-eggs-on-a-saturday-morning-while-watching-video-hits". Traditions give meaning and depth to a family. I think children especially find security in the pattern and routine of traditions.

So i'm pondering my Easter traditions today being Good friday and all.

Sometimes i do Lent. I'm not Catholic but i just love the idea of it. One year i gave up trash mags for Lent when i was a big gym junkie. It made me listen to more podcasts and sermons on my ipod and was altogether an enriching experience. It made me remember that the things written in those magazines are a chasing after the wind. The transient, the mask, the matrix.

I nearly always watch the tv series "Brides of Christ". A fantastic Aussie drama series made nearly 20 years ago now! With brilliant actresses like Josephine Byrnes, Naomi Watts, Sandy Gore and Kym Wilson it always makes me love God and love Aussie film making. Really, you should watch it. Its all about women passionately loving God and trying to understand the catholic church back in the 60's. Some of my very favourite themes.

I try to remember to start reading one of the Gospels a few weeks before Easter. This year i forgot (oops! Too busy reading Jon's Jail Journal blog- check it out!) But i find that reading a gospel leading up to Easter helps me to emotionally situate myself over the period.

Of course there's always a few family lunches, some easter egg eating and this year hubby and i have decided to watch "The Passion". Plus the very important fact of going to church on Easter morning. I love celebrating jesus. I love how happy everyone is, how jubilant the singing, how festive the mood. It's such a stark contrast from the sombre mood of Good Friday.

But that's the point really. Jesus died but remains alive. He took my place in the prison of sin but yet remains victorious. He went to Hell and yet remains free.

I love what he did for me. Who would do that?

Thank you Jesus for Easter, for all its traditions, for its meaning and mostly for you.

here's the proof!

Okay so i didn't realise how to post a picture with my last blog. Thought you might all appreciate this little bit of delicious evidence. Xx

The delights of the mouth...

So what has been my passion of late?

Totally food. Mainly baking. But always food. I attempted gingerbread for the first time and loved it so much i made it again! I've made chocolate slice, anzac cookies (an aussie recipe made on oats, golden syrup and brown sugar-yum!) , dark chocolate and hazelnut cookies, the list goes on.....

So i'm being totally contrary to this fact and actually posting one of my savoury recipes. There are two types of meals i'm passionate about exploring- South-east Asian cooking and vegetarian cooking. Tonight i made a delicious red lentil curry that has a smattering of ginger, a hint of coriander, paprika, onion and garlic and topped off with a drizzle of lemon and fresh chopped parsley from my garden. It was delicious! i served it with home-made chapati bread which is basically flour and desiccated coconut mixed to a dough consistency, flattened then fried.

The Dahl recipe is great though i did add a little more of the spices plus some salt 'cause i like food with a kick. The recipe can be found @ www.vegsoc.org.au/recipe_details.asp?RecipeID=441

Its a great website with heaps of recipes and resources for vegetarians and vegans. Enjoy!

The tree awakes

Then the Lord said to me "Look Jeremiah! What do you see?"

And i replied, "I see a branch from an almond tree"

Jeremiah 1:11

The almond tree, the 'awakening' tree, is the first tree to be seen by Jeremiah. It's the first tree to bud in spring, to bring forth life. To signal that the restlessness of winter has passed and the reawakening of spring has begun. It's beautiful, yes. Delicate white blossoms punctuating its graceful arching branches. But it's so much more than its beauty. It's moving with the season, with change. It's being a pioneer, a prophet. It's being true to its nature while never staying the same. It's unrelenting creativity. It's passion and purpose. The awakening tree is my new symbol for this year. When i wake up in the morning i want to see an almond branch.........