Just so Grateful

It's reunion time over at Kidspot for the 52 Weeks of Grateful..... thanks for the invite Maxabella!

I love this idea, the idea of every week you reflect back and choose something to be grateful about.  But like anything that involves long term committment, it is hard, and inevetibly, life gets in the way.  So no more excuses...  time to get back to being grateful.

This week, I truly have lots to be grateful for.  Friends, family, medicine, coffee, the sun FINALLY coming out (rain, always on school holidays???  What's with that???), just to name a few.

It has been a wild ride this week in our house. We have had M1 with a busy social life, a last minute cancelled handball tournament, work, rain and a very scary trip to the emergency deaprtment of our local hospital.

I have been scared, tired, sad and overwhelmed by the kindness of an (almost) stranger. And grateful.  Grateful that our trip to the hospital only involved a saline drip and a rest on the bed for a couple of hours.  Grateful for the mum of one of  the "handball tournament boys" taking all the boys to her house, so I could rush my husband to the hospital.  Grateful for the friends I have that kept checking in to make sure everything was ok and to see what they could do to help.

In amongst all this chaos, I was also grateful that my M1 understood about his long planned handball tournament being cancelled and needing to be re-scheduled.  I was grateful that M2 gave me a big hug when I collected her from kindy-care. I was grateful that I got to drive my husband back home again.   Grateful, grateful, grateful.

Life here really is a rollercoaster at the moment, but you know what?  I am going to throw my arms up in the air, smile and scream at the top of my lungs and try to enjoy the ride.

Catching the Spirit

Recently our little school held its annual fete.  

This happens just before the end of term two. 

The children anticipate and look forward to it all year.  

The parents wait for it with trepidation.

Term two is consumed with donating items (that we then buy back), baking, preparing, volunteering.  Generally getting ready.  The children learn the obligatory "fete dance" whch showcases the theme of the fete.   The parents come and watch.  They volunteer their time to run stalls, cook food. Anything. Anything to help our kids.

The community comes together in a way that is truly astounding.  The community raises an astounding amount of money, which is then poured back into the school.  It is a great event, and one that reflects back to me just how important it is to not judge anyone.

It is often said in many schools, "it is the same group of people/parents that do all the things" and until recently I had thought this true.  

Until I was delivering cakes up to the cake stall.

There was a mum in front of me - who I had never seen before.  

Maybe she works full-time, maybe she has kids in different grades to me.  

Whatever the reason doesn't matter. 

 What matters to me, is that she was there.  

Doing her bit, in the way she could. 

 She had already delivered a large batch of cakes and turned and said 

"I have 10 more cakes and at least 3 dozen cupcakes" 

smiled and walked away, to drive home, collect and then deliver again.

The point is, so many people judge a community by the active ones that they see.

Don't jude a community by what you see. Don't think ever, there is only a certain group or number of parents that are helping.  There are people, lots of people behind the scenes.

The quiet achievers.  

They are the ones who also helped us to "Catch the Spirit".

The fete was great.  The kids loved it.  The parents loved it.

And I can't wait until next year.

5 Times in 7 days

Five times in Seven days!  Yes, I know.  Amazing.  Baking that is. 
Yes I have baked five days out of seven last week. 
It seems that when the going gets intense - I bake.  

I also bake when I am trying to procrastinate - has been a habit since I was at uni.

The kids are LOVING it.  So is hubby, but he keeps saying I am going to make him fat.

I think I am trying to nurture my family in the way I know how.  

I am not very good at keeping a clean and organised house.

But I can cook and bake well.

The months ahead may be a bit rocky, but one thing I can assure you, there WILL be baking!

Cold Weather brings Relaxation

Today I am grateful for the cold.  

The crisp cold that feels like it should be snowing.

The cold that makes you want to wear scarves and gloves.

The weather is unusually cold for a Brisbane winter today.  

It reminds me of living in London.

I love the cold weather.  Better clothes, better shoes, hot soup.  

Sleep-ins.

Snuggling up with the kids and hubby.

Watching movies.

The smell of baking somehow warming up the house.

I could go on and on.

Our whole day has been about relaxation, and that is thanks to the cold.  

So today I am grateful for cold. 

Linking up with Maxabella over at 52 Weeks of Grateful

Hello there.....

Hello, and welcome back!  I have had bit of a "bloggy break" - writing was becoming a chore, and each time I started to write a post - I just couldn't.  Hmmmm.  So this will probably be a long and rambling post (you have been warned!), stream of consciousness type thing. But hopefully it will help put me back on the right track!

Lately life has been gearing up, as it does for all of us.  I still struggle that I can be so good at organising in my work life, and sooo bad at it at home ( I am working on trying to get systems in place, but it is two steps forward and one step back - after all I am really trying to be "present" with the monsters, especially M2 who heads to big school next year - sob! but that is another post).

Life has a way of throwing curve balls at you.  Sometimes they are designed to make you stop.  And rest.  And put things in perspective. Like breaking a toe.

I broke my toe a month ago - and it is still manky looking and sore.  Will be another couple of months before the nail comes off and it looks ok again.  I know, big problem hey!  I think the universe was telling me to stop - but stupidly I ignored it and kept working.

However, I took this week off work.  Felt like I needed a time-out from the roundabout that is life for so many of us.  Turns out it was a good thing.  Kind of got bowled over with some news on Tuesday, which while it was not unexpected in one sense, the timing was a real surprise.

So now I am looking forward, planning and getting my ducks in a row, so to speak.  So grateful I have some time just for me.  I should be cleaning the house, but this week that can wait.  I need to make sure my shoulders are a little bit wider for the rest of the year.  I will fill you in later.

Warned you this would be long and rambling.

Anyway, I am back.  Hopefully I can keep this going again.  I have a feeling I am going to need it. 

How has everyone else been????