It's a Beachy kinda Christmas ...

So far ...

This is the view we are privvy to all day long.

Tough gig, I know.

Santa found us! Phew!

We are in good company. Great company in fact!

And the food. Oh my word. I have to mention the food. We have been duly spoilt by the lovely Mrs M. I hope CJ's fried rice cook up tonight stacks up! ;p

Christmas day was all I had hoped it would be and then some.

The girls are loving it.

And so are we.

The weather has turned on us a little this afternoon - doesn't change how beautiful it is here - but we're hoping there are a few more sunny days so the girls can enjoy some more boogie boarding and paddle boarding before our holiday ends.

I forgot the camera cord to plug into the computer so these are the only shots I have for now.

I think I could get used to this beach Christmas idea.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas!

Stay safe.

xxx

One More Sleep ...

Until we hit the road on our family getaway. Squeee!

I have even bought some new beachy clothes for the occasion and am loving them!!!

But yesterday when she got home from kindy, this is how Gumboot Girl felt.

She is feeling poorly. Summer cold? I don't really know.

Her comment while she was lying on the couch got me right in the heart though. And no, not just because I've been chasing my tail for a week trying to tie up work and presents and buying supplies and  fitting in every shopping centre before the big day! And let's not even get into why I was rewrapping all of our presents last night at a friend's house due to a certain eight year old finding who discovered them.

No. Let's not.

Anyway, Gumboot Girl and I were cuddling on the couch and she said, "And now I have to go to de beach house when I'm sick." :(

She has been counting down the days to the beach house and to Santa's arrival although Santa is paling in comparison to a week at the beach. So when she said that, it just made it all the more obvious as to how much she is really looking forward to this holiday.

She seems in better spirits today so hopefully she's on the mend.

And I am now going to step away from the computer because I can finally turn off from work and focus on the fun stuff (which just so happens to also be the important stuff)!

Family, friends, good food, laughter, love, presents and a few drinks! And hopefully a bit of sunshine thrown in for good measure. After all, what point is there in heading to a beach house if you can't go to the beach?

I LOVE Christmas time!

But can I just say this ...

I don't preach to anyone else on how they should be celebrating the festive season, so please ... please stop telling me that believing in Santa is wrong. My family. My choice. And I choose magic! Because what is life without a little bit of magic? And possibly some fairy dust thrown in for good measure. ;p

So whether you are celebrating the birth of Jesus or indulging in consumer heaven or not celebrating the day at all. Enjoy!!!

I wish you a magical Merry Christmas whatever your flavour! :)

Just a Mum ...

While we were driving home from another family get together last night - we went and had dinner with my Dad and he was one happy man. He loves nothing more than seeing his kids and grandkids and I always promise that I will do it more often and then that bloody thing called Life gets in my way. This time, I really need to make more of an effort to make this happen though. He doesn't ask for much so how hard can it be for us to get together once a month ...


Oh sorry about that. Had to get that thought down obviously.

Anyway, as I was saying, we were driving home when Miss Tween started asking me about what I wanted to be when I grew up.

"A mum," I replied.

She rephrased the question asking about all the times I had danced overseas and what about when I was really little and I again repeated my answer.

"A mum."

"So you never wanted to be anything else?" she asked.

And I thought really hard. Because, surely, as a young child or even a teen or young adult there must have been something else I had wanted to be? Wasn't there?

Nope. Unless you count, of course, my secret desire to be a star on Young Talent Time or Neighbours, I guess.

Or an accountant perhaps?

All of these were fleeting thoughts though and, when I look back at the amount of times I made my younger brother play with my dolls - he was always Uncle Scott for the record. His favourite name at the time obviously - and the day I got my first baby doll (for the life of me I can't remember her name now which is surprising for me. Maybe it changed a lot. I never was very good at making decisions) all wrapped up in a bunny rug in her brand new pram, I am certain that was always my heart's desire.

I did want the happily ever after. I did want the white wedding and to feel like a princess for a day! I did want the 2.5 kids - Well actually, I wanted 2. Not sure how/who changed that part of the plan. I did want the white picket fence (a little different to our compound style fencing. Ha!). I wanted it all.

And Miss Tween said "So you just wanted to be a mum."

And it broke my heart a little that, as with a lot of people, she sees me as just a mum. Just.

It's a word that makes us seem so dispensable, replaceable, unimportant. And I'm sure she (and a lot of other people) don't mean it that way when they say it - I may have even said it myself once or twice - but you can't help but feel that little sting.

I didn't try to correct her. She is still too young to understand. One day when she becomes just a mum, she will know. She will know what being just a mum entails.

And although I wouldn't change a single thing ...

... for a mere second I thought how easy it would be to be just an accountant.

A Star Is ...

... err, born? Or a monster created. However you like to look at it.

The girls' school put on an awesome musical this year. The kids did such a brilliant job with their acting and singing. Miss Tween was in the junior choir and clearly there had been some rehearsals happening as she walked around the house (as you will soon learn).

CJ and Punk Chic went up on the Tuesday night to view it and I took my mum up - she had three grandchildren in it, no way was I going to let her miss it - on the Wednesday night. This was so we didn't have to contend with cranky pants Gumboot Girl.

However, now on seeing her recite a few lines, I'm thinking she's going to be really pissed off when she realises we aren't taking her see Mary Poppins in February. Ooopsie. Maybe if I just play the CD a few times she'll feel like she was there all along?

Sorry Gumboot Girl, I really wasn't sure you'd sit through it. Clearly I was wrong. Again!

The Year that Was ...

2011 for our family.

What a year it has been for us. But the one thing that is resonating with me right now as I type this is a comment that a friend of ours made the other night while we were all sitting around enjoying a quiet beverage or two. We had just been discussing some of the things we had been up to since seeing them last and he said "Don't these guys just have the best fun?" And I thought that was a huge compliment.

Of course we have our struggles. Who doesn't?

BUT we really have had a lot of fun this year. From 4WDíng down in the back paddock to hanging out with good friends every chance we get to cruising around a race track in an old car listening to The Carpenters - CJ didn't remember to take music so I thought it high time the girls were introduced to one of my all time favourite karaoke songs - to movie nights and swimming in the pool!

And now the girls have finished school for another year and we're in countdown mode until our family holiday!

Hard to believe that Punk Chic has finished her first year at the school and heads into Year 1 in 2012. She did so well this year as not only the youngest in her class but in the whole school. I should have known but I'm still slightly miffed at her academic achievements and that she didn't miss a beat all year, not to mention the great circle of friends she has found (which, in turn, means I have some great new friends too). So very proud of her.

Speaking of friendships, Miss Tween had a few of the usual struggles this year with finding her place (I don't think she would be alone. Seems to be the age for it although it seems awfully young) and the lessons that go along with that but she came through with flying colours as she always does. Ever the resilient one that girl of mine. I am so proud of her and all that she stands for but I do find it tough to stand by and watch her as she forges her own path. I have to let her go. I know this. But it's so hard to sit on the sidelines even though I know she can get through it on her own.*

She is becoming quite the gymnast too and, after seeing a display by the older girls at the Gala a week or so ago, is even more determined to stick with it. Dancing is out again next year with gymnastics being the firm favourite amongst all three girls  although I still live in hope that Punk Chic will return to dancing one day.

And Gumboot Girl. I am lucky that Miss Tween has groomed me well in preparation for the whirlwind that is to come with this one. She is so much like Miss Tween but with a much greater sense of urgency about her. And that's tough a lot of the times. But she is getting better (or maybe I am getting better at dealing with her personality) and I can't believe it will only be another year before she is off to kindy and then Prep. She is so excited to be joining her sisters next year at gymnastics after being a mere spectator all year. She is sitting beside me at the computer as I type this and her choice of site is Starfall. And I wonder why I am surprised at how well she can navigate her way through a site.

I am so proud of all three of my girls and of the awesome little family we are nurturing here.

And now it's a two week carnival of play dates and morning teas and swimming and movies and taking it easy topped off with a family gathering where all the cousins will get to see each other!

Then ... it's off to the beach house!

Jumping out of my skin excited!

*Have to thank one of my good friends, K, for helping me remember this too. ;)

O Christmas Tree ...

I have to do a Christmas Tree post. Well I don't have to but ... well, of course I have to.

We cheated this year and put it up a little early because Miss Tween had her school camp on Dec 1 but I have been too busy working - I know, right? How rude - to write a post about it.

And while I have lost all creative control over the tree it is still so much fun being an assistant to three little girls even though I will usually have at least one mini tantrum and threaten to not put up the tree at all (or pull it down again). The mini tantrum is almost just as much part of the tradition as putting the tree up itself.

But we get there in the end and this year have had to start a new tradition of who will put the angel on the top. Without knowing, the girls have taken it in turns the past few years and now that they are getting bigger it is a little bit harder for CJ to get them all to the top of the tree together as in previous years so the new tradition has come at just the right time.

There is something so magical about turning the lights on for the first time and we even managed our first family snapshot in front of the completed tree!

And we get to do it all again when we head to the beach house on Christmas Eve!