Lily getting Married?!

As this blog is kinda like a modern-day baby book, it seems a fitting location to record some recent conversations I have had with Lily about getting married. It is all a bit of a shock to me as it's not something I focus on, but since the recent wedding events, it is very much on her mind and it is simply hilarious to see her try to work out all this 'wedding/marriage/babies hoopla' in her innocent mind. Each conversation seems to build upon the next as she gets more understanding of how it all works, and firms up her rather-stringent marriage plans!

So glad she is focusing on her education and career options too!

The following conversation is just one of many taking place in recent days...

Lily: Mummy, can I get married  - please, please, please?!
Mummy: Er... well, actually, Lily that is a decision that you will get to make. If you want to get married when you are a grown up girl and have someone you love and want to marry, then you can....but that won't happen for a very long time, until you are an adult, a grown up girl.
L: So I can get married???!!!!
Mummy: Um... yes, one day if you want...
L: (Throws arms around me) Oh, THANK YOU MUMMY!!! Thank you Mummy for letting me get married! I's sooo excited! I gonna have a wedding and have a baby! Yeah, but not for a few years, really. Not till I'm a grown up girl, like, when I'm five. Then I can have a little baby!
M: Sorry darling, you will need to be a bit older than that to get married. Like...um.... 20??.... or 25... or older!
Lily: Well, I need someone to marry... I know, I will marry Daddy!
M: Sorry honey, Daddy is already married... to me.
L: I can marry Eli!!!
M: Er... it's best to marry someone not already in your family.
L: I know - Josh!! (my brother-in-law).
M: He's married to Megan, honey, and he is in our family too.
L: Oh I know.... Edmund!!!! (her little mate from Mother's Group)
M: (Thinking, oh brother, how did I get into this conversation?!!!) Well... yes, maybe... when you are both grown up and if you both want to, I guess, yes, you can.
L: (Mind fixed, discussion sorted, walking away). Yes, Edmund, now I just have to ask him.

Oh, help. What a kid!!

Blessings Every Day!

Every week day morning, Mark gets the kids up at 7.30am and they all have breakfast together before he leaves for work at eight (and yes, he is a wonderful Daddy but that is a whole other post!). It is a really sweet time for them to chat about the day to come, the meaning of life, whether Lily gets to wear a dress that day, where butterflies sleep, and other such important issues - I love to overhear their chatter! It is a time the kids really love to spend with their Dad and if he has to leave for work early they are so disappointed (just left with good old Mum!).

For Christmas, my lovely parents-in-law gave the kids this gorgeous little book called Blessings Everyday - 365 simple devotions for the very young. It is completely precious and well-written, and perfectly suited for the age of the kids (well, let's be honest, Lily!). So as a new addition to an already sweet routine, Mark has been reading them one of the devotions each morning while they munch their Vegemite toast. They love it! Then they have a chance to discuss the topic and of course Lily asks questions and Eli shouts out 'Babbieeeeeeees' if he can manage to spot a picture of one (or anyone under the age of 25) in the book! Lily usually fills me in later on her take on things.

The topics are such things as Being Kind, Telling the Truth, Being a Helper, When you feel Scared, God's Promises etc - just one page with a Bible verse, a picture, a paragraph of text and a little poem - just perfect! The beauty is that at this age we will be able to just start the book all over again next year and I'm sure it will all seem just like new once more, haha!! When the topic was about God always being there for you, Lily excitedly added that she had four people to always look after her - 'God, Jesus, Mummy and Daddy... oh and Nana!' Lol.... 

I am thrilled at this special new part of their breakfast routine, little seeds of values, faith and truth being planted in their hearts each morning to help guide their day and perhaps even their lives.

On a related note, I am really enjoying capturing the regular rhythms of our day through this project! I thought I would focus more on the big fun things - outings and visitors and activities - but instead for now I am so happy to record those simple little routines that make up so much of our lives and would perhaps be forgotten in years to come. The moments, routines and way we live that I think in the end will be so much more meaningful than those 'out of the ordinary' times (as much as I love those too!)... isn't there something just a little bit extraordinary and magical in the everyday? What we do and how we live through these seemingly mundane moments I think will be much more telling than just the 'big moments' I would usually remember to capture. Hence the beauty of this challenge to Document Delight!

A bite to eat, a drink as well.

I love our relaxed lunch times together. After a busy morning of hard-core playing, it is so good to sit the kids at the table for some replenishment and delightful conversation. Being a born multi-tasker I find it a very pleasant and relaxing time where the kids are contained at the table (this alone makes it sweet, right?!) happily munching away, while I am able to tidy the kitchen, start preparing dinner, or other odds and ends. All the while, we chat away and often have some of our best conversations. Something about being occupied with other tasks (eating, housework) gives us space in our minds to also ask amazing questions and have memorable little chats. Today Lily asked me all about flooding, talked about going on another holiday tomorrow (sorry but no!), and sang a song she made up with the lyrics -

I love you and I love me,

I love you and I love peas.

What can I say, the kid is deep!!




Yes, she is wearing a fairy skirt... as she is most days!


Eli is usually merrily stuffing his face, singing himself a song and engaging in some kind of sibling game with Lily that I don't even pretend to understand anymore. It usually involves them both making strange noises and faces, trading food and laughing hysterically. They adore each other so much, it makes me weep and I just love to see them interacting.

Lunch is normally what I creatively like to call a 'Toddler's Tasting Plate' and by that I mean I empty out all I can find in the pantry and fridge to fill their ever growing bellies. Often it is a variety of things like slices of cheese, fruit, chick peas, sliced vegies, kidney beans, butter beans (etc, they love their legumes!), rice cakes, crackers, yoghurt, leftovers, etc. Every now and then I remember that most people eat sandwiches and make them too! Lunch can often seem like a conveyer belt of food constantly trucked by yours truly over to the table - only to be quickly cleared and followed by the little voices crying 'I'm still hungeeeeeee, Mummy!'. My kids seriously seem to be bottomless pits at times and I am already terrified of what the teenage years will bring... no doubt I will be packing shelves at the supermarket at nights in order to bring the trolleys full of food home to feed them!

Oh, what's that? What about my lunch? I eat (uninterrupted!) once the kids are down for that blissful afternoon sleep. Usually while tinkering on facebook the computer and/or watching half a mindless TV show. A mama needs her downtime, am I right??