Lightening Online

Here are a few photo’s I took on Sunday while we were in Adelaide.  We ended up getting home at around 1am Monday morning and yesterday I was pretty much EXHAUSTED!!!!

It was SO worth it though.  We had a wonderful day.  Very jam packed full.

In the morning we went to see the purpose of our trip - our twin nephews:

Yes, this is 2 different babies!!!  I had to take photo’s of the little name cards so I could remember which was which.  They are still being tube fed (although I think they’re starting to give them the occasional breastfeed as well).

Farmboy’s aunt and uncle took the kids shopping so we had some time with his brother and wife to chat and catch up which was lovely.  My sister in law seems to be doing well and is quite relaxed.  At this stage it looks like being around New Year that they’ll be out of hospital.

After some time at the hospital, we went out for a family lunch for my mother in laws birthday:

You can kind of tell there’s several cameras going at once.  Everyone is looking in different directions.  But it took a LOT to get those big boys to even be in the photo so we weren’t taking chances that they’d bolt on us.  LOL.  That’s Farmboy in the middle with his sister (the other kids are her kids) and the twins daddy on his other side (none of his kids are in the photo and 1 sister and her 2 kids are also missing).

My mother in law is always commenting on how she seems to be able to get 3 of her 4 kids in the one place at the one time but very rarely does she get all 4. 

After lunch we took the kids to the Magic Cave:

We waited in line for over an HOUR to see Father Christmas!  What a nightmare!!!  The kids were so good though.

And the Father Christmas they saw was fabulous.  He even had an intelligent conversation with them about the farm and where we have come from.  Neither Trailer Boy nor Singstar Princess had originally wanted to sit on his knee (when we talked about it) but he broke the ice really quickly so they were happy to pose for the hideously expensive photo (but I doubt we’ll get back there again and they no longer allow your own photo’s so I decided to buy them anyway):

And while we were still in line, I looked up to see someone taking a photograph of me on their phone.  The family we met in Port Douglas on our big trip was there!!!!  LOL.  Talk about a small world!!!

We had ummed and ahhed about trying to squeeze in a visit to them while we were in Adelaide but it just didn’t seem possible.

We ended up having a pizza tea with them before we headed home.  It made us an hour or so later than we were planning but it was SO worth it!!! 

Oh, and I managed to squeeze in about 20 minutes of Christmas shopping in the city.

It was a great day full of fun and celebration!!! 

Last night, Farmboys Grandfather passed away. He’s been very ill for a few weeks so it was really a matter of time rather than it coming as a surprise. It’s one of those situations where it really is a blessing. He’s at peace now, free of pain and frustration and going to a much better place than earth could ever offer him. He’s lived the past 11 years without the love of his life which hasn’t been easy on him.

Of course, there is still the grief and sadness and loss, no matter how much of a positive spin we put on things. We were hoping to have a big family celebration over Easter to celebrate his 90th birthday. He has 5 children, 17 grandchildren and possibly 30+ great-grandchildren (I’m not sure on the exact figure but he always knew. Trailer Boy was number 21 and I know there have been quite a number born since then - guess I’ll find out the figure at the funeral).

Lleyton was the first male Great-Grandchild bearing the “family name” (same surname) so his birth was quite special to Poppa. We have photographs of the 4 generations of males. Even now there are only 5 great grandchildren who are male with the “family name” and 2 of those are my boys.

Poppa’s legacy will remain in our family for more than simply our boys carrying on his name. The farm we live on was owned by him. We had the opportunity to buy it with very reasonable terms some time back. If it weren’t for this opportunity, we wouldn’t still be farming. It has really been a huge blessing in our lives and from the day we found out he was going to sell to us (which was a few years before the paperwork went through).

He wasn’t an easy man to get to know. A man of very few words who worked hard right into his 80s. He only fully retired 3 years ago although leading up to that he was gradually cutting back his workload and responsibility.

I remember the early years of our marriage when we’d have nights where Farmboys father would wake us up after we had gone to bed and his grandfather would wake us up before we got out of bed. It wasn’t that we slept for long hours, just that his father and grandfather seemed to operate at the extremes.

In an interesting final legacy, the phone call that came this morning to let us know he’d passed away last night woke us up. Farmboy had a good chuckle that Poppa’s final legacy was one that we’ll remember him well for - pulling us out of bed way too early!!!!

Our plans for the long weekend have now changed but that’s really the least we can do for the man who has given us the opportunity to be where we are today (in more ways than one).

R.I.P Poppa. We love you and will be forever grateful for all you’ve done. Your legacy will live on in our hearts, minds and lives.

I had so many plans for when we got back from our trip. I was going to enthusiastically unpack and clean the new caravan, get the washing and ironing up to date, declutter and few cupboards and play with the kids on their last few days of holidays. Oh, and of course, blog on all my blogs, catch up on my blog reading, read and respond to 2 weeks worth of mail and maybe even relax and read a book or two.

LOL. Maybe being away from home puts you in la-la land. Or maybe not having to do housework for a couple of weeks actually makes you WANT to do some. I’m not sure.

Anyway, yesterday morning when I woke up, I couldn’t walk in a straight line. Oh-oh. And no, alcohol was not involved. My inner balance was all out of wack and every time I walked, I had to aim right in order to not bump into something on my left.

Not having learnt from the last time this happened, I decided to have a shower (no, the shower bit was okay) and then tipped my head upside down to wrap the towel around my hair. BIG mistake. Straight to the toilet, shutting the sliding door on the way because I was still wearing my shower outfit and relieving my body of the contents of my breakfast.

Not. Fun.

Last time this happened I was diagnosed with viral labyrinthitis (or something to that effect). I have tablets for the nausea although they weren’t all that helpful this time around.

I then spent most of the day in bed. Lying still stops the head-spins and the nausea.

Food doesn’t affect me. Well, not too much. I can mostly keep it down until I move suddenly. Sitting up last night for the milo I really felt like was a mistake. But then having re-emptied the contents of my stomach once again, I proceeded to drink the milo quite comfortably. So I’m pretty sure this isn’t a stomach bug.

I’m not sure whether to be SO relieved that this happened when we got home and not along the way somewhere or whether to be extremely ANNOYED that as soon as we get home I get sick and all my plans go out the window.

Today I seem to be doing marginally better. As long as I keep my head perfectly straight, I seem to be managing. At least that means that I should be able to do the computer stuff I need to do (well, some of it anyway).

I’m pretty disappointed though. It’s taken me over 2 years to get to the point where I can actually cope with having my kids around during the holidays and I really wanted to make the most of their last few days before school goes back. *sigh* Maybe tomorrow.

Here are some photographs I took at the Field Days last Wednesday. The kids get the Wednesday off from school so they were our focus on that day.

Trailer Boy having some fun at the local Case IH dealer’s stand. Even better was having people in the “know” who made sure he got a free Case showbag with lots of goodies including a tractor keyring which he thinks is PERFECT because the wheels actually move and the keyring section makes a great “trailer” (I think he’s calling it a spreader). Shhh….don’t tell anyone that I pilfered the Case pen from his bag - it’s a good pen!!!

If Farmboy had a never-ending cheque book, this would be his next purchase. Well, one of them anyway. Isn’t it shiny?

This is “apparently” the tractor Farmboy would like to buy for me to drive. The look of terror on my face is REAL, even if I’m not really driving it!!! It’s BIG!!!

See!!! TOLD you it was BIG!!! Not as big as the one Farmboy is drooling over in the photo above but waaaayyyyy too big for ME!

Here is Singstar Princess looking beautiful as usual. I wonder how much Megafert will pay me for featuring their balloon on my blog??? I didn’t even get a free beanie or scarf from them either!!!

“Dad, can we buy one of these?” Trailer Boy would LOVE a 4-wheeler! We’d like to get one as they’re quite handy around the farm. However, it’s the kind of purchase that is very “non essential” during extended drought. One day….

So there is a brief glimpse into one of our days at the Field Days. It’s very red isn’t it? I have to admit I’m rather partial to the red coloured machinery myself (the main opposition to red is green - John Deere). Plus of course good coffee and good company made the local Case site quite attractive.

Yesterday my brother brought his two girls down to the farm for a visit. It has been almost 2 years since we’ve seen them. They live quite a distance away from us. The youngest has never been to the farm and the older one has only been to stay once, over 3 years ago.

So we thought it would be fun to show the “city cousins” a bit of what life on the farm is like.

Here are the kids on the back of the ute, ready to go feeding sheep.

My 4 year old niece hanging over the side of the ute watching the sheep eat the grain. The ute is barely moving at this stage (for anyone concerned about safety issues).

One of the great perks of living on a farm is that our kids get to “drive” the ute rather young. Here Farmboy is setting the ute in motion so that our 4-year old niece can have a drive.

“Look daddy, I’m driving”. A is very intense as she attempts to steer the ute over toward the sheep. That’s my brother hanging his head in the window, enjoying the fun his daughter’s seem to be having.

“I can’t believe I’m driving a REAL CAR” says my almost 7-year old niece. Mum might be in China but can you really top driving a REAL car????

Here’s Singstar Princess with her cousin Z playing with a couple of lambs we brought in from the paddock.

Farmboy showed the girls milk coming from the mother of one of the lambs. Later in the day the 4-year old stated “milk comes from a cow, not sheep”, with a very serious look on her face. She must have spent an hour or more trying to process that confusion. It was all rather cute.

Farmboy showed the visitors how a sheep gets shorn. And showed off his growing bald spot for posterity’s sake.

“A” thought the shearing plant was a little loud. My boys are taking it in their stride. Singstar Princess has seen it all before and is playing in the background.

Leighton showing the cousins how it’s done.

“A” decides she would like to have a go. As long as Uncle Farmboy turns off the noise!

Some things are the same - city or country. Cousins dressing up.

I think you could say a good day was had by all.

1. The way your eyes twinkle when you smile.

2. The way I feel so safe and warm when you wrap your arms around me.

3. How you snuggle your kids in their covers at night so they will feel warm and cosy and SAFE.

4. Your deep resounding Faith in God.

5. The way you always put your family before your own needs and desires.

6. Eating your Homemade Chips

7. The way you let me warm my cold feet against your warm legs when we’re in bed at night.

8. The way you massage my feet without expecting anything in return.

9. The way I can tell you anything and know that you’ll still love me regardless.

10. Watching you get excited when you’re passionate about something.

11. Seeing the way people look up to you and really LISTEN to what you have to say.

12. That you are my BEST FRIEND.

Happy 12th Wedding Anniversary honey. I can’t believe it’s been 12 years when it feels like just yesterday we were married. I can’t wait for the next 12 and the next 12 after that. Marrying you was the BEST decision I have ever made.

We had a lovely weekend away.

Trailerboy was concerned as we drove down to the campsite. We were towing a trailer but NOT the camper trailer. He doesn’t understand the difference between “camp” and “camping”. It was beyond him to understand rooms full of beds instead of sleeping in the camper trailer.

He was very excited to sleep next to one of his buddies. Even more so that they were wearing IDENTICAL pj’s. They looked so cute!!!! And I didn’t take a photo???? *sob*

In fact, I took the camera (and even remembered to recharge the batteries). But didn’t take one. single. photo.

I had my own little cabin next to the main campsite. Not quite up to a complete weekend of people with no breaks in between yet. Plus I need lots of sleep. Not really conducive to a campsite environment. So it was nice that I could go and be a part of the camp but have my “respite” as required.

Friday night we began the camp with some excitement. The kind a mother can do without. Trailerboy (who is 4) decided to chase a boogie board that was floating out to sea and got out of his depth. He ended up being fine but was most upset about the boogie board so Farmboy went for a swim to try and recover it. Not an easy feat given how quickly the wind was blowing it out to sea.

Saturday was overcast which was great for being on the beach throughout the day. We had a number of canoes as well as a boat with a biscuit (okay, I don’t know if you spell the ski “biscuit” the same way you spell the eating “biscuit).

For those who don’t know what that is, it looks something like this and gets towed behind the boat.

It was a lovely relaxing weekend of being together as families and enjoying the warm weather at the beach. And of course, eating too much food!!!!

We seemed to avoid too much sunburn other than a few of the kids getting sunburnt right under their eyes (the part where you can’t really put cream).

Coming home wasn’t much fun as it’s about 10 degrees hotter here than where we were staying.

Although it WAS lovely to come home to all the lovely comments and participants in this week’s Smiley Saturday. Thank you everyone!