not much blogging

not much blogging going on here.  Instead I have been
- going to a 4-day conference on inclusive technologies (Spectronics) - it was pretty awesome.  My head is so full of stuff about how to use ipads in the classroom and developing literacy in special schools that it is going to take a while to filter down into my daily work
- singing hard songs in choir
- riding bikes with the girls - they are fast now!
- having lovely dinners, lunches and cups of tea with lots of lovely people.  Ahh, socialising, it rocks my world
- planning and preparing and thinking - lots of performances, training and action coming up in the June/July holidays
- hiding under a quilt - it has turned far too cold in Brisbane.  It is BELOW 20!!  DEGREES CELSIUS!
- reading awesome novels for book club - Anna Karenina - I feel all Russian and dramatic
- learning about who our idols are (for me - probably the ipad), and who we should focus on instead (Jesus)

So....
I will try and remember to take pictures and document things.  But mostly I am just living it at the moment!

promise fulfilled

About 15 months ago we promised the girls we would go to Seaworld.  It kept getting postponed due to lack of funds, rain, other commitments and poor motivation.  But  yesterday the sun shone beautifully in the Brisbane autumn, we had half price entry from a voucher and we had no other commitments.  SO off to Seaworld we went!

Highlights of the day include:
- Annika being chosen out of the crowd to touch and feed the dolphin at the dolphin show
- the high ropes climbing (I minded the bags for that one)
- the emperor penguins - I would love one to just toddle around a my house and look imperial
- eating lunch from the esky in the carpark (we did not spend any money on food or drinks at Seaworld!)
- Annika's face after getting off the jet rider - I think it was a bit fast (I minded the bags)
- Gabby going on the flume ride three times after being nervous about it

Highlights did not include:
- me falling flat on my back and smashing my wrist after trying to leap a barrier at the flume ride - owwww and total embarassment
- leaving the camera in the car for the first part of the day so I didn't get a photo of the dolphin action!

 We quite liked the jet ski upside down action.

Cool. Penguins.

my casual life

So mother's day was great - a wonderful sleep in (thanks to my sister who had both the children for a sleepover), my favourite breakfast, some jobs done around the house and reading the paper.

Being a mum has certainly changed me.  You are forced into unselfishness and reliance on others.  It is like a little piece of your heart is out there skipping around in the world and you need to protect it, push it, love it, cuddle it, scold it and cherish it.

I asked the girls to write me a poem for mother's day.  And here is what Gabby thinks I do in my casual life.

Annika's slightly esoteric offering.

And pink love from the mother's day stall at school.

I am so blessed by my children.  They stretch and tangle me with love.

family night

Tonight is family night at the Pines.  We have kept a night aside a week for about ten years now - and most weeks it works out. We do not have any meetings, or activities, or people over, or TV (I have to record the Amazing Race).  It has swapped nights over the years depending upon other commitments, but we have tried really hard to make it happen.

What does happen on family night is everyone is home, I make a slightly fancier dinner - tonight it is chicken pie from the Donna Hay book - and we have dessert.  We don't have dessert on other nights even if you finish your dinner, and we do have dessert on family night, even if you don't finish your dinner.  And we have games.

We have inducted our children into the rituals of playing boardgames and card games together.  I remember holding cards up for Gab when she was only 18 months old as we were teaching her to play Uno.  Just in the last year they have moved onto playing more complex games like Settlers and Ticket to Ride.  I think games have taught my children a lot of skills - like taking turns, losing well, strategic thinking and having fun together.

We also do a family devotion (at the moment this is great because church have done a family devotion booklet that fits in with the weekly theme), and Chris and I have time to talk and pray together.  Big decisions have happened on family nights - like renovations and changing jobs and buying puppies.

The girls really look forward to family night, and get disappointed if it is cancelled for some reason.  I really look forward to it and intend to keep going with it right until they leave home.  It is good to set aside time at least once a week where we have no other interruptions.

We are working on not just having no TV, but having no screen time on family night.  Which reminds me, I should stop blogging and go and talk with my family.

riding along on my push bike...

On a glorious Brisbane autumn Sunday afternoon we all set off on a bike ride with friends around the wilds of Carindale.

I have been reflecting on what is important, what I spend my time chasing, getting a little depressed that it seems an endless round of house chores, feeding people and striving to complete jobs.  All those earnest people out there are saying 'enjoy every moment, live in the present, wonder at your children, enjoy, enjoy.'  And I feel bad if I am not ABSOLUTELY enjoying everything all the time,  because don't I have it?  Beautiful children, friends, a garden, a husband who loves me, a new driveway?

I was reading Phillip Yancey's book today about 'A Skeptics Guide to Faith', and the chapter I was reading talked about just those feelings.  That somehow we have been fed the lie that everything has to be wonderful all the time.  In fact, it is is the small everyday things that you do that turn into the bigger reflection of who you are.  The way you wash the clothes or drive your child to ballet.  The way you greet a stranger or welcome a friend.  In everyday life is the presence of God.  How you live a day is how you live your life.  The decisions - to be impatient with piano practice or kind when they fall over.  Our lives are the small choices we make each moment. 

Not necessarily enjoying each moment.  Because some moments are definitely NOT enjoyable.  But by making the mundane sacred, and living the ordinary life extraordinarily well, each moment passes with joy.

Even with muddy dogs.

This post got a little deeper than I planned than when I uploaded the photos!  I obviously have a lot on my mind about where my energy should be focused.

Thanks for listening - any thoughts?

job completed

Some people may say I am a little task focused.  This is sometimes a good thing, sometimes annoying.  But some things you just have to let go for a little while, as they are not a priority.  For say, 16 years.

When we first moved into our house we thought we may do something with the driveway.

It was a little rough, every car attempting to enter it scraped the underside, and walking on it in barefeet was tough.

But we learned how to get in and out of it well, toughened up our feet, and watched it flow down the hill in thunderstorms.

Then through a combination of saving and unexpected support we finally had enough to CONCRETE THE SUCKER.  (Sorry, got a bit excited).

I have been looking at driveways in Brisbane for, umm, about 15 years, and I have decided the way to go was plain concrete.  Everything else grows weeds, gets mouldy and dates.  I have had a long research lead time on this one.  A longitudinal study of driveways in my neighbourhood.  Plain concrete is not trendy.  But it cleans up well under high pressure.

So men arrived with a digger. (And a handy skip that I have been throwing stuff into all week).

And some concrete.  I sat and watched them while I was eating my cheese toastie for lunch.  I made several helpful comments, just to encourage them. Fortunately they were kind and helpful concretors, and did not concrete me into the driveway for being a public nuisance.

They spent ages smoothing it down and making sure it was all tickety-boo.  And I am sure they used that phrase - 'Yep Trev - it is at tickety-boo stage, we can call it a day'.

And now we have a lovely smooth driveway to come home to.  I almost don't think it is the right house, so attuned am I to the crunch of gravel and the violent rocking of the car as it negotiates the broken footpath.

It is a small thing, but I am thankful.  And so are my bare feet.

And my fear of passing pedestrians breaking an ankle on our driveway has subsided.  I am sure the postman did a little fist punch of delight as he posted the letters today.  He had a smooth run down the hill.

amazing weight loss secret revealed

So two weeks ago I went to buy a new pair of jeans for winter.  I wandered into the shop and said to the assistant - Jeans Now Please.  She looked me over and said - you'll be a size 16 skinny fit.  I must admit I laughed in her face and maybe sprayed her a little with leftover lunch.  I have not been a size 16 for a long time.  But I tried them on.  She was the 'Jeans Consultant' as her badge proclaimed.

They fit.

And I realised that bits of me have been sneaking off and disappearing.  I have not even missed them.

And herein I have discovered the amazing secret of weight loss. 

Are you ready?


It will change your life.





















Eat less.

Move more.

Don't worry about it.







That's it.

Sure there are no quick solutions.  But it happens slowly and gradually.  We have been talking about what are the driving forces in your life at church, the 'idols', the things we daydream about.  I used to think about how good it would be if I was just 10 kilos lighter.  But my heart has been changing as I focus more on what really matters.  And then without thinking about it very much (apart from when I am exercising and watching the clock) the weight goes.


And all of a sudden you are wearing three sizes smaller jeans.