Something for my filing cabinet in cyberspace.

A lot has certainly happened since I last wrote. Sometimes I can go months without feeling the need to write but then I HAVE to. I have been a few chapters away from finishing a novel for the past year but I haven't quite got it together to finish it. It's not even writer's block. My head is filled with ideas that just need some sort of escape route but then it all gets poured into something else like decorating my huge basement room that has stood empty for the past year and just seemed to be too sad to stay that way. We also went on vacation when my Mum came out to visit us and I became absorbed in making sure that 6 sets of clothing remained somewhat organized throughout the almost 10 day road trip.

The kids have since started school and now at 3.45pm every day I get swallowed in three sets of homework, which I somehow have to organize (my children won't organize themselves) while preparing dinner, trying to remember that I have a cub scout now, and taking care of an 18 month old who this week came down with this rather horrible throat/sinus thing that has him sounding like he's a habitual smoker.

Spencer was recently prescribed contact lenses for his Astigmatism since an eye condition he has called Nystagmus prevents glasses from really helping. I hate to imagine what his vision is with nothing - glasses can get him to 20/80 but contacts can bring him up to 20/60. This has been something which has also commandeered a large part of my brain, even keeping me up at night trying not to worry about getting them successfully on his eyes before he has to be out the door to school.

I don't even know who if anyone ever reads this blog since I've become so sporadic but I can feel the tension ebbing away as I write this and that in itself is probably the main reason I still keep a blog. Just sorting through my thoughts in a tangible way such as this helps me to stay on top of things and I can't lie - I have an element of me (quite large) that needs to be in control of my little world. Today I cleaned the house and I had to mentally force myself to stop peering at the baseboards for dust and play with Oliver. It's quite the challenge keeping that part of me in check when inevitably, having 4 children in the house will cause a few messes. I almost hyperventilated when I went downstairs this afternoon and found most of the cushions of my new sofa on the floor arranged into a fort.

The reason I turned here this evening was just life really. Gary had a work meeting and couldn't get home until around 6pm and 4-6pm are the busiest time of the day for me. Spencer was having a hard time with a piece of math homework. Isn't it always math? He was crying, begging for help and then loudly arguing that 3 quarters added up to 70 cents and nothing I could say made a difference. Oliver was crying the entire time with his pitiful little hoarse voice and Nathan was downstairs removing the couch cushions. I was also trying to prevent a pan of rice from becoming the most inedible thing I have ever cooked. I wrote Spencer's teacher an interesting email I hope he will put down to a momentary lapse of sanity and almost headed to the corner to assume the fetal position.

So here I am listening loudly to Nadia Ali while I just exorcise the demons. I think I need Dumbledore's Pensieve.

So Leia also has an Astigmatism. She thankfully is happy to have glasses and is able to see a noticeable difference when she wears them.

The new family room is a great place to read at bedtime. This is what I can happily say is now taking place as I have this minute to myself.

The cabinet I now have to put my old books in. No more 120 year old copies of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens getting their covers ripped off any more!

The cool photo of the London Eye I got for my wall. I took the exact same view myself when I was there in March only this one I found online is way better. It has atmosphere and mine just looked dull.

Us on holiday. We were having a lovely time. I thought getting the kids back to school was my Utopia but looking back I miss those lazy days of Summer. Well...a little bit!

The green room and the graduating class of 2023!

I'm so tired I think the only thing I could do tonight would be type. I've been working hard on Spencer's bedroom for the past several days and I finished it today. It took most of the day to get it all together. Not to mention the two entire days of painting first (well two days in between everything else I still have to do!) I love the way it turned out and Spencer's thrilled too, especially with the papasan chair.

This evening we had to go to Nathan's Kindergarten Graduation. Now I love my crazy and entertaining Nathan to bits but at this point I'm rather over this kind of thing. I was amazed at the parents that showed up with bouquets of flowers and balloons with "GRADUATE" on them. I mean, they DO know that no one's actually graduating from anything right?

The gym was way over capacity and hot. I felt extremely claustrophobic and it seemed so long as they read name after name followed by parents snapping pictures. I, of course, took my pictures as well. I wouldn't want Nathan to feel short changed sometime in the misty future because I took better pictures at Leia's pre-school graduation than I did at his kindergarten graduation. Actually I did but there were a tenth of the people at that particular event which makes for easier photo taking.

So here's to the graduating class of 2023. Whoohoo!

This last picture is the best because it was taken outside. The red eye in the gym pictures is awful. I just wasn't in the mood to fiddle about with the settings, not when Oliver was climbing the walls.

WALKING!!!!

Well, after many thoughts about the "normal" development of babies, Oliver is finally walking at almost 16 months. I must have done a fair few google searches on developmental milestones and looked at the rather intimidating statistic that 90% of babies walk by 14 months one too many times. It seems silly to worry about that stuff since he has been saying words - morning, ma ma, daa (daddy), bye, night night to name a few, he tries to get the attention of anyone who comes near him, and he dances, but as a mother you can't seem to help it. So it has been my mission to coax him into it. For quite a while now I have been holding things just out of his reach and until today he has resisted the bait. So he has wobbled up and down while I desperately tried to record the moment. Fun stuff! Here are the pictures I managed to get.

Looks like it's time to get some ink on those feet!