lol...

Easter

We spent our Easter attending my niece's wedding and enjoying time with family and friends. I enjoyed catching up on missed lives. We took our children to see The Spiderwick Chronicles and went swimming. And remembered why we don't go swimming as much anymore :) We attended my childhood church for Easter Sunday and I enjoyed the nostalgia chatting to people who had watched me grow. I had mixed feelings or amusement (that no one seems to change much) and love for people who know and accept a different Louise who stands before them.

treasure

treasure
Originally uploaded by custardmonkeys

Clean up your eyes

First half day at school

Imogen went to visit her school for half a day on Thursday. She wanted to dress in her uniform and is lucky to have her cousin and best friend Erin starting at the same time.

Our journey

On our way to my niece's wedding on Saturday, John and I passed the time by giving each other a subject and a word and then instantly coming up with some kind of poem or rhyme. John and I are both out of practice with poem writing so the challenge was fun and we found it quite revealing. I gave John challenges such as subject - fairground and word - burp, and forest with red ball. My favourite one that John did was when I gave him the subject dairy farm and the word was pilchards.

Dairy, it says dairy says Nigel
Though the man who paints the van
Wrote diary, as though Nigel
Was supposed to deliver portions
Of himself, Nigel's Diary delivered
To your door, how he likes Debbie
And the pilchards he ate for lunch
And the secret disclosures of himself
Given out to order
But it is all a mistake
He only delivers milk

John gave me some fun subjects but my favourite was cafe and romance. I don't know if I can remember much, but it went something like this -

Crammed into the Cavern Cafe,
they sipped from kitch crockery and
cooed while curling into their coffee,
lips cradling their cups,
leaning in for kisses
while neighbouring customers
cheer with their eyes or
close themselves with their arms.
Clumsy elbows knocking
shrieking
clapping apologies
brushed off clippings
then criss crossing out into the night
and clutching hands there is an awakening
a nervous glimpse to their audience
and gone

Beginning

pathway 3
Originally uploaded by custardmonkeys

Beginning
by James Wright

The moon drops one or two feathers into the field.
The dark wheat listens.
Be still.
Now.
There they are, the moons young, trying
Their wings.
Between trees, a slender woman lifts up the lovely shadow
Of her face, and now she steps into the air, now she is gone
Wholly, into the air.
I stand alone by an elder tree, I do not dare breathe
Or move.
I listen.
The wheat leans back toward its own darkness,
And I lean toward mine.

Life

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature... Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.

- Helen Keller

Butter wouldn't melt...

:)
Originally uploaded by custardmonkeys

Today Imogen -

Dressed our dog in a pink tutu
Made a potion in a jar of water - putting her brother's ipod in
tried to re-home our hamster
vacuumed up her brother's Lego
Tried on about 15 different outfits before deciding what to wear (leaving the clothes strewn through the house.)
Decided she wanted to eat the hot chocolate powder straight out of the jar.
The list goes on.....

best friends

sculpture of a Panzer tank made out of balloons, from Hans Hemmert.

Mother's Day

Today I was mindful of Mothers. As it is Mothering Sunday, my children bombarded me with cards, crafts and kisses this morning. I started the day quite low because of a fall out with some family members yesterday and sat in thought wondering the best action to take on my folly. My seven year old son, Caleb, ran in and jumped on my lap and cuddled me. He could tell I was sad and asked me what was wrong. I just said that I had felt sad about something I had said to someone I loved the day before. With a big grin on his face he touched my face and said "say sorry then", and ran off. The simple logic and wisdom of children I sometimes find overwhelming and picked up the phone straight away and said my sorries. I spend my days sometimes in a blur of laundry, meals, running kids around in the car and kissing knees and soothing tender feelings. It's worth every bit of work..... someone once said... would you rather have, a rosebush with few thorns or with the finest roses, toil, sweat and pain are the birthplace of greatness.

Above is a photograph I took of my sister Michelle and my precious niece Jenna today as we went for our Sunday walk by a river. Her devotion, love and hard work that she demonstrates daily for her family is a constant reminder of the wonder of motherhood.