Category: the children

butter cookies and words

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cooking with toddlers is always going to be anything but methodical. Before pursuit it is absolutely necessary to let go of any concept that the process is going to run smoothly and without fuss or mess for that matter. It almost needs to be seen as organised chaos with the idea that anything could happen and that there may not even be any consumable produce from the event. What is important to remember is, that all of the learning lies within the experience. For us it’s all about the sensory play, our boo thrives on the touch and taste of soft dough and at the moment any activity that encourages his participation, cooperation and patients is welcomed.

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BUTTER COOKIES

ingredients:125g softened butter,100g caster sugar,1 free-range egg,200 g plain flour,1tsp vanilla extract,1/4tsp baking powder,sprinkles,extra flour for dusting

method: Beat butter and sugar in a kitchen mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat well, then add the flour and baking powder and mix until a ball of dough forms. At this stage is good to roll dough into a ball and wrap in cling film and put into the fridge to chill for an hour, however this step is completely unacceptable to my toddlers so we always skip it and go straight to here, on a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to 1/2cm thick with cookie cutters cut out shapes and   gently press into the sprinkles and lay onto baking tray lined with baking paper. If dough is extra soft from skipping the chilling step, you can, with lightly floured hands roll teaspoons of the mixture and then press them into the sprinkles. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 180°C or until the edges are slightly browned.

recipe adapted from JamieOliver.com Lemon Butter Biscuits

beach moments

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we headed off down the coast to Phillip Island for the easter school holidays.  this is fast becoming our home away from home. We are fortunate enough to have a regular place to stay that makes it really easy to take very little with us, besides five kids packed into the car doesn’t leave very much room for too much more. So with just the necessities we make do, it’s a nice opportunity to live a little more simplified. It was a welcomed change spending our mornings on the beach, playing and forgetting our usual patterns of lunch making and school rush mornings. It was just the six of us this time, we left daddy behind to tend to the house and chickens.

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some place, he goes

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I often wonder where he goes. The moments when stillness overcomes his small body and a vacant  look sets upon him deep within the souls of his eyes. He lays awake almost unmoving, yet in such a place you know in this moment, that you are not welcome to visit. You can’t go there with him, he can’t tell you where he’s been. I wonder what his thoughts are. What is this three-year old contemplating so deeply on. Or is he even contemplating at all. Maybe he is in that place, the place we have all at times in our lives so desperately wanted to escape to. The place of nothingness. Where needing and wanting simply don’t exist. There is no feeling, no emotion, no thought. Just being. Being still in a world that is full of ever moving motion. I wonder if i’ll ever know where he goes. I wonder if there will be a time when he will know, or if it will remain a mysterious part of his life, for his life. There is a part of me that hopes he’ll hold onto this special place, a hope that he won’t grow out of or forget how to get there. I’m not bothered by when or how often he disappears, I’m reassured that where ever he is going there is peace and it is offering him a calmness that can come from no other place than there. This place, is a sanctuary of rest that seems to belong to only him, it’s a blessing, a moment of clarity, it’s probably more real than anything else in this wonderful dream like state we are all living in.

moments

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Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

 

 

this day in march…

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We spent this welcomed Sunday simply hanging out at home reading, playing and reluctantly tending to the laundry, oh and eating an abundance of left over cake from a friday night birthday gathering for our two oldest girls. The whole family is enjoying our new pre loved couch that is so comfortable it’s almost impossible to get up off, which is not such a bad thing. We set up an outdoor room on our back decking that is providing a nice little hide away, one day we’ll transform it into another room and then we can all argue about who needs the space more. Nash, our 12 year old spent some much needed playing time with the babies which was really nice to see, this is a tough age to be, for us all.

so far…

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As you may know we have been blessed with autism. It comes to us as a great gift encompassed in our Boo. this is a few of the things we have learnt so far on our journey,

you can never have too many trains

it’s alright to eat your breakfast cereal and milk separately

repetition can be like a meditation

it’s not always necessary to use words to talk all the time, communication takes on many forms

it’s always better to ask for a kiss or cuddle first

we don’t mind getting caught up at railway crossings anymore, it’s kind of exciting

people sometimes assume that certain behaviours are naughty… but the people who matter, know better

sometimes it’s better to take a nap instead of going shopping

don’t ever be too busy to pause for a cuddle if one is spontaneously offered

to love, love and love with patients

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summer holidays

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we spent a week of the summer holidays in Phillip Island, four out of five children came with me, we left dadda home working hard over his lap top in the unusual serenity of our house. I’m not sure he quite new what to do with himself in the emptiness other than work work work. we happened to be here over a heat wave, spending days trying to stay cool, reading books, lazing around with naked toddlers and plenty of icy poles.  In the afternoons we  headed to the beach spending hours playing in the sand and water and eating pizza. My big girls traded internet and social networking for endless hours of wandering through vintage and second hand shops. The children had a really good time, our Boo discovered a few more words… pizza, moon, beach, georgie managed to empty every cupboard and draw in the home we were staying in and my girls, well, i really think they appreciated the isolation from the demands of their teenage lives.. it was nice just being away, not worrying about routines, home work and bed times, pausing long enough to see the sun setting, watching the lightning in the thunderstorm, getting our hands dirty in the sand, even washing the dishes in a new sink had a sense of grace about it. Life on the whole slowed right down for an entire week. there was a sadness in packing up and heading home. Not because home isn’t wonderful and daddy is there of course.. but home means getting ready again for another busy year, early mornings and school lunches, long days and tired grumpy children,loads of washing, washing and more washing. If only i could find a sense of grace in those chores. We have decided to come again for the easter holidays.

my girls

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global parents UNICEF

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If there is anything I can pass onto my children with a hope they too will carry it on in their lives, it would be the simple act of giving.

Today we became proud parents. Parents to children we may never see, to their voices we may never hear, to their hands we will never hold, we may never be seen in their eyes as important nor will they ever know of us by name. We are taking care of these children We are becoming part of a movement where humanity matters Where children have the right to eat when they are hungry, the right to drink water that won’t make them sick, the right to be cared for and educated, and the right to feel safe and loved.

Today we gave.

a little autism here and there..

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We have found ourselves on a new adventure, our two and half year old is leading the way.  we are newly diagnosed with having mild autism and are quickly becoming the proud, positive advocates for this different kind of normal. This little Boo is teaching us patients, reminding us of what matters, to always notice the little things, most of all is keeping us smiling at all the special little quirks that make Boo, Boo.