Adventure Sunday...A splash in the river at Jamieson

What a week!  It's contained the normal highs and lows that  arrive with school holidays and I must say the time is flying! It's certainly going to be hard to let go of these summer holidays, that's for sure.

Being the first time I've joined in on a photo challenge, let alone two of them I'm realising that I really need to let go of any ideals I have if I want to get these things on the blog.  I take so many photo's of the boys but I don't always specifically get any one of them at a time! So as you'll see, there may be a few other boys poking their heads in this week and I'll have to make more of an effort in the coming week.

Jayden is our little clown, always doing something to get a laugh.  He is so imaginative as well.  I hope that never loses his creativity. He is wearing the reindeer nose that we had on the front of the car for Christmas...on his head.

Ethan is looking cautious, he was not all that sure of the river, especially after the discovery of a number of small crayfish with big strong nippers. 

 

Dylan is my boy with a very health appetite.  He is my foodie. 

Louis loves discovering interesting artifacts or animals.  He helped his Dad find the crayfish and in the process discovered some unique rocks. 

 

I must say I am so grateful for this family photo challenge.  The boys are right on board now and know that we'll be doing it every week.  We had a beautiful drive to Jamieson today and had a great splash in the river.   I am in my happy place to be exploring somewhere new and be with my gorgeous family.  That is perfection to me and is priceless.

 

We stopped off at Jamieson blueberries on the way home as well and picked up a big tub of the best fresh blueberries and a 1kg tub of frozen blueberries.  I don't believe you can ever have too much locally grown, in season fruit!  Yum!

Weekends...up the block and a drive to the Strathbogies

Ok...I've taken on 2 challenges here...

The first is from Practising Simplicity and is:

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

 Jayden: Full of character...especially in front of the camera, and yes he is wearing a christmas hat!

 Ethan: My wild one...

Dylan: he spent a lot of time sitting in that window watching his Dad and Opa working...

Louis: Mr serious.  He loves sitting up on the embankment watching over everything. 

We spent the afternoon up at the house site.  It was perfect timing as the boys were able to see the frame of their bedrooms go up.  They decided who was sleeping where and enjoyed seeing the view out of their windows.  I'll post soon about all of the recent activity on the house.  

The second is #myfamilyandme linking up with Clairey Hewitt and is a photo a week of our family.  I've always been happy to avoid photo's of myself but this challenge throws me in the deep end.  I'm really looking forward to it though, I think it will be a lot of fun!

Up in the Strathbogies on the hunt for crayfish. No luck but the boys had a splash in the river and we ate some fresh oranges from Oma's tree.  Heaps of blackberry bushes up there, not no berries yet.  I think we'll have to head back soon and check again! 

It was so nice to spend some time altogether, Michael has been spending every spare minute on the house and the boys and I have missed him!  He'll be back into it tomorrow though, continuing on internal frame of the house. 

Oh, maybe I should just add that all photo's are taken with my old iphone, however hopefully at some point this year that may magically change to a Canon DSLR I've got my eye on...I'll just throw it out there to the universe and keep saving, saving, saving!!

One word for 2014

I've known my word for a few weeks now...

I'm excited about it and everything it means to me.  This word will not only shape my life but also the direction of my blog, which I've struggled with in the past.

Awesome image from Tash @ Little Bit of Thyme

Deliberate:

1. done consciously and intentionally

2. careful and unhurried

It's what I'm about completely (or at least working towards).  I spend time reading and researching until something feels right to me.  Maybe this is easy for others but for me it takes time.

To be deliberate you need to know what you stand for.  You can't just follow the crowd and go along with whatever everyone else is doing.  You need to examine your beliefs and your patterns and work out what you've picked up along the way and what is authentically you.  It's important to know what you're willing to sacrifice and what you're willing to work hard for.  What you're willing to let go of and what you're going to hold onto with all of your being.  It takes looking at your own values and ethics and what you believe your purpose is in this world and how to align yourself with it all.  Being deliberate is a life long journey of discovery, tweaking and adjusting, creating and celebrating your unique self and what you bring to the world that no-one else can. 

I want to be a deliberate mother...for me this means I treat my children how I would like to be treated.  I want them to feel loved, heard and supported.  I want to treat them with respect.  I want them to believe in themselves and follow their hearts.  I want us all to feel connected as a family. I want to continue to work on the example I'm setting as their mother and as a role model.

I want to be deliberate in my health...for me this means eating whole foods as close to nature as possible.  Being mindful of what I'm consuming including medications and also mindful of what is going on my skin as well.  A big challenge for me will be adding in regular exercise into my days.  By this time next year I want it to be such a habit that I won't even have to think about it.  Of course, this will take a lot of  reprogramming to get back in this mindset.  I have been there before though, so I know I can do it again. It means taking time to relax and just be.  To enjoy nature and meditate.  To stretch and move my body.  To respect myself. 

I want to be deliberate in my marriage and relationships...for me this means being mindful of my emotional reactions and working out where they come from and how I can handle it practically.  This skill alone has helped me immensely.  When we react, we feel that pang in our belly or our chest, even our throat and we often let our emotion fly straight out with accusations and stories of how others are wronging us.  I love the quote: "Seek first to understand, then be understood".  My goodness it can make the world of difference if we can understand those around us before we try and push our own agenda!  It takes practise though. 
It means loving people unconditionally.  It means supporting, encouraging and lifting others up. 

I want to be deliberate in how I spend my time...for me this means scheduling in what really matters to me and to our family.  We do not thrive as a busy, fast paced family.  We all enjoy our moments of peace and quiet, but do we ever love a bit of fun and adventure.  It will mean being mindful as to what each of us needs at different times.  A balancing act, but one that will lead us to our own individual bliss points. 

Being deliberate will cross every aspect of my life.  From growing my garden, creating and managing our budget and finances to simply living our every day life. 

I will have moments where I fail and fall, I'll be uncertain and undecided,  but I'll be sure to pick myself back up again and keep on growing, learning and moving forward. 

2014 looks to be an exciting year for our family with the continued building of our home, 3 little boys in school (Louis - Grade 3, Dylan - Grade 1 and Ethan - Prep) and Jayden attending 3yo kinder! 
I honestly couldn't be more happy and grateful to start off the year as we are.  Our life isn't perfect by any stretch, but I will continue to find the joy in the imperfections of it and life lessons in the challenges that we face.

 Happy 2014 to you all!  I hope this year brings you much health, happiness and abundance! 

Linking up with Maxabella loves for her annual one word linky!