TooManyFlowers

The week Mark arrived home from a short visit in Australia, we planned a short break in a hotel about 30 min away

The Mabuhi Manor

Our room two stories with a little kitchen and fridge and a spa!!

It had HOT showers (Sarah was happy)

It had a POOL (The boys were happy)

It had airconditioning (Mum was happy)

It had a buffet Breakfast (Ben was happy)

It had a private bedroom and big bathroom (dad was happy)

It had Cable TV (Josh and Essie were happy)

It had Asia Mall (the biggest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere) Sarah and I were happy

It had Star City, a big amusement park close by (Isaac Josiah and Sarah were happy)

So we slept, we ate we swam and we shopped

Ahhhhh Bliss

Sipped Fresh Coconut Juice by the poolside

Yummm

My wet girls!

Ball play, fun except when hit in the neck!!Stop laughing GOP

We had LOTS of hot showers and veged in front of the TV

We spent ages in Star City and the kids went on ALL of the rides, I was the official photographer and bag minder!!

Some insane ride that twists you upside down …James Sarah Josh and Ben loved this ride they did it 6 times

They actually like this torture!!

The Flying Carpet- BIG deep swings like being seasick James said!!

Essie and I on a Spaceship ride

Isaac makes THE funniest faces on rides…we just crack up each time!!!

Mr Guapo (handsome) a very cool Joe!!

The Cool Dino Exhibit that Esther Screamed the WHOLE way around because they moved and made REAL noises!!

The Filo Pose!!

They had the coolest collection of dino eggs I have seen !!!

Essie on her favourite the merry go round….on a Printhcess Horth (as she says it!)

This was the MOTHER of all Merry Go rounds Two stories high!!

Ahhhhhh it was LOTS of fun and good family time

Thanks GOP for releasing us

Appreciated

Funny though we all came back sick with coughs and colds

We were healthier in Baseco, imagine that healthier in a slum!!

I wrote this poem sitting on the balcony of our new Baseco home watching one of my first storms……..what a difference rain makes to an appearance of something. So beneath the canopy of rain, lightening and thunder I wrote this poem called Transformed.

Transformed

Torrential downpour sweeps the street
Glistening, trickling, whirling eddies.
The rubbish strewn, rubbled and roughened roads
Transformed into a flat smooth watery illusion.

Reflected lights glimmer and twinkle on iron and road
Like exotic, euphoric fireworks,
Lighting a dim and dreary reality.
Transformed into a pretty illusion.

The downpour has done its effective work,
Masking the nature of a city by a river.
Poverty and shame forgotton,
Transformed into a fleeting shimmery purity.

Transformed temporarily,
Transformed fleetingly,
Transformed beautifully,
Nevertheless transformed.

LIFE WAS JUST SIMPLER BACK THEN!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE
1920’s, 30’s 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s !!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks some of us took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a Ute on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, Subway or Red Rooster.
Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn’t open on the weekends, somehow we didn’t starve to death!
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Fruit Tingles and some fire crackers to blow up frogs and lizards with.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren’t overweight because……
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and cubby houses and played in creek beds with matchbox cars.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape or DVD movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms……….

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no Lawsuits from these accidents.
Only girls had pierced ears!
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross buns at Easter time…….no really!
We were given BB guns and sling shots for our 10th birthdays,
We drank milk laced with Strontium 90 from cows that had eaten grass covered in nuclear fallout from the atomic testing at Maralinga in 1956.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Mum didn’t have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!
Footy had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
Our teachers used to belt us with big sticks and leather straps and bully’s always ruled the playground at school.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
Our parents got married before they had children

and didn’t invent stupid names for their kids like ‘Kiora’ and ‘Blade’…..
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 70 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL!

NOW THAT MAKES YOU THINK HEY!!!

My Favourite Picture Story Books

This list  has grown over the years, when I remember and have time I will add to it. Remember these are just MY favourites, some reasoning behind my choices is  sentimental, not really based on their  literary genius, sometimes  my kids just LOVED that book!! Who knows why?? But they did and still do….

1. Where the Wild Things Are…Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s story , this would have to be a trip from my past….ohhhh there is gonna be a movie too   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–N9klJXbjQ

2. The Legend of the  Three Trees (anyones retelling) a gorgeous story about destiny and our perception of ourselves and  it!

3. Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit….Ohhhh the sweet simplicity of naughty boy  rabbits getting into trouble,and just punishment!!

4. Guess How Much You Love Me by Sam McBratney, this was my Ben’s FAVOURITE book, we even bought  the bunny from America…because we loved him up to the moon and back!! This really is a beautiful book

5.The Rumpoles and The Barleys by Karen Mezek. This is a gorgeous mouse  story on being grateful and thankful for the good things we have, my copy is falling apart

6. Owen by Kevin Henkes. So cute, Owen had a yellow blanket that went with him everywhere but he has to go to school now, what is to be done ANOTHER mouse story!!

7.Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish. Never was there a dumber maid, but she sure does make good pie!!

8. Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Ratman. A cute Zoo story, no words (hardly) but kids LOVE following the action…..especially Mrs Zoo Keeper

9. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill  Martin. One of the best Alphabet Books I have read, it appeals to adults!

10. Possum in The House by Keirsten Jensen….so Australian, cornflakes, the loo and more

11. The Sneetches by Dr Suess- Why not have stars on your bellies when they have thars!! Cute and kids LOVE it

12. Aranea by Jenny Wagner This is such a magnificent story about a spider, superb black and white illustrations…gorgeous

13. Owl Babies by Martin Waddle, such a cute “I want my Mummy” book about 3 baby owls who think a lot (as all owls do!!)

14.  A Very Greedy Bee by Steve Smallman. Very colourful and cute Bee story with a message

15. Little Turtles Big Adventure by David Harrison. I have included this coz it was one of MY favourite books published in 1969, if you can ever find it grab it…such a wonderful turtle  wandering adventure!

16. Stop That Ball by Mike McClintock My kids just love this story, must be the BUILDING element, one thing leads to another etc etc

Well keep checking back I will update as I remember more…….just a taste……

Such a powerful annointing on this skit/drama……well worth 5 min of your time!!

You will be blessed

I just had to post this 100% for cute factor

10% on harsh for the environment, but come on cute is cute….

AND

The making of it…..

AND

Another cute one!

AND

Yet another…….they are on a roll!

I have just spent 3 hours of the most exciting and fulfilling times that I have had for years

No it was not church sorry for those hoping for the spiritual

BUT

a High School Reunion!

There isn’t much better in this life than finding a way to spend a few hours in conversation with people you respect and love. You have to carve this time out of your life because you aren’t really living without it.
Real Live Preacher, RealLivePreacher.com Weblog, August 27, 2003
Anonymous author of RealLivePreacher.com

I was a troubled teen, confused spiritually dead and desperate for some reality in life. The only reality left was my friends! My mum and dad did not abuse me or use me, nor did they have false expectations, my dad in particular was a rock a teacher (a high school teacher to boot) he spent hours chatting to me and trying to fathom my deepness.

My rebellion was rooted in a frustration and inability to understand who I was and why I existed. I was frustrated with my parents for not having an answer, for my teachers for teaching me mindless twaddle, and any authority that could exert “it” over me. I had a good background, parents with money who loved me and a great school……what was my problem? I was like a drowning girl in the middle of a giant whirlpool of confusion, masses of colours, lights and sounds, a cacophony of textures and assaulting audios that chased me in my awake hours and tortured me in my sleep.

I tried to fix it with alcohol and relationships with men (hmmmmm boys) , partying and base behaviour…..drunken hours and days waking up next to the toilet wanting to die. My life was totally meaningless and without hope EXCEPT for one thing that kept me sane…..my friends, they were my only defining factor, my anchor in the midst of storms, my lifeline when I was drowning. In their ignorant and sometimes immature attempts at understanding my deepest fears and needs they simply loved me!!! They accepted me and nurtured me……..like parents! At this stage they were the ONLY parents I would accept. It was deep and scary, it was a time where we just held on for the ride and lived to the max…….we were lucky not to have died then and there. But we were ok, somehow we survived, we made it, we came through high school and actually got somewhere in life……

I saw people I LOVED and still do,

people I laughed and cried with, danced and drank with, fought and partied with!

Meth, Nusch, Sam, Ingrid & Cathy (Ginny is missing)

I saw one friend I have missed for years……I have always wanted to see her for 20 years we had lost contact.

She was a delight as a friend, she still is.

We cried when we saw each other.

Dear Ingrid thanks for being my friend and never really changing…our circumstances have changed, but we are the same….your intelligence and sincerity is still the same, you made me laugh, still do! The creative…..huh do you remember the hand/boot and fork you gave me for Christmas once….I kept it for ages! Made me feel close!

I even felt the same, I felt the same familiarity the same sort of thing I reserve for my family. They were always there, they were always part of me and I realised they had never really left me nor I them!

My Meth, the only gorgeous red haired friend of my life…..my alter ego, she is pearls I am linen….. she is the unaffected “rich” , the finer side of life…but she is still the same, so far from a snob I am proud of her…..giving me time, love and acceptance. She is contrast itself: loves simplicity, discovery and not afraid of dirt. I see her continually but things never change, we give each other things that we do not have……..I have kids and she has independence………I work at home she works in the courts……..I drive a people mover she drives a normal unpretentious car…….. .she hikes to exotic places I work in slums with 6 kids………….but we have one thing in common EACH OTHER and we love it.

Dear Nushi, never was there a sweeter person, so soft and caring…..walking emotion lots of the time. We laughed so much at times we cried our eyes out, sometimes we just cried coz life is like that. She has an elegance and beauty that is so far from where I am, she is calm when I am ruffled, she soothes when I get loud, she is a beauty and a fine lady. I love her dearly.

There was a definite process by which one made people into friends, and it involved talking to them and listening to them for hours at a time.
Rebecca West
Irish critic, journalist, & novelist (1892 - 1983)

My lovely twins Sam and Gin…as different as night and day….. both still smiling and beautiful, musical and talented. Gin is wild and passionate, full of energy and vitality…searching always to grow and find the meaning of life and all things deeper, I pray with all my heart you find your dream Ginny…..maybe you have found it, I haven’t talked deep enough yet.

Dear dear Sam, James described you as a precious flower and I reckon he is right, you are a blushing rose, not a vibrant pink or red, but a soft muted yet deep purple, nothing shallow or unreal here. Genuine and sincere, a musician in the real sense of the word, it really exhibits YOU, the real Sam…..the creative and sensitive, the genius……what a blessing to see you again, you make me happy!

What a great day, it was seriously one of the BEST days I have had for years………I am in a surreal kind of daze thinking about the privilege we have to have friends and even better OLD friends…..like old slippers!!! Just pop em on and slop around!! I am a lucky women to have people like that……

There were some missing, hopefully they will come into being someday……find a way God

What is even better life has thrown different things at all us BUT we are all essentially the same people……..thank God for old pals…..all at different places, differing ideas…..but that is cool…….they are still my friend that says something about their tolerance and love for me and my faults!

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.
George Washington
First president of US (1732 - 1799)

In honour of old friends!!!!

Love Cath