And here is our lovely picture for Day 12....
Ooops! It appears we forgot to open today's window and now Sian has gone to a friends for a sleepover so it will have to be opened tomorrow!
Watch this space...
I'm begining to wonder how hard a time Byron really has in the mornings after I leave for work. Today for example I rolled out of bed at 6am, hung wet laundry out on the line, ironed a school skirt that only found its way into the washing machine at 9pm last night, got packed lunches out of the fridge, lined up drink bottles, made cups of tea for them all, brought them upstairs so they could have them in bed while watching morning tv...
Byron says that it can be crazy busy getting three kids dressed, teeth brushed, fed and in the car by 8am. I used to feel sorry for him until he did himself a disservice by taking the Advent photo for me this morning....
Today the kids had a day off school. We had to stay in the house waiting for a man to measure up some fly-screens. He never came....
At least we had the chance to veg in the house all day and get out some of the Christmas decorations!
...and eat ice-cream and sprinkles!
There is something lovely about watching birds landing in your garden.
As a young child I remember staring out the kitchen window in my parents house in Dublin. There was a bird bath in the back garden and I loved watching all sorts of birds drinking from it. As soon as I tried to go outside they would fly away.
My favourite was the Robin. A tiny shy bird that evokes images of snow and Christmas. There is no snow here in Australia at Christmas and no shy Robins either! Today Byron called me outside and told me to bring the camera. This is what we saw...
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On Wednesday Rhiannon had an bump in school. A boy in her class accidentally collided with her. He had a sore head afterwards but Rhiannon ended up with an impressive shiner on her right eye. When I collected her from school she looked like she had done 5 rounds with Mike Tyson. After the shock of the bump she became very proud of her bruise and has enjoyed the fuss everyone has made of her!
Advent day two. I was heading out to work at 6.30am. Not before bringing cups of tea up to my bedroom for Byron and the kids who had jumped in to my vacant spot in the bed! Here is Rhiannon looking bright eyed and bushy tailed opening her window which had a sleigh shaped chocolate inside.
I talked on an earlier post here about Sian being home from Canberra and what a star her teacher Graham Jennings was. He wanted to post one of his photos from the trip here so he emailed it to me. I got his permission to upload it with the text of his email. The politician in the photo with Graham is Tony Abbott who was in the news today because he was elected leader of the opposition by one vote! A very topical photo and a coincidence to be blogging it on the same day he is elected.
Every year Granny and Grandad Joe in Ireland send over an Advent calendar from Marks and Spencer's for the kids. It was a tradition they started when Sian was a toddler. Over the years as one toddler became three school age kids we have had the option to upgrade to three calendars but there is a lesson to be learnt in patience and sharing and waiting your turn. So much of our modern life is about instant gratification. Wanting something and getting it straight away. The Advent calendar starts on Day 1 with our youngest child Gareth and moves on to Rhiannon in the middle on Day 2 then Sian on Day 3. The cycle continues and conveniently ends with Day 24, an even share of windows and chocolate!
Every year I have tried to take a photo each day of the child opening their window which I email my Mum and Dad. It is a way of them sharing in the excitement that their calendar has brought. The photos have often told a story. Were we all up ready for school nice and early and un-rushed? Was hair sticking up and a look of panic on faces as we rushed to the car. Uniforms mark mid-week days and pj's mark weekends. Last year my Mum spotted that my vacuum cleaner hose stayed stretched out in the hallway over about 5 consecutive days. She took great delight in telling me to put it away as she laughed at me on a weekend phone call!
And so we start our little tradition today on Day 1 ...
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We had just come home from school and Gareth had been given a tiny religious medal which he was clutching in his hand while he waited for us to come and watch him open his window...
