As life is..

S - Today was a beautiful sunny summers day here in Bacchus Marsh. After getting all of my study out the way this week and an assignment submitted late last night, I looked forward to enjoying this summery Saturday with the ones who love me most down at the local pool. We swam and we swam and we swam for over four hours and both of the kids enjoyed hanging out with friends they knew from school. 
A - Lately life has been awesome! Since school has started back (we are 3 weeks into the school year here in Australia) we have a routine that is working. The kids and I wake up between 7am-7.30am, have breakfast, get ready and leave the house at 8am. I have been walking them to school every day and staying to watch them settle in. Walking them to and from school has been amazing and although I'm not a morning person I enjoy this time with them. We are never short on conversations with me having to remind each of them to wait their turn when the other is speaking. I love hearing all about their new friends, what they're learning and what their interests are. Nevaeh is still very anxious to board the bus in the mornings but I'll think I'll leave it until next term as I am enjoying this one-on-one time with them both far too much. Also Nevaeh has her first school assembly which she is really looking forward to..
T -  While the first two weeks were hard with Nevaeh struggling a bit with settling into school, this week I have spent time to myself. It's a bit of a strange feeling not having a child dependent on you when you've been raising children for over 9 years but I think I'm getting there. My days have been mostly filled with things like chores, running errands and study with the occasional stop in to the loot for a bit of a laugh. I felt a bit down on Friday but after just 5 minutes of being at my favorite little cafe surrounded with the two town larrikans I walked out with a smile and ready to get stuck into my studies again. It gets lonely at home on my own but I'm getting a lot done. So far since the kids have been at school I have gotten my learners, earned a distinction on my last assignment and although feeling very out of my comfort zone.. Traveled out of town alone.
U - The only things that has really upset me this week had been working out my finances. I handed over $900 last week for utilities, school fees and other bills and I still haven't even scratched the surface. I still have an outstanding amount owing on my electricity, although my lawn mower has been fixed I still need to have the back lawn slashed and mowed professionally which will be in the price range of anything above $80. I'm needing to get my blue card (working with children's check) to help out at the kids school and for future employment as well as pay a deposit for my high school reunion coming up at the end of the year. I wont even mention the amount of money I'm spending on printing and internet for my course a month as well as fundraising programs the School would like to surprise me with. Lets just not go there. I sometimes just feel overwhelmed with unexpected pressures of raising a family financially. Please pray for me in this area of my life.
R - We're still loving our radio and reading! Jiedyn is very patiently waiting for the next book in the Andy Griffiths and Trent Dentons tree-house series called The 65 Story Tree-house. He is literally counting down the days. Nevaeh was excited to bring her very first library book home yesterday and has read it (and by read it, I mean memorized it) at least 4 times. She starts bringing reader books home next week. She is very excited!
D - The one thing I hate most about being a Mum is the dishes! I don't mind washing, vacuuming, ironing, folding, mopping, scrubbing toilets or soiled knickers but dishes stink! With all that said guess who actually doesn't mind doing the dishes anymore? Either after the kids go to bed at night or after school drop-off in the morning I'm finding that putting the dish-soap in the sink and washing up isn't as bad as I had made it out to be all these years. So I think it's safe to say that Mel now likes doing dishes.
A - Oh my goodness Altius. Alius is our cat, our very adventurous and un-affectionate cat. Or so we thought. This week I saw a side to him I never knew existed. A softer side, one could identify as affectionate even. He is now sleeping beside me instead of at my feet  at night and last Thursday night he got jealous when I started patting Matthias and ended up chasing him off my bed and out of my room. Our obnoxious boy is changing. He is beginning to love being loved and adored..
Y - It's hard thinking of yourself as still young when you have lived as much as I have in such a short amount of time. Sometimes I tell myself to have more fun, make more mistakes, live more and take more risks. But I'm to safe and comfortable living this very drama-free lifestyle. Friends are meeting men, beginning relationships and part of me would love that companionship but I also don't need the distraction now that I am on my way to achieving goals I've wanted for me for so long.  A part of me says live while your still young but another part of me says dont be silly - you have children to prepare a life for whom are watching your every move. Be the role model you never had. It's hard but for now I'm putting men and the chance of love and careless living to the back of my priority list and staying focused on where I'm heading. I absolutely so can't wait to become a youth worker one day!