I Am Mother Hear Me Roar! 😁

We had KFC for dinner tonight. Yes, I know, it’s junk food, it’s unhealthy, my children even gleefully call it the Kids Fattening Centre and yes, I later on felt guilty about feeding it to them.

I was beating myself up about how I had spent money unnecessarily ($29.95), how I should have been more organised, planned my day better. I was fretting about wrecking our health, not sticking to the weekly menu plan….. and then the penny dropped….. This was ONE meal out of seven! I never once in my self flagelation considered all the other six dinners that I had lovingly planned, prepared and served. And these meals weren’t just dinners out of a jar. They were all cooked from scratch also on days, much like today, which were also crazy busy.

Meals like Butter chicken, beef stroganoff, lubia (a lamb based Lebanese inspired dish), shepherds pie and more… You get the picture?

How is it that it is so easy for us to focus on the things we didn’t do and never once even consider patting ourselves on the back for all the amazing things we HAVE done.

I think it is time we all stop and take stock. In the grand scheme of things does it really matter that we had KFC on a day that, amongst other things, I was up at dawn to get my older children to their part time job on time, in the city after lunch for an excursion with the younger three, then back in time to drop my son to his football training?

No. I don’t think so.

So tonight I am celebrating that I am quietly, humbly, a MOTHER!

A mother who can do

Every thing some days,

Most things most days,

Some things every day

BUT

Not every thing, every day!

Oh and by the way, that chicken was quite tasty too! 😜

Amen!

With much love from my home to yours,

Jacqueline xx

How Do You Cope? 6 KIDS!!

“I don’t know how you do it. I can’t even handle two”

I hear this a lot. When Simon and I set out to have a family we knew we wanted four children. That was one of the things that brought us together. When we got to four, five was definitely planned and then six became the icing on the cake.

I can’t claim that they are all angels. Each and every one of our children test us. Thankfully, not all at the same time.

So how do I do it? My husband is away nine months of the year and I homeschool. The buck pretty much stops here. I am the CEO, CFO, GM, president, chauffeur, housekeeper, nurse, physician, drill sergeant… Bottom line is, I am a mother. One thing I am not, and never can or will be is their father. That is a role solely reserved for their dad.

Yes, my faith helps me a lot. I could not do anything without His divine grace and mercy but all those times when I am put to the test I am also supremely human. I do the best I can and sometimes the best I can manage on the day is to be angry, grumpy and unreasonable. On other days my best is getting all the schoolwork done, the house spotless and a couple of gourmet, chef inspired meals on the table served with a smile.

My point is I am not perfect. No one is. I have bad days just like everyone else. I try not to beat myself up about it. I apologise, I get up, I move on,  I keep going forward. I try to learn from my mistakes. That’s how I do it.

My family is my safe haven. They see the best and the worst of me but at the end of day we are a family and on those days when I feel like giving up and walking out (and I have had a few of those) I remind myself that our children are human too. They have their bad days and their very good days too, just like me.

At the end of the day our main goal is to show our children that perhaps one of the most valuable things we could teach them is that we are all human trying to do our best and tomorrow is a new day and we can all try again. In our family, we do second chances.

Peace everyone! ❤

Its The Simple Things

This weekend just gone was one of the best we have had this year. We drove to York on the Friday afternoon – about an 100km from Perth. The local priest, Fr. Stephen invited Simon and I to stay in the presbytery with him while the children pitched a tent in the backyard. The next morning Simon and the kids waved me off and went to explore quaint, historic York as I rode back to Perth with the 98.5 Sonshine FM Morning Cafe _ Ride for Hope on their last day of an epic 500km ride from Albany.

It was a beautifully scenic ride. I have truly missed my bicycle and that feeling of freedom while I am riding.

Simon and I then ended the day at a Marriage Encounter Love Circle meeting.

The next morning we were up bright and early again for the children’s first Little Nippers session on the beach. Over 2 hours of surf and beach skills later it was home for a quick shower and change then off again to a late Oktoberfest party with a young German family we met through mutual friends.

Full on but immensely satisfying.

This last weekend has really driven home to me how its the simple thing that make for some of the most amazing memories and rewarding experiences. We spent hardly any money but the children haven’t stopped talking about the great time they had. The smiles on the children’s faces over the weekend were priceless. The company of good friends sharing cultures, conversations, food and drink is immeasurable.

Food is my Medicine?

I’ve been battling hypertension (persistent high blood pressure) since I conceived and gave birth to my sixth child. There is no real reason that the doctors can give me as to why. They look at me… under 40, fit, active, trim, healthy, good diet – And just tell, “Sorry, its chronic – here are some tablets. Good bye. Good luck” … I have been on medication for almost 5 years now and I don’t like it. I just can not accept or believe that there isn’t some kind of underlying problem that I can somehow target and fix.

In the last few years I’ve been experimenting with different foods and I have discovered that beetroot, celery and carrot have a very positive impact on my blood pressure. Yesterday I accidentally discovered something else – Shitake mushrooms. I had a whole bowlful yesterday and today everything has been reading normal. (And yes, I have accidentally, on purpose, forgotten to take my daily tablet. Over 24 hours since my last dose.)

To me the solution is simple – food CAN help control and fix so many health issues – why don’t the medical and science professions take a closer look at this link instead of continuing to band aid situations with ever increasing doses of drugs?

I am not in any way advocating that everyone with blood pressure issues throw out their medication and start eating bowlfuls of mushrooms, beetroot, celery and carrot but why not try adding these to your diet on a more regular basis? It certainly can’t hurt!

Yours in Health

Jacqueline xx

 

The Secret To My Success!

Ok so I have been slack again. Life has a way of getting in the way for some reason… I guess that kinda happens with six kids… They all got sick… we were away… and the excuses keep coming!

Here is the clincher – If someone else said the same thing to me, my advice to them would be simple, write up a schedule or a timetable and stick to it!!

Don’t we all just want to find that extra hour in every day? I have found that several things help me get through my day productively and efficiently and the first of these things is a schedule. I have a plan for every hour or two and I try as hard as I can to stick to it. The bonus is, if I get through what I hope to achieve in that hour or two I have extra time just for me – to read a book or play some Facebook game!! 😛 You See, FOUND! An extra 15 minutes!! It is very rewarding! And on the rare occasion I don’t meet my deadline, it is not a big deal, tomorrow is another beautiful day.

The reason this works for me is that when I am on a schedule, I focus on what I have to do rather than running around in circles trying to do six things all at once.

I have to qualify, I am not a nazi with my timetable, there have been times when everything gets tossed out the window for a day to explore the great outdoors. Throw in the kids and homeschooling and some days can be very challenging but on the whole, most days, it works extremely well.

You will be amazed how much time you suddenly have when you get some focus into your life!

I think I will schedule “lists” into my next post!

Good night everyone!

Jacqueline xx

I’m on the Top of the World

What is it about completing a challenge that gives you that ‘Top of the World’ feeling? Even a baby challenge?

Sunday just gone saw me racing in my one and only Triathlon this season. The Nissan-BRW corporate. I did not do much preparation or training except for a couple of swims, a few short runs and my normal weekend cycling. The fact that it was a short Tri, only 400m swim, 10km bike ride and 4km run is my excuse for my pre-race complacency. So although I am only 90% happy with my splits, my times were not unexpected BUT the bonus is I have this warm, buzzy, glowing, feeling that has been around since Sunday.

To be perfectly honest, I thought I did amazing in the swim. To put it into perspective, 12 months ago I was close to tears, panicking before the swim and hyperventilating for the most part of it. This year I actually enjoyed myself. I was calm and in control and in ‘the zone’. I nailed the bike leg, average speed 30km/h! Yeah Baby!! But I was very confident I would. And then the run… I was hurting for the first km, I just could not get rid of that stitch. This really disappointed me on the course but when I finished and looked at the split, 25 minutes for 4 km… that is not far off my normal, cruising run speed…. so I am suspecting that once I pushed through the pain I got stronger towards the end and powered home!

I’m just a legend!! 😉

Now the key is to somehow bottle this buzz and release it next year when the Triathlon season opens up here again. I can’t wait! And this time I WILL be training!! Bring it ON!!

Lets Get REAL!

The trigger for this post was a question asked over a coffee one day after a cycle – “Who would you rather have as a role model? The fresh faced 19 year old pro athlete, (who works damn bloody hard to be the best) or a lady, maybe in her 30s, has children, a husband, job and a mortgage and who may not be a pro athlete but still competes in her chosen sport and does reasonably well?” Overwhelmingly, the people I ask that same question to, tell me, the latter… So am I missing something here or are the advertising companies completely missing a huge marketing opportunity?

For example, I LOVE Revlon, especially their ColorStay range. I have tried other colour fast make up but Revlon is the only make up that does does what it says and goes the distance. I put it on and it stays on until I take it off. I also LOVE to swim, cycle and run and as vain as it makes me look, I do, on occasion, wear make up while I train and race and yes, I might be hot and sweaty but the ColorStay still looks fantastic even after a hard session…

I’m not saying I want to be the next Revlon poster girl, but surely it would not be that hard to find a REAL lady with a REAL life to help sell their product? Seriously, as much as we all want to look like that  hot, young thing on that ad after we buy whatever she is being paid to tout, we all know deep down we aren’t going to become a super model or famous actress when if we do buy it and use it. Sorry to kill your hope there.

But, maybe, just MAYBE,  if the girl next door told you that it works? It REALLY works! Wouldn’t you be more tempted to buy it?

And maybe to make it more REAL I should aim to be the next Revlon poster girl! So here goes, I’m swimming in the river tomorrow…an hour of drills… I’ll let you know how my lipstick holds up!! Photos and all!! Stay tuned!

Who Has Been Cheated By The Dopers?

Drugs in elite sport have been dominating the news in the last few months/ weeks/ days. When someone like Lance does what he does. The ripples are ever widening and so many more people than just the public are ripped off. Is this a sad indictment of what the public really want or a win at all costs attitude from the sports person themselves? Or a combination of both and the fact that mega bucks are at stake for the ‘best’ in the business?

This article – Nicole Cooke‘s retirement speech

http://gu.com/p/3d492

and

This following blog highlight a lot of my own views on the issue.

http://theologicalvacillation.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/1261/

I am not panicking yet

It has been a Good week… Busy but good. Yes, every week in our house is busy but this week felt especially busy.

Mostly this week has revolved around getting the kiddos curriculum right. Who knew there was so much amazing stuff out there to cater for all levels of education and all types of learners. This is the year that we are striking out on our own and I am excited.

Learning and the DESIRE to learn is a precious gift. It is also something that I want to foster as a lifelong love and I could see the ACE program slowly extinguishing that love in my children. I’m not saying that the ACE program that we were using was bad. It is a fantastic program but it just did not suit. I found it too prescribed and lacking the flexibility that we needed to allow us to supplement, adapt or explore different learning styles, areas and possibilities.

Sport has also featured a little this week. I am a much happier person after I go for a run or cycle. Unfortunately my right knee is not in a happy place lately and while I know some of my problems are due to lack of conditioning and improper bike set up I have to remind myself that I am not as young as I used to be. Impatience will cause more long term injury if I don’t take it slow enough for this poor body to adapt to this new torture I expect it to endure!! 😀

We also have a new student from China living with us for a few weeks. Our home stay kids don’t normally take up much of my time but this young man has obviously been very sheltered and molly coddled his whole life and is lacking the basic confidence and independence that we expect from a 20 year old. I understand that a large part of his immaturity is cultural. The one ‘precious’ child policy doesn’t help and this is his first time he has ever left home. It is just very unfortunate and a little unfair that it is now the “real worlds” responsibility to grow this young man into an adult.

All in all, at the end of week 3, things are on an even keel. We have one last week of Vacswim left and hopefully all the books and bits I have ordered arrive in time for us to start “school” at the same time the official school year starts.

Oh and did I mention I am rather excited??!!  🙂

Ripples In Week 2

Two weeks of Vac Swim down, two to go and we have had our first ‘drama’ sessions for the year. It started with jelly fish infested waters and ended with our first attempt at running away from home… With 3 apples and a small rug I didn’t think No. 1 was going to get very far.

I have to admit jelly fish stings are not very pleasant but it is a tough love attitude around here. So, “Toughen up princess!” was the order of the day. I am really grateful that the teachers also supported that attitude.

Level 7 Vac Swim In The Bag!!

She finally did get on with the rest of her lessons for the week and even passed level 7!! YAY!! (I knew she would – but she had to get over the jelly fish phobia first and actually swim!!)

Level 4 Here We Come!!

Too Easy!! Bring On Level 8!!

My other 3 Vac swimmers all passed too!! WooHoo!!

Towards the end of last week I was congratulating myself on how lucky I was that I had gotten to 12 years of motherhood without any of my children even once telling me that they hated me… And so guess what happened? Yup! No. 1 didn’t actually say it to my face but I got a letter with a litany of hates… I’m thinking I’m gonna keep that and give it to her when her daughter turns twelve!! Hahahaha!!

Oh the joys of girls, pre-teens, puberty and adolescents!! Just think, I only have another 5 more kidlettes to go!