A party plus 8000 emotions

We had our farewell party on Saturday and while it was fun, I have to say it was a bit of a blur. It's hard when there are so many people you want to chat to and it all goes by so fast and you're trying to keep an eye on three kids.

I stupidly didn't eat and was running on nerves and adrenalin and a couple of glasses of bubbly (and a few ciggies, because it was a party after all).

By the time the big kids were quiet and the baby was in bed and I could finally relax a little, most people had left. I was left worrying about who I didn't get to speak to much and did everyone get enough to eat or drink and all those other worries you have as a party host. But I did have fun, it just makes it all feel real now.

The dates for our departure have been pushed back and pulled forward again. It's unsettling. We still don't know when we're leaving.

It's hard saying goodbye. It's hard saying goodbye to one good friend, it's heart-bursting saying goodbye to ALL your friends and family. The closer we are to leaving, the more real it becomes and there's that little voice saying "Do you really want to do this?"

Whenever there is big change in my life I worry about it, I mourn the life I'm changing. I send myself crazy asking myself why I'm changing a perfectly good life. Today I experienced about 8000 emotions in a few short hours, it's all a bit overwhelming. I think I'm going to have a lump in my throat for the next few weeks.

Boxes

I'm packing our lives into boxes. Some to give away. Some to throw away. Some to store.

As I lovingly wrap christening gifts, wedding gifts and other precious momentos a whole rush of memories and emotions swirl around me.

As I seal up the boxes I start to wonder how long it will be until I open them again. One year? Two years? More? What my life will be like. What I have seen. What I've experienced. Where will I be? Will I gasp and say: "oh I'd forgotten about this!"

It's like packing a time capsule.

The girls walked in and gasped when they saw our life in boxes. It must be strange to see the only home you've known slowly dismantled.

I remember moving boxes into this house. When it was just me and Skip.
Six years later, three kids later and half a world away.

It will be odd to open these boxes again and put our momentos next to new memories. Trying to remember Darbs as a baby, Goose just a preschooler and Lil only 5. Will it feel like a blink of an eye? Will it be a joyful home coming?

Time will tell.

Emma Laue giveaway

I often talk on my blog about how I have super talented friends. Truly, I'm blessed to know some smart cookies. Today I'm going to tell you about another of my super smart friends...

Emma is the brains behind Emma Laue Children, a divine clothing label for little ones. Em lives in Singapore with her husband and two gorgeous kids. Since she moved from her home town of Sydney and had kids, Em has poured her creativity into designing clobber for kids and she does it so well.

I personally know how talented Emma is and I'm the perfect person to blab about it because once upon a time, she designed and made my wedding gown. Emma has also made clothes for my girls when they were bubs. Now she's a super star kids designer and I can say "I knew her when..."

All her designs are made in gorgeous fabrics in natural fibres. She designs for kids aged 0-4 and I'm hoping she's going to start making dresses in my size soon (c'mon Em, you know you want to). All of her clothes are named after little people she knows such as Piper, Annabelle, Evie.

Here are a few of her numbers:

 

Cute, huh? Want to pick something up? Check out her site

Emma has kindly offered to give on of my readers a pair of her 'Henry' shorts. Cute for girls or boys, Emma describes the shorts on her site: Henry represents an ease and comfort which is perfect for a tropical climate. These 'little fisherman' shorts are wrapped at the front then fastened with a soft velcro and matching self tie. The elastic insertion at the back with gather detail ensure they stay put. Made from 100% cotton striped seersucker or 100% soft linen, they are super cute and a little bit different. 

So, one reader has the chance to win their choice of either the seersucker or linen 'Henry' shorts in a size from 0-3 (would make a fantastic pressie if your little one is larger than a 3).

  

To win:


* Like Emma Laue's Facebook page and/or join her mailing list on website. 
* Then come back, comment below and tell me: if your name was going to be put to any item of clothing, what would it be and why.

Entries close Tuesday July 31 at 11.59pm. Emma Laue will chose the winner based on the creativity of the answers (no debate will be entered into) and once announced the winner has 48 hours to contact me (it will then be redrawn if a winner has not come forward). The winner can be from ANYWHERE in the world (finally an international competition!). PS: It would also be nice if you liked my Facebook page.

Four my girl

Happy birthday to my little Goose!

What a year you've had! You've grown up so much. Those wild crazy curls have gotten crazier. You're the most unique little creature I've had the pleasure to meet, yet I see my grandmother and your father so strong in you. You're happy and cranky and grumpy and kind. You're happy to share almost anything with anyone.

This year you started preschool and have kept up with the big kids
You've become a big sister. You give your brother equal doses of hell and love.
You've learnt to write your name and draw the best smiley people.
You dance to a groove in your head.
You're about to move halfway across the world so you can ride a camel.

You are love and light. You're stubborn and rash. You're patient and affectionate. You're fearless and funny.

I'm so lucky you're mine.

Love you my special girl.

Changing gear

Our little Darbs is not so little anymore. In the past week he's had another leap in development and all of a sudden he seems bigger, older.

Yesterday he started doing this hilarious fake laugh on cue, which I loved but Lil informed me was 'annoying'.

I haven't been encouraging the poor boy to crawl. In fact, I've probably been discouraging him. But he's been able to get around quite well by shuffling and rolling. He starting crawling a little while ago, but could only go backwards. So he was seeing something he wanted and reversing away from it, much to his distress. He was also reversing under the lounge, under the TV cabinet, under everything much to the girls and my amusement!

Today he finally worked it out and can now crawl forwards. To say he's pleased with himself is an understatement. To be honest it's come at the worst time, but what can you do?

I should be grateful as by his age (10 months) Goose was almost walking. Although, being premmie, technically Darbs is only 8 months, so probably just the right age to start crawling. Hopefully walking (ie running away) is many months away!

For now it's nice to see the boy change gear and head in the right direction!

Check out the cuteness

Sight unseen

When you move, you go house-hunting. You look at lots of different properties, wander around, open cupboards, peek in the attic, check the aspect. Is it a good suburb? Is it a good street? What about the schools? You get a 'vibe' about a place and all of the things you're looking for.

So, it's strange to be packing up our lives to move to a city, a country and a whole region that I've never set foot in. All I know about it is from what friends have told me and what I've read about on the internet.

And I've been pouring over the internet to get a sense of what it's all about. Looking at school websites and thinking: "Those kids look happy, my kids could be happy there too".

There are people who think we're mad. No doubt. Why would you want to leave Australia? Why would you want to take your family to a place like the Middle East? Three words that are usually followed by words like 'tension', 'crisis', 'war'.

I've had the whole scope of reactions from: "You'll love it!" to "I really hated it" or "Are you sure you want to go there?"


I'm not going to find Utopia. I'm not going to find a place to plant roots. We will come back.

So why am  I going? Well, when the offer came up I looked at our life. It was a good one, but the past six years have gone by so fast. I could easily stay here another six years and not really do anything other than the day-to-day. You only live once. I'd love to fill my life with experiences and people and places. And here is a great big opportunity to do just that.

That's why I'm going. Even if we only stay six months and decide that it's not for us, those six months will be memorable and we'll learn so much. It's an opportunity to see parts of the world we otherwise wouldn't. It's an opportunity for my kids and for us to be put out of our comfort zone. To challenge ourselves. To live a rich life. We're so ripe for it that it's not funny.

When I was small my family spent a short time in a small Californian town. It wasn't an ideal place to live. In fact it was a pretty average place. Over lunch recently, my mum, brother and I told tales about this time. There so many, much more than at any other point in our family life.

Basically I'm selfish and want this time in our family's life to be memorable, slow and jam-packed with amazing stories.

In a few weeks when we step off that plane for the first time, look around and wonder where the hell we are and what we've gotten ourselves into, I know I'll remember that moment and those emotions for the rest of my life.

Strange days indeed

The past two weeks have felt like an eternity. The school holidays felt like 6 weeks instead of two. It's been a strange mix of great times and awful times. When I took Lil-lil back to school today everything felt a little different and it is I guess.

The kids have taken it in turn to be sick. Lil-lil fell ill the first day of the school holidays, then Darbs the next weekend, Goose a week later. Goosey is still very sick. I considered taking her to the hospital yesterday because I was that worried about her. Instead she went back to the GP for the third time in five days. Today she seems a little better. She's still pushing temps of 40 degrees, but I'm hoping we've turned a corner.

So with two weeks of illness and little sleep I feel exhausted. It's been a rough time. Plus I'm just mentally overwhelmed by what we have to do before we leave. To be honest, my head is already in Dubai in a lot of ways.

To counterbalance this I've had some really wonderful times as well. A truly fun weekend in Kangaroo Valley. Lots of lovely dinners with people I adore. People who I'll miss. Making lots of memories to take with me. While it's been busy, I'm soaking it up because soon we'll be in a city where I know no-one.

The next few weeks will be much of the same. A slog of getting things ready and fun times saying farewell (not goodbye, because we will be back).

I remember when BabyMac moved to the country and she said she was taking her friends in her laptop, I totally get this and I'll be doing the same. Tweeting, Facebook, the blog – it will be like you're all living there with me. So while Skip will have work and the girls will have school, I'll have all of you to talk to and share my adventures with.

A lovely catch up with Pink Patent Mary Janes.