Bird is the Word Challenge - Touch

One of the great blessings I have in my life is the young men of our family, my four sons and the families they now have. They have each grown to be good, generous, hard working men who are not afraid to show their love for their families and each other. I love how much they love and care about each other and each others children.

It is very rare for the whole family to be able to get together these days due to two of the boys being FIFO and on different shifts. I find it difficult to cope with not having them all together in one place at one time and feel blessed for the rare times this does happen. They make a very conscious effort though to catch up with each other and sometimes I am able to be a part of that. What I have noticed, and what means so much to me, is to see them reaching for or playing with each others children. I will look up and see them all play wrestling or playing football or cricket with the older nephews on the lawn or sitting and chatting to each other whilst nursing one of the younger nephews or niece. I have so many photographic examples of this that it is hard to choose just one.

The eldest and third sons were very close and also married to sisters; when our eldest son died 6 months before his son was born, they moved in with his wife and helped her through that first year while their own house was being built next door. During that first year the uncle and nephew formed a very close bond.  This is our third son holding our eldest son's little boy on his 1st birthday. He was there to support his sister in law and the little boy until they were ready to stand on their own.

He now has a son of his own and another child due in a month but remains close to the little boy, his brothers son. There is so much joy and love in this photo.

Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.

Scrap Friends October Challenge - Camera Shy

Our fourth and youngest grandson; he is a lovely mix of both his parents, he has my sons hair, it stands straight up and waves in the breeze like a wheat field, big blue eyes and a cheeky grin. His mouth and chin are like his Mum's and at the moment he is shorter than usual for our family and may take after his Mum in height, we will have to wait for his 2nd birthday so we can measure him to get a guestimate of his height as an adult. All our boys are well over 6 feet.

His Mum is a teacher and spends many hours reading to him and playing with him and his Dad loves to pick him up, take him to the back fence and spend time looking over it watching the traffic go by and talking to him about his day and cars. Bath time is a shared activity but Mum has to dress him because he will not lie still for his Dad. Whenever we visit, we are met at the door by both of them and it is a race between my husband and I to get first cuddles. Pop always wins! This little fellow will have a brother or sister in 6 weeks PG so there will be one for each of us.

This photo was taken at his first birthday party and as you can see, he is anything but camera shy!

It is wonderful how big your heart gets when you have children and grandchildren; it always seems to grow enough to allow another to take up residence there.

Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.

  

Scrapfriends Sketch Challenge - September

Our third grandson; born 6 months after his lovely Dad (see previous post) was killed in an accident. Our son saw him on his 12 week scan and was lost to us 2 days later. This little chap has been through an awful lot in his 2 and a half years when this photo was taken. 

He was rushed to hospital just before his second birthday and was diagnosed with meningitis; we considered ourselves fortunate that the only result of this dreadful illness was that it had left him very weak. It was not until a few weeks later that it was realised that he had also become profoundly deaf.  It wasn't picked up immediately as his language had not been affected greatly and he had already taught himself to lipread. Once discovered, he needed urgent surgery to implant two cochlea's. The surgeon was wonderful and pulled out all stops to perform the surgery quickly as any delay may have reduced the outcome.

Our little man recovered quickly and has not looked back in terms of speech and hearing. He has learnt though that, if he does not want to hear you telling him what to do or growling at him, he simply removes his aids!

As part of his recovery he has to attend occupational therapy; at one of these sessions he was on the flying fox and had safely landed into the foam pit two previous times. The third time he landed awkwardly and broke his femur.  Hospitalised yet again, his spirit shone through and when visiting him two days later, he showed me how he could grab the ropes holding the weights to his leg and swing his leg up and down!

This photo was taken 6 weeks later at his cousins 1st birthday; he was still in his box splint but happy to be a part of what was going on around him. He has since fully recovered and continues to keep his mother busy as he is as active and adventurous as his lovely Dad.

Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes

Bird is the Word Challenge - Spirit

Our eldest son, the first to call me Mum; he was one of those children that just cruised through childhood and his teenage years. No major health issues and no problems with school except the occasional day dream or distraction. He was a wonderful, if sometimes impatient, big brother to his three siblings but always looked out for them.

He was a bit of a daredevil when it came to heights. I found him on the roof of the house at 18 months and had to call the fire brigade to come and get him down as I was 9 months pregnant with our second child at the time. He had climbed to the top of a Norfolk Island Pine by the time he was 10, abseiled and climbed through his teenage Scouting years and abseiled Perth's tallest building for charity in his early 20's.

He was a very sociable person whose very generous character and smile drew people to him like a magnet. He was also a bit of a chameleon, comfortable and appropriately dressed for his mates in the motorcycling club, attending an eclectic range of music concerts, his role in horticultural management to the dapper young man who attended the races with his wife on his arm.  

Here he is dressed as his role as Best Man for his mates wedding and it was at this wedding that I realised he was a very accomplished public speaker and was later asked to speak at a Managers Breakfast Conference about managing the Gen Y's. His mentor knew he had chosen the right person when he arrived at his interview in a business suit and tie with his skateboard under his arm.

One of his passions was his motorbike and he was well known for his innovative design changes; I didn't like him riding but he was the most carefully prepared and careful rider. The posts on his motorcycle club and facebook pages after his accident only served to confirm that he was much loved, not only by his family but by people around the world who were touched by him in some way.

I miss him everyday.

Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.



Let's Get Shabby #38 - Doors and Windows

A beautiful Bo Bunny paper with louvered windows and a door on the bottom left;  I have cut and lifted them both but they may be a little hidden by the cluster of flowers! I may have gotten carried away!

This is our third son and his wife; our eldest son is married to her sister so don't be surprised when you look at another wedding when I get it done and think you are seeing double, the sisters are very alike.

These two had known each other for many years through their siblings and often went out as part of a group; it took us a little while to realise that they had become a couple. Our son had the ring hidden for some months before finally asking her to marry him on their favourite beach at sunset; the timing had to be right and he had delayed a little longer when our youngest son unexpectedly announced his engagement.

The OCD part of me was a little concerned that my sons would get married out of birth order but we had asked the youngest for a long engagement to be sure they were ready and these two were able to schedule theirs sooner rather than later and they married in December of 2009.

They are now the proud parents of a gorgeous little boy of 16 months and will be parents again in November of this year; they have chosen not to find out what they are having and we are looking forward to the announcement.

Thank you for looking and for any comments you may leave, best wishes

CSI Challenge #33 - Brothers

These two dear little boys are our eldest grandsons; their dad is our second son. The eldest is six and the little one is nearly five. They love each other one minute and will be fighting the next!

The older one is sensitive and loving, very like his Dad. From a very early age his fascination for all things mechanical became very obvious. We would be walking along and he would suddenly sit down, his gaze fixed on a tractor, digger or bulldozer that could be far off in the distance but he had spotted it. He can name most models of 4 wheel drive as they pass and loves it when his Dad comes home with a truck magazine just for him. He takes such good care of the magazines and loves to show the latest favourite to us when we visit. He tries to look out for his little brother but is told firmly that he can look after himself.

The younger one is stubborn, independent and loves his hugs; he will cling on to you like a little monkey and enjoys nothing more than to sit in your lap for his favourite movie. He loves going out into the bush and will turn over every rock to see what is underneath and watch the bugs and worms underneath! It takes an age to walk a few hundred metres but he notices absolutely everything.

Their favourite movies are the Ice Age series; they enjoy going to the lake to ride in our kayak or take the bikes or scooters for the five kilometres round trip. 

With the grace of God, they will be joined by another little brother later this year or early next.

These two little boys light up our lives!

Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.



Once Upon A Sketch - August Challenge; Seasons

I love Christmas! As a Christian, I believe in the true reason for celebrating the season but I also love the trimmings that go with it in this modern world. My nativity always sits beside the tree and above the presents and the children are taught the true reason for the celebration.

I love the idea of the perfect tree, the perfect table, the perfect presents for each member of our ever growing family under the tree. Unfortunately I set the bar too high for myself and am disappointed when I fall short which I invariably do! That is on me; part of my OCD and something I am learning to deal with; the perfect doesn't or shouldn't matter. I should have cherished the decorations the children made in school and hung them on the tree for all to admire, I now wish I had.

As you can see from my photo, my favourite colour is blue and everything has to match; I love that my daughter-in-laws deliberately wrap their gifts in rainbow colours to help me realise that little things like that aren't important, it is more important for us to be together, to share that special time with each other and, as those occasions are rare, they are all the more precious.

Thank you for looking and for any comments you may leave, best wishes.