I have run out of words

Could it be the same time of month as the last time I ran out of words??

LQ mining for gold

This is what happens when Daddy gets up with LQ

LQ wearing Dal's thongs
(now wouldn't that sound strange if we lived in America?)

Hel's Burning Question of the Day

Why does Mickey insist on being a "Harry High Pants"?

and why does Daisy have to be such a know-it-all tart?

Making a Memory

There were many times when mum made her bed that I would, as a younger child, insist on helping. I remember that, more often than not, my help was more a hindrance and helping turned into playing.

I have fond memories of sitting on mum and dad's bed as mum threw the sheet over my head, persistent in her efforts to get done what should have been a quick job. As the sheet floated down the outside world disappeared and a light filled vacuum of sorts became my only world. I enjoyed just sitting there, being the lone occupant of this space. I guess at some point mum made me come out from under the cream sheet. I am sure she would have then tried to have me help, bless her heart.

Once the bed was made, it was all on for jumping on the bed. Mum always protested, but there is nothing like jumping on a newly made bed!

As a married woman, making my bed rates really low on my chores of importance. For Dal, it rates really highly. Because I love Dal so much, I try to get the bed made before he arrives home each evening.

LQ has, intuitively, continued the ritual that I once owned. The moment I pull the sheets down to straighten the bed, she insists on being thrown on the bed. The cream sheet floats over the top of her head and a game of peek-a-boo is instigated. Once peek-a-boo has lost it's flavour, LQ scrambles over the sheet and blanket as I try to pull them up. It is then on to stomp on the pillows that have been thrown to the floor. The bed is made and LQ and I are on top wrestling and tickling each other.

Evening comes and Dal is greeted by a not so well made bed. It is ok though, because we had fun making it.

Favourite Moments

Dal wakes up at the crack of dawn every work day to avoid the peak hour traffic so he can arrive at work on time.

This means that he is usually out the door before LQ and I are even stirring in our sleep. Before he sneaks out the door, he makes sure that he kisses me goodbye. Gently he touches my shoulder to wake me enough for me to unbury my face from the pillow. A kiss is planted, followed by an "I love you." He then sits on the side of the bed to give me a chance to gather my wits and say "I love you, too". Another good bye kiss and he is gone.

That is my favourite moment of each day

My second favourite moment is when he comes home from work. By that time LQ and I are sick of the sight of each other. We spot Dal pulling into the driveway, LQ squeals "Daddy!" (it's the only word she speaks that anyone would understand) and we run to stand at the door waiting for his kisses and cuddles.

My life is simple, yet wonderful.

Come on Down, Y'all

Did I mention that Dal is a travel agent? Vigilantly he searches for the best deal for each of his deserving clients. More often than not he will also find and organise delicious holidays for us (that we never go on).

I realise that these financial times are tough. We are all facing circumstances that ensure we tighten our belts. Dal has definitely noticed a decrease in travel sales indicating that the public is just not spending as frivolously as it once was.

I am sure all the airlines are noticing this travel downturn, too. Because you wouldn't believe what Dal came across today.

Flights from LA to Sydney return can be bought for just over US$700!!! Qantas is getting desperate.

I know each of you have a spare $700 just laying around the house. So scrape it up and I will see you in Sydney shortly.

Something Smells Funny

For the last week or so I have been getting a whiff of a bad smell. It is not necessarily the same bad smell each time, a bad smell nonetheless. As I lay in bed late last night, my olfactory senses got the better of me. My head raised slightly and my dainty nose sniffed in every direction trying in vain to pinpoint that elusive bad smell. I leaned over to catch Dal out - you just never know, he may be relaxed enough to allow some leakage.

No leakage to be discovered. A loving pat on his thigh and a murmured "good boy". I continued the quest to find THE smell. The bad smell eventually left of its own accord and I was able to drift off.


Dal & LQ were dragged out this morning to a fabric store (I have given myself a project). I was again accosted by bad smells. These could be easily excused away by the many people surrounding me. This afternoon however, on our drive to LQ's dance class - in a car with closed windows and recycled air conditioning - I started to smell "something" AGAIN. I panicked. Have I been the origin of these bad smells all this time? How long has this social suicide been going on!!? I still couldn't figure where exactly the smell was coming from, so as we idled at the red light I began a thorough examination of myself with my nose.

Head down near my feet, I sniffed hastily. Not there. I moved my head slowly up my body, turning it from side to side, DETERMINED to find where those smells were coming from. Nothing. I finally reach my underarms (knowing full well that I had just applied deodorant), arms lifted, I take a good whiff. Nothing but sweet air. As I sigh with relief, I look over to my left and out the window. The tradesman in the van next to me seemed to have enjoyed the frantic smelling show considerably.

I am still at a loss as to why I keep getting these bad smells up my nose. I have become so used to ignoring these smells, I didn't realise LQ had dirtied her pants the other day. While we had company. Alls I know is, it is NOT me.

Stepping Out

I am tentatively going to step out of this little mummy blog/toddler bubble that I have created for myself to tell what is happening in the real world of Dal, Hel & Bel.

First, it gives me GREAT pleasure to tell you that Dal will officially be awarded his Master of Arts degree in Asian Studies shortly. I am so very proud of his efforts. The professors invited to mark his thesis were both very impressed and the comments made were quite encouraging. Now, very gently, I will tell you that Dal did not get accepted to any of the Ph.D. programs that he applied for.

We were so sure (cocky even?) that Dal would be accepted somewhere in the states that we bought flights to Mesa. I thought I was moving forward in faith... obviously God thought differently.

And now we have a dilemma. What are we to do with this next year (because Dal is determined to be accepted to a Ph.D. program next year)? The brakes have been heavily applied to our life and now we have to swing this life (that had kind of gained a nice momentum) in a different direction. We have talked, pondered, prayed and sought advice about this problem and we are down to two different options.

Option 1 - Dal is to get a job teaching at a community college in or around Mesa area while we stay in the basement of his parent's house. This would be great for the teaching experience.
Option 2 - Dal stays with his current employer but transfers to Hobart (look it up, people, look it up). My parents live in Hobart. We would hopefully live with them in a self contained apartment on their property.

Yeah, you are sensing a theme too?

I am excited at the prospect of living near family for a while. We really miss that comfort and closeness.

So in an effort to help us choose the correct option I have decided to pit one family against the other. I am not sure what I will have them do yet, I will be taking ideas shortly .... Let the games begin. We shall see who wins(?) Dal, Hel and Bel.

WIN a Quiet Book and Eternal Salvation for your Toddler

In an effort to buy find some friends for DeNae, Ms Anita, kiwibabee, Crissie and my Aunty Heather over at my other blog, A Toddlers Guide to Scripture Study, I have joined the give away band wagon.

The generous gals from Knot Sew Shabby are helping me out with the prize. If you go to their Etsy store here you will see how talented they really are. I thought about making my own quiet book for you and a couple of seconds later threw that idea out the window. I mean, I'm sure you are worth it, but do you know how time consuming it is to MAKE something like that??


So to win this Quiet Book (perfect for long flights and long sacrament meetings) - see here for more photos - all I need you to do is go over to my blog A Toddlers Guide to Scripture Study and leave a comment on my "Ideas?" post. If you would like an extra chance at winning, add yourself as a follower (and let me know you did). I will put all the names in a hat and pick one at random.

I can't tell you how excited I am about this Quiet Book. Did I tell you I love the quiet book I have? LQ loves it too. Except the one I have isn't as brilliant as the one from Knot Sew Shabby. You see, once you have the basic book, you can buy extra pages (that are only $16) and add them to your Quiet Book. I can't do that with mine... so LQ is stuck with the same old thing each week. Those Knot Sew Shabby girls are just smart (and really nice too!).

Ok... now go forth and spread the word.... I really think DeNae needs some friends over at my blog, she's the one who suggested I do a competition.

Fine Print: Competition closes Saturday 21st March at midnight Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time - you smarties can work out for yourselves what time that will be where you live. Quiet book may have different flavoured fabric to the one pictured.

Hold Everything!

Forget 'roos jumping through windows, we've got bigger problems down here in Sydney!

According to "the third funniest boy in his class" there are DEMENTORS flying around the schools of Sydney. He should know.... his friend saw one.

After dropping this bombshell on me this afternoon, he went on to talk about other mundane school stuff, you know - bullies and the like.

"Whoa! Hold up there 'third funniest boy'. This Dementor problem is troubling me. Are you sure it was a Dementor that your friend saw."

"Oh definitely. Well, he might be lying.... but I don't think so."

"Don't you usually feel it, not see it?"

"Feel it?"

"Yes - you know - you get all cold and your soul feels like it's getting sucked out. Did your friend feel that?"

"oh. No. The Dementor didn't see him. He just saw the Dementor."

"I guess that's ok then.... but I'm still a little disturbed that there are Dementors just flying around your school."

"oh. There are heaps of them at our school. Why do you think they are at our school?"

"I couldn't really say 'third funniest boy'. Maybe there is a wizard hiding out at your school."

"No. I think they are looking for Hogwarts."

"jeez.... they're a bit lost then, aren't they?"


You heard it here first. World's Dumbest Dementors, looking for Hogwarts, Invade Sydney Primary Schools. Apparently they aren't into soul sucking either. They must be the warm fuzzy kind.

I Need to Win Something

So to get a total of 13 entries into this competition, I am linking back to this post.

I am also giving you a youtube video to watch about a fantastic book (I haven't actually read it, but I've heard it's great).



And if you look closely at my sidebar, I am even promoting it there. Because if you do that, you get an extra two entries.

The competition goes all week long with a new draw each day... so the odds are good. You should get yourself on over to The Lyon's Tale blog.

And a bit of LQ on the side

Since realising that my most recent photos were not ones I wanted to share on the world wide web, I have been dutifully taking snapshots of my LQ doing the things she likes to do the most.

Just recently she has taken to eating her big toe. Gross, I know... but oh so funny. The problem was, whenever I wanted to take a photo of it, she would stop doing it. So during this photo session, I was shouting out "EAT IT, LQ!! EAT YOUR BIG TOE!!" Of course we then both got the giggles.
And then there's LQ moving the little slide around on the back deck. She usually moves it right against the rail and I have to stop her from sliding down the thing so she doesn't break her legs. Unfortunately I was a bit slow on the uptake the other day and of course she went down and began crying because she jarred her little legs.


It has started to get cooler in the evenings and in the mornings here (and even sometimes during the day). LQ insisted on going outside at the crack today, so it was a tad too cool for my liking. I insisted she wear her jacket if she went outside. As the day warmed up, I tried to take the jacket off her, but she liked it too much. So here she is, in all her jacket glory.

Time by Mickey

I have recently realised that my life has begun to be measured in Mickey Mouse time increments.

As I walk past the television showing nothing but Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I note that Mickey and Donald, on their quest to find Donald's Boo Boo chicken, have only just begun to climb the beanstalk. "Good" I say to myself, "at least 15 minutes left for me to finish the vacuuming."

"Mickey's pumping up the tyres on the toon car - 10 minutes of blog stalking left."

"What!? Are we really already up to the fourth mouskatool? I need to get my butt into gear or I am NEVER going get these clothes folded."

"Is that 'shake, shake, shake your peanut' I hear?" I murmur as I furiously mix the last of the ingredients together for our dinner. "I am so screwed... I still have to peel the potatoes."

And like the mathematic problems laboured over so diligently throughout my high school years, I now labour over this sort of mathematical problem - "If Mickey and Minnie are still on the boat with Pete in Minnies quest to find the Hula Hibiscus, and my shower time (sans the leg shaving) can be accomplished in less than 15 minutes, will both events finish at the same time?"

I call it Mickey time. I am sure LQ would call it something like "Mi joo".

Time for a Post

I feel it is time I blessed this blog with another post. I have been feeling this way since Tuesday. I have silently acknowledged that the last post left a lot to be desired, although anyone remotely interested in LQ would have loved it.

My problem, however, is dire. I have nothing. Each time I have a moment to churn something out, the inner dialogue goes a little something like this:

Ok, it's time you did another post. Try to make it good this time.

Brain: Done... I think I can manage one good post a year... maybe this time will be it.

That sounds promising... what have you got so far?

Brain: [stares blankly at my skull]

No, seriously... surely you have some deep inner thoughts that will astound and amaze even the brightest of our readers.

Brain: [looking at the dim, gray walls of nothing] ummmm...

Oh come on! Alright, maybe there's something exciting that has happened in your life that you can blog about.

Brain: [reaching through the cobwebby archives] Well..... there is that emotional breakdown you had on Wednesday, it -

Shut up! Shhh... that's not to be mentioned. Anyway, as I recall, it was you that couldn't corral those wild untamed thoughts that made me cry.

Back to the matter at hand. Maybe I have some cute photos of LQ that could be posted in lieu of words. No one will notice the difference. [starts scrolling frantically through recent photos]

Poop and bum, can't you even encourage me to take some pictures? All I have here are those ones of LQ's mess. Brain, you are really letting me down here.

Brain: You COULD post those poo pictures. I know of at least two people who would be delighted to see your child's mess. I know I have a bit of a giggle whenever you come across them.

Ugh. This is useless. I am going back to blog stalking and envying those women with brains that are a little sharper. And when you do end up having an original thought, let me know.

Brain: [whilst shoving two Krispy Kreme's in its mouth] Wha..? Ummm... ok. I liked it better when you only did Facebook.

LQ at Dance Class

Oh boy! I have been trying to upload these videos for the past four days with no luck. I randomly chose this one in the hopes that one of the videos would upload! So here she is in all her glory - LQ "dancing"


[Edited: I'll admit, not the best one that I have. She's acting all tired. But if you listen carefully you can hear LQ say "thank you". Hoo.... did I just make your day?!]