i'm grateful for 'my big one & little one'

Greetings all,

Ah, my first born, she was off on high school camp this week, i missed her.  She packed strictly to-the-list with the recommended day, cabin & camping bag must-haves (no hair straighteners like some girls!!)  No wonder some had huge suitcases on trolleys??  Her Infantry Daddy would be very proud, we follow the soldier's mantra "only pack what you can carry".  Even with 4 children under 5 i had the world's smallest baby bag & we've been overseas as a family of 6 with 1 suitcase, not kidding!!  Get it, we pack light.

 She went off looking like she was sponsored by The North Face.  Please take note of her shoes, handsome soldier took her shopping for hiking boots & seeing he's used to spending big bucks on footwear for you know, important things like patrols in desert war zones . . . i considered $300 (after 20% off) was a tad pricey for high school camp shoes??!!  They will last all 4 children though (twins have different sized feet) so we'll squeeze every cent out of these family heirloom solid gold hiking shoes for years!!

I like this image from dawn Wednesday morning - bossing me around 'til the last second.

 

 I cleaned her room & left a new pair of jeans & her new typewriter key necklace as a surprise on her desk.

 My happy camper is home.  She told me every single moment & detail on what they ate, how they slept, where they swam, the groups, the conversations, the new friends, the private jokes, the sand flies . . . even said "you can tell me to stop talking if this is getting boring".  OMG, i was loving it, a high schooler who talks, please stay this way!!

 While we were waiting for the coaches for a couple of hours, oh yes, mischief was found!!

 Look at this cute soft furry possum's big gorgeous eyes, now look at the claws!!

 What else can i say, a 7 year old boy in his natural habitat.

 Possum's curly tail for balance & hanging out in the school grounds.

 My son found a few other little boys waiting for their big sisters, he was showing them the amazing 'hover' leaf (yellow leaf near his left shoulder) i know, AMAZING!!

 Perhaps time to move on when our friendly possum climbed onto the ground??

 So we found a wall to defy injury on.

 When our possum went back up his tree . . .

so did my son, my very own Bear Grylls.

Spending my Friday night tucked up on the lounge with my big one & little one, while their twinnies are off horse riding on a friend's farm this weekend - what a lovely way to soak up my precious first & last born.  We Skype'd Daddy the moment we got home too, had to show him all the sand fly bites, share the stories & show him just how big the backpacks are!!
For more 'Gratefuls' check out Maxabella Loves.  Love Posie
Oh oh oh, great giveaway over at my 300th post, good luck, only 10 days left to enter!!

ever run out of fuel in your car, i've joined the club . . .

Greetings all,
OK, so one of the dumber things i've done in 17 years of driving . . . with my reserve fuel tank not pumping into the main in the Landcruiser 4WD for a couple of months, i've been living off one tank & until now, haven't mismanaged the distance i could get on the fuel light!!  I thought i'd wait until i was halfway between children's parties in Canberra & Bowral, with 4 children sugared up on lolly bags, as the perfect time to try it.  I know, i said dumb!!  Better yet, i did it in style . . . with a dying mobile phone & just 2km from the service station i was going to fill up at, next to the Big Merino Rambo in Goulburn.
Small mercy that i literally konked out at an emergency phone & pull over bay where the children could play & wait patiently.  I was advised there was a 2 hour minimum wait, so i mentioned i had 4 children . . . the operator asked "did you say 4 or 5 children??" & i responded "does it matter??"  I waited 3 hours, hmmmmm . . .

So i put my feet up, relaxed & watched the children catch tadpoles, go exploring, make nice with the new German Shepherd teddy i bought my son yesterday & waited to see who was first to misjudge their leap over the creek & fall in.

One by one they'd come back to the car for a rest, warm up, blow some bubbles (only time i've ever been glad that bubbles were included in a lolly bag) & i have to say, there was the moral dilema of whether i use the water bottles i efficiently packed for the trip, to wash their sticky lolly fingers or save them from dehydration!!  I loathe lollies, i loathe sticky fingers even more.

So while i pondered life's big questions - who is this French VC that this rest stop is named after, i should research him; i really should polish my boots & take better care of them; what is Bear Grylls real name; which of my children will end up the tallest; did they ever find Miranda from 'Picnic At Hanging Rock'; my husband would never run out of fuel; my husband would never have a flat mobile phone battery; why doesn't anything ever go wrong when my husband is around; i should lose some weight; i could just doze off to sleep in this sunshine; why did my eldest daughter happen to have the SAS Survival Guide on her (thanks Sindy) & say so matter of factly "mum, i knew you'd have us stranded one day & we'd have to survive somehow". . . before i knew it, the NRMA man was here with fuel. 

So i put it to the children, should we continue to the party (for my nephew) & arrive 3 hours late, or go home??  Well there was no way they were missing out on seeing their cousins or telling them their harrowing tale of survival on the side of the Hume Highway, so we journeyed on.  I had used the last breath of mobile phone battery to call my sister to explain my situation - yes, i called her before the NRMA, you know, priorities & out of courtesy.  Very glad we did, 'twas a lovely post-party-early-dinner with the family & smooth 200km trip home. 
Let this be a lesson to all of you, the fuel light doesn't come on just to look pretty!!  Love Posie