Well it has been so long since I have touched base here.  Leading a duplicitous life such as mine leads you to not much time really.  You see, I have another blog that I post to and so I can get a bit slack at keeping up with this one.  Naught Natty.

Anyway, because of my extended neglect, I will now attempt to regale you with an update of how things are and what has been happening at Chalet Natty.

I have had a nasty injury.  I know, I know,.......awwww for Natty.  I feel your sympathy in waves so thank you.  I was getting enthusiastically involved in my exercise regime and did not realise that I was completely and utterly destroying my tibiae.  Yes, that both of them.  Good huh?  So then I was told, no exercise (NO? Exercise?  NONE?) for six weeks.  Great.

I felt good after about 2 weeks, but I took it VERY slowly.  Did a bit of gentle exercise.  Went to Tae Kwon Do (and took it very easy!) So easy in fact that I exacerbated the compression fracture in my right tibia by twisting it in a not very biomechanically correct way.  Voila - ABSOLUTELY! NO! exercise for 6 weeks and then only non weight bearing stuff for about 6 months.  Hmmmm.  Can we say 'balooning thighs' anyone?

So now I am the largest I have ever been.  I am feeling a little bit 'self-esteem-destroyed' at the moment but we all get that now and then and I will get throught it all quite well I can assure you.

Aside from the injury, I have been studying.  An achievement that I have not managed since Uni which was more years ago than I care to think about right now.  I have been studying to take an exam.  The one that I took last Saturday.  This exam started a 0900 and finished promptly at 1700 with an hour break for lunch.  I am sure you are all with me in thinking that this must have been one of the longest days of my LIFE. 

The first two sections of the exam ('Reasoning in Humanities and Social Sciences' and 'Written Communication') were quite reasonable.  I think I managed to do okay in these and despite all appearances to the contrary (what with all the punctuation and spelling mistakes and capitals used for emphasis and run-on sentences used in this blog) I can write a university level piece quite well.  It was the final section (and the longest) that completely deflated me.

Without the final section (Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences) I felt I probably had a pretty good shot at getting into Uni to study Medicine.  Unfortunately, they don't hold as much weight as the expectation that you have a fair idea about science.  Go figure.  So despite my cramming in the subject of chemical bonding I feel I have done rather poorly in the final section.  We shall see I suppose but I am feeling pretty positive about doing a 'prep course' for next year's exam and repeating it then.  Hopefully with much less alarming negative feelings!

Moving on to the family front.  Maisy is rolling over from back to belly.  She doesn't like being on her belly much and so she rolls over.  And. Cries. because she hasn't figured out how to get from belly to back yet.  She is no longer sleeping through the night.  I made the fatal mistake of telling people that my wonderful baby sleeps through the night.  Alas.  No longer.  But she is still adorable and beautiful and special and precious etc etc ad infinitum ad nauseum.

Declan.  Is still a very headstrong and indipendant little boy who likes things and does things the way he likes and does them.  He is an individual spirit that knows exactly what he wants.  I love him to bits and he give great cuddles.

Gage.  Is a sensitive little smoochkin.  He is so caring and feeling.  Obviously, he has his moments with his brothers but I think in most instances, these happen because he sometimes prefers to go off and be by himself, and Declan (usually it Declan) won't let him jus tbe alone for a while.  He is a deep thinker my Gage.  I love him amazingly.

Reece.  Is a smart and intuitive kid.  He is reading, reading, reading at the moment.  I am thrilled!  I was never really sure that he would get much into reading as he never really seemed interested.  I have a feeling that he never really found much in the 'junior reading' books that caught his interest.  NOW.  It is a totally different story.  If I don't watch to make sure that he only reads for a little while when he goes to bed, I could go in there at midnight and he would be still reading!  I love him too.

Aaron.  Darling Husband.  Is handling the Stay at Home Dad situation quite well I must say.  He is enjoying it for the most part but has his days.  He is quite organised (which I have to admit surprised me) but I think the only reason that he MAY not have been very organised prior to undertaking the home dad thing is because I was the organiser and didn't LET him do it.  So he didn't.  Ever.  He would just let me do it because I DID it.  Now, I have let the reins go a little and I gotta say it is quite liberating (as scary as it was to do at first!)

I have such a wonderful family.  I cannot express how much I adore them.  They absolutely complete me.

Anyway, that's me in a....well.....(coco)nut shell.  I will try to update more often.  Honestly I will.

While the boys were playing the PS2.  The game was waffling on during a narrative.

Gage:  Geez, he talks alot doesn't he?

Reece:  For an adult?  No.

I thought I might try to distract people from the fact that I have not posted anything of great interest over the last few days with a few kiddie pictures.

In our lounge room.

Setting: Declan and Aaron in lounge.  Declan having just said something smartassy and clever.

Aaron: Hmmmmm......you get that from your paternal Grandfather.

Declan (4) (with a look of completely adorable confusion - yes, the confusion was completely adorable not the look.  Shut up.): The Turtle Farter?

Ummmmm....Yes Declan, that's right.

So here it is.....I am now, officially, BACK. AT. WORK.  And do I like it?  Do I love it?  Did I miss it terribly?  No, No and NO.  I started back at work on Monday just gone and I am unbelievably sorry that I didn't win Tatslotto whilst I was on maternity leave because that may have let me stay at home with my precious family and not have us starve to death.  As it happens, I DIDN'T win lotto and I had to return to the Oh-My-Goodness-Gracious-Me drudgery. 

I sifted through about 600 emails in my in-box.  The 'Out of Office' automatic reply OBVIOUSLY not a strong enough hint to people to keep their infinately interesting chain emails to themselves for a few months.  THEN I had someone come into my office and expect me to make a decision on something! On Monday! After 3 months off work!  GO. AWAY. 

Seriously though, although I do enjoy my job and the responsibility I hold (I mean lets face it, being responsible for the health and wellbeing of about 1000 people has got to be uplifting right?) I so wish that I had more leave.  The fact that A. is now doing the SAHD thing is a HUGE relief though.  At least I don't have the daycare guilt issues to add to my already deepening 'abandonment guilt'.

I have written about.....i dunno....a hundred odd entries in my head since I started this blog.  Some of them were just perfect.  PERFECT.  Do you think I can remember them when I sit at the keyboard?  I stare blankly at the screen, awaiting inspiration.....and waiting.....and waiting.    Well, it's a no-show.  Noting that I have written all these in-my-head entries, please forgive the brevity and emptiness of this particular post.  I am going to start carrying around a notebook, seriously.  Or one of those mini tape recorders.  Hmmm, then I'll get my entries down but look like a real schmuck.

What?  What was that?  I don't understand that word.  Most people with children understand (AFTER they have children) that the amount of sleep you are able to effectively get seriously dwindles after you have them.  Cumulatively, over the last three nights for example, I have actually managed to rack up about 8 hours!  And it isn't just the darling little nearly 3 month old either.  Youngest Son has a habit of sometimes deciding it is more comfortable, and somehow roomier in our bed.  How on earth can it be roomier with three people in it I hear you ask?  Well if two of those people have approximately 5% of the total space, this means that the remaining space is larger than his own single bed.

That's not all either.  Once you have been awakened by Little Princess or one of the Son's, every other noise you can blissfully ignore whilst asleep (and let me assure you, I would have to be one of the lightest sleepers on this earth and I can ignore these noises for the most part) strive to keep you awake.  Husbands 'loud breathing', Son's teeth grinding (from the next room!), Princess's post feed squirming, and the cat's mewling 6 streets away.

Oh, people will tell you al about the fact that your sleeping days are over (usually, they are gleefully imparting this little tidbit when you are pregnant, up to the toilet 6 times per night, semi-sleeping sitting upright due to indigestion and being pummelled from the inside, to which you smile and think to yourself 'Id be moving out of throttling range of me if I were you sunshine') but the reality doesn't compare to your pre-children imaginings.

Obviously though, we all know that it's worth it don't we?  Even in the grip of 'lack-of-sleep-delirium' or dare I mention it 'minimal-sleep-depression' you can still look at your kids and know why it is all still fine and dandy.

I always feel a little guilty when I miss a few days in my journal because I am off having too much fun to bother!  I will be going to Yarram this morning (any Aussies wandering in here - that is South Gippsland, Victoria) to visit my Dad and his wife.  Although technically she is my step-mother, I find it very difficult to actually call her such.....she is only six years older than me!  My two best girlfriends are older than she is.

Anyway, the point is, I will be away from a computer for about a week.  I hope anyone reading is having a wonderful Christmas Season.  Have a smashing New Year celebration and I will catch up with this early next year!

It is practically impossible to declutter a home in which the two 'Elders' of the family are the biggest hoarders in the world.  Every hobby that Aaron and I become interested in automatically gets our undivided attention for a period of time and we collect all of the paraphernalia involved in each of them.  Then we try and find a place to store it!  Hmmmm........

Our cars have not seen the inside of a garage in quite a few years as in each house we move into, the garage becomes a hoarders haven, full of very interesting tidbits but very little 'space'.

I am frequently frustrated about the state of our home.  I LOVE unclutter.  I would love nothing more than to have nothing on our benchtops.  Or a very uncluttered living space that I can relax in.

Is it possible to have an uncluttered home when you are a collector and hoarder?  We have about 3000 books.  We NEED a library!!  I suppose if we were able to afford a larger house though, we would just 'grow' to fit into it wouldn't we?

Firstly, do you know how hard it is to try and keep your train of thought running while you are typing so painfully slowly with one hand because the only spare moment you can get on the computer is when your new baby decides to nurse?  Well do you? (Goodness me....who do I think I'm talking to?  Of course you do).

As most of you that are likely to read this are parents I am sure it would be safe to say that you completely understand.

So anyway, my train of though started chugging at the station of 'Merry Christmas'.  After the baking frenzy of the lead up to Christmas day I completely forgot to blog my Seasons Greetings to everyone.

So here I am, screeching out a perfectly laudable rendition of Jingle Bells with my children (Middle Son of mine has taught me a surprising variation of the lyrics to said song that involve Batman smelling and Robin laying an egg.....logically enough I suppose) when I hear the deafening WHOOSH.

'What on earth.....'  I figured it out quick smart though.  It was Christmas day zooming by, leaving Joy and Excitement (and a pinch of utter exhaustion) in it's wake.

With the playdough that Youngest Son received for Christmas mashed firmly into our living room carpet, the lego sets already missing several key pieces and Baby Girl's first doll being attacked by three very impressive looking Dragons (until Middle Son decided that he wanted to save the damsel in distress instead and his dragon became her rescuer), Christmas Day ended with very sleepy, but happy Children (and parents).

Passing swiftly through the minor stations of 'Gotta tidy this place up' and 'Oh my goodness my kids haven't seen a vegetable in two days, naughty parent' at which this express ride does not stop, we arrive at Boxing Day Station at which we disembark to watch The Chronicles of Narnia:The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.  We dropped Baby Girl at Great Grandparents house to be looked after.  They, of course, were thrilled to cuddle and coo at Baby Girl all morning.  Great movie, trains rolling out.

I have to refit the train at 'so much to do before I return to work' station or it (insert 'I') will blow a gasket (do trains have those?) thinking about the dreaded 'Return to Work'  I will blog about that another time as I want to think on that as little as possible until it is closer so as to enjoy the rest of my maternity leave.

One of my kids asked me this morning 'Mum, have you ever been on an adventure?'  I had to think about it for a long moment before answering.  The things that came immediately to mind were the 'mischeivous' adventures I went on as a teenager or the overseas trips I took with Grandparents etc.  Once they came to mind though, I thought about them a bit more carefully and realised that although I had fun, they could not really be considered an adventure!

So I answered 'no' initially.  Gage's face showed scepticism and then disappointment.  'Really?, that's a shame' he said.  I laughed but was a little embarassed that my son thought I had not done anything exciting.

I actually began thinking very hard about my last 32 years.  HAD I ever had an adventure?  I am SURE that I had plenty of them as a child but........when did I stop thinking of all of those things I used to do as an adventure?  When did I start taking everything I did for granted.  The picnics I take my kids on occassionally, why are they no longer 'adventurous'?  The three 3000 plus km trips we have taken from one end of the country to another, were not adventures?

And how about having four children......since when has my everyday life with four children not been an adventure?

So I called Gage back and told him that I had indeed been on many adventures.  That scepticism painted his face again briefly.  'Are you sure?  Like what?'  I though that ecplaining to him that every day with the kids was an adventure might have been a bit trite to a 5 year old so I explained that we have adventrues almost every day.  Like when we went dragon hunting through the markin fortress (picnicing at the playground where there is a large wooden fort), or racing kangaroos through Alice Springs (on our drive from Melbourne to Darwin (3600km)) or cattle droving in a four wheel drive (unexpectedly on our trip from Darwin to Cowley Beach (3200km)).  His eyes actually lit up.  'Oh yeah!  I remember.'

He looked so impressed.  He then asked when our next adventrue would be.  Hmmmm...........let me think about that.   'How about saving the garden from an invasion of alien life forms?'

Well......since when has weeding the garden been SUCH a wonderful adventure?

I was reading some posts on my Mums board the other day about how this time of year people get very 'stressed' about all of the things that they have to get done.  Someone said that 25 years ago, this would just be considered 'busy'.  Although I agree to a certain extent that we seem to find things more stressful these days, I also think that we try and take on SO many things at once that we can't help but be stressed.

Although it is no longer expected that you do all of these things there is still our own values and ideals that lead us to strive to be the perfect wife/mother/housekeeper/boss/employee/teacher/Christian/friend and the list goes on. 

My husband calls me a martyr.  I'll stay up late to settle the baby, get up with her during the night and then instead of taking his offer to wake him up in the morning to get the boys ready for school, I get up and do it.  You wanna know something?  It isn't because I am a martyr, it's because he doesn't do things to my expectations.  I am a perfectionist unfortunately.  The sad thing is I am a perfectionist with a tendancy toward laziness so I really do set myself up for failure and added stress!!

I have come to realise that I have to let it go.  Who cares if the kids go to school with biscuits instead of an apple some days.  Or if the washing is more wrinkled because he stuffs the dryer as full as it can handle (we have small dryers over here!)

So this leads me back to our increased Christmas stress.  I think we try and achieve SO much around Christmas (and try to do it all on our own because we somehow should) that we set ourselves up for the added stress.  So this year I am going to deal with the not-immaculately-wrapped presents, the too-lumpy gravy and the too-smooth cranberry sauce and the not-perfectly-cut icing stars that will decorate our Christmas cake.  Because this year I am going to attempt a less-stress, more-joy Christmas.

This is always a difficult thing for a new blogger I would imagine.  Making the decision to begin in the first place is the easy part.  There are a few other decisions to make after that initial step.  Do I attempt wit or make it a serious account of everything thats important?  Or both?  Do I make entries like a journal that probably no one else will read?  Or do I assume I may get some hits and play to the audience?  Crikey, even choosing a template took me a little time!

Well the decision I have come to is that I will just play it by ear.  I will make each of those decision on a case by case basis depending upon my mood at the time and the vibe of the particular blog.  I guess that is the beauty of the thing isn't it?