Advent.

Little Possum waited patiently for the first Monday in December when we have our special FHE (family night) putting up Christmas decorations. This week the wait was finally over and LP went to work on the tree. 

There are some things I will never get used to about having an Aussie/southern hemisphere Christmas like the obvious lack of snow.... but, at the top of the list I will put the lack of a "proper" pine or spruce Christmas tree. We have a fake tree, but on a positive note at least it doesn't drop needles! I do miss the smell of pine though. Incidentally, for my first ever Christmas spent in a tropical climate (decades ago during my exchange student year in Thailand) my very thoughtful friend Andrea sent me a few sprigs of spruce wrapped in aluminium foil. I closed my eyes and sniffed deeply, drawing in the wonderful fresh scent that transported me thousands of miles home to Norway in my mind. These days I have to go to IKEA for my fix of pine smell... and then eat meatballs in the restaurant. It's not all bad.

What I love most about our Christmas tree is the random collection of ornaments. We add to the collection every year, the children get one ornament each that they will one day take away with them when they leave home. Then there are the ornaments that are made along with the ones we have inherited. 

Each ornament holds a memory like 'Edward' here. He and his friends Thomas, Percy, James and Gordon are all on the tree. They were bought when Doodlebug and Turtle were little and firm Thomas The Tank Engine fans. The train ornaments would disappear off the tree regularly to be played with.

One of my mother's ornaments (the 'nisse' girl) hangs next to my Scrabble ornament... made in The Year of Scrabble Ornaments a few years back (Gotta love Pinterest!). Every member of the extended family received an ornament with their name which doubled as a gift tag on their respective presents.... I loved how it looked.

There are several 'nisser' from Norway sent to me from dear friends who wanted to send me a little bit of Norwegian Christmas knowing how homesick I get every year. This one hangs next to the heart I made a couple of years ago from a microwavable kind of clay. (The Year of Clay Gift Tags/Ornaments)

The production was going really well until I forgot to put the required cup of water in the microwave with a clay decoration, and it overheated resulting in stinky smoke/toxic fumes. Hydrochloric acid I seem to remember.... 

Stank out the kitchen and made my lungs burn.

I laugh about it now. 

And, I really like my stamped heart.

Making hay while the sun shines...

Every summer we would visit my father's parents on their farm "Indergård" at Batnfjordsøra on the northern part of Norway's west coast. Farfar and Farmor had a small farm with horses, sheep and chickens. I can't remember cows, but I am sure they were there. Farfar bred fjord horses, and this one was called Topsy. She was my favourite

I remember this summer day when the hay was being brought into the barn from the fields. My brother and I  had to help. Our job was to stay in the haycart and as the hay was loaded into it by the grown ups, we would flatten it to make room for more. When the cart was full we would steer Topsy back to the barn feeling ever so clever....  Little did we know that Topsy just needed starting off and she would faithfully walk back to the barn. 

The day this photo was taken I had been asked if I wanted to ride Topsy down to the field. I think I was having a strop about something, so I rather petulantly said "no!" and that I didn't want to go. "Ok" said my dad, and they all started down the road to the field. I changed my mind and started crying. Howling, probably....

My dad came up the hill and picked me up. I was quite convinced I had been abandoned, and was so happy he came back for me. I didn't get to ride Topsy on the way down, but on the way back I sat there and reigned supreme (or should that be 'reined'?....)

I can still imagine the smell and feel of the hay and remember Topsy. I hope she is in a happy place with all the apples she can eat :)

diddle, diddle, dumpling...

Diddle diddle dumpling

My son John

Went to bed with his trousers on

One shoe off

and one shoe on

Diddle Diddle Dumpling

My son John

Little Possum had a belated birthday gathering yesterday, which involved 5 friends from school and church coming over for fun, frolic and a sleepover. 

Trampoline, "Just Dance" on the XBox, more trampoline, DVD, pizza, Max Brenner chocolate... and a truckload of lollies and chips. (I had also prepared platters of fresh fruit, so I consoled myself they had a balanced diet of sorts).

What there was not so much of was sleep.....

With all the girls piled into the living room on mattresses there was predictably a lot of giggling and chatting.

Suddenly the morning came around with more trampoline and pancakes for breakfast before the girls went home.

Little Possum wandered around the house for a little bit and then did what all nocturnal creatures do, she found a comfy spot and settled for a nap.

 Doodlebug, in a moment of BigBrotherlyKindness, made her a soft landing spot in case she should roll off.

on motherhood and cathedrals

The Invisible mother

Quite simply one of my favourite blog posts.

"Organise yourself..." - an answer to a prayer

I had been wondering, pondering and praying about how I could help foster a certain atmosphere in our home, our MTC. I want to make our home more of a holy ground, a haven. For example, work was and is still needed to make sure our home can be a bicker and sarcasm free zone. As the "Guardian of my hearth" I feel the responsibility keenly to help my children grow in the gospel, to ensure they have spiritual experiences.

In the middle of the night, I woke up and the answer came quietly to my mind. The answer was a scripture from D & C  - 88:119 ..  Organise yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.

I knew then what I needed to focus on, both personally and as a family. I also knew that I would like and need a visual reminder on the wall. Thankfully I know a wonderful artist - Eleanor McComb who takes commissions. In my mind I had a vague image of our house and the temple along with the words from the scripture. Eleanor came up with this wonderful design painted on a canvas and even made the house look exactly like ours :) I love the trees. Our front yard has tall gumtrees, and the temple also has trees around it. Perfect.

(This is an Instagram photo of the canvas on our wall, hence the black frame...)

On that note, I just re-discovered a talk by elder Gary E. Stevenson from the April 2009 titled "Sacred Homes, Sacred Temples"   Here's an excerpt:

"Recently, in a stake conference, all present were invited by the visiting authority, Elder Glen Jenson, an Area Seventy, to take a virtual tour of their homes using their spiritual eyes. I would like to invite each of you to do this also. Wherever your home may be and whatever its configuration, the application of eternal gospel principles within its walls is universal. Let’s begin. Imagine that you are opening your front door and walking inside your home. What do you see, and how do you feel? Is it a place of love, peace, and refuge from the world, as is the temple? Is it clean and orderly? As you walk through the rooms of your home, do you see uplifting images which include appropriate pictures of the temple and the Savior? Is your bedroom or sleeping area a place for personal prayer? Is your gathering area or kitchen a place where food is prepared and enjoyed together, allowing uplifting conversation and family time? Are scriptures found in a room where the family can study, pray, and learn together? Can you find your personal gospel study space? Does the music you hear or the entertainment you see, online or otherwise, offend the Spirit? Is the conversation uplifting and without contention? That concludes our tour. Perhaps you, as I, found a few spots that need some “home improvement”—hopefully not an “extreme home makeover.”

Whether our living space is large or small, humble or extravagant, there is a place for each of these gospel priorities in each of our homes.

In order to keep the temple and those who attend it sacred and worthy, the Lord has established standards through His servants, the prophets. We may be well-advised to consider together, in family council, standards for our homes to keep them sacred and to allow them to be a “house of the Lord.” The admonition to “establish … a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God” ⁹ provides divine insight into the type of home the Lord would have us build. Doing such begins the construction of a “spiritual mansion” in which we all may reside regardless of our worldly circumstance—a home filled with treasure that “neither moth nor rust doth corrupt.” ¹⁰

There exists a righteous unity between the temple and the home. Understanding the eternal nature of the temple will draw you to your family; understanding the eternal nature of the family will draw you to the temple. President Howard W. Hunter stated, “In the ordinances of the temple, the foundations of the eternal family are sealed in place.” ¹¹

My little monkeys