Bliss and Mayhem

 There is such a huge lead up to Christmas. With all the hustle and bustle of the shops, pressies galore and making sure that supplies are in check because my goodness the shops are going to be closed for ONE WHOLE DAY!  My side of the family always celebrate Christmas Eve, a Polish tradition which actually suits us perfect as our Christmas day entails, opening more pressies at home, Ethan going to spend Christmas day at his dads and after that our house is open to whoever wants to pop in for some Christmas cheer aka food, wine and music!   It was my little niece’s first Christmas and as we are quite a loud bunch, poor Bonnie had no chance of sleeping. Especially with her cousins (my boys) running mad around the place, people talking, eating, drinking and having a great time. I tell you what, I take my hat off to my little sister, 4 weeks ago she had a baby, and rocking up to Christmas , presents in tow and looking so fabulous - I know I wouldn't have been able to be s...

 It’s so important to take a little time out, especially when you got a couple of kids in tow…time is never enough and time out for the parents comes far and few for us lately.   So with the opportunity of going for an afternoon to check out Jimmy Barnes, The Living End, You Am I and Mahalia Barnes, at the Rochford Winery   for A Day on the Green   was like “whoop! Date time with the husby”   If you ever have the opportunity to go to one of the events, I totally recommend it! Especially when the weather was like it was yesterday… perfect! The day on the green is held in wineries all over the country, a perfect backdrop to roll out the picnic rug, dips and crackers, enjoy a few drops of the local wine and listen to some fabulous entertainment.   We love Jimmy Barnes  and Steve does especially from the good old Cold Chisel  days. Man he can still belt out the tunes… going song after song with no break! The guy has gone through some big ups and...

 I wouldn’t call myself the Christmas Grinch, but perhaps I would be close to it. I have never really been a massive fan of the silly season, where you see severe over – spending, people in the shopping centres going absolutely nuts buying up, scrambling for the last presents - it really does bring out the dog eat dog scenario for some.  I do however, every year, pull out the Christmas tree from the cupboard or in some recent years, spent ridiculous money for a real one, and over an hour, Ethan and I would stand a few metres away from the tree and literally throw the tinsel on, place the decorations, no order and “prettiness” to it – Our Xmas tree would be a McLean shambles! But it was ours and would stand there in the corner of the lounge till Boxing Day.  Because of Ethan’s Autism, for many years he did not have any real concept what Christmas was about, who Santa was and the like, and I guess that also added to the care factor for me around Christmas.  But sin...

 I’m sure we have all felt like this at one point or another. I mean, sometimes all your need is someone. And that feeling was at its peak 8 years ago. We had started to look at rentals to move to a new area. We wanted to be closer to work, which would mean less travel time = less road rage.  Not me, I mean the husby.  A major stumbling block though was Ethan’s childcare. How the hell were we going to find somewhere that would be sensitive to his needs, understanding of his Autism and could he really handle a change like that.  I LOVE my children, everything about them. But the first 5 years old Ethan’s life was some of the most exhausting, emotional, { I have no idea what the fuck I was doing}, times of my life.  This kid, as gorgeous as he was/is, screamed for up to 8 hours a day, had close to no verbal communication skills, spontaneous nose bleeds, head banging against walls, ubber sensitive to noise and touch and would spend hours obsessively spinning wh...