Memories flitting through my brain as I do my pile of ironing this beautiful autumn morning, like moving grains of sand on a beach. There one moment then gone. Like life, fleeting.

Little boy’s words….in tunnel driving to airport with two and a half year old little boy in back seat saying over and over

“point…point….point…point”

????

Ah Hahhh!

…..There were green arrows on the roof of the tunnel pointing up ( it seemed) showing all lanes open

Daddy cutting grass…Little boy….”lowing mawn” and putting his ear “muffins” on…Ear muffs for the noise.

Me, Grandma, pointing out a huge crane on a building site as we drove to airport ,
Little boy stating……WOW…
Grandpa do, Grandpa do…
He was stretching out his arms showing how BIG the crane was. Only problem being, grandpa was driving and couldn’t stretch out his arms wide.

Little boy not wanting an afternoon nap, kept wandering out with lots of excuses, last one being as he carried out a big book open wide …”story?”

Memories, of a now adult oldest daughter, when about 6 years old saying to me with my red dress on…mummy you look like a princess….priceless …love you too.

Chatting by phone to the same daughter today. She asked her little boy if he wanted to speak to Grandma…NO….he wanted to come and SEE Grandma. Cute boy!… I think I’m allowed to be a little bit biased though:)

Years ago my husband helping a friend carry an old Auntie in a fireman’s lift ….crossed arms and hands clasped on wrists down flights of stairs in flats in Germany to get her to car.

Little cousins and friends who are now adults, playing, running and sliding down monstrous sand hills near Robe S.A. and getting caught in a wind sand storm…older cousins helping younger cousins escape. Clothes full of sand.

Running home from school in Germany as a little 6 year old because I was so scared of the rumbling line of tanks on a local cobbled street in Lampertheim Germany. They were the American occupying forces on a manoeuvre and seemed monstrous to a little shy girl.

How memories flit through our brain, random and without order, rhyme or reason…but yes , there quite often is a reason or triggers. Yesterday glancing through an old diary of my mother’s going back more than 20 years make for memories.

9th of May , and a spring day in Germany still very cold but wanting to wear a white with little green patterns summer dress . It had ties at the shoulders and came with a red puffed sleeve blouse. My mother had made it for my 6th birthday.

Looking with soft heart at a photograph of my mother’s house where she spent teenage years. My mother had described it in words but this was my first actual pictorial view.

Heppenheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany

Being told of the exciting news of a first grandchild to be.

Holding with awe our first grandchild, and another and another. Six precious beings from teens to babes.

Enjoy and savour the beauty of this day or find something to hold onto that creates a thought of peacefulness.

As the Flower of the field, it toils not nor spins…

Contents and photos by Alexa.
Till later…

Linking up for IBOT…I blog on Tuesdays with Essentially Jess

Vintage drawing courtesy “Graphics Fairy”

Driving to the hairdresser early this morning I had to remind myself that we now have a new school opened in a local street. Note to self was “watch out for the low speed zone” whereas for the last 20 something years we just drove without thinking…

…and so my mind wandered….

It happens again, the long summer break school holidays, or vacation as they say in other parts, have ended in Australia. Our older grandchildren went back Tuesday before last so as to be able to complete the required number of weeks of education for the various exams. The younger ones the week after.

So sad to see the end of fun and relaxation. A time for the minds to wind down, for families to regroup and refocus again. For extended families to catch up and reconnect. Little cousins with older cousins, siblings, aunts and uncles, mums and dads, grandparents and friends. Mentoring time.

A slowing down and de-stressing. No bus to be on time for, no school bell to hurry for, no constant homework and assessments to schedule for, no sporting activities to be fitted in and uniforms always washed and gotten ready for.

Now holidays don’t have to cost a fortune! There’s so many family friendly activities. Just do research, ask around organise yourself to take food and drinks from home and you’ll all be right. Besides saving a bundle of money your children will feel more nourished and sustained by the home cooking. Eat at a fast food outlet and you’ll all feel hungry again very quickly due to the sugar spike.

Carry this over to back to school. Having appointments or activities like swimming after school? Plan your day and have sustaining after school snacks with you to be devoured on the way to wherever you are off to!… And for mum too….

At times, with the children cook with them and discuss a plan for a theme like a Mexican or Chinese meal.

For home schoolers this can incorporate learning about the culture or geography and history of that country. The learning to make and prepare a new recipe is adventurous but make sure it’s children taste friendly….In this way you are passing on skills….life skills, as mentioned in a previous post. The best part being that they won’t even notice that it’s a lesson….

” care enough to train a child, not merely treat them to a good life” Dr. Tim Elmore.

But as with all things, special things are only special because they happen sometimes and by looking forwards to them. If we always ate chocolate it wouldn’t be such a delight. Yum yum.

If we always lived by the beach I am sure it would become commonplace, and also, we would not notice the great beauty of our surroundings…

EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Let’s not become complacent about things in general. Can you see the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Bye for now
Alexa

Beach photos belong to Alexa-asimplelife , written by Alexa.
Vintage drawing courtesy http://thegraphicsfairy.com

What of this day…

With our typical Sydney summer’s day of blue sky and cicadas shrilling away in the background, I pause for a moment to reflect on the last few happy but busy family days.

Some vibrant jewel coloured Gerbera flowers in a bouquet given by a little hand. Red and orange and yellow and cream…a luscious mix.

Stunning little smile with pearly teeth when a little boy sees that grandma is there in HIS house in the middle of the night as he stands in a dim hallway having wakened suddenly.

Same little boy desperately fighting sleep with his eyes opened oh so wide as he holds on to the awake moment, then stating so suddenly “sleep please” whence he is gently rolled and tucked into bed.

The quiet of night with all asleep as compared to the busy happenings of family and children.

Quiet absorbed play of a little one with a large plastic container full of water and two cups. Pour from one cup to the other…over a nearby leaf….onto toes….onto grass …into sandpit…Hand in water to make handprint on wood like grandma did….foot into water and footprint all with his own thinking…Drink water ….all this showing that we really don’t need much to keep us happy….think back to when a small thing was really appreciated. What was it?

…for me I think back to sharing a moment with family. Even though it was just brief meeting at Adelaide airport a year or so ago. As I was preparing to fly back home to Sydney from Adelaide airport, having with my girls and their little ones visited my mother. My sister flew in from Perth to visit our mother too. It was a planned overlap for mum to have a longer family time to enjoy. Yet us sisters, my girls and their babies only manage 30 minutes due to flight times and little children. A meet and greet and hug and laugh and kiss and tear up, as we all had to continue on our life’s journeys.

Back to the present…..Older children happily devouring a favourite home made meal pre prepared by mum of lasagne…”we always have seconds of lasagne …”

Large Backpack school bags ready packed for first day back to school. Food and drinks and books and caps. Big black school shoes ready to go, boot/ trunk of car filled with school bags and swimming gear for little one.

courtesy jeltovski at morgueFile free photos

Courtesy jeltovski at MorgueFile free photos

Everyone in car, little one likes grandma’s car seat, seat belts on and off we drive in the semi rural countryside…and so starts another school year for everyone here in Sydney….the precious summer holidays are over….more on that another time.

Family life is a busy one, and with a little one and older siblings it covers a whole range of needs.

Many lessons are there for us along life’s journey. To Find Patience, tolerance, kindness, to be a peacemaker, helper, prompter, learner, discoverer, mediator, and learner again.

No matter what age we are, young to old, these apply. In all avenues from work to play.

….So, soon it’s time for grandma to go back to her home…..a little voice says, “Grandma stay at my house? Grandma sleep in my house?….” Precious memories.

Now I’m back to my own life, a different world. Retirement boring? Never

A little catching up and reading…..words….words…
Frugal Fatigue…Blogosphere…Frugal is make your money work for you…and I like this one, thank you Heather…Time is wealth…..

All these are a world away from life of the last few days that I was privileged to share.

Courtesy hotblack at MorgueFile free photos

Tag words given for the above photo were woman, girl, reading, coffee, shop, leisure, relax, quiet, peace, alone. My addition would be joy in the aloneness to refresh the soul and to garner strength for the next need that arises.

…later I will continue on my little journey started the other day.

Have a good day all.

By Alexa

Photos as stated with thanks from http://www.morguefile.com