blessings...

Well it's been an absolute whirlwind of a year! We are finishing up school this week, saying goodbye to incredible teachers & preparing ourselves for the changes ahead.  I know I've said it before, but we have been blessed with the most wonderful teachers so far, this time each year the big boy gets a little anxious & teary thinking about the unknown for the coming year, admittedly, I get a little emotional too, as a parent you simply want your child to be happy.  Next year we have two new teachers, so we know nothing about them, but I have a good feeling deep down that all will be ok...

Our preppie received his 2nd star of the week award for the year, bursting with pride.  We finally got through a year of 3yr old kinder, it took us the whole 12 months to finally send him off happily without screaming & begging me to take him home with me, let's hope next year is easier...

(all so tired & yes, the big boy is well overdue for a haircut!)

And we're getting ready for christmas time, family time, lazy holiday time.  I can't help remembering the nightmare that was last christmas, I get a bit teary at the very thought, but for some reason its in the forefront of my mind most every day.  We had our big boy, all of 8yrs old, with one of the most horrifying cases of appendicitis.  He was sick a few days with excruciating tummy pain, we were told that he had a virus & because the other two were also sick, it sort of made sense, but in the pit of my stomach I knew it was more than that.  From then on I promised my boys & myself that I will always follow that mothers instinct & be one of those pushy demanding parents when it comes to this sort of thing.  It turns out, after dragging him on a 3 hour round trip that he ended up in hospital boxing day for emergency surgery.  He had a massive abscess in his stomach, which formed over some time due to his burst appendix.  Following surgery with tubes everywhere was a collapsed lung, extreme fluid retention where his body blew up so much he was almost unrecognisable, and then after 2 weeks in hospital dramatic weight loss, it was all so frightening, a terrifying experience, which has had quite a profound impact on him as a person & in many aspects of his little life. 

So this christmas I am very grateful to have us all here together, healthy, happy and ready to enjoy our summer...

(shamefully this picture was taken at 9am this morning with school mums on their way over for an end of year clink, clink!)

Wishing you all a very happy christmas and

thank you for your friendship, for the laughs, the enlightening conversation & meaningless chatter, it's all been wonderful!