Moey's Heart & Hearth

A Big Trip for Mamma

Beautiful Perth

I know, it's been a whole year since I last posted. Don't take that as a sign that there's been nothing going on around here -- couldn't be further from the truth! So much has been going on, in fact, that I'm afraid I will never catch up with myself on this blog. But, never mind -- I'll just quickly show you a few things I've been up to most recently :)

I went to Australia, by myself, for five whole weeks -- a bit of June and the whole month of July. Can you believe it? Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa held down the fort here and gave the kids a most fabulous summer. Proof of that was the fact that few of the kids actually wanted me to come home, if it meant that the wonderful summer trips were over and school would be back in session with boring old me.

Anyway, sooooo much happened on my trip. It had been five years, so five weeks was barely -- no, not even close to -- enough time to catch up with my wonderful, large family. A sister, brother, nieces and nephews and cousins I'd not seen for five years -- unthinkable! and lots and lots of gentle, homey, welcoming things I'd missed for so long. The sunshine, the grapevines, the ocean, the stars -- the Milky Way stretching like a long thin cloud across the crystal-clear night sky.

My youngest brother got married and my youngest sister had her seventh baby while I was there. The kids were all on school holidays, too. It was such a joyful trip and felt like one long celebration.

The ferry that takes you across to the Zoo.

King's Park

Surfers at Scarborough

In Jeremy and Thi's back yard

Jeremy and Thi

Thi's sister and dresses of her own design and construction

Nieces and nephews

Beautiful sunny-morning brunch reception in the Swan Valley

Sweet-E

At the hospital, my favorite! Salad Rolls

New baby W

A get-together with the awesome ladies of the Down-to-Earth forums

Inspirational knitting -- Waldorf Doll and wardrobe by one of the DTE ladies

Escaped alpacas visiting mom and dad's

Breakfast out with Jeremy and Thi

Fremantle

Kailis fish and chips -- the best on the whole trip

Cooking out with Josh and Paula

Mandurah

Salad in the Swan Valley

Me, my sisters and mommy

Out for Devonshire Tea -- Lavender scones, strawberry-lavender jam, clotted cream, and tea.

Got Mail

The little kids are getting to that really awesome age where they are beginning to take in more of their surroundings, ready to learn all about things outside their immediate vicinity.

I really love the preschool age. Everyday events are just fun, fun, fun with preschoolers.

One day over the summer all the little kids wrote letters to each other, and we went off to the post office to mail them to ourselves.

We addressed the envelopes, and bought stamps to put on them. Then we pushed the letters through the mail slot at the post office.

On the way home, we stopped at the library to check out some books about mail service. The kids were really curious about what was going to happen to their letters.

The very next day, all the letters arrived back at our house, and we found them in our mail box.

There was a very excited flurry of letter-opening, and everyone had a letter from someone. Not all of it was decipherable, but it was all written with love.

Gater had the biggest surprise in her letter.

That was really fun.

Why I've Been Away

Life is never dull around here, I can tell you.

August saw the start of a new homeschool year with a high schooler, a junior high student, a second grader, two preschoolers and a baby. Mamma knows when Mamma needs help, and this year we chose to enroll the three school-age children with K-12, online public schooling.