Categories
family anecdotes

2/52 on road trips and other holiday happenings

Miss16 has until July to get her 100 hours of supervised driving in. But seeing as she’s had other priorities, we started the year at 6 hours and 5 minutes.

Cue a roadtrip, the plan being to drive to Yeppoon, crash at an AirBnB, then drive back the following day, adding an extra 10 – 14 hours drive to her tally. 

To start off with, everything went well. But around 3 hours in, she started hurting. Maybe all that anxiety? Her wrists, her back (although to be fair, she’d hurt her tailbone quite badly, recently) and then when her right ankle joined in on the party, I figured it’d be better to turn around and head back. So we arrived in Boreren, enjoyed a beautiful cheesy garlic bread late lunch before starting the return journey. We made it to Childers and by then she was in enough pain I took over. On the up-side though, her confidence is vastly improved, we missed the storms which hammered our place back home, and I now know significantly more about the wonder that is Star Rail 🙂

The following day, Hubby went fishing,

I decided to finally learn the alphabet codes so I no longer have to try to think ‘m for… um… moustache’ (which was, literally, a conversation I had on Friday!),

and council mowed our road. Check out how pretty it looks now!!!

Looking ahead, it’s school stuff buying time (books, uniforms) and collecting textbooks and laptop, before starting officially on Thursday. And that, dear Reader, is just a little bit EXCITING!!!!!

Have an amazing week yourself, my friend!

  • KRidwyn
Categories
places to visit Random thoughts

49/52 on Maths and hammocks

Okay, okay. My Maths skills are woeful. If there are 52 weeks a year and this is the second-last week then *surely* this should be 51 not 49. Sigh. Mathematics? Not my strong point. I guess I got mixed up doing #blogJune or something? Oh well. I can always try again next year.

Speaking of trying things again… this is my view while blogging today:

It’s been years (maybe even a decade?) since I last relaxed in a hammock. And this one – a Christmas 2024 present that I’m getting to use early!) is absolutely perfect! I forgot how much I enjoy having my feet up at pretty much the same height as my head. Now to watch my heat-swollen feet reduce, or something?

Since Hubby and I lashed out on a Stockman Rover back in August, I figured we’d better get lots of use out of it. So the kids are at home (have I mentioned how AMAZING it is to have 2 out of 3 graduated from high school already?!) and we’re HipCamping for the weekend… because we can! Hence the $41 Bunnings hammock. So far, my favourite Christmas present!

Speaking of Christmas, it’s this coming Wednesday, so my next post will be after all the celebrating.

Here’s praying you might have a day full of love and laughter, surrounded by your nearest and dearest, dear Reader. God bless you!!!

KRidwyn

Categories
family anecdotes Life momentous events

38/52 The final stretch…

It’s been a what feels like a marathan-and-a-half, but my Miss 16 has finally entered her last term of High School. It’s crazy to think that in just a few short weeks she’ll be sitting her final exams, and then graduating!

It’s been a LOOOONG time coming (well, seeing as she skipped Year 4 it’s actually been fewer years than what it would normally have been) but I’m thinking that the emotional rollercoaster that has been the last four years might be coming to an end.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s been a wild ride and I wouldn’t have exchanged it for the world. We’re in a good place now, and I’m super-enjoying Bingeing Grimm with her (we’re getting through the seasons faster than I thought we would, but she’s enjoying the series and I’m enjoying rewatching them) so this is a beautiful thing.

But the end of her ‘schooling’ chapter is hurtling towards us and who knows what’s on the other side? (Well, God does, but no-one living here on His good green Earth does, that I’m aware of) so I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in the next chapter. We just need to get through this term, and exams, and graduation first!

Bring on November 15, is all I can say 🙂

Have a wonderful term yourself, dear Reader!

  • KRidwyn
Categories
#blogjune Blogging challenges momentous events Random thoughts Writing

BlogJune #1

Better late than never, amiright? Truth be told, it wasn’t until the early hours of June 2 that I decided I was going to do the #blogJune challenge again this year. And 2024’s theme? Daily photo.

So apologies for being several hours late, but here was June the first’s:

Hope your day was similarly festive, dear Reader!

  • KRidwyn
Categories
family anecdotes

18/52 Thoughts on parenting and creativity

It’s been a week. Hard to really get a grasp on just how much has happened in the past 7 days, however as I said to a friend just yesterday: priorities. Get these right, then everything else falls into place.

When I consider my own responsibilities, my first priority is to my three kidlets. (Hence the ‘parenting’ in the title, btw). They didn’t choose to be born, so I’ll try my darnedest to ensure they have the best life I can give them. Now absolutely, there’s times – many, many, MANY times – when we don’t see eye to eye, but again, I’m the parent and I need to shoulder what needs to be shouldered to ensure that our relationships are as good as they can be.

The way I see it, that means taking an interest. Miss19 in our roadtrip last year wanted to talk ‘The Owl House‘ for 12 hours straight? Sign me up. She convinced me to watch it and was so glad to be able to share her passion with me. And really, who could pass up a conversation about King that cute little Titan?!

Then ‘The Owl House’ finished and interest morphed into ‘Arcane‘ and – via SchneeStudio Ghibli.

Recently, it’s become ‘Purple Hyacinth‘ with Miss16 – check out this artwork! –

 

and (of course) Fortnite with Master15.

I regret nothing. For realz. Both my daughters want to work in the Art sphere – you know, the one being taken over by AI? – but I don’t care. I’m going to support them and their choices and their decisions no matter what. Because I’m their Mum. And because this post I shared on Fb the other day is *really* how I feel:

Screenshot

Have a great week, dear Reader!

  • KRidwyn
Categories
Christianity

13/52 On stuffing up

I don’t like making mistakes. In fact, I really REALLY don’t like it. I find it embarrassing; humiliating. Humbling. And what irks me is that I keep on stuffing up. Over and over (and over!) again! You’d think I’d know by now, how to not make the same mistake twice (or even thrice, or more, if I’m being honest) but no. I fail. Time and time again.

It makes sense, really. I’m human. Fallible. Born this way… as we all are.

Why though? Why is it human nature to err?

Well, if you ask me (and I’m going to take it as granted that you kinda did, because you’re here, after all, reading my thoughts!) it’s because my great- great- great- too- many- times- I- don’t- even- know- great- grandfather- and- grandmother made a choice.

They knew what they were choosing was ‘wrong’ but they went ahead and did it anyway (and if they were anything like me, they were probably also thinking they’d get away with it; that the rules ‘didn’t apply to them’) but no. The rules did apply. That choice, choosing their own way instead of God’s, led to their ‘fall’ out of grace, and into their own sinful life. And every human since then has been born into that same sinful nature. ‘Human nature’ we call it; ‘sinful nature’ is a truer name for it. Because we’re no longer under grace, but under the ‘sin’ of our own choices.

But praise God for His incredible love for us! He made a choice too.

He knew, even when He first created Adam and Eve, that this choice would cost Him… and it did. He chose to leave Paradise. He chose to spend thirty-something years here on the remnants of the amazing planet He created, surrounded by dirt and muck and people He created who didn’t believe He was who He said He was… and who hated Him so much that they mocked, beat, and finally crucified Him. And He let them do that!

But the story doesn’t end there. He did it because sin leads to death. That first sin, way back in great- great- great- etc- grandpa’s- and- grandma’s time, meant that all humanity would die. So he sacrificied His home in Paradise and chose to be born fully human and live a perfect life here on Earth, AND DIE, so that He could conquer death.

And He did!!!

He didn’t remain dead. And neither will we!

Death is NOT the ending! Instead, it is the transition into eternity – what was always planned, right from the very beginning!

So it’s my greatest wish to live again, in that age of ‘grace’ with which the world began. And I believe that, when my physical body finally passes through that threshold and eternal life begins, that I’ll be with my God, be with my saviour, Jesus Christ, and see him finally face to face. What an incredible day that will be!

And that’s my belief, dear Reader.

It’s also my hope and prayer that it be your belief too – and if it’s not yet, that you check it out for yourself. REALLY, intentionally, check it out. Because this life is short, and no one knows when it’ll finish.

And – just like me – we all stuff up… but the way to be free from the consequences of stuffing up is to believe in this God. To believe that He sent His son, whom we call Jesus Christ, to die in our stead so we might be reconciled to Him.

Please, dear Reader, if you gain nothing else from this blog, go read a Bible for yourself. See for yourself if Jesus is who He says He is.

I promise you now, you won’t regret it!

And here’s praying you have an amazing week 🙂 See you next Sunday!

  • KRidwyn
Categories
family anecdotes

Gym buddies…

Hubby started gym first, several years ago now. Initially, it was a ‘lose weight’ thing – but then the endorphins kicked in and he quickly transformed into a gym junkie.

It took a couple of years listening to his convincing and cajoling for me to try it before I joined too… but for me, it was the early-morning kid-free time that I got hooked on. I took time off when redundancy meant uncertainty, July 2019 – but then rejoined several weeks ago when I was blessed with permanent work again.

And now Master almost-12 has joined me. He’s done three sessions now, and is happy to continue. In spite of the 4.45am leaving home time! So that’s pretty impressive.

Not only that, but Miss15 is clamouring to go, and Miss almost-13 is making some noises along a similar vein too. Sigh for the loss of kid-free time… but as they’re quickly getting older, I’m going to enjoy these last few years while I still have them.

So I collected two more membership application forms this morning, and the gym owner mentioned setting aside an hour for just my family on a daily basis! I’m pretty sure he was joking…

Anyway, we’ll see how that all pans out. Have a energetic day yourself, dear Reader 🙂

– KRidwyn

Categories
#blogjune More about me

#blogJune day10

Found this on my Fb feed recently and showed it to Miss15. She loved it – because this is *exactly* where we are at right now!

Have a friend-ful day yourself, dear Reader!

  • KRidwyn
Categories
family anecdotes Random thoughts

29/52

Guess what Hubby took the kidlets and me to the other week? Archery!

Not too far from us, there’s a guy who runs an archery store, with a 6-lane indoor range inside it.

We had a ball! I stuck with a recurve bow, as did Miss11 (pictured) but Hubby convinced Miss14 and Master10 to try compound bows. And oh boy – they look so complex! (And so dangerous too…) so I was happy to use my traditional bow, despite pressure from Hubby and two cherubs.

And Miss11 and I didn’t do too badly, either.

Here’s wishing you a focus-filled week, dear Reader!

– KRidwyn

Categories
family anecdotes Random thoughts

10/52

Kids grow up. So slowly you don’t notice when you’re with them

Minute by minute, hour by hour, day after day. But then you lift your head out of the trenches and realise that years have flown. Suddenly it’s not sleepovers, it’s Youth Group; it’s not The Wiggles, it’s Beyoncé. And you sigh and ask ‘what next’?

I had one of those moments recently. I knew one cherub had switched from Minecraft to Ark, but the change several months ago didn’t impact me until she told me one evening, “What I really want to do is teach you how to play Ark on the (Nintendo) Switch.”

Huh. Hold me back.

This game, from what I could tell, seemed like Minecraft with dinosaurs, with a dash of the breeding from DragonMania thrown in. Not really interested… especially when my Nintendo Switch time had to that moment involved learning Splatoon – badly – and playing Zelda, death of the Wild – also so badly my children loved watching to laugh at me about how slow I was to do anything. (And how many times Leaf died, but that’s another story.)

So I sighed, and said ‘okay’ and watched her face come to life.

And it hit me. THIS was her passion. At the moment, it’s this game. And she wanted to share it with me. Instant transportation back to her younger years when she’d bring me a dandelion flower or a lizard she’d caught. The same light in her eyes, the same grin; the same joy flooding through me because I am so incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful daughter who loves me and wants to do stuff with me.

So Ark? Yeah. Not the biggest fan – but now I want to play it when she asks, so I can play it with her. Because she’s an absolute angel and I love her to pieces.

And that – doing stuff you’re not really interested in because the benefits so clearly outweigh any other objection? – that’s my thought for the week.

Have a blessed week yourself, dear Reader!

– KRidwyn