Silver Linings in the Clouds

January is the most significant time of the year to reflect on the year that was, and to look forward to new ventures in the next 12 months. I have recently been doing a whole lot of thinking, about how I have learnt to see situations as life being the "glass half full" rather than choosing the other view, which is the opposite: to see the glass half empty!

Above, you see the first photo of Prince Charming holding my hand, whilst the epidural was being administered into my spine, at the emergency c.section birth of Cherub #4. As you can see, we all went through our fair share of unexpected dramas. We were not expecting an 11 day stay in the neonatal unit, as Cherub #4 was a very healthy weight at 36 weeks and 6 days! (Our twins, on the other hand, were born at 34 weeks, and that was to be expected - a long one month stay...). Cherub #4 appeared to have a dark shadow on one of his lungs, causing respiratory distress. It turned out to be a "Pneumothorax" which, in layman's terms, means fluid on the lungs, or mild pneumonia. To this day we have no idea why this occurred, yet, as these  photos can testify, our precious wee boy is in fine health today, with a big grin on his face! He even earned the nick-name, "Cheeky Poo!" until we came up with a few more fetching nicknames that won't embarrass him on his 21st birthday celebrations!

I have learnt the art of humouring even the seemingly testing of all situations. Instead of an incubator, I renamed that little glass bubble, a "space station" and I was up at the crack of dawn, reading up on the night nurses medical notes about all our babies who spent time in the neo natal unit. Being one who loves to be informed on every little detail, especially when faced with medical dramas, every stone gets overturned, and by the time friends and family read my email updates hot off the press from neo-nates, they are wondering what I am trying to say with all my new found medical jargon!

So what does this all have to do with "decluttering"? Well, nothing really, but I wanted to give you a glimpse into how delighted I am to have my "Brady Bunch" and that I just try to see the best in everything! It has not been an easy road, with a child who has special needs, so what I glean from my natural gift of "attention to detail" is learning how to keep a good, simple filing system and keeping a notebook and diary at hand. A wall calendar helps to remind me of the dozens of medical appointments I have, not to mention the screeds of babysitters close at hand - even if it takes a lot of scrabbling around to find someone to help with the kids at times!

The first photo of my Prince holding my hand (with crocodile tears rolling down my face - you don't see those!) reminds me of how we entrust those closest to us, to hold our hands in trying times, as we walk together in unison to get to the other side where life seems so much brighter than it was before.

So, dear readers, let us not lose heart, for today we shall light the paths and choose a friend to walk the walk of life with us. Hold hands, lift your head high, and remember that glass is full! Other people who have walked the same journey where you are now treading, are often the best and most trustworthy people.

Dream a little...........

I have come to the conclusion that when all my four cherub royals have left the "nest" so to speak, I would be the perfect candidate for a zoo keeper. Just imagine it - all those years of hard-core decluttering, zoning in on hard-to-clean places, and scooting around with the hoover at top speed while watching surprise visitors pull up their car in our driveway! My resume would be chock full of tips, advice and quick ideas for get-aways and rainy day ideas! Storage boxes, labelling machines, and to-do lists are my saviours! Some day I would very much like to meet the zoo keeper who looks after the chimps. The chimps seem to be on to something good. It sounds like the boys are happy to roam outside, while the girls lurk in the rumpus room, obviously enjoying their time apart. I have x2 boy Princes and x2 girl Princesses - hmmmm.... boys outside and girls in the rumpus room. Might have to download that application and put it to good use! Tempting it is, to put the sign on the front door of our Royal Palace: "It takes a zoo keeper three hours to clean this area every day". The perfect excuse for those "bad hair days" that we all seem to have from time to time. Oh wait. I've got it. Eureka, I do! Just place the hoover directly in front of the entrance door, and all visitors will realise instantly the efforts you make, to herd those chimps and all their belongings, into chaotic order. There will come a day when Cinders just has to click her fingers and say, "Bibbity bobitty boo!" one more time and it shall be done. No more mess. There's no harm in dreaming a little...

Rewarding Oneself every once in a while!

To my dear neglected blog - of only a few days that I have "forgotten" you, but I was having so much fun with my Royal Cherubs, as they are all on Summer break - no school, no kindy - loving doing things in our own time, without the usual deadline of exiting the house by 8.45am at the very latest! After an intense few days of decluttering and re-sorting, giving away pre-loved toys to charity and enjoying the extra storage space, I decided we all needed a treat!

I took my young darlings to the local art museum, to look at an interesting display of "Wheels" - bicycles, tricycles and two wheel scooters, all designed for its captive audience of children up to the age of eight.  I didn't manage to take photos of the yummy stint in the museum cafe (I was too busy feeding Prince 4 and baby Cherub at the same time, while attempting to balance my "flat-white" coffee and chocolate brownie on a plate). But I eventually got 5 minutes to myself where I could be snap-happy and take a few photos, and these pictures are for you to enjoy! Put your helmets on, buckle up, and imagine you are a child again - your wheels can take you anywhere!

Photos of the BIG Post Christmas Toy Declutter session!

Dear readers

I kept my word, and as promised, here's a peep at some serious decluttering a few days post Christmas! The big kids are in the middle of their big six week school holidays, and our house has become more of an effort to clean, as they are all home! They raided the toy room and had a fabulous time on a rainy day, overturning every box of toys! So to avoid the constant clutter of toys everywhere, I applied the "Stuff Monster" app in my brain, and carried it to completion!

Stuff Monster app = STUFF you no longer need, love or want!
                                STUFF to be sorted in piles for: Charities, 2nd  Hand bookstores, and
                                "double ups" ie receiving a gift the children already had (to be placed in

The Big Spring Clean!

Welcome to the very beginning of 2012, where New Zealand is "meant to be" in the throws of a long, hot Summer, filled with barbeques, picnics, all day swims at the beach, and sand filled jandals. Well, folks, we have just experienced NZ's Wild, Wacky Wind!! Yesterday, the trampoline lurched halfway up the neighbour's fence, washing was flung about from the washing line; some of it landing on tree branches, followed by sonic booms of thunder and flash lightening, illuminating the dark sky! The children hovered in the sunroom, peering out through the window at their bedraggled Dad, who had ventured out to rescue the trampoline. It all looked very surreal, like we were a family lost at sea!

In the first photo is a picture of New Zealand's very own "Christmas Tree". The famed Pohutakawa tree. It flowers in full red bloom each Summer, which usually coincides around Christmas time. The Pohutakawa tree brings promises of warm weather, hope and colour after a long Winter. Down our street, there are plenty of these trees in bloom. It reminds me that the beginning of the new year also brings promise and new beginnings.

Our children are currently on their Summer holiday break. We are into Week 3 out of 6 and so far, we have filled our days with many fun adventures. Without the usual rush to get the Cherubs out the door before 8.45am, and with no medical appointments scheduled for any of the children until mid February, it is a very welcome time of the year for Prince Charming and I to catch up on those "small but necessary" things to do around the house. The one I am working on at the moment, is doing a massive clean-out and reorgansing the toy space in the sunroom/rumpus room. Our Cherubs got spoilt over Christmas and received many gifts, so over the last two weeks since Christmas day, I have boxed old toys to be donated to charities, I have kept "double ups" in toys we have, for birthday presents (of friends' children who have birthdays coming up) and I have sorted a pile of old, good quality books for donation for local 2nd hand bookstores. My rule of thumb is to use two big storage shelves in the rumpus room, for toys, and to clear out toys in each of the Cherub's bedrooms, so the main "Toystation" remains only in one designated place. This system works very well and is expecially useful on rainy days when we need to locate a certain toy and we know exactly where it is! My label-gun has been particularly useful for this project! I have braved my camera to take a few more photos of the massive declutter job, and I filled x2 rubbish bags full of "junk" which has already gone to our mini-bin outside! I will be sharing those photos in my next blog post, so you can see what the results are. You'll be amazed! I find that blogging helps me to keep my house tidy, as I enjoy taking "before and after" photos and having an incentive to keep it all tidy, after my spring cleaning efforts - which by the way, is not easy, when you have x4 very small children!

The Sun is peeping from the clouds now and the sky is looking blue. Washing has been rescued from yesterday's storm, and now there are x4 loads of laundry to be caught up on!

Happy Reading!

Yours Truly

"Queen Daisy"! :0)

"Camping Expedition!"

A friend of mine who has two children with special needs once commented (and I like it very much!): "Most regular mothers, when they head out somewhere, just pick up their wallet, car keys, handbag, and go out the door!". Well, I can fully relate to my friend! The zoo trip earlier this week - culminated in a jumbo sized bag full of x4 changes of clothes for four children (just in case!), nappies, baby change mat, towel and baby wipes, plastic bags for dirty clothes, a formula dispenser, x3 Avent bottles full of piping hot water (cooling slowly in a mini cooler bag), lunch and snacks for the entire family (x2 ice cream containers full of sandwiches, fruit, cookies etc) sunhats, sunscreen, sunglasses, and most importantly - the CAMERA! The JUMBO bag was perched precariously on the pram's frame (tied on in the end!), topped off by my camera looped around my wrist. I left my handbag at home as we had no room for it, and besides, there was no need to bring my money as Prince Charming and I have a joint bank account - his wallet just goes in his belt bag which he wears around his waist - a man bag!! ;0)

Being an organised person, I suggested we leave the house at 11.00am to get to the zoo by 12pm, which is the time we agreed on, with the person meeting us at the destination. This means, we simply don't load the kids in the car at 11.00am; we have to be in the car loading zone by 10.45am at the very latest. Did that happen? No sirree! The youngest Princess had to pee, followed by the next Princess, and baby Cherub and Prince BOTH had "number two's" in their nappies (remembering that Prince has special needs, and he has no control over his bowel and bladder; TMI (Too Much Information here!). Queen Daisy digs into JUMBO bag and forages around for the baby wipes, an extra Pull-Up, and clean shorts for Prince. Ditto for baby Cherub! :0) :0)

By 11.00am we actually start loading kids in car; kids declare they are starving even though they just had morning tea! Can't win! Kids eat crackers in car and we have lift off! Princess 4 declares she needs to pee again and we kindly tell her to wait. She forgets she has to pee anyway, as the lure of food distracts her.

Both princesses say they are too hot. Two minutes later, both testify to being too cold. A game of "I Spy" instantly deflects any doubts about the correct temperature of what the car should be. The Princesses start to have a "tiff" in the car about ones favourite colour being blue while the other says she likes blue too. Due to x4 children's car seats, neither adult is able to sit in the backseat with the cherubs anymore. This means we have learnt the true meaning of, "Use your authority!" ie use authority in your voice, as there is no longer any option to sit in between any children. The 2012 "wish list" only has one item on it this year. MINI-VAN or PEOPLE MOVER! ie an 8 seater with more space. Ahhhhh, those very words bring music and great refreshing to my ears!

Destination reached bang on time. Greeter at the zoo dishes out compliments to us: "You got here on time - you are SO organised! How do you manage with four cherubs?!". Little does she know..... until she sees JUMBO bag - in her mind, JUMBO bag is what she would take for a whole week on holiday; not just for one afternoon outing!

A few days later and now it is Saturday, and here I am blogging, with two hours and thirty minutes to go, until we are due at a friend's house for lunch at 12pm.

Pretty soon, JUMBO bag will be back, along with another round of formula dispensers and nappy bags! Bring it on!!! :0)

One day in the distant future (I can't see that far yet in my mind's eye!), there will come a day when I will be able to simply, "Pick up my car keys, wallet and handbag, and just get in the car!", just like my friend who has the exact same wish. :0)

Putting the Monkeys to Bed!

Did you ever hear the well known saying, "They are SO sweet when they are sleeping!"? In the above photos, is my castle, roses strewn around, and seemingly peaceful. But if you step a little closer, you are sure to hear the protests of the little Princesses, reasoning with Mother Nature that it simply isn't fair that bedtime is when the sun hasn't herself yet gone to bed - yes, it is Daylight Savings here in the good old Southern Hemisphere of New Zealand! The extra twilight hours mean that Prince Charming gets to work on the garden after the "monkeys" have gone to bed. My job is to get into my Super Nanny role and act as a "bouncer" at the bedroom doors of Monkey #1 and Monkey #2! (Little girls!). After a few rounds of acting as Bouncer, the Monkeys give up the chase, as they do pretty much every night in Summer.... Winter is obviously a much more "compliant" time of the year, when dark falls outside rather quickly, and no one dares to question the sun on what time she retires for the night!


"Bon Nuit ma petite filles et fils" ("Goodnight, my little daughters and sons"). "A Demain!" ("Until Tomorrow!".