Guessing game......

would you like to play?

these are some of the images of today.

1. not the breakfast of champions, 

but the breakfast of three bears....

mama bear and two baby bears....

can you guess what was for our petit dejeuner?

(answers are self evident and at the end of post.) 

scroll down slowly, so you can enjoy the game.

 the next item...

can you guess?

2. i am a work of art.

i have an impact on your senses -visual, olfactory & taste...

I am firm, yet soft, 

i am smooth, yet crumble,

i am sweet, yet not too much...

i go great with coffee.

 can you guess?

This is part of our lunch.

3. but we ate it all before i could take any photos,

and it was soooooo good......

this is a stack of yum...

4. can you guess?

i am made of flour & butter & baked with egg, cheese and jambon.

i am good hot or cold.

A great snack for the late afternoon if a late dinner is on the cards.

this is how i look when i come home.

5. clean and with a twist.

can you guess?

6. this one is easy as the paper tells you

sorry to spoil it for you but i just love these happy croissants 

peacefully smiling waiting to fill your tummy

fulfilling their destine

   

 how cute is this

hugs of love for the croissant...

this brings us to the end of this silly little game.

just incase you need the details:

1. home made semolina porridge with vanilla... mmmm

2. cake of lemon

3. pizza

4. quiche lorraine

5. baguette with the amazing crunch

 finally the cake was served with creme

just like Tata Simone uses

When we were visiting our 90year old French Auntie she served us two massive punnets of fresh sweet strawberries next to the can of whipped creme. we thought it was hilarious. so once we got here and saw the spray cream (which i don't even know if we have in Australia) we got some.

 Just like Tata Simone's.

 I thought it would be a good idea to fill the kids mouths.

they though this was amazing, coming from me. they loved the sensation and the absurdity. 

He wanted more, of course. 

 she couldn't fit it all in her little mouth.

yum 

see... all gone

so this was some of our day today

food from our GOOD boulangerie around the corner.

simple but oh so different from home.

sparkle & twirL *

Falling for......

Roma....

coming from France i found Italy to be less

i had become comfortable with "Oui", "Merci", and "Pardon"

now i have to switch to "Caio", "Grazie" and "Scuzzi"......

Rome looked similar to Paris but different.

But what is it?

The reverence or reverie is in buildings here in Rome. 

Paris is more romantic. Creamy. Hence my love for their cheese and butter etc....

Rome is gelati. The colours of the buildings  remind me of every colour of ice-cream.

With this my love affair begins........

Sunday morning we set off to the Catholic church mecca of the Western word. We navigated our way throughout the Metro, the throngs of tourists, only to turn around as the boy had a really bad tummy.

We were deflated. I was sad. This wasn't how this was meant to be. 

Bye Vatican.

So we headed back. 

As we stopped, rested and sat for a bit, he would feel better. 

I felt so sorry for him.

We made our way back via the Spanish Steps, morning tea and The Trevi Fountain.

It is important to make wishes, whenever you can......

As we headed back to the hotel, we walked past one of those open bus tour places. No one in there so we chat to the girl. Decision made, to travel by bus to see the city.

This was quite fortunate as this was the angels way of letting us explore the city with a kids who was doing it tough. Our ticket was for 3-8pm. Excellent.

We went back to the hotel for a rest and to cool down. Thirty degrees in a big old city is very hot.

We set out and got on the bus. It had a canopy, so it was not too hot. Quite cool and breezy, actually. 

My mood had lifted, and we enjoyed seeing lots of "old stuff".

Our bus broke down. Strangely it was at the Vatican. 

Our morning visit had been unsuccessful but now it seemed magic........

I felt like this travelling gig had become bit heavy.

This changed in an instant.

When you walk toward the light, with love and
surrender to the vulnerability you feel, small, significant miracles are possible. 

Today God was in the house, people.....

The service was playing amazing music, the place was quiet, it was .....

AMAZING

AWE INSPIRING

BREATH TAKING

WAAAHHHHH

get the picture?

of course my wish for the boy was realised

and i know why i was so sad this morning, 

because i would have missed what i did not have to, in the end.

 I was lifted by the angels

This vist was better than it might have been in the morning.

The buses breakdown was my break-through.

 Cherubs with cherubs......

 

 Guarding the light....

 We are always being watched over and guided to our highest potential.

 Signs are everywhere....

Showing me the way, all the time......

Life is good..... 

I am on holidays, with my family, having the adventure of a lifetime.....

A full day of heart break and reverie.....

What a great way to start a love affair for life....

*Sparkle & twirL*

ps everyone is well and asleep.... xxxx

Feeling Brave….

Its school holidays and we went off to see the latest kid flix. 

Lucky i love 'em, cause they are the main kinds of movies i get to see these days. 

This one is wonderful. Mystical, fierce and heart-centered. The best kind. 

Last movie i loved like this was Tangled and you can see what i thought of that here.

The highlight for me was the Pixar short movie "La Luna" before the feature began.

 Simply took my breath away. Who thinks of this stuff? Such gentle imagination.

These films are for boys and girls alike. For us Mums we get to escape and open our  childlike-wonder, suspend our disbelief. And for a while in a dark theatre with our children beside us we too are riding horses, following sprites and imagining it is all possible. I love it. 

N.B.There are some big bear growls, so little ones might like to wait for the DVD. 

I have not been in this blog space for a while. 

I am in my life, fully, messily, hopefully and consciously. 

I am practicing my painting, being tender-hearted and being a student. 

I miss the wonderful stories, connections and inspiration but am glad for some distance. 

I will check on you from time to time, so keep well, be brave and practice tenderness.

 my latest Princesses

 work in progress 

Being brave is something that takes lots of practice. Like anything we get better at it with practice.

 It takes courage to be brave everyday in little ways. 

Trust, faith and openness need perseverence. 

Vulnerability, curiosity and playfulness require a gentle braveness.

 Little steps each day. 

Be brave and feel amazing.

Change Your Fate….

Sparkle & Twirl

*

She...

 turns six tomorrow.

i painted this for her on the eve of her birthday.

she is so very beautiful. 

quietly spoken.

intelligent.

friendly.

active and the best colour-in-er.

a miracle to me.

i am so blessed to get to be her mum.

she is having a little tea party on the weekend and i thought i would prepare a canvas for her stick little bugs and fairies that she & her friends might like to draw & colour. 

but i love it just the way it is. it will be up to her.

i'll show you next week.

This is so very true...

When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you

If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do

Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing

Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true

by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington

sparkle & twirl

*

Light up your life...

The tree is up and lights are on.

Last week of school & work. 

Holidays are booked.

The festive season is upon us.

Focus on the togetherness, connectedness and forgiveness.

May you be gifted with all that your heart desires.

Deep peace, open arms, soft kisses, squealing & happy children,

full tummies and a soft place to land.

I don't know who you are,

but you are cherished,

you are unique,

you are Divine.

So am i.

 Important to remember at this time,

 when we can be so easily distracted.

sparkle & twirl,

*

I heard the funniest thing...

at my daughter's birthday party.

The Fairy (entertainer) was making balloon animals & flowers,

when one of our young friends asked the fairy this:

"I don't really like sausage dogs,

can you make a German Shephard?"

Classic.

*

Philosophers come in all sizes....

i work in the kitchen at my kids school. i was having a grumbly kind of morning. walking through the school yard at recess i was asked by a group of grade 7 boys if they could ask me a question. feeling grouchy i was expecting them to be cheeky. but instead i got:

"do you think God is a man or a woman?"

i replied, "that is a very interesting question...."

they agreed, and as i turned to walk away i asked,"why does God have to have a gender?"

"yeah", i could hear them say.

then i heard the discussion continue with,"well first we have to determine that God exists..."

i walked away with a big smile, a grateful heart and confirmation that God does dwell in us all.

But gee-whizz, these kids are 11 maybe 12 and this is what they talk about at school?!

love that philosophical debate is happening mid week here with the tween set.

sparkle & twirl

*

Uncertainty...

there once was a princess and to her was born a beautiful bonnie boy. he grew to be very clever, curious and funny. the princess who had been so blessed her whole life, was suddenly scared and worried often. this little prince was so special and precious would she do the best for him. the little prince was given the best of everything and she worried if it was too much. was he ok? could she ever know? the whispers she heard in her head were often voiced by those around her. she spun from the uncertainty.....

Time to share....

This past week has been really crazy busy. By the sounds most people are feeling the effects of the changing and readjusting to the new season. Life is life and it does have different speeds. Of this i am sure. It is about to calm and slow for me for a while again.

Last week i started Experimental Art, my Aunt celebrated 70 in style, the kids were sick, my mother in law returned from a 6week overseas holiday, i worked, prepared a 7year olds birthday party, had the 10hour party (he/we totally loved it) and had a farm day with families from school.

All super cool & fun, apart from the sickness. This week i intend to catch up on playing with art techniques new to me and doing tonnes of laundry. Last week of school before a 2 week break, and looking forward to playing and painting with the kids.

This week we have my sons ballet performance, a new toilet coming to replace the broken one, dinner with friends at their house, the new school uniform and gymnasium launch, a lantern festival to go to, and a 40th birthday party. A quiet one....

Back to the ART:

my son came home from the library with a book by an author whom he loves. he explained to me all about this book: "The Shape Game" by Anthony Browne. it was so cool this week, while they were home sick and i was focusing on doodling, we doodled together...

so read the book for all the details but the main idea is draw a random squiggle then swap and then make the shape become something.... it is cool.

here is one of ours :

we are experimenting with lots of new ideas. my 7year old received such wonderful gifts for his birthday. lots of creative stuff that lets his imagination soar. he is prolific in his drawing, writing and creations. he is a curious child who identifies with Alice from Alice in Wonderland (they are reading this at school). i think he is amazing, at 7 making links between the real word and a creative/imaginary one. it is exciting to see what he will think of next...

sparkle & twirl with your creativity...

*