Embracing the ordinary (and staying alive to the extraordinary)

Motherhood Challenge Accepted !! I was nominated to post a picture that makes me happy/proud to be a mom (yes just one photo). I'm going to tag some ladies whom are fabulous mothers and can rise up to the challenge of posting one picture of their own. If I've tagged you as one of the awesome moms, copy the text and paste it to your wall with a picture and tag more moms proud praʊd/ adjective 1 . feeling deep pleasure or satisfaction as a result of one's own achievements, qualities, or possessions or those of someone with whom one is closely associated. "a proud grandma of three boys" synonyms: pleased (with), glad (about/at), happy (about/at/with), delighted (about/at/with), joyful (at), overjoyed (at/over), thrilled (at/about/by/with), well pleased (with), satisfied (with),gratified (at), content (at), appreciative (of) "Moira was a delight to her proud parents" On a rather long car journey last week I

home həʊm/ noun 1 . the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household. "the floods forced many people to flee their homes" synonyms: place of residence,  accommodation ,  property , a roof over one's head;  It has been a while since I wrote. Please allow me to explain: In July, after returning from a lovely trip to the UK with my even more lovely husband, I thought we would settle into our routine again. For us, that meant continuing Home Schooling, enjoying our beautiful bit of forest, inviting friends to stay and enjoying the daily routine of Markus leaving for work in the morning and returning in the evening. For a week, we did settle. And then the rumblings of imminent change started: Our chidren once again expressed their desire to attend a regular school.  We started investigating possible scenarios to make this happen. (After all, September was around the corner and the new school year

Cradle of civilisation means the place where civilisation began to flourish. Civilisation was able to thrive because it had what it needed. One answer on Wiki answers to the question: "What does Cradle of civilisation mean?" I have been thinking about this for quite a few days. But it has been a conscious continuation of subconscious leanings I've had for years ... Allow me to explain: On a recent, very lovely, trip to Kew Gardens, I overheard 4 remarks addressed to children that made my toes curl and my insides broil. "Don't run!" was the first, shouted after a little girl who had taken off down the path, with Mousy tucked safely under her arm. She had places to be and sights to explore with her friend. Grandpa wasn't going fast enough. The path was smooth and visibility clear. I so badly wanted to ask: "why not?". In this wide open space that invites running, exploring, undoing the chains and restrains of ci

"Our shadow self is any part of ourselves or our institutions that we try to hide or deny because it seems socially unacceptable." Richard Rohr  It has been a longer gap since the last blog than I'd like to have. But sometimes life happens in mysterious ways. There have been a few planned an unplanned trips and it has left me with a lot of home type stuff to catch up on. We have also added to our Animal Kingdom by the addition of a small puppy (read: sleepless nights, housetraining disasters, planning adjustments) and in other happy news, the escapee turtle found its way back, right into the cage, which I had dismantled and moved by about 100m! One of many little home type jobs to catch up on, is the weeding of the rather large flower bed. On Friday, Timmy and I decided to tackle the task. I was occupied with the spreading of some wood chippings and asked Timmy to start. He did many trips to the compost bin with large hand-fulls of weeds, but no discernible prog

“ You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. ” —Kahlil Gibran I have always loved these Russian nesting dolls. The bright colours, the intricate patterns and the unpacking of that which is hidden. All very appealing to me. And recently I've heard and seen a few things that reminded me again of these dolls and what they represent to me ... Night time in the Müller household has taken on a familiar, comfortable pattern that seems to work well to preserve our sanity. After our joint evening meal, our children are sent to bed invited to experience the wonders of rest. (Always too early if they are to be believed!) Once the final round of tidying of the day is completed, the last emails responded to and some brief interactions with social media, Markus and I talk about the day. The highs and lows and the bits in between. The things that inspired us or challenged us and how we were moved to anger, sadness, burst

In February, we had this incredible opportunity to go on a family road trip in South Africa (a.k.a. the Motherland). And in our eagerness for this holiday adventure, we made our many preparations: Friends invited, check ... Flights and insurance sorted, check ... Birth certificates copied and translated, check ... Pets and plants taken care of, check ... Accommodation and itinerary sorted, check ... Bags packed, check. Finally, because we live in the Magic Kingdom and Enchanted Forest (more about that another day) ... House sitter, check. This final point took care of a few things on our list: pets, peace of mind, plants etc. Since moving to our own little paradise, in a quiet village, we have heard frequently that it would be foolish to leave our home unoccupied for the duration of our trip. So we dutifully (and a bit skeptically) found someone willing to occupy our space and take on the duties listed above. We thought we were doing them a favour ...! Fast forward to 5 days into o

Writing (or creating anything, really) isn't about achievement. It's about connection. It's a hand reaching out, a bridge, an invitation .  Shauna Niequist We recently took a trip as a family. It was an opportunity to hang out with some people we wanted to get to know better and also have some much needed fun, family time. During one of our breaks, we went for a walk to explore the area and look at a bridge that claimed to be the longest bridge built by a single person. I have had a deep fascination regarding bridges since childhood and I guess if you would have asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, it would be someone who built bridges. I know now that the technical term is civil engineer, but really I am still only interested in those bridges. So we set off to see a bridge. Along the way we rescued a tiny snake from certain death on a road*, saw a road kill rabbit, encountered some other critters my children were interested in and picked up loads