This weeks sunshiny moments.

No better way to start a morning of meandering.

Birthday treats- pink lemonade, cheese platters and paper flowers made with love...

and tart for tea!

The chance to see my gorgeous Drew receive his SRC badge. Lucky I was there because parents were asked to pin the badges on for their children. This is something I would normally have missed out on- I'm so happy and lucky!

A night out with my love.

My week was full of lots of household pottering, cooking, organising, reflection, writing and smiling.

I have time to dare to dream and isn't it fun. 

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Simple pleasures.

It is not often that I have time...just time. I usually so very busy with so many thoughts bouncing around in my head- which usually means that I immediately forget most of them (including the important scheduled things).
With some time off work I have been appreciating so many little things. Of course the best bit is the time I have for my boys. So much time to just chat, snuggle and be together. I am not hurried, distracted and planning what needs to be done within a limited window of time. It is lovely and I am grateful.

This weeks simple pleasures:

Being with Joe at school and feeling his happy energy passing from his hand to mine.

Cleaning out ALL of the wardrobes and taking a boot load of stuff to the Salvos. Drew was so happy that he gave me the biggest hug with the most genuine thank you- who'd have thought!?

Joe's delight at finding the 'best library book ever for us to read tonight'. I love that he picked a cook book and that he wants to work through all of the recipes together.

The new family pet *shivers down my spine* Spike the Pygmy Bearded Dragon. I just wish it would stop appearing on the lounge beside me at night.

A spontaneous foot massage from my gorgeous big boy. First time and probably the last so I had to capture the moment immediately.

Time to plan for meals that actually take time and effort to cook. Shopping for the ingredients was slow paced and unhurried. I savoured the luxury of taking my time, My phone did not ring once while I loaded everything into the trolley, or car, or house. It usually always rings with some pressing issue when I have my hands full and I am tired and hungry.

Being able to laugh at poor Campbell's attempt to repair his brand new glasses with sticky tape after he ran over them with his wheelchair. The hours that were spent getting the prescription, picking the frames, collecting them from the Optometrist would normally have been a logistic nightmare- but it's OK! In fact I am quite looking forward to having some bonus time with Campbell while we organise the new pair AND the cord to keep them attached to his body at all times!!!

The best bit is that today is my birthday and I get to do anything I want! I'm just a bit flustered about what to choose, I just felt a few things bounce around my head and did I just notice my shoulders tense- hmmm there is still a little bit of breaking bad habits that needs to be done. I am working on it :)

A moment to shine.

My middle son Andrew is such a great kid. He is kind and sensitive, and the sweetest brother. He is right in the middle of two beautiful boys who depend on him quite a bit, which is a bit of pressure sometimes. I was so happy to see him get his special moment to shine. His music tutor is a lovely young guy who Drew loves seeing every week. We listen to them chat and laugh from the other room, in between the bursts of music (which is now recognisable and pretty awesome).
When David, the tutor, said that he was going to be performing at the Easter show with his band, Drew was pretty keen to go to see him. So we decided to head into the show late in the afternoon and then hang around for some dinner before the 8pm show. Both Andrew and Jonas were excited about getting a seat at the front and nervous about missing out if we left it too late to arrive. So we sat for most of the evening listening to the different bands perform. It was a lovely way to pass the time - Joe was such a little bopper and was dancing around in his seat the whole time.
Just before 8pm David came and found us to say hi and sat with us for a little while to enjoy the music. Andrew was so excited to see him up on the stage and the best bit of all was when David dedicated a song to Andrew!!!! Ohhhh it was so precious. The crowd cheered and Andrew pumped his fists in the air and shouted 'YEAH!!" It was for 'Come Together' which is my favourite of all the songs David has been teaching Drew- I shooped along with pride, just like I do when they play it at home (even though the embarrassment just about kills Drew).
The sweetest thing is that since then Andrew has been pulling out his bass more often than usual- and despite his usual reluctance to practise, he has been doing it without encouragement.
Thank you David- you are a wonderful teacher and a very talented musician too.

Davids Guitar Studio Baulkham Hills, NSW - he has his own studio too!!

Autumn

April arrived and brought along Autumn. As much as I love Summer, April is one of my favourite months. April means holidays and birthdays.
The coolness in the air yesterday meant a cosy fire and hand knitted blankets to go with the cuddles on the lounge.

 It also made my taste buds yearn for some chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles and a little kick of chilli from the garden.

What gorgeous Autumn activities can we plan for our April holidays this year??

World Autism Awareness Day.

So here is a little activity I had set for me to complete on World Autism Awareness Day- I was instructed to spend my day going through one of Campbell's 'Mary- Kate and Ashley' books crossing out the name 'Campbell' and replacing it with 'Chloe'.
Apparently he finds it very distressing to read about a girl with his name. How very dare they!! The only possible solution was to simply change her name every time it appears in the short novel.
So I did it. It has been stressing him for weeks and he just could not get his head around how any girl could possibly have the same name as him. It didn't take me THAT long, although it did require additional attention several times this evening because I had failed to notice every single 'Campbell' within the book. I struggled with the idea of writing in a book- the naughtiest possible thing for a trained librarian to do. But it was so worth it. My gorgeous boy is happy now and was so very, very grateful that I managed to get it all done while he was at school today.
I really couldn't think of a more apt way to pass my time on World Autism Awareness Day- relieving the stress for my precious, funny and beautiful autistic son. Thank goodness I didn't have to go to work today.

As you can see it was already quite dog eared and has already had several repair attempts. Cams is also a little bit obsessed with sticky tape at the moment...oh and of course the Olsen twins as well! He is still hoping that we can manage a quick trip to America next school holidays so that he can visit them, but only because I said we can't afford to take him to London to go to the BBC studios. 

I love my big boy xx

Camping with Campbell.

Campbell's first camping trip was to Jervis Bay. We camped at Caves Beach which only has cold showers and no vehicle access. Everything had to be carried up and down the hill between the car park and the camp ground. He was still little enough to be carried in a baby backpack, and also so little that he still woke for a bottle in the middle of the night. We had a pot of Milton (sterilising solution) and a thermos ready beside the blow up mattress.
On a side note we also went away camping when I was 23 weeks pregnant! Thank goodness we hadn't planned to go two weeks later- Campbell arrived when I was only 25 weeks.
So camping is in his blood now but of course he loves nothing better than staying in a MOTEL!!!
I won't pretend that camping is at all easy. In fact I know lots of people who think camping with 3 able bodied children is completely insane (or in fact even without children). Camping is an acquired taste and we love it. The truth is it is the only way that we can afford to holiday for the entire summer school holiday break.
I saw in a documentary recently that couples who share adrenalin pumping experiences together have better relationships. You know, something that is maybe a bit risky, exciting and scary all at once. Some couples might do a triathlon together, or try sky diving....we hitch up the camper trailer, put the three kids in the back seat, the wheelchair in the boot and head off across the Nullarbor!! That's the adrenalin that keeps our relationship strong in the face of regular hiccups, hardships, and while raising a child with cerebral palsy, autism and a vision impairment.
With a bit of very precious encouragement from a special friend, I thought that maybe some of the things we have experienced on our adventures may be helpful to other families. Maybe other people would like to hear about more than the happy overview of each day of our journey. Perhaps knowing where to find wheelchair access is helpful!!! YES!! It most certainly would be. If you have a child (or you're caring for an adult) with continence issues accessible bathrooms are fairly necessary.

We intend to continue our journeys around the country for many years to come, but with that we know we will continue to face new difficulties. Each trip has posed issues that stem from Campbell's autism or physical disabilities (or both) and this will always be the case. Maybe we could help to make it easier for others who have the same desire to camp across the country (there must be someone else as crazy as us out there) by talking more openly about the problems we faced and addressed.

Thank you to that very kind friend of mine who planted that seed and kept me awake with words bouncing around in my head. I will thoroughly enjoy reflecting on our amazing experiences and sharing some of our methods for maintaining sanity on long road trips with 3 bored kids in the back seat.