Hot.... Wheels

Ok so here I am alternating between negotiating my way round the seemingly endless number of hotwheel and matchbox cars strewn over the house...and negotiating my way around the seemingly endless number of cars parked in my driveway.
All of which belong to the male persons in the family.

Sometimes the levels of testosterone in the house surely is beyond normal?
I KNOW boys have to rumble to keep their position in the family...6 boys big and small and 1 dad who still likes to rumble... Well you get the picture.

People ask me sometimes what's been the biggest challenge with raising a 2nd family and I ponder that for a bit. Is it really the increasing number of socks (see previous entry) or is it something else?
Well I smile and say you know what? It's the challenge of 50 yr old bones trying to be agile once more. I guess that's why this mama doesn't get on the floor to rumble - I leave that to the boys. When the big brothers (kuyas) come to visit it's like who can get one the floor first... For a rumble or a horsey ride...

Warms the heart though to see grown up sons interacting with little sons. and teaching them how to be boys after God's heart.

Ah! It's all good and I give thanks for the daughter God gave us and 2 grand daughters. A nice balance!

And most days... I tread carefully... Just in case there's a hot wheels car underfoot

"Empty Nesters?"

Way back - before the 3 little guys joined our family - Ron and I actually had a WHOLE YEAR of experiencing what it was like to be empty nesters.

We'd received a call from a church in Sth Gippsland, Victoria to come over and be their pastor ( did I mention my hubby Ron is a pastor) and family. Would we take that call or stay in the beautiful Blue Mountains west of Sydney?

Well, we swapped the blue hills for the green rolling hills of dairy farming territory and moved to the little town of Leongatha which would be our home for the next 6 years. We excitedly packed our boxes but hmmm...what about the kids? Our 4 older ones were growing up quick and our daughter had her mind made up quick smart - she was moving too - but not to Leongatha. She wanted to go live in Geelong where we had lived when the children were younger. It also was a teeny bit of motivation that her boyfriend (who became her husband) lived in Victoria. I think her boxes were packed and numbered in record time!

The 2 youngest sons who were then 14 and 16 came with us but we had to leave son #1 behind...he wanted to pursue his career in music.

So, off we went with 2 sons..saying goodbye to 2 and that was hard for this mama to take.

After a year in our new home, guess what?

The 2 sons with us decided to return to the Blue Mtns as they missed their brother and mates.

They shared a house together which was a positive that they actually WANTED to live together again....

But...

What about mum and dad?

We had just moved into our beautiful brand new home that we had built for us..the first time we ever had the joy of building a home.

And now? They were leaving us?

After waving the boys off in their old cars loaded with their wordly goods, we sniffed a bit, shed a few tears and then.......

WOW!! We had this whole house to ourselves? This lovely 5 bedroom home was OURS just the 2 of us to enjoy?....our minds whirled at the possibilites...

HAHA!! It didn't take long at all...I was miserable. I was soooo missing the frantic frenzy of family. I roamed the house, looking for odd left behind socks to wash...pathetic huh?

God, in His plan for us, had called us to another adventure, that of adoption and we were by then (before becoming empty nesters) well into the process. Oh soon we would fill these rooms again and I spent many moments daydreaming in the rooms we had prepared for our children-to-be.

And then, finally, after several months without more than 2 dinner plates on the dining table, God answered our prayers and we had that wonderful phone call that would change our lives forever. There was to be 3 more additions to our family!

Finally we travelled to the Philippines to meet our new sons. My heart just warms at the memory of that special time. Our older boys came too but they were living back in NSW and so we came home with just 3 little people under the age of 5.

Empty nesters no more...3 months later....the 2 boys who had gone to live with their brother decided to come back...

Empty Nesters? Whoa - Packed to the Nauta's instead...!!

And that's how its been since...and this mama is loving every minute of it! Yes, even the HUGE number of socks in the washing.

Intro to me

Hi

This whole blogging thing is new to me but I thought I would give it a go ( with some encouragement from a friend)..

My blog is titled "Hot-flushed Mama" cos here I am at age 50 trying to deal with "power surges" along with "power struggles" with small people!

My husband and I have been blessed with 4 great kids who are now young adults and we even have grand children. Then...3 years ago nearly, we met the 3 totally precious little boys - siblings -who were then living in the Philippines who were destined to become our sons through the miracle of inter-country adoption.

I hope my blog gives you a bit of a laugh from time to time, maybe a tear every now and then too..hope you enjoy the journey..

Donna