Loss,conflict and the wisdom of children.

It has been an emotional week in the world.
Around the world violent acts have caused heartache for thousands of people.
Sadness and heartache that we can only try to comprehend.
In Australia these acts are usually items on a news bulletin - they shock us, scare us and sometimes horrify us but generally we move on in our island bubble, detached from war and conflict.
Not this week.
This week it became very personal.
And so very sad.
The bombing of flight MH17 and the subsequent deaths of 3 Perth children amongst all of the many others has delivered the consequences of war and conflict into our homes.
The sadness in our house as we mourn a football team mate and a lovely family that we smile and laugh with on Sunday mornings, is nothing compared to their loss and that of the families & friends of every other passenger.
With heavy hearts we feel for them, send them our love and wish that we could do something ease their grief.

There have been many questions and conversations as we all come to grips with the enormity of what has happened.
Our youngest child, who has just turned 8, has been trying to process it all and I wanted to share a conversation that we had the other day.

Miss A: "Mum, why would somebody do that? Why would they bomb a plane?"
Me: "I don't know.  In the world there are people who are just not nice and they do horrible things"
Miss A:  "Are they bullies?"
Me: "Yes I think they probably are"
Miss A: "Maybe they should all think back to when they were little kids.  They should think about what it feels like when somebody is mean to you and how awful you feel.  Then they should remember that feeling and not be mean or horrible to other people.  They should do things that are nice and they should stay on their own sides and be happy with what they have.  Then they won't bomb planes and people won't be sad."

I think she is right.
May this never happen again.

In the blink of an eye ...

…. my smallest turned 8.

How did that happen?

So many years but sometimes it seems so few.

To celebrate we had a garden party at home with (what were we thinking ???) around 20 (!!!) seven and eight year olds.  20 is crazy but we only moved here 12 months ago and our little Miss is still finding her place so after much discussion we decided that we should have them all.

I love a home party.
I love the preparing, the planning, the discussing, the making.
I love seeing the kids and getting to know their personalities in action.
I love that the kids have a great time without paid performers in an old school type of way.
I love the way our bigger kids get in there and help out and love doing it.
I love it when the last of them leaves and we all crash on the couch.

Here are some picks of our 8 year old garden party.

"Dirt cups" or tim-tams whacked though the food processor with a bit of chocolate topping thrown in to bind them a teeny tiny bit.  SOOO yum

Salted Caramel Popcorn

The cake which was going to be a number 8 but I chickened out.  Decorating cakes isn't my strength.  After checking out Mr Google I discovered a blog called I Am Baker which, apart from being fabulous, has an excellent tutorial on how to do the icing roses.   If I can do them any 5 year old with a piping bag can!

I loved the look on the kid's faces when we cut the cake.  They were expecting chocolate not a rainbow surprise.

A little crafty gardening activity to do between games which the kids all took home.

And before you think that we are uber cool, organised party professionals, let me just keep it real for you ….
ice packs required - 2, head crash and mild concussion on trampoline
band-aids required - 1, bleeding foot whilst dancing on the carpet
kids in tears - 2 or 3 at various moments but all left the party smiling (phew)
happiest creature at party - our old friendly dog - who may have eaten the remains of 18 donuts and didn't require dinner - until one of the kids quietly mentioned that she was terrified of dogs as she hid behind my legs (oops) and we gave the dog a little rest in the laundry.
state of floor afterwards - very sticky & crunchy
dinner for the family post party - cheese toasties as we were all pooped!

Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs

Do you remember these ?

I'm preparing for a gazillion 7 and 8 year olds that will celebrate a birthday here on the weekend.

We're planning to fill them full of homemade sugar treats & cakes, have them run around like mad outside (praying to the weather gods on the hour every hour!) and send them home exhausted and hopefully with our home intact.

Have just made salted caramel popcorn which taste just like Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs.

Good god it is delicious.  And healthy ??? … corn ???? Maybe just a little bit ?????
Ok not healthy at all but fun and delicious.

Recipe in this book:

I just have to stop eating it !!!!!