September, for me, has been a breakdown month.

I’ve not coped very well with

well,

very much at all.

There are big things happening with Ivy and Noah, with the other kids, with life in general

and things that still need to be achieved, slowly and methodically,

things that I want to write about but have not yet found the words to express them

but it has not been all doom and gloom,

some days have been a cascade of beauty and happiness…

I’ve been taking photos;

two weddings and a family.

I’ve battled nerves and anxiety

and been excited, thrilled and exhilerated all at once

and amazed with the people I am lucky enough to meet along the way.

Lily’s school held a fete.

The rides, that had been booked months in advance,

did not arrive

and the children were devastated,

the P&C more so

but

the school community rallied

and made the evening the best it could possibly be.

Immy and Maddy, along with another of their friends ran a face painting stall.

It was the busiest place

and they turned in over $300 for the school.

At $3 a face, that meant that between them they had painted over 100 faces in three hours!

The teachers set up an obstacle course, with sack racing and a giant Earth ball.

Ivy and Noah made their own playdough for 50 cents each.

There were fire engines to climb into and food to eat.

AJ and Mal got caught up in a football game.

Lily and some of her friends from the student council

held a stall for Team Ivy.

They sold lollies and balloons and raised another $300 for the little ward at Ivy’s hospital.

It was a lovely evening.

Consequently, Team Ivy closed in September.

The numbers, at closing, were just over $8000 raised,

with more money still to be added!

I will be forever thankful to all of you out there

and I’m hoping to be able to show you where the money has been spent soon.

We took a trip out to the Broke markets and spent a day wandering through the little town.

It was just what we needed

after being cooped up inside with the horrible gastro come respiratory lurgy that Ivy and Noah had.

Mal went to camp and came home king of the rock climbing wall.

The way he told the story, you could tell he felt like king of the world.

Immy had her article about living with Ivy published in That’s Life magazine.

It caused great excitement for my big girl

and

she is happy to boast that she is now a published author,

at the grand old age of 14.

I registered for the Australian Blogging Conference in March next year

and I’m speaking there.

I’m very excited to finally be meeting some of my favourite bloggy  people.

We celebrated Father’s Day

and AJ’s birthday.

We went go karting (and he introduced us to his girlfriend).

There was an anniversary:

with a night away

and a picnic hamper the next day (thanks to my Mum)

and my birthday too.

There were gifts

and chocolate for breakfast.

There was banana and mango smoothie, with icecream and whipped cream on the top

but best of all -

we were together.

We have been to visit friends and family,

we have enjoyed the little things,

like Noah finally learning to write his own name:

and the warmth of  Spring creeping into our days.

September has been busy and full and I honestly don’t know where it went.

We have big decisions to make in the next few weeks

but for today,

I want to remember all of the good things that last month brought.