Scribbled on the back of an envelope at the Ben Folds concert

The world is changing. We are ageing. Friends' parents are dying. I recently discovered that Ben Folds - who writes about romance and grief and ordinary people in ways that I feel with resonate with me forever - has been married four times. Lance Armstrong is a drug cheat. In between epitomising family life, Bill Cosby allegedly spent the 1980s molesting 13 young women. My darling husband's signature black hair is thinning.

Life continues. My naughty four year old is singing in a Christmas concert, reading sentences, sobbing on the floor because she wants a coloured ribbon. In her darkened bedroom my baby feeds herself to sleep with such contentment - bliss - etched on her sweet face that I hope never to forget. My husband and I are listening to Ben Folds play with the symphony orchestra and - if I try - I can separate art and personality and he still makes my heart churn and soar and I still know all the words.

When I get home I will sneak in and kiss my babies. My four year old's room will smell slightly funny and she'll be sweaty and oblivious and I'll risk waking up the littlest one, but I'll do it anyway. Because life is happening, moving, passing, here - now.

December excitements

We're waiting for Christmas. We've put up the tree, visited Santa at Myer, each chosen our new decoration for the tree. Very impressed by the Myer Santaland set up incidentally - you line up in a single queue, then go through a door, behind which are multiple little rooms each (presumably) housing their own Santa. When you emerge, having put in your order with the man in red, there is a train to ride. Elves hand out free bags of popcorn and balloons. I know it's all with the aim of encouraging us to buy overpriced photographs and other bits and pieces, but if it's a scam it's a well organised one.

E is super excited by it all. She spent the morning removing most of the decorations from the tree to hang in other places so the rest of the house would "look pretty." Grrrrr. On a slightly different note, she has just departed for her last day of kindy. Where did the year go? How is it that I now have a four year old who can, with only minimal help, read a bedtime story to her sister?

Speaking of the sister, she is well and happy and still rates the 4 year old as the biggest excitement in the house. She has two horrid little teeth, can sit like a champion, babbles "ahhhhhh, mummummum" most endearingly and is working on the crawling.

I am super excited that I have finally finished all our shopping. It starts out being a pleasure and just feels like a chore by the end of it.

I am also excited by the arrival of various friends and family in the next few weeks. All coming home for Christmas/New Year, it fills me with anticipation and pleasure. Hiiiiiiiiii, SuseBrettAnnabelDomSallyNicZacCillianandHelen!

We're staying home for Christmas but looking forward to five nights on Rottnest over the Australia Day weekend. E is full of questions and anticipation - how long will it take to get there on the ferry, is ferry the same as fairy (?!), can we "play Rottnest?" Um yes, ok, how do we do that? We get these beanbags and these cushions and we pile them up like this, Mum! Then we have an island and we can jump on it! I haven't been to Rottnest since I was 18 and am really hanging out for what I hope will be a pretty simple, kinda old fashioned holiday - am I being naive? I'm hoping for sunshine, lots of beach time, afternoon naps, beers at sunset and nothing more complex for dinner than sausages and fish and chips. Any tips from anyone who has been recently welcome!