Friday, December 19, 2008

Santa Claus, Oh The Horror

Today I took the girls to see Santa at our local mall. He is a lovely Santa, probably the best I have ever seen, and is the same one that was there last year. We were about 5th in line to see Santa and each of the families had a child who was either unsure of or petrified of Santa. It was funny to see the effort put in to make these poor terrified children smile for their photo with Santa and each time, the mother had to end up in the photo. That was the case last year for Charli, but not this year......as soon as our turn came, both of them yelled "Santa" and ran to sit on his lap. Even the photographer was surprised by just how fast they had themselves organised and sitting on Santa's lap. They are so funny and never let me forget it.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Christmas Tree Mess

We put up the Christmas tree last week and boy was it fun. Children were trying to put the decorations on before the tree was even set up, while I was still putting the lights on I was fighting off the decorating fairies and just about the whole time, the husband was standing by laughing. Eventually the lights were done and the girls decorated the tree, 10 baubles each on about 5 branches, the tinsel all stuffed into  the small gap between the branches at the bottom and they were done....oh and the angel at the top. Once they were happy with the completed product, all the lights were turned off so they could marvel at their masterpiece. Then, time for bed and time for mummy to take the Christmas tree apart and put it back together again. An hour later and the tree looked like a Christmas tree instead of a mess or rather, a tree decorated by rather enthusiastic 5 and 3 year old Christmas tree fairies.....they didn't even notice. Until next year when I am sure the mess will just have to stay.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Deja Vous

I remember when I was small that my little sister was fiercely independent. Anything and everything came with "I can do it myself", it reminds me of the Charlie and Lola book "I Can Do Anything That's Everything All On My Own". I could never be bothered with the effort, if someone was going to do it for me, then more power to them, who was I to argue?

The deja vous comes into play with my little Charli (yes like Charlie and Lola which she loves), she is one of the most independent children I have met and that is saying something considering how independent Paige is. The other day I was out with Charli while Paige was at Kinder, I got her out of the car with her protesting all the time about how she could do it herself. When I turned away to get something she climbed back in the car and then out again with a very stern "see, I do it myself"....hrumph!! Seems to me, I remember the exact same thing happening with a certain younger sister when I was little....isn't it funny how you can see so much of yourself and family members in your children whilst at the same time, they have their own little (or big) personalities.

Monday, December 1, 2008

The Haircut

I went to the supermarket to do a little grocery shopping and was really proud of my effort. In and out in less than 30 minutes which I think is a new record for me. Driving home, feeling chuffed and then I walked in the door and almost dropped the newly acquired groceries in horror. Charli has gone from having lovely long hair which is all blonde and curls at the end with a lovely fringe that comes down to her eyes to this:

Now I am almost over the shock. I will admit that there was some yelling that was directed at the 5 year old "hairdresser", a term I use in the loosest sense, the promise of no dessert for a week as well as the threat that if it EVER happens again, she will also have no hair. After a visit to the real hairdresser this morning, which took about half an hour, things are relatively back to normal. The only thing is that Charli keeps trying to find the ponytail that is holding all her hair up.

Monday, November 24, 2008

How concise

Something I have been considering lately is the lack of respect shown by children to deserving adults and the "I want" attitude displayed by many children today and especially Paige in particular. Even more so in the wake of the recent financial crisis that sent the world and many a share portfolio/superannuation account into a spin. I came across this article today and it reflects, extremely concisely, how I am feeling. I thought I would share.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Unusual

Completely out of character for me.....I love the Dixie Chicks. Normally I cannot stand country music unless it somehow has Johnny Cash attached to it. In fact, you will find in a list of music that I like "anything except heavy metal and country music". However, I have always had a soft spot for the Dixie Chicks. They are all quite lovely looking and their music is fun, catchy and often has a really great message in the lyrics. Tonight I watched their documentary Shut up and Sing relating to the controversy that was created when Natalie Maines made a statement about George W Bush and the war in Iraq which was about to start. This statement was then blown completely out of proportion and came to a climax when there was death threats issued against Natalie. I found it quite moving and inspirational that not only would Natalie not back down on what she had said, but the entire band stood up for her and the statement she made even though it was looking like their music careers would suffer. What a great group of girls, loyal, strong-willed, determined and intelligent.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Poor Things

I feel really sorry for the girls today. Not only did they not get a great sleep last night, but they had to deal with a sleep deprived, grumpy and impatient Mumma today.

Charli is currently suffering from a HUGE ulcer on the underside of her tongue. I took her to the doctor as she is getting them fairly often, but he just said to give her vitamins and put bonjella on there. It doesn't seem to be working as I am still getting up to her 4-6 times a night for either "my mouth hurts" or "scared of my bedroom". Not sure what the scared is about, but I can understand the hurt as I get ulcers and have first hand knowledge of the pain. I took her with me to the pharmacy tonight and the guy there is lovely. He gave me vitamins as well as SM33 gel (yes Shell you were right....lignocaine over the counter) which seems to be working a treat. So far tonight she has only woken up once and that was for the scared, no mention of the pain so fingers crossed for some sleep tonight.

So that is the reason for the lack of sleep. Even Paige this morning didn't want to get up because "Charli kept crying all night and waking me up". A very kind and concerned person told me that I should get some sleep during the day, but unfortunately I have a 2.5yr old and 5yr old. I don't think sleep is something that happens during the day, especially if you don't want to wake up to the aftermath of Hurricane Preschoolers and/or World War III. Besides that, if I do get some sleep during the day, it takes me until bed time to get my brain moving again and to get rid of that nagging "I slept during the day" headache and that kind of defeats to purpose to begin with. I am thinking that the best thing to do is to go to bed early. Revolutionary idea, now if I can just convince my Lord of the Rings playing fingers that that is what I need to do......

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Comparisons

I know that a lot of Mum's either compare their children with other people as if it is a competition as to who did what first. You know the whole "little Johnny started walking at 13 months"....."well little Jenny was walking at 11 months" like there is something meaningful in your child doing something earlier than someone else's. It somehow makes you feel like a better or more successful mum, which we all know is not the case, but sometime you catch yourself doing it all the same.

My thing currently is, do you compare your own children with each other? I have 2 girls, so for a start there will always be comparisons as they are the same sex. Then add to that the fact that my first one was quick at picking up everything, walking, talking, toilet training, feeding herself, saying goodbye to her dummy, dressing herself and so forth. On the other hand, my second one is not so quick. It is not like she has a problem, it is just that she is different. I often find myself thinking, well Paige was doing this by now so why isn't Charli? For example, Paige said goodbye to her dummy with no complaints at approx 18 months, Charli is 2.5 years and is still sucking her thumb. Paige was toilet trained at 2 years and Charli is not interested and doesn't have a problem sitting in wet pants.

So....what to do. I know I shouldn't compare them as they are totally different both in looks and personality, one sits and watches the other does and this goes for most things in their lives. About the only thing they really share is their lack of inhibitions as they are both extremely outgoing and sociable. I must remember that each is different and Charli will do things when SHE is ready, not when Paige was ready.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Yummy

Tonight for dinner we had the most amazing meal. I have to say that I was a little skeptical when my better half suggested it, but I will admit that I was totally wrong and he was totally right, to the point that it may even be worth the "I was wrong" dance.

So, what was it I hear you asking, well, to end the suspense we had lamb cutlets with couscous, sounds boring, but then you add the rest. The lamb cutlets were marinated in the new Master Foods Marinade in the Moroccan flavour and the couscous was made with tarragon, vegetable stock, onion and sun-dried tomatoes. Quite surprisingly, Charli loved both the lamb and the couscous whilst it took a little convincing and a little bribery (icecream and strawberries) and a little if you don't eat it by the time the monkeys wake up you wont get any icecream and strawberries to get Paige to eat the couscous. All in all, a total success. I am sure that will now go on our high rotation list as it seems to be healthy and yummy.

Then the day was ended by Paige getting her knee stuck in her bed....but that is another story for another day.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Thumbsucking

My youngest is a thumbsucker....the problem is, she is now 2.5yrs old. When the older one was 2.5yrs old, she no longer had a dummy, so why should Charli still be able to have her thumb (yes I do realise it is attached to her which makes it not so easy to get rid of). We decided that we should try to get her to stop sucking her thumb, or at least start now or she will be sucking it forever and while it is really cute the way she sucks her thumb and rubs her nose with her puppy's ear, it would not be so cute if she were 18. So far we have been doing ok, when she is told to take her thumb out, she simply does it and says "ok" sometimes she follows up with "Thumb in Mama" and when I say no she says "ok". The best one so far is when I told her to take her thumb out and she said "ok, finger in?" holding up her pinkie finger.....very funny. Anyway, it has been 2 days so we will keep going with telling her to take it out and see how we go. Updates to follow.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Bunkbed Chaos

Bunkbeds are pretty much the only way that we can get both the girls into full size beds in their tiny bedroom. The only other way was to get a bed with a trundle and that would be a pain. Before I bought the bunkbeds I did a lot of research as I wanted to make sure that the ones I bought were as safe as possible. Anyway, I ended up deciding on one that has a really low bottom bunk and the top one is not too high and has a guard rail the whole way around, no gaps apart from the ladder.

What I didn't take into account however, is the 5 year old who thought that it would be really fun to try and do a backflip off the top bunk using the ladder as her brace. She slid down the ladder backwards and head first only to land, surprisingly to her, on her head. The funny thing was, as usual, she was wearing a headband so now she has a 10cm rail line on her head from where the teeth of the headband pushed into her head when she landed on it. Oh and to top it all off, there was blood.....oh dear, end of the world, epic stuff.

Whilst it wasn't very funny at the time, 15 hours later, I am starting to see the funny side. 10 minutes later, she was putting on another head band and told me in very certain tones that she would not be trying that again.....at least, not until next time. I just reminded her to take off her headband next time.

Staying up too late

Why is it that I always stay up too late. I know I need to get some sleep, but I just keep getting distracted by other unimportant things.....

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Things that make you go .... awww


Usually it is all "I was sitting there first" or "dont squash me" or "get off my chair" or just "MUUUUUMMMM" and then you get this and it makes you realise that they do really love each other and you can't help but go awww.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Not a work of Art.....


I love to bake cupcakes and the most fun part is the icing. Unfortunately, my piping bag broke... so I made some standard icing for these ones. I know, not a work of art, but yummy none the less and colourful too. I know a certain 2 hobbits who wont complain.

To Begin, Again

Well, I know it has been a while. Apparently it is alot harder to write a blog than it is to read them. I thought it would be so easy and fun. Well it is actually quite hard, especially for someone like me who has never been a journaler or diary writer. I was not sure where to start so I didn't. So, here is try number 2, we'll see how this one goes.

Recently I took a little break from being a SAHM and worked almost full time for a whole 4 weeks. Wow, I thought it would be nice for a change, you know, getting out of the house and doing something that involved using my brain. Turns out, the only thing I really enjoyed about it was that I had my hair and make up done everyday and I had my mum staying with me for 7 weeks. What a blast. I know, most people would think "hmm mother staying with me or torture device, I'll take the torture device" I am lucky that I get along really well with my mum and we had lots of fun and did lots of things.

I think that since Mum was here, the rest of my family thought it might be a good time to visit too so in the space of 2 weekends we had (in my little 3 bedroom townhouse) my Dad, brother, sister-in law and nephew and the following weekend, my sister and 2 nieces. Lots of fun and not much room. Also in those 2 weekends we took the girls to the Melbourne zoo for the first time, lots of fun and had PJ's 5th birthday party at McDonalds. All in all we had a ball.

Now it feels very quiet as it is back to just the 4 of us. Things around here are really quiet, apart from the ongoing drama and noise that comes along with having a 2.5 yr old and a 5 yr old.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

To Begin

So this is my first post and I actually don't have very much to say apart from the fact that the Boy is away for the weekend and the girls are driving each other crazy. Paige gets upset when Charli makes noise, Charli, in her never ending quest to not do anything she is told by her older sister either just keeps doing it or doing something louder. Either way, it ends with PJ yelling at Charli or declaring that her ears are hurting or she is getting a headache. Funny how a 4 yr old can pick up these things.

Luckily for me, it is about bed time for them so I will have some peace and quiet for a while until it all starts again in the morning.