All Over Red Rover

Today was the last day of school. This means that it was PJ's last day of Prep, is it just me or has this year gone really fast? Over the past week Paige has been bringing home photos from during the year and things that she has made and that have been on display in the stair well or class room. I was shocked when she brought home her first day of school photo at just how much she has changed in the past year. As a consequence, we have made a new rule in our house..."No more growing up". Basically, she has been banned from growing up anymore as it is just going too fast. It is not so much the age, but the fact that she is just getting so "grown up".

Anyway, back to the original point, today was the last day and luckily the assembly was not rained out, but the sound system did have a few issues and they ended up using a megaphone instead, fun. Paige was sad to be saying goodbye to her Prep teacher who has been truly wonderful and very sad to say goodbye to her grade 6 buddy who is off to high school next year. Paige will be in a composite Grade 1 & 2 class next year so that will be interesting to find out how it goes. Apparently there are only 6 Grade 2 children in the class...hmmm. Paige has a few kids from her class with her next year, but was a bit disappointed that she has one boy in particular in her class as she didn't really want to be with him, and also does not have her best friend in her class, but I am sure it wont make much of a difference except that they will not be separated in class for talking.

Also this week, Paige brought home her report and portfolio. Can I just say that we are extremely proud of her and how much she has grown and changed from the beginning of the year. We were a little worried that she would not take it seriously and do as she was told or that she would be bored and act up. It seems that she has really settled in and is doing really well. She has also been accepted to an advanced learning program so that will help her stretch herself a bit and hopefully stave off the boredom. I am hoping that the composite nature of her class next year will also help kick her learning up a bit as the worst thing is if she gets bored as then she acts up.

So, after all of the anticipation and stress, she has finished her first year of school and all things considered, she really enjoyed it and did really well and I made some really great new friends. Also, Charli has made some wonderful friends who will be starting school around the same time she is and I couldn't ask for anything better.

Gypsy Children

It is quite funny and a follow on to the "perfectly good bed" that tonight we decided that our children are in fact, gypsies, or possibly nomads, or something, I don't know, but I am sure you get the picture. In their room they have a bunk bed, Paige sleeps at the top and Charli sleeps at the bottom, or at least that is how it is supposed to work. What ends up happening is they inevitably sleep somewhere that is other. Paige in our room on the floor next to the bed or in the bed until we get there. Charli in bed with Paige, Paige on the bean bag on the floor in her room, Charli in Paige's bed.

They can sleep where ever and it doesn't bother them, in fact, the other day Charli slept on the recliner in the lounge room with her feet against the back and her head hanging off the edge. For that matter, when Charli was younger she would sleep under the balloons at the birthday party, under the coffee table, sitting on a chair with her head on the table, standing on the floor with her head on the couch....maybe they are just good sleepers and maybe I should not be complaining lest it bite me on the butt. Where is some wood for me to touch!

Dresses for Nieces

Two of my three nieces had their birthdays in November so I thought I would make them each an Oliver + S sundress. I have not posted until now as I was a bit slow in sending them over. I know that they have them so I am now able to put up the pictures of the dresses.

This one I made for my middle niece:


And this one I made for my youngest Niece:



I know they like them and I am very happy about that. So now I am off to try and get my Christmas sewing done.

Impanorey Friends

Charli has decided that it is very "aportnant" that you know about her "Impanorey" friends. She has a few, most of them are called Titi as that is what she calls everything that doesn't already have a name. I just wanted to post this as I think it is really cute the way she says "impanorey" for imaginary.

That is all.

A Perfectly Good Bed

For some reason lately Paige has taken to sleeping in a very interesting place, her bean bag. The girls have a bean bag in their room made of a nice soft corduroy and it is full of stuffed toys rather than beans, it is actually quite comfortable. Lately Paige has decided that she is going to sleep in it. Each night we go in there and she is asleep in the bean bag in various interesting, but not terribly comfortable looking positions. Sometimes we put her back into her perfectly good bed and sometimes we just leave her in her bean bag. Tonight I went in to say good night to her and she was asleep with her feet in the air, Tinkerbell books on her face, in the bean bag, I think I might just leave her there, I am sure it is more comfortable than it looks.

Bunk Bed Barina

Last night we went to the Drive-in with the girls, it is one of their favourite outings. We went to see Where The Wild Things Are which is apparently a childrens movie and given that it is based on a childrens book, would seem likely. I would not however, recommend it for children. I am feeling ambivalent about it as a whole. I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it so I think I may just allocate it to the MEH category. The best thing about it was the costumes, Max and the Wild Things looked exactly like they did in the book, the next best thing was when it finished. I think the main thing was that the girls didn't get freaked out, that would have been bad.

Once that was over, we moved on over to one of the other screens and settled in for New Moon which is definitely NOT a children's film. We brought pillows and blankets and as it didn't start until 11.30pm we knew the girls would be ready for sleeping by then. Paige sprawled across the backseat with her pillow and blankets and Charli decided that the best place for her to sleep would be the parcel shelf in the back of the car. She fit in there perfectly and with her pillow, blankets and of course Puppy No-Eyes, went off to sleep. I think it took them both about 36 seconds to fall asleep and The Boy and I enjoyed New Moon without having to worry about little eyes peeking from the back seat.

Definitely a great night which was only nearly spoiled by the first film......ok, I have changed my mind....I didn't like it. It was worth it though in order to see New Moon.

Scratch Header

Tonight Charli walked into the kitchen and declared that she really needed to use the scratch header and scratch backer and then picked up the pasta spoon and proceeded to scratch her back with it. The last thing I heard was "ahh, that's better".

Before I Go To Sleep

Tonight we had an awesome dinner which Charli went back for seconds on and the rest of us loved so I thought I would share. The bonus with this meal is that it takes approx 30 mins from start to finish so it one of those 'get on the plate quick' meals. Basically we got 2 chicken breasts and cut them into cubes, then added the Masterfoods Homestyle Marinade in Moroccan. We also grabbed 2 packets of Continental Moroccan couscous and made that up, I also steamed some green beans and then once everything is cooked, mix it all together. Hey Presto, quick meal and yummy to the extreme. I highly recommend you try it or ...... not, but if you don't, you are missing out.

I also did some baking today which is something I have not done for a little while. It was fun and I made Jam Drops which were a huge hit, half apricot and half strawberry, although I do think the apricot are being discriminated against as the strawberry seem to be disappearing quicker.

Oh and I just finished cleaning my kitchen which makes me happy so tomorrow I can sew and that will make me even happier. And now, I go to sleep, but not before I read some more of my very own hardcover version of Twilight.

Lots of Sewing

I have really been enjoying sewing lately, so much so, in fact that I even bought the Handmade magazine for the first time ever. I have also been borrowing Burda magazines from the library. I made a dress for Paige and for the first time ever used a pattern. I was more difficult than I had anticipated as I am not used to being precise, also, I didn't realise that the sizing is SOO different. I made her the size that she currently wears and ended up having to unpick it all and cut it down 2 sizes so that it would fit her. The bonus is that now I have modified the pattern so that it fits her well as she is tall and slim and I have the making of the dress (which is actually quite easy) down so that I don't even have to look at the instructions. So far I have made 4 of them for various people. I can only post 2 at the moment, as the rest are for presents and haven't been sent yet. I will post them once they have been received, wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.

Here are the ones I made for PJ and Charli using the Oliver + S Popover Sundress

Luckily for me, the girls love them and wear them often.

I also made myself a dress which is lovely and light for Summer, this is also from a free pattern I found called Mendocino Sundress by Heather Ross.


And lastly, yesterday I was browsing some sewing blogs, linked from others, to others, to, well you get the idea and I can across a really great blog and got another free pattern which I whipped up yesterday for PJ's best friend. The blog is by Tanya Whelan who is a fabric designer and the free pattern is for a ruffle skirt which I think turned out quite cute.

Paige's Birthday Party

I have had quite a few people ask about PJ's party and how it went. Yes it was a while ago, but I have not posted for a while so that is why there is nothing here about it. Her party was at Fairyfields and was a great success, both for Paige and all the children's who came along. We ended up with 17 all together, all except 2 of the invitees were able to make it and we had an extra which worked out really well as the extra was the younger sister of one of PJ's friends and is Charli's friend so she had someone her age to play with. All in all, it was good fun. I didn't take any photos in the party as I wanted the kids to be able to do all of the activities and have fun and not have to worry about having a Mum watching them or trying to get them to pose for photos. I did take some photos afterwards of Paige, Charli and two of her close friends in their costumes.




PJ love all of her presents, particularly a Moxie doll that she received as she now wants the other girls and also 2 dresses, you can never really go wrong with dresses for Paige. One of the dresses was made for Paige by a good friend of mine and she loved it and wore it the next day to church. I think it has been worn at least once a week since then and she is very careful not to get it dirty. Apparently, I now have to make one like it for Charli. Thanks V. XX

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday to my gorgeous niece. I have a hard time remembering that she is 3 today since the last time I saw her she was still a baby.....love you Clare :)

When I Grow Up

Today Charli announced that when she grows up she wants to be a Musketeer. The sort that has a pink hat and a sword to fight the baddies (thanks Barbie), now we just need to find her a french King to protect.

When Daddy came home I said: Hey Charli, what do you want to be when you grow up?
A Musketeer! she cried
But I thought you wanted to be a bicycle? said Daddy
Yes, but now I want to be a Musketeer.
At least it is human. said Daddy.

This, That and The Other

**UPDATED**
I have updated this post to add photos of the crab that I made for the school concert. It is a bit small for PJ, but you get the idea. There was also a shell on the back which you can kind of see in the last photo. Also added photos of PJ's actual costume for the concert.

I just realised that I had not updated the second week of holidays and here it is the second week back at school of Term 4. Freaky. Anyway, we did lots of catching up on the second week as PJ spent the first week sick. I am pretty sure, if I cast my mind back, that we saw someone pretty much every day of that week. We went to the park, we baked and we went swimming. The funny thing about the swimming excursion was that it was the first time we had been to the Ivanhoe pool even though it is just down the road and we have lived here for 2.5 years now. Oh well, eventually we get around to these things. All in all, the second week was full of fun and Paige was all tired out for her first week back at school.

Since then we had first week back, which is a drama in and of itself, not only is Paige tired and not wanting to get up for school, I am of the same opinion, but I must admit that it is nice to get back to a routine.

Now we are in the second week and we have just had the school concert last night. Some of it was a bit of a yawn and some of it was torture, think strangling cats, but most of it was good and the highlight was the Preppy's and their gorgeous songs. The theme for the whole night was "A Night at the Movies" so all of songs they did were out of popular movies such as High School Musical, American Tale, Dreamgirls, Footloose, Grease and Mary Poppins. Paige's class did "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid. They have been practicing the words and the dance steps for months. It was 2 of the prep classes together and then split into 2 groups by alphabet, A-K on the first night and L-Z on the second. I think there was about 20 of them on the stage together for the song. Paige was in the front row on the side of the stage that we were sitting. She was dressed as a pink and purple sparkly fish and remembered all of the words and steps. She even remembered to retrieve her clam shell set at the end and remind the little boy who forget his, much to the amusement of the audience. It is funny how many people in the school know who Paige is....I chose to see this as a good thing. She was so excited about the concert and she did really well, very proud, we are.

For the concert I made a costume for 2 of the boys to wear, one on the first night and another on the second. This was made by copying an existing full length body suit and then adjusting it to make it in to a Sebastian crab. I was actually very proud of my effort and I thought that the little boy who wore it on the second night (as I wasn't there the first night) looked great. I am pretty sure that he was also impressed with the costume. Rather than posting pictures of this boy without permission, I got Paige to put it on for me to take a photo. The shell is missing, but you get the general idea. Also, it is a little bit too small for her as it was made for boys who were quite a bit shorter than she is, again, you get the general idea.

Now that is all over, I am going to attempt to sew up some summery dresses for the girls from some lovely quilting fabric I got from Spotlight. It has been sitting on my buffet calling out to me to make something, but I refrained as I had to finish the crab. Now I can finally give in and have traced a pattern and started cutting out a dress for Paige, she is pretty excited.

Well, must be off to hit the bed as I have Paige's birthday party in the morning, not sure that I am actually going to be able to get out of bed for it although I am pretty sure she wont let me sleep in.


Paige showing off the nearly finished costume

Finished crab in action

PJ's gorgeous fish

Charli had to have a go too

The Name That Fits the Child

Last Friday Paige turned six. SIX! Let me just pause there for a second because, OMG, SIX! It seems like just yesterday, well, alright, not yesterday but not that long ago that she was harassing me from the inside and now she is SIX! It is always a bit nostalgic when Bathurst is on as that is the first thing we did with her after we went home from the hospital, go to a friends and then my parents to watch the race.

We went to the movies to see UP in 3D, which is what Paige wanted to see. We got some games for the Wii, she picked Mario Party 8, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Disney Princesses which I think she may already have finished. From Nannie and Papa she got Impulse and lipgloss which she loves and Dora saves the Snow Princess for the Wii. From Grandma and Grandpa she got a sticker Dictionary which she thought was great and Polly Pockets which are always "awesome". From Aunty Shelley and Uncle Trevor and of course Abby, Katy and Clare she got paper dolls and an overall dress which are 2 of her favourite things. Oh and she got a new Snow White outfit from some good friends. In fact, all of her presents were her favourite things so that worked out quite well.

One of the things I got for Paige was a keyring for her bag with her name on it and a description of the meaning. It got me thinking, do you think the child grows up to match the meaning of the name or is it the other way around. I mean, at the time, you try to do your best to give that new screaming bundle of amazing a name that you like and that will suit them and sometimes the fit and sometimes they REALLY fit. I will let you decide:

Paige
Being young of heart
and spirit, she is full
of life and adventure,
loving the excitement
of a new challenge
eyes that twinkle and
shine with mischief
one never knows what
she is thinking, she
becomes more beautiful
with age, glowing with a
special inner light, sweet,
gentle and caring
by nature.

Holidays are NOT for Spewing!

Poor Paige, the whole first week of the holidays, she spent either in the bathroom throwing up, or laying on the couch sleeping and feeling very much worse for wear. This time last year we had the extra strength gastro go through our house. This year, it was pretty much your garden variety and luckily we had a 50% hit rate with only 2 of our 4 being laid out by it. Still, it was the school holidays and Paige was VERY sick for pretty much the entire first week. Oh well, at least we had 1 week of lots of playing and doing stuff.

Updates on week 2 still to come.

Thanks Dad

Today I had a bit of a dilemma, I was trying to make a decision about something which has been bugging me for a few days. I was feeling very uneasy and losing a bit of sleep and decided that today was the day to decide yes or no. I wanted to think it through properly before talking to the boy so that when I did, I would make sense. In order to do that, I needed to bounce off someone and that someone was and usually is either my mum or my sister. I didn't want to bother my sis as she is not feeling the best at the moment, so I rang Mum. Surprise, surprise, she wasn't home, but Dad was. I talked to Dad for about 1/2 hour and as usual, he was full of wonderful advice and whilst he did not once tell me what to do, he did make me feel relaxed and comfortable with my decision.

I guess the point of this is to say that whilst I don't often speak to Dad about issues and such, when I do, he is always there, always willing to listen and always gives great advice. I wish everyone could have a Dad like mine, he makes me thankful every day that I was gifted a Dad like him. I am also glad that my boy is a Dad cut from the same cloth.

I love you Dad.

Mmmmm Spotlight

Seems I may have gone to Spotlight today. Seems I may have come home with LOTS of fabric. Seems I now have lots of sewing to do, but at least at the end of it I will have 2 very happy girls.

Another Noticable Difference

Today as I was sitting on the bus traveling to pick Paige up from school, a random thought occurred to me...the girls are very different when it comes to what they wear. Not so much the clothing choice since alot of what Charli has is hand-me-downs which have come from Paige, but the way in which they express their opinions on what they want to wear.

Paige was very clear very early on, about 2 years old, about what she wanted to wear. She mostly would wear skirts or dresses and there was always a HUGE drama if she didn't get to pick her own clothes and put them on herself. Often she was a completely mismatched mess, but the point was that she picked out her clothes and dressed herself. She is still like that now, she decides what she wants to wear and it takes a bit of coaxing and discussion to get her to wear something different and it takes a massive effort to get her into jeans or pants rather than a summer dress in the middle of winter.

Charli, on the other hand, doesn't seem to care. She will put on whatever I give her to wear, she doesn't care if it is a skirt, dress or jeans and she could really care less about what colour it is. Getting her to dress herself is a major drama as she would much rather muck around while I try to get her clothes on her. Occasionally she will express an opinion about what she wants to wear, but generally she doesn't care.

It is funny that as they are growing up and getting bigger, I notice more and more differences between them and their personalities, but also how alike they are and how much they love each other.

Better Be Home Soon

J went to Thailand last Thursday, it sounds like he is having fun, but I am ready for him to come home. He has been gone for 6 sleeps so far and I still have 1 to go. And yes, it is me that is counting down the sleeps, not the Hobbits. The problem is that when he is not here, I have alot of trouble sleeping, I can't go to bed until late and then I can't get to sleep for ages and I wake up really early. The result is that I am getting about 4-5 hours of sleep a night which for me is not enough, by a long shot.

The other thing that is not helping the sleeping situation is that both of the girls feel the need to share the bedroom with me and half way through the night, when Paige steals all of the doona from Charli, she comes into bed with me. Normally that would be fine, with J there, she would squish up with me and go back to sleep. The problem arises from the fact that she has half of the bed to herself and what results can only be called sleep gymnastics. This morning I was woken at approximately 5am by a leg being thrown across my face. I had just gotten back to sleep after that shock when I had another leg thrust into my back.

I know it is a bit corny, but I can't wait for him to come home and have my regular sleeping partner back so that I can kick the girls out and back into their room and have my sleeping back to normal. Also, he is bringing presents.

Very Proud of PJ

Just recently the Preps have had literacy and numeracy week and have been working with their buddies in Yr 5/6. Today at assembly, Paige and Mason, who is in her class, spoke in front of the whole school about what they had learned. Apparently when their teacher asked for volunteers, Paige and Mason were the only 2 to put their hands up. As you can imagine I was terribly proud of her, she learned her part of the speech really well and was not at all nervous, although, I didn't once ask her if she was so I wouldn't induce a case of the "wriggly tummy". It wasn't until we were on the way into school this morning that she told me she was a bit scared and after some encouragement, she was fine. She did really well, she got a bit quiet towards the end of her speech, but it was the first time she has ever spoken with a microphone so WELL DONE Peach, Mummy is very proud and I am sure Daddy will be when he gets back.

Here it is:

Another Award

I am not being blase when I say that either. This was Paige's second award for the year so far. The first was in May for her contributions during guided reading and now she has received another for her "super dooper writing". I was and am so proud of her. I know she is a little "distracted" at school, but she is doing really well and I am very proud. I am constantly surprised by her reading ability and when I say constantly, I mean like every night. She comes home with a new reader each night and can pretty much breeze through it, if she gets stuck, she can generally figure out the word when she sounds it out. I am not really shocked due to the fact that both her mum and dad are big readers, but I am just surprised by her progress which seems to go so fast.

End of brag :)

The Wonder of The Farm

I wrote this awhile ago when we went to visit "almost family" who have a small farm about 2 hours out of Melbourne. We normally try to visit them about every 2 months or so but this time it had been 6 months. In between the last visit and now we had school starting, they had to deal with the bushfires. Basically, we all had alot of stuff going on. So now we come to the visit.

I find it amazing that we can drive for 2 hours to get to a friends house and feel like we are in a different place. It is really not that far away and yet, mentally, it is as far from home and the city as you can get. It is incredible the overwhelming quiet and relaxing quality that you get there. When I say quiet, I am not so much referring to the noise level as together we have 5 children, 3 boys, 2 girls ranging in age from 13 to 3 so quiet is not really something that happens with them around, oh and I forgot the mention the 2 dogs, 3 cats, 1 cow, chickens, various sheep, fish and a turtle. Although, I must say, Franklin doesn't make all that much noise, or not that you can hear from outside his tank.

Something happens when we go to the farm, it is almost like a really deep sigh when you are at the end of the day and you know that you can just put up your feet and take it easy for a while. Only it is not sitting down and putting up your feet that does it, it is just the whole feel of the place. No traffic, no crowds, nowhere that you have to be (except local kids footy on Sunday) and nothing that urgently needs doing. Even the girls are different on the farm, or rather, Paige is different. Her and Charli will kick off their shoes and chase the lambs through the paddock with no care for the fact that their feet are getting covered in manure. They run until their cheeks are pink and their noses running and then they run some more. They get up early in order to go and plant trees, they go to the football and cheer on their friends, they barely argue, they play make believe rather than watch television even thought it is on. They have fun and behave like children rather than small semi-adults.

I love what the country does to my girls, it is a wonderful thing to see. It makes me smile to see them having so much fun without a care in the world and know that they are creating memories that they will look back on with fondness when they are older like all the memories I have of when Mum and Dad took us to the bush for holidays and camping. Places where we didn't have to worry about fitting in, we could just be free. I think that is what it comes down to, being in the country is a freedom that you don't get in the city. You worry less and they can feel it.

Every time, we have a ball, we love our friends, we love seeing our children grow up together and we love to get out of the city, even if it is just for a few nights, it is definitely worth the drive.

Cuteness

This afternoon when I left the house to pick Paige up from school, I left to a chorus of quiet snoring emanating from the lounge room. J was in the recliner quietly snoring and Charli was on the couch doing a really good job of synchronised snoring with her Daddy.

So cute, I quietly shut the door and when I returned home some 45 mins later, there was no longer any snoring, but there was no awakeness either. Some things are just too cute to mess with.

Oh Dear!

J: "Charli, go and say please to Mummy."
Charli: hands on hips "I don't care."
J: "You don't care about what?"
Charli: "I don't care about please."
J: "Right! "

Football....Again

On Sunday we took both of the girls and me to the football. I have only been to the football once and that was in Adelaide when I was pregnant with Paige....so, a while ago. At the time, I think we were more concerned with our car being damaged due to the VIC plates than the game itself, although, it was an Adelaide v Port match so luckily there was no losing to a Melbourne team.

After Charli's protest over not going to the football last time J took Paige, we decided this would be a family outing so we booked tickets for an afternoon match and off we went. The major issue being that the only afternoon tickets we could get before J went away were for the St Kilda v Essendon match. Anyone who follows football will understand this, St Kilda have not been beaten all year and there was no way that the Bombers would win this match. So, we went knowing that it would be a disaster match, but the girls would have fun being at the football and getting "football food". When we got there, we bought a scarf for everyone and just as we were about to start walking down to the gate, it poured, not just rained a little, but poured down. Lots of people and not much undercover room, means that lots of people get quite wet and I was one of those people, luckily I had a hooded jacket on so whilst it got wet, I didn't. Once we were inside, I was able to take it off as we were at the Dome and the roof was closed.

Now, once again, if you follow football, you know where this is headed and if you don't follow football, you have probably figured it out by now anyway.

The first quarter started as predicted and while we watched and Charli continuously yelled "Go Bombers", St Kilda kicked goal after goal. At the end of the quarter, we were down by 1 goal and the girls were hungry so we went to get some food. We stayed downstairs to eat so the girls could have a bit of a run around and we sat at a table that had a view of the big screen. Well, what do you know but I looked up at a cheer and found that Essendon was actually in front. Not long after that, they kicked another and we decided we should probably go back to our seats. Lots of yelling and clapping ensued, Charli was so excited, she fell off her chair. Actually, that is not what happened, she was being her usually wriggly self and fell off her chair and hit her chin on the chair in front.

We ended up leaving at 3/4 time (the Bombers were up by 5 goals) as we needed to get the girls home to bed as PJ had school the next day. We knew that if we waited till the end of the match it would be 10pm or so by the time we got home. On the way out, we stopped at the 7 Eleven to get Slurpee's and then headed to the tram to catch it to where our car was parked. Only problem was that when we got on the tram, it went around the corner back to where we had come from. We got off the tram and caught a cab to the car and then headed home. I checked the score on the way home and we were pleased to discover....THE BOMBERS WON by 2 points. We got home at about 8pm, had some noodles and the girls went to bed.

All in all, they had a really good time and now they have Bombers scarves to wear when the football is on and for when we go again as I have a feeling that this will become a semi-regular thing.

Smell-O-Web

UPDATE:
I have now eaten the Chilli and had to come back to confirm that it was, in fact, totally AWESOME! That recipe will now be going on the frequently made list. It is really good as you can fry it all up and then pop it in the slow cooker and leave it there all day. You can find the recipe at Exclusively Food and just so you know, everything I have made from this site has turned out great.

Original Post:
Boy, do you wish that there was such a thing as Smell-O-Web, kind of along the same vein as smell-o-vision. At this very moment I am in the middle of cooking an amazing home made Chilli con Carne. At the moment it is minus the beans as it still has about 4 hours to cook before they are added, but is smells SOOO GOOD!! It even smelled good enough to get J out of bed and that is an achievement, especially since he went to bed so late.

We are all, well except PJ who doesn't like spicy, looking forward to dinner tonight.

Fun Differences

It is funny how different 2 children from the same family can be. We have always had the rule that if they don't eat all of their dinner, they need to go to bed. Paige hates this rule, she will fight against it if at all possible. She will sit at the table eating tiny bits of cold food just so she will not have to go to bed. Eventually we put a time limit on her and she has to go to bed if she is not done when the time runs out. Even then, it results in a barrage of tears and "but I want to finish". Charli on the other hand, dinner unfinished, gets up from the table and says "I go to bed now" and off she goes upstairs and puts herself to bed, not a peep to be heard for the rest of the night.

Totally different, but both gorgeous.

What Fun

I saw this on Mamamia's blog today. It was posted a few days ago, but I only just got to it. I love because not only is it good fun, but it gets across the real joy of a wedding that you don't normally experience. This couple and video has become somewhat of a sensation and you can definitely see why.



As was written about it in the Washington Post:

"this ceremony went deeper than behaviors. It elicited all the right feelings, in the way that good dancing transfers energy and emotion to its audience. In the way they moved -- and were able to corral their friends and family into the act -- the couple told us a lot about themselves, and about their bond.

This didn't look like a reluctant groom being dragged to the altar, nor a micromanaging bridezilla who had locked down every detail. They were open to music and movement and untucked shirts and sweat, and they gave to their guests what had to be the best party favor of all. An actual party.

Maybe we'll see the Heinz ensemble next on "So You Think You Can Dance." Maybe Jill and Kevin will go on to choreograph for the Vikings cheerleaders, or start up a wedding-planning business. Maybe not.

Whatever their future, they did with that performance what great dancers can do. They pulled us all into their story."

Puffing Billy - The Epic

After a bit of a slow start (needed to buy myself and PJ a new jacket) we headed off to Belgrave only to discover that we had neither the Boy's GPS nor a Melway....oh dear. I used the WhereIs directory on my phone only we ended up a little lost. Thankfully, the Boy is pretty good at finding where to go and we got there without too much of a "being lost" delay. We got in line to buy tickets for the train which goes to the end of the line at Gembrook. The timetable was such that the trip each way would be 2 hours and the time spend there would be almost 2 hours and we would be back to Belgrave at about 4.30ish. Patiently standing in line, only to miss out on the train by 2 people, they had to cut off the people getting on as otherwise the train would be running too late. At first there was much grumpyness and talk of just packing it in and going home as the next train was not for an hour.

Eventually I decided to ignore the grumpy's and get back in line for the next train which was heading to Lakeside. The Lakeside trip was an hour each way with about 40mins at the stop. We got tickets for this one and off we went. We all had a great time, the girls in particular who kept declaring "THIS IS AWESOME" so I could safely assume that they were having fun. In the end, it worked out really well as it was FREEZING, even with lots of layers, a scarf and a new toasty warm jacket. We were very glad that we went on the short trip and short stay rather than the long one as we might have all turned into human shaped ice cubes rather than just taking 2 hours to defrost when we got home. At least it was lots of fun.

Introducing

My posts are now, more often than not, brought to you by my new favourite toy.....


Thanks Babe!!

Birthday weekend

The Boy always takes a day off for his birthday, it is a tradition. This year his birthday was on a Friday so he took the day off, Paige got the day off school and we enjoyed a long weekend. The Boy spent Friday with one of his mates while the girls and I went shopping ...mmmm retail therapy, fun. On Friday night, a wonderful friend watched the girls for us and we headed out to dinner and a movie, also a birthday tradition.

We were going to go to a chinese restaurant in Doncaster that we were fond of, but after not being able to get through to them on the phone, we decided on a drive by only to find out they were no longer in operation, oh well. We headed for Crown which is were I had booked tickets for the latest Harry Potter as all the other theaters near us were sold out. While we were waiting in line for the tickets, I saw a restaurant advertised called Sho. It is a new noodle bar in the Crown complex and as neither of us are huge fans of the other restaurants, we thought we should try it out. We found the place with a little help from a kind security guard and the food was delicious and eased the Boy's craving for Asian food so all was good. The movie was also excellent and we had a good night.

On Saturday we had decided to take the girls for a trip on Puffing Billy and this is another story all on its own. We had a great day after a rough start and everyone came home exhausted.

On Sunday, the Boy took Paige to see the latest Harry Potter movie which wound up their Sunday afternoon movie trips. He made sure before they went that she knew there would be one bit that she would have to close her eyes for as it was a little too scary. It was not gross scary, just gives you a bit of a fright. Anyway, of course after such a busy weekend, someone fell asleep during the movie so instead of telling Paige to close her eyes, he just snored (quietly) at her. She only "jumped out of my seat a little bit" but it was all good and she enjoyed the movie and he enjoyed his sleep.

Now I think a quiet weekend is in order to recover from this one.

School Holidays

It is hard to believe that we are already into the second semester of school, it wasn't that long ago that we were thinking about how grown up PJ was starting in Prep and now it is already half over. Wow, that went fast.

The mid-year holidays came and went and unlike the last lot of holidays which flew by and before we knew it we were back at school and had done not really anything, this time we fit quite a bit more in.

For the first four days of the holidays, we did not much, relaxed at home watched movies, played games and got whinged at. The girls were pretty good and did not engage in arguing as a favourite passtime, thank goodness. Our fun started on the Friday of the first week. Daddy took the day off of work so that we could spend the day together as he was not going to be around for the following weekend due to a work trip to Tasmania, although when I say work, I mean it in the way that work was paying for them all to go to Tasmania to drink the state out of alcohol....

On Thursday we were talking to the girls about the fact that Daddy was staying home from work on the next day and what would they like to do. We ended up coming up with Sovereign Hill in Ballarat or going to the Museum. We looked them up on the internet (what a wonderful invention) and explained what they both were and then gave the girls the choice. Paige picked the Museum as her preferred destination which was not really a surprise as they just happened to have a dinosaur bones exhibit on and she LOVES dinosaurs, I think I may have touched on this once before. Anyway, we traipsed off to the museum and the girls got to see the dinosaur bones and were suitably impressed by how large they were. We also saw the Pompeii exhibition which was mainly for my sake and I loved it. Paige and Charli also enjoyed looking at all of the jewellery and such from such a long time ago and of course the little 3D movie of the exploding volcano. They did have some body casts, but we only looked at that briefly....bit too freaky.

Also, much to my surprise, Paige decided that she wanted to see the spiders....so off we went to the insects and bugs....hmmm. Funny that once we got there, she got all creeped out and wouldn't go within 2 metres of any of the "live" spider...hehe, Charli on the other hand had her face pressed up against the glass of the tarantula enclosure with the actual live tarantula about 10 centimetres away from her. She thought it was great, the rest of us...not so much.

The rest of the weekend was quiet apart from the Paige and Daddy trip to Harry Potter on the Sunday afternoon which was a 6 week standing date as they were playing all of the old movies leading up to the release of the new one.

On Monday we went to the Scienceworks with some friends who live down that way, being near the coast on the other side of town. The kids had a great time and we finished it off with icecream at McDonalds before making the trip under the Yarra to pick Daddy up from work. The girls thought the "really long tunnel" was cool. On the Tuesday we caught up with some other friends for dressing up and more McDonalds, lots more fun. Wednesday was a much needed rest day at home with not alot going on, although Paige seemed to think that there must be someone we could visit. Thursday we caught up with some new friends we made thanks to their cat, a whole other story. We went off to bogan park to play on the equipment that remains after some idiots thought it would be fun to set fire to and melt the new $400000 park....again I say IDIOTS!!! Friday we met up with a family from school at the Eltham North Adventure Playground and again followed it up with....you guessed it, McDonalds. Then videos for Friday night while Dad was in Tasmania.

Since he also wasn't back in time for Harry Potter, Paige got to go with her "boyfriend" from school. Apparently they had a good time and there was lots of hand holding and cheek kissing involved....a little worrying, but then they are only 5 and both affectionate children so of course there is nothing to it but them being friends and having fun together. I must admit I am looking forward to the "boys are yucky stage" rather than the "I have 5 boyfriends and Ben kisses me all the time stage."

All in all, it was a pretty busy school holiday and I think Paige is still struggling a bit to get back to her normal well rested self. I am just trying to get her in bed at a decent time every night although that can be difficult when they sleep right next to each other and insist on whispering so loudly I can hear them from 2 rooms and a flight of stairs away....oh well, at least they love each other.

Sitting on Ducks

This morning The Boy and I had a good laugh. When he came downstairs this morning, both of the girls were sitting on the ducts or ducks as they are known. Paige on the one at the bottom of the stairs and Charli on the one by the window. Chester had been relegated to the duck under my desk and he was not very happy about it either. The thing that was funny about it was that we both remember sitting in front of gas wall heaters when we were kids. In the middle of winter when the only heater in the house was a gas wall heater in the lounge room. I remember we would get out of bed and run to the lounge room to sit by the heater or after having a bath and getting dressed in front of the heater. Mum would put our clothes in front of the heater to get warm before we put them on. And of course, Mum, who was always standing in front of the heater to get warm.

It is amazing how to girls being funny and keeping warm can bring back so many memories. We don't have a wall heater, but they do the same thing, just differently.

Works Like India

Tonight we were discussing the fact that there is a boy in Paige's class that she gets along with particularly well. His mother has previously suggested that maybe it was due to the fact that his brain works a little differently, just like Paige's. They are both prone to coming up with facts and information that seem completely out of left field. This is something that is not unexpected with our girl considering who her parents are, but in the middle of the conversation, Paige piped up from the couch:

"my brain doesn't work differently, it works like India"

at that point, the conversation ceased whilst we both dissolved into laughter.

Santa goes to Africa

On Sunday as we were driving to Church Paige asked me an interesting question that I have been thinking about ever since. It came completely out of nowhere and I am not sure that I answered it all that well, but apparently it was enough for her as she has moved on....unfortunately, I haven't.

Paige: Mummy, does Santa take presents to all the children in Africa?
Me: Um, I guess so.
Paige: So then they have toys and stuff to play with but no food?
Me: Well, maybe Santa brings some water or some food instead of toys.
Paige: OK

This was almost enough for me to break my own rule about telling her Santa is not real. A long time ago, I made the boy promise that we would let them believe in Santa for a few years, he was all for telling them from the start that Santa was make believe. Not only did he want them to know the truth, but he thought it would be funny at school. I totally disagreed and made him promise not to tell them which he went along with. Now I am finding myself increasingly of the opinion that Paige at least is old enough to understand the truth about Santa and that no, he doesn't bring toys to the kids in Africa, they mostly don't have toys.

She is very concerned that he brings them toys as it is not their fault that they are poor and/or orphans and that they didn't get that way from being naughty. How do you explain to a 5 year old who believes in Santa about how it is in Africa.....I think, I might need to think about this some more.

Polyvore Challenge

While I was reading some blogs, I came across a challenge involving a site called Polyvore. Basically you can select any clothing and accessories and put them all together. Of course, this is assuming that price is no option. This site is so much fun, but definitely a time waster. Anyhoo, I decided to take the challenge and since it is winter and winter is my favourite time of year, I put together something suitably wintery.....maybe I have a few too many "winter's" in that sentence...oh well.

The challenge was posted on L-Plates blog and involves a question that came from an article on another blog asking:
"If I asked you to slip on a pair of jeans, a simple top, a pair of flat shoes, and any accessories you liked, what would you come up with? No doubt you'd come out looking vastly different to the next person, but how?"

and this is mine.

Winter Favs by mmbchaos on Polyvore.com

The Princess Drama

I have been thinking about this recently, the drama of the Princess obsession. The reason I have been thinking about this is that there are alot of people who strongly object to young girls playing with Barbie dolls and watching the Disney Princess movies. From what I can understand this has alot to do with the issues of body image and with regards to the princesses, the concern that girls will grow up to believe that they should always be rescued by a handsome prince who will fix all of their problems and they will live happily ever after in some sort of love induced haze. We all know that life is not really like that and I completely understand the need to instill in children, particularly girls, the understanding that life is not a fairy tale, but where do you draw the line, how far do you go and do you still let them have their dreams?

Unlike people who are quite vigilant with the whole Barbie and Princess thing, I have an abundance of them in my house. I just don't get the drama. My girls have all of the Disney Princess movies and like them, but they would much rather watch the Barbie movies or Dora the Explorer. As someone who has watched EVERY SINGLE Barbie movie ever made...not the MyScene Barbie like Barbie Diaries which is too old for my girls, but the Barbie Princess movies and others like Nutcracker and Thumbelina I would prefer they watch them than the Disney ones. I find that the Barbie movies promote courage, loyalty, honesty, friendship and strength. Sure there are the handsome boys that show up along the way, but in every single movie, the girls are the ones who rescue themselves from a situation, figure out who is the "baddie", save everyone and just generally save the day. Often the "handsome prince" shows up to save the day only to find that Barbie's character has already saved herself. Sure she then often ends up living happily ever after, but she does it with the person she loves and wants to be with, not the generic prince charming that she was rescued by.

As a child and young girl, I think I was often like a Disney Princess and it wasn't because I watched the movies when I was little, it is just the way I was. I was waiting for my Prince to come along and sweep me off my feet, we would get married and have children and live happily ever after. It kind of happened, but definitely not the way I was expecting. I do have my Prince Charming, we love each other, but life is not always easy and it certainly isn't a fairy tale. The thing is, I want that for my girls, I want them to experience the love and the relationship that I have. I want them to have the ability to have a partner and a best friend all in one, someone to love them and support them and give them confidence to be the best person they can possibly be because that is what I have and it is amazing.

So that is my prayer for my amazing, beautiful, gorgeous girls, that they will grow up to be amazing, strong, thoughtful and loving women and that they will find the one that makes them complete and the best possible them. And strange as it may seem, I think along with all the things we are trying to teach them, the Barbie movies are helping to instill in them the fact that they need to look out for themselves and each other while still being able to dream.

The Adventures of Button Bear

Paige's class has a big teddy bear called Button Bear. Each weekend one of the children from the class gets to take Button Bear home for the weekend and then they have to write a story by Button Bear for the rest of the class to read as well as sewing a button onto his t-shirt. This weekend it was our turn. This is his story:

This weekend I went to stay at Paige’s house and I had lots of fun with her family. She has a little sister Charli and her mum and dad are Mel and Judd. Paige also has a cat called Chester; he is nearly the same colour as me.

On Friday night we played Guess Who for a long time. I was helping Paige to play with her mum. Paige won the most games but her mum won some as well. Paige is very good at that game and it was lots of fun. After that we watched High School Musical until bed time. After Paige's mum sent us to bed, we sat up with her dad and watched him play World of Warcraft for a while on his computer, then I slept in bed with Paige and it was snugly and warm.


On Saturday I went out with Paige and her Daddy. We had brunch in a café. Paige had eggs with ham and muffins and she shared it with me, it was very yummy. We made friends with a little girl called Maggie and their dog Abby. I was allowed to feed Abby some of our brunch and she liked it alot.


After brunch we went to the hair dresser. Paige and her Daddy both got their hair cut, but I didn’t. Brooke, the hair dresser, said that my hair was just perfect the way it is and didn’t need anything at all done to it.

On Sunday, we went to the movies to see Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This is one of Paige’s favourite movies. I thought it was very good, but I was a little bit scared sometimes so Paige and I cuddled together so that we wouldn’t be too scared.

Now I am very tired from having such a busy weekend. I am looking forward to having a big sleep before school tomorrow. Thank you, Paige, for doing lots of fun things with me this weekend. I will see you all very soon.

Love,
Button Bear

So, not only is that Button Bear's story, but it is the story of our weekend....through the eyes of a much loved guest.

The Big Haircut

On Friday Charli and I went to the hairdressers, this was the first time Charli has been back since Paige cut her hair before Christmas. I wanted to get her hair fixed up and sorted out. It is cut in a funky cut now and it took a little while for me to get used to it, but it actually looks really good. I was just so used to her having her hair all in her face that it was a big change.


I also got my hair cut and was just going to get it cut into the same style that it was last time but then at the last minute changed my mind. I love it now, it is much shorter and easier to do. When I came home, it was really straight and flat as it was done with the straightener, but now that I have washed it, it is all wavy and flicky and much better.

Sweet as Honey

On Saturday night we took the girls to the Drive-In, they were very excited to go and loved the movie and the food, basically the whole experience. When we got home, Charli was quite sick with a fever and slept in quite late. Paige got up earlier than everyone else and decided to make herself breakfast. For Paige, breakfast was to be a honey sandwich...the main problem was that she used about a third of a jar of honey between 2 pieces of bread and then proceeded to eat it in the kitchen with no plate. The first I knew of it was Paige announcing to me that she had honey on her. She went into the shower and I went down to the kitchen to clean up. Turns out that the entire kitchen floor was decorated with honey drizzles, it was quite creative really. The only thing, it took me 3 rounds of mopping with hot water and floor cleaner to actually unsticky the floor. The joys of children.

Meh!!

So no post is caused by nothing exciting going on. Been sick with a cold....not the swine. Now Charli and PJ both have it and the boy is on antibiotics. Add all that to a complete lack of sleep and I think I will just take a break for a few more days. I will get back to this shortly.

Another Birthday

Charli had her 3rd birthday this past weekend and we were lucky enough to spend it with her Grandparents. Not only that, but it is Grammy's birthday on the same day as Charli so it was very exciting for her. She is old enough now to understand that it is her day and we did not give Paige any presents so that it was all about Charli. Paige was not very impressed by this, but it was all ok once Charli opened her presents and Paige got to share in the playing, especially the Littlest Pet Shop toys.

Charli wanted "copcakes" for her birthday and she wanted them pink and purple so that request was granted after a visit to the cake decorating shop down the road to purchase the correct colour cupcake cases and sanding sugar, we also managed to find some edible icing fairies in the required colours. Charli even managed to blow all the candles out at once which is a big achievement given she was just recently still blowing her hair up.






The thing is, I am happy that she enjoyed her birthday and stayed up till 1am after having an afternoon nap, but she is 3. She used to be my baby....I was mostly all ok with Paige growing up and going to school because she was SO ready for it. She would have gone crazy if she didn't go to school this year and she is the oldest so it happens, but Charli is my baby, I don't think I am ready for her to grow up so fast. She's all toilet trained, talking clearly, putting her own pants on, putting her own shoes on, puzzle solving little girl and that seems to have just gone all too fast. Not long ago she was bouncing around on her bum and falling asleep under the coffee table and now she is getting all grown up, how did this happen and make it stop, for that matter, make them both stop growing up, then I wont get older either....

Llama Llama

The other day I decided that there would be no ABC Kids in the morning as it takes exponentially longer for Paige to get ready for school when her mind is occupied by television rather than by listening to me. SLOW MOTION is what happens and sometimes a complete stop. Anyway, rather than TV, we had music and for something upbeat I put on the Spice Girls....yes, old and tacky, but I love them. The point is that the first song was "Wannabe" and for those of you who have some musical taste and don't know the chorus it goes "if you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends.....etc". Paige and Charli were dancing and singing along with this, Paige got it right and was having a ball.....it was only when I realised what Charli was singing that I laughed myself silly and kept Judd giggling all day.

"if you wanna be my Llama, if you wanna be my Llama"

Still giggle when I think about it.

Sleep Anywhere

When Paige was little, she was very happy to sleep wherever we happened to be. As long as we had her pram, she would happily fall asleep and stay that way until she had to wake up or until we took her home. It made things really easy and we were able to go pretty much wherever we needed to. When Charli came along, things were different. She didn't like to sleep in the pram and would pretty much only go to sleep if she was put in bed. But then she decided that she would sleep anywhere as long as she was at home and not only that but she could sleep in pretty much any position as long as her thumb was there, and sometimes puppy. She still does it now....very cute.

The Football

Last night Paige and Daddy went to the football to see The Bombers play the hawks. Paige was so excited about the prospect of going to the football that she told everyone she saw, her friends at school, her teacher, her Nannie, the bus driver, the shop-keeper...you get the picture. Not just were they going to the football though, they were going to see The Bombers and eat football food for dinner and go on the train and all "with my Daddy". She was so excited that I was almost waiting for her to pop out of her skin. When we got home from school, she wanted me to call Daddy and tell him to remember to come home and get her before going to the football (worried he would forget her) and when I told her to get changed, she did it in 5 seconds flat after I asked her once.....Guinness World Record or close to it.

Eventually I dropped them at the train station and off they went to the football. Paige had a hotdog and chips with a lemonade for dinner and they proceeded to their seats at the top of the stadium. After a while Paige asked Daddy if there was "dessert at the football" and off they trudged, all the way to the bottom, to get donuts for dessert. When she needed to go to the toilet, Daddy stood guard at the door and got lots of strange looks from the people outside, that is until Paige came out and then he got lots of smiles. Apparently during the match, she declared loudly, on a number of occasions that he was the best Daddy in the whole world, I think she was having fun. At one point, she realised what the time was and I got a text saying "having fun. Paige says she knows it is past her bedtime but we have to stay to the end".

After a resounding victory by The Bombers they attempted to catch the train home. 40 minutes later after not even reaching the platform, I got a call saying "Please can you come pick us up from the station....in the city". For Daddy, the most stressful part of the whole night was trying to keep a 5 year old safe in a crowd of post football, trying to catch a train grownups. You don't realise how easy it would be for a 5 year old to get squished in a crowd until you experience it and then Daddy suddenly finds out exactly how protective he is and the length he is prepared to go to to keep his little girl safe. So I picked them up and 30 seconds after getting into her car seat, she was sound asleep....well, it was 11.45pm, only 4 hours past her bed time. But it was Oh So Worth It =)

There is No Substitute for a Nannie Kiss....

To make everything all better. Today Charli was unwell and Paige was recovering from spending the night throwing up. Whilst Paige is now fine, Charli is developing a head cold and is pretty miserable. There was alot of whining and grizzling coming from the both of them today and of course, there was clumsy. Clumsy always happens to Charli when she is feeling unwell, she falls or trips or walks into things and today we had all of them. She tripped over the change from tiles to floor boards twice. The second time, she cut her toe and it "bleeded" alot. Paige was very concerned and while I had Charli sitting on the kitchen bench so I could clean and band aid it, Paige sang her a song and rubbed her arm to try and cheer her up, so cute I could eat her up.

The first time was the funny one though, she fell and hit her head and her arm and through her tears declared that she needed to speak to Nannie, no one else would do so I had to get the phone so she could call. In case you are unaware, Nannie lives about 9 hours drive away in another state. I rang for Charli and as soon as Nannie answered the phone Charli told her all about how she had falled down and hurt "my head and my ebow" and told her that she needed them kissed better. I had a really hard time not falling on the floor laughing when Nannie made kissy noises on the speaker phone while Charli held it to her "ebow" and then her head. Once it was all done, she felt much better and went about her business "all better now". Paige then proceeded to talk Nannie's ear off.

The thing I find the most adorable about this whole thing is not only did Charli and Paige get to tell Nannie all about what was going on and they felt better for it, but Nannie knows how much she is loved and that a kiss over the phone is almost as good at fixing the hurts as the real thing. Far away but always close. Thanks for being such a great Nannie <3

Before and After - The Story of Puppy

When we had Charli, the guys at work sent us a lovely gift basket that contained a very cute puppy. I thought that this puppy was gorgeous and it was placed in the cot with Charli. Ask me now and I wish I had never put it in with her, but at the time it was really cute. Who knows, maybe she would have become attached to it even if it wasn't there or maybe it would have been something else. Either way, we now have a problem. Originally Puppy looked like you can see him up there. He was all lovely and fluffy and clean and had eyes.....when Charli was about 7 months old, Puppy started to come with her everywhere, she wasn't happy if he was forgotten.


Today, 3 years later, Puppy still comes with us everywhere, only now he is less cute and fluffy and more worn out and manky. He has been washed sooo many times, he has no eyes, his nose is starting to wear out, one of his ears has been sewed back on and he is constantly dirty looking even when he has only just been retrieved from the "drying machine". I have the constant worry about leaving him somewhere or him breaking or quite literally disintegrating.


On Saturday we went to a birthday party and, of course, Puppy came along for the fun. At about 5pm that evening Charli decided that it was time for some Puppy cuddles and what do you know, we couldn't find him anywhere. Daddy got dragged all around the house by the finger looking for Puppy, they even made a trip to the car trying to find the elusive animal, it was decided that maybe he had been left behind at the party. Much weeping and gnashing of teeth followed this announcement and then Charli sat on the chair and wailed that Puppy was "lost forever". You can imagine my excitement at this prospect. The boy and I had a discussion about what we should do but didn't come up with anything that sounded remotely like an idea, so I just settled on stressing a bit more. It was then that I had a sudden idea, Charli often leaves gifts for us in the kitchen cupboards and drawers so I did a quick check, lo and behold, there was Puppy neatly stuffed into the tea towel drawer "having a sleep".

Crisis averted!!! For now at least. We can all breathe a sigh of relief until next time.

LOL - As I finish writing this post and am checking the spelling and such, I hear a cry from the other room "I need to get Puppy upstairs"......

I think I might be sad.

When Paige started school this year, she was ready to go and I was ready for her to go. Before I knew it, term 1 was over and I was dreading the holidays with the whole keeping them entertained and refereeing the disagreements that are inevitable when the hobbits are stuck together for long periods of time. I have to say however, there was a whole lot less disagreeing and a whole lot more getting along well together than I was expecting. Not that this is a bad thing, in fact, it is a great thing. There are 2 problems that I can see as an outcome of this unexpected holiday happiness:

1. I am sad that Paige is going back to school, I think I will really miss her, more than last term when I was over her being home.

2. Charli will miss her, it seems like she had only just gotten over the upset at Paige not being there all the time and then she had her back, only to lose her again.

So now, I am going to have to find all sorts of things to keep Charli busy so she doesn't get all mopey at Paige not being around to play with and still get the housework that I love so much done. Do you think that keeping Charli busy is a good excuse not to do it? Then when the boy comes home at the end of a long day of work, I can say "sorry I haven't washed your clothes/cooked dinner/vacuumed the floor, I was keeping Charli busy so she didn't miss Paige too much." It may just work, well, for a few days anyway :)

Oh Pickle Juice!!

Me: Paige, you kept stealing the blankets from Charli last night.
Paige: I know, but I wanted to sleep by myself.
Me: I know, but, Charli had an accident so I had to put her in with you.

Charli: Yeah.
Paige: Oh, PICKLE JUICE!!
Charli: No.....WEE!!
Me: *dissolves into laughter*

She is SO much like her Aunt

I remember when I was little that my younger sister, who shall remain nameless, used to love to sit in the toilet and sing. She would sit in there for ages and sing to herself, most often the song of choice was a little ditty that she wrote herself call "Bada, Bada". I always thought it was just that she liked to hear the sound of her own voice and she was only 3 or 4 at the time, so, you know, very cute.

Today Charli proved once again that she has been blessed with many of those wonderful genes from my side. She was sitting on the toilet, singing a little ditty she wrote herself called "Puppy, Puppy". I couldn't help but laugh to myself as she once again reminded me of my wonderful sister and now I know for sure that she was doing it because she liked to hear the sound of her own voice. 

So, thanks for being such a great and wonderful sister and giving me many fun memories so when my child does something silly like that, I can't help but smile and think of you :) I love you.

The Magic of Counting and Wee

Just a few weeks ago Paige had her assessment at school. They did all sorts of tests, which were fun, to determine her levels in reading, letters, counting, writing, etc. After her assessment her teacher, who is fantastic, told me that Paige did really well, she knew all of her alphabet as well as all the sounds they had learned and many that they had not yet learned. With numbers she could count to 20 but got a bit confused with 17, 18, 19 although apparently most children have the same issue. Now, here we are, just 2.5 weeks later and Paige just counted to 40 with no mistakes, wow, that's pretty cool, I was impressed and just....wow. She thought it was wonderful how impressed I was with her counting and apparently that was all the reward she needed. Pretty clever if you ask me.

And for something completely unrelated, we are constantly amazed by Charli and her magic wee. I know, sounds pretty weird, but the thing is, it really is magic. Occasionally she has an accident in bed, once it was in our bed, we go to check on her and find her pajama pants and underpants are all wet, the magic is that her bed never is. There is never a wet spot in her bed or on the doona, we are not sure how she does it, but apparently she has magic wee. Maybe one day we will figure out how she does it, but for now, I am just happy that she has magic wee.

New Batteries Anyone?

Today Charli was feeling a bit flat, what is the best way to remedy that but to charge yourself up. Last night the boy was using his laptop in the lounge room and when he left, the charger was left behind.....still plugged in. I am sure you can see where this story is going, especially if you know anything about the craziness that is Charli....straight onto her tongue. Apparently she felt that it would be a good idea to plug her tongue into the charger and it gave her a little zap or as she said "made my tongue sting". I am assuming that it was something like a 9 volt battery on the tongue but since I am grown up and much more sensible, I didn't test it out. What I did do was unplug it and put it away.

Lucky for Charli she was wearing her Superman knickers.......

Tastes Like Chicken

Tonight Paige went to a friends house after school and stayed there for dinner. When she came home she told me what they had for dinner; there was rice and space trees (brocolli) and pumpkin and we had yummy chicken on a stick from the sheep. It took the boy and I a few questions to figure out that "chicken on a stick from the sheep" was lamb skewers. Apparently Paige thinks that all meat is called chicken, but it just comes from different animals.

So, tonight for dinner, we had a stir-fry with chicken from the dairy.

Who invented WHY

and can I possibly strangle them. Just two weeks ago I was rejoicing over the fact that Paige skipped the "why" stage. Sure she asks questions about everything, but she asks proper questions that show you she is actually curious about the answer, not just asking for the sake of it. Now, 2 weeks later Charli has started with why, it is her response to pretty much anything. 

"Charli, do you want some lunch?" - "Why?"

"Charli, don't jump on the bed." - "Why?"

"Charli, stop drawing on the wall." - "Why?" - "Because I said so." - "Why?" - "If you don't stop, you will go to the corner." - "Why?" 

That sound you can hear......that is my head exploding.

I Love Cheese

Here, let me show you how much:

but I LOVE honey and soaptana (sultana) sandwiches even better :)

Yay for Grapes!

Charli never eats fruit. Everytime I have tried to get her to eat it, she point blank refuses with just a "yuck" for my effort. She used to eat strawberries and apple but for about 12 months has not eaten a single bit of fruit. She is fantastic at picking blackberries, boysenberries, elderberries, etc. In fact I think she picked almost as much as the boys did together when we went berry picking at Christmas, but she refused to eat any. Not that she is really all that fussy, she will eat pretty much anything, including spicy food and will try new stuff all the time, just not fruit.

About a week I took both of the girls with me to the supermarket, we bought some grapes and Paige grabbed some of the loose grapes to eat on her way around the supermarket. We gave Charli a grape for fun and tried to convince her to eat it. Eventually we managed to convince her to take a small bite of the grape.....viola, grape convert. Grapes are now officially the only fruit that Charli will eat, but I consider this a small victory and will take what I can get.

Bumped Head

Today at school Paige bumped her head. She was playing and ran straight into a low branch when poked her head and gave her a bump as well as bleeding. She was taken to the nurse and put an ice pack on it. The school office range me to let me know as is policy for any head injuries. They were very clear about the fact that she was ok. When I went to pick her up, she showed me her bump, it is about the size of a 10c with a small cut in the centre. She is ok, not so sure about me.

This is not the first time that she has walked into, tripped over, run into, or generally injured herself on something. Knowing Paige, this will not be the last time. It is however, the first time she has been hurt like that when I was not there to.....fuss.....over her. I will admit that once we got home I did a bit of fussing and she is quite good at letting me fuss whilst assuring me that she is fine. She is so grown up and I am not sure that I like it all that much. Oh well, I guess I will get used to it and maybe next time, I will not fuss quite so much (LOL).

Why do I hate you?

Housework that is. I HATE doing it. Once it is done, I feel great and the house looks great and everything is great. Starting it is the problem. I am sure that I can find a million different things that are much more interesting and of course so much more important than doing the housework. I don't mind doing the washing and hanging it out, I also don't mind bringing it in and am getting better at folding it up and putting it away. I hate doing the dishes, but as we are renting and there is no room, there is no dishwasher so I must do it. I am getting pretty good at keeping on top of the dishes as well. I also don't mind doing the sweeping and the vacuuming or even the dusting.

Now that I am looking at that list, it seems that I don't actually mind doing the housework, the big problem is getting started. I hate getting started. Why can't I be one of those people who doesn't have to push themselves to do the housework.....but then I would probably be ocd about it and that would be a problem too.....oh well, guess I will just have to continue to deal with it. Either that or win the lotto and get a maid. Hmmm, note to self, buy winning ticket.

Sick or Scared?

On Tuesday, Paige started the morning off by throwing up. She gave back all of the chocolate milk and toast that I had kindly made her for breakfast. She covered her uniform, socks and shoes. Lovely. It was SO much fun to clean it all up one-handed, the other one was holding my nose. We kept her home from school over her protesting that she wanted to go and she was fine for the rest of the day. 

Wednesday is a no school day, she was fine all day. 

Thursday, she got ready for school, we were even half way there when I gave in to her and pulled over, she then decorated the gutter (luckily not the car), her shoes, socks and hair. Once again we returned home, this time she did not protest. Five minutes after Daddy left, she started in on the "I'm hungry" and didn't let up until lunch time. I made her spend the day in her pyjamas and she wasn't allowed to play, only to sit quietly. Somehow, I don't think she was too impressed. 

Friday, before she even got dressed, she was threatening to throw up in the toilet. Once she was in her uniform, she just cried about how she was sick and couldn't possibly go to school. Being horrible parents who do not care about her at all, we told her that she would be fine and that she was indeed going to school. So, this morning I said goodbye to the crying one and Daddy took her to school. Apparently on the way there she told him that she really was sick cos she was "whipe (white) as a wall" but being him, he just replied that she was in fact "as pretty as a flower" and she would be fine.

The last sighting of Paige this morning was in her school uniform, backpack on, running to play in the playground with her friends before the bell rang. Why couldn't I just have a crying child?? That I could deal with without the immense guilt that comes from sending a crying, vomiting child off to school with the assurance that she will be fine.

Compliment??

I took Paige to the shops the other day to buy a birthday present for a friend of hers that was having a birthday party. As we were about to get out of the car, I realised that my hair was a bit of a mess. I told Paige to hang on a sec while I make my hair a bit prettier:

Paige - "You always look pretty mama."

Me - "Do I, thanks."

Paige - "Yes, even when you look a little odd."

Me - "A little odd? Do I look odd today?"

Paige - "Just a tiny caterpillar bit. But, you still look pretty"

Me - "Hmmm, thanks, I think."

Dinosaur's

Our house is a little bit dinosaur crazy at the moment. The girls love to watch the BBC series Walking With Dinosaurs, Nannie and Papa brought then Dinosaur eggs which they are crazy about. To go along with this theme I borrowed a book from the library for them today. The book is called Dinosaurs Love Underpants and describes how underpants saved mankind from Dinosaurs. The girls loved it, I loved it, so I now declare this book a great success in our Dinosaur loving household.

The Fires

I am actually finding it really difficult to deal with the fires. The emotional aspect of seeing it everywhere is exhausting. I really feel for everyone involved, for the loss of lives and homes and security, for the families and friends left behind and the communities in ruins. As I was walking with Charli the other morning we had the "Elvis" fly over and it just reinforced how close this was to us. Then yesterday a fire was deliberately lit in the bushland in the next suburb. Being in the house with only Charli and no car and seeing all the smoke everywhere, smelling the burning.....it was quite a scary experience.

I continue to pray for everyone involved and that those people who lit the fires are caught and brought to justice.

It's Strange and Disconcerting

It is strange and disconcerting to think that my little Paige who, it seems was a baby just yesterday, is already at school. I know I had a whole year of Kinder to get used to it, but Kinder seemed more like she was going off to play with her friends for 1.5 days a week, not so much like school. School is a whole different kettle of fish. She gets up everyday (except Wednesday), we put on her school uniform, do her hair up and she eats her breakfast while I make her lunch. A few things have surprised me, first, I was positive that she would be a school dress girl. They have the option of wearing either a school dress or shorts and t-shirt, admittedly, the school dress is cream, green and gold tartan and the t-shirt is purple with a green collar, but the thing that really surprised me was that she wants to wear the shorts. They are green with a skirt flap across the front and called a skort and Paige loves them. She wants to wear them all the time, so I guess I will take back one of the 2 dresses I bought and swap it for something else. The other thing is that all the other little girls were wearing their dresses on the first day and then on day 2, tada, skorts and t-shirts everywhere....funny how things work out. The second thing that surprised me was that she wants Weetbix for breakfast every morning, apparently it is healthy and gives her lots of energy so that is what she wants. Even this morning, Saturday, she wanted Weetbix, that is until the mention of pancakes.

So I guess, my days are quieter as Charli is not very loud when she is by herself, she is also really good at entertaining herself. Paige has turned into someone who likes to debate everything she is asked to do which is extremely frustrating. I am sure we will all get used to the new routine and things will settle down, but at the moment, everytime I see her in her cute little purple and green uniform, I get a little misty. Imagine how bad it will be once Charli is at school. Then I will definitely go back to work :)