Greatfun4kids

Making Me Smile

2012-02-03T12:45:00.002+13:00

{artist's impression: kids playing Wii}

I'll tell you some stories from my week which made me smile, but there are no photos.
Why? Because I have to share my rechargeable camera batteries with the Wii remotes until we get around to buying some more. And when you spot a great photo-opportunity it's such a hassle to fumble the batteries out of Wii remotes, what with numchucks and rubber sleeves and all; plenty great snap-worthy moments have past by sadly unrecorded.

My battery-less camera sits photo-less and I've had to use all my creative powers to bring you some pictures. Because a post without pictures is for me like Lady Gaga without her wierd outfits (unrecognisable and slightly boring).

Making me smile this week is...

{artist's impression: Dash making lunch}

Dash waking up before 7am every morning and making his school lunchbox. In fact, the first morning he also made Miss Fab's lunchbox, but she was in a morning-grump and was less than impressed and complained about his food choices (don't worry I scolded her ingratitude)... so Dash gave up being the Lunchbox Angel for his ungrateful sister, which she now regrets.

{artist's impression: Dash with lunchbox}

But that first back-to-school morning, to wake up to the sound of fully-clothed Dash saying, "I've made our lunchboxes"...?
Priceless.

Loving that he is being so responsible.
Grateful that there's one less job for me.

{artist's impression: back to school}

Also making me smile is the kids being back at school.
A quiet house. Floors that stay clean. Blogging time!

Loving a few hours to myself each day.
Grateful for a great school and good teachers for my kids.

{artist's impression: brotherly-sisterly love}

This one really made me smile.
The kids have recently been given MP3 players and they have both become huge Stan Walker fans, especially Dash.
Both my kids belong on the stage. Neither of them lack in confidence.
Miss Fab has been planning and practising her entry for "School's Got Talent" since last September, singing and dancing in her room. the choice of song changes weekly, but it's always a Stan Walker track.

So this morning I hear this from the next room...
DASH: Hey Ab, you know how we both love Stan Walker?
MISS FAB: Yeah?
DASH: Well do you think we could maybe do something together for Schools Got Talent?
MISS FAB: What, do a Stan Walker song you mean? Together???
DASH: Yeah, maybe that rap song of his cos I'm really good at rap...

Awwwww, shucks. Now wouldn't that be a sight?
I must mention that there is no guarantee there will even be a "School's Got Talent" show this year. And if there is, it will be in September. But hey, isn't it sweet that Big brother wants to get up on stage with his Little Sister in front of all his school friends??

Loving that he wanted to sing with her.
Grateful that they're getting on better these days (well, mostly).

{artist's impression: my pregnant belly}

OK this next one is one of those "if you don't laugh you'll cry" stories.
I'm in my bedroom hoisting myself into a brassiere when Miss Fab walks in.
She smiles at me sweetly as she walks over and slides her arms around my waist...
"Hey mum," she says gazing into my eyes oh-so-lovingly, "Do you know that your tummy looks like there's a baby inside?"

Waaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!

And then. I drop Scrag off at kindy and run into a (tiny little) kindy mum who had asked me yesterday if I'd be interested in doing a Boxing class.
This morning she asked me if I'd mentioned the class to my friend Meg, "I've noticed she's looking amazing," this skinny mummy said, "What's she been doing?"
I listed off Meg's amazing fitness efforts... the gym, Couch-to-5k programme yada yada yada.
"Yep she's pretty amazing," I conclude.
"So what's your excuse????" she says to me.

Gulp.
Sputter.
Waaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!

Yep, feeling really good about myself here, people.
Obviously my return to gluten-free eating is not yet paying many dividends. My extra-sweaty-house-cleaning is obviously not shaking any pounds and neither is my sporadic walk-to-the-cafe-instead-of-driving. And I haven't kayaked enough for it to count.

So here I sit. Salvaging my self-esteem and kicking myself for not coming up with a witty retort.

Loving that I'm still loved by my family even if I'm 13kg away from my goal weight.
Grateful that tomorrow is a new day and I can still justdoit if I want.

If you've lost your blogging mojo

2012-02-01T12:11:00.001+13:00

I hear it everywhere, "Ahhh, I've lost my blogging mojo, I just can't be bothered with blogging anymore..."
If you've been feeling like this, you're not alone.
Apparently there is an epidemic out there, sweeping through the blogging community.
Blogs lie dormant, neglected, as one blogger after another begins the new year devoid of inspiration.

Why is this?
I've been thinking on it quite a bit, as some of my favourite bloggers have been posting so infrequently I'm worried they've given up altogether.

Probably for many, the tug of the Real World has made blogging too difficult. Maybe there's no time in your day, or when you get some free moments, the last thing you want to do is hunch over a computer. Or maybe you just lack inspiration. Your blog feels stale, you struggle to find things to say. Or maybe you feel like your blog is just an unmapped desert island in a great big ocean of blogs; maybe you feel small and insignificant.

Whatever the reason if you're in this situation, I'm writing this post in an attempt to encourage you to keep blogging.
Because to a blog fanatic like me, when my bloggy friends give up, its like you've died. Or moved away. And since I don't get to see you in the Real World, the only way we can be friends is in Blogland. So it makes me sad when I lose a blog-friend.

Can I encourage you to think again? Cos I hate losing friends.
Maybe I can wrack my brains and come up with some ideas to help you regain your lost blogging mojo.
I'm going to give it a crack, and if it doesn't work, well, at least I tried.

#1 Problem: I have no Time
OK, this is a pretty good reason. I can't argue with that. If you're at home with small children or started a new job or just juggling the responsibilities in your Real World, blogging is going to come way down the list of priorities. But maybe you could look at it as carving out a little corner of space for yourself. Perhaps you could schedule in some blogging time. I'm not talking about posting every day, but three times a week might be do-able? Maybe when the kids are in bed, the dishes are done, pour yourself a glass of wine, put on some music and sit down with your blog. Figure out a pattern of blogging like my friend Kristy does (a mum of four, with a part-time job and umpteen pets).Kristy posts four times a week. 1 = a recipe; 2=something she's made; 3=something from her week/family life; 4=Things I'm Loving linky.

For you it will be different, depending on what you're into. But it's more do-able when you have a plan {especially if you make use of post-scheduling... write a couple of posts at one time and then schedule them to post on certain days - brilliant.}

#2 Problem: I have no Inspiration
If your blog no longer inspires you, its time to rethink it.
Anything becomes boring after a while. Even Disneyland (I'll bet if you spent every day there you'd be sick of it before long).
So you have to shake things up a little.
When I get bored I tinker with my blog's look, first of all.
Change the header, the fonts, the colours, the sidebar.

Of course this is just cosmetic and doesn't deal with the underlying issue of boredom. But it's a start.

Next, think about your blog's voice. What is your purpose in blogging? Who are you wanting to reach (who is your readership?)
You need to re-focus. You might even need to re-brand and change your blog's name to match a new purpose. But you don't need to ditch your blog and start over. If you do, you will lose many of the readers/followers you worked so hard to gain, trust me. You can change the name without changing the blog's URL.

Later you can change the URL to match, if you want to, as my friend Alicia over at Project Alicia did. She re-purposed her blog (focusing almost completely on Photography and sharing her photography and editing tips) without starting a new blog and losing her readership.

For instance, if your blog started out as a general day-to-day record of your life and family doings, but now your kids have all gone to school, or you're just over it, have a think about what gets you excited in your real life.
Photography? Cooking? Painting? Books? Writing? Home decor?
Allergies? Fitness? Personal Growth?
Or a combination of all of them...

Focus on what you love and draw inspiration from that for your blog.
Create pages where people can find your posts listed on each topic.
And set yourself a posting schedule - three times a week is do-able {again, post-scheduling}.
Find some linkies or memes happening on the topic you want to focus on... join in and draw ideas from them.

#3 Problem: I can't keep up with it all
You might have found yourself on the Blog Etiquette treadmill, endlessly replying to comments, reading and commenting on blogs out of politeness.
Guess what? You can get off the treadmill at any time.
Work out what you can cope with and which comments you will reply to, which blogs you will read... and then take away the pressure. I've just written a post on this topic over at The Blog Guidebook (where I am now a contributor) called "Blogiquette Revisited".

Here is my advice on Blogiquette:

We figure out how much blogging time we get. Hmmmm. Not as much as we'd like.
We'd better Prioritise.
What comes first? Writing content for our own blog, surely? And reading those blogs which truly inspire us, make us laugh - the ones we will read whether the author ever comments on our blogs or not.
We can also make time to read the blogs of those bloggers we've built meaningful friendships with.
We check out a few newbies... and leave some encouraging meaningful comments.
But not every day.
We reply to the comments where someone asks us a question, and to the comments that made our day, or intrigued us. If we have time we hop over and check out those bloggers (who knows, they could become our new favorite?)... and we leave it at that.

Then we walk away from the computer.
Conquer the Laundry mountain. Fight back against the Dust Bunny Revolution.
Reintroduce ourselves to our children.
And live our actual Real Lives. Without which we will have nothing to say.

...........................

Has any of that helped at all?
{The correct answer is, "Yes Simoney! I am now inspired to start blogging again!"}
I hope that it has helped somebody, at least.

For help revamping your blog's new look, check out my Blog Tips Page
For further inspiration, here's a bunch of linkies you might like to join in with - not all of them, just the ones that make sense for you and your new blog mojo! {Full list over on Curly Willow}

Sunday Showcase Party @ By Stephanie Lynn

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm
Anything Goes @ Type A Decorating
Trash 2 Treasure @ Sassy Sites

All Things Inspired @ All Things Heart and Home
Power Of Paint @ Domestically Speaking
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Open House Thursday @ No Minimalist Here
Strut Your Stuff Thursday @ Somewhat Simple
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Show And Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Frugal Friday @ Shabby Nest
Weekend WrapUp Party @ Tatertots and Jello
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Show and Tell Saturday @ Be Different, Act Normal

These are the ones I like to join in with...

Where are you at with your "Blogging Mojo"?

Rite of Passage

2012-01-31T15:47:00.001+13:00

This boy just started at Big Kindy.
That's what we call the kindergarten all the kids went to, the last stop before School.
Only Big Boys (and girls) go to Big Kindy.
Big boys who wear undies and go to the toilet by themselves.
At Big Kindy kids stay all day.
We've been on the waiting list for a while, and finally it's our turn.

Here is Scrag on his first day. The first day of the last stop before I have no more littlies at home.
{Time to start working on my Resume...?}

We have an association with our local kindergarten stretching back over nearly seven years.
The first one to go to Big Kindy was Dash...

Dash on his First day at Big Kindy, November 2005

This is a real community kindergarten.We made friends there for life, people we still hang out with.
It was on a day when I was early for kindy that I spotted the home that would become ours, as I cruised the block looking at For Sale signs and dreaming...

Miss Fab started going when she turned three. Her best friend from kindy is now her best friend at school... the little sister of one of Dash's Big Kindy friends.

Miss Fab on her First day at Big Kindy, July 2007

My Big Kindy pals were the first to hear that Scrag was on the way. In fact it was them who suggested I better go home and take a pregnancy test when I told them I was feeling squeemish and had a metallic taste in my mouth...

I could not have imagined how fast the years would fly by; how the tiny speck in my belly would become a big boy off to Big Kindy himself, in the blink of an eye...

Scrag on his First day at Big Kindy, January 2012

Its the beginning of the end of an era.
*sniff*

goodbye Forever, Duraseal

2012-01-29T21:06:00.003+13:00

When Dash started school four years ago, one of my first tasks as the mother of a soon-to-be school child was to cover a mountain of exercise books with Duraseal {that sticky plastic film teachers like you to cover your kids' books with so they can withstand rough handling, spilt water and sticky fingers}.

I was all "Lets make sure there's no bubbles" and "When his teacher sees how well his books are covered she'll know I'm a mother who really cares..."
*snort*

By year two I was over it already.
And by the time I had two kids with mountains of books needing sticky stuff put on, I wanted to personally strangle the person who invented Duraseal. Or preferably the bright spark who recommended books be covered.
One year I even took out my book-covering frustration in a Poem, here on my blog.

But not this year. No more Duraseal for me.
No more wasted hours spent bent over my kitchen table trying not swear at my wrinkled and bubbly Durasealing efforts.

This year I discovered EZcover {pronounced Easy-Cover, cos its EASY}.

Actually, I didn't really discover it. The nice inventor of the stuff emailed me and asked me would I like a sample of his bookcovers, which remove the need for Duraseal.
I replied, Oh Yes Please! How did you know I hate covering schoolbooks? You must have read my Poem from Last Year...

Bryce went ahead and sent me some samples.
I thought, Yep, that looks pretty easy alright. Plastic covers that just slip onto the books. No measuring. No cutting. No air bubbles. No wrinkles.

Bryce said, Get your kids to pick which designs they like and what sizes you need and I'll send them to you.
Gee I love being a blogger sometimes.

So I got the kids to pick their designs {There are twelve pretty funky designs to choose from, all designed in New Zealand.} and I sent Bryce my list. It was pretty easy figuring out which sizes I needed because the codes are all there on the website when you go to order.

When the package arrived the kids couldn't wait to cover their books.
"Can we do our own, mum?" they pleaded.
Oh wow. This just gets better and better.

I handed them their book piles and covers.
Got out my camera. And took photos while the kids covered their own schoolbooks.

I love you EZcover. You just saved me about six hours of frustrating toil.
I will sing your praises to the blogosphere!

And best of all... the covers are re-usable. Next year I just have to slip them off this year's books and recycle them onto next year's. Brilliant. Easy. Gorgeous. And Eco-friendly!

With school beginning in a few days, forget the Durasealing. Get on over to Bryce's EZcover website and order some of his cool book covers. Your back will thank you, I promise.

........................

DISCLAIMER: This is not a product review blog and I usually turn down requests to review products, but this one was perfect for me, as I have moaned and groaned every year about covering schoolbooks. So it fits for me, and will hopefully be useful to you too - all you mummies of school-agers who agree with me that covering schoolbooks with Duraseal is PAINFUL. If I didn't love this product I wouldn't be raving about it ♥

Summer by the Lakes

2012-01-27T11:34:00.003+13:00

We are now at the stage of family life where holidays can actually be... enjoyable. Relaxing. Fun.
Gone are the holidays which revolve around getting the kids to sleep in a strange bed or changing pooey nappies by the roadside.

These days when we hit the road in our people-mover we are crammed to the hilt with kayaks and scooters and bikes, not portacots and highchairs.

We are out on the other side, baby! The promised land of kids who are old enough to take themselves to the loo. Old enough to stay out til the sun goes down, sit up and watch a movie.
Holidays are a whole new adventure in fun now that we have no babies. Or toddlers. And everyone is potty trained.
Yeeeeeeehaaaaarrrrrr!!!!!

So when we got the last-minute chance for five nights away together, we said "Kids! pack your bags!" and away we went. How awesome is it when your kids can pack their own bags {and actually pick the right stuff?}

A mere three hours away from Auckland is Rotovegas. Oops, I mean Rotorua.
Think geysers and mud pools and tourists. The luge. The agrodome.
We ignored all that and hit the Lakes {with our super-duper kayak of course}.

We stayed at this place: Marama Resort, on Lake Rotorua. Not this actual picturesque cottage, but one close by on the same property. Just over from where we stayed five years ago, when we spent half our time stressing about keeping our kids away from the lake/canal/stream/estuary. Fun times.

Now they spend half their time in the water, our little fishes. Making friends and swimming to their hearts content. Er yeah, we did make them wear buoyancy vests. Just so we could relax and actually read the book by the pool/river/lake.

So many lakes to choose from down that way. Each one more beautiful than the last.

{Lake Okareka, Rotorua}

We thought this one was pretty good. It's off the beaten track, not many tourists. Good for kayaking...

{Miss Fab got the hang of paddling}

{Dash enjoyed jumping off the diving platform; every lake needs one}

The kids befriended the locals. Sort of.

{Lake Rotorua}

It was beautiful, to be sure, but windy and cold. Where are you, Summer?

{Lake Tarawera, Rotorua}

Oh there you are! Here on Lake Tarawera. See that mountain in the distance?

A volcano. The infamous Mt Tarawera, which erupted in 1886, destroying the world-famous Pink and White Terraces, a natural wonder of the World.

She's all quiet now, of course. Kind of spooky though.

Beautiful, serene, quiet lake. Until the tourists arrived.

An extended family of Brazillians/Pakistanis/Iranians took up residence on the boat ramp, blocking all access, roaring up and down on their jetski, smoking cigarettes and laughing loudly at private jokes in Brazillian/Pakistani/Iranian.

Kind of spoiled the serenity.

Lucky we got there early aye? And the weather was good.

{Mt Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngaruhoe, from Taupo at sunset}

The next day we went to Taupo.

The big Lake in the centre of the North Island; a lake the size of Singapore.

World famous for trout fishing and parasailing.

{Kinloch Beach, Lake Taupo}

There's a little-known beach 20km away from the main town. A place few tourists know about. Kinloch.

A beach I remember from my teenage days. Memorable for the worst sunburn of my life... and the best swimming ever. When the day dawned cloudless and perfect, I suggested we head to Kinloch.

It's still popular with teenagers. It has that all-important diving platform.
And water so clear that you can see the sand on the bottom when you're swimming.
Even when its deep.

We parked ourselves there for the day, under a shade tree.

We swam and relaxed, kayaked, read. The kids got icecream from the shop and played at the playground.

Swam some more. We watched the teenagers haul a couch out to the diving ramp.
Mr G took Dash out fishing on the kayak. They had a great time; caught some driftwood, some water weed and lost their line. Came back with stories about the One That Got Away.

We got fish and chips for dinner and didn't leave until the sun went down.

A perfect day.

The day we left, the clouds had returned. Overnight a spot of rain.

This summer has been short on beautiful days. We've only had a few.

But a few perfect days was all we needed to create memories of Summer by the lakes.
..................................

Beautiful Lake Spots, Rotorua & Taupo

Lake Okareka. Turn off Tarawera Rd onto Okareka Loop Rd, then left onto Millar Road. Keep going until you see a cool playground and reserve on your right, a beach and diving platform. Caution: Not a tourist spot. Tourists are recommended to attempt a Kiwi accent as best they can.

Lake Tarawera, Kotukutuku Bay. Drive past the Blue and Green lakes to the end of Tarawera Road. Stop at the Buried Village, for some poignant history or the Lookout for a great before heading down the hill to Kotukutuku Bay. {Note to Tourists: Please don't take over the boat ramp or smoke cigarettes and spoil our beautiful clean fresh air}

Kinloch, Lake Taupo. Turn off State Highway 1 onto Poihipi Road, follow it until you turn left into Whangamata Road, and after a while, left again into Kinloch Rd. Kinloch is not signposted, so watch carefully for road signs. Enjoy the perfect swimming spot, complete with diving platform, playground, toilet block, convenience store and cafe... and the clearest water ever. Caution: Take plenty of sunscreen and go early to get the shade trees.

Cupcakes for Everyone

2012-01-23T07:24:00.001+13:00

A cupcake is a handful of joy.
Perfect for pretty parties.
Divine as decadent daytime delights.
Lovely for ladies who lunch.

You don't have to be a professional to make gorgeous cupcakes. Frosting disguises a multitude of sins and with a bit of cleverness and some sweets, hey presto! Cupcakes to brighten up any party table.

Here's my never-fail recipe, adapted from the good ole Edmonds Cookbook...

INGREDIENTS
125g butter, softened {convert measurement}
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup caster sugar (fine grain)
2 eggs
1 cup standard flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup milk

To make gluten free: Substitute Flour with Gluten Free baking mix e.g. Bakels or Healtheries
To make dairy free: Substitute butter with dairy-free spread e.g. Olivani and substitute milk with soy or rice milk

METHOD

Cream butter sugar and vanilla together; I use a good old fashioned electric hand beater (works a treat)
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one is added
Fold flour and baking powder into creamed mixture
Stir in Milk
Spoon into baking tins (patty pans) lined with cupcake papers
Bake at 190oC (375oF) for 15 minutes or until golden and cakes spring back when lightly touched

Makes 12 regular or 24 mini cupcakes.

{ready-made icing roses turn simple cupcakes into something beautiful}

Hint: Cupcake papers
Don't bake your cupcakes in the special papers you spent all that money on. Bake them in the El Cheapo supermarket ones... and then slip the pretty ones on over top, when its time to display them. The baking process discolours the paper and ruins them visually.

{Cupcakes look pretty on a tiered cake plate}

Easy Peasy Butter Cream Frosting

INGREDIENTS
100g butter, softened
Vanilla essence
icing sugar
food colouring

Start beating the butter and vanilla with your electric beater
slowly add icing sugar until it tastes good
whip it some more
add colour, whip it even more
that's it!

{Cupcakes & peanutbuttercream frosting by Delissimon, Mmmmmm}

Butter cream frosting looks amazing all on its own when piped onto cupcakes, rather than spread with a knife. Disposable piping kits can be bought at the supermarket very cheaply, and work absolutely fine.

{Dairy Free cupcakes & frosting}

To make this dairy free: Substitute butter with a dairy free spread like Olivani. Food colouring added to dairy free butter frosting will curdle and separate, looking awful. I recommend leaving the icing plain white and colouring it by sprinkling coloured dusting sugar on top... or make it chocolate by adding cocoa powder.

Decorating Cupcakes

The sky is the limit when it comes to decorating cupcakes. Plain piped butter icing looks fab on its own, or with a few silver cachous sprinkled on, or dusting sugar.

To make cupcakes even more special, add a rose made out of fondant icing (easier than they look; brilliant easy to follow instructions here)

Paper lace cupcake papers are super-easy to make using the paper lace edges from Dollar Store paper doilies. Just trim the edges off and wrap around the cupcake. Hold in place with a dab of hot glue and then trim the excess. Voila! A beautiful Lacey Cupcake Paper ♥

Or make these super cute Green Martian Cupcakes (from Toy Story)

These guys are too cute... and very simple to make!

Make a bright green butter icing and smooth a round swirl on top of each cupcake (Tip: hold the knife steady and turn the cupcake to get a nice round shape)
Use white mini-marshmallows sliced in half for the eyes. Slice triangular slivers from soft green sweets to create antennae.
Use a squeeze tubes of gel writing icing (silver) for the eyes and mouth (available from the supermarket). Too easy.

Have fun making beautiful, delicious cupcakes.

{What's your favourite kind?}

Lovingly grateful

2012-01-20T09:56:00.010+13:00

There's plenty of things I'm loving right now. And much that I'm grateful for.
To begin with, I haven't shown you my duckegg blue living room yet have I?
Oh I love love love it.

This colour is my favourite in all the world. Soothing, soft, fresh, refreshing, beautiful.
Kind of hard to tell from the photos, but you get the idea.
I had to take down the 90's print drapes. Ugh. Replaced them with curtains constructed from a mosquito net.
No sewing required, you know me.
Love.

Don't they make the light so soft?
Isn't this a room you can retreat to for peace and quiet?
Almost makes me like my tired couches all over again.
They look nicer after I took off all the cushion covers and washed them. Scrubbed the grubby arms with carpet cleaner. Added a soft cream throw to disguise the worst of it.

And look at my new lamp! the old one blew up. I scored this one half price with a bit of wheeler-dealer-ing.
And see my picture hung behind it? I requested the frame for Christmas.
In the frame is my promise:
"All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children's peace."
And mine. Hear hear.

I am loving my "grownups room." Its a toy-free zone.
So beautiful and peaceful. So grateful, I am for this room.

I'm also loving Gluten-Free all over again.
After quite a while of slacking off, bloating and weight gain, I've decided to ban "Gloot" (as Dash calls it) for me and Miss Fab. Makes it so easy to say no to donuts and pies when you are gluten free.
But there's nothing stopping me baking beautiful gluten-free cupcakes for a summers day treat. Mmmm.
Which of course makes me grateful for my trusty gluten-free baking mix. Use my standard recipes and substitute this stuff. No-one would ever know they're gluten-free, it's so good.

{Also loving that bit of extra room already in my waistband. Just a little. But enough so my hubby has noticed. ♥}

Loving my girl and her love of music. Love that she knows all the words to Brooke Fraser, Stan Walker.
I love the way she sings all day, dreaming of her chance to be on X-Factor.
"Listen mum," she says, "Do I sing this one good...?"
She warbles her voice like an opera singer. Its very cute. I try to keep a straight face.
We love watching X-Factor together. We have our favourites, and play the part of judges, wishing we could vote.

Love her doofy attempt at a vlog... {she didn't want it on her own blog, so I might as well put it on mine, right?}

{I also Love that when there's a bug in the house we call Miss Fab who is fearless.}

Love my scooter-boy.
He waited and waited for his MGP scooter. Now he practically sleeps with the thing.
On his MP3 player Stan Walker reigns supreme. Dash thinks he's way cool. I'm thinking I should introduce him to Toby-Mac too.

What I really love? Discovering where all my cushions have got to...

On scooter-boy's bunk bed. Yep, that's right.
Dash has been watching plenty of 60-Minute Makeover and apparently he now has a thing for cushions.
Move over John Amabile*!

*{a 60-Minute designer who goes overboard with hundreds of cushions}

I also love that my cool-dude Scooter Boy missed his daddy when he was away in Wellington - so much so that he cuddled his daddy's childhood teddy bear to sleep. Awwwwww.

I also love Daddy's farsightedness. Investing in a double kayak so he can do daddy-bonding with the Boy before those puberty-blues hit. Buying him a fishing rod. Creating a way for them to spend time together in such an amazing way. O the adventures they will have. So grateful for a wise daddy who invests in his kids.

Love this photo of my boys. Brothers.
Wrestling comes with the territory.

Love this cheeky little face. He's a Scrag through and through. Keeps us laughing. Has us in stitches. Has been voted "Most Likely to Make Us Go Awwww". Also very loud. Very snotty. Very cheeky. But kisses me a lot. And snuggles me and holds my face when he wants to get my attention. Like "LOOK AT ME! IN MY EYES! I WANT YOUR FULL ATTENTION MAMA!"
Love that Scrag.

This Summer has been plenty rainy. We've spent our holidays at home so far.
But I'm loving them. Mostly. Apart from the occasional bug.
Ah yes, apparently Miss Fab is scared of large praying mantises after all. There's one holding them to ransom in the hallway and they need me to go get rid of it.
Oh dear.
Better go pretend to be fearless.

Did you see these Posts from the Past Week?

Just Down the Road

2012-01-18T22:47:00.010+13:00

Just down the road from where I live, there is a beach.
It's not famous for golden sand or big waves.
Its not famous at all.

The name is not synonymous with sandcastles and sunbathing
{more like mud flats and rock pools}
I wouldn't swim there, no way.

But let me tell you a little secret...
That was Before.

Before the council dumped a load of sand, and made a sandy shore.
And Before the tide came in.

At low tide the mud flats and rock pools reign
But at high tide our humble beach is transformed
The clear water laps at the sand, beckoning the timid.
Calling to me, "Why didn't you bring your swimsuit, silly girl?"

I want to rush and dive headlong into that beckoning sea.

Its perfect now for sailing...

Sailing boats of all kinds...

...perfect for digging holes that fill up magically with the sea.

Darn it! Why O Why did I not bring my togs?
I seem to have brought everything else...

The captain of the Orange ship returns
Come on, he calls. Jump on!

I can't resist.
Too bad about the No Togs and the Wet Bum.
Who cares?
The ocean is calling to me and I surrender...

With the dip of paddles and slosh of waves, we slide past the shore.
Its great! I finally went out on Daddy's kayak and I Love Love Love it.
Can't wait for the next high-tide sunny day...
{this time I'll be bringing my togs*.}
..................

Our secret gem beach is Pt Chevalier, easy Biking distance from home - or Five minutes drive. Love. {This time we were there with my sweet friend Maya and her family, all the way from England}

*Togs = Kiwinese for "swimsuit"

An Impromptu garden Party

2012-01-17T10:49:00.003+13:00

School Holidays in full swing. Where are you, Summer?
Oh there you are!
Finally a day dawns warm and sunny. A day empty of plans.

We call some friends, promising an impromptu tea party.
Hang a mosquito net from a tree. Haul out pillows, rugs, beanbags.
Turn two crates and a plank into a picnic table, covering it with gingham.

We bake cupcakes and ice them pink.

Correction. I bake cupcakes and ice them pink.
The girls are too busy having fun in the garden to bother with baking.

A feast is assembled. Cherries and strawberries, pikelets with sprinkles.

The girls' eyes widen as I bring out the goodies, tray by tray.

This day is perfect for a girly garden party.
We toast each other with grape juice and pink lemonade.
Even the uncut grass is picturesque, when viewed through my camera lens.

We shoo away scavenging boys, glad we set up our pretty feast in the front garden.
We promise them the leftovers.
Miraculously they leave us alone, too busy scootering to bother us for long...

The girls are well-pleased with their impromptu garden party...

Time for some music, they say.

Music and dancing. It's just not a party without dancing...

Later, when the party-goers have moved on, I claim the garden pavilion for myself.
Stretch out in the sun-dappled shade on pillows, with my book.
Dave the Female Cat stretches out beside me, the only sound, her purring.
Bliss.

Other Impromptu Parties:

Cancer is Ugly but This was Beautiful

2012-01-14T14:29:00.010+13:00

We have just returned from the most beautiful funeral.
A little girl, aged just five. Heart-wrenching.
The daughter of friends who battled the Cancer Troll for their Princess Kezia for nearly two years.
Kezia's parents battled in prayer, and many battled with them.
When conventional medicine had done all it could do, they tried nutritional Therapy.
It seemed to be working, the prayer and the oranges. The Troll seemed to be losing its grip.
Beautiful Kezi regained her health and defied expectations.
Then just before Christmas it all went downhill fast.
Last Thursday she finally slipped away.

"Just like in the Enid Blyton book, The Enchanted Wood, Kezi has climbed to the top of the Faraway Tree and through the hole in the clouds to ForeverLand. The land has moved on... but one day it will be our turn to follow her up into Foreverland and we'll be with her again..." her mother said, her words reducing me to tears yet again.

Can anything be more devastating than losing a child?
Her parents spoke of their memories, those extra 18 months they've had with healthy Kezi, which doctors said wasn't possible. The story didn't turn out the way her parents had hoped. She didn't find complete healing here in this world... and yet they still have Hope. Their faith has carried them.

My tears fell constantly as I listened and watched and witnessed the beautiful way this family said goodbye to their precious daughter. The way their faith has held them, comforted them even though they have questions, and are indescribably sad and lost without their eldest Princess.

Kezi died just three months shy of her sixth birthday. She had planned a Garden Party to celebrate reaching that milestone. In honour of her dream, Kezi's amazing parents decided to create that Garden Party for after the service, to say a beautiful goodbye, celebrate her life, her beauty and the things she loved.

Children were invited; girls and ladies asked to come dressed in pink.
Astro-turf and topiaries, balloons and butterflies filled the room; sugared cupcakes and a Princess bouncy castle helped turn a dusty church hall into Kezia's Secret Garden, while Kezi's favourite movie, 12 Dancing Princesses, was projected on a wall.

It was the most un-funeral-like funeral I have ever been to. Also the most moving, the most beautiful, and the most incredibly appropriate.

Why farewell a child with sombre black? Say goodbye with bubbles and twirling skirts.
Wipe your tears as "Shine" echoes through the hall. See her friends playing in honour of her, full of life.
Feel that tug in your heart that says, "Remember how fragile life is."
How precious our children. How fleeting our lives.
Treasure every moment. Hug them and love them while we can.
And thank Jesus, who Kezia loved and trusted, that she is now safe in Foreverland, twirling and dancing with angels, healed and whole.
Those who carry her in their hearts will miss her, and weep many tears.
But they are not hopeless tears. There is comfort. And hope.
We will see her again, that I know.

........
Kezia's journey can be found here on Kezi's Honey. You can donate to the family through the website link (her parents have not been working as they were caring for her fulltime... as well as her little sister and baby brother)

Ten Cool Things About Motherhood

2012-01-12T23:34:00.022+13:00

Ask any honest woman whether motherhood is easy, and she'll tell you, "Heck no!" (or words to that effect).
I've written my fair share of "motherhood woes" posts, and on any given day you'll find me wanting to tear my hair out at some point, but today I want to focus on the the things that make me grateful to be a mum. The aspects of motherhood that make me smile, snigger, snort. "Awww shucks!" moments and warm fuzzies; "Try-to-keep-a-straight-face" incidents and the other coolness that makes it all worth it. So here are...

silly easter theme dinner

1. You're never at a loss for things to fill your weekends

I love weekends with my family.
Am I the only one who in my "single days" used to view the weekend's approach with a mixture of anticipation and dread? Would I be a loser nigel-no-mates sitting home alone or would I find people to hang with/things to do?
As a mother this is never a problem. Weekends are full to the brim with sports fixtures, birthday parties, playdates. And even if you never get to leave the house, don't worry you won't be on your own. You'll always have The Kids to hang out with. When you're a mother you're never alone.

{The Flipside - when you're a mother you're never alone}

Sleepover/Movie Night

2. You get to watch kids movies
I love watching movies with my kids.
Kids movies are so cool! Yet so many adults have never discovered Shrek, Nemo and Lightning McQueen.
My child-free friends look at me blankly when I compare the awesomeness of KungFu Panda 2 to the daftness of Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakquel.
Some of them haven't even heard of Woody and Buzz Lightyear - can you imagine?
I'm personally looking forward to "Dolphin's Tale" these school holidays. It looks much preferable to the other option - Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Chipwrecked. Really???

{The Flipside: some kids movie makers don't know when to stop... Ice Age 4???}

3. You get to be "the best mother in the world" by doing really simple stuff
I love it when my kids say I'm the best mum in the world. It doesn't take much.
You decide to let the kids sleepover in one room; you tell them they can have a "movie night". You say "I'll pop you some popcorn and make you icecream sodas..."
Suddenly you are the best mother in the world.
When you walk in with the tray, they can't stop telling you how awesome you are.

{The Flipside: You can just as easily become the meanest mother in the world by doing equally simple stuff like saying "no"}

super diaper baby - a classic children's book

4. You get to enjoy children's literature all over again
I love childrens books. I love the colourful illustrations, the clever rhymes, the humorous life lessons.
Childhood favourites like Where the Wild Things Are and Hairy McLary are now joined by new classics like The Gruffalo and Fancy Nancy. Perfect for reading out loud. Perfect for snuggling up with. And as your babies grow you can introduce them to your old favourites Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, CS Lewis. While they introduce you to Captain Underpants and Super Diaper Baby. Nothing is better on a rainy night than snuggling in between your kids with a book to share.

{The Flipside: There is no Flipside - just Books and Smiles all the way}

Dust Bunny - scary no longer

5. Disgusting stuff no longer freaks you out
I love that my kids make me braver than I used to be.
So what if I'm scared of creepy crawlies and flying things in the house? As a mother, you learn to show no fear and get good at being the bug-catcher/dead-bird disposer.
Head Lice. Ugh. Don't worry, after a few infestations you'll be very matter-of fact as you chat to your friend while killing nits with your nit-zapper.
Vomitous bedding, pooey undies, bloody gashes will all lose their horror.
This is the legacy of motherhood - an iron-clad stomach and bravery of Oscar-winning proportions.

{The Flipside: You will be dealing with bugs, birds, gashes, vomit, poo and nits on a regular basis. It just comes with the territory}

6. You have a never-ending supply of hugs and kisses
I love snuggles and kisses from my kids.
When I need a hug there's a ready supply of soft squirmy bodies to snuggle and sweet velvet cheeks to kiss. Its surprising how even big nine-year-old boys still love to cuddle their mummies {as long as nobody's looking}. There's nothing quite as calming as a cuddle and when you're a mother you get cuddles for life.

{The Flipside: You will usually find those same little bodies that love to hug you squirming into your bed in the wee small hours of the morning for a snuggle. You'll never find a bed big enough for everyone}

7. Your days are coloured by a steady stream of hilarious anecdotes
I love the daft things my kids say and do. Man, they're funny.
Kids are a fantastic source of amusement aren't they? Don't they say the darndest things? Do the strangest things? Make you want to pee yourself laughing while you try desperately to keep a straight-and-serious face? I mean, you really could write a bestselling comedy series, if only you could remember all of their witty sayings and hilarious conversations.

{The Flipside: You'll never remember them word-for-word, even if you try to write it all down. Blame it on Nappy Brain, or the mysterious lack of pens, whatever. Plus, the book's already been written.}

8. You learn a lot
I love all the funny stuff I've learnt from my kids.
Its surprising how much I don't actually know. And how much my kids know more than me.
For instance, did you know that tropical fruit bubblegum is healthy for you? Yes, it is. It has "fruit" in it, you see. So it can count for one of your 5+ a Day.
Oh and did you also know that Germany makes the fastest cars in the world, not Italy.
Yes indeed. Ethan next door said so.
What about this one I heard from my daughter, it was so funny. She said it just yesterday... what was it again...? Oh darn I forgot, but it was really good, honest.
You learn a lot of stuff from your kids. Stuff you never knew you didn't know.

{The Flipside: You learn a lot. From your kids.}

9. You lose your self-consciousness
I love that my kids push me out of my comfort zone.
This process begins with pregnancy and childbirth and continues on indefinitely. I was so shy as a girl that I had perfected the art of getting into my pj's without showing my sisters any skin, a skill I took with me into adulthood. But by the time my first baby was two weeks old, I was standing out on my mum's front porch pumping milk out of my boob, completely unselfconscious. It's just a boob, right?

My kids always push me to try new things, to break out of my shell and play.
"Come on mum!" they encourage me, eager for me to join them splashing in the water or whizzing down the hill on a luge.
Where once I might have been too worried about the way my body looks in a swimsuit, for my kids sake I'll don my ~~bikini~~ long-sleeved rash top 'n' shorts and join them in the water. Ignore how far my butt sticks out when seated on a bike and just go for a ride.

{The Flipside: You never get a chance to be self-conscious. As a mother "privacy" is a distant dream. Sitting on the toilet is an open invitation for a deep and meaningful. Eventually this improves...}

10. You learn a lot
What? Have I already said that one? Well let me say it again. You learn A LOT.
About yourself, about life, about human nature, about God, and about what really matters and what really doesn't.

Every day you learn something whether you like it or not.
You learn that you actually are like your mother, after all.
You learn that your own mother did a helluva lot more for you than you realised. (The fact that you can walk around on two feet and take yourself to the loo is thanks to her, for starters)
You learn about unconditional love
You discover how a kid can make you SO MAD you want to scream - but at the same time you love them SO MUCH that if a rabid dog appeared right at that moment, you would wrestle it to the ground to protect that child you are so mad at.

You learn that you never knew what tiredness was until you were a mother.
You never knew what "busy" was until you were a mother.
You never realised how self-centred you were until you had a little bundle that demanded 24-7 care, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year - no days off.
You never understood that when you have a child, your heart begins to bleed for all the sad neglected little people in the world. You realise why your mum cried when she watched Home Alone.

When you are a mother the learning never stops.
A wise man once said "We think we are there to help our kids grow up; actually they are there to help us grow up."

I love that I get to be mother to three precious human beings.
Who knows what they could be, who they could become?
Who knows how many lives might be touched, helped, blessed through them.
Motherhood is intense. It's tiring. It's often thankless, sometimes sleepless, rarely glamorous.
But its also the only job in the world that nobody else can do.
I am irreplaceable.
I am the only mother my three children will ever have.
How's that for job security?
♥

{The Flipside: No Days Off. Sigh.}

I Found My Word for the Year

2012-01-11T10:45:00.000+13:00

JUSTDOIT.

It's a word isn't it?

NO? Well it is now.

Mrs Readalot's great Holiday Reads

2012-01-09T22:02:00.007+13:00

Its a wet wet summer this year, much to the disappointment of Mrs Readalot's house-guests who have come from wintry England in hopes of returning from holiday with a tan.
{Fortunately for them, they'll be going home via Sydney - apparently the sun is shining there}

Luckily Mrs Readalot is a book-worm.
She can just as easily enjoy a good book snuggled on the couch while the wind howls and the rain pours, as she can sprawled under a shade-tree batting away flies.

{Pt Chev beach - the one and only beach day so far this summer}

This month's Book Club theme is "Great Holiday Reads"... and who could have a longer list of reading material than Mrs Readalot?

This summer she is devouring Game of Thrones and all its cousins by George R R Martin.
Mrs Readalot took no chances when it came to Christmas presents... rather than chance her hubby turning up with something by George Clooney, she ordered the series herself online, and when the package arrived by courier she shoved them at him and asked him to wrap them up and put them under the tree.
Mrs Readalot is enjoying the story immensely {she'll review it when she's done}.
In fact it is a sacrifice of immense proportions that she sits here typing on this stormy night while her book beckons so enticingly.

So lets make this quick shall we?

Mrs Readalot Says:

Holiday reads... holiday reads... when I'm going on holiday i like something easy-to-read, enjoyable, entertaining. So I usually grab me some chick-lit.

You can't go past Maeve Binchy for easy holiday reading. Many a good heart-tugging Irish yarn have I devoured during holidays past. Top of my Maeve list would be The Glass Lake and Tara Rd. Great characters woven together with a few rogues thrown in. Nothing too emotionally or mentally taxing, while at the same still very readable. Call it chick-lit if you must, but I think Maeve started writing these tales before the genre was invented, which kind of gives her some credibility.

Next to Maeve is Marion Keyes, another Irish girl. I'm sure you've seen her in airport bookstands: Watermelon, Sushi for Beginners, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married...
I have yet to read a Marion Keyes that bored me. Chick lit it may be, but its good chick-lit.
The kind that other less-talented writers try to emulate.
Two of her more recent books are a bit thicker and deeper. The Other Side of the Story and the Brightest Star in the Sky. I enjoyed them both. Tragedy, relationships gone wrong, humour, tension and a twist or two... likable characters and satisfying-though-not-perfectly happy endings mean that Marion is usually my first choice air-travel author.

Then there was the book I read while on holiday in the UK: One Day by David Nicholls.
I just saw that they've just made a movie of it, and was reminded what a great read it was.
This is the classic "right person/wrong timing" love affair, but somehow there ends up being nothing predictable about this story.
Girl meets boy the night before college ends. They are an unlikely couple but end up best friends, pen pals, and each other's sounding boards. You think you know how it will all turn out. You are wrong. Its not chick-lit. After all its written by a BLOKE. But its a good holiday read. I read mine in SCOTLAND, on a train, in the Highlands...

{Here's the movie trailer; it'll give you an idea about the book}

So if you want a decent enjoyable love story for your holiday break/fireside reading but have already chewed through too many Maeve Binchy/Marion Keyes books on holidays past, give One Day a try.

{you can get it cheap with free delivery here from Book Depository}

Mrs Readalot gave One Day 3.5/5
{now back to my book...}
.......................................................

Book Club
Welcome to a whole new year of Mrs Readalot's Bloggy Book Club
This month's Book Club Linky is being hosted by Abby over at Abby Gabs.
Abby has just finished devouring the whole of the Hunger Games trilogy on her kindle in a record-breaking 48-hour marathon... her review will make you smile (and also want to rush out and get hold of the Hunger Games books}

To find out more about joining in with Book Club, visit my Book Club Page
To link up your Great Holiday Reads post, visit the linky at Abby Gabs

Daddy Bought a Kayak...

2012-01-06T19:08:00.005+13:00

Daddy bought a kayak

he's out on it right now

paddling over ocean waves

fishing off the bow

Daddy loves his kayak

he cleans it every day

to wash off the salt water

and keep the rust away

An orange double kayak

is what our daddy bought

so he can take the kids out

daddy-bonding as he ought

He bought our Dash a fishing rod

for fishing in the sea

and got some safe life-jackets

not just one or two but three

Our Daddy bought a kayak

and now he reads the tides

and when the water level's up

over waves he rides

Daddy loves that kayak

and he loves his kiddies too

the perfect combination

sea and sun and sailing too

Photos taken at Sandy's Parade beach near Laingholm, where we hung out with our cool friends Lyns and Jean-Claude, Rangi and Bubble - always a fun time ♥

{Bubble and Scrag have wetsuited watery fun}

Hello, goodbye and Happy New Year

2012-01-02T21:54:00.005+13:00

Hello Twenty-Twelve. Nice to meet you (so far). I have high hopes for you. You bring with you a fresh start, an unsullied canvas. Your new days stretch out in front of me, empty, waiting to be filled.
I know its up to me to fill them well and make the most of each and every one.
Not something I always manage, mind you.

Goodbye Twenty-Eleven. Lets be honest, you were a mixed bag.
I can't say I shed a tear as I counted down to midnight.

There were adventures and blessings, I can't deny that.

I will remember you for the friendships that grew and were strengthened.
I'll reminisce in years to come about the fun times, the laughter, the cuteness of my kids.
Not so fun were the trials. The difficulties. The tests.
But as unwelcome as pain often is, I suspect these were the things that actually made me face up to myself.
Trouble brought me face to face with my blindspots. Darn it.

So now, in brand-new Twenty-Twelve, knowing what I now know about myself, I have a choice.
Do something about it. Or don't.
Stay the same. Or choose to change.
Stagnate. Or grow.
Push myself. Or be a slob forever.

Ah, Twenty-Eleven, thanks for holding up the Mirror of Pressure so I could finally see those nasty pustulous Blindspots of mine.
Thanks for bringing my parents to live in my town. My parents who watched me grow up and who have a different perspective on me than what I do.

So that when I am lamenting over my son's lazy ways, and they laugh and say, "He's just like you were as a kid!" I get the shock of my life.
What? I wasn't the diligent hardworking nerd of my own memory?
Er, no.
I was a chancer who did enough to get by and coasted on my brains and natural ability, not bothering to work hard unless I really had to.
Say WHAAAAT?

Ah reality, how you smash our illusions.
And here I was blaming depression for my lazy slob ways.
Not so. Seems I've been a follower of my feelings from birth.

{grateful for this insight into my couch-dwelling self}

Now what will I do with this insight into myself?
Can I use it to actually *gasp* do stuff I don't feel like doing?
Like maybe exercising to shift some of this middle-age spread, which seems to be spreading out of control (darn you Lindt chocolates in my Christmas stocking).

Whether I feel like it or not, that's what I need to do.
Take control of my health and wellbeing, my time and my timetable...
Just. Do. It.

I need to shift ten kilos.
To do this I need to make exercise and physical activity a part of my everyday. As well as ditching the Lindt balls.
That's for starters.

Call it a New Years Resolution if you want.

New Years Eve: Hello Goodbye
We saw in the new year with a bunch of friends and their kids. Really too many for an indoor party. This became apparent as the rain poured down and my stress levels rose higher and higher as I imagined all of us inside, kids bouncing off the walls in the sticky humidity.
OK, I admit it, I had a meltdown at the thought of it. Mr G sat on the end of my bed as I sniffed and snivelled, "I just don't want to have a panic attack in front of everyone if the noise and the crowds get too much!"

My wise husband said, Lets pray. So we did. Please God either let some people cancel or stop the rain.
Guess what? The rain stopped. After three days of continuous wet stuff, the sun came out.
It was my own New Year Miracle. And guess what else?
Just after the last guests left, it started raining again. I swear its true.

{grateful for my New Year's Eve Miracle}

Dear Friends: Hello, Goodbye
We got to spend New Year's Eve with Gail. For two weeks I got to hang out with her and her sweet family as they returned briefly from China. Miss Fab got to hang out with her dear friend-since-babyhood, Miss Marvellous.

They flew out this morning, early. Back to China until April.
Last night found me crying (again). I miss my friend even more now that I've been reminded how awesome she is.

{grateful for my awesome friend}

I'm just glad that time is racing by so fast these days. April will be here before we know it.

Floating Lantern, New Years Eve

Righto, now I've written my "Welcoming in the new year" post, I'm back off to the couch.
But don't worry, I haven't been on it all day. Amazingly, this lazy slob-bottom has actually been out on her bike today.
I said to a whingeing bored Miss Fab, come on, lets go for a bike ride.
And off we went. Had a great time together.
The first of many mummy-Fab bike rides I'm sure.

{grateful for having a bike, and a daughter}

I made no resolution. I'm just going to do it.
And maybe when I go to the airport to welcome my friend Gail back in April... it will be a slimmer, healthier me that she'll be hugging.
I hope so. Now watch me make it so.

Grateful for a Fresh New Year,

A Year in Twelve Stories

2011-12-29T23:03:00.014+13:00

With a mere two days left of 2011 I figured it might be time for a bit of reminiscing and look-backing over the year. It's been pretty quiet on the blogging front lately as people (including me) abandon their computers for their real lives.

But when Mama Kat's Writing Prompts landed in my inbox this week, I knew straight away what I had to do...
1.) This year in blog posts...choose a favorite post from each month of 2011 and share.

So here it comes. My year in Blog Posts...

January: This is My Life

This post is one of my all-time favourites.

It sums up the joy and the reality of my life. Plus I had fun playing with vintage effects in Photoscape.

February: Recipe for a Great Family Adventure

This post records a fantastic weekend with great company in one of the sweetest spots on earth - a classic Kiwi bach with my friend Gail and family. We also got to hang out with a bunch of other fab blog-friends. One of my favourite weekends of the year in spite of storms, landslides and other obstacles.

March: Singing in the Storm

We faced a crisis with one of our children, something which stretched us to our limits and called for wisdom and skill as parents that seemed beyond us. This post was my stake in the ground, a confession of faith that things would turn around. A reminder to myself of miracles past. I felt as if a weight had lifted after I wrote this.

April: Sweet Humble Pie

Ahhh this one. The one where I finally realise (just one) of my glaring faults and admit it to my husband, my children and the world. And I discovered that there's nothing quite as sweet as humble pie.

May: Party Linky - Link up Your Parties

I relaunched my party linky. Did you know I am party mad and I have a linky to match? I am and I do. I thought I'd throw this one in just in case you are party mad yourself and you didn't know about my linky. I thought you'd want to know, so you can link up your fab parties.

June: I'm a Kiwi Hear me Talk

This was fun and pretty silly. I figured out how to do my first ever (one and only) vlog. Of course my nutso kids get in on the act and prove to the world what geniuses I am raising.

July: Tangled Party
I can't ignore this party post and the others which go along with it - the how-tos, the printables, the Tower cake tutorial... I pretty much spent all of July thinking "Tangled". The outcome was rather fab, I must say - one of my best parties ever.

August: Last Cab off the Rank (My Bloggy Meetup Post)
A rather clumsy post-title I must admit, but this post highlights one of my favourite days in August. Bloggers from Auckland, Whangarei and even Wellington met up for lunch and hours of chatter. What could be sweeter? I love my bloggy pals. Many have become real-life friends and are very dear to me. I'm hoping that 2012 will bring many more bloggy meetups.

September: 10 Tips for Surviving Travel with Kids
This was a post I had been wanting to write for some time... and it was particularly appropriate because later in September I had to take my own advice and get prepared for a marathon 30-hours of travel from Auckland to England.

October: Postcard from Ireland
While we were in the UK, I got to fulfill a life-long dream and travel to Ireland for a romantic 3-day getaway. We stayed at a picturesque village on the Cork coast and had a wonderful time. I can tick "Go to Ireland" off my bucket list, but have to add right back in, "Go BACK to Ireland".

Source: ruffledblog.com via Simone on Pinterest

November: A Plain Vanilla Story
I finally shared my "faith journey" here on my blog. Gulp.

December: Simply Loving Christmas
Early in the month I found my Christmas spirit, and it lasted all December. I finally figured out how to really enjoy Christmas. This has been my favourite Christmas Season ever. I was relaxed. We did cool things as a family. We were spontaneous. I spent time with people I love. We tried new things. We ignored some old traditions that didn't fit us any more. And most of all we focused on what Christmas is really all about.

..........................
When I look back over this list of posts there's a bit of deepness going on here.
We weathered some storms, faced down some giants and lived to tell the tale.
All in all I'd say we've come through stronger.

I am ready to face a new year, with a relaxed attitude and some new insights into my blindspots.
In 2012 I plan to be led less by my unreliable feelings, and instead becoming more decided about doing things which will make me and my family healthier and happier.

So this is "See Ya Later" from me for 2011.
I hope you have a fab New Years Eve, and I'll see you all again in 2012.
When you will hear me say, Oh crap, next year I turn 44. Oh help, next year I'll be mother to an 11-year-old.
It's gonna be F.U.N.
♥

Mostly Wordless Christmas

2011-12-28T09:59:00.005+13:00

This was so much fun! I rescued our smashed Ikea Gingerbread house by gluing it together with white chocolate. When it had set, I made some royal icing, set out some bowls of sweets and let Miss Fab and Scrag decorate the little house with no assistance from me. They had a BLAST! Then we visited our Neighbours' gingerbread house, and they visited ours. The kids also delivered gingerbread men we had made to our neighbours, wishing them Merry Christmas.

Mum and dad, my brother and his family all came to share in Our Christmas Eve traditions. The Christmas Book I wrote was a huge hit with the kids and their sweet Spanish cousins, as was Santa Claus delivering new Christmas PJs. The Mulled Wine was a huge hit with the grownups. Oh it was GOOD.

In all the craziness we forgot to hang the stockings...

But Dash remembered. He got out of bed and hung everyone's stockings on the mantelpiece...

...and put out cookies and milk for Santa...

He went to bed praying that this would be "his best Christmas ever"...

...and it was.

{Hardly any photos exist of Christmas Day. I was too busy enjoying the moments. Many beautiful moments.}

That's all I have.
I hope your Christmas was as beautiful as ours was.
♥

Simply Loving Christmas

2011-12-22T21:52:00.008+13:00

I doubt that I will get the chance to write another post before Christmas. There's the ham to be bought (and glazed); the gingerbread house to stick together (and decorate); egg to nog and wine to mull (thanks to Meghan's recipe), and of course a suitcase full of secrets still to wrap.

But this year I am loving it all.
Unlike Last Year.
I wrote no notes for my advent calendar.
I scheduled almost nothing.
But somehow every day has brought Christmas goodness in one way or another, and this has been the most enjoyable and relaxed December in years.

I decided the other week that Christmas really is a celebration for all five senses.
Sight, taste, smell, hearing, touch.

For the eyes, there have been the sights of Christmas: watching favourite Christmas movies (like The Nativity Story, Polar Express), the spectacle of 10,000 glowsticks lighting up Vector Arena, blinking Christmas lights, decorations everywhere you look... Christmas is a visual feast.

My ears have soaked up the sounds of Christmas - new Christmas songs which ushered in the season with joy and old favourites which have moved me to tears.

The smells of Christmas filled our home - our first pine Christmas tree, the whiff of cloves hung on doorhandles. Soon there will be the aroma of baking tarts and glazing ham, mulling wine and roasting turkey. Each scent evokes the ghosts of Christmas past; reviving memories, reminding us how fast the years are flying by.

The taste of Christmas is still to come. Oh the Christmas goodies. The loosened belts, the groaning bellies {and please oh please some Lindt Chocolates in my stocking?}

But what about the touch of Christmas? If Christmas is for the five senses, where does touch fit in? Is it in the creating, the crafting, the baking, the making? Yes, yes and yes.
Is it in the giving? Of course. Yes.
And is it most especially in the way your life touches another as you reach out and give a gift? Show you care? Share what you have? YES!

Christmas is more about touch than anything else, I realised.
And my kids are watching me. Watching us.

Dash had his eyes opened the other day as we were driving back from dropping off the gear to the City Mission.
"Mum there were real poor people there," he said to me as he climbed back into the car.
The line had stretched out the door, people queuing up for help at Christmas.
There followed a whole discussion about why they needed help, and how we are blessed to have enough to share with those who don't, and why we give.
"Son," Mr G said, "One day you'll find out that giving is actually more of a buzz than getting. Really."

I looked at my hubby and I knew he was speaking truth out of his heart. He lives it, he's not just spouting an idea. I felt grateful to be married to a generous man, who is modeling generosity and philanthropy to our children.

They see when we give to those in need. They'll remember how we make time as a family at Christmas to collect gifts and household items and take them to the City Mission.
They'll be storing up memories of how they helped fill up a shopping trolley with Christmas treats and delivered it to friends who needed a boost.

They are learning that THIS IS JUST WHAT WE DO AT CHRISTMAS.
It's as much a part of Christmas as decorating the tree and eating candy canes.
We give. Share. Reach out. Touch.
And in doing that, we discover the real JOY of Christmas.

I Love that.

Merry Christmas to you and to your loved ones.
I hope it is a truly Blessed one.
Much love from

Joining in with my lovely friend Kristy {as always}

P.S. For all my Christmas Posts over the years visit my Christmas Page

No-Sew Felt Bunting

2011-12-21T16:42:00.006+13:00

I whipped up some bunting last night.
Do you like how I said that?
Almost like a crafty blogger.

But not really. Not a stitch in sight.
This cute-as bunting was made entirely using my glue gun.

If you haven't got a glue gun, go quickly and get one. They are cheap as chips.
My one is a basic Warehouse job for $7.99. The glue sticks cost $2 for a pack of twenty-seven.
Bargain, right?
I love my glue gun. I mean, look what it can do!

I used the felt and hessian leftover from my teacher-gift crafting.
Turquoise green & white felt. Rust-red hessian (burlap).

Here's how to make my no-sew felt bunting. No stitching. no staples, just lovely hot glue.
{mine is Christmas themed, but yours could be anything}

What you need:
A hot glue gun + plenty of refill glue sticks
Green, red and white felt, cut into triangles - 8 of each colour
8 small stars cut from the white felt
8 small christmas trees, cut from the green fabric
Gold and red glitter or beads
A roll of gold ribbon

Glue-gun the white stars into the centre of each red flag (on one side)
Glue-gun the green trees into the centre of each white flag (on one side)
Create a swirl of hot glue on each green flag and quickly sprinkle red or gold glitter (or beads) onto glue before glue sets. Alternatively, make a heart from hot glue. Shake excess glitter/beads off and voila! A gorgeous glittery shape.

Roll out a length of gold ribbon from the roll but do not cut (yet). Leave a length of ribbon blank (for tying/attaching) then apply a stripe of hot glue onto the ribbon as shown, and quickly press on green flag. Leave a space, then another stripe of glue, attach a white flag. Leave a space. Apply another stripe of glue then attach a red flag.

Repeat process until all the flags have been attached, alternating which way the "decal" is facing so that you have some blank and some patterned on both sides.

Once you have used up all the flags, leave a length of ribbon long enough for tying/attaching and then trim.

Your bunting is now complete. See how easy that was?

This strand of bunting graces our dining room and brings out all the colours in my retro-kiwiana-teatowel cushioned room (I love the turquoise-green)...

I love this bunting. Love love love.

I'm wondering though, whether I should have probably ironed the flags before hanging them? They're a little crinkled from being stuffed inside a bag. But No. That might be taking things too far.

Crafting-by-gluegun is one thing. Ironing is another thing altogether.

♥

Christmas Party = Fun Fun Fun

2011-12-19T15:27:00.005+13:00

Rain rain rain is all we've had for the past few weeks. So you can imagine I was relieved this morning to wake up to sunshine - especially since today was our playgroup Christmas party. With big brothers and sisters invited. At our house.

I prepared Christmas cookies (gluten free, dipped in white chocolate) and jellies - with cream and sprinkles on top. And summer fruit. Just to balance things out.

There was bunting and tinsel, dressing up and a Christmas Fairy who painted faces for free. Her name was Fairy-Miss-Fab. She's very talented and all her clients went away happy. Honest.

Christmas music played as the kids played and the mummies drank tea in the lovely sunshine...

We sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and feasted on the gorgeous Christmas goodies everyone brought...

Most impressive was this truffle mountain... Mmmmmm...

{I love how when you host, you get the leftovers}

Then we waited for Santa Claus. And we waited. And we waited. He'd promised to arrive by 11am, but by 11.45 there was still no sign of him. I spose it IS a long trip from the North Pole to New Zealand and I've heard that traffic over Australia can be really bad this time of year...

Santa Claus when are you coming to town, I txted him...

...just as he arrived, Ho Ho Ho-ing. Great timing, Santa.

We had to shush a few big kids who called out, "Hi Mr G!"
SSSsssshhhh! we said. Don't spoil it for the little ones.

The little ones were captivated by Santa's charm.

"He's a very nice Santa," one four-year-old whispered to me. Yeah, he is.

Santa is also great at games.

We were so glad that Santa could fit our little party into his very busy schedule.

{Santa did have to warn a couple of people that they were in danger of ending up on the naughty list...}

A few of the littlest ones weren't quite sure about the Bearded One, but overall our cheerful geordie Santa (bringer of sweets and player of games) was a huge hit.

In a rush we snapped a few pics of Santa with the kids before people had to rush away. Santa had to dash and feed his reindeer so there was no time for individual Santa photos, or the stories we had planned.

Never mind. You can't plan for bad traffic or hungry reindeer.

What a lovely morning we had!
All the better because each family brought gifts to donate to needy families through the City Mission.

{A few of the gifts we collected}

We'll get to deliver them tomorrow, along with food and nappies and outgrown clothes we have collected.

We hope that our little offering will help bless some other families this year... and help our kids think about others who don't have access to all the things we do. Get them focusing on giving not just getting.

A friend wrote a post on her blog recently about spoiled kids and Christmas. It got me thinking.

My kids are blessed but hopefully not spoiled.

Blessed is when they have what they need (and some of what they want).

Spoiled is when we forget to teach our children about

generosity and gratitude.

May we all be blessed this Christmas.

♥

Love Love Lovin' Some More

2011-12-17T12:36:00.009+13:00

Dash and Miss Martin - we love you!

Lovin' that School is Done
I'm saying that now. Ask me again on Monday.

We managed to complete another bunch of Christmas decorations for the schoolteachers - this time a little less wobbly (I made templates).

I'm loving that red one. And the scent of cloves.

Every kid that sniffs these deco's/doorhangers wrinkles their nose and says, "Oooh yuck, that stinks!"
Every adult breathes in the spicy scent and breathes, "Mmmmmm, yum, cloves!"

That's kids for ya!

Miss Fab and "Mr R" (as the kids call him) - Merry Christmas!

I still can't believe that another school year is over. Dash is year five next year - Senior School *gulp*
Miss Fab moves into year three - Middle School. Where has the time gone???

Sorry I know I keep saying that, but really, WHERE???
My baby Scrag is just over a year away from school himself! Waaaaaah!

Loving Cool Kiwi Inventions that will Save Me from Hours of Frustration...
I know that getting ready for "back to school" is the LAST thing on all us Kiwi mummies' minds right now... but I want to just mention briefly the coolest invention ever. It will rescue you from hours of frustration doing annoying "durasealing" of the kids schoolbooks... Bookmark this website for January, and get some of these amazing Ezy-Cover thingymajiggies. Re-usable, eco-friendly, economical, cool designs, Kiwi-made book covers that slip on in one second... and NO WRINKLES!!! I'm gonna be getting me some. Love them.

Loving Love & Thoughtfulness
I have to share with you this sweet little incident that happened on Scrag's last day of Pink Kindy (Thursday). We were rushing - nothing new there - due out the door in five minutes, still wrapping teacher gifts and I hadn't even made Scrag's lunchbox.
So I asked Dash to make Scrag a jam sandwich and throw some snacks and fruit in for his little bro.
Three minutes later, Dash hands me the lunchbox.
"Here mum, it's done... and I put a note in too," he says.
"A note?"
"Yeah, you know, for his last day at kindy, to say have a good day."

Awwwwww, man! I unzip the lunchbox and there it is, sandwich, fruit and yoghurt... and the sweetest melt-your-heart note from a big brother to a little one:

"Have a nice last day at pink kindy ♥ Josh"

Don't you just love it when your kids surprise you with their awesomeness?

Loving New Things
Loving the package I got sent in the post this week from my sweet friend Leonie. See that new handcrafted Christmas deco? The one that's not all wobbly... saying "joy"?? Love it. Thankyou lovely Leonie!!

I'm also loving my new bargain antique tea-trolley found on TradeMe for a snip.

Isn't it pretty? It's oak and rolls on wheels. You can extend the leaves and the trolley turns into a sweet little table.

I have all kinds of tea-party plans for it. I'm calling it an early Christmas present.

Loving Healthy Deliciousness
This colourful conconction has been recreated from the memory of some amazing vegie nachos we had at a bar in town the other week.

We have since had this mix as nacho topping (with garlic hummus on the side, mmmmmm) and as a dip at a neighbourhood BBQ last night. So good. Best of all there's no cooking involved!

YOU'LL NEED:
half a punnet of cherry tomatoes
half a red onion
4-5 strawberries
one avocado
a handful of fresh coriander

Finely chop and combine all the ingredients, then season with cracked black pepper
and squeeze over the juice of half a lemon.

That's it. So simple, so delicious.
The strawberry gives it a slight sweetness. The coriander gives it a tang.
Try it, you'll love it.

Grateful for the Season
Through all of this Loving, I am completely grateful for a relaxed Christmas season... especially since my Christmas shopping is 95% done. Woop woop.
And the Christmas book I made arrived this morning (all printed) and it turned out beautifully. Phew.

P.S. Don't forget my Christmas Linky {link up your Christmas Posts} and the Book Club Gift Ideas Linky {for some great last-minute gift ideas}...

P.P.S.Linking up with the {other} coolest linky in town...

Crafty Wee gifties

2011-12-15T14:50:00.004+13:00

You may have heard me say I'm not crafty.
This is true.

When I say that, I mean I am not one to drive a sewing machine (I'm scared of stitching through my fingers).
Nor am I one to measure twice... or even once.

I don't follow patterns. Can't. Won't.
Simply don't have the patience for it.

But.
I can make things that look a bit wobbly and uneven.
If you don't mind the "truly homemade" look, then my crafting attempts may make you smile.

When it comes to teacher thankyou gifts we usually go for homemade rocky road, or cookies. Cellophane and ribbon can make anything look flash.

But this year I was inspired by my Christmas Market Doorhangers and convinced that "I could make something like this" I went mad in Geoffs Emporium buying up felt, embroidery thread and ribbon.

This is what my first attempt yielded...

See what I mean? A bit wobbly, very imperfect, but it says "I took the time to make this for you".
So on that score, it's a win. And they smell good, stuffed with cloves.

Scrag was excited to see them when he woke up this morning. He picked out which teacher got which decoration (there are four of them - teachers, that is) and he "helped" wrap the gifts.

It was hard putting on his jacket and bag today... over top of the four gifts he was clutching.
No sooner had we arrived than he thrust them eagerly at his teachers...

...and then proceeded to "help" them unwrap the gifts as well.

The teachers seemed to really like my wobbly crafting. Lucky for me they are the kind of people who value effort more than a big-bucks gift like an iPad.

Today was a big day for us. It was Scrag's very last day of "Pink Kindy", ending an association stretching back over five years to when Miss Fab enrolled at age two. I carried newborn Scrag there in his baby capsule, telling him: "One day you'll come here too." At the time it was hard to believe that day would ever come; inconceivable that my tiny baby would one day be a big kindy boy.

And now its over already! He's been... and gone, leaving behind only memories.
At least they have my awesome crafting to remember us by...
Yeah, when they look at the wobbly stitching as they hang their deco's on the tree each Christmas, they'll say, "Five years of teaching her kids and she gives us THIS?"

Four teacher-gifts down, just Dash and Miss Fab's still to go.
Better get stitching... I've got a years' worth of teaching to pay for in crafts...

{*update here they are - and they turned out even better than batch #1*}

My Christmas Book is Finished...

2011-12-14T14:05:00.002+13:00

You can view my completed book online here

Viewing Tip: The website displaying the virtual book automatically flips you through the pages, but it's too quick to read... click on the "play" button to pause it (the larger centre arrow on the controller). Then you can turn the pages manually by clicking on the arrows to the right and left. NOW you should be able to actually READ the story...

I have sent my book off to be printed at Digitalmax (Snapfish) where they have a massive discount sale on right now until December 16th - 50% off PLUS free shipping.

They promise to have your order ready before Christmas if you order by December 18th, so if you're stuck for family gift ideas, go make something with all those photos you keep snapping...

{NOTE: This is not a paid promo or a freebie post; I just think Digitalmax/Snapfish do a GREAT job and the books and calendars I get from there are amazing quality, and *woohoo* 50% off plus free shipping? A bargain.}

What's Christmas Without a Linky?

2011-12-13T10:03:00.005+13:00

There is so much Christmas Creativity out there in Blogland.

Of course you can find a lot of it on Pinterest, which is great. But what if you're not into Pinning?

Where can you find loads of Christmas ideas in one place?

Right Here.

{Or at least you will once people start linking up their Christmas Creativity posts.}

But lets not just limit it to Creativity.
There are all kinds of great Christmas posts around - inspiration, gift ideas, memories, traditions, favourite movies, favourite books, Christmas decorating... let's link it ALL up.

Not a fan of Christmas? Tend to relate more to The Grinch than Cindy-Lou Who?
Sure, go ahead and share the reasons why. We'll be sympathetic, because haven't we all been there?

Share your Christmas posts with us: inspiration, ideas, creativity, memories, the lot.
Link up below {and grab this button for your post so people know where to find the linky}

{P.S. I'm going to link a few of mine up too... including a couple of good ones from last year - link up some of your previous Christmas posts too, if you like. My entire Christmas Post collection can be found on my Christmas Page.}

Positively glowing

2011-12-12T12:43:00.006+13:00

Spontaneity seems to be our theme this Christmas. None of the scheduling and planning that occurred last year and left me stressed out and disillusioned. This lack of pre-planning has some advantages.

For instance, when Sunday turns out to be wet and windy, you can snuggle up on the couch and spontaneously watch The Nativity Story - a wonderful Christmas movie starring NZ's Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary. Really, its a fab version of the Christmas story. A great way to spend a wet Sunday afternoon.

After watching the movie, we were feeling all warm 'n' fuzzy, and in the mood for some more Christmas cheer.

So I txted my good friend Linda, the one whose hubby is the brains behind the most gorgeous Christmas video ever. I knew that tonight was the night of "Glow - Carols by Glowstick" - a Christmas event put on by their church {St Pauls}...

I'd heard reports of Glow being fab, but had always missed out on going in years gone by. When Linda txted back that she could get us some tickets, we were on.
We pulled on jackets and shoes and headed for Vector Arena, quick smart.

{Tickets are a mere $5 - with all proceeds going to A Girl Called Hope - a charity helping struggling young women.}

Here's Miss Fab posing for me as the arena fills up. As we entered we were all handed a glowstick on a string, and given instructions not to "snap them on" until The Countdown.

I managed to find this clip on YouTube which someone uploaded from last night - it will give you some idea of the coolness of the moment when the lights went out and the arena was lit up with 10,000 glowy glowsticks...

Magic. that's the only word I can use to describe that moment.
We wahooed and waved our glowsticks around, the atmosphere was electric.

What a wonderful event. It was Kiwi-style, no snow or reindeer in sight.
A children's choir, our national anthem, my favourite carols and all those glowsticks.
Plus the cutest Christmas video ever...

...and its {brand new} prequel...

We left positively glowing... emerging blinking into the light.
Confused, dazed... what? Is it still light out? Yep, that'll be the daylight saving.

Thankyou St Pauls, for putting on such a wonderful event for the whole family, full of the true Spirit of Christmas, honouring the birth of Jesus and filling up our hearts with a wonderful warm fuzzy Glow.

Listen, if you are in Auckland for Christmas next year, put "go to Glow" on your list of Christmassy Things To Do. It's on my list for sure. See you there.

♥

P.S. What is putting the warm fuzzy Christmas glow in your heart this year? Special Christmas Movies? Great local events? Heart-warming music? SHARE!

A Coupla Things I'm Lovin'

2011-12-09T09:35:00.002+13:00

I'm love-love-lovin that my big boy is learning his times tables.
Like, steaming ahead, thanks to the intervention of his Daddy.
Daddy set him a task - write out the six-times tables from scratch and I'll mark it, he said.
The Boy did it, using the "skip-counting" method. 100%.
The next morning, daddy tested him from memory... and he knew the whole lot.

{He's also not bad at Cricket}

The following day, seven-times tables. Same deal.
He knows them.
Then yesterday, he did a multiplication grid test and scored 25/25.
A perfect score in well under time limit.
Tested on all tables up to seven times.
His teacher literally fell over backwards.
This kid is SMART... but a bit on the lazy side.
The key to this learning? Daddy's involvement.
WTG Mista Gee. You rock.
I've been woop woopin all day.

The little guy is fully toilet trained during the day.
We are fully undie people now. No more nappies, no more wiping pooey bums for me, EVER.
And at night? We've been using Huggies Dry-Nites and they are awesome.
Plus, they are also DRY nearly every night.

More woop woopin over here.

My Christmas book is coming together nicely.
I am loving creating it.

I've cast my kids as various angels, having fun in Photoshop creating a turquoise Heaven.
This year, its a gift just for them.
Next year, who knows?
We might take it to the world.

I'm loving that my ma and pa are on Facebook.
Woop woop!
Welcome to the 21st century, my dears.
{I'm also kinda lovin' Facebook's new timeline layout. It's nice.}

Loving the sunny weather {though not the humidity}.
Loving one week left of school {bring on lazy mornings!}
Loving that Gail is back real soon for Christmas {so soon!}

Loving that my brother and his family will be spending Christmas with us. And my Parents. And my sister.
Almost the whole family together for the first time in nearly a decade.

Also loving that my folks are coming to watch my kids in their Christmas play for the first time ever on Sunday.

Can you tell I am feeling the joy of the season?
That would be the beautiful Christmas music effect... and the piney Christmas tree magic... plus my new "take each day as it comes" Christmas philosophy.
Loving this time of the year.
Woop woop.

WW: A Real Christmas Tree

2011-12-07T10:58:00.003+13:00

This little boy loves Christmas. He wears his Santa hat to kindy and sings Christmas songs at the top of his voice...

He can't wait to decorate the tree. Our very first "real" Christmas tree, the kind that grows in a forest and smells like Christmas should.

It is Daddy's first time helping to decorate the tree. Usually he leaves it to us, but this year is a year for firsts.

Sometimes when traditions become a bit stale and it seems like it was only six weeks ago that you packed away your fake tree, it helps to shake things up a bit. Try something new.

We were all like a bunch of little kids, excited to meet our old friends, the Christmas decorations, collected over many years...

{and our sweet Christmas angel with her Mona Lisa smile}

Of course decorating a real live tree has its drawbacks. There's the problem of getting it to stand up, for starters. Once you attach it with gold ribbon to the window and the table, you should be safe. But watch out if it starts to slip... you'll be glad to have Daddy on hand.

Then there's the dripping branches, because of course it was raining when you went to collect it. Just give it a good shake and mop up any puddles quickly. It's a tree. Water is good for it.

Ignore the needles that drop everywhere; it'll encourage you to vacuum more often (which isn't a bad thing). Just breathe in that piney scent... it says, "Christmas is here."

Leftover lights? Decorate the fireplace. Hang up the Christmas Stocking advent calendar you made last year. Never mind that the little stockings are empty. it still looks cute.

Then step back and admire your Christmas living room. Freshly (half) painted in duckegg blue. Smelling like Christmas. Sparkling with lights.

It says, Christmas is here, Woop Woop!

Dads and Little Lads

2011-12-05T21:11:00.001+13:00

I just had to share with you these snaps of Daddy and Scrag from the weekend.
I did not take them. I was not there.

The photographer is actually "Dida" - hubby to Sammy from Cherished.
The two daddies took the two little lads (Scrag and Rupi, aged three) away for a Dads and Little Lads weekend.

Awwwwww.

They tell me it was fab.
Scrag came home glowing from all the adventures he had with his daddy. And his pal. And his pal's daddy.

They stayed at Tipora on the Kaipara Coast, a very "rustic" bach*. I am talking long-drop dunnies here, people. Classic getting-back-to-nature time.

But the lads made no mention of the facilities (or lack thereof).
They talked about the adventures they had together.

...Making stick guns and playing soldiers...

...flying kites...

...bouncing...

...and bouncing...

...um... playing hide'n'seek?

...and... er... watching movies on the iPad????

OK, so not completely without modern technology!

Here's Daddy's take on it all:
Its the simple things that can be the best, no cellphone coverage, unhindered tranquility, and all that space to do as you please. And hardly a nag to the kids as you didn't have to worry about other people with the kids noise etc! So when we're relaxed then they're relaxed. Consequently you can chill and do stuff you would never of thought of from japs and commandoes (aka soldiers) in the bushes with makeshift guns, including their individual gun noises! to just simply stuff like throwing stones at targets etc.
You definitely let go more and do more when you're relaxed and hence it was a new world to the lads and dads.
i reckon doing the one-on-one is a good builder for those relationships when coming together.
~by Mr G {aka Scrag's Daddy}

I love that my Scrag got to hang out, just him and his dad. No big sister or brother in sight. Just him and Daddy (and their pals) in the wild, on a boys adventure.

Priceless.
♥

*a bach = a kiwi holiday cottage, usually by the sea

I Found My Christmas Spirit

2011-12-04T11:05:00.003+13:00

Right now my husband is up north somewhere on a boys weekend with Scrag, and church is going on without me, though my kids are there practising for their Christmas play.
We have a new venue today, at the Viaduct Events Centre. It's raining. It's humid indoors and windy out.
I walked into the service and had to walk right back out again, as a feeling panic overwhelmed me.
Its been so long since I've had a panic at Church, but today, the stuffiness, the echoing new venue, being on my own, the crowd - and the fact I forgot to take my meds - it all conspired against me.

I left, stuffing in my earplugs, holding back the tears.
I'll be back to pick the kids up in forty-five minutes, I told the teachers, before I fled.

As I pointed my car towards the sanctuary of home, Christmas music was playing - a new album I downloaded yesterday from Hillsong Music, thanks to a song shared by Meredy.

Joyful, it is. Uplifting, gentle, beautiful.
Kind of folky and guitar-picky.
So I've been playing it loud {loud for me, anyway}.

O Holy Night came on, my favourite Christmas song ever.
There I am, on the Motorway, singing at the top of my voice, with tears rolling down, and it hit me.
This is what Christmas is about.

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

This is Christmas.
His law is Love and His Gospel is Peace.
Without a sense of gratitude and wonder for the King who was born in a Stable, the One who came to show us God's love with skin on, its all just nice-but-empty tradition.

Celebrating Him IS the Spirit of Christmas.
Christmas is not just about "Giving" in an abstract sense, it's about the Greatest Gift ever given. The ultimate sacrificial Gift of a Life; the life of Someone who had Everything but gave it all up so He could share it with us.
The "Everything" meant nothing unless He had loved ones to share it with.
Isn't that true?

This sense of Jesus at Christmas has been building up for me.
I'm writing a book, actually. A Christmas book for my Kids. Maybe next year I'll look for a publisher, but this year I'm making a book for them about the story of Christmas, from Heaven's point of view.
Focusing on the Story has set me up for this sense of meaning.
Take the Spiritual aspect away and its still lovely and nice... but for me, somehow lacking.
That's what I've struggled with in Christmases gone by.
But this year, I am going to play "Born is the King" and "O Holy Night" and "Come let us adore him" up loud on my stereo.
I am going to spend time creating the Christmas Book for my children.
I am going to find ways to honour my King by following the Law of Love.

This morning, in spite of a shaky start, I am sitting here grateful to have found the Christmas Spirit at the start of the season.

Here's a gorgeous clip of the Christmas story {put together by my friend's church} to help you find it too.

Loving At My House

2011-12-02T09:15:00.009+13:00

Loving. Grateful. Two of my favourite things. Wrapped up in the Season of Giving which began, officially, yesterday.

Usually I am the biggest Christmas-lover of the lot. My enthusiasm is usually unmatched, my plans for Christmassy doings, endless. But this year I've found myself going, Meh.

Maybe because it only seems like six weeks ago that we packed away our baubles, took down our Tree.
Whatever the reason I've found myself cringing at the sight of the Mall decked out in red and gold, wincing at Christmas gift catalogues in the post.

Until last night.

Last night our school held a Christmas Market. The kids were all singing in various choirs, their Christmas enthusiasm undimmed. So of course we went. And there we were, swept along in a tide of neighbours, Christmas angels ringing bells, stall-holders beckoning us to check out their goodies. It felt... good. Unplanned. Spontaneous. Community. Christmassy.

I bought a few things - couldn't resist these door hangers. They smell like Christmas, spicy and full of cloves. You walk into a room and catch a whiff of the season. I have plans to make some more with my trusty needle and thread.
I am loving my Christmas doorhangers.

Oh and we ordered a Tree. A real live pine tree that stands taller than me.
We pick it up on Sunday and I am so excited. Soon our whole house will smell like Christmas.

I also love my new wordy chair cover. A tea towel, of course. From Grandma. It goes well with my wordy tea-towel cushion covers and my Gail's Bus Blind. {I also Love that Gail will be here in two weeks - squeeee!}

I love flowers from friends that last and last. These babies are two weeks old and still going strong.

I love pretty things. Especially ones found and given in love. Look at my new rose tea cup - my mum found it to match my teapot. Love, Love, Love.

A shelf full of pretty. Pretty blue plates, from Grandma, in England. She saw that I loved old china and found these plates somewhere for me. Real English china. I love them.

Love my Whitley Bay tin sign. I love tins signs, and I love Whitley Bay, and all the memories we made there. A perfect combination, don't you think?

Oh, and I love my magnetic photo board, a gift from the lovely Meg. It's so funky, so cool, so very, very Meg.

The frames are magnetic, you can switch out the photos, and rearrange the layout. I smile every time I make my morning cuppa, just looking at it and thinking of my friend.

I love my garden in full bloom. The roses, which I am about to go and cut for a vase. The orange Everlasting flowers that disguise the weeds.

And I love my house. I love the diamond-paned windows. I love that its old and warm and lived-in.
I am so so grateful to have this home, full of things that mean so much to me. Things collected from my life, things gifted by people I love. I love that every time I go away I am always glad to come back. Our kitchen may not be state of the art. My dishwasher may be on the blink and my bathroom floor may be wonky, but it's home.

And we'll be home for Christmas. With a piney tree. And clove-scented doorhangers. And family.

Bring it on.
♥

Linking up with the queens of Love and Gratitude...

Mrs Readalot's Christmas List

2011-12-01T06:13:00.009+13:00

Holidays are perfect for relaxing with a good book or two.
In the Southern Hemisphere, summer is coming, promising long lazy days at the beach.
In the Northern Hemisphere, there's a chill in the air. Days grow shorter. Fires are being lit.
What better than cosying up on the couch with a good book?

And then there's Christmas right around the corner. Can't figure out what to get your mother-in-law? Sister? Nephew? You can't go wrong with a good book.

Here are Mrs Readalot's recommendations for some great Holiday Reading... and sure-to-please gifts.

The Help
by Kathryn Stockett

A delicious read from start to finish. Warm-hearted, original, fascinating, real. Set in the early Sixties, telling the story of black maids i.e. the Help. This book will draw you in. Put it on your list. You won't be disappointed. {Full review here}
{Recently made into a movie, which is also surprisingly good.}

Would make a great gift for: Your Mother, your mother-in-law, your sister, your sister-in-law.

The Other Boleyn Girl
and anything else by Phillippa Gregory

I love Philippa Gregory's writing. Historical Novels with an emphasis on historical. Her books are very well researched and beautifully written. I've read a bunch of them, and have loved them all.
If you love a great story with compelling characters that is based striongly in historical fact, I totally recommend any of Philippa's books.
I have also enjoyed: The Boleyn Inheritance, The Queen's Fool, The Other Queen, The White Queen, The Red Queen.

Would make a great gift for: Your Mother, your mother-in-law, your sister, your sister-in-law.

The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger

This book I have read and wept over twice. The second reading did not diminish its beauty or originality even though I knew what was coming. This has to be one of my all-time favourite books - and for a bookaholic like me, that's saying something. An absolute must-read. Really, if you have not read this book, go get it now.

Would make a great gift for: Your Mother, your mother-in-law, your sister, your sister-in-law, yourself.

Water for Elephants
by Sara Gruen

Another of my favourite books. This one is a great holiday read and would make an awesome gift. It is even out on DVD... and the movie's not bad either! {Click here for the full review}

Would make a great gift for: Your Mother, your mother-in-law, your sister, your sister-in-law, your granny.

The Testament
by John Grisham

Don't knock John. He's a pretty mean storyteller, if you like a bit of legal drama. The Testament is one of his best, in my opinion. The Street Lawyer is another of my favourites. It was John Grisham that managed to lure my non-fiction-loving hubby into the world of novels. Now Mr G is a big Grisham fan. I buy them for him - and then I read them when he's done.

Would make a great gift for: Your husband, your father-in-law, your brother, your brother-in-law.

The Shack
by William P. Young

This book was a life-changer for me. It's a novel but its full of spiritual truth and insight. This book helped me see God in a whole new light, without the trappings of familiar cliches. The book starts out rough, with a child being abducted and murdered. Don't let that put you off. If you have ever wondered "why do bad things happen to good people if God is Love?" then this book is a must read.

Would make a great gift for: Anyone who is struggling with their faith or has big questions about God

Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Jeff Kinney

I credit the the Wimpy Kid books for my son's love of reading. These books really appeal to 8-9 year old boys, mainly because they are really funny. There's a whole series, and even a Do-It-Yourself Book which has bits the reader can fill in themselves... great for if you're travelling or camping. Apparently there's a new book out too. How do I know? Dash has asked for it for Christmas.

Would make a great gift for: Your son, Your little brother (if he's nine), Your nephew (if he's eight. or nine. Or maybe even ten...?)

Captain Underpants
by Dav Pilkey

Captain Underpants actually opened the way for Dash to love reading. Its silly and full of farts and belching, with plenty of daft cartoons. Just what boys of six and seven love. If you want your boy to love reading and don't mind a bit of giggling about bodily functions, then stuff Captain Underpants in somebody's stocking... {Dash's Book review here}

Would make a great gift for: Your son, your little brother, Your nephew (if they're six or seven.)

The Narnia Books
by C S Lewis

I first read these books when I was nine or ten, and fell in love with them forever. I still go back and read them from time to time, and always discover new hidden gems. These books are keepers. If you spot them on sale, grab them. A family treasure, and great read aloud even to younger children.

Would make a great gift for: Your kids to treasure forever.

Room for a Little One
by Martin Waddell and Jason Cockcroft

This is the best, most beautiful Christmas book ever. I still get goosebumps when I read it aloud to my children. Every time. The illustrations are out of this world. The story is simple, but perfect.
This is the perfect Christmas Eve Story Book. If you have a Christmas Book collection, make sure you add this book to it. I never get tired of it.

Would make a great gift for: Your family to open and read on Christmas Eve

I hope you've got a few ideas there for some Christmas gifts... or just plain ole holiday reading.
...........
Book Club and Linky
December's Book Club is being hosted by Renee at Memoirs of a Mother

The theme is "Books for your Christmas Gift List" or your list of Recommended Holiday Reads.
Write a post sharing your favourite books - Christmas books, kids books, holiday reading, whatever you like. Hopefully as we all share and link up, we'll get a few ideas of what to get those hard-to-buy-for individuals.

Grab the Button...

If you want to join in, grab the button for your posts and sidebar. To join the Book Club on a regular basis and become a host, leave a comment here.

Link Up Here: Memoirs of a Mother - Bookclub Host

Boy vs Wild Party - How To's & Printables

2011-11-30T06:41:00.004+13:00

Creepy Crawly Birthday Cake

This was so easy it's not funny. But when we brought it out all the boys went, "Ahhhhhh!" I think that was the Chocolate Flake Effect. Here's how to do it...

Bake a double mixture of basic Chocolate Cake in an oblong cake pan. Then pop a chocolate swiss log cake from the supermarket on top. Mix up a batch of thick buttercream icing. Separate into two bowls and add green food colouring to one, and cocoa powder to the other.
Get your mama to help if you have a headache.
Ice the bottom (oblong) level with green (grass) and the log with the brown. Apply it thick and rough so it resembles bark.
Cut/break up Cadbury flake bars into lengths and stick all over the log. Mmmmm.

5. Add a little black food colouring to the leftover chocolate icing and apply at the base of the log with a piping bag, so it looks like mud. Cut snake sweets in half and have them emerging from the mud. Create a spider for the top of the log with a Ferrero Rocher RondNoir ball (body) and slivers of licorice for legs. Use leftover chocolate icing to glue legs into place.
6. Stick on some other "grub" sweets e.g. huhu grubs and flies from here
7. Have the huhu grubs emerging from the cream on the log
8. Attach some fly sweets to wire and poke them in, so they buzz around the log.
See what I mean? Easy.

Food
Boy Vs Wild food is simple and as wild as possible. Here's a few of the "wild" food ideas we used...

Jelly Worms

I don't know what happened to my worms. I think my straws were too narrow. I didn't add enough cream. Or green food colouring. I ended up with a squiggly mess and stained-red fingers from squeezing out the jelly from the straws. So I won't bother giving you my instructions, because my worms sucked. But this lady's worms turned out fab. So go visit her and find out how to do it properly. Good luck!

Damper
Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup warm water

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
Add the water slowly to form a soft dough
Knead the dough until it doesn’t stick to your fingers. You may need to add a little extra flour for this. The dough should be smooth and flexible
Separate the dough into golf ball-sized portions
Cover the dough and leave in a warm place for at least half an hour.
Roll each dough ball out into circles about 3mm high.
Heat a frying pan with a little oil and cook each side for about 20 seconds or until the first sign of bubbles. Sprinkle a little salt over the finished pile, for added flavour.
{It would be even more fun cooking in a pan over a fire...}

Snake on a Stick

This was loads of fun to do as well as easy and extremely delicious.

What you need:

A brazier, firepit or charcoal BBQ (essential)

500g beef, cut into long thin strips

500g pork or other meat, cut into long thin strips

Bamboo skewers

I displayed the meat in a foil dish, with signs jabbed into each type of meat: "Python" (beef) and "Rattle Snake" (pork)

Simply wind a strip of meat onto a skewer and place on the grill over a low flame. Allow several minutes to

cook on each side. Then bite into it and let the juice run down your chin. Mmmmm.

Hessian Pouches - Sweet Bags

These were so easy to make, and looked great with the printed "thank you" card attached.

I filled my pouches with sweets and chewing gum - but wrapped them in a serviette before placing them in the pouch, as the fabric tends to "shed".

You will need

1 metre of hessian/sacking fabric

Brown shoelaces (e.g. from Emporium)

a dinner plate

a crayon

sharp scissors

Trace around the dinner plate with a crayon onto the hessian. Cut out the circle.
Thread the shoelace through the holes in the rough-woven fabric, about a centimetre from the edge
Continue all the way around, threading the shoelace through the existing holes.
Draw the pouch closed and Voila! A cute hessian sweet pouch.

Printables
These are all designed by me in Photoshop. You are welcome to download them and use them for your party. have fun :)

Thank You Labels
Printable "Thank You for Coming" labels... {click the image to download}

Water Bottle Labels
Print these labels to put on water bottles at your Boy vs Wild party. I bought a six-pack of budget water bottles, removed the sticky labels and replaced them with my own.
Click on the image to download {set up on A4}

Survival Juice Labels
Print these labels to turn lemonade into Survival Juice at your Boy vs Wild party. I bought budget lemonade, removed the sticky labels and replaced them with my own.
Click on the image to download {set up on A4}

Points Tally Sheet
A printable Points Tally sheet for the games we used at our Boy vs Wild Party is available to download here.
It is formatted in Excel, and is adaptable for your own party - just replace the details as needed.

Countries: For Word Hunt Game
Laminate letters and cut out. Staple a coloured feather to each letter - one colour for each word. Staple string to the back and then hide around the garden in tricky places for teams to find.
Click to download. Set up in a .jpg file on A4, ready to print.

Party Invitation
Here is the invitation I designed for Dash and printed out on magnets. I have left this version blank so you can add your own wording in a photo-editing programme. Just click on it to download.
There is also a free ready-to-print version on my Kids Party invitation website, which you can simply print out and then fill in the details the old-fashioned way. With a pen.

For the Boy vs Wild Party story click here

Boy vs Wild {Survival} Party

2011-11-29T12:51:00.010+13:00

Dash and his pals are all mad about Bear Grylls, TV's "Man vs Wild". Haven't seen it? Ahhh, you should. It's great entertainment, and boys especially love it. Surviving in the wild, challenging yourself, eating bugs and snakes... what's not to love?

So with Dash turning Nine and the prospect of nine boys let loose in the garden, it was always going to be wild. Here's our Boy vs Wild Survival Party.

Decorating for this party was lots of fun - and cheap'n'easy too...

Planning an outdoor party at this volatile time of year is always a risk, and all week the weather reports looked iffy. But would Bear Grylls stay inside if it was a bit windy and rainy? Of course not!

So with no Plan B, we turned the garden into Boy Heaven. I collected tin cans, foliage, ropes and old tyres.

Created labels for water bottles and Survival Juice {HomeBrand lemonade with the labels peeled off}...

We designed a series of team challenges, based on three teams of three.

Teams were chosen by picking a coloured "buff" from a satchel...

One of the guests arrived late, so Miss Fab stood in for the Brown Team and proved her worth. So awesome was she at the challenges that when the late arrival eventually turned up and joined in, Miss Fab's sporty teammates asked me, "Can we have Abby back on our team???" Yeah, my girl is pretty great alright. She can hold her own with a bunch of boys.

The first challenge was an Obstacle Course, in teams, timed. Two rounds. Hilarious.

Mr G created the obstacle course and did a fab job, using rope, old tyres, ladders, wooden horses and plenty of imagination.

{The Brown Team whipped the other teams' butts, thanks to the speedy Miss Fab.}

Then it was time to make slingshots. Sticks + bike inner tubes + string. Sounds simple right?

Eventually most of the teams had made something vaguely resembling a slingshot. Now it was time to put them to use...

...with mixed results... At first we blamed faulty design and manufacturing for the lack of success...

...but when Grandad managed to make the slingshots work, we had to acknowledge it was just lack of skill that was to blame for all those wide shots.

Righto, moving on. Time for another challenge, boys? A Word hunt.

Hunt all over the garden for colour coded letters. Six in total. When you have found all six, race back to base and assemble your word. {Clue: It will be a country or place that Bear Grylls has been.}

This time the Black Team were triumphant. The poor Brown Team were lost without Miss Fab and couldn't even find all their letters. Never mind.

Of course it wouldn't be a Bear Grylls party without eating disgusting stuff, right? Right.

This was the part the boys were all waiting for. Which is kind of ironic when you think about it. How often do they sit at the table refusing to eat the broccoli because it's "disgusting" but call it a Disgusting Food Challenge and tell them Bear Grylls eats it? They'll even eat snails.

"Sit at the table, one from each team," we told them. Here comes round one... and out we came carrying a tray with three plates of Snails...

I wish I could show you the clip of their little faces chewing and eating what they thought were snails. Of course they weren't really snails. I got giant {empty} escargot shells from Nosh and poked a couple of slimy looking anchovies in. They looked very snail-like. Oh their faces. the gagging. The heaving. But they chewed up those "snails" for the sake of the team.

Then it was the mussels. In the shells of course, but steamed. I wouldn't make them eat raw ones - truly, I'm not that mean.

This guy was a legend. Chewed that mussel right up, even while he gagged. Right about now the brown team were really wishing they had Miss Fab. She loves mussels.

And here's Dash with his cockle. Ugh. Like slimey snot aren't they? I couldn't eat it. But my fussy eater Dash slurped it back for the team in record time. Unbelievable.

{This was so much fun. Mostly cos I didn't have to eat any of it. And yes, I did tell the boys that they hadn't actually eaten snails - eventually.}

Food time was a little bit different. We made damper, sausages, steamed mussels with lemon and coriander and Snake. Strips of meat (beef and pork) which was woven onto a bamboo skewer and chargrilled over the fire. Delicious, I tell you.

Would you believe that we ran out of time for dessert?

We'd been partying for four hours and in the end we had to just do Birthday Cake, skipping the Bowl of {jelly} Worms I had laboured over...

Never mind. It didn't turn out quite how it was meant to. But the cake was good...

Since the parents were starting to arrive, we cut the cake, offered around Snake Skewers and Mussels {surprisingly unpopular with the boys...?} and poured a glass of wine.

Then we sent them home with one of these cute goody bags.

It was overheard, by me and others, that one boy remarked to his buddies, "This was the best birthday party I've been to. Ever. The decorations, everything."

Now that's what makes it all worth it.

......................

Boy vs Wild Party How To's and Printables Click Here

Excuses Excuses

2011-11-28T15:12:00.005+13:00

ATTENTION ALL READERS:
Simoney regrets her absence of late and wishes to make the following excuses for her blog-absence...

She has been working from morning til night on another fab fun party {all will be revealed shortly}
She has been trying to be a "good mother" and only blog when kids are absent {the kids have not been absent lately}
She has been afflicted with the mother of all headaches for the past four days {the last thing she's felt like doing is sitting at the computer}
She has been fighting off the dust bunnies who planned to take over the house {thankfully their plan was foiled at the last minute, in spite of the mother of all headaches}
The cat ate her blog post

If none of the above excuses suffice, she begs for your understanding.

She realises that it is poor form/bad blog technique to write a post which is simply making excuses for not blogging, but beggars can't be choosers and today it was this pathetic excuse for an excuse-post or wait another day til Scrag is in kindy and we have some blog-time to write up a proper post.

Simoney promises to be back soon with...

A new party post: "Boy vs Wild" {woop woop}
Mrs Readalot's Recommended Reads for Christmas {gift ideas + linky}
A Wee Odyssey
A new Christmas linky for 2011
and other cool stuff you know you wanna read

In the meantime, we thank you for your kindness, loyalty and understanding, as Simoney heads back to the couch with a cold compress on her pounding head...

See you soon. Tomorrow, even. Promise.

~FROM THE GREATFUN4KIDS MANAGEMENT TEAM
♥

What the Heck's a Cinquain?

2011-11-24T09:58:00.005+13:00

Homework is not my strong suit.
Actually, no. When I was a kid, homework WAS my strong suit. I was a homework-geek.
But as a mother, I completely suck at homework.
I forget to inquire about it, I neglect to check it, it doesn't get done.
I'm sure my teacher-mother friends are gasping in shock right now.
I know. I am a shocker.

This is why I am a stay-at-home mother, right?
To be there for my kids. To do the stuff stay-at-home mothers do - which includes nagging kids about doing homework.
Miss Fab is easy. She is like I was, a homework geek. If I neglect to do reading with her, she reads anyway. She fills in her own reading log. She reads to Scrag. She writes stories just for fun.

But that other guy, the sporty one, he is the ultimate slacker.
I'm just not used to that! It is beyond my comprehension that a kid would not want to do their best for their teacher, and bring them a shiny-cheeked apple each morning.
But my kid is the one who suddenly remembers at 8.30pm a.k.a. bedtime, that he has to write a "Cinquain" and hand it in tomorrow or his strict-new-substitute teacher is going to keep him in at lunchtime.
That's what did it of course - the threat of losing his football-playing time.
Otherwise I would have never heard about Cinquains.

He's sitting on the couch with his bottom lip quivering at the thought of being kept in at lunch to write poetry, and he's wailing, "And you can't even help me cos you don't even know what a Cinquain is!"
Well, what is it then?
"Its got syllables... it's like... syllables... um... I don't know! See I'm gonna be kept in at lunch!"
Daddy of course is not impressed that he left it until now to mention this.
He is also not impressed that {yet again} I seem to have neglected my homework-nagging duties.

Consumed with guilt, I pack the kid off to bed and turn to my friend Google.
I type in "poem syllables what is?" and hope that I'll find something that sounds like the word Dash was saying; some kind of poem with syllables.
{Because of course he wouldn't know how to spell Cinquain, would he?}

I found it on my first go, a list of poetic devices, styles and rules...

cinquain – SIN-QUAY-N The poetry form devised by Adelaide Crapsy around 1910, supposedly based on the tanka, in which five lines are filled with the syllable count of 2/4/6/8/2.

Alrighty then.
Now I know what a Cinquain is, I can help the kid figure out how to write a poem before breakfast.
Easy.

But what is not so easy is getting myself to be consistent about these things.
What has become of my homework-geekness?
Honestly I am rather shocked at my lackadaisical procrastinating self.
I could get away it when school was all about folk dancing and finger painting, and bad spelling was cute and a story attempt with unreadable writing was still frame-worthy.

But not any more.
Year Five is breathing down our necks.
My husband is right. This is my job.
Making sure my kids are learning what they should be in school.
Not assuming that the school will do it all.
We can't afford assumptions at this point.
You know what happens if we ASSUME {it makes an ASS out of U and ME}.

The old Simone, the one who was the homework-geek with world-saving tendencies could have handled this no problem. That Simone would have been riding Dash's ass from Day One.
She would have found creative ways to get him learning his times-tables. She would have insisted that he tidy up his sloppy handwriting and practise his spelling words.
People described Old Simone with words like Diligent, Reliable, Conscientious.

Old Simone, where are you now?
Gone. She fizzed out years ago.
The now-Simone is more like Often-late, Last-Minute, She'll-Be-Right.

With all the best of intentions, I fear that I am so easily distracted.
I wander off-task. I lose track of the days.
I tell myself, "It's just this once..."
And consistency escapes me, again.

But I have to work with the Simone that's left, I have no choice.
Oh I fear I am not up to the task.
Really, can you hear me crying inside?
I am quivering, anxious, worried that I will fail at this my most important task - preparing my children to go out into the world.

It's not that I can't do it, when I remember to.
I mean, the Cinquain we came up with this morning was pretty great, I think.

I wrote up the syllable count on a blank bit of paper: 2/4/6/8/2
Then I asked Dash what he wanted to write a poem about.
Christmas. OK. Cool.

I showed him how to Brainstorm. Write down everything that comes to mind.
No, don't try and write the poem straight away, put all the ideas down first, then find words to fit.

I prompted him with questions. What words are to do with Christmas? What do we do at Christmas? What is the meaning of Christmas?
Presents. Santa Claus. Hang Stockings. Star. Angels. Shepherds. Jesus birth. Merry.

Here's what he ended up with:

Christmas

Open Presents

Jesus birth, Angels sing

Santa Claus is coming to town

Giving.

OK, so it's not Wordsworth, but it works.
He did his homework - even if it was at breakfast - and he won't have to lose his lunch break.
He went to school relieved and just a bit proud of himself.
I helped him. He learned something. And I learned something too.
I can do this, can't I?

..................
Photos are taken up Mt Albert, my maunga, my place. Decoloured in Photoscape and with the contrast pushed up to make the blacks blacker.

Baby Bird, Where You Gone?

2011-11-22T12:16:00.006+13:00

[source]

The grey streak catches my eye as it sneaks past the kitchen door. What is Dave the Cat up to?
"Mum! Mum! Dave's got a bird!"
Oh great. Birds in the house totally freak me out.
The kids corner Dave in the bedroom where she is hovering protectively over her prize.
"It's still alive!" someone shrieks.
Right. That's it. We're shutting the door and waiting for Dad to come back. No way am I trying to catch a flapping bird.
"Leave Dave alone and get out of the room!" I order.
But kids being kids, they all completely ignore me - here is a fascinating adventure at breakfast time, how could they possibly stay away?

Of course they open the door. And of course the cat escapes. Dave the Huntress stalks into the dining room and drops the bird under a chair. She sits there eyeballing it, occasionally batting it with a paw.

[source]

Oh my. It's a baby. A little baby bird and it's barely moving.
I thrust aside my fear of flapping things, and summon all my courage.
I will have to rescue this baby myself, no way I can just sit back and watch Dave teasing it.
"Get a towel, someone," I demand, "And someone grab Dave."
While the kids hold Dave, I use the towel to scoop up the baby bird. It is tiny.
Its little heart is beating so fast. One eye is injured, half closed. Was it my imagination or did this baby bird just look right into my soul? I have the feeling the bird is grateful, that it knows it's safe now.

The kids run to make a bed from a box, line it with soft things, put water in a dish.
"Can we keep it, mum?" they want to know.
"Well, the bird is hurt, yes, we can look after it... but it's not a pet!"
"I think she's a girl. Can we call her Tinkerbell?"
"We'll have to keep her away from Dave, mum..."

"The bird is hurt, guys," I warn them, "She might not live. You have to prepare yourselves for that."
They go off to school, with a great story to share for News.
I sit on the window seat holding the little bird, willing it to survive.
Eventually I tuck the bird into the bed the kids have made and go about my chores.
When I come back to check on her, she has closed her eyes and her heart is beating slower.
It doesn't look good.
Not long after that, Daddy returns and pronounces her Gone.

3.20pm the kids burst through the door.
"Can we see her?"
"Is she better?"
"Where is she?"

This is the part I've been dreading.
"I'm sorry guys, the bird was hurt too badly. She died not long after you left for school. But at least she didn't die alone and scared; she was safe in her little box..."
Miss Fab nods sagely, surprisingly calm, as if it was news she was expecting.
But the boy, the big nearly-nine-year-old Boy bursts into tears.

"Why did she have to die?! It's not fair! I'm so angry at Dave for killing her..."
I put my arms around him, his whole body is shaking with sobs. I'm surprised at such a strong reaction from him.
He looks up at me.
"Is she in Heaven?"

The question we all want to know when a life is snuffed out. Where are they now?
I'm no theologian, but I take to heart the promise, "He will wipe away every tear from your eyes, and there will be no more mourning, no more death, no more sorrow..."

"I really do think so," I reply. "She mattered to you, even though she was just a little baby bird. God sees your tears, you know. He sees that you cared about this bird. And guess what? God cares about that bird too. Jesus said that when even a sparrow falls to the ground, God notices and He cares."

My Boy wipes his tears away, nodding, satisfied.
He goes off to find the bird and give her a burial.

I am left standing, marveling at my son's tender heart. Thankful that he cares about God's creatures.
He will never be the kind of boy who pulls the wings off butterflies or torments kittens.

This little moment has given me a glimpse into what he's made of. There's a compassionate heart beating in there.
It is hard to recognise at times. Often it's masked by childish selfishness and immaturity.
Disguised and clouded by endless demands and boyish mischief.

But its there. A kind heart. A tender heart.
I will hold onto this as we move into the next stage of life with our Boy.
His birthday is tomorrow, my own baby bird.
Where has the time gone? It has flown and taken my baby with it.
Come back, baby bird! Stay with me.
No, the baby is gone for good.
He has flown away and left me with a Boy, Nine Years Old.
A boy with a tender heart, deep down.

Happy Birthday Dash.
23.11.02
♥

Watch This With Your Hubby...

2011-11-20T21:38:00.001+13:00

On Friday night I discovered Mark Gungor.
I'd never heard of him before, but hubby insisted I sit at the computer with him and watch the guy on YouTube. {Hubby had been at a work training seminar where they played a clip by Mark Gungor about the difference between Men & Women's brains that really caught his fancy}

We sat there laughing, nodding and learning a whole lot.
Saturday we showed the clip to my parents. They laughed and nodded too.
Saturday night we quoted the guy to a bunch of friends over dinner, and they laughed without even seeing the clip.

Seriously, take ten minutes and watch this.
Even better, make a cup of tea, grab your hubby after the kids are asleep and watch it together.
I'll be surprised if your new favourite word isn't *DING*

Oh sorry, you have no clue what I am on about with the *DING*
Just watch the clip, OK?
You'll see.

P.S. If you love this clip you can find heaps more clips from Mark Gungor's "Laugh Your Way to a better Marriage" sessions on YouTube. Trust me, we spent til midnight on Friday night watching, laughing and learning

Birthday Loving

2011-11-19T10:00:00.003+13:00

Today I am the Birthday Girl.
Double-twenty-one today... {for the Mathematically challenged that's forty-two}

Shhhh, what's that sound?
Silence. Blissful peaceful silence.
My dearly beloved has taken the noisemakers to Cricket, bless him. A slow form of torture that we are kicking ourselves for, hard {what were we thinking letting Dash sign up for early-morning-rises all summer long, in a sport that's no better than watching paint dry?}

I snapped these cute photos yesterday - one of the blessings of being the Birthday Girl.
Birthday privileges tend to start early in the G-House.
So when your kids do something adorable they will actually smile patiently and pose for pictures for you, without complaining, if its your birthday.

Dash burst out of his room yesterday morning in a panic...
"It's mummy's birthday tomorrow and I haven't got her a present!" was his morning greeting.
"Ahhh just be good for me and nice to each other - that's all the present I want," I told him.

I started microwaving oats and weetbix, while they volunteered to help Scrag get dressed.
Muffled whispers, giggles and suspicious "Sssssshhhh!"ing came from the bedroom.
I poured rice bubbles and spooned out peaches.
"Breakfast is ready!" I called.
"Just a minute Mum!" came the chorus of replies, accompanied by more whispers and giggles.

Hearing the sounds of their cooperation gave me a toasty glow; whatever they were conspiring to do, it was making my day already.

They burst into the kitchen, arms round each others necks chanting...
"Newcastle! Newcastle! Newcastle!"
Dressed in the uniform of the Toon, every one of them...
"Geordie boys we are here... Wo-o-oah! Wo-o-o-ah!"

Laughing at my nutty bunch, I grabbed the camera.
"Mum, we're all dressed in Newcastle gear!" {Dash}
"Mum, look, Dash gave me his Newcastle clothes cos he's too big for them and he said I can keep them!" {Miss Fab}
"Mummy! Mummy! look we all in Newcastle!" {Scrag}

I love it when they get on. Honestly, isn't that the best present a mother could get?

Yeah, that and a good laugh.
Scrag keeps us all laughing, what a gem of a kid.

Here's his latest rib-ticker...

Miss Fab was sick for two days and we've been trying to get her back on track with her gluten-free diet, with the usual complaining from her. Scrag sees and hears everything.

Then he says to me yesterday morning:
"Mummy does peaches have gluten?"
I hide my smile and reassure him that, no, peaches don't have gluten.
"Ohhhhhhhhh!" he pouts. "But I LIKE gluten!"
{He has no idea what gluten is. but i guess you probably figured that, after all he's three}
"You like gluten?"
"Yeah. It's my favourite. It's real real yummy!"

Hehehehe.

So anyway, back to my birthday.
Forty two. Its not so bad. I don't feel forty two, whatever that's meant to be.
Middle aged? Past my prime? On the downhill slide?
I have a pre-schooler for goodness sake, I'm still just starting out!
Age is just a number.
Apart from the absolute necessity of colouring my ever-increasing greys away and feeling seventy when i roll out of bed, in my head I'm still twenty-seven. Or maybe thirty-three.

That's the age I was when I had this guy, nine years ago on Wednesday. His "card" to me cracked me up, although Daddy wasn't impressed with his last-minute effort scrawled on a torn-out sheet of refill.

"Happy birthday mummy I love you hips"

He he. I'm so glad you love my hips! Or did you mean "I love you heaps"?

Here's one for PaisleyJade. Apparently moustaches really are the thing these days - even Scrag wants one.

The kids have all decided that when Mr G becomes a grandad he has to grow a moustache because all grandads should have moustaches. Hear hear!

In the meantime I am happy for my Moustache-less Man to give me a morning of peace, while he kid-wrangles alone, just to bless me. So grateful I have him. He's been making my birthdays special for twelve years now. My twenty-ninth birthday I spent lonely and crying in my friend's bathroom, wondering if I'd ever meet Someone Special. My thirtieth birthday was spent with that Someone. He spoilt me rotten and has been doing so ever since.

This year he was a bit behind the eight-ball, and was begging for some direction. After all what do you get a woman who has everything? {a handsome husband, a lovely home, three beautiful-if-somewhat-noisy kids, all my own teeth...}

So I sent him a list to help him out...

A perfectly reasonable list, I was thinking. I knew that my hubby would get this list and breath a sigh of relief. He would even smile, because there was nothing flashy or expensive on this list. Do you see the words "iPhone" anywhere?

Oakley Creek, yesterday on a walk with Scrag. He says I'm "his best friend"
What more could you want?

Then my lovely mum rings up. It's a tradition with us, on the day before my birthday she reminds me that labour had started already and at this time 42 years ago she was in agony bringing me into the world.
I told her about my list, thinking she'd approve.
Mum's response? "Gee Simone, it's only a birthday!"

Um.Okaaaaaay.
Maybe not everyone does birthdays with as much enthusiasm as we do.
We don't have a birthday.
We have a Biiiiirthdaaaaaaay!
We spoil each other to bits. Its just how we roll {as my friend Gail would say}.

So this birthday I have been spoilt with flowers. Burgers up Mt Albert and a Movie of my choice {"The Help" which we both loved}. Home-made Vouchers...

...and a Book. Chosen specially for me by my thoughtful loving husband who thought it sounded like a book I might like...

Brilliant!
I'm off now to make the most of my peace and quiet {which I love and am grateful for}; snuggling back into bed with my new book {which I love and am grateful for} and look forward to a day spent with family {who I love and am grateful for} and a night with friends {who - you guessed it - I love and am grateful for}

What more could any woman want?
I am truly blessed.

The Seven Wonders of My World

2011-11-17T12:50:00.020+13:00

For Mama Kat's Pretty Much World Famous Writers Workshop, Writing Prompt 1.) List your life's Seven Wonders. Describe the most amazing 7 things you've seen with your own two eyes.
........

I have never seen the Pyramids or the Taj Mahal.
I have no plans to visit Machu Pichu or the Great Wall of China any time soon, though I'm sure they are impressive.
I have actually walked around the Colosseum, in Rome.
But this post is not about that.
The Official Seven Wonders don't make it to my list, though the Colosseum was pretty amazing.
What are the seven wonders of my World?
In coming up with my list, I had to ask myself, What things have I seen that rocked my world and changed me forever?
What seven things did I see, only to never be the same again?
My seven Wonders are not so world-famous and may be Wonder-ful only to me.
But here they are...

I was five years old and had been reading for over a year already. Somebody gave me this book, my first book without pictures. I looked inside and found words. Words only. Words painting a wonderful magical story about the Folk of the Faraway Tree and some adventurous children. I was hooked. I couldn't put it down. Bedtime came, I tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. So I got up and quietly opened my dresser draw, took out some clothes, stuffed them under my door (so no light would show - wasn't I sneaky?) and read and read and read.

"I wonder if I can finish this book in one night?" I asked myself.
Turns out I could.
Forgetting that I was meant to be asleep hours ago I ran to the lounge to share my great achievement with my parents. Who were less than excited.
And so began my life as "Simone-with-her-nose-stuck-in-a-book". That was the first of many all-nighters. My career as Mrs Readalot began with that first Enid Blyton Book.

My Bookclub here

I was sixteen and off to Canada all by myself to stay with my aunty and uncle for a year. Tearfully I hugged my parents goodbye and followed the unaccompanied-minor-helper through customs.
I wouldn't see my family for a year; more tears fell as I settled into my seat. What had I done? What was I thinking, a small-town girl from New Plymouth going halfway round the world by herself?
I was consumed in misery and homesickness... until the wheels left the ground.
Through my window the city grew smaller and smaller until it was in perfect miniature. Tiny cars driving down tiny roads past tiny houses... and then nothing but a sea of clouds.
Up, up we went... and I was hooked.
Its a life of travelling for me, I decided.

"I wonder where else I could go?"
The travel bug bit me hard and I made it my goal to fill my passport with stamps. Its something I'm still working on.
My love of travel has never diminished and neither has the thrill of takeoff.

My Travel Stories found here {scroll down, keep scrolling - they're there}

I am not recommending you watch this movie. Truly. Don't watch it.
I saw it when I was twenty-four, a working-class white girl just starting out a new career in youth work.
This movie shocked me and rocked my world to its very foundations.
It was hideous. Awful. Terrible. And set in my town.
I could not stop the tears from falling. Hours after the credits had rolled I was still sobbing, home on my couch, unable to shake the sense that there were children tonight living through this movie.
It was not Hollywood, it was real.
And I could not ignore it.

"I wonder if you could use me, God, to help kids like that?" I prayed.
Seeing this movie set in motion a chain of events that changed my life, and the lives of many others.

The Story of what I did about it Here

This guy wandered across my path when I was twenty-six.
From the minute I clocked him, I thought he was cute.
"I wonder how old he is?" was my first thought. Ahhh, only twenty-two. Never mind.
A few years later, it turned out that age was not so important.
The questions continued...

"I wonder if he'd ever like me?"
"I wonder if he'll ask me out?"
"I wonder if he's a good kisser?"
"I wonder if he'll ask me to marry him?"
"I wonder where we'll live?"
"I wonder what our kids will be like?"
"I wonder where our next adventure will take us?"
"I wonder what he'll get me for my birthday on Saturday?"

He still keeps me wondering...
...and it fills me with wonder that I, Simone-with-her-nose-stuck-in-a-book, married him, Rory-the-hot-hunky-Geordie {a very good kisser}.

The Story of our romance Here

I hadn't even laid eyes on him when this boy changed my world. In the panic of the emergency caesarian, my glasses got left behind. All I could see was a blur held at the end of the bed, "It's a boy!" the doctor said, and they whisked him off to do those Apgar tests.
Strapped to the operating table I couldn't wipe away the tears that would not stop falling.
"He's in the world!" I whispered, wonderingly.

Later, we gazed down at our bundle and wondered what he would be as he grew up.
Nothing about the world looked the same once he was born.
Its a wonder, alright.

The Story of this baby here

I pushed this girl out myself.
I had wondered if I could ever do it, if my body knew what to do, to give birth to a baby.
The first time things had gone so wrong.
But I did it. A VBAC. My second baby but somehow also My First.
"I can't believe it!" were my words as I looked down at her lying on me.
A head full of black hair, shining eyes wide open, drinking in the world, blinking in the light.
I felt like superwoman. This child came from me, birthed by me. I finally did it and survived.
Birthing her gave me confidence that I could do anything.
Wonderful.

The Story of her birth Here

I sometimes wonder where we'd be if we hadn't decided to "go for number three".
Everything seemed to be against it.
Dash was praying for a baby brother and had been for nearly two years.
When we finally made the leap, Daddy wanted to keep the gender "a surprise".
Nine long months of wondering.
When they pulled him out and said, "Its a boy" again, I burst into tears.
Tears often accompany seeing Wonders.
This baby is my full-stop.
We now have the complete set.
This baby changed us all by completing our family.
Just a few hours old he looked into my eyes and I felt that connection, like he knew me.
A wonderful miracle.

The Story of how we nearly didn't have number three Here

........................................
Some things are full of so much Wonder they will fill our lives for years to come. The buzz of finding what makes your heart sing. The joy of realising you can make a difference. The thrill of connection when you lay eyes on The One For You. The first moment laying eyes on your new baby - whether your first or your last - more amazing than any Taj Mahal or Colosseum.

These are the Wonders of my life.