Never Ever...

Here's some things I've learnt in life never ever to do. I learnt them all the hard way...

Never ever believe your family when they tell you,
"It's not there I looked."
Trust me, it's there, whatever it is.
...Your husband's jumper in the basket right where you said (but under something else)
...Your daughter's School jacket in her closet right where you said (but fallen off the hanger)
...Your son's football socks in his drawers right where you said (but it required actually opening the drawers)
...Your toddler's missing gumboot in the hallway right where you said (but not with a flashing sign)

Be thankful that you have super-mummy sonar. And you know how to look properly. With your eyes open.

Never ever leave scissors where a pre-schooler can find them.

Even if you think you're safe you probably aren't, especially at someone else's house. And one day your daughter will appear at the door with chunks taken out of her hair by a young "hairdresser" friend. If you are pregnant at the time you will probably cry. Luckily you can't see a few years into the future to where she cuts it again all by herself. This time there's nothing the world's best hairdresser could do to salvage the mess. This time she has cut off her fringe... shaved it right off. Then you will really have something to cry about.

Be thankful that hair grows back. Eventually.

 

Never ever leave your makeup purse within reach.
Of anybody.

Even if you think it's out of reach it probably isn't. Your toddler can stretch further than you realise. And even if think you're safe because you've closed your bedroom door, your five-year-old can reach the handle. And if you've also left your bottom drawer open, you can count on some extra washing when she knocks over your bottle of foundation and it drips all through your clothes.

 

Be thankful for soap. And automatic washing machines.

 

Never ever growl at your kids while reversing your car.
The eyes in the back of your head don't work inside moving vehicles. You will probably end up crashing into a power pole you didn't know was there. And crunching the bumper to heck.
 
Be thankful for Insurance. And gracious husbands.
 

Never ever say Never.
You'll probably have to eat your words.
...the guy you said you weren't interested in will probably become the father of your children
...you will probably hear your mother's voice every time you tell off your kids
...your baby might only ever settle with a dummy
...your kids will be the ones terrorising entertaining the other passengers, no matter how many treats you pack
...your children will have minds of their own and may actually want to join Running Club
 
Be thankful for unexpected love. Be thankful for previous generations, for silicone, for headphones.
Most of all be thankful for time, and second chances and forgiveness.
And life. Be thankful for life. It's a wonderful thing.



(What have you learnt to never ever do??)

Fabulous, Darling

Ab-Fab, Absolutely Fabulous, Miss Fab: that's where my girl gets her blog name. It used to be Princess. Ah, but somehow this name just suits her so much better. We actually call her Miss Fab in real life. Because she is Fab. Fabulous, darling.

A fashion icon. A girl of definite style. She knows what she likes and what she doesn't (this is what she wore to watch her brother's football match on Saturday... totally her own choosing.)

A girl of action. Too much sitting around drives her bonkers. She's craves social contact, she thrives on interaction. A rainy day stuck at home while daddy works on the weekend...? Up the walls! 

So what does she do? She says, let's go outside and pile up the leaves and jump in them!

So that's what we do, me in my slippers; Scrag in his choo-choo boots. Um no. Actually we couldn't find those. I think he MAY have been in bare feet. Gulp.

Did you know it's winter here in New Zealand? Not cold though. Just a bit soggy. See, she's stripping off those layers...?!

After fun with leaves comes...

...climbing trees. Oh she is fab at climbing. A regular monkey; she has no fear of heights. Our climbing tree is pathetically small, but she makes the best of it.

Then it's time for an acrobatic display on the trampoline. Oh my.
I had no idea she had gotten so good.

Now I am feeling really really guilty that I never got around to signing her up for gymnastics this term. Next term, I promise.

And now, tonight - she lost her first Tooth. It's under her pillow in a pretty pink bag, waiting for the Tooth Fairy.

There was bleeding and tears when it came out. I felt like crying myself.
My baby girl! She's growing up.

For all that her air-raid siren-outbursts make me want to scratch my eyes out from the pain, at times, she is usually the most loving, sweet little girl. Tonight she wrapped herself around me and whispered in my ear "I love you M-U-M!" She's learning to spell. Losing her teeth. Turning six next month. Growing up.
Happy-sad. Bitter-sweet. So I'd better make the most of now.

A Fancy Shmancy Dinner

Late Saturday afternoon we are mooching around at home thinking we should really do something.

Miss Fab is in one of her desperate-for-family-fun moods. The volume is going up as she scolds daddy for lounging on the couch, and mummy for playing on the computer.
"Come on!!" she nags, "Let's do something as a family!"

Anyone ever seen those gorgeous Fancy Nancy Books? We picked one up at the library the other day and I have totally fallen in love with Fancy Nancy - she reminds me so much of Miss Fab.

In our library book, Nancy persuades her very plain parents to dress up "fancy" and head off to a restaurant. Miss Fab is inspired, and wants to try that tonight.

It's wet out. And we have a movie night planned (the DVD has been bought, the sweets stashed) and there will be riots from other quarters if the movie night is postponed.

So I come up with a cunning plan. Perceiving that Miss Fab's desperate desire is for us to be fancy, I suggest a fancy dinner at home, before the movie night. Phew, she goes for it, and we push daddy off the couch and send him out in the rain for pizza...

Pizza, not fancy, you say?? Think again.

We put our Pizza on a Pedestal.

We transform ourselves into...

...Isobel and James (a demure young lady of impeccable taste and a young gentleman of elegant refinement)...

...Sybil and Clarence (local aristocracy and people of quality)

...and Norris the butler (a jovial chap, and very entertaining, though somewhat unrefined)

We iron our serviettes and tie them with ribbon; we put out the best china and serve lemonade in wine glasses (and, er wine for the grownups)...

We light the candles, put on the classical music and turn out the lights

We speak in posh voices, use our best manners and eat our pizza daintily (um, all except Norris, that is)

There is charming conversation (no, there was no farting or burping, really! I deny that accusation!

Er, and no tickle fights either. Of course not! Not at the elegant dinner party I have in my mind)

To finish with, an after-dinner waltz. Or should I say, I attempt to waltz with Clarence, James and Norris... the cads! They were simply not gentlemanlike enough to escort a lady in the proper fashion.

I resorted to "taking a turn" with Isobel; but unfortunately she kept giggling uncontrollably as that dashed fellow James tried to grab my picture-taking device (how vulgar!) so the dancing came to an abrupt end... (at which point we blew out the candles, ran for our PJ's, packed Norris off to bed and spent the remainder of the evening being our normal selves in front of a movie. Sigh.)

Ah, but it was jolly good fun while it lasted. Tallyho!

KidsClick: New Website!!!

The idea for KidsClick started as boredom - my kids' boredom that is, not mine.

They were whingeing after school, so I dragged them out on their bikes and sent them on a Photo Scavenger hunt - the joys of Digital Cameras!

We had fun. They took some great shots. Then it hit me - my kids are always sneaking off with my camera and taking photos on the sly... why not give them permission and teach them how to do it well??

 

KidsClick as a competition is still in its formation...

The winner(s) of one competition pick the winners of the next competition.
The problem has been that we are limited to kids whose mothers blog... because photos need to be posted on a blog and linked up on mine.

So yesterday I started this Site: http://kidsclickfun.com/ dedicated to KidsClick.

Now anyone can join in, even if you're not a blogger. Your kids can take photos and email them to me: greatfun4kids@live.com

Then I will post them for you on the KidsClick site and link them up to the competition.

As well as all the photos from young photographers, we will also post up photography tips on the KidsClick site  to help your kids take better pictures.

Some lovely photographers I know have agreed to join in and help out by giving tips; if you're a keen photographer and would like to contribute to the KidsClick sit, let me know! Also, if you have a great idea for some future themes, post me a comment, with your ideas :)

This weeks' theme: "YUCK!" finishes on Tuesday 8th June... so if your kids are bored this weekend, get them out and about hunting for icky things to photograph - then email them to me!


Come on, get your kids clicking and email me their entries or link up yourself HERE!

THE RULES:

• Photos can be cropped but not edited in other ways.
• Kids must be aged younger than 15 years old.
• Please tell us your child's age along with their photo, e.g. "Taken by Bobby, age 6" etc
• If more than one of your kids wants to join in, that's great. Just make sure you label your photos so we know whose is who!
• If emailing me your kids' entry for me to post up here, please make sure you get it in 24 hours before the competition closing time.
• If linking up yourself, please link up to your KidsClick post, not just your blog (so we can find it easily)
• Leave me a comment letting me know you've linked up!

ANY kids can join in now, so spread the word!

Random Roundup

The Royal Family

We all dressed up (even little Scrag) for our Church's amazing Royal Ball. Gail and I were on the planning team - and we were totally blown away by the turn out and the response.

So many kids and parents all dressed up in their best royal gears. There were so many kids they couldn't all fit in the Banqueting Hall. There were jesters and waltzing, the Limbo and the Macarena. It was great. And best of all, we got some pretty great family photos on a Golden throne.

You just can't ask for better than that.

[Oh, and I've updated our Family Page]

The Triumphant Team

With one more grading game left, Mr G's 8th Grade football team remain unbeaten and unscored-against. That's right. Not one goal has gotten past them in five games. One game remains but we can be pretty sure they'll be in the top grade.

We are all so proud. Especially of Dash, who has scored nine goals - including two hat-tricks! Wahoo.

Undersea Adventures

We used up our nearly-expired Entertainment voucher for Kelly Tarltons Underwater World.

While there, our children narrowly avoided being swallowed whole by a man-eating shark... we also discovered that as much as Scrag loves trains and things with wheels, he's not so keen on actually being on them - that is if they make a noise and are fairly dark. He cried the whole way around the penguin ride and couldn't wait to get off. Here he is, still subdued and clinging to daddy, half an hour later...

The Boys Club

7.15am this morning, I am greeted by the sound of little feet running and little voices whispering. I stumble my bleary-eyed way up to Dash's room and discover that my boys have made a club hut on Dash's bunkbed.

They have hung up a quilt and are stashing their favourite things inside. It was just too cute. I ran for the camera and managed to snap a few pics of the best buds. Nobody was dressed. Nobody had had breakfast. But they were having fun together and playing so beautifully, big boy and little brother(while the daughter of the house snoozed on). I could hardly growl, could I??

NEWSFLASH!! NEWSFLASH!!! NEWSFLASH!!

 NEW KidsClick Website

I've done it. I've set up a little blog-on-the side for Kidsclick. I figured that lots more kids could participate (including my own) if we had a seperate site where kids whose mums don't blog can post their photos.

So if you are reading this and you don't blog, but your kiddies are keen photo-takers, you can now get them to join in KidsClick! Email me their photos (with names and ages) and I will post them for you on our new site, and link them up. You have until next Tuesday 8th June. The theme is "YUCK!"

Click HERE to link up...

• The Website: http://kidsclickfun.com
• Email Me: greatfun4kids@live.com

My Stats (I don't mean to brag but I am buzzing)

I have google analytics installed on this blog so when the mood strikes me I can check that people actually read me. I'm not obsessive about it, I don't check it all the time. Just every now and then.

This morning I logged on and got a very nice surprise!

This month 1009 individual people have visited my blog. They have collectively viewed over 6000 pages, and spent an average of three minutes reading an average of two posts per visit. 1000 people! this month!

I am humbled and quite frankly blown away. Thankyou everybody, for reading my thoughts. I surely do appreciate it.

One Small Downer

I decided to take the leap and get a dotcom domain for this blog while I was at it - only to discover that some other bugger has parked the name already! Who would do that???

So now I am left with the option of being a dotnet or dotme... apparently dotme is good for blogs??? What do you think? Which way would you go - greatfun4kids.net? or greatfun4kids.me?

That's all from us today :)

xx

Crinkly Squishy Cracked Warm

Being a mother you really need great self-esteem. You know, for when your kids make comments about your appearance? When they point out your spots and your wobbles... OK, is that just me, then?

I'm learning to laugh it off. I mean, I'm not getting any younger, this is as good as it's gonna get from here on in. So if I can't live with myself knowing I'm no longer twenty-five, trim, toned and terrific, then I'm going to be pretty miserable for the rest of my life, dontcha think??

The other day for instance. I am sitting at my computer, and Miss Fab is right next to me; we are turning her drawings into my new blog header and she is watching closely. Ve-e-e-rrry closely. She is staring intently at me, with a puzzled frown on her face.

"M-u-u-um? Did you know that your face is all, um, crinkly????" she blurts.

I can't help myself, I just crack up laughing. Crinkly! My face is crinkly! Yep. I'm 40. What can I say? My skin can no longer stand up to intense microscropic scrutiny. I mean, I had to laugh right? Laugh or cry?? I choose laugh.

Then last night. The other kids are in the Land of Nod, but Dash sneaks out and squirms in beside me on the couch.

"I want a snuggle," he says wrapping himself around me, and wriggling in close.

I should probably growl at him and tell him to get to bed, but I actually enjoy our after-bedtime chats and the fact that my lanky seven-year-old comes to cuddle his mama. So we chat. He asks for stories. He cuddles in and says with a sigh, "Oh you are just so warm!"

I smile at him; there are times when being a curvy mama has it's advantages. I decide to test the waters.

"Do you think you would like snuggles with mummy as much if I were all boney???" I ask.

"Mmmmm," he replies, "Well it's good that you are squishy because you're warm..." Then he pauses and stares intently at my face; we are practically nose to nose.

"...But mum did you realise that there are cracks around your eyes... and on your face... here - and here - and here...?"

Cracks!!! All of a sudden I am giggling like a schoolgirl. I have cracks! Hilarious.

Maybe it's strange, but I am at peace with my 40-year-old self.

I've decided I don't mind having cracks and crinkles and being squishy - as long as my kids like to snuggle me because I'm warm.