Hi there, long time no blog.....let me tell you a little story...
Once upon a time everything was going along peachily, and we all lived in a fairytale town with a great beach and free movies. We had lovely friends and ordered wine by the case from scenic cellars. We had two delicious children and life seemed perfect. Except of course, that nothing is ever permanent and even princesses and princes cop their share of well...challenges and changes.
So, what happened to the heroes of this fairytale? So far, they left town 3 days ago in search of other opportunities, taking their two handsome princes, a truck full of belongings and a collection of life long friends. Presently they are residing beside a beautiful lake, carving boats out of pumice and eating a lot of blackberries. And they still have two delicious children and live really close to scenic cellars now so still manage a few too many good bottles of vino. They are looking for new jobs and a new house. They are reinventing themselves and I hope you continue to follow their journey... they will try and share it with you once more.
(Not anywhere near) The End
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Santas Little Helpers
For the sake of all the small children in the world who are looking forward to waking on christmas day to a bulgy sack of pressies, I am glad my two boys are not Santas little helpers. They are Mumma's Little Helpers, and aren't they just such a help.
Little Brother has been helping me cook. By licking handfuls of cocoa off the floor. Where it fell while he was raiding the cupboard, perched on tippy toes on the box of beer he'd tipped over, while trying to reach the Milo tin. Who's lid fell off also. He stopped eating cocoa and went for the milo.
Another time he was helping me make my annual white chocolate christmas-only cheese cake for the big X-day.( Its only a yearly occasion cause its so yummy I'd eat so much I could audition for the next Kung Fu Panda movie. Once I'd trained to do Kung Fu.)
So both boys like to operate the kichen whizz, which is typical for them in being intrigued by the toolkit more than the actual cooking. With only 3 buttons on the machine its pretty safe to put them onto ON/OFF duties. Little Brother however, decided to help with the adding ingredients bit, so while I had my back turned popped in to the mixture what he could reach - the foil top from a cream cheese packet, the lid of the machine (upside down). And a teaspoon...which I only discovered after fishing the other objects out, and turning the motor on. CRRuuunnncch.
Big Brother is very helpful. When bribed. Occasionally he goes for gold, like today when he tidied a glass jar off an outdoor table by throwing it onto the concrete. Thanks dear. To be fair he is an ace egg cracker, and even fishes out the pieces of rogue shell.
They are great little helpers and like to help their Mumma. Copying is such a huge method of learning, however it makes me a little nervous when I see my LB at 18 months get a beer out of the fridge, find the right tool out of the draw, and start bashing the bottle top with the opener. When the coast is clear he grabs the BBQ slice and heads out to the patio. And he loves to get a knife from the draw and try and pry open the cupboards (who on earth did he learn that one off?)
I love letting them have a go, and try to be positive about the resulting mess. I can only imagine what carnage it would be to let them loose in Santa's workshop. Lucky you Santa. But believe me, they have been very good (helpful) boys this year.
Little Brother has been helping me cook. By licking handfuls of cocoa off the floor. Where it fell while he was raiding the cupboard, perched on tippy toes on the box of beer he'd tipped over, while trying to reach the Milo tin. Who's lid fell off also. He stopped eating cocoa and went for the milo.
Another time he was helping me make my annual white chocolate christmas-only cheese cake for the big X-day.( Its only a yearly occasion cause its so yummy I'd eat so much I could audition for the next Kung Fu Panda movie. Once I'd trained to do Kung Fu.)
So both boys like to operate the kichen whizz, which is typical for them in being intrigued by the toolkit more than the actual cooking. With only 3 buttons on the machine its pretty safe to put them onto ON/OFF duties. Little Brother however, decided to help with the adding ingredients bit, so while I had my back turned popped in to the mixture what he could reach - the foil top from a cream cheese packet, the lid of the machine (upside down). And a teaspoon...which I only discovered after fishing the other objects out, and turning the motor on. CRRuuunnncch.
Big Brother is very helpful. When bribed. Occasionally he goes for gold, like today when he tidied a glass jar off an outdoor table by throwing it onto the concrete. Thanks dear. To be fair he is an ace egg cracker, and even fishes out the pieces of rogue shell.
They are great little helpers and like to help their Mumma. Copying is such a huge method of learning, however it makes me a little nervous when I see my LB at 18 months get a beer out of the fridge, find the right tool out of the draw, and start bashing the bottle top with the opener. When the coast is clear he grabs the BBQ slice and heads out to the patio. And he loves to get a knife from the draw and try and pry open the cupboards (who on earth did he learn that one off?)
I love letting them have a go, and try to be positive about the resulting mess. I can only imagine what carnage it would be to let them loose in Santa's workshop. Lucky you Santa. But believe me, they have been very good (helpful) boys this year.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Dot Dot
"OOh look boys....whats out there on the lawn????... a series of little brown packages on the lawn/stones/deck!!! ...ohh do you think santa's been past for a quick reccie and the reindeer left us a clue???.."
Ah, sorry, no. Actually it is the gift that keeps on giving this christmas - the 18month old who's decided to toilet train himself.
He's always had a sly fascination of the smallest room in the house and now he' s a big dot-dot (transl. toilet) man.
First thing in the morning...we hear him yell ' DOT DOT' and up we leap to take him for his 'wee' sit. And then everytime he feels like a 'Loll-Loll' (lolly) throughout the day he manages to squeeze one out.
As a cloth warrior mum every nappy I don't have to scrub is a joy (bless his cotton socks) and we are of course very proud of him being so well, darned advanced. But....it's the other presents we find everywhere that are rather trying. Like the 'reindeer' droppings on the lawn. And quite a few other places I won't describe incase our landlord reads this! Subsequently we are spending a lot of time reading stories in the little room, hoping to catch 'it', and train 'it' through masses of praise, silly songs and confectionery. I think at his age the spirit is willing, but his little brain doesn't quite translate the warning signs in time.
(Apologies for the theme tonight, but it is a truth universally acknowledged among those like myself who have worked in care of the elderly, that if the bowels aren't working, then nothing else happens. And on the other end of the scale, just ask any mothers groups what their number 1 topic of conversation is. In the dawn, as well as the twilight of life, we will spend a considerable amount of time discussing 'it'.)
On that note, I'd better go check the premises for any gifts from our delightfully advanced son. I guess when it comes to early indicators of genius there is no guarantee of musical protege.
Ah, sorry, no. Actually it is the gift that keeps on giving this christmas - the 18month old who's decided to toilet train himself.
He's always had a sly fascination of the smallest room in the house and now he' s a big dot-dot (transl. toilet) man.
First thing in the morning...we hear him yell ' DOT DOT' and up we leap to take him for his 'wee' sit. And then everytime he feels like a 'Loll-Loll' (lolly) throughout the day he manages to squeeze one out.
As a cloth warrior mum every nappy I don't have to scrub is a joy (bless his cotton socks) and we are of course very proud of him being so well, darned advanced. But....it's the other presents we find everywhere that are rather trying. Like the 'reindeer' droppings on the lawn. And quite a few other places I won't describe incase our landlord reads this! Subsequently we are spending a lot of time reading stories in the little room, hoping to catch 'it', and train 'it' through masses of praise, silly songs and confectionery. I think at his age the spirit is willing, but his little brain doesn't quite translate the warning signs in time.
(Apologies for the theme tonight, but it is a truth universally acknowledged among those like myself who have worked in care of the elderly, that if the bowels aren't working, then nothing else happens. And on the other end of the scale, just ask any mothers groups what their number 1 topic of conversation is. In the dawn, as well as the twilight of life, we will spend a considerable amount of time discussing 'it'.)
On that note, I'd better go check the premises for any gifts from our delightfully advanced son. I guess when it comes to early indicators of genius there is no guarantee of musical protege.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Early Bird Phone Rates
Hurray I have finally worked out what to do with myself at 5.30am.
Little Brother has taken to waking at this middle of the night hour. We haul him into bed with us and then solidly ignore him for half an hour. He begins loudly announcing his plan for the day : starting with rollcall of 'Mama', and 'Dada', to check we haven't fallen back to sleep followed by breakfast plans ..
'yice?' (ricies)
'beetbix?' (weetbix),
'milt?' (milk)
'yurt?' (yoghurt)
'uuga' (sugar)
Eventually one of us gives in and gets up and produces a huge plateful of a mixture of the above for the little man to attack/spread over the table chairs and floor. This morning he was dressed and had finished breakfast (plus doing wees on the toilet for the first time) by 6.05am.
He merrily starts on his days work beginning by emptying the toy box and having a good brrom of the best cars before his brother gets up. But what am I supposed to do? It is still a good 2 hours away from being physiologically time to wake up.
This morning I hit upon the greatest plan...call my friends in England! It is comforting to know that somewhere in the world adults are up and functioning, albeit walking home from work in the partial darkness.
So early mornings are set to become full of christmas cheer, as I do my UK christmas cards - by phone. And perhaps a bit of early morning blogging too, although I'd better go now, it's 7.15 and Little Brother is ranscking the pantry looking for morning tea... 'Bit-bit??'
Little Brother has taken to waking at this middle of the night hour. We haul him into bed with us and then solidly ignore him for half an hour. He begins loudly announcing his plan for the day : starting with rollcall of 'Mama', and 'Dada', to check we haven't fallen back to sleep followed by breakfast plans ..
'yice?' (ricies)
'beetbix?' (weetbix),
'milt?' (milk)
'yurt?' (yoghurt)
'uuga' (sugar)
Eventually one of us gives in and gets up and produces a huge plateful of a mixture of the above for the little man to attack/spread over the table chairs and floor. This morning he was dressed and had finished breakfast (plus doing wees on the toilet for the first time) by 6.05am.
He merrily starts on his days work beginning by emptying the toy box and having a good brrom of the best cars before his brother gets up. But what am I supposed to do? It is still a good 2 hours away from being physiologically time to wake up.
This morning I hit upon the greatest plan...call my friends in England! It is comforting to know that somewhere in the world adults are up and functioning, albeit walking home from work in the partial darkness.
So early mornings are set to become full of christmas cheer, as I do my UK christmas cards - by phone. And perhaps a bit of early morning blogging too, although I'd better go now, it's 7.15 and Little Brother is ranscking the pantry looking for morning tea... 'Bit-bit??'
Monday, November 17, 2008
Mr and Mr Independence
It's not about what you can do for your country in our house, it is about what you can do for yourself. We are in the age of 'Do it MYSELF!'
Little Brother has to hold the keys when going to the car. It was a great idea to start with, getting him motivated to walk to the car himself. Now he is adamant, he must hold the keys, he must find the right key himself (amazingly he does find the correct key for which ever car we are going to - worked that one out himself the little genius) he has to put it in the door to unlock, then he usually permits me to put him into his seat. I am not given possession of the keys however, until I am in my seat and ready to start the car. I then cry in shock ' But where did I leave my keys?' He giggles and passes them over. Heaven forbid if you happen to be running a little late and mess with the system.
Big Brother being more capable, is even keener to 'DIM'.
Time to get dressed : 'I do it myself'- and off he goes. He went to play centre the other day in a pretend straw skirt festooned with plastic flowers. No undies either. (Mental note to check these things, luckily I had a random pair of shorts in the car. Then there is the terrible disasters of two legs in the same leg of the trousers. We love the independence and of course we encourage it, but...
'I want to get dressed myself' (Great)
'I want to put my own sugar on my weetbix (OK, I guess)
'I want to pour my milk myself' (Mess all over the table)
'I want to wipe my bottom my self' (Mess all over everywhere and he seems to need to use a whole roll of paper each time)
Although I did love it last night when he announced : 'I want to put myself to bed'.
Little Brother has to hold the keys when going to the car. It was a great idea to start with, getting him motivated to walk to the car himself. Now he is adamant, he must hold the keys, he must find the right key himself (amazingly he does find the correct key for which ever car we are going to - worked that one out himself the little genius) he has to put it in the door to unlock, then he usually permits me to put him into his seat. I am not given possession of the keys however, until I am in my seat and ready to start the car. I then cry in shock ' But where did I leave my keys?' He giggles and passes them over. Heaven forbid if you happen to be running a little late and mess with the system.
Big Brother being more capable, is even keener to 'DIM'.
Time to get dressed : 'I do it myself'- and off he goes. He went to play centre the other day in a pretend straw skirt festooned with plastic flowers. No undies either. (Mental note to check these things, luckily I had a random pair of shorts in the car. Then there is the terrible disasters of two legs in the same leg of the trousers. We love the independence and of course we encourage it, but...
'I want to get dressed myself' (Great)
'I want to put my own sugar on my weetbix (OK, I guess)
'I want to pour my milk myself' (Mess all over the table)
'I want to wipe my bottom my self' (Mess all over everywhere and he seems to need to use a whole roll of paper each time)
Although I did love it last night when he announced : 'I want to put myself to bed'.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Rock o Bama
A few months ago Big Brother astonished us one night while sitting watching the news. We often watch it all together, and he knows his weather presenters well. But it was watching a segment on international politics he started repeating what is definitely the coolest name in politics
'Barack Obama'. Or as BB calls him - Rock o Bama.
He has often chanted it as a little song while playing with his cars 'Rock O Bama, Rock O Bama, Rock O Bama'. And it was with great excitement we all chanted it last night as President Elect Obama was announced. Maybe our boy had a feeling this is a name that will always be remembered, a name that for me will always be an inspiration and a name, that hopefully will inspire many people around the world to seek their dreams and believe in change.
We had a bottle of bubbly and listened to President Obamas amazing speech. We toasted the future - everyones, but especially ours. It is a wonderful feeling to be inspired by his infectious hope. Rock on , Rock O Bama.
'Barack Obama'. Or as BB calls him - Rock o Bama.
He has often chanted it as a little song while playing with his cars 'Rock O Bama, Rock O Bama, Rock O Bama'. And it was with great excitement we all chanted it last night as President Elect Obama was announced. Maybe our boy had a feeling this is a name that will always be remembered, a name that for me will always be an inspiration and a name, that hopefully will inspire many people around the world to seek their dreams and believe in change.
We had a bottle of bubbly and listened to President Obamas amazing speech. We toasted the future - everyones, but especially ours. It is a wonderful feeling to be inspired by his infectious hope. Rock on , Rock O Bama.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Time for a perk up
I'm over being a glum bum. I am looking for the exit sign off this submarine. I have been down and now I want up. And here are some thoughts on how I am hoping to achieve and maintain this:
1. Eyebrows and legs waxed...check. Toes waxed (theres a first time for everything, says mrs hobbit). Booked in for a 'kini but have to give myself 6 weeks to work up the courage. Also planning purchase of cosmetics. All very superficial but very effective.
2. Hand me ups.
Thanks to my darling southern clothes angel fairies I have a new wardrobe and dammit I am going to look good. And, all the point, feel good. When the budget doesnt stretch, there is nothing down about a gift of lovely clothes from a friend (or a bargain at the local oppie). Hand me Hand Me Ups anytime, and see me perk.
3. Inspirational reading
Loved 'A gift from the sea' (Anne Morrow Lindberg) from my lovely mother-in-law. A parcel from my book angel fairy accompanied by a box of homemade chocolate slice (The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer). 'A New Earth', by Eckhart Tolle. Lovely texts and emails from friends.
4. Opting for walks to a friends house for a cuppa rather than folding the washing and picking up the toys. Opting to play with the boys in their hut, or join in the water play rather than bemoaning yet another destroyed room, or another set of wet clothes.
5. Fristas
Enjoying my friends and sisters. By phone or on special days celebrating with a wet lunch - sharing a bottle of bubbly while the kids eat jam sammies.
6. Achieve a long cherished dream.
(I sent my completed childrens book manuscript to a competition. What a blast!)
All I need now is to keep a mental map of how to get my perkiness back should I lose my way ( which is highly likely). Wish me luck!
1. Eyebrows and legs waxed...check. Toes waxed (theres a first time for everything, says mrs hobbit). Booked in for a 'kini but have to give myself 6 weeks to work up the courage. Also planning purchase of cosmetics. All very superficial but very effective.
2. Hand me ups.
Thanks to my darling southern clothes angel fairies I have a new wardrobe and dammit I am going to look good. And, all the point, feel good. When the budget doesnt stretch, there is nothing down about a gift of lovely clothes from a friend (or a bargain at the local oppie). Hand me Hand Me Ups anytime, and see me perk.
3. Inspirational reading
Loved 'A gift from the sea' (Anne Morrow Lindberg) from my lovely mother-in-law. A parcel from my book angel fairy accompanied by a box of homemade chocolate slice (The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer). 'A New Earth', by Eckhart Tolle. Lovely texts and emails from friends.
4. Opting for walks to a friends house for a cuppa rather than folding the washing and picking up the toys. Opting to play with the boys in their hut, or join in the water play rather than bemoaning yet another destroyed room, or another set of wet clothes.
5. Fristas
Enjoying my friends and sisters. By phone or on special days celebrating with a wet lunch - sharing a bottle of bubbly while the kids eat jam sammies.
6. Achieve a long cherished dream.
(I sent my completed childrens book manuscript to a competition. What a blast!)
All I need now is to keep a mental map of how to get my perkiness back should I lose my way ( which is highly likely). Wish me luck!
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