Kapow!

Check out the Pink Supergirl costume Gran and Pops got for the Badoo's birthday. How Supercool is that!

Inspired by the antics of the Badoo's new alter-ego, all three Tsunamis were soon practicing their best Superhero moves on the trampoline.

Kapow! (Please ignore the singlet tag indicating that the singlet is on back to front and instead check out Maxi-Taxi's 'when is it my turn to act crazy in front of the camera face' in the background there...)

A Superfrog leaping, can you believe? (Ho hum, says Cappers, picking at a loose thread on the tramp cover.)

All three Superheros were soon dead for reasons known only to themselves.

Do you have a trampoline? What sorts on things do your children get up to at playtime? Any fake deaths?

Tickled Pink Party

Our darling Badoo turns three tomorrow and yesterday was her first ever 'big' birthday party. While I admit that I'm a little pinked-out, her choice of a 'pink' party was really a match made in heaven for me. 

Dear readers, forgive me the lengthy details, but this is one party I want to remember... I'll understand if you skim read!

'Pink' is such a creative yet easy theme to decorate for. I like to make my own decorations, but I don't like spending a lot of money to do so. I prefer to spend party money on little extravagances like entertainers or monsters or costumes.

So I had a ball creating a pink fairyland scene that cost me virtually nothing.

I used a Martha Stewart tutorial to make the flowers which used paper bags but I wanted a gingham effect and couldn't source any bags. So, I just colour printed decorative paper, folded the sides in and stuck them together with sticky-tape (like a tube), made the necessary gusset folds on the sides and, voila! Once I had my own 'bags', I then just did what Martha told me. The best bit was that by making my own bags I could make different shaped flowers by changing the size of the folds I made.

I even made pockets for the cushions on our daybeds, just so they could be part of the theme. Now, I think we all know by now that I'm a bit of a control freak, so being 'part of the theme' is pretty much essential. The aesthetician (aesthelete!?) in me loves to style and plan parties down to the sweet detail and it's all I can do not to shout 'places everyone!' when party time comes around. My family is very patient with me.

So, even though I can't sew to save myself, I was absolutely determined to cover the blue cushions on my daybeds pink. So I made 'pockets' and pockets only require a straight stitch down two sides. I would have Buckleys of doing a zip or button or anything fancy like that. 

I then used the left-over fabric and pinking shears to make the pretty 'bow' garlands. The fairy bunting  is just paper cut outs stapled onto pink bias-binding that I bought for $2 at the $2 shop (!).

It's difficult to know whether to make 'party day' the day that you do all the celebrating, or hold off to do more on the child's actual birthday. At our place, we just make party day the day and so the Badoo started the morning off with a 'happy birthday' and a pile of presents from her family. Spurred on by the fun of gift-giving, all morning Cappers and Maxi-Taxi were making her little drawings and things as 'extra presents' - do your children do that too?

In the pic above, the Badoo is wearing a t-shirt that my bloggy friend Kasia custom made for her after I won a giveaway on her blog. The shirt is the softest cotton you can imagine and the Badoo was very proud of herself in her '3' shirt. Great birthday gift for any little one, don't you think?

When it was party time, two sweet fairies arrived to take the children on a magical journey to fairyland. It was a relief not to be 'the show' for this party - all the games and entertaining was done by the fairies. They were picture-perfect and absolutely wonderful with the children. 

We used Fairy Crystal and Friends and I'm giving Christina a shout-out because we also used her fairies for Cappers' third birthday (it's become a tradition for our girls - thank goodness I only have the 2!). Christina has delivered a creative, magical experience both times now. I hope you understand what I mean when I say that aside from their skills at keeping sugar-hyped children amused for hours, the wholesome prettiness and quality presentation of the fairy is absolutely essential in these matters and Christina's fairies are stunning down to the very last detail. They were captivating, even for us grown-ups.

They limboed and danced and blew bubbles and sang and told stories and face painted and passed a parcel... even the older boys were mesmerised (although they claimed to be above it all, they actually didn't leave the fairies' sides all day).

The pink themed food was so much fun to make. Generally party food gets the better of me because I don't plan ahead. But this time, with my newly donated extra fridge and freezer space (thanks Gran and Pops!), I was on Easy Street. The Badoo and I baked everything over the past couple of Wednesdays (my day off from work) and froze them ready to be iced. I can't believe what a difference that made to the smoothness of the day and the quality of the cakes didn't seem to be compromised.

Coconut ice, pretty cupcakes with a variety of toppings, little choc-dipped wands, rosy meringues and lurid pink cake pops which were a huge lurid pink mess and I swear I am never making the darn things again.

We made 'pink milk' and poured it into Yoga bottles that I'd removed the labels from (canny eyes will recognise that these are the same 'butter beer' bottles from the Harry party!). Soaking bottles in hot water with a bit of eucalyptus oil makes the job quick and easy. I then just use plain old UHU blue to glue on the labels. To keep track of the drinks, I made name labels by cutting a heart shape out of left-over bunting paper and making two cuts for the straw to slide through.

After scrapping plans to make a Peppa Pig cake (beyond me, I'm no baker!), I just made a standard cake and used the sleight-of-hand of marshmallowy goodness to fool everyone into thinking it was fancy. The pretty little flowers were in the cake aisle at Woolies - who knew? It was a huge hit and absolutely no trouble.

All in all, that wonderful little Badoo and all her friends had a fantastic day and her Mumma did too. Happy Pink Party to us and Happy Birthday my sweetheart! 

May your year ahead be cherished one and may you continue to be that certain cheeky, loving handful that we admire so much.

- The (very pink) end - 

This week I'm grateful for... trying

We have a saying around our house: "Don't say can't, say I'll try". It's a necessary saying because if a child has ever uttered the words "I can't" more than Maxi and Cappers, I'd like to meet them. Every time they say I can't, I bang on with my favourite saying and 9.9 times out of 10, they'll give something a go (the other 0.1 times they moan something about 'not that again, Mumma').

I like to think that I'm a trier myself. I hate to think that I'm a can'ter, that's for sure. So, when I stepped out last Saturday with the intention of walking for the duration of Maxi's OT session (45 mins) and found myself running the route instead, well, I felt like I was walking the talk, that's for sure. As a matter of fact, I was running the talk and that's even better.

So, this week I'm grateful for...

133. Trying - just getting in there and giving something a go. Like we remind our kids 27 times a day.

134. Running - for the first, oh, five minutes I just had the biggest grin on my face. It had been such a long time since I'd run at any kind of pace and the feeling was absolutely joyous.

135. Rest days - after those first deluded minutes, I really had to drag my sorry self around those mean streets. And the next day, sheesh, why on earth were my inner thighs in agony? I must have such a weird run to make that happen. In my head I'm smartly running along as if I should be wearing lycra. In reality, it's a very good thing I'm not.

PS - It's the Badoo's 3rd birthday party so I apologise in advance that I won't be around much to visit you. I'd love it if you'd visit one extra Grateful blogger on my behalf today, just to show we care. I'll post about the Pink Party (yes, she just wanted 'pink' - how's my life?) on Sunday! x

So, what's making you smile today? Add your I'm Grateful For post to the list below (and please, we love you, but it really does matter that your post is a Grateful one and not just a random), add the button (grab the code from my sidebar and paste it into your post) and pretty-please add a link back to me. Then pop over to visit other bloggers who are spreading a little sunshine.





[Image by Brittney T via Flickr]

This week I'm grateful for... the laughing cry

Some days you've gotta laugh or you'd cry. I like to do both at the same time.

All week I've been mental at work. I'm making approximately fifty five decisions an hour and everyone wants a piece of me. Just so busy that my head spins.  I'm getting through it on a carefully planned schedule and good old fashioned humour. So, don't fret, I'm okay.

But this morning my work crisis went straight out the window.

The Badoo's usual Friday routine is that LOML drops her off on his way to work in the city ("Dad", as she calls him, never "Daddy" or "Dadda" as the older Tsunamis do) while I do the school run because I work from home on Fridays, but today we only had one car, so it was me.

On the school run she seemed a little quiet, she complained of a sore tummy. No, she didn't want to go to the toilet, no she wasn't feeling sick. She wasn't hot, she wasn't miserable, just 'sore'. So I decided to drive her over to Nonno's on schedule and maybe I'd still make my 9 o'clock meeting.

By the time we arrived, she was miserable and crying from the pain. She indicated that she was 'really, really sore' lower in her abdomen. I freaked out (as you do). I thought 'something she ate', I thought UTI'.

I really thought 'appendectomy'.

I gave her a hit of Panadol to help quell the pain and drove her to the medical centre. I made calls on the hands free all the way there to rearrange my busy working day. Little Badoo was crying out how much it hurt by this stage and I thought 'maybe they'll see her first since she's so little'.

I really thought 'Emergency, stat'.

By this stage, everyone in the waiting room was freting for this poor child who was obviously in incredible pain. I had already mentally rearranged the next week of my life ready for the hospital stay. A number of kind people came over to us to say that the Badoo could take their place if they were up next. I was beside myself with worry over my darling little Badoo who was by now a huddled, cuddled mess in my lap. Then she sobbed, "I need the toilet".

I raced her to the toilet, ready for the projectile vomit of blood and almost in tears because I should have taken her directly to the Emergency department for her apendectomy requiring a week's stay at the hospital.
Then she weed. And weed. And weed. And, dear god, weed some more.

When she had finished pissing Niagra Falls, she said, "I'm all better now." And smiled. And skipped back to the waiting room where the doctor came out immediately and called "The Badoo". Of course she did.

Surprisingly, there is no treatment necessary for a child needing to do a wee. The doctor humoured me by performing a tummy squeeze here and there, but with the Badoo singing nursery rhymes at the top of her voice and giggling because the doctor was 'ticking me', we both knew there wasn't really a whole lot to say.

So, this week I'm grateful for...

130. The laughing cry - those silly moments when life is just so superbly sweet and sour all at the same time that as much as you want to cry, you simply have to laugh.

131. The crying laugh - when you are laughing so hard that the tears are streaming and your laugh rattles your bones. My favourite kind of laugh.

132. Any old laugh - the more then merrier. How else are we ever going to get through it?

So, what's making you smile today? Add your I'm Grateful For post to the list below (and please, we love you, but it really does matter that your post is a Grateful one and not just a random), add the button (grab the code from my sidebar and paste it into your post) andpretty-please add a link back to me.  Then pop over to visit other bloggers who are spreading a little sunshine. 

You can also link up with our British cousins over at Michelle's Reason's To Be Cheerful and maybe make a new bloggy bud. They're doing 'new blogs to find' this week too, always fun.

[Image via weheartit]

Feted, not jarred

I'm nuts about school fetes. The cake stalls, the white elephant, the dinky games involving hacky sacks and tin cans. The sheer old-school at school fun of it all.

I've been busy getting creative with jars and stuff to make jars for the 'Jarbola'. I didn't even know what a Jarbola was until Cappers carefully explained that it was when you get a jar of pasta sauce and you eat the sauce and then you put stuff in it but you have to clean it first and then you get a ticket on it and the winner of that ticket gets that jar.

Oh, like a bottle raffle. With clean jars. I get that.

The Badoo and I created six jarbolas to take in tomorrow. A jar of soliders; a jar of glow-in-the-dark dinosaurs; a jar of hair thingies (all pink, this is the Badoo in charge after all!); a jar of sherberts (pink); a jar of mini-chuppa chups (mostly the black ones because we don't really like the black ones around here); and a jar of pretty jewellery (pink, pink, all pink). We made little tags to add a bit of school fair festivity.

If I could fill my fantasy Jarbola jar, I would fill it with Benefit Benetint in rose, Eve Lom Cleanser, Creme de la Mer and Moroccon Oil.

What would you put in your fantasy Jarbola jar?
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I'm linking up to Our Creative Spaces this week. I know filling jars with stuff isn't exactly creative,
but I'll take what I can get!

School Run: Half-Marathon

It's Wednesday afternoon and I'm on the tools.

School Pick-up.

Pram wheels whizzing in front, six kids trailing behind; a slow caravan of feet-dragging, backpack-heaving, high-spirited blue. And a Euphonium.

Keep up Slowest Boy in the World, don't make me come back there.

No we can't play in the playground, Flygirl's got to get to art class.

Hold onto the pram, Cappers, we're crossing in a minute. Yes, you do need to hold onto the pram. No, you're not old enough to cross by yourself even if I watch you very carefully and you look right and left and left again. And, by the way, it's left then right then left again - that's why you can't cross the road by yourself.

No you can't come out of the pram, Badoo. You wanted the pram, you got the pram, I hate the pram, I'm not pushing an empty pram. And a Euphonium.

Okay, I'll carry your heavy bag, Sambochips. Load it on top of the pram. Really, Cappers? I have to carry yours too? And Max - okay, just put all the bags onto the pram and I'll put these two on my back and, okay, Badoo, you can get out of the pram now. Please, Badoo, you wanted to get out and now I need you to... oh, forget it. Maxi, just balance yours on top of the Euphonium. Just call me 'pack horse', no problems.

Well, honey, a pack horse is usually a donkey or mule or, oh, just forget it. Forget I said anything.

Maxi, leave the birds alone, we're about to cross.

Slowest Boy in the World, leave the birds alone, we're about to cross.

No, really, Cappers, don't worry about what a mule is. Really. Don't. Worry.

We cross. Six kids, six backpacks, a pram, a sagging mumma. And a Euphonium.

Okay, everyone into the car. Seat belts on. There you go, Badoo. Forgodsakes, bend, Badoo, BEND. Yes, you have to wear a seat belt. Yes, you have to wear a seat belt. Yes, you have to wear a seat belt. Just put the seat belt on, Badoo.

Everyone else got their seat belts on? Seat belts? Put your seat belts on. Seat belts! Cappers? Flygirl? Sambochips? Maxi? Slowest Boy in the World? Oh come on, SBITW.  Maxi, help the kid out would ya?

I'll explain what a mule is later, Cappers. Don't worry about it right now. Just forget about it. You can, you  really, really can.

Right. Six bags into the boot. Pram into the boot. And a Euphonium.

FuckmedeadthisbloodyEuphoniumhowthehelldoIgetthisintothecar. @#%$^ beep &$%* ^&%$$# beep beep #$%!$@!

Right.

Okay.

We're in. I can drive with half a Euphonium on my lap, no problem. What do you mean you're hungry and thirsty? You're not the ones who've just lugged six kids, a pram, six backpacks and a freakin' Euphonium up the goddamn hill. Here, share this mouthful of water amongst yourselves and here's six crumbs left over from this morning's toast. Enjoy.

And, seriously, Flygirl. Seriously. What in god's name is wrong with the flute?

What's 'pick-up' like for you?

Do you love it as much as I do?

Do you hang around the gate and chat to the other mums? 

Do you get there early or are you always running late?

What's your baggage allowance like?

[Image by Derek R Hampshire]

Heelllo Autumn!

Fears that Autumn had passed us by were put to rest on the weekend. What glorious weather! We went for brunch at our favourite cafe and then across the road to a secret little neighbourhood park that no-one ever seems to go to but us.

Crunchy leaves under-foot soon become a mist of confetti.

Leaves in the mouth, leaves in the ears and, oh, what's that! Leaves in the nose!?

Washed down perfectly with a sunny orange and a little Cappers cheer.

One day you'll regret your refusal to pose for a picture, Badoo. When you come all sad to Mumma saying "why are there more pictures of Maxi and Cappers than me?" I will remind you of this day.

Can't I just get ONE decent photo of all three of you? Just one?

Ah well, two outta three ain't bad.

Are your children willing models? Or do they go crazy and refuse to comply like mine?
Any tips for getting them to be 'nice'?

Seriously, a dwarf?

I'm not entirely sure how we got around to the subject, but Mum and I were talking about midgets the other night, as you do. (Is the term midget acceptable? I apologise if not). I work with a woman who is a person of small stature and I was telling Mum that Leona's* young children are 'normal sized children' and taller than she is. Again, not sure how it came up, but chats with my Mum tend to cover most things.

So, on Saturday Cappers had a 'morning tea' date at her friend Sam's to make cupcakes. Which left Maxi and The Badoo alone for the first time in... well, probably forever. I said to Max, "what do you think you'll do all day without Cappers?" and he said, "I'm going to play with The Badoo for the whole entire day. She's all mine."

Fabbo, I thought.

I stopped in to see how they were going a little bit into their morning. "What are you playing?" I asked.

"Mums and Dads. The Badoo is the Mum and I'm her son."

"Sounds great, but The Badoo is a really small mother." (You can see where this is going.)

"Yes," he said, quick as you like. "She's a dwarf and I'm her normal-sized child."

Ah, I see. I don't even know where he got the term 'dwarf' from, but it was probably from the kind of dreadful person who uses the term midget.

What conversations have your children eavesdropped on lately? Incidentally, don't feel bad about sharing. I still can't get The Badoo to stop saying 'For Fox Sake' every now and then and now Maxi has introduced dwarfism into his role playing. Must be more careful!

* Hi Leona!

This week I'm grateful for... new friends

I've ranged this week from 'nurse' to a 'bugged' Cappers (her words); to 'host' of an Australia Day gala; to 'cleaner' as I prepared for and recovered from said gala (such a lot of vacuuming involved when one hosts a party!); to 'proud mumma' as I watched my Tsunamis take to swimming with a vengeance; to 'stressed out and freaking' wife at a little scare LOML gave me today (nothing to worry about!). It's been grand.

I do also admit to going a bit stir crazy, as I always do when faced with a house, three children and me, just me. Not great at being a stay at home mum. I get better after a few days... I need to find my 'home' groove and dance to that. We get there.

So, this week I have lots to be grateful for, but to narrow it down...

1. New friends - how lovely to find newbies that you have lots in common with and really, really like. It's so great to drag out fave stories for an appreciative new crowd. And beyond fab to get to talk about all the stuff like 'how you met' and 'where did you grow up?'... love it.

2. Older children - at 6 and 5 years old, my two bigger Tsunamis are growing into the 'older child' bracket. The bracket where you're at a party and you don't see them for hours. You practically forget you even have children. Of course, a warm, melting Badoo on the lap on a hot day keeps it real.

3. A cool breeze at day's end - we sweltered on Thursday but then a light rain fell and brought with it a cool stirring. Sheer, welcome relief.

So, what's making you smile today? Grab my I'm grateful for... button from my sidebar if you like, add your I'm Grateful For post below and please add a link back to me in your post. Then pop over to visit other bloggers who are spreading a little sunshine. Happy day to you!

[Cute little gingerbread image by C-L-K]

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Don't forget to pop over to the Fibro's SENSATIONAL giveaway. You can win a 5-week online writing course with the Sydney Writers' Centre! Brilliant stuff! Click on the image below.

The best bits are the little bits: part 3

My husband is at church with the three Tsunamis for Christmas mass. The church choir rings out the final notes of 'Silent Night' and a hush descends across the uplifted congregation.

"I want Gaga." A plaintive Badoo booms across the church.

It's true that the little bits make up the best bits of memories! ♥

_____________________________________

Oh, and speaking of Best Bits, be sure to pop over to the Fibro today because there is a SENSATIONAL giveaway going on (which I am sadly ineligible to enter... which is the only reason why I am not worried about spreading the word and decreasing my chances...). You can win a 5 week online writing course with the Sydney Writers' Centre! Brilliant stuff!

:

When the whole world is a gallery

There's something about The Badoo. She's into everything. I've had three toddlers in the house over the past six years and number three is, without a doubt, triple the trouble of the other two.

I didn't really need to "baby proof" the house for Maxi or Cappers, but suddenly six years into parenting I'm down at Bunnings clearing out their stock of powerpoint plugs and cupboard guards. Once she drew all over the walls with a black permanent marker. Along the hallway, into her siblings' rooms, through the bathroom, up the stairs. The house looked like a massacre scene in a black and white movie.

She was roused on, of course and sent to her cot. She can't handle being yelled at - she just goes to pieces. It's hard to stay angry at that cute little face when the bottom lip starts to drop, but a massacre made it easy. She was sent to the cot for 5 minutes and every time I checked on her the lip would drop and the tears would flow. She knew she'd gone too far.

Or so I thought.

Five minutes after she was sprung from her cot, the builder popped over to measure up some bookshelves. The Badoo (who is usually extremely shy of strangers in general) took him by the hand and led him to the scene of the massacre . Like an artist surveying her first gallery exhibition she proudly gestured to the walls. "I did that," she beamed. "It's a road."

What were / are your toddlers like? Did you get the big tantrums or the cheeky mischief? How on earth do you manage?

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Click on the button to enter!

[Image features wallpaper from Land of Nod]

Dealing with Difficult People #1: Newborns

Excuse me while I detour from my usual Friday post - I am starting to agree with Maxi- Taxi: "learning stuff is boring". (He will go far.)

I'm not the most tactful person in the world which is less than ideal given that I work with some of the most arrogant and annoying people on earth (see "I'm not the most tactful person..."). Ergo, I've had loads of experience picking my way through social and political minefields so I thought I'd share my top tips on Dealing with Difficult People.

I'm starting with Newborns.

I've only ever worked with three of them, but I've seen quite a few in my time and let me tell you, without exception, they are all Difficult. They're selfish, cranky, demanding.... they're mean. They cry until you're blue in the face and then they zap you with one of those windy little smiles like that's supposed to make up for weeks of sleep drip torture, poo, mastitis and vomit. Worse, that windy smile works like a charm and we fall in love with them despite their general unloveliness. Like I said, Difficult.

But, here are my top five tips for managing these pesky newcomers:

1. Handle with confidence.
Do not, under any circumstances, let them know that you don't know what you're doing. They can smell fear and they will vomit on it.  A very tight wrap administered brusquely will help immensely until you've genuinely got a handle on things. Watch your midwife to get an idea of what brusque looks like. Watch her also for tips on how to handle the newborn - watching Rugby Union can also help here.


2.  Don't play with them, they don't like it.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that newborns are capable of doing anything more exhausting than eating. Every minute you spend dangling a toy in front of their face and gooing and gagaohlalaing is ten extra minutes they will spend screaming in their cot because they are so over stimulated. I learned this the hard way with Maxi-Taxi.

For the first eight weeks, cuddle them on waking, cuddle them before you put them to bed (preferably skin on skin), but if they're not actually eating (preferably skin on skin), ensure they are lying in their cot or pram ready for sleep. Playing comes later (and never, ever ends).


3. You're a family now and forevermore
Batten down the hatches and for now just fold yourself into a little family package. Some visitors are lovely and easy and leave the home in a more relaxed state than they found it it. Most are not like that. You have more important things to do than serve drinks and tidy the house for guests. Like sleep.

It's also about keeping the overstimulation down to a manageable size. Faces are MAJOR work when you're freshly minted. Know that the more people your baby sees and is held by, the crazier he will be. Guests go home, you get left with the crank all by your lonesome.


4. Newborns cry, that's what they do.
Newborns are all different, but they have two things in common. They're all mysteriously adorable and they all cry. Maxi-Taxi was an overstimulated mess. He cried every night from 6pm until 9pm, non stop. All we could do was hold him and cry right along with him. Cappers was an angel who rarely cried but when she did it she would set car alarms off in the street. The embarrassment of her screeching when we were out in public had to be experienced to be believed. The Badoo just grizzled permanently from sun down until sun up. Grumpy was her middle name and while she rarely cried, she rarely smiled either.

Your newborn will cry too and that's okay. It's up to you whether you pick them up every time they cry. Just know that they can cry in the bed just as easily as in your arms. And they'll be crying in their bed for a lot, lot longer if they get used to crying in your arms...


5. Remember, you're a newborn too.
Be gentle and kind to both your baby and yourself. You're a newborn mum and you deserve to give yourself the same loving care that you are giving your baby. Sometimes that means co-sleeping when you didn't plan to co-sleep. It means giving a bottle when you wanted to breastfeed exclusively. It means calling your neighbour and asking them to come right over to mind Cranky Pants so you can run away.

Treat yourself as you'd like your baby to treat you. With love, with kindness, with compassion, with sleep.

And remember, above all else: This, too, shall pass.

How were your newborn days? What are your best tips to share?

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PS - Come flog with me come flog come flog away... 

[Image by Suse Bauer of one of her many amazing Revoluzzza monster softies!]