Party of Twelve

Just in case you missed my last post, it was the Pixie's birthday last week. Much celebrations were to be had. We do like celebrating.

In the midst of the celebrations, I took a few little moments to reflect on the crazy collection of people that make up my family.

The day after Pixie's birthday we went to visit DB for dinner. Never let it be said that we cannot make our own amusement. When I was little my mum told me only boring people get bored, and I have refused to be bored ever since*.

Other people might make drives less stressful by making them shorter. Not us. We amused ourselves on the drive to DB's work (about 90 minutes away) by making it longer. To be fair it wasn't so much the driving that took longer but the random stops to take pictures for our Alphabet Photograph Scavenger Hunt.

Buglet also decided that she was going make as many dad jokes as possible. Her father thought this was a great idea. I was much less convinced. Sadly, I can't share any of them with you because the whole experience was too traumatising to remember.

The only one I have remembered from the day was Buglet telling off someone for turning off the fans before she had finished dancing because "I like to perform for my fans".

I will pause here for a minute while you finish groaning.

Pirate socks - I was watching Buglet and Pixie do a pirate dance.
You can tell they are my feet because the socks match.

*Side note: I tried that line on the girls when they were little. It didn't work so well. Pixie cried for about an hour because "You said I was boring, Mama. I can't help being bored. Now you think I am boring". In my defence, that was not the intention. But you have been warned - use this line at your own risk.

Sunday night we had dinner with my family. We went to dinner at Sizzlers (all you can eat buffet type place for those of you who may not have heard of it).

I always tease the girls for only eating yellow stuff when they go to Sizzlers. At least until they get to the dessert.

A perfectly coloured meal - if you are a member of my family.

There were 12 of us at dinner that night. Mum, three sisters, two brothers-in-law, two nieflings, plus us. Every single person's first course was shades of brown, yellow, and beige. (Me included. Mum and I were having pumpkin soup; not a variation of pasta, potato, corn or cheese!). Tink insists that she had red bits so she was different. One BIL insisted on going to get green stuff when he heard me teasing so I don't think that counts. Did I mention that I am the oldest?

My family. The perfect example of how nurture wins over nature.

Sharing this photo because this beanie makes me laugh.

PS the alternative title for this post (in case anyone was wondering after my recent musings about blog titles) was "50 Shades of Beige", but I just couldn't bring myself to write about my family with "50 Shades" in the heading!

Disclaimer:

• It is doubtful I am qualified to give parenting advice, there is still time for me to stuff up.
• I would not take road trip directions from me.
• I am not qualified to give nutrition advice.
• I am not even allowed to give legal advice without supervision.

I would recommend finding more reliable sources for any advice of any nature.

The important things

The Month of Visiting Country People has begun! Maybe a little late, but it has begun. Last weekend I headed out to visit my very pregnant primary school BFF solo. (The girls had gone camping with DB). That was the first of four weekends when I am heading down country roads.

Holidaying can be expensive. I was trying to teach the girls the cost of life ...

Me: I hope none of you have any major expenses this moth. Between four new tyres on Paris, and paying for the hotel for Bali, I am feeling pretty broke.
Pixie *sternly to her sisters*: And she's had to buy me birthday presents.

See! I didn't forget!

You have to love a very subtle reminder that her birthday is up there on the important things that need to be included in the budget!

I had to laugh though. Pixie requested stuff for her bedroom. She had given me some suggestions after we went to Ikea a few weeks ago. She especially wanted "coke hangers". She specifically mentioned that it would be a good present for me to get her. How could you refuse a request like that? She was so excited. She insisted that her "coke hangers" be included in a picture!

(Pixie absolutely refuses to call them anything other that "coke hangers". Even now. I have given up on that fight.)

"Mummy! My coke hangers!"

Yesterday Pixie turned 12. I had been mentally preparing for another big party. Pixie had previously said she wanted to have her big "teenager" party this year, but she has since decided to wait until next year when she turns 13. After having Buglet's 16th a few weeks ago, I have to admit I won't be sorry to wait another year. I want them all to feel that their big events are special in their own right. I do try very hard to make sure they all feel they are their own separate individuals as well as being part of a family, especially since they are so close in age.

Part of this decision, included a last minute request to have her squad (the new word for group of people you hang out with at school, apparently, do you feel like you've learnt something new today), sleepover. This felt reasonable. To have the sleepover, Pixie also said that she would work super hard getting the house nice and clean. this also felt reasonable.

Wednesday ended up being a bitch of a day a work. There is no other way to describe it. I am pretty lucky with my job. I do work long days, and some days I work super long days, but I work in an area of law where it is unusual for to unexpectedly need to be in the office until awful hours of the night. Wednesday ended up being one of those days. Luckily KK picked up the girls for Guides, Apple drove them home, and Team Awesome Guide Leaders said they could manage without me (it was lovely of them to imply that they could cope rather than pointing out that they don't really need me, which is the actual case). I got home at 11pm to a sleepy Pixie who made me promise to wake her up at 5am on Thursday so she could finish cleaning.

Late night work supper. My colleagues are awesome.

I woke up at 5am to help clean. And then my darling child asked me if I was just procrastinating when we went on an early morning drive to get bread! I did point out that while I am brilliant at procrastinating, I do not get up at 5am to clean and then procrastinate. Turns out she just thought of the word. Seriously! Children these days!

It was worth it though. Pixie had a lovely sleepover last night.

Luckily the cleaning was done early. All three of her friends ended up arriving before I got home from work. I had said drop off at 6.30pm if they wanted me to be there, but turned out all the parents were fine with me not being home for the first bit. I walked into a house with music rocking and a cry of "I can't believe you have a stripper pole! You are so cool! I like you already!".

Did I mention I hadn't met one of Pixie's friends before? And that her older sister is friends with Tink, so she came for a sleepover too? Pixie has learnt something from her sisters; if you let them have their own friend they will leave your celebrations alone! Hopefully they will mention the law degree along with the stripper pole or they may never be allowed to sleepover again.

Just for the record, I don't call it a stripper pole. Just a dance pole. And the girls know I do pole dancing because I am too uncoordinated for real dancing. I like to have something to hang on to so I don't fall over.

Happy Birthday Pixie!
(The garden fairies from across the road put on the candles)

Today we are heading on our next country adventure. We are driving up to Boddington to have dinner with DB for the Pixie's birthday.

I asked the Pixie if she would like to go up to have dinner with Daddy on her birthday weekend. Her response: "I think he should like that. I get to pick where we have dinner though. Out of the two  places".

We are planning on doing an alphabet photo scavenger hunt on the way. Check out #alphabetadventures and #krisangels  on Twitter or Instagram if you want to see our pictures!

Disclaimer:

• It is doubtful I am qualified to give parenting advice, there is still time for me to stuff up.
• I have nothing against strippers, but not sure if it the girls' friends' parents would be thrilled b the image.
• I have no idea how I raised children who want coat hangers as birthday presents.
• I am not even allowed to give legal advice without supervision.

I would recommend finding more reliable sources for any advice of any nature.

Birthday Bonanza

We've had three birthdays in the household since last time I have written.

Firstly, I am counting May 2014 as this blogs official start date. There were a couple of early posts in December 2013, but May 2014 was where we really kicked off! Appropriately with a Mothers' Day post. Happy Anniversary to us! I have just realised that this year of blogging means I am now able to share historical blog posts on social media, I feel I have reached a new level of blog maturity.

It has also been 12 months since we got Paris the Yaris. Considering the amount of time we spend in her I think this is definitely worth a mention. This blog would not be the same with the chatting opportunities that being in the car gives us. It does bother me a bit though that after 12 months the Pixie still gets very excited every times she sees another Yaris. I don't care how exciting it is I am still not beeping my horn hello every time I see another Yaris. I don't care if it makes Paris sad.

(Please note, I didn't re-read the early posts in case they make me cringe. Does anyone else hate re-reading what they wrote? My usual reaction is what was I thinking!).

Perhaps more importantly, May was also Buglet's 16th birthday. Not just any old birthday, her 16th birthday! I wrote a lovely, heartfelt post to Buglet last year. I didn't this year. Not that I don't feel lovely, heartfelt things about her, but this year I showed by love with Extreme Cleaning rather then beautiful blog posts.

Look! Birthday muffins on the actual birthday. Bought with love.

I've mentioned before that May was the Month of Domestic Godessing, and Buglet's birthday was the reason for this. When they were little they had a birthday (of the McDonald's variety mostly) pretty much every year. Followed by a big part when they were 12 or 13 (their pick), but then I said no more parties until they were 16 and they've done something little a few friends instead. The plan has always been a big party for 16, a grown-up celebration for 18 (aka no drunken brawls, underage drinking friends etc), and then I would host a final big party for their 21st (Are you all a little bit impressed by my forward thinking? I will let you know how it all works out in 9 years when the Pixie is getting ready to turn 21. Buglet and I have discussed a joint 21st/40th so I do have hopes that my theory is sound).

We did so much cleaning and gardening and sorting; cupboards, boxes, drawers. It feels great to have some massive jobs crossed off my to-do list. Not enough to make this a full-time hobby, but it still felt good.

My mask: it petrified two of my nephews.

Buglet had a 'Masquerade Gala'. Family from 5pm to 7pm followed by her school and dance friends from 7pm to 10pm. We enlisted the help of some super awesome friends with the decorating, and DB did a great job with the food as always.

In the interests of sharing the benefits of my experience with you, here are some of the things I have learnt from this party:

• You don't put parents' contact details for RSVPs on 16th birthday party invites. Buglet informed me that this caused great amusement with her friends.
• 'Gala' can be misinterpreted as 'Galah'. 
• Masks scare toddlers and babies.
• If people offer to help, accept it. 
• Don't offer to help if you don't want people to accept 'cos they just might.
• Teenage girls wear Very High Heels and Very Short Skirts.
• Ex-husbands may leave scary looking tools at your house if they know teenage boys are going to be there. 
• They may also do things like sharpen knives using power tools.
• Don't try and sneak alcohol. You will be caught. Me, not the children. 
• If you've survived 16 years of parenting, you should get to celebrate too!

Buglet's big tip is to allow your sisters to have their own friends there. Buglet conducted her own negotiations with the Pixie, and the Pixie had two friends and a cousin sleepover on the condition that they didn't harass the "big kids". I think Buglet was less concerned about Tink, but Tink had a friend sleep over and they conducted their own party in the front room with a few other extra kids. Pixie and her entourage partied in the play room, and a fun time was had by all.

t was a great night. It was lovely to celebrate the early part with people who have love us and have helped Buglet grow into the person she is today, and Buglet's friends seemed to have a great time too. Saying this, back-to-back parties are exhausting. Especially when followed by a post-party de-brief with one or two of my friends and the girls' friends who slept over!

I spent the post-party day in bed. Literally. I only got out of bed to eat left over party food, and for other necessities and actually spent most of the day asleep. Particularly impressive as there were six girls that got picked up at random points during the day. I got up at 5.30pm to do a quick tidy, but was back in bed (in clean pyjamas!) by 7pm. So, so worth it!

Buglet sneakily invited DB around for breakfast on her birthday so that I wouldn't take photos or anything before she was dressed and all 'presentable'. Her theory being that if we were waiting until he got there to do presents and muffins she would be able to get up and get ready. The little two were a bit sorry they didn't think of this.

The girls on the birthday morning.

PS: Future posts relating to bits I wanted to include in this but decided it would make the post way to long: Scouts, performing arts, Pixie on birthdays, remembering what you've said to your children,
and 'it takes a village'. Intrigued? Keep following!

Disclaimer:

• It is doubtful I am qualified to give parenting advice, there is still time for me to stuff up.
• I am not qualified to give event planning advice.
• I have no idea what is trending in the real world.
• I am not even allowed to give legal advice without supervision.

I would recommend finding more reliable sources for any advice of any nature.

Bouncing by

Like a ball ... or an Easter bunny.

Yep, this is my greatly delayed Easter post. For my regular readers (hello!) my work life has changed back to normal levels of business after the five weeks of absolute insanity, and after the choir performance and legitimate soap box moment on Saturday, my Guide life has gone back to normal too. (Soap boxing and choir will get a post of its own later).

So ... finally back to Easter.

We had a good one! I've written about our Good Friday Fremantle adventures separately, but I did have a particularly proud moment.  My heart may have swelled with pride over the cry of "Look Mama! A selfie with books". Our official family motto is "There Is No Such Thing As Too Many Books". Tink decided this at about the same time as she created our family coat of arms.

Back to the rest of Easter. This year was the first Easter Buglet has been home ages. The last three years she has been camping with one of her friends.

She has grown up.

*SPOILER ALERT, IF YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC DO NOT READ THE NEXT PARAGRAPH*

Buglet informed me that as they all know there is no such the Easter Bunny (I told you not to read it? Who told my children such travesties), that she should hide the eggs this year because "you will have more fun looking for them than I will, Mother". Oh. Ok. Fair enough. To be honest, I had a great time looking for them! Buglet said hiding them wasn't as much fun as she had thought though so, who knows, I may get to be the parent again next year.

Our Easter tradition is that we give pyjamas as a house family for Easter. It means the girls can pick out whatever they want for me, I can give them something (because the Easter Bunny leaves the eggs!), and that we all have something new to wear which is a very old Easter tradition. Practically, it also means they have new winter pyjamas.

Easter pyjamas and bed socks
Tink, me and Pixie, Buglet

Because I am the world's best ex, I took the girls to visit DB at work for dinner on Easter Sunday. 

Daddy's Angels

Because I am the world's worst mother, I may have worn my lovely leopard print pyjamas to dinner.

Pixie had been grumpy with me all day because I had insisted on wearing my Awesome Red Hat. I kept teasing her and telling her that I was going to wear it all day. I had driven up to Boddington in my pyjama pants (because they were comfy), but I had intended on changing. I told the Pixie I was going to wear them to dinner just to tease. DB said I could wear pyjamas, but I couldn't wear my Awesome Red Hat. I decided to pick the pyjamas. He also said I would not be the only one in the pub in pyjama pants, and he was right! Pixie was so mortified that when I sent her sisters outside for fighting she went to because "I don't want to be seen with the pyjama lady". It was a nice quiet 5 minutes. 

Dinner at the pub ...
 and they think I am the embarrassing one!

I am pretty good at trying to not embarrass the girls, but sometimes, just sometimes I can't help myself.

Awesome Red Hat

My hat is awesome. I don't know why the Pixie hates it. Example below (in case you missed in on Facebook).

I found the Pixie wandering around in my Awesome Red Hat.

Me *happy*: Aw. You are wearing my hat!

Pixie *smiling sweetly*: I am going to hide it so you can never wear it again.

Luckily my evil fairy child hid it on the hat stand. Sneaky! 

Disclaimer:

• It is doubtful I am qualified to give parenting advice, there is still time for me to stuff up.
• I am not an expert on Easter traditions.
• My children tell me I should not be allowed to give fashion advice.
• I am not even allowed to give legal advice without supervision.

I would recommend finding more reliable sources for any advice of any nature (except possibly on book choices, but then, please take at your own risk).

Pifecta

While my St Patrick's Day celebrations may have been a bit hit and miss this year, we did celebrate International Pi Day in spectacular fashion.

I should make the disclaimer here that I am a total hypocrite. I usually dislike the MM/DD/YYY US format of writing the day. On Pi Day and Star Wars Day I totally forget this and join the celebrations in style.

While maths is not my subject in any way, shape or form, both my parents are mathematicians. Mum is a statistician who does clever medical research stuff, and Dad lectures in Maths at Uni. One of my sisters has a maths degree, and one of my other sisters got Mum to help her make a Pi dress for some event (possibly Pi Day? A lot of dedication went into that dress, I am sorry I don't have a picture to share with you). So Pi Day almost feels like a family celebration. There are not many Maths inspired days that I have come across.

I only had Buglet for International Pi Day, but she had three friends sleep over. They supported my pie for dessert plan!

Apple Pie for breakfast ....

 

... Meat Pi for lunch ....
 

... Lemon Pie for dinner .... its a Pifecta

 It was a Pifecta! (Get it? I think I am hilarious. The girls disagree).

In other news, the Pixie is continuing the family tradition of making up words. She has just informed my that the dog will not demuntification the house. She is trying to say that Flip-Flop will not make a mess. Although, as I am pretty sure that would make it a double negative, Pixie may have been sneakily telling me that Flip-Flop will make a mess.

I am being a bit social media happy at the moment. Check out a blog post one getting the girls' passports, or follow us on Twitter or Pinterest .

Happy Saturday everyone!

Disclaimer:

• It is doubtful I am qualified to give parenting advice, there is still time for me to stuff up.
• You will note that all my pies were shop bought.
• I am not qualified to give maths advice.
• I am not even allowed to give legal advice without supervision.

I would recommend finding more reliable sources for any advice of any nature.

Luck of the Irish

In case you haven't noticed, I do adore celebrating events. If you haven't noticed, you probably will now.

Today was a little busy, which made celebrating St Patrick's Day a little tricker than usual. No boozey night, no home made green cupcakes,  and no green beer at lunch for me.

However this did not stop the celebrations. I found some green beads and a green earrings which matched my Court-appropriate work clothes.



St Patrick's Day Lunch

I also found a suitable St Patrick's Day lunch. Now the cynical amongst you may be asking why sushi is a good lunch for St Patrick's day. My reasoning: it is white, green, and orange(ish). If you squint there is a orange tinge on the outside of the pork. Also one of my favourite books by one of favourite (Irish) authors is Marian Keye's 'Sushi for Beginners'. See. Told you it was perfect.

I made an effort to be home to have dinner with the girls. Like a massive proportion of Australians, we claim Irish history on my (Catholic) father's side. I thought I would be a good mother and celebrate our cultural heritage with them

The evening did not get off to a good start. Tink expressed amazement that I was on my way home from work at 5.40pm "when dancing doesn't start until 8". Just for the record, I technically finish work at 5pm. (Note to self: leave work on time more often).

Dinner. At some random point today I decided that breakfast-for-dinner would be a good St Patrick's Day celebration. Someone unkindly asked if that was because they were backwards, but I chose to ignore that.

I am not exactly sure why I decided it was a good Irish dinner. I think it was because I was trying to think of something with potatoes and then I thought of hashbrowns. Hashbrowns made me think of bacon. In my head bacon is vaguely Irish. I associate cabbage with Ireland and the potato famines. Mum used to put bacon in the cabbage and insist it made the cabbage taste like bacon. It didn't. It just made the bacon taste like cabbage. Blerg.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed that trip through my thought process. Does the Pixie make a little more sense now?

Oh, and in case you were wondering where the green was for dinner, there was pine-lime icecream for dessert. There had to be some green in there.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand. (traditional Gaelic blessing)

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone!

PS I love that blessing. Mum and Dad have it up in their house.

 Disclaimer:

• It is doubtful I am qualified to give parenting advice, there is still time for me to stuff up.
• I am not qualified to give advice on Irish traditions.
• I am not qualified to give cooking advice.
• I am not even allowed to give legal advice without supervision.

I would recommend finding more reliable sources for any advice of any nature.

 

Christmas .... and beyond!

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! And all that jazz. (6 January, Epiphany, 12th day of Christmas so I am legitimately sneaking that 'Merry Christmas' in there).

I did mean to write over my Christmas leave. Clearly I did not. 

Instead I had managed to avoid the computer (well I used internet banking once, checked one urgent Guide email that I had received a text about, and used facebook on my phone), caught up with my family (especially my Northern Territory sister and nephews who were home for Christmas), and I slept. 

Oh, how I slept! I don't like hot weather. I especially do not like humidity. It makes me tired. I became nocturnal for the two weeks. I slept most of the day and did stuff in the evening and at night. We did something with people every couple of days, and spent the alternate days at home. I totally could get used to being a lady of leisure.  

The girls left this on my desk on the last day of work. 

Back to work, and diving straight back into the deep end (pool metaphor deliberate, my heart and mind are still on holidays). Ironically, my work computer didn't register my existence on the computer on my first day back. Apparently my ban wasn't self inflicted!

We went to church Christmas Eve. It is one of my favourite nights of the year. I love the Christmas Eve service. At our church it is traditionally carols and the children's nativity performance. Tink and the Pixie agreed to be in it again this year, even though they felt little old. Tink a lot more enthusiastically than the Pixie! 

Christmas we saw DB's parents and family (he was away), and then spent the afternoon/evening enjoying the chaos that always ensues when my family is all in one place at one time!

Nailed it! (not me!)

Boxing Day we hosted the NT contingent to a Boxing Day lunch, and Buglet outdid herself. Both with the food and with the table presentation. I am taking credit for the boxes though! Somehow I became the person responsible for organising my NT nephews' Christmas stockings (usually they come for lunch Christmas Day), but as they came to lunch on Boxing Day this year I mixed it up a bit. Yes, I am a little proud of my ingenuity! Can you see the boxes?

Everything was carefully coordinated.

I love having the boys home at Christmas! Auntie duty to squeeze a year's worth of kisses and cuddles into a few weeks! As an added bonus Master-almost-10 (who lives in WA) is much more agreeable to being kissed and cuddled when the littler ones are here too so that is an added bonus!

Our other tradition is that my girls go to my sister's New Year's Eve. If you are only available to babysit one night per year, she picks a good one! Lela and I went out NYE, We spent a very pleasant few days not doing a lot except chatting, watching movies, sewing (Lela) and sleeping (me), and making some travel plans!

The girls and I spent a night with Pie and OJ (and their parents). This is worth mentioning for two reasons. Firstly, I finally watched the first part of Lord of the Rings. As I am planning a NZ for January 2016 this seemed important. Secondly, I was reminded again how clingy my baby is. (Note to self: Referring to her as "the baby" probably doesn't help).

Pie was shouting out "Auntie Caff! Look!". I was super excited because he doesn't talk to me much (he is only 2.5), when the Pixie responds with "Look at me, Mama. You know, your child". I can assure you she was not being neglected in any way shape or form!

So in conclusion, the last few weeks have been blissfully "boring". Filled with friends and family and nothing dramatic to report. Perfect! I could not have asked for better holidays. Except for the bit where I still have glue on my eyelids from NYE. 

Advent adventures

We finally put our Christmas tree up last night.

Usually we put it up the first Sunday in Advent, but this year it just didn't happen.

That is not to say that we have not done something each Sunday in Advent. Admittedly the something hasn't been going to church which is what we also like to do, but sometimes things don't go according to plan.

On the first Sunday in Advent we ....

... helped our God-cousins put up their Christmas tree

My youngest God-son was super keen to put up his Christmas tree and wouldn't wait until we left. He is hoping to get a drum set and putting up the tree meant he was one step closer. This was one of my favourite parts of a weekend road trip adventure.

When we got home, we had end of year wind up for dance, and then rehearsals for the Girl Guide Christmas Choir. We basically ran out of time.


On the second Sunday in Advent ....

I went on a Santa pub crawl ....

... to recover from the Christmas pageant the night before and from looking after the Girl Guide Christmas Choir. Buglet and the Pixie slept at their Dad's that night, and Tink was in Singapore ... so no Christmas tree yet!


On the third Sunday in Advent ... we came home from another trip down south to have Christmas dinner with Apple.

Table centre was made at Guides. How cool does it look?

Apple's home made Apple Pie. 

Basically an exhausted Mummy, and Christmas dinner was made us super full (Buglet has told me to go get my iron checked though).

On the fourth Sunday of Advent .....

.... some old friends came out to play ...

... some came all the way from the North Pole for cuddles ...

... and the tree was finally up!

The girls have developed a system over the last few years. Tink sorts the branches, the Pixie fluffs them, and then Buglet puts the tree together. I take photos (and break up arguments mostly at the decorating stage where Buglet has very different (actually quite Tink like) ideas about how the tree should be decorated, and the other two disagree) and Flip-Flop gets in the way.

Someone-who-shall-remain-nameless (not me!) suggested that Flip-Flop should be put outside so she didn't get in the way. Pixie was most indignant and said person was firmly informed that Flip-Flop was part of the family and should not be left out. Someone-who-shall-remain-nameless (still not me!) suggested that Pixie hould be put outside so she didn't get in the way. Because I am a good parent, I told her not to be mean to her sister (and fortunately the Pixie was too busy crooning over the puppy to notice).

We celebrated the tree finally being up with toasted Christmas ham and cheese sandwiches, and chocolate for dinner, and by watching The Hunger Games (not very Christmasy but we are planning on going to see Mockingjay: Part 1 tomorrow night).

Three sleep to go peoples! How are your Christmas traditions going?

Trust me, I am (finally) a lawyer

So dear readers, I have finally done it. I took the long walk down the aisle (?) at the Supreme Court, swore the oath and I was admitted as a lawyer.

Yes, I was nervous. But conveniently the girls provide a distraction from worrying about professionally related things.

They were super excited. Pixie is fascinated by Judge Judy. I came across this facebook update from December last year:
It's not everyday the Governor and Fat Cat sing along with your choir.
It's also not everyday your daughter asks Fat Cat if he is really Judge Judy.
So very proud of the "Guide Choir", and very proud to be one of their leaders.
Not devastated I wasn't easily identifiable as Pixie's mother during the Fat Cat interaction.

Yes. That really happened. She was so sure Judge Judy was going going to be there that Marsh told her that she might be disguised as Fat Cat. I am putting the blame squarely on her for that one.

Judge Judy has also meant that Pixie has been a little bit obsessed with the idea of lawyers and hammers, I quote ....

Pixie: When you are lawyer will you get to hit people with hammers?
Me: Um. No?
Pixie: Well what is the point then?

Oh, I don't know. Being part of the justice system? A career I happen to enjoy? A world with answers? (Ok so not the answers to Pixie's questions, but questions nonetheless).

She was also adamant that she was going to ask the Chief Justice if she "could see his gabble". Fortunately she did not get the opportunity to speak to the Chief Justice, and did not ask anyone else about "gabbles" (gavel for those of you who are still confused).

After all my worrying, Pixie was pretty good. The main awkward moment was when she got all excited about "Mama, we went in the lift with the Big Boss". You may picture this said in a stage whisper. He was only a few metres away but if he heard he did a lovely job of ignoring her.

There was also a hilarious moment when my mum asked where a long term colleague and former boss of mine was. He is on long service leave. Pixie responded with "Is he having a baby?!" I couldn't see her face, but another colleague informed me her face was priceless as she was processing the idea of a man the same age as her grandparents being on maternity leave. I did clarify that the term "leave" meaning being away and the term "maternity" being the baby bit.

After all my worry about the Pixie, Tink was the one who got told off for hanging over the balcony, and she was the one who got all excited about "that lawyer who looks like a mad professor". I hope anyone who heard realises that to kids these days being a professor is super cool thanks to Harry Potter.

Overall they were very good, and my colleagues told me how well behaved they were.

I was very well behaved too. I didn't trip or cry or forget how to sign my name or how to talk or drop the Bible or anything like that. So many things to be proud of!

I had a totally amazing day with brunch with my family, and morning tea and after work drinks with my colleagues. I also got some wonderful presents which I was not expecting at all.

From my colleagues.
My boss got the same style necklace when she was admitted.

A champagne (I think it is pink!) coloured pen for signing important legal stuff.

To top it all off the girls had organised a surprise for me when I got home ...

Foot soak + nails done + hand massage + face mask = one lucky Mama

I was very surprised. I knew that they had been planning something because the Pixie had asked me if Apple would be looking after them at all earlier this week and I was also informed that she was "going to discuss finances with Daddy, but you can't ask any questions, Mummy". (Thank you Apple for being the girls' "person", and for always being there to help them).

The fact I am not just their favourite Mum/lawyer, I am their only Mum/lawyer does not need to be mentioned.
 

Then just as I was falling asleep from all the excitement and relaxation, I got a late night delivery ....

Cath shaped book!

The girls are soooooo jealous! The friend who gave it to me has been teasing me for weeks with clues. I had decided that it was a polar bear disguised as a panda disguisd as librarian eating Oreos. A Cath shaped book is even better. She told me I would want to blog about it, and she was right! Expect this picture to appear in other blog posts.

Being a lawyer is awesome so far. I hope all my days are as lovely!

I do have some thing to work on though. Namely the fact that all my children get the words "prosecute" and "execute" mixed up. I would like to point out that these are not interchangeable. Buglet told me off at brunch yesterday for talking about prosecuting people because it freaks her out.

And today I have worked hard at work again. Just in case anyone was wondering.

My weekend plans are consisting of finishing my bedroom renovations. We worked so hard last weekend and I can't wait to be able to post pictures once it is all done! I was also very proud of myself for thinking to not do any painting between Sunday and Thursday so I wasn't being admitted covered in paint. There is a school of thought that says I should be able to paint without covering myself, but I don't subscribe to that. I am just proud of myself for being so grown up and sensible.

Extreme Sports

Socialising is a sport right? If not I need a new name for this blog post.

This weekend has been dedicated to socialising, baby cuddles, eating, and walking (See! Walking! I knew I would get to an exercise bit eventually).

Part 1: Friday night
About three months ago I was chatting to a friend and we had the realisation that neither of us have seen Game of Thrones and that we both were often free on Friday nights. Since that conversation we acquired the series, and proceeded to become very busy on Friday nights. No, not watching the series, doing other things. Friday night we watched the first episode! I have read the first book, the other two haven't read it. Opinion was inconclusive, we decided we needed to repeat the experiment. There was also a super yummy dinner, cupcakes, and baby cuddles.

Food: Spinich & ricotta raviolli, cupcakes
Babies cuddled: Two (Friday night baby and I got long cuddles with a baby at work).
Walking: Very fast the the train station, because I was running late due to the brilliant idea to get cupcakes.

Part 2: Saturday morning
I collected the big girls from the train station (they spent last night at my mum's hanging out with my youngest sister after going to Youth Group), dropped Buglet off at dancing (she teaches most of Saturday), and picked up the Pixie from her sleepover (by picked up I mean I met her at the shopping centre where her friend's mum works), did a speed food shop, picked up Flip-Flop and dropped off the shopping, dropped the little two off at dancing, and took Flip-Flop to the beach. Are you keeping up?

Flip-Flop is not so sure about having to share her beach with other dogs, but she was very good. Hopefully she will learn to cope. As the weather is warming our days of having the beach to ourselves is over until next year I think.

Food: One of those sticky bun thing and a V (my breakfasts are usually much healthier).
Babies cuddled: Mine!
Walking: Beach walking, and even some running. (And the girls' danced!)

Part 3: Saturday afternoon
Flip-Flop and I picked up the Pixie.

We had a two hour nap.

Pixie informed me that she needed a faction t-shirt before Tuesday, so there was a speed shopping trip before picking up Buglet and Tink from dance.

Food: Pixie very excitedly told me that she'd had "study food" (aka lollies and chocolate) with B when they had done their assignment the day before. Oops. Teaching my babies bad habits.
Babies cuddled: Pixie while we were napping.
Walking: Speed shopping counts!

Part 4: Saturday evening
We went for a sleepover at our friends' property in Serpentine.

Pixie and I went on a walk, but the big girl bailed as they both had sore ankles (Buglet from an ongoing dance injury which sometimes appears at convenient moments, but she had been dancing all day. Tink got hurt at soccer on Wednesday, and she looked v disappointed).

Pixie took lots of photos so we will break here from writing for a pictorial account ....

Look Pie! Mummy said there is a bunyip in here.

You know you are a trusted friend when you are allowed to cross a creek while carrying the baby!
(No babies were injured or got wet in the making of this picture. My sneakers got a bit wet)

Tink! Buglet! That's the forrest where I was chased by a wolf!
(Some exagerations were used in the making of this story)

Pixie managed not to get eaten by wolves, bunyips or cows.

See! Real extreme adventuring! Pixie also touched an electric fence (under her Auntie J's supervision). I will post the video to the facebook page.

We went back to watch the Docker lose what is now their last game of the season. We distracted ourselves with cooking, champagne, and marshmallows.

Food: I helped decorate rainbow cupcakes. They are so pretty. I am very messy with 100s & 1000s.
Babies cuddled: Lots with OJ, not so many with Pie (No Cath!).
Walking: Extreme adventuring cuddling the baby.

Part 5: Sunday morning
Woken up by Pie. I forget how early toddler wake up!

Buglet bought him into bed to wake up Pixie and me. Pixie's only comment was "that's my God-cousin" and she rolled over and went to sleep. Yep. She is almost a teenager.

We were honoured to attend the OJ's baptism today, and to witness him be surrounded by the love of his family and friends as he was welcomed into God's family.

Tink earnt her title as the Toddler Whisperer, and all three girls were super helpful at the morning tea afterwards. A total brag moment, but I am very proud of them.

Food: Soooooo much! And it was super yummy.
Babies cuddled: We had to share. I did get a cuddle with another toddler though and we discussed cake and favourite animals.
Walking: Um. I stood around in heels a lot?

Part 6: The rest of Sunday
The girls went to DB's this afternoon. I slept, and gardened, and folded clothes while watching The Block. Now I should be filing, but I am blogging instead!

Food: Takeaway - because no girls.
Babies cuddled: Flip-Flop - because no girls (she misses them too).
Walking: To and from the bin with weeds. I probably should have moved the bin. Also - because no girls (otherwise they could have carried them).

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend too! xx

Back to blogging

Hello all! I am back *waves*.

Firstly my self-imposed blogging ban is over. My course is complete, I have a nice new set of letters that look just beautiful after my name, and I have finished everything I need to do to be admitted as a lawyer in Western Australia.

Happy dance! I am so pleased it is all over. I think it has been the longest 30 weeks of my life. Although I was in receipt of the shortest marking time ever. My last exam finished at 12.15 on Friday, 8 August, and I had the results for all my subjects by 3.15pm on Monday, 11 August. There were six pieces of assessment the previous week. Some dedicated teachers there, and they made the whole super long process so much more manageable.

Good for celebrating and sore throats

Those of you paying attention may have noticed that these dates mean that I finished studying a almost two weeks ago.

The next lot of blogging absence has been caused by THE DREADED MAN FLU. Fortunately I am almost better now. Not only have I been sick all three girls have been sick too. Pixie pretty much only gets sick once a year, and last week was it.

She visited me at work for half a day, and had a good nap under my desk while I finished some stuff. Then we did a lot of sleeping for the next day and a half.



So glad that they can sleep anywhere ~ some days this is how we do it

 

By Sunday night everyone else was better and the girls banished me to the lounge by myself so I could "rest and get better". I am pretty sure it was really because I was way too whingy for them. They had a delightful time playing board games and catering to my every (whiney) whim.

Pixie: Why are you so grumpy?
Me: I am not. I am sick. I was nice to you when you were sick.
Pixie: I am being nice, and all you say is "Pixie, stop stroking my face", "Pixie stop poking me", "Pixie stop shouting in my ear".
Me: Humph. Shh. Mummy has a headache.

If you have missed some of the Pixie quotes, check out facebook for some of the sickaling ones. Fun topics include "bags under eyes", "why two-minute-noodles are like chicken soup", "popular nursery rhymes", and "drugs: over-the-counter and otherwise".

How have I celebrated? Other than frozen coke floats, I bought a pole dancing pole for my house. Best op-shop find ever! Nothing says "Yay I am almost a lawyer" like a stripper pole!

Armed and dangerous: Part 2 of my weekend

Sunday is family day. I try to stick to this. Mostly unsuccessfully, but it is the thought that counts!

Buglet managed to convince us that she should have her birthday present's today. Her reasoning was that Daddy was spending the day with us and because tomorrow (her actual birthday) is a Monday, and that Monday's are super busy. This is true.

I mostly gave in because one of the Buglet's birthday presents was The Host (on dvd, she got the book last Christmas), and that made a nice diversion between Tink's soccer and the main attraction of the day ..... lazar tag!

Today was a just a "house family" celebration. With a massive family, birthday celebrations can go over the whole month. Originally we were going to do something with her friends, but that didn't work out so a family session at lazar tag it was. I do maintain my right as their mother to claim their birthdays as my special days too! Not only am I the one who actually gave birth, each year is another year I get to celebrate how much they have grown, and that we all have survived.

Lazar tag was not only great fun, it was very educational too.

What we learnt at lazar tag:

• we are all ultra competitive;
• real men can wear pink;
• Tink has the makings of an officer;
• Tink has a scary number of tactics;
• don't get on the Buglet's bad side, she started a vendetta against the other dad playing who was the only person to obtain a higher score than her in the first game;
• DB refuses to follow instructions especially when the instructions are "don't shoot me I am on the same team";
• three out of five of us really need to work on our aim; and
• despite my best efforts the girls still didn't know who C3PO was (the character name Tink was given).

Some of these things we should probably have known earlier.

Proud mama moments of the day ~ lazar tag edition:

• my girls weren't the ones sulking when they got hit; and
• Tink obeying the international law protecting the injured even from the other side (aka a small crying child who was lost).

There is something ironic about shooting other people's children celebrating a parenting milestone. Or possibly therapeutic. Probably better for family relations that we were all on the same team. DB suggested paintballing. Lucky the girls are not old enough. I really will need to work on my aim before then!

Mother's Day

This was the Pixie last year on Mother's Day:  "If we were going to make you breakfast Mama, which we're not, how would you like your eggs? Now go walk the dog and make it a long walk".

Mother's Day*. The day that is supposed to be all about mothers. I have to admit, I adore it.

When I was younger I loved bossing my younger sisters and brother into making mum and dad breakfast in bed and was so sad when mum put an end to it (cooking is not my strong point!).

I love the home made presents and cards, and the gifts my girls pick out from school. I love the cuddles, and for that for one day I can use emotional blackmail to stop the girls from squabbling and not feel bad.

This year I wandered around the shops while my Buglet supervised the Pixie in a shopping trip. I need to say here that clearly I had no idea what they were shopping for. I am a mother, I know all about selective comprehension.

This is what they made me.

Buglet gets her cooking skills from her father. He also taught her beautiful presentation. My breakfasts in bed always come with a flower (sorry Mum! You really were ripped off, but I promise your breakfasts were made with love).

And this was dessert. Tinker is claiming this one as her idea.

I am pretty sure the fact the girls made me breakfast dessert means I am doing something right!




*or is it Mothers' Day? I really struggle with this. If I am talking about someone particular I make it singular but when I am talking about everyone I make it plural? Anyone else?