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).

Doctor! Doctor!

I have totally jinxed myself!

Just as a quick re-cap I recently blogged about my way-too-often-broken babies a week or two ago, and that was the first visit to a doctor or hospital for ages.

And now we are back to semi-normal.

Last weekend the Pixie was trodden on by a horse. Just in case anyone is worried, the horse is fine. So is Pixie. The girls have grown up around their grandfather's trotting horses so, to be honest, I am surprised that they have not been trodden on before.

In the stables.

The sad bit is that my first thought at the doctors' surgery was "Wow! We haven't been here for ages", followed by "fond" memories of the hours of study I did in those chairs when we were going through a particularly bad run.

I also thought about how lucky we have been with some of the random medical professionals we have met who could have been hand-picked for our needs:

• A doctor who had a son who had randomly chosen to be vegetarian at the same age Pixie did when we went to get her iron checked;
• A physio who had trained in ballet at the WA Academy of Performing Arts when Buglet hurt her ankle; and
• A nurse who had fractured her tailbone falling off slide when Buglet was in hospital for her knee, but was having problems sitting due to previous injuries.

This week's effort was a doctor who's daughter sets the high school exams for ballet. He totally got why I wanted an all clear before letting Pixie go back to pointe class. 

Sometimes you just meet the right people at the right time.

However, I should not have spoken too soon! Tuesday night I got a phone call to get Buglet from dancing as she had hurt her foot ... back to the hospital. 

Pixie is particularly unhelpful when she is trying to be helpful sometimes. Her very supportive comments included:

(Brightly) At least you didn't damage a perfectly good ankle.

(Confused) Are we taking her* too? (Ah yes! Considering *Buglet was the reason I was there, and the reason we were leaving early).

(Helpfully) Would you like me to stroke her? Mama! I can't reach her! Sorry, Buglet I can't stroke you. Buglet was crying at this point, and some of her words included strong indications that being stroked by the Pixie would be particularly unhelpful.

Fortunately it was just a bad sprain, and Buglet will be ok, and Pixie was right about one thing, it is a good thing that it was already damaged foot. 

Disclaimer:

• It is doubtful I am qualified to give parenting advice, there is still time for me to stuff up.
• I should clearly not be allowed to give safety advice.
• I am most definitely not allowed to give medical 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.

*I do sometimes prescribe chocolate though. Accept this advice at your own risk.

The same ... but just a little bit different ( aka B2S Part 1)

Monday was back to school day.

Buglet started school in 2003, so you think I should be good at this, it's been 12 years.

But this year was actually quite a lot different.

All three girls are in high school. Turns out having three high school daughters is a lot different from having primary school daughters.

No prepackaged stationary supplies nicely ordered through school (Yes, I did actually achieve this once or twice in their primary school years, but to be fair I did the mad school run at Wooldridges more often than not. Yes, I do know technically you can do this at high school too but I learnt my lesson the hard way with this one. There is a lot of guess work on the high school list and I found Buglet didn't use most of it).

Hair is a big issue.

Not just a standard hair cut though. Buglet very sensibly told a family friend that she really needed straighteners before high school because "you can't go to high school with bad hair" (family friend made sure I was aware of this, Santa also got the message, she picked well).

Anyway, I thought I was well prepared for the hair scenario.

Nope. Hair dye was the thing this year. Tink went red, and the Pixie's is still a shade of blue if you look closely. Buglet went blonde, hated it (me too) and is now back to brown.

Ok so this picture doesn't make it look as dramatic as it sounds, but considering I didn't dye my hair until my mid-20s I wasn't emotionally ready for this.

But wait! There is more.

High on Buglet's back-to-school preparation was having her eyebrows waxed.

Tink made sure she got her promised ear piercing. Belated birthday present from her grandmother because she very sensibly decided not to get it done just before she went to Singapore.

This is not the way things used to be. On the upside, none of the girls wore matching socks. Some things never change.

And just in case you were in any doubt about their grown-up-ness, my domestic goddess moment of making the girls breakfast turned into this:

Buglet: Aren't you going to Bunnings?
Me: No. I am making you breakfast.
Buglet: I will do that. Just be back by 7:45.
Me: You just want me out of the way while you get ready for school.
Buglet: Yep.

My pots were an awesome buy. The bacon sandwiches and banana smoothie were even better because I didn't make them. Definitely winning.

They had a great first day. DB picked them up because I had an after work meeting (Pixie conceded that whilst this wasn't tradition it would do).

No rang me to tell me about their day (I am still a little sulky about this), but when I finally got hold of them I found out that Buglet had made it to dance. Tink was having a nap, and the Pixie didn't get run over by senior students. More information forthcoming when I made it home.

A successful day was had by all. Except possibly me. My heart has just been a little bit broken ....

Oh, and in answer to the most common question. No - I don't feel old. If anything, I feel stupidly young.

Disclaimer:

• It is doubtful I am qualified to give parenting advice, there is still time for me to stuff up.
• Clearly, I am no longer able to give advice as a primary school parent.
• I am not even allowed to give legal advice without supervision.

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

One giant leap ....

NEWSFLASH!!!

My girls are getting big.

This is probably not a shock for anyone else other than me (and most days I realise it, but I've had one of those weeks where it hit home).

Pixie had her high school orientation day. Not only that, when I have her the talk about remembering some kids won't know anyone and making sure that she includes other people she informed me that "A and I have already discussed that. I remember what it was like when I did PEAC and didn't know anyone." Squashed I tell you!

Pixie had a great day, admittedly she had the added bonuses of having two sisters already at the school, and she had spent a morning a week there last year doing an academic extension program. She also made a new friend who is in her TAG (form/homeroom), who didn't know anyone. They've made plans to meet on the first day of next year which is lovely. Hopefully the Pixie won't forget.

This year has been Tink's first year at high school, and she has embraced it whole heartedly (soccer academy of excellence, academic extension program, extra music, student council). Pixie has spent most of the year telling me that she is not going to be like Tink.

There are definitely some sisterly traits though ...

Me: How was your day?
Pixie: I answered lots of stuff. When the teacher asked how did I know so much I told her that I had sisters here. Except when I knew the name of the D&T teacher. I told her Uncle S was a family friend.

My conversation with Tink 12 months ago ....

Tink: When I was in D&T I was the only one who answered any questions. When the teacher asked how I knew what the names of the tools were I told him that my dad was a boilermaker, and that the names were written on the wall.

Look out high school, all three of them will be there next year!

But for the minute ... time can you please hold still? Between Pixie counting down how many days left until the end of primary school, Tink heading off on her first overseas trip, and Buglet telling me how many days until she can get her L's, I need to a few moments to pause to readjust my life view.

Disclaimer:

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

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

But Shakespeare did it!

When I was little we had a set of Encyclopedia Britanica Children's Encyclopedias. If you have never seen these particular ones they were mostly written in a story-type style so they were easy to read, and in a world pre-Google (are your paying attention children, there was a way of finding out things pre-Google) reading them was an eye-opener to so much stuff. 

I remember being beyond fascinated that Shakespeare invented the words "gloomy" and "hurry". Can you imagine a world without the word "hurry"? "Gloomy", I feel, is a bit underused these days which is a shame 'cos it is really a very expressive word. Say it out loud! Go on. Don't you think it sounds like its meaning? Eeyore knew a thing or two!

Yesterday's car conversation focused on onomatopoeia, and I have to confess that this happened after a discussion on the the difference between onomatopoeia and acronyms ...

Buglet enthusiastically: Let's all think of as many onomatopoeia words as we can.
*awkward silence*
Me: That is totally nerdy. Even for us.

Today's confession. I laughed at my daughter, called her a nerd, then told her I was going to blog about it. We are totally ok with being nerds. It is part of what makes us so awesome. I think Buglet's suggestion here crossed the line though.

Anyway, back to Shakespeare. Since I was about 7, my argument has always been that "if Shakespeare can make up words so can I".

Tink: Mum, that's not a word.
Me: Yes it is. I just used it.
Tink: You're not allowed to just make up words.
Me sadly: That is what my boss says too.
Tink: And don't say if "Shakespeare can do it so can I". You're not Shakespeare.

Squashed! On lots of levels. I think the word I had used talking to Tink was "barklet". Mostly because it make more sense in the context of some random song Pixie was singing about Flip-Flop. Flip-Flop might do many things, but she does not meow (I am assuming the song had originally been written about a cat and Pixie had altered it to suit herself. I don't ask silly questions, sometimes it is better just to assume, lots of these times are to do with Pixie).

The word my boss said I had made up was "skewy". As in "the margins are all skewy". I am pretty sure this is a real life shortened version of "askew". It is very descriptive and it really was what the stupid margins were doing.

This week we attended the dedication and naming service of my beautiful new nephew. For those of you wondering, neither Pixie nor I predicted the name. Clearly, our psychic skills are not working properly.

I got lots of photos of the eight cousins. Unfortunately none of all them together, as my gorgeous youngest niece decided to sleep for most of the time. I did sneak a cuddle in just before we left though and got a few quick pictures so she can't feel totally left out.

I haven't been able to find a collective word for a group of cousins so I am coining my own phrase. What do you all think of "a cuddle of cousins"? I think it is cute. Who knows, it may even catch on!

At one point Pixie had her own campaign to introduce the term "awesomization" into mainstream language. It didn't really take off. "Sickaling" on the other hand I catch myself using all the time.

Stay safe everyone, and enjoy the English language today. I am trying very hand to expand what words I use, so let me know if you have any favourite words or expressions!

PS Did I tell you I have a Cath shaped book?

Cath shaped book!

And time goes marching on

When I told the Pixie that our facebook blog page had reached 195 followers she was very surprised. "I didn't know you had been writing on the blog Mummy, because I haven't done anything funny recently". Leaving aside the fact that clearly the Pixie does not suffer from low self esteem, you all know that she has been keeping us well supplied with facebook posts even if I was having a bit of hiatus from actual blogging.

But just in case anyone else was worried about a lack of material, when I was finding the picture of my bookcase for my last post I came across a few facebook updates from March before I was blogging.

Today we are wandering down memory lane and back to March 2014 for these special moments where I wonder where these children came from ......
 

Thoughts on the universe ......

 

Pixie: "Mama. Can I ask a question about a baby in it's mummy's tummy? Does a baby rhino's horn scratch it's mummy's insides?"

 

Pixie: "Buglet is the dancer. Tink is the singer-soccer-player. You are the mama-lawyer-type-person. Flip-Flop and Pixie are the awesome ones." ..... "I fell like a ninja. Did you see me fall like a ninja? Tell Apple. I am the ninja clumsy one!"

Pixie: "Flip-Flop has a puppy tail and I have a pony tail".

Pixie: "When Daddy was young and cool did he really drive a red car?"

Pixie: "Daddy has a six-pack. He just has it well wrapped with bubble wrap to keep it safe."

 

Tink: "I've been thinking. We have a rabbit who eats leftover fruit and vegies. We have Flip-Flop who eats most other leftovers. Flip-Flop doesn't eat 100s & 1000s though, or even fairy bread unless Georgia gives it to her. We need to get a unicorn to eat 100s & 1000s."

 

Life lessons ......

Pixie: "Don't kiss Flip-Flop when she is awake. She tries to lick you .... And don't lick her when she is wet."

 

Pixie: Next time you are stressed and can't sleep, Mama, you should flutter your eyes really fast until they are too tired to stay open.
Me *wondering why she doesn't do this*: If it works for you baby-girl.
 Pixie: This is what I do if I am going to have a big day. I saw Flip-Flop do it so I thought it would work for me too.

 

Explaining family structure to Buglet ie second cousins etc

Pixie: You should explain this at midday. It is too early in the morning and too late at night to understand.
*conversation continues*
Pixie: I had a wart once removed.
 Buglet: No you didn't.
 Pixie: Ok. That was a lie. But Tink has a wart twice removed.

 

Irony is the Pixie whispering to me that "mums must get sore ears" after observing some beautiful toddlers chatting to their gorgous mama.

Tink: I don't know what I did but my ankle hurts so [the dance teacher] said to take it easy.
Pixie: You need to pick another body part to break. Buglet's already claimed that one

Apparently we have a one broken body part per person rule.

 

Pixie on the Olave Program (Girl Guides aged 18-30): "You can make s'mores by yourself in your own oven and roast marshmellows, and no-one can tell you you have had too many. And if you eat a bug it's your own responsibility and you don't have to fill in paperwork".
 

 

Those special "only Pixie" moments .....

 

*runs in panicked at about 10.30pm*: Mama! Mama! I accidentally woke Buglet up like this *claps hands* "Time to get up! Time to get up!" Now she thinks it's morning. She said "I want to go back to sleep" and rolled over. What shall I say?!

 

"Who knew when we decided to get the Flip-Flop-puppy that she'd be just like an Pixie".

 

Me: I love cupcakes.
Pixie: Everyone loves cupcakes.
Me: You can't buy happiness but you can buy cupcakes and that kinda the same thing.
Pixie: Mother!!! "Kind of" not "kinda".
Me: Hmm. You are my rat-baby. I will never have another one like you.
Pixie: You can't get a Pixie, but you can get a Flip-Flop and that's kinda the same thing.
Me: You do realise you are not a dog right?
*Pixie snaps*
Me: Pixie! No biting. You are *not* allowed to bite.
 Pixie: That's what Apple says too.
Me: Oh good.

 

 

You know you are a mother ....

 

"When you have:
1. Burnt around the edge of a tea-stained poster to make it look authentically old;
2. Mediated at least two arguments;
3. Paid bills;
4. Reiterated to a child that she is not allowed to lick people, or snap at people, and that she is not a dog or a llama;
5. Co-ordinated four people going three different directions for a day;
6. Done a load of washing; and
7. Done half an hour study
All before making it to the office at 7:30am! Who said parenting doesn't have transferable skills?"

 

When trouble sleeping is not because of you ...

"Reasons Pixie is having trouble sleeping: her eyes are open.
 Reasons I am having trouble sleeping :Pixie's eyes are open*.
 *This means there is someone poking the site of the flu shot; someone singing Kum-by-ya at me, and somone patting me and complaining that "you are not squishy anymore Mama". "

 

When you have to post facebook statuses like this .....

"Tonight's public service announcements:
If you get a text from my number from "the awesome one" it is most probably not from me.
I apologise for giving the Little One unsupervised access to my phone.
In case you were wondering, you are not allowed to text and fly".

 

 

Phone calls with my children ......
Me: How was you [first] clarinet lesson?
Pixie: Great.
Me: Did you make any noise?
Pixie *excited*: Yes. I sounded like a dying cat. The teacher said "good one, I am going to use that".
...
Me: Have my [car] parts arrived yet?
Tink: No *pause* it's been a while, you might want to follow up on that.
She has no faith in me and Buglet only loves me because I said she could have the last can of tuna

 

Conversations with the Pixie:
*How she resembles a llama.
*That she is planning on naming her daughters after Disney princesses.
*Whether bribing her with cupcakes counts as persuasive writing.
*T-rexes are carnivorous, but A-rexes are herbivores.
*I need to tell her she's not allowed to buy things from hawkers so she is never sucked in.
*Poverty and distribution of wealth

 

*teasing the girls about no-one wanting my surname*.
Tink: All good Mum. I will use your name too. Then I will have one first name, two middle names, and three last names.
Squashed by the Middling One ..... Again!!!!

 

 

And lucky last .....

 

Pixe: "I was born an original. You know like when you print on paper? I am the one with the smudge on it."

 

I love my babies and all their smudges! And I think I am pretty safe to have lots of blogging material for quite a while. Happy Friday everyone xx

 

Pixie's March picture: Hiccup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Top Ten

I have been tagged in one of those facebook things were you are supposed to list 10 books that have influenced me.

It is no secret that I love to read, and I am often asked for book recommendations. I have been meaning to do a post on my most favourite ever books for ages so this facebook "challenge" seems like the perfect time.

These are my fail-safe books. The books I return to time and time again, just because I love them. Please note I use the term "books" broadly; I have cheated a bit to refer to authors and series where I just can't distinguish.

Some of the adult book selection.
Featuring:
Chick lit, Janet Evanovich, Clive Cussler, vampire, horror, and Virginia Andrews

So here goes (in no actual order) ....

Can you keep a secret? - Sophie Kinsella  I love this book. I laughed until I cried the first time I read it. And the second. And actually a few times after that. I only very rarely buy other people books,  it is such a personal thing, but this is one I have bought for multiple people. To quote my sister "I turned into one of those people you see at the airport reading and laughing to themselves". Pure chick lit and it is awesome.

Mists of Avalon - Marian Zimmer Bradley No idea where I got this book from, but it is one of the books I always take me when I go away. Mist of Avalon is an Arthurian story from a female position. I love Arthurian books but this is my favourite. It is part of a series too.

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea  - Jules Verne A childhood favourite. No idea why this particular book appeals to me so much, but it does.

Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll  I love Alice in Wonderland too, but this one is on my top ten. Another childhood favourite.

The Ancient Future - Traci Harding I bought this book with a voucher I won as a prize in Year 12. I read it and re-read it and was beyond excited fourish years later when I discovered it was the first of two trilogies. Be warned! The sequels are different to the original, but very good. The first book is historical fantasy (a genre I love), the second a cross between fantasy and science fiction, and the third is science fiction.

Harry Potter  (Books 1 to 4) - JK Rowling I read these before the movies, and while I enjoyed all the books, the first four are the only ones that make my top list. For me, I think the series lost some of its magic when it became too adult. That said, I have read all the books probably once a year since I first started reading them (or since they were published for the later books). Buglet loves them. (Tink has never had any interest in reading them. Pixie started but I think has only read the first couple.)

Light a Penny Candle - Maeve Binchy I don't know if this is my favourite just because it was my first? I love all her books. Even the short stories and I don't usually like short stories. Mum introduced me to Maeve Binchy books to me in my early teens and they have remained a firm favourite ever since with me and my (adult) sisters.

Marion Keyes Picking favourite book written by Marion Keyes would be like picking a favourite child; it would depend on my mood. And it would be mean.

Abbey Girl (series) EJ Oxenham and The Chalet School (series) Elinor M. Brent-Dyer The beginning of my love for early 20th century girls' school stories. I have collected them since I was 8 (and moved on from Enid Blyton) and they are my fail safe comfort distraction when I am sick and tired and can't think.

The Magic Faraway Tree (series) - Enid Blyton I refused to read anything other than Enid Blyton until I was about 7. This series and all the school series would have to be my favourite, and have been loved by the girls too ....

...... One of my happiest parenting moments ....

*pick Buglet up from school one day in Year 1*

Buglet: Mummy! Daddy! Do you know Moonface, Silky, and the Saucepan Man?
DB: Huh?
Me: Yes, yes I do. And I love them.

Moments like that are priceless. I don't know who was happier, me or Buglet. If this does not make sense to you, read The Magic Faraway Tree!!!

Bonus extras: The Divergent series, the Hunger Games series, Jodi Picoult, Nicola Thorne, Robin Cook, Dan Brown, Diana Gabaldon, Piers Anthony, the Percy Jackson books ..... have I mentioned that we love to read?!

Current I-am-so-happy-that-my-girls-love-to-read moment: Tink informed me that she finished the book that she got out of the library on Monday morning, but she is keeping it until next Monday so that I can read it too.

My childhood favourites (ok, and the girls' books too).
Half-filled from when I was re-doing the girls' playroom.

It's all in the socks

My name is Catherine and my children don't wear matching socks.

There I have said it.

This is mostly because I am too lazy to match their socks. Life is too short. This is my excuse and I am sticking to it. This does not affect my life, but it does surprise me that other people find this so traumatising.

I am not against matching socks. My socks always match. I  don't like wearing mismatching socks, they feel funny. But if the girls can't be bothered wearing matching socks, that is their choice. Unless it is ANZAC Day (or other important Guide occasion), or school photo day then I do insist on them. Ok there may be a few other times, but I can't think of any at the moment.

This has had some side effects:

1. They also don't wear matching ear-rings (this is a plus: lost ear-rings don't matter in our house unless they are mine. I get upset);
2. The Pixie has argued with Guide leaders about whether it meets uniform standards if both socks were white but clearly not matching (it wasn't an important occasion);
3. When I do want them to wear matching socks I pretty much always have to buy more socks; and
4. The Pixie once got a 'Shining Star' certificate because it was the first time the teacher had seen her wearing matching socks (she told me afterwards they weren't actually matching but she didn't want to disappoint him).

An occasion where the girls were all randomly wearing matching socks.
They insisted I took a photo.
 

This post was inspired by an awesome article I read the other day about a Dad's point of view on his son wearing dresses. To me, this is parenting at its finest. He thinks about what he wants to teach his kids, and overcomes his own discomfort about the judgment from people who don't matter anyway. (Some of the comments by readers distressed me from the point of view that we still have so far to go in equal treatment of the sexes, but that is a whole other post).

My girls have dressed themselves, and picked their own clothes, from the time they were tiny. There were rules. It had to be weather appropriate. Some days Mummy got a say so if you wanted that top it meant one of these bottoms and vice versa. Some days what Mummy said wasn't negotiable, but most days they got to pick their own. This meant that when I did want a final say there was very little argument, because it wasn't normally an issue.

Buglet was given two silky nighties for her second birthday. Buglet loved silky things. She was particularly impressed by this present. So impressed that she insisted on wearing one of them pretty much every day over her clothes. Some people were horrified. I still don't get it.

Once Tink decided to dress herself she decided she was going to do it well. Properly meant as many clothes as was deemed appropriate by Tink. She did not consider herself properly dressed unless she was wearing leggings, skirt, t-shirt, dress and a jumper (for example, but always something along those lines). When you are good at something, you should do it to the best of your ability. Tink was about 20 months when she mastered this skill.

A little bit later Tink developed her own theories on what "matched". There was one particular occasion where she was wearing a pink and purple stripy top, black and white stripy leggings, and two different stripy socks. Tink's version was that they clearly went together because they were all stripy.

Tink's school photo from Kindy features her with her hair ribbons undone. I had gone out and bought the girls new ribbons for their school photos. Tink was adamant that they were prettier undone flowing with her pig-tails. That was 9 years ago and I still smile every time I look at that photo. It is a real snap shot of my Tink.

Why does this matter? Honestly, despite what some people think, it doesn't. If it makes you and your family happy, and it isn't hurting anyone, it is the right decision for you. This goes for either point of view.

For me, I think that giving the girls the freedom to express themselves (with some guidance) when they were little, has given them confidence to express themselves now. Even now, I bite my tongue (most times) if they are wearing something that I just don't like. What it has also meant is that if I say they are not to wear something because I think it is inappropriate, they mostly listen. I am a little bit proud of myself for having a 15 year old who accepts my "rules" when it comes to some types of clothing and will get changed if I tell her to. I am more proud of the fact that most of the time they dress appropriately for their age and for the occasion. I am super proud of them for dressing to please themselves and in what makes them comfortable. Confidence in themselves and comfortable with how they look, isn't that what we want for our children?

Disclaimer

1. The big two might actually wear matching socks more often than not now, I haven't noticed for a while.
2. I am actually wearing one pink and one purple bed sock. I bought a set of two pairs, but I can only find one of each colour. I blame the children.

When I count my blessings ....

This has felt like the longest week ever.

Yesterday I had to text Tink's soccer coach and say the reason she wasn't at training was partly because I forgot it was Tuesday. I blame Pixie for telling me it was Wednesday. This excuse is a lot flimsier when you realise I was at work, in front of a computer, with emails telling me what day it was, but I am sticking to it.

But I am in the final countdown of my course (3 weeks and 2 days to go), it is mid-year, and I am just tired. I would like to say that as a long-time uni student I am very much used to 13 teaching weeks at most. This 30 week course business is killing me.

Then today, when it I was just over it all, I was reminded in no uncertain terms how wonderful life is:

1. My sister-in-law made her facebook announcement that my beautiful new niece has been born, so I got to tell the world too (and have a cupcake). I messaged my sisters to brag that I have a new niece, and one sister messages back and ....
2. Tells me I have a new nephew too. She acquired a new (foster) son today! How often do you get to announce you're an auntie again twice over on the same day unless it is twins?!
3. I had two cupcakes. I had already had one in celebration of my new niece, so I had to have one in honour of my new nephew too. You can't play favourites.
4. One of my gorgeous friends checked in to see if the girls were well enough for her to have yet. I don't feel guilty about abandoning my babies on people if they offer. (Tink is still sick so I am keeping her, and Buglet hasn't been 100% and wants to go to the movies with a friend tomorrow. Mother-guilt also removed now I don't need her to babysit the Pixie. I try very hard not to exploit the big two).
5. One of the Pixie's God-fathers (aka the abovementioned friend's husband) picked her up so I got to have a coffee with him. Massive bonus because I haven't seen him in ages ...
6. ... and he fixed some random stuff on my computer which have been bugging me.
7. I have a wonderful work place ...
8. ... some clever person invented template letters which has made my life sooooo much easier today.
9. Another wonderful friend has had two job interviews, which makes me so happy.
10. Chocolate.
11. Text messages.
12. Winter nights that were made for pasta and a red wine and snuggly pyjamas (and my awesome new  pyjamas - I don't care that I have mentioned them before. I love them).



Random picture from the farm, because going to the farm just makes me happy.
I always come home relaxed and refreshed :)

However I would like to point out that it was a bit neglectful of my sister to wait until I tell her I have a new niece before she tells me I had a new nephew ... and then not give me any details for another couple of hours. Sisters!

Counting my blessings today, and some of them I am counting twice xx

We came, we saw, we took photos .....

Sorry, I haven't posted for a few days. However, those of you who read my I-hate-being-at-work-when-my-kids-are-at-home-on-school-holidays-even-though-the-rest-of-the-year-I-love-my-job self-pitying whinge last week will be pleased to know that the reason I haven't posted is because the Pixie and I had a weekend of adventuring while the big girls were on camp (and I did an assignment too, but I am not writing about that because that is nowhere near as much fun as adventuring).

My Pixie loves taking photos at every given opportunity so ... tonight's post is our weekend (mostly) in pictures.

DB dropped her to me at work Friday afternoon, complete with a sushi snack (and one for me). Pixie sulked because she couldn't leave a note for the Minion. She did decide the new assistant in our area would be a worthy substitute. I love that I have colleagues who are pleased to rock up to work to a note saying "thanks for being my new boss minion" rather than being offended!

After she had checked all the stamps, my job was to distract all my colleagues having Friday drinks in the kitchen so the Pixie could sneak in and get a biscuit. This failed for several reasons:

1. The kitchen is tiny and the biscuits were the opposite side to the door.
2. I announced that I was supposed to be distracting everyone.
3. The Pixie is not a sneaky ninja at the best of times.

It did work in her favour though, because she was told off by everyone for only getting one biscuit when she had two hands! Two biscuits is definitely a better deal.

We had cupcakes .... and Sir Hilton of the Paris Yaris was awarded the Order of the Cupcake.

The Pixie taking arty pictures

We went to the movies to see How To Tame a Dragon 2, and I amazed the Pixie by telling her I remembered the first time the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were at the movies.

See! I could be a sneaky ninja turtle, Mummy! Or at least a ninja turtle!

We went home fell asleep watching How to Tame a Dragon. The first one. See I can be rebellious. Watching movies out of order!

Saturday we went on a road trip to Brookton. One of our friends is a farmer out there and she took us adventuring.

I thought we could be archaeologists. The Pixie disagreed

Exploring the ruins of one of the original houses
 

Me: Oooh! We can practice being archaeologists.
Pixie: You don't want to be an archaeologist. You want to be a boring lawyer.
Me: That is a bit ...mean. I had a history degree first. So there.
Pixie: Well it is true. You study for 10 years to sit in a court room and listen to people argue. You must really like arguing. The only reason I like persuasive writing is because I get to argue with the teacher.
Me: I liked arguing a lot more before I had children.

She is also a monkey

Pixie was very excited to see three foxes. She was a bit bemused to find out farmers would not think this was as cool as she did.

If Pixies don't eat sheep, neither should foxes

And we found other wildlife to look at ... famers also don't like caterpillars

Pixie: He shall be named Bobilina
Me: Your child naming privileges have been revoked.

We picnicked, we climbed, we explored and the Pixie slept the whole way home! It was an awesome day. I always come home from the farm feeling happy and recharged.

That night we went to a chocolate a board game night. Pixie refused to be on my team and went on Apple's instead. My team won. There is a lesson in that for all you children reading this.

Sunday we had a Guide leader meeting (and Pixie, but she got to have a super awesome breakfast too) and then we went to one of my best friend's graduation party. She is now a nurse. Pixie went as an army doctor ("Because that is what Leo is in Charmed") and I topped off an awesome weekend by finding pink and purple pyjamas with hedgehogs on them. I went as a patient and I had been looking for ones with a "fixing" type slogan, but I fell in love with these. Sooooo much happy!

If you look carefully you can see where I spilt some of the "stool sample" we took as food (aka chocolate mousse with chopped up lollies in it)

Then I got my big girls home from church camp. Such a lovely weekend, spent with wonderful people who remind me how lucky I am to have them in my life.

Pyjamas, butterflies and taking over the world

I wrote a little while ago about Buglet and Pixie's career plans. This post is the one I meant to write last Wednesday after Tink's parent-teacher interviews, but it is one of the posts that just didn't happen last week.

Last Wednesday reminded me that Tink has always been Tink. She was in her student councillor uniform and could not only tell me every room that I had to go to, but also tell me who each teacher had seen before and after me. Not that I knew the people she was talking about, but that is not really the point. Every single teacher said that she is enthusiastic, talks a lot, and asks lots of questions. As I said, Tink has always been Tink and as I take you through her changing views on careers you will see why.

My earliest recollection was when she was about 2.5, possibly a little bit older, and I made some comment about working. Tink was most adamant that "Mummies don't work. Mummies go to uni and go to meetings". There was nothing I could say that would convince her otherwise. Once I thought about it, in her universe that was what mummies did do. I had been at uni her entire life, and my mum works on the same university campus. When I babysat my little sisters at night, or when my mum babysat my girls it was very often because either Mum or I had a meeting. From Tink's point of view that was just the way it was.

Fast forward a year or two, and we were at one of my best friend's place and Tink was playing "house" with my God-son. Nothing traditional about this game. Tink told him that she was the mum, she was going to a meeting and that he could cook dinner. She handed him the baby, picked up her bag and left. My gorgeous God-son picked up the baby and turned to the stove. There were two very proud mums that day.

Tink then went through a bit of a slump. When she hit the "what are you going to be when you grow up" stage at school, you know where they look at lots of different jobs, Tink came home every day being absolutely adamant that she was going to do nothing.

Me: So you are going to look after the house while Mummy and Daddy are at work?
Tink: No. I am going to do nothing.
Me: You are going to go to uni?
Tink: No. I am going to live at home and do nothing.

I don't believe in pushing children, but I did decide that then was a good time to have a conversation about needing an aim in life. Tink soon decided she was going to be a butterfly. That's an aim, right? Better than doing nothing on my time that is for sure.

Tink has never actually mentioned being a giraffe, but she is very attached to her onsie .....

I should say here, that Tink likes to do things, but she likes to do them her way. Even at 5 the idea of being told she should be thinking about what she wanted to do clearly didn't sit well.

Later she decided she was going to be a hairdresser two days a week and a music teacher three days a week. That was her plan for a long time. Now she is a bit bigger and it is all becoming real she is thinking about teaching. There is also the dream that her soccer talent may lead to something, but we will just have to wait and see.

Me? I think my wonderful middling daughter has amazing leadership skills. Common predictions for my Tink by other people include State Commissioner for Girl Guides, Prime Minister of Australia, and possibly President of the World. I am just sure that her energy and drive will mean she will make a positive difference whichever way her life takes her.

A tale of two "puppies"

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness" .... and it was eventually the right time for us to add a dog to our house family.

The girls (and DB) have wanted a dog for ages. When Buglet was about 8 they had obviously been talking about it because I came home one day to the following proposal: "We need to get a dog, Mummy. You won't need to do a thing. Daddy will walk it,  Tink will feed it, I will pick up it's poo, and  Pixie will love it very much".

In case you couldn't tell, my argument for not getting a dog had been that I didn't need a pet, I had DB and the girls, and I didn't need something else to look after. I let them practice on crazy crabs, and they were the best looked after crazy crabs in the world.

Later, the girls got a rabbit and the friend who  gave them the rabbit got the girls to sign a contract saying they would look after her, which they have done and Misty is a very loved bunny.

DB got a budgie which eventually ended moving in with the girls and me, and we were all devastated when he died.

Then, Flip-Flop came into our lives. A friend of mine put on facebook that she needed to re-home her dog, and I decided it was the right time for us to get a dog. I was a bit nervous about having something else to look after, but it was the best decision I have made for a long time.

Buglet was pretty right with her prediction. The deal with the girls was that if we got a dog, she was going to be their dog and it was their job to look after her, and they do a wonderful job. They feed her and love her and clean up her mess. I walk her (which I knew would happen she is too strong for the girls, but walking her is good for me too), and I feed her when the girls are at their dad's house, and I love her too.

Buglet also got one other thing right. We all love Flip-Flop, but Pixie and Flip-Flop are what we call "puppy-people twins". Since we got her they are inseparable. Tink described it as "it's like they are joined by a lead. Where one goes, the other follows, but I don't know who is holding the lead".




When you leave them alone for five minutes .....

There are some things they don't agree on however .....

• Eating meat: Pixie doesn't think you should eat meat, Flip-Flop disagrees.
• The trampoline: Pixie thinks it is for jumping, Flip-Flip thinks it is for sleeping.
• Shoes: Pixie thinks they are for wearing, Flip-Flop thinks they are for eating (luckily she's mostly grown out of this one).
• Who is the Boss: Pixie thinks she is the boss, Flip-Flop doesn't recognise Pixie as being any more senior in the pack.
• Being a sneaky ninja: Pixie thinks they are sneaky ninjas, Flip-Flop doesn't understand this concept at all (Pixie isn't actually very sneaky either but that is ok).
• Snapping: Flip-Flop doesn't snap, Pixie has started since we've had the dog.
• Licking people: Flip-Flop knows they are puppy kisses, Pixie licks the air at people (this is a good thing!)

Time for me to go! Flip-Flop and I have a Saturday date with the beach!