Spring has sprung!

And so have I. Been sprung I mean. I am not particularly springy at the moment.

That first sentence was as far as I got in writing during the week, despite my best intentions!

It is now Sunday evening and I am in my pyjamas writing after spending the day in bed having a sick day. Stupid man flu. Although, being sick, is one of the few times it is nice to not have the girls home.

Buglet is here, but she is in her own room being anti-social. We bonded yesterday watching the AFL Grand Final. (Buglet takes this very seriously. There was a lot of shouting. I live tweeted during the game so I didn't annoy her too much, just in case you want to check it out!). Her interaction today has consisted of getting up to get food, and popping in to see me, feed me and call me lazy. I am not lazy, well not today anyway, I am legitimately sick, MAN FLU. I did actually go to the gym and to the shops first thing this morning, but as that was before she got out of bed for the first time that doesn't count, apparently.

Anyway, when I first started writing the post, I actually meant that I had been sprung not having blogged for two months. (Waves to the lovely reader who asked when I was going to write next, you know who you are.)  I am not actually sure how that happened. I have half drafted Bali posts. Because they are all linked, they have taken longer to write than I intended. Then there have been the technical issues (broken phone, photos on my temp phone, not being able to work out how to get my Instagram photos on the blog).

The last two months have been filled with the normal kind of busy.

I have been playing around with a few writing projects, and Instagram and Twitter. Facebook updates have been fairly consistent.

Work has taken up an awful lot of time. It has slowed down to normal levels now. Catching up after taking annual leave was a pain in the butt. I was so excited to book leave in a five week month, that worked around the girls and school, I totally forgot July is one of my busiest times. I have only been at the organisation for 11 years.

Buglet had her year 11 Dinner Dance.

My baby is all grown up, and she is beautiful.

I had the Best Day Ever. I will blog about that later. It totally deserves it own post.

Just a tiny part of the Best Day Ever

We caught up with friends.

I actually cleaned my room (annual September long weekend event).

You know, all that sort of stuff.

Did you pick up on the fact that Buglet is the only one home?

Tink and the Pixie have just spent a week at a Guide Jamboree, and are now spending a few days with my cousins in Queensland (I know! I am v jealous). I heard from them briefly yesterday.



Sending my babies off into the big wide world without me.

Tink had an amazing time and has no voice.

The Pixie lost a tooth, fell off a mountain bike, got bruised, and allegedly got cuts (but she didn't notice them). Also the sun comes up at a different time in Queensland, and they don't know what "hair lackeys" are.

My cousin has been sending pictures and they look like they are having a great time. Three sleeps until I get them back!

Buglet abandoned me for a week too. DB took her away for a week, camping and then to spend some time with Nanna and Granddad.

DB specifically sent this picture for me to share with BlogLand.

The furbabies and I had a quiet time. the Cattern had her shots, and is now safely microchipped and desexed. ("Gherkin" just isn't working for me. She may just stay as "the Catttern" on here. Don't tell the girls). She was very sad and cuddly for a few days, but is back to her normal ninja kitten self now.

So, so sad.
Buglet wants to keep the cone to threaten her with when she is annoying.

So.

That is it.

The last two months in a nutshell! Stay tuned for the long awaited Bali post, and a few other bits and pieces, but basically .... we are back!

Happy Spring!

Disclaimer:

• It is doubtful I am qualified to give parenting advice, there is still time for me to stuff up.
• I am totally technologically challenged.
• My favourite season is actually Autumn.
• I am not even allowed to give legal advice without supervision.

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

Behind the glitz and glamour

So last weekend was a bit of a mix and match weekend.

Thursday night I took the girls to see Midsummer Night's Dream.  It was performed at a high school and it was brilliant! I thoroughly enjoyed it. They used a hexagonal stage so they were performing to five different angles which gave an extra depth from an audience point of view as well as making the performance very intimate, but I imagine made it a little harder from an actor's point of view.

I love cupcakes!

Plus they were serving high tea style food. I had a cupcake. I do love cupcakes.

Then Pixie was sick Friday. Pixie only gets sick once or twice a year, but when she does she is grumpy, tantrumy, miserable and needs lots of cuddles. I managed to work from home for half a day, but I admit the extra sleeping time for me because "I need you to cuddle me and I will cuddle my puppy" was a lovely bonus. You have to find a silver lining even to sickaling babies.

Friday night and Saturday I took Tink camping. I was helping to QM (cook) at a Guide leader training camp. (Apple very nicely kept the other two, even the sickaling one).

I love camping. The stillness, the time-out, the running away from technology, the campfire - it all soothes my soul.

Sitting around a campfire is one of my favourite places to be.

Luckily there was some soul soothing.

Sunday was a showcase performance for dancing. In case you are wondering, our dance school used the term 'showcase' rather than concert because it was a short concert, no costumes, and was a chance for the dancers to show friends and family what they have learnt in term one this year.

(The "no costume" bit was the important part of that last sentence that I would like you to remember for later).

Dance hair. Note the different colours? Much easier to tell them apart now.

I was helping back stage. By "helping" I mean I was in charge of lining everyone up to get on stage, checking shoes, attempting to keep them quiet, bossing around the lovely adult dancers who were helping me and the other mum helper, and dealing with random small children who may or may not know their own name.

No costumes meant less adults needed backstage just in case you were wondering where everyone else was; it was great that most of the parents were able to watch this concert.

In case anyone else finds themselves in this position, I thought I would give you some helpful tips:

1. Take an emergency kit (ie bandaids, needle and thread, bobby pins, hair ties).
2. Learn to sew so you can use the needle and thread for emergency costume repairs (or find out who backstage can sew).
3. Take needle and thread out of your bag after the concert (otherwise you may prick yourself and bleed everywhere at an inopportune moment).
4. Hair ties are amazingly useful for shortening leotard straps to avoid "flashing".
5. Small children may not know their own name.
6. Small children may not know what class they are in or who they are in that class with.
7. It is highly likely most of the small children will not know the name of the song.
8. After making realisations 5 to 6 you will be cursing the lack of costumes. When they are dressed the same they are easy to match (like dominos).
9. It is helpful to have street cred when working with small children ("Guess what?! I am Miss Buglet's mummy" works wonders for me).
10. Find the one small child who actually will talk to you and knows people's names to be your sidekick. Chances are they will be right.
11. It is possible to organise large numbers of children while carrying a crying toddler on your hip. 
12. Be confident when you give directions. Children smell fear and indecision.
13. Know your dance teacher so you know what goes. I know I can tell kids "I promise your hair/shoes/costume/makeup will be ok, the main thing is to smile and have fun", because I know that is the ethos of the school.
14. Take a pen. Make notes.
15. Double check the list before so you know what is going on.
16. Check to see how sound proof the room is. This time I hadn't realised how little soundproofing was between the room we were in and the audience.
17. Clapping a rhythm is a good way to silence the room (if you haven't seen this done, basically you clap a rhythm and they clap it back. Lots of teachers use it, we don't use it a Guides because we have a not-so-secret be quiet signal).
18. Glitter is awesome, but check your commitments for the next week before applying liberally. 
19. Enjoy the moment to be part of the team. These sort of events don't happen without all the cast and crew. 

Job done for another few months! Now back to cruisey dance nights of knitting, reading and writing.

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 dance advice, or theatre advice of any type.
• I am not qualified to give professional 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.

Turtle Power!

"I remember when these were trendy the first time around". I may be in the minority, but I feel a bit smug saying this to my children. I love it when they love something that I love(d).

When my girls were little and very into Care Bears, they were most impressed that I had carefully preserved half-coloured in colouring in book from when I was about 10 (yes, I also realise that I am a total pack-rat. I am getting better - promise!). My love of the Care Bears may have also been the reason why they each got a Care Bear that Christmas, and why we still have them. (Ok. I do realise I still have to work on the pack rack tendencies).

A few years later, I was horrified because the girls didn't know what Smurfs were. A quick trip to the DVD shop and I rectified that gap in their pop-cultural knowledge. Sadly, they were not impressed by the cartoons. Fast forward a few years and, much to my annoyance, they were begging to take DVDs out again after the new Smurf movies were released. Pixie may have informed me that it was different now they were cool again.

Humph. Children. Who would have them?

I was re-telling this story and some genius decided to say my time would have been better off introducing them to Shakespeare. I did point out that I had that covered already, and that I was aiming for well-rounded children, and that sharing my 80's childhood was important. Perhaps not my finest moment, but true!

I also gave the girls my precious Princess Ringlet (who had a rainbow mane and a "growing" tail), when they loved My Little Pony and were old enough to not wash her or cut her hair or leave her outside.

My most recent conversion has been the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT for those of you old enough to remember).

I took Tink and the Pixie to see them at the drive-ins. Buglet didn't wan to go. This was a great plan that did not pan out. The drive-ins reached maximum capacity and closed the gate two cars before us. The girls were so good about it and didn't complain at all (plus I really wanted to see it) so we raced home (not exceeding the speed limit, obviously) and picked up Buglet (who decided she wanted to come after all), and Z (who Buglet had ended up babysitting) and made it to the real cinema to see it.

Spoiler alert: If you don't want to hear about the movie do not read the next paragraph
It was a great movie. They kept all the essential bits of the old version, and it felt "right". For the purists, the only thing I would complain about was that in this movie Splinter started off as a rat not a human. This bugged me for some reason. I loved how the fight scenes were realistic in that the turtles didn't always win against immeasurable odds. I note that someone who refers to fight scenes with Mutant Turtles as being realistic should not be taken too seriously. Would definitely recommend it to fans.

The girls loved it. Buglet (after being the one who didn't want to come) has ended up a massive fan.

At Guides last night we made these the best Christmas decorations.

My lovely co-leaders didn't tell me, because they thought that I would be the most excited person there. I was. Buglet may have been a close second though, and gave all sorts of instructions how the Pixie and were not to stuff our ones up. I was so excited that I needed to go and have a lie down to recover after making them (I am also suffering from Man Flu). So much happiness!! So very much happiness!!

Moral of the story for the children out there: When your mother tells you something from her childhood is awesome, believe her, she might just be right.

Moral for parents out there: Share those moments with your children. They might like them, or they may just humour you, and if nothing else you may have fun remembering.

Disclaimer:

• I am not qualified to give craft advice.
• I am not qualified to give advice on what is cool. Ask my friends. Ask my children.
• 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.

The Magnificent Seven

My name is Catherine, and it has been 7 days since my last blog post.

Last weekend I was busy enjoying the fabulousness of life. This week I have just been busy.

As it has been seven days of not blogging, I thought I would share seven lovely things from the last week.

Lovely thing 1

My baby sister turned 21! And even though I say my baby sister she is the third youngest. All three of the little ones are referred to as my "baby sisters" to distinguish them from my "adult" sisters, plus I am their big sister so I can call them that if I want to.

... 21 ...

21. It still doesn't seem possible that the baby I carried around, and played with like a living doll, and taught her colours using M&Ms, and the little girl who took her baby nieces to school for news, is a a total grown up.

My next youngest sister turns 18 in December. This is even freakier because the next 18th in the family will be Buglet (she is older than my youngest sister by 10 months).

But back to Miss 21. She is kind. She is fun. She is beautiful. She has grown up to be a thoroughly gorgeous woman and I am so very proud of her.

To me she is also my measure of pure happiness. When I think about how happy something makes me, I compare it to the look on her face when I used to hold her upside down as a toddler. It was pure joy. I am smiling just thinking about it. If you ever find anything in life that makes you this happy, hang on to it! Interesting she's grown up to be a gymnast, and a teaches little kids. Happiness should last a life time, and I think this is where it all started ....

Cos this is how all the cool kids hang out :)

Her party was fun. She very cleverly had the family from 5pm - 8pm, and then her friends from 7pm. Just enough overlap to share cake. She is smart too. She gets that from me. Pixie thought this was sensible too. She was worried our family was a bit intimidating to others. We do sort of have the force of a small(ish) tornado when we are all together.

Lovely thing 2
I love catching up with people. I also love breakfast. Going out for breakfast is one of my most favourite things to do. When you get to combine the two and it is with super awesome friends who you haven't seen in forever it is even better. Plus I came home with beautiful artwork.

Collective artistic effort

Parenting tip: While you don't need to keep every picture they give you, value every picture they draw you, they stop drawing them way too quickly.

Lovely thing 3
The Princess Bride if you have not seen this movie you are either a totally different generation to me, or you as oblivious as my sister. She insisted she had never seen it. I know she had seen it. She is only 3 years younger than me and I know we used to watch it. Before you are too concerned about this obvious amnesia, I bought her the dvd and gave it to my niece and nephew last Easter. Tink has informed me it is one of my nephew's favourite movies now. Go Auntie Cath! Who said I wasn't useful?

I randomly bought a copy for us on a late night emergency trip to the IGA. It was a perfect way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon.

As a side note, this is one of the few books I have found where the movie is better than the book. I do own the book though! I was given it as a 30th birthday present!

Lovely thing 4
I had a dentist appointment on Monday, (this is not the lovely thing), so I was home mid-afternoon and managed to get some gardening done. I am plodding along slowly, and I am totally talking myself up about every single little thing in the hope that I actually keep myself motivated.

Unfortunately it lead to this:

Me: I am really sorry I was late. I was gardening and I thought it would be dark by six. The sun isn't going down as early as it used to.
Pixie: I think we should name the sun. He shall be called David. Then Buglet can tell [the dance teacher] that she is late because David wouldn't go down.
Me (praying I didn't hear giggles from the backseat): Don't ever say that again!
Pixie: Why?
Me: Just don't, ok? It is not good for my emotional health and well-being.

When I told the dance teacher later there was so much laughing (waves at her!).

It was worth being late to pick up the girl, and the few hours work that evening to know that I had actually got something done in the afternoon. I had scheduled in a gardening afternoon on Sunday but storms changed that plan. The girls were not disappointed.

This weekend .... I mulch!

Lovely thing 5
End of term at Guides. We had a party with party games. These included Pass the Parcel with challenges in each layer; one of which was to list three things you have learnt at Guides this term. Massive fuzzy feeling that they have actually learnt something.

We also had "egg" on spoon relays. I was on Pixie's team. She named our egg aka a malteaser "Stanley". She is not normal. It was very funny watching her freak out every time she dropped him though. At one point he was officially declared dead which considering how often he was dropped was probably a fair assessment.

I also got a message from one of our Guide parents saying thank you for what we have done for the girls this term. It made a massive difference to how I felt.

Warm fuzzies all around, and go Team Guide Leaders!

Awesome people tip: Saying thank you and acknowledging the work people do really does make them feel good.

Lovely thing 6
I have been going on a bit of a re-reading binge. For those of you read my post on my favourite books you would have noted that I struggled to find favourites. This week I have re-read Jodi Picoult's Plain Truth (a story about an Amish girl accused of infanticide), and The Storyteller (a story about forgiveness, the Holocaust, and perceptions on oneself with some interesting Polish folklore for an added bonus). I think these two are my favourite Jodie Picoult books along with Nineteen Minutes. If you ask me again in a few months this may have changed, so I am not being held to this.

Lovely thing 7
I have a new nephew!! I saved the best for last! I haven't seen him in person yet, but he is gorgeous and we are very much looking forward to meeting him.

My brother-in-law is Danish so we won't find out his name until this christening. Pixie is absolutely adamant that he is going to be called "Simon, because it is a good Danish name." This Little One's mind works in mysterious ways. My official guess is Kayden. No reason except I am expecting something a little less common. If either of us are right I will be buying a lotto ticket!

For those of you keeping count ... yes this is four new nieflings in four months, the loveliest of lovely things.

So they were the lovely bits of my week. There have been some not-so-lovely bits with all three girls being sick with man-flu (definitely man-flu based on the bickering, and the whinging. Is it really bad that it is making me a lot less sad that they are going away with DB this weekend?), and Flip-Flop who has decided sleeping is not on the agenda this week, and a super busy ... but overall it is has been a pretty lovely week!

There will be no blog posts this weekend. This weekend is dedicated to domestic goddessing. If I blog, this means I am distracting myself and this is not allowed. There will be a brag post early next week, with pictures. You all have to be impressed.

Happy Friday everyone 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!

Hot 'n' cold

"Mama, mama, I went to town, inside, outside upside down!". Does anyone else remember this line from the Berenstain Bears' book Inside, Outside, Upside Down? I adore that line! It always pops into my head in the middle of the chaos when I am balancing a million emotions all at once.

Pixie is very into singing at the moment. Yesterday she declared the theme song was in Hot 'n' Cold in honour of Buglet. She is such a caring sister sometimes.

I had a horrible scare with Buglet. She came in before I was even out of bed crying and telling me her legs weren't working and she was burning up on the inside.

I panicked.

My first instinct was to throw her in the car (possibly even literally even though she is almost my size), and take her to the hospital.

Buglet said no.

Alternative panic plan I called my mum. Lesson here is it doesn't matter how old your children are, or how old their children are, you are still their mother. I really need to remember this!

Mum very sensibly told me to call Health Direct, who were lovely as usual. After a trip to the doctor, I am happy to let you know she is ok.

I stayed home with her yesterday. I was supposed to be keeping an eye on Buglet, but instead I slept on the couch, admittedly with her, for three hours. She may not have been the only one who was sick. While I was sleeping Buglet amused herself at one point by taking pictures of me when I was asleep. I have taught them well! Very politely she asked me prior to putting them on facebook. I told you I have taught them well.

The bonus to being at home was that I was here to get the letter saying that Pixie has been accepted into the academic extension program at the big girls' high school.

If you missed the post about Pixie's application click here. You will see why I was a bit worried.

Pixie wasn't worried. She has kept asking about when the letter telling her she was going to high school would arrived.

I have also been a bit concerned about how high school will cope with Pixie. When I asked her what they were going to do with her, she very calmly told me that "They will put me in a room by myself and lock the door". Um ... I suppose that would be one method!

It has been stressing me out a bit because we don't live in that high school zone anymore, and I didn't really have a Plan B yet. Yes I do realise I keep saying there is always a Plan B ... and I know there would have been, but I hadn't worked it out yet.

Pixie's only concern has been that I expect her to be like Tink.

"It's not fair Mama. Everyone will expect me to be like Tink. I am only going to do the academic program. And music. I am not going to do soccer and be on the student council as well. I am lazy and that is too much for Pixies".

There is only one Pixie and there is only one Tink, and thank goodness for both these things!

But they are all wonderful. My random happy moment was Tink and Pixie both being super excited and insisting on taking pictures when we saw a double rainbow on the way home from school.

Have I mentioned recently that I love rainbows?

And to round out tonight's post nicely and evenly. A Buglet quote on Pixie's singing.

"I keep thinking that Pixie will just one day start singing like Daddy. But I think she has your voice Mum, and that is a shame".

Harsh, but true.

But long may all my babies continue to sing like no-one is listening, and long may it keep us all happy when everything else is inside and outside, hot and cold, and up and down.

There is always a Plan B

Pixie on planning: "You need to talk to B's mum about organising a meeting so we can plan stuff. We are too old for play dates now."

Personally I would have thought there was a middle ground between play dates and meetings, but apparently not. One of the problems with being the Guide Leader and the mother is that not only I am there on the spot to ask, I also have a doubly vested interest in the issue.

The way our Guide unit tends to run is that the girls as a unit pick a theme and a rough plan and the girls form small groups to plan the actual night. My official line on this is that it is teaching them leadership skills and very valuable planning skills. This is actually true. The unofficial line is also that I am lazy and this makes my life a lot easier. This is also true. Really it is a win-win situation.

The above quote was followed by "Oh, and you better make it a sleepover, because our night is 'Gryffindor' and 'Harry Potter' and we need to watch the movies".

Hmmm .... as I realise that the alphabet theme we are doing this term means that I need to fit this in within the next fortnight.

I have a sore throat, and a stuffed up head, and I very whingey. Considering I have still managed to do everything I meant to do today, I am diagnosing man-flu.

Other then being whingey, I am a little disappointed because we were supposed to have friends around for dinner, baby cuddles (me cuddling their baby, not them cuddling mine), and Star Wars movies (this is important for the girls' cultural education). Clearly man-flu is dangerous and not safe for babies! Also, it is not a good idea for busy mothers of little babies, and most definitely not safe for fathers as we know how lethal man-flu can be for men *waves at aforementioned friends and sends lots of virtual germ-free cuddles which will have to suffice for now*.

This does however mean Pixie and B are having their sleepover and watching Harry Potter movies. Important life lesson! There is always a Plan B (and the alphabet has another 24 letters, see how this ties into the term's theme?). Hopefully they put this into their planning.

I am supposed to be doing an assignment that I didn't finish during the week, because of the stupid man-flu, but DB told me today in no uncertain terms that now I have a blog and I've told everyone about it I need to write every day, so to any or all of my 70+ facebook followers who have read to the end of this waffle I am waving enthusiastically at you and I am so excited you are following me. I am also excited I now have a brilliant excuse to procrastinate while I am sitting down. Much better than housework. I am sorry today's post isn't more about the girls, but they've been at dancing today so I have barely seen them**. I will spend more quality mothering time with them tomorrow.

Oh, and I would update you on how the meeting is going but the Pixie has banned me; she wouldn't let me pull Guide Leader rank either, apparently that doesn't count at home.

**The Buglet is shattered from a day of dancing and is being a teenager and pointed out I was supposed to be studying. Tink is at the football.