Out of the Mouths....

Conversation in the car after a long, fun day celebrating Christmas at Grandma's...

A3:(Giggle, snort, chuckle, grin)

Mummy: I love you A3

A3: (Giggle) I love you Mummy

Mummy: Do you love Daddy?

A3: Nooooo...I love MUMMY...Mummy a girl. Daddy not a girl like A3 and mummy. I no love Daddy.

A couple of minutes later...

A3: I love God

Mummy: God made you A3, eh?

A3: NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Mummy: Yes, he did. God made you in Mummy's tummy.

A3: (In a very serious tone) Can I go back in your tummy now?

Mummy: No, you are too big.

A3: Can E1 go back in your tummy?

Mummy: No, you are all too big.

A3: Oh!

Handmade Christmas

Every year I get organised in about August and plan out the Christmas baking and all of the gifts I am going to make. Most years I get to about now and realise that I am going to have to pull some late nights to get it all done.


Last year saw me frantically sewing up a pressie for my niece while J and the kiddoes waited in the idling car.





This year I am again doing the last minute rush...but it is not frantic...yet.





One quirky idea I saw online last week and justHAD to add to my list is this...





If you happen to be one of my siblings don't look further cos it'll spoil the surprise

Apologies to the original designer...for the life of me I can't remember where I saw these little guys. I shamelessly copied the idea, but the packaging and the reduced sticker were my finishing touches. Each pack has four little gingy's who have been mercilessly munched.

I hope they all get to live peacefully on Christmas trees from here on.

As If I Needed More Reasons To Love O5

O5 is almost 6...he can't wait for his birthday...I think he is growing up too fast.

Snippets of O5-almost6...

While putting up the tree at Oma and Opa's...O5 was conversing with Aunty J...

"The best book in the world is the Bible, and the second best is

Little House on the Prairie"

When said tree was decorated O5 exclaimed, "This is just

BEA-U-TIFUL! Mummy and Daddy will have to come and look at it."

When asked which of the themed gardens he liked at the Hamilton Gardens, O5 didn't have to even stop to think about it...

"I loved the English Flower Garden. It is just so beautiful and colourful and it has fountains and it is like a maze."

" Mummy, can I live with you and Daddy forever?"

"Well, you can live with us until you marry a lovely lady."

"Okay, then she can come and live with us too."

O5, you bring a smile to my lips and joy to my heart so often.

I love how you are so earnest and matter of fact.

I love how you truly grasp that the Bible is a unique and precious book.

I love the way you get excited by beauty, how full of wonder you are.

I love that you still want ot live with me forever and ever and that you come and snuggle in my bed...when you can find room between your siblings!

You are such an amazing boy O. I am super proud of you every day.

Love

Mummy

xx

Sinterklaasfeest

We celebrated Sinterklaas today at the beauitful Hamilton Gardens. It was a new expeerience for the kiddoes and I. Oma and Opa came with us, and brought some special goodies...Taai-taai biscuits and Chocolate letters for each of us.

Eat your heart out Santa...this is the real deal.

Warm Fuzzies

Every night J does the bedtime routine from pyjamas to bedtime stories. It is his special time with the kiddoes, one which they miss when he has to work late.

I love it too...it gives me a tingle and a smile when I walk past the door and see them all snuggled up together, or I hear the stories the children love read over and over night after night.

This is what memories are made of.

The Moment I Wake Up

Here's to you...my fourth child... although you are bereft of fancy scrapbooks and a myriad of photos documenting your every smile, grimace or tear, there are times when I just have to grab the camera and capture your wonder.

We all adore you Bubba.

Linking to Laura

Remember my friend Laura? We got together a month or so back and visited the gorgeous Hamilton Gardens. Of course I forgot the camera, but L didn't...check out her blog for wonderful pics of our wonderful day.

Linkitylink here

Trackstars

Wednesday evening, straight after dinner has settled we all pop down the road to the little village of Waharoa for athletics countrystyle. This means bare feet, lots of totally gorgeous little Maori kids toddling along to their scary looking but totally devoted daddies and no starting pistols -this is vitally important when you have kids with auditory sensitivity like two of ours.

O-almost6 gets to try his hand at field activities. The volunteers are relaxed and kind, but endeavour to teach the kids how to perform the event with correct technique and rules. In between races O practices his skipping.

A3 and C3 have mini races of 20-30 metres and lots of time playing with balls and Ring a Rosie with their friend B.



Mummy even runs now and then to encourage A along the way...hmmm...maybe I should run a bit faster to get rid of that muffin roll!

Sugar free

Just popping in to say that I am doing a sugar detox...prompted by the lovely Lou and explained by the hilarious Sarah.

I don't eat a lot of refined sugar anyway...but I am hoping to minimise my monthly mood swings so am experimenting with this til Xmas...where I will eat all of the sweet and tasty Xmas goodies, then feel hideous for the next few days, convinced of the worthiness of being sugar free and starting again.

Puppetry

In an attempt to encourage imaginative play I started collecting the odd finger puppet for the kiddoes about two years back. Well, they languished in the corner of the cupboard until recently when the bag was rediscovered and everyone wanted to play puppets...problem was that everyone also wanted the very cool lion hand puppet that I made when I was ten and lovingly restored for my children a couple of months back.

So it was with great excitement on the kiddoes behalf and great relief on the referee's aka my part when Grandma and Grandad arrived back from their big trip with HAND PUPPETS.

great choice G and G!

Rumble in the Jungle

I just close my eyes and walk away now...and eventually somebody comes crying...but in the meantime great fun is had by all.

(Apologies for the crappy pic quality...I can't be sure...but it was probably me taking them...she who can totally take blurry photos on a fully automatic camera)

Who Will Help Me Grind the Wheat?

"Who will help me grind the wheat?"

"We will!" chorused the curious children, eager to play with mummy's new toy.

"Who will help me bake the bread?"

"We will!" chorused the hungry children who enjoy licking any kind of bowl, full or empty, savoury or sweet...or doughy.

"Who will help me eat the bread?"

"We will!" chorused the circling vultures...ooops I mean delightful children, who had been asking, "Is it ready yet?" the whole 24 hours the flour was soaking.

Our bread was delicious... we had to add in some storebought white flour as I forgot to adjust the recipe due to the ground wheat flour being soaked in water overnight and therefore very moist. It turned out slightly nutty and quite similar to Vogel's bread....mmmm. It sliced easily and toasted well for breakfast the following day also.

Sock it to Me!

A month or so back I had lost the sock love and poor O5 had no socks...so a lovely friend whipped up a pair in his favourite colour and sent them to a very appreciative young boy.

I have found my sock groove again and in the last three weekshave completed three pair for moi for next winter, three pair for E14 months and 1.5 pair for A3...I am officially halfway to completing the whole family's socks for 2008...woot woot...oh the things that get me excited these days.

"So did you have a rockin' weekend Karen?"

"Why yes, I was up to 2am on Friday night/Sat morning."

"Clubbing? Singstar? Nookie with hubby?"

"Actually I just HAD to finish the socks I was knitting...y'know how it is."

Procrastination

I have so many thoughts and ideas floating around in my head at the moment and I am not doing any thing about hardly any of them and it is driving me nutso. Does anyone else have this tendency? I only want to do things I can instantly succeed in...so if I am even the teensiest bit unsure I just put it off.

So I am making an incredibly cheesy public pledge to begin the following...

Start grinding grain with my brand new-bought from the US at great cost-hand-grainmill, which I have had for two months and have inexplicibly not used yet.

Actually make public and start listing creations on my Patootie design blog...and not worry about narcissism, no sales and people thinking my creations are seriously uncool.

Start saving towards our trip to the US in five years time to see the cuzzies rather than not bother because of the whole Peak Oil issue...even if we don't make it there, we will have useful $$$$ in the bank anyway. This is directly related to Patootie Designs.

Take the plunge and get out my togs, goggles and cap and venture down to the local pool. I love swimming but I am procrastinating cos...welll I am 6kg heavier than I was last time I donned the one piece for 40 lengths, and what if the pool etiquette is different in small towns?

Get a haircut, start wearing my sparklies and danglies, refashion some funkier outfits and put on some lippy even when I am at home with the kids (read:every day!) I am getting the hair cut off, short and sassy tomorrow, my MIl bought me some new t's today and I have got lots of sparklies from my lovely friend Jess. Yeeha...I am well on the way to this one already...now to brush off the lippy that has been sitting in the bottom of the make-up bag forlornly for ages.

Visit my local MP and the local council and ask what they are doing to help Matamata become less oil reliant.

I also really want to be more generous and sacrifical with my time and resources to help those in need in our community and the world, but I am still unsure of the way this will work...so this is still in the formulating stage in my mind.


Now that I have put this out there my perfectionist nature will be slightly outweighed by my need to live up to what I say I will do...so even if nobody else reads this I will be aware that somebody might and then I will be bound to fulfill my vows.

Sigh...another time when I wish for an uncomplicated brain.

We Just Click

Yesterday I had the pleasure of a visit from my lovely friend Laura and her scrummy boys. I have known Laura for years and since moving to the Waikato we have reconnected as it is a leisurely 45 minute country drive from my place to hers.

Laura and I just click...we think similarly about many things and are travelling the same path in the areas of parenting...seeking gentleness, food...working towards whole foods and organic produce where our budgets allow, natural medicine...rather than automatically going down the ab path,thrifty fashion, trying not to nag our hubbies too much and growing in our walks with God.

I wish I had a piccie...maybe next time.

Thanks for visiting...we had a ball...and I'll bring L1's seat back when we come to the Tron!

Education Anxiety

Okay...I have been pretty chilled about this whole lifestyle of learning/relaxed homeschooling/delight-led education thing...but now as the ominous exemption looms in my mind I am getting a wee twitch.

I know I can write an eduspeak-schooly exemption with my eyes shut and hands tied behind my back...however I am struggling to get my hed around how to put in words what we do so it actually sounds like, well, education.

Whenever O5 is asked THE question... his reply is

"I go to Homeschool...I just play all day."

Well I'm very glad that learning seems like playing to him...but hmmm.

So in an attempt to make myself feel better here is what learning we have done today, before lunch even...

O changed the date on the brand new magnetic calendar on the fridge and then learnt how to look for the same date on the other calendar - Maths.

O narrated back the penultimate chapter of Charlotte's Web at the breakfast table - Oral languge and Reading Comprehension.

O helped clear the table, cleaned the toilets and made his bed - Perseverance and diligence.

O read Tintin for an hour - Reading -at 3 years abve his chronological age...not that it really matters but it makes me feel better!

When helping bring in the dry washing the rack fell and hit O on the head and he exclaimed "Ow!" followed closely by, "That hurt my head because heavy objects fall faster than light objects." - Physics.

After lunch...
We will continue to work on the Castle we are making together and O will try to make the catapault independently - Technology, History, Physics.

I will read aloud to the children for an hour and O will also read aloud to the little ones - Reading, Oral Language.

We will make dinner together - Food Technology.

I'm sure there will be much more that I haven't thought of/planned yet.

So how do I put all this in a way that the

powers-that-be will "get"???

The Things They Say #2

O5: Mummy, you are getting another baby in your tummy.
Me: Um, no.
O5: Is your tummy just fat Mummy?
Me: Hmmmmmm.

$9 well spent

Yesterday the kiddlies and I ventured slightly North to the neighbouring Waikato town of Morrinsville. They were having a market day/anniversary something or other. Anyway...we bought lollies, sausages, and lots of yummy local preserves and even local venison salami...mmmm.

The highlight however was the HUGE bouncy castle in the middle of the main street. O5, A3 and C3 wanted to have a turn and as it was free (or so I thought), I figured why not? I was fully expecting fussing, tears and less than 10 seconds of either three year old actually bouncing before I had to carry them screaming back to the safety of the stroller.

I was so surprised, proud and yes, almost teary when A3 and C3 whipped off their sandals and clambered up to bounce away with about 20 other, totally unknown children. A3 even talked to a little boy and played Peek-a-boo with him. C3 was the last to get off when the time was up...yes the ticket girl had arrived back from getting change and I just couldn't be dishonest...hence the $9!!!!

My babies are starting to venture out of the nest and I am glad once again that we have allowed them time to find their feet. It is often confusing knowing when to gently push them forward and when to sit back and wait for them to pluck up the courage on their own.

So...$9 well spent in my opinion.

I Knew it was TOO Quiet

Returning from the washing line...eerie silence...O5 running out to me saying "It wasn't me"...

Four days later...I have finally got the carpet clean and the sandpit has been turned to this

Just don't tell the Landlords...ok??

What We Do All Day

Read in order to live

- Gustave Flaubert

My house is a Tip

My kitchen bench

My washing pile

My lounge

So why is there so much disarray?

Rather than tidy the house and do the chores...

the whole family have spent the day outside and now we have this...

What was the kids sandpit by the front door is now an E1 proofed, potted vege garden...7 tomato plants, 6 capsicum, parsley, lettuce - the second planting, beetroot shoots we grew from seed and *might* just survive the transplanting and subsequent re-transplanting by C3 seed, celery and a couple of marigolds for colour.

and this...

While weeding next to the "new" sandpit...aka pile of sand left over from the builders...I found that the mound of overgrown dirt that I had assumed was mostly sand and builders rubble is actually lovely dark, friable soil...so we pulled out most of the green cover, turned in the rest, covered with newspaper, and compost, planted every thing that was left lying around, fenced it in to deter the marauding hordes and their assorted diggers, spades and buckets and voila...

So far there are a few carrots, some potatoes I found growing elsewhere on the property and thought I'd remember them if I put them here...hmmm...will see if they survive and multiply, silverbeet that had been languishing in the punnet for weeks and a couple of extra marigolds.

.

Literary Treasures

Today I spent an hour with half of the town at the annual Matamata Historical Society Book Fair...oh what joy!

Look what I got for $20...

Favourite Finds included...

Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'Wonder Book', 'The Chronicles of Robin Hood' by Rosemary Sutcliffe with lovely colour plates, and a lovely treasury of story excerpts with biographical info on the authors collated by Margery Fisher

My most charming find was "The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady". What a wonderful example of a nature journal for my children and myself.

Time for another new bookshelf...c'mon we only have four so far.

Bubba Love

My bubba is very fast turning into a terrible or terrific depending on the circumstance toddler. He is soooo close to walking, is finally pushing through some teeth...4 at once...and is talking non-stop. He can say "uh-oh", "yeth", "Mama" and "wha?" (What's that? with finger point). Even when you have other children it is always a delight when new stages are reached.

The other kids just LURVE him soo much, especially A3 who likes to mother him...wash his face, get him his bottle, go and talk to him when he wakes up from a nap and help him get into mischief.

We love you E-man...you are the perfect way to complete the family.

Blogarama Begins

I have soooooo many photos to share that it must be time for a blogarama...so grab a cuppa and settle in...or run...get out while you can!!!!!

To start the ball rolling...



J's new work place is super cool for the kiddoes and I to visit and hang out...Check it out.

O5 on the indoor rockwall

C3, A3 and O5 in the front of the ute ready for a drive over hill and dale

Trampolines...one for each of them scattered around the camp

And of course...a playground...what more could ya want?