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?

The Things They Say

Quick story cos I am being good mummy today and NOT spending ALL DAY on the pooter...

A few days back we were driving along one of our lovely country roads...in fact the very road where J's work is...and lo and behold there were lots of cows munching away on the grass verge. The farmer had put an elecrified wire to stop them running amok and causing car accidents...but I don't trust that little skinny wire...any self-respecting cow who wanted to get past that would have no trouble...anyway I digress...

So doing the mummy talky thing I said "Hey guys, look at all the moo cows"...and my very articulate C3 replies with...

"Oh, yes mummy, there are a lot of cows. They are in the meadow".

Sneaky Veges

We have instigated a new dinner plan in the household. We are starting each meal with a raw salad. We pop the bowl in the middle of the table and everybody is allowed to serve themselves. My reason is twofold ...I LOVE salad and everyone else does not eat enough veges.

O5 usually complains..."Not MORE Salad...sigh"...but then proceeds to grab great hunks of lettuce/beetroot/carrot /whatever else is on offer and munces through the lot.

A3 has progressed from a single baby lettuce leaf to about 10 assorted salad greens, plus tomato.

C3 LOVES Salad and will happily munch away on anything and everything from Feta Cheese,olives, capsicum, to any kind of greens...including celery and then completes his feast by drinking the remaining dressing from the bottom of his bowl.

E1 screws up his face, chews for a while and then we usually find goopy salad hidden in his highchair later...by the time he is three he will be eating a plateful also.

I have found since we began this that the rest of my mains are now about 1/3 smaller and I *think* I may have lost some weight. Bonus all round.

J is graciously eating Salad but I know he really is hanging out for a big juicy steak...roll on summer BBQ weather and he can have both!

The kids are also getting sneaky veges in our fabbo homemade, wholemeal pizza.

This one was Mediterranean...had spinach, feta, olives, red onions, mushrooms, fresh basil and parsley and so forth on it. (Basically leftovers from the salad the previous evening)...MMMMM....

Dress Up

A few months back Jess and I went to a fabric sale at a groovy boutique in Grey Lynn called MOA...I finally broke into the stash of goodies I got and made A3 these two cute summer dresses.




I was hoping to get some pics of A3 in at least one...but she was not obliging... so here they are.

Note... lined bodice...and zips! Yes, it is true...I dug back into the recesses of my mind and pulled out fourth form sewing and voila I remembered how to put in zips.

Total cost per dress...80cm of fabric $2, zip from the Sallies 20c...way better than a bought one I reckon.

Curious George Monkey ooh, ooh!

Here are some more pics of A3 and C3's Curious George Party as promised.

They LOVE the movie and either will often will say "I'm Curious George Monkey ooh, oooh". (How DOES one notate a monkey sound????)

The other cake...Yes we have no bananas

Mayhem...but the carpet survived...phew!

Picasso monkey cookies

A3's fav pressie...Doll house

C3's fav pressie toolbox and tools

3 Year old parties are the greatest cos the kids are sooooo excited, everything is new and fun and they get the whole cake/present/party games... Yes I DID do the PC Pass the Parcel...it hurt to do it...but I caved to societal norms. I DIDN'T do loot bags...just a treasure hunt which amounted to the same thing but the kids actually had to work for the little goodies.

And the Choccie Fishies go to...

Kate...for guessing Bad Jelly....."I'm the strongest worm in all the world because...da-dada-da-dad-dahhh! becasue I eat mud!"

Sharon..for correctly guessing the cake was a Yellow Hat...I shoulda know a hardcore CG fan like Sha would get that one!

Mmmmmm...Cake

A and C had a rockin' three year old party...can you guess the theme?

I'll give you more pics tomorrow.

On the Beach

We are trying to have family time on Daddy's days off...since they are less frequent now. A couple of weeks back Spring seemed to be kicking in...kinda like this

"Come on, wake up everybody, I am going to be very good and shine all day and I won't hide behind any clouds" (choccy Fish for getting that quote...which is most likely paraphrased by moi)

So off we dashed (after an hour of organising and grabbing all manner of things for every contingency) over the Kaimais to the Mount

The sun was still shining but there was a rather brisk Easterly, so we donned jackets and marched intrepidly onto the sand to have our lunch.

Hmmmm....Wind, Seagulls, Sand...not exactly Miss A3's favourite.

The boys however took the oppportunity to chase said Seagulls, eat sand and generally break free.

The wind eventually got the best of them too...so we went across the road to the playground...always a safe bet with four young'uns.

Roll on Summer when we can spend lots of hours at the beach, sans jackets and shoes and with generous dollops of sunscreen.

Arghhh...I give up

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I have been trying for days to get my images to upload from Photobucket...see the problem???

Can anyone point me to a better imagehost?

Are they Identical?

My supercute C-almost 3 and beautiful A-ditto

I have a whole heap of photos to share...but Photobucket is evil!!!!! Will keep trying so come back tomorrow for more.

Never on a Sunday

Today is Father's Day...but J had to work. His new job entails at least 50% of the weekends. We are slowly getting used to it...anyway I digress.

The kiddoes and I *were* going to go to church...really we were...but as it happened three loads of washing and a threatening sky put paid to that idea.

We rang Grandad and Opa...even A and C managed a very tentative little conversation...the first time for either of them, my babies are growing up.

Everyone seems to be finally on the mend so I decided today all hands would be back on deck to get the necessities sorted in the morning.

However,by the time we got to hanging out the washing and E was taking things off as soon as the rest of us could hang them, A was determinedly hanging things in her own unique, artistic way, C had skived of to the bedroom to play with the cars and O...actually he was working hard Bless him...I just wanted the job done so I made the decision to bring the late afternoon video session forward just a wee smidgeon...like 6 hours.

I have this constant tension in my head between wanting to get the work done MY WAY and in some semblance of efficiency and wanting the children to develop a work ethic and the skills to be useful and appreciated teenagers-spouses-parents. Today we achieved a bit of both and then when the work was done the sun had come out so we went for a walk.

O pushed E in his very own new stroller...just for him (thanks Oma and Opa) and I pushed the terrific twosome. We walked for about 6 km, stopped at a playground, grabbed some chippies and scrambled under an obliging tree to wait out a passing shower on the way home. O only complained after almost 1 and a half hours of walking which I was impressed with, A and C threw nary a tantrum between them and E was super cute pointing at all manner of things and excitedly exclaiming, "Duh, duh, duh."

To top off a day in which not one of the rascals was sick, screaming or stubborn, J finished work early and was home at three...yaaay!

We will do Father's Day in earnest tomorrow...but today for me was a rare balance of work and play...we enjoyed each other and we enjoyed exploring more of our little town...

And O is thankful we live on a plain!