Friday, February 29, 2008

10 Things to be Thankful for

Feeling inspired by http://www.fearfulpenguin.com/ and the wonderful http://soulemama.typepad.com/soulemama/2008/02/february-joy-1.html , here is my 10.

1. My boy has gone 2 months with no medication and no seizures.

2. Tomorrow is the beginning of Autumn, which means Winter will be here soon.

3. My sweet peas have germinated.

4. My baby girl can now write her name and sign it off with a flower at the end.

5. Good books.

6. Overhearing two of my girl guides talking about me, with one of them commenting I was a pretty cool leader.

7. Finding a resolution of sorts for my sons scout group predicament.

8. A trouble free pregnancy (so far).

9. Hearing my baby girl say 'Night night, love you mama'

10. Beautiful friends.

#10

I've alawys made my intentions very clear in that should I pass on, if it's possible I want my organs donated. It's something I feel very strongly about.

So my random act of kindness this week is to formally register on the organ donation register :)

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Burdastyle


I usually make things from patterns, although I seem to sew better when I just wing it (I need a picture to go by still). So I'm going to attempt to make this


It's from the wonderful http://www.burdastyle.com/ An opensource pattern site. And best of all it's free.

However I haven't made anything from this site, and you have to download the pattern and enlarge it yourself.

I really need some comfty maternity clothes. :)

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

My chidren are just on a different wavelength



I found this spider and a bloody great big beetle by the laundry door when the kids were at school yesterday. All excited I dug out soe books on insects and spiders, assembled the textas and paper on the table and waited for school to finish. My kids were going to have their first introduction to animal classification. We were going to eagerly id the bug and the spider. Find out what Genus and Species they blong to, hell we were even going to learn a bit about latin. Then after that we were going to draw wonderful drawings of insects and the families they belong to.

But alas, it wasn't to be. My children are so not on my planet, my wavelength.

Imagine this:

Mama: Quick come here. I have something to show you.

(all interested, big to follow mama into the laundry, Mama points to the bloody great big beetle)

Mama: Look!

Miss 4: Arrrggghhh (screams and runs off)

Mr 6: It's a beetle

Mama: Isn't it cool?

Mr 6: Is that it?

Mama: Errrr yeah. (all deflated, not quite the reactions I was hoping for)

Mr 6 : Oh. I though you were going to show us a suprise, like a toy or something.

And that was the end of our fantastic, child centred science lesson. :)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Oh dear....

My son's scout leader is moving. And there is no other leader to take her place. The cub group is full , and besides, my boy isn't quite old enough. The nearest joey group is in the next suburb, which in itself is not a big problem, but they meet on the night I have guides.
So I told my son that he may not be able to do scouts for the rest of the year, and that he can rejoin next year. Instead of arguing his disappointment, he burst into tears, saying he loves scouts and why can't he just join cubs.

This was all before school started today.

So I calm him down, we walk to class, and I then have to explain to his teacher why he is upset and teary. Which in turn, made me burst into tears, (me blaming pregnancy and hormones).

Oh dear indeed.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Thoughts about School

My son has speech and hearing difficuties, so I wasn't about to experience him saying the quirky and funny things that children say in the daily observaions of life.

But my daughter sure makes up for her brothers quietness. This past fortnight has been tremendous for her, full-time school, new friends, new teachers and a new school. Her attitude towards school (and daycare) has always been negative, but slowly she is coming around (I hope). The following are some her funny realisations on school.

Scene: 8.20 am walking to school.

Little Miss 4: I have to go to school everyday!!! (in a disgusted tone).

Mama: Yes.

LM4: I don't think I can handle this.


Scene: Home, sitting on the lounge.

LM4: So, when will this end?

Mama: What baby girl?

LM4: School. When will it end?

Mama: Huh? What, you mean when are school holidays?

LM4: Noooo (exsparated tone). The whole lot.

Mama: Errrr, you've got another 13 years of school at least.

LM4: Arrghhh.



She makes me smile.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

#82







Part One of this challenge.






This is the easy part. Work out how much they cost (approximately). The hard part is putting the money aside. :)


Ok here goes.


D

Scouts: $40 per term = $160, $3 per week = $90 other activities= $25, uniform $30 per year
B'day Party= $150
School: Fee's $100, Supplies $70, Uniform $70, Shoes $100, Swimming lessons $30, School Photo's $30
D's Total: $785 divided by 52 weeks = $16 per week
L
Guides: $3 per week = $90, uniform $30, rego $100, other activities $30
B'day Party= $150
Dancing= $8.50 p/w = $325, Uniform $100, Dance costume $70, Concert $50
School= Fee's $60, Supplies $70, Uniform $70, Shoes $100, Swimming Lessons $30, School Photo's $30
L's Total: $1300 = $25 per week
Z
Play group : Free
Storytime: Free
Party: $150
As Z only cost me less than $3 per week, I'll aim to put aside $10 in anticipation of her costing me a fortune (like her sister) later on in her life.
Phew! Kids cost a lot.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

#22 The blog

Started list item #22.

The List

101 Things in 1001 days Project

The Mission:Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.The Criteria:Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

Start date 11th Feb 2008
Finish date 8th Nov 2010

1. Go over to Penguin Island for a picnic.
2. Go to Melbourne.
3. Invite people over 3 times for dinner and Balderdash (0/3)
4. Go see a play.
5. Go see a band.
6. Take the kids camping for a long weekend.
7. Go snorkling at Pt Peron
8. Go with Andrew to a posh hotel for the night and have breakfast in the morning together
9. Release 5 books into the wild via Bookcrossings (0/5)
10. Practise one random act of kindness per week. (0/143)
11. Go to church
12. Write 3 letters of thanks to 3 wonderful teachers that had a positive influence on my life (0/3)
13. Go to bed at 8.30pm 3 nights a week for 3 months (0/36)
14. Walk kids to and from school once a week (0/143)
15. Drink 8 glasses of water a day.
16. Eat no take away for one month.
17. Loose 10 kg (0/10)
18. Go to 6 monthly check ups at the dentist (0/5)
19. Have a facial.
20. Get up before the kids and read the paper once a week.
21. Walk the Kokoda track via my pedo.
22. Start a blog
23. Make half of all our xmas gifts.
24. Make a design and screenprint it on a t-shirt.
25. Go scrapbooking once a month (0/33)
26. Vistit the art gallery.
27. Do a 30 days portraiture of phtography and bind it in some way for a gift for someone.
28. Decking inbetween the shed and vegie patch.
29. Buy a buffet/sidebourd unit.
30. Find the perfect tea pot
31. Do a screenprinting course.
32. Do 3 guide modules (0/3)
33. Read 10 new books that aren’t crime fiction (0/10)
34. Draw up a budget and stick to it.
35. Develop a savings plan for Melbourne and deposit in it for 6 months (0/6)
36. Make a list of possible business ideas that will make me some pocket money.
37. Set up a super account and make contributions.
38. Write a will.
39. Organise photos, both digital and print into some sort of system.
40. Stick to the FLYLady program for 3 months (0/3)
41. Write and send xmas cards with family newsletter (0/2)
42. Fix up the vegie patch and have 6 varieties of edible plants growning (0/6)
43. Buy a waterproof timer for each shower and encorage family to have 4 minute showers.
44. Buy an electricity measurer like on carbon cops and reduce our carbon emmissions.
45. Go plastic bag-free.
46. Cook a new recipie each fortnight (0/71)
47. Make jam.
48. Go out to coffee
49. Invite Luke and Bianca over for dinner once a month (0/33)
50. Ring John once a month for a chat (0/33)
51. Go on a date with Andrew once a month (0/33)
52. Invite Marie and Tim over bi-monthly for dinner/lunch (0/17)
53. Replace my underwear with decent underwear (1/10)
54. Do a UWA course.
55. Give blood.
56. See a stand up comedy show.
57. Make my children trendy matching outfits for xmas.
58. Go on a picnic somewhere in Pinjarrah
59. Buy café blinds and put up.
60. Paint Dylan’s room.
61. Be $1300 ahead on mortgage or one month ahead (0/1300)
62. Buy something pretty for myself in David Jones.
63. Learn how to put a zipper in neatly.
64. Make yogurt.
65. Use only cloth nappies on the new baby.
66. Plant out a herb garden.
67. Buy curtains for our bedroom.
68. Buy carport screen door.
69. Donate money to the Sea Shephard group.
70. Send 10 birthday cards to 10 family membes I don’t see very often.
71. Encourage the kids to send thank you notes to grandparents for their gifts.
72. Host a tea party.
73. Have a baby shower.
74. Frame wedding photos’ and hang.
75. Make a fabric covered organizer.
76. Get my Faith Awareness badge.
77. Find a penpal.
78. Have dinner on the beach watching the sunset with Andrew and the kids.
79. Sew a baby bag.
80. Make a mei tei.
81. Open a savings account for Zoe and new baby.
82. Work out how much each of the kids cost (school stuff, parties and hobbies/sports) divide this by 52 weeks and start putting aside the money each week.
83. Replace carpet in games room.
84. Recycle everything possible.
85. Get a hammock.
86. Go one week without spending money on things I don’t need.
87. Document the family tree on my dad’s side.
88. Make a copy of my Nanna’s wedding photo.
89. Make a copy of 10+ photos of Andrew’s baby/childhood photos and document them for his children/grandchildren
90. Get a first aid kit for the car.
91. Buy new sneakers.
92. Buy a fire blanket for kitchen.
93. Learn how to change a car tyre.
94. Paint the girls room.
95. Clean fish tank and get some goldfish
96. Weed the front garden.
97. Get a passport.
98. Knit something other than a scarf.
99. Go to Albany for the weekend.
100. Get a certificate from TAFE
101. Donate $5 for every unfinished item on this list to Naragebup.

101 things in 1001 days


I've decided to do the 101 things in 1001 days challenge. One of the challenges was to create a blog, and stick to it.

Lets see how it goes.

It's been so impossibly hot lately, and the never ending nausea is showing no signs of going away. I really wish I could enjoy being pregnant, but I feel so uncomfortable in a pregnant body.