Back to Basics Update

The Back to Basics update is a little on the slim side due to Christmas :)

Garden News

Nothing new planted this week. My husband rigged up some shade for the second veggie patch. As I grow different plants I'm learning what works, what needs to be tweaked and what doesn't work at all. I've found that in veggie patch 1, which is in full sun, grows wonderful tomatoes, zucchini's and corn. Lettuce, potatoes, watermelon and pumpkin do ok here too. But cucumber just die. So the idea is to shelter the 2nd veggie patch from the harsh day/afternoon sun, and see what works in there. I'll keep you updated ;)

Planning for the Future

The budget is being drawn up. And next pay is when we start. I'm reverting to a 'cash' only budget in that I will be using envelopes to put money aside and using cash for purchases. I will be removing the key cards and leaving them at home. Fortunately we have no credit cards, so they are a non-issue.

I've got one shade sail up! My husband went to the hardware store and did it himself. We just need a few more, but it is a start.

Working for the Future

I've signed up to complete two modules as part of my leadership training (I'm a girl guide leader). This, I hope will all count when I eventually re-enter the work force and also make me a better guide leader.

Building Community
Via http://www.kiva.org/ I've made my first loan. Maria is from Peru and will be using her loan to finance her clothing business. It feels wonderful to be part of a team of 25 people working together to help people less fortunate to get a leg up. One Maria pays her loan back, I'm going to re-invest the money with someone else.

New Year Resolutions

This year I'm not going to make the goal of losing weight. I'm not going to set myself up to fail, I'm not going to beat myself up because I'm not thinner and prettier than an airbrushed model in a magazine ad. Nope, no more, zilt, end of story.

This year I make the 'new years resolution' to just be me. To buy clothes that fit, without moaning over the size. After all it is just a number. This year I'm going to where bathers. Just bathers. I'm not going to 'hide' my body in board shorts.

This year I am going to be proud of the body I have, the body that looks like it has produced 4 children.

This year I'm going to feed my body good food and lots of water, not because I want to lose weight, but because my body is beautiful and deserves to be treated that way. This year, when I indulge on chocolate and other treats, I'm going to enjoy them, and I'm not going to feel guilty, because the feeling of guilt is bad for my body and my spirit.

Back to Basics Update

Sowing Seed or Planting
Sowing: Beans, tomato, rockmelon, pumpkin, lettuce, capsicum
Planting: Strawberry
Transplanting: Luffah and Rosella
Harvesting: Tomatoes, zucchini
General Garden News: Finished mulching. Liquid fertilised (Seaweed based stuff) and applied wetting agent to all pots and garden beds. Weeded and removed some snails.....need to use snail bait but I feel so bad killing them....
Planning for the Future
Ordered some more seeds. Collecting lettuce and parsley seeds. I have stuck to a spendings diary all week. It looks scary! However it is the week before Christmas (not really a good excuse) and I did pay the mortgage and service the car so the amount spent looks worse than it is. I did buy a NO JUNK MAIL sticker which I think is a wise investment. I have felt so overwhelmed with Xmas spend spend spend pressure that I needed to do something pro-active. I can't really reduce the pressure from friends and family, but I can eliminate the junk mail/advertising pressure. And as an added bonus it will reduce paper waste, and the junk mail lady still gets paid regardless. Sweet.
I have also set aside time between Dec 26th and Jan 1st to really attack the household budget. I'm continuing the spending diary, but I haven't made any deliberate changes. However, I have started questioning the worth of my purchases, if I really need it and could I do without? I find budgeting very challenging as my husband's income is up and down all over the place (he's self-employed). Any tips?
Working for the Future
Nothing t o report
Building Community
I have been making an effort to connect with the great blogs I read via the comments.
The biggie for this week though was I DISCONNECTED THE FOXTEL, without discussing with my husband I might add too. Now the reason I put this piece of news here is because this one act has really connected us with our community and with each other. We have done more stuff together as a family this week than we have done in the past 6 months. We have gone for walks, attended Christmas Carols, visited friends, worked together in the garden, laughed, went to the movies (never have we done this as a family) and generally spent time together. The kids are also getting along better and are amusing themselves with normal kid activities like cubby house building and crafty pursuits.
New Skill
Nothing to report

Xmas gifts for the Teachers

This year my two school aged children have eight teacher/teachers aides between them. Thinking of a gift for each without breaking the bank was a challenge, however I came up with these a while ago and thought they could be adapted for teachers too. Basically they are teacher quotes, rolled up, popped in empty capsules and placed in a baby jar.
I bought the capsules in bulk from a medical supply store online (but they are available in smaller quantities from health food shops), and all up cost $30 for 8, with about 750 empty capsules left over......ahhh well next years gifts are covered too.

Picasa picasa picasa

I have downloaded Picasa and oh boy, for something completely free, I'm am so impressed! Having said that, I never edit my photos (partly because I haven't had the software), but that could soon change.
Here is a picture of my baby girl 12 months ago. Ok the only editing I did was rotating it, but I had forgotten about this sweet photo. So now I'm off to edit then print it.
Have a sweet day :)

Basics Update

Planting
Didn't do any planting this week. But did mulch. Also found that all the seeds in the second vegie patch were baked due to lack of mulch and full sun position. Hence the mulching. Also hubby started on a little pond in one of the garden beds. We are attempting to encourage frogs to our garden. :)
Plannng for the Future
Hmm spending diary is hard...in that I keep forgetting. But I have been trying to reduce spending. In the short term I'm resisting the urge to buy more toys the kids don't need for Christmas. This is hard to to do, especially when I'm feeling bombarded by junk mail, tv ads, pressure from family/friends to buy more and more Christmas gifts. Mid-term, we are getting the money together to put shade sails along the back of the house. This will help reduce temperature in the house (I hope) as this part of the house gets the full afternoon sun.
Building Community
Put my name on the church roster. Also got the pattern for the St John teddies. My goal is to make 4 before school goes back next year.

Let's Get Back to Basics

I have been terribly naughty when it comes to spending and conserving. I admire Rhonda and Eilleen and many others so much. They make thriftyness and frugalism a lifestyle rather than a hobby and although I aspire to be like them, I have, in recent times fallen off the wagon a bit.
So when I saw Belinda's get back to basics challenge I thought 'yep I'm in'. But then it never even made it to the blog. So here we go! Better late than never :)

Sowing Seed or Planting
Planted two rows of corn. Also planted a citrus tree. Need to investigate making up some sort of bug spray as the capsicums got attacked, there is no capsicums now.
Planning for The Future
Doing a spending diary to record where all the money is going. Meal planning has changed in that I'm trying to include more meals tha can be 'recycled' into meals the following night or making two meals in one night so dinner is sorted in one go rather than spread over two days.
Working for the Future
Continuing handmade gifts for christmas.
Building Community
Last week of Girl Guides next week! Meeting with the other leader soon to discuss ideas for next year, including teaching them life skills and including more service.
Learning a New Skill
I'm attempting to make more dishcloths, but this time with patterns in them to make pictures.

Things kids say!

Scene: Walking in the city. Bird does a poo, just missed us!
Me: Watch out Lily, there is poop (pointing).
Lily: Doesn't God have a toilet.

Scene: Walking home from school. Explaining to kids that the cat is going to get fixed up tomorrow, so we all have to be nice to the cat when he comes home.
Dylan: What sort of operation?
Me: He's going to have his testicals removed (trying to keep a straight face).
Dylan: Are you turnng him into a girl?

29 Forever!

It's my birthday today and boy did I do well! Like most grown up's, I see my birthday as really just another day and don't really pay it much mind. Sometimes I get good pressies and sometimes I might not get any at all (being 5 weeks from christmas doesn't help!). But this year I hit the jackpot!

I got a big frame that I've been wanting for a large portrait (mental note: next time I feel the urge to get portrait photo's of my kids, think about how much frames cost!), a portable iPod docking station (not what I need or wanted, but now I've got it I will definately use it! I love my podcast's), a Mandarin tree, a Blueberry bush and my sister has ordered me a copy of Little House on the Praire by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Every year I always by something for myself, so this year I ordered some books and more importantly I bought some chairs for my dining room. This may sound mundane, but I detested my dining chairs. Two had structual issues, all were stained and manky, but they were free and did the trick. However I saved up the money and decided I was going to by myself some new dining chairs and not only that I was going to be environmentally consious and go second hand and also be mindful of budget and not spend more than $50 per chair. Oh and they had to be all wood (removeable covers ok, but no permanent fabric), they had to be solid and I needed at least 6 chairs.

Well I finally got them and at $43 a chair I'm a happy camper.

On the eleventh hour..

It's Rememberence Day. I was in the city with my son when the minutes silence commenced and it saddened me that several people were still chatting/walking about during this minute. One whole minute. 60 small seconds. Was whatever they were talking about/destination they were aiming for, so important that they could not take out one minute to quietly reflect and be thankful?

Musings

Down by the Farm:Perhaps I'm a little dense, but it only occured to me last week when I harvested half my vegie patch, that I didn't have much growing anymore, and I need to be planting something new each week. Hmmm derr. So my new goal is to plant at least two different varieties each week. Last wekend I planted watermelon, pumkin, cucumber, basil, tomatoes, capsicum, rosella and loofah.

This week I got my digger seeds and I'm planning on another row of carrots and some capsicum. I also need to work on the second vegie patch. It got neglected in the post baby recovery and I need to get it functioning.

Makings: My iron fell off the ironing board (my fault) and cracked across the top. So I need to buy another iron before I do any major sewing. However I did finish my Incredible costume for myself and my husband for a halloween party. We looked awsome!

I need to finish off xmas cards, hats and start my Felix dresses for my girls

My spuds! And a lettuce too. My potatoes got hit by frost and after that they just weren't the same. So I harvested them and I needed a lettuce that day to. I seem to be having a lot of problems with snails and slugs. Time to crack open the snail pellets I think!

This is kind of neat. Download http://www.teachers-pet.org/ software, open up Microsoft words, and make worksheets, cross words, flash cards and more for your kids.

I'm back

Cadel Andrew. 14 days old

Well after a long break I am back!

Much has happened. My beautiful baby boy, Cadel is now here and is now 3 months. It hasn't been 100% smooth sailing with Cadel. He spends much of the day crying, but I'm blessed in that he sleeps well at night.
My garden is plodding along well, still only one patch in progress, but the other patch is in the pipeline.
I've seemed to have my sewing mojo back! I have been on a sewing frenzy, inspired by many of the ladies at http://www.craftymamas.net .
My sustainable living lifestyle is not where i want to be, but we are trying.

So I'm hoping to get back into blogging and reading blogs too!

Hair Lackey's

I wanted to buy my daughter a whole bunch of hair ties and give them to her in a pretty box, but my goodness, they don't come cheap. So I made these for a fraction of the price and in her favourite colours too.

This is the vegie patch now. The green manure crop is now about 30cm high and almost ready to be turned and mulched in.

The second patch has now been 'no digged' and a green manure crop was put in over the weekend just gone.

Life has certainly been busy lately and I haven't been able to keep my blog updated. But thats ok. Life over the next 6 weeks or so should start to slow a little as I prepare for the baby.

I bought some great AIO nappies from a lovely lady on ebay. So we are all set to 'go cloth'. I've used cloth more or less with the other three, but never been completely happy. I love the AIO style, much like disposables, and so easy to use. I'm still yet to clean out the baby's room.....it's still the spare room, full of junk. I have 6 weeks to go.....it feels so far away......

Busy Busy Busy

Supplies for a crafty weekend

Firstly some thoughts from my darling daughter.

Scene: Day before school goes back after two weeks and one day's holidays.
Lily: Mama, do I have to go to school tomorrow.
Mama: Yes Lilian you do.
Lily: Can I have the day off then?

This weekend is going to be busy busy busy. I'm making paper bag albums for my mum and mother in law for mother's day. Something like this here. Not sure if they will like it but, hey to bad. I also have two sister in laws who are celebrating birthdays next week. They are both getting a quote book, again scrapbooked and made by me. And one SIL is also getting a scarf (if I can make it in time!). The other SIL got a scarf ages ago.

I'm also collecting fabric to make some gifts for my daughter's 5th birthday. Pinks and purples are the colour palette. I'm thinking scarf, bag and a hat......

In the garden this weekend I need to plants some beans, make up some bug spray and plant out the daffodils and tulips. The other bulbs I planted have started to emerge and the green manure crop is also doing well. I have two mice in the compost bin, having a merry time, so something needs to be done about that......

And I have picked up my book for Green Beans bookworm challenge. I'm reading Affluenza: the all consuming epidemic for the month of May. I first heard of this book at Crunchy Chicken's Book Club and it really has me interested. So if this weekend isn't already busy enough, I'll try and read a chapter as well.

Yep, busy, busy, busy.

Worm Farm

This worm farm was my first Mother's Day gift, seven years ago, and is still going strong. It's a worm swag type of worm farm. These type of worm farms hang from a support (in this case the patio beam), and have the advantage of not being readily accessable to vermin like mice.

It is also great in that it is easily moved around. This position is great in winter as it's close to the back door (which is near the kitchen), gets some winter sun (worms tend to slow down a lot in winter and is semi-sheltered. But in summer I tend to move it to another spot in our yard, that has full shade as the West Australian heat can be a bit much for my worms.

You really don't need to buy fancy or expensive set ups to have a worm farm. Those black can-of-worms are great if space is a problem, and are easily obtain cheap from the newspaper. However the best worm farm I've seen is one made from an old fridge. It was just turned on it's side, air holes were punch in the lid (the fridge door) and a pipe/tap was fixed to the bottom. This set up had the advantage of a greater amount of surface area, meaning scraps could be spread over the top and the worms could spread out and do their job. If you just dump scraps on top, it takes the worms longer to work their way through, meaning the scraps will start rotting and this is not what you are aiming for.

More Garden Work

The couch grass is causing me no end of stress, so I decided a passive aggressive approach is necessary. The 'No Dig' method does work, but needs to be done properly. I've half-heartily done it before, but failed as I didn't set it up right, nor did I continue with it. This method does smother the weeds, but couch grass is very resourceful and you have to be really on to it if you see it re-appearing.

The top layer is some mushroom compost. Around the edges I planted sweet peas, mostly so they can add some colour and interest over winter and also so my daughter can pick some flowers (she loves picking flowers). In the bed itself I put broad beans, oats and woolly pod vetch seeds. This is for a green manure crop and I purchased the seeds from the beautiful people at eden seeds. The green manure crop will help suppress weeds as well as add nutrients and (eventually) mulch to the garden bed.

More info on 'No Dig' garden beds here and a great video here.

Ninga Shirt!

After spending some time on making a mock up for the burda top I mentioned previously, I hung it on my dress form and my son walked past and commented " Cool you made a ninga shirt". Not quite what I had in mind. I know it's a mock up, made from calico/muslin, but the sleeves don't quite sit right, giving it a ninga look to it.
I'm going to have a play and see how we go.

A Productive Weekend

I had a pleasant, productive weekend.

I weeded around the apple and orange tree, and popped in some bulbs. Not sure if they are meant to, or even can co-exist, but it should look pretty if they (bulbs) pop up and flower.
I bought 6 punnets of seedlings, alyssum, calendulas, petunia's and pansies. They are mostly for Lilian to plant, she loves gardening, but also to encourage bee's and nice insects. They haven't been planted yet, ran out of time.... but will go in today along with some sweet peas I've raised from seeds.
I bought some weed killer (*gasp*) to kill the couch grass. This stuff is indestructable. It has invaded the vegie patch and I am fighting a loosing battle with it. So I decided it was time to get hard core. I looked online to see what other people have done to get rid of the stuff and decided on chemicals. Hopefully this will work.

I started the mock up for the Desira top over at Burda Style. If it works out well I might buy some nicer quality fabric and whip up a nice top for myself. I don't normally do mock up's, I'm far to impatient, but at the same time, I have a high rate of failures, or 'dress up clothes' (because that's where they end up). Then I get frustrated and nothing is achieved. So, hopefully doing a mock up first will help me make adjustments before I make the final product.

It's also the beginning of school holidays, which means a lot of 'what can I do now'. I firmly believe it is healthy for children to experience boredom, which I believe helps them think outside the square and also helps them creative their own happiness. However it's also important to take advantage of the extra time, and do stuff with the kids. I stumbled across the Crafty Crow, which is a delightful collective blog, with links to various crafty/arty activities for children of all ages.

Family Outing

My oldest has been involved with the million puppets project school and scouts, so when I heard they were going to have a big activity day in Perth, I said we would go.





Unfortunately, we left my husband and youngest child at home, hubby just doesn't get into these type of outings and the little one still needs her day time sleep. But the big two had fun.





I was pleased that the whole day cost $7. I went halves in a family ticket for the train with my sister, which cost $4 (my half) and I bought a drink $3. I made the kids eat a big breakfast and we each took a packed lunch and we didn't by any useless junk at the event.





Next outing is next weekend for Buddah's Birthday at the Supreme Court Gardens in Perth. Again we will take a packed lunch, but this time I will let the kids pack there own. I'm hoping this will cut down on wastage as they will be more inclined to eat what they themseves pack.

I have been ordering seeds from green harvest. Just alitle order of seeds for a green manure crop for the veggie patch. I need to get the veggie patch weeded and ready soil wise (crap coastal soil here) before the baby is born. I'm due in 15 weeks so whilst I have heaps of time, it will go quick and I will be out of action for some time after. This is my first time sowing a green manure crop. I also ordered some rosella seeds, with the idea of sowing in spring, growing and giving away some plants for xmas. My bulbs have also arrived the other day, some daffodils, tulips and anemone's. They were a fundraiser for guides, and I'm looking forward to planting them out. At the moment they are getting nice and cold in my crisper.

Laundry Liquid

Using the recipe found here I made my own laundry liquid

.

Perhaps I'm gross, but I was never taught or told that it was a requirement to scrub your kitchen sink, so I therefore never have. I wipe it down, but never apply cleaning products and elbow grease. Am I the only one?

Life

I've recently been thinking about life, about changes, changes for the good and changes for not so good. I've also been thinking about my place in the world, the example I set for my children, nephews and for my guides (well I am a role model for them too) and happiness.

Something that has bothered me for sometime now is the change in the type of person I am now compared to 10 years ago. Ok I admit 10 years ago I was a young fresh 18 year old with no children, but I did things differently then that make me kind of jealous of that 18 y.o I used to be.

I used to walk, ride, or public transport it everywhere. This was for practical (no car/licence), financial (no money for car) and environmental reasons. I used to be vegetarian (environmental and financial). I used to fanatically recycle, reuse and reduce in terms of consumerism. Nothing was wasted. Life was simple, and happy.

And although I am happy for different reasons now, more and more I find myself frustrated and unsatisfied. With an increase in income and life changes I seem to have become more busy, more materialistic, more consumerist. And I don't like this part of me.

I realise all mothers are busy, but life seems so fast with guides, scouts, dancing, school, playgroup, storytime, swimming lessons etc etc. I spend so much time driving from one event to another, buying the latest gizmo, buying clothing in 'acceptable' brands and the like, and I wonder is this what I want for my children. Do I want them to watch their mother compete with the other mums, yet never quite getting there because her heart really is not in it.

Yesterday my son and daughter did not want to do there after school activities, and being pregnant and tired and emotional, I gave in and said we are staying at home. You know what they did instead? Built a cubby and then taught there 2 year old sister to play hide and seek. The tv was off, they ate most of there dinner, they showered and then fell into bed. It was normal, happy, family centred evening.

Making a cubby!

I have been reading more and more blogs that express theses thoughts too. And as I am a doing person, I've decided that it is time to downsize and simplify some. I've started to put into place simple measures to do this.

The first is looking at how we spend our money. To much money is being wasted on over priced, over packaged goods that do nothing for my family anyway. I've cut out buying baby wipes, I'm going back to the simple reusable homemade wipes and water for my daughters bottom. I've investigated some homemade washing powder recipes, and this weekend we will be making up our own laundry liquid. I've looked at going back to cloth nappies, and although I will be using mostly disposables, I have got some PUL fabric ordered so I can start making my own nappies (the goal is to have the new baby in all cloth). I've cut the take-away to once a fortnight and that is going to be cut further to once a month then down to only on special occasions. I've stopped buying limited use washing up sponges and when we run out, I will be making reusable ones. I've cut buying the crap I was putting in the kids lunch boxes (like over packaged cheese dips, individual chipscrackers ect) in favour of fruit, home made cake, fresh cheese and a couple of crackers.

What I estimate I'll save from just this:

Cost (what it was costing) Yearly Saving

Baby wipes $6.50 p/w $338

Laundry liquid $20 p/m $240

Cloth nappies $ 15 p/w $780

Take-away $30 p/w $1200

Wash-up sponges $5 p/m $60

Crap school lunch $15 p/w $400

Total saving $3018

Just from those limited changes, we'll be saving $3018. That is massive!

Fantastic Blog

I've found this wonderrful fantastic blog.

http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/

I was looking for a home made washing liquid recipie for the laundry and stumbled upon Rhondah's blog. She's a aussie, which makes it all the more relevent to me.

We live a very privileged life here in Australia. Life is good. Ok we have our bad days, days where we would rather roll back into bed, days where only a good cry will do and days where you wonder what is the point. But on the whole life is good. We have access to beautiful homes, freedom, opportunities and clean drinking water.

And it's also easy to forget just how good we all have it. It's easy to indulge (because that is what it is) in self pity, in why me-isms, and sometimes it takes far more effort to be happy with what we have, rather than bemoan what we don't have.

Remember, nothing last forever, what goes around comes around and God will never give you more than you can handle. And if your not a God person then, replace God with whatever you believe in, or just have faith in yourself that you are like a willow branch in that in a strong wind you will bend and creak, but you will not snap.

And when you do start feeling sorry for yourself, or you aren't appreciating the life you have, take a look around you, I promise you, you will find someone worse off. If you want to find that someone and feel good about lending a hand check out
http://www.kiva.org

Money tight? Then check out
http://www.uthandoproject.org/

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

10 Things to be Thankful for

For March

1. Feeling my baby kick and move.

2. Hearing my baby girl say, "Help mama please"

3. A beautiful sewing machine.

4. Great podcasts.

5. A safe community in that I can walk the dog in the evening and not feel unsafe.

6. Communtiy events like fireworks and live bands put on free by my local council.

7. Juicy sweet apples.

8. Support of family when I really need them.

9. My son's love of board games

10. Autumn and it's releif that comes after a long hot summer.

#28 Progress report

My husband is not lazy. Just terribly unmotivated. So when I put on my list of 101 things in 1001 days, get the decking done between the shed and vegie patch, I was prepared to have to nag to get it done. I was even prepared to nag a lot.

I'm happy to say it's half done, the deck timber just has to go on top now, and I didn't have to nag, well not very much anyway.

And even though my husband and I have differing ideas on how much should be decked (me: whole lot, husband: pave the patch where that red rocker is in the picture), it at least has been started.

#10 Random Act of Kindness

A girl I don't really know needed to sell 83 boxes of chocololates. So I offered to buy to whole boxes from her :)

#5 Go see a band

Go see a band.

Have seen a couple now, all free. Yay!

Worth a look

#61

Paid an extra $30 on the morgage today. From little things big things grow. :)

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 :)

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. :)

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. :)

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.

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.

#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.

#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.