moomi

13 months!

2010-12-02T13:49:00.001+11:00

wow! it's been nearly 13 months since i last posted on this blog - bad!

i guess life kind of got in the way along with another drop into that hole that is depression but i'm feeling back on top of things now and hopefully in the new year i'll be able to start posting more regularly again.

james starts 5 year old prep class next year, he's SO excited and has even tried on his school uniform to show dad ;)

(miles too big for him!)

matthew is on a waiting list for 3 year old kinder, fingers crossed he gets in so i can get some crafting done! i've signed up with a driving school today, got to get my license and some freedom!

anyway, off to pick thing 1 up from kinder now (my life is so glamorous isn't it?) ;)

later alligators
x

great news!

2009-11-08T20:17:00.002+11:00

my lovely husband has accumulated a few frequent flyer points with work trips etc & today he booked a return flight for me to my home town, cape town! he also booked & paid for a flight for james to go with me so he can see his great-granny (ouma) & his aunties :D

we thought about me taking both boys but it's just too long a trip with the two crazies on my own, plus i had such a nightmare the last time i flew that it's kind of put me off doing these long flights to be honest... it had nothing to do with james, & EVERYTHING wrong to do with qantas - a whole other story that i could probably devote an entire blog to...

anyway, i'm pretty excited - we're going in march in his kinder school holidays for two weeks & there probably won't be nearly enough time to do half of what i'd like to do!

knowing myself, i'll start making lists tonight too ;)

i took some photos of the boys yesterday, hopefully i'll get around to doing another photo book for the overseas family connection for christmas again - i'll probably fixate on that for a while now as i still don't have my crafty mojo back! nothing... nada... weird...

matthew was making a getaway - not surprising as one of his first words was "cheese" because of all the photos i take of these kids :)

34C forecast for tomorrow, i'm melting already!!

x

PS do ya like the new header or should i change it? it bothers me how it doesn't fit in the box thingy properly... sigh... i make my life harder than it needs to be really...

big photographer, little photographer

2009-11-05T20:49:00.014+11:00

still not much on the crafting front folks, i seem to have lost my mojo at the moment, i really don't feel like doing anything actually... it's really weird, sometimes i go for weeks obsessed with my current project & then it all just fizzes out to nothing for a week or so & then suddenly i'm back with a vengance & can't stick to just one thing! crazy... kind of like a menstrual cycle, no? ;)

i am almost finished this little birthday present for a certain little girl who is turning 4 soon - james can't wait to go to her birthday party because it's fancy dress & he wants to go as a pirate :)

i used this pattern from Runo, a cloth doll artist who generously shares gorgeous patterns - i tweaked my version slightly (can't help myself) & just want to sew a necklace onto her neck but need to wait until i can get some pretty beads - green or red?

anyway, today matthew went to nanna & pa for his overnighter so it was just me & james which is usually a much more laid back affair than when it's me, james & matthew ;)

we did train tracks, pirates & treasure, i drew pictures which he coloured in or he dictated what i should draw & i did so, we wrote a letter to santa & he wrote his name almost completely by himself & we went for a walk in the evening to the local pizza joint for his "favourite" which is chicken & chips & a chocolate milkshake :)

on the way there, he was taking photos which i encourage even though it makes the journey double the length of time - i just love seeing his perspective of the world - here are some he took today along with some i took

this is the letter he dicated to santa

and lastly here's a not-too-shabby one of me by james

i like that it's slightly blurry, it's kind of how i'm feeling :)

so that's it for tonight, i'm off to look through some mags before i hit the sack, it's a big day tomorrow - a play date at Roo's house! :D

later alligators

PS HAVE YOU BEEN TO THE BRIGHT SIDE PROJECT YET?

GO!

GO NOW!

jellyfish costume!

2009-10-29T19:46:00.001+11:00

how awesome is this jellyfish costume?!

it reminds me of a certain activity i ~~helped~~ finished ~~with~~ without a certain little boy named james... :)

found via the amazing one pretty thing site - thanks rachel!

x

vampires & country victoria

2009-10-28T21:03:00.002+11:00

so, i started reading that book last week & then i had to go & get the second one, & the third one & then i realised there was a fourth one! (final) so i read them all in about 5 days hence the lack of posting :)
needless to say, i enjoyed them & when they were finished i felt a little lost & bewildered without bella & edward around...

otherwise, we had a lovely weekend in daylesford - i would highly recommend going there if you're in victoria, it's only about an hours drive out of melbourne & i felt like i was in a different country almost - so pretty & green & relaxing

sunset over the roof tops

mmm... interesting...

we stayed at a lovely little self catering place called chestnut daylesford which was just down the road from the convent art gallery (love it!) & was absolutely gorgeous - thanks lise!

we visited heaps of little shops, including an amazing treasure trove called wombat hill antiques - filled with all kinds of everything! B had to wait outside for me as it was filled with people but i persevered & dug around to find some ancient metal roller skates (with a key!), a glove template thingy (for cutting out glove patterns i guess) which i'm thinking of spraying red, a couple of old rusty chains just because i liked the look of them & two mail order sewing patterns from The Sun news-pictorial in melbourne dated 1969 - one of the patterns if for a wrap dress & the other a sweet dress with a tie detail around the neckline (photos to follow)

we got chinese take away friday night after we arrived (dropped the kids at nanna & pa on the way up) & i enjoyed a very relaxing spa bath before hitting the sack (to continue reading) :)

on saturday we went shopping! yay! saturday night we went to the farmers arms for dinner - yum! i had steak, roast potatoes & salad (& beer) & B had crumbed flathead with chips (& beer) - "it was good" :) afterwards we saw a sign for "a day on earth" & went to investigate...

(rocket ship, with sunset & moon = me trying to be creative)

needless to say, we were sucked in! so sunday morning we went back to this incredible place called a day on earth - utterly gorgeous & i can't find any good photos to show you so mine will have to surfice!

yes, that's a sand castle :)

i want everything in this place! love, love, LOVE! i should have taken more photos but (a) i didn't know if it was allowed & (b) i was so gobsmacked i couldn't concentrate properly :D

i will do some more research & update as i do - just do yourself a favour, when in daylesford - go there!

they apparently also have a shop on chapel street, prahran but i don't know what that's like in comparison with this amazing warehouse filled with wonders & the incredible paintings & sculptures of david bromley :) (i might have to investigate to do a follow up post)

oh how i wish i had about $18 000 (or more!) spare cash around about now... sigh...

this was my favourite -

it immediately made me think of my boys :)

after all this wonder, we went to the mill market & i don't think B really understood what he was getting himself into...

i started browsing & he said he was going to have a look around - when he came back i was only in the second stall! so off he went again & came back & i wasn't much further :D

so i told him to ~~bugger off~~ go & get something to eat & do some shopping for his parents (thank you pressies) and he said "i'll be about an hour" to which i replied "i probably won't be finished" to which he replied *eye-ball roll* :)

when he came back i was about 3/4 of the way through so he went off again & got me another book & lunch & sat in the car to wait... two hours later i emerged! victorious! although, if we'd had a trailer it probably would have been more victorious but anyway...

i got some wooden industrial thread spools & some battered metal numbers (photos will follow) possibly from score boards (cricket/footy) or petrol stations (petrol prices?) - not sure but i like them :)

anyway, that's about it for now - i will leave you with a photo of pink & grey galahs on the side of the road - we also saw cockatoos & a black cockatoo (i think) - pretty!

later alligators

a sunny day

2009-10-20T19:56:00.000+11:00

not much crafting has been happening here lately, i am a little bit obsessed with fabric bird houses however, ever since seeing these beauties a while back - so i've been attempting one for myself ;)

otherwise, today was a beee-utiful day - sunny & a little hot (we will ignore the gale force winds) & the kiddos spent the morning outside in their "pool" - all in all, a fun day & a nice long nap which is always a bonus!

molly supervising the swimmers

she loves the boys :)

an old friend rediscovered

("my friend little snake")

anyway, i'm off to bed early tonight, i've just started reading this book (i know, i know, i'm late to the party as usual) & just feel like reading for a while again. i have always had a love affair with books & ~~devour~~ used to devour them in one sitting but those days seem long gone for now i think, i also think this will make a nice change from all the crime i love to read too :)

later alligator!

miss molly mermaid

2009-10-16T20:57:00.001+11:00

introducing miss molly, my mermaid prototype

i had an idea last night when i couldn't sleep, perched on the edge of the bed while B did his starfish impersonation so when matthew had his unusually long nap today & james watched finding nemo for the gazillionth time, i ~~maid~~ made a mermaid :)

james has claimed her but is perfectly willing to share her with matthew much to my surprise - she & pirate william are good friends already apparently but james insists that she needs a pirate eye patch so i'll have to see what i can do about that i suppose :D

i've got big plans for more molly's, i'm not entirely happy with her & my mind is reeling with ideas but i'm procrastinating as usual & the internet is being a pain in the rear end this evening so i might just go to bed early & browse through my habitat & muji catalogues my friend andrew kindly brought back from paris for me when he was over there recently...

g'night girls 'n' boys
x

jumping jellyfish

2009-10-16T18:21:00.003+11:00

so i ended up making the jellyfish on my own as mr james didn't seem very interested in helping (but took all the credit mind you!)

anyway, here's a little tutorial if you're interested in giving it a go yourself :)

ingredients:

plastic drink bottles, ends cut off

(you could use yogurt tubs or similar)

different types of ribbon/string/yarn

different sizes bobbly things

(i got mine in a kids craft kit from kmart)

piece of net curtain*

pair of girls opaque stockings**

shiny stickers

sticky tape (for just in case you need it)

hole punch

scissors

steps (from left - right, reading across)
(you can click on the image to make it bigger)

cut the ends off of the bottles & punch holes around edges
cut one leg of the stockings off & then cut into strips (you could use the other leg to make a snake hand puppet or a snake softie perhaps)
remove the toe end & pull the strips so that they go thin & curly
separate your yarn & cut your ribbons, net curtain etc
tie the pieces through the holes you punched
sew your bobbly bits onto a long piece of thread
(i sewed through once, then back through again so they wouldn't slide down/off the thread)
i stabbed a couple of holes in the top of my jellyfish to hold the string it would hang from & threaded that through, tying it off with a knot (see close up below)
i then tied the thread with the bobbly bits onto this string on the inside of the bottle base (inside the jellyfish head)

stick your shiny & sparkly sticker things all over the jellyfish head
hang it up & you're done!

you could use any colours or pieces of ribbon/fabric scraps that you have on hand, i happen to have a son whose favourite colour is blue & i had everything else in my craft drawers

* the net curtain is from when i used to make my own felt from scratch, i used to roll it up in the net curtain & a bamboo blind but that's a whole other story!

** i got the girls opaque stockings at the salvation army shop, two pairs for 50c so i got lots in different colours for you-never-know-when

the main thing is that you use your & your kids' imaginations & have fun together :D

james' jellyfish

(i'm just happy he tried)

have a great weekend kids!

we're going to look at yet more houses so fingers crossed something comes up that we'll like :)

adios amigos

10 years!

2009-10-15T12:23:00.000+11:00

it's our tenth wedding anniversary today!
amazing how time flies, it certainly doesn't feel like we got married that long ago :)

i was really lucky to meet B, what an amazing man - i'm not very good with words especially when it comes to emotions & sentimental stuff but he's been the best thing that's happened to me & i love him dearly

what a day it was! it seemed to go by so quickly, too quickly!
i had my dress delivered that morning, it was made by a lovely friend of my mom, she was incredible - did it in about two weeks!

lau helping with a gazillion buttons :)

thanks for the last 10 plus years baby, i love you!

cranky pants

2009-10-14T18:54:00.001+11:00

so i'm feeling cranky today, mostly due to "womanly business" but also because it's been raining again (what happened to spring?) & the kids are going stir crazy - not helping my current "fragile" state (of mind)

anyway! i was going to do a fun activity with them at some point today but didn't get around to it because i was finishing up more soft blocks for my shop & trying to take half decent photos in the kitchen at the table... sigh... rain is good, we need the rain (repeat)

so the fun activity will have to be postponed until tomorrow, at least i will just have one kid to entertain as matthew is going to nanna & pa for the day :) one is so much easier than both of them squabbling over the same toilet roll insert/raisin/piece of thread one of them found on the floor (can you tell i'm a leetle beet over eet?)

here's a little sneak peek of what we're going to do, i'm pretty excited about it i'm even thinking of doing another tutorial! woo hoo!

i know the "e" is upside down,

the magnets were being freaky :)

check back tomorrow for more, gotta go now - james has done something & matthew is screaming his head off (again)

adios amigos

PS thanks for stopping by if you found me via one pretty thing!

PPS there is an awesome tutorial on there today for fabric alphabet magnets, definitely going to give that one a go!

PPPS more soft activity blocks available in my shop now :)

hello thar!

2009-10-13T14:41:00.000+11:00

hi gang!

i'm so excited to be on one of my favourite websites today!
in fact, rachel's site is such a favourite, that it's permanently open on my browser :)

if you're here for via oneprettything, welcome & thanks for stopping by & the tutorial is the next post down :D

i mentioned i'd get some photos of the pirates up so here they are in all their rascally rapscallion glory

they are in the shop now & i am taking custom orders too (hair colour, eye colour, facial hair, shirt stencil) so go! go now! :)

been in the city this morning with matthew, we went down the road to the pharmacy & i had an idea for B's wedding anniversary present (on thursday, it's our 10 year anniversary - crap! where does the time go!) so we hopped on a tram into the city & i picked up his present, more supplies for sewing, a book for $3 from the Salvation Army shop & a toy shop register for the kids at Target (on sale) so all up a productive day :)

matthew asleep (hooray for nap time!) now & i'm going to finish up some more activity blocks so later alligators

finally finished & a little tutorial to boot (arrrgh!)

2009-10-11T22:24:00.003+11:00

hi!

i've finally finished the 3 pirates, but as it's night now the photos i took are shockin' so i'll do more tomorrow

thanks for your feedback guys, i decided to keep all three types of facial hair & let people choose which they prefer, along with eye colour too :)

i also stenciled a pirate-y skull & cross bones design i came up with last night after trawling the internet for ideas! another late night to bed (around midnight) & then i couldn't sleep properly because i was thinking...

anyway, i thought i'd do a little tutorial for the stenciling as it was SO easy & SO much fun :)

so, firstly we have a little list of "ingredients":

a printer to print your image (or you could do a free hand drawing)
fabric paint
fabric item to stencil onto
a small sponge (in this case, but depending on the size of your stencil you may need a bigger one)
freezer paper (apparently this is readily available in the supermarkets in the states, i had to order mine from this quilting shop here in oz)
a pencil or a marker to trace your image
nice sharp scissors, i like to use these
an iron
a clean piece of fabric for setting your image with the iron once paint is dry

i've done a photo tutorial, but it's my first so please let me know if something doesn't make sense :) here goes!

trace your image using an

extremely high tech light box

well, it's not really a step as such but

here is your (my) traced image :)

carefully cut out your image

place your stencil on top of the item

you're stenciling & iron on with a hot iron

(not steam)

add any extra bits (in this case the

eyes & the nose are added)

once the stencil is in position,

insert a piece of cardboard

to prevent the paint seeping

onto the other side

again, it's not really a step, but here

is your (my) cardboard inserted behind

my fabric with the stencil on top

prepare your paint & sponge

take a small amount of paint onto

your sponge & dab in onto/over

your stencil - you really don't need

a lot for this small image & a little bit

goes a long way

stencil covered with paint

now wash your sponge etc & wait

for the paint to dry (i hung mine out

on the line as it was a sunny day today)

once the paint is dry, take your spare

piece of fabric and place it over the image

have your iron set to hot (no steam) & iron

the image over the spare fabric for a few

minutes*

voila!

(my first time ever so please excuse the

not-so-good bones) :)

here is one of the pirates

with his new shirt, terrible

photo but it's late & dark

and there ya go, i'll do more photos tomorrow hopefully (if it's not raining again as it did every other day i wanted to take some before) & the guys will hopefully be up in the shop in the next couple of days - hooray!!

*my paint instructions said the iron should be

at 100C but i don't know exactly what that is on

my iron so i just set it to hot, & then to iron the image

for 3 - 5 minutes to set it

i'll leave you with some photos from our day yesterday after we lost out on yet another house at auction (it's becoming quite funny now, i can laugh or i can cry & i think it's less exhausting to laugh) :D

two happy crazies at the gorgeous green edinburgh gardens (result: a good loooong nap for both of them, yeah baby!)

night kids

a pirate predicament

2009-10-09T14:00:00.001+11:00

hello thar!

i have a little problemo that i need your help with peoples!

here are the pirates i've been making, not all are completely finished as i've still got to make two more outfits & do eyes etc...

that brings me to my problemo

dilemma 1: i need a child friendly/not-too-scary skull & cross bones image for the shirt, any suggestions where i can find one that's free for commercial use or should i just make one up myself?

dilemma 2: do i go with offering the option of a combo mustache/beard (see above) as well as mustache alone or just stick to mustache?

dilemma 3: do i keep the pirates eye-less or embroider eyes on as in the black haired pirate above?
(he looks like one of the village people donchya think? :D)

all feedback would be most appreciated!

i'm off to finish sewing the other blokes' clothes, we can't have them running around in the nude now can we?

ta ta!
x

thursday follow up

2009-10-08T23:23:00.000+11:00

so we took james out for dinner tonight at The Restaurant as he calls it, only to find that he wanted to go to The Sand Restaurant, which we finally figured out was a restaurant down in sorrento which we went to for lunch in august when we were on holiday in point lonsdale!

are we there yet?

we had caught the ferry across from queenscliff to sorrento for the day & played on the beach, digging & making castles & trying to prevent matthew-the-turtle from getting to the water :)

matthew before he discovered the water

on his way to the water

cracking it after i told him no for the

7 millionth time

about going into the water

we found a colossal jellyfish

(not really, but it was pretty big)

be free young jelly!

purdy water

(reminded me of a beach back home

in cape town & i got all sentimental & weepy)

that's The Sand Restaurant behind the kid

pork chop of note

(saying cheese for the camera)

his memory amazes me all the time!

here are some more photos from today, james played inside & outside today & had a 3 hour nap!

(bear in mind, this is the start of play,

i won't frighten you with the "after" shot)

and here is another pork chop of note, thinks he's invincible

(bad camera phone shot)

all that mess is luckily confined to this room, the "office" slash "playroom" - i trained them to keep their toys in one place & only take one type of toy out at a time... so i figured i was safe with just the farm, but no, because you can add blocks to it, the blocks box had to come out too... they are pretty good though, & pick it all up (with our help) at the end of the day though :)

that's all folks, it's 11:30pm & i'm pooped!

thoughts for thursday

2009-10-08T09:59:00.000+11:00

i have no idea what my thoughts for thursday are, i just like how it looks - all the th's & yesterday was w's...

ramble, ramble, ramble...

so anyway, i'm down one kid today as matthew has gone to nanna & pa for an over-nighter so i'm hoping to get some more sewing done :)

the plan for today is:

1) no more coffee (two cups should be enough, i hope!)
2) no snacking (unless it's a cucumber or such)
3) fantastic activities to keep james occupied, mostly consisting of sand & these great things (which i love packing away as i can play with them myself, ssshhh don't tell)

we LOVE pirates & we LOVE dinosaurs, and we LOVE PIRATE DINOSAURS!!! and this is the current favourite most best book in the world, ever!

anyway, this took way too long to find decent pics of the playmobil so i'd better get sewing - arrrrrrrgghhhh!!!

wednesday work-in-progress

2009-10-07T19:47:00.000+11:00

here's a little sneak peek of my latest creation (there will be three) so check back soon to see more :)

christmas cards?

2009-10-06T21:28:00.000+11:00

hello peoples

i just thought i'd share a few random things today, firstly i decided the time has come to l-o-o-s-e s-o-m-e w-e-i-g-h-t (if i spell it, it won't be so bad if i fail miserably which is bound to be what happens)...

over the years, as one "matures", one naturally gains a little weight & such things seem to be affected by pregnancies as well plus i have a little addiction to starburst babies (lollies/sweets/candy) of which i cannot find a decent photo or link to show you! anyhoo, i have decided to cease all contact with said babies & turn over a new leaf (what with spring supposedly being here & all)

so, i've said it & now i guess i have to do something about it :)

so i made some more banana bread for the kids today & i shall start the whole weight loss thing tomorrow :)

secondly, i did a little update of the shop over at madeit with some new cards including christmas cards! so please have a little look & let me know what you think - please? thanks!

thirdly, dinner tonight was a fairly civilized affair as far as james goes. last night was a serious battle of wills & i had to give myself a time out in our bedroom to calm down, so tonight i tried a different approach & it seemed to work... any tips for feeding a fussy nearly-four-year-old healthy meals?

last but not least, the little kid aka matthew finally seems to be on the mend & i can't wait for the season of snot to be over! all of my clothes seem to have snot schmeered all over them by the end of the day & it feels like i'm constantly doing laundry day after day after day after day... sorry, monotony is so lulling sometimes...

anyway, that's it for tonight :)

later alligator
x

snort

2009-10-04T20:58:00.000+11:00

this was from a few weeks ago, in between all of us being sick & all of us being sick (i just spelt of "ov" - what's with that???)

snort! from moomi on Vimeo.

parks & pirates

2009-10-04T18:38:00.001+11:00

so we took the kids to fitzroy gardens today after grocery shopping, in an attempt to wear them out for nap time...
it didn't work, it just wore me out instead! :)

LOOK MUMMY! A PIRATE!

james & i went into cook's cottage (adults $4.50 & kids under 5 free) to have a look at "the little house" and Lo & Behold! who should we find outside the back door but "LOOK MUMMY! A PIRATE!!!"

it's actually a statue of captain cook & james was very impressed with how tall he was :)

macca

we didn't stay long because matthew was falling apart at the seams & wanted food/drink/sleep so we went home not long after that - it was definitely great to be out in this great park on such a lovely day!

giant claws!

don't worry about a thing

2009-10-02T15:13:00.001+10:00

this made me smile today :)

feelin' a little low

2009-09-30T18:33:00.000+10:00

so B had to take matthew to the hospital last night, his breathing was pretty bad & the staff pushed him up to the top of the queue.
they dosed him up with lots of ventolin & also gave him prednisolone & decided it would be best for him to stay overnight so B had to stay with him & both of them only got a few hours sleep the whole night. he has a viral infection which triggered this asthma attack.

matthew was much better this morning, & after being seen by the doctor, they were allowed to come home. both of them looked pretty spaced out & B had a handful of pages of info for me to injest, all about asthma & an asthma plan for matthew.

at the moment he has to have 6 puffs of ventolin using a spacer & a face attachment (which he does not like at all) every four hours for the next two days. hopefully things will start to improve a lot as we are all over this whole "sick" thing...

latest news on The House is basically that we can't get it. all to do with complicated bank stuff & so we're not going to the auction on saturday & the search continues... needless to say, we are both gutted. i guess something else will come up, hopefully sooner rather than later.

anyway, sorry about the downer post today, i did make some banana bread today which is always a hit & there were 4 big smiles after dinner tonight :)

later alligators
x

ps i can hear B & james doing rhyming word flash cards, he really loves the alphabet, spelling & words at the moment - makes me smile :)

snotty, snottier, snottiest

2009-09-28T16:45:00.000+10:00

so the boys, including daddy, are all sick again...

matthew appears to have a snot-erfall streaming out of his nose, down the sides of his mouth like a gleaming mo and off the end of his chin onto whatever might be lying in it's path - this would include me, sigh...

B is sneezing his head off in our bedroom, door closed so the kids stay away from him. they think this is the best thing ever, having daddy at home for so many days & they get to spread their "love" (aka snotty noses) all over our bed... nice...

we've been approved (again) for a nice home loan, this time with a much more interested institution - 5 more sleeps until the auction!
i've been loosing sleep over this, trying not to get emotionally involved but i can see a tree-house & hammock in the future of this house's backyard & all it needs is US!

i've finally uploaded 10 900 (i kid you not!) photos to flickr because you know what will happen if i didn't - something will happen to the compooper & they. will. all. be. GONE. mwah ha ha ha haaa!

so yeah, i did it. i started in october of last year but finished it today.
it didn't take that long, i just have a really short attention span and get bored extremely easy :) (it must be my extreme intelligence)

it's been p-ing with rain here today (all weekend in fact) which makes for happy families inside (not) so i've done a little research for "activities" in case you'd like to do some (or stick pins in your eyes, sometimes it equates to the same kind of feeling)

first up is a recipe to make playdoh which you can find here, i made playdoh the other way (cooking it) and by the time i'd finished the kid had lost interest (typical) so give this a go & let me know what you think okay? okay.

second on the agenda would be more suited to sunny, warm weather - we did this the other day & had a blast (me included) & B got a nice surprise when he got home from work. get the recipe here & have fun! i doubled it up and made different colours but by the time the kids had finished, it was all one delightful shade of greyish purple :) btw, the "paint" goes on darkish but it dries quickly to a lovely lighter shade, not unlike the chalk colours funnily enough!

now for some reason blogger isn't letting me upload the photos i wanted to show you of the fun that was had, so you'll have to click over to my flickr account to look-see

well, it's 4:30pm so i'd better start thinking about what i probably won't end up making for dinner - i'm terrible at the whole cooking/dinner thing... don't get me wrong, i can cook & do so fairly well when i can be arsed, but am i arsed? not so much.
i will admit it internet, i have, on occasion, given my kids cereal (weetbix to be exact, so it's good for them) for dinner. shock horror!
i probably won't be giving them that for dinner tonight however, i might give them "lunch" as james calls it when i ask him what he wants for dinner.

me: what do you want for dinner punks?
him: lunch please mummy (so polite sometimes)
me: (phew!) okay baby

i will try not to give them "lunch" for dinner but who knows what will happen in the next hour & a half... :)

i will leave you with this little gem from the weekend

me: punks, what would you do all day if you were mummy?
him: i would fix something & i would play in your room

apparently i'm a bit of a handy-woman & he loves our "big" bed :)

arrivederci!

hello, how are ya?

2009-09-25T21:52:00.003+10:00

so hi there :)

i've been meaning to do this blog thing for so long now but time seems to have been extra scarce since the second kid was born 17 months ago...

things are starting to look up and i'm finding it easier to get on with things now that he can entertain himself or play with the first kid (when they aren't hitting each other or fighting over the empty toilet roll cardboard insert thingy)

so anyway, i want to use this blog as a way of keeping in touch with family & friends overseas & interstate (ie not here), sharing my depression (and hopefully helping someone else out there with depression & anxiety by doing so), sharing my "mummy" life, documenting my craft projects that i've attempted & also a place where i can keep track of all the "tech" stuff - madeit shop, etsy shop, twitter, etc

i don't really know what i'm going to write about without boring anyone to tears but it might be entertaining enough for someone out there in the great big www to read so here's a bit about me

i was born in cape town, south africa & grew up in a beautiful suburb called camps bay. we went to a school which had the most beautiful view of the mountain & the sea and we lived about 5 minutes walk (downhill, more like 15 minutes uphill) from the beach (god i miss it so much!)

when i was 24 i went to london, my plans involved extensive travel & "finding myself". needless to say i did not travel extensively (unfortunately!) but i did "find myself" & i also found an australian bloke who ended up asking me to marry him while we were having a picnic in regents park (everybody together now, aaaahhhhh)

about a year later & much organising via email & fax (yes, we still used faxes occasionally back then), i took him home to cape town to meet my parents for the first time two weeks before the wedding (ha!). i met his parents for the first time too and after we "wed" we spent about 3 months in cape town before heading for perth, australia

as i wasn't allowed to work on my visitors visa, & B was getting job offers from the east coast more than he was getting on the west coast, we upped & moved again - this time to melbourne where we are still (i since got my permanent residency & became a true blue aussie citizen too)

we've been here for just over 9 years now, although in that time we've moved 6 times & might very well be moving again in the next few months hopefully! we're looking to buy a house for the first time as we have two small ~~animals~~ children as well as two small dogs (sometimes it's hard to tell the difference) and we need more space. space not only for the humans & animals, but also all the c-r-a-p that seems to have infiltrated our house since the first kid was born 3 & a half years ago

let me introduce the kids to you, the first kid is james aka punky (previously known as hootchi)

james was born in 2006, 4 weeks premature but i was okay with that as i was SO over being pregnant & in 40C heat everday too...
he was born by emergency c-section (i won't go into the gory details) & we fell in love immediately. at that stage both of our families were either overseas (mine) or interstate (B's) so we just got on with things for a while i guess. families visited from o/s & i/s & after they all left we seemed to get back into our routine

until i stopped b/feeding, that is. james decided he didn't want his mothers milk anymore at about 7 months old so i weaned him & after about a month i started feeling my depression rearing it's ugly head. i became super anxious about everything as well as housebound and just wasn't doing very well. i went back to the doc & got my anti-depressants re-issued & was back on track again after a couple of days! incredible stuff these meds!

during this time, my ~~outlaws~~ in-laws moved over to melbourne from perth & what a god-send they were! it took me a long time to be able to fully trust them (nothing to do with them, everything to do with me, my anxiety & depression) but as soon as i did, i was able to sort of relax on the days they had james at their house for the day.
"me" time - it was lovely :)

then we had a little "accident" & i was pregnant again... not what i had planned at all but we went along with mother nature & i went along to my doc who told me i had to come off the meds again. the first time around with james, i was fine (must have been the happy hormones or something) but this time around was, in a word, s-h-i-t

i didn't really want to be pregnant & i didn't want to have to divide my time between james & the "other" kid. i became anxious & depressed again & started seeing a psychologist who was amazing

one morning after seeing her & just finishing with a relaxation exercise, i was travelling down in the elevator when i felt my waters break. either that or i'd just wee'd in my pants & the guy standing next to me had no idea :)
so off i trotted downhill to the closest public loo to confirm my suspicions

panic!

ring husband, who's office is directly across the road but i don't want to move around/walk/run in case baby is born on the tram tracks!
can't get hold of husband, leave message on husbands voice-mail, call husband's boss, can't get hold of husbands boss (where the hell is everyone!), leave message on husbands boss's (?) voice-mail during which time husband has tried to call me... sigh...

eventually i see husband approaching from across the road as i am trying to explain over the phone to the midwife at the hospital what has happened. she says come straight in. we hail a cab (with leather seats, nice...) & head towards the hospital (all the while i'm worrying about amniotic fluid leaking onto said nice leather seats & the poor driver, how will he clean it up? etc etc) (we didn't tell him, i hope his car was okay)

during all this, james is with nanna & pa & i have one less thing to worry about. text messages are sent & phone calls are made to inform those on the "need to know" list. my OBGYN is called and eventually strolls in (his office is directly upstairs for crying out loud!), checks me out (as did the midwife before him) & declares that i will need to stay in the hospital until baby is born

right.

his plan is that i stay there & we try to keep baby inside for as long as possible to give him the best chance possible. bear in mind, i'm seven months preggers & still technically have 8 weeks to go until my "due" date. right, so 8 weeks in hospital - no kids, no dogs, no cooking or cleaning (not that that happened all too often anyway), it was starting to sound like a holiday to me :) OK doc, whatever you say :)

the ~~bliss~~ waiting lasted 3 days & then i started getting contractions while waiting patiently (not) for an ultrasound.

let me just say, OW.

i didn't really feel my contractions too badly with james as i had an epidural pretty much as i was walking out of the elevator (not really but close) but this, this was very, very ow...

midwifes are asking "on a scale of one to ten, how would you rate the pain?" & i am asking about the epidural (i'm a wuss like that you see). doc eventually strolls in (again), "assesses" (is that spelt correctly?) me which in it's own way was pretty flipping painful & tells me he'd like me to try for a natural birth this time

right.

we'd had this conversation in his office before & me being the people-pleaser i am, didn't really argue about it too much.
so, here we were, trying for a natural birth...

right (again)

here we go

are we done yet?

i sat on the big silver ball thingy & breathed the happy gas, and after about 4 ~~years~~ hours of agony the doc strolls in again, "assesses" me again & declares i'm not dilating & baby is in distress so he will have to perform emergency c-section (again - same doc, same baby distress thing as with james)

i was just happy to be getting my epidural! after that things moved really fast & before we know it, matthew is born (you can see some photos here)

it was all so surreal, and even when we went home & had to leave him there because he was having trouble maintaining his body temperature & needed a bit of light therapy for jaundice it didn't seem real. when we did bring him home, it felt more real. but he didn't feel like he was my baby, it felt like we were just looking after him & i didn't really bond with him properly for a long time.

i think it took about 10 - 12 months to be honest, a strange thing really but i think it also had a lot to do with the depression thing (i love him to bits now, he's such a cheeky little character with a great sense of humour & he loves (idolizes) his big brother to bits).
i didn't b/feed him, which was a really hard decision to make especially due to his prematurity, but i figured i'd be a better mother to matthew & james if i had all my mental bits together & coping than if i didn't and was spiraling downwards again & unable to care for either of them

two months after all that stuff, i had to go back to hospital and stayed in for a few days because they thought i had an infection from the c-section & then had to go back again because they figured out it was a ~~cyst on my ovary~~ ~~a twisted ovary~~ an abscess on my ovary which had burst & needed immediate operating

right.

another major operation (called a laparoscopy) but i won't go into the gory details (i was more of a wuss with this op than the two emergency c-sections i have to say)

after that i felt muuuuucchhhh better :)

then matthew had to have a double hernia operation, B got the chicken pox for the first time in his 36 years & james had to go to hospital in the ambulance (with me) for his first ever croup attack

sigh...

not much has happened since all that, except around the start of the year i fell off the back of the armchair whilst trying to remove the creeper vine that was growing inside the top of the window frame in the lounge room (don't ask) & had to go to the hospital emergency room with suspected fractured ankle...
x-ray said nothing, doc said bad sprain, here - take these crutches for the next two weeks & i laughed

winter has been c-r-a-p with the kids & i bouncing snot & illness off of one another but things are really starting to look up now with spring in the air!

so, this is about the most i've typed in one sitting in oh, about 3 years & i'm pretty much worn out from eating all those jelly babies while i was doing so & i have to package up another order that came in from donna while i was playing around with the settings on this here blog & i have to get the kids' snacks etc ready for the two house-for-sale open for inspections we're schlepping to tomorrow morning & possibly also fit a shower somewhere in between all this & sleep so i'll be off for now

please do visit again soon - the next installment of "this is my life" should be up ~~within the next few weeks~~ (ha ha ha!) soon. i want to talk (write?) about my crafty self & other crafty crafters (and i might even link to some cool crafts you can DIY too!)

adios amigos
x