bringing the soul back into christmas.

as the festive season rapidly sneaks up behind me ready to yell 'HA HA YOU STILL HAVE SHIT LOADS TO DO AND I AM ALREADY HERE!'.
a bit like my lars' army friends who always arrive 'to the place of parade' (i.e my dinner, my kids birthday parties) 5 minutes before said time...and I'm still in the shower...or haven't had a chance to stash all my mess in different nooks and cranny's around my house. crap. where as my friends stroll up later having decided to wash the outside of their house on the way to their car to drive here...(this has honestly happened.) but at least i can some what appear to have my shit together when they arrive.
i digress...
Christmas. OH CHRIST MAS! i am currently in the planning stages of the attack against the all the Christmas bullshit that will soon squidge its way into my little girls brains. i don't want to feel as though i have to buy them the earth every year. i have seen friends and family go absolutely over board at Christmas. it's disturbing. i have also seen said friends and family's kids give me the most horrid look when i only brought them ONE gift...and it may have been homemade. how dare i??
currently my kids have remained untainted. still appreciating the small things. in fact I'm pretty sure my 3 year old would be over the moon if i wrapped a rock with a smile face drawn in felt on it. seriously she would love it like nothing else.
i had my first battle of this nature this week, when their granddad that lives on the other end of the island came to visit us. we went on a trip the warehouse and he parked a trolley in the middle of the toy isle and announced to his granddaughters to 'go nuts!'...i stepped in and said that they could choose ONE toy each. i was proud when they thought my suggestion was fair. but i had a mad case of the guilts...should i just let them be over indulged? i am a great big meanie?? i stood by my choice though... i didn't want them to suddenly expect everything each time we went anywhere. i also didn't want them to expect that their 'poppy paul' was going to  shower them with gifts every time he arrived. and i also didn't want them to get a whole lot of toys now, a month before Christmas and have Christmas be a huge let down...(which it won't because we have got them a present that i know any kids would love..."boiing boooiiiing!")

so it's a matter of bringing the magic of Christmas to them without it being so materialistic...well at least i can dream of doing it now...because give them a few years and I'm sure it will be a totally different story!!

so some things i plan on doing..

1. creating a treasure hunt for the 'big' gift of the year...make them work for it!  i remember my parents doing it for me and my brother...so freakin' exciting! and takes up a huge chunk of the morning that may have been used sitting there unwrapping presents that when your friends rang and asked what you got, you could never remember...

2. we have a gorgeous church across the road, i think a mass might be fun for them to hear songs and be immersed in the spiritual side of Christmas (even though we are not church goers...i believe in exposing my kids to every opportunity in life so they can make their own choices)

3. my mum still does this, so feel the need to inflict...i mean share this with my girls. decorating the tree, with music, dancing and always laughter (in mum's case it was usually laughing at her favourite Xmas album...wait for it...kenny rogers and dolly parton sing Christmas. oh yes yes.)

4. i always seem to go a little OTT on the fairy lights. but they are magical anytime of year.

5. Yorkshire puddings. i don't care that we live in the southern hemisphere they are the. best. thing. ever.

6. go to all the Santa parades around our area...there are at least 5 or 6 we can visit. chooooice.

7. spend loads of time with friends and family...less time stressing about, well...getting your kids the BEST present in the street...spending the MOST money on your kids...or having the MOST presents under the tree.

Honor Violet immersed in her first Christmas 2008

i hate that Christmas sold out. time to go a bit old school i think.



celebrating for the sake of cake.

Today my sister in law visited. Taking a hard earned break from studying for her nursing exams. she has done 2 of her 3 exams so far, so what better to surprise her with than cake? surprising her with a sparkly, flower embellished, glittery cake. not the most AAAmazing cake in the world...but not bad for a time poor mum and a 2 year old that ate most of the icing.



Indie May Monday ♥

Indie May. my gorgeous, outspoken, hallariously funny, dancing, song-maker-upper-er, water-loving,toe nail polish wearing, caramel eyed, bossy, fish kissing girl.

hey. yo. it's me. summer. coming soon to a town near you.

it's spring here, a season that is not quite sure what it should be doing. currently it's decided to be chilly, windy and rainy...hopefully she will have a mood change soon. pretty sure spring is a woman.

there are a few things though, that sparkle through letting us know of the glowing warm skin, freckled nose, sticky tar day, holiday riddled summer that is just around the corner...

some signs for me are...

1. the smell of tomato vines on my fingers after i have been picking the laterals off my plants in wait of some fruiting beauties. have been known to just go and rub my hands on the poor unsuspecting plant just to have that smell with me.

2. Avocados flood into the markets...and don't cost as much as diamonds. i ♥ avocado. i didn't like them until my 20's...i pine over those 20 years wasted not eating them. i think i'm making up for that though with my excessive consumption now.

3. daylight savings kicks in, and i can bask in the last light of the day after my kids have gone to bed. total. magic. hour.

4. Everyone in the neighbourhood seems that little bit friendlier as they squeeze out of hibernation.

5. my toes are allergic to spring grass...they itch and swell up like yams. i seem to forget that it happens every year...so when it does i am annoyed, but at the same time ecstatic that the seasons are changing. i am like a human calendar.

6. my girls run around with no clothes on all year round. at this time of year they just turn a paler shade of blue.

7. the fact that i leave my Christmas lights up outside all year doesn't seem as weird...it looks as though i am very organised, rather than very lazy. but really i just like shiny things.

8. all my summer clothing starts peeking it's head out of the closet, scared off by the chilly winter...they slowly, but cautiously make their way out, squinting eyes and all.

9. the summer holidays are so close. i can smell Christmas, hear new years resolutions, taste the salty beach, feel the hugs given to my children from grandparents and can see the 'to do' list i have to get a crack on before the big, bold summer arrives!

10. sunshine sheets on my bed. i love sleeping in sunshine.

what are some things that trigger you into summer mode?

edible treats and inedible treats.

I love how well my mum knows me...love it, love it, love it. She's an amazing secondhand store trawler, and seems to have the magic eye for coming away with a plethora of treasures. the other day she turned up on my doorstep with gorgeous golden glass cake stand. i fell in love instantly. When i grow up i may marry it, Mr & Mrs Cake stand.
We had a funny conversation about how everything is now "vintage chic" and there are "vintage boutiques"...what ever happened to the more honest "second hand" and "op shops". why can't thrift be cool without having to change it's name?

So to go with my new inedible treat i made one i can get my teeth into, delicious lemon dream syrup cake. Which will get gobbled up by a certain Indie May and Honor Violet, and big chunk to the Lars.

...on that note, i have a confession. I,  on occasion sneak my treat (usually of the chocolate variety) with me when i have a shower...i stand there, hot water massaging my back, indulging in my treat...my being the operative word here. I don't have to share with anyone. I spend the rest of my waking day sharing time, words, energy, sandwiches, thoughts, wisdom. But once and a while this biscuit is ALL mine. Not sure i can manage a cake though...



don't just sit and wait for the storm to pass, learn to dance in the rain.

this is a quote i recently read, and wish i followed this theory and boogied in the drizzle way sooner.

the past year has felt like a massive waiting game (cue jeopardy music). my partner in crime Lars has been waiting to have invasive back operation, metal rods and all. M.R.I after M.R.I we were told he must have this procedure...must must must. tests, specialist appointments and constant worry of 'how the heck are we going to manage after this op with two little girls that are like wound up springs ready to pounce and bounce at any moment'??
"okay" says the specialist "one more M.R.I, i just want to check something before we go ahead"...low and behold...no, in fact the rest of your back will slowly collapse if we do this. no operation. ever. manage it with diet and exercise.
i can't do anything for you.

silence. it felt like our house was silent for about a week. there were relieving sighs heard...but most of all. what now? no more waiting. the sun shines again. Lars suddenly has a plan of attack for his work and many goals put aside resurface...full steam ahead.
but for me, what now? i had written off a year of being solely devoted to my man and to my kids. my personal goals erased.
after the numbness of a week...my head is suddenly a massive rave for ideas and possibilities, foot thumping, whistle blowing, class A taking ideas. larger than life. i mean sure i am mother first, partner when needed...but now i have a space just for me. my list making obsession has flared up.

i look back and wonder why i stopped everything the past year. i became vanilla, when i really wanted to be raspberry swirl or some far out tooth aching flavour like 'treasure chest'.

somethings i want to accomplish with the next year...

1. finish my children's book. i only started it 6 years ago...(6 years!! really??) write it and illustrate.

2. paint out all the cream walls in my house. the cream walls the suck the life out of me. creaaaaaaaaam.

3. indulge in a new fandangle camera. and learn to use it. this might involve reading instructions.

      3a. read more instructions.

4. sew something. anything. this unshakable need  to sew. not that i know how. maybe an abstract cushion of some sort.

5. i have a spectacular idea to paint our new letterbox. so do that before the ants in our current one stop holding it on the fence.

6. dance in the rain. and love it.

i need to take a leaf out of my girls book, Indie and Honor. i love Indies little tush and honor's muppet hair in this pic- mid boogie. play in the rain.



and play in the sun too. because summer is still my favourite season.





touched for the very first time...

i'm first to admit i am pretty late to the game of blogging... but i have so many ideas swimming around in my noggin that i have fully embraced it to splosh my thoughts, ideas, opinions and images throughout it's cyberness. before my brain springs a leak.

just coming out of the fogginess....or should i say SURVIVING the fogginess of my girls infantness...i find myself searching to find what/who/how/where i am other than being a mother. all encompassing motherhood. so really it's finding what i am as a sidebar to motherhood. spooky possums.

i feel i have so much to share, reveal and create on this little blog of mine it's a bit overwhelming...i'm a list maker. so i'll start there.

5 things most people don't know about me-

1. i can't touch velvet...especially of the crushed variety. *shudder*

2. i am a qualified emergency ski lift evacuator. handy.

3. i love...more than a person should...to fold towels.

4. more often than not, if i'm home alone i'll lick the ice-cream bowl. i told someone this once and they thought it was the most disgusting thing they ever heard. i think it's genius.

5. my favourite smell in the world is coconut sexwax.

i could go on for yonks.