I'm back

I've decided I need to come back, its been a while and my life has changed a bit and so too will this blog. I have been trying to work out how I can write the same blog when I don't feel the same and my days look so different now. I realised I can't, so here we are and I guess what this new blog looks like will reveal itself to you as is it revealed to me. Expect crafty goodness, expect domestic frustrations and occasional victories, tours of favourite places and new discoveries, a fasination with interesting merchandising, stories of dressing up and pictures of yummy food and coffee art. I hope you enjoy joining me occasionally, I will be here anyway just for fun....

A long week/fortnight

A fortnight ago I logged off wondering if it would be a long week. It sure was, perhaps evidenced by my lack of blogging, I have just been to busy dealing with life to have the time to reflect here. Having a mixed readership I have been wondering about how much to write here, my uncertainty has lead me to say nothing.... however I have felt privileged to share the ups and downs of many of my blogger friends, and your honesty has encouraged me to share this wee stumble.

The short version is this(and hang in there, I tried to keep it short): A fortnight ago we made the decision to withdraw our very unhappy 2nd born out of her school and leap, hoping that we would find a soft place to land. Moving to a new city, and country has been an adventure for us and really the only thing that has been difficult has been the girls schooling. Only one thing, but oh that one thing is a major.

We resolved the problem for the first born at the beginning of this year and had plans for the second born for next year, but then a fortnight ago it was clear that this was just too far away. So we took the leap and to my great joy and relief the soft place arrived, and after a crazy week of interviews, Dr visits, uniform and stationary shopping, rearranging of finances and farewells, our gorgeous girl headed off, nervous but happy. Most importantly she came home happy and the most relaxed I have seen her in a long time. I am so relieved and now guilty and a little lost. I have been worrying about this situation for some time and relieved though I am, I find myself unsure what to do without the worry. I was unaware of how much it was hanging over me until it was gone. That feeling hasn't hung around to long, already my focus is shifting, (more about that later) but briefly I felt strange and lost without the weight of worry.

Why does it take me so long to leap? I have always found that everything works out ok but I still struggle to hold on, to have all the i's dotted, t's crossed and the ducks lined up, to know for sure before I let go. I need to remember to have some more faith, that I do not have to have all the answers and that I can handle whatever comes my way. Although I know mother guilt seldom does anyone any favours. Choosing school is part of my job and I feel guilty to have failed in this aspect. On the other hand I also know that this journey has lead both my daughters and myself to some good friends, friends we wouldn't have otherwise found. And life is a journey isn't it and an adventure and sometimes it is smooth and sometimes it isn't and as far as life stuff goes this was just a wee stumble along the way.

So there you are out the other side of this little stumble with only a grazed knee.

And on the way my creative space went around in wee circles starting like this on my return to Australia

Getting a bit of a tidy up

And then returning to chaos as I tried to keep on making things amongst everything else going on

before being sorted again.

This cycle is pretty constant for me and the first time I have been brave enough to share the chaos, but while I'm being honest right? For more creative spaces go see Kirsty

Eye Spy - Favourite Childrens Party Game

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Although it may seem that I have fallen off the planet and in many ways I feel I have, I have found my way back on and found the world is still spinning. Some of you will know that I recently returned to my home town in New Zealand and while I was there catching up with all my family and friends I also shared a wee exhibition of my creations with two friends. I will tell you more about that and the rest of my time away soon, but first I thought I should catch up with my Eye Spys. Especially since Cindy asked me to come up with last weeks topic and I choose, "A favourite childhood game/ party game".

I LOVE children's partys. I had great joy in organising them for the children in my life when I was a teenager until I could plan my own children's parties. They are teenagers now so don't want to play pass the parcel, but I still do. Like Cindy and Christina I love pin the tail on the donkey but since I favour themed parties we have pinned the tail on the dragon, given the fairy a wand and put the hat on the gnome. I can't for the life on me find any pictures of these occasions, maybe we were having too much fun. I also love the children to get involved and we have decorated cupcakes and made pizza and ice-cream sundaes. Sometimes the simplest games are the most fun, like when we had a sand castle competition (everyone wins a prize) ............Or feeding the animals like we did last week at niece beansie's party. That's her cousins feeding the highland calves and the pig at Grans farm.

But I think if I had to choose one, please note I can't even follow my own rules and choose just one, I would have to come back to pass the parcel, I love the anticipation and who doesn't like opening a present. Everyone gets a prize in my version and in the middle a prize for all to share. Oh but I just remembered treasure hunts......

Eye Spy - Something I love about my suburb

This one is easy for me My favouritist thing about my suburb is Little Sparrow a great wee shop that is just around the corner and happens to be owned and run by my friend Shelley. I have a friend to go and share a coffee with, a place to sell some of my goodies, a place to go shopping for the children in my life and an easy place to get more crafty supplies. I have meet some lovely ladies at our Handwork circle and have taught and learnt all sorts of sewing and knitting skills as well as supporting each other thru parenting and other life adventures. I really am regularly grateful for being so lucky to have such a great resource at the end of my street. I also love the trams and the two train lines and the excellent food available in our wee corner of Melbourne.

Cindy has asked me to come up with the next Eye Spy theme and since it is my niece's 2nd birthday this weekend I have been thinking about - Favorite Childhood party games... the ones that were favorite when you was a kid or that you like to play with or organise for your children. I love party games and have been known to re-play some of them as a grown up child.

Eye Spy- Something I made for a little person

Really late for this one but have been thinking about it a bit and this week I walked into my nieces bedroom and found this.

I painted this for Beansie when she was born and since it is her birthday next week that makes it two years ago. I have painted words I want her to hear as she grows up about believing in herself, following her bliss, that she is a wonderful person and all the other things we want to tell the children in our lives. I painted similar ones for my girls that I gave to them when the hit a certain mile stone girls hit in their teens. I had forgotten I had done it, but Beansie looks at it every night as she goes to bed and as she is learning her colours at the moment they talk about what colours everything is. I live in a different country to Bean, but I love that I can be a little in her life everyday.

For more Eye spy visit Cindy

Exams

I have exams for the next few school days. I am up late studying and finishing assignments, up early studying, dreaming about English essays and waking up with Math problems on my mind. I feel nervous and a bit stressed. I am not doing my chores and am eating a lot of chocolate. I am looking forward to the exams being over and the holidays to begin.



Oh yeah and I should tell you it is not me actually sitting the exams, it is the first borns first round of exams. I am wondering how I will survive these ones let alone the next two and half years and then ?? tertiary. She has headed off to school for the first two today. ?Five? to go. I am sure we will be fine.

Disclaimer: large portions of this post are exaggerated, we are working hard but actually doing just fine. All my best to those sitting the big ones at the moment.

Watcha Wearing Wednesday- a bit of light on a rainy day

I was playing shops at Little Sparrow yesterday so dressed up nice and took these pics as I dashed down the road. The skirt I got at an op shop at the end of last year, one of those, I should be driving past but for some reason I am stopping moments. The skirt had called me in, I was powerless honest. :) The colourful scarf to brighten a grey day, I stole from the first born's room. "Nice scarf Mum" she said to me when she called in on her way home from school -well she steals my stuff all the time, First up- best dressed.

Eye Spy - something in bloom/scars

This weeks eye spy compliments of bugs and pop is a two for the price of one deal. Something in Bloom and Scars. It is winter here at the moment so the only blooming going on is all the creating in my wee space and lovely winter cooking smells coming from the kitchen.
Scars though I have a few. No photos today partly because I don't know who has the camera and partly cause I am not convinced that seeing them would enrich anyones lives. But a wee list -
The ones I notice the most especially as I swim regularly for exercise are those love marks my children left behind many years ago. Transforming my trim and tidy wee body into the womens body it is today. I have a love hate relationship with my stretch marks, they don't fit the picture I have in my mind for how my body looks and yet I also know that they mark an important transition in my life.
I have a great scar on one of my fingers from a day I was helping a friend in the garden and sliced my finger with a serrated saw. I probably should have done something about it at the time but I had to pick up the kids and cook tea and.... consequently I have a scar.
Going back in time I have a burn mark on my elbow from a burn as a child, but I have no recollection of it. I am sure it was traumatic for my mother.
One scar I do remember receiving I collected while playing a very exciting game of dodge the cushion. Aged about 7 or 8 I guess, visiting friends there were probably at least seven kids needing entertaining. A game started where we had to run from the kitchen to the other side of the lounge to one of the bedrooms without being hit by a cushion thrown by one of the adults. I am guessing the weather kept us inside. It was great fun, full of anticipation, fear and triumph. We had all made it across the room with squeals and laughter. In the second round during my dash to safety, one of the flying cushions collected me with force and I fell right onto the corner of the chest freezer that was just outside the kitchen. I don't remember any pain or the blood but I do remember the bright light as I sat in the Doctors chair as he stitched up a wound on my forehead. No butterfly stitching in those days, we are talking needle and thread. It was a great wound for showing off to my friends, and I am pretty sure that the grown ups felt so guilty about what had happened that I got what I wanted for the rest of the day.
As a parent it has been strange to be on the other side as both my girls have broken their arms and had various bumps and bruises. Their memories are much more oriented around their favourite top that had to be cut off, what colour their cast was or that they got to choose what to have for tea that night (some mother guilt in action). I remember the sadness I felt the first time the first born fell and cut her lip in such a way I knew it would scar, that perfect precious skin marked, now I look at that scar and remember that moment in time, not the accident but that wee kids enthusiatic energy, running and giggling until she fell and then in my arms crying. I remember a time when a cuddle from Mum could just about cure everything. I look at their scars and my scars and notice the passage of time and reflect that as we grow we will collect a few scars like bookmarks in the story of our life. Oh how profound, I'll stop now before I wax on anymore all lyrical like... Thanks for coming with me on this wee indulgent journey.

Eye Spy - My Morning Ritual

My day starts sometime into the morning walk with Husband, we fall out of bed into warm clothes and wake up some time along the second block. Evenings are busy and now the teenagers stay up around the time we want to go to bed, the morning is a chance to catch up and breathe out before the day starts.

At the door...... deep breath....... ready? Time to wake up the girls and for me to head to the kitchen to make porridge (smoothies in the summer) and school lunches with, either bread just out of the breadmaker or, a current favourite, buckwheat pancakes.

At this point I would like to sing praises for school uniforms. First born is wearing a uniform for the first time this year and the mornings go so much smoother now she doesn't have to change five times. Breakfast is served and either eaten together or separately depending on who is in the shower, but either way, yesterdays school notices are handed over, last minute requests for cash made, and plans or notifications made for the afternoon/evening events.... Till I bundle them all out the door to the car, trams and trains.

I switch on the coffee machine and breathe, my day begins.......

Edit: I forgot to add Eye Spy is hosted by BugandPop. This week the topic suggested by 3RedButtons

My clever wee sis.

How cute are these guys. My sister has been knitting these wee characters for a while now. They are from "Knit a Fantasy Story" by Jan Messent, Published by Search Press. The book was Mums originally, sis had it, then it was stolen from her car (and the knitting! boo hoo). A couple of her friends tracked the book down for her and off she went again. I love the wee characters and as I am not a knitter myself really admire that she has pretty much taught herself, with the occasional international phone call to Mum for - "how do I fix (fill in the blank)", apparently explaining knitting over the phone is quite tricky.

Sis can't knit at the moment due to an injury but has found "Irresistible gifts to knit" by Alan Dart and is planning to make the hedgehog heading off to bed complete with hottie (hot water bottle) as soon as she is better. I saw the book at Little Sparrow last night. Dart is a very creative designer. Now I will have to learn knitting this year as well....... After the crochet lessons.

A new start

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I have just been browsing thru some old

photos. This is one of my sister and I having a late night dance at a family gathering of Easter 2007.

Easter symbolises rebirth; for us Easter of 2007 was for us a time for a new start, or at least the start of a new idea. An idea was planted for us to move to countries and we decided to contemplate it. A few short months later we had a job and were underway with moving all of us over. Husband and I were both born and have lived all our lives in the same area so moving our family overseas was a big deal. This has been a journey that has taught me a lot about myself, about my relationship with family and friends, our priorities, attraction and creation and that if you want an adventure it helps if you leave the house. Lately I have been finding a lot of new adventures, I know they are good adventures cause I am feeling that great mixture of excitement and fear. Even blogging for me has been a great new adventure, a chance to meet new people and to share some of our lives and adventures. Thank you to those of you who share your adventures. I love to read about them and thanks for stopping by and reading mine.

smmmooothies

I love smoothies and I love my blender. It was a family Christmas present brought at the end of last year at a excellent factory shop price. Every morning I make smoothies for my family. I highly recommend it as an excellent way to get fruit and breakfast into Husband and teenagers who are tempted to skip both. I am sure it would work well for picky pre schoolers too.

One of us in dairy intolerant, so at the moment I mostly use various combinations of bananas, mango, canned peaches, pineapple, frozen berries, and various juices. What I would like to do tho is sneak in some more nutrients - has anyone got any ideas?