weekend away

 

We are off in the van this weekend for the first time in ages. Our van is much less pretty than these but so much more comfortable and this is definitely an area where I sacrifice style for comfort. We are all excited, the beds are made, the drawers are packed. We are travelling a paltry 26 kilometres and we can't wait.

everything old is new again

Sometime during the seventies my Dad got into leather work, I also have memories of him doing geometric string art and macrame (although the macrame may have been Mum). But the leather work was pretty cool. He made belts, hanging candle holders from continuous coils of leather,and shoulder bags for me and Mum. The last time Mum and Dad came over they brought boxes I'd been storing in their garage. There amongst my old school uniforms, Timex watches, and a suitcase full of Trixie Belden mysteries was my bag. Milly exclaimed with glee and every now and again (depending on her outfit) she pulls it out as her hand bag du jour. She particularly loves looking at the strap where Dad stamped my name.

thrifted treasure

I was on the hunt for a gift this week so walked 100 metres down the road to my op / thrift shop. I came home with this gorgeous picnic basket. I love the idea of packing a picnic with 2 bottles of wine and hardly any food. I also found the gift I was looking for but didn't take a  photo - a set of four crystal hollow stemmed champagne glasses in perfect condition - Happy Birthday Amber.

spontaneity

 

Recently I was gently challenged to step outside of my highly ordered, ultra structured comfort zone and do something spontaneous. On Saturday we woke up and decided to head to Federation Square to see what we could see...

The NGV's Kids' Space was small but lots of fun. The current exhibition is the world in miniature and the kids loved looking through magnifying glasses at tiny tea sets, ancient jade carvings and sculptures. They raced around hunting for the hidden decals of something called a "goatee spruiker" and crawled into all manner of hidey holes.

   

We had a glimpse of the Disney Fairy Princess Exhibition at ACMI then had lunch at one of the cafes. While we wandered around the second hand book market the kids climbed steps, crawled over the architecture and generally had as much fun as the average playground provides. I am pleased to note that we are raising avid people watchers so much fun was had in this time honoured pursuit. Throw in a couple of tram rides, a truly hilarious photo booth experience (more on that later), visiting a hobby shop and parking on the rooftop level of a highrise carpark and it was pretty much a fabulous day - despite (or because of) the fact it was not planned and organised, I could embrace this spontaneity caper, I will just need to schedule more of it in!

As for the family portrait, we now do this so often the kids are becoming experts at it. I think this one could be my favourite.

happy valentine's day

Emily and I were busy making 60 choc chip heart shaped muffins on Sunday in readiness for a holiday that we don't actually celebrate in this house. Suffice to say that the kids in my Year 9 classes were happy. If you celebrate it - I hope you had a lovely day.

at the moment I am...

playing...

pick up sticks, draughts, monopoly, yahtzee. Lots of board games.

reading...

new Charlie and Lola books from the library and lots of old favourites. The bookshelves are getting a workout every night.

and drinking...

Rekorderlig Pear Cider. It is refreshing and sparkly and a welcome pleasure at about 7 o'clock in the evening. All screens - television, computer, iPhone - have been turned off at our house until further notice. The result is a lot of reading of children's books, playing of board games and a small amount of gritting of teeth - which is when the cider is most appreciated.

entrepeneur

Sam is aching for a twenty inch bicycle. His is sixteen inches and his friend Fletcher's is twenty. After seeing him ride on the larger sized it is obvious that he needs to get a bigger one. Unfortunately his birthday is eight months away and I am loathe to just go and buy one. Maybe I should reassess this but a bike is a big thing and I am reluctant to enter a world of getting stuff for the sake of stuff - make them wait for birthdays and Christmas I say.

So we have come up with a plan - if Sam raises half the money (about $100) we will match it and he can have the bike of his dreams. On face value it seems an impossible task for a 6 year old to muster a hundred bucks but I have a master plan (no shock there huh?). Sam has masses of toys in the garage that he is hoarding. I have explained that the sale of his tub of wooden Thomas the Tank Engine trains and tracks and miscellaneous, horribly expensive tunnels, station  houses and Sodor Island ephemera would raise the hundred via eBay.

Thus the conundrum, for I have raised  a hoarder. He thinks every possession is precious. On a good (ie emotionally stable) day he is genuinely saddened at the thought of purging; on a bad day he is heartbroken. The fact that he never plays with something is totally irrelevant, the fact that something may be broken is barely relevant. He keeps everything. I purge when he is out of the house and then dodge and run if he realises. His old clothes need to be given to Milly. His baby tricycle has to be kept for when friends with babies visit. Every drawing he has ever done should be stored forever.

Such is his reluctance to sell the tub of trains he set up an Orange Juice Stand on the weekend. So far he has made six sales for a total of $6. Milly has yet to work out that she is slave labour and he has no intention of sharing the coffers. Part of me is impressed at his enterprising, but mainly I can't believe he has undermined my master plan. I thought it was brilliant.

Only 94 cups of juice to go.

two first days

Grade One:

...and Kindergarten:

you and me day

At some point yesterday Milly was skipping through the house repeating"Yippee, Yippee" quietly to herself. Suffice to say she is happy I have cut back on my work hours and our "you and me day" was fantastic.

Inspired by an episode of Play School we made turtles (both mothers and babies), a beach and ocean. The mothers lay eggs and babies hatched and swam in the ocean. Obviously attuned to the current meteorological craziness Milly conjured a whirlpool and the babies were saved from the jaws of death.

Amongst the turtles, playgroup, walk and supermarket shopping we also managed to make cakes "for the boys". Sam declared his after school snack of chocolate muffins with choc chips as - "Definitely and Positively Delicious" and rated them ten out of ten.

tuesday's plan

The holidays are over, I have returned to work and Sam is in Grade 1. This marks the return to working 2 days a week. Tomorrow is the first day for a long time where Milly and I are at home together without Sam. She just called me into her bedroom and whispered "It's a you and me day tomorrow - Let's make cakes for the boys". So that is the plan. I'll keep you posted.