In bloom

I am enjoying this springtime. There are freesias sprouting on the side of the road, their scent heady in the afternoon sun. The blossoms and magnolias, lilies and camellia's are in full bloom. So too are many of my friends and family.

I love how a woman blossoms with her pregnancy, how carrying something so precious and important gives a woman a glow of self assurance that is rarely seen at any other time of her life. I love how a woman's face fills out and that unmistakable glow takes over her whole being. How it connects her to the women before her, who have carried and birthed and to our great earth mother. I loved the secret feeling of carrying my babes, of feeling their movements and their cycles. It gave me a spring in my step knowing that I was growing a tiny human being as I went about my daily business. Growing babies was something I could do with relative ease. My heart aches for those mama's whose pregnancies are trial, who awake to sickness almost everyday of their 9 months. It surely taints the joy when you feel poorly for most of the day. My sister in law, way over in Canada is pregnant and I feel just a teeny bit sad that I will miss this part of her life when she blossoms and blooms into a mother. I will miss seeing my brother be a first time father. I have watched him play with his godchildren, my two little super heroes. He has buckets of patience and an abundance of knowledge. Too boot, he really is just a big kid at heart. I will miss witnessing him guide his babe into the world.

More blooming marvellous things here.

PS Another ridiculously late Eyespy Sunday but this one was sitting in my draft box just waiting for me to hit publish

Red (and something to try)

I am ridiculously late in posting this Eye-spy Sunday. What, with a party, a birthday, a trip into the city, 3 days of work, two other 4 year old birthday parties (I tell you my social life is a whirlwind!), a 20 year school reunion....there didn't seem to be a smidge of time to breathe, let alone blog.
But I really wanted to post this one. A few months ago I dropped into Mathilda's markets to visit a special somebody over at bugandpop. She had blogged about this gorgeous cape and when I clapped eyes on it, I knew it was just the cape to match this one.

There is something very special about a little girl walking around in a little red cape. She wears it almost daily and the comments we receive as we wander down the street are just amazing.

My friend has a twenty-something son who recently applied for a job in children's television. His CV stated that he is waiting patiently for the day when capes will make a comeback.

Missy is not waiting for any comebacks. She and the Rooster think their capes are the bomb. Just today, the Rooster was marvelling at how his cape was blowing in the wind, just like a real superhero.

The joy.

Imagine if we all threw caution to the wind and donned our capes. I think that I'd like to try that just for a day. It could transport me back to simpler times when a cape and a heartbeat was all I needed for a great adventure.

More punctual posts here. Thanks to Ellieboo and Kimono Reincarnate for their great themes. Quite by accident, I have managed to combine the themes. That would make me almost on time.

Bunny Pigs

It seems our Missy is born to love all creatures great and small. I suspect she will be the little girl bringing home the strays and imploring us to keep it.

Today she came face to face with this little creature. Having discovered rabbits a few weeks back, she immediately thought she had met another.

"Bunny Mama".
No. A guinea pig.
Ahh...."Bunny pig"
There was no convincing her. And so the bunny pig was born

Our little friend, a true Bindi Irwin and wildlife warrior in the making, had Missy entranced.
Already she loves the bigger girls couldn't help but mimic all the actions of her older friend.

How she would have loved to have taken this critter home and patted him to sleep, all the while singing, nina nana, till his little eyes shut.

The party is over

Count them.1…2…3…4
It’s what I’m turning, that’s for sure
Mum and Dad tell me it’s what I’ll be
And I’m well over being three
August 16 come around 1
Join us for music, cake and fun
We’ll cook some snags, salad too
At Glenbrook Park, no presents, just you
Here’s Mum’s email address to drop her a line
RSVP by the 12th would suit her just fine



I was right. It is all about the cake. Tucking our tired little birthday boy into bed tonight I asked him what was the best part about his party and he said the cake. He loves it when people sing happy birthday to him and he gets to blow out the candles. Such a simple 4 year old pleasure.

So too is brooming cars in the mud. Not that there was any mud about on this unseasonably hot August day. Just a very big water container and lots of toing and froing with plastic cups. Wet, muddy happy boys. Is there any other way they should be?
My kids love the party treat bag. I on the other hand, usually don't. My children don't cope with sugar well (a bit like skinny girls getting tipsy on one glass of wine) and go pretty feral on just the smallest amount of sugar. With that in mind I sent this little stash home. (I must credit my friend Bec, who doesn't have a blog but should because she is making the best smocks as we speak, who made nearly 4 kilos of green play dough to add to our treasure bags)
Borrowed from Bec over at Red Chocolate, they are filled with crafty bits and pieces to create an alien monster. I can't resist a little competition, so instructions were given to make and then forward photos of their creation so that the Rooster could pick his favourite. The ultimate long distance party game.
Not sure what I was doing all day but I came home with only 4 photos on my camera, all of which have been posted here. The last, our family shot, taken for prosperity.

I can't believe that the Rooster is 4. This time 4 years ago my labour had just started but it took 2 more days for him to come out and meet us. He's still a shy guy, unsure about new situations and always a little apprehensive to enter into them. But once he gets going he is unstoppable. A ball of energy with the softest and sweetest heart. As he lay in bed utterly exhausted, he thanked me from the bottom of his heart for his lovely party and all his friends who came. And you know what Mum, he said, it's not even my birthday yet!

Blast off

The Rooster has been tearing the numbers off his countdown book one day at a time. While patiently waiting for number 18 to arrive, he has been browsing our very old birthday cake book for inspiration for his cake. He was teetering between a racing car, a dump truck or a race track number 8, until he spotted this book at the library. I have no idea how he knew it was a birthday cake book, but he snatched it off the shelf and found exactly what he was looking for.

Each morning our Rooster makes a rocket with his Lego while he waits for the morning to arrive. This cake was right in his universe. It was the one he was waiting to discover.
He knew something special was waiting for him downstairs this morning. He snuck down and found his Rocket ready for take off.
We like to recycle our cakes and get a few uses for our cake making efforts. The cupcakes, 30 moon and stars, were for preschool with instructions that the rocket could not be cut. The rocket will make its maiden voyage on Sunday at the Rooster's party.

Reading the introduction to our latest cake book, it talks of children not remembering what they were given for each birthday or who came to the party, but the cake. It seems that the highlight is the cake. I can remember many of the efforts of my mother from that very first train covered WW birthday cake book. I wonder which cakes will hold fast in the Rooster's memory?

A collection

I am almost too embarrassed to reveal this collection. I have a vague idea how it all began. I was about 8 and a family friend brought a Mickey Mouse spoon back from Disneyland. Cue the floodgates and look what happened! My mother recently dispatched these from her house. At first I thought I would sell them on ebay. Ehhh....too hard.


Then a friend suggested bringing them out, a few at a time, for everyday use. The kids love it, often asking for a particular spoon to eat their breakfast. I can quite easily say, that there would be enough spoons to use a different one, each day, to stir my coffee for the next two years.

Far cooler collections over here. Great theme Hoppobumpo!

Waiting

We have a little boy around here who is turning four. But 18 sleeps is a long time for someone with the patience of a fly and no concept of time.

So we sat down and wrote down all the days until his birthday.

He cleverly wrote all the numbers by himself, closing his eyes each time to visualise before confidently scribing.

All the pages were put together to make his Birthday Countdown Book.

Each night, when he gets into bed, we rip out and "throw out the window" the day that has just been, until we get to his new favourite...

The number 18.