quiet day

It's Monday. Dash-around-quickly-do-housework-then-quilt-day. Normally I would be alone today, but I have Doodlebug company today. He has been unwell since Friday, rallied himself to help out his teammates for the Soccer Gala Day on Saturday (which wiped him completely since they made it through 3 games to go to the final) before collapsing in a little heap yesterday. This morning I was trying to get him moving with not much luck. I found him sleeping in a little beanbag nest by the window, curled up in the morning sun like a cat.

new water sport

Garden surfing!

This is what Little Possum got up to on a hot afternoon. The garden hose was wedged in the branches of the camellia tree and LP had a "surf" in the spray while watering the grass.

Goggles - great idea! (and such a good look.....)

Little Possum's "holiday"

Well...... not so much a holiday, I suppose, as we were there for LP's wet dressings.....

but as far as hospital stays go, this was a good one. All credit to the Royal North Shore Hospital children's ward!

There was nothing wrong with LP's energy levels, and the hospital corridors were perfect for cartwheels and handstands

The children's ward has a school room and teaching staff who made sure that LP and the other children had plenty of things to keep them occupied. LP's noticeboard quickly filled up with her excellent artwork.

Outside the children's ward there was a beautiful haven - a fairy garden. Full of plants, things to explore, ambient noise (bird twitter coming from speakers on the wall....)

One of many windchimes....

Can't beat the clown doctors for entertainment value...

On our second day there, dr P.Brain and dr Colourful came for a visit. They entertained with jokes, songs and bubble blowing.

The bandages were changed 3 times pr day, and LP was very patient with it all..... even when it meant having her hands bandaged. It's amazing what you can achieve when you put your mind to it !!

We're happy to be home. The bandages were a success and LP's skin is soft and non-itchy again.

has it been 9 years already?!

I wish you

the strength to face challenges with confidence...

along with the wisdom to choose your battles carefully...

I wish you

adventure on your journey and

may you always stop to help someone along the way...

Listen to your heart and take risks carefully....

Remember how much you are loved...

I am so proud of you!!!

Happy Birthday, Turtle!!!

gymnastics and poetry

"Handstand"

There isn't anything that's not important.
Your toes must be pointed, knees locked, buttocks clenched to the edge of pain.
Ribs arch, torso elongates to an elegance impossible elsewhere.
Shoulders extended, you glare at your hands.
So much for the easy part, and truly, it is easy;
you need only get there and freeze the parts into place,
then a corner of your brain will keep them cold while you turn inward, to the challenge.
No one but another gymnast would guess that it lies in the pressure from ten whorled pads, in the hinge between hand and forearm.
Adjusting by microns, fingertip, wrist, you play as a child,
gravity the most beautiful of toys.
You could stay up forever,
the world inverted but in such perfect balance that coming down is like a small deaththe line breaks,
your feet touch the mat, your spine reclaims its ordinary curves;
you are dull and mortal as before.

Linda Sue Park
(first published in Atlanta Review, Spring/Summer 2000)

Crime Scene Investigation

Saturday morning and there is something mysterious going on at our house. Time to investigate...

Trail of evidence:

The scene of the crime...... the culprit caught red mud-handed

The punishment....

challenge progress

It's been a slow couple of months on the finishing side of the crafts around here..... but there has been much activity all the same!

It's that time of year again - Little Possum's birthday! Last year we did the Fairy party and this year's theme is "Fancy Nancy". We made handbag shaped invitations embellished with rhinestones and glitterglue. All of my finishes this month are bound to be party related:

felt flowers glued on to elastic hairbands and felt party bags decorated with ribbon and individualised with fabric paint (fantastic stuff!!)

On the quilting front there has been activity as well. I have been working on my Butterfly Garden blocks - here are block 1 and 2 in progress:

cubs

Tonight Turtle and Doodlebug were invested as cubscouts..... it was a great occasion and they were very excited. Almost as excited as MOTH who went to the same pack as a cub, scout, venturer, rover and, now, cub leader. I think that my new role will be to sew on all the badges.... :)

that's my girl

Here's Little Possum clutching a bunch of clovers. She said they are "lady-clovers". When I asked her why, she said "because they are pretty". Makes perfect sense.

Little Possum has very strong opinions on what to wear which occasionally leads to some eclectic ensembles. Sometimes I am tempted to interfere if the outfit is a little hard on the eyes, but I made a decision a long time ago that I would let her pick her own clothes as long as she is dressed appropriately for the weather and not attempting to go rock-climbing in a fairy dress. To give her credit, she usually does pretty good. Today she was very colourful. Matches her personality!

Turtle-faced

Turtle likes using my camera for self-portraits and pulling faces. I decided that they deserve a wider audience, so here you are........ enjoy! :)

poetry

Homework time can be a painful event in our house with 2 boys who would rather do pretty much anything else than sit down for yet more writing and maths after a day at school. But every term there is a project that is a little more exciting. This term Doodlebug has to compile a poetry anthology of 14 different poems - 2 of which he has to write himself. The poems should represent a wide variety of styles and he needs to illustrate them.

This has been enjoyable - at least for me! Doodlebug needs a little encouragement to sit down and type the poems out, but we've had some fun selecting poems. I knew all those poetry books I had on the shelf would come in handy one day! My job was to help Doodlbug find some poems, I'd read some out and we'd discuss their meaning and he would pick his favourites. Doodlebug surprised me with his understanding and insight into meanings.
I'm not much of a poetry expert when it comes to the different styles, so Doodlebug and I have been learning together.

I thought I'd share some of the poems he's picked here. The first one is a sonnet. It was hard to find one that wasn't a "mushy lovey one", but we managed:


Sonnet XCIV

They that have power to hurt and will do none,
That do not do the thing they most do show,
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,
They rightly do inherit Heaven’s graces,
And husband nature’s riches from expense;
They are the lords and owners of their faces,
Others but stewards of their excellence.
The summer’s flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds:
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.

William Shakespeare

Spotted in the top bunk this evening.......

I came home from my shift this evening and found this bundle of boys, blankets, doonas, pillows and cuddly toys in the top bunk. Times like this I wish that time would stand still. No...not just because they are asleep and therefore not up to their usual mischief (but that's a good reason too!). They still have a bit of "little boys" left in them..... and much as I look forward to a little maturity (oh, how I look forward to that!), I know I will miss this stage of their life.

nighttime reading

Doodlebug has discovered the joy of reading by torchlight in bed. Last week for a evening bushwalk with the cubscouts, he was given this headlamp and it's perfect.... both hands are left free to hold the book, turn pages etc.

master and apprentice

Padawan Doodlebug had to pass the next stage of his apprenticeship with Jedi Geek master MOTH teaching him how to build his own lightsaber computer. After a trip to Geek Heaven Computer Parts store to buy the necessary parts, they sat themselves down in the middle of the kitchen for this most important Rite of Passage. It was hard to tell who enjoyed it the most, but at the end of it the kids have a working computer and Doodlebug has earned his very own polyester shirt complete with pocket protector.

The decision to build a new computer was made mostly because the kids insist on using ours complaining that theirs is too slow...... spoilt, they are :) In my day I was lucky to have a stick to scratch in the dirt with for entertainment. OK, I admit that's a slight exaggeration...

(On a completely different topic I can report furious activity on the quilting front.... The promised auction quilt has had a couple of re-pick moments but is progressing beautifully)

First day of school!

(Turtle is not crying.... he's just trying to avoid being photographed )

Having covered 48 textbooks and exercisebooks with "contact paper" (stickyback plastic) and having labelled all pencils, colouring pencils, textas, sharpeners, rulers etc etc etc., I was more than ready for this day!


The morning started with a shock as Turtle actually expressed interest in having a proper sandwich in his lunch box. This is the boy who would go to school with 2 slices of plain bread in his lunchbox because he only likes Nutella, and this is banned at school...... I tried very hard not to make too much of a fuss about this since it could very likely make him change his mind....... (he's like that, our Turtle!). He actually decided that he wanted a banana sandwich (not just sandwich, but FRUIT as well!!). Yay!! could it be that our boy is actually turning a corner in the food-fussiness department? Maybe having omnivorous siblings is actually rubbing off, or maybe he's too hungry to carry on the rebellion?


It was a very rainy morning which caused much concern for the children who look forward to their plays in the playground at recess and lunch. Thankfully it did clear up mid-morning, so playtime was saved!


This year brought a uniform change - compulsory ties for the boys. Ties have until now been during winter only, and the boys were not impressed to have it extended to summer as well. I think they look very smart, and I'm sure they'll get used to it.


Little Possum is feeling very grown up now that she is not in kindergarten anymore. Her class is a yr 1/2 composite class which will work well for her. All her best friends are in the same class, so they will have a great time. LP's teacher Mrs D is by all accounts great, but firm.


Turtle goes into yr 3 and has "inherited" Doodlebug's teachers from last year. Mrs R and Mrs L are wonderful and Turtle will thrive in their class. It is a mother/daughter team who job-share and they do it amazingly well.


Doodlebug started yr 4 and his teacher has been at the school for decades (She taught his Kindergarten teacher as well as Turtle's teacher!). Mrs C looks a little fierce, but apparently is a lot of fun as well. Doodlebug is very proud to be one of the 3 senior classes who have moved into the brand new demountable classrooms. As far as demountables go, these are luxurious! Air-con and brand new bathrooms.

6 yr olds know what it's all about

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter"
e.e. cummings

I was reading a list of interesting little facts the other day, and one caught my eye: apparently 6 yr olds laugh on average 5oo times a day....... an adult will laugh maybe 50-100....

Amazing isn't it? I decided to watch my 6 yr old to find out what it is that I used to know and don't know anymore. There is the ability to find wonder and amusement in even the smallest of things, the ability to live in the moment and make the most of it, the ability to see the funny side to pretty much every situation and then of course there is the carefree existence of childhood.

Where did that all go? I might have to work that one out and to set a goal for 2009 to laugh more - ...... to feel joy.... after all - "men are that they might have joy"....

I might have to get a tank of Entonox from the Delivery Suite at the hospital to help me along, maybe some laughter therapy? Or maybe just hang out with my 6 yr old to watch and learn.....

building a city...

"We all need empty hours in our lives or we will have no time to create or dream"

Robert Coles, Am. psychologist

This is why we love school holidays, lots of unscheduled time to do just that - create and dream.
Yesterday Turtle and Little Possum went to work building bridges out of mud. The mud was mixed in the wheelbarrow until the right texture was achieved (I'm glad we've hidden our bags of cement...).

Once the basic infrastructure like roads and bridges were in place, the rest of the city took shape:

At the back the Centrepoint Tower with a fountain in front. Various other building and factories, and last, but not least the War Memorial (see? it's not just an upturned bowl with a toy soldier on the top.......)

summer.....sea, sand, sun.... Christmas

On my trips around BlogLand, I have wistfully read about first snowfalls and seen picture- postcard-beautiful photos of wintery landscapes and Aurora Borealis. Just by looking at the photos of fir trees, branches laden with snow I can feel the cold air and remember the sensation of the little hairs in my nostrils freezing and of the chill of snow falling down your neck from one of those branches. I have suffered snow envy.

But, then I remember that at the moment the grass is actually greener on this side of the fence, quite literally.... and then we have a day at the beach like yesterday, and I am happy to be walking around barefoot in summer clothes and not rugged up for a polar expedition!

Just in case

patterns in the rock

Life is good