who will survive?

I'd love to write something riveting and interesting, funny and enlightening but... I'm too tired, and the school holidays have begun. I'm sure it has nothing to do with a late night and a great bottle of wine, yummo ;)

For me these school hols, mean its time to step up and be a good Aunt, to care for my nieces and nephew for at least part of the two week stretch. It is also the first time I'm actually facing the possible dilemma of what to do when it all goes to pack on the hols. Today is Day 1 and since 7.30 this morning, all the five kids have needed from me has been sustenance and a point in the right direction. I suspect this won't last :)

Well, I'm wrecked (I did mention that didn't I) and its half three, only a few more hours to go and the kiddo's will go home and then for my little fam it'll be bath, dinner, books, bed so it can all start again tomorrow.

I do have a theory though....

If it all goes terribly south, I know where the alchopop lives and I can join the kitten under my bed for refuge, then the kiddos can go 'Lord of the Flies' on each other and well, I'll miss the others but it really would be survival of the fittest.

Cat Capers

Kookaburra and Merlin

Poor little Kangaroo has been feeling for a long time now that Merlin the cat just doesn't love him the way that he loves Kookaburra. To add to the trouble, Kangaroo may be small but he still manages a good rough handling of our poor old pal which, I imagine, for a ten year old puss can be just a little too much to bear.

Coming to Merlins' rescue last week is Morgan the Kitten. She is seven months old, affectionate, patient, amusing, and trouble.

Kangaroo and Morgan

A new pet in the family brings so many great things and the memories created are worth the effort. Among the funnies though has been the shock deposits that this tiny creature leaves in her kitty litter and in tribute our boys have been singing one of Phoebe's classics from the 'Friends' years :)

Our new friends full name is

Morgan 'Cap'n Bones the Pirate' Le Fay - name negotiated by the family. Can you guess who added the pirate part?

Making Math Easy

Nuts for You

I'm so grateful for convenience. How long did things even just fifty years ago take? Think further back to one hundred years. Can you make a mental list of what you're grateful for in our modern lives?

I long for a more simplistic and innocent way of life but I have to be honest, I am so glad for our supermarkets.

During Autumn, our program for Kangaroo explored preparation for winter. We lightly touched on how animals take care of this, particularly squirrels.

Our follow up activity was to make 'Nut Butter'. Very simple, all that was needed were the nuts (any variety) and vegetable oil to act as a binder and preservative. We chose regular peanuts, already roasted and in the shell, but if you choose raw nuts be sure to roast them at about 180 degrees for a few minutes either side and keep watch as nuts burn quickly (I'm great at that part :)

Kangaroo and Kookaburra shelled their nuts.


A very looong process, but enjoyable. Made me feel like we were spending real quality time together, we were so companionable and laughed a lot. After eating lots of the scrummy roasted nuts, enough did make it into the bowl to be processed.


Yum, Mum :)


To the food processor we put one cup of nuts to two tablespoons of vegetable oil and then blended the ingredients on medium speed until it reached a peanut butter type consistency.


Taste testing.


Approval.


Bottled.

This took so long to do, we enjoyed it heaps but I'm reluctant to do it again for so little product. That's what I mean by thank goodness for modern life because yonks ago there wasn't even a food processor to speed it all along.

Kangaroo and Kookaburra regularly ask for a repeat of this activity and recall it as being well worth the effort as their 'Nut Butter' was the best ever :)

Doesn't Kangaroo looked incredibly pleased.

As for the innocence that I mentioned at the start. Well, our boys are kind of a little sheltered, they had no idea that when I was killing myself laughing at them when they were singing

"Look at our nuts, look at our gigantic big nuts!!!!"

that I was laughing for an entirely different reason to their own.

When two Souls Meet

Love

I love you
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.

I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.

I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;

I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can't help

Dimly seeing there,

And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find

I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple.

Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.

I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good.
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.

You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.

You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.

by Roy Croft

Congratulations Mr and Mrs R.E.

5th June 2009

May your love Bloom and Stay Beautiful

Blah!

Just following on from yesterdays post, I remembered what Blah! was



An art lesson with Kookaburra.

Our art curriculum is Artistic Pursuits: An Introduction to the Visual Arts and the above is Lesson 5: Artists Paint Landscapes in Oil Pastels.

Please, please notice that there are no vehicles of any sort in this picture which is something of a miracle for transportation obsessed boys :)

As for French, well we've embraced the car obsession.

La Voiture

I wanted to teach our boys the fundamentals of Drawing, perspective, contour, shadows etc etc and for that we are using Mark Kistler's Draw Squad and so far both Kookaburra and I have benefited from Mr Kistler's wisdom.

Wish I could add more, but I haven't packed myself or cleaned the house, and I'm to leave for the Goldie in the next hour. Somewhere in there I also need to sew a button back on my dress for the wedding, but first I need to find that said button!!!

a day in the life

Today is so typical of my life.

All I wanted to do today was pack for the Goldie and this wedding on Friday, get a little bookwork and reading done. Let me see how well I recall the day went according to MY plans ;)

5.45am Mr E's alarm goes off, piercing the peacefulness (yes, I achieved it, just needed everyone to be asleep to get it :) of our abode. Even though I've been awake for what feels like ages, I still want to fight Mr E's nudges to get my backside out of bed and walk puppy Thor. Bed is so much nicer.

5.50am Climb over Kangaroo to get out of bed (when did he come in???) who I console and reassure that Mummy will be back soon. He tells me that I can go for my 'night walk' (that's what he's named it, appropriate seeing it's dark and smart people sleep) around the house and then come back to bed for snuggle buggles. After months of giving in to my tyrant and watching my thighs gradually take on an not so attractive inflated look, I've managed to stand firm and not cave to the sweet, plaintive pleas.

6.00am Dressed and out the door. Armed with pooper bag and no ipod, I'm determined to enjoy the serenity of sunrise and train Thor to just poop once in the three k's (not much but enough). Last week he pooped SIX!!!!!! times!!!! in the one 3k walk - turd of a dog!!! and I ran out of bags and he did his grand finale on the pavement at a set of very busy lights and with no bag on hand and being very embarrassed, I improvised and used a stick/bark/sturdy looking tool to remove the turd from the footpath, except as I tried to flick it off the path, I aimed too high and... well... shit went everywhere... horrible %$#@ dog!!! So yes, I wanted peace this morning with just one poop please

6.15am It's raining

6.20am Thor is doing his ONE poop whilst I'm standing in the rain congratulating him in that idiot voice people have when they talk to their animals "good boy, Thor!!! Toilet, yes that's right, Toilet" and yay for me I clean up the poop and show the damn dog and continue to congratulate him

6.21am where are the bins?????

6.30am have carried the dog poop alllll the way home

6.31am Mr E kisses me and I just really want to wash my hands

get to wash my hands and continue with the whole domestic bliss thing which goes a little like this

"Kookaburra can you stop acting like a twit and getting your brother all stirred up and make your bed, get dressed and have breakfast"

right, child one taken care of.

Kangaroo is a little more demanding, so I get changed and put the kettle on to fortify myself for breakfast with Kangaroo.

"What would you like for breakfast?" He names lots of impossible dishes and through much negotiation an apple, toast and a milo is decided upon.

This being take care of, Kookaburra now needs me,

Me "What should you do now?"

Kookaburra "Teeth... Piano..."

Me "and.."

Well, this could go on and on. Some days are great and everything is very pleasant and nice but today wasn't going to be compliant. Fast forward to

10am Boys have played outside. Washings done. Kookaburra is doing bookwork and Kangaroo is watching playschool and I have pulled everything out from under my bed and dumped the contents of most of the bags that were under out onto my bed to look for my dress for the wedding. Except after doing that I now realize it's not under there, but on the window seat. I survey the damage and figure I'll fix it later. Ha!! It's still a mess!

10.10am Try dress on and am so pleased at still having a waist, that I then burn the next fifteen minutes trying on pretty dresses and looking in the mirror. Aaaah! Vanity will bite you on the arse because my boys are now being wild, not fighting ,just wild and I remember I invited my Aunt and Uncle around for morning tea.

10.30am Hurriedly make biscuits from My mother hubbard cupboard and begin to make two loaves of bread.

11am Biscuits are on, bread is rising and back to bookwork for Kookaburra and time for snuggles and tickles with Kangaroo.

11.10am My Aunts here. I offer a coffee, she accepts and I make it a few hours later :) seriously! She's come to teach me how to sew. Looking forward to it but I need to clean the car. Huh? Why now? Well, swish hotels make me want a respectable looking car and I NEED mine clean. Can't help it, it's just the way I like it :)

11.30am The heavens have opened and I'm washing the car in the rain. I don't mind too much because my dress is the same one I wore when I feel into a wading pool earlier this year and have discovered it dries very quickly.

11.40am Have finished the car and take five to growl at my boys

11.45am clean the gross stuff out of the bucket that belongs to puppy Thor's water. Try to resolve not to throw his scraps out the kitchen window, which is above the water bucket, the scraps kinda of get blown into it... yuk, I know, but there it is.

About now, I remember I need to degas the bread loaves and put them in their tin to rise again but instead I spot a huskie wandering out in the street and run out to save it from being hit by a car.

12pm Have an extra dog in the yard, puppy Thor is inside, so are my children and Aunt, all is well whilst I'm looking for the animal control number in the phone book. Upon hearing a bit of fuss at the back door I see Merlin our cat fluffed up and looking like a white porcupine, arching his back and spitting at our visitor. How rude :) I rescue the cat.

12.15pm Wow! Animal Control have come and gone and the bread has been sorted

I don't now what happened from then until finally having lunch at 1.30 so I'll just call it Blah!

1.30pm Lunch.

2.00pm Everybodys fed and cuppas are out. It's now time to play with the sewing machine. Kangaroo asks a million questions and buzzes like a hoverfly when he sees that its a MACHINE. I get to play with the sewing machine, lucky for me my Aunt is kind and patient. Yay! for lesson one. Patchwork is in my future, I can see it :)

3.15pm Hurry my Aunt and Uncle out the door (feel so mean) because as usual I've left things to the last mo and need suits etc for the wedding. I was so excited to see my husband all spruced up that the very kind sales lady offered us the changing room whilst she watched our kids!!! Ha ha, should have taken her up on it and ran for the hills :) I was just pleased, but she thought that all my admiring of his rear end was meant to go places.

4.45pm Dance class, woohoo!!!! This fat goose wants to dance.

7pm rush out the door thinking I was late for piano. Even run part of the way home because Mr E has the car and will be picking me up. Mr E picks me up and I now realize that its actually only 6pm, yay! thighs had a workout :)

bashed on the piano, sent emails and cuddle children. Mr E will feed them.

7pm the real version, piano lesson. I'm getting there but I wish I could record my teacher Star Wars style (holograph) so I could replay her at my leisure.

7.40pm Home, Mr E has gone out for State of Origin and I have to face the shampoo and my unruly mane

Nothing much of interest after that so I won't bore you or me with the details but I can tell you that Kangaroo is out of bed and in my arms and having his 'snuggle buggles' and telling me all about his mortal woes.

Well, good night and sleep well ;)