MAKE my week #8

so i'm a little late in starting but the very cool bobbyrobin has let me play her fun game...make one thing (at least!) a week for the whole year:

ta da!

yup, freezer paper. on order for my 6 year old nephew.

i know the rules are for one per week but i figure i'm 7 weeks behind so here's another:

a painting of my 3 sisters and I inspired by art nouveau style (sorry if you see this before tuesday Charly....it's your birthday present!!)

xo

like, BAM!

we had a lovely day yesterday. and woohoo i can check bridesmaid (maid of honour) off my bucket list! Kim and Gene are a great team and so pleased they are finally married. it was lovely to have their 4 delightful children as a big part of the day too. lovelovelove.

... (and please note the submissive hair - my hairdresser sister made an emergency call-out and straightened it on Friday and generously left her GHDs and some easy-breezy instructions on how to make curls with straighteners. hm, not!! still not sure if i've made friends with my real hair but i sure did enjoy having this hair for a day!)

oh, and did i mention we had Woman's Day papparazzi there? (the 15 year old in me is hoping i'll be "discovered"...fingers crossed hey ;) )

hair

you may remember my new year's resolution to make FRIENDS with my hair?

who'd have known my resolve would be tested so publicly and so soon.

i learned last night that the bridesmaids for saturday's wedding are responsible for doing their own hair. HUHHHH??? i.kid.you.not. my hair is only one up from the bottom of my friends list (my awfulcruelmean teeth are currently waaaay dead last!). i'm waiting (and waiting) for Big Fuzz hair to be in again. oh yeah, then i'll fierce like Tyra!

i love long hair. mine just never happens to look like the pictures i like of long hair - at least not without a fair bit of wrangling and subduing.

yup, gonna be interesting. here's to new friendships~

(unfortunately none of these gorgeous heads of hair belong to me, i had to borrow them)

love cake!

i may have just discovered my muse for baking.

super!cute!

xo

mothering with purpose (on purpose) part 1

i'm a very firm believer in intentional parenting. i believe that children are a gift from God and that as a mother i have been given the responsibility of raising adults (because, after all we raise adults not children don't we?). and because i have been blessed (yes, blessed) with this responsibility i'd better darned well do it with purpose and i'd better do all of it on purpose.
this means i have to grow up. i don't get to be selfish anymore. it means i'm ON the hook and i never can get off it. i-just-want-to-get-this-done days are absolute trainwrecks. and days where i-just-don't-want-anyone-to-talk/yell/whinge/look-at-me are equally as carnage inducing. it means that every choice i make from now on is made with the character of my children in mind.

sheeeeesssshhhh!

example:
yesterday
it was my birthday. i wanted to be worshipped and adored and didn't want to do any parenting, cooking, cleaning la de da all day long. just me, me, fabulous me! i thought i could get away with it cos JR was home. figured no one would notice if i logged out (took myself OFF the hook) for the day.
wrong! the kids were vicious and feral. i was entirely wrung out by the end of the day....but i knew exactly why. happens every time.

today
i knew that unless i wanted a repeat of yesterday's carnage i'd better get my head straight and my game on before my feet hit the floor. God's grace is sufficient. a commitment to kindness and gentleness works miracles in our daily home life. seriously, miracles. so miraculous in fact that the kids tidied their room on their own initiative!! i know!!!!! i almost died too~
and then, the one i know i know i know, (but it's just so much hardwork).... consistency. i re-reminded myself of what is unacceptable in this family and jumped all over it the second i caught a sniff of it (as opposed to harping all day then being so mad.....*sigh* yanno).

the moral of the story is: i have kids. they are special precious gifts. i want them to be fantastic adults. therefore i always gotta have my game face on. hard truth (jelly-for-bones exhausting truth!) but it's where i am and i want to do this well. after all....the children, as they say, are our future :)

saturday plans

it's one of those things i've always wanted to be.

but now? it's more like, ok pass the valium!!!

yes, i am to be a bridesmaid this saturday. (well, technically a maid of honour but there's no need for such formalities around here, ahem.)

for The Wedding Givers no less! (...on tv1 breakfast show here).

seems i've grown remarkably accustomed to the unacknowledged busyness and obscurity of motherhood. hiding behind meals and nappies and teething dribble and tantrums and floors that need vacuming. the thought of coming out into the spotlight makes me feel like what i imagine this sweet lady (paternal grandmother):

would have felt like if she'd ever visited us here:

(see? valium right?)

i'm way too old for such public displays of publicity. especially while lactating! and with so many teeth missing!......and you can bet your very last chon won that the baby will "need feeding" right when it's time for bridesmaids (maid of honour) speeches thankyouverymuch.

................

ps. dear seoul, seeing your picture does make me miss you so~

yu-um!

oh these colours!

found here

9 weeks/ 2 months

i promise you would not believe the amount of times i have had people put the fact that this little guy is so cruisy and easy-going down to his birth order.

oh, all 3rd and 4th babies are like that. they have to be.

i'd like to give the fella a bit more credit than that. i know that "difficult" babies pay no attention to birth order.

i'd like to think he is utterly amazingly well-settled and calm because it's his personality. (and i may just thumb my nose at the next person who fobs it off as merely because he is a fourth child! pfft!)

happy 2 months my son xo

outlook

they say a mother spends about 80% of her time in the kitchen.

so here's part of my view that i look at 80% of the day:

(ie. an overgrown vege garden and tomato plants that are behaving more like noxious weeds! oh, and a green book of poetry to help pass stirring time etc)

the divine 'evelyn' rose, picked for me by Ty :)

....................

i'm beginning to see hints of autumn. for the most part i can convince myself it isn't on it's way, but there are definitely signs.

like the darkness in the morning - when Danny was born two months ago it was bright at 5.30 (and i know, cos i was often awake!) and then, today, i noticed that the leaves on the poplars are dulling.

i'm apprehensive about winter. i don't do well without sunshine. especially in this house.

in winter i miss our itty-bitty house (home) in town.

11 years of US

J4D

for 11 years!!

and i can honestly say they have been wonderful.

JR is a very easy and fun guy to be married to.

so, so blessed.

baby bling!

did you notice my new bling?

we picked it up on JRs birthday. i lovelovelove it!!!

thanks ms leonard

(and JR for supplying the loose change)

xo

act yer age

in case you are wondering, 9 weeks without op-shopping/thrifting doesn't cure you of the addiction. trust me, i know.

i was finally able to squeeze a sneaky trip in sans (only) one child. the trip itself went swimmingly but now Jada and I currently both have a death-grip on the same item of clothing. she wants me to whip it into a maxi dress for her (cuuuuuuttte!):

but i rather fancy it as a long top/ summer dress for myself:

why does the phrase "mutton dressed as lamb" spring to mind?

ok ok ok. so the cute 6 year old gets her maxi dress.

i'll go rummage for my floral skirt and cardy...

birthday #4 out of 5

i was a youthful 18 and JR was a "mature" 22 (well, compared to 18 it was mature!) when we started "going out". on sunday he turned 36. now that sounds mature! the good thing about being 4 years apart in age is that i always get to feel so young! :).

(oh, and just so ya know, i'm feeling the cross-processed vibe...it's to distract from the fact that i'm not a professional photographer like all the real cool bloggy types)

the birthday began with a ga-zillion presents made with love and care by sweet little hands

.....including at least a million presents made from scraps of wood and sawdust from the workshop (including a kontiki...of course).....

.....then to Rotorua. and the gondola. gleee~~.....

....and "the houses look so small aye mummy!".....

....yes, even Jada loved the luge....

finally Ty's turn. MEGA gleee!....

...and mum? yanno. doin what i do :)...

we had the Most Fun Day.

Happy Birthday JR xo

twitter

these lil tweeters will either be going to live with Ollie...or be made into a mobile.

either way, i'm excited :)

7 weeks old...(already??)

this guy is all kinds of sweetness~ mmmm

those cheeks were made for kissin

oh, and did i mention he slept all night last night??
that's my boy!
xo

let's hear it for the boys!

SUUUUPER excited about this...hope it's as fantastic as it promises to be!

Birthday Season Cont.

February 1st is one of my all time favourite dates. After a wonderful unmedicated waterbirth, at 12.32am on the 1st of February 2004, JR and I became parents. The course of our lives changed forever. We've grown, adjusted, despaired, loved and prayed in ways we never knew possible!

It has been 6 years already!

Jandal cake (as requested!)

The weather was awful so we made paper pinwheels inside instead

Blow my beauties!!

This is what 6 years will do to a kid:

Oh, and then a visit from "Mr. Cloth"...general hysteria ensued...