T.O.Y Thinking Of You

the emotional minefield that is kids.

2011-01-19T15:53:00.000-08:00

I think as adults we forget sometimes the impact of the little things. And this holidays the juggling act has become just that little bit harder and I find myself trying to tiptoe through the emotional minefield that is my kids childhood without causing any long term damage and its hard!!

You are trying to clean up as there are toys everywhere and a child sees that as mum doesn't like my play, she doesn't appreciate what I had done.

reading a story with one child when the other wants something, you tell him just 5 minutes I'm currently doing ab and c, the child thinks the other sibling is the favorite, he gets put first.

You try to fold the washing and they want your attention, just a job that needs to be done and the child is thinking she puts housework in front of me, I'm not her first priority.

You decide to cook a meal that EVERYONE will eat instead of 3 mini meals and the child looks at this and thinks she doesn't care about my likes, she won't put extra effort into it for me.

Often something said off the cuff and adult may 10 minutes later forget what was said but 20 years later it has helped form the childs self esteem, their trust issues, and bubbled away and still hurts.

It truly is a minefield, and its scary. Its scary knowing what you say and do now can have such long reaching effects. That a moment I will barely remember or not at all can have such a impact.

I know this as some of the biggest and most hurtful moments of my life that still to this day make my heart ache and form rage the adults involved don't remember. So I try every day to remember that it can have a long impact that it can hurt and hurt for years, so you watch what you say, you try to ignore the washing, ignore the mother guilt, and try to keep an eye on the future and hope nothing you say or do forms those invisible scars that are never forgotten by the child.

but its not easy, and I am constantly aware that I may of failed and no doubt will fail again in the future. So you try to firm the childs self esteem their self image their belief in their family by hugging them everyday and telling them you love them, by putting down the cleaning and watching and helping them make a mess instead. I don't know if it is enough and probably won't know until the child is much much older if it was successful, if the memories are good ones, if they knew to the marrow of their bones how much we loved and love them.

but all i can do is try.

Merry merry christmas!

2010-12-23T21:56:00.000-08:00

May your day tomorrow be filled with good food, good friends and a LOT of laughter. Joy, relaxation, family and of course pressies!!

I can't wait for tomorrow, the kids still don't really get the whole santa deal but they do understand presents! And have been doing the countdown with mummy till they get their toys!

now if only the rain can stay away for tomorrow that wouldjust make my day!

I hope tomorrow is all you could dream of and santa is kind to you and your family.

they are hiding!

2010-10-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

The problem with being all organised and buying items and presents throughout the year and then hiding them, is eventually you need to be able to FIND them all!

Started gathering together the kids christmas toys and jons birthday presents in the hope of seeing if anything vital is missing. I was clever and took note of every item i bought ( to try to avoid a replay of liams first christmas as I unhid them all and had a stack bigger then me as I'd been buying whenever I could since boxing day!) only problem is I can't find some of them!

here are some interesting spots:
2 mario 13 inch figurines were hidden in the pantry behind the flour
1 mario book was hidden in the linen cupboard behind the tinsel
1 ds game was hiding in my underwear drawer
3 books for peter hidden in the box of unsorted photos that need to go into albums!

I'm still missing 2 full sets of figurines, 1 box set of mario dvds, a fisherprice teaset, and a boo piggy bank!

ARGHH

thankgod I started this early instead of waiting just before jons birthday or christmas arrived!!

oops!

2010-10-30T00:26:00.001-07:00

yes I am still alive, but sadly have been a busy bee but not overly creative, plus peter and myself are still every 2 - 3 weeks suffering from the relapses of the food poisoning we had a few months ago (according to the doctor they should calm down in the next couple of months though) and have NO energy what so ever.

but we are alive we are well and I will try to be better i swear!!

meet super mario liam!!

2010-08-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting week! Liam had his book week parade so of course wanted to go as mario, so he got one of his christmas presents early (we had intended to give the kids each a costume for christmas - jons got luigi) and though it was a pain to get him to get used to the texture involved and had to change things around a bit (different mario cap and forgot the clothes and put a full outfit on underneath it) he eventually got used to it!

And he won a prize!! A fantastic pop up book that jon has been enjoying but liam hasn't looked at once lol. always the way!

what else has been happening? oh jon had his first real stack and cut through his lip and freaked out mummy and daddy to the extreme, turned around to get a nappy and he frog hopped over the arm of the couch and had a mouthful of blood, was sure he'd just broken a tooth *shudders* interesting thing though was his daycare despite being told exactly what had occured called us up 10 mins after pete had dropped him off to daycare and told us to come pick him up as they had decided it was possibly the beginnings of a cold sore (despite us both seeing what occured) and was *eek* contagious and so he has missed out on daycare this week and was so disappointed

heres the horribly contagious cut. idiots.

this weekend is my birthday *shudders* 29!! Though to be honest I'm looking forward to it, got some good pressies and I get to go havea play with cold processed soap once its all here something I have wanted to do oh for just about forever lol.

though it does mean i have to start getting serious about my health, I've been coasting for ages and although made some changes recently I want to be fit and healthy for my 30s.. peter and myself are off the caffeine now, which is a big thing for us lol I swear we kept Pepsi afloat for a few years =p

its a public holiday up here and the kids are running amuck so I gotta go! oops!

toilet training

2010-07-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

I always figured before kids toilet training was one of those solid lines in the sand, you passed the milestone there was a zelda trumpet fanfare and didn't have to worry about it again.

Unfortunately since having children I have learnt no its a line on a constantly moving belt and the smallest stumble sends you straight back over it. *sighs* Liam has started having accidents again, and I'm not sure how to handle it.. honestly though his mental age is only about 3 so really I shouldn't be surprised but I had really hoped I could stop dealing with poop or at least his poop by this stage of the game!

Jon hasn't even STARTED toilet training so for a while at least it seems I'm going to be up to my elbows in shit. great lol.

circus time!!

2010-06-20T00:29:00.000-07:00

what a weekend =) we went yesterday to a community event given by rotary club and local businesses where the sn schools get free tickets to the circus! We have tried these a few times but with liams sensory issues its always a battle. First year we got to the door of the big top and mega freak out to the point of dry gagging, needless to say we handed over our tickets (as the sponsors need numbers to keep the program going) and went home, 2nd year we lasted maybe 15 minutes before leaving

BUT!!

first time liam has sat through a whole event, the music was really loud and he had A LOT of difficulty in the beginning shaking hands over his ears it was really sad but he was watching really closely so I just tucked him in close and we watched and he LOVED it!

It was fantastic. jon got a bit too much (1 and a half hour show) but lol thats toddlers for you, the rest of it was amazing. And we are on monday writing in to the sponsors to let them know how much we appreciated it.

A lot of families its the only family outing they get all year due to the costs of an SN munchykin.

and on that topic, got a phone call from jons paed - costs are going up in november (its currently $380) can't tell me how much it will be going up though - which needless to say is going to make budgeting hellish. So we have jons birthday, right near christmas, we are meant to be saving for melbourne and all the detail they can give me is 'maybe a hundred more' WTF!! huge jump =( though if this assessment goes well hopefully it will be his last paed appointment! yay!

i just love that attitude too, oh maybe a hundred, its almost 400 atm! jesus. my wallet weeps lol. Ahh well the joys of children lol.

mwah! enjoy the weekend and just think 1 week then its SCHOOL HOLIDAYS!!

uniquely him.

2010-06-15T16:08:00.000-07:00

I've been pondering recently the similarities and the differences between the kids coming up to Jon's 3rd birthday and big assessment.

They are terribly similar in someways the mario obsession, late talking, late toilet training, tiptoeing lil munchykins the grin the cheekiness they are so alike it just staggers me at times. Especially since I don't really see any similarities between my sibling and myself!

the biggest difference though? Tv. Liam and I can deal with tv in small bursts you come in watch 5 mins wander off come back, fast forward watch again wander around, read a bit etc.. its a very broken experience (and very frustrating if you are trying to watch with us apparently!) jon though sits and watches the whole thing!! interacts with the show gets excited about what is on screen and its soo cute! For the first time ever though it means we are having to monitor tv time and not just have it as background noise which is interesting!

pretend time is also very different jon has a rather active imagination, and although liam is finally developing one through his art mainly (and has now got imaginary friends 'liams pals' he uses in stories and pictures) this early explosion of imaginary play is new and very difficult from my pov!

anyway thought that was interesting!

cute moment

2010-06-10T02:55:00.000-07:00

ever since we moved into this house to jon all flies have been bees as our first week here he got bitten by a fly (yeah i didn't know they could do that either!!)

anyway he was frightened this morning as there was a fly buzzing around, running in circles 'BEE!! BEE!!'

he then rather determinedly walked up to where it was resting
'hi bee! my names jon!
your name is bee!'

and walked off happy with the world again. too cute!

food issues

2010-06-08T16:48:00.001-07:00

food is a big issue in this household we all have very specific rules that need to be followed. Issues with textures etc

for example (and yes these are only some of them!)
Peter can't eat anything with bits in it, eg scones with saltanas, icecream with choc chips etc this makes him gag
Liam can't eat anything that isn't dry finger food, picking up food that is not dry will end in dry gagging and vomiting
I can't eat most fruits unless they are frozen (grapes strawberries) or in a drink (banana the idea of eating a banana normally just typing that makes me itchy)

Jon on the other hand seemed to be cruising through without any real issues, as a bub would eat everything and anything, as a toddler became much more picky and difficult to get interested but was still pretty good.. but we may of hit our first bump.

we all have foods that the smell of which makes us gag and need to be warned and moved to the other side of the house before preperation - me coffee/fish/red meat liam most foods actually lol, jon found his first trigger yesterday sadly one of the kids at daycare was eating a heated up curry and jon started dry gagging and ended up vomiting a little.

really hard to explain that no he isn't ill its just the smell reacts badly to him. *sighs*

not sure if it is genetic or a asd sign. darn it.

fang-tastic!

2010-06-06T03:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy and very vampy weekend. no sadly not me hitting the clubs but instead hitting the books instead!

new sookie (southern vampire mysteries series), new twilight, new anita blake.. i'm all vamped out! At least until the 13th when the new true blood hits! woot!

I had a great weekend spent quite a bit of it curled up on the couch with the lil man me reading him reading (new books for him as well) and eating more junkfood then was good for any of us but oops!

Busy day today started off with swimming, then had the baby and kids market where sadly I struck out on jons 2 newest obsessions (teletubbies and elmo - neither of which liam liked so we had literally one video (yes VHS!!) of each and that was it.. and i have seen it wayyy too many times now) but did manage to find the lil man a heap of new pretend play toys (figurines knitted cookies the coolest spiderman toy ever its like a foot long and everything is jointed beautifully its a marvel and i got it for $5!) (on another note was seriously tempted to pay a kid 3x to get the megatron he nabbed a second before us!) then went to aust fair for lunch and book shopping, food shopping and then had friends over this afternoon. LONG DAY lol but was great! and the kids are loving the new dinosaurs and toys!

So hopefully with the 5 million options downstairs pretend play wise liam can claim back his mario toys from jon as its been a dramafest as liam is well aware they are his (which is great!)

interesting news also - liam is getting moved into another class in the next few weeks. he is currently in the lowest class, all the kids are nonverbal, a couple of them have physical issues, they are the highest level of intellectual impairment etc BUT he has improved so much in the first 2 terms this year with reading they want to move him to another class! I'm worried about this as he is still mostly nonverbal (sandwich/drink/mario characters/mario games/animals etc) and can still be violent but the school thinks he will do better with a higher level class please keep your fingers crossed for us all!

my beautiful boy is 8!

2010-05-09T23:34:00.000-07:00

This time of year is always emotional for me, not only is it mothers day but my mums birthday and liams birthday, every year it hits you a little that she isn't here to meet my lil man, that my eldest is getting older, the gap between his actual age and mental age.. its all kinda rough to be honest!

It still staggers me that he is now 8! This teeny weeny lil bub who was popped into my arms not all that long ago is now 3/4 of my height and so cheeky its amazing. He is developing well lately, reading more, understanding more and very funny. How can it be 8 years since he joined us? and yet at the same time life before him is a vague memory so long ago and rather empty.

Liam had outgrown the pc he got at 3 as he now needed internet, printer etc. so that was what he got this year, a handy dandy lil pc with a funky screen and printer! And oh he is overjoyed we had tantrums this morning before school because he wanted to stay home on the pc lol. And he got a cheap little digital camera so he can take photos of what interests him! (and hopefully keep him away from our cameras!) rather looking forward to the results! Already the pc has 30 mario pictures lol in mspaint. gorgeous lil love isn't he!

Happy birthday to my mother who yesterday on mothers day would of been 57 years old, happy birthday to my eldest son who brings me such joy and makes us better people, happy mothers day belatedly for all the mummies out there, and spare a thought for all of us who don't have our mothers with us, and give your mum a kiss and let her know how much she means to you. How much it means she is there to meet and love the grandkids, for every celebration and milestone. And don't just do it on mothers day! biweekly at least ;p

oh dear its a bumpy ride

2010-05-06T23:58:00.000-07:00

I always thought the reason 18 months till 3 was so terribly frustrating with liam was the regression, frustration at losing his speech etc.. but I have come to realise recently some of the stereotypes about terrible 2s are well accurate!

Jon is currently wallowing in the joy of being 2, you take his nappy off he tantrums, have to put a new nappy on he tantrums, try to get him to eat some food he tantrums, try to sit down without breastfeeding he tantrums, try to eat your own food he tantrums, try to leave the room he tantrums, open the door to get the mail he tantrums come in with the mail and not let him run on the road he tantrums its ridiculous at the moment!

its to the extent atm that in a 5 minute convo on msn I had to inbetween each sentence go out into the living room and then have him tantrum because i wouldn't sit and play blocks for another hour, or wouldn't let him play outside again or let him play in the kitchen etc.

please tell me this phase passes soon?!

eco toys store opening!!

2010-05-01T01:53:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite toystores is opening a brick and morter location!!

Is anyone in Hawthorn?? If so make sure to pop into the new Eco Toys grand opening! Love their stuff and wish I was closer to attend :( http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=121686044510799&ref=mf

I've actually posted pictures of their items previously - its where the wooden kitchen I posted at christmas is from, the darling wooden teaset jon got last christmas, the beeswax candles and so much more!!!

Date: Saturday, May 8, 2010
Time: 9:00am - 5:00pm
Location: 651 Burwood rd, Hawthorn East 3123

ahhh just so so quiet

2010-04-12T20:25:00.001-07:00

i love my children with my whole heart but occasionally you need a day like today to recharge the batteries and enjoy them more when they come back!

did a trip to the mobile library, got a pile of books, some discounted easter chocolate, did some baking, had a nap, enjoyed some time with the darling husband uninterrupted, and if austar gets its act together going to watch some completely unchild friendly tv (ER lol i'm a rebel ;p) without any cartoons in it at all!!

then going to lay in bed and read until its time for the munchys to come home!!

what do you do on the days when its just you and the housework is well mostly done? ;p how do you unwind?

school holidays

2010-04-11T03:37:00.000-07:00

we have had a busy time, did how to train you dragon, seaworld today, lots of family time, lego play etc.. had a ball but sadly the holidays are at an end.

I did have to share one thing though. Liam is becoming more expressive, still isn't vocal but now the events and things that have an impact on him are finding ways to be expressed.

here you can see the rollercoaster he went on with peter, the dolphins as we spent a bit of time looking at the dolphin nursery and watching the dolphin show, the sesame street area where we watched part of the show, seaworld of course and lol liams fave part of any activity out and about .. maccers lol.

the one in the green shirt and red pants is liam and is actually colour correct which is very cool. not sure if the rest of us are there in different forms lol or what is the go but had to share. so very very proud!

happy easter all!

2010-04-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

I had to giggle. I went wayy overboard this easter, the kids got so much chocolate, exxy clothes, toys, the family all got photo books etc what did jon love the most?

the free business card from bee & me (a fantastic wahm company) that came with one of his new outfits. walking around carrying it going 'B.. E..EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.... BEE!!'

its always the little things that make or break a day but lol a business card?! very cute and of course coz he's from this family rather unique and interesting lol!!

Happy easter all, may your day be filled with friends and family, food and fun! mwah!

am I the only one?

2010-03-26T00:58:00.000-07:00

mild curiousity here.

A week or so ago while wandering in an op shop while waiting for my doctors appointment next door, I saw wonder of wonders some trixie belden books. I just about mugged peter for the car keys and went bolting to the car (as I didn't have my handbag on me) to go buy these books.

Peter has been rather confused considering how excited I was to find them that I haven't cracked them open and devored them like a 2 year old at easter. But I didn't so much want them for ME, I had once had the entire series of trixie and the babysitters club put away for whenever I have a little girl and they were destroyed sadly the backyard and shed was flooded and we didn't consider to think that yes everything in the shed in boxes was also soaking and needed to be removed and spread out to dry out.. and so it got moldy and basically broke down. I was devestated especially considering my soft toys which I had kept were lost backloading from sydney to the gc! I wanted them to put them away for a child who currently doesn't exist may never exist and hey even if she does eventually become a reality may not be interested!

am I the only one who does this? what have you got put away for the next generation? a christing gown when your children aren't baptised? Your wedding gown? toys from previous generations that are politically incorrect but loved all the same?

interesting moment

2010-03-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

had a moment that both made me laugh and smile and was rather worrying yesterday.

Sitting here on the pc and heard someone at the door and thought woohoo postie! then i heard them trying to open the front door and rushed out as well umm thats not normal and a little concerning.

And there is this TINY little girl maybe 18-20 months of age carrying a grubby white comfort blanket. Asked where her mum was the bottom lip quivered 'don't know' and i'm panicking jons come wandering to the door and he and the lil girl are standing there staring at each other and i'm freaking out lol. ended up getting pete to watch jon for a moment and getting the lil darling to hold my hand and take me to her house.. which half way up the road was rather recognisable by the truly freaked out dad out the front looking around frantically. She had gotten out through the garage and because all the houses pretty much look the same (yes i'm now in one of those areas lol there are literally 4 carboncopies of our house within 2 streets, christ u'd never want to get drunk u'd never find the right place again!) had gotten confused and thought our house was hers.

Daddy walked off talking sternly to the little girl but hugging her for all his worth so fortunately a happy ending.

It's amazing how quickly something like that can go wrong though, we get trucks speeding through this street ALL the time, or what if she'd gone to someones house who wasn't so parental and had her best interests in mind?

its truly scary how quickly things can go wrong with a little one, a jump that landed wrong, a climb that ended badly, a toy that shouldn't be swallowed, a mouthful swallowed too fast, a moment of inattention and boom. your world can change. truly scary.

oops

2010-03-16T22:53:00.000-07:00

yeah i'm the worlds slackest blogger lately, but since the move and jon starting daycare we have had the worst run of illness. To the extent since jon started daycare in oh january he's managed to go a grand total of 4 times due to bugs and a cough that would not go away.

its been fairly batty, we have had ear infections, sinus infections, an allergic rash, gastro, chest infections, colds and the flu! had weeks of vomited on sheets and towels and concern about dropping weight (jon that is!!) thankgod for breastmilk as otherwise the bugs would of been much more serious!

so sorry but we are still alive just battered and still ill. =p

send us your good health wishes lol it seems we need them!

2nd day of daycare

2010-02-08T02:38:00.000-08:00

had a lovely day here, jons 2nd full day at daycare, I managed to fold and put away 5 loads of washing (without anyone pushing over the piles!), bake 2 menu items (without anyone standing at the kitchen barrier screaming as if they had been abandoned forever) watch 3 tv shows that weren't kiddy appropriate and having a long bath (without constant 'MUMMY!!' being screamed!) and clock watched and missed both the boys desperately.

Jon had a ball, had a little cry when woken up early from his nap though that happens even here, the lil man is like everyone else in this family and likes to sleep till he wakes naturally! but 2nd day was a success. hooray.

(kidnapped from megsie)
the very awesomely talented Lesley from Cherub's kiss has a giveaway over on her blog. Go and check it out right here, her naps are a fav around here and very hard to get hold of, so go for it enter her giveaway..I did:)

wow its been a while

2010-02-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

yes i've been missing in action its been a fairly full on month or 2!

we got approved for the move christmas eve and spent christmas surrounded by boxes, the kids not getting much of their pressies as we had bought big items for the new house (which sucked) then came the worlds most expensive move ever. it literally cost us 7x more then it did to move from qld from nsw and that was from benowa to coomera!

we then had a truly horrid run of illnesses, constantly feeling ill, the kids got nits, liams wasn't able to start school on time due to wanting him to change classes so there were meltdowns and freakouts galore.

financially, emotionally, physically its been rough but we are getting there, the house is almost all set up other then liams pc as his monitor broke during the move, the garage/playroom is the last item on our checklist pretty much and tada all done at least for a bit!

but yay we are all moved!

liam started back at school today which is lovely, new teacher new class and i'm desperately hoping it goes well!

so how were your christmas holidays spent? what was your worst move or do you love the declutter the battle over the bond and starting afresh?

moving on.. well wayy wayy out lol

2009-12-23T00:07:00.000-08:00

househunting sucks btw.

such a good day and its fairly remarkable that a day where both peter and I got a faceful of vomit, I had to meet people with a shirt covered in someone elses vomit and I had the scariest moment in years can be considered that but there you go!!

WE GOT A HOUSE! funnily enough its a house we applied for right at the beginning but they were looking tenants without children as it is a brand new house and 'children do damage' apparently! But lol a month and a bit extra on the market all 0f a sudden kiddies were a-ok!

Jon got horribly carsick the poor little darling made a horrible noise both peter and I turned to see what was wrong and got covered in puke and then he choked a bit on the barf and the entire time we couldn't pull over as motorway scariest thing ever and almost decided me on not getting the house as baby who is carsick and a drive to well pretty much ANYWHERE? we are hoping the incredible heat the lack of aircon etc had an impact and it was a once and only event.. *please?* though does show though he does have some of me in him lol, I used to get so badly carsick a couple of times as a kid I threw up in the gutter of my LOCAL shops and any car trip longer then 20 mins occured with a heap of towels in the boot and a bucket!!

but yayyyy new house!! the move is going to be exxy and sucky but we'll be set up soon enough and then hopefully not have to think about it again for another 3 years woot!!

mushy moment

2009-12-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

Tis the time of year to reflect and look over the year the highs, the lows and the moments that still almost 6 months or more down the track still crack you the hell up.

And heres my conclusion: I love you guys, I love that I can go to so many blogs/posts/convos and see the joy of handmaking/creating something for the kids, that you all try so hard to better your kids lives, to live natural ethical lives and yes sometimes drag me along by my bootstraps as well. Make me think, consider what is important, what changes I can make for my children and the children elsewhere. Many of you make me want to better myself as well, to be a more traditional mum and do more baking,creating, lol and yes occasionally cleaning!

I love that so many of you believed and supported me and pushed when I wanted to say hey nah f*ck it and give up.

I love the joy and understanding that every lil milestone liam has brings not only ourselves but others because they recognise the amount of work and care that went into that little moment that happens so effortlessly in others.

I love the love you all have for your children that shines so clearly, where way too many people see their children as burdens you instead enjoy (and yes sometimes endure) every phase and love them so dearly.

I hope the next year you all achieve all of your goals the children go healthy and strong and the only tears are happy ones!

its december!!

2009-12-01T02:34:00.000-08:00

It is officially that time of year again and many mothers (and yes fathers too) find themselves running around in circles wondering what is safe, what will the kids like, what will be played with and what shoved in the toy box and forgotten (other then when you are paying the credit card bill!!)

Modern times bring new worries, chemicals, developmental impact, self esteem, pollution, materials, fairtrade/no trade, until you are ready to pull out your hair and give the kids either your entire wallet or a cardboard box because NOTHING seems to be completely worry free.

Here I am to help!!

http://www.treefrogtoys.com.au/,

http://www.honeycupkids.com/Category/Shop.aspx,

http://cheekyjunior.com.au/index.phpmain_...dex&cPath=2,

http://www.entropy.com.au/index.php

http://www.peanutgallery.com.au/catalogue/Wooden_Toys

there are heaps more but these ones are my faves =)

hope that helps!!

waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh

2009-11-29T18:19:00.001-08:00

My little baby is a baby no longer. He is now 2!! And to celebrate the day has been having tantrums all over the place lol. And wandering around going 'TWO!!!' lol which is too adorable for words. Haven't done the pressies yet have to wait till Liam gets home from school but both 'YAY! its his birthday!!' and '*sobs* its his birthday'

He is an absolute joy, a little man who is in love with his little people toys, train crazy, animal mad, loves the alphabet and runs from any thing bear his favorite foods are spinach and cheese and he loves loves loves his icecream. Both adores and torments his older brother and is so cheeky and lively its amazing.

Happy birthday my darling boy, you have brought so much love and laughter into our lives.

heatwave, circus and mummy babble

2009-11-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

The heatwave has hit sadly and everyone is melting, the kids are cross, househunting is ongoing and much more packing needs to be done. ARGH.

but on the positive side of things, we went to the circus on saturday the kids really didn't care all that much lol but liam had a ball on the jumping castle. Was very cute. They also didn't have any fairy floss! Or popcorn! I was so surprised!!

Jon is 2 end of this week which is both amazing and terribly sad lol its flown so fast and my lil man hasn't got long left of being my baby but at least at the moment he still loves his cuddles and breastfeeds and is too cheeky for words. Hence todays photo.. jon got at the nutella one day when pete left it down lol. Wasn't much left!!! How proud of himself does he look though!

ouchhh

2009-11-11T20:45:00.000-08:00

It's been an expensive week and sadly its not over yet *sobs*

over the weekend the car curled up and died, had RACQ come out and check it out, got it towed to the mechanics on monday $400 later we have a car again umm yay? Then of course christmas shopping, shopping for Jons birthday, the 400 teachers liam has, and medical bills.

Doctors appointment today, ultrasound tomorrow and depending on that possibly exploratory surgery in the next few weeks. Oh doesn't that just sound FUN? All this technology and it still pretty much comes down to 'we'll have to cut ya open and have a squiz!' oh YAY!!

Don't wanna!! But I'm going to anyway as I've had a lot of pain since Jons birth (and he is 2 this month!) so i know its necessary but sadly the freak outs are occuring anyway!!

I don't like hospitals i don't like doctors and i'm really not a fan of surgeries. especially since apparently you are awake through the fucking thing! *whimpers* knock me out please I don't wanna see anything!!!

Packing sort of screeched to a stop last week, and very little has been done since.. partically due to the fact we had no boxes left and of course were booked to pick up an ebay auction of them on sunday but no car = no luck.

unfortunately we managed to pick them up tuesday and still not much being done. Any hints how to get the mojo going again?? I really don't want to do the last minute freak out pack up.. specially since its almost certain we are going to do the last minute freak out clean up and repaint ;p

hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

wishlist

2009-11-07T19:10:00.000-08:00

As many of you know I get the majority of my semi precious stones from http://www.migem.com/ incredibly high quality stones but ouch the prices!! Been looking tomorrow at the Amazonite as it is one of my favorite stones and focals and argh the wish list is growing and growing.

http://www.jancbeads.net/focal/index.htm her sea focals are amazing I just keep finding myself balking at the $30-70 price tag for a single bead.

then there is Christi Friesen's beads and sculptures, if you haven't seen her under the sea and dragon collection they will blow your mind! (see above image)

a hint its time to move

2009-11-06T05:12:00.000-08:00

A funny moment from the littlest man. We were going through our noise 'what noise does a cat make? miaow miaow, dog woof woof etc.. got to car what noise does a car make? 'YEAH YEAH!!' a true sign we have been living off a main road for WAYY too long!!

artshow wrap up

2009-11-05T18:26:00.000-08:00

The art show was last night and unfortunately Jon screamed the entire time so we weren't there long but was long enough to see the 3 pieces of liams work they had up, to buy some jewellery, put in a bid on some of the kids works and almost throw up after eating a PRUNE wrapped in bacon.. wtf?!!!

I'm incredibly proud, I also got the giggles at the fact they spelt Kart as CART on the display and didn't pick his best pieces but it was meant to show his 'development as an artist' umm k!!

had a chat with liams teacher from last year, was rather sad as he barely seemed to remember

her, and I think she was disappointed about the lack of reaction.

Other good news though he tried some rocky road! Just think of the texture of rocky road its sticky its got bits in it its melty in parts!! And he tried it!! I'm so proud!! This from a child who still regularly vomits from the smell of someone elses food, and only eats dry finger food is incredible - he also had a chicken nugget yesterday! Day of firsts.

Also anyone else with mario mad children, toys r us has a huge range of mario items atm and they are 20% off!

the day was stressful and occasionally horrible but also had moments of pride and such joy.

tv shows

2009-11-04T04:54:00.001-08:00

I HATE when that happens, you finally find a show you like *cough* firefly *cough* it finally gets into its groove the characters become familiar and boom its gone. no wrap up, all loose ends and its so frustrating it makes you want to scream!

And yet garbage like the 400th survivor is still ongoing GAHH!!!

art show!!

2009-11-03T23:02:00.000-08:00

My eldest sons school has their art show tomorrow, we weren't intending on going due to only getting told yesterday (helpful!) but after a phone call that liam has stacks of works in it for sale off we go to the art show

It's fairly amazing the pieces he is coming out with recently, all mario centred as that is his current obsession (for the last year and a half maybe?) but becoming more and more detailed.

He still isn't overly vocal - though we do now get please and thankyou which is very cool - so the fact he has found a way to express himself is beautiful

well there you go yet another proud mummy post lol.

candy and scary things and music and fun!

2009-10-31T01:58:00.000-07:00

in other words
Happy Halloween!!

and we are off.

2009-10-30T02:11:00.000-07:00

i had a couple of mini goals with this: a) raise money for AEIOU b) dip my toe and see how it goes and c) have an hyena thread on NC (just coz that would be very cool lol) and i think i'd just about explode with excitement lol.

lol. so far though i'm pretty happy with how its going! =)
now if i can keep myself from immediately spending the funds on other stores on MM lol!!

all live!!!

2009-10-30T01:43:00.000-07:00

http://www.murasakimama.com/store/10 is now open! yay!!!

lol and smack bang on half past I got my first sale which was very cool!

it's here its today!!

2009-10-29T13:49:00.001-07:00

*runs around in circles* It's tonight!! As an exsydneysider when looking for a piccie that says celebration had to find one of the harbour of course!!

I had intended to make a bunch of earrings and some candy soaps last night but after packing like a mad thing (and getting royally cross at someone else again sitting and watching me pack gah help please) it didn't go to plan but at least now the pantry, everything in the living room/our bedroom/liams bedroom is all packed. kitchen next.

oh and to find out if we are moving in 2 weeks or 6 weeks.. would be nice!!

wish me luck for tonight please. I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself if I don't sell a thing well least I'll know my taste isn't everybody's and I will of tried. Rather large step forward at least!

lol now lets just hope that attitude sticks!!

see you all on http://www.murasakimama.com/store/10 7:30pm NSW time.. so 6:30 qld? i think? cross your fingers for me!!

totally random

2009-10-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

just once i'd like on one of these vamp shows the chick to see a photo of the dude 400 years ago and go 'wow your great great whatever really looks like you' not immediately respond with 'VAMPIRE!! mythical creature that apparently doesn't exist and the only other evidence I have is your pale!!' its like seeing hoof prints and immediately going 'UNICORN!!!' instead of fucking HORSE!!!

arghhh

Autism fundraiser auctions.

2009-10-27T07:08:00.003-07:00

And pretty much my last items are up. No doubt I will cave and put up a bunch of earrings before then but my last has to be done no matter how little sleep you get item has been put up!

AEIOU is an amazing organisation and I want so much to help them reach their goal of a centre on the Gold Coast next year. Wayy too late for my lil man on the spectrum but that support, the assistance, the solidarity, the acceptance - the amount of people they will be able to help is staggering.

When Liam was diagnosed (after a year and a half of going to doctors/specialists etc because we KNEW something was wrong and being fobbed off) it was literally a case of here is disability queenslands phone number they may be able to help you (yeah 1 appointment every 2 months yay.) and that was IT. (oh we eventually got a carer for liams daycare who kept being assigned to office work she almost never saw Liam!)

I love that there are not for profit organisations like AEIOU now that helps the parents, the family through the denial, the anger, the blame - and yes the grief, that occurs after a child is diagnosed. And help the child as well!! Early intervention is so critical but unfortunately out of reach finanically for most.

http://www.murasakimama.com/auctions.php?VA=29

The rate keeps rising and we don't know why, but there are so many children out there who NEED organisations like AEIOU and centres like Giant Steps, but without the pricetag that ASPECT expect.

panic stations!!

2009-10-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

I hate waiting for parcels, even worse I hate waiting for parcels this close to the shop opening. I bought some moulds from the US including the puzzle pieces mould I need for the autism auction was told yep pay $35 in postage and it'll be there on the 25th *tada* its now the 27th and it just cleared customs!!

arghhhhhh i need my moulds!!! hurry up hurry up hurry up!!!

I'm also missing my silver puzzle charms but that was always an extra anyway so I can live without those but come on!! You buy stuff a couple of weeks in advance pay through the nose for postage and its late?!!

*whimpers and runs in circles*

just hanging around!!

2009-10-25T06:06:00.003-07:00

Sometimes you make a piece and everything in you goes 'its MINE!!!!!!!' but being a good little person you put it on the store pile and grin everytime you see it.

heres my favorite piece at the moment. ok from the top view it doesn't look like much its cute and all but yeah ok whats so special about it??

wait for it....

look closer. check out the anxious little look on the little guy. oh I love it lol. cracks me up. Was so tempted to name it the wems but lol not everyone would understand that and ehh I think she would of flipped if I named it wendy. and wendy i'd need to include tinkerbell somewhere or my brain would explode (no seriously i'd end up having panic attacks lol)

but considering the fact I already claimed a completely swaro necklace and earring set I decided I have to behave so onto the store it goes tonight so I'm not tempted lol. But I did just have to share!!!

argh

2009-10-23T07:05:00.000-07:00

the kids are so full on lately. Jon is in mad tantrum and climb on everything stage, both Peter and I are running on caffeine and packing has started. *sighs* its midnight and liam has only just gone to sleep and more then likely will be up in a couple of hours after having had a nightmare (new thing and we have no idea what has caused it)

jon will of course be up at 6am we have more packing to do, have to go buy a sofa bed this weekend, I need to make some earrings but considering its midnight and I will of just started everything I try atm looks like crap gahhhh.

good things: I got a large order of my licorice allsort soaps done this week I took a photo after layer one was put in the box, there was another layer on top of it and some choccie soaps too so that was very cool. I got paid for a necklace set I sent off a bit ago so have money to burn on lol of course some more beads and chain lol.

oh and I made a piece that gives me the right giggles.. not sure if thats a good thing or not!!

Jon just finished his midnight feed so I'm off to bed fak is messy and makes it hard to type!! night all!

soapy fun

2009-10-21T04:43:00.000-07:00

when you think of doing awareness ribbons you honestly don't expect it to be too difficult. the majority of disorders and diseases ribbons are solid colours and fairly simple.

not so much with autism

I have been trying off and on over the last few weeks to do some asd ribbons for a fundraising auction.. I tried puzzle shaped pieces I tried tiny pieces I tried different layers and all were pretty darn bad to be honest.

But I finally have a couple that I am happy with. I only needed 2 after all that drama I also have some bookmarks some asd jewellery for the mummy with a munchykin on the spectrum. 100% will be going to AEIOU who are honestly of the most wonderful organisations in Australia and NEED the funds to have more centres Aust wide.

oh and yes you may of noticed. My comma button has died - sorry to anyone who is reading this going 'ARGH punctuation!!!' but its gone and I'm not replacing this keyboard as its not even 2 months old and the mouse in the kit already died!! so no comma for me for a bit!! or until I get so cranky with it I cave. Either or!!

fly in the ointment

2009-10-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make I have decided I dislike making earrings they are so fiddly and repetitive and just plain ol dull. The majority of women prefer a 4cm drop which with the drop from the hook itself leaves you a grand total of 3cms to do something beautiful.

Not easy. and then repeat that a bunch of times *sighs*

ah well can't love everything about a craft! I'm sure there are knitters out there who hate frogging or spinning or some other vital aspect of their hobby photographers who dislike developing so on and so forth.

have been fun with soaps though.. autism puzzle soaps are a b*tch.. wish me luck!

postage woes

2009-10-17T00:46:00.000-07:00

it is INCREDIBLY hard to work out how much postage to charge. Worlds smallest lil bundle popped it in a tiny lil parcel and postage was $4.50 *blinks* how in the world do you work out how much postage to charge so you don't end up covering most of it?

arghhh

goatsmilk soap

2009-10-16T14:23:00.001-07:00

For the first time I made some pure goatsmilk soap and I'm finding myself rather amazed its soo lush!! But heres the kicker the small details don't seem to show up in the pure gm in photos its all one white blob in piccies lol.. so having to add some colouring which of course stuffs up the entire idea behind completely natural soap as the colouring isn't. ah well. I must admit they do look amazing!

check them and some more items at http://www.murasakimama.com/store/10

now just mainly earrings to go! *woot* also inspection on tuesday *sighs*

gorgeous geek items

2009-10-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

I had some fun making these, not sure if it was the paper guillotine or just simply these are something I have always wanted to make!!

tick tick tick goes the clock

2009-10-14T02:31:00.000-07:00

fresh water pearls, jet 8mm swaros and a truly lovely cameo.

fortunately i am ahead of my goals atm as the kids have been nutty, plus dh in bed after having asthma issues with the dust storms, and hospital appointments that went forever for me..

and my paper guillotine arrived today *happy dance* cutting paper by hand takes FOREVER!!

happy dance

2009-10-08T21:35:00.000-07:00

some of my items are previewing !! so much more to do *sighs*

http://www.murasakimama.com/store/10

i may of overdone it

2009-10-08T05:42:00.000-07:00

edited all of the photos today.. may have to do a cull of items to list lol I hadn't realised it had kinda exploded. but I am happy with the items I have ready and now only have a few pieces left on my checklist *hooray* with time to spare which is a miracle

had fun making halloween soaps, but if you go with a black soap would you want blackcurrent as a scent or licorice? hmm might have a hunt around see what other suitable fragrances there are!

countdown is on!!

2009-10-06T22:03:00.001-07:00

well the countdown has started, on october 30th I have my first online store at http://www.murasakimama.com/index.php !! Rather excited, nervous, terrified etc lol I do hope you all will come have a sticky beak at my items, a mix of halloween, glamor, geekery and plain ol' fun!! Soaps, jewellery, custom items, and a couple surprises I'll keep up my sleeve until the day!

so write it on the calender and wish me luck!

school holidays

2009-10-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

its school holidays here and the family is keeping me busy. so no enteries until school goes back!

hope the holidays are peaceful for you all!

drum roll and the winner is..

2009-09-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

after many many attempts the gadget has began working again. and after even more attempts to get liam to help, and 10 soid minutes of chasing him to get a photo lol

the winner is...

EMMA!!!

if you can message me your address and I'll post it off asap!

hmm.

2009-09-23T18:05:00.001-07:00

for some reason the gadget which normally shows the followers has wigged out and isn't showing I am not sure why this is, and I can't even access it from my dashboard so can't access the data from it so unfortunately my winner will have to be picked another day =(

anticlimatic!

anyone have any suggestions as how to fix this I would love to hear them!! *begs*

small frustrations and a giveaway today!

2009-09-22T15:52:00.001-07:00

It always makes me laugh when you have a design you think will be a quick and easy job but end up looking lovely and it instead takes forever and the end result you are still scratching your head about!

I spent much of last night cursing what should of been a really simple piece lol. And ended up destroying a couple crimp covers and other bits and pieces.. once frustrated walk away lol as keep trying just ends up with broken accessories and one very very po'd chickie.

Today is the last day to become a follower to win

this lovely lollyjar of yummy candy guest soaps! I had a lot of fun making these though the running around about moulds was horrid lol. I hope whoever wins likes them! Liam is going to help me pick a name out of a hat (or bowl) later on today!

Good luck all!!

math, spreadsheets and guilt

2009-09-22T02:34:00.000-07:00

So I spent a great deal of today doing a spreadsheet of what I have spent on beads/candle stuff/soap gear etc.. (it makes pricing and budgeting easier) over the last 6 months.

mother guilt kicked in something shocking. I went through cycles of emotion, stunned, angry, guilty, impressed, and guilt again lol. ahh well. I mean its little bits here little bits there (plus I spent all my bday money on either gems or craft stuff which was added to the total so don't feel bad there)

ahh well. I had dean over today which was great as its been forever since I saw him last. Unfortunately the kids react in very different ways to having people enter the house, jon shows off and has a ball, liam spent half the day in meltdowns and ended up becoming very violent on a couple of occasions (each time at me) and people wonder why we are antisocial buggars. its so not worth the aftermath =( so lol a bad day today but each time totally my choice and my fault. Never fun.

ahh well theres always tomorrow!

books/movies and stupid quotes from actors =p

2009-09-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

Getting there with the sorting and stuff. its a total pita but will make things soo much easier in the longer run!

though sadly seeing everything laid out I really need to up my level of production. haven't made as much as I thought I had!!

The kids are fairly blue today peters father went back home after a visit over the end of the week and this weekend jonathan was sooo in love with his granddad was so cute and hey anytime theres someone else here to read thats not my train etc to him is pretty lovely to me as well lol.

I also got the host by s meyer. I think I can rather ashamedly admit I think I am a fan, her work is very easy to read (similar style to harry potter and anne mccaffrey) and am watching true blood.

True blood I am finding rather amusing. I put off watching the show for ages as one of the actors in a televised interview said 'its buffy but for people with intelligence' and I ranted and raved and swore I'd never spend a cent on the show.. (still haven't i downloaded it) and lol no darlin' its buffy for rednecks, mixed with californication and porn!! stupid s.o.b! its nothing like i expected (buffy with a mullet and a porno?) but we aren't far into it. who knows maybe it will improve lol.

Why you would say such a stupid comment anyway I have no idea.. choose to alienate and insult your possible audience?! I mean it has worked for johan vasquez and some other authors etc but for some cheesecake on a 3rd rate show? seems like career suicide!

anyways once it cools down tonight I have a stack of soap to make had 4kg of base arrive yum!

storage and space!! plus school holidays

2009-09-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

I've been counting down madly till today, peter and his dad who is up visiting have gone out to go pick up my craft cupboard!! I can't wait!!!

Atm I have boxes and display items in the linen cupboard, soaps and candles under the sink, beads on top of the fridge and its a masssive drama to do anything!! eg imagine trying to find a pearl, you need to move 4 boxes open a tool box that weighs 15kg or so remove a few more boxes etc etc its such a pita but no more!! as of this afternoon I will have my delish lil cupboard and space!!

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!! Also I had fun yesterday setting up the jewellery trays and earring rack.. seriously need to up the amount of pieces I am making a week though *rolls her eyes* I thought I had been so productive and then all laid out it looks like very little lol.

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

also its the school holidays! we are doing the playcentre on monday (as its only qlds school holidays atm so it won't be too insane on monday for liam) wish us luck? he tends to have fun once he gets over the shock of the noise.. its just getting him past that part and the initial meltdown is never good =( though lol last time we went he ended up chucking a massive tantrum as he didn't want to leave.. tanty when we get there as he wants to go home, and then tanty as we leave as he wants to stay!! *laughs*

cross your fingers for us please! and enjoy the weekend!!

m.i.a

2009-09-15T04:22:00.000-07:00

I've been sick for the last 5 days with gastro, my online time is rather limited atm. hoping desperately to feel better soon =(

beading ppls eurekas 50% off sale is this week check it out =)

argh and i'm off again. ttyl.

happy dance

2009-09-11T01:20:00.003-07:00

I FOUND THEM!!!

It has taken so many tries (aquamarine/teal/aqua/carribean blue etc!! czech/chinese/ crystal arghh!!) but i found them i found them i found them!!

I found the beads. the quality is shit but my god the colour is lovely!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTT!!!!!!!

on another topic. if you are interested in beading at all go to spotlight atm as they are clearing out sooo much stock. so very very broke. *sighs*

and already know what to buy with my spending money next fortnight lol. especially since peter just had to pay off $300 in fines (*grrr*)

2009-09-11T01:20:00.001-07:00

I FOUND THEM!!!

2009-09-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

had a shocker couple of days sleep wise jon has been crashing at 7pm at night.. which sadly means he wakes up at 4am where as if he sleeps till 9pm as usual he sleeps in till 6:30am. so unfortunately my mojo is fairly absent.

but I have been having some fun with halloween items though next time I am making sure I don't buy the magnetic hermitite (sp) as its a pain in the bum when you don't want that quality!

and also trying to improve my photography skills.

its funny though I was looking yesterday at a pair of earrings a few months ago I was so proud of and lol I have come so far in just a short period of time as my god they are sh*t and really need to be pulled apart and put together again! hopefully in a few months I will be saying the same about my wire wrap work now as I really want to improve that!!

Bought myself some longer headpins and eyepins today so we will see how we go! Pete has a stack of clay coming to him that he is going to have so much fun with. and hopefully now knows when items are drying not to leave them down where the kids can get at them!! as thats just drama we don't need =p

clothes shopping this week.. cross your fingers for me please I'd like to once get through it without a tantrum or meltdown from either myself, dh or liam lol!

online kiddie shopping

2009-09-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

sometimes you come across something you love that you decide now isn't the time, but go back and drool occasionally.

here are two of my fave wahms and their stores (often known as the when i have a girl or when I win lotto sites)

http://willowandmoo.blogspot.com/ - I adore her clothes, incredibly talented woman who also talks up storm and has the cutest kids!! (her store http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5273579)

http://www.belleandboo.com - really reminds me of hollie hobby and I am determined next time I get a + I'm going to go mad in her store and buy everything in sight (ok slight exaggeration but not by much!)

http://www.princessratbag.com/ - anyone who has a little girl should have a few of these. in every colour, trim and design lol.

http://www.sewingstars.com - the stuffed head fruit gang just kills me wayy too cute

http://www.mymymy.com.au/ - adorable clothes

http://www.buggz.congocart.com/ - I have to constantly refrain from overspending on this site. wonderful items!!

I was going to add shannons store as well but sadly it's gone. *sighs*

i finally did it!!

2009-09-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

I think I finally have wirewrapping worked out. oddly enough the trick is bigger headpins and eyepins. can you believe I've been going crazy over this for weeks and thats all I needed?! argh

but I am very happy with the fact I finally worked it all out. And the results are very cute!

I had a lot of fun last night since Jon crashed early making up earring sets and the like.

Really looking forward to my display bust arriving lol, but I did the best I could late at night with the materials at hand!

Hooray!! This also brings me one step closer to eventually selling properly my own items (atm I have some orders from friends/family but put my foot down and said thats it until I get better at what I am making lol) I do intend eventually on making my own beads/findings etc =) though the idea is somewhat scary I'm a person who needed stitches from:
- a cut opening a pepsi can
- a spatula

to the point the joke is hand me a knife and I'd be fine anything blunt or unusual and its off to the ER! And I'll be playing with a blowtorch?! thats still a while off thankfully lol!

I hope the men in your lives have a wonderful day today feeling appreciated, special, wonderful and you manage to grab some good quality family time in the midst of it all!! happy fathers day guys!

2009-09-04T14:42:00.000-07:00

Finally finished it!!! we are coming up to my favorite holiday (halloween!!) so of course lots of ghouls and ghosts and creepy crawlies coming from this active lil imagination! And also my first full attempt to wire wrap. my god i hope i get faster at that as I get more practiced as wow that took forever lol.

but yay my last item that was designed for the jus for mum swap is all finished!! Rather happy with it!

fathers day tomorrow! hope you all have fun spoiling your loved ones!

2009-09-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

my beautiful boy had his sports day yesterday. I didn't go this year as pete couldn't get the time off to do the pick up and drop off (NEED to get my l's next fortnight *sighs*) but he came home with

3 ribbons!!! I'm so proud. I had to laugh though all this excitement all the races etc and what does liam get hyper about? comes home yelling 'CAR!! CAR!!' i thought he wanted to go for a drive.. nope that wasn't it.. did he leave something in the bus?.. nope.. hmm ok I'm lost so I drag him to the pc and pop him in front of paint and he draws very clearly himself as mario in the front seat of a car going to mcdonalds!!

WTF?! ask who the other little creature is.. oh its his carers child (who goes to the same school as liam) ring up and ask about it. oh yeah it was a treat because he won so many ribbons.. *goes insane* not only was he not given permission to go, they had him in THE FRONT SEAT. and they were surprised i was upset by it all?? what the hell? really?!

*headbutts the desk*

needless to say any other excersions etc I am going along.

today we did playgroup and jon had so much fun it was so adorable. unfortunately we may of had our first asd sign as he when given a huge box of cars sat down and lined them up. not sure if thats because thats what mummy was doing (i was making a magnetic train) or not.. but yeah worrying a little.

ahh well what will be will be and there isn't anything more we can do to change where the cards fall. and if he does end up on the spectrum god knows this is the right household for him as both peter and myself have been diagnosed as aspies as adults (different clinics different shrinks, different states.. same result. and we wondered why we clicked so hard lol) and liam is on the spectrum with autism and intellectual impairment.

so if it does occur we can help him and understand some of the problems he will face. but i still have my fingers crossed it was just copng mum or a common response as another lil girl did the exact same thing when she came to play cars (and she isn't on the spectrum)

cross your fingers for us?

fathers day this weekend!! hope you all have a ball and spoil your loved ones madly!!

2009-09-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

its clean up day in this household.

getting rid of some furniture which was either dying or just plain unsafe and replacing them with some nicer more sturdy furniture.. plus the tip run to end all tip runs!!

I can't wait!! This will eventually when we move go into the boys playroom! As I am hoping to have a completely safe play area that doesn't spread to the rest of the house. where as atm our entire house is one giant playroom lol.

unfortunately i got outbid on my other items so can't do it all in one large swoop as i had intended but YAY good bye to the old corner entertainment unit which liam climbed as a baby and I had nightmares about at least every 6 months lol, goodbye to the ripped and dodgy armchairs, and hello to a nicer safer household!!

(yes btw i am aware i really need to get a life i am this excited about this but i don't care lol)

2009-08-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

well course it didn't end up that way, i fed jon late (7ish) and then pete got liam to come in and wish me a happy birthday and everyone got to play on the bed and give mummy her presents and no sleep in. *sighs* i was so looking forward to it too. ahh well.

We intended on playing outside as the kids have a brilliant backyard here. Pete got everything set up we were out there 5 mins before liam got bitten by an ant and freaked out and pete had had enough and took everyone inside. =(

ahh well. I got some lovely pressies from the money my family sent all craft items which is a LOT of fun and will end up with some brilliant results once i get better at it lol. I wasted a stack of wire yesterday trying to work it all out lol. learning experience!! will get better i am sure lol.

its funny though so many ppl tried to rib me about getting closer to 30.. 30 doesn't bother me though? 26 did as thats the first fertility drop in women, and probably i'll have another wig out before 32 as thats the 2nd one and its HUGE I want to have had my 3rd bub before then as its a good gap too.. but 30? not so much? I'm odd apparently (like thats a shock to anyone who reads this!)

but yay birthday stresses over for another year. I hate them and love them all at the same time. it always ends up sh*t either due to ppl not calling, over expectations, etc etc it always seems at the end of the day there is someone upset for some reason. I really need to chuck a buffy and just not celebrate the damn things.

hooray!

2009-08-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday!! Yayy!! I'm now 28 (which btw dear husband is NOT middle aged =p ) and I'm up past midnight making my birthday cake (well cupcakes)

I'm rather looking forward to the morning I get to feed jon at 6am and GO BACK TO SLEEP for as long as I want!! Then we are getting up having brunch outside setting up the jumping castle, the train ride and all the outdoor stuff and having a few friends to visit. Eating way more then is good for us of course and finishing the day with a glass of wine as jon is actually taking a bottle atm. (when he was ill I tried everything to get fluids into him apparently the glass baby bottle works for him!)

can't wait!

spoilt lil buggar I am!

2009-08-25T00:48:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday this weekend and my darling husband gave me some money to play with for it!

I have arriving soon
- 5 metres of chain
- 4 different types of connectors

and a HEAP of gemstones! I went in on the migem buy with a forum which meant we got 50% off!!

so i have
Blue quartz
Black dragonscale agate (i love love love this stuff)
Red garnet
malachite
mother of pearl
Snakeskin jasper
rose quartz
Turquoise
Onyx
red coral
lazuli lapis

all on the way!! and it cost me under $100 US!! unfortunately all rounds other then like 2x and they were sold out of 2 of my items so I need to buy some different shapes and some pendants but YAYYYYYYYYYY

and just for fun
1 x Thing-A-Ma-Jig Beginner
1 x Beading Loom
1 x Spiral Maker
1 x Coiling Gizmo

so yeah my bday day is going to be VERY quiet and I'm getting a cake and thats it but lol my postie is going to be bringing me pressies for weeks!!

I'm sooooooo excited lol. I got the email saying part of my order with the forum had arrived and just about did a dance lol

productive day

2009-08-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

This necklace has driven me nuts. I got an order a number of months ago for a specific teal/aquarmarine bead set i used to have.. much stress occured because I am out of the beads and the store is brisbane based and rarely comes to the gold coast plus added bonus its a really rare colour and despite going to every store i can think of nowhere had anything similar.

So I made last night a backup just in case necklace lol. Its very oceany with the waves and the teal and marine blue bicones BUT its not what she ordered. ARGH! Highly amusing though the beads she wants? are literally $5 a strand, lovely colour dodgy quality.. the backup necklace? components cost heaps lol. and i am missing the cheap beads?! lol

I find that amusing. Also the matching bracelet which I may play with some more as I think it needs at least one aqua accent and possibly to be made a lil bit smaller.

But otherwise a productive day. Also had another crack at the Sami necklace and think i have it this time so will mail that off this week!

Finally getting my mojo back after the time away from it all due to being ill.

Now I need to find some child free time during business hours (time I won't get in trouble for using the drill lol) and can finish off the floppy disk notebooks! wish me luck?

OMFG!!

2009-08-20T03:57:00.000-07:00

omfg bleach 233!! this is going to make sense to maybe 3 of the people who read this blog but i have to squee or i'll run around in circles.

my god that was brilliant. bleach is sadly peter and my's football, we cheer and yell and yes i yell at the characters we debate whether items are canon or filler, we get HYPER.. and oh this episode was all that and more.

utterly brilliant. and now i have to wait 5 days till the next ep *cries* SQUEE!!

woot my swap gift arrived!!

2009-08-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

my gift arrived!! And luckily after soo much stress and worry my swapper loves it!!

unfortunately due to the one item rule the matching earrings are sitting on top of the fridge driving me crazy but YAYYY she likes it!!

I can't even explain how much stress i had about this swap normally you pick out something a wahm makes and don't really worry, or know the person enough to know if it will suit.. this time I was lost. Handmade it myself and didn't know the member very well so stressfest.

I ended up literally making 8 or 9 designs from skulls, to my first attempts at polymer clay, a watch, a ring, all sorts of things (and some true disasters my attempts at netting just didn't work lol), and having to beg for ppl to vote on facebook lol. so yeah I was REALLY REALLY nervous, but yyayyy all done.

now i just need wems and maddies parcels to arrive (come on aust post!) and stressfree! well at least until i am well enough to finish the orders that are sitting here calling my name.

did have fun last night though for my birthday pete gave me some $$ so i went in on the migem buy and bought some gemmies, and on etsy bought some settings and chain going to have a ball! now just need to learn how to wrap wire *sighs* ahh well its all a learning experience right?

so very blessed

2009-08-14T23:52:00.000-07:00

I love when you have a day and you spend the whole time just looking at the kids and beaming. And awed by the joy they bring into your life.

Jon is just adorable lately, to give an example, we caved and went out to do the food shop at IGA today (like 10% of whatever we spend goes to liams school its brilliant, costs more then everywhere else but we walk out feeling good about the extra cost) jon is sitting in the baby seat section of the trolley and keeps tickling petes tummy and cracking up laughing. He was trying so hard to be sneaky too would wait till pete was walking normally (instead of holding the trolley at arms length) and ATTACK!! and cack himself completely. Was so funny and I love seeing his lil personality develop!

And liam is amazing now when you go out and about. For years we dreaded going out with liam as you'd walk past the food sections he'd dry gag and carry on, he'd panic if peter and i weren't both holding his hands all the time (to the point one of us would walk more then 10 cms away and he'd just start screaming for whoever had walked away, yell help, etc it was horrific) now he is fantastic, he actually eats while out, he doesn't run off, he is so grown up now. It amazes me how far he has come in the last year and a half since he started school its just amazing. He is now vocal (can ask for a drink, a sandwich, tell you the characters of mario, ok thats pretty much it but its much better then it used to be!) he is sly at times which gives me the giggles. Comes up 'I want cuddle mum' (its heartbreaking the sentence is so broken up and slow but he knows what he wants to say) you give him a cuddle and he reaches over and grabs the mouse and closes whatever you were working on lol. or then says 'I want computer mum' which means he gets the pc even when its not his routined time as he asked!!

He is completely mario mad, and loves using MSpaint on the pc, still won't draw using paper and pencils or paint unless you basically force him which I HATE to do as art should be an enjoyable experience. Can you believe my lil big man is 7 now? It just blows me away how grown up he is, it doesn't seem all that long ago he was this TINY lil baby!

But yeah we had a really good day today, I love my boys so very very much and I'm so blessed to have them in my life. And I think its needed sometimes to have a moment where you just reflect on everything, where you have been, how far you have come and where you want to eventually get as well!!

just for mum swap!!

2009-08-14T06:09:00.001-07:00

wow.

I took part in an NC swap where for once it was something just for us! most of the time when you buy or plan or create its something for the kids but for once we said no, and decided to spoil ourselves a little and create and give something with mum in mind.

I must admit this swap gave me soo much worry I ended up with total i think 8 designs made for my swapper in mind, and asking for votes on facebook because I couldn't decide which to send lol. And yes it will probably cause me anxiety until the moment i see the omg thread on NC.. and i know my swapper who had me had the same worries and concerns but my god the amount of talent, time, effort, knowledge, and caring that went into my item is mind blowing,

its perfect and I love it more then i can say and am feeling REALLY spoilt.

I got in my favorite colourway ever a truly beautiful piece of knitwear. Just look at these pictures and drool, isn't it incredible!! I really feel like apologising to my swapper lol the bar has been set wayy higher then I think I aimed!!

Absolutely amazing.

Also I got gifted a beautiful pair of longies for Jon, as I had a semi custom spot in her store before it closed. Unfortunately since jon is still spewy I didn't get to try them on him (its happens everytime for some reason you put on a piece of clothing that needs to be handknitted vomit occurs, or a brand new nappy within 5 mins theres poop!)

And with one lovely parcel and a very sweet letter a VERY VERY bad day (still not cleared from SF grr) became wonderful. It's amazing the impact a person can have on you and your environment isn't it!

2009-08-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

This week is world breastfeeding week, a week to celebrate to promote and support breastfeeders!!

Sadly for a developed nation our breastfeeding rate is dismal, despite the health benefits for both mother and baby (reduces the mothers chance of developing breast cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, reduces the chance of the baby developing so many diseases for example leukemia, cancer, diabetes, gastro conditions, obesity to name just a few!!) it is a truly sad day that so many mothers choose convenience over the bubs health, or cave to social pressure to bottle feed.

as wbw draws to a close, cuddle your lil one and celebrate the fact you are giving them the best start in life, the best foundation to build upon and helping their and your health at the same time!!

images borrowed from http://www.babyblues.com/ one of my favourite comics =)

2009-08-06T01:11:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtN1YnoL46Q

sadly they deleted the lego version of this. but this is one of my fave songs atm liam adores this and super mario twins hehe.

whenever i am down this always makes me laugh =)

2009-08-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

kind of productive day today. one of these i'm looking for input on whether to rip it apart or not.. sadly obviously i didn't get to spotlight to buy some more chain so i tried to make the sami with what i had here.. and i'm not sure if it works. I may have to either redo it with tigerwire (which looks cheap) or wait till i can get more chain?

rose quartz is so lovely never thought i'd like a stone thats well PINK! but its healing, all about love, health, and all the good things in life, it makes a really heartfelt pressie i think and despite the whole pink thing i think its becoming one of my fave gems!

also i made tee's soaps today which meant the entire house smelt like ck1 so basically the entire house smelt like some blokes armpit *shudders* and some soaps for his chickiedee, sadly still haven't found a good horse mold!

everyone is still sick as hell and also having real problems sleeping due to the issue of laying down = can't breathe.. so sitting here babbling till i fall over from exhaustion lol.

Looking at the photos today apparently i had a very pink sort of day.. odd for me! rather uncharacteristic lol wonder if its thats the swine flu speaking? =p a virus that not only makes you horribly ill but rather feminine? christ we'd have ppl running for the vaccine hehe.

bed is finally calling my name bye all!

2009-08-04T23:12:00.001-07:00

why doesn't spotlight have better online buying functions?! though honestly 3/4 of the time when you go there the staff are bloody clueless so really its not surprising is it.

I need more chain, i need some connectors i need a display bust.. i need to not be sick so i can go to spotlight =(

i caved today and ordered a stack of stuff from coles delivery dvds for the kids, magazines for dh and myself, heaps of treats stuff it if we are housebound for 2 weeks i'm getting us some fun stuff!!

so tempted to go into spotlight with the medical mask the doctors gave us.. but i really wonder how much good a few pieces of plastic do you know? and i'm not so much of a git to endanger other ppl because i need a few bits and pieces.

sorry wems, sami, swappee, maddie, your stuff is here to be posted off but lol i can't get near a post office!!

what else? oh I booked one of my favorite photographers EVER for a shoot for jons birthday, going to do a cake smash http://molliekphotography.com/blog/category/cake-smash/ see here for examples, and get some family photos, traditionally cake smash is done for first birthday but I hadn't come across them before jons first birthday so eh just lagging behind a year!

sadly jon seem to be suffering a lil from 2nd child syndrome, photos of liam are EVERYWHERE but jon has a collage, some piccies in the digital photo frame and the canvas pics which we haven't been able to display since we have 2 of jon in canvas and none of liam. (though liam has the bronzed feet and hands where jon doesn't.. i don't think i'd be able to explain that to liam though!)

http://www.mihajaphotographyblog.com/ this is carolines blog, honestly her work just melts me, i walk away everytime i look at her photography awed, impressed, determined, clucky and feeling very small and talentless lol just amazing.

I'm really excited about it which is a pain as its months away lol. and yay means we get photo christmas cards again this year!

jons having fun drawing on everything with chalk lol the things you put up with to keep them happy!!! liam is having a ball watching paper mario you tube videos.. yet doesn't actually like the game?! odd child! its sadly 4:30 so time for everyones medicine again. god i can't wait till this bug buggars off!!

2009-08-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

no idea if this will work but will give it a try anyway!!

Nappycino Blogs
Powered By Ringsurf

someone put me out of my misery

2009-08-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

what a truly horrible night. I spent the night alternating between vomiting from coughing too hard, crying because literally EVERYTHING hurt, feeding jon as I kept waking him up with my coughing, shivering despite the 3 blankets I had piled on me. So got up at 7 and hopped in the bath due to the sore body/joints etc and despite having it as hot as I could without burning myself sat there for 20 mins shivering.

can i just say I don't like this bug? off to the doctors again as jon is now hacking away so yay more time being treated like a leper (they give you the full medical masks and everyone stares at you lovely!!) you would think considering how contagious this bug is doctors could do housecalls instead of hey possibly infecting a room full of people.. who then can infect other people.. yay bright idea there.

it does mean though I can buy some more strepsils as the coles delivery dude brought us subsitute ones as the lemon and honey were sold out.. orange strepsils taste like feet i swear.

always fun!! doctors appointment in less then 2 hrs. hooray.

some guest soaps

2009-08-03T04:21:00.000-07:00

I have been working on the food theme for a bit mainly coz myself and my family have a bit of a sweet tooth and hey whats better then sweets that don't go straight to the thighs?!

Working on a big glass jar full of foody soaps and items of a few varieties.. eg homemade strawberry lipgloss (sweetened with candycorn flavoring) sugar scrub soap for exfoliating, and wee sweet guest soaps

The piccie here is the jersey caramels, everytime I smell these my mum comes to mind which is just weird (she passed away when I was little and I don't actually remember her eating these?! no idea where the association comes from lol) I am determined to mail some of these down to my aunts when I finish the range!

These are strawberry licorice allsorts, I don't suggest making these with sick kiddies as got called away, distracted and yeah the end result shows rather clearly my attention wasn't wholy on what I was doing.. but eh its all a learning experience!

Also made cobbers (chocolate milk fragrance, caramel centre then more choccie milk as u can never have enough.. actually millions of teens have proven that sentence to be incorrect but the theory is valid =p )

I am meant to be finishing the Sami necklace and bracelet set tonight but with us all being contagious not allowed out and about so eh it can stay on the to do pile for a little bit!

Everyone is still really ill so sadly many more days stuck in doors so saving up some projects till I go crazy from boredom!!

always good to plan ahead!! hehe

hope your day has been more productive then mine!

a contagious lil household

2009-08-02T21:40:00.001-07:00

sadly everyone is ill at the moment, liam lovingly shared his bug with us all and now the house is constantly ringing and echoing with the sounds of barking coughs, and zombie people moans from aching joints and chests .

shuffling along miserable, exhausted and yes contagious.

Lovely.

I had intended on today finishing a few sets of jewellery and doing some wee lil guest soaps but instead I have spent the morning cleaning up poop, vomit and trying desperately to keep cranky cabin fevery and just plain fevery children happy.

lol a wonderful start to the blog =p

A new beginning

2009-08-02T01:56:00.000-07:00

Since lj got slow and dull a few years ago I have been blog less but have decided to make a new beginning and start again as it really is the easiest way to keep track of the kids achievements, my learning curve and share what is going on in our life with friends and family!!

You more then likely know all of this if you are at this link but heres a quick rundown anyway (feel free to skip =p ) I'm Amy (27) happily married to Peter (28) and the mummy to 2 beautiful boys. I'm very passionate about a number of things (mcn, breastfeeding, disability awareness and support) currently learning to make jewellery and body products (soap and the like!) and am into video games, comics, sci fi fantasy and completely mad about my boys. Hoping to in the next few years add to our family, and desperately doing the countdown till we move later on in the year!

Peter is a computer programmer, very into webcomics, video games, sci fi novels and our lil family (of course hehe)

Liam is now 7 and he's completely mario and yoshi mad, loves the computer, addicted to youtube, the trampoline and painting (mspaint) loves his lego, his ds and his little brother!!

Jonathan (commonly called Jon) is 20 months and growing and developing so quickly it takes my breath away. He is train crazy, loves musical instruments, stacking rings and drawing (especially if there is a clean wall handy =( )

(tune back in now if you skipped the dribble)

so thats my family, our interests and yes if you found that dull this isn't the blog for you lol.

crying munchykin bbl (i have the feeling this is how many of my posts will end hehe)

T.O.Y Thinking Of You

the emotional minefield that is kids.

Merry merry christmas!

they are hiding!

oops!

meet super mario liam!!

toilet training

circus time!!

uniquely him.

cute moment

food issues

fang-tastic!

my beautiful boy is 8!

oh dear its a bumpy ride

eco toys store opening!!

ahhh just so so quiet

school holidays

happy easter all!

am I the only one?

interesting moment

oops

2nd day of daycare

wow its been a while

moving on.. well wayy wayy out lol

mushy moment

its december!!

waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh

heatwave, circus and mummy babble

ouchhh

wishlist

a hint its time to move

artshow wrap up

tv shows

art show!!

candy and scary things and music and fun!

and we are off.

all live!!!

it's here its today!!

totally random

Autism fundraiser auctions.

panic stations!!

just hanging around!!

argh

soapy fun

fly in the ointment

postage woes

goatsmilk soap

gorgeous geek items

tick tick tick goes the clock

*happy dance*

i may of overdone it

countdown is on!!

school holidays

**drum roll** and the winner is..

hmm.

small frustrations and a giveaway today!

math, spreadsheets and guilt

books/movies and stupid quotes from actors =p

storage and space!! plus school holidays

m.i.a

happy dance

online kiddie shopping

i finally did it!!

hooray!

spoilt lil buggar I am!

productive day

OMFG!!

woot my swap gift arrived!!

so very blessed

just for mum swap!!

someone put me out of my misery

some guest soaps

a contagious lil household

A new beginning

happy dance

drum roll and the winner is..