Chasing Butterflies

Loius the Third

2011-07-09T04:58:00.000-07:00

He's finally here, Louis Shayan, born 18th June 2011 weighing 4kg!
Its been a busy but special time the last three weeks, easing into a new family routine and just enjoying our precious new arrival. Two VERY excited siblings are ever ready to carry him, this little bundle of calm squishy huggable softness. That's right, calm. A word I prayed for from the moment I found out we're pregnant, all through a rather unusual pregnancy, that last awful week of being overdue, something i didn't think we were genetically capable of! Ok, so he's only 3 weeks old and its too soon to be sure, but so far, I'm thankful for every long nap he takes.
So many things I'm thankful for right now, having Vahid home for 2 blissful weeks, visitors a plenty with gifts and some very welcome and unexpected meals, and just a whole lot of love from many special people.
And so a new journey begins....

we're reading

2011-03-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

This is one of those rare shots where the perpetual photographer is actually in the picture, and no one's posing. This was at the end of a long day, mamma bear is 6 months pregnant, and little bear is about to fall asleep to the sound of brother bear reading Frog and Toad. For Danny, it was one of those confidence boosting experiences, where he discovered he could read this book really fast (because it had been read to him umpteen times) without getting much help at all from me.
Since he turned 7, it seems like a number of things have just taken off for him. He's ridinghis bike without training wheels (took him just 10 mins to get the hang of it), he's super excited about spelling, to the point that i have to make him take a break, loving double digit addition and subraction, and determined to finish his handwriting book. I'm putting all this in writing because i know these bubbles of enthusiasm often fade, and just to remember.
Moments like these are the absolute icing on the cake of parenting for me.
When they were babies, all i looked forward to was when they could read, and we could talk about real stuff together. I honestly can't stand the baby/toddler stage. This is the part I hang out for, meeting the emerging personalities of these little souls, their sense of humour, the quirks, the awe in those innocent eyes as they learn something new about how life works. Moments when they say things that leave me speechless at how observant and wise they can be (followed closely by 100 moments when i wonder why i landed this job). Lots to savour amidst the daily grind.

Ayyam-i-Ha 2011

2011-03-21T23:43:00.000-07:00

Ayyam-i-Ha this year was much anticipated. We made a count down (advent) calendar. I used a 9 pointed star template to cut out 19 stars for the Baha'i month preceding Ayyam-i-Ha. Every morning the kids would take off one star and put it in the box. The box sometimes had a little present or something to do to prepare for Ayyam-i-Ha, like make cards, bake cookies etc. During the 4 days, the kids had a ball, with numerous parties and presents from family and friends. Lots of precious handmade ones this year, mainly made by children for each other. A memorable evening with grandparents listening to a music we hadn't heard since I was a child and rediscovered. (William Sears tape about Ayyam-i-Ha).

Before and after - coffee table

2011-01-24T18:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, so i've got a lot of time on my hands...but honestly, I LOVE doing this. Getting an old piece of furniture and giving it new life. I actually enjoy the process of transforming things, whatever it may be.

I get the pieces from various sources, often its something lying around, like the old coffee table which had been outside for kids use. After the glass lifting episode previously, i thought it safer to get something less fragile. Nothing nice and pretty lasts long with the residents of this house, so i'm pretty happy with cheap sturdy solutions. The chess table in the background is hand carved African wood, a thrify find from local market, and Danny's introduction to chess.

Before and after - rocking chair

2011-01-24T18:07:00.000-08:00

2 special people

2011-01-24T17:13:00.000-08:00

I just realised how few pics I have of hubby on this blog, so here he is with my dear grandma. These two get along quite well actually, her house is one of his favourite places to visit, and their conversations are interesting. Vahid breaks out into 'fluent' farsi, and she tries to pop in a few words of English, and thus they communicate quite effectively.

best friends

2011-01-24T17:00:00.000-08:00

rosy picnic

2011-01-24T16:40:00.000-08:00

A new discovery

2011-01-24T16:33:00.000-08:00

Behold, she has just discovered.....the endless possibilities of hot glue gun!!! So super easy to use and the gems really stick. Now for the hard part of getting little miss independent to wear them....
The idea of napkin rings inspired by Sarih and Soulemama. I made these with ribbon wrapped round a piece of toilet roll ring. Decorated with glass pebbles i had from an earlier project with magazine cutout glued underneath. The aim is to have each family member have their own napkin and ring and reduce tissue usage...doing my teeny bit to be green.

The harvest

2011-01-24T16:17:00.000-08:00

After years of wishing and dreaming about growing my very own corn, this year we finally did it! and ate it! I grew up surrounded by corn fields in Cameroon where corn was a main source of food, which was then dried and used as corn meal. Corn season meant roasted corn from street vendors, juicy fresh ears of corn from the backyard, and i mean HUGE maize, not the sweet corn have here. I must say they were not very easy to grow, actually nothing is easy to grow in Adelaide's weird climate and poor soil, compared to the rich volcanic stuff and mild tropical weather of Cameroon.... can you tell i'm a bit homesick!

Friends

2011-01-24T16:09:00.000-08:00

Friends with whom we've had a lovely year of learning and sharing together on spiritual matters as well as having a baby explosion!

School art work

2011-01-24T00:29:00.000-08:00

For anyone with kids at school or kindy, you would be familiar with the PILES of artwork that come home with them every week. Last year i left a container in the corner of the kids room for all school artwork to be put in. On a lazy holiday morning, I brought out the container and got Danny to pick out the things he thought were 'keepers'. These are mainly things that wont fit neatly into a folder, 3D items. Then we stuck all the 'keepers' on a wall, took a photo, and now he's happy to let go of them, as long as he gets a printout of the picture.
As an aside on most of these pieces, i feel very little creativity was required of kids, as the teacher made a template and everyone copied the model or she helped them make it, so the whole class basically had the same art work at the end of the day. I guess that's okay when exploring a new medium or style, but really, a bit more freedom of expression would be better. Below is some arwork he did entirely on his own, although he copied the halloween collage from a book.

Miss A

2010-12-15T04:09:00.000-08:00

Little Miss A is growing up fast, in every way, and she'll be off to school in a matter of months. Meantime i've been enjoying time alone with her while Danny's at school. This is us having a 'rosy tea party', with watered down cherry cordial as 'tea' which she serves for both of us - quite refreshing actually. She takes such pleasure in being of service and doing the whole hospitality thing. Visitors often hold their breath while she balances a hot cup of tea on a saucer for them, which she insists on doing herself . I'm the lucky recipient of daily bouquets of all sorts of flowering plants and weeds, which thankfully she forgets or ignores what i do with afterwards... a similar fate befalls the hoards of paintings and crafty boxes that come home from Kindy every day. I feel a bit guilty, but then seriously what does one do with all the stuff?! Good times...

a special event

2010-12-15T03:51:00.000-08:00

Event organised by Danny and Amy. A 19 Day feast. Complete with handwritten readings (prayers), audience chairs (comprising of yours truly and miss A) amd a stand where readers must stand to read their prayers. I was confined to bedrooms while all this was being prepared, with Amy on mommy lookout duty.
It was just so beautiful how seriously they took it, and how much detail they remembered from observing adults. Amy was so excited about the whole thing she made us do a few rounds of readings. And put on her own show the next day.
I was later informed that some technical challenges were experienced by the organisers during preparations, the glass top coffee table had initially been lifted to stand on its side (?), the large n heavy glass top had fallen out, and 'mommy it was so hard but I put it back again by myself' .... (!!!!)

There's rice.... and then there's Rice.

2010-08-25T00:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a bit of trivia :
What do rice and wine have in common? They both taste better with age.
Welcome to the world of rice... there's a bit more to rice than just white stuff you bung in the rice cooker and voila, carbs for the meal. As I sit here writing, there's some wild weather happening outside, rain, gusty winds, hail... its been going on n off all day. Now in the middle of all this, my darling grandma got me to take her to the Indian grocery for... rice. She has bags of the stuff at home. But no, she has visitors soon, and only the best rice will do. The premium brand basmati rice currently being sold is no good because...its too fresh!!
You have to be Persian to get this, the significance of the Rice, or Polo. Its what makes or breaks a meal. A decent platter of rice should have rice grains that are long, drenched in butter and oil, cooked but not sticky. Heaven forbid 2 unfortunate grains of rice stick together....the hostess will spend the rest of the meal appologising for the mishap. By the same token, I've heard family talk about a dinner party long afterwards because of the length and perfection of the rice.
Years of living near my grandma (The Expert Ricecooker extraordinaire) hasn't helped me much in perfecting this essential skill of Persianhood. I blame that partly on a certain genetic tendency I inherited - if I don't see the point of doing something, I simply won't even try. White rice is a simple starch which after being eaten, turns to sugar. It has very little nutritional value. Now add huge amounts of oil to this and its basically like eating cake or donuts...for lunch and dinner, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. I kid you not. Brown rice and parboiled rice are a different story, they contain a lot of fibre and Vitamin B among other things. They don't taste the same, but its the story of white bread again.
Having said all that, in the interest of serving people what they like, I do cook rice once in a while, but at home, poor rice-raised hubby has to put up with a whole bunch of experimental meals with different grains and carbs. There's a whole world of unpopular grains out there that people mostly discover when they have health problems, but which have been the staple of humans for thousand of years. There's corn, millet, quinoa, buckwheat (its not related to wheat), chickpea flour etc. It really comes down to habits, because taste is an acquired thing, and some of these other grains taste a lot better than rice if prepared well. The quest for alternatives and recipes continues...

School holidays

2010-08-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

This is long overdue, but here are pics from a fabulous day out with the kids. 3 moms + 7 kids = loads of fun.

The Adelaide hills have a lot to offer. We went to a place called Fairyland, with little huts that represented different fairy tales. The whole thing was rather old and very much in need of renovation, so it wasn't worth the entry fee. But the kids really enjoyed the playground, designed to make you as dizzy as possible cos everything spins...

Then we drove down the road to the Big Rocking Horse, the highlight of which was the free park with animals that you can get really close to...too close for some, like poor Bayan who got too close to a Shetland pony and had his hand sampled - ouch.

The final stop was Melba's Chocolate factory. We were too late to see chocolate making demonstrations, and basically had a warehouse full of sugary treats that the kids all wanted to sample and i had to keep saying no to. the scenery and drive were just beautiful. Makes me want to move there every time I go to the hills...

Rainbow rice

2010-08-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

This activity was inspired by Pink and Green Mama who's blog is full of fun rainbow things to do.
Be prepared for a mess. I laid a sheet down before putting the tray on, but we still had rice all over the floor. Great for summer outside.

I put equal amounts of rice into zip lock bags, added a few drops of food colouring into 2 tablespoons of vinegar and mixed in with the rice. Pour into bowls to dry. There are different ways of doing this.

great sensory activity

the kids added some little wooden toys, cars, etc to the tray.

Aprons, aprons

2010-08-14T18:58:00.000-07:00

We've had weeks of wintry cold weather and the accompanying flu season, which meant hours and hours at home, hence - sewing spreee!!!
Here are some aprons I whipped up, from a pattern i sort of came up with, inspired by a few different blogs. They are easy to put on by younger kids all by themselves because of the velcro tab. I've also slipped elastic through the neck piece so the apron covers the child's chest, again this applies mostly to the under 5 crowd.

This apron has a plastic lining because the owner has recently decided that helping mummy with washing the dishes can be a lot of fun (and very wet). I used a new plastic mattress protector as the inner lining.

I absolutely adore this one, and the 2 year old friend who now plays tea parties with it.

Gotta have one for my little baker boy, he mainly makes an appearance in the kitchen when something sweet is cooking.

Grocery bag tutorial

2010-08-14T18:45:00.000-07:00

In South Australia, the local government has banned plastic grocery bags, so we have to take bags shopping (very green thinking here) and its so easy to forget, but these fit easily into handbags and even your pocket. I made a few of these bags last year out of polyester lining scraps, and haven't looked back since. They are so handy because they fold up really small, but they are also extremely strong an durable, I've even filled it up once with cartons of milk with no trouble. Here are some sketchy instructions, you need basic sewing skills to do this.

sew in a piece of elastic so it sticks out on the right side of the bag

Turn bag right side out, fold in corners back into the back, about 10cm and pin. Then stitch all along the bottom of the bag.


It's a lot roomier than it looks, as the folds at the bottom open out when filled.

A memorable week with newlyweds

2010-06-28T04:07:00.000-07:00

SHE turns 4

2010-06-28T03:58:00.000-07:00

She was born during a FIFA World Cup (how can i forget Daddy watching 3 games that night while I played a very different game!) so of course every 4 years, the whole planet celebrates with her. Once more, for numerous reasons, i decided not to celebrate the event this year. And on this very quiet day, what do we wake up to: Australia has a new first ever female Prime Minister. Politics aside, this was a bit of history here. And of course, Uncle Lessan and Melissa (both of whom are right at the top of her list of 'Favourite People apart from parents') were here visiting. To top it off, there was a lovely family dinner that night at Mondona's beautiful home, partly to celebrate my grandma's birthday (little did i know). So the VERY youngest and oldest members of the family got to share a birthday! Notice how the very oldest is not at all comfortable with the attention, bless her, as opposed to the very youngest who can't get enough of it! An amazingly happy and content little girl went to bed that night (no mummy, don't carry me, I'm a big girl now).

Newly weds

2010-06-22T05:19:00.000-07:00

Very happy for Lessan and Melissa. Their big day was 12th June 2010 in Perth. We also had a reception for them here in Adelaide a few days ago. Lets just say things have been rather hectic around these parts lately. They're visiting Adelaide at the moment and I'm enjoying every minute I get to spend with the happy couple, because I wont get to see them for another 18mths when they go back to Haifa where they're both serving at the Baha'i World Centre. They're both very much in love and its just the sweetest thing seeing them together, getting used to the idea of my shy little brother now all mawwied and grown up (sniff, sniff)...
Pictures of wedding are mostly on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=223845&id=550229574&l=ba9aaf100e

ginger bread house

2010-06-22T04:59:00.000-07:00

Fun playdate with friends and a gingerbread house the kids and i put together from a readymade kit i bought from Ikea around Christmas time.

Check this - a calmer family

2010-04-08T06:34:00.000-07:00

I've been following this blog Noble Mother for some time now on my reader and there's always something to inspire and refocus as a parent. The current series is called '10 days to a calmer family' is full of great tips such as the following random snippets:

I feel it coming on – it’s in the air of our home when our little ones need more rest, more down time, more slowness. Like a physical fever, they need me to be close, to stop the busyness of the household, to provide more snuggles.

So often we over-schedule our children so that we don’t have to “entertain” them at home or to prevent them from becoming bored or because “it will build their self-esteem,” or because they begged and begged and in the back of your mind you worry that if you don’t start them in ballet by age 3, they won’t be as good as the other ballerinas.
Step 3 involves pulling your child close – both physically and emotionally. This can be a challenge if your child has been throwing you for some big emotional loops lately. The last thing you want to do is pull them towards you. It’s during these difficult times that they need you the most. Your willful child is the one you hold at a distance instinctively. We pull in those easy to snuggle, those cooperative children. I’m encouraging you to start the soul fever healing and stretch yourself by staying close to that fevered child.

And my favourite one:
Our conflict, our challenge isn’t to convince ourselves that dishes and laundry are amazing. It is to acknowledge that as mothers to young children we are investing time into being present to these little ones as their spiritual mentors. It is our love and guidance that makes all the difference in these early years to their own development of who they will become. Being committed to the work of mothering is to be committed to your own inner work. Your child can pick up on your unrest, your dissatisfaction, your resentment of mothering.

So head on over to Noble Mother and read the whole thing for yourself.

Hmmm, salad or cake?

2010-02-27T04:46:00.000-08:00

I know y'all will absolutely hate me for this post, but I honestly put this out with good intent.
Okay, so I have a daughter who is addicted to salad, and can live on it. I also have a son who could live on cake and lollies and would be right at home in Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory.
How does one raise two entirely different taste buds? I'm sure many parents would identify with this.
I'm big on health, if u haven't already noticed, i read labels all the time. I censor everything that comes in the door. Basically, i try to make sure that if i don't want the kids to eat it, its simply NOT available at home. Generally, you won't find much in this house made of white flour, preservative and food coloring.
Personally, I absolutely LOVE fruits and green veges, and crave them, and gag on overly sweet things. Hubby on the other hand craves the sweets and has a very glum look on his face when presented with the 'must eat veges'. So what's the effect on the kiddos? Genetically, I believe they've received different tendencies towards foods. That really can't be helped. But as for training, I think exposure and conditioning have had some impact. They both eat what we eat at meal times, they both love all fruits and enjoy them, and they both eat most vegetables. So the bottom line is - even if your kids are born with 'chocolate genes', what we DO (not say) and eat plays a big part, and limiting choices can be quite helpful.

Around the house these days

2010-02-27T04:27:00.000-08:00

- when nobody else will do it, just get on with it.... and don't mess with a chainsaw wielding mama!
-Danny's room in a rare state of orderliness, a virtue that is SO HARD to practice, and makes me the resident dragon!
- Amy's room contains all the kids books. Hmmm we love our books.... will post more later on some favourites.
-Amy having visitors. Not as peaceful as it looks in 2D.

DIY toothpaste

2010-02-27T04:09:00.000-08:00

This is taking DIY to a new extreme but bear with me. What do you do with a kid who still loves the taste of toothpaste and would happily snack on it, can't quite rinse and spit after brushing, and knowing that phosphates and fluoride in toothpaste can be quite harmful when ingested? And said child has been known to squirt out most of a tube in one 'experiment' or take it into the bathtub, (mummy, the toothpaste has bubbles coming out, doesn't work anymore:(
Make your own!
Active ingredient is baking soda and a little salt. Add enough glycerin to make a paste, and then flavouring of choice. I used spearmint essential oil the first time and strawberry essence the next. A combination would probably be best. Experiment!

Life's a game, just play along

2010-02-16T01:54:00.000-08:00

As part of a montessori activity we did a while back with Amy, she got to identify the right terms for the male and female of a few common animals. For example lion, lioness and cub. So at the moment, she's going through this phase where she calls family members animal names, and of course she's the baby of the animal. After reading Bambi the other day, she announced that she's now baby fawn, so mama doe and daddy buck MUST call her baby fawn for the rest of the day. No I'm not Amy, I'm Baby Fawn. So we try hard to remember our new titles..... Now along comes my dad, and he's greeted with a very enthusiastic, 'hello Baba dog!' . His face darkens a little and he ignores the comment. Then he tells me, 'you better tell her its not right to talk like this.'
Then she calls out to her dad, 'Come in daddy pig, mama sow says its time for dinner!'. Hmmm. Daddy pig not liking this one.
So tonight as Mama Dragon put Baby Dragon to bed, she thought about 'correcting' Baby Dragon, but then thought, nahh, this is tooo much fun!!! The cross-cultural linguistic mish mash in the face of very innocent learning was just too hilarious to put a stop to. what say you?

The last minute party

2010-01-28T03:34:00.000-08:00

This was one crazy party, slapped together at the last minute. Danny's 6th birthday. The last time he had a party was when he turned one. Meantime Amy scored a few decent parties in Queensland, and every year for the last 4 years almost, we've been on the move in January. So he's now old enough to know whats going on, that he's been missing something. So this year, i had to MAKE this happen even tho it was 3 days after moving in etc etc. And given his impressive list of food allergies, having it out would be more trouble than its worth. So everything homemade. Theme - rainbows....simple enough. Lots of little friends came, had a ball together, and at the end of the day, when Daddy asked him what he liked best about the day, the immediate reply was, 'having all my friends here'. So a big thank you to the friends who came:)

Finally moved in

2010-01-28T02:55:00.000-08:00

So we've finally just moved in to our new home! Its been a week, a very busy week of moving in, cleaning, sorting and having a party for a certain 6 yr old. Insane, i tell ya! Wasn't planned that way, but how many things ever really go according to plan?
So here you have it, the before pics of the kitchen below, and what it looks like now. What we did:
- removed two walls to make a larger living space - open plan kitchen/dining/living
-new kitchen
-polished the floors in entire house. We were really lucky to have uncovered good quality baltic pine which doesn't creak and groan, and it came up A TREAT after polishing. I'm so in love with the floors, so child friendly (slightly more give when little bones come crashing down...frequently) and doesn't show dirt!!!
-painted just about everything - i wasn't allowed to do much myself but snuck in a few bits - love it.
-removed everything in the laundry, tiled it and put in new tub.
All the above in two months, with a very reasonable cost, and very pleased with outcome.
Best part is the yard, as you can see, some individuals seem to think its a driving range, while others are happy to chill in the hammock and keep out of mummy's way....
Still lots to do around the place, but hey, gotta have something to keep me outta trouble.

New beginings

2010-01-01T04:50:00.000-08:00

Danny starts new school with friend Adora. So far so good. Even better as its summer holidays now.
New baby in the family - Dad's cousin. The one on the right is the mother.
Picnic for Ethan's birthday (1 yo) at the best picnic spot ever.

The last two months...

2010-01-01T01:40:00.001-08:00

Finally bought a house! These pics are from October 09. Its been a long process of getting a lot of things sorted out. Right now, we are in the final stages of renovation (i hope) and should move in with in the next fortnight. Will put up some before and after pics.
We've been looking for a house since we moved back to Adelaide in Jan 09 while staying at my parents. Saw many, like few, and basically things just didn't fall into place. One day, i take the kids for a walk to our nearby park, and see this house for sale. I also notice the address - No. 9, my fave no. Well 2 weeks later, we'd bought the house...and then the journey began.
It all sounded too good to be true, a house right on a park with a playground, 5 mins walk to parents, and even less to my uncles' and a good friend who lives right across the park!! Plus, our first house in Australia was not far from this park and i used to jog there while a student...... Just perfect. Until I walked in the door.
Initially, all i saw was yucky brown. EVERYWHERE. you know the 1960's mish mash of 10 completely unmatched shades of brown and cream and everything in between.
Anyway, all that brown is a thing of the past, as my awesome uncle 'Harry' pitched in to help with the renovations, and we gutted the place. Carpets ripped out, layers of vinyl and chipboard flooring, walls removed, old kitchen out, many hours of muscle and sweat later and its slowly looking like something half decent. I secretly LOVE all the ripping out DIY stuff. Especially when its a getaway from kids;)
More pics coming after we move in.

Teacher Appreciation event

2009-11-04T03:16:00.000-08:00

Our local Baha'i community(Holdfast Bay, Adelaide) joined others around Australia on 30th October in celebrating World Teacher's Day. As Baha'is, we take the role of teacher's in society pretty seriously, and as such try to demonstrate the appreciation of the amazing and often unseen work that teachers do by hosting some form of event or gifts for teachers. This year, we decided to offer morning tea to a primary school and kindergarten at the schools. So we all made finger food - cupcakes, fruit platters, etc, and also a thank you fridge magnet pictured above for each staff member. The fridge magnets are available from 'Hidden Words bookshop, Melbourne.
I went to the kindergarten event and the teachers were so appreciative, saying that no one has ever done anything like this for them!

Happy Birthday Lessan!

2009-11-04T02:57:00.001-08:00

The 4some cousins growing up in Africa - Lessan, Nura, Vafa, Martha. Current locations: Lessan in Isreal, Nura is in the best of all places, waiting for us, Vafa and I are in Adelaide, oz.
Lessan, maybe 9 or 10yrs old. Ngoundere, Cameroon.
My sweet little brother ! So many good memories.... and many a pillow fight!

A changing world

2009-10-30T05:22:00.000-07:00

This is a beautifully illustrated book i borrowed from the local library recently, a story of a family's home which grew from log cabins and grows as civilization progresses in America, through the eyes of a grandmother telling her grandaughter about the house they live in and how it came to be. The thing that touched me about this book was the sense of continuity and stability, of staying in the same place, and making it home over so many generations, of hard work and perseverance and resilience.
I've lost track of the number of times i've moved houses since childhood, the number of times we've moved countries, cities, suburbs.... As a child, i absolutely loved the moves, and the thrill of what was to come next, of exploring new territory. I look around me now, and it seems like just about everyone i know has moved quite a bit in their lifetime. The last 100 years have seen huge migrations of people across the globe, due to so many things, being displaced by wars and social unrest, seeking safety and a better life in a new place.
As a parent, I sometimes wonder about the effects of so much change on children. I see benefits, such as exposure to different people and places, opening up their mind to what the world has to offer, becoming more adaptable to living in discomfort. But i also wonder wether so much change, coupled with a social norm of instant gratification would result in a person who then craves change for the sake of change, who gets hooked on a fast paced life where we get such a buzz out of it that at the slightest hint of challenging life situations, the first solution that comes to mind is - lets move somewhere else! How do we instill qualities like perseverance, resilience and patience when so many aspects of modern living and of our own lives as parents lean towards quick fixes? Just some of the many perplexing, wonderful learning opportunities that having children has given me.

October in pics

2009-10-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Danny's photo of my current knitting project - first ever sweater, with help from my pro grandma (retired knitter who i'm trying to get back into knitting, for selfish reasons:)
My darling bro pays us a VERY brief visit from Haifa, this is a picnic at Mt Lofty botanic gardens on a cold spring day, and some warm memories.
Love picnics, can ya tell! Baha'i Holy day with friends! Great times.
Danny and his uncle whom he adores and tries to coax into a lot more conversation and games than Lessan would initiate, the 2 get along just great.

paper box

2009-09-17T14:59:00.001-07:00

Recycled box for recycled paper. We go through a lot of paper each day, with the kids artwork and writing, so i always have a box for printed paper with a blank side. I'm hoping the tree cutout will be a reminder to 'save trees'.

the weekend

2009-09-17T06:21:00.000-07:00

what we each did on a lazy sunday morning..... followed by a hectic week. Danny's working in the new building that's being built in our backyard, a house for my grandma. Life in a construction site can have a few perks!

long overdue post

2009-09-11T04:09:00.000-07:00

Above: Different types of triangles - taste better with lavoshak , fruit rollup
Below: Matching game with animal silhouettes i printed and laminated. Also works as a memory game.

Its been almost 2 months now since we made the big decision to withdraw Danny from school. The reasons are many, but the outcome has been nothing but positive, beyond anything I'd ever hoped.
We arrived back in Adelaide just as the school year began, with no idea as to where we would live and what school he would go to. We pitched camp at my parents' home and frantically started looking for a school, so he endedup going to the closest public school. A very outgoing, bubbly boy nervously started school. Nervous became the dominating feature of his life from then on. He enjoyed some aspects of school, was quick with the academic aspect of things, made friends, but at the same time, his desire for perfection and wanting to fit in were very strong. He became extremely shy, to the point of frequently having 'accidents' because he couldn't ask the teacher that he needed to go, he never wanted to talk about school, and eventually he started telling me about incidents of bullying by his classmates. He also became very reluctant to go to school. I tried talking to his teacher, to the PE teacher whom he dreaded, to no avail.
But the last straw for me was his losing interest in reading. Love of learning is a big deal. Once lost, its very hard to recover, and reading is THE most important skill ever. So after prayers and family consultation, we decided to keep him home for a trial period of 2 weeks to see if there was any improvement. Sure enough, he started begging me for lessons, we did math, reading, writing, science and loads of art and craft (his passion) every day. So that was it. End of that school.
I can't begin to describe the ways in which our life has improved ever since that decision. I thoroughly enjoy teaching them myself, and watching those 'aha' moments when something clicks, when he goes dizzy with excitement to try out a new skill.... its priceless. And I'm not going to share that with a poor, frazzled busy teacher who will probably never notice or appreciate these moments anyway, as part of the conveyor belt style education system, which seems 'the' only way for most. Call me a possessive, over protective, whatever mother, but i know i'm doing what feels right at the moment, and I'll take each day as it comes.

Recent happenings

2009-09-03T05:44:00.000-07:00

Pirates and princess event organised by a local city council, a very outgoing princess and a much more subdued pirate who wouldn't be talked into dressing up 'in public'.

Mom's group, in the backyard, which is currently a construction site but fascinating to 3 year old boys. This group started out as a crafting group, and we still slip in some knitting or sewing when we can, but basically its a chill session for over-worked moms to catch up and spend a good part of the day with the kids totally occupied with playing together or admittedly 'the box'. We rotate the location, and will be having more outings as the weather gets better.

Daniel's prayer

2009-08-16T05:16:00.000-07:00

Amy's prayer

2009-08-15T23:43:00.000-07:00

Fairies and Rainbows

2009-08-15T23:26:00.000-07:00

A recent trip to nearby Hahndorf, pics at a fairy shop. The picture with Tigger is of Bayan, Amy and baby Ethan, as the kids call him. We've been getting together on fridays for a moms get together. I really look forward to these friday chill/craft sessions with some fabulous mamas!
Did i mention we're(danny) into rainbows at the moment?

The allergy story continues...

2009-07-06T06:12:00.000-07:00

For as long as i can remember, allergies have been a part of life, not so much for me but for those around me. I can still hear the sound of Dad blowing his trumpet/nose ten times a day, due to years of severe hayfever type allergies, the raw food diet he went on etc. Then Vahid with his eczema, and when Danny made his grand entrance, allergy was a word that took on a whole new meaning. Below is yet another serious case of hives, after possibly eating something at my grandmas that had a pumpkin seed on it.
The search for solutions has seen us take him to specialists for skin-prick tests, whichgenerally don't do much except tell what you are really sensitive to, then a course of homeopathy when he was 2, which helped a lot to reduce sypmtoms, and now once again, i'm on the trail looking for help. I don't believe in antihistamines for ongoing use, because they simply suppress the allergy and can lead to asthma. We've recently had talks by a Baha'i chiropractor on holistic healing and spirituality issues, and some of what he said made so much sense that i decided to go see him. Dr Reza Samvat is a neurological chiropractor who specializes in sleep issues and just about everything else you can imagine, and his take on Danny's allergies was that there are two aspects to it, one is to do with retained reflexes, and the other with phenolics. Phrases that i had never really heard about, but the way he explained it made sense. Basically retained reflexes affects 95% of people in some form or another, so its worth doing a search on if you have any chronic health problems. Phenolics are naturally occuring substances in a large number of foods that trigger allergies in some people, and one way to overcome it is through desentising the brain by exposing it to small doses, like a vaccine. Also known as homeopathy.
Over the last few days i've been asking lots of questions of my good friend Google, and learning A LOT. It still sounds a bit out there and complicated to me, but i think there might be some solutions here.
Meantime, its a bit of a challenge to feed a family with various food allergies, such as dairy, wheat, seeds, food colouring and sugar. Not fun for a candy-lovin 5 year old.

people who make me smile

2009-07-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

Danny with his K-nex invention, my darling Aunt Jaleh and Grandma, who live together at the moment and are my pillars of support with the kids, cousins Vafa and Parisa, recent imports from Canada and Texas and fabulous with kiddos. I just feel so appreciative of family now, after being away for 2 yrs. And even more blessed to have my aunt and her family living here, after years of geographical separation. Vafa is THE best cousin ever, still with the exuberence and some of the innocence i remember from Cameroon days, and SUCH a gentleman now. Helps with missing Lessan less, in a way...

Random activities

2009-06-24T05:10:00.000-07:00

Facepainting
Dried flower press after a nature walk, using bags below which i made last year from jeans scraps.

Iran

2009-06-24T05:03:00.000-07:00

I don't generally give a hoot about politics or the news for that matter, but i do hope what's happening in Iran will bring about some much needed positive change. Rather than comment, I'll let you read this from one of my favorite blogs, The Little Travelers. Angelina made a trip to Iran last year with her girls, and her views are very unbiased and refreshing.

A dawn party!

2009-06-24T04:27:00.000-07:00

This year for Amy's 3rd birthday, we decided not to have a party. Many reasons. Main reason being cultural/faith views on the concept of birthday parties. Generally speaking, i don't much enjoy kid's birthday parties where the child is the centre of attention, gets to open presents in front of everyone, kids get filled up on sugar and junk, produce huge amounts of waste and get sent home with more of the darned rubbish. I'm sure we all do it with the best of intentions, to celebrate, bring friends and family together, an excuse to get together etc, its just that consumerist society has turned it into something so superficial and ego boosting, in my opinion.
I really don't have all the answers yet to the dilemma of what to do instead, but here's what we did this year - Nothing. Until last night. Spur of the moment decision to set up a surprise breakfast for the family. Some special occasion felt crowns (thanks to soulemama's book) i made earlier were placed on their spots, some candles to blow out, and voila! Her majesty was absolutely thrilled with the table next morning, as was everyone else! Cake for breakfast, yummm! Brought out their baby scrapbooks, told her story of the day she was born, lots of attention from everyone, and at the end, she helped clear up and on her own, thanked me for the 'party'. I even got the thumbs up from my dad, who is the brianwasher behind all the above fluff. happy mommy. happy birthday girl.

@ Home day

2009-06-19T04:02:00.000-07:00

We're trying to have Sundays as family day, where we touch base and do all the many things we could do at home, when we get to use all the books and toys and crafties that i keep collecting. It takes a special effort especially for me to give on my 'getaway' time, but the results are sooo worth it. Rainy, cold winter days makes it a LOT easier to stay put...
Here's what we did last sunday, all together.... apple pie, from scratch!

Bit of this and that

2009-05-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

I've given up trying to edit this page - blogger is impossible - apologies for the mixed up layout.

Danny wearing an apron I made, with a bit of inspiration from SouleMama, complete with his name on the front. (i adapted the waist strap to include velcro so kiddo can put without help)
But boys and aprons don't seem to go too well, he decided it would be more fun as a cape for his superhero stunt jumping off the couch. Ouch. boys.

Amy with a salad she made, and yes, sharp objects of the 'knife' type were used in the manufacture of this product.

Amy looking a bit chinese - with Aunty Nushan. These 2 go way back..

Ridvan celebration at Sarih's house. She has this wonderful tradition of a world cake with international dolls around. Its yummy chocolate on the inside. Also on the table are handmade flowers (with coffee filter paper).

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

Hope all you awesome mamas out there had a lovely day. It was a special one at this end, the first time the kids really got into the whole mothers day thing. Danny coudn't contain his excitement all week about having made a surprise for me at school, and 'mommy just don't look in my bag, okay?'
So the minute he woke up this morning, i was greeted with, ' By the way, Happy mother's day!!' and the biggest warmest hug ever, instantly followed by a most gorgeous card with a spinning flower which he'd carefully cut out. Inside was his message in his neatest writing ever, not bad at all for someone who is still learning the alphabet...so proud of the little man:)
Oh... lest we forget her majesty, she insisted on getting a card too, but big bro was not interested so she had to make it herself.
Photo by Amy.

A harsh reminder

2009-05-04T19:19:00.000-07:00

Last night was a harsh reminder of how fragile life can be, and how thankful I should be for the 'ordinary'. Right after dinner, Danny started having a few red spots on his face, nothing unusual for this allergy-prone kid. After 10 mins, more spots on his neck, and his ears went bright red and were extremely irritable. Hmm, maybe some antihistamine should fix that, I only give it when he's really miserable. One dose, and redness is getting to his mouth, swelling developing around the eyes, inside joints...okay maybe i didn't give enough medecine, here's another dose, now go to bed and get some rest, you'll be fine Danny.
15mins later, he comes back this time his face doesn't look good at all, he can't kep still for all the itching, i'm starting to panic. One last dose of Zyrtec, and this time i'm keeping a very close eye on him, checking his tongue for swelling (none obvious), can u breath, yes mommy.
Finally, about 45 mins since the first sign, there's Vahid, me and my friend Sukriti who happened to be over, getting very worried and decided it was time for the hospital. But wait, he has an Epipen, shouldn't i be using that now? After a frantic search in a very panicky state of mind, i finally found it in the fridge, where its supposed to be anyway.
By now Danny is not his usual bouncy self and has slowed down a bit, still getting worse.
Quick, get this adrenalin into him. How? never done this before.... Easier than i thought, Epipen is as easy to use as a needle gets. Press blunt plastic end into thigh, hear click sound, needle has magically popped out, delivered its life-saving carge, and out in 10secs.
Releif.... Lets go to hospital just in case.
Within a few minutes, swelling subsides, redness dimishes. Life saved.
Whew!
Now to figure out what on earth CAUSED it!!! He IS allergic to quite a few things, but i've been super careful the last 5 years, i THINK i know everything he's allergic to, but apparently not.
I still can't figure it out. So for the second time in his life, it takes a life-threatening event to get a decent referral to an allergist to get tested.
And to think that the night before, Vahid and I were have a big fret session about how slow his reading is compared to his peers, how shy he is at school, the really 'important' stuff u know...

Love these little ones

2009-04-05T05:22:00.000-07:00

Forwarded by Lessan, little bro, who seriously needs to get into the parenting scene soon:)

"While they are at your side, love these little ones to the uttermost. Forget yourself: Serve them; care for them; lavish all your tenderness on them. Value your good fortune while it is with you, and let nothing of the sweetness of their babyhood go unprized. Not for long will you keep the happiness that now lies within your reach. You will not always walk in the sunshine with a little warm, soft hand nestling in each of yours, nor hear little feet pattering beside you, and eager baby voices questioning and prattling of a thousand things with ceaseless excitement. Not always will you see that trusting face upturned to yours, feel those little arms about your neck, and those tender lips pressed upon your cheek, nor will you have that tiny form to kneel beside you, and murmur baby prayers into your ear.

Love them and win their love, and shower on them all the treasures of your heart. Fill up their days with happiness, and share with them their mirth and innocent delights.

Childhood is but for a day. Ere you are aware it will be gone with all its gifts for ever."

by George Townsend

Mere coincidence?

2009-03-23T05:22:00.000-07:00

I had an unusual experience today which i'm sure can be interpreted many ways. As i came back home from dropping off Danny at school, Amy was at home and when i left was watching TV. It's often a battle getting her into the shower. As i walked towards the locked front door, a strong whiff of strawberry shampoo hit me, and i immidiately thought, 'Amy must be having a shower with dad. Too good to be true...' then i unlocked the door, walked in and there was no smell inside the house, but i heard them in the shower. How could i have smelt shampoo way outside the house? When they finished, i asked dad if he'd used the strawberry smelling shampoo on Amy(which he never does), and he said yes, how did you know? I smelt it outside. Huh! So we walked outside to check. No smell.
My thoughts: there's WAY more to reality and human nature than what our 5 senses percieve. I strongly believe that all humans are in essence one entity, with individual souls, deeply connected. We are far more inteconnected than we realize, and the more we love someone, the more we are connected to them, and the more we tune in to their spiritual vibrations.
Okay, not the best way to express this i know, but you get the drift. This experience may have been totally in my head only, but i've had many similiar unexplained coinicidences, as i'm sure everyone does, if we choose to notice them.
The concept of the interconnectedness of humanity is something that came to me as second nature, growing up with Baha'i beleifs, - mankind is one, etc. But its only just sinking in at a much deeper level through an array of life experiences and 'aha!' moments, like learning about near death experiences, about the world of dreams, and living in times when the general consciousness of humanity is rising to that understanding - its so exciting! And at the same time its like peeking through a tiny hole in the wall into a world which i know so little about, the world of the spirit, its humbling.

Hmmm, how carried away can you get with the smell of shampoo?!!!

FIGilicious

2009-03-23T04:35:00.000-07:00

There is an emormous 40 yr old fig tree in my parents' backyard which is fruiting at the moment. Fresh figs are a delicacy in most places, but an acquired taste in Australia, where many people are either unfamiliar with them or don't quite like the texture/taste. Persians on the other hand would do anything for fresh figs, so we've been picking and sharing loads of figs.
They ripen slowly so we get some every day, and picking figs is part of the routine here, with the kids helping to carry the fig basket while i pick from lower branches. The rainbow lorikeets get the loot up the top.
The tragedy here is the fate of this tree. Due to exorbitant land prices here, the backyard has been subdivided and building will begin soon on the site where this great tree sits :( and many other well established fruit trees :(

A peek at our day

2009-03-19T04:10:00.000-07:00

With Danny now settled into the new routine of school, its a wonderful new phase of life for me to have that precious mother and daughter time with Amy. She is now 2.8 yrs and able to engage in lots of activities. I'm trying to get into a routine of some structured activities in the first hour of the morning before we get carried away with other things like outings, chores. So far, she's responded very enthusiastlically to any learning experiences where she has mommy all to herself, and i simply can't keep up with how fast she learns. Here she's doing a simple aphabet matching activity and felt board

The girly stuff, which Danny never really got into even tho i exposed them both to all sorts of toys. They both LOVE my fabric box in the background. Lots of imaginative play comes out of that

They both love gardening, hmmm, wonder where they get that from (says mommy who's been dreaming of the country life, la de da, someday). And yeah, a little housekeeper in the making, just give me something REAL and USEFUL to do, i do it "my byself". Gotta love the enthusiasm of preschoolers hey....before 'I'm bored' enters their vocab.

Blog i heart

2009-02-24T05:00:00.000-08:00

Some fabulous parenting goodies here, Noble Mother, great articles and tips, based on Virtues guide philosophies. A good dig at the concept of timeout and super nanny, which i totally relate to.
Comment of the day : 'Allow your children to become bored enough to become creative!'.
Danny, 'mommy, you know the stuff around the lion's face, when his mommy forgot to give him a haircut?' Proceeded to make the visual to illustrate his point.

Gift time...

2009-02-19T21:48:00.000-08:00

It's that special time of year for Baha'is, the Intercalary days (Ayyam-i-Ha), 26th Febuary to 1st March when we exchange gifts and do charitable acts...or so we should.
I'm always looking out for ideas on how to make these days memorable for the kids, given all the other over commercialised events they're exposed to which we don't celebrate.
Here's a page full of ideas of how various families celebrate the Intercalary days: Ayyam-i-Ha Ideas. Some practical ones for me are:
A count - down calendar,
Decorations with lights - (check Ikea)
A special gift every morning
A family picnic
Bake for friends
Any other ideas?

A glimpse of history

2009-02-04T03:27:00.000-08:00

http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/sydney.html

Random thoughts:

Amazing, inspiring, insane, exhausting, unforgettable event, the like of which Australia has never seen. 5,500 people, that all... hundreds of volunteers and ushers, state of the art technology, awesome location in the heart of metro Sydney (Harbour). Best organised event i'd ever been to, despite the size and logistics of the event.

Between Vahid and I, and plenery sessions, we each caught less than half of the conference. Even though every effort was made by the organisers to provide live feeds in parent rooms, fantastic children's program, etc, it was still quite challenging with our 2 bunnies.

Saturday night was a thrill, a showcase of artistic talent relevant to the theme - 5YP. The auditorium was filled to capacity, show after show. Just can't do justice to it here, so i wont even try. At the end of evening (11pm), two sleeping kids to navigate out of this crowd, i lost my camera coming down the stairs. Within 5 mins of dropping it, i was already retracing steps to find it, asking ushers, security etc. No luck. Until the last minute of the conference i kept checking the lost and found desk - they got sick of me. Came home rather glum about the loss of precious pics.

3 days later, Dad randomly looks up the conference website, stumbles upon the lost and found section and voila - my camera is listed! The pics above would have been lost were it not for a miracle!

During the conference, we made pledges of service, which would go directly to Baha'i institions. The day after we got back from Sydney, we're driving along with dad and Vahid, and discussing what service activities we would like to do now in Adeliade. I mentioned tutoring. The words were barely out of my mouth when dad's phone rang, it was for me - was i available to tutor Book 3 tomorrow night?! 3 days later, we had completed the book (Teaching Children's classes).

Will be offering these spiritual education classes to neighbourhoods soon.

And yes, it was spine chilling to walk into the arena outside the Convention Centre, and see so many familiar faces from such diverse places, many of whom i hadn't seen for years, all in the one place! It got more freaky as the days went by.... But you generally had one chance to say hello before the face would be engulfed by the sea of perpetually hugging humans....

New Beginings

2009-02-04T02:57:00.000-08:00

First meeting with my parents at the Baha'i House of Worship, Sydney. Unforgettable

Its been a long journey, but now i feel like i'm finally home. It the most comforting feeling in the world, to be surrounded by love. "Where there is love, nothing is too much trouble, and there is always time" (Baha'i Writings).
To wake up in the morning and have breakfast with mom and dad, be able to leave Amy with her beloved grandpa for the whole morning while i take Danny to school for his first few days at school, and come back to a happy kid who hardly missed me!!! Lunch with my darling grandma and aunty, the odd uncle or cousin always showing up, hardly cook dinner, hardly realize that hubby is so late from work..... This is bliss.... the contrast to my previous lifestyle is stark. I write this to share my joy, and as a reminder to myself to continue appreciating the good bits about living close to family, long after this initial euphoria passes.

Adieu Tropicana...

2009-01-13T03:26:00.000-08:00

Woohoooo!!! only 2 more nights in this house! I'm so over this moving and packing and cleaning thing! If i ever get that butterfly feeling again, please remind me of this part, i tend to forget...
Mixed feelings as usual about leaving, but the joy part far outweighs any fleeting nostalgia for this lifestyle. I miss the Baha'i world sooooo much! Its been waaaay too quiet on that front for what I'm used to.
All roads lead to Sydney now, where over 5000 Baha'is have registered for one of the 41 conferences called for by the House of Justice. Talk about a sea change, from a tiny community of like 10 people here, to that! The ultimate meet and greet of just about everyone i know in planet Baha'i!!! I'm just thrilled beyond measure at how it all worked out for us to slot this trip right into our interstate move, sheer coincidence. Will be posting more about that from Adelaide.

May's visit

2009-01-07T04:21:00.000-08:00

My sister in law May came to visit for a week, alone. Her hubby Derek stayed home in Canberra to look after their 3 gorgeous kids. A much needed break for a hard working mama, first time in 9 years she had a real 'break', or shall we say, 'therapy'! Having 'Aunty May' here was a good excuse to do the tourist route again, and for the kids to get to know their aunt, whom they don't see often due to distance.
Leila, the eldest is a calisthenics champ and very mature for her age, the boys Jalal and Rowhan keep mom and dad VERY busy.
Doesn't Rowhan look soo much like cousin Danny? You'd think they're related!

Soaking in last of tropical summer

2009-01-07T03:52:00.000-08:00

Baby turtle, dead. Its nesting time all along the beaches here, lots of turtle nests.

Kookaburra sits on an ol gum tree,

Merry merry king of the bush is he, laugh kookaburra laugh, kookaburra gayor life must be... so goes the rhyme....

2009-01-01T01:09:00.000-08:00

This year has been a very eventful one for us, and full of blessings. We moved to Mackay in January, had a difficult month when the town flooded, hardly knew anyone here, everything went mouldy, then in March it was off to Adelaide and Haifa. The highlight of the year would undoubtedly be the trip of a lifetime to Haifa, Israel. What a precious time, just Vahid and I, in that Most Holy Spot… mom and dad looking after the children in Adelaide made it all possible, even though they had a very hard time with sleepless nights. Another special memory for me is Lessan’s visit to Mackay. I miss him dearly and that one week was so special, going back to Townsville with him, having time for long conversations while driving, and the amazing bonding between the kids and Dai Lessan, whom they still talk about fondly.
Two trips back to Adelaide made us realize just how much we missed home, and the family there missed us, especially the children. These last two years of being away from home have been a huge learning experience for me on many levels, but growth comes with some form of sacrifice, and missing home was certainly the ouch factor. Having no form of support in terms of babysitting, no one to show unconditional love to the kids, no comfort zone as such meant that I’ve had to learn to foster friendships with others far more than I normally would, that I’ve learnt to squeeze the most joy out of time spent with my precious ones, and make the best of the ‘can’t take it any more’ days. As they both grow, things get easier, and spending time with them is becoming far more enjoyable.
My resolutions for the coming year (made significant by the relocation to Adelaide) are:
1. Stick to the simpler lifestyle and values that the experience of the last 2 years has given.
2. Plan to have at least one day of the week where I don’t go out and have ‘down time’ with the kids – that’s were incredible bonding and learning happens.
3. Keep the TV out of the house. We’ve all done really well with a self-imposed year without the box. (we have a tv antenna on the computer with which the kids watch some shows, but that’s about it).
4. Keep on crafting – gives me so much fulfilment, and the kids just thrive on it too.
5. Malls and shopping to a minimum.
6. Pray more, eat less, give more, and be thankful for it all!

Fruitopia

2008-12-28T03:12:00.000-08:00

If there's one thing i'll miss about life in tropical oz, its the FRUITS!!! I'm a fruit freak, and mangoes and pineapples top my list of all-time favourites, due in no small part to growing up with them. These are the real deal, not the gassed, tasteless, flavoureless stuff sold in supermarkets. So here's my tribute to my good friends from the plant kingdom, who knows when we'll meet again....

Meet the Papaya (paw-paw) - entire books have been written about the health benefits of this fruit, and especially the seeds. A slice before breakfast, and my system is sorted for the day. They're even better than prunes and pears for you know what...

The green prickly strange looking thing is a fruit called sour sop. It's just that, sour and sweet, creamy white juice with an aromatic tropical flavour. This is the first time in years that i've had sour sop, and as with many of these tropical fruits, its as much about the childhood memories they evoke. I remember my parents getting the juice (can't think how) and freezing it - voila healthy troppo icecream! Turns pink when cooked. Just thought you needed that bit of useful info. Getting carried away here...

Bucket of mangoes from the local market - $6!! Juicy, you can smell them as you walk in the kitchen. The kids have been feasting on about 4 each a day, more if i let them. They grow all over Mackay, dropping onto the street, locals not interested. These are not a sought after variety as they are a bit fibrous.

Lady finger bananas, as they are sometimes called. Tiny, sour sweet and light.

Well, as i sit here avoiding the endless cleanup job and watch baby frogs hopping around the room, thanks to the storm we just had, here's a warm invitation to keep Queensland on your list of places to check out sometime!

Tropical summer

2008-12-22T03:25:00.000-08:00

Amy comfortably slides into a split. Doing flips and sommersaults with her is a treat in her book.
Need a tree, maybe some gymnastic lessons....

This little bastard sums up the season. The rains are here, and so are the hordes of mosquitoes, literally arrived overnight. It is INSANE!!!! Its like living in a beehive! I was crazy enough to go outside today to do some weeding (must do things before vacating this house), i covered up from head to foot, only my face exposed, and that too covered in repellant. Well, after 20 mins of sweltering work in the beehive, i ran indoors for shelter, jumped in the shower, and felt itchy all over. Hubby nearly had a fit when he saw my back, there were about 30-50 bites all over- through clothing. One bite on my leg through jeans!! Honestly, this is one aspect of the tropics i can't wait to leave behind!

Meantime, got a new camera today, so very snap happy! Will be doing a post on the more yummy aspect of the troppo lifestyle - fruits!!!!

A little bit of lipstick

2008-12-08T01:47:00.000-08:00

When getting home and contents insurance, i wish there was a clause in there to cover 'toddler incidents', such as the scene i was greeted with today. After a hectic weekend of a wedding and house guests, i was just getting a handle on the endless clean up job, when i realized i hadn't heard Amy for quite a while. Hmmm, we all know what that means.... Enter bedroom, into wardrobe ,and there she is, perched on a foam cube to reach the shelf where mommy's oh so tempting make-up lives, where she knows little fingers are not allowed.... I saw red.... and then pink. Little missy was covered from hair to foot in 2 entire tubes of lipstick, the rest of which was smeared all over the shelves, onto folded clothes, on doors, on the cube, and to top it off, engrossed as she was, she peed all over the red and pink mess.
Unfortunately my camera broke yesterday so no pics, but i'm sure you get the picture. By the way, any questions on stain removal of any sort, send them my way.... i think i've scored a degree by now in that department. Many hours later, all the stains came off.
This brand new lovely rental property we currently live in has been lovingly blessed by the creative endeavors of my two darlings, in ways which defy every chemical known to man. And yes, we will be vacating this property in a few short weeks, by which time it must return to its former spotless glory. Wish me luck, and lots of elbow grease. I've spent countless hours researching, shopping for and scrubbing away at out concrete garage floor which functions as the family/playroom. To no avail. And every day, new embellishments are added.
Sometimes i feel like Mr Mess is the culprit for most of the outbursts i have with the kids.

Grocery math

2008-11-26T21:54:00.001-08:00

Spontaneous math lesson: looking through junk mail, Danny starts picking out numbers, so i asked him to cut out three thinks he would buy. Glued them and wrote down price, added manipulatives (shells) and got him to count the shells for how much money we need to go shopping.
I try to incorporate basic math concepts in every day situations, to make it as 'real life' as possible at this stage. With preschool only 2 months away, I'm getting more formal with the abc and 123 stuff, and hoping that school will not steal the incredible curiosity and creativity in this little homegrown kiddo.

Change is the only stable thing....

2008-11-26T21:40:00.000-08:00

The past 2 years has seen our family make a few big moves and trips - from Adelaide to Townsville, then a transfer to Mackay, and now we're on the move again, back to Adelaide.
A lot of thought and prayer went into this decision, but i'm sure we're doing the right thing, everything is falling into place like it does when we trust a Higher Power to guide our actions.
Many reasons for the move, Mackay could never have been a long term place, not with the center of gravity being in Adelaide. So when a job offer came up a year earlier, we had to decide. Chasing butterflies around the country is great, making new freinds, enriching life experiences, but at some point, there comes a need to settle. To be near people who love the children 100%, who will be there if something happens, who really care... I had to leave that to truly appreciate it.
We leave Mackay on 22nd Jan, via Sydney for the big Baha'i conference, and back to Adelaide to look for a house... :)

Fishy birthday...

2008-11-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics from a big day out to the Great Barrier Reef, 90mins drive from where we live. The great barrier reef is one of the 7 wonders of the world (according to tourist guides...), the Whitsundays is a section of the reef composed of 94 islands, a number of which are inhabited and set up for big time tourism. We did a one day cruise of three islands - Hook, Daydream and Whitehaven beach. This was a treat for my 30th birthday - and what a treat!!!

Coral covered beach. The coral pieces are broken off by some type of fish and washed ashore.

Whitehaven beach - pure quartz, white, fine, cold sand. Among top 10 beach in the world. (fishing for visitors here...)

More pics on facebook, blogger is such a pain to work with...

Amy do it!

2008-10-24T02:44:00.000-07:00

'I'm 2 and i can cut my own food!! What could possibly be more exciting?' I'm sure every parent can ditto that. Toddler insists "I do it!" mom pleads, "no you can't, I'll help you", followed by hysterics because she wasn't allowed to do it. I'm still there a lot, but occasionally, years of reading up on various forms of education filter through my 'heat of the moment' brain, and tell me to step back, bite my tongue, gulp, and LET her do it. For a little bit. SUPERvised! Result: no injuries yet (touch wood), confident kids, a bit too independent, will eat anything they cut themselves (wink). Even toilet training went much better after i stepped back and let Amy do it herself, with steps up to the seat. (potties and I don't go together).

Mackay surrounds

2008-10-23T22:45:00.000-07:00

Sugarcane train, we nicked a few for a taste:) Funny that locals don't eat them at all - only the end product, by the truckload (trainlaod?!).

Banana tree

Don't talk to strangers?!

2008-10-23T22:22:00.001-07:00

I was reminded of this phrase after an event in a playground. My friend and I were having a picnic lunch in a quiet park, 4 kids between us, when a man carrying a bottle walked past us, and stopped to talk, obviously drunk and trying to make a pass. We both ignored him and carried on, but the children watched him with interest and Danny (with his usual exuberance) responded and waved as he walked away towards his friends in the distance (also bottles in hand). My friend then told her children: "Remember I always tell you not to talk to strangers, see!"
I'm sure millions of parents out there tell their kids the same. What puzzles me is, how is a child supposed to know who a stranger really is? In this case a stranger who intends some harm to the child. Do we stop children from talking to everyone they don't know just because there is a ??? chance that one person may mean trouble? And if a person really does mean trouble, wouldn't they be smarter than that..... All I'm saying is I'm sure there's a better way to train children to be safe rather than the blanket statement "don't talk to strangers". Its hard enough getting basic courtesy from so many kids these days. What do you think?

Sand and tree house day

2008-10-20T03:04:00.000-07:00

A visit to my friend Lotte's house is always a treat. First the scenic drive through canefields and farms, then the charming house on the hill, the eco-friendly, animal loving atmosphere and to top it off, a real tree house and sand pit to dig into - one amazing lady who has single handedly put it all together. This time, we took the sand pit experience to a whole new level. Amy was not to be seen for ages as she "cooked" and mixed the water from the drum (complete with tap), absolutely rolling in the sand and mud, making a brief appearance to claim a piece of dessert with sand-pie fingers! The joy of watching a child play with dirt is something i feel is sorely missing from life in concrete jungles. No toy can ever replace the thrill of 'getting your hands dirty' and do it without a stressed-out parent breathing down your neck to stay clean. And don't get me started on my early days, so filled with the simple joys of a truly splendid childhood - exploring the jungle( the real deal, west african style), digging out trenches in the yard with my partner in crime (little bro) and filling it with water, building cubby houses with branches, spending large chunks of my time perched up in an avocado tree reading.... Fast forward 20+ years later to today: my kids spend lots of time indoors, playing with toys, watching tv (a little bit;), lots of time being driven around - playgroups, shops, freinds homes, not a whole lot of time in nature, and little access to DIRT and carefree ways... One thing i can't really put on the shopping list..hmmm.

Great beach lifestyle here, this one is from a picnic at a park by the beach, with families of staff from Vahid's work - great bunch! Danny ended up in his togs after going for a swim fully clothed. His current best buddies on either side.

Grandparents...

2008-09-25T05:13:00.000-07:00

Amy doing what she does best - eating off other people's plates. Hey, it tastes so much better if its on another plate, or 'baba's plate'; pictured here in her permanent spot on her grandpa's laps EVERY morning at breakfast. These two are literally bosom buddies, and poor dad hardly ever gets a peaceful breakfast when we're around. This scene epitomises what i miss most now - the children and their special bond with their grandparents. When Danny was little and we lived in the granny flat behind them, it was wonderful in so many ways, but sometimes both parties needed more space. But we were'nt quite thinking 2600km type of space.... Life has strange ways of interpreting our wishes....

crayon cupcakes

2008-09-25T04:56:00.000-07:00

Crayon melting is nothing new, lots of ideas abound on blogoland, but this was our first attempt and was greatly enjoyed. Inspiration from Sabrina. Colour quality on paper wasn't that great, i used very cheap broken crayons. Wax rose to the top and pigments settled. Love the colour effects tho!

Open a book...

2008-08-17T23:02:00.000-07:00

TV. If kids are entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they'll have with twenty-six. Open your child's imagination. Open a book. ~Author Unknown

Jewelery stand

2008-08-13T03:34:00.000-07:00

Block of wood (off cut), wrapped in paper and decorations, punched in a few nails (beads for decoration) and voila! A much tidier space. The challenging part was the "helpers".... notice beads on floor...

Good enough to eat!

2008-08-13T03:28:00.000-07:00

First attempt at soap making. Special request from my grandma (mummy joon), says its the only thing that stops her hair from falling out:) This is a basic cold process soap with a mixture of oils fromt he supermarket and a swirl of chocolate. Yup, plain old cocoa powder. easy peasy, with a stick blender it takes under an hour for the whole operation. Eager beaver sliced it up before dinner - big mistake. Little bunnies were starving and nearly had a slice to eat!

Bake your own, peoples!

2008-08-13T03:18:00.000-07:00

You can tell I spend A LOT of time at home, living in the 'country' now!! Exhibit A is what happens when you are so distracted you forget to turn the bradmaker on and return 5 hours later to bake it. Very yummy super fluffy bread!!!
I've been baking using a breadmaker for years now, and i coudn't live without it now. Here's why:
- it takes 5 mins to put the stuff in, 5 mins to slice the freshly baked loaf. no running to the store.
-it tastes WAY better than anything you can buy
-its MUCH helathier, there are some real nasties in store bought bread, of the preservative kind.
-its cost effective - the breadmaker pays for itself in a matter of months.

So if you haven't started yet, just visualize the smell of fresh bread as you walk through the door, or wake up in the morning.....and get baking!

the quest to reduce mess

2008-08-13T03:07:00.000-07:00

Paint on an open cardboard box. I've also just discovered poster paints (been avoiding them due to trying to expose kids to 'quality art materials' drill) but hey, this stuff washes off. Blues and purples can be harder to remove.
Tip from a friend: use hairspray to remove just about any stain of clothing, spray on, throw in the wash while wet.

Toddler at work

2008-08-04T06:08:00.000-07:00

All it takes is a few seconds, turn your back and tada...!
I've been reading this book to the kids called "Ill love you forever" and this reminds me of the part where the 2yo flushes his mother's watch down the toilet, yet at night, she rocks him to sleep with:
"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as i'm living, my baby you will be." Hard to remember that part sometimes!!

Original pillowcases

2008-08-03T23:03:00.000-07:00

While Amy slept, Danny and mommy did some sewing and artwork using fabric markers on a pillowcase. Danny's comments as we sewed: " Mommy, i can sew now!!! Now i don't need to play any other games, i can just do this. " When he completed his sewing (a circle) on a not so new pillowcase, i gave him some Crayola fabric markers and his joy was complete!! Especially when he realized it was an object he could actually use. "Mommy, we are not putting this on the shelf, this goes on MY pillow, no other pillowcases ever." After he had covered every inch of the hoop, I ironed the design on the reverse, and we'll find out soon how it holds up in the wash. Another design mommy made earlier, below.

8 Ways to Make Birthdays More Meaningful for Your PreSchooler

2008-08-03T02:06:00.001-07:00

8 Ways to Make Birthdays More Meaningful for Your PreSchooler

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'Auntie Velda'

2008-07-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

Short and sweet visit by the lovelyMorisco ladies, Maya, May and Velda. They were very quickly recruited into the job of "read book" for Amy and Danny, book after book after book until they left town!!!

International Day picnic

2008-07-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

This lovely picnic was organized by families with adopted children to meet other 'mutlicultural family' in Mackay. Lots of friends from my playgroup here.

Teabags, shells and sewing machine

2008-07-28T04:53:00.000-07:00

Every morning, as daddy makes his cuppa tea, little miss Amy who wants to do it all just like grown ups insists on getting her own teabag, and swinging it around the house till it ends up in some corner, to be retrieved later by yours truly. So with a bit of inspiration from some blog(sorry can't find link) i came up with this felt version of 'the teabag'. They loved it, for a few days....

A very exciting afternoon at a nearby beach where we discovered treasure-troves of shells and stones. I got so excited after finding cowrie shells for the first time ever, it brought back memories of faraway Cameroon, visiting the palace of a local chief of a village, the front entrance decorated with cowrie shells embedded into the mud plaster, and strung around the neck as a necklace. Historically, they were used as currency in ancient Africa.

Finally, a sewing machine to get on to those myriad projects i've been dreaming up, especially after reading "The Creative Family" (thanks Lessan) and the whole idea of bringing the homely things back into the home.... Got this machine free from our local Freecycle network. Love Freecycle. It works, and at this butterfly stage of our life, i'm not spending much on heavy large objects that may not be able to move to the next destination (no clue yet where that could be).

edible alphabet

2008-07-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

Any excuse to get Danny interested in his ABC's, without appearing to 'teach' him. I used a simple dough for flat bread here, and helfway through rolling it out for some 'naan', brought out some alphabet cutters that had been stashed away for ages - maybe Danny would like to have a play with cutting out letters... He got right into it. No sugar either!

Felt Phase

2008-07-08T05:51:00.000-07:00

Some felt food I made up, which kids loved.

3 months later: Turns out this was more than a phase, i've since made a few more pieces. Some samples made for a friends child:

Coloured pasta craft

2008-07-08T04:40:00.000-07:00

Made some coloured pasta to take to craft time at one of the playgroups we attend.
Here's how: to half a cup vinegar add 10 or more drops food colouring. Add pasta shells and let dry overnight. Colour intensifies when dry. I mixed up the colours for different shades here, but primary colours look brilliant too.

Bake me cake

2008-07-08T03:46:00.000-07:00

Amy's birthday rolled around and despite the fact that i'm not big on birthdays, i though it a good opportunity to meet up with new mommy friends in new town, and keep it simple. Well, what to do about the cake...what does the birthday girl like? easy, books. All day, everyday, mommy read book. So i'll make a book shaped caked. But which of the many favourite books...hmmm....One that she and i both love, gets read daily, and was MY favourite book as a little girl: 'Karen and the little lost kitten', charming little book with a pop up kitten, now out of print.
Using a recipe for a firm cake, i covered it with a layer of marzipan, then some sugarpaste icing, which was nightmare to get on without crumbling. the rest was just a matter of using painting a scene with food colouring, as if on paper, and some marzipan bits, made ahead.