A memorable week with newlyweds

SHE turns 4

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

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

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

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?

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

 - 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

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

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

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:)