Breathe

Today Gremlin was at school, Chicken was at kindy, W@dsy was at work and I was home alone with Poppet. I loved it. It wasn't the first time, in fact it has happened twice a week for most of the year.

But today I stopped.

I stopped trying to catch up on laundry and baking and sleep. I stopped feeling guilty about being lazy and not doing enough housework or being a good enough mum. Poppet was screaming at me for no reason and she wouldn't stop.

So I stopped.

I took a deep breath, wheeled her screaming in her high chair to the bathroom and turned on the taps to the bath. She stopped screaming and just watched me. I stripped us both down and we got in. She was calm and happy. She usually hates baths, she spends the whole time trying to get out, normally she has one of her siblings in the bath with her (a parent supervising of course), but today it was me. Today we played in the bath, we giggled, we played with toys, we fed each other blueberries, we just had fun. I had been so busy for so long trying to get everything done I was missing out.

Its time to make myself breathe, accept that I'm not perfect and simply enjoy the amazing life God has given me.

Isn't she just beautiful.

Here we go again

Now that W@dsy and I have decided to stop having kids. Its probably time to get my butt back into shape. I am trying to lose 10kg by the end of the year. This is about the hundredth time I have told myself I am going to lose weight. I'm not a goal orientated person but I'm hoping this will work this time.

Do I have an awesome plan to do this? Am I going to go on some special diet? No I'm just trying to get off my butt more often and exercise and not eat junk food. This sounds like a simple plan, however... I love junk food, soooo much. There are several drive through places on my way to Gremlin's school and they call to me. They call to me I tell you. I am doing okay... so far. I am trying to remember to eat a healthy breakfast and have some healthy snacks and plenty of water on hand for when hunger strikes. I am even considering making myself a sticker chart, so I get a sticker everytime I say no to junk food, at least that way I can see my progress even before the weight comes off.

As for exercise, I posted on facebook asking if any of my friends wanted to be my fitness buddy to let me know. Well, quite a few people replied, so I decided that 3 days a week I would go out to a different location and exercise and invited my friends to join me. I asked them NOT to tell me if they couldn't make it, that way I'd have to go, because I didn't know if anyone would be waiting for me. I don't have a brilliant wet weather plan yet, but I figure for now we can meet at my place and do pushups etc when it rains. I'm one week in and going ok (Still craving burgers and fries). But of course I now have a cold :( I will keep exercising but at a lighter pace until I'm better.

Does anyone have any other brilliant healthy weight loss ideas?

Not-so-schoolmum

Now that Gremlin goes to school, I can now officially call myself a school mum.

I am discovering a whole new world I never knew existed. If you listen to everything you read on the internet you may go insane. There are blogs on how to dress for the school run, lunch box art, fancy name labels and how to organise a homework nook.

I'm a different sort of school mum. I throw on my usual "uniform" of a geeky T-shirt and denim shorts to drop the kids off. I make sure my kids get food in their lunchboxes, if I'm lucky they will even eat all of it. I scrawl the kids names on their things with a pen that keeps rubbing off so I have to do it all over again. I might even remember to occasionally check Gremlin's school bag for notes and homework.

I have also discovered a few things. I love the school holidays. Why? Because it means all my kiddies are home and I get unlimited cuddles of course, but also and rather importantly, I hate the school run. I hate having to get everyone dressed and fed with bags packed at a set time and then in the afternoon doing it all again. Then there is the small talk with other parents while you hang around at the school waiting for your kids to start or finish class.

It's quite funny, you seem to lose your identity when you are a school parent. You meet people and befriend them based on who their kids are. I am no longer Ziva, I am now Gremlin's mum. It took a while but I now have other parent friends at the school, ones who are just as crazy as me.

I will probably get the hang of this school parent thing... in about 18 years when Poppet graduates from high school.

Back on track

After a very long break I am back. I have a really good excuse for my long absence.

I had another baby.

After a really long pregnancy involving being medicated for throwing everything up and then being on insulin for gestational diabetes, I had a beautiful baby girl we have nicknamed "Poppet."

She is now 16 months old and running around everywhere.

My family has had a pretty busy time. Other than gaining a beautiful baby, we have moved twice, gained two dogs, a cat and a housemate with a cat. Gremlin has started school and Chicken is in kindy 2 days a week. Our place is pretty crazy these days but I am loving it.

Even though lots has changed, also a lot hasn't. I am still me, still terrible at housework and getting myself organised, but that's ok.

Now that I am back there will be more posts to follow soon.

Catch ya soon.

Barbies and Beefs

As you may have figured out, I am trying yet again to eat healthier and get my butt back to the gym.

The first hurdle I am trying to get over is the healthy eating thing. I am attempting to copy my daughter's style and snacking on carrots etc. but sometimes I just crave chocolate, what's a girl to do? At the moment I am trying just not to buy chocolate, this plans seems to be working... so far.

My next hurdle is the gym. I have joined a local 24hr gym so that I can go whenever I can organise it, even if it means going after dinner when the kids are asleep, or whenever I can get a babysitter/hubby to watch the kids. Because of the odd times I attend the gym, I've begun to notice a trend in the other clientèle, and have created a little dictionary for you:

Beefs – These guys are your body builders, or simply guys who like the muscley look. Beefs are quite large, they tend to have biceps so large they aren't actually hold their arms at their sides, giving the impression of far too many steroids. They are found at all hours of the day or night. They are usually found in pairs in the evenings and they “spot” each other.

Spotting – When one Beef makes jokes at the expense of another Beef who is lifting weights.

Big Beauties – Generally women, but occasionally men, who for whatever reason are overweight. They are usually accompanied by a personal trainer ( I need me one of those). They work their butts off and you can't help but be proud of them. They are usually seen at crazy hours of the morning, because this is apparently the only time the personal trainers are available.

Barbies – Gorgeous stick figures with hair extensions. These women don't need to attend the gym for fitness reasons but instead use the time to socialise with their friends while hogging the treadmills and flirting with Beefs who probably couldn't satisfy them anyway due the affect of steroids on their manhoods. The gym manager actually has a jar of lollies on hand to help revive Barbies who decide to work out but haven't eaten anything all day.

The Useless Hour – 6pm-ish – This is the time of day when everyone finishes work, ditches office attire and dons their exercise gear and heads to the gym leaving me no weight machines, treadmills or any other equipment to exercise on. :(

The Best Time – 2pm-ish – Most people are at work (except for the occasional Beef) so the machines are usually free. Plus I can usually hide in the corner and not stress about someone seeing me and laughing at how everything wobbles when I run (No-one actually does this, but I am paranoid).

Me - Really needs to actually attend the gym more and exercise rather than sit on my butt on the couch and blog about it

Early Morning Funnies

In the wee hours of the morning our darling son Gremlin woke us, shortly followed by his sister, he decided that he would tell us all about what he learned in Kids Church on Sunday.

Gremlin: Guess what, God fought Goliath
W@dsy: Oh really?
Gremlin: Yeah and He chopped off his head.
W@dsy: Don't you mean David?
Gremlin: Nope, it was God
Chicken: Yeah and then Mummy needs to sticky tape his head back on
Me: ????

Passions

I was talking to a friend the other day about everyone has something we love to do, she loves cooking, W@dsy loves teaching and playing computer games etc.

Then she asked me the big question, what do I like to do?

It stumped me, I actually hadn't really thought about it before.

Sewing was the first thing that came to mind, but now having thought about it a bit more I think that as much as I enjoy sewing, my real passion is helping people. I love being able to do something for someone who needs it whether it be a listening ear, babysitting, or just cooking a meal to make their lives easier. I think that's one of my favourite things about being a stay at home mum, being free to help when needed.

It makes me wonder what Gremlin and Chicken's passions will be.

What's your passion?

A Weight Off My Shoulders

I was so young at eighteen, so naive. It sounded like such a great idea, it was so easy. Just fill out the forms and then you have a safety net. 

Then you realise that it can do so much more. It's okay, you can pay it back later. And you do, for a while. Then it starts to get out of hand and it seems so big, like it's never going to go away. You strive to get everything under control, and you succeed for a while, and then the cycle starts again, and you feel doomed.

Yes, credit cards are evil.

Guess what, mine is now paid off! The relief is amazing. 

I went into the bank to get them to lower the credit limit so we have some still available for emergencies but it can never get so big again.

Am sooo happy.

The Clean Machine

As most of you who know me can attest, I hate cleaning. Let's face it few of us actually enjoy it. The main problem with being a stay at home mum now is that I have to look at my messy house all day, every day.

So after a little while of not working I realised that I had to organise myself or I would go crazy. I did what any modern housewife would do in my situation and whipped out my smart phone and googled "how to clean" and "how to organise." Obviously I found a lot of websites on the subject and spent a little too much time drooling over beautifully organised and labelled cabinets that cost waaaaaay too much for a single income family. I tried a few different cleaning plans but realised that too much structure drives me just as crazy as chaos does! After a lot of trial and error I have learned these things:

• I don't have to do everything at once
• I need to cut myself some slack. I won't have time to enjoy my house if all I do is clean all day
• Take regular breaks
• It's okay to mow half the lawn one day and then the other half the next day, it's a big lawn!
• Even doing the smallest bit of housework is better than doing nothing at all
• If I feel like cleaning out an entire room or cupboard, that's okay too
• My crazy kids enjoy "helping" me clean, so just go with it
• My friends are awesome and listen to me whine about lack of motivation on the phone and encourage me to get off my butt
• It's okay if my house doesn't look magazine perfect, it looks like my family actually live here and enjoy it

Okay, so my methods aren't daily cleaning plans but they are working for me. How do you guys keep up with housework?

PS. After much research on the internet, if you are not sure how to clean something, the answer is probably "use white vinegar"

I'm Baaaack

Yes I disappeared for a while from the world of blogging, but never fear, I have returned.

I may not have been blogging, but I have not been idle.

I have quit my job, I've been spending more time with God, W@dsy, the kids, and friends. I have joined a gym, I am getting my house more organised and decluttered (so much so I managed to find my way back to the computer) and loads more.

Does this mean I am morphing into a uber awesome "Yummy Mummy" who has it all together?

Not a chance!

I am still crazy, still silly and still me. So you can look forward to some new (and hopefully a little more frequent) posts.

See you all soon

Ziva

Grateful

My kids are growing up so fast, I was looking at them today and trying to remember what it was like when they were babies. I'm not sure, but I think it was quieter. I have to say though, I'm loving the cute things they are saying at the moment...

Chicken: Mummy, why did you change your clothes?
Me: I didn't darling, I changed my hair colour
Chicken: Oooohh it's blue
Me: Umm, no darling, it's red
Chicken: Oooohh it's red

Gremlin: Mummy, Daddy, you hide, I'll be the Seek.

Chicken: Mummy, you got spreckles on you (freckles)

Gremlin: Watch out the Hunk (Hulk) is getting you

Chicken: No Mummy, I want to plush (flush) the toilet

Gremlin is eagerly planning his 4th birthday party, so far he wants a Spiderman, Superman, Mr Incredible, Batman and Buzz Lightyear cake. I have to say, I'm having fun planning the party too. It's actually hard trying not to give him absolutely everything a little boy could want. I'm so grateful to God for giving me my beautiful children, and my lovely husband, who puts up with me wanting to buy "just one more thing for the party" He has blessed me so much.

Prince Charming and the Princess

My children have decided that they are royalty, and have started behaving accordingly.

My son Gremlin, is charming. Frustratingly so. He picks his victims, stares up at them with his big brown eyes, and instantly gets what he desires. We have discovered that his trick is polite manners. At the playground, he will occasionally spy a mother with "better" food than the fare I have provided. He will wander up to said mother and say "Please can I please have a chippy please." Beware of the multiple "pleases." If he gets a "No" (which is rare) he puts on a sad puppy dog face and walks back to me dragging his feet, the mother calls him back with a "Oh alright, just one, because you asked so nicely" and then he runs back beaming practically yelling "Thank You!" I go and apologise for my son harassing the poor mother and she just smiles back, "It's fine, he lovely manners" Why yes, he does, how else would he get things off strangers?

Chicken however has decided she's a princess. She is a rather gross princess, but she's a princess. She almost always wants to wear dresses, the second she is wearing the dress she twirls and says "I'm a princess Mummy!" She will then go and play in the backyard, or with her food, or will crawl into a dusty corner somewhere and come out covered in dirt. At daycare, she goes through at least two sets of clothes each day (although its usually 3 or 4) because she gets dirty or gets paint or pen all over herself, once she even came home with an arm dyed blue (it took two days before her skin was white again). I'm kind of proud that I have a girl who, despite liking to be pretty, would rather enjoy life and get a little messy.

Sewing again

Yes I'm at it again.

Chicken just keeps getting taller, so rather than buy new clothes all the time, I stole one of her really cute dresses which is getting waaaay too short and made it longer.

I started with a dress and an old singlet

I chopped the top off the dress, and trimmed a little off the bottom of the singlet. I cut the top of the dress up to make some cute frills, sewed it all together and...

TA DA!!!!

The dress is now a few inches longer, hopefully it'll fit okay. I really should measure her before she goes to bed. Oh well.

What a Weekend

Okay so yesterday was Mum's 50th birthday, today was Chicken's 2nd birthday and tomorrow is W@dsy and my 7th wedding anniversary.

Yesterday we helped prepping for Mum's party, I made Mum's cake and Chicken's cake, and then actually went to the party.

Here is my beautiful Mum

Here is my beautiful daughter 

(Yes I'm pretty sure the women in my family are genetically incapable of smiling for a camera with our eyes open)

Gremlin eating a cupcake

I only made the big cupcake, I cheated and we bought the little ones.

Chicken loves pigs lately, I think it's because they are pink.

To make our lives a little easier we just whipped out the "Oinky" cake at church, she's still a little young to understand about birthday parties yet. I presented Chicken with the doll I made. Then I went to a Tupperware party in the afternoon with Chicken, she was very popular being the only child there and being awfully cute. Then to Mum's again to eat mountains of leftovers from the party. Now home, waiting for the sugar rush of the past couple of days to subside so I can sleep.

W@dsy and I might take tomorrow easy, and watch a DVD, I'm thinking "The Seven Year Itch" with Marilyn Monroe....

My Baby Girl

Chicken will be 2 in a couple of days, I can't believe it!

She's growing up way too quickly and is turning into such a sweetheart. This morning she spend 10 minutes handing me piles of toys to cuddle because she thought I looked tired (I was lying on the sofa).

I usually go a little nuts when buying presents, especially with my kids but I am trying to be frugal. So instead of spending money on toys she'll probably destroy anyway, I decided to make her a present (which she'll probably destroy anyway).

A friend of mine got some dolls for her daughters made by Emmi's Cottage that were super cute. So I thought I'd try to make one. Thanks to my way too big fabric stash and some donations from my lovely mother-in law. I made this little mermaid.

Now I just need to wrap her up and give her to my not-so-baby girl.

The Bathroom Parade

Every morning for the past few weeks W@dsy and I have been woken up by the rattling of the bedroom doorknob. Gremlin bursts in the room and yells "Daddy, Daddy, I need help wit you!" and bolts into the bathroom. He then stands there doing the "I need to go to the toilet dance" and refuses to actually pee in the toilet unless W@dsy removes his pants for him and plonks him on the toilet.

Now don't get me wrong, my son dragging my not-a-morning-person husband out of bed at 5:30am is funny, but.... Apparently now it's my turn. Since W@dsy doesn't cope well with mornings, I need to take over. And that means Gremlin isn't too happy that his favourtie parnet isn't there, so he wakes his sister and thus begins...

The Bathroom Parade.

The Bathroom Parade is what occurs when 4 people (two of which are fairly new to the whole toilet concept) are attempting to use a single toilet at the same time and all end up having to line up and take turns.

Gremlin is always first, he wakes every one else up and reminds them he needs to go NOW.

Chicken is second, mainly because she stills wears a nappy at night so if an accident occurs, well at least it's in the nappy.

Next it's me, I lock the brats out and do my business in private thank you very much.

Then it's W@dsy because while I was in the bathroom, the kids were in our bed jumping on daddy to wake him up.

As much as I love my kids at the age they are right now, I am really looking forward to the day when they can both get themselves to the bathroom unaccompanied.

Are You All Super Jealous?

When W@dsy's parents took the kids for a few days, I had a chance to do some sewing, not 'cos I needed to but because I wanted to. My mother-in-law gave me some fabric when we dropped the kids off. So I thought I'd experiment. Again YouTube was my friend and I tried to make a baby quilt that was a little more adventurous. I haven't finished it, but I think I made a pretty good start.

So I had a few fun days relaxing with my husband and working on a new skill. Are you jealous?

When the Kids are Away...

Mummy and the sewing machine start to play.

W@dsy's fantastic parents are looking after the kids for a couple of nights to give W@dsy and I a break. So I am doing what I love to do when I get spare time, sew.

Inspired by the craftiness of Faith from PoPnBelle, I decided to make my kids a quilt each. No, I will not attempt this in one day, in fact this has happened over a couple of weeks. I have never made a quilt before, so I visited Youtube, of course. I found this from the Missouri Star Quilt Co. Then I went over to the local quilting shop and bought some cute fabric for Chicken's quilt and cut it into 5" squares.

I layed them out the way I wanted them.

Sewed them together.

Added borders.

And now I  have the top piece of the quilt!

All I have to do is get the batting, quilt it all together and then sew the binding on.

A Whole New World

Gremlin is entering a new stage in his life, that means so are we. Birthday Partydom.

This is the stage where kids start to care about their birthday parties, they plan what they want months in advance and then of course change it every day until the party arrives. To say nothing of the parents trying to look awesome to not only their children, but all the other parents that are invited.

A couple of weeks ago we received two birthday party invitations from some kids at daycare. The parties were on the same day, so one was booked for the morning at the local indoor playground, and the other was a train party in the afternoon (the invitation was so fancy it could rival some wedding invitations).

Well, today was party day.

Gremlin went to his swimming lesson, then to Party 1 with W@dsy. This was apparently a pretty standard kid's party at a kid's party place. You know what I mean, party hats, sausage rolls, kids unable to focus enough to play pass the parcel, cake and then happily go home knowing someone else is being paid way too much to clean up the mess.

Then home for naptime.

Then Party 2. This party was in a class of it's own. Gremlin and I showed up with a homemade card, and a present wrapped in homemade paper under our arms, I expected to see a similar party to the morning one, except in someone's backyard. I was wrong, we were greeted by the mother of all parties. Balloon arrangements, facepainting clown, puppet show, balloon animals, jumping castle, trampoline, play equipment, battery powered cars, individual afternoon tea trays for each child, super easy kids games where everyone "wins" large prizes and party bags filled with waaay too many lollies for 2-4 year olds. It's parties like these ladies and gentleman that make me feel rather inadequate.

There is absolutely no way I can compete with this party. So I have made a decision. I won't even try.

Gremlin's party this year will have kiddies, cake, basic party food, toys etc, to keep them busy and will probably be in our backyard, with all the adults huddled in the one shady corner we have. What can I say, I plan on setting the bar for parties a little lower.

Gremlin will have fun as long as at least one friend shows up and he gets to pick out his birthday cake. And you know what, I kinda like that kind of party best too.

Blessings

I am so blessed. I have a lovely husband, two beautiful children, a roof over over our heads and food in our bellies.

I guess today I'm just feeling how I have so much. Some people have so little. I don't know why God chose me to give such a wonderful life to, but I'm grateful He did.