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Sunday, 15 January 2012

I Am Reading...

Here's my photo for yesterday...
Day 14|What I'm reading




It's one of the books that I have by my bed side, that I will flip through every now and again to remind myself... It's a good book, I do recommend it to any parent. Here's a summary page that I've book-marked (this book mark was a present for me, made by Lachlan at kinder for Mother's Day last year *loved it*):

Helping Children Deal with Their Feelings

Children Need to Have Their Feelings Accepted and Respected.

1. You can listen quietly and attentively.

2. You can acknowledge their feelings with a word.

"Oh... Mmm... I see..."

3. You can give the feeling a name.

"That sounds frustrating!"

4. You can give the child his wishes in fantasy.

"I wish I could make that car you are looking for reappear for you right now, with my magic wand!"

All feelings can be accepted.

Certain actions must be limited.

"I can see how angry you are at your brother. Tell him what you want with words, not fists."


...




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Saturday, 14 January 2012

My Vegetable Garden

There is SO much stuff happening in my vege garden right now. Vines are growing everywhere! Monster zucchini plants, cucumbers rolling about, tomatoes, eggplants, chillies, capsicum, sage, rosemary, basil, chives, lemon grass, hairy melon, rocket, lettuce, pumpkin and maize. It's haphazard, it's chaotic, it's gone crazy after a few rainy spells.

When my dad came for a visit a couple of months ago, he built 5 vegetable plots from planks of wood. Impatiently, I threw all my vegetable seedlings into the 2 plots (while he was still building the other 3!), chucked in some more seeds for good measure, heaped in lots and lots of manure, compost and all the good stuff. Now I need to commando crawl through the vines, to go looking for a spiky cucumber, or a glossy zucchini. I go into some sort of a sun salutation pose to pick chillies and tomatoes.

We've eaten lots of zucchini, made lots of chilli jam, picked and eaten lots of cucumbers, given some away and we still have heaps left in the garden. The corn is yet to bear fruits, as is the eggplant and pumpkin. There are lots of tomatoes ripening on the vine. The zucchinis just grow into monstrous proportions after a rainy day or two. It's mad!

There is a great deal of satisfaction to see a trug of beautifully fresh vegetables, grown organically at home. It's chemical and pesticide free! It is grown with love. The end result is rewarding and it just adds to the sense of well being, knowing that we are a part of the cycle of life and the production of food.










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Friday, 13 January 2012

In My Bag...

Photo A Day|Day 13
Here's what's in my (other) bag...

To be honest, I have not been carrying this bag at all this week. My phone and my wallet does not belong in there. It goes into the swimming bag, it wobbles along with the nectarines and the eggs in the "green" grocery bag, or it just sits atop of the shoe cabinet in the foyer. This is the going out going out bag.

The kids have been swimming ALL week, 5 days in a row. L1 has swimming lessons, a holiday program. L2 and L3 goes along for a little swim. It's great! The past week has seen all three of them being a lot more confident in the water. L1 learnt a few arm strokes, he could swim underwater for about 6 meters. He does somersaults! L2 dunks his head underwater, blows out bubbles for a good 6 seconds. He is also a lot more coordinated now in the water. L3... simply just loves to splash, paddle and play.

Boy am I glad the weekend is here, and the swimming program has ended. It's all good fun, but packing and unpacking the swimming bag is a bit of a chore! And the head is a bit dizzy and sore... eyes darting from L1 to L2 to L3 to L2 to L3 etc etc. And oh yeah, getting them ALL out of the pool and in the shower is good fun... NOT.

I'm ready for a little bit of a sleep in.

Happy weekend everyone!
XOX
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Thursday, 12 January 2012

Close Up

Photo A Day Challenge|Day 12

Then came the boy with the long eye lashes...

Guess who they belong to?
.
.
.
.

.
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My pretty boy Lucas is 3 and a half. He's got such long eyelashes, I often say isn't it such a waste on a boy? But of course I do not mean it that way! It compliments his big puss in boots eyes. Don't you just want to put a glob of Elizabeth Arden Double Density Max Volume on those curls? Haha! (I can just hear a 13 year old Lucas saying....NOT FUNNY MOM!)

Lucas is our 2nd born, our "middle child", if there's ever such a thing. He has always been a challenge, the family clown. He could go from cry to laugh in 3 seconds, and back again. He holds the record for the longest tantrum thrown. He is ridiculously noisy, aggressive and deliberately provocative. He picks fights, he spits and he taunts his OLDER brother until he explodes in tears. He teases his sister, takes her dollies, trip her over. AND there is always NOISE where he is. His terrible TWO has turned into terrible THREE, and now I wonder if it is ever going to go away (Will he become fantastic FOUR?), or what he might turn out to be when he became an adult.

BUT he is also the most funny, the most witty and the most entertaining. He goes about doing his own thing without a single care in the world! And he melts hearts when he batts those long eye lashes, and he throw one of those gorgeous smiles your way! He can chat you up, he calls on you the LOUDEST, he says GOOD MOOORNING to everyone, when everyone was having a sleep in on Sundays.

Grandma says he is also the cleverest.

Que sera, sera. What will be, will be.



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Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Tuesday, 10 January 2012

Childhood

Photo A Day Challenge
Day 10|Childhood

A Walk Down Memory Lane...


Link
I found this picture today of my grandparents, my siblings and I. It must be taken nearly 30 years ago.

This is one of my fondest childhood memories. Every holiday season, my parents would pack us all up in the car and drive 7 hours up north to Penang (Malaysia) where my grandparents live. It's a big wooden house on stilts with a gazillion rooms. There is no front door, just some wooden steps leading up to the house. Creaky floorboards covered with vinyl, old style plantation shutters and an outside dunny! The house is old style colonial and it's simply beautiful.

I remember the aroma of roasted peanuts and sesame seeds, hot sticky sugary caramel as my grandmother makes peanut brittle for Chinese New Year. I remember my grandfather, holding my hand and leading me out the long driveway, to a little mobile candy shack. Buying us Hacks lollies, little black liquorice wrapped in red cello.

My grandfather passed away nearly 30 years ago...
And not long after, that historic house was demolished to make way for modern development.

This is one tiny bit of my childhood memories.



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Monday, 9 January 2012

Lily @ 20 months

Do you remember, my precious little baby girl? The little lump I used to cradle, nurse and carry around in a sling? Her skin all wrinkly and covered in fine, downy hair. Her smell of new baby skin, clean and milky. She lies there, a little helpless, just gazing at you. She gurgles, coos and smiles... Remember THAT baby??


Well, she is that baby NO MORE! She puts on her own shoes, picks her own clothes and carries a handbag on her forearm like a grandma, not necessarily in that order! She puts 3 words together, to try and make a sentence. She climbs the fort and jumps in the trampoline with her brothers.

Oh dear, where has my baby gone?


Eating

She loves her food, and just eats whatever we have for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Her favourites are sausages, mash and peas, spaghetti bolognese, fried rice, noodles and egg. She picks apart her sandwiches. She loves fruits - peaches, nectarines, apples, pears, mango, kiwi. She drinks cows milk from a cup, 2-3 times a day. She is very independent with her eating. She feeds herself, but gets food in her ears, nose and hair! One thing that sets her apart from her brothers, is that she won't take another bite until everything in her mouth is chewed and swallowed. Where as the boys just shovel their food down like there's no tomorrow!

Playing & Activities

She loves her dollies. She loves playing cooking and tea cups. She's a girly girl. But occasionally does play with her brother's cars, trains and trucks. She gets very territorial at times, not wanting to share her toys. "Mine, mine, MINE!" She chucks a hissy fit when her toys are taken from her. She enjoys puzzles, loves to read. And she wants to read her favourite book over and over and over....and over again! She holds her pens and pencils in a palm grip, and just scribbles whatever she wants to.

She is one brave girl when it comes to swimming. She jumps too eagerly into the pool and dunks her head into the water although she hasn't found a way to swim back up for air! Yes, a little too "brave" for my liking!

Motor skills & Coordination

I must say, Lily is very coordinated in her own ways. We used to have all sorts of baby safety paraphernalias with the boys, but they've been thrown out, given away or even sold online! Lily climbs up and down, weaves in and out of furnitures very very carefully. She rarely gets stuck and gets herself out of tricky situations a lot better than the boys. She follows her big brothers around, climbs up and down the ladder of the fort, hurtles herself off the slide. She climbs up the ladder onto the trampoline and bounces along when her brothers jump. She does it all slowly and steadily.

Language

She can say many words now, and even throwing a few words together. Her first 3 syllable word: NIN-JA-GOOOO!! She surprises people with what she can say. She picks up the phone and says "Hewow?" She knows her daddy's name, mummy's name and her grandpa's name. She practically just repeats everything you say like a parrot. One day she surprises us by saying "har kau (prawn dumpling in cantonese), siu mai (pork dumpling), yue chi kau (shark fin dumpling)" what we've ordered at a recent yum cha session! What a cracker! My sister in law is now trying to teach her a few words in Hokkien.


Tantrums & Emotions


Oh yes, we are starting to see some signs of "terrific" twos and threes. She throws a tantrum when she doesn't get what she wants...sometimes. And she is very VERY loud. She screeaaammms, screeeaacchh, yeelllls and it often sounds a LOT worse than it actually is. She is also very loving and readily give hugs and kisses.

I can't help getting all nostalgic again, knowing that my LAST little baby has grown out of her baby skins.



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Breakfast

Photo A Day Challenge

Day 9|Daily Routine



It's the school holidays.

There is NO routine. The kids wake up...LATE. We sit at the kitchen bench and eat our breakfast at 10.30am! And then we lounge around in our peejays ALL morning. And finally brush our teeth at noon.

We might watch a little TV, play lots of video games... like LOTS of video games. We might go outdoors if the weather is good, jump on the trampoline or take a dip in the pool if it's warm enough. There is JUST no routine.

One thing is for sure, we get under mom's skin a lot... and that is a LOT.

In the picture, daddy was getting ready for work. And he's really REALLY running late! First day back at work...
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Sunday, 8 January 2012

Night Sky

Photo A Day Challenge
Day 8|Sky


10:56PM
Oh crap! Babes... how's the sky?


Errr.... it is... dark?? Why, what's wrong with it?

I need to take a photo of it. I've forgotten my photo a day challenge...

Babe: ??????

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Sunday Selections

Do you have many pictures that is stored away in your computer, just sitting in folders, not doing anything? (Try making a photobook at www.photobookworldwide.com!)

Today, I'd like to share with you a couple of photos for each month in the last 5 months. Looking back before this blog was resurrected again, my last post was in July 2011. July! So, I came across a photography meme at Frogpondsrock, and thought maybe I should pick a few photos of the kids at random, just for the past few months.

Enjoy!

August 2011

Daddy, lend me your shoulder...

The boys at RSPCA Cupcake Day


September 2011

My grungy boy, Lachlan at the local park

October 2011

November 2011


Falling asleep in grandpa's arms

December 2011

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Saturday, 7 January 2012

Raindrops on roses...

Photo A Day Challenge

Day 7|Favourite


My favourite author (at the moment) is Paullina Simons. She writes on frailties of family, and of human nature. I am on to my fourth book at the moment, and "The Girl in Times Square" is by far my favourite. It's about a girl called Lily Quinn who is faced with 2 pieces of extreme, life changing luck - one good and one bad. She struck lotto, but at the same time was diagnosed with a terminal illness. I had my emotions wrung so completely, one minute I was sobbing my heart out, the next minute laughing through my tears! It also has everything a romance glutton like me needs, a bold dashing hero (NYPD cop!) sweeping up sick girl in his arms, into a heart stopping love affair. Great read! Best Blogger Tips

Friday, 6 January 2012

Makes me smile...

Photo A Day Challenge

Day 6| :)


Baby kiss me one more time!

Disclaimer: This photo is published WITHOUT permission! :) :) :) Best Blogger Tips