Our December so Far - In Picture

The kids and I waiting for Santa at their preschool Christmas party.

Jack and Hamish receiving their present from Santa. It was a calico bag with one of the teachers drawings printed on it. Hamish then went around pilfering food from other peoples picnic to fill his bag with and then proceeded to go back and feed Santa for the next 1/2 hour. NOTE: how excited does Hamish look ... and so cute that he likes to hug Santa thank-you

Polly and Fred having a snuggle at the preschool Christmas party.

Carmen and I having a snuggle at the preschool Christmas party.

Our street closes off the street and has a Christmas party every year. This year we went one step further and hired a jumping castle for four hours. This is just after set-up unfortunately I didn't get any photos of it in full swing with all 14 kids from the street (and a few ring-ins) on it at the same time.

Just a shot of Hamish opening his present (a butterfly net and some Dora Uno cards) mainly this shows a portion of the kids that were at the party ... as you can see the whole thing happens in the middle of the street.

Jack at his preschool graduation afternoon tea with a few of his friends. The girl standing next to him is Tash, she and Jack have become really close this year and they seem to have this great little understanding of each other. Its really sweet to watch.

It was Andrews and my anniversary last weekend. We don't usually celebrate much and so Andrew went to his yearly golf game in the morning and the kids and I baked mince pies for daddy. He came home with a huge box of cherries. We might not celebrate but our tummies did.

On the weekend I found a totem tennis at a garage sale complete with bats and ball. I pulled a brick out of our paving and set it up today. Here is Hamish getting the hang of it. Bless his every time he hit it he would jump around yelling "I did it" and then the ball would fly around and whack him ... he didn't even notice.
Last but not least Jack also trying that totem tennis. It took him a little while but once he did he looked like a pro :)

This could well be my last post until after Christmas. So Merry Christmas all, I hope you are ready for the silly season and manage to get a little silly yourself.

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

Just a quick note to tell you that I still love you and think of you often.  You are still my favourite and my best spot to put all of those random thoughts, ideas and musing that need a place to live.  I can imagine that you must be feeling quite neglected at the moment.  So what have I been up to that has kept me from you.

1.  Life
2. Death
3. School
4. Preschool
5. Xmas

All of which have been happening with various degrees of speed and depth.

So please take this apology and statement of devotion and know that I will endeavor to speak to you soon.

Lots of love,
Me ...

Someone Like You

When I was young I used to love looking for similarities between my parents and myself. There were funny things like the way that my dad flicks his toes when he watches TV. There were physical things like the way my mum laughed. There were things that seemed hard to grasp like the fact that Dad and I see the world in similar way and often have similar wants ... these ones are harder to put down as nature verses nurture but still they were similarities. I have all of these traits and I found them comforting. Proof that I belonged with them, to them

I am starting to see some of Andrews and my traits in our children. The way that Hamish burns brighter the more tired he is. This means he talks a million miles an hour and starts dancing and singing then sits down and falls asleep in two seconds flat just like me. He also has ABs tenacity the ability to set his mind to something and work tirelessly at it until he has achieved it. For example AB worked four jobs at 20 something to get the money together for a house. Jack has his dads cool head and my emotionality. It became very obviously today when I had the following conversation with Jack.

J: Mum.

Me: (Looking up to see him sitting with tears in his eyes) Yes babe, what's up?

J: Sometimes when I draw a 'Happy Valentines Day' I get happy sad.

Me: What do you mean honey?

J: When I draw a happy valentines day sometimes I happy cry.

Me: Sorry baby, what's a happy valentines day?

J: You know when you write something for someone you love

Me: (still a little perplexed) What are you writing baby?

J: I'm drawing a picture of Hamish with a love heart for a head and it made me happy sad.

Me: (still trying to catch up) You got happy sad because you were drawing about how you feel about Hamish?

He walked over to me with a picture of Hamish with a love heart for a head and told me that he didn't want me to tell Hamish it was a drawing of him, but that I needed to keep it forever because it was all about how much he loved Hamish and it was very special.

Ohh happy sad indeed. A concept I know well and that my children often bring out in me. That is one trait I am happy to pass onto my children.

It was a very simple drawing compared to his usual creations but I will keep it, I hope forever.

Beach kind of Day

I am not a beachy kind of person.  I love the water when its in a river or backyard pool but generally I can take or leave the beach.

Last sunday the weather man was predicting that the we were going to have a heat wave and so a few of my friends started talking about going to the beach.

My first thought was ... You've got to be kidding, its going to be super hot, its all sandy, the kids won't go in because of the waves and there will be me on my own (AB had a golf game up the mountains) with two hot cranky kids, my huge bag full of beach paraphanalia and I don't even like the beach in the first place.

My second thought was ... Get over it and just go you never know you might even enjoy yourself.

And I did! Mostly because we went to a beach with no sand or waves (which are the two things I don't like about the beach) the clouds were covering the sun so it wasn't too hot (yet) and you got to dive off the rocks swim in crystal clear water for a bit and then go and sit in the shade next to a rock while the kids play in the rock pools gathering sea shells, looking at anemones and paddling in the water.

For the first time I left the beach wondering when we could go back again.

Adventures with Boys (TMI)

For those of you who don't want to read about penises' stop reading now. It could be to much information (TMI)

Because I have two boys and the penis is something that we talk about a fair bit.  We talk about anatomy in general a lot but the penis is the favourite.

We talk about the structure; forskin, scrotum, testses etc and we talk about what we do with it; how to clean it, where the wee comes from, why is mine smaller than daddies and so on.

This has been made more challenging by the 'Why' stage.

Jack didn't really go through a 'Why' stage he went through a 'What is' stage and that was ... Interesting.  But in true Hamish style (meaning that he likes to fill any gaps that Jack leaves in our parenting journey) he is fully into asking why.

Todays why's were about what else but his penis.  Why is it that colour? Why does my forskin come back? Why do we wee out of our penis? Etc.  This was made harder by the fact that he is tired so the answers I gave did not seem to fit his criteria.  So conversations went something like this;

H: Mummy, what's this called?
Me: It's called the head of your penis
H: Why?
Me: I'm not sure probably because it's at the top.
H: But why is it called the head?
Me: Umm like I said sweetie probably because its at the top.
H: But why?
Me: Hamish, I already told you sweetie I'm not sure what you want me to tell you?
H: (loudly) But why IS it called the head?

Cut to me wandering away with a 3.5yr old following me around yelling quiet loudly but not angrily WHY IS IT CALLED THE HEAD OF MY PENIS??

Needless to say I'm very glad that this conversation happened in the privacy of our home and not in the supermarket!

A Day in Their Shoes

I was sitting at a set of traffic lights today as I drove home from the city.  I was looking out my window and saw a guy begging on the street corner.  He was about my age, reasonable cleanly dressed and quiet looking.  He sat there on a piece of cardboard his hands together as if in prayer and just said "please" as people walked by.  He caught me eye, smiled and nodded.  I smiled and nodded back and had this overwhelming urge to open my wallet and give him the $5 I had in it.

Then the traffic started moving ... And I kept driving.

I regret that I didn't give him my $5.  I don't even care what he needed it for. Maybe he wanted to buy food, maybe it was cigarettes or crack or maybe he needed to catch a train to get the hell out of the place he was in.  Who am I to judge him until I have walked a day in his shoes?

He has been on my mind all day today.  I find myself wishing that I had parked the car and talked to him.  Maybe brought him a coffee and asked him who he is? and why he is there? but I know I wouldn't have done it. I would have worried that it would have come across as patronising or worried that he was crazy.  The least I could do (apparently) was drive away and the most I could have imagined was jumping out of the car and chucking $5 in his hand.

But how I wish I was the kind of person who stopped and talked to this man who is doing one of the things we as a society see as the lowest of the low.

Scab, Dero, Addict, Loser, Bum

But what about;

Man, Struggle, Human, Worthy

Why don't we feel a stronger need and desire to help people?

A friend of mine lives in a different area to me and she gets asked for money all the time.  She has actually given money and then 10 minutes later seen them go and buy cigarettes then go back to ask strangers for more money.  Maybe if I felt like I was asked for money every time I walked out my front door I would feel more hardened but I'm not.

So this afternoon I look at this beautiful life that I have made/been given and I hope to grow more into the sort of person who gives her last $5 to the man who seems to need it more than she does and maybe one day I will be the sort of person who sits down next to him with a coffee ... Or maybe not.

Hello My Pretty

Todays freaky Awkward Family Photos

Hello My Pretty

Snippet

This is really just a snippet of a post that really should be very long but I cant give writing it the mental clarity that it deserves at the moment.

Needless to say that I sort of feel lost at the moment. Its been quiet a few months in the making and I'm Ok with it. I'm just feeling it, playing with it like a handful of clay trying to see what comes out at the end. To try and help me clarify I started writing it out. Not as in a diary but a story of sorts, using different people I know and myself as inspiration for the characters.

I have no intention (although maybe a little hope) that it will ever be finished. It may never ever really get started but last Monday I wrote over 2,000 words and that it about 3 times bigger than anything fictional that I have written before.

So what is this blog post all about. Well I went onto Neil Gaimans Magnificent Ocular Journal. I wont tell you exactly what I asked but it something along the lines of "what now?" this was the response that I got;

And if you're on holiday, you can write your own novel with your toes waggling in the white sand and finish another chapter.

Now you cant tell me that isnt' a little freaky .... and a little bit cool

What Goes Around

Do you believe in 'Karma'? You know the idea what goes around comes around.  I do, I'm pretty sure I always have.  There are certainly times when life seems to be repayment for me giving it forward, or others when life is giving it back.  A perfect example is the coffee in the photo.  Let's start with the raffle ticket though.

A week ago I was selling raffle tickets at preschool for our fund raising night (that happens to be tonight) one of the dads said that he would like one ticket but as he gathered his change together he realised he was a bit short.  I have never had a conversation with this man but I knew I had some spare change in my bag and told him that I would donate the rest for him (of course I also told him if he won anything good I'd happily take half). 
One of the women also selling tickets said "don't worry about putting the money in it doesn't matter if the kitty is a few cents short" but it felt like the right thing to do was just add my change.

Today I went for a drive to buy a coffee.  We are out of beans and I didn't want to get the sleeping children out of the car to run into the supermarket.  After I parked I looked in my wallet and realised I only have $3.40 and had chosen one of the more expensive coffee shops.  I walked in and asked how much a small coffee was *fingers crossed* it was $3.30

"Great" I thought then the beautiful barista (literally and figuratively) said but a large is only $4

I smiled and said "nah a small is fine luckily I have $3.40"

He started making my coffee and then said "Would you have liked a large?"

"Um yeah, but I'm fine with a small"

He then presented me with a large coffee smiled and said
"That will be $3.40 please"

Call it karma, payback or maybe I just flirted outrageously with the beautiful barista (I didn't by the way) but whatever you think, I think it was proof of karma in action.

Tale from the Dentist Chair

I am not a woman that is scared of pain. I have had a homebirth for goodness sake. I also once let a woman who was learning to take blood have four goes at finding my vein (count it 1-2-3-4) but there is something about the dentist which inspires its own type of terror in my heart.

A while ago I was having some pain in my mouth. I had a feeling that it was a dodgy crown thanks to the last dodgy dentist I had seen, so I chose a new dentist to look at it. The issue wasn't with my crown but with the filling in the tooth next to it. She pulled the filling out and put a temporary one in and said to come back in 6 months.

Jump forward to earlier this week (which is apparently 2.5 years later) I had been noticing that my temporary filling was starting to disintegrate but in true 'Me' form kept putting off making an appointment. Then yesterday it started to hurt a little and I realised it had finally given up. So I made the appointment.

I was going to fill you in on all the awful details but I will summerise;

* 4 Needles

* New dental nurse who didn't seem to realise that she was pulling my mouth almost to the point of tearing with the sucky thing

* The dentist pointing out all of the issues with my teeth

* Me feeling like a naughty school girl for a. not flossing my teeth b. not going to the dentist every 6 months

* The dentist telling me that I was very sensitive (yes hello you have 4 hands and 3 instruments in my mouth)

* tears running down my cheeks while I was a. feeling very vulnerable b. being hurt c. wondering if this guy was just trying to make money out of my mouth.

So now here I am, my mouth feels huge numb and yet still sore. I just spilled my coffee because my lips aren't working properly. I am meant to make another 'maintenance' appointment but don't want to cause every time you go to the dentist its humiliating painful and scary.

Im sure that if I went more regularly then not all of my memories of the dentist would be so traumatic .... maybe I'll make the appointment after a good nights sleep or a few glasses of wine

The Neighbours

Just in case you can't tell, the green bushy stuff in front of my folded laundry is rosemary.  My neighbour brought it over this afternoon (actually he is not my neighbour he is my neighbours husband.  He lives in his own house around the corner, a relationship idea that some days seems like a good one)

The fact that he (a 70 odd year old man) walked past the quiet large rosemary bush that lines our front path seemed not to matter to him.  He had cut bits off his big rosemary bush and knocked on my front door asking if I wanted any to save it being wasted.

This is my neighborhood.  People often knocking on you door asking to borrow things (last week a neighbour asked to borrow my car because hers didn't have a car seat) asking you random questions (are you a JP or is there one in the street) or giving you gifts (last time this man was on my porch it was with an arm full of very strange magazines that I will never read). 

Somedays the interruptions to the sanctuary of your home are unwanted (2 weeks ago the old lady across the street came over and said she wanted a cup of tea. At the time the house was a mess the kids were screaming but she was 1/2 way to my kitchen before I could stop her) at other times they are a welcome reminder of the community we live in (2 days ago I walked next door and told my neighbour that I wanted a cup of tea and was 1/2 way to her kitchen before she could stop me)

Its always swings and round-a-bouts.  A few days ago a neighbour needed a litre of milk, today I went across the road to ask for some blu-tac.  A few months ago on a public holiday 5 of us stood in the middle of the street and wondered what we were going to cook for dinner (none of us realising that the shops were going to shut so early) so I gave one woman a can of tomatoes so she could make spaghetti another loaned me an onion so I could make a casserole and so it goes.  We all swapped ingredients until we had enough to make something respectable for dinner.  No one even talks about paying you back or replacing anymore we all know that we get it back one way or another.

A few months ago my neighbour needed some extra mince and a can of tomatoes for her bolognaise I gave her extra and she made enough to feed my family and hers.  Not to mention the Christmas party where we close the street off pull out our tables and chairs and share a meal.  Normally its the old man across the road who dresses as santa but last year it was AB and this year I suspect it may be the guy next door.

So now I am looking at all this rosemary.  Tonight I will cook potatoes with fresh rosemary because he is right it is a shame to waste it.  I might also strip a bit more off, leave it in the lounge room and use it to make the room smell nice.  And every time my neighbour gate crashes for a cuppa or I get sick of living in the city I remember how awesome it is that I live with these neighbours who have become something similar to family, can't live with them but would be lost without them.

Newtown Festival 09

Its been one of those fortnights. You know the sort, your so busy you can hardly catch your breath, and then you look back and can't figure out what the heck it was that was keeping you so busy.

This weekend we had a friends birthday party. For some crazy reason known only to them it was an 80s theme party. I spent a disproportionate amount of time looking up 80s fashion and seeing that I was in charge of bringing the music I also spent a fair amount of time researching the best of 80s music and sourcing it. Anyway more about the party once a friend uploads all of the photos she took.

Then yesterday it was Newtown festival. It took a while to get us motivated to leave the house. Instead of the stinking hot day it normally is on festival day it was raining in that fine misty rain that means that you have no real excuse not to leave the house but still can't be bothered getting wet.

We jumped on a bus, walked around with the 90,000 other people, met up with some friends and chatted for a little bit then walked around a bit more and went home. Some years its all about finding your spot and hanging all day ... this year it was all about having a laugh while you check out the grooviness of where you live and then going home while everyone is still in a good mood :)

The coolest part was that we saw Mr Incredibubbles the worst part was that it seems Mr Incredibubbles is actually not so incredible. Not only did the majority of his bubbles not work but he was so cranky he kept freaking out at the kids crossing the line and ended up saying in a very gruff voice 'thats it I need a break, you all have to get lost'

Not a bad turn out for a drizzly day, lots of great music including Hermitude and The Crooked Fiddle Band who we saw play at last years Global Carnival (they rocked)

As always the festival brings every sort of personality type out of the woodwork. This guy had "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel playing full blast and was dancing on the awning ... as you do.

Story from a 4 Year Old

This week has been a bit rough on Jack. He is having a few issues finding his place at preschool as the social dynamics between the boys and the girls are changing. Its hard to watch him struggle and I think that it explains a lot about his behaviour over the last few weeks.

Saying that there have been a few really cool conversations that have come about as we have discussed the way he is feeling and acting.

Me: Sweetie, you know how you feel when the bigger boys are treating you like that?

Jack: Yeah

Me: So how do you think Hamish feels when you do the same stuff to him?

Jack: Pretty sad and hurt

Me: Exactly! So I think that this might be a good time to have a think about what sort of boy you want to be. Do you want to be the sort of boy that hurts people when they don't act like they want you to?

Jack: No, mummy I just want to be like myself.

To which we had a long conversation where I tried to explain how perfect and wonderful that was but within that could he also maybe stop hitting his brother (even though his brother is driving him nuts)

That night as we were going to bed Jack decided to tell me what he sees when he closes his eyes

Jack: When I close my eyes I see another planet.

Me: What do you see on that planet?

Jack: Hang on a second, I'm still trying to see. I see the planet Jupiter ... still looking ... I see that there are aliens on the planet. They look like huge spiders and they have the mouth of a goat, the head of a sheep and the feet of a pig. They are very big spider :)

Me: Are they friendly or cranky aliens?

Jack: They are all friendly except for one who is very mean, the big king spider who wears a crown decided that he was going to have to scare the mean one until it went away and then they lived happily and didn't ever see the mean one again.

Just like he is seems pretty perfect and wonderful to me *blatant motherly gush*

On the Hamish is wonderful side, the other day we had this conversation;

Hamish: Mummy, your beautiful.

Me: Thank you baby, I think your beautiful as well.

Hamish: Mummy, I love you.

Me: I know my baby, I love you too more than anything.

Hamish: Mummy, your perfect.

You could say that I have him trained well but actually he is just the sweetest thing in the whole wide world ... well he comes in tied with his brother.

Badly Behaved Parrot (Language Warning)

Some of the language from this parrots is terrible but its still very very funny especially the end.

Conversations with a Grown Man (2)

After receiving an email telling me that AB has an early meeting tomorrow. (yes we are ruled by our technology)

Me: Oh gosh babe who books a meeting at 7.30am

(reading a little further)

Me: Hang on is this meeting at the Hilton? for breakfast? does this say complimentary parking?

(silence)

Me: Babe thats not a meeting its a bloody technology conference ... everyone knows you only go to those things for the free food and drink and apparently free parking

(silence)

Me: Here was I worrying about you and your work load and your going to a ladee dah conference

AB: (looking cheeky) It's still work

Me: No! No! waking in the middle of the night with vomit in your hair THATS WORK, this is a party.

Conversations with a Grown Man

After talking about this post off Catrionas blog with Andrew:

AB: Well isn't that what men are supposed to notice, surface?

Me: Yeah but they are meant to then move on to substance.

(Pause)

Me: Cause you were ... right after surface you went for substance?

AB: Nope I went for the short skirts

Yeah thats my man sensitive and new age he's a real SNAG

Weird Vampire Merchandise

Ok, so I have just stolen this from a friends tweet. Seriously how could I not share a post on the Weirdest Vampire Merchandise. Enjoy xx

The Bikini Incedent

Today I had a bikini wax. Alright maybe thats to much information but the thing is it is a perfect example of 'you get what you pay for' so I'm willing to share.

A few months ago I got a bikini wax at a local place that specialises in nails. It's the sort of place where you can walk in and almost always get a wax, tint or pedicure there and then plus they are cheap. So I walked in last minute and asked for a bikini wax. The woman grabbed my hand and dragged me into the back room. I lay in a brightly lit cupboard on a vinyl massage type table the woman stood there and looked at me. I figured that I should probably strip of to my knickers and lay down. She didn't speak as she reefed my knickers aside and started slathering on the wax. I mentioned what it was that I wanted and she glared at me as if I had asked her to wax it into a heart shape (I didn't by the way) and started ripping. It didn't hurt so I figured that she must be doing something right. Lets just say before this gets too detailed that she was very rough, didn't speak a word and treated me so rough that I almost felt dirty. Then suddenly she walked out of the room so I figured it was time to get dressed. I walked out, my attacker was nowhere to be seen. I paid and left.

When I got home I realised that I had a lot of wax left on me, most of the hairs were broken not ripped out as they were supposed to be (which would be why it didn't hurt) and it was all uneven.

Today I decided to get another bikini wax (well its summer) and I went to the local day spa. I had assumed that they would be uber expensive but for the wax I wanted it was only $25.

I walked in and they offered me a drink of water and took my details about allergies etc. Then she told me her name and asked me to follow her into a large room with a shower, dim lighting and soft music. She asked if I wanted to wear my own underwear or if I wanted to use the disposables. I said I wanted the disposables seeing that the underwear I had worn to the last wax were ruined and I needed to throw them out.

She then told me to change, lay on the table and put a pre-warmed towel across my lap and left the room. Once she came back in she asked me what I wanted in relation to shape and style. They were interesting questions and ones I had never had to think about before. She then lay me down and put cooling compresses on my eyes with a soft wheat pack on top. As I lay there in the dark I noticed that the table was warmed. I could hear what she was doing, turning the lights up, applying the wax, talking and waiting for it to cool enough to rip off. It didn't hurt and I was a little worried but it occurred to me that it was because of the pressure that she applied afterwards instead of it not pulling the hair out by the roots. Afterwards she plucked any random hairs and applied some soothing cream. Then she took off the eye compress, poured me a glass of water and told me to take my time. I couldn't believe it. I had been planning to have a massage afterward but I felt so relaxed after my pamper that I didn't feel I needed it.

Ok Ok, so this is a truly a post with to much information but really for $5 extra had a wonderful 1/2 hour where I can barely even remember the fact that she was pulling my hair out by its roots. So how could I not blog about it.

PS I managed to get through a whole post about a bikini wax post without saying the word vagina .... yay me .... hang on ... bugger

Memories and Pictures

I thought that I would share a few of the pictures that I took while we were away. This year I took a lot less photos. I'm not sure if its because we were busier, or maybe I was just to busy watching to think about getting the camera out. Also it rained a fair bit so thats not exactly conducive to photo taking.

Jack and Hamish playing on a statue of Edmund Barton in Port Maquarie

Playing by the water at the caravan park in Repton. What you cant see is that the tent is about 3 meters behind Jack. You also can't see how loud the traffic was after the sun went down. You had to hear it to believe it.

The main gate into the Global Carnival. This was one of 4-5 different archways that were all beautiful and sectioned off different areas.

Jack watching Tim play the Saxophone. You can sort of see the awe in his face in this photo. He is still asking to learn to play the Saxophone made for a 'four years old boy'

The lantern festival. These are the ones that are made by the professionals and then behind them are 60 children with little triangle lanterns on sticks.

Jack and I watching the Japanese drumming. Perfectly the rain stopped just long enough for the lanterns and the drumming.

The Never Never Creek. You can see how clear the water was. ABs hungry tummy was what got us moving from this spot. Otherwise I think the boys and I could have spent the best part of a day lolling around there.

Its lovely being home. One of the best bits about going camping is that it makes this old house we call home feel luxurious. Its raining and cold here and unlike camping we can just turn the heater on, jump in a hot bath and hide away from the weather until the sun comes out. Still I do keep thinking of packing the car up and heading back for a few more weeks ... I guess I will have to wait till next year

Bye Bye Bello

We woke early this morning.  It was perfect pack up weather. Clear skies, slightly breezy and not too hot.  We had breakfast with our friends kids joining us and then they played and hid in the bushes while we drank coffee and looked at the tent wondering if all of my obsessive tidying and ABs pick of uber rent-a-tent would make for an easy pack up.  It did and we had everything in about an hour after we decided we should start.

Trish took Arieal for a wee in the bushes behind her tent where we had heard all the weird noises last night.  She came out looking pale with a stick and wool figure that had been in the tree.  She was certain that it hadn't been there the afternoon before and seeing that our two families were the only ones camping in the area it was especially freaky.  Also seeing that the figure had blonde hair and that voodoo doll / blair witch feel about it, I think we all were kind of ready to be moving on for a bit.

So now we are on the road.  Drove through Bello for one last time for 09 and I felt a little glum.  Like leaving a loved friend that you know you aren't going to see for a while.  We are hoping to push through and make it home tonight, so all going well (fingers crossed) tonight we all get to have long hot showers and sleep in our own beds.
xx

Last Day of Freedom

Day Ummm ....?

The weather is divine and as I think of packing up I'm excited to come home and slightly saddened that today was my last day of hanging in the sun with the children running wild and free.

This morning started slowly; coffee brewing, reading my book.  Did I mention that Andrew took the kids for a three hour walk *grin*

We decided to go for a drive. Past the farm we almost brought and then on through an area called the 'Promised Land'.  I wondered how I would feel when we drove past the garlic farm.  I thought it would be nothing but a funny little dream, but as we stopped and then drove slowly passed and looked at the bits and pieces they had done I got teary.  It looked exactly the way that I had imagined it would look and it still ticked all the boxes for what we would want if we moved out of town.

I wasn't totally surprised.  Beliingen is still the only other place that I have come across that I could imagine settling down in.  As we were driving in, it all felt right and the more we walk / drive around the more ways I can see myself here.  At the moment the city is winning and ticks the most boxes but when I am here its a very fine line.

We then drove through the 'Promised Land'.  It is lovely and the scenery is quiet breathtaking.  We stopped by a little creek.  It had water so clear and crisp that I found it almost impossible not to jump in.  At one point AB laughed and told me to stop smiling.  There is something about a rock bottomed clear river that makes me feel so peaceful and centered. As I walked up the middle, knee deep in water, listensing to the frogs. I looked up and there was a high rocky out crop that gave the spot a enclosed and secluded feel.  I thought to myself that I had finally found a spot that I could imagine putting mums ashes.  It seemed to fulfill everything that she had wanted; it was cool under the trees, the slow running stream was tranquil and clear, it was secluded and altogether a dreamy sort of place.  Even the kids were taken with it asking if we could stay a long time and if we could go back to that spot lots.

I don't know if I will scatter mum there, but it felt lovely to find a spot after all these years of keeping an eye out for 'the' place, to think that maybe I would find it after all.

After we got back to the tent we all lay in the sun reading and talking for an hour or so and then we wandered down to have our last swim in the Bellinger river for 09.  The locals were finishing for the yearly eel fishing championship. Imagine two dozen people all gathering around a few garbage cans and pulling out eels the size of a five year old and you get the drift. 

So now we are back at the camp site.  The kids ran till they dropped. The men went up to get pizza. Trish and I heard something in the bushes and spent 20 minutes freaking out. Trish armed herself with a carving knife. I seemed to think that a dust pan and brush would suffice.  Needless to say the boys got back and we were saved by the rabid whatever it was in the forest. Now we are eating pizza, laughing and trying to think a bit about the job of packing up tomorrow.

A Lesson in Patience

Days 5-8

Saturday was another sultry day.  The four of us walked into Bellingen and wandered around.  I had been struck down with my first full on hayfever since before I got pregnant with Jack.  To combat this I tried everything herbal and pharmaceutical on the market.  Nothing seemed to be keeping it at bay.  There was some question as to whether it is hayfever at all but I had all the symptoms, red runny eyes, sneezing, and the ever present drippy nose.

Luckily I managed to stay pretty chilled out about it and then every so often (about once every 2-3 hours) I would loose my cool and have a little whinge to myself until I felt better again.

Saturday night is party night, everyone seemed to be partying late.  I woke up a few time and once I heard a sound coming from directly outside our tent I sat up and looked and saw two young guys in the dark trying to get into our esky.  I was right above them and I said " Oi get out!" He was obviously drunk/stoned because he took a moment then jumped back like a cat that caught a fright screamed and ran off into the night.  AB woke with a fright thinking that it was me that had screamed.  They got the beer, but we got a good giggle so it was almost a trade off.

Sunday the rain came.  It rained for 24 hours straight. Keeping two boys occupied in a soggy camp site was a new thing to add to the;
+ List of parenting trials that I don't need to do again, but happily survived.

The boys are doing fabulously, they haven't asked to go home again since the first day. They haven't asked for television or showers. They are mostly playing happily together, with the occasional play with our friends kids to break up the monotony.  They have slept in their own beds all night and stayed asleep until around 6am each morning.  I'm actually quiet surprised and relieved.

One of the best bits about the campsite is the impromptu jam sessions.  We were all hanging out and a group next to us started a drum and percussion jam. One of our friends started playing the saxophone.  Hamish was dancing up a storm, a few people commented on his wicked hip movements and rhythm.  Jack was struck by the saxophone player.  Once he was finished playing Jack walked over to me with a glisten in his eye and said
"Mummy, can we find one of those for a four years boy to play?"
He was so taken by the 10 minute jam that it is the top of his list of thing he liked about the festival.

It stopped raining just in time for the light-up lantern festival.  This year I was determined to take the boys to make a lantern but neither of them were interested.  It became a new thing to add to the;
+ List of things you want for your children and then realise that you are living vicariously through them.

But we joined the parade and walked around with Arieal and her lantern, watching the huge glowing men, fish, pigs, ants and other lanterns bobbing and gliding around us.  The parade stopped at the concert stage and they had the fire lighting.  The word 'Transition' in huge burning writing while the aboriginal tribe of this area did a small ceremony.

Afterwards the kids were awe struck watching the Japanese Drumming. Jack was bobbing his head to the beat and got into the cheering and whooping that everyone was doing on cue as part of the performance.

We could feel the skies were about to open again so we ran back to our tent to get the kids in bed while they were still dry and batten down the hatches.

Monday is pack up day, but we have decided to stay on and as we watched everyone try and pack in the rain we knew we had made the right decision.  There were some storm warnings come through they predicted gail force winds thunder storms and hail.  Luckily it mostly passed us by with just a few extra heavy downpours.

Waking up this morning to blue skies felt like a gift from the gods.  It has been sunny but not hot all day and everything is dry.  We have just spent today around the tents, the kids are playing with our friends kids, Andrew did some work, and I got some of my book read and finally got to finish this blog post.  We have great reception but charging our phones has been an issue.

We don't know what we are going to do for the rest of the week.  If we don't get kicked out we may just stay here or we might pack up and move down the coast a bit.  That's the nice thing about these holidays, no plans just the luxury of feeling like you can do whatever you feel like when you wake up.
xx

And so it Begins

Day 4

The picture above is of the view we woke up to this morning.  It looks perfect right? Well you'd be half right. During the day and early evening the camp ground was to die for, and then the night air came in and sounds started to travel more loudly and then we started to notice that you could hear the freeway.  By about 9pm the sounds of the trucks travelling along the freeway were so loud we may as well have camped in the medium strip.  Not to worry but it did keep us up for a lot of the night.

We made our way to Bellingen by 9.30am. By the time we arrived the camp ground was already packed. Apparently people started sneaking in at nine the night before.  We are happy with our spot but we are away from the people we know who had a guy on the inside stake a spot for then late last night.

Set up with the Uber rent-a-tent was easy even in the scorching heat.  We overlooked 3 other tent setups, men and women struggling in the heat with young kids freaking out from our spot in the shade and thanked the uber rent-a-tent.

Then it was a matter of whiling away the morning with a beer until the festival started at 6pm.  We wandered down to the river and cooled off.  Hamish slept while AB, Jack and I swam.  I feel like I have spent all year looking forward to jumping back into the crystal clear cool waters of the Bellinger river.

It was late by the time we headed up to the festival. Jack fell asleep as we waited to get in and Hamish saw a light-up sword and proceeded to spend the next hour pleading with us to get it for him. 

Then we felt the campers worst nightmare, the first drops of rain.  We high tailed it back to the tent to put the uncovered windows down.  Then in true AB and I style we decided that we may as well call it a night and stayed to hang out at the tent for a bit. Soon we are off to bed ... Party animals that we are <grin>

Tomorrow is another day, we hope to do lantern making, see the amazing drumming monkeys, dunk ourselves in the Bellinger again oh and maybe see some of the awesome music that is playing.
xx

Start with a Bang

Day 3

There is nothing quiet like a rude awakening.  I mean that quiet literally. Like when you are laying in your cozy bed thinking that in 10 - 15 minutes tops your hubby is going to take the kids out for their morning sojourn and you are going to be left in your cocoon for an hour or so's uninterrupted sleep.  Then you hear the dreaded caravan park camping words;

"someone has stolen our esky!" Quiet a rude shock to the system.

I lay there for about 10 minutes trying to decided if anything could be achieved by my getting out of bed. Only to decided that to be a supportive partner I needed to put my wants aside.

So yes our esky was gone, and just after we had filled it for the trip to bello.  Andrew decided to go for a walk around the park to see if he could see it but both of us had no thoughts that we would ever see our esky, let alone our yogurt, sausages etc and my bottle of wine. 

Although we were disappointed we knew that these things happen and it would all be ok, there would be more food and other eskies.

15 minutes later he returned without the esky.  So off he trotted to tell the reception and off I went to figure out what to feed the kids for breakfast (thank god for long life milk).  The guy at reception told him that there was a drain at the back of the park and that often when eskys are stolen (seems quiet common, not something that is in the brochure) they leave them there. So off he trotted again. By this time we had quiet a few grey nomads gathering around taking about how they knew someone who knew someone who had once lost an esky.  The kids were asking if a bug'la took it and I was trying to eat my long life milky breakfast without gagging.

Then like a cat who ate the cream back saunters AB WITH the esky and all of our food, minus the wine but it was cheap and I wasn't really excited about drinking it anyway. 

Another grey nomad (ie old person who travels around Australia in some sort of van) came over and said that there was an esky behind her tent and it wasn't theirs. I was about to thank her but say it wasn't ours, when I realised that the old esky we use to carry our pots and pans was missing.

HUZZAH

2 eskies stolen, 2 eskies safely back home again.

Really nothing else in the day could beat the eskies coming home.

* Uber rent-a-tent once again lived up to its name, as we were able to leave all bedding mattresses etc laid out and just fold it up and off we went.
* Stopped at Urunga which was lovely until it got so windy that Hamish almost blew over
* We spoke to the friends that we are camping with at the festival and found out that in spite of our cheeky ideas, you couldn't sneak into the camp ground 24 hours early
* I decided that we should go to Repton, to stay in a caravan park on the Bellinger river.

So here I am once again. Kids are asleep. Andrew and I are sitting at the waters edge about 6 meters away from the tent. He is fishing, as I write this he just caught his 5th fish (all under sized but still ...) And I am blogging with a glass of much better wine beside me, and a tim tam in my tummy. Its much warmer here so all in all for a day that started with such a bang the evening is positively peachy.
xx

Quiet Day in the Sun

Day 2.

We got into Port Macquarie later than expected last night and did most of our setup in the dark.  It was disorientating for the kids (and me) especially after seven hours in the car.  The kids just wanted to run and sleep and we wanted to setup and eat. Therefore within the first hour Jack, who likes home comforts, was asking when we were going home.

Luckily the uber rent-a-tent lived up to its word and was super quick to setup.  It felt to late to cook camp style so we popped into town, had a quick sit down meal and by the time we walked back the kids were well and truly ready for bed.  AB and I then sat on the esky had a glass of wine and went to bed ourselves.

I was worried that the bed setup was going to be  problematic seeing that the kids were on a mattress on the floor and AB and I were sleeping in a bed that needs a step and a grunt to get up into.  Both of the boys are used to sleeping very close to us (if not literally on top of us) but it turned out to be fine because;
 1. Jack slept through the night
 2. Hamish only woke up twice
 3. Mummy learnt how to get in and out of the very high bed while still in her sleeping bag

Morning for us also often turns out to be a challenge seeing that our kids wake very early (between 4.30 and 5.30) but they happily both slept till 6.  AB took them for a walk while mummy had another hour snuggled in her penthouse bed.

Then the day progressed like any caravan park camping trip: 
* 100 trips to use the new and fascinating (to 4 and a 3yr olds) toilets.
* One drive into town to get all the bits you forgot or replace things that turned out not to work. 
* Multiple walks around the park and plays in the playground.
* Two trips to find a decent coffee.
* Three playing along the breakwater.
* Three hours swimming in a pool so cold that made the kids teeth chatter.
* One shower for mummy and the boys.  With mummy grabbing her wet towel every 5 minutes and ducking between showers because dodgy plumbing meant that the showers didn't stay at the optimal 3/4 year old temperature
* Two hours Daddy fishing
* Mummy having her second (and then third) glass of wine for her holiday (that's it I'm stopping the count now, it is. Holiday after all)
* Figuring out the rest of the uber rent-a-tent gizmos so we can cook dinner
* and finally the last walk around the park, kids teeth brushed and asleep and mummy sitting with her technology, blogging.

Now that is finished, I'm going to move to a chair out of the sea breeze, refill my wine glass and read my book, by the uber rent-a-tents built in night light
xx

Time out from the Everyday

It feels like years since I have been on holidays.  In actuality it has only been one.  This time last year we were getting ready to drive up to Bellingen for the Global Carnival.  Today we are already on the road.

Last year was our first year at Global, and I was amazed at how relaxing 4-5 days camping in the heat with 1000 other tents could be.  The atmosphere was chilled, the people were eclectic to say the least, but for the most part lovely and the kids had a ball. To say nothing of the actual music and activities within the carnival.

We will also be doing some extra camping at different places on the way up and back.  I'm hungry for some time out and away from work, technology, politics and schedules and ready to embrace the kids running free, looking at the stars, cooking on a camp stove and no showers for a week or so.  There is nothing like having to deal with your kids pooing in a plastic bag at midnight in the rain to make you feel blessed to have a dilapidated  house with outdoor plumbing in the city.  I'm sure 10 days away and we will come back renewed and refreshed and happy to be home again.

Best Breast Forward

Breasts in the media are always perky and perfect. They sit plumply out from the chest when their owner is standing and they do not try and hide under her arms when she lays down. These are not real breasts. Real breasts move when you walk. They sag. They sag more after breastfeeding. They sag more as we age. Most women could hold a pencil under them, which when I was young was the sign of bad breasts. Unless your really young, most nipples don't point forward, they aren't always perfectly centered, they are different shapes and sizes and placement.

We do not often see these real breasts in mainstream media, we see these young or artificial or photoshopped breasts and it leaves most women feeling insecure or unsure of how their breast fit in the scheme of things.

This site shows lots of different breasts, none of them fake, all of the breast are perfectly imperfect.

Recently Kate Winslet did a film in which she was topless and she showed her amazing slightly used (she breastfed two kids) breasts in the raw. Sad that it had to make the news because it is so uncommon, but good on her ! hopefully more women will take pride in their slightly used saggy boobs :)

PostSecrets

Todays post secret made me cry

Lackadaisical Parenting

This is my youngest son. He has just turned 3 and is sitting on top of our 6ft fence playing with dropping a skipping rope over the edge watching how it dangles.

This is a daily activity, but just then for the first time I had a thought 'what if he falls?'

Now I know most parents would have wondered this one of the first dozen times they saw him doing this.  I have to admit I hadn't.

'What if?' Is rarely one of those things I ask. Either about my children or myself. I seem to have this 'she'll be right mate' attitude to most aspects on my mothering and my life.

I heard the term 'helicopter parenting' for the first time the other day.  It means a parent who hovers around their child in case their child need help. Basically it is the opposite of how I parent.  Neither is right or wrong, I honestly think that I fell into my style of parenting because I am innately lazy and following my children around all the time seems like far to hard work.  Plus I think most accidents would happen whether I am standing next to them or not, I mean you just can't be alert to another humans actions all the time.

So why today of all days did I decide to think 'what if he falls?'

I've been pondering on it a lot. Was it just that he looked especially precarious? Am I loosing a little of my lackadaisical attitude? I guess I'm not sure.

But I didn't get up, so I'm guessing I don't have to worry that I am becoming more of a helicopter parent maybe I'm wanting to play life a bit safer, maybe I'm getting older ... Nah *grin*

Romance

She has a romantic heart
Not flowers and chocolates
The romance of music wafting through the air
The sounds of bird roosting in the evening
Warm spring breezes and cool summer streams

Romance is dying they say
But to her it was barely beginning
The feel of her child hands on her skin
Sipping good wine after a cold day
The way the city ebbs and flows

From the outside her life would seem bland, almost to dull to bear but she so often saw the romance in the world, her heart would fill and tears of love would roll down her cheeks.

Romance is where you see it
And she saw it everywhere

Taking Stalking to a Whole New Level

Well we all know I am a little teensy bit obsessed with Neil Gaimans writing. I was on his Twitter list ... to much random information. I read his blog ... but he tweets instead of blogging mostly. I have read his website ... but really just to find out more about what he has written, but today I saw THIS

Now this is the kind of stuff that I really want to know about Neil, not his awards, not his marriage status but what's on his bookshelves, when so much of mine are dedicated to him. I was pleased to see a lot of books from my own shelves were also on his. Maybe he is my new "who to get stuck sitting next on a plane"

Plus who else's bookshelves can I browse on Shelfari .... hmm the mind boggles and gets its stalking glasses on *grin*

Conversations with a 4.5 year old, on a sunny September day

Lying in the sun seems to be the order of the day today.  The boys are lying in the hammock with some books and I am lying in the sun with my book as well.

Jack just came over to lie with me for a while;

Me: Jack, do you have a happy life?
Jack: Yep!
Me: What's your favourite thing to do?
Jack: Knowing things about dinosaurs
Me: (smiling) And what do you wish we did more?
Jack: (thinking, then leaning over to whisper in my ear) We never make Chinese food!
Me: We can. Would you like us to make chinese food for dinner tonight?
Jack: No I would like to eat in a chinese restaurant.

Got to love that dinner is organised already.  Apparently we are heading to 'Happy Chef' for dinner!!

Imagination

Every night Jack and I play a game at bedtime. We tell each other what we can see when we close our eyes. Its a sweet little game that he always starts, I think it shows what an amazing imagination he has. Maybe all four year olds have the same sort of amazing imagination. Still its incredible to watch this side of him grow. He used to say something very similar to what I had said before, like I would say I can see a tree with a monkey and he would say he can see a tree with a bird ... how far we have come.

Jack: When I close my eyes, I can see a Crocodile, eating a banana.

Me: When I close my eyes, I can see a cave full of bats.

Jack: When I close my eyes, I can see a tennis racket pointing at a penguin.

Me: Oh the penguin has a tennis racket?

Jack: No a man has the tennis racket pointed at a penguin.

Me: When I close my eyes, I can see clouds in the shapes of animals. I can see a turkey shape and a rhinoceros.

Jack: When I close my eyes, I can see a cut down tree with a tree growing in the middle. And if you cut down that tree more and more trees grow.

Me: When I close my eyes, I can see a fairy sleeping on a pillow of duck feathers.

Jack: When I close my eyes, I can see a ....

and thats where my memory lapses. Id love to be able to remember all of the things that he has told me he sees 'when he closes his eyes'

Breastfeelings

A few days ago I was laying on the lounge and Hamish lifted up my top put his mouth to my breast then grinned and wandered off. I realised it was the first time in about a month that he had shown any interest in having boob.

Im a big believer in don't offer don't refuse method. Its where you let you children wean in their own time slowly and so far both of my boys have done the same thing slowly feeding less and less.

Jack still loves my boobs, he loves to hold them kiss them talk about them and occasionally tastes some milk, it is certainly occasionally confronting but I love the healthy relationship he continues to have with my breasts. He fed regularly until he was about 3.5 and then one day announced he was getting big now and doesn't want boob anymore, other than the asking me to express a little when i was still feeding Hamish, he hasn't fed since.

So now it looks like Hamish has finished having boob, like his brother he still loves to touch them for comfort and curiosity but I tried hand expressing a little today and i got a few drops, a few months ago i could have still squirted you across the room.

So breastfeeding is over for me.

I loved breastfeeding, I breastfed for 4.5 years non stop, I tandem fed for 18 months, I never got mastitis or any issues with my breasts, I loved the ability to put my babies to sleep anywhere because boob was all they needed, even when I got tired of breastfeeding when I was pregnant, I still loved what it gave Jack and I think that the fact that I breastfed through pregnancy and tandem fed after, had a HUGE part to play in why Jack has never shown ANY jealousy or displacement.

So as much as I want to cry and mourn, I also want to give a huge thanks to my babies, my husband for his unwavering breastfeeding support .... and my glorious, although now slightly used breasts xx

Conversations with a 4.5 year Old

Me: Jack is mummy funny?
Jack: Yep, sometimes.
Me: Beautiful?
Jack: Yes, very (aww gush)
Me: Lovely?
Jack: Yep, and do you know, that even when your cross with me, you still love me?
Me: Always and forever. More than anything in the world.
Jack: And did you know that Giants live in the clouds
Me: Who told you that?
Jack: Oh, I just figured it out.

Its a Knight/Pirate/Cowboy Kinda Day

Andrew has been away this week. It was timed well as the first 3 days he was away the boys were at preschool. Thursday though found me tired and the boys looking for something extra to do.

They decided to make swords.  Jack had already made/found 1/2 a wooden sword outside preschool a few days ago and spent the morning decorating it.  I mentioned to him that some swords have jewels on the handle and inscriptions on the blade. After some explaining about what inscriptions were and browsing online at different swords and knights, he exclaimed loudly, "I know, I'll write This Is A Sword, on it!"

Then it was time to make shields and helmets. We had run out of boxes that would make good helmets so I made helmet masks for them.

Jack decided he didn't like his mask and wanted to be a Pirate, then a cowboy, then a warrior that didn't need a mask.

The fun play lasted an hour, until they both started taking the battle to seriously and we had a few casualties.  Mummy put the war games away :)

I found myself sitting here wondering about boys and they combat play.  I often feel completely unskilled at dealing with it in a non judgemental way, while still explaining that hitting your brother over the head with a cardboard sword might seem like 'the thing to do" but it really isn't.

Awkward Family Moments

A holiday pic that quiet frankly, scares the crap out of us

A while ago I posted about badgersbadgersbadgers and I mentioned that my friend Treena, pops onto the site when she needs a giggle. My site for the same thing is Awkward Family Moments. Sometimes you have to shuffle through a few to get to one that catches your sense of humour for example, people in insane poses, not really funny to me, but people with insane mullets, very funny to me. Some of the photos wouldnt be nearly as funny without the comments, like the one above. In the end, its the mullets that give me the best giggles.

Cooking with Children

See ... See... Just as I almost called a blogging hiatus I thought of something that I needed to share, damn its frustrating, but also a pretty cool emergency blogging reflex.

Last week Jack announced that he wants to be a chef, his words. We watched Masterchef and I wondered if that is where he got the idea from, but when questioned further he said that he wanted to be a chef like me *grin*

Anyhow, to try work with his interests we have cooked something together for the last few days. The best part of this new hobby is that as we are preparing food he is excitedly tasting new things.

We cooked a banana and chocolate chip cake. OK no stretch there, both he and his brother would quote bananas as being one of their favourite foods, and who doesn't love chocolate chips. But we also cooked a healthy lasagna, and today alone Jack tried raw and cooked mushroom, raw and cooked tomato, raw and cook spinach, onion, ricotta, asparagus, lettuce, and rocket.

A lot of these foods are ones that he has tried before, some he used to eat often, but recently I have had trouble getting Jack interested in being brave and trying things that he feels uninspired by so all of this is great stuff.

I know it is a stage, a lot of kids go up and down with their willingness to eat foods, especially ones that are challenging like mushrooms, and generally Jack has a good range of foods that he eats regularly and I mostly feel like he has quiet good nutrition but it is still fairly limited, and within those limits my culinary skills have been stretched.

So lets hope that this new interest in food and cooking is a healthy and inspired move forward.

Plus then I can make more Swedish Chef posts, and gosh that Swedish Chef makes me giggle check out this little clip

Writers Writing

I love my blog, but I am guilty of ignoring it at times, and recently more so than ever before. The problem is that at the moment, I am trying to write more fiction and that seems to be taking me away from my general musings.

Now don't get me wrong, it's my choice and I am enjoying the effort I am putting into my fictional writing very much but I am also feeling guilty and neglecting my poor blog and the 2 people who read it *wink*

You see my blog is such a triumph for me, it is the first thing that I really put myself into after having children and it has given me a place for my brain to release a lot of ideas and day to day thoughts that otherwise would have had to run around in my head.

I also love the fact that it helped me connect with the part of me that loves to write, it has pushed me to think about things like grammar punctuation that had been forgotten a long time ago. There is of course a direct link between my blog and the other stuff I am writing today.

So although some days I think gosh, should I just write a post that says I'm on hiatus, the next day something will hit my brain and I'll think , god there has got to be a blog post in that :)

So if you are still reading, thank - you, my blog alone gives my soul a little something, but it helps if I think a few people might actually be reading as well xx

Conversations with a 4.5 year old

As I was putting Jack to bed last night completely out of the blue we had this conversation.

Jack: Mummy, when are you going to have a baby girl?
Me: Would you like a sister?
Jack: Hmm well you can't, you don't have another baby?
Me: No (wondering if he thinks that I had a bottle of babies that was now empty) No baby I don't have another baby, but Daddy and I could make one, the same way as we made you and Hamish
Jack: How?
Me: (suddenly realising we were having 'that' talk again and also realising that I still hadn't figured out the best way of explaining where babies come from) Well remember I told you that the same way as we plant a seed in the earth and it grows, well daddy plants a seed in mummy and very slowly a baby grows in my tummy
Jack: (seeming satisfied with my plant analogy) Well can you make one then
Me: Would you like another brother or a sister?
Jack: A sister
Me: And what would you call a sister?
Jack: It would be ok if there were two Maalis, there are two Scarletts
Me: Yes, you wouldn't mind if mummy and daddy had another child in the house, you would have to share us and your things,
Jack: Oh no mummy I wouldn't mind, I like sharing

And you know what, I bet he truly wouldn't xx

And to finish off here is another photo of the birthday boy. Taken today, in our back yard eating an icy pole.  Gawd he's such a cutiepie :)