Name::Big Mama From::ACT, Australia
Starting over- blog wise that is. Lots of changes since I started. I left blogging but have come back- sans readership- because I really miss not having a record of what our family got up to! View my complete profile
What a looong week! Illness has pervaded every pore of this house for the last few days, and we are all keen for a break. Spindles is still down with a sore tummy, but his fever has broken and he is walking around. Topsy has been SO much better today, and I discovered, with my finger, that he has sprouted maybe four new teeth (I say maybe, because they are up the back a bit, and he won't let me see them!) Brave boy for getting those toothy pegs without me knowing!
Hey, get this. Today was the last day of school, so tonight Diva and Spindles (Roly is at a party) are watching a DVD, or at least they were going to. We have a mini library of DVDs to choose from, but the kids couldn't think of what to watch. Everything was 'old' and 'boring'.
Well, a minute ago I walked in to tell them that Shrek will be on on one of the TV channels in 5 minutes. They are so excited! The irony is that we have Shrek, and Shrek 2 on DVD! LOL! What is that about?!!
I still have lots of stuff to do, but I am nearly organized for the big trip. We will be gone for three weeks. The first week we have booked a holiday rental home for a week, and Robyn and her family and our Mom and Dad are all going to be there. Should be a great time! Then it is off to Bega where Hubby's parents live on a farm in the middle of a green valley. We cannot wait to have a few days with Nanny and Poppy.
And in our third week we will slowly meander home, stopping off to see Hubby's Sydney sister and their new baby, and also probably take in a night at Robyn's mansion. LOL!
*News break*- I just picked up Roly from the birthday party he went to; remember the one where the bully and his cronies were going to be? The 'cool' group? *lots of eyerolling*
Well Roly had a great time! Apparantly they are starting to see what WE have always known: that Roly is a wonderful, humorous, fun-to-be-around kid. Unfortunately a couple of the group decided to voice some not- so-kind opinions about Roly's group of friends. (none of whom were invited). Roly defended them vigourously, and I told him to really keep his head on straight, despite being excited about this particular group of boys deciding that he is now 'cool'. These guys may well be a flash in the pan, but Roly's friends have been faithful to him through thick and thin, and for several years.
Anyways, all you dear ones, I had best be off to pack and clean! I will miss you all, and look forward to catching up in *sniffle* 21 days!
Today was the last day of kid's club for the term. It was also the day that the stars which the kids earned this term, were converted into Kid's Club Dollars to spend at the Kid's Club Shop. Well, so many kids showed up, we were all sold out! and it was very LOUD! We never broadcast when the Kid's Club Shop dayis going to be, but just spring it anywhere in the last four weeks of term so that only kids who come regularly will benefit. But we ran out of time this time and couldn't help but do it the very last week of term. Hence it was kind of predictable and EVERYONE and their 5th cousin-twice-removed showed up! I am looking forward to a break from Kid's Club, even though it is a wonderful gift to be able to point these kids to Christ. Remember that gorgeous deaf lady I have told you about, who helps do our afternoon teas? Well she is off to sydney on Friday to get a cochlear implant. I hope and pray that she will come back able to hear us! We got her up the front and prayed for her with the kids, and then they all waved and mouthed 'Thankyou and Goodbye!' to her. Cute! Well I am resigned to having the fever bug rampage through my family again. Roly is improving every day, but still is hot and headachey. He vomited several times today. I picked Spindles up from school to find him feverish and headachy, and poor old Topsy has slowly deteriorated today as well. By the time I panadolled him and sent him off to bed, he was feverish too! Oh well, on the bright side, God sent us masses of rains today; rain which settled all the drifting pollens and pesticides that were driving my nasal tissues crazy, so I feel great!!! And since I was informed that Croup is actually a form of asthma and have been giving Diva Ventolin at night, her croup has ceased, or if it starts up in the middle of the night, two puffs of Ventolin knock it on the head! Hurrah! Well, that is me for today. For those of you who care to answer, I have a Daisy question!
Do you have any family (either in your own family unit or in your family as a kid) traditions that you love?Or that are unique? I can't even think of an answer to my own questions. HA! I don't do anything unique generally, but I love hearing what others find works for them. Why reinvent the wheel? Here are two I can think of:
*The kids each get to skip school on their birthdays, and after a morning of playing with new stuff, we all go out and celebrate with a nice lunch and an activity. *As Hubby does not get as much contact time with the kids as I do, he takes each of them out for an hour a week. Monday he takes Diva out for a milkshake and some outside playtime, Thursday he takes Spindles out for a milkshake and a bike ride, and Friday he takes Roly out for a milkshake and to throw the football or frizbee around on the local soccer field. The kids really look forward to thatspecial one on one time. We are trying to work out how I can do something similar with each of them, while Hubby minds Topsy, but at present, it is more important that he gets to do it with them.
My real post is below, but I had to share this cheeky card that Hubby got from a female parishoner!Not so much that it is fall-over-laughing funny, but who actually sent it to him! A very respectable senior citizen!
Picture this- Your head is full to bursting with mucus, your nose feels though it has been fastened on too tightly, and the mucus appears to be attempting to secape through your ears. and it hurts! That was little old me yesterday. And meanwhile poor Roly's temp climbed to a perilous peak of 40.5C (105F to the Americans!) and I was beside myself, wondering what to do. Well today we both went to the Humming Doctor (today's tunes were River of Dreams and Always Wear a Yellow Raincoat When Your'e Outside in the Rain !!!) who said I just have a bad case of allergies which is affecting my sinus. The Beconaise spray has made a certain improvement, in that I am off the couch. I am still ready to gouge out both itching eyes, and a bit headachey.
As I said previously, yesterday was Hubby's birthday. We spoiled him rotten and he was exceedingly grateful. Then last night a lovely babysitter showed up so we could go out for our first night outing together since Topsy has been around. We were tossing up whether to go until the last minute, with a nearly delirious Roly, and a croupy but improving Diva. To add to the indecision, Hubby had been queasy all day, and my head was chock full of unblown boogers, but.... we did it! Hubby ended up choosing SSS BBQ Barn which was nice, but nothing to write home about. He had a big rump, and as I already have a sizeable rump that goes everywhere with me, I decided to have something different, and ventured to try the 'Best of Both Worlds' which was the steak and ribs. The meat was lovely, but you Southerners would have wept at how they botched the Oven Roasted Sweetpotato with butter and cinnamon sugar that I had as my side dish. I was expecting an almost crunchy caramellized taste, but I think they boiled the thing, with the skin on, cut it in half and 'voila', that was it!! : ( Great service though. Here is just about exactly what my meal looked like! No I did not take the pic, but someone else obviously has, and I found it. Ha!
Our final verdict was thatThe steak place we have gone to before is tons better. The best thing was that it was good adult chat time for the both of us, and we were glad to have done it! I am very aware that this time last year in the very same holidays was when I began to come apart at the seams, and ended up on the post natal meds as a result. It is really our first holiday away since then, so we are being wise in planning to balance relax time with outings and doing stuff.
Oh and I had Spindles dig up the 'grave' a few moments ago, and in breaking news, this is what Diva tipped had us bury the other night:
I think she must have been blind with grief! Though in her defense, she brought them over in this box and simply tipped the contents out without looking. It WAS dark!
Since I put Topsy in the plasic tub of water the other day, he just adores that tub, even though it is now empty. It is his favorite new place to sit and watch the world go by.
And here is our little church family baby. Every one in our church family pitches in and helps out with our kids if Hubby and I are running around like headless chooks on Sunday evenings. I ducked home (next door) to stir the hot chocolate for a few minutes, and when I came back this is where I found Topsy!
Spindles only came home from his sleep over at about 7 tonight so the mystery of what is buried in our backyard will remain just that, till tomorrow! He had a fantastic time by the way, and may have been sad to come home. (he is far to kind to ever admit to that!) But boy did I miss him being around. He has a steady, gentle personality and is a real peacemaker when it comes to sibling relations. Glad you are back, Spindles.
Poor Diva has been home sick with the high temperature viurs since Monday night. And now it has turned into a cold, which for Diva, means croup. Last night she was the worst she has been in ages. I ended up taking her into emergency where they gave her steroids. An hour after we got home, she was actually much worse that she had started out. I dragged her mattress into the bathroom and turned on the hot shower and when it had steamed up the room, I left her there for a while. I am not sure how effective it was!
*Edit* This morning (Sunday) at 3:00am Diva was back at ememrgency, in a really bad state of coughing. Or at least she was before we got there. Once again when we reached the hopital, it was as if she clammed up! Grr. But the doc waited until she started up again, us being the only patients there! So now she is on a course of steroids!!
Well yesterday our chook farmer friend and his wife brought back Spindle's now-deceased chooky along with a couple of beautiful flowers to go on her grave. The bag with chooky sat in our kitchen for several hours and by early evening I was getting a little anxious for her to be out of the house altogether. I picked up the bag and placed it outside the front door then yelled out: 'Guys you need to dig a hole and let's get the funeral happening!' Spindles dug an impressive hole that took quite a while and it grew dark. While Hubby and I asembled outside ready for the ceremony, Spindles stood guard by the grave to ensure Topsy didn't fall in, Roly sprinted to get a candle so we could see, and Diva ran to get the chooky from outside the front door.
Ten minutes later, we had given chooky a very dignified send-off .
The kids began getting ready for bed, as I prepared to go and do a latenight shop. Imagine my horror as I walked out the front door and saw the plastic bag with chooky still inside just where I'd put it a couple of hours earlier! Aiaiaia! So what is lying in chooky's place? We will find out once Spindles comes home from his sleepover tomorrow. As for chooky's remains, they have been quadruple-wrapped and await their final resting place in that waiting room called the 'freezer'.
Yesterday I received the much anticipated phonecall from Roly's teacher, Mr S. I was so heartened to talk to him. During our conversation, he explained that the notebook idea allows him to see everything that has been happening to Roly, even little things that if they weren't written, Roly might not remember. I felt so happy hearing about his ideas and knowing that he has it all under control.
While I had Mr. S on the phone, I asked if he had noticed any improvement in Roly's concentration in the classroom. For the last three months he has been on fish oil tablets to improve his concentration (apparantly lack of concentration has been an issue for the first two terms of school). So I waited with bated breath to hear the Mr. S's verdict. Well he said that Roly has improved out of sight, and that he has no complaints about him whatsoever anymore. He said that Roly listens in class and contributes whenever possible. *huge beam and big warm feeling in my heart*
Now I do not attribute it all to fish oil. I think the fact that I told him he was taking 'concentration tablets' have also motivated Roly in a subliminal way, but I am very grateful to hear such a great report.Thanks God!
The Waiting Game Topsy has become a real climber. He can get onto the dining table in the blink of an eye. Getting back down however is a challenge. Being a child with considerable reasoning skills, he has evidently decided that it is better to await rescue than attempt a descent himself. (even if it means negative consequences due to being caught in the act!) Twice today I have heard him calling out for help. The first time he was standing on the dining room table, arms held out, patiently and trustingly waiting.
And then this afternoon, he had managed to climb up to the top of the fort (you would have died laughing to see how fast I ran when I figured out where he was!!!) and was sitting up the top, little legs swinging patiently as he bellowed for assistance!!!!
Don't worry Granny, the fort's rickety steps have been baby-proofed again!
My blogging buddy Jay had the question what kind of restaurant would you have if you had one.so I thought for a while and came up with this. (Every highlighted word will take you to a menu or something else relevant!)
An African restaurant (duh!).
For those just wanting great African cuisine they could simply come , eat, and go away satisfied, but the main drawcard at Mama's restaurant would be the SharedMealexperience .
Both diners and hired staff would be seated around big round or long tables. And as the meal progressed, the integrated staff would recount African folk tales and stories of growing up in Africa.
Then, later while the adults are treated to a coffee drinking ceremony, followed by traditional African music and dancing...
...the kids can scoot off to a big room just for them.
Here friendly staff will teach them to play Africangames. They can look at and try out various African instruments and learn a simple African dance if they wish.
Each day would be different and storytelling would take place every day at main mealtimes. The aim of the restaurant? To be a cultural tool, as well as to bring back the fun of sitting around a table together.
Ok, so this was really just a time waster for my day off, but we can all dream right? :)
Hubby and I felt a little like this today. Our band of kids club leaders is small at the best of times, but today it was only the two of us, (both feeling slightly under the weather, I might add), and our wonderful, deaf afternoon tea lady. Because her eyesight is not the best and her lip reading is VERY basic, communication takes a lot longer, but she is a gorgeous and precious lady. (Actually, it's off the track a little, but: on Sunday, I had to bite my lip hard to choke back hysterical laghter when the hymn we were singing along to (via the CD) was a lot slower in tempo than most. Oblivious to all else, our afternoon tea lady proceeded to sing gustily along to the tempo she assumed the CD was playing at, hence she kept lurching into the next verse a whole line or two ahead of the rest of us! To top it off, as she couldn't hear either the music or herself, she sang loud and off-key. I was so glad I showed up!!!! Priceless!)
OK. Back to kid's club. So the two of us didthe admin, ran the games, led the music, told the story,brought out the story's message, metedout the discipline (both good and bad), chattedto the parents and then cleaned up. It worked out alright as we tag-teamed. But it meant that if Hubby was out dealing with a discipline issue, I was doing the teaching of all the kiddies with no back up!! It is good to sit down tonight and do nothing!
Sadness- We have lost yet another chooky today. Something had obviously attacked the poor thing and she had a chunk missing out of her backside! Poor Spindles. It was his pet this time. To tell you the truth, he was quite philosophical about it, and is really hoping that there are chookies in heaven! I had just bundled the kids in the car and was headed to the vet for another $30 bill to put the poor bird down, when Hubby showed up with a chook farmer friend who we could trust to do the job very swiftly and for free. Poor, poor chooky, though.
Eyewitness Wince Moment- watching Topsy repeatably attempt to skewer his scrotum with the sharp end of the bathtub paintbrush. Huh?
Joy- Roly had a great day, for once. He tends to be a puddleglum about school, so it is great when he comes home happy.
And Spindles is going on a sleepover on Friday night. He is so excited!
*Sniff* Diva continues to maintain a high temp. She is booked into the doc at noon tomorrow, and so is Topsy for a possible ear infection.
I was too late in documenting Topsy's OCD, you know, the one that I mentioned last week. In just these few days, my gentle child has obviously become a calloused individual, turning on those wood chips that he once handled so tenderly. The following footage is not for the faint-hearted or for wood chip conservationist.
Just a little thing, (a second post of the day!) but as this is kind of my diary, it has to be noted.
My baby toddles!!!!
You know that cute-as-a-button run babies do?
Topsy has toddled for a long time actually, but now he toddles non-stop.
He toddles everywhere, careering around corners precariously, arms flailing about for balance. He rarely falls, so it appears he has got it down to a fine art.
It is so cute I could eat him up!
Ooh, actually if you watch the video of Topsy below, I just saw that in the last 3 seconds he is 'toddling'. Just imagine getting to witness that amount of cuteness all day long.
I haven't just gone and gotten Topsy a pacifier (we call it a 'dummy' in OZ) to start sucking on it at his age! I purchased one so he can soothe those hard-to-reach gummy areas. Having never had a dummy, of course he does not know about sucking it, but he does love to rub it into his sore gums. This video was taken on the first day that he got it!
We had our last Bible Study of the term last night, as next Monday night is Hubby's birthday and I am taking him out for dinner. It will be our first use of a night time baby sitter since Topsy was born. A big step! And then for the next few weeks we are on vacation. We will be gone for three weeks in total!
Poor Topsy had to go back to the doc's for an shot yesteday that had accidentally been omitted from his last set of shots. You can imagine how pleased I was about this! The emla patch didn't work great because it only numbs the first layers of skin and of course a shot is deep and it is the penetration of the liquid that stings! He was Ok right afterwards, but has needed a cold pack on his leg today.
Diva is home from school after having a temp of 39.4 (102 F) overnight. She has stayed in bed so she must be unwell!
Bashed up Bully(code name M) Update : M is out of hospital and back at school. Apparantly the boy who gave him the head injury was proved to have been provoked and has not been suspended. M showed Roly his head wound and commented: 'I think he should have gotten in trouble for doing that to me.' And that is all I know! Oh, except that another parent told me that her son's teacher phoned her, concerned about the boy's drastically falling grades. He wanted to know if she had any idea why this might be, or if anything was happening at home. She said, "Well all I can think of is that he is really being picked on by M!' So more evidence builds! Though maybe M's brush with the brick wall will be enough to give him a jolt in the right direction!
Posted by Big Mama ::
12:32 PM ::
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The tie dye shirts are all waiting to be rinsed and the effects seen. The party girls will receive them on Monday afternoon.
Basically all I had really planned, was the tie dye craft, a candy hunt and a table of craft material.
So last night the panic set in, as I wondered if that was enough to keep a party afloat.
No, I realized, it wasn't!
So I Googled 'simple'+'paper craft'.
Thankyou Google!
The Flip Book idea I found was a definite hit with all the kids, and with us parents as well, for we pored over their books when the kiddies were playing outside.
And though we ran out of time to do it, I also loved the butterly card idea. Sorry to bore those who are advanced crafters, but below is an illustrated set of instructions for them.
1. Trace half a butterfly on a folded side of card paper. Put another folded card of the same size inside the first card.
3. Draw a smaller outline of a butterfly inside the large outline.
4. Cut along the larger outline, making sure that the second card inside is being cut out also!
5. Take the inner card out now and set it aside.
6. Now cut along the second smaller outline.
7. The outer card should now be in two pieces, like so.
8. Using a hole punch, put holes around the outlines of both pieces.
9. Glue the butterfly shaped piece to the white inside of the second card.
10. Glue the butterly outline to the outside of the second card.
11. Voila!
This is the one Diva made. Cute and easy, huh?
Ok... Wake up!!!!!
I am nearly done, so swallow that yawn! :)
Diva decorated her own cake. In case it is hard to tell, it is a picutre of a flower in grass, with a Spindle's-created sunset overhead because the gel set included no blue for sky!
I have not included pics of the party gals, seeing as I didn't chck with their parents first. Tonight I am having a big rest! No more parties till December! *Contented sigh.*
This will be news to Robyn and the rest of our extended family as well.
Diva and Topsy share a pretty, girly room. Well, sort of. When Topsy moved in, oh.. about 5 months ago, Diva moved out!
Why? Because when Topsy goes to sleep, the door gets shut. This is a problem for Diva at night. She likes the door open.
So for a while she shacked up in the spare room, in which I put her pretty doona, and some of her other personal things. She could hear Roly and Spindles chatting away in bed though, and felt lonely. Story tapes just were not the same as a bedroom buddy. So we did another swop. Diva moved into our bed and now Hubby is in the spare room.
Perfect solution!
KIDDING!!!!!
Haha!!!
Who fell for it, for just a second? C'mon, fess up! LOL!
No, that was not the solution.
On with the story. :)
Most Friday nights the kids have what they call 'A Big Sleepover' in the spare room (aka 'the fun room') where they watch a movie with snacks, and then get to take turns on the playstation for an hour before the light goes out. Eventually they talk themselves to sleep. Since they started this tradition, Roly and Diva, who are usually nit-pick-picking at each other ALL the time, have found a lot more common ground.(Spindles rarely has these issues.)
And just naturally, Diva has taken to sleeping in their room. Every night now, we get out the spare mattress and set her up, and they are as happy as peas in a pod.
They do what they call 'games' at night, where they have imaginary adventures. Roly and Spindles fight battles against Orcs and conquer new worlds. They have been doing 'games' for years together. One night is Roly's night to invent the 'game', the next is Spindle's.
And since she moved in, poor old Diva is consistently some pathetic alien princess or Troll bride who ends up suffering a fate worse than death. Well, a couple of week's ago, I felt that the poor girl had been subjected to enough.
To her brothers' horror, I announced that she too has earned the right to have a turn at choosing a 'game'.
So far, the boys' fear that they would have to be fairies has proved unfounded.
I had to chuckle the other night, when I heard them trying to squirm out of Diva's 'game' of Australian Idol.But half an hour later, there was a gala of made up songs with titles like '5 Minutes Till The bell Goes!' as well as vigourous judging going on. Fun was apparantly had by all!
Now of course, this situation is only temporary. Soon Topsy will be talking and wanting to participate in night time fun, and then Diva will be back in with him, passing on the 'game' tradition.
Well, I'd better go and get the house clean and the party cake made.
I have just had a terrifying thought: Having never tie dyed before, what if the shirts do not work out?!!!!!!!!!! Argggh! Tip from the Top- Stick with what you know works, when it comes to entertaining, save the risky stuff for the people you know will love you even if it is a disaster!
I leave you with some pics of the older three hanging out together.
