Cropping

Sometimes blog posts only tell half the story. They are filled with creativity, sunshine, good food, wonderful family, great friends. They show the sunny side of the street, not the dark, murky, smelly and decidedly messy corners of life.

Well, here's one to change all that, no cropping to edit out the mess surrounding me right now.








These photos were taken 10 minutes ago and capture the frustration of my afternoon. Frustrations like Langlan being such a great banana that I couldn't buckle him into the bike trailer so had to break my back bending over and pushing his little bike to the park. A park that neither kid wanted to play at when we got there. Or the second park which had been repeatedly requested but paled into comparison with the first park which we then didn't have time to play at because we'd spent all the playing time getting to the second park.

And getting home? Just as frustrating. Tantrums all round (including me). Snarls in all directions. Refusals to do a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. Food and drink all over the floor. Grunts. Pyramids (Langlan's new take on throwing a wobbly). And now a little bit of peace.

The house has gone back to one child. A child who stole my ice block and absconded to the lounge to munch it. I've put a load of washing on, cleaned up the spilt milk without crying and put my feet up. The rest of the mess will still be there after I've taken a few moments to regain my sanity.

Thank you DHS, juice ice blocks and blogger for giving me this moment. It is very much appreciated.

Where have I been?

Check out the promo video I did for our Sunday Kids Program...all by myself....with a little help from MAC (not Dad, but the computer!)

Take a Little Look

Andrew's writing has always tugged at my heart strings. I wrote about Labuan Square below, now read it from Andrew's beautiful perspective.

Dear Aunty Sarah and Uncle Dave

Mummy tried to email you some pictures but she could only send one at a time. We're putting them up here instead.





Here I am in my uh-uh-uh (translated this means dot-dot-dot) pyjamas that you gave me.








When mummy dressed me I started rolling on the ground doing my best model poses.





I love my pyjamas, anything with uh's on it is a winner in my book.





I love you so much! Langlan xxx

hello from nz!!!

sorry...just a quick one...mum and I are far too busy with our heads in boxes to have time for much blogging these days :-)

just wanted to give you something awesome to look at..sorry, not photos or anything from me! But a like-minded crafty person with some awesome ideas!

Check her out on facebook - the penny drops...

Might try making a few things myself...with a few changes of course to avoid any copyright infringements!!!

Will try to get on more now that we have a computer...but like I said...busy moving house and getting a certain 5 year old ready for school!

Love you all lots,
Linny & Vonny xoxox

Urban Awesome

Andrew found out about Urban Bean and 2&5 through work.


He took me there today.


And they're both awesome.


Urban Bean is a cafe that seeks to engage the community and provide great coffee at reasonable prices (check out the manifesto on the website).


It's funky outside and in and does awesome salad sandwiches.








2&5 is a fruit and veg shop opened to provide accessible, high quality produce to the surrounding community.


They're aiming to revitalise Labuan Square and I think they're off to an incredible start.





Norlane is often referred to as a ghetto so it's amazing to see initiatives like these in this area.








We are definitely going back.








Mainly because this is the effect it has on Langlan.

EMMMMMMI ;-)

EMILY
i THINK YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS SHOULD PULL FACES LIKE THIS AND GET BIRTHDAY PHOTOS!!!
HAPPY BRIGHT AND FAIRY BIRTHDAY,

EMILY BEMILY BIRTHDAY GIRL!!

LOVE LOADS AUNTY KATI

XXX

holiday fun

Hazy, Lazy Summer Days

We've developed a bit of a routine since the J-girl got back from camp.


Wake up slowly (a little earlier for Langlan and I), breakfast slowly and then shower and dress to take on the day.


We do bits and pieces around the house, Langlan has a nap, J goes for a bike ride.


We throw lunch in there somewhere, a bit of sensorial play (thank you Sew Liberated for the mirror idea and Tiny & Little for the edible finger paint), and then a trip to the pool.


We dinner in the park beside the pool with Andrew and then we come home and the kids collapse into bed whilst the parents wish they could collapse into bed.


We're making the most of the beautiful weather (we had the heater on last week, ridiculous) and we're hoping it lasts.

We love summer, and everything it brings, around here.

Hours of Entertainment

A few drops of food colouring, a bag of corn flour, a dash of water and a sunny day.


A box of chalk, a blank canvas of bricks and an empty morning.

The delights of childhood (and mummyness!).

Whose legs are these?

So the guessing competition.....Langlan won!
But for all those that entered.....look out for the mail in the next week or so.
It's always super to get things in the mail.
Thanks for playing.
I'm off to hide my shoes from people who have better legs than me!

holiday fun

1 sock teddy
many peg clone troopers
happy holiday crafting day

Maybe They'll Cotton On that This is NOT Cool

Dear Sisters,

I am a girl.  You are all girls.  Two of you have daughters.  We are all daughters. We have a mother.  We have beautiful girlfriends.  Girls are precious, precious beings who should be shown to the world as the beautiful creatures we are. 

Typo (just pointing out that it is one of my fave stores but it's gone too far) is selling stationery with covers depicting a naked lady with 'Dirty' written over it.  Some naked ladies can be art, this one isn't.  I shop at Typo and so do a lot of beautiful girls, girls who should be reading messages about their worth in this world.  Messages that encourage them to shine, to achieve, to stand up and be proud of being a girl.

Typo is a Cotton On company, a company started and run in Geelong.  Langlan and I go to playgroup just across the road from the head office.  They kindly let us use their carpark for the overflow from the playcentre's carpark.  They sponsored the recent run that we did.  They're a pretty decent company, that's why I think that if we let them know that this kind of product is not cool they'll probably do something about it.  So, here's what you can do:

Send them an email:  customerenquiries@cottonon.com.au

Write on their facebook page

Or sign this petition

Thanks awesome girls, I want this world (including stationery shops) to be a place where girls are honored.  I'm glad that we have a blog that does that, and maybe we can make our world a place that does as well.

Cxx

EDIT: Cotton On speedily replied to my email including this in their message - "Please be advised that we are withdrawing the “porn is our saviour” and various other products from our stores.  As an organisation, the Cotton On Group respects family, social and moral values." Thanks Cotton On, that rocks.

The Tin Man

Langlan rocking his new hat (aka the new bin for the spare bedroom).