Little Ballerina

Little Miss's Ballet concert has been a much anticipated event.

We had the excitement of her costume, what would she be? What colour would she wear?

"I want to be a rainbow fairy Mummy." she told me.

Little Miss was to be a red poppy.

A schedule of rehearsals were squashed into our busy routine. B had to endure the waiting and crowded viewing room with many other mums and disgruntled siblings.

Travel arrangements were made by Nana interstate so that she could come along and see Little Miss dance.

I queued too early one Sunday morning to purchase tickets when they went on sale to get good seats.

At last the big day arrived.

The family all gathered together to watch our little star.

And shine she did.

Happy haircut

To say I have been anxious at B's haircuts in the past is probably an understatement. I really don't like B having a short back and sides, its not him and it changes his appearance so much. But to get a haircut that isn't short back and sides on a boy is not easy, let me tell you. So when I picked up B from school and said we were going to the hairdressers he was not happy.
"I like my long hair Mum" he informed me.
"So do I," I said, "Thats why I'm taking you to my hairdresser." I thought it would be worth a try.

On all the occasions I had been to my hairdressers I had been blissfully unaware of a special area equipped for the little people. So I was amazed and very pleasantly surprised with the set up. The kids area is just off to the side of the main salon, so any noisy children wont disturb the vibe, and it contains kids seats with mirrors plus lots of toys, entertainment and even a lolly machine.

B was more than happy to sit and watch a DVD he chose, while Mel styled his hair. I was really impressed as B didn't fidget and B didn't complain.

Little Miss had plenty to occupy herself with too.

And what a great haircut he got.

Thanks Mel.


Smooth Hair is located at 241 Unley Road Malvern. Phone 8373 0444
Please note that Smooth Hair has not sponsored or endorsed this content in any way.

That time of year......again....already!

There is no denying it, it is that time of year again....I wouldn't have believed it, except that there's this big event that thousands of people line the streets to see.

So we all got caught up in the commotion and watched the Christmas parade.

Or hid under the brochure seeking shade



There was dancing in the street,





























and magical beasts.





























Crawly things,





























and things with wings.





























Surfing pandas,





























and drummer bands,

We saw a great big sock.

and this nasty lot.

Father Christmas is officially in town....and its not even December!































The Adelaide Credit Union Christmas Pageant takes place at 9.30am on the 2nd Saturday of November every year through the streets of the city centre.

Boo

With some paint left over from a school project B and Little Miss painted...

Monsters by B.

B told me it was Halloween. I felt a little guilty for not remembering or making an effort. But I brushed off the guilt and remembered I wasn't American.

Then I got really frightened as Little Miss painted this picture.



What on earth has she seen to influence this "Scary Mask" as she calls it? I would not have believed she painted it unless I saw it with my own eyes... But she wasn't worried in the slightest.

Spooky day indeed.

The great road trip- travel diary

Little Miss's Travel Diary

Tailen Bend playground

Penola

The 12 Apsotles

Otway tree top rainforest walk

Breakfast drinks at a cafe in Lorne

Fairy friends in Melbourne with red bird

At my friends house

Seeing dinosaurs at the Science-works museum Melbourne































Dinosaurs

Save the hospital at Keith































The family eating together at Keith bakery (family of four legged long tailed things)

I love it when.....

I receive one of those hugs with an extra love squeeze.

A love rush that just has to come out.

Get as close as you can, then come even closer.

Squeeze me tight and then tighter.





















How good it feels to be so needed and absolutely required in a little person's life.

Total trust, unquestioning devotion, and true pure innocent love.

The great road trip

When my dear husband had the idea to take a road trip by car to visit our friends 800kms away in Melbourne. I admit I had some big reservations.

"Shouldn't we just fly, then we will be there in less than 2 hours." I stated
"No it will be fun." he said
"It's a long way for the kids to sit in the car." I said
"We can stop a lot and we wont have to hire a car when we get there," he argued "we can take a couple of days getting there and go along the Great Ocean road. The kids will love it." He stated.

I was doubtful, "I think the kids will just want to see our friends, they will be bored in the car, what about if we fly one way and hire a car and drive home." Thinking this was a great compromise.
"Driving will be more of an adventure." He pursued.

In the end finance made the decision in favour of the husband. Flights were over $1500.

Drive we would. So I got to thinking about in-car entertainment as I soon realised that my job would be to keep everyone happy, fed and watered along the way, perhaps the real reason I wanted to fly. We have i-devices, but I didn't want to arrive with two screen zombies so needed something else. They could have their own travel bags, bring a book, drawing pencils, a favourite toy, but what else would keep them amused for days in a car?

One night at dinner someone came up with the idea of a travel diary. Brilliant. Next day I bought two sturdy blank ring bound books that would be able to double as drawing pads and expand as finds along the way were stuck in. I printed out maps of our route and B and Little Miss stuck them in. This small activity really captured B's imagination. He packed himself a compass and binoculars and loved the idea of tracking his path across the landscape. Little Miss loved having her own pink book, but also the idea of a travel bag that she could pack herself. Admittedly she tried to fit as many soft toys in it as possible.

The kids were so keen to get going they were in the car hours before we were ready. They had filled the car with pillows, blankets and soft toys which I had to edit down dramatically. Finally we set off on our great road trip.

The husband adventurer at the wheel



B happily reads a book

Little Miss content with her two remaining soft toys



A few hours into driving my husband said,"It is great to be driving away from all our stress at home" His statement made me realise that this road trip was a really important part of our holiday. While looking at the road ahead and moving swiftly through the landscape, we didnt look back at where we had come from.

“Life is a journey, not a destination.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson


more to follow...

ABC animation

This short animation is a great alphabet entertainment




Found on the website where I waste a lot of time, 'The kids should see this'

Dinner time torture

The dinner time table has been getting our of hand.

It seems like recently every meal time I am stressed, shouting and nearly ready to walk out the door.

What on earth is going on!!

The kids say they are hungry at 5pm and when dinner is ready at 6pm they struggle to eat it and they haven't had anything to eat since 3.30pm. I can't understand it. Are they so hungry they aren't hungry anymore? They take nearly 45 minutes then to eat and pick at their food, moving it around the plate like it's on holiday. Little Miss likes to leave the table at least three or four times, forgetting that she should be eating and B seems to find endless amusement in a pen, paperclip or rubber band that happens to be on the table to play with, instead of concentrating on his dinner. Little Miss forgets to use a fork and thinks its okay to use her fingers and B will throw anything he thinks is "disgusting" off his plate onto Little Miss's. But one of the most frustrating things is that once B is finally tucked up in bed he creeps up stairs to announce, "I'm hungry." Let me tell you his declaration is not received very well.

I have always believed that we should eat together every night as a family. It may be wrong, but I also use bribery to encourage my kids to eat their greens. They get a sweet treat, like a banana lolly or chocolate frog, if they eat some of everything on their plates. We also frequently take our kids to cafes so they 'get' the whole table manners thing. And I try to make food fun with silly food faces. But with this kind of carry on I'm considering making two meals each night so that my husband and I can actually enjoy a meal.

Out of sheer frustration I decided we should have some explicit rules for dinner time. I asked the kids what they thought the rules should be and I was completely shocked by their answers.

1. No throwing food
2. No kicking under the table (people or table)
3. No shouting at the table or arguing including 'talk back'
4. No rocking on the chairs
5. No leaving table without a reasonable excuse
6. Use cutlery (unless its finger food)
7. Keep food on your plate and eat off your plate
8. No toys or playing at the table
9. No feet on the table


Now they just need to stick to them.

Ever wondered how pencils are made?

Little Miss and B were fascinated to watch this short film to find out how pencils are made.

Thanks to my nephew for sharing.

On Show

When I was a little girl the high points of the year were Christmas, my birthday and the Royal Show. Luckily for me these anticipated events were spaced out quite nicely over the year, with never more than four months wait before the fun started again.

However the Royal Show was my absolute favourite. For some reason my birthday, my special day, grew a bit uncomfortable for me. As a child I wasn't happy in the limelight and hated that the day never really met my unrealistic expectations. I didn't really like everyone looking at me, and I was confronted with presents telling of how people didn't know me very well.

Christmas was of course fantastic, it had its own special build up, starting with a wish and a stir of Mum's Christmas pudding. The shop displays would cheer on the festivities, then the pageant would mark the arrival of Santa in the magic cave. And like the lucky children we were, there would be lots of presents, lots of family and lots of food on the day.

However the expectation or journey of Christmas, like opening the advent calendar one window at a time was often more enjoyable to my child self than the day itself. People didn't always behave like you would expect at Christmas, maybe it was the stress of it all, or the alcohol consumed, but that one day of indulgence, like the rise and fall of a roller coaster was fun, but strangely nauseating.

The Royal Show on the other hand always met my expectations. My mum would have a carefully laid out plan that lead us through the show grounds like search and rescue personnel, never missing an attraction. But the absolute best thing about the show was hearing the word "Yes". My Mum used to have some favourite sayings to ease back the pain of saying "No" to me. Her favourite was, "Not today Josephine", which I hated. To abate my thirst or hunger while out, I would hear, "When you get home" and when it came to presents, to ease my anxiety to know what they contained she would always say, "All secrets will be revealed." But at the show there were no secrets, there were plenty of pit stops at the CWA cafe and Mum used to say "Yes" all day long.

So with the Royal Show in town all I wanted to do was say, "Yes" to B and Little Miss, just like my Mum. Yes to the rides, yes to the show bags, yes to hot donuts and yes to looking at whatever they wanted to see. In lieu of big birthday parties this year the show was the carrot, and we did eat.

Little Miss watched her idol fairies perform


B fell slid from a titanic height, just for fun.

We saw and touched pigs, horses, rabbits, dogs and TV watching cows.

Ate hot donuts


Went on the Ferris wheel

Drove a fire engine


Gave out free hugs

And smiled and laughed a lot.

Until it was finally time to go home. 

I asked Little Miss what she thought of the Show and she said, "It was so awesome, I just wanted to shout hooray!"

I tried to ask B the same question but he was distracted by his Army show bag. To our horror it contained not one but four toy guns. He asked me, "Which one of these guns is more powerful?"

I said, "I don't know about guns, except that they kill people."

To which B replied, "How come you told me about snail guns then."

After I stopped laughing I managed to say, "I think you might mean slug guns."

The Royal Adelaide show is on the second week of September every year at the Wayville show grounds on Goodwood Road.