Being Mum

Today was the most beautiful sunny day so we loaded the kids up in the car and went to the most wonderul park called Fantasy Park. We had so much fun being outside and it was the perfect opportunity to click some pics of our cute little chickens. I thought I would share them along with some nice pics of some Australian flora I took today.

On a slightly different note today was also the day for the first birthday party that Heidi has been invited to. So this morning I spent 2 hours making a little dress to give to the birthday girl as a present (cheper then buying plastic kids crap marketed as toys). But as I put up Heidi's hair and tied a pretty yellow bow in and helped her get her party shoes on I felt this little knot develop deep in my stomach. As I helped her get in the car and did up her seat belt the knot grew. By the time we got there and she ran off to play with her sweet little friends from dance class the knot grew even bigger. And as I hung around secretly hoping she would freak out, and instead she gave me a kiss and waved good bye, the knot grew almost unbearable. Then being the good mum that I am, I gave her a big smile and said "have a lovely time sweetie, I love you." I got in the car and drove off and just prayed and shed a little tear. I don't know why this event of all the milestones she has hit recently was harder, but it was. I know that this is one of many, but it was so hard to just leave. I wasn't there to keep an eye on her, or make sure no one was being mean, or make sure she didn't eat too much cake. She had to be a big girl and I had to let her. Needless to say at 5 I called Murray from my Tupperware party and with just slight desperation made sure she was home and OK. Of course she was, and except from a little minor potty accident she had a wonderful time. It makes me think on that day when instead of tying her hair in a yellow ribbon I'm tieing the strings on her wedding dress will I be able to bear it? Will I be able to not break down in a pile of tears and beg her to stay with me forever? These are the things no one tells you about when you get pregnant. Maybe it's because it wouldn't do any good, or maybe it's because there are no words to describe it, or maybe it's because it's just part of the joys and tears of motherhood. Whatever it is, it certainly must be one of the hardest parts of this job called "being mum".

Pillowcase Dream

I saw the cutest idea the other day and I just had to try it. It was the most beautiful little girls summer dress made out of a pillowcase. They used pretty embroidered ones from the thrift store or antique shops. So before I hit the thrift store I thought I would try it with one I had in the cupboard. The whole project took just over an hour, but I'm sure it could be done quicker as I did a fancy scallop edging along the neckline and was a little bit creative with the sleeves. Anywhere here is the link for any of you with little girls that are crafty and want to give it a go. http://annamariahorner.com/pillowcase.dress.by.annamaria.pdf

I had to take pictures to share and in the process came up with some of the most adorablly dreamy photos of Heidi and Wesley playing in my curtains, so I now I have to share those too. And while I'm busy posting pics I thought I would post some of my bedroom makeover. I did the whole thing for less then a hundred dollars (yeeaahh for bargain shopping) and I'm just in love with it. Our room has always been the dumping ground for clutter and has really never been given it's own decorating attention. But no more!!! It's our beautiful retreat now, and once we get a little extra cash I'm going to find two old wooden chairs and paint it the same colour blue and upholster the seat cushion in black fabric with big white polk-a-dots. Then we will have a little place to drink our tea and read together at night... doesn't that sound wonderful:O) The finishing touches will be a crystal lamp on each table, a white painted wooden wreath for the middle of the wall and, if I can find one, (maybe Ikea) a pretty crystal chandalier for the ceiling... untill then it still looks fabulous compared to what it was before!!!

Hope you are having a great day, lots of love from the Henederson Circus!!!

Femantle, Oh Fremantle!!!!

I'm in love with someone, whose not my husband!!!! Ok it's more like somewhere, then someone, but Freo is so alive. It has it's very own unique pulse, and personality, and flavour. As I walked down the streets it's like getting to know a person. The fashion and food, oh and don't forget the AMAZING arcitechture that surrounds you. It all has its own unique flavours, and smells, and looks that are so uniquely Fremantle. Then there is the river and shipping yard with the most massive "flock" of steel cranes and cargo ships,and when you see this part of Freo you meet downtown Freo's lover who is masculine and strong and in control, and yet in it's own way has a breathtaking beauty.

If you haven't guessed I had the most wonderful time in Freo with the girls. We had so much fun shopping and picking food of eachothers plates. We chatted, giggled, and at times laughed so hard we could barely breath. We played board games, sat in the hot tub till our hands were prunes, drank a little more Sangria then we probabbly should have, and yet at the same time shared our souls and dreams with eachother. We encourage eachother in light of blaring insecurities and motivated eachother to keep reaching for our dreams. It was so fun getting to know eachother better just by watching which clothes we liked in the boutiques, or which delactable item we chose to buy from the open markets. I think it is safe to say that all of our souls were renewed and encouraged. It really was magical.

So as promised I have some pics to post. I found two FABULOUS hats but allas no yellow polk-a-dot shoes were to be found. I did find a red pair, but there were none in my size. Hope you enjoy the pics. Lots of Love!!! xoxox

One of the Markets

My Fav Shop

Don't you just LOVE the lamp shade!!!!

The Punk Rock Bag-Piper... flames came out of the back of his pipes!!!!

I loved the brick work on this house


Our hotel

Of course I couldn't forget us girls

And last but not least, the new hats :O)

When the cats away...

... she has lots and lots of fun!!!!

Hello hello!!!
At my last post I asked for all of yours oppinions about Thailand and I loved hearing them all. Unfortunatlly the decision made itself, and not just for me but for everyone. The tickets were only about $500 but the taxes were well over $600... isn't that ridiulous!!!! The taxes were more then the airfares!!!! So instead this weekend us girls got 2 rooms in very trendy downtown Fremantle (or Freo as us locals call it :O) and we are going to spend the weekend giggling, drinking champagne and SHOPPING!!!! I am on a mission to find some cute hats and maybe a new pair of heels (I'm thinking something yellow or polk-a-dots) but we will see what fabulous shopping treasures we find. On top of that my friday tupperware party cancled which means that I am going to be staying in Freo from Friday night to Sunday morning... Yippppeeee... So the next couple of days are going to be busy with me getting my lovely family organsied for their weekend without mum. If you can't tell I am SUPER excited. I have a project I need to do for my enterance portfolio so I am going to mix a bit of work with pleasure and bring my camera with me with great expectations of getting some really great interior design shots. I will post any good ones when I get back, in case your interested :O) So Thailand didn't work out, but in some ways I'm more excited about this weekend (probablly because it doesn't come with the guilt of blowing the family budget ;O) Hope all is well with you all. I promise to post some of my pics and stories from our "Mums Go Wild Weekend" (in the PG-13 rated sense of course) when I get home!!!! Hugs and Kisses

Thailand and interior design?

Hello to all. Since my last post we have finally had a few cold, but very sunny days, so I am happy to say that the washing has finally dried, but only after it weathered a hail storm on the line. I have also regained a bit of the sanity that had been lost in the rain clouds. I guess all those years of Phoenix sunshine have made it very hard for me to weather the clouds.

To all of my mum friends out there I have a "what would you do" question. Here it is... My VERY dear friend Bethany is turning 30 this year and on a kind of last minute whim she has decided to go to Thailand with just the girls to celebrate and I have been invited to go. We will be going in roughly 4 weeks, we will be gone for a week, it will cost me a $1000 and I need to get my just expired passport renewed. My lovely mother-in-law said she would fly over for the week to watch the kids and my dear hubbie has said as long as we can get the money together he would love for me to go...

So here is my dilema. I am always the practical one and think well if we some how manage to get the $1000 together shouldn't I put it towards paying bills or taking a chunck out of the car loan? Should I really leave my family for a week to go frollicking around Thailand? or is this an adventure of a lifetime and should I seize the opportunity? Will I regret it forever if I don't go? Will I come back refreshed and a better mum and wife for the time away? I will be honest it's not like we really have that sort of money just to spend, but should we find the money and spend it anyway? Won't it be the most amazing experience, and won't it be SOOOO much fun. All these questions I am sure all mums would ask themselves in this situation .... Would you be the "adult" and pay off some bills, or would you grab life by the horns and fret about the bills another day? Would you leave your babies, or would you stay home and keep chugging along in the responsibilities of motherhood? At this point I am getting my passport renewed and trying to find the money. To be honest these 2 things in themselves might just make the decsion for me if I can't get them sorted, but even if I do get them sorted should I go? So I ask you, what would you do?

So while you are ponering that I will drop anothe log on the fire and let the whole world (or at least the 5 people who read my blogs:O) in on another decision I have made... and that is that I am applying to go back to school starting February to get my interior design degree. I put in my application in a couple of weeks and then will have to have a portfolio interview shortly after that. So here are my plans. Starting in February Heidi starts kindy which is 4 half days a week and Judah is already in full time school. So I am hoping next year to go to school part time and then the following year when Wesley is in kindy to start full time. I have already been to school for my teaching degree but never finished the last year as I came to the realisation that just because I loved children didn't mean I wanted to be a teacher. It's a 4 year course and at this point I am working around the idea that none of my previous credits will transfer even though I do have my fingers crossed that maybe some of my Art History Classes will full fill elective credits. The whole four years is already laid out and after looking at all the classes there isn't a single one that I'm not jut itching to take. I have such a passion for colours and fabrics and all of it that I just feel like for the first time this little flickering light inside of me has been given a chance to shine.

As some of you know I love to quilt and my very favourite part of quilting is picking out the fabrics. I love going into fabric stores and, as my mum says, "fondling fabric". I just love walking around dreaming of all the possibilities of the colours and patterns and texture. So as you can probabbly imagine doing that for a living really is a dream job for me :O) I am very excited am so looking forward to opening this new chapter and seeing how I blossom and change with this new challenge. I know that it will be hard to juggle things at home and there will be things that I am going to have to give up to go for this dream, but I have such a peace and excitment about it that I know it is the right thing to do.

What a year of change this year has been. A real time for reflection and it's only July!!! I wonder what the second half of the year has to hold ?!?! Hope all is well with you all. Lots of love from my little pondering corner :O) xoxox

Wet clothes!!!

Ok I have this problem. In the scheme of world problems it's insgnificant, but in the scheme of my world it's huge!!! You see I have the most tempermental washing machine. At the end of each cycle it overflows if you aren't standing there to turn the water off. On top of that I live in Australia where driers aren't really a part of every household. I also live in Perth were it rains for weeks on end during the winter. So here is my big problem I haven't done washing for a week due to rain and in a family of five that means the washing pile turns into Mt Washmore!!!! So the skys were blue this morning, even had a full rainbow so I have been doing washing ALL day. 6 Loads to be exact. My washing machinge has only overflowed twice today which is annoying but not a huge dilema because I could at least wash the now wet clothes in the next load. This is when my "big" problem became huge!!! Yep, you guessed it, it started to rain. So I know have 6 drenched loads on the line, not getting dry, one load in the washing machine, and 3 loads still left to do that are sopping wet from the washing machine overflowing. On top of all of that, this last time the washing machine overflowed I didn't catch it in time and I now have to rip up all the linoleom (sp?) in the laundry room and dry the concrete and lay it all back down again!!!! CAN YOU SEE MY FRUSTRATION!!!"

So as i sit here listening to the rain I'm trying to see the positive in all of this..... wait.....here it comes.... still thinking.....NOPE, not finding any postives at all!!! It just sucks in an all around sort of way. I feel a little bit better for having a moan about it, but my washing is still wet, so is the laundry floor (oh yeah and the extra towels that now need washing because they were used to mop up the mess) and the forecast for the next 3 days is still rain. So to all of my lovely friends who are sitting in hot, dry Phoenix complaining about the heat, please, Please, PLEASE pray for God to send just a bit this way so I can dry my clothes!!! and I will do my very best to send some of this misserably cold, wet weather your way.OK, OK, I will stop my complaining and try to go get the fire started so at least I will be warm!!!! Love you All!!!

Teddy Bear Picnic's and Letting Go...

Well I have surrvived the Teddy Bear Picnic. We had so much fun. We had 9 kids come which was a bit disappointing after all the work I put in, but that said just having 9 certainly made the day's activities more managable. We did painting, and playdough, we made collage accordian books, wore teddy bear masks, and had the most delicious teddy bear themed snacks. The Teddies all had there very own red checked gingham picnic blankets, and we made crepe paper flowers for them. All in all the kids had an absolute blast!!! It took me 4 days getting ready and I am sure it is going to take me 4 days to get everything organised again in the house :O)

I am so glad that my kids are at an age were I can do fun stuff like this. It makes me sad to think that someday they are going to be to big for paints and glue and died feathers and pipe cleaners. I have to admit that I had a little fear that Judah would think it was too baby-ish, but thankfully he thought it all to be a grand idea and had more fun then anyone. I guess each stage brings it's own joys... just saying that reminds me that there is no way I could have done the teddy bear picnic a year ago because I still had a baby toddling around...

Will it ever get easier letting go of your children's proverbial kite string and letting them fly higher and free-er without you? I don't think it will, just the opposite actually. So I guess I am going to continue to revel in this wonderfully fun stage of their life and hope that as they get bigger and "teddy bear picnics" are replaced by locking themselves in their rooms with their friends that those day's will hold their own special joys... even though I can't see how anything could be as much fun as pipe-cleaners and finger paints :O)