Playing Dress Ups

So my big news is, apart from surviving the Man-Flu house, I am going back to work for the first time in 3 years.

I start next week.

 

I am having the odd night where I can’t sleep or if I do sleep I have vivid nightmares about a madman chasing me through orange groves, shooting me and trying to feed me to his dog.

So why the bloody nightmares and insomnia?

This could be for any number of reasons…

I am not returning to my regular preprimary (5 year olds) classroom. I have a challenging new position assisting Aboriginal students with literacy and numeracy problems in year 3 and 4 (8 and 9 year olds). I haven’t taught in big school for 5 or 6 years and I will be working in classrooms alongside the classroom teacher.

I could be these reasons but it’s not.

I am returning to the school I was teaching at 3 years ago so I know the majority of the staff there. I can use my pre-primary teaching resources to tutor the at risk students. I know a few of the students as I taught them when they were pre-primary students. I am a big fan of cooperative learning (Barry Bennett and Peter Smilanich are my heroes!) I am ready for some stimulation that doesn’t involve changing nappies and singing songs about vegemite toast and diggers (though I love this challenge dearly!)
 
So I am mostly cool calm and collected…

I have a lovely MIL who sent me an early birthday present of a gift voucher for a local chain store so I could buy some clothes to add to my preexisting wardrobe. Now I have a modest collection of 5 shirts (2 new), 4 skirts, 2 pairs of trousers and 5 ( if I am brave/stupid enough to wear heels) pairs of shoes (2 new pairs). Husband thinks I am turning in Imelda Marcos!!!!

So why the dreams and insomnia?

 

One word.

Accessorising.

 

I have had nothing to worry about for the past 3 years. All my clothes have been covered with, at one time or another, poo, vomit, wee, weetbix, vegemite and snot. My clothes have been thrown on at the last minute and I have left the house, whether or not I have had a shower, brushed my hair or teeth, without much though as to how I look (or smell) to the outside world.

I consider my self relatively sensible. I am not a fashion victim.

So why am I losing sleep over wondering which of my meagre collection of clothes and shoes will mix and match???? Lets face it. I’m not Paris or Angelina. There will be no paparazzi waiting outside my door next Tuesday mroning waiting to publish photos of my fashion faux pax. 

All  I have to think about when leaving the house next week is that my shoes match, my clothes are clean and preferably I am not crusted with extract of  baby.

 

Wish me luck!

Where’s My Muffin Man?????

I’ve been off the radar for a few days; what  with a  900 kilometres round trip to spend Easter with family, returning home with one boy suffering a cold which became (as it does) all 3 boys and a husband suffering with it, I have been somewhat busy.

With Man-flu.

I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate too much on what life is like with a house full of man-flu sufferers.  It has been an interesting study. I have found that the youngest,therefore least vocal, of the tribe was the easiest to deal with. As they get older and the ability to whine and behave badly develops they are harder to look after. The 3 Year Old is trying but the hands down winner, and I’m sure this will come as no surprise, is my darling husband.

There is nothing at the chemists for the main symptom of man-flu. Unless you count ear plugs. But I do have a heavy frying pan in the kitchen.

My prescription?
 One clang to the head, with a hearty dose of
“If you’re going to die, die quietly!”
and everything will be fine.

 

Do You Have Super Powers?

You all know The Incredibles. You’ve heard of Superman. You’ve read The Phantom. You’ve watched Spiderman. You could probably list at least half a dozen or more Super heroes with a variety of super powers.

Allow me to introduce a new kid on the block…..

Reverse Osmosis Boy

Exhibit A

 Don’t be fooled; that gorgeous gummy grin hides a super power that can bring a grown man, sobbing, to his knees.

It is frightening; One moment everything is fine. Everything is DRY. Everything is CLEAN. You blink. That’s all it takes. And your world has changed. Everything is wet. Everything is covered in poo. And Reverse Osmosis Boy lies there amidst it all smiling his super smile ( see Exhibit A).

You may be wondering what super powers I possess.

I am Mummy.

Enough said.

This Week…The Littlest Boy

Al arrived, on time, at 8 past 9 in the evening on the 22 April. He is sleeping and eating well. Mums okay as her boy is giving her a few hours a night…still looking forward to a full nights sleep.*dreams*

 

Al’s big brothers, The Poet and LIl Blue are very happy and excited and are being very good about Mum only having one pair of arms …though it would be far more useful if she had nineteen! Lil Blue is getting well acquainted with his Playschool DVD and Mum knows ALL the songs off by heart. Its handy for keeping small boys quiet while Lil Al is breastfeeding yet again.

Yesterday we made it out to the local library. It only took us two hours to get out of the front door what with feeding, changing nappies and feeding again. Lil Al was very well behaved; he slept most of the time woke for a feed and, much to Mum’s relief (cos she didn’t pack spare clothes for herself), didn’t power spew at the library. After ten years of child rearing I’ve finally got the hang of burping a baby – I think! Time to go…feeding duty calls again.

I’ll leave you with a photo of Al doing what he does best…haven’t got any shots of him puking so sleeping will have to do (I’m sure he’s dreaming of throwing up though!) Hehehe.

This Month!

 I have many notes and ideas for stories. All will have to be revisited in a few months time once new bubs has settled into a routine and I have some control over my life (hah!). 3 weeks til Drop Day. I have resigned myself to the chaos, mayhem and sleeplessness…it will pass… sometime over the next 18 years!…( i can see my mother shaking her heading and saying dream on!)

I have been busy on my sewing machine…creating critters….

Meet Wonky Monkey and Stripey Baby. I found a simple doll pattern online, I have made Stripey Baby for Lil Blue so once bubs arrives he has a ‘baby’ of his own to look after…or thump, depending on his mood! I have made him as neutral as possible as my darling Milkman has ‘issues’ with his boys playing with dolls…You’ve got to love a true blue Aussie male… (little does he know I let Lil Blue run riot with the dolls at playgroup….mwahhahahaha! The subversive power of the mother!).

Anyhoo once I realised how easy the whole rag doll making thing was I realised I could make animals…so two nights later Wonky Monkey was created. His heads a bit skew-whiff, one of his legs is on backwards and his tail looks a bit questionable (I sewed it right between his legs…in hindsight it should have gone on his lower back!!!). I have plans for a plaid rabbit and I have found a site with a gorgeous pig pattern that I am dying to try.  I like the pig on the right with it’s eyes shut. I have some offcuts of pale green corduroy embroidered with pink butterflies which I think would look cute. I’m planning on making it for my girlfriend who was born in the year of the pig. I’m sure it will be wonky just like it’s predecessors but I’m finding making these far more satisfying than clothes.

I have a big pile of books to read; Allende and Gemmell feature. It will take months for me to finish them all but I’ll have plenty to fish through. I picked them up today at a local market. The guy who runs the stall always has some good things to read and I picked up 4 good books for $20 which I was happy about.

Okay all. Thats it from Big Mama. Join me next time when I’ll be Little Mama once more for the birth debrief. No gory photos I promise.  Hugs all!

 

 

Will Mr. Bean Deliver My Baby?

Have to share…

I had an appointment today with my new obstetrician.

But first I must regale you with a story about the birth of Lil Blue.

It all went swimmingly.  I was very pleased with myself and with my new little fellow. Unfortunately the midwives were not very happy with the amount of blood I was losing. Understandably I was very tired, probably more so due to blood loss. I had just said goodbye to my eldest and The Milkman and I must have dosed off for a while.

The next thing I knew Mr. Bean was sitting at my bedside telling me he had to put a port in my hand to set up a drip. It took him three goes to get it in and by this time I was getting woozier and woozier. (I’m not good with needles at the best of times and this one was huge.) So Mr Bean gets the needle in my hand the third time and I pass out in the process pulling the needle back out. I come to with an oxygen mask and Mr. Bean replacing the needle in my opposite hand . It was all very weird.

Anyhoo. Back to my appointment with the new ob… I had been joking to people that it might be Mr Bean from the hospital..guess what?…

Mr Bean asks me into his office. No sorry, Doctor Bean.  I told him as I sat down that we had met before and I had passed out while he put a drip in my hand. He laughed and said he had that effect on people. I didn’t tell him who I thought he looked like.

He is a very thorough and reassuring doctor. I feel very confident to have him as my ob. All things going well he will only be there after bubs is delivered. Obviously if things go pear shaped I will be-able to tell you all that Mr. Bean delivered my baby…

But I won’t tell my doc that.

I keep having visions of the turkey stuffing episode…I’ll make sure he isn’t wearing a watch!

l

This Week

Books: I am happy to say that I have done a fair bit of reading over the past few weeks. My favourite book was Isabelle Allende’s City of  the Beasts. Mystery, magic, mythical beasts, talismans, mysterious guides and hidden treasure. What more could you want? (Apart from a trip with L’Enchanteur!) I lked it so much I have found the sequel ,Kingdom of the Golden Dragon ,which I plan to read as soon as I have time!

Writing: Well. where to start? Since the begiining of January I have been writing almost everyday for the blog Travelling with Le Enchanteur. I am really enjoying the daily writing and being able to read everyone else’s contributions. There is a great deal of fun in the comment boxes too! You can find all my posts here.

Stuff and Things: I have spent the evening playing with Adobe PS creating a tapestry for an Enchanteur post that will come up in a couple of days. I am really pleased with it and can’t wait to show it to everyone!

I have lost track of how pregnant I am…I must be coming up to 7 months. The 20 week scan was back in early December  and we found out that we are expecting another boy; my third and the Milkman’s second. We have a name picked out and Lil Blue and I put all his tiny baby clothes into a new chest of draws ready for his new little brother. I have started sleeping him in a big bed, which he thinks is great fun as he can get up and down when he wants!

Movies: The Milkman and I watched Black Sheep. It is a NZ film about genetically modified weresheep. As you might have guessed it’s a comedy and it is hilarious. Sheep induced gore is something else!!

Tunes: Listening to Mr E’s Beautiful Blues by Eels from Daisys of the Galaxy

I have attempted to embed some Youtube vids but can’t get them to work…if anyone has any tips please feel free to point me in the right direction!

A bit of fun

This Week…

Books: I have read 23 pages of That Book by JKR. Not a huge fan…. think she’s a bit overrated…(probably going to get struck down by a bolt of lightening now!) More reading it so I know what my 9 year old is going to read as I have heard its a bit more young adult than her past books.  Going to the library tomorrow to return those poor old books before the librarians come and repossess my car in leiu of fines.

Writing: A little more of Temperance’s tale… how to finish it??? I will have to write and write and see what gets left on the cutting room floor!

Stuff and Things:  The ATC’s are all but finished. Just need to get them onto my blog and the post them off across the world. I am very excited about what treasures I am going to receive!

I have spent the week playing with various video and slideshow software to try and share a slideshow I have put together about Little Blue’s first year. The first one ended up being 47 MB …HUGE!  So here is the smaller simpler version. No music… hum your favourite tune!!

 Soccer Star, Milkman and Your’s Truly  feature in….

Little Blue’s First Year!

| View Show | Create Your Own

This Week…

Books: Sigh… I would like to say I have read and read and read. I haven’t so I can’t. I can tell you about the pile of overdue mpstly unread library books I have been receiving letters from my local library about…

Mr Pip… read 5  pages. Looks good.

That fairy book I wrote about before (sorry it’s late and the Milkman is asleep – don’t want to disturb him by looking for books)… read 4 chapters… excellent.

The Book Thief… nil pages, but the cover is really interesting (I can’t believe I wrote that!) and the blurb on the back was promising.

Planning a trip to the library tomorrow to return aforementioned unread books. Not planning on borrowing anymore- but I know I will. Poor little library books. They come home to make my bookshelf look full for a week or two,that is all.

It’s the payoff – If I read I don’t have time to write….

Writing: One half of a fractured fairy tale. I have a number of endings in my head – may have to write them all and get the least popular one voted off.  I wonder if Gretel Killeen will host? ( She actually writes very funny children’s stories.)

Stuff and Things: My Raven ATCs are coming along. Recipients will beable to use them as door stops, draught excluders or paperweights due to my step by step how not to do things method. hmmm. They may be indistinguishable from my barely edible pikelets! Soccer Star and Little Blue are very sweet and eat them all up. Accounts for all the jam being used up so quickly.

I have had fun making little envelopes for my ATCs.

My dearest friend Miss A came over for our weekly pizza and movie night. We watched Deja Vu with the rather tasty and talented Denzel W. Interesting story…time travel and the associated questions about going back and changing the past. Brought back memories of Michael J.Fox and the DeLorean and Christopher Lloyd talking about time paradoxes….This new movie explored the idea of wormholes and parallel universes. I tried to understand it after the movie finished but my brain started to hurt….doesn’t take much!

This Wednesday is Little Blue’s first birthday! He had visits from all his Grandparents last week and has been receiving presents for the past month. Next year we will save them all up for his birthday! He took one unassisted step for the Milkman this evening…will he walk for his birthday???? Find out next week!

I will be having a glass of something nice to congratulate myself on a job well done….haven’t left him on the bus yet.