I'm Back:: Post Holidays PottyMouthMama

I am back after a joyous break.

How sweet it was to spend almost two weeks with my small people, and my big husband; two weeks with virtually nothing to do except think about what we'd do for the next meal, and which beach we were going to comb for the teeniest of shells. It was beautiful. It was simple. It was memorable.

If you follow me on Instagram you would have yawned every time I posted a sunrise, or a sunset, but for me, it was the perfect way to mark our days together - and what a gift those skies were!

The Doctor learnt to, and loved boogie boarding, Tiny adored fossicking in the rockpools, together like two goldpanners we'd sit and look for sea treasures. We'd walk the beach looking for those perfectly formed balls of sand that indicate a crab is nearby, we watched the waves roll in together. Matt went for his first surf in 20 years, and me? I got the time I craved so badly with my family, to do pretty well nothing, with no deadlines, nowhere to be, just time spent together. To say it was bliss would be an understatement. 

Now we're back to the grindstone. Our last day of holidays - boo hiss - and we're curled up on the couch watching movies together.

About Holidays. Ah. Sweet Holidays

I think I put a friend into shock the other day when I confessed our little family hasn't been on a holiday since... well since Tiny was a bump in my belly. Yes we've been away to visit my parents, and other small sojourns, but it's been a loooong time since we went away, just us four. 

Happily we're heading coastal for a few nights. Blissful? Yes. Yes. Yes. I can not wait. 

I can't wait for our simple little holiday. I might be crazy, but I don't even mind if it rains (but please not the whole time) for some of it, because we're planning on board games, puzzles, exploring rock pools, eating, sleeping and drawing. Oh and I'll pack my embroidery stuff because I can. 

I can't wait to skip town and head out of here, car packed heavily - as it only is when going on a family road trip. 

And Then.

I was planning to write something profound today.

About revelations.

Epiphanies.

About life's little hopes, glories and joys.

About how this New Year is going to be oh-so-much better than the crummy one we just left behind.

Except I've forgotten everything I drafted in my head.

Instead you're going to have to make do with these snaps taken from our last few days. I am still relishing my time at home, on holidays.

A few days ago, I foolishly got sunburnt.
We made a massive sand castle/fortress at Balmoral on New Year's Day, while everyone else was hungover, we enjoyed those first few hours of 2012.
After a sweltering day, we managed to sneak in a swim. Well Matt, the Doctor and Tiny did. I chickened out and thought the water was too cold. Tiny is convinced she can swim. The Doctor is enjoying swimming. He never wants to get out of the water.





How is your Summer faring?

Daytripper

Right now, any excuse I get to go out driving, I take it, with both hands, and drive.

You see, we have the new Ford Focus on loan for a whole blissful week. I am a woman in love with that zippy little car. I've never owned my own set of wheels, so for one whole week, I'm living a fantasy - and loving it friends!

Today we drove up to Pittwater, Palm Beach, and then spent a blissful few hours at Whale Beach. Ain't life amazing!

We spent the beautiful day in the sunshine, scouring the beach for shells, eating hamburgers by the beach, followed by milkshakes watching the waves roll in. Tiny buried her stash of shells, and a cuttlefish. Next step she's on the Sea Shepherd. The Doctor drew pictures in the sand, and practised skimming rocks. We chose houses, just in case we win Lotto.

It was the perfect way to finish our week of holidays. The four of us, happy as larks in the sunshine.

Life Is Beachy

Ah - the sneak preview of the Summer to come. Welcome.

After being road raged at on the way to Balmoral this morning, we enjoyed a couple of hours with the sun beating down on our backs.

Such a civilised morning - grabbed a takeaway coffee, propped ourselves up on the beach, sand toys, dinosaurs, shell-gathering a-plenty.

It was all going so well until an unexpected wave toppled Tiny from her feet. What came out of the water was a very wet, very sandy, very sad little Tiny. Nevertheless she picked herself back up, nuded up and resumed walking along the waterfront.

Thanks for turning on the sunshine for Saturday at the beach.

Beach:: Boom Fo' Realz!

I'm sure we're all acquainted with the fact that yesterday was Mother's Day. I clocked up a 6:45am sleep-in. Ahem.

We spent the morning at Balmoral. Sprawled out on a piece of lawn and a patch of sand. Despite the fact that it's May, it felt like Summer almost, and I was wearing a pair of jeans. Wrong!

But we had an awesome morning. The Doctor and I hatched our cunning beach plan earlier in the week, so it was a highly anticipated more-than-a-moment.

We built another Dino World, enjoyed fish & chips together, and just lolled about in that magnificent Autumn sun.

Mama, or not-a-Mama, what did you get up to?

Happy Australia Day!

The Doctor woke at the crack of dawn, as only the Doctor would do, to tell us he was ready to go to the beach. And to get up. I bought another half an hour and then got up, fed the smalls and then finally sent the Doctor in to rustle up Matt.

We headed to the beach. With six billion other people. But it was ok. We had our own little spot on the sand and built our own Dino-world. The Doctor has been well and truly into trains right up until about NOW! And now he's starting to go dino mad. Which is seriously a blessing because there is only so much automotive joy I can muster.

This afternoon we've BBQed, eaten lamingtons, listened to Triple J's countdown. We've also hung out the washing. And made fresh beds. Cracking good day.

We also watched Perfume. Cracking good movie. Watched it?

Blogtoberfest Day 8: Feeling Beachy Keen

winds so big the garbage bin lid was blown open. you see incredible things on pmm.

An outing was scheduled for this morning to go forth and visit the beach. I was looking forward to some pseudo-Wintery beach action. Collecting shells, building sandcastles, frolicking on the sand a la Bette Midler. This was the dream people. So when we got there after a 40 minute drive to discover this, let me tell you, this Mama felt a little angsty.

Two fire trucks with all the fireys downing hot cups of coffee, one man filming the over-sized seas, a lone rescue board stuck in the sand, the ocean pool full to overflowing, and 10 foot waves that Bodhi would have thought gnarly. And there were the two smalls and I, blowing in the wind.

Beach closed. Beach more than closed. Beach almost swept away with a higher than high tide. Our dreams dashed by an ominous grey sky. We stayed for 20 minutes. Enough for the Doctor to walk on the sand. Enough for the fireys to drive past, toot at us and wave, enough for the surfy dude who was filming to say hi, enough for Tiny to get all crazy and excitabugs with the wind in her fairy floss hair.

Yep. Call us crazy.

(An Incredible and Yet) True Story

For weeks now I've been finding piles of sand at our front door and wondering where they are coming from. At first, I thought it was just stray sand that had made its way back from the beach to our house in clothes, shoes or sand toys. I swept it up and continued with my day.

However, the next day, another small pile of sand would have taken its place. I swept it up again thinking that perhaps after all it was a small creature that was setting up home near our front door, making its own sandy mansion (a la Cleopatra) and nesting. I swept it up and continued with my day.

And then we come to today. Today is when I had an incredible epiphany. And remember folks, this is a true story. Brace yourselves for the truth is about to unfold.

I discovered where this sand pile was coming from.

Not from cheeky sand sneaking home from the beach. Oh no.

Not a sneaky little ant or bug of some sort setting up digs. Oh no.

Would you believe it came from this vicious (door) snake (well not this one because this one is not mine - mine is just boring, but this one, this one is cute)? This snake has been spilling sand all over my freshly swept floors and it's only taken me more than a couple of weeks to discover this. Sherlock Holmes I am not, Steve Irwin I am not. Homestyle detective buster, yes. Yes I am.

Dear Matt, book me in for my lobotomy pronto. x

It's Me: Day 7

Already I can conclude from this little project that I like a cardigan. Yes, yes, it's true. In each photo I am wearing a cardigan. Good? Bad? Ugly? Granny? I don't shy away from my inner-Nanna. In fact, I embrace it, as illustrated by this trait of mine. And one day I will be PottyMouthNanna, hopefully, so might as well get some main stays in my wardrobe early.

We spent another ridiculously glorious day with my sister and niece in the sunshine at the beach. We had the beach pretty well to ourselves - hello world, I'd like to build a little weatherboard shack on it and call it a day. Fair? Anyone got a problem see my lawyers. I don't have lawyers, but if I did, you could see them. Perhaps even wave.

See the sky writer? Writing something about Gorillas. Awfully wonky.

As an aside, I mentioned that I was selling stuff on eBay. I have and I have some PayPal money burning a hole in my virtual pocket. Well Pippy blogged about this yesterday, and I read it, I dug the whole idea and I did it. Perhaps if you have some money that you could spare you could help too? You can click through via Pip or see over yonder, I added a button. Thanks to Pip for the heads up.

It's Me: Day 3

Day 3 reveals that yesterday I was wearing my very favourite tee (it's Genki). Again. It's easy to wear. I don't need to justify it. Right...? Right...?

Yesterday we spent a glorious morning at Balmoral with my sister and her little girl (that would make P-Bee my niece). The sun was shining. The seagulls were swooping. The babes happily played together in the sand. Tiny got a little too up close and personal with a wave.

Hello Spring - I've seen you around the traps lately. Let me invite you in. Stay awhile.

The Queen's Birthday: Long Weekend

I love a long weekend. Particularly when it involves family dos. Today we had a picker nicker at Balmoral. Another incredible Winter day. Playing on the beach. Digging in the sand. First tastes of fish and chips. Coffees from the hole in the wall. Hours in the sunshine. Catching up with cousins.

I am pooped to the max. After the picker nicker we quickly whizzed off to our friend's fourth birthday, and then home again, home again - jiggety jig. I am pooped. Bed - here I come.

Regular PMM programming will resume tomorrow. Until then.

High Fives All 'Round - The New Year Is Here... Just In Case You Missed It.

Because as you know, I missed it. Woke up for a quick feed at 11:30pm, and was back in bed, back to sleep at 11:47pm. How's that for timing? Awesome I tell you! I didn't have to dance around the room with strangers screeching Auld Lang Syne. Didn't have to make small talk with strangers. Didn't have to fight for a view of the fireworks. Didn't have to do anything except close my eyes and fall into the deepest sleep possible.

Welcome 2009.


We celebrated the first day with a visit to the beach. We spotted two dolphins arcing off the water near some surfers. Tiny's first foray into the sand. And didn't she love it? She crawled off into the sand and had to be chased a number of times. She had crazylegs at the sight of the waves, and then the cool water crashing over her.

The Doctor went crazy for construction. Dig, dig, digging. Unfortunately in his haste to pack all his diggers and construction vehicles, he forgot to include a bucket. Kind of integral to building in sand. Fear not, we made do with my drink bottle and built and built and built.

We only stayed a short time. Being moontanners, the sun does unkind things to our skin, and I'm not mad for collecting melanomas and sun spots.


New Year's Resolutions, I hear you ask?


Hmm. I sigh in response. I always forget them within a week. But I'm inspired by Pip's. But I'll add another two key words for our family:


- declutter - key for me, particularly after the bin episodes.
- awakenings. As in, we're going to be doing some things differently around here. And it's going to feel fresher than fresh. Fresher than brand spankin' new. Awakenings are good.
- Play. Enjoy it. Get down on the floor and play.

- Oh and one last thing. Apparently I have a bit of a computer love going on. Apparently I need to spend less time with my laptop, and more with the man-child. so i guess that will be happening too. Ahem.

Happy New Year. Hope it's super sparkly.

I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside

Today we went to a birthday picnic for one of my friends at Nielsen Park. If you live in Sydney and have never been, it's a beautiful spot - small beach that's perfect for kids, plenty of space to play and picnic. We had such a great afternoon. It was a shame that I forgot my swimmers, but the boys didn't and made up for my lack of splashing.

If you visit Sydney between 16 October - 2 November, make sure you get to check out Sculpture by the Sea. It's one of my favourite art festivals and has grown and grown and grown to become a real drawcard to Bondi-Tamarama. Not only is it a beautiful view of the ocean, but art thrown into the mix, well it could leave you breathless.

I read today about this artist's piece and can't wait to see it - wow!

But that's not all folks! Perth residents are lucky enough to host their own Sculpture by the Sea, and for the fifth year at Cottesloe (5-24 March) you can check out the beachside 'gallery'.

And if that wasn't enough - well this is like the steak knives! Denmark is going to host the first Sculpture by the Sea outside of Australia. To all the scores of Danish readers - you heard it here first.

Unrelated reading:

- about midwife care here

- can't wait for this

- interesting piece about mamas working from home here

Tomorrow I promise I'll photograph my loot from the skip... I'm a little slack - but the booty shall be worth it (not my J-Lo-esque derriere dear reader - the stash!!).

Buns of Steel:: Days 1-4

I've joined forces with this group in a bid to get fit. Here is my take on days 1-4.

Day One:

I set out early evening to squeeze in 20 minutes of walking before the babies head to bed. Instead I wind up walking for 45, and enjoying every minute of it. Spying through darkened windows. I spy a little boy sitting up for dinner all on his lonesome. An old man says hello. Yellow lights map out my walk. Over-sized dogs guard a large house that looks better suited to English country-side. The hardest bit on day one is starting.

Day Two:

Today I really can only go for 20 minutes because I have to be home to fulfill feeding duties, my husband has barren boobies. I slip into cruise control, but because I've left it 'til later, it's dark. Here are a few pointers as to why you should avoid night-time walking:

- my head came into very close contact with a branch - ouchy ouch
- it was so cold my ears started aching
- visibility is poor, so unless you're wearing a reflective safety vest, you're like an invisible target for fast-moving cars
- I wasn't so much interested in perusing houses, as wanting to be in my own
- I almost, so close, just missed it by a fraction, trod on a very dead, very squashed, very bloody possum that had met it's maker on the road. Tasty.

Day Three:

Recovery from my head-banging incident. I head out early afternoon. It's the weekend and I am going to make the most of it. 45 blissful 'me minutes' later, after powering through our backstreets I am plum tuckered out, but feel good. I've been throwing a few hills into the mix, to ensure my hindquarters get a good work out. I'm heading for buns of steel. Look out!

Day Four:

A less hectic pace sees me walking beachfront with my family. Today we're dodging weekend crowds, but it's nice to have someone to chat with, a welcome distraction. No 'me minutes' today - but when you're in the sunshine, taking in the long, inky line of ocean meeting horizon, who cares?

I have started feeling muscles I thought I'd lost. Walking is good. Get out there!

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So there's a snapshot of my first few days of forming a non-rehab-requiring habit. 17 days to go.
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Finally my camera became friends with me again. I can show some pics of some fabric my sister sent me as part of a swap (yes, we play swaps - she's in Perth, I'm in Sydney, it's bound to be a surprise). These gelato-inspired goodies are destined for my yo-yos... YO! YO! And the patterned fabrics, they are from my other sister, and they are being saved for a quilt for my little one. That's when I learn to sew.

A Mini-Break of Sorts

Our little family is away from home for two blissful parents-in-law free weeks. My sister's gone away so we're house-sitting. Lucky, lucky us.

From where I am perched I can hear the waves crashing. It's a beautiful thing.

We arrived late Saturday afternoon, but more than made up for it on Sunday. We took a little morning family walk around the neighbourhood, then came home in time for a midday cat-napping session. Come 3pm we headed to some nearby rockpools to discover some 'wobsters', I was just hoping for some small sand crabs and anemones.. Not to be.. But we pretty well had this small stretch of beach to ourselves.

I imagined life as a billionaire with our own bungalow beachside. Just to pop out to the water, have the waves tickle our toes. Mmm. Better start buying those lottery tickets more rhythmically!

Sand castles were built, and subsequently crashed. Noah was a boy possessed, building, re-building and then stomping. We wandered the empty beach, combing for pieces. Matt collected beautiful rocks perfectly smoothed by the sea. Noah joined in and filled his bucket with any rock, not a discerning geographer, he didn't care what they looked like. Looks like a rock, I'll pop it in my bucket. That was until he went to carry the bucket a few metres further. Then the rocks were dutifully returned to the sand.

He was my own little 'Storm Boy' sans pelican. All the while, I wore Scouty and she slept soundly. Ah the life of a bub.

If only every day was as laid back as this. Alas, Monday rolls around and Matt's off to work.