It's Me: Day 4

Today is Friday. The Doctor has gone into the city with his grandmother. Tiny is fast asleep. Maybe even snoring. I'm about to get stitching on a little project I'm working on. I've made Bills choc-chip cookies. I am ready to embrace the weekend. It better be sunny or it will have me to answer to.

I'm having a massage tomorrow and you can not even imagine how excited I am. I plan to fall asleep on the table. That's not a threat. That's a hopeful promise.

Oh - a long time ago I mentioned I couldn't find shoes that fit. Well I have. Because I got them made. If you need every day shoes and can't find anything in your size, may I refer you to Salvio's? They are super friendly, helpful and keen. The ballet flats in this shot have been worn to death, though still going strong. Plus I picked up a new pair the other day, and already have ideas for the next pair. I did want to get taps put on my next pair, but after reading this, I think I've rethought the whole idea.. But it would be fun tapping down the street. Yes, yes it would.

Sunday Rolls Around Again

I am completely shattered today. We did a lot of running around yesterday and my poor little body is definitely feeling it. Everything's sore.. Getting sick? No, not me, I'm a beefcake.

It's one of those cold Wintery days when you, by law, should be curled up on the couch watching DVDs. Jeeves - I feel like a hot chocolate. Nanny will take the kids out rugged up for a run on the grass. But it's not to be, and family life stops for no man. Or mama. Onward we shall go.

It's a little over a week 'til my birthday and I'm already feeling as though I own a 70 year old's body. I think I'll take a leaf out of this woman's book and kick-start a new me by going running. Sounds frightening. Walking is easing me into it.

I drew the winners of the Little Innoscents giveaway too:

Winner of the complete set of Little Innoscents products is lucky seven 7. Linda from Two Pink Possums.

And the five lucky ducky runners up are:
Coming of age - 18. Perempuan
Duck and dive - 25. Josephine Tale Peddler
Legs eleven - 11. Julia
Sweet sixteen - 16. Bronwyn
One little duck - 2. Mama Mogantosh

If you can email me your postal address, I can then pass it on and your prizes can be sent out. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Sunday, Sunday

Do you ever have those weekends when you feel like your a leaf blowing in the breeze, blowing this way and that way? That's this weekend for me. Not time to stop, can't be late, can't be late, must keep going.

Peace at last, peace at last, the Doctor and I are lying on the couch snuggled up together. I'm drinking lots of tea. We're both eating freckles and grissini. Strange combo. But it works. Watching Charlie & Lola.

Tiny's fast asleep, growing. Matt's studying. The world is spinning, slowly, so we don't all fall off.

Sunday afternoons. Life in the fast lane can wait. Sundays are or stretching, snuggling and snoozing.

Starting to Stitch Again

Design Collection for Kids - Jap embroidery book

Originally uploaded by Warm 'n Fuzzy

There's something so luxurious about a long, long weekend. Matt took an extra day off work so we could enjoy four days together. Bliss.

The sun has come out to play. We've been getting some odd jobs done, the house is a complete shambles (but I'm ok with that), and I have been able to indulge in a new stitching project (even though I am STILL not finished with the other).

It's so nice to have that quiet rhythm of stitching. I just sit and stitch, sit and stitch, sit and stitch. An occasional cup of tea. A thought floats through my head, but mostly I get to engage in doing something for myself. I know that's a rare thing for a lot of people, and I appreciate this time.

I've started to dream big about the kind of projects I want to embark on. About decorating our house. Decorating the children's rooms. Noah loves his cat pillowcase and asks for it sometimes. That's a good feeling.

For now, the boys have gone skating, Scout is asleep, and so I am going to continue to sit and stitch.

Eating with Children

Getting out with two little ones can be difficult, and sometimes it's one of those things we avoid altogether. When we found 'Chicken and Fishhead' it was a little too exciting. So exciting that we started frequenting the place almost every weekend. We've since gone cold turkey, but sometimes we do go - even just for a coffee.

I found that Bitton in Erskineville is a pretty cool spot for the kiddies. It features an outdoor courtyard area, plus a playroom including toys and a TV. What more could small fry want? Well. The mama could want more, because we went there in December Noah was a little car-sick. The waitress was not very accommodating and made me feel embarrassed cleaning up while she watched (there was no one else in that particular dining room - thank goodness!). A good lesson in humility. We left there in a hurry having barely eaten anything.

Kam Fook in Chatswood is a BIG winner. The noise and general happenings are enough to detract from your own noise-makers, and there's enough going on around that Noah is entertained enough to keep him seated at least for dinner. We try to get there early on a Saturday so we get served quickly. The crabs and fish are also easy entertainment, and there's a great Borders right next door. Too easy.

Fish and chips at Balmoral is a winner with our whole family. It combines sand play, seagulls and great fish & chips. Especially on Sunday afternoons in summer, it's a great place to head and kick back, take a dip and then head off into the sunset.

Today's Good Living (SMH) features 'Meals and Squeals' uncovering Sydney's child-friendly restaurants. It's got a pretty good cross-section of places to discover without feeling like a social pariah, and without fearing putting child-less diners off their dinner.

It's certainly different to being relegated to cafes such as the one featured in Kids Central. Bad coffee, below-average food. Might be a novelty for a little while, but it's just not got a good vibe. It's just a shonky little cafe stuck in the middle of a kids shop.

Another family-friendly place is the little cafe in Rushcutter's Bay Park.. The same one where Todd McKenney was found passed out. Well, him aside, it's a good place for babies to go wild. There are loads of ride-on vehicles, toys, and boats in the harbour. Baby-cinos aplenty.. I haven't been there for some time, but it's a nice spot to meet friends.

Wouldn't it be great to compile an on-line list of child-friendly cafes? If you know of any, please leave in the comments below and I'll compile them into one big happy family list.

Pink Elephant in the Room - A Week of Pillowcases

Continuing on from my week-long public declaration of love for vintage pillowcases (as part of Kootoyoo's project at Meet Me At Mikes - check out more pillowcase goodness over here) here's a few more from my collection..

Today - children's pillowcases.. Both from the pile I had long forgotten.

The pink elephant is pretty cute. I think it will wind up in Scouty's bedroom in some way or another.

Remember when you were small and you used to pore over little prints? I used to spend hours staring at picture books, creating small dialogues, embellishing their stories. There were a few books that were particular favourites, but I also created these dialogues with imagery on sheets, crockery, and even cutlery... Remember having your favourite fork that starred a little cat or puppy? It was imperative for supreme dining experience to have that particular fork!

One of my sisters had yellow Holly Hobbie sheets. My other sister, when she was a little older had these peach satin sheets. Gosh I remember being so envious. When she moved out, I always tried to get these sheets for my bed. The experience of sleeping on them was not as good as the fantasy. I thought I'd feel like a princess. Instead I'd just slide straight out of bed. Hmph.

The other pillowcase features squirrels, rabbits and bears (and I think some raccoon sort of creature).

And I know it's not strictly a pillowcase (it could be with some reworking) but I had to share this cute bassinet sheet featuring baby deers. A sort of Bambi tribute.

There are a few more pillowcases to share, so I'll continue on into the weekend to make up for my absence from the start of the week.

Sleep tight.

A Week of Pillowcases..

Sweet pillowcases, take me to sleep and off to dream.

Kootoyoo is hosting a week of beautiful pillowcases over at Pip's.

These ones were from some random thrifting around the traps. They're in great condition, I've not actually used them because.. Well to be honest, I forgot I had a whole stash of pillowcases, and just found them last night! It was like stumbling across Aladdin's cave..

These are also from the same stash.. A real delight to go through them all again. The vague smell of mothballs. Hmmm. These ones are a bit more loved, the lilac in particular. The threads are softened almost to disintegration.

Re-discovering these beauties was like re-living the quiet thrill of thrifting. My own dialogue running in my head, wondering who used to sleep on them, what those people dreamt of, whether they had breakfast in bed, if they listened to the bird songs in the morning, watched the sun spread across the patch of lawn at the back... Whether they had children that crawled all over them in the early hours, as an unsaid good morning. Small bodies wedged between theirs and their lovers. That's what I wonder.

Pretty Pillowcases - A Whole Week of Them!

Drawing inspiration from Kootoyoo's week of pillowcases being hosted by Pip... I'm a late starter but here I am with some of my collection..

I love trawling my local op-shops for pre-loved pillowcases. I'm a mad keen hunter, and I'm always looking to add to my ever-growing collection.

The way pre-loved pillowcases are already worn and soft.. Perfect for beauty sleep. Perfect for day-dreaming, lying in bed (on those rare days when you can sneak in a few extra minutes snuggled up)...

This first pair were from my sister, Sheridan p/cases in immaculate condition. In fact, if I remember correctly they still had their tags on them! I LOVE using these babies.

This next couple were a lucky find. An old couple across the road were selling a lot of things as they were sadly moving to a nursing home. Their family were selling all these beautiful bits and bobs, such as the purple/blue pillowcases.. Later on I saw they had thrown a great crochet rug into a skip. It was raining and I meant to return to save it, but alas, the skip had been removed and the rug had been taken away.. Luckily I did buy these pillowcases and treasure them.

The white pillowcase was bought from a fab shop that was in Lilyfield - Frou Frou, run by the even more fab Parisa. Unfortunately she moved up to the Blue Mountains (their gain!), but I have such fond memories of her shop.. And the subsequent heart flutters it made me have!

Oh Schweppes!

I've heard that little people are sponges. We all have heard this. They learn so quickly. I know this in my own life. Noah, nearly three, is constantly absorbing so much, learning, growing. Wow. So I really shouldn't be surprised when I hear him parrot my expletives.. Oh dear.

Before I launch into my little stories, I must point out that the name of my blog 'Potty Mouth Mama' was borne from thinking of my life as toilet training Noah, rather than me having a huge desire to swear. I pretty well deleted swearing from my vocab before Noah's birth in the interests of... being a good mama. Unfortunately it's crept back in, but I'm no potty mouth mama really!

However, last week when I was grumping about the house, I walked past Noah and his Daddy having book time on the couch - and heard a small voice say: 'Bloody Mummy'. Ouch. I was shocked, but thought perhaps I had misheard him, so I asked him what he'd said. 'Bloody Mummy' in a bolder voice. Make a mental note to watch what I say little ears are listening.

Then over the weekend Matt and I had a heated moment and I happened to say another unsavoury word. Moments later, it was replicated in a smaller voice. Woops!

I had better watch my mouth otherwise I am going to have to wash it out with soap and have a potty mouth baby. Noah did go through a stage when he was smaller, saying truck came out with a phhhh sound instead. It caused a few stressed moments when in shops and particularly around our neighbourhood with the toffee nosed ladies.. Hey, we all need an education in kiddie swearing. Just jokes - I just have to learn to bite my tongue and use other words to express my anger/grumpiness.

On another note, Noah's almost better - thank goodness! I have been having to put cream on his nose which is absolutely abhors. So in order to do so, I've been having to bribe him (my mother-in-law has told me to call it 'positive reinforcement'). the positive reinforcement takes the shape of a snake here, a choccy there, but just before bed time the other night, I was desperate and he was totally fritzing at me. I brought out a new book - which I thought was far too old for him, and said he could have it, if he let me put the cream on him. He took it, hook. Line. Sinker.

Surprisingly, this book has been a huge hit. Huge, huge, huge hit. It's been constantly requested ever since. Hubert Horatio is a very cute book, and one that I enjoy reading - so I don't mind the repeated readings. It makes me laugh even harder when Noah asks what's happening to 'Bob and Trent' while pointing at Hubert's parents, the Bobton-Trents. I'm in stitches people - stitches!

Lauren Child is such a clever children's author. She first came into my life when I was looking for new books for my nephews.. This would have to be at least five years ago now.. Wow. So it's super fun that Noah is now enjoying these books, and even Charlie and Lola TV.

Her website's pretty super too.

Speaking of children's books (how's that for a segue??) my sister introduced me to this pretty fab website last week and I have to say, it's pretty darn good. I love nothing better than reading about great kids books (well maybe I do love a massage. A pedi is pretty good. A great dinner. A nice big cuddle. Laughing. Ok - there are plenty of things I love better but you get the picture, right?), and this website is fantastic for recommendations on not only new books, but revisiting well-known, well-loved classics too. Definitely worth a virtual visit to add to your bookshelf.

I heart books too.

Singapore Sling

I'm done with cocktail hour. But this little sling is just the thing for the bewitching hour, or getting out and about with babe close to my warmth and the boom-boom-boom (or gagoong, gagoong - ala Patrick Swayze - hey nobody puts Baby in the corner - just in the sling) of my heartbeat. I think it's why my little babes are pretty calm little cats.

I bought this Baba Sling back when I was pregnant with Noah. I used it quite a bit when he was a wee bub, and even right up until around 9-12 months (they can be used up to two years - yikes!). If I was nipping to the shops or didn't want to take the pram, it was perfect to just pop him in and tote him around. Plus that closeness with your babe. Sigh. There's nothing quite like it.

Now Scout's making good use of it too - and I think it will get even more use from her now that I'm more confident using it. There are seven different ways to use it, and Scout loves it - sleeps well in it, and then I can just push the single pram around if Noah doesn't want to hotfoot it around town. Noah thinks it's pretty cool and calls it "Mummy and Scouty's pouch" - he also has a keen interest in kangaroos.

So Scout's more of a sling baby - so when we went to swimming a few weeks ago, and I pulled out the pram for Scout to sleep in, and settled her in there - Noah aghast said "What about me? Where am I going to fit?". Poor little tike thought I was putting him out.

Sweet sling love. Even if it's non-alcoholic.

The Little Red Hen

This little Golden Book was one of my favourites when I was little, I enjoyed reading it with Noah last weekend when we visited a cafe and they had it on the kids table... The repetition is perfect for little readers. The illustrations are fantastic, I must find this book to add to our collection.

Unfortunately I don't get to be the Little Red Hen these days because I have two very willing little hands. Hands that want to get into the butter (and thinking it's cheese), stir the just-sifted flour, and pour all the ingredients in at the wrong time..

Regardless, these bickies that I read so much about this week have just come out of the oven.. And the word on the street is, they're darn good!

Nothing says Friday wind-down to me like a quick afternoon baking session and a cup of tea in my favourite tea-mug..