Summer Divine

We're celebrating Tiny's birthday late this weekend, with a wee tiny party.

The problem I face is that we've gone from a Dolly Varden birthday cake - and all the anxiety I drummed up in my head about that, to finally coming to a place of calm, and thinking, YES I can do it. To right here, right this minute, Tiny wants the Magic Toadstool cake (as shown below). I only have one pudding basin, and despite having called a heck of a lotta kitchenware stores this afternoon, can not locate the right sized basins.

I broke the news to Tiny that it was Dolly Varden all the way, and her little face looked so disappointed.

If I do not make the Magic Toadstool cake, and instead make the Dolly Varden cake, does that make me a candidate for The Worst Mother In The World Award?

And in the event that I do happen to stumble upon the correct sized pudding basins, where am I going to find those pint-sized fairies?

Help a white girl out!

As an aside, see my smalls post-swim? They just adore being wrapped up tight and being called hot dogs. They are two crazy little cats.

And on the flip-side, if I do do the Dolly Varden thing - what doll do I use?

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?

Little Swimmers. Not THOSE Little Swimmers.

We've started back at swimming just in time for it to get cold once more. Cold and rainy. Perfect swimming weather really. If you're English.

Tiny has been particularly excited by this foray back into the water. She has to wait half an hour while the Doctor does his lesson. Fifteen minutes into the Doctor's lesson she asks if she can get ready. Which she can. And then minute-by-minute she asked "Is it my turn yet?"

Whenever the Doctor would do anything good she'd give him a tiny little two thumbs up.

That little almost-three year old kills me. She's pretty fly. She gives me cute attacks daily. Twice daily. Thrice daily. Sometimes even more. Mostly more actually. Ok I'll stop now. The end.

I Am Deeply Interesting

I love the rain. It was so nice to wake up to the pitter patter, not of Tiny's feet, but of the rain on our roof, on the footpath, falling on the grass, wetting our newly potted Snapdragons and Stock. Looking out into that was - a relief.

I've decided to mix things up a bit here in PMM HQ. We've ditched swimming next term because I hate swimming when it's bitter cold, and shuffling two small bodies between car and pool seems a very unromantic notion. Couple that with ye olde Wintery croup, ear infections and tonsillitis, and I feel an overwhelming weight has been lifted. Free-ing up our days is absolutely a good thing.

What else? I've switched around some furniture, but that came all unstuck when I realised I couldn't actually get the bed out of Tiny's room, so now it's stuck in there and the Doctor has no bed. He's gone bohemian. It took me a full ten minutes of staring at that bed to realise it was not coming out without being disassembled. So I went and had a shower instead.

PS - If you feel like you haven't had enough of me yet, you can always pop over to HandmadeNews and read an interview with me. Enough about me. What do you think about me?

Image via this blog. Dedicated to Vintage Glasses. Me likey!

Autumn Swimming

It's suddenly turned chilly here. Summer is swept away in constant breezes and grey skies. Autumn is upon us.

Which is all well and good when you don't have to take your child swimming. Which actually involves you getting into the pool. Moon tan and all.

The Doctor is now old enough that his classes are done with three kids and a teacher.

Tiny, however, is still tiny enough that she needs me in the water with her.

I only have two swimsuits. And today I had the really bright idea of wearing a different one. One that fitted me really well straight after I had Tiny and I was fuller in the chest department. This bikini has padding as well. Which is fabulous. Unless of course, the padding is way too much and just looks like you cut a tennis ball in half and shoved them down your top. But the good thing is you can remove the padding. Which is not so good when the top is just too big for you and it's all saggy, baggy elephant territory. So I put the padding back in. And didn't realise 'til I got there that I think I put it in upside down.

I hope you've got your bra on the right way today?

Out In The Sunshine: Style Tips

Besides the fact that I have been struck with a truly deep affliction, that of deep, unrequited Rupert love, it's sunny in our little corner of the world.

So today, here at PMM HQ we've decided to come at you with some style tips (not for the faint fashion hearted):

- DO dress for an activity you might like to do (even if there's not any notion of when you're going to be doing it - for days, weeks, or months). It's preferable that one of your accessories comes from a sibling's cupboard and you wearing it causes them to have a meltdown (or your mama just has to buy another to save household from spontaneously combusting)

- Swimming caps ARE a good look year round, pool side or not

- DO wear your swimming cap pulled down so that it squashes your forehead a little. This serves not only to make you look a little cranky (or neanderthal - both are HAWT), but also can serve well to age you a little - with a nice big crease across your forehead, for when (and if) you ever decide to take off the swimming cap

- When possible, DO find the swimming goggles and wear them too. Then have a hissy fit at them. Then pop them on again and go out to a cafe and check out the world through sky coloured glasses

- When Vogue Italia calls to ask for your styling prowess, DO charge them a gazillion. Style this good does not come cheap

Stuff That Mummies Do

It was a cold and blustery Winter morning. The rain was coming in steadily. It was cold. It was blustery. It was bunkering down weather. It was toe-freezing weather. Certainly not the time to be galavanting around town. Absolutely not the time to go swimming. But as a dedicated Mama, she packed all the stuff ready to roll and arrived, for once, promptly at 9am.

And there starts my story for today. Swimming. In Winter. Yuck. Walking into that aquatic centre is humid and stinky and - it's cold outside, and there's the mother who wants to tell me her daughter's at home quarantined with swine flu. And there's me steadily sliding down the bench away from her, a metre per minute - I'd give Thorpey a run for his money.

The Doctor went swimming. Tiny sat sidelined and ate yet another banana. Another sandwich. Everything in sight. Then we went home. In the rain. Quel surprise!

We then went to the Doctor. I know how to have a good time. Four year old immunisations. Yeeehaaaaar. Told you I knew how to have a good time.

And then home again, home again jiggedy jig. Do I have anything of interest to share with you? Do I? Do I? Ergh. In case you're interested, I mopped the floors. This is no mean feat. You can now eat off them. But anything of interest?

Well I was interested in building a gold mine with the Doctor while Tiny slept. We built some platforms, we shunted the trains around the track. We brought the animals out for a walk. It was fun to spend that time with him. Shut away from the computer, the TV, the phone - everything, and just hang. I love when we do that.

Marvellous May

The Doctor had swimming lessons this morning. I love the way these two smalls look like little old men waiting to jump into the pool. Mini-Icebergs.

I enjoyed some knitting time while cheering him on. It's getting longer and longer, slowly but surely!

I just need to confirm - I have nothing else to report. Though I do like this song. What muzak is rocking your world right now?

The Chaos Theory

Today has been chaotic. First up, a doctor's appointment for 4 month jabs. Doctor is running 1/2 hour late - but no one tells me this. Entertain children. Didn't bring pram so nurse little one. Finally - our name is called. One needle per leg. Poor baby. Wait to pay at counter for five minutes before being told I have to wait even longer. Starting to feel very anxious. Tell the receptionist I am running terribly late and that I have to get to swimming in 5 minutes (and it's a 5 minute drive - eeek). Tell her I will be back later to pay.

Race off, late, to swimming. Get there five minutes late to find the class has (as per my guess) already started. A bewildered Noah delivered to teacher in pool. Half an hour passes with me feeling totally stressed. All the other mums stare in what I can only imagine is half-bemusement. Feel like total scatterbrain.

Back to car to try and get sleeping baby back into car without waking her. Fail.

Noah tells me he needs a surprise. Who am I to argue?

Drive around looking for somewhere easy I can park - run in - and purchase some kind of surprise. IGA - park right out front. Return triumphant with choc Paddlepop in hand (hmm, yes a pre-lunch ice cream always goes down a treat!?).

Home for lunch and sleep times for both babes.

Realise I have forgotten to return to the doctor's surgery. Make a note to call them back when I have wrangled both babies down for their sleeps.

Missed phone calls to tell us that we might possibly be successful in applying for a new house to rent. In my delirium, keep forgetting to call them back. Sigh. Actually, I don't keep forgetting, am just struck with fear as to whether this is the right move. Is it? How will we know? Or should we just plunge forward and go for it? Still frozen with fear.

Have long list of things to do, but just can't find that darn list.

Quickly clean the house - well part of it. Well not much of it truthfully, try and mop the floor, and finally get to soak some thrifted goodies for show and tell later in the week.

Have small freak out when I realise it's not that long to go til it's both Matt's and Noah's birthdays. Really must get organised.

Finally remember one thing from my to do list. Buy a new camera. Oh - and go back to the doctor. Why is my chaos running me around in a full circle?

Land Ho!

Noah has swimming lessons on Wednesdays... Wednesdays are a leeetle tricky, because I have Scout, and as everyone who's had a baby knows, there's no such thing as perfect timing - so I have to do my best to get to the pool early to get her settled, Noah ready, and also myself - as I have to grace the world with my non-pool-perfect body. Snigger snigger.

Thankfully, there is a woman there who has a son who is 4, and he does the classes with the teacher and a little girl - so the mama is sitting on the sidelines.. She's so super dooper lovely that she's offered to look after Scout while I am fine-tuning my synchronised swimming routines.. Or rather, helping Noah negotiate putting his head under water without swallowing a few mouthfuls of heavily chlorinated water.

What makes this woman even kinder is that she has a baby girl just four weeks older than Scout - so I am sure it's the last thing you want to be doing is minding someone else's bub for 1/2 hour.. But man, she is a good woman, and I am super dooper lucky.

So today to say thank you - I took her a hot, hot pink begonia.. It was so pretty, almost flamingo pink. Which kind of reminded me of one of my sister, Choccy Bangles recent posts of things she's lusting after.

Anyway, swimming went well. Noah's confidence has grown immensely over the past few weeks, where at the first week he was crawling into the water like a lil' old man, today he was bounding down the foam and jumping into my arms. But he's a boy who definitely knows when enough is enough telling me, 'I'm finished' on more than one occasion. Or even 'I'm not doing that again'. You can't argue with a mind already made up.

We finished up with Noah walking around in the pool (he can touch the ground in the shallow end) and then telling me he wasn't doing any more swimming, he was dancing instead. Funny little guy.

Afterwards we rushed home, me juggling three separate bags (which makes me think DANG! - I need a new bag) to feed Scout, get Noah's lunch and get them both into bed so I could get some work done. Sigh. Back to work so soon, thankfully it's just small bits and pieces at this stage before things start to ramp up later in the year.