I need to post..

I am surprisingly slow at keeping this blog up to date...

let me plonk some photos here in this space for you... and summarise - Halloween was FUN!

We didn't carve our pumpkins this year...instead we went for The Mr Potato Head kits. Easy.

On the Friday morning the twins wore their costumes to pre school for a Pumpkin Party. That afternoon we attended our local Halloween tailgate which shows the best of our local community- not to say that they are all monsters, ghouls and vampires, but that they are hugely creative and generous. The way the cars/trucks/vans are decorated is incredible... maybe next year we'll give that a go...maybe.

I didn't see much of Yum Yum, we became separated in the parade so she did the Halloween tailgate with her daddy whilst I shepherded the Boo duck who did get very enthusiastic about her candy collection.

Our dentist will be pleased to see his best patients taking good care of their teeth..they are still thrilled with the Firefly toothbrushes they collected at the tailgate. They also wore these vampire to teeth the following week.

We were exceptionally pleased that there was no more Halloween for us on Saturday- instead we did the soccer duties, checked on the donut supply at the cider mill and went for a walk in the forest. We re-arranged the junk in our garage into spooky junk in the garage and on Sunday afternoon and into the evening, hosted a bunch of friends in our driveway...because we live in Halloween St. So with a firepit and plenty of food/wine we had a lot of laughs.

Most of the area is semi rural/ hilly. Our street is flat, it's a horseshoe shape and is home to a several enthusiastic homeowners who embrace spooky decor wholeheartedly. We have little choice but to join in..and now the annual celebrations are getting closer and closer to becoming one big street party. We forgot to keep a tally this year ..we get around 200 trick-or-treaters, possibly 300. Still, we are grateful that we don't live in Christmas Street. They must go bonkers with the cars driving slowly past ...over and over again...for weeks! Not to mention the electricity bill.

Eventually the candy high wore off and normal activity has resumed.

Note to self. Halloween 2011..ghosts x 3. This time I really mean it.

two down, one to go

I have completed the costumes for Boo and Yum Yum... they wanted to go as their cuddlies.."Bunny" and "Ducky". It would have been a whole lot easier to just buy them a costume each...but I always have to complicate things and make more work for myself.

Bears' costume is still a WIP, to be completed very soon, hopefully by the time the Halloween tailgate starts this afternoon! The fabric glue is making me feel a little odd.

When 4 year olds paint pumpkins....

When the Breadwinner spied these globs (not globes) he exclaimed his surprise that we would choose to buy green pumpkins. On closer inspection he wanted to know why anyone would paint orange pumpkins, green? There was a very adamant response.."they are NOT green daddy, they are GREY!".

Whew, 'cause what to do with them otherwise? When I think about their handiwork I have to admit they actually came up with a perfectly valid Halloween transformation. I have some ideas on how to complete their vision. Even if I hadn't been distracted by a sparkly cat yawning...

I don't believe I could have (or should have) changed the outcome. They enjoyed themselves and that is what mattered.

Bento update

This is my new favourite breakfast- homemade granola, greek yohgurt and berries..mmmm.

Do you remember this bento- complete fail. The biggest fail was that Bear could not open the yoghurt parfait...apparently it never occured to her to unscrew the lid!

During the week since... they have all had chicken noodle soup with crackers, tortellini and hot dogs- in their thermos' (not all on one day!). These were happily eaten.

I did have great success with Monday's bentos but I forgot to take a photo. I added a grated apple to some pancake mix, a little sugar and cinnamon and made funny face pancakes. I used fruit leather cut with kitchen scissors into small circles/triangles, arches/curves to make faces. I put the "face" parts onto the pancake just before turning them. I tidied them up with a circle cookie cutter- the uniform shape and size enhanced the cute factor..and it was amazing how little was trimmed in order to make each a perfect circle, not that the trimmings went to waste. I put the pancakes (3 each) in the lower section of the bento with parchment circles between them. I packed a little blueberry jam for each which none oft he girls bothered with. I popped paper plates into the lunchbags for Boo and Yum Yum so that theirs could be warmed a little in the class microwave. They had fruit and nut free granola (same as my breakfast) as a side.

Tomorrow's bentos I expect to be well recieved. I hopee. I know Bear likes my "chicken nuggets" for school lunch , just hope the twins also enjoy them at school. Only Bear likes kiwi fruit. I will add a yohgurt to her lunch in case she is hungry.I should add that during the drive after preschool- to pick up Bear from her school, the twins often request their leftovers from their school lunch.
And somebody else is benefiting from the bento production line. Here's the Breadwinners lunch..he gets a bunch of crackers and slices of parmesan cheese, and a bigger serving of fruit and chicken of course.
Just in case you want to know here's my recipe for the chicken strips/nuggets,

chicken breast cut into small chunks or strips

drench in seasoned plain flour

dip into beaten egg

coat in breadcrumbs

place on "foiled n oiled" baking tray, lightly drizzle with olive oil

cook at 350F about 25 minutes, turning halfway through.

The crumbs can be seasoned- garlic herb is tasty, or you can added lemon zest, sesame seeds .

sewing-fail

Not very productive ... I'm a slacker, what can I say! I did finish embellishing the girls dresses, Yum Yum excitedly announced "nighties"..err, yeh they do kinda look like nightgowns now that you mention it, but nope.Have now promised to sew nighties (good grief!). They do love the little brooches I stitched them- they wear them very proudly and Bear has requested one too. In other news...apparently Santa is coming. They are practicing boxing items up, pretending to be asleep, waking up and acting surprised , unwrapping presents and saying "oooh I love it Santa, thank you very very much!" They did this in turn for about an hour. Then Bear brought out a tub of Little People...and of course Santa and his reindeer are in there. Mental note- separate Santa from his Little People until December. It really IS too early isn't it. OMG, it's NOT.

Losing my marbles...

Jen asked about the new allowance system with the marbles.

So here goes... please bear in mind that we are only in our second week of the system. After week 1, Boo and Yum Yum have the grand sums of $1.50 and $1.25 in their purses (which are kept in my handbag), Bear came away with $5.

This is how it works- each child is given a weekly allowance equal to their age - $11 for Bear, $4 for each of the twins. I put marbles in each jar corresponding to their allowance. For Bear each marble equals 50C and for the twins the marble is 25C.

At the end of the week they are paid their allowance on the following basis:-

Bear needs to have completed all her homework, cleaned her room reasonably well by Sat evening and followed her routines during the week (which includes a nightly tidy up).

Boo and Yum Yum need to "go to bed sweetly", put their toys away when asked, put shoes away and make their beds.

I can give extra marbles for good behaviour and fine them for bad. When I have to do one of their jobs I get to charge them.

Whatever the final total 50% is for savings (we are keeping a record in a little book-Bank of Daddy for the moment ) and 50% is given to them.

So far Bear is totally onto it and saving her $5. She managed to earn a few extra marbles by helping her sisters clean up- in effect they paid her, and lost a few for leaving wet towels on her bedroom floor etc.

I took Boo and Yum Yum to Target with me which was a somewhat painful learning experience for them....everything that they desired they could not afford and what was affordable they did not want. It drove them (and me) nuts but I think it was the begining of learning about money and value. It was hard not to cave and contribute to a purchase. I have since found a Dollar store and will take them there provided they put away the dress ups from the playdate two days ago...but nope, still not happening. In a way it will postpone the trip until after the next "payday" and theoretically they will have a little more to spend. If they can purchase a small toy every two weeks then I think that is okay. Trips to the chosen store to spend their money need to be negotiated.

We need to perfect the system a little more... oh, and yes meddling in ANY form with MY marbles (and they are ALL my marbles ) will result in all their marbles being taken. I keep the jars on the window sill in the kitchen.

Whilst writing this the girls have been doing "something" a little too quietly upstairs. I hear Bear's name mentioned.... I kind of dread going to see what it is.

Summer stuff

I have , for the past 12 months, been "suggesting" (aka nagging) my Breadwinner to get a swingset for the girls. The swings are of exceptional importance to them at any playground and sharing them with other children is oh so painful...oh what bliss to have their own at home. I began the online research. My only requirement was that it be a simple, sturdy, inexpensive swingset for two "swingers". I am not keen on this type of...ginormous thing because we have two rather large outdoor playhouses already, although I am sure Bear, Boo and Yum Yum would be delighted. No, I was looking something more like this. Why? because our home is rented, our stay subject to immigration laws, returning to Australia with a wooden structure not even worth the bother of trying (ie it would end up costing more to fumigate) and because the Breadwinner can't manage Lego let alone construct a safe playset.

We ended up with this....

A 10ft by 30" inflatable pool with filter. And I have to admit it was a better choice than a swingset. And much cheaper too. If we get a second year out of this pool that will be a bonus. As you can see we have it on our deck. The deck IS very large..I think it is something like 25 x 40ft. A seriously large deck with decking in seriously bad shape hence the grass carpet. The pool is the perfect size for Boo and Yum Yum and in the past 2 months they have FINALLY progressed to puttting their heads in the water. Yum Yum has even swum under water! That alone is worth the $. When the weather is warm enough the girls play in there for hours (they are good about bathroom breaks!). This summer has been exceptionally warm!

Last summer they were "swimming" in this....

They were just as happy!!

Unsolicited Advice for parents of twins

TIP 1. If you do not already have one, acquire a king sized bed, immediately. Co-sleeping happens whether you agree with it, plan for it or not. When there are 4 in the bed and the little one says......rollover! They will all rollover and the Daddy falls out and goes to sleep in a little persons bed.

TIP 2. Do not buy toddler beds, buy the most comfortable sturdy twin beds and mattresses you can afford. Because you will be sleeping in them.

Ahhh musical beds, the most fun you will ever not have.

This was the scene this morning. It was a humid night. The Breadwinner is in the land of the Little Mermaid. I thought I might have the whole bed to myself and have a lovely night's sleep. The older I get, the more I need quality sleep to function in a pleasant way. And then add suspected peri-menopausal insomnia and night sweats. I told you I was OLDER.

SNAP!!!

The twins have added "snap" to their game playing skills. I have been waiting for this - card players!!! I remember we taught Bear card games at this age... and if the twins are soon able to entertain themselves with a game of cards that is like winning lotto. And dare I dream that all three girls will sit down to a game of cards one day soon? Of course games have winners and losers, and we have some competitive little ladies. Playing fair and not being a bad loser are going to become a constant refrain in our house.

We taught them Snap last week with an old pack of Rugrats cards when we were at dinner. We didn't teach them the yelling part as we were in a "fine dining" establishment at the time and it would have messed with the romantic evening some people were lucky enough to be enjoying. I can hear in the next room that the Breadwinner has just added the cry of "SNAPAROONIE!!!" and table slamming thumps to the version he is now playing with Boo. Won't be able to pull that game out in that restaurant ever again! The Breadwinner is doing a lovely job of entertaining Boo whilst her partner in crime is laid up with the bug. Boo fell ill Thursday afternoon and naturally Yum Yum followed Saturday morning -snap! I'm not feeling quite so fantastic either -snap! We really must find a nicer game of snap... Angelica, Chuckie, Spike, Didi, Grandpa, Boris. We don't even watch the show and now we know their names... sad! I'm sure we have some in the cupboard.

So in other news, that doesn't involve cardsharks, fevers and sore tummies, it is with regret that our dishwasher has died. I have a different 's' word for that. At least I have a pretty dishbrush to help me.

Getting back to those skirts I made last year...

The skirts were not very exciting technically , but very quick to make! I had seen a few bandana creations in the bloggy world and was inspired to try it myself. But I am not really one for following instructions, particularly if it involves sewing two squares together. The thing is, I didn't want to do any cutting but the length of the bandana was too long for my little people. My solution was to fold the bandanas to make a layer which is almost apron-like. In order to do this the reverse fabric needs to be reasonable as it will be the top layer. Then I simply stitched the sides together up to the point where the fold was and then stitched a casing. Put in some elastic and voila...bandana skirts. For $2. Each. Three lines of stitching and some elastic.

You can see that Yum Yum's skirt , the pink one, does twist on her body so that the seams are in the middle instead of the sides. She's skinnier than Boo so I think that is why that happens. I was thinking that it would look cute at the back if there was a large dark blue bow attached to the casing and a smaller one at the front, or I could just take it in a pinch...or she could just fatten herself up a bit! Another feature that my girls would probably approve - pockets. Maybe just one more bandana .... cut, edge, attach patch pockets to the "aprons". The $1 bandanas came from Walmart and have softened up nicely.

Feeling a little Bloggy today...(many random words to get out of my head)

I have my back to the laundry piles, the Littlest Pet explosion and am listening via baby monitor to Boo and Yum Yum discussing their dresses for the ball. I know that there is this morning's Barbiefest on the floor of their room tangled up in blankets, and am expecting a dress-ups pile-up at the top of the stairs. They have had ballet this morning and have since changed into "comfy" clothes consisting of skirts made by mummy last year. Those clean clothes will now be discarded at the scene of their most recent costume change. So ignoring the mess I am taking 10 minutes to give some thought to their clothing.

I seriously wonder why I bother providing them with regular clothing, be it practical, cheap & cheerful, homemade, handmade, cute, pretty, darling, funky, trendy, funny, expensive... whatever ..because they would quite happily wear their dress ups all day and everyday. Except on the days when they would wear their swimsuits all day instead or if they had glitter and sequins on everything else.

I read on one of my fave blogs, Elsie Marley, that there is to be a week devoted to sewing for your kids....and an interesting post on Indietutes about keeping your own creative ego in check so that kids might actually wear what you make them.

So ...I ask myself should I be contemplating some sewing next week?

NO- I have an awful lot of other things I should be doing. Really. A lot.

NO- they don't "need" any more clothes. The store of Bear's "hand me downs" goes back to our arrival here in the US when she was just a little older than the twins are now. She was petite and gentle on her clothes, and I was a rather enthusiastic shopper ...and so begining with this summer it is feasible that we could dress the twins entirely in "hand me downs" for the next 10 years give or take a snowsuit, snowboots and other things that one kid doesn't normally have two of.

But you know what...I am still going to do it!!!

YES- the challenge calls for 1 hour a night. I waste many more hours a night procastinating, dithering online and not getting anything done anyway.

YES- It would make me really happy to do some sewing. It's a stress reliever for me.

YES- I have a lot of fabric (understatement) and I have many partially completed items, repairs, cluttering my workroom and many creative ideas cluttering my brain.

YES- I have a feeling that my girls will be excited about what I make them.

YES- There are things I want to teach myself about sewing esp with knits. This would be the time to try .

And in order to show that I am serious and to up my credibility in the crafty blogging sphere (ie. zip) I will share with you something I made for them last summer. Those skirts I mentioned earlier....

And, just as I was about to impress you with my sewing skills, there was intense wailing over the baby monitor. The following two hours was spent consoling an injured Boo who had managed to hurt herself quite badly. What I have pieced together is that she was upside down (OK- that part is still puzzling me) on her bedhead trying to turn on her nightlight (huh?) which is actually in a pocket hanging on the bedhead...she fell smashing herself just behind her ear on the pointiest hard thing she could find, the corner of the nearby bookcase. Fortunately no blood was involved. It was not the afternoon I had planned. I expect that she will have a very sore ear/neck and a big bruise tomorrow...and that I may still be taking her to see a DR just-in-case tomorrow. I did manage to get to my own re- scheduled medical appointment to be told that my blood pressure and ECG are great. So now I know I can feel totally crap but my blood pressure will still be awesome. I have to go see a Dr tomorrow to check my TB test ( story for another time) and I know that I can ask him to look at her because we FINALLY discovered a pleasant local Dr who requires no appointments and does urgent care- as well as medical reports for the Immigration Department and who takes our insurance. So ......deep breath, I so need a good night's sleep. We all do.

Spring time, Bunny time, Good times!

posted 3rd April 2010

Shhhhh....The bunny has been! There will be chocolate and little treats for our girlies. I can't wait to hear their excited little voices in the morning. Bear will also be going to church with her daddy. I hope she and the Breadwinner find this experience a positive one, and that it will be the start of something good for all of us.

In the meantime I have taken care of the magic to celebrate the arrival of spring that is so joyous after a long winter. As the twins get a little older we will hopefuly be able to introduce them to the community and beliefs of the church. Experiencing the Easter traditions in the Northern hemisphere where they originated is a treat. Like a hot summer Christmas, our Australian Easter is in autumn. Instead of the promise of new life, flowers and baby animals, we are instead welcoming the cooler months. In many ways I wish we could separate out the the seasonal traditions from the religious observances, so that they could all be made more relevant and their messages less confused. That would mean our Bunny would come in September and in July we could observe the Winter Solstice and sing songs about snowmen.

Earlier this week I whipped up some Easter Chicks, lemon butter cookies for the Pre school teachers. They tolerate my

tardiness with such good humour and understanding, they certainly need their Spring Break.

Yum Yum was caught doing a naughty thing, but at least now the girls can use their imagination whilst paying outside.

Going outside to play ...HOORAY.

Getting on our bikes and peddling like mad. Boo is a speedster, Yum Yum is not.

Boo likes to help Yum Yum by giving her a push...I just fear it might end in a disaster requiring many band aids!

It should be pretty obvious by now that I am still none the wiser as to how to fix the layout of each post. The preview doesn't actually look like the final post. sorry.