OMG! How much washing can you do in one day??? My line was full today!
Yesterday was wet! I mean, really wet! Our backyard was a swamp in most parts and pools in the others. No way was I going outside! And today? Only in gumboots baby!
So today when I got up and the sun was shining I got the washing going straight away. I decided to ditch the workout for the morning so I could make sure the Little Big Fella and I got out before the rain came back (the Big Fella was at work from just after midnight this morning).
We went down to the park about 9:30 and there was no one around, which is a bit odd. I think playgroup must have been on and we missed it :-(
I recently realised that whenever the Little Big Fella is playing I tend to play on my phone rather than watching him or playing with him. Not good. Certainly not all the time!
So I deliberately left my phone in my bag and let him show off for me (yes, he is a show off, even at 3 years old). And he loved it. I noticed that when he's riding in a straight line he's not using his training wheels at all! Won't be long and he won't even need them!!!
I noticed all these cars pulling over just up the road and didn't really think anything of it. Then I started to wonder if something was going on. Then, at 10:45, I remembered! As of Monday (2 days ago) the mail is now being given out at the CWA hall between 9 and 11 every weekday morning!!! I had to get up there and get the mail!
(For those who don't know, we live in a town of about 360 people. We used to have a little post office but the people running it have sold their place and the new owners didn't want to take on the post office. We had to collect our mail from the next town and it was a bit of a pain, for us and the post office staff there. So having our mail back in our town is awesome!)
I got the Little Big Fella to get off the swing and we headed over to the hall. On the way we ran into our friends and had a little chat but then I had to say a quick goodbye and keep going. Luckily they'll be coming over on Friday morning for our first playdate at our house!
We made it in time and apparently the Big Fella had already collected the mail this morning :-D. That was okay though because there was a parcel for us that had been missed.
The Little Big Fella decided that we needed to go to the shop and get a lolly (candy) and I agreed we could. When we got there, he was adamant that he actually wanted an ice cream. I agreed and he chose a Drumstick. For those who don't know, a Drumstick is in a waffle cone and has yummy chocolate on top as well. Surprisingly, this was a much cleaner ice cream for the Little Big Fella than the one he normally has, which is designed for kids! Yay for less clean up :-D
I was also really proud of myself for just eating the pear that I had in my bag.
On the way back we decided to stop in at the Library, seeing that it was open. My Little Big Fella makes me smile so often. I can't even remember the actual conversation he had with the Librarian but it was really cute, and just so him!
Well, we couldn't just go home from there so we went back to the park for a while longer. The Little Big Fella wanted me to run around while he rode his bike. (Oh! I forgot to mention that the skate area of the park still had big puddles from yesterday's rain, and he was riding through them and laughing his head off about the splashes.) So I chased him through the puddles in my lovely big gumboots :-D
Eventually we had to go home because I was hungry!
The rest of the day was mostly taken up with housework, a workout that nearly killed me, and a lovely candlelit dinner. It's been a nice day.
Oh!!! I forgot to tell you!!! I bought a yoghurt maker and made my first Greek yoghurt last night. I didn't put any sugar in it so it's fairly tart but it tastes delicious!!! I had some this morning on my oat pancakes with caramelised banana, walnuts and cherries. Mmmm mmmmm!!!
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Monday, 9 July 2012
A trip to the sawmill
When I woke up this morning, I'd intended to do the food shopping today and clean the floors. That is, after I'd had a yummy healthy breakfast and done my workout.
But we went to bed late last night (the Big Fella worked until about 11) so slept in this morning (as much as you can when your toddler is being rowdy and lets the dogs in to jump on your bed).
I did get up and make a yummy healthy breakfast. And I did (eventually) do my workout. But the plans changed, as they often do when the Big Fella has a day at home :-D
My husband is very enthusiastic. He gets an idea in his head and totally goes for it!
So when he woke up this morning, as well as smoking his meat for jerky,
he wanted to take a trip to the sawmill (about 20-30 minutes away) and find a nice big piece of timber to cut into chopping boards.
Now, there's something you need to know about the Big Fella. He loves to cook but he hates little chopping boards. His idea of a perfect chopping board is a big bench made out of good quality hardwood and just chop on the bench. Your standard, 20-30cm (about a foot) x 15-20cm chopping board is completely inadequate for the task when he is involved!
The Big Fella told the Little Big Fella they were going for a drive to the sawmill. My lovely son came and told me that I couldn't come! :-) But I was invited and decided to go.
(Side note: Yesterday I noticed that we finally have grass sprouting in our driveway. Yay!!! This morning it had definitely grown. Check it out!
Then on our way out this morning I saw this:
Our lovely puppies had been digging. This hole is about 35cm wide and about 10cm deep. Thank you very much, you lovely, annoying little things!)
At the sawmill, we picked up a lovely piece of Bluegum,
Measured it up...
And cut it into a "small" chopping board for the kitchen, a large chopping board for downstairs (making jerky and such), and a table/stand for our microwave so that we can fit our spices in the kitchen (although, it's the size of a small coffee table and I'm not sure how long it will remain in the kitchen!).
The next stage was to plane it nice and smooth.
I went upstairs to do some other stuff and the Big Fella kept working on the chopping board for upstairs. I was part way through cooking dinner when this arrived:
Isn't that just gorgeous??? I love this kind ofwood timber! And it's so nice to go into the kitchen and see something that makes you smile! It's so smooth and shiny and just makes me want to touch it!
So I got to use that lovely new chopping board to finish making dinner. And it was a yummy dinner too!
This is a Jamie Oliver inspired dish. There are pork and fennel sausages, tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, capsicum, red onions and garlic. Then I poured a tin of tomatoes over the top and about 1/2 a cup of beef stock to keep it moist. The croutons on top are sourdough bread soaked in olive oil with garlic powder, salt, pepper, fresh thyme, fresh parsley, and the zest of about 1/2 a lemon. I put them all in a casserole dish and baked it, covered with foil for a bit, then removed the foil to allow the croutons to crisp up. Mmmmmm! Not quite a healthy recipe, but not too bad either... and definitely good for the taste buds!
The Little Big Fella decided we needed to have a fire this evening so I took our dinner down to this:
It's such a hard life!!! ;-)
But we went to bed late last night (the Big Fella worked until about 11) so slept in this morning (as much as you can when your toddler is being rowdy and lets the dogs in to jump on your bed).
I did get up and make a yummy healthy breakfast. And I did (eventually) do my workout. But the plans changed, as they often do when the Big Fella has a day at home :-D
My husband is very enthusiastic. He gets an idea in his head and totally goes for it!
So when he woke up this morning, as well as smoking his meat for jerky,
 |
| This is an old deep freezer from the tip - perfect as a smokehouse :-) |
Now, there's something you need to know about the Big Fella. He loves to cook but he hates little chopping boards. His idea of a perfect chopping board is a big bench made out of good quality hardwood and just chop on the bench. Your standard, 20-30cm (about a foot) x 15-20cm chopping board is completely inadequate for the task when he is involved!
The Big Fella told the Little Big Fella they were going for a drive to the sawmill. My lovely son came and told me that I couldn't come! :-) But I was invited and decided to go.
(Side note: Yesterday I noticed that we finally have grass sprouting in our driveway. Yay!!! This morning it had definitely grown. Check it out!
Then on our way out this morning I saw this:
Our lovely puppies had been digging. This hole is about 35cm wide and about 10cm deep. Thank you very much, you lovely, annoying little things!)
At the sawmill, we picked up a lovely piece of Bluegum,
And cut it into a "small" chopping board for the kitchen, a large chopping board for downstairs (making jerky and such), and a table/stand for our microwave so that we can fit our spices in the kitchen (although, it's the size of a small coffee table and I'm not sure how long it will remain in the kitchen!).
 |
| This will be the microwave/coffee table. |
 |
| The piece on top that's being planed will be the upstairs cutting board. The one under it is for downstairs! |
I went upstairs to do some other stuff and the Big Fella kept working on the chopping board for upstairs. I was part way through cooking dinner when this arrived:
Isn't that just gorgeous??? I love this kind of
So I got to use that lovely new chopping board to finish making dinner. And it was a yummy dinner too!
This is a Jamie Oliver inspired dish. There are pork and fennel sausages, tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, capsicum, red onions and garlic. Then I poured a tin of tomatoes over the top and about 1/2 a cup of beef stock to keep it moist. The croutons on top are sourdough bread soaked in olive oil with garlic powder, salt, pepper, fresh thyme, fresh parsley, and the zest of about 1/2 a lemon. I put them all in a casserole dish and baked it, covered with foil for a bit, then removed the foil to allow the croutons to crisp up. Mmmmmm! Not quite a healthy recipe, but not too bad either... and definitely good for the taste buds!
The Little Big Fella decided we needed to have a fire this evening so I took our dinner down to this:
It's such a hard life!!! ;-)
Sunday, 8 July 2012
I'm a lucky Mummy!
You know what? I have to say that my son is awesome!!! I've been reading and hearing lots lately about people having trouble getting their kids to go to bed. We just don't have that problem.
Last night at the footy the Little Big Fella got exhausted before half time and was begging Daddy to go home to bed. The Big Fella wasn't ready to go home and I was helping out in the canteen so couldn't go home yet. What to do???
Then I saw the couches in the corner of the canteen! Ah ha!
The Big Fella laid the Little Big Fella down then went to the car to get my jacket to put over him and keep him warm. The Little Big Fella was fast asleep before the jacket arrived! And he stayed asleep despite the kids kicking footballs around him, the giggling girls in the corner right next to him, the raucous cheering on the other side of the room and outside, and even when I picked him up and carried him to the car - he didn't stir once!
And at home we have our routine of dinner, shower, pjs and bed. Sure, some nights he watches movies for up to an hour before he falls asleep but he still follows the routine without complaint, sometimes even making me follow the routine when I don't particularly care. I'm a lucky Mummy!
Of course, there is the fact that only Mummy can do the night routine - Daddy's not allowed to shower or dress or put him to bed apparently. And because it's that time of night, the Little Big Fella gets seriously distressed if we try to let Daddy do it. Sigh. We're working on that :-)
Last night at the footy the Little Big Fella got exhausted before half time and was begging Daddy to go home to bed. The Big Fella wasn't ready to go home and I was helping out in the canteen so couldn't go home yet. What to do???
Then I saw the couches in the corner of the canteen! Ah ha!
The Big Fella laid the Little Big Fella down then went to the car to get my jacket to put over him and keep him warm. The Little Big Fella was fast asleep before the jacket arrived! And he stayed asleep despite the kids kicking footballs around him, the giggling girls in the corner right next to him, the raucous cheering on the other side of the room and outside, and even when I picked him up and carried him to the car - he didn't stir once!
And at home we have our routine of dinner, shower, pjs and bed. Sure, some nights he watches movies for up to an hour before he falls asleep but he still follows the routine without complaint, sometimes even making me follow the routine when I don't particularly care. I'm a lucky Mummy!
Of course, there is the fact that only Mummy can do the night routine - Daddy's not allowed to shower or dress or put him to bed apparently. And because it's that time of night, the Little Big Fella gets seriously distressed if we try to let Daddy do it. Sigh. We're working on that :-)
Saturday, 7 July 2012
Sad, shopping, boys
I'm doing my post earlier today in the hope that it'll actually get done :-D
This week has been pretty average in a lot of ways. The biggest thing being hormones kicking me in the guts then beating me around the head while I was down!!! I don't recall ever being so affected by hormones! I think I cried (as in bawled my eyes out uncontrollably) 3 or 4 times in one day. And pretty much the sole content of my thoughts were along the lines of one of the following: I'm fat, my clothes suck, I'm a terrible mum, I'm a rotten housekeeper, I'm lazy, I'm a terrible wife, I'm a horrible person... and probably a couple others in there too.
Now (Mum, this is especially for you) even in the middle of this horrible emotional self-beating, I was aware of the fact that it was the fault of hormones and that I'm not a terrible person, mother, wife etc. But being aware didn't make any difference at the time. All I could do was hope it would be over soon.
And it was. I texted my best friend, got a big hug from the Big Fella when he woke up, got a chance to clean up the bomb fallout in my house, and ate a delicious dark chocolate Cherry Ripe! Mmmmm, chocolate! Even when you're changing your eating habits, sometimes chocolate is necessary ;-)
So yesterday and today have been much better and the hormones will give me a break for at least a month (I hope!).
This morning I decided we needed to drive to the major town an hour away. We had to return the DVD player that won't communicate with our TV because it's not digital. We also have two birthday parties to go to this week so I thought I'd combine the lot and have a quick trip out with the Little Big Fella while the Big Fella was still at work.
It was a good trip actually! I got nearly everything done (I forgot to fill scripts, but that can be done nearby), got a new DVD player that does talk to our TV, presents for the parties, a Superman outfit for the Little Big Fella to wear to the parties (they're both superhero themed and he likes to dress up), some stuff for the Big Fella, a new jumper (sweatshirt for my USA friends) for me, and some seafood from the awesome big, new supermarket! That was a big sentence. Sorry.
When we got back the Big Fella was already home from work and had gone out for a quick ride on his motorbike. He and the Little Big Fella have had a definite boys afternoon. They've done the first stage of making jerky. They've washed the motorbike. They've gone to the tip. They've gone out to check the sights on a gun. They're currently out helping a guy and this evening they'll go to the local footy together (I'll be selling stuff in the canteen).
I love when they spend time together doing "blokey" stuff. It's so good for both of them!
And I get time to do the dishes and write a blog post :-p
This week has been pretty average in a lot of ways. The biggest thing being hormones kicking me in the guts then beating me around the head while I was down!!! I don't recall ever being so affected by hormones! I think I cried (as in bawled my eyes out uncontrollably) 3 or 4 times in one day. And pretty much the sole content of my thoughts were along the lines of one of the following: I'm fat, my clothes suck, I'm a terrible mum, I'm a rotten housekeeper, I'm lazy, I'm a terrible wife, I'm a horrible person... and probably a couple others in there too.
Now (Mum, this is especially for you) even in the middle of this horrible emotional self-beating, I was aware of the fact that it was the fault of hormones and that I'm not a terrible person, mother, wife etc. But being aware didn't make any difference at the time. All I could do was hope it would be over soon.
And it was. I texted my best friend, got a big hug from the Big Fella when he woke up, got a chance to clean up the bomb fallout in my house, and ate a delicious dark chocolate Cherry Ripe! Mmmmm, chocolate! Even when you're changing your eating habits, sometimes chocolate is necessary ;-)
So yesterday and today have been much better and the hormones will give me a break for at least a month (I hope!).
This morning I decided we needed to drive to the major town an hour away. We had to return the DVD player that won't communicate with our TV because it's not digital. We also have two birthday parties to go to this week so I thought I'd combine the lot and have a quick trip out with the Little Big Fella while the Big Fella was still at work.
It was a good trip actually! I got nearly everything done (I forgot to fill scripts, but that can be done nearby), got a new DVD player that does talk to our TV, presents for the parties, a Superman outfit for the Little Big Fella to wear to the parties (they're both superhero themed and he likes to dress up), some stuff for the Big Fella, a new jumper (sweatshirt for my USA friends) for me, and some seafood from the awesome big, new supermarket! That was a big sentence. Sorry.
When we got back the Big Fella was already home from work and had gone out for a quick ride on his motorbike. He and the Little Big Fella have had a definite boys afternoon. They've done the first stage of making jerky. They've washed the motorbike. They've gone to the tip. They've gone out to check the sights on a gun. They're currently out helping a guy and this evening they'll go to the local footy together (I'll be selling stuff in the canteen).
I love when they spend time together doing "blokey" stuff. It's so good for both of them!
And I get time to do the dishes and write a blog post :-p
Friday, 6 July 2012
Just when you think you've reached a goal...
Oh my goodness it's been hard to get to the computer this week! Between just doing stuff and being tired, the computer has definitely been last on the list of things to do. Sorry if you were hanging out for a post ;-)
We had a very exciting moment Wednesday morning. The Big Fella's pay came through and we reached our first savings milestone! Yay!
During the morning I noticed the light globe had blown on the fridge. No worries, we can replace that at some stage.
Later I realised I hadn't heard the fridge "kick in" for a while. Uh oh! I checked and it was fully plugged in and turned on. I opened the door for a while and turned the dial up to the coldest setting.
Nothing.
I checked that the safety switch hadn't flipped in the power box. Nope.
Bugger!
Time to let the Big Fella know. Unfortunately he was about to go to bed after a night shift and in preparation for his next night shift. But we all got in the car and, after a false start (we think only because it was cold), we drove to the next town and looked at new fridges.
We got our fridge from the Big Fella's parents as a wedding present, ten and a half years ago. We kind of knew it was likely to need replacing soon but I really wanted to shop around and choose something we'd really be happy with, not have to take the best option in front of us. I wanted it to be an exciting shopping adventure. Sigh.
We ended up choosing a lovely, very large fridge and arranged delivery for the afternoon. We did a little bit of food shopping and collected the mail the headed home.
The Big Fella went to bed in an attempt to get some desperately needed sleep.
I started moving some items to the downstairs deep freezer and a few things into our awesome esky (ice box) and what did I hear??? The fridge kicked in!!! Gah!
So now we have a beer fridge (actually, I'm pretty sure it'll be a sausage fridge because the Big Fella is really keen to make his own, build a smokehouse and whatever else goes into the process). And our upstairs fridge is so nice! It's big and holds everything and is tall enough to stand a cask of wine up without squishing all the other shelves to uselessness.
The only down side possibly has more to do with the house than the fridge - it's kind of hard to get the crisper (at the bottom of the fridge) more than half way out to get to the veges. You have to open the door all the way, but we have a wall in the way so it's a little bit of a struggle. But I think we'll find a way to deal with that so it's no biggie :-)
Oh! And it's a self-defrosting freezer! Yay!!! Given the humidity that we'll get in summer, defrosting the freezer kind of becomes a monthly task so having one that does it all by itself is so exciting!
And it has an ice-tray built in thingy. We go through lots of ice so this is definitely a bonus for us.
And it's easy to pull the shelves and door bits out to clean! The old fridge was great but had a couple of permanent door shelves that caught all kinds of stuff and was tricky to get well cleaned.
So there you go! We have a new fridge! And the Big Fella is now keen to replace the washing machine (about 8 or 9 years old), microwave and bedding over the next few months. Yay :-D
We had a very exciting moment Wednesday morning. The Big Fella's pay came through and we reached our first savings milestone! Yay!
During the morning I noticed the light globe had blown on the fridge. No worries, we can replace that at some stage.
Later I realised I hadn't heard the fridge "kick in" for a while. Uh oh! I checked and it was fully plugged in and turned on. I opened the door for a while and turned the dial up to the coldest setting.
Nothing.
I checked that the safety switch hadn't flipped in the power box. Nope.
Bugger!
Time to let the Big Fella know. Unfortunately he was about to go to bed after a night shift and in preparation for his next night shift. But we all got in the car and, after a false start (we think only because it was cold), we drove to the next town and looked at new fridges.
We got our fridge from the Big Fella's parents as a wedding present, ten and a half years ago. We kind of knew it was likely to need replacing soon but I really wanted to shop around and choose something we'd really be happy with, not have to take the best option in front of us. I wanted it to be an exciting shopping adventure. Sigh.
We ended up choosing a lovely, very large fridge and arranged delivery for the afternoon. We did a little bit of food shopping and collected the mail the headed home.
The Big Fella went to bed in an attempt to get some desperately needed sleep.
I started moving some items to the downstairs deep freezer and a few things into our awesome esky (ice box) and what did I hear??? The fridge kicked in!!! Gah!
So now we have a beer fridge (actually, I'm pretty sure it'll be a sausage fridge because the Big Fella is really keen to make his own, build a smokehouse and whatever else goes into the process). And our upstairs fridge is so nice! It's big and holds everything and is tall enough to stand a cask of wine up without squishing all the other shelves to uselessness.
The only down side possibly has more to do with the house than the fridge - it's kind of hard to get the crisper (at the bottom of the fridge) more than half way out to get to the veges. You have to open the door all the way, but we have a wall in the way so it's a little bit of a struggle. But I think we'll find a way to deal with that so it's no biggie :-)
Oh! And it's a self-defrosting freezer! Yay!!! Given the humidity that we'll get in summer, defrosting the freezer kind of becomes a monthly task so having one that does it all by itself is so exciting!
And it has an ice-tray built in thingy. We go through lots of ice so this is definitely a bonus for us.
And it's easy to pull the shelves and door bits out to clean! The old fridge was great but had a couple of permanent door shelves that caught all kinds of stuff and was tricky to get well cleaned.
So there you go! We have a new fridge! And the Big Fella is now keen to replace the washing machine (about 8 or 9 years old), microwave and bedding over the next few months. Yay :-D
Monday, 2 July 2012
Toys and friends
For those of you who don't have kids (or don't live in Australia), the major department stores have a massive toy sale at this time of year. They allow lay-by where they hold the items until just before Christmas so a lot of people do the majority of their Christmas shopping now.
After looking at the catalogues online, I decided there were several items that I'd like to purchase for the Little Big Fella and that it was cheaper to drive to our nearest major town (an hour away) than pay for delivery. So today was the day we had enough time to go all together.
We had a relaxed morning, sitting in bed with a cuppa for a chat and eventually getting started around 8:30, or maybe 9 o'clock :-)
I made lunches and snacks (we'd be spending enough money as it was and I wanted to have a healthy lunch if possible) then went and showered and got ready.
After other "chooking around" we eventually left at about 10:30. I've never left for a "trip" so late!!! But it was only an hour drive so no biggie :-)
Big W was first. They didn't have any of the things I wanted to get! Although mildly frustrated (okay, pretty frustrated) I was soon shown a bunch of things that the Little Big Fella was excited about, including a chainsaw that makes the sounds and even has a rubber chain that works.
We also picked up a couple of Nerf guns so I'd imagine Christmas will be semi-violent this year :-D
On the way out of the shopping centre we came across a clothing store that had "outback" style clothing... and we loved it! The Big Fella is planning to go back there in a month or so and have a big wardrobe replacement :-) And I picked up a nice, cosy, warm, fleecy jacket to replace the one I've been wearing since we were engaged!
We went to the other main shopping centre and had a look around, finding another "outback" style clothing store to get excited about. On our way to the supermarket, the Little Big Fella stopped to play in the coin-fed car (so sad, it was out of order). While he's playing a family walked by and the lady looked at my son in the car with a big smile. Then her gaze flicked by me and we both did a double-take! We'd been in the same mother's group in our last town!!!
It turns out they are now living in a mining town a little north of us and this major town is the one they visit most regularly. It was so cool to meet up with someone I'd previously known in such a random way! And her kids are gorgeous! Last time I saw them was a few days before they moved and their little girl was only about 2 weeks old - she's now walking and talking very well.
Apparently they come near us on a semi-regular basis so we've promised to catch up for lunch or dinner or something next time they go by. And the Little Big Fella and I might take a drive up that way when the Big Fella needs lots of day sleep or something :-)
We had another couple of short stops on the way home then the Fellas built a fire out the back this afternoon. The plan was to cook dinner on it but that didn't quite work so we ended up inside. I was quietly happy about this because it's freezing outside tonight (for those Victorians in particular who don't believe me, it'll be between 3 and 5 degrees overnight).
All was going fairly well until the puppies peed on the carpet. About 5 minutes later the Little Big Fella woke up because he'd wet his bed (through his nappy, by the way). Just when you think your cleaning-up-pee days are over...
And the DVD player we bought today doesn't seem to be compatible with our TV. That makes for an unhappy Big Fella.
I guess tomorrow is another day!
After looking at the catalogues online, I decided there were several items that I'd like to purchase for the Little Big Fella and that it was cheaper to drive to our nearest major town (an hour away) than pay for delivery. So today was the day we had enough time to go all together.
We had a relaxed morning, sitting in bed with a cuppa for a chat and eventually getting started around 8:30, or maybe 9 o'clock :-)
I made lunches and snacks (we'd be spending enough money as it was and I wanted to have a healthy lunch if possible) then went and showered and got ready.
After other "chooking around" we eventually left at about 10:30. I've never left for a "trip" so late!!! But it was only an hour drive so no biggie :-)
Big W was first. They didn't have any of the things I wanted to get! Although mildly frustrated (okay, pretty frustrated) I was soon shown a bunch of things that the Little Big Fella was excited about, including a chainsaw that makes the sounds and even has a rubber chain that works.
We also picked up a couple of Nerf guns so I'd imagine Christmas will be semi-violent this year :-D
On the way out of the shopping centre we came across a clothing store that had "outback" style clothing... and we loved it! The Big Fella is planning to go back there in a month or so and have a big wardrobe replacement :-) And I picked up a nice, cosy, warm, fleecy jacket to replace the one I've been wearing since we were engaged!
We went to the other main shopping centre and had a look around, finding another "outback" style clothing store to get excited about. On our way to the supermarket, the Little Big Fella stopped to play in the coin-fed car (so sad, it was out of order). While he's playing a family walked by and the lady looked at my son in the car with a big smile. Then her gaze flicked by me and we both did a double-take! We'd been in the same mother's group in our last town!!!
It turns out they are now living in a mining town a little north of us and this major town is the one they visit most regularly. It was so cool to meet up with someone I'd previously known in such a random way! And her kids are gorgeous! Last time I saw them was a few days before they moved and their little girl was only about 2 weeks old - she's now walking and talking very well.
Apparently they come near us on a semi-regular basis so we've promised to catch up for lunch or dinner or something next time they go by. And the Little Big Fella and I might take a drive up that way when the Big Fella needs lots of day sleep or something :-)
We had another couple of short stops on the way home then the Fellas built a fire out the back this afternoon. The plan was to cook dinner on it but that didn't quite work so we ended up inside. I was quietly happy about this because it's freezing outside tonight (for those Victorians in particular who don't believe me, it'll be between 3 and 5 degrees overnight).
All was going fairly well until the puppies peed on the carpet. About 5 minutes later the Little Big Fella woke up because he'd wet his bed (through his nappy, by the way). Just when you think your cleaning-up-pee days are over...
And the DVD player we bought today doesn't seem to be compatible with our TV. That makes for an unhappy Big Fella.
I guess tomorrow is another day!
Sunday, 1 July 2012
Glitter and paint
Having missed my workout two days in a row, I did a combined strength and cardio this morning... playing shoot 'em up with my toddler and deflecting excited puppies at the same time! Have you tried stretching with a puppy on your lap/tummy? It adds a bit of an ab workout with the laughter :-D
I love that I can do some exercise in my own home and play with my son at the same time. My cardio today was to run on the spot as fast as I could for 60 seconds then walk/march for 60 seconds. The Little Big Fella did some on-the-spot running with me then took off down the hall... so I chased him as fast as I could (making him squeal with delight), shot him then raced back and kept my speedy running going. In my "break" minutes I'd shoot and tickle him. Talk about multi-tasking :-D
This afternoon the Big Fella was sleeping after working all night and the Little Big Fella decided he wanted to create. He found my hot glue gun in a craft tub and brought it out saying it's a "glitter glue". Eventually I realised that he must have done some gluing and glittering with SuperCarer so I agreed we could do some (inwardly cringing at the potential clean up required).
Craft with little kids is messy! But it's also really cool! They don't have any rules (other than don't throw the glitter all over the house and so on) so they do whatever they want and my boy surprises me every time we do crafts.
Firstly, his control of the hot glue gun was a surprise! He knew what he was doing and that it was hot and therefore a little dangerous.
And his choice of colours surprised me too! He balanced out the colours really nicely (well, it appealed to me anyway).
And he'd put glue over glitter that was already on the page, or over another glue/glitter spot, which made the picture even more interesting.
Of course, there was leftover glitter that didn't quite make it into the tubes again so he had to "fingerpaint" in that!
He wasn't quite ready to give up the crafty bug yet so he requested paint. Inwardly I sighed, then went and got them (and the messy mat).
Again he surprised me! He's really good at stamping (I think he might have had a fair bit of practice at that). But he also layered his pictures by stamping, painting with the stencil brush and using his fingers (yep, rolled my eyes at that one).
Eventually he'd had enough (or I had and encouraged him to finish up) and I sent him to the bathroom to clean up. Cleaning up the bathroom after he'd been in there was the biggest clean up task of the day!!! He'd splashed water everywhere, put a ton of liquid soap and sorbolene cream (moisturiser) in the sink, and discovered the water spray bottle in the cupboard so sprayed the whole room!
Off came the clothes and he went outside with the water sprayer to water the plants while I cleaned up.
Did he water the plants? Of course not! He sprayed my shoes that were on the top step because "they had glitter on them".
And you know why I let him make such a mess? Because he loves it! And, after all, it's just mess!
I love that I can do some exercise in my own home and play with my son at the same time. My cardio today was to run on the spot as fast as I could for 60 seconds then walk/march for 60 seconds. The Little Big Fella did some on-the-spot running with me then took off down the hall... so I chased him as fast as I could (making him squeal with delight), shot him then raced back and kept my speedy running going. In my "break" minutes I'd shoot and tickle him. Talk about multi-tasking :-D
This afternoon the Big Fella was sleeping after working all night and the Little Big Fella decided he wanted to create. He found my hot glue gun in a craft tub and brought it out saying it's a "glitter glue". Eventually I realised that he must have done some gluing and glittering with SuperCarer so I agreed we could do some (inwardly cringing at the potential clean up required).
Craft with little kids is messy! But it's also really cool! They don't have any rules (other than don't throw the glitter all over the house and so on) so they do whatever they want and my boy surprises me every time we do crafts.
Firstly, his control of the hot glue gun was a surprise! He knew what he was doing and that it was hot and therefore a little dangerous.
And his choice of colours surprised me too! He balanced out the colours really nicely (well, it appealed to me anyway).
And he'd put glue over glitter that was already on the page, or over another glue/glitter spot, which made the picture even more interesting.
Of course, there was leftover glitter that didn't quite make it into the tubes again so he had to "fingerpaint" in that!
He wasn't quite ready to give up the crafty bug yet so he requested paint. Inwardly I sighed, then went and got them (and the messy mat).
Again he surprised me! He's really good at stamping (I think he might have had a fair bit of practice at that). But he also layered his pictures by stamping, painting with the stencil brush and using his fingers (yep, rolled my eyes at that one).
Eventually he'd had enough (or I had and encouraged him to finish up) and I sent him to the bathroom to clean up. Cleaning up the bathroom after he'd been in there was the biggest clean up task of the day!!! He'd splashed water everywhere, put a ton of liquid soap and sorbolene cream (moisturiser) in the sink, and discovered the water spray bottle in the cupboard so sprayed the whole room!
Off came the clothes and he went outside with the water sprayer to water the plants while I cleaned up.
Did he water the plants? Of course not! He sprayed my shoes that were on the top step because "they had glitter on them".
And you know why I let him make such a mess? Because he loves it! And, after all, it's just mess!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)