My Ben 10

Today's party was a dress up theme - so of course Alexander went off as Ben 10. What an easy outfit - I managed to find 'green' cargo pants at cotton on before everything became summer. Not everyone knew who he was, but he was certainly very impressed with himself.

Problem Solved!

Well, not totally solved, but moving in the right direction. There is no more surprise arrivals down the hallway, nor screaming and hitting. Sleep is coming more easily now due to.....drum roll please......Thomas the Tank Engine pillow cases.

I am not a big fan of having licenced products, but I can live with them in bed - ie PJs and bedding if it is a means to an end. The twins have just got into Thomas (toot - toot) in a big way, almost overnight. On a whim in spotlight I saw doona covers but I am not paying $60 for one, nor is it going to glow in the dark. So I bought pillow cases and even in the shop they were impressed with them. Now it seems on the pillows they do the job. They still get out of their cots and play until they are tired enough (!) but they do go to sleep a lot easier- even if it is in the same cot.

Forgive me blog

it has been 22 days since my last entry and where has the time gone - yes sucked into the vortex. (no not Bunnings!!) But what I am doing is going to fill you in retrospectively. I am sorry I have been absent, there is nothing wrong, as you will see, just dealing with TODDLERS!!!

Shopping and Sewing

During kinder, mum and I made a quick trip to Preston. I like to know whats on sale from missy confidential and there was a leather and silver sale. She needed some pressies for my cousins and it looked ideal. Off we went and got what we needed - a little stop at the Lee jeans sale but we were looking for my brother and these things are hard if you can't try things on. So all of this and we made it back to the early kinder pick up.

Once home with kids actually asleep in bed (only an hour battle today!) we hit the machines. I had a couple of pressies to do and heres the result of our afternoon:A ben 10 t-shirt. We actually made three of these, two for Alexander and one for a gift for Gareth. It is Alexander's current obsession. We had to buy green cargo pants as the outfit needs to be authentic.

This is a denim apron and drawstring backpack for a three year old pressie, obviously for owen. All done on my magic embroidery machine.

My little helper. It is his hands in the bottom of the photo above.

This is my emergency bag. The box I did on monday was to hold stationary which has not arrived. So I have to give him an empty box. Now he has a bag as well until the extra stuff comes...

This is another little project I have been working on. The pattern from these was in last years Better Homes and Gardens but I am planning to put them on cards for the kids at kinder.
And this is what my workspace looks like after all this activity!!!!

Help?

Does anyone have any ideas or strategies for KEEPING KIDS IN BEDS. I have been doing the super nanny thing ignoring them and putting them back into bed with no avail. They are too little to understand reasoning and much to my dismay, I have to confess I have resorted to smacking them on the back of the hand when they get out of bed, prior to putting them back. I really don't want to do this, and while its getting a better response, it still isnt working.

I cant separate them - there are simply no rooms. They also still have a significant day sleep. Topping off my sleep deprivation is their arrival in my room from 6am. I normally expect and routine changes to take about three days to get better - with the first night being a battle, the second slightly better and the third being the turning point. While I have been battling this isn't happening.

Losing my mind

Still issues with these little boys getting out of their cots. Constantly putting them back into bed and scolding them just adds a lot of stress to your life. I know we went through a similar issue with Alexander, but now its double trouble. They egg each other on. One will climb out and stand outside the others bed- dancing. Now they can also climb into the cots and will hop in with each other. If they went to sleep it wouldn't be an issue, but they dont. They jump, throw toys about or jump on each other - serenaded with laughter.
This is throwing us into turmoil - today I forgot the swimming lesson. Just didn't even think of it til I was moving the bag....ugh!
So I am tired, the boys are tired, just doesn't make for a very fun house. They start tripping over things and hurting themselves. They also are naughtier. Today Benji tripped over the front step, grazing his face. Then once inside the proceeded to tear the place apart. Spencer tipped out a tin of milo all over the floor. While cleaning this up, Benji fell of a chair. While tending to him and keeping two kids and a dog out of the milo, Spencer got his foot stuck in the milo tin. He was staggering around like Mr Bean. Geez - talk about trouble!

Presents

Not surprisingly, we are all tired today and still struggling with the bed time routine but I have got a couple of things done (amazingly). We have some birthday parties coming up so we had to get their pressies ready.

The first is Caitlin, Alexander's 5 year old girlfriend. She is getting this stationary box below. We bought if for a couple of dollars raw and painted it. Then we cut out some paper in the crown shape, a bit of glitter and a coat of glossy mod podge. Then we stuck on the crystals.

Inside I fill it with personalised stationary, a stam with her name, some note paper, cards, business cards and some gel pens.

Benji and Spencer have also been invited so they also need a little pressie. One of our market bags in denim and inside I have a set of watercolour pencils. So one gift from each of them.

The other gift is for a Daniel. A five year old boy who is obsessed by Thomas. I did this much the same way, but with the addition of some wall stickers that we had bought for Alexander some time ago. So these got stuck on the box and then covered with a coat of mod podge.

Little Angels?????????????

Who could think anything but good of these little cherubs. With their big doe eyes and butter wouldn't melt in their mouth expressions? ME thats who.

Yes, there has been an unfortunate event in our house - two little devils. They get together and conspire against me - already and their not even 2! They have learnt how to climb out of their cots. So bedtime today was over 2 hours of picking up and putting them back into bed. They eventually fell asleep around 9:30pm. Not much fun

Christmas sewing

Now with the market behind me, its back to the green board of christmas sewing. We had a craft day at kinder. A day without kids, space to spread out and just get on with it. And I can now happily tick off a couple more items. I made two of these green stripy dresses. They are halter dresses, and I think a little wide at the back. The jersy is a great colour, but not a great stretch, so I put a bit of shiring elastic across the back andI am now really happy with them. (This is a burda pattern out of one of the magazines)

Below if kaftan number two. Slighly different to the cream one here - but it is meant to be a bit more casual. Its really hard to see here- sorry.
And for me - another one of these dresses. The fabric is really soft and falls well. I had to put in the required elastic at the waist as it has two way stretch and kept dropping too much. You cant see it when its on though.

Twighlight Market

Well, I can't say the market was successful for me....I came out $14 up for the night. Mainly because I ended up buying stuff, but still a very slow long and very wet night. The twighlight market at the local high school was their fundraiser, and had over 50 stalls, however on a very wet and miserable night, the attendees were there to support the school and not to buy. There was an entry fee, champagne and a cake stall. With all this the school made over $3000. We sold one packet of wool roving for $5 and one scarf pack. Both my girlfriend and I sold a couple of things, but mainly to our friends (hence not advertising my participation) The other problem was our wares were mainly for pre-school children, and that was not who was there. Oh well - a good stash now for pressies!!

Market Ready

I am participating in a local market on Friday. Partly in my official kinder position and partly personally. We have a heap of knitting kits for scarfs etc and also pack of wool roving that we got donated from the wool shop some time back and we are trying to sell these for kinder. One of the committee is running a twiglight market, so we thought we would have a kinder stall. Also an opportunity to sell some of our other stuff. So I have been busy at the machine making drawstring library bags and zipped purses - I had to do something with all those zips. I also have my christmas tree pens and roll up blackboards so busy busy busy....

Dont cry over spilt milk

The boys really love a bit of drawing, and I am constantly amazed at how quickly they develop. The people Alexander draws are recognisable and here he is drawing fruit trees using green and brown. It looks a lovely scene, but I must admit, I have cropped this image. Look at the picture below and Benji is having a great time drawing, but sadly (for me) there is no paper.

On further inspection I can see the tipped out milk, the scribble on the table, and on his legs....I am always suspicious when it is too quiet!!!!

And if that isn't enough to get a girl in a good mood, I left my phone at swimming today. I only knew where it was when they answered it!! They even took messages for me - bizarre.

Water

I just had to show you this photo. These are jumpers my mum knitted. Benji in the navy one is in the handmedown and she has just finished the red one to match. Luckily we got a cold day where they could wear them. They just weren't in a posey mood.

This is the other joy of the moment which is very politically incorrect.They LOVE water. Any tap they can reach is always turned on, and now they have learnt to pull chairs up to things they cant reach, everything is suddenly in reach. While it is a messy exercies, they are pretty good dishwashers.

Market and Coffee

With the big at work today, I thought I would venture out to Matilda's market. So we were all packed in the car and off we went. I had to use the double pram today - or else I could have easily wandered off with someone elses kids, and Alexander was a great help. We saw Aunty Cookie and OneGirl who I hope had good days. Sadly we didn't buy anything as I couldn't get close enough, also I was only killing time, not really in a shopping mood. So after a quick round of the market, we crossed the road for a quick coffee at Georgios. As it was a baby and kids market, there were heap of prams there, so we settled for a table in their outside area and I thoughtfully folded the pram to make space while we all sat at the table.
Our coffees came quickly and we all drank them happily. They were all so well behaved and I could feel people looking and admiring. I have pens and books in my bag to help pass the time while I finish my drink. The time came to leave and I gave my bag to Alexander (fatal mistake) to hold while I unfolded the pram. As the pram was opening I heard a crashing sound. Not one of the boys, not cups or cutlery but the entire contents of my bag splattered across the floor of the restaurant. Pens, two tubes of glue, books, tampons, coins, dirty tissues and all the bits and pieces that rattle around in my bag exposed. Not only this but I have three kids on the loose. I scurry to clean up but other are all to quick to offer to help. I just dont need other people helping load the contents of my life back into my bag. If ever you witness such event - look after the kids and let the poor embarrassed woman salvage some shred of pride as she shoves all the crap back into her bag.

Busy, Busy

It has been a busy couple of days - we had our first school transition day on Monday. Where has that time gone?? Alexander loved it and ran off with a teacher quite happily without even a glance t'wards me. They now do four of these day to help them with their transition to prep next year. I don't think there will be any problems as he already seems settled there and one of his friends from our mothers group is going with him, so at least he has a familiar face there.

We had the usual rounds of swimming lessons, kinder, music, my kinder meetings and playgroup. I did manage to squeeze in not one but two visits to theo's during his sale. Both times I had my entourage, but all in all they were pretty helpful. One has to be pretty desparate for habby to walk two toddlers on a boiling hot day into the theo's warehouse, but we did it with no incidents!!! (Only a dent on the credit card but there were so many bargains. I got over 300 zips for $8! What a bargain. Now what to do with 300 zips???)

Drawing on a sunday afternoon...

After a long overdue haircut - thanks Nan- we settled down to some drawing at the table. It was all very civillised and enjoyable.

However, Spencer quickly lost interest, and decided to stack things from my cupboard instead!!

Free wheelin

With a bit of help from Dad the training wheels are off - and so is he.

Down came the rain....

You would think in drought conditions in Melbourne in Spring, you could be pretty sure of sunshine - or at least not rain. While that was true for our very public days - Derby, Cup and Oakes Day, today - Drew and Dern's wedding day - it was sadly not the case. Even sadder - their ceremony was outside in the Fitzroy Gardens.

The setting was lovely, with the chairs lined up, with white covers, an umbrella for shade and a pink carpet for the bridal party to walk along to the old bandstand where the nuptuals would take place but everything was soaked.
Beautifully dressed guests huddled together under umbrellas as the rain came sideways. The bride was stuck in terrible traffic caused by the rain as the mens suit trousers got wetter and wetter.
The bridesmaids ran across the road, in their lovely brown cocktail frocks- still being careful not to splash mud onto their bare legs.

The groom waited patiently for his bride - this has been 12 years in the making, and he has proposed more than once, although the bride didn't realise the first time.. so he is obviously a patient guy. Yet, given all of this, the bride arrived and glowed. You could not wipe the smile of her gorgeous face- and she showed why she was worth waiting for...

(Just FYI- A line dress silk dress - no petticoat with deep v front and back. Empire band went right around covered in silver seed beads with some crystal drop beads around bottom of band. Simple A line skirt with puddle train. She wore it with a catherdal length train)

The celebrant was one of the best I have ever seen - I thought he was an old family friend - the ceremony was that personal and intimate (not just because we huddled with them in the bandstand) There was no music available so together everyone was jollied along to even sing the hymn!

The rain stopped for the end of the ceremony, signing the registers and announcing of the new Mr & Mrs. I heard the bride say to her new husband - was this how you imagined today would be? But really I don't think it matters - it makes a great story to tell their future children, and I know everyone there will think of it as perfect.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The race that stops the nation

You should all know by now I love a bit of dress ups. It needn't be in the costume sense either - just any excuse and I am this way with my kids too (poor, poor boys!!)

Today we had a Melbourne Cup Day party. In the olden days, this would have been at the racetrack, but now its in the backyard of a girlfriends house - however the same dress code applies. With the big squirrel at work, off we went all frocked up. I had a green dress and jacket with a small top hat I made many years ago, and the boys looked very dapper.

Alexander in his tweed coat - a la nana.

Spencer -

Benji - in outfits supplied by Popeye. They even managed to stay respectable most of the day. We didn't make it to the actual Cup race - we headed home with two little boys asleep in the car - so tired that they actually transferred into their beds for a long time. Oh - and the other win of the day - the big squirrel met us there which is a great help wth the boys at a generally child free party.

Happy Halloween

We had a busy day - firstly we caught up with some good friends for a BBQ. Sometimes life just gets in the way and you just concentrate on what you have to do rather than put effort into maintaining friendships. So today was about that and it was a lovely day - simple food and just playing and chatting.

Then we went out trick or treating. I know it is a day late and all, but it is not a big thing here. We had the best time. A neighbour from America walked the streets inviting the locals to participate. She was thorough and planned and with lots of young children in the neighbourhood, she arrange for daylight and a specified time when both parents would be home. We only called on houses that chose to participate, and they indicated this with decorations, or a pumpkin sticker on their letterbox.

Again we walked with some friends and all the kids were dressed up - robots, batman, dinosaurs, witches, fairies and princes. My only criticism is TOO MANY LOLLIES - but it was great to be outside walking the streets with your family and friends - meeting other people on the street and visiting your neighbours. It really did a lot to build that community feeling which is too often lost in these busy times.