I don't seem to have many spare minutes in the day at the moment...I'd forgotten (amnesia is essential to being a parent) just how busy it gets when a baby learns to crawl!!! Today I have rescued Samuel from underneath a heavy ceramic plant pot several times (yes I have now moved said pot), from the horrors of playing with the loo brush eeewww, from going down the door step only to get stuck halfway when he realises his hands and head are now lower than his legs, from under beds and chairs etc, etc.....I am cream crackered. Plus answering Josephs endless questions or listening to one of his extended explanations about something completely and utterly and absorbingly (is this a word?) interesting to a five year old and trying to give Patrick enough cuddles to fill up his bottomless cuddle reservoir (I am sure its sprung a leak, It seems to need constant replenishing at the minute) and he always seems to 'need' one just when I've plunged my hands into a sink of soapy dish washing water aaagghhh!!

anway I was just sitting here feeling tired but thinking it was a nice tired, I feel like I try my best to give a little bit of me to all of them, yes I get cross sometimes when I could have bitten my lip and sucked it in and yes I let some things irritate instead of sliding but I'm not perfect and neither are they and we shouldn't have to be with each other I guess otherwise we would be emotional robots! yuk!

We all went down to Josephs first soccer practice get together this afo and it was great to be all out together enjoying something. Joseph is good at kicking and he I practiced kicking and stopping the ball, while Patrick blew me away with how focused he was and spent a good solid 15 minutes just dribbling the ball around with perfect control weaving in and out of the older kids cool! Samuel was my angel as always and enjoyed sitting or crawling around on the grass having balls rolled to him, never making a fuss despite his tea time being way overdue.

I like this poem, one day I might use it or some of it on a layout of my wonderful kids....

I am your parent
you are my child

I am your quiet place
you are my wild

I am your calm face
you are my giggle

I am your wait
you are my wiggle

I am your carriage ride
you are my king

I am your push
you are my swing

I am your audience
you are my clown

I am your London Bridge
you are my falling down

I am your carrot sticks
you are my chocolate cake

I am your dandelion
you are my first wish

I am your water wings
you are my deep

I am your open arms
you are my running leap

I am your way home
you are my new path

I am your dry towel
you are my wet bath

I am your bedtime
you are my wide awake

I am your finish line
you are my running race

I am your praying hands
you are my saving grace

I am your favourite book
you are my new lines

I am your nightlight
you are my starshine

I am your lullaby
you are my peekaboo

I am your goodnight kiss
you are my I love you.

Off to gather strength now for another day...night night!
Monique.

after all my whinging about getting no scrapping done this month, last night I took that unfinished layout and glued and journaled and embellished that sucker well and truly...and it is f.i.n.i.s.h.e.d!!

Its very wild and wet here today, the kids have been great though and are only just starting to show signs of rainy day loopiness! Never mind a bath and lamb roast for tea should help sort that out.

Monique

you know what? I hate spiders. there I said it. Sometimes I AM nature girl, not scared of creepy crawlies or stuff like that, and yes I squawked when I unfolded the local paper yesterday and a huge cockroach fell out, waved its legs at me then proceeded to try and scuttle under the couch thwarted by a panicky woman squawking like a chook and smothering it with a teatowel while too small boys watched first with suprise then enormous amusement. simply, I say SIMPLY because I have visions of those things multiplying like crazy under my couch, in my couch whatever...I don't like cockroaches either, although they squash with a satisfying squish mwah ha ha!

Anyway back to the spider thing, I don't mean those ones that are all lanky legs and funny little body, those daddy longleg ones that starred in Charlottes Web, I like those, they are so Disney you can't help but like them...also because a. they are not hairy and b. they don't do that creepy scuttley run, that makes you think they are going to run up your arm and into your hair, they just droop around with their long legs, sometimes do a neat little spin thing if you knock their web and c. they have all those cute little baby spiders...

No! the last few weeks I keep finding those horrid white tail specimans. They are pretty big too, about the length of the first knuckle of my thumb, and black and mean looking and they scuttle...fast! I read or saw on the discovery channel that they don't spin webs but they hunt and I believe it. also when they are not hunting they hide in your clothes or towels...yuk I hate that element of suprise, thats what made me yell when I found the roach in the paper, not that it was there, I mean if I had seen it or was expecting it I would have thought (in my head not out loud, loudly lol!) ewww look a roach, get rid of it....ooh no it has to wait all still and shiny so when I unfold it its there, absolutely still for a second while my brain registers it then it scuttles , ewwwww!!! thats when I chuck the paper to the floor, hands flapping around and dancing on toes for a sec like a loon before nature girl kicks in and deals with it....only nature girl dosn't deal with black hairy mean spiders. I holler for prince charming, usually at night, usually while he is in his boxer shorts about to get into bed so he has to balance precariously on something and catch them with the tools of his trade, his trusty cup and piece of paper, its such a skilled action, the pounce with the cup and slide of the piece of paper. I catch my breath as the piece of paper appears too flimsy as he flips the cup and paper over with one flick of his wrist before chucking it out the window or the door...you know what I reckon...its the same spider...it just keeps coming back in lol (interesting enough if you throw snails over into your neighbours garden, don't bother they will find their way back to yours, apparently they have a homing instinct! How cool is that homing snails and before you scoff I saw that on a gardening show recently!

So why don't we squash spiders, like we squash cockroaches? I mean we all know the 'if you squash a spider it will rain thing' ,yeah right who cares if it rains, its almost like we treat them with a bit of respect if you know what I mean....interesting.

Its a bit chilly tonight, thats why it made me start writing this little rave about spiders, cause the kids had been playing in the sleeping bags and I usually get cold sat in front of the computer so I thought hey I'll get in a sleeping bag and do my blog and as I climbed in I had this creepy thought, what if there is a white tail hiding at the bottom of the bag!

Sleeping bag shaken and turned inside out, nothing...thank goodness. Prince charming is on the laptop mid racing car game and I doubt he would give up his best time yet to come running to my rescue.

Ok so this month I 've pretty much written scrapbooking off! Its just not a happening thing. I feel all keen in the day but don't have the time, then when night comes and the kiddy winks are in bed, I feel flat as a pancake and avoid it....by sitting here in a sleeping bag rofl! Never mind I'm sure my enthusiasm will return when its ready, it always does and I'll have a bit of a scrapping frenzy and get heaps done...fits and starts thats just the way it is at the moment.

This weekend is going to be pretty busy, Jims parents arrive from the UK next weekend and their is still a room to paint and the garden is still suffering from the effects of the building work and needs sorting...did manage to get those daff bulbs planted though, raided the garage for a pick axe and dug all my holes with it, loooads easier than the plastic trowel lol!

Went to Josephs first school assembly today, sooooo cute to see him walk in with his class. They give out certificates and awards for the week and he got one for having a great first day yesterday!! I was so proud that he went up and got it, he's not one for liking the spotlight, looks like school is working its magic already, his confidence should really improve. I was really impressed by the assembly, the certificates were things like working hard or showing tolerence to peers, showing good work ethics, stuff like that and you good see by the kids faces that they really felt appreciated and important to the school. What really amazed me too was how YOUNG some of the teachers seemed, so fresh faced, wow!! Feeling my age here!!

yawning now, time to put the curlers in and fill the hottie lol, night!
Monique.

Joseph practically ran all the way school this morning...keen as mustard! He only faltered just outside the gates when he stopped and looked up at me with a worried look and said 'do I have to stay all day?' but I gave him a big hug and explained that a school 'all day' was no different than an all day session at Kindy and he was off again, happy as larry to be left in the capable hands of his lovely teacher....he certainly made it easy for me lol! No tears on my part either but I think stress levels were higher than usual because I completely forgot to take pics this morning and then again this afo before he changed...and I call myself a scrapper tsk tsk! Nevermind I
shall be more relaxed tomorrow and take some pics.

We all enjoyed celebrating his birthday yesterday and it cracked me up when I overheard him say to his Aunty on the phone...'I just feel so grown up Aunty Celia'.

He loved all his pressies the boys ones included lol! Nana took him shopping for his requested girlie one and he chose one of those doll busts with lots of silky blonde hair and pretty blinging accessories so he could play hairdressers! He calls her Princess Ponytails! Yes, I admit I have been playing with her too... purely to teach Joseph how to plait of course!! So she is now sitting proudly in her place on the shelf amongst the matchbox cars, his spongebob squarepants and mutant ninja turtle Maccas toys and the plastic jar with his cicada shell collection in it!

Havn't done much else today besides keeping P and Samuel fed, watered and happy...I MUST remember to put music on the stereo EVERYDAY, it makes you feel so good!! I put it on today and Patrick and I danced around like loons while Samuel thought it was hilarious and laughed his cute little butt off! Finally started to plant some spring bulbs but was thwarted by the fact I could only find a kids plastic trowel to dig in the lawn with, I valiantly managed to scrape out four holes before giving up lol, oh well God loves a tryer dosn't he?

The hound is in the dog box with me AGAIN for getting into the rubbish twice while we were out today, grrr he knows darn well he will be in trouble for it when we get home but he just can't help those mungy doggy instincts which tell him to fossick round in all that grim stuff...so besides the fact that I had to clean it up twice, I now have to give him another bath tomorrow cause his whiskers are all sticky eeeewwww!!

Monique.

This was sun rise at our place this morning at about 6am....I made a point of getting up in time to watch it, you see this time 5 years ago I was in labour with Joseph and took a pic of the sun rising that morning at around the same time too...It marked the beginning of a whole new stage in our life and I felt the same way this morning with Joseph off to school tomorrow, about to enter a whole new phase of growing independence and learning, wow I can feel those apron strings (or is those heart strings) loosening as I speak and every instinct in me is wanting to hold on tight to them!!

Warm weather = naked kids jumping through the sprinkler on the back lawn. So Summer hasn't totally deserted us after all yay! Did I mention how much I looove the new bifold doors into the garden, all that dust and building hassle was worth it after all!!

The boys were having such fun I got the camera out and started clicking away getting some really terrible shots in the process and was just about to give up in disgust and just enjoy the moment when I thought hang on, think scrapbook mag style, zoom in, get close! So zoomed the lens right in on my trusty sony cybershot lol! and left it that way to see what sort of shots I would get and these are the best ones of the afternoon I think.

Joseph doing his thing in the sprinkler, Patrick post sprinkler action, a bit blurry this one but I love it!, our hounds soulful doggy eyes and the patch of tall grass up by the sandpit...I just loved the light coming through it and how gorgeously green it looked!!

bit of a milestone week about to begin with Joseph turning 5 and starting school. Is he ready for it? Yes, definately...I have trouble answering the questions he asks these days rofl!!

The other night he discovered there are stars beyond his curtain at bedtime (they have just moved bedrooms and his bed is now under a window) . I thought he was long asleep, then heard him call me and I went in expecting the 'I need a wee or drink of water' routine, but he said in an awed little voice 'Mum I can see the stars!' so I jumped up next to him on the bed and we just gazed out at space and talked, he has decided he wants to be an Astronaut when he grows up. He asked me if ordinary people like him could become astronauts and as any mother would replied of course, he could do anything he wanted if he tries hard enough, all the while thinking 'are you crazy? do you think i'm going to let you blast off into space in a tin can on steriods lol, as if I could stop him!

In the end the questions regarding what stars are made of and what happens to them when they 'shoot' and what do satellites do got too involved and I had to ask Dad to join him at the window for a bit lol! So anyway yeah, our little sponge is definately ready for school! And me? am I ready for him to go to school? Yep, for sure I want to know what happens to the stars after they shoot!!!

Lacking a decent pic of me, I have made a candybar doll to represent me...and before you ask yes it is a good likeness lol!! minus the wrinkles!! Hee hee MORE girly stuff, very time wasting that site but oh such fun...even the boys all had a go and loved putting together outfits and hairdos!! and the husband did one of himself too...very funny and a blimin good likeness too, uncanny! Hmm the pic is too small but not sure how to remedy that just yet...

On the girly subject again, Joseph is turning five next week and on quizzing him about what sort of presents he would like he announced he didn't want just boy things he wanted some girl things also...because girl things are fun too, especially dolls cause you can change their clothes and hair styles!! After a moments stunned silence as I thought in horror of the tent and the walky talkies and the police helmets and torch etc I had just spent loads on...I said of course, lets tell Nana (as she had yet to buy for him)....but honestly I think its great, of course he should have a doll to role play with...why on earth not, its just scary how quickly we as parents fall into the stereotype trap the shops set for us. No doubt the novelty of the doll will wear off and the boy stuff will be played with just as much but I guess its all about exploration and allowing choices....made me laugh though...

Right the boys have gone to a car show, baby Samuel is so very nearly asleep that unfinished layout is mine all mine mwah ha ha!!

And to follow on with the girly theme this blog unexpectedly begun with here is my last layout complete with soft colours, flowers (had much fun making these) and a doodly look to it(the title is a computer font), so refreshing to try something new now and then! Must admit my black zig pen once hardly touched has been getting a fair old work out recently....my new best friend!

Monique.

This is such a girly thing to write about...and only my second post! Still that is what this blog is for I reckon...as the only woman in a testerone filled house I think I should be allowed to let some purely girl, barbie-fied thoughts to be freed right here!

Anyway I bought a handbag today rofl!! I have never owned or bought a handbag before but today I caved in! Yes well I could not stand 'losing' (by this I mean misplacing of course) my wallet one more single time! I hate that feeling of having no memory whatsoever of where I put it down...ahem yes even though I have a place where it SHOULD go sometimes it just dosn't make once I've made it through the door laden with library books, kindy bag, several trailing children who then sit on the doorstep to take their shoes off and I have to fall over the top of them to get inside and then get sidetracked by maybe the mail or the dog eating the door to get in or the smell of the babies bottom wafting its message that it needs to be change NOW!! So anyway the wallet and keys and mobile phone generally get biffed in some direction or another of relative safety....

Anyway this morning it happened again, I sneakily rang the mobile phone hoping by finding that I would find my wallet, only it ran out of juice after two rings and I never caught which direction it rang from so then I had to put out the distress call "HAS ANYONE SEEN MY WALLET" which brought small boys running to look in the most unlikely places ever, a withering look from the husband even though he started surreptitiously searching because he knows I start going mental looking after a while and it gets ugly lol, so anyway after I had stomped about looking high and low and high again, after the husband rang the library to check if I had left it there despite my affronted denial that that could be possible for some reason he then looked in the pantry and found it in a countdown shopping bag with the loaves of bread I had bought the day before....how embarrassing, never again, I give in, I went straight to town and bought a bag!

My smug stance was always that bags just attracted junk and clutter and that by simply carrying my wallet with keys I avoided all that flotsam and jetsam....hopefully 'the bags' small size will control this to some extent! So there I was in the shop with master three scrutinizing the selection, Patrick very helpfully pointed out the scooby doo and Dora the Explorer school bags and a giant sports holdall...which were lovely but just not me...I got to a funky little cream number with embroider flowers and leaves and swirly bits which I thought was pretty cool and just what I felt like buying and a plain chic cream number....unfortunately I had to let the head rule and not the heart as you could only hold the flower one in your hand it wouldn't fit up onto your shoulder which is useless when juggling a baby and numerous other things whilst holding the hands of two small boys crossing the road...so the chic plain cream it was..

Anyway the husbands reaction when I got home 'How Paris!' (Hilton) rofl!! So I popped it in the middle of the floor and did I little boogy around it just to show him I didn't care lol and the boys thought this was great fun and charged in to join me and picked it up whirling it about their heads....oh yes this little bag dosn't know what has hit it yet..!!

Flipping heck...

I should be finishing that layout thats been halfdone for almost two weeks now...yikes!! NOT sitting here creating another blog!

Well the other one is a family one filled with pics of the kids and our goings on to keep the far-now happy and so I like the idea of one just for me and my thoughts and my scrapping stuff.

Anyway the first hurdle was naming it...and for some reason 'flip top head' just popped into my head, you know like that toothbrush ad?! Whenever I see that ad (well its pretty old by now and not on telly much anymore) , well I always imagine being able to do that to people and being able to see what is going on inside their heads, ok come on ...in a nice way, not all gory. Hmmm heres an example for the scrappers who may read this...if you could flip top Heidi Swapps head I would imagine pink flowers floating out and lots of pretty ribbon....flip top Elsie Flannigans head and streams of doodley words and flowers would float out....get the picture?

Anway I now prounounce this blog be named....Flipping the top! where all my thoughts, and ideas and creations can harmlessly float in cyberspace at my leisure....

hugs Monique.