Getting over meh.....

I've realised I've got to find a way to overcome the blogging malaise that has settled on me lately. It happens to us all at one time or another I know. And this period of  feeling 'meh' has coincided nicely with a brain that on a good day feels fried from the large learning curve of a new job, so it's probably no great surprise I'm feeling short of inspiration.

So I figured the only way I'm ever going to get over the 'meh' is to just start writing. And taking more pictures. Documenting life. Even if there's not much to write home about. Even if it ends up being much ado about not a lot.

So without further ado, I give you the weekend.

Our Wikki Stix arrive on the last day of the school term. On a rainy, freezing winters afternoon where we race home from school to a warm house and hot drinks.

Perfect timing. I won't spoil all the details, you'll have to wait for the official review next week, but suffice to say they're a big hit.

And once we'd had our fill of that....

Mum, please can you paint our faces? I wanna be a vampire.........no Harry Potter........no a dinosaur, no the Incredible Hulk.....no a ....'

Um hello, please can you make your minds up! 

OK then....let's both be Harry Potter then we can go and fight Lord Voldemort together.

Good choice. An extra scar requested by this tough-guy Harry.

All manner of spells coming out of their mouths, some I recognise 'Wingardium Leviosa, Expelliarmus' and a few new-to-me-ones too......'Helium Barbosa?!!!'

Dinner by TV is pretty much par for the course on a Friday night. Mind you, watching the Killer Dinosaurs BBC documentary while eating dinner is not for the faint of heart.

All I'll say is it's a good thing it's homemade fish n chips on the menu, and not a plateful of red meat tonight. Shudder.

Whoops, and I manage to over-cater. Mark out for the night and plenty of left-overs. Chip butty sandwiches for lunch tomorrow maybe?

Boys who finish their dinner get to hoe into a piece of Dad's special brownie.

Look at me Mum, I can walk backwards to the toilet.

Well it would be good if you could pay as much attention to your aim as you can to walking backwards little mister, I think to myself having to wipe up some wayward wee.

Rocking out a new scarf today. It's been a cold few days, and a different scarf has graced this neck most days this week. I think this was quite possibly Take 102 trying to get a shot that I'm a) looking at the camera and b) not completely lopsided!

Upon going upstairs to make the bed I had stripped before leaving for work Friday morning, there's an unexpected and lovely discovery on my pillow. That romantic hubby of mine strikes again. He's a keeper and I'm a lucky girl.

Little helpers giving Mummy bed-making tips.

Followed by pillow fights while the bath is filling up.

Our current bath-time rituals. Fill up a pot with water and a plastic toy animal and freeze till the next night.

Then enjoy watching the ice melt at speed in the hot bath. Sometimes it cracks, sometimes it makes odd shapes, and there's always wonder in the difference of each night.

Tonight is a coloured bath to boot. We've had all colours of the rainbow mixed in here, but tonight we're going with red.

Reading a few pages of a book whilst waiting for Mum to put little brother to bed. I'm loving seeing this guy onto reading chapter books now and going from strength to strength with his vocabulary.

Anything to delay going to bed my son. How about roly-polys off the coffee table? Yeah, that'll do it.

Are they clean enough Mum?

Big boy treats. He gets half an hour of movie time on weekend nights (although he sometimes loses 5 minutes at a time if we have to have 'stern words' too many times during the day leading up to it - it's a good incentive for staying on track, being helpful and not tormenting his little brother too much). Tonight we're back onto Jurassic Park 1, having watched the whole trilogy these past few weeks. Not sure I could have watched it at age nearly 7 mind you. I have vivid memories of jumping out of my skin and screaming a lot as an adult at the movies.

And.......exhale. Children in bed. And I'm already onto glass number 3 of this fruity slightly bubbly number, so it's a good thing it's a low alcohol version isn't it!

Another raining morning. Football is cancelled.

There's a treat waiting for boys who have been able to stay in bed till 6.30am all week. There's been a pattern of getting up earlier and earlier these past few months which we're trying desperately to break. The 5am wake-up last Saturday was about the last straw. So a radio alarm timed in for 6.30am was installed and has helped, but the incentive of noisy Putty Poo was an even bigger draw card.

The squelching, farting, poopy noises they make keep them entertained all day long. You'd have thought it was Christmas.

And the new cereal Dad brings out for the first time is also a hit. Like a mini pain au chocolat in every mouthful. Hard not to keep eating straight from the box.

The little guy is very into Scholastic Learning Express books right now. He's worked through Learning Skills 1 book and is nearly finished Reading Skills 1 too.

Daddy finally lets the boys graffiti him.

One particular page in the learning book takes our fancy this morning. We repeat the phone numbers, and then learning our own phone number is next.

We take turns dialling our home number from my mobile and speaking with each other.

They are entirely entertained.

And then the sweet smell of caffeine and pain au chocolat in the oven awakens our mid-morning senses.

Just in time for a game of family Mouse Trap that's been set up. Despite owning the game since Christmas, it's the first time we've been able to play it properly. The board that came with the game had been stamped wrong so it could never be played as it was meant to be. Mark contacted Milton Bradley and they kindly sent us a new board this week.

Mousetrap is followed by a few rounds of Star Wars Guess Who. It's a little trickier than the normal version of the game. Once you get past goody or baddy, human or not, helmet or not, furry or not, robot or not it gets a little hard to find good questions to ask.

We head out for Noah's swimming lesson and to do the weekly grocery shop. Returning in time to get this magnificent specimen into the oven to slow roast the afternoon away.

We forget to check the mail until mid-afternoon but a delightful surprise awaits. Gorgeous snail mail from the lovely Cat at Catalina's Cottage for me.

I head back into the kitchen to bake up a storm as I have done these past few weekends trying out many different Petite Kitchen recipes - I love that the recipes are all gluten free, dairy free and sugar free!

But immediately I realise we are nearly out of dates and have to dash down to the shop for more - picking up Spy Kids 4 from the video store for the kids while I'm out - it keeps them happily entertained while all manner of roast preparation and baking is whipped up in the kitchen.

One old-fashioned gingerbread loaf. Tick.

One Sticky Date, Ginger & Almond Brownie. Tick.

And later, one roast shared in warmth and laughter with dear friends.

Tick.

One could be forgiven for thinking that we spent all day eating today from looking at these photos. And you would probably be right. But I really can't think of a better way to spend a cold, rainy and wintry day can you?

Another day, and more rain. Creationary, more Stars Wars Guess Who and a spot of much needed de-cluttering drawers and cupboards around the house.

Finally getting around to putting some new windscreen wipers on my car. Thank goodness as the screeching blades on the motorway had been doing my head in for weeks. At the same time, I finally manage to put 'our family' stickers on the back of my car. It's only taken me since Christmas to do it (the stickers were a present from Nana!).

The inspiration to keep tidying allows the discovery of a certain tee-pee in the spare room. Grandma had brought it over from England with her and we hadn't managed to find a way to put it up without any poles. But today during a sudden burst of inspiration we wonder if the bamboo sticks down in the garage will suffice. They certainly do.

 Immediately the hunt is on for bow and arrow, and Indian and cowboy gear.

A feather head-dress crafted for in about 5 minutes flat for Brother He Who Talks A Lot.

Later on, a visit from friends happily wiles away the rest of the afternoon, they being brave enough to come out in the 130 km/h southerly storm that's now raging outside. We seem to be having quite the run of storms around here and it's only halfway through the winter.

We finish off the weekend with a Lamb Thai Curry incorporating all the roast leftovers from yesterday. And then yoghurts with sprinkles to finish.

There endeth a homely, indoorsy weekend which suited us just perfectly.

And so....we bid you adieu and goodnight from Lucky Luke and Brother He Who Talks A Lot.

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