ET goes Bowling

Last weekend, Noah enjoyed his first ten-pin bowling experience for a friend's third birthday. Daddy went along for the ride and to capture the moment. Word of warning - dark bowling alleys do not equal awesome, clear photos!

First up though, Noah made me giggle before he even left the house with his impromptu impersonation of ET - we rented the DVD from the library to watch after our 'ET phone home' discussions about his little brother's wayward pointy finger. Hold onto your seats when I admit this, but I actually think it was the first time I have ever watched th movie - shocking I know, given how classic it is. Though I still think Noah looks better as a cute four-year old and not something scary from outer space.

And so onto the bowling alley. Check out the cool S.W.A.T. car birthday cake complete with flashing lights. Although the birthday boy was caught looking a little less than impressed (far left).

Getting ready for some action.



Bowls away!

And finally.......tucking into some kai with all his mates.

Early morning Fireworks

This morning we were awoken by what sounded like fireworks going off very close by. Which would have been a little odd anyway given it was 4.30am on a Thursday morning. Instead, Mark opened our bedroom curtains to see this:

He said Meg quick call the fire brigade there's a fire across the road. I fumbled under the bed to find our spare phone and put in an emergency call which brought 2 fire engines within about 10 minutes.

But it was a long wait. Watching this.

A hot wait. Feeling the heat of the flames reaching even into our bedroom.

A scary wait. I found myself praying hard out for God's protection on our house (10 metres away) and everyone in our little street. From our vantage point, we could see that many of the people who live in our cul-sac had taken to the street to watch the blaze.

The  garage quickly burnt to a shell which then partially collapsed, teetering precariously against the garage next door.

By this stage the fire brigade had arrived and were dousing the garage with 2 hoses. It took about 10 minutes to get most of the flames under control, made more difficult by the fact that fire seemed to be stemming from the far back corner of the garage (which is on poles anyway), so it made it very difficult to get the water to that part of the garage.

I was due to get up at 5.40am for a run, and needless to say there was no chance of getting back to sleep before then. The noise of the fire engine right outside pumping water was enough on its own without the adrenaline that was still coursing and hearts beating a little faster than usual. We climbed back into bed and lay awake watching the flashing red lights of the fire engine reflecting on our ceiling. Also Thanking God.

Daylight came. And with it the full extent of the damage. The firemen stayed for over 2 hours, checking and making sure everything was fully put out. This photo was about 6.45am.

Mark took his turn to go out for a run after I got back, and on his return managed to catch up with Alison (an ex-colleague of mine who lives across the street and owns the garage). She and her partner Mike were out in the street also assessing the damage. This is what is left of her partner's rather nice BMW parked in the garage, and a new scooter (well new to them) just purchased yesterday (of all days).



The fire engine left about 7.00am and by the time we left at 7.45am for work and daycare, a fire investigator was already on the scene. Tonight when we got home the garage the car and bike were gone and the garage had been pulled down into a pile of rubble.

Thankfully both our little boys remained blissfully asleep, unaware of how eventfully the morning had started. Although Noah was very intrigued when he got up and we explained what had happened, and it made for a good teaching lesson about what you do in an emergency, calling 111 and asking for whichever help you need.

The rest of these photos are courtesy of Alison later in the day via Facebook:

Jekyll and Hyde

Don't ya find that when kids bounce back, they really bounce back! You would have thought I had accidentally let Mylo take some P or other hard drug Monday afternoon, the rate at which he was tearing (read: crawling at speed) around the house. Add to it that shedding clothing seems to = F.R.E.E.D.O.M. for this kid. It's like there's Mylo, and then Mylo without clothes = warp speed.

But let me back up a little. And tell you why it was so amazing to see him doing crawlie wheel spins and burn outs on the lounge floor. We only have to rewind 48 hours.

On Saturday night, the same boy had a temperature near 40 degrees (according to our less than helpful thermometer which always reads much lower than it should - well you start to see my concern!). He was also shaking and shivering. Not himself AT ALL. Although we tend to apply the laid-back second child approach to parenting with Mylo, and the she'll be right attitude works most of the time, after I saw that temperature reading, it worried me enough to call Healthline. To check (since I couldn't remember, what a terrible mother I am) at what temperature I should really start to be concerned. And apparently 40 degrees was high enough that he should really be seen.

So I'm forced to call Mark home from his hosted evening in a corporate box at the Phoenix game (I am still feeling SO guilt about that hon!) to look after Noah while I took Mylo in to the after hours doctor.
Whilst we were waiting to be seen, I took a good hard look at my youngest child. Who two hours before had been shivering and shaking and crying pitifully. Now cruising his way up and down the vinyl chairs in the waiting room playing them as if they were drums. Trying desperately to get his hand trough the glass of the tropical fish tank. Um hello kiddo, arent you meant to be sick with a terrible fever?!

And then he decides to let rip with the mother of all nappy treats. Ahem, whose kid is that = not mine?!

Luckily we only had to wait half an hour and Mark even made it back to the footy for some of the second half. The diagnosis so familiar, you know the words that always make me want to scream and throw my hands in the air and run around the house like Kevin on Home Alone: It's just a virus.

It's not 'just' anything thanks very much when you're the one living through it!

Anywho, when we woke up Sunday morning there were 2 new teeth through. I must admit to thinking: Are you kidding me? It's not enough to have conjunctivitis and a fever, we need new teeth as well?!

And so Sunday was a real Jekyll and Hyde Day, with Mylo fine one minute, terrible the next with his temperature yo-yoing to match.

So I cheated a little. This is not actually from this weekend but it does show poor bubs on another Mr Hyde day.

Monday night, and back to our usual cheery, cheeky self.

Monday he seemed a little better, but still not his usual chipper self. That was until later in the afternoon when his Daddy and Noah walked in the door to see him cavorting around the room with no trousers on, never been merrier. Ah, welcome back pickle, it's nice to see you!

I stopped counting the Motherhood Lessons learnt in the past 4 years because I'm somewhere in the hundreds by now. But if I had been, I'd have tagged this one as so:

Lesson #539: Invest in a really good thermometer. Really good does not mean a $20 crappy Chinese jobbie from Trade Me that pretends to have all the bells and whistles and is all singing and all dancing. In reality,  it gets the air temperature about right and that's it. Then I'll know in future whether a 39.8 reading really is what it is.

P.S. Latest update: have purchased said top of the line thermometer from e-Bay. This time we did our research and got one all the parents recommend. Let's hope we don't need it again anytime soon though.

Recipe: Lemon & Poppyseed Muffins

If you have known us for long, you will definitely have had these served up to you or brought to your house at some point. It's not that we're lacking in imagination, just that we know how much of a hit they are!

I haven't found an easier baking treat, except maybe the Delish Doughnut Muffins which I discovered a month ago which are up there in popularity right now!

When I have lemons going spare, I often make up a batch just so I can freeze some - they taste just as good once thawed and popped in the oven to crisp up again.

So without further ado:

Lemon & Poppyseed Muffins (makes 12)

2 cups self-raising flour (or plain flour with 2 tsp baking powder)
1 cup caster sugar
1/8 cup poppy seeds
Grated rind of 2 lemons
2 eggs
100g butter
1 cup milk

Lemon Sugar Drizzle:
Juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup caster sugar

1. Heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius
2. Sift flour, sugar into a large bowl. Add poppy seeds and grated lemon rind
3. Melt butter
4. Mix eggs and milk together, then pour in melted butter to the egg and milk mixture
5. Pour into dry ingredients. Lightly fold together
6. Grease muffin tins and spoon in mixture
7. Cook for 10-15 minutes (depending on how fast your oven cooks)
8. Once muffins have cooled, remove from muffin tins and pour over lemon sugar drizzle.

Note: the poppy seeds are optional and we do sometimes make the muffins without if there are no poppy seeds lurking in the cupboard. However, they add a lovely crunchy texture which makes the recipe go from being pretty good to great!

Oh and you do know that opium comes from the poppy flower don't you, so don't be too surprised if you find yourself getting a little addicted to making and eating these!

Beware the leprechaun

It came to me as I was cleaning the kitchen this morning. There must be an explanation of how an otherwise tidy and clean kitchen can all of sudden look disgracefully dirty. And in a moment of illumination, it came to me. There really IS a leprechaun at work in my kitchen.

I never see him. He lurks just out of sight. But when I'm fast asleep at night, he creeps into the kitchen with his magic dirty dust and goes to work. Not all at once of course. Just a little splodge of milk on the floor here. Another night, a crusty bit of rice dropped on the bench there. A few coffee granules here. A few spits of oil there.

He is cunning you see. If it happened all at once, I would definitely notice.

But I go about my daily life quite oblivious. Most times I look at my kitchen and think 'it's clean'. We wipe up after every meal, clean the hobs and wipe the benches down. I look at my kitchen a couple of weeks later and think 'it's still clean'.

A couple more weeks go by. And then all of a sudden one day, I see past the magic of his work leaving a little here, a little there thinking I won't notice. And realise, in horror, that in fact my kitchen is covered in crumbs, the microwave is covered in splattered food, the extractor fan is covered in oily dust, and the floor has some very sticky patches and splodges on it. How did this happen?!

The leprechaun I tell you.

The leprechaun leaves his mark. Which I attempt to erase.

And so I spend an hour erasing all his devious little doings. But I am convinced of his existence now. Seriously. How do I know this? This morning I cleaned the coffee machine, it was so sparkly it could have doubled as a mirror. I turned away for one second, looked back and aha, the evidence was there. A few new coffee granules had appeared. Out of nowhere. Where I had JUST cleaned!

The evidence!

So now I know the truth. And I am on my guard. Armed with the best weapons I can muster.

But I'm not sure I have much hope of ever catching him. I think he must be a very clever and elusive leprechaun.

I'm wondering, is there a leprechaun living in your kitchen too?

Loving....not Loving

Loving....
the beautiful post that the lovely Simoney at Greatfun4kids posted on Mother-Love this week. I was so moved. And could relate to everything that she wrote. A must read for every mother out there.




Not loving....
that no-one could comment on the blog for the past week or so it seems. I was definitely NOT feeling the love and wondered what I could possibly have done wrong to get no comments! Neurotic and needy (much!). Thankfully my dear blog friend Sarah from Chez Lee gave me a heads up this morning otherwise I would have been none the wiser. I have now added a contact email address to the sidebar so if it happens again at least someone might be able to tell me! Technology, grrrr. So if you were going to comment on the recent Zips and Buttons post since I really WAS after some advice, please do.

Loving....
just quietly, the new blog design with a few added pages under The Family, Holidays, Best Posts, etc. Still a work in progress at the moment, but it's been fun in the making (apart from somehow managing to erase the comment functionality in the process!) Anyway, I hope you like the new look MNM's!

Loving....
the littlest ever pirate who went to daycare today for pirate dress up day today.

Not loving....
the littlest pirate coming home early with a temperature. So this was the bedtime arsenal that was administered tonight! We don't ever do things by halves!

Loving....
that spring has most definitely sprung! And it's only 2 weeks until Daylight Savings starts or it gets 'light in the night' in the world according to Mr. Four. Whoop de whoop, I can't wait for the lighter evenings!

Loving....
that it's spring means summer is edging ever closer. And then I will have every excuse to drink Radler and Macs Green Apple on a regular basis. The BBQ will be on, the french doors will be open, the cicadas will be chirping, and the smell of freshly cut grass and warm tarseal will be in the air on a balmy evening. Bliss.

Loving....

that soon it will be safe to plant out strawberries, peas, lettuce and cherry toms. I say soon because this time last year we planted everything out, and then the October storms blew most of everything clean out of the garden and halfway to South America. So we might be waiting a few weeks yet. But I can't wait to see the garden full of life and coming to harvest again. Here's hoping we might get another good crop of wineberries this year too.

Not loving....
Baby wings. Forget Red Bull giving you wings, I have my own! I recall the same thing happened after giving birth to Noah. These funny, stray, wispy bits of hair have started growing all around the front of my hairline a better part of a year after having both the boys. Did this happen to anyone else? I seem to remember it taking AGES to grow out. Sigh. As if I didn't have enough follicular challenges with the ongoing curly vs straight dilemma.

Or perish the thought...I could just be happy being stuck somewhere in between curly and straight....about the only thing this hair is good for is an 80's party. I just need some legwarmers and leotards and I'm there baby!

Maybe not.

Also not loving.....
Noah telling me lately that he doesn't really like my hair curly. I'm not sure a four-year old should be having an opinion on these things?!! But thank goodness for GHD's - seven years and counting! But I wonder how much of my life I have wasted straightening the heck out of my hair...should I go there? Um, that would be about half an hour x every 4 days for the last 7 years give or take. Quick mental sum. Gulp, I have wasted nearly two whole weeks of my life in the pursuit of straight hair. Actually I wish I didn't know that. Mentally erases memory.

Loving....
Family baths. Well the three of us that can just squeeze in anyway. Now if we could just encourage young Mylo to leave some water in the bath by the end of bath-time we'll be doing well.......

Not loving....
this rather large crack that has appeared in the upstairs bathroom paintwork. It appears the bathroom has decreed that it is time to redecorate. Add it to the summer to-do list. Sigh. And at the same time, the shower heads in both bathrooms have sprung major leaks out the side. At the same time. How is that possible? And apparently shower heads are not cheap, I've looked. At least they are still functional. For now anyway.

Loving....
the rediscovery of milk biscuits, I had no idea they were still being made! Did anyone else used to have these when they were at school? I remember them being sold in the school tuck shop. Not that I ever had any money to buy any, I just used to scrounge the odd bite off friends. Noah has become quite the fan.

Loving....
the little boy who thinks he is E.T. At every opportunity he points his finger and wants you to point back and touch his. We've started saying 'E.T. phone home' every time we join fingers which he thinks is just hilarious. If he keeps this up, they may be his first words at this rate!

Remember this?

Not loving....
the same little boy who thinks it is OK to throw food over the side of the highchair as soon as he is bored with it. I have already trod a prune, a grape and a cruskit into the carpet this week.

Loving....
that the weekend is here.

What things are you loving/not loving lately?

Happy weekend everyone (and just quietly I'd love a comment or two again so I know you're still out there!). Or even an email (check out the sidebar on the right) if you're a little on the shy side!

Zips and Buttons

Calling mums, I'm in need of some advice!

Lately we've been trying to instill a bit more independence into Mr. Just Turned Four. He's been making good progress on things like shampooing his own hair and drying himself after the shower and putting all his own clothes on. We've also been working on learning how to do up zips and buttons (on his Lightning McQueen pyjamas).

Zips he can manage most of the time if the zip is down the right end to start with. But buttons on the other hand....! You know, I can't remember ever learning how to do up buttons, but apparently I must have since I do them now without even giving it a second thought!

But actually, it's not that easy. And the more I try to 'teach' the concept, the more I realise it's not an easy concept to learn. How did other mums get on teaching your kids these kinds of things? And at what age did it all 'click'?

P.S. Don't get me started on shoelaces....I'm not planning to go there for a few more years if I don't have to. One thing at a time, right?!

P.P.S. I'm beginining to see buttons in my sleep.