All About the Christmas

It's all about the Christmas at our house. Thankfully my folks Kris Kringle so there's not so much buying to do (would I do it anyway?) and we can focus on the other aspects of the silly season, like the advent table for instance. In my efforts to introduce a little ritual and tradition into our household, I set up a little table to nurture a sense of anticipation and gratitude. I've taken my cues from our Steiner playgroup although ours is only very loosely based on the Christian traditions and is more about gratitude to the elements of nature and the things they provide. The photos are a bit shit but you get the idea.

As well as the gorgeous felt Advent calendar that was a gift to my girls from Mum, we've got items on the table that represent mineral, vegetable, animal kingdoms and some little people representing mankind. The idea is that each Sunday of the lead up to Christmas a candle is lit and new objects are placed on the table, finalized by the appearance of the Christ child on Christmas morning. As my oldest girl is just three we've kind of altered things a little according to what she could take in and how long the little ritual of candle lighting, some words and object placing could hold her attention. I think we'll skip the baby Jesus. The candles precipitated a round of 'happy birthday' and at the end just as I was thinking the table looked so pretty, she announced it was 'packing up time' (we have a song that goes with that) and proceeded to deconstruct my little vignette and put everything away! I guess we'll just do it again and I can't complain about willingness to pack up. Maybe the concepts will sink in a little more next year.



Another really nice thing we did the other day was go to a 'crybaby' performance of Christmas Carols at a church in Richmond and sung by the Women of Notes Choir. My big girl decided it was too loud until she started recognizing the songs and enjoying a bit of Rudolph and Santa. I think the 'too loud' was just really good acoustics in the abbey and the high pitch of the women's voices. Apparently these crybaby sessions are run throughout the year, funded by local council and sponsored by 3mbs radio although funding has been cut for that area. Bugger! Just when I finally got around to going.

And now some mangoes.



And a peony, because they're fun to use the macro function on my camera with.






P.S Did I make it sound serene and organised at our house? Ha! I have two snotty, grumpy kids who can't bear for me to be more than 10cm away, a bazillion things to get done before Christmas day, a house of clutter and chaos and a massive headache layered over a sleep-deprived sandy brain. No wonder I walk around taking photos of flowers with my one free hand!

Puddle Jumping

Did you see the sunset last night (in Melbourne)? It was the most delicious, glowing pink, orange and blue splattered right across the western sky and of course my photo hardly does it justice. I was thinking that such a sky was a sign of clear weather to come but it seems was instead a harbinger of juicy, soaking rain, which in turn sparked pleas of "Mummy, let's jump in puddles, pleeeeeze".

So we did.



And someone else had the same idea.


The Munchkin Puddle Patrol

On another note, we have had to say goodbye to Mum's dear dog Latte.



A dear doggie, window licker that he was. Wowow will be sadly missed Mum, especially by a little person who I haven't had the heart to tell yet.

O Christmas Tree (with help from a bit of Bing on Youtube)

O Christmas tree,



O Christmas tree,



O Christmas tree,



Iiii love Lou...
(She can't yet pronounce 'y').

And a little Christmas fairy in her best party dress.

A Request for Purple Playdough

I added a little cornflour to the mix to see if it would soften the dough. An unnecessary addition so I discovered. If anything, it dried out the dough a little.
(BTW, if you have littles have you ever made gloop? A bowl of cornflour and water mixed together constitutes a very good rainy day activity that feels a little like a scientific experiment).



A more worthy addition was a few drops of lavender essential oil, the scent of which is reactivated each time warm hands work the dough.



A new sensory experience for the smallest one.

The Rhythm Of Life (is a powerful beat)

And again with the rhythm theme, I often get this song stuck in my head; sometimes for days at a time. (Sorry if you do now too!) I think to my brain it might represent a sense of celebrating the day to day things, the activities we undertake during the day and the little moments we have as a family.
Like baking a test-run batch of bikkies for Christmas gifts. (Lucky they were a test batch - the icing was terrible!)





And a bit of bread baking. Actually, my first loaf from scratch. Am rather proud.









So on the weekend we ditched the fair and PT'd it into town for the march. Numbers seemed a little down from last year but I still saw a sea of people in both directions as we turned from Flinders street into Spring street.





I wonder if people are getting a little fatigued over the issue of global warming from seeing it in our media everyday? The problem is, it's not an issue that will go away and if anything, the situation is more serious than ever. The march, to me, was a reminder to reconsider what we are doing and how we are living. I have large-scale fantasies of water tanks and solar panels on the roof but there's plenty of small scale changes to make in the meantime. Truth be told I'm terrified of the kind of world our babies will have to face as adults and I don't want them thinking we did nothing while we had the chance.

Days

My sweet Willow is already 4 1/2 months old and tonight has developed a talent for rolling onto her tummy, in her sleep. So I have made several rescue missions into the bedroom to roll her back over and lull her back to sleep. Poor love. All those things she has to learn from scratch still ahead of her.

The photo above is my favourite from a gorgeous batch by our friend Inga which i've already blogbragged about so I won't indulge myself with that topic any further. Except to post my other favourite.



Yep. OK, I'm done with that.

In other news, well there really isn't any other news. Fascinating for a blog I know. Our family life is settling into a sweet rhythm (most of the time)with one of the highlights of the week being our lovely Steiner Playgroup. It sets a gentle tone for the littlies and inspires creative activities in our home, like collecting for the nature table, baking, gardening, art and crafting.

This weekend I was looking forward to the Steiner Fair at the Melbourne Mothership in Warranwood but I'm torn as the Walk Against Warming is on. Maybe we'll have an uncharacteristic burst of organization and get to both.

Oop..Willow's on her tummy again...

Barrack on track.

Phew! A big congrats to the American folk with their Obamarama. The president elect seems to be a man of integrity and one who is prepared to listen and lead with humility. What a change of scene that will be.

I feel just as excited, if not more coz it's 4 real, as if Jed Bartlett had been elected. We live in interesting times people.

Me You Too

At the risk of this blog being all about my kids, here is another picture of the big one. This time in a basket.



My photographer friend Inga had an impromptu photo sesh the other day during our visit. Had I known she was going to whip out the camera I would have brushed the kid's hair!

The photo above is just a sneakypeak at what Inga did. Apparently there's many more to come and a whole lot of my baby girl too. Maybe Inga's nailed that newborn photo that I just can't get. I can't wait to see!

I've always shied away from the shopping mall kids photo scene and I'm well aware of the $10 offers to hook you in and before you know it you've blown five hundy on prints coz how could you possibly bin a photo of your own gorgeous kid?

Well lucky me to have Inga. Nuff said.


More of Inga's work can be found here

Birthday Week

A little help to blow out my candles.


Next day - her 3rd birthday. Followed by an interesting request...


A trip to my hairdresser for a wash, cut and blowdry! I think she enjoyed the scalp massage - her mother's daughter.


Not a hint of the diva about it. Just a little excitement.


I think it was more about getting a hairwash in a sink that pretty much guarantees no water on the face. Somewhere along the line I must've got some water in her eyes and my attempts at hairwashing in the bath are met with flat out refusal. We'll have to sort it out because I don't think our budget will stretch to regular salon appointments for the 3 year old!

Anyway, happy birthday to my darling first girl. The girl who asked for her first haircut at 3. The girl who has chosen to wear her bathers to bed the past 2 nights in a row. The girl who changed into this outfit when her feet got dirty in the garden.

The girl who has completely altered my life by simply enriching it with her presence.

Photo Magic

My girls and I and a bit of photofunia. It cracks me up that I can find time to play with this but I can barely return a phonecall. Eh.

Equilibrium Restored

I have brain freeze/writers block/whatever so no wordy tales to tell tonight, but here's some photographic evidence that I've had no computer access for a wee while.


Enjoying an ice cream up at the lighthouse.



Walking the labyrinth at Crystal Castle


Having a dance in front of our guesthouse.

A lovely holiday speckled with moments of wondering what the hell I was doing taking a 3 month old baby and an almost 3 year old on a trip to Byron Bay. Although that big girl certainly made it easier. I could take her anywhere.

Maintenance

So I really should be cleaning up the kitchen or packing for our holiday or going to bed or something but I just thought I'd quickly share with you a glimpse of my new appearance. After a long, cold Melbourne Winter, my eyebrows were beginning to resemble those of the grouchy monster below. (My mood has often been said to share a likeness with his also).




In the quest for deforestation, I braved the beauty salon to get a tidy up wax on my eyebrows and tint to give them a little va-voom.



This is what I now look like.




Although the mo' has gone.

And sew, a new hobby.

I have a new toy and and am yet to learn how to drive it. I missed my chance as a kid to learn how and recently when I asked mum why she taught my sister how but not me, she replied "because she was interested". Oh. So now I'm interested but I think I'll be learning how on my own. Although I have enlisted the trusty best friend for a 'sewing day'. Don't know how much sewing will get done though with three kidlets between us.

My sewing ambitions are humble. But I'd love to be able to whip up a little frock or a pair of summer pants for my girls, do a minor alteration and perhaps tackle the occasional softie. That's all. Watch this space...

Too Much Butter in the Batter?

Spooky looking characters but only because we were a little rough with the cookie cutters, as you can see by the amputee there.

Oh well. They tasted good.