stylin'

Today on a whim - when I had some unexpected child free time in the local Westfield - I stopped at a booth in the middle of the walkway (I was going to say mall but felt way too American) that proclaimed Free Style Session for 15 Minutes.  Well, I thought,  I have 15 minutes to burn, let's see what this young filly has to say.

I have never been stylish.  Ever.  Even as a much lighter groovy uni going young thing.  I like boots and shorts and comfort and interesting necklaces and scarves.  And have been known to buy two of the same item of clothes because I like the way they fit.  Hence the 'sameness' of my style.

So we sat down and she gave me a voucher for a free coffee - off to a good start.  And I actually liked the clothes she was wearing - even though she was about twelve and very blonde. 

She was not derogatory, she complimented my current outfit, and she smiled a lot.  She did not try to sell me anything.  And she gave me the following tips on what I could wear that would suit me:
- 'v' neckline with details like frills or buttons - draws the eye up towards the face and away from the round tummy
- something that pulls in at the waist that gives an hourglass shape
- length just above or just below my knee - not mid calf or mid thigh - it just screams attention onto the chunky bits
- boots the same colour as tights eg black tights black boots
- jeans that say 'mid rise' on the label - not hipster - and make them a bootleg cut
- no thin straps
- shapewear undies

All was sounding good and achieveable - until she said "I think you would look great in a leopard print".  Then I know our age gap was too great and we would never reconcile the difference.

Style.  It passes me by.

mickey stories: chapter eleven

I had a writer's conference today - with Mickey's mother.  Accompanied by a cheese toastie (yum there is really nothing wrong and all good about a cheese toastie - it has uni days and melted hot goodness all through it - it was lunchtime cheese and does not count as a snack - please see previous post regarding the 2011 no snacks policy) she reminded me of some of Mickey's past exploits.

This is a true story from when Micky was about three.

Mickey's mother was in the back yard talking to her guests that had come over for a playdate, and she heard a noise in the background.  A kind of 'shhh shhhh shhhh' noise - rhythmic and squirting.  Not seeing Mickey anywhere she finally decided to check if he was inside.  She came across the toilet door closed as the 'shhhh shhhh shhh' noise got louder.  When she opened the door to the toilet a cloud of gas pours out and settles around her feet like her own personal dance studio smoke machine.

Mickey had been in the toilet for a long time spraying the bottle of air freshener.  When he emerged he was also smoking everywhere from his clothes, and coughing from the fumes.

Mickey's mother had to let the house air out quite a lot.

And Mickey possibly still has a faint whiff of fake pine scent.

The end.

teaching RE to grade three

I have hit the ground running with RE this year.  Four classes of grade threes on a Thursday morning.  I really like it, and I like the relationship I have with the kids after getting to know them all last year.  They love dramas and craft and little videos (especially from Max7).  And their personalities are wonderful.

Great things that happened today:
- one of the boys who was very difficult last year and very shy and rolled around the floor a lot sat and listened the whole time today and came and asked me three questions - persistance and encouragement pays off - and catering to kinesthetic learners
- I told the story of the Good Samaritan five different ways in one lesson (using little stick puppets, straight from the Bible, on a little video, in a song and from a storybook)- I think they got the point in the end!
- when I challenged the kids to think about how they could be a Good Samaritan one little girl said she had no-one to play with at lunchtime.  Another precious girl whom I love to bits put her hand up and said (and these are her own words) that she had an 'opening' in her friendship group and this girl was welcome to join them. 

Nearly fell off my chair with delight.

What a blessing to be with 8 year olds as they hear the words of Jesus for the first time.

cracking the 3 digit...

I have been working on a plan for nearly three months now.  It is a good plan but not that well thought out.  It is the plan to be ECONOMY SEAT SIZED by the time we go to China in September.

My plan involves:
- no snacks.  sigh.   I love chips and chocolate and cheese.  But that probably was part of the problem.
- exercising and committing to things like triathlons and 5km runs in the Gold Coast marathon.

I started his plan on the 1st of January.  And has mostly been going well.  But I cannot crack the 3 digit weight barrier.  I figure it took ten years to put on - it will not come off in three months. 

I am trying.  My husband has also joined me on the no snacks plan.  It has been much easier having a buddy to do it with.  And Gab has been my personal training running partner ('Come on Mummy!').

And hopefully by September I will comfortably fit into an economy seat on the plane.

Before.....

Waiting for after....

eight

There is an eight year old in the house.  My baby is now eight.  Eight.  That is quite big.  And she started so tiny!  Every older mother said to me when my two girls were young 'watch out it will go too quickly'.   I scoffed 'ha ha' never really seeing the end of nappies and tantrums and constant physical demands.  But now I believe them.  They were the longest days and the shortest years of my life.

She was so small like a red curly haired dolly.  That sucked her bottom lip and played with her belly button.

Now she is tall and funny and caring and she wants to be a paediatric nurse at the Mater Hospital.  And she sucks her bottom lip and plays with her belly button.

My amazing husband the cake decorator made her a pony cake - she is going through a pony phase at the moment and I have let her have fortnightly horseriding lessons.  She loved her pony cake.

Eight is an amazing age. 

Happy birthday my beautiful girl.

hidden talent

I am a great admirer of the Woman's Weekly Children's cake cookbook.  I used to pour over the pages - choosing what I would have for my birthday.  And now my children do the same.  And we make it for them.  I use the term 'we', but it is really my wonderfully talented husband who is the cake decorator in our house.  I make the middle cake part (or buy it from the shops) and sometimes I even make the butter icing that glues it all together.  But the decorating I leave to him.

Who knew, in this amazing man I married, that there was a hidden talent for making pony fairy mermaid cakes from fondant icing.

And due to the Pine family policy of only having a birthday party every three years (3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21) there needs to be a fuss made over the birthday child every year - and a cake designed by Dad is a fuss!

Here are some from the back catalogue over the years:

Annika's 7th birthday 

Gab's 5th birthday

Annika's 8th birthday - fairy cake for home and watermelon cake for school

 Gabby's 6th birthday (a party year) - castle cake for home and honeydew melon cake for school (I actually made both these ones - notice the drop in quality)

Annika's 9th birthday cake (a party year - she chose the lollybag)

Annika's 10th birthday - the bookworm cake

There are more - from the early years - I will have to scan the photos in!