A tradition of giving the girls boxes of jelly beans for Valentines Day has emerged from somewhere in our family. There was no intention for it to take hold, but strong as a weed this practice has taken hold of our holiday garden. Someone has to be to blame for this turn of events, but I will not name names, although for the sake of the conversation I will just say that it has something to do with a male in the house… an old male that has an affinity for sugar in any cloak.

So this year it was expected of us to provide the jelly beans and we dutifully expressed our love in colorful flavored little poops. Oups, jewels. Pardon the intended slip.

Then the kids wanted to go to jelly beans DOT COM, cause you see, now they want to go to anything dot com.

- Mum, can we go to dinner dot com?

- Mum, lets check out fart dot com!

And while browsing the website a different kind of bean was discovered. A yucky tasting bean. This appealed a lot to our Harry Potter fan – aka. Miss Fab – whose eyes gleamed at the thought of it.Unfortunately Mr.Blab says that they dont sell those in Aussie land and the subject is sadly closed.

Then, few days later while browsing a favorite shop of ours, she suddenly squeals behind me and runs, hair floating after her and barely holding on, box in hand…the time stops… The yucky tasting bean!

By yucky, I mean yucky. Booger anyone?

Back home we decide on a plan to enjoy this horrible taste sensation. Since each bean can be either nice or not we decide to play paper scissors rock with each other. The one that loses has to pick up a bean and eat it, taking it upon themselves to carry the risk of tasting some vomit or , if lucky, baby wipes.

We prepare the arena. A plate with the weapons. Glasses of water to wash off any horrid taste and a few pieces of biscuits to vanish any left over unpleasantness in one’s oral cavity. And most importantly an empty plate for spitting in, just in case the situation is so bad that the contents of the bean cannot be chewed and swallowed.

Ready, steady, go!

The bravest of them all was Little B. She popped the first one in without any hesitation. And ate it.  A lot of laughing is happening, some of it nervous, cause we are not sure what we are dealing with here. Game continues.

The empty plate aint empty anymore.

I got it bad. Luck was not on my side. My first bean was moldy cheese. SPIT! Horror, hurry water! Shove the biscuit.

My second bean was rotten egg! Ok, this was truly knee trembling disgusting. As soon as my teeth cracked that bean I knew. I knew I had a problem on my hands. Spit! Spit! SPIT! The taste stayed with me for a long time and the memory of it for a few days.

A lot of funny moments, spitting, running around, snorting laughing and teary eyes was had that afternoon. After heroically taking her fair share of yucko delight, Little B decided she didnt want to play anymore. I was second to pull out, after stumbling over all the worst poops on the plate. Mr. Blab was all manly, all brave and gracious with his few Black Pepper and baby wipes tastes. But after me, he got some vomit and after that some rotten egg, after which he was running for a cloth to wipe his tongue with and for comic effect (so he said) returned with floss between his teeth. After this he gave me credit for staying in the game with such a sucky luck.

Miss Fab was strong after a slow start.  I was impressed with their ability to deal with these bind boggling tastes. I hope its not my cooking…

Dont do this at home! Its a stupid thing to do, k!

Here are the things that have kept me busy the last week or so. Miss Fab and I have been creative to bits, working on making some surprises for Little B’s birthday. It has been fun and I have learned a few new things too. So I will share, cause I am nice that way.

I will start with KravA-pA! This is the name the birthday girl gave to one of the dolls in my handmade toys book. Not just that. The girls would say the name, after looking at the page, and then crack up like there is nothing funnier out there. And then again…KravA-pA! Muahahahaha.

So, I had to make her.

Big sister joined in too. She weaved two friendship bracelets.

She made these two lovely fellas.
She chose the fabrics, the colours. She stitched up on the machine and did the hand stitch on the faces too.

The packaging too, of course.

I have been discovering crocheting. I have never done it before, even though it seemed interesting and I think I enjoyed the idea of  its versatility. I don tknow why, but I thought it will be a good idea to delve into it now.

It was not hard at all. In a night I had a grasp of it. And the second night I crocheted half a hat. Not planned that way, but my wool ran out, so it ended up a tiny little hat. I finished it up with a handle, cause I thought it will look nice as a soft basket of some kind. Then I left it around until I figure out if I want to keep it or not.

Next I was ready to follow a pattern. You think there is nothing to it, but I beg to differ. Patterns look like alien language in code and then scrambled with eggs.

But yours truly did it without a hitch. Thank you, thank you:

What am I doing with this beauty? With these wonderfully fancy stitches?
I am eliminating them, thats what I am doing.

I am felting, babeeey!

I stitched two of those squares and a big thread and the whole thing went in the washing machine.

And then I had a beautiful fluffy puffy bag (and the gift wrapping for it)

I was hooked!

Hooked I tell ya. Even Mr.Blab was impressed.

My eyes were scanning anything in my field of vision that will be suitable for felting.

Voila! My half hat turns into a basket:

This one went into  a simple paper wrap, but I made a custom bow for it.

Those are wonderful. Next time I will try the recycling version
(if you are keen, get the instructions from How About Orange)

Just in case our newly five year old is not impressed with our handicrafts, we had Mr.Blab get her a scooter and he ordered her a bunch of “Lego guys”, the latest being the favorite play buddies lately.

Now to the most anticipated part – the cake.

The order went something like that:
Chocolate cake with hmmm…white top…colorful, rainbow frosting!

Right.

Luckily I had some volunteering help:

I admit, I was not excited when she expressed enthusiasm to “help” me, but I handed her the tools and held my breath. Maybe even my eyes were closed, I am not sure.

She did the flowers.

She did not disappoint. Not even a bit.

The swoosh is just a defect in the way the cake baked. It is a wonky cake.

At first I thought we will make a hilly cake, then while we were working, we thought we will make a path in the big crack…then Miss Fab suggested bushes. I did bushes and then decided to just fill it up with grass.

And we ended up with 5 fairies somehow.

Couldnt have been more perfect.

Ok, I am tired now.

And I am getting a cold.

And we are off to celebrate a birthday…

I want a tree like this in my backyard. They are absolutely wonderful for shade, climbing or tree riding (sitting on those branches and bouncing on them). Its a little corner of our favorite park lately. Just beautiful.

So, I am alive, if you have been wondering. Not very bloggy chatty, but fine otherwise. The weather – isnt that the topic one chooses when they dont know what to talk about? – has been quite hot, so the water fountains at the park are quite welcomed and a perfect place to play.

I am busy preparing.

Busy thinking up and organizing activities for the first term of “school”. Not ours, but all activities run according to the official school terms, so we have to follow them as well. I get heaps of emails and information from homeschooling happenings. Then I keep an eye out for other happenings. Then I think of more happenings on my own and then go on to look information for them. Its impossible.

So far we have heaps of sports this term. Miss Fab didnt want to do gym anymore, so we will do some easy going gymnastics, a group of kids will do a few hours of different sports every week. Acting. Writing with the author. Tennis.  Little B is the dancer, so she will do ballet and swimming. So exciting!

Where is the learning? Right there

Ok, I have also ordered the next chapter of Story of the World. Lovely CD collection of the history of the world from the very beginning to modern times. We listen to it when driving to and fro. I am learning so much from it, quite handy. Then this term we will try Math-u-See to keep up the math awakening that is happening with the big girl. From math hater, she is turning into a math dont minder. There is hope, I tell you. Maybe its not a lost cause. So we will try that program and her sister is interested too.

Now that little one is so open to learning. I am curious to see if this will stay so with no school to dampen that. Only time will tell.

I am busy preparing.

I am also working on the gifts and preparations for Miss B’s birthday. Handmade gifts, wrapping, bows… Cake. Cake transportation. That last one is needed as we are off on a trip for a few days and since I have an order for cake, it needs to be transported there safely.

And in the midst of all this, I have to endure long afternoons in the park, with glorious trees and water fountains…

Phew!

Trip means lots of photos! Excited?

For me this started on the two days before the actual birth at 10:40pm when I lost some of the plug. I know it usually doesn’t mean much, but it has now proven to be a very good sign for me. A very good one for impending labour indeed.

That night I was having some regular contractions, but nothing too painful, just enough to be noticed. I thought things might be happening, so got up after trying to sleep for awhile. They were coming about every 4-6 min but weren’t convincing enough, so I went back to bed.

Next Day

The day started as normal. I went with Miss Fab to our usual coffee and hot chocolate outing.

I had more contracting during the day. Again, nothing major, but just that much more intense than normal Braxton hicks.

Lost more plug at 2:50pm.

We went to a parent meeting for Miss Fab’s preschool that night and I remember one of the teachers gesturing at me – asking me if I am in labour, jokingly. I have been moving around my chair trying to get comfortable during the contractions and she must have sensed me. Near the end I stood up to walk around a little bit and another of the teachers came to me and said its ok if I leave. I said I am fine, but they basically kicked me out with care, plus Dad was getting bored and didn’t complain at all.

We got home at around 8:30pm, had a quick dinner and while Mr.Blab  put future big sister to bed I went for a walk around the block.

Later on, while talking to my mom for an hour I started writing down the contraction’s timings out of curiosity. Mr.Blab came by to check what I was doing and his face went pale and he pointed at the times I had written down on the paper (every 5-10 min) and asked “what is this?” with big anxious eyes. I said “don’t worry, nothing yet, been having them since last night”. I had everything under control and didn’t need his worries to burden me and I think that is why I had been keeping quiet.

I did a few things around the house. At 10:50pm decided to send a message to my friend, who was going to be my daughter’s support person during the birth, and tell her that there is a possibility of something happening soon, but definitely not anything certain. It was getting late and I wanted her to be prepared for a rude awakening some time in the night.

10:55pm more plug out.

I went to have a shower.

My friend called and Mr.Blab  brought the phone in the bathroom. She was getting excited, but since I really wasn’t sure if the birth is imminent I was trying to dampen her enthusiasm and didn’t want her to be keeping awake in anticipation. It was nice to talk to her though, and her excitement was lovely and made me giddy as well.  After getting off the phone, I had my shower, which felt wonderful. The water running down that ripe body is something not to be missed.

11:40pm I made myself a quick dark rye and hummus sandwich.

Mr.Blab asked me if I still wanted my bath, as we talked about earlier in the day. Sure!

(more…)

Here is what happens if you leave the grocery bags on the floor for a little bit longer. I saw him playing with the avocado, but thought to myself “its alright, he cant do too much damage with this firm fruit”.

I was wrong.

Notice the hair mask! The wiping on the shirt. Lovely movements.

And some went in the mouth too, surprisingly enough.

But really, the trick is in the rapid movements.

Smash, smash, poke, poke, squish ( you should have heard the noises!).

The bench got some long needed treatment.

But he is a thoughtful boy. And cheerfully helped me clean up afterwords.

I wasnt allowed to do the wiping at all.

So, dont leave avocados around unless your wood furniture needs to be refreshed.

I decided to show you how cute someone can be eating a piece of nectarine.

So I snapped him.

He saw me.

He did.

He felt my snapping self.

He got all curious.

The fruit lowered down.

The eyebrows went up.

And there was no more eating.

Never mind, I can show you how cute someone can be just, being.
Ignore the black mark on his face, which was a remnant of his parents attempt to test his development.
We marked him and then lifted him up to the mirror to see if he will try to wipe it off..or something.

He was not impressed by the mark.

Ok, so he doesnt know who he is, but we do.

And he is cute eating fruit or not, with random marks on his face or without.

Dont you ever say anything contrary.

The following events unfolded about 3 weeks ago…

He is just chilling after lunch in his favorite position – foot on the table, usually placed there with the fanfare and care of a goblet full of liquid gold. Here it is – my foot! Plonk. Stare for reactions of awe in the public.

Looks serious and like some deep thoughts are running through his sweaty head. What are they?…

(Pause for philosophical mind boggles)

.

.

.

.

.

.

Just kidding!

But seriously,

look what I can do, Mama!

And after you have put water everywhere, tried to eat the table and cooled your hot nether regions,

you follow with a special move, like this:

…

I cant believe you just blogged about this!

Its all soaked through and worst of all, not any cleaner either. Just wet to the bone.

I had a quick look through it, while paddling on to my bathroom mat. I examined the crime scene very carefully. Something serious had happened here. Not just a simple burst pipe. Oh, no. There were splatters all over the place. The ceiling was not spared, the further corner had some dust bunnies struggling for their lives in the puddle that formed.

The shock. I just couldnt think of what could have possibly caused all this. If we had a hose and a room mate that hated our guts, it could have been an explanation. But I was missing the two important pieces of this solution to solve the mystery at hand.

If Mr.Blab had installed a sprinkler in the middle of the bathroom by mistake, that too could have qualified as a reason. But no, Mr.Blab is not that handy.

If  our little boy’s hand had held the tap while it was running, thus spraying water all over the place, that too might have been a good resolution to this peculiar situation. But that would mean that we stayed around and watched. Maybe even laughed and hid behind towels. Laughed even harder when the forced water would go straight into the face of the full of giddy son of ours. If we were that type of irresponsible people, we could have taken pictures, while trying to protect the flash from the rain that would have inevitably been aimlessly spraying around.  But we are not such folk…

So we will never know what happened to our bathroom.

You agree to be marked by his top and release your parents from all rights to the pictures that follow.

Signed, the Baklava.

That is what has been around here. Hot.

Well hello in the new year. I think most of you are in the midst of winter, snow and all. Not us here, down under. We are simmering in the juices of summer and its not even the hottest time of the year. Someone kill me and chop me up and stuff me in the fridge. Although, I must say, that I have acclimatized to the heat the last few years. It doesnt knock me down like it used to.

The answer to the heat is usually, keep the blinds closed, the doors and windows shut and pretend you cant move too fast.

Other options are an impromptu consumption of ice chocolate on the floor of the kitchen:

I have never attempted such drink before. But decided to give it a go as I happen to have some milk in the fridge (for baking purposes). So here is my recipe, which was met with absolute approval by all and lets not forget that Mr.Blab is a professional American taster – in the know of all the sweet drinks, chews, lollies, fried sweets and the such.

So:

Home made Ice Chocolate

Mix well on the stove top a cup of milk, french cocoa powder and brown sugar.
When its all nice and smooth, mix that with the rest of the milk, quantity depending on how many drinks you are making.

Whip some cream with a dash of vanilla essence, or better yet some fresh vanilla seeds.

Now

get your glasses and put a few ice cubes in

followed by a few blobs of a good quality vanilla ice cream

pour your chocolate milky mixture in

plop a dollop of the whipped cream

shave some dark chocolate on top

Then pretend in never happened and dont blog about it, especially if you have aspirations for a healthy life and all.

So dont ruin your reputation. Just enjoy, preferably on the floor.

Then we moved to the darker part of the house, which is always cooler and the big fan and high ceilings help too. Here is also where the cardboard house resides at the moment.

It has an art wall inside now.

And a little Baklava too:

Who enjoys the hot because he usually doesnt wear much more than a necklace. And kids know good stuff. And being naked is good stuff, that is before we were all conditioned that its something to be ashamed of or that is something dirty and ‘private’. Scrap that, my kids will go around naked as long as their heart desires. Little B spends her day like that often and the other day Ms Fab changed from swimming costume to her clothes in the parking lot without even flinching at being naked for a minute. Made me happy somehow. I dont have that freedom, I dont think I ever had it in my conscious life. Even when my body was perfect by all standards of society, which I can only see now, looking back at it.

Radioactive poops?

We have those too. Its a specialty of ours.

It has nothing to do with the product I provide…I think.

Now to business.

We are approaching the 1000th  comment. I wanted to give that particular commenter a little gift of some sort. But I am not sure what you would like. So any ideas? You know what I do, can do or would like to do.

And I am whipping you all, as nobody wanted to share their views on What is Life About. Shame.

Did I mention its hot?