Easter

Rabbits and chickens and chocolate eggs. Hat parades and hot cross buns and a carrot 

for the Easter Bunny.

Traditionally fish (seafood) for Good Friday. Eggs in the salad, naturally. 

Old-fashioned Easter Ducks, like the kind I got when I was a child.

Chocolate cake and morning tea with friends. Easter egg hunting.

Hot cross bun baking and a bunny book (well, a white hare really) - How did the Easter Bunny know that we were learning about France this month!?

I can't believe that Easter and the school holidays are over already. 

Some things did not go to plan, but... the Easter Bunny came and he/she brought chocolate and gifts. The kids were happy and that is all that really matters.

I hope that you and your family had a happy Easter too.

April is all about France!

When my children were just babies, I had an idea.

I knew that it would be a very long time before I would be jetting off to any far away destinations. So, I thought, that when they are old enough, I would do something like this: Each month we could learn about another country. About other cultures: the people, the food, the landscape. We would cook regional specialities in our very own kitchen and maybe even learn a few foreign words. You get the idea.

Well, with a little prompting...

In April we are learning about France!



We have started a special "Countries Around the World" notebook and have been cutting and pasting and colouring and writing.




Miss Moo Moo is really into it (she loves to learn) She has been grabbing her book at random and writing away, like this above. When I explained to her that the French words aren't written how they sound in English, we hit 'google translate' together and printed off the correct spelling of the words in French. She has even written out a 'procedure' for making wine. Tres mignon!

As for Spunky Monkey, he can take it or leave it, often announcing that he is far to busy for colouring in, when there is lego to be built. And more often than not, prefering to do any writing... later.

The coffee table has been piled high with French themed library books and dvd's.

Last Monday night, I helped out at my Mum's restaurant, she was hosting a 50th birthday party for a French friend, it was a weird coincidence.

 
We have started watching 'My France with Manu', already eaten way to many croissants,

and watched Monte Carlo more than four times! I secretly love this movie.

Again... Spunky Monkey, not so into this either.

And that was christmas!

 Ready for the Christmas Eve festivities.

 Our local Christmas Carols - Miss Moo Moo singing this year - a cheese platter with friends - happy, big kids - great fireworks!

A new book on Christmas morning - thanks Santa.

The cubbie got a touch of tinsel.

I love my carved wooden Santa's dotted around the house.

 This year even my bedroom looked Christmasey.

 Wrapped.

Flowers - an early unexpected Christmas gift. The scent was amazing.

A Christmas pageant at Grandma's church.

Some wine for Christmas.

Family memories of Christmases past, hang on our tree.

Christmas morning - breakfast.

 Chokos from our garden - mangoes from the side of the road - green and red.

 A Christmas Street Party in a local town - with friends - the yummiest Vietnamese salad ever.

 Reindeer Poo and Rudolph Noses - every Christmas!

 Christmas morning - long after my 4:50 am wake up call (thanks Spunky Monkey) and just minutes before the frenzy of paper ripping began.

It's been a busy couple of weeks, but oh, so very fun. Today we have enjoyed a quiet day at home and it has been wonderful. Soon there will be more socializing to do, but for now... these next couple of days, we are taking it slow.

The weather has been dictating our rhythm, it is hot, exhaustingly so. We have moved from eating to reading to resting to reading to 'screen time' to eating to resting. I picked up the broom and lazily swept, just the kitchen. I filled the washing machine ready for another load... tomorrow. I cleaned and tidied three shelves in the pantry, but have left the other two for another day. Mr Moo has started sanding back our 'new' craft cupboard, he has gone back to it three times, stopping when the heat gets too much.

Leftovers for dinner, surely one of the best things about Christmas and an early night tonight.

Oh my, the hours we have been keeping, I think the word 'bedtime' disappeared with November. As a result, we are currently living with some very tired children, and I am not loving it. Lots of tears and yelling and general bad attitude. Hopefully a good nights sleep will begin to remedy that.

Here's to the return of peace and joy, after the busy Christmas period.

What we have been up too

Well it seems that things are finally sorted out here with our computer. Fingers crossed.

Hooray!

So what have we been doing with ourselves over the last month, you ask?

• The camellias have bloomed in the garden, making me catch my breath every morning when I open the curtains.

• We received free tickets to a magic show. It was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Afterwards we sat in the sun in the almost deserted main street, eating old fashioned ice-creams - a magnum, a drumstick and a have-a-heart. We don't do that much.

• I have cleaned, culled and tidied 16 cupboards and drawers, but can you believe it? There is still more to do!

• We have had 4 dentist visits and 7 doctors visits... and guess what? There will be more of that too.

• I have made my own laundry detergent. I've had the ingredients in the cupboard... waiting... for nearly 6 months. I love it. I am converted for so many reasons.

• Instead of calling my daughter by her name, I have started calling her 'my memory'. For example:

"Where's my memory? Oh there you are. What was the name of that person/show/place.....? who was that person who said/did/went...?"

She remembers everything, while I am either rather sleep deprived or showing my age, or both.

• This brings me to bedtime. I haven't been to bed before midnight in over a month. I am not a late night person and our household wakes with the sun regardless of what time I went to bed. I am trying to shift this disagreeable sleep pattern. It does not make for a very happy or productive Mummy.

• Because of the said waking hours I have been drinking lots (lots) of homemade cappuccinos. I usually only drink coffee at home on a Sunday morning. The rest of the time I can be found drinking way too many cups of tea. But cappuccinos have been getting me through lately, sprinkled with cinnamon instead of cocoa, the way my Mum and I drank them in Turkey almost 20 years ago.

• I have washed and repacked all of my children's saved baby clothes. It was a nice trip down memory lane.

• The children marched with their school on ANZAC day. We almost passed out with heat stroke and ate way too many ANZAC bikkies.

• Our printer broke down, the vacuum cleaner died and the toaster caught on fire (just a tiny spark - don't worry)

• We have had 4 visits from the tooth fairy.

• I have halved the contents of my wardrobe and I know I can half it again. It's all about mindset. It feels good.

• I have been spending way to much time on Pinterest. I keep telling myself that it is just another way of organising my life. And it is. Instead of things filling up computer space or having piles of paper and lists laying around, I have been pinning things instead. But it is true, that every now and again, I go off on a little tangent. It is a fun place to be.

• The kids ran their cross country.

• I have completely lost count of how many boxes I have taken to the op shop, or brought home from the op shop! I think it's pretty much an even swap so far. I'm not sure if that is what you would call good de-cluttering, or not. Out with the old and in with the new, that's what I say.

• I have finally found an inner strength at the library. Right now I have only 3 books out from the library. Yes! 3! And 3 dvd's. The norm is to have maxed my library card with 30 books, dvd's, cd's, children's books and magazines. And then, if there is no more room on my card I use the kids cards - always. Usually, nothing gets read. At best I might flick through the cooking and homemaking books, but any serious reading books are returned with only the first chapter read! This was not ideal. I have turned a corner, and I am excited.

I have also been thinking a lot about how I want to live my life, right now and in the future. Changing my mindset, taking a step back and re-evaluating things.

Life keeps moving at a very fast pace. I am trying to keep up with it. How about you?

A bit of a breakdown

I have been avoiding my computer.

I've been having MAJOR computer problems for weeks now. Read: tearing my hair out! Technology can be great - but that's only when it is working.

This will be a quieter week, hopefully with a little more time on my hands to sort out these computer problems once and for all.



Here are some books that I got from a local church fete on the weekend. $2.65 the lot!

 .... my favourite, favourite.





Oh dear books, how I love you so. Such a reliable source of information. Always there when I need you.

Have you bought any good thrifted books lately? Or maybe your reading a new book?

For any of my family and friends who may have e-mailed me in the last few weeks, I am still without e-mail. I am not ignoring you, promise.