paper planes

My DH is the paper aeroplane king. At any of our extended family gatherings you'll find him outside with the boys creating the most aerodynamic projectiles you'll ever see. He uses elastic bands, sticky tape and chopsticks to propel his creations high into the sky and occassionally he will stop playing long enough to make a few extras for the boys to have a turn with.

Not long after the boy's super planes have taken flight you'll find DH up on a chair, fishing rod in hand, trying to knock these paper projectiles out of a tree or down off the patio roof. Alas his playtime has ended and he must head the rescue ops for the rest of the day.

Last weekend Master 8 came to have a sleep over with Master (almost) 10. After breakfast the two boys got into my craft desk and set to, creating some amazing paper planes of their own.



They measured and marked



Cut and taped



Little F joined in the fun too



The finished product

I was very impressed with the boys initiative and skill in this activity. The only thing I helped them with was telling them where to find materials they wanted. The rest they did all on their own and they must have been paying attention to DH because their planes were truly aerodynamic.

Tips for getting to school on time!

Now, I am by no means an overly organised person but I must say that I always get my kids to school on time. It irks me that some parents are rocking up to the school 5, 10 even 20 minutes late when they only have one or two kiddlywinks to deal with in the morning.

I have an eleven month old who still wakes multiple times throughout the night so my fantastic husband is kind enough to let me have a sleep in most days. If this means that I don't get up until 8am when we have to be out the door at 8.30 then I will live with the 30 minute chaos and cherish those extra minutes of sleep.

This is a short run down of the 30 minutes from throwing my legs over the side of the bed and reluctantly getting up to starting the car engine and zooming out the driveway.

8 to 8.05 - Take in my surroundings, view where the children are (generally camped out in front of the TV still in their PJ's), see who has eaten breakfast (normally only one or two of them) and a quick trip to the toilet (I have just woken up after all).
8.05 - 8.10 - Gently remind the children that they only have twenty five minutes and to please go and get dressed for school. This only applies to the two eldest as I still have to help
Master 3 to dress (he can't open his big, heavy, solid wood drawers) and of course Master 11 months needs to have a nappy change and obviously can't dress himself.
8.10 - 8.15 - I get myself dressed, brush my hair, roughly apply any makeup I might think is necessary and return to find the eldest child still watching TV in his PJ's.
8.15 - 8.20 - NOT so gently remind the children that they only have 15 minutes to get dressed and eat their breakfast and to get a move on. I then prepare said breakfast and throw together a breakfast shake for myself to have on the go.
8.20 - 8.25 - Take the kids lunches out of the fridge and place in their school bags. Get the younger boys shoes on and laces tied. Fix the older boys collars, make sure their jumpers are on and shout at them for playing when they should be eating.
8.26 - Strap Master 11 months in the car. Strap Master 3 in the car.
8.27 - Strap Master 4 in the car. Scream at Master 8 to move his backside and get in the car.
8.28 - Put my shoes on and hop in the car. Ask if everyone has their school bags.
8.29 - Run back inside for the bags. Ask if everyone has their shoes on.
8.30 - Send Master 8 back inside for his shoes whilst I start the engine. He starts to panic because he honestly thinks I'm going to leave without him and for the first time all morning he actually does something quickly, jumps back in the car and off we go. And, my voice is only a little hoarse from all the shouting I've had to do.

So, my top tips for getting four kids dressed, fed and in the car in 30 minutes!

1) Make school lunches the night before.
2) Make sure school uniforms are ready to go the night before.
3) Shower before you go to bed so as not to need one in the morning. (If you sweat in your sleep as much as my husband I don't recommend this one - just get up 5 minutes earlier)
4) Be prepared to shout, nag and be completely frustrated for those 30 minutes.
5) Have a supportive, hands on husband (If your husband does not have these qualities consider trading him in for a new one)

How much time do you need in the mornings?

Collecting Memories

Memories are so important to me. I take photos of my children all the time but the things I really want to remember when my darlings are grown are the types of people they were, the things they learnt, the sweet, cute and humourous things they said to me and the amazing thoughts that floated around their spongy little brains. I suppose that's one of the reasons I like to blog. It helps me to record the story behind the pictures.

Another way I like to document these things in my children is by keeping a diary of sorts. I don't write in it every day. In fact I can sometimes go more than a week or two before I make an entry. There is no format to it. Some days I write about what we did that afternoon, others, what we ate or what's growing in our garden. Sometimes I just write what the boys' favourite songs or stories are at the moment. My favourite entry is one I have been working on with little D throughout August. It is a mind map and something I used to do in my early childhood career pre mumhood.



I sat with D and asked him what he wanted me to draw and he came up with all sorts of ideas. His instuctions gave me a real insight into his vivid little mind. He loved watching his ideas appear on the paper and it gave him a great opportunity to expand on them and articulate the details. One minute he was telling me to draw a purple star wand, the next he was telling me the lady needs that purple star wand. He asked for a cup of Milo and just as I finished drawing it he said "Can I have milk in it"

Another thing I have used the diary for is to add a few little thoughts about what is important to me at this time in our lives so that when the boys are older they can get a bit of an insight into what sort of thoughts were running around in my head. Today as I was sitting drinking my coffee out of my favourite cup I got to thinking what a shame it would be if it ever broke so I wrote down in our diary this little note.

"I have this special mug that I made with D in 2009. We made a tea pot & mug for Mick (with D's footprints and one tiny hand on the tea pot lid) for Father's Day. We made an extra mug for me and I use it every day, usually more than once.
I love this mug and one day it may break and I will be sad but I believe that using it every day for nearly two years has brought me more joy than 30 years of it sitting on a shelf ever will.
I love my mug."


(Proud mummy moment) This is my mug.

Collecting memories of my children is so important to me but I think it's really important for us as parents to remember that maybe collecting memories of ourselves is just as important to them.

Mr Independence

My first born is all about independence.

I woke up this morning to the most angelic little voice saying "Good morning Mamma" quickly followed by an angelic little face kissing my cheek and a develish little person pushing me off my pillow saying "I need some room"
I knew DH had gotten up early to go for a surf but couldn't hear any other sounds in the house so was pretty sure he had already left.

"Did Dadda get you out of your cot?" I asked (pretty sure of the answer)
"Nope" came the reply
"Did you climb out of your cot on your own?" I asked (pretty much positive of the answer this time)
"Yep" replied my cheeky cherub "Can I play with my 'puter?" (a very loved old laptop he likes to pretend with but can't open on his own)
"Sure" I said
"You open it" he asked
"Nope, not right now" I said in my sleepy state (I am far from a cheery, helpful morning person.)

I listened for a while to his happy playing whilst I got up and started mentally preparing myself for the repeat of last summer's 6:30 awakenings and the thought that this year I won't be able to leave him in his cot and just call out "It's too early, read a book or something!"

A few minutes passed and I heard Mr Independence trotting back down the hall to my bedroom. In he wandered and held out a small tub of yoghurt. "You mind open this for me" his angelic little voice asked. "Sure" I replied as I walked into the kitchen to find a kiddy chair pushed up to the (at least closed) fridge door.

Yes, my devilish first born angel is all about independence but at least this summer I will be able to have a lie in while he makes his own breakfast.

(And I'm only half kidding)

Put that stick down!

This is something I've been hearing myself say a lot lately.

"Put that stick down before you poke your brothers eye out."

My boys seem obsessed with sticks. It does not matter whether the stick is long, short, thick, thin, gnarled or dead straight. It can still have leaves attached for all they care. They are drawn to them and I am starting to see why. With a stick in hand their imaginations come to life. The stick is so versatile, it can be a sword, a fishing rod, a magic wand and, most recently, a light sabre (thanks to their other obsession - Star Wars The Clone Wars). They can be Robin Hood and his merry bunch of men with their stick swords and (Master 4's favourite) a coat hanger bow and arrow. Or Wizards casting spells with their wands trying to get their little tongues around the word abracadabra.

After much thought I've decided to take off my worrying hat and (take a deep breathe) let my boys play with sticks! I know that, inevitably, one of them will get hurt. A sword thrust to the chest or a light sabre to the arm, but for the most part they are playing nicely together, using their imaginations, learning and having fun!

So, I will try to be a calmer mother and let the boys take a few risks in the name of fun!
My only rule? Take the sticks outside boys!!!

Hooray for Gumboots

On a recent trip down south my lovely little family popped in to one of the many breweries around to watch a couple of old friends play a fantastic gig and while we were there the heavens opened and created the wettest playground I have ever seen. I saw one poor child being thrown from a rapidly accelerating dizzy wizzy into a puddle the size of an olympic swimming pool. He was literally dripping from head to toe. The look on his face was priceless as he exclaimed the age old catch cry of the child in strife "Mum's gonna kill me"


I was thanking my lucky stars that A. My little tackers were still young enough to guide away from the very alluring water playground and B. That Master D has had an obsession with his gumboots for the last month and therefor we had them on hand for some very inviting (to his eye, not mine) swampy fields.



There was lots of leaping and splashing to be done



A little bit of faceplanting in the mud



This was Margaret River so of course there were some cows to jump off



and you can get some great air off those cows you know


The end result was one very wet but happily worn out little munchkin and a memory for our family to cherish forever.

Just the way I like it.

Still life

At this very moment I am sitting feeding Master (almost) 11 months and watching Master 4 painting. I have set him up with an easel, paint plate and with his painting shirt on and paint brush in hand he looks like a true little artist. I've given him a stuffed toy giraffe that has multicolored stripes and asked him to paint a copy of it.

He stood just staring at the giraffe for a full two minutes and when I asked him what he was doing he said, 'seeing what colours I need' before going to the paints, choosing all the correct colours for his palette and getting to work. So far he has done an outline of the head, body and tail but we've just had to have a quick break to clean up the spilt paint water that he knocked over in his excitement. Whilst I mopped up, Master 4 changed into some dry clothes and now he is back on track.

I am amazed at how closely he is studying the toy. I must say that it really doesn't look a thing like a giraffe but he has the general body shape correct (even if the neck is a little stunted) and the colours are mostly spot on. The ears are in the right spot and even though one of the legs is protruding out of the tail instead of the body he has at least given him the right amount of legs. Unfortunately, the paintbrush was too wet and all the beautiful colours are now running into each other. Note to self - buy more paint brushes so each colour can have it's own. This will not only stop colours being mixed together but also eliminate the need for a jar of water and subsequently a mop!

Now he is painting a caterpillar. I've asked him to paint it in green. He is a little stumped by that as he doesn't have green on his palette and I've put all the paints away. I say,'What makes green?' and you can hear the cogs turning over in his brain as he puzzles that one out. Suddenly he starts mixing colours on his palette and turns to me saying 'Ta Da Daaaa!'. He got it right! A beautiful caterpillar with incredibly long legs (I'd say they were as long, if not longer, than the body itself).

So now I have a leggy caterpillar and a melting giraffe to hang on the wall! What animals do you have on your Walls?