running races

this girl is always trying her hardest to be fast and faster when she runs. they had their time trials this week for running ahead of their upcoming carnivals so imagine her delight when she placed in the top four - and technically in third place seeing as the girls in first place drew for their position. she was so excited to come home and tell me and i was so proud. i mean seriously, look at that smile on her face! yay maddie! 

 

mental health check

i have learned a lot of things in the past few weeks about who i should and should not be friends with. without elaborating, a friend said something in a public forum that another friend did not agree with and the that person made complaint after complaint to me about it, in such a way that she suggested it was my responsibility to fix it and undo the stress it had caused her. 

this sent me into a stress spiral, a real anxiety overload. it had nothing whatsoever to do with me, but as the days went on it was making me more and more stressed until i felt physically unwell about it with a constant headache. it was only through the help of another friend who unfortunately had to be involved, that i was able to realise that it did not concern me in the slightest and it was wrong to have been brought to my attention with those expectations in the first place. but ughhhhh. it still annoys me thinking about it.

i now feel more confident in knowing when something is not my concern - and seeing this post online this week was a real lightbulb moment for me. i often have tried and tried to be friendly with people i don't like purely because it's the "right thing to do" and i now know it is okay to walk away. there is no reason to force it and it's so much healthier for me mentally to not have to force it and feel uncomfortable the whole time! in fact, there are a few people i have given the chop since coming to this realisation and it has helped me so much!

this also spoke volumes to me when i came across it. i genuinely believe the person mentioned above who took offence at the post had felt that way, because they had been looking for the things that hurt them. it's easy to spot things that offend you, when you are always thinking of things that offend you. i really don't believe that was what had been intended by the poster and for some blasé comment that they hadn't thought much of, it had caused a world of problems for me. i now know also not to read too much into comments made by others on the internet. lot's of learning to be had here.

but in the midst of all the stress and mental discomfort for me, i came across this post (it was quite the few weeks of discovering amazing posts on social media haha). "it came to pass." this time will pass for me, just as all other things that cause me stress and anxiety will. i just need to be still, have faith and most of all have patience. and somehow, they all come to pass.

but most of all, keeping these things of stress and anxiety to myself, does not help me get through them. being brave enough to talk to others and share how i feel and how i can get through them, allows them to help me. 

this has been a rough few weeks of learning, especially about others and when they are perhaps not helping me with my struggles, and how i need to know when to make that call. it's certainly done wonders for me. thank you internet!

 

disco time

schol discos are over and done with again for another year. the kids had a great time at madeline's segment, because joseph stayed and was happy to be with her friends but oh, he did not like his part. he can be erratically shy out of nowhere sometimes, which can be a bit of a headache for us - and the school disco was one of those occasions. 

from the time we arrived, i encouraged him to go and hang out with his friends, but he was having none of it. in fact, he went and found himself a comfy spot underneath a desk, where he could observe and not participate. he was perfectly happy there, unless someone came and spoke to him, or encouraged him to come out.

the sweetest part of the disco though, was watching his sweet friend mahalia come and ask him to come out. when he shook his head and looked at the ground, she joined him. didn't say a word, just sat by him and kept him company. it really warmed my mum heart. more people in the world need to be like that. not trying to pull people out of their comfort zone, instead joining them in theirs. what a lovely, sweet girl.

maddie's disco was a riot, my crazy outgoing girl is always in the thick of it and partied it up with her friends... and then joseph was all for it and danced about too

maddie and some of her little mates ❤

and her day one girls. she has been with these girls since kindy, so i am certain they will be friends for always. madeline, brooklyn, lara and sophie

here's a shot of them back in pre-primary, with their other kindy friend charlotte (who has unfortunately left us and gone to another school), but missing lara, as she was sick that day. it's amazing how much they have changed!

long live the primary school discos. 

bookweek 2020

i loooove bookweek. well, i love books. i always have. i spent many of my years with my nose in a book - or really in multiple books. so when i became a mum and the reality of book week came around, i was so excited! until this year when madeline matter of factly informed me that she wanted to be rey from star wars. um what?! that'd not a real book. cue my eye twitching.

but as i have had a third child and started to learn not to care so much about things, i have been more okay with the random unexpected requests of my kids. cue the search for a rey costume, which was incredibly unsuccessful unless i was willing to pay more than $60. yeah nah.

thankfully uncle james came to the rescue with charlottes rey costume from a few years back, (complete with a light saber!) posted express to be here in time. then all i had to do was google rey's ridiculous hair do, which thankfully didn't end up being that hard!

ta-dah!

joseph's costume was so fun! i was amazed that he agreed to it so readily as he can be such a little fuss pot, but when i suggested the tin man from the wizard of oz, he was super keen.

every so often, my sister in law donna passes on things that belonged to her kids, my 5 nieces and nephews. this super cool suit of armour made from flattened out tin cans was one of them. it was actually so impressive, all connected and attached perfectly with snaps and pieces of leather to take it on and off. it was absolutely perfect for tin man, along with some grey clothes and a silver sprayed funnel with elastic through it to wear as a hat. he drew the line at letting us swear his face with grey eyeshadow, but happily carried the terribly misshapen axe that doug and i threw together at the last minute and i spraypainted in the backyard late at night. #mumlife. he looked adorable! he honestly is the cutest little thing sometimes.

the axe, inside to dry in the hopes it would be dry for the morning, made from an old plastic sword, some cardboard and a lot of tape. woo. 

bookweek 2020, done and dusted.

zara's birthday cake

how lucky am i?! i got another chance to go wild and decorate a fun chocolate overload cake for one of our friend marks girls. i used my go to chocolate cake and icing recipe which you can find here, it is an absolute winner.

it's such an easy cake to make too and comes out just right, time after time.

cover with chocolate cream cheese icing and then go crazy with toppings

including these chocolate lollipops i made after buying a mould on ebay during lockdown earlier this year. i am certain it's going to come in handy a lot in the future.

thankfully my mother-in-law has a stack of chocolate always on hand at her place. i popped in, chose some nice goodies, including some clinkers (to add a pop of colour!) and had the best time decorating it and tipping coloured sprinkles about the place. so fun!

happy birthday miss zara. we love you! 

alexander james: twenty-three months

somehow this kid has made it through to being twenty-three months old and is still alive. wow. look at me (i mean him haha) go!

during the past month he has

- screamed a lot 

- loved the absolute heck out of the movie moana, the toys we have and the maui hook that i bought doug in america

- drawn all over josephs wall with a permanent marker (aughhhhh)

- loves any word with the k sound: cookie, chicken, yucky...

- says rahhhhhhhh! (like a monster)

- stands on a chair and helps (hinders) me in the kitchen

- is constantly trying to escape his pram and car seat

- loves toast with butter

- calls maddie up! because she always says it to him when she wants to lift him up and give him a cuddle

- says dasssssss when he sees a hungry jacks or mcdonalds store

- stretches out his arms while wiggling his fingers saying tikka tikka tikka to make out he is tickling someone

- finally got a haircut!

he is so full of energy and so, so, so full on, but we just love him so much! ❤

alex got a haircut

alex finally had his first haircut! and now with his hair all smooth and sleek, it's hard to be believe that last week it looked like...

this. an actual birds nest on top of his head.

sticking out all over the place and driving me crazy. even messier in the morning, impossible to tame and enough was enough. i happened to walk past the local barbershop with him in a trolley while it was at his worst and couldn't take it anymore.

so in we went, the girl did some magic and i left the shop with this grown up child who looks like he's at least 2 years older than he is hahaha. but now i am kicking myself for not doing it sooner, cause every single photo of him for the last few months with the mop is killing me. 

i am loving it. hooray for a haircut!