April Fools Day ...

It's April Fools Day and I just realised that I forgot to trick The Fashionista before I dropped her off at the bus stop this morning, so I decided that I would simply have to text her and this is what has transpired ...
 
Now first of all we have a painter in doing the spare room, bathroom, hallway off her bedroom, etc. at the moment. It's quite early and he isn't here yet but that didn't stop me.

Me: "Sonny tripped and got paint all over you room!!! So cross right now"
 
TF: "Over the carpet or walls????"
 
Me: "Both!!! Bookshelf, door, wall!!!!"
 
TF: "On my stuff?"
 
TF again: "I'll murder him"  (someone needs some sleep ... )
 
TF again: "What was he doing in my room anyway?"
 
Me: "little bit ... it's 'mostly' coming off" (I was replying to the first line with my old lady fingers but she was firing them through)

TF: "Brilliant! Just great!"

Me: "by the way Happy Aril Fools Day. :p "

Weighing In

Recently I had to change the batteries in my scales and ended up leaving them in the kitchen as the whole household wanted to use them.

This is what I woke to this morning ...

Apparently the bubble wrap should make the weighing in more fun ... thank you Agent Smelly you never cease to amaze me.

The Fashionista farewells the Tooth Fairy ...

Now of course my children understand there is no tooth fairy but even so this has not stopped either myself or the kids still indulging in a little bit of fun and make believe. My girls tell me I am a nut but, they simply love it and I enjoy bringing laughter into their lives.


Well last Saturday morning The Fashionista had to have her last baby tooth removed. It has been loosely hanging for the past week (perfect timing with starting school) and kept bleeding whilst she ate. I tried pliers much to her horror but was unsuccessful and thought a professional might be best under the circumstances. Not to mention she kept running away whenever she saw me coming near her ... haha


Now TF is petrified of the dentist (no idea why there have been no bad experiences) and was starting to make a few whimpers in the dentist chair so I kept talking to her to keep her calm and somehow ended up saying that if she was really brave then the 'tooth fairy' would bring her $10 because it was her last tooth ... the things we say and do!  Anyway she was really good about getting it out and afterwards had to clamp down on medical padding for nearly 3 hours afterwards as the darn area kept bleeding. She remained quite calm and good about it all, so she definitely deserved a treat.

So I not only popped $10 into her little white 'April' jar that we have used over the years for her teeth and dusted glitter, pink of course, but wrote 'bye' in it (hey this is her last visit) with a trail to one of her beautiful faeries made by Wildflower Innocence.  Yup that's the kind of person I am. She of course loved it and when I suggested she could wipe it up now, she said "Noooo, it's too cute". She did remove her cash and stash it though.


So my first baby has now lost all of her baby teeth (and apparently requires braces due to over crowding ... sigh ... kaching, kaching) yet another sign that she is maturing into a young lady.


Funnily enough Agent Smelly was at a birthday party whilst we were at the dentist and came home with one of her front teeth that had fallen out whilst chewing a 'skittle'.


By the way if you order a doll (check out her site as there are all kinds of dolls, not just faeries) from the talented Suzanne at Wildflower Innocence, let her know we sent you, she's a friend and a homeschooler too!  Which reminds me I must ask her about some Easter bunny dolls for the little Misses.

Agent Smelly's Black Eye

We had our Kiwi Family Christmas picnic yesterday. We have it near the beach at a wonderful national park. We all bring food and  take games along for the kids and adults to play. If the weather isn't too bad we even have a dip ... well usually just the kids do.

Whilst the girls were playing swing ball / totem tennis, The Fashionista accidently hit Agent Smelly with her plastic racket which we heard about on the way home, again and again and again. It was nearly a 2 hour trip so you can imagine! She was bucking for sympathy and for us to stop and get her some KFC (which she didn't get as Mama has gone vegetarian!) 

Apparently not enough sympathy was shown so she thought it necessary to get up early this morning, pop eye shadow around the side of her head and eye where the racket apparently connected and freak the shit out of her sister! Even Daddy fell for it too.

I was fortunate enough to have a lie in, so when I saw it later that morning, I just cracked up laughing ... much to daddy and The Fashionista's horror. Until I pointed out to them, that it was simply eye shadow!

Agent Smelly was quite proud of herself ... the evil, little monster! She had them going all morning, feeling worried, getting her breakfast and running around after her. Where does she come up with ideas like this ... am still laughing later in the day.

Male Logic

The Mama: Hun I think I need to go for another eye test. I am not seeing as well as I used to. I can't even see the TV screen in our bedroom properly at night, even with my glasses on. It's just a total blur.

The Papa after a few minutes: Maybe we should simply get a bigger TV for the bedroom.

Granted it is a small wall TV but that my peeps is male logic!

A funeral and a wake ...

The girls are visiting Grannie J and I just rang to see how it's going and to confirm when it would be convenient to pick them up.

I was surprised to learn that I'd just interupted a wake. The three of them were happily indulging in biscuits, cake and cups of tea. Of course this wake was news to me and I had to ask for whom it was being held ... apparently they had just held a funeral outside for a praying mantis that they'd caught this morning.

They all said a few words and buried him (apparently they had decided it was a boy) in the garden.

Grannie quite happily participates in all their imaginative "games" fully. I hope the neighbours weren't listening over the fence ... goodness knows what they would have heard!

Friday Funnies

Agent Smelly was not eating her soup for dinner as she didn't like it! She can be a bit of a pain on occasion and tells you she's full when it is not something she really wants to eat. If it was something I knew she really oculdn't eat of course I wouldn't make her but she's been trying this on a bit lately and then half an hour later she ends up begging for something to eat, cause she is suddenly hungry and it is usually something sweet that she wants.

So rather than sitting there all night, or getting into an argument, I sat down beside her and smiled and sweetly said "if you are going to be a baby I'll treat you like one" and I picked up the spoon and started feeding her.

Her eyes widened and we both started smiling, and she actually sat there and ate it. My mum mentioned once that sometimes children are simply too tired or lazy to eat and I think she probably felt this way today, who knows. 

Unfortunately I decided to make a choo choo noise just like when she was little, and as I placed the soup in her mouth I toot tooted which made her burst into a big laugh and that was how I ended up with pumpkin soup all over my face and dripping off my glasses.

To make matters worse, as we all sat there laughing she was "Oh no-ing" and trying to be helpful and wipe the soup away with her serviette which was just making things worse as I ended up not being able to see anything with glasses covered in pumpkin soup.

Next time I may just let her go to bed on an empty stomach!

Friday Funnies

I did a Juicing workshop last week on one of the Papa's days off and was gone for most of the day.

This is what I came home to ...

Yes they are Agent Smelly's feet sticking out of my coffee table ... where there are supposed to be drawers!

This is from the other side ... she was watching TV! When I asked her why she had removed the drawers and was inside my coffee table she replied that she used to do it as a little girl and had wondered if she still could.

Of course, why hadn't I realised that. Just when you think they are growing up they go and do something like this!

Friday Funnies

We have been studying poetry this year and Agent Smelly, whilst not exactly a gifted poet, has taken to writing little poems in her spare time. She has, shall we say a rather unique style, which I thought I'd share with you cause they simply crack me up.

The cheeky genius 

There was a genius,
 He was quite cheeky,
 He was a rascal,
 And he was sneaky.   

 

 

White Fluffy Feet

 

There once was a little hamster with white fluffy feet,

And a poodle ran down the plain old street,

And the hamster looked at it for a while

and then the poodle said to it

"Who you lookin' at?"

 

 

and one of my faves ... cause what goes through this kids mind????

 

 

Love of Another

 

Love of another, that love is for you,

I am your lover, and how about you?

 

I gave my heart to thee,

and you looked at me and gave me a kiss ...

but then I realised it was only to make me shut-up!

 

 

This week I received an email from her, asking if I'd like be added to her mailing list and she'd send me two new poems every Friday. Of course I jumped at the chance ... goodness knows what gems of wisdom I'll receive!

 

Friday Funnies

Last weekend we attended a beautiful wedding in Auckland City. The bride had some relatives come all the way from the UK for the wedding.

One of them was a 12 year old girl, so The Fashionista was introduced to her and they struck up a conversation for much of the evening, which was rather nice.

The Papa and I were vastly amused when not long after she met the young lass, from Stratford upon Avon, she came running over to tell us that the lass had actually been too the church where Shakespeare was buried.  She couldn't have been more excited. 

Hello ... NERD ALERT!

Friday Funnies

I told Agent Smelly that her Brownie Leader had told me how pleased she had been with her this week. Apparently she had done the dishes and cleared up before even being asked.

When I told her what had been said to me, she replied in her earnest little voice "oh that's so good to hear mum. I really was trying to be good and helpful. I am the oldest Brownie there now, so I am trying to be more mature".

All of nine and trying "to be more mature" ... I hid my smile and simply nodded understandingly.

She's just so pleased to be the oldest and most senior in the group now.

Friday Funny

The Fashionista was having a chat with me and said ... "Mum I just love Irish accents so much. You know I think I could marry a leprechaun!"

Agent Smelly, who walks in right on the last sentence, says "Don't worry Sis, I know your short but you wont need to marry a leprechaun".

The Fashionista ... splutter, splutter, splutter!

er that's Bliss Balls dear!

Earlier today I told the girls that I was going to make us some "nut free Bliss Balls".

The Fashionista looked at me in horror and said "really?"

Anyway to cut a long story short ... she thought that I had said that I was going to make "nut free Piss Balls" and was understandably a little horrified at the thought ...

 

Bliss with a B ... Balls

(Makes approx 30 balls)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1 cup dried apricots
• 1/4 cup dried prunes
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp Acai Berry Powder (optional)
• 2 tsp cacao (or cocoa)
• approx 1/3 - 1/2 cup dessicated coconut for rolling the balls in.

Method:

1. Whizz all the ingredients together in a food processor until it becomes sticky (takes a while, so be patient) and is easy to form into balls.
2. Roll the balls (about the size of large marbles) in coconut, and then put into airtight container in fridge.
3. Hide them from the husband and kids who can't believe they are healthy!!!

You don't need to stick too carefully to the recipe. You can substitute dried fruits quite easily and also sometimes your dried fruit can be juicier than other times, so it can be a bit of a guessing game.

Phoeneys Courageous Combat

Recently I started following a page on Facebook called Phoeneys Courageous Combat. Phoeney is a just a wee baby girl who at 18 months old was diagnosed with an aggressive childhood cancer, Neuroblastoma.

Only last week this little darling went through a ten hour surgery, (was only supposed to be six) to have her tumour removed! I seriously do not know how her Mama and Papa survived the day. She came through the op and all went well but has since suffered a little setback with something called Chyle Leakage, which means staying in hospital for another 4-6 weeks.  

This little bubba has quite captured my heart and her Mama recently mentioned that her little one loves horses ... hmmm, what two girls do you know that also are mildly horse obsessed?

So I showed my girls Phoeney's facebook page and then suggested to them that they might like to gift some of their horsie stuff to Phoeney. They were absolutely thrilled with the idea and took off to their rooms like shots. They got very excited and bought out some things for Phoeney. I popped down to the Post Shop to grab a post bag and got the biggest I could find (stuffed horses are a bit bulky). Imagine to my surprise when I got home and found even more stuff on the floor. I did laugh and make them put some aside as we couldn't fit it all in.

There was not even time to get out of their PJ's ... packages had to be wrapped. We went with tissue paper, after checking that Phoeney was up to unwrapping pressies.


Whilst I was nearby in the kitchen and the girls were brushing and plaiting pony hair and wrapping them, I overheard The Fashionista say "You know this is a lot of fun" and Agent Smelly replied, "Yeah, you know doing it for another person is cool". I was so very pleased that they were learning so much from this simple excercise.

Once the package was packed and all ready to go, TF said "we should do this more often" and then they both asked if they could to which of course I said yes.


If you'd like to follow Phoeneys-Courageous-Combat then just click on the page link. I am sure her Mama would appreciate the extra encouragement and strength that people around the world share with her.

Flippies with Love

Look what arrived in the mail, for us girls, all the way from Australia today.

These "flippies" were hand knit by one of my dearest friends of over 25 years, who simply made them for us because she "lurves" us. Aren't they the best pressies, just those one's that say "thinking of you". Right back at yah babe!

Are they not gorgeous and perfect for this cooler weather? Bet you are all "totes" jealous now of our toastie tootsies!

Not to be outdone, Scruffie had to have his photo taken in a pair. That dog; such a camera hog!

Friday Funnies

Woke this morning with one of those husky voices you get when you've had a cold thinking I sounded "all that"! C'mon some of you ladies know what I mean.

 

Then I answered the phone and was chatting away when the person on the other end of the phone suddenly said "oh I hadn't realised it was you, I thought it was the Papa"!

 

Suddenly not feeling all "Jessica Rabbit sexy" anymore ...

Friday Funny

Just heard Miss nearly 9 practicing her guitar and was feeling quite pleased til I realised what she was playing and singing ...

 "Oh, the cow in the meadow goes moo,
Oh, the cow in the meadow goes moo.
Then the farmer hits him on the head and grinds him up,
And that's how we get hamburgers."

Thank you Phoebe Buffay!

Friday Funny

Conversation just had at the dinner table over roast vegetable medley ... 

 "Yuk parsnip is disgusting"

"Agreed, next time just leave it out"

"Mum, Dad, stop whining and just eat your parsnip, it's yummy and is good for you!"

Thank you Miss 11 ... you know there's something not quite right in this house.

Friday Funnies

The Fashionista suggested making breakfast in bed for her dad.

I said that's "nice sweety but he'll be up shortly. It's his last shift day so he wont have time to lay in bed to eat".

She said "Awww but I thought that would make him happy".

I was thinking she was SOOOOO sweet until she followed up with "and we really need him in a good mood if we are going to ask him for that puppy we saw yesterday".

Friday Funnies

Arrived home from the hairdressers after having loads of my hair chopped off.

It's now shoulder length and because it's been layered it it has gone rather curly. 

Agent Smelly told me that it looks like her hair did when she was was little, except that I still look really old! 

Such a cherub!!!!