My Computer is as slow as a Turtle..... and that's not a good thing!

Welcome to my new readers and apologies for there being no new blogs for a few days. Even as I am typing I am frustrated by nasty glitchy computer issues. Each word I type takes a few seconds to appear.... arrrggghhhhh! It is actually quite difficult to get a train of thought happening.

I have also been astounded by Telstra and the fact that over the last few weeks I am often without a phone for hours at a time (Once for a day and a half!!!). Considering I am the last loser in existence still with a dial-up connection, no phone line renders me internet free....... Apparently there is some fault in optic fibres or something like that.......

Anyway, I was going to talk about Christmas (surprise, surprise) and holidays and funny little things that have happened, but I don't think I can bear the slowness of my computer at this time. There is definitely something wrong.

Handy Hint Number 43: It is very useful to have a friendship with a computer expert! Help, Mr D!!!!!

Friends are friends forever...... and being Tired and Emotional!

Last night I called a friend (well two friends really, cause they're a married couple) to say hi. I hadn't spoken to this friend in at least six years!! I have, however, thought about these friends heaps in the last six years, but always not called. They have kids and I'd have many reasons not to call. I'd think: 'it's too early', 'they'll be rushing around getting ready for school', 'they'll be rushing around getting ready for dinner', 'it's too late', or the always popular 'we'll want to talk for ages and I only have a few minutes spare'. I had also started thinking I'd left it too long to call, that they might have forgotten me. When I called last night I called splat in the middle of when they would be preparing dinner. I seized the day, so to speak, and guess what, they seemed happy to hear from me, we talked for ages (as I had guessed....), and I don't think I stuffed up their night too much at all...

Handy Hint Number 41: It's never too late to call a friend. (I keep thinking of that Michael W Smith song 'A Friend's a friend forever if the Lord's the Lord of them' - hey, surely you have all realised by now that if it is cheesy secular or Christian music from the 80s, then I will know it and love it!!)

Anyway, I'm really happy I called, and hopefully they are too. (It would be pretty dodgey if they were sitting around saying 'why did she bother calling???')

You may recall Miss 3's mattress was adorned with a pungent yellow liquid the other night and her mattress has been airing (waiting for sun) in the lounge room. Her bed is currently a timber frame with timber slats, so she has been with me in my bed. Last night she kept getting out of bed, and after a few times of carrying her back into bed, I told her if she got out again she'd get a hard smack. Well out she trotted, and I said 'I hope I don't see you, because if I do you are going to get a smack. Hopefully I'm just imagining things, cause I really don't want to give you a smack.' Well, off she went.... (clever, just like her mum....)

I settled down and had dinner, cleaned kitchen, pottered around, and was watching TV when she stirred in her sleep. When I went to check her I found her not in my bed, but in her room. She had laid the hand towel from the bathroom over the timber slats, and grabbed her pillow from my room and there she lay, sleeping (HOW!!!!????) One arm was hanging through the slats, and she was soundly asleep. For the love............ !

Handy Hint Number 42: Never assume anything with kids. I told Miss 3 to go to bed, and she goes and lies on timber slats!!!!!!! (Another thing not to tell DOCS...)

Tonight I mentioned that her mattress was ready (hooray for sun!!!) and she could sleep in her bed tonight and her reply: "That's good. It wasn't very comfy last night."

Mr 2 has just arisen from his afternoon slumber. Some days he is happy as larry, and others he is a little 'Tired and Emotional' (it's a wonderful label which can explain a multitude of behaviours, including the mothers!!) I made him some fleecy wraps when he was born edged with satin ribbon, and since birth he has been comforted by the satin ribbon. He holds the ribbon between his fingers and slides them back and forth. When he was crying as a baby you would just throw a wrap in on top of him and he would grab the satin ribbon and sleep!! He still needs his wraps (he has two and needs them both!) and when he is very 'Tired and Emotional' he also needs his 'ploe' (pillow). When he is very very 'Tired and Emotional' he needs his two wraps, his pillow and his Mummy. So off I go....

Naughty Santa

Miss 3 had her preschool Christmas party today. Santa was the special guest and gave her a book ....... and I must say Santa has exceptional taste :) When I asked Miss 3 for her news of the day, and asked her about Santa, she replied with this: 'Santa got in trouble cause he was naughty. He forgot to bring a present for Olivia and Kya. I feel angry and sad at Santa.' Poor Santa. You can never please everyone! (although it's kinda nice Miss 3 cared about her little friends)

I mentioned my blog address to my minister today and he said he would be very interested to check it out to learn more about me. O....Ohhhh. I better be on my best behaviour. I probably shouldn't talk about how spunky Matthew McConaughey is and I really should try and sound mature and well-adjusted........

Too hard. Sorry Pastor M.....

A forlorn little Miss 3 woke me at 2.30am last night. It appears my vistory dance yesterday morning when she slept through the night without nappy or accident was premature.

BBaaaaBowwwwww.

(I have no handy hints today..... I need them myself!!)

Christmas!!! Have I mentioned it's the most wonderful time of the year???!!!! ;)

We have our Christmas tree.... and it looks fabulous, if I do say so myself (even if there does appear to be a slight lean......) The Christmas tree farm is no longer, so you may be relieved to know I didn't have to traipse around with an axe and fell my own tree. There was still adventure to be had in fitting the Christmas tree in my little hatchback and driving home with it sticking out the passenger window. Further adventure was had as I carried it out of the car and up the stairs of our unit and lifted it over a security gate thing (designed to stop Mr 2 falling down long flight of stairs). The kids were extremely excited by the tree and frolicked at my feet which was not such a helpful thing at the time......

Handy Hint Number 39: There is absolutely no point vacuuming your floor before carrying a real Christmas tree into your loungeroom. No point.

Anyway... it is in..... and decorated. There are three different sets of lights which is good because when you consider all the globes that are not working it adds up to the quantity of about one set of lights.

Handy Hint Number 40: It may well be wise to completely unwind the set of Christmas lights to check for broken globes before hanging them on the tree. It is not, however, wise to do this when you have young children.

May I just add that if I am ever rich I am going to have a Christmas light globe checker-er. Checking each globe to determine which one is broken would easily rank as one of the most tedious and annoying tasks in the world. For me it is up there with chopping up pumpkin as one of my pet-hates!!!

I have photographed the kids in their Santa suits and created the annual Christmas card. I went and got them printed and dropped into my dear zany crazy friend Ms E to get her opinion. Her comment: 'They're completely lame but cute'. Not perhaps the best feedback when you've stayed up to 3.30am to do it. (It wouldn't have taken so much time if I knew how to work Adobe Photoshop. A course in that is on my list of things to do.....)

Ms E redeemed herself by coming over to see the Christmas tree and cook me dinner. Yee haa! I was pretty happy! She laughed at me every time I caught a glimpse of the tree and exclaimed how beautiful it was. (By the way, don't houses look nice with all the fairy lights all over them. I wish you could have fairy lights all year round). Ms E was a little less than happy when I turned a Christmas CD on. It turns out she's not a fan of Christmas carols. She could not believe it when her new boyfriend came over and started playing the guitar to my Christmas CD and singing along. She commented that two people who she spends significant time with (me and her boyfriend) are both into Christmas carols, and it obviously proves God has a sense of humour!

OK, so my goals for the week:
Christmas tree Tick (although on a slight lean and many globes not working)
Christmas cards Tick (although apparently completely lame, and only a few have been written in so far...... and count yourself lucky if you made 'the cut' this year, due to financial constraints!!)
Christmas cakes Tick (well, they're started. The dried fruit is marinating in brandy.....)

Yes, it may be lame, but I love Christmas! (And there's nothing wrong with that!!)

Massage.......ahhhhhh............

Yesterday Miss 3 asked me to snuggle 'just for five mins' when I was trying to get her to sleep. I was actually really tired, so instead of saying no and using that time to dash around and do everything I can't do when the kids are awake, I lay down beside her for a snuggle. When she asked if she could rub cream into me, I again said 'yes' - hey, a massage is like my... kryptonite! I am powerless when a massage is suggested. Don't hate me!! She got up and got a towel for me to lie on, plus the cream, and we got ready for the massage. I ended up on my tummy with undies on, and Miss 3 rubbing cream into my back and legs, and writing letters on me.

Then I did a bad thing.

I fell asleep.

I woke up to find a little half-naked body next to me, completely covered in cream. The cream was in places several millimetres thick. She was like a little oil slick. It was almost a job for Greenpeace to de-grease her!!!!! She was a little sad because she had discovered it was hard to massage your own back. (Tell me about it!!!)

Handy Hint Number 38: According to my mother I made a fundamental mistake the first time Miss 3 massaged me by saying 'now it's your turn' after she had massaged me. Apparently mothers shouldn't let kids know it is their turn until they are at least in their teens (Mum actually said twenties, but I think that's pushing it!!)

By the way, a couple of nights ago Miss 3 looked at me and asked "Have you changed your nose?" What the..? Kids can be pretty funny.

It's the most wonderful time of the year..............

If you guys have ever head Amy Grant's Christmas album (which is on heavy rotation in my home, cause, hey.... Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year) you will be able to sing the title of this blog in your head! Since I last wrote we have started to Christmas-fy the unit. The balcony is wrapped in Christmas lights, there are a couple of light silhouette things in the front window, stockings are hanging. We do not have a Christmas tree yet though. A girlfriend from church and I are going to traipse into a forest and chop one down, and then squeeze it into my hatchback car (complete with two carseats containing two children in the back seat). It shall probably be a little squishy. (For those of you concerned about environmental type regulations, let me reassure that it is a Christmas tree farm we are going to - and hopefully they supply the axe.)

Every time Mr 2 hears a Christmas song, or sees a Christmas decoration or Christmas lights he exclaims: "Meemas". He even exclaimed it the other night when a police car went zooming past with its lights flashing.

Handy Hint Number 35: As a parent you are the one responsible for starting the majority of your children's Christmas traditions. Be careful what traditions you start!!!! You only have yourself to blame ten years down the track when you decide you want to do something a different way to have your children say 'but it's not tradition..........'

This week I have several Christmas goals to accomplish. I am chopping down a Christmas tree, I'm going to start soaking fruit in brandy for Christmas cakes, and it's time for the annual 'dress the kids in Santa suits, take 50 photos in the hope that one will work, and turn said photo into a Christmas card'. My kids are really going to hate me when they are teenagers!! (that's one tradition they will probably let me forget about!!!)

I sometimes feel like Miss 3 is already hitting her teenage years. She may be 3 going on 13! She was not happy with me the other day for some reason, possibly to do with my wanting her to wear sensible footwear, and her not! She stood hands on hips and said, quite forcefully: "I'm not happy. I'm very cross!'. Mr 2 looked a bit shocked and she straight away went to him, put her arm around him and said 'It's not you, little one, it's just my Mum.'

She is quite amazing with her little brother. They absolutely love each other. They play well together, they share beautifully; she is protective of him, he is protective of her (I am sometimes cast as the evil enemy!!!) If she is upset Mr 2 goes up to her and pats her and says 'You OK? You OK?' After her day at preschool they fly into each other's arms and hug as though it has been years. The other day at swimming lessons Miss 3 was in the water about to start swimming and she suddenly got out of the water and ran towards Mr 2 and I. The teacher told me 'She said she forgot to kiss her little brother goodbye.'

One night several months ago Miss 3 was in my bed, and Mr 2 was crying in his cot and Miss 3 called for me. When I got to the door she said "I think [Mr 2] needs me. Can I have him in here with me?" I thought to myself, why not!? I put Mr 2 in bed with Miss 3 and (after a fair amount of frivolity) they fell asleep in each other's arms. All through winter I just put them straight into bed together and they would laugh and chat, and Miss 3 would sing lullabies to Mr 2, and pray with him. To say I feel blessed in my kids would be an understatement!!! I have alot of photos of them curled in each other's arms asleep!

Handy Hint Number 36: When pregnant with your second (or 3rd or 4th etc) child, prepare your first child for the birth of the baby by telling them how lucky they are, reinforce what a wonderful thing it is for them to have a brother or sister. Only tell them good stuff. Don't tell them stuff like 'don't feel like mummy doesn't love you, cause I always will' or stuff like that, cause it sounds like you are saying the right thing, but you're actually setting your child up to feel like there is a reason for them to feel unloved or lacking in attention or jealous of a sibling.

I hope that makes sense, cause it's a bit hard to explain. As an example, I got 'The Lion King' for the kids, and sat down to watch it with them for the first time, and suddenly realised that it is all about the Lion King's brother being jealous and hating his brother and plotting to kill him. So I turned it off, and will introduce ideas like that to the kids when they are a bit older. They at this stage don't have any idea about being jealous of each other and if they occasionally battle for a toy, they always kiss and say sorry (generally without prompting from me). It doesn't make any sense for me to show them a movie like that.

Handy Hint Number 37: The first time you show your kids a DVD, make sure you sit down and watch it with them. Even G rated films often have bits that can be hard for litle kids to understand. You can explain bits they don't understand and simplify parts that could be scary or sad. If a part comes up in the movie that is too scary just skip that scene and explain it's not suitable for them. Kids are so cluey. (My kids now say "Quick Mum, it's not soo-ble")

You may be worried that my kids are watching terrible movies. They aren't. Here's what they are allowed to watch:

Hi-5 - they are awesome. Both kids get up and dance and sing along.
The Wiggles - I'm not too rapt in them but Mr 2 likes them. (I'm a Hi-5 girl!)
Playschool
Finding Nemo - the shark and swordfish scenes can be scary for littlies.
Babe - very cute
Singing in the Rain - hey the kids like the dancing
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron - this is an absolutely gorgeous movie (known as 'the horsie movie' in our home)
Racing Stripes
Cars - fantastic and adults should love it too...
Shrek 1 and 2 - both have some scary bits to explain, but still fun.
The Man From Snowy River - what can I say? The kids like horsie movies. Mr2 is scared at the beginning when they are chopping tree down with axe and then it falls (I guess I better remember that when Christmas tree chopping!!) and I skip a couple of chapters where there is yelling and fighting.
Black Beauty - new version. We watch the first half and then I turn it off. The second half is very sad, lots of cruelty. Even I felt upset at some of it :(

We have rented some other movies.
Beauty and the Beast is the favourite.
Sleeping Beauty - there is a lot fundamentally wrong with this movie (like a girl being married off on her 16th birthday by her father who wants grandkids straight away!). I skipped about seven chapters in a row (cause Maleficicent the evil fairy is frankly too scary for a 2 year old!), and I am not all together thrilled at encouraging Miss 3 to wait for the classic 'knight in shining armour' thing, so tend to steer her away from all the 'Barbie' movies. She will have enough 'does he like me? Why doesn't he like me?' when she gets to high school. Hey, I still have it!!!! ;)
Robots - fun but scary in parts
Madagascar - didn't grab kids or me at all.

And now for some adult movies. That's movies for adults, not well ... you know...."Adult movies".
You Me and Dupree - I kind of liked it. I'm not really sure though. Kate Hudson looks good.
The Lake House - I expected this to be lame and I really loved it. Really really loved it. It's a new release with Keanu and Sandra and no speed! Very thought provoking and quite emotionally involving (I cried...)
Garden State - a really interesting and quite funny movie written, directed and starring Zach Braff (from Scrubs). It's quirky, but has excessive and unnecessary swearing. So much swearing it's almost painful actually!

Well I was going to add a couple of photos, but have spent way too much time doing this and have to go to bed!! Sleep well......