L9's Game

L9 invented his own lego game.

 It's very complicated.

 But we all managed to play. It's a team game he tells us. 

Still, I like it because I won. 

Drinking Coconut

I saw something called a drinking coconut at the supie today. It had the husk removed and the picture showed two straws happily in a hole on the top. I'm not sure how you were supposed to make that picturesque hole though. Those buggers are tough. In the end we went with the electric drill. 

 Worth it though. Nyum.

 Except of course, there's always one who doesn't like it. Too sweet was the verdict from P6. Weirdo.

 L9  loved it though, and then got to smash out some aggression to open it afterwards.

Really though, wearing that suit? He should be doing it with his bare hands.

Special Legs

L9 is growing like a piece of spaghetti. We had to buy new soccer boots and club socks the other day, so he wanted to try them out tonight. I love the way the socks are almost sheer, and he pulls them up over his knees like elegant stockings. I guess it stops those knobblies bumping. And as for the colour of the boots. . .  it has to be seen to be believed.

Impasto Gel Transfer

Had my first go at impasto gel transfer with a picture of a princess that P6 did a while back. All went well except just on the face, where I buggered it up. Gah! 

Escape

Geeky Husband and I managed to escape Real Life and leave L&P with grandparents (thanks M&B) while we snuck down country to visit a tattoo show. GH wore his most street cred-y top. P6 likes to read it out loud: "Zombies eat the living. Brains, brains, brains. . . "

 Here he posed surreptitiously for me so I could get a pic of the rockabilly caravan. Damn that annoying passer-by. They were doing 50s updos with the tied-on-top bandana. I need to grow my hair now, to get the two curls on top thing happening.

 There was a man who painted in his own blood. He could paint, sure, but ewwww, nasty gimmick.

Oh and lookie. Managed to go to a tattoo show and not take a single tattoo-focused pic. Ah well. As GH pointed out, tattoos are like children - your own seem absorbingly fabulous, but everyone else's are just a tad naff.

Gollum?

Nah, this is L9 watching TV. We stayed up for a Friday night treat. I cooked rice and krupuk, and we bought salted squid and sweet and sour pork from our Hong Kong local. MMMMmmmm. If you ever come visit me, let's get salted squid. I don't even do fish and I love it. Grease. And salt. Mmmm.

Combine that with the good old Fatso DVD of The Story Of Science and you have a happy family of geeks. Turns out that Tycho Brahe owned an elk . See right. ------>

Had to pause it to exclaim (L9 doesn't let us talk during docos) I was so excited. Tycho Brahe's elk got drunk and fell down the stairs. I'm quite sure if I had an elk, I wouldn't let that happen. 

This year at school L9 has a new friend, whose namesake we learnt about on TSOS. A week or so ago he told me that they did research together in the school library trying to find out how all life began, so that they could work out the probability of life on other planets. I asked what the teacher had set as a task, but it turns out this was lunchtime fun. Heh. Boys are cute.

Pencils and Rubbers

I set up a writing centre this morning. P6 labelled it for me:

and then drew such a freaky picture at bedtime, that she had to have it removed from her room, because it scared her:

I often scare myself too P6. 

Just Call Me Freakishly Awesome Aunty Fluff Today

Honestly, I could split today up into about four posts and you'd still think I was an uber-person, but I managed to do all this while spending the day sitting on the couch eating bon-bons, as Geeky Husband would say.

First, I tackled the glut of tomotoes from the garden. Usually at this time of plenty I get bored of them, and anything too manky to chop in a salad gets ignored, or more likely, collected into a bowl in the kitchen, then left to rot till there's a swarm of fruit flies congragating. But lo - cooking into sauce and freezing in useful pop-some-nourishment-into-a-mid-winter-dinner-ice-cubes happened!

Then I whipped up another cotton skirt - this time a pleasingly crisp pear print. (Pic courtesy of P6 - pic taking skills remarkably similar to GH)

Then, while still on a production roll, I used the off-cuts to whip one up for P6 too. The accessories styling was her idea after I asked to take a pic of the skirt.

Hers is a tad short, not only because she wasn't home while I made it and I still think of her as my baby, but also because it was a bit of a squish. Using off-cuts for a younger child was no problem, but my lanky six year old is getting so big!

Yeah, poses were all her ideas too.

And last, but most importantly, I finally did it! Been thinking for ages about opening a felt.co.nz shop, but had all those nagging fears and doubts - what if nothing sells? what if people buy stuff then hate it and complain? what if  blah blah? Actually, too bad! Ha ha!

Here's my felt shop - auntyfluff (it's a Sebbism of an old Mollism). Squee!

Going All Prehistoric

My children have a new hobby - flint making. Or generally smashing rocks with other rocks. They are cautious types though, so wear goggles for eye protection. Here P6 tries to crack a rock using a stick. There's a plan that's doomed to failure if ever there was one.

Zauberball Socks

Finally. I had to redo the heel of the first one three times over New Years, and eventually counted right at the top of the Takaka Hill, waiting to trudge through the caves. I really didn't want almost matched socks, so I wound half the ball backwards. Then I was so paranoid about running out that I made them too short, and got two annoying colour jogs where all the fancy change is on the heel.  But who cares?! Hand knit socks for winter! Hand knit clown socks - even better. 

Baby Shower Day

I went to a baby shower, so I'm feeling all domestic. I didn't take any pics, but here, have you seen the new raspberry ice Kitchenaid?

I saw one, in the flesh, the other day. Well, in the metal maybe. I still enjoy just coveting it because honestly, I could never choose the right colour. But the raspberry ice is pretty up there.

oo - just noticed it matches my skirt from yesterday. Definitely a sign ;)

No Zombies Today

It was a super sunny day, so I really should have been in the catastrophically overgrown garden, but it was too hot to garden. I really wanted to spend the day making zombies, but stupid old Spotlight doesn't bother to stock black or white felt. How can I make disgusting creatures in baby pink and green?? Grrrrr.

However, since I was there, they did have a gorgeous pink and purple 70's cotton drill. . . so I decided instead to make another of my ubiquitous rollover waistband skirts. As usual, the body dysmorphic thing kicked in and I was paranoid  that I would cut it too small to cover my ample bot, so instead I made it first too big, felt dissatisfied, then took it all to pieces and remade it 2cm smaller. Which made it correspondingly shorter, since I'm the kind of girl that cuts the whole seam out, rather than unpicking.

I also think the print is upside down. But still, it's cute. I'm happy.

Yes, I sucked in really hard to get that pic.  ;)

Because of the aforementioned sunshine, Geeky Husband made us icy Margaritas.

P6 is feeling better (she's been coldy) and L9 lego-ed all day. Wins all around.

Zombie Felties

My new love. Well, my new library book anyway.

 Terrible pics, but I'm quite taken with the zombie undertaker, especially the pearly maggots in his exposed brain.

 P6 loves the zombie bride, and asked if we could make her together.  Ooops. Bad parenting again. It's so easy to slip into.

There's even a zombie fairy, and just for nova, a folklore zombie. I'm not quite sure Mr Steiner would approve though.

Forgiveness

Eeeeep! Sorry Vanilla Bean! I accidentally shut her tail in the hinge of the door. Youch! She walked with it bent for a while, but seems fine now. Do you think she still loves me? She's sideways because I took the pic of her trying to climb up me to settle in for a snooze, so I think I'm forgiven. 

We also need a bit of forgiveness and forgetting in the family after a ghastly evening with L9 yesterday. I read a good term for it today, which turns out to be a Dr. Phil-ism - blerg - but even so, I like it. Commando parenting. Some kids can be nudged, others need commando parenting. That's it in a nutshell. He can be stubborn, but I can be more stubborn.

I always secretly knew that my stubborn streak was a positive personality trait. Various family members may disagree. I just won't hit publish on their comments ;-)

Making

Today I made myself a wearable top. 

It's called New Look 6892 Easy - 2 Hour. I think that's because New Look 6892 Kinda Confusing So You'll Have To Make Some Stuff Up - Takes All Blinking Day wouldn't be such a seller. Although it would be more truthful.

I do hereby solemnly swear never to wear it with the skirt I made from the same material (it was cheap, and it has bootiful 70s flars on it) no matter what fashion advice my daughter gives me. Amen.

Happy Valentine's Day

We had chocolate hearts on chocolate pudding, because we all heart chocolate:

 and P6 made a Valentine's Flag for a surprise:

Doesn't every special day require its own flag?

We Made It!

Geeky Husband and I have been married for ten years today. 

Must be time for a change eh? (He tells me that joke is tired. Joke what?)

Any celebratory plans we had were ruined by a lurgy that has passed through the family this weekend. Ah well, we'll just have to postpone the celebrating until after the next ten I guess.

Something Cute On A Rainy Day

It was rainy and blah, and I didn't take pics. I could have shown you my evil chicken with her new egg-eating habit. Gah! Imagine that. What do I do with her now? I have to keep her apart from her mates, or she eats their eggs too. She picked up this habit when I changed her pellets, and she didn't like the new ones. Picky chicky. I can't sell her now "For Sale - One chicken. Eats own eggs. Little feeding required". 

Or I could show you my almost completed, taking forever, summer zauberball knitting project. But almost completed probably takes the thrill out of the completed photo. 

So instead, here's some cuteness I found in P6's school bag the other day. One of her school friends made her a workbook to take home. Or a wookc boock. 

 There's lots of cryptic activities:

 And much love:

Cuteness.

Decoding individual words from human superior temporal gyrus

No way! <---that's a link in case you missed my delicate pink.

Yes way. They can read your thoughts.

Geeky husband told me about this over dinner and I didn't believe him. Is it worrying that we both thought Eeep! What a ghastly invasion of privacy! Your thoughts are no longer solely your own. Kinda good if you are in a paralyzing coma, but still, the situation is rife for social blunder. . .

One For Mutti's Photo Frame

Mutti is updating the obligatory grandmotherly photo frames of the grandchildren, but somehow doesn't have one of P6. I can't have been doing my job properly at all. How's this:

or this with tidy hair even:

or we could just be honest about reflecting reality of course:

This Is What Good Mummies Do. . .

Awwww, sweet! We got two lovely thank you notes from two adorable little nieces in the UK. So impressive. Totally made my day, and L&P's too. We miss you A&E!

However, while P6 would happily reciprocate, the thought of trying to coax L9 into writing a letter is not for the fainthearted, and I throw my Good Mummy badge away before I'm brave enough to try that one.

I did make him do his times tables though. It was his homework, and he told me they had to choose one to write out at school and that's the one they were learning. He chose the eights. "Eights?!" I exclaimed, unable to hide my horror. Who chooses the eights? I hardly know my eights. Handily I live in the age of google, so I downloaded a practice sheet and left him to it.

Anyway, he happily informed me that 8 x 8 = 64 is a very nice clean number, so it's easy to remember. We like those clean ones.

Homegrown Tomatoes

This is my wholesome picture for today. 

My real picture for today is of my toilet. Because there's a battery in my toilet. Just one of those button ones, but still. Who has been eating batteries, and why won't it flush?

I should put the picture up, but ewww, I just can't bring myself to share my loo. The reason I really should share it is that Geeky Husband was brave enough to fish the battery out of the toilet, but when he showed me the spoils, I exclaimed "No, I was going to blog it!" so he lovingly threw it back in the toilet, knowing full well he was going to have to fish it out again once I took the pic. Nice huh? And I did take the pic, but I still can't share it.

The tomatoes are more picturesque.

My life is maybe a little dull now my kids are at school all day, I'll admit.

It Was 20 Years Ago Today.

There was once a handsome young prince, who met a beautiful princess. . . 

Happy anniversary Iz and L. Clearly married before we kept our photos digitally if this is the best I could do ;-)

Vanilla Bean

as drawn by L9

(He so rarely draws - especially without a ruler - I have to blog it.)

Healthy

Mutti is back home from hospy, and we rode bikes. All good and healthy :) 

(I know that helmet is shonky. Can't seem to fix it. I think he's just got a wonky head.)

Anxious

We all had an anxious day today, worrying about our Mutti, who isn't well. On a scary day there's nothing like a sweet little P6 face to come home to for a cuddle.

This isn't today's pic, but some days aren't really photo taking days. We love you Mutti! Get well soon.

Teamwork

Her idea:

 His execution:

 A baby swing for toys:

And Dad helped by drinking the cider ;)