Gardens, children, blogging etc

I've been thinking lately of maybe giving up the blog. I feel as though real life is demanding my full attention. It is sort of good therapy to write things down but it's not anonymous (I have at least one work colleague who drops in) so I don't feel I can really let rip about stuff.

I have decided to make a big effort to be with the children more and give them better experiences than watching TV while I'm blogging or playing on the computer while I'm doing the chores. I've been reading an eye opening book by Maggie Hamilton called What's Happening to Our Girls, and it has made me think more about all the negative influences of marketing, teen culture, etc that they are subjected to. I tried really hard to turn off the tv and computer on the weekend (without laying down the law as that doesn't work too well in our household). The girls had a great time drawing, playing outside more than usual and sticking together cardboard boxes and toilet rolls to make "cameras". It helped that our lovely neighbourhood girl a couple of years older than E. who visits a lot is so good at pretending and creating with them. Mind you, as I type this, the girls have been eating dinner and are now watching a DVD. Oh well....baby steps.

I went with a school mum friend to her playgroup last week. I've neglected to do stuff like that with G as with two children and a dog, I seem to have less time for regular classes etc. I was active in the Australian Breastfeeding Association when G was born so all the get togethers I went to for that served as a great social network for both of us.

My friend's playgroup met at a local beach which has mud rather than sand but the kids didn't care and had a great time. It was so wonderful to watch G running around in the fresh air with the other children and enjoying a sense of freedom while the mothers sat on our rugs and ate the morning tea leftovers.

Here's a little update from the garden. The little snowdroppy things that my mother-in-law gave me (I think she calls them "snowflakes") have come up again in the fairy garden and look gorgeous nestled in amongst the moss (and weeds).

More excitingly, I have my first buds on my lavender bush. I planted it about a year ago and had sort of given up on it. It wasn't doing much and was overshadowed by the crazy passionfruit vine on the fence and the giant geranium next to it, but suddenly I have buds and can look forward to breathing in that relaxing fragrance whenever I am out in the garden and can run my hands over it.

The petunias in the front brick garden bed which Kipper can't really get to are flowering and adding some much needed colour to the front yard.

If I do retire from blogging in the near future, I'll still be enjoying what my bloggy friends are up to, especially Tammie, who is pretty much my sole faithful reader right now (no pressure, though, Tammie!)

Time to pay some attention to those pesky children (just kidding, girls).

Fun in the sun

We went and saw the Disney Princess on Ice thingy on the weekend - a spur of the moment decision by the Daddy mostly. The plan was to perhaps just take the big girl, but I said the little girl is old enough to understand missing out on a special treat so she should go too. Just in case she couldn't sit still for a couple of hours watching various princesses skate about, both parents should perhaps go as well. So....off we all trooped. I'm not a huge fan of big moneymaking franchises aimed at children but I vastly prefer the value systems, language, and dress code of Disney princesses over Bratz and Polly Pocket so I consider Barbie and Disney the lesser of many evils. We all enjoyed the show but the best part of the day for me happened when we arrived home. It was a gorgeous sunny winter's day and some of the neighbourhood children in our cul-de-sac were out playing on the footpath. One little boy was riding his scooter in the cul-de-sac while his mum sat on a chair on the footpath watching for the unusual event of a car coming towards our end of the street. The children across the road were having their own little garage sale. E wanted to have one too, so we dragged out some small tables and chairs, some old toys and the children spent the next two hours buying each other's junk for 50c a piece while my neighbour and I sat in the sunshine and ate and chatted. It was just how I want their childhood (and my motherhood) to be. No TV. No Disney princesses. Fresh air. Children entertaining themselves. No messy house to look at. The Daddy inside having a rare moment of peace and quiet to read the paper. And it was all free (except for a few 50c coins).

The birthday girl gets a tricycle

(This photo shows the quilt my sister and friends made me as a secret wedding present)

Well, my little girl is now three! Hard to believe. It feels like the end of my "baby" era as there ain't going to be no more babies! G seems much more babyish at three than my big girl did. We don't know if it's because we have "babied" G more or whether it's just her personality. But she is definitely seeming more like a big girl now and certainly has a mind of her own! We have a lot of fun asking her questions and cracking up at her answers. You have to be careful what you ask though - Scott's family asked her yesterday "Do you love Mummy?". "Sometimes" she replied. We also asked her this week "What do you want to be when you grow up?". Usually she says "A daddy" (!!!) but the other day she said "A grown up". Maybe it was a dumb question.

I haven't downloaded any photos from her birthday yet (which she spent in some pain from a middle ear infection requiring an early morning visit from the after hours doctor, some antibiotics and an afternoon visit to the doctor as she was in heaps of pain despite copious amounts of panadol and nurofen - which I very rarely give).But here are some photos from earlier in the week when we set off to Grandma and Grandad's to receive a beautiful red and cream tricycle for the birthday girl. Happy Birthday Curly Whirl!!