fun crafty finds at your local shopping centre

Greetings all,
End of January i picked up these cool tapes & stamps from Typo.  It's so great to see shops like these at your local shopping centre, expanding into the craft world with supplies like this - moustache tape, what's not to love??!!

 The tape which didn't photograph well has birds on it, kind of like the bird ribbon from Kikki-K.

Oh the things i have in stall for these crafty supplies . . . can't believe i didn't blog about them sooner??!!  I'll get sewing production style once my studio make over is done (i've cleared out the half of the studio to create an extra bedroom) but i have a head cold & itchy throat - nothing major, just annoying really.  I can't wait to use my new pigeon hole book case (a freebie) & fill every boxed in shelf with craft supplies, oh, life changing it will be!!
So i don't feel like hand sewing tonight, i left my camera at Shop Handmade with my weekend shots & i wanted to share something cool which happened to me today too . . . next post.  So i'm going to watch the Oscars & fall asleep early.  Happy frock knocking (Cate Blanchett, only you could make that dress so stunning, your confidence & sense of style, oh, sheer brilliance & grace).  Love Posie

mother guilt - why it's a waste of time

Greetings all,
i've been pondering an angle on this topic for a while, i loathe the expression 'mother guilt' & i think it's a complete waste of time.  You do what you do as it's best for your family, so why feel guilty about that.  Who are you comparing yourself to & do you think they are judging you anyway??  No one knows your real, true, honest home life - if you're a working mother, or at home, or combination of both, whatever, it's each to their own.
Do your children suffer??  Just ask, they'll tell you & it might give you a chance to explain the situation so they understand better.  If you work you might miss an open classroom/ concert, if you're at home you might not be able to afford piano/ karate lessons - i'm sure they'll still grow up to achieve great things in life, regardless of the damage you might feel you're doing in the moment. 

My situation, we live a simple life so i can be a housewife (10 years & counting), i have the education & could work in well paid fields, but i LOVE being at home with the children, i'm the constant parent as my husband is away so often.  We have chosen Canberra schools & stability over moving to Brisbane with my husband for 3 years, that might sound insane & unimaginable, but my husband is going back to war, he can focus on training & he'll be away regardless of where we live.  I have been drawing an income from my design business for a decade & it's been a financial life saver.  I'm lucky i can fit it all in, i'm hyper organised & family comes first, especially with teenagers on the horizon.

On to mother guilt - wow, first up, i refuse to let my husband have father guilt as he is providing for our family & i won't bang on about servicemen, but his sense of responsibility is incredible.  I encouraged him to join the Army, everything we do it a joint decision.  He is a fantastic hands on husband & father when he's home, it's quality parenting, no guilt required. 

So based on my situation, because it's my blog . . . i'm a housewife, my children know if they forget sports gear/ homework/ show&tell/ assembly/ canteen/ concert/ carnivals/ excursions/ class craft/ reading/ sick bay - i'm willing, able & available to be there (& remind them about responsibility).  Sounds like i'm one dedicated mother right??  I used cloth nappies, breastfed, made organic food; taught them to swim, count & the alphabet; first steps, words, teeth, immunisations; i bake, grow vegetables, sew; i haven't missed a minute.  We've had zero hiccups with health, sibling rivalry, moving houses, bullying, academics - i talk to them, nurture them, listen to them, cuddle them, read to them, love them.  A+ parenting??  I thought i was pretty close, until this enlightening converstaion with my first born today . . . made me think 'perception is reality, but by GOD i'm going to adjust her reality for her'.  

Children have selective memories so go toss that guilt you're holding on to, they either don't care or won't remember what you missed or the effort you put in.  

My eldest daughter is off to her first high school swimming carnival, they apparently dress up.  I pulled a vintage T from my collection which is perfect for the 'theme' (considering she’s swimming, I thought it pointless to go in full costume) & she asked if she might get in trouble with the Tshirt effort.  I said, “I’ll be there if there are any issues”.  Well, cue the brewing-teenage-angst . . . “you’ve never come to a swimming carnival before”.  Sorry WHAT??  I have been to EVERY SINGLE athletics, cross country, concert, special assembly & swimming carnival EVER.  To me it’s the whole point of being a stay at home mother, you are available for every event, dress in team colours, pay your entry, sit in the seering heat or freezing cold, then leave with exhausted children wrapped in towels or blankets, times 4 children.  Alas, I’ve never seen our eldest swim at a carnival??!!

I volunteer/ marshall at these events & you follow the programme so you can watch your child race . . . she's forgotten that i've been there to cheer her on & hug her wet body when she finishes each race!!  Huh??  Last year as mother of the house captain i made pom poms & took balloons, i fended off buying junk food from the on site canteen for her friends & took home stray children for an impromtu sleepover - nup, all forgotten!!

FYI as i write this post she's at her *boy-friend's house, i sent her off with freshly squeezed orange juice & homemade cookie dough icecream, what a terrible mother!!  

So i'm going back to how i judge myself as a good mother - i always feel pretty superior & satisfied when we have a full fruit bowl.  That's my standard.  Love Posie
*I say boy-friend, he's a lovely boy from her primary school who she has always hung out with as her number one choice of friend on weekends, it's in that a-friend-who-is-a-boy way, 'tis all.  

things i'm loving 'chunky rings' & i'm grateful for 'happy trinkets'

Greetings all,
I'm combining this week's Friday "things i'm loving" with Paisley Jade & Saturday "i'm grateful for" with Maxabella Loves . . . pleading exhaustion for my bloggie laziness.  Things are pretty wild here, i'm really feeling the strain this week of being a solo mummy of 4 children in 2 schools, with different committments & social circles.  I have filled in countless forms, cleaned countless rooms, Zumba'd countless jiggles this week.  If you can imagine living apart from your husband for 3 years, having to do the bins, the car, the lawns, the garage, the tax & never being able to drop the ball with the discipline on the children, it's full on.  I'm 14 months into it & finding my groove again with the school year dominating my routine.  It's week 3, i'm grooving.
Today was particularly insane - i drove 200km - morning & afternoon school runs; collect an overcoat for the highschooler's Winter uniform in one direction; a Year 4 Writing Matters book way south; 2+ hours at the gym; fresh food market; fuel; hardware store; take homework to school which was left behind; bakery; post office . . . argh!!  

So, to more Zen part of my life, Things I'm Loving . . . chunky rings.  I think they're fun, a great splash of colour & style . . . red glass from Venice; silver Origami box ring Kidson Jewellery; blue fleck glass Murano; blue resin & nude resin Little Slave; silver chunky one from a school market stall & stone ring from Nightcliff Markets NT.  My husband loathes them, he likes to holds my hand & i have to change rings as he finds them so uncomfortable.  Ha!!  Must admit, sometimes i struggle when wearing these rings if i have to get something out of my handbag or pocket.   

 Now for my I'm Grateful offering . . . happy trinkets - inexpensive, not particularly practical, but make my heart sing.  This 6 pack of milk bottles just stole my heart today at Bed Bath & Table.  What is not to love, the style, whimsy, memories of a milk man . . . for under $15!! 

 Neatly tied together, i couldn't resist, slighly clunking together . . . i love it when a sound takes you back to your childhood - racing out to grab the milk bottles before the birds peck through those red foil lids!!

 What to do with them??  Vases.  Pencils.  Buttons.  Confetti.  Petals.

Right now, they are sitting on the shelf.  I'll never tire of that lamp - my children check their hair in it every morning!!  So that's it from me, grateful i had $15 in my purse to blow on a childhood memory & a lovely tale to tell my children of how we got milk when i was a preschooler.  They are not 600ml/ pint sized bottles, but they're very . . . practical??!! 

Have gorgeous weekends everyone, i'm tackling my studio, i have to half the space i use to create an extra bedroom as the children want a room each (twins share).  I can do it, it won't be pretty, it is hard work but it will make the children so happy.  I've been greedy with the space i hog in this house for my craft long enough.  I'm downsizing business as the children get older!!  Love Posie

my creative space 'the colour of my family'

Greetings all,
Nothing new in the sewing department for My Creative Space this week, typical after a HUGE Handmade Market.  So i was thinking, what can i offer up for a creative blog post today??  Then i remembered something my eldest daughter asked earlier in the week . . . "if our family was a colour, what would it be??"  I instantly thought of red.  I asked my husband, he said red too.  We're all drawn to blue, but red is at our heart.

 touches of red for my girls

 red trinkets

 red Le Crueset

 red, red, red

 my first large quilt, red & white

 red Christmas ornaments

 memories of Venice in red

 red KitchenAid

 this toy box will be re-oilclothed in red & white stripes shortly

my son's red study area
This was a really fun little adventure, i'm a blue girl for sure, but the heart of our home is most definitely red!!  I can imagine a colourist talking of love, strength & various other red related emotions, but i just find it the most attractive accent colour of all time.  I can picture our homestead being painted in cool whites & blues, what better combination to dot all of our red accessories around the place??  Even our son's name means red.  Love the idea of a red letter box & a barn too.  Love Posie

it's my birthday . . .

Greetings all,
Yippee, it's birthday time, not my blog, but ME!!  Having a blast, especially with my husband sending flowers on Valentine's Day & flying home for my birthday.  It's been a great week, month, year already!!  So what did i get (read: buy myself) . . .
a new day handbag (my night handbags don't see much action, they sleep safely in their Oroton dust bags).  I wanted something fun to replace my small Fossil green leather satchel, due for retirement.  I went to the regular Fossil store, didn't really see anything that suited me, so went to the outlet & picked up this beauty plus 2 new purses, all on sale.  I love it, it's small with excellent internal pockets & it's sweet how my children plait the tassels while i drive (or they suffer through another school meeting or information night). 

 I've always wanted a simple angular hat stand in the hall, can't believe my husband let me get this, as his dream is a full on mud room in our homestead plans . . . but this is fabulous & does the trick.

 I'm very easy to please, my love for Sheridan coloured bath towels lives on - can you believe one still exists from the original half dozen we bought when we got married!!  So when David Jones had 30% off Sheridan this week, we picked up these for the children's bathroom, so soft & fast drying!!  We chose gorgeous grey ones for our ensuite, slowly replacing the towels in the house.  I like rainbows for the children, matchy matchy for us.

 When handsome soldier was visiting we did a big lap of the Canberra Centre & i picked up this cute lantern, i am a bit of a lantern addict.

 My parents sent me Country Road vouchers for my birthday which i cleverly timed with my "spend $300 get $100 off" coupon, picked up a new anorak, maxi skirt & knit top.  Then headed to Trenery with my complimentary "Happy Birthday $30 voucher" & got this cute scarf for the $10 balance.  My husband bought me the camel coloured cape, how cute is a wool cape in Winter??

Darling Sindy (not her real name) sent me a Country Style subscription, love it, will put my feet up tonight & start reading, after i sign about 25 notes which i've dug up out of school bags!!  Thanks Sindy, it will be inspirational for our farm planning style.

 How happy does this blue tin jug make you feel??

 I've always loved flowers, fresh from the garden.  As a child i'd follow my English grandfather around, pruning & nurturing our garden on his visits to Australia.  He was a professional gardener at a huge estate house in Yorkshire, a very proud man indeed, but so willing to answer all my questions cheerfully & flick worms at me.  He would constantly look at the sky & say "look how blue it is, all that blue".   

 Finally, this is me, aged 36 & feeling pretty grown up.  I've never worried much about my age as the baby of my family, i've always felt youngish.  Well . . . until i walked into Esprit yesterday morning, looking for Tshirts for my daughter's year 7 camp.  The sales assistant burst out from behind me with a loud & ambitious "hello, can i help you" & i said "i'm just looking at extra small Tshirts for my eldest daughter".  She said "your daughter, i'm guessing, she's 20??"  OH YOU GUESSED WRONG SALES ASSISTANT!!  Of course my husband was in his own private hell, in a clothing store, sitting on the 'boyfriend chair' outside the change rooms & didn't hear it.  I thought, oh, i was feeling pretty hip today in my maxi skirt & cute cardigan, no, i look old enough to have adult children.  I did find a XS T, it was reduced from $40 to $12.45 so i took it & ran.  I told handsome soldier on the way out of the store & he laughed so hard i thought his head was going to explode.  

So i thought i'd come home & show the world that i really don't care, this is me, no make up, aged 36 & so long as my husband still thinks i'm beautiful, that's all i need!!  Judging from the fact my high schooler lets me get out of the car, hug & kiss her each morning & afternoon, i'm feeling pretty hip too.  Love Posie  

another Handmade Market success story

Greetings all,

Wow, what a market.  As the fantastic Handmade Market fans know, this event has moved from Albert Hall to the Yarralumla Woolshed to the Kamberra Winery . . . outgrowing all of those venues . . . to the National Convention Centre - which is MASSIVE.  It never disappoints, our gorgeous customers follow us anywhere & everywhere, it's truly appreciated!!   

Thank you to everyone in blogland last week for your encouraging comments & lovely words wishing me success.  I've been lucky enough to do every SINGLE Handmade Market since November 2008, this is only the 10th market event, it's exclusive & selective, it's special company to be in.  I am so appreciative of the journey.  I've done big events & popular markets but none are managed & marketed so perfectly.  Handmade is a FULL ON market - non stop customers, money being waved in the air, EFTPOS running hot & products flying off the tables + customers bursting through the doors before the market is scheduled to start!! 

This weekend's market was extra brilliant, in air conditioned comfort & not a concern for weather (it was windy & did rain).  The stall holders loved the convenience, the customers enjoyed the ease, ambience + thousands went from the Market to the Shop & back to the Market again (Shop Handmade is only 500m away & was incredibly busy all day too). 

All i can say is a huge congratulations & hearty thanks to the Handmade Market team & 3 very busy Shop girls!!

The awesome combination of blogging & markets means . . . meeting people in reality, like the beautiful Terese from Designed to a T & groovy Amanda from Laylaba.  Special shout out to gorgeous Dzintra from Queen of the ArmChair who broke her arm on Wednesday & couldn't attend the market - she really is queen of that armchair right now!!  Also, at this time of year, i find dear friends who have moved back to Canberra on military postings (hello Tina & Corinne).  Even our gorgeous school principal stopped by to say hello, along with dozens of friends.  Many came down from Sydney, up from Melbourne & in from country NSW. 
I didn't have a chance to take snapshots prior to the market commencing & my stall looked raided afterwards so i'll just show some zoom in images & offer up a few tips.

 my business banner - always ensure your stall has signage

 bring as much stock as possible, you can store it under your tables - i emptied most of my bolts for my fabric sale baskets 

 as a handmade creator, i'm also a craft enabler selling fabric covered buttons - displayed in various inexpensive glass vases

 fabric brooches are perfect for those wanting a burst of colour to their ensembles - this divided box is great for presentation

 cards samples show how fabric buttons can mix & match - a cute way to add height to a display

 patchwork pencil rolls laid out in an open French bread basket - a $5 op shop find

 i find products in baskets, containers & cases keeps things tidy - i don't mind the mess, it means the customers have truly searched for their favourites

 screen printed purses sold well again - inexpensive linen lined baskets 

as my darling husband rotated between helping me, taking children to sports, the Farmer's Market, charging my EFTPOS machine, collecting children from parties & sleepovers, the tip . . . he made me the most delicious ham, salad & chilli giant sandwich on fresh bread from Dom's Bakery - packing lunch saves your hard earned market money

handsome soldier is so amazing that he went to Kidson Jewellery (my favourite) & chose this pair of earrings for me from her Zugara collection (with Moyou) & gave them to me in the car as a surprise on the way home, it TOTALLY made my day!!  Thanks Emma, sneaky clever you (& her lovely mechanic husband who is always helping with the heavy lifting + his lovely sister who came down from Newcastle for the event too) love you guys!!
Kudos to jewellery designers who can photograph their products, please excuse my 'cap' prop but it did the job.

It's simply incredible, in just 2.5 years the rate of success, dedication, momentum & small handmade business growth which has been possible via this market, a humble 'market', when market was still a dirty word . . . Handmade has truly changed that + it's permanent retail space in the heart of our nation's capital Shop Handmade & the Handmade Living book.  600+ crafty small businesses are affliated with all this, just brilliant, what an opportunity.  People wonder why i have zero plans to ever go back to work in my field (pharmacology) - how could i, after a decade of full time crafting & mothering, no way!!  I love being my own boss & available for our 4 children & my husband when he's in town. 
So i have 4 months to prepare for the next Handmade Market in June, i can't wait.  Love Posie

i'm grateful for 'new camera convenience'

Greetings all,

Playing along with Maxabella's I'm Grateful For late this weekend, due to the enormous Handmade Market in Canberra yesterday.  That deserves it's own post of love, appreciation & dedication . . . after i recover from happy exhaustion.
The final piece of our insurance claim for the burglary late last year has arrived - the little digital camera.  Oh how convenient the new-for-old Nikon Coolpix S5100 replacement is. 

Bit of history, it's our 4th Nikon Coolpix.  I lost the first one at Floriade Flower Festival 2008 (so sure i put it in the pram) so bought a replacement.  Second one met its fate when our middle girl sat on it, so bought a replacement.  My husband found the first camera in the pram in 2010, 2 little cameras for a family of 6, how convenient . . . until camera 3 was stolen.  While waiting pending replacement camera 1 hung in there, you had to turn it on & off between each photo but it worked until last week when it was finally dropped by our middle girl & broken open/ lens fully extended.  Days later the 4th camera arrived, perfect timing!!
Moral of the story, i can't be trusted with small cameras (nor can burglars, or our middle daughter) & the new one is simply fantastic!!  You can charge the battery & download images via a magical cord to your laptop, gorgeous clear images & my fancy Nikon SLR can rest easy in its massive protective bag hidden away from burglars.

 . . . pretty paper butterfly garlands . . .

 . . . threading cupcake wrappers . . .

 . . . keeping the children busy with helpful craft . . .

 . . . my husband is home & made brunch . . .

 . . . our pumpkin patch is coming along . . .

 . . . puppy chasing bees . . .

So i'm playing around with the camera, settings, actions, lighting, zoom & safety . . . my husband has tied the protective case to it & given me a good talking to about camera responsibilities.  In the mean time, i hope to bring better shots to my blog & chase that dream snap of all my children together, smiling at the same time while looking very candid, spontaneous, happy & natural, outdoors in perfect light, the kind of photo you blow up to wall size (i said dream!!) . . . enjoy, love Posie

my creative space 'market preparation meltdown'

Greetings all,

Well i can't say i haven't been working towards the hugely popular & mega successful Handmade Market which is on this Saturday, so hugely popular & mega successful . . . it has moved to the National Convention Centre - nope, doesn't get much bigger than that. 

Happy busy-ness such as late school holidays, husband living away, Shop Handmade, P&C, Zumba, high school meetings & keeping a large family functioning . . . are obstacles on the way to my sewing machines, making stock for this much anticipated market (think crowds of 10000 people+ consistently well supported).  So you really don't want to waste the opportunity, Handmade Market is only on 3 times a year, it's like an expo!!  I can't afford to have a market preparation meltdown.  

Adding to my happy list of other priorities . . . it's raining, which takes the skip out of my step as i pick up wet, tired & hungry children from school (rather than just regular tired & hungry ones) & very cleverly booked an eye appointment, months ago as you have to for specialists, so i'll be blurry visioned during the last-chance-sewing-session.  Then there is the Friday SRC school assembly & some as-many-laps-as-you-can-to-raise-money-for-something-event on Friday night.  

My aces up my crafty handmade sleeve . . . husband flying home to help this weekend (happy distraction but hey, i'll take him when i can); twins having a sleep over; handsome soldier can attend SRC induction for children 3 & 4; as well as run the laps with first born around Mt Stromlo while i pack the car for the market.  So what to do??  What will fill my stall faster than sewing . . . cutting!!

I've chopped up fat eighths, fat quarters, half yards . . . loaded them into cellos & laid into pretty French style linen lined baskets.  I'm focussing on my smaller/ quick to make products to fill out my stall (purses, hair accessories, buttons & applique onesies).  I bought a huge wire card holder through a contact, which i can fill with fabric cards & cool party decorations.
New venues are always a mix of excitement & panic, like i've always used my marquee with sides as my 'backdrop' so i have to 'create' a backdrop, yikes.  I have a vision, it involves fabric yardage & my banner over a bunch of clothing racks.  Sure my husband is great for the heavy lifting, but he'll have an unwelcome opinion on how unstable this will be!!  So long as it stands up between 11a.m. & 4p.m. I'll be thrilled.  
Wish me luck, on top of recent internet issues & lack of blogging/ commenting/ emailing, i have a WHOLE lot of sewing ahead of me in the next day.  Happy creative spacing over at Kootoyoo blog on Thursday, hope to be back to relative normal next week, in mind & internet connectivity.  Love Posie
PS has rained every day since i planted the pumpkins 2 weeks ago, by GOD they should be a fantastic crop come Winter!!
PPS wagging a P&C meeting tonight - my husband is flying in a day early to surprise the children, judging from the giggles the last line in my last post created . . . we'll be quiet!!  Tee hee.

bling on love . . . my valentine

Greetings all,

Happy Valentine's Day.  Whether you fall for it . . . the pressure to buy a card, jewels, flowers &/ or chocolates, who cares, i'm giving a shout out to my beloved husband!!  He reads my blog, so i post to keep him up to date with my life & our children while he's away.  Also, if you ever thought i made things up or exagerated anything . . . how dumb would i look to him??  My children & real life friends read my blog . . . so i keep it real man!!  They all know how crazy in love i am with my handsome soldier & our children really are great little people. 

There is a Valentine's Day link party with Gifts of Serendipity & Maxabella Loves, where people are flashing their love bling.  Voila, my rings, the half carat diamond says "we were young & modest with a tiny income", my husband chose the design & i still love the style.  I fiddle with my rings, especially when i think about my husband.  He is my teenage love, this is our 14th year of marriage/ 17th Valentine's Day, we've never skipped a beat. 

Some fun divorce statistics, if there is such a thing . . . military families have a 50% divorce rate (married a solider, check); parents with multiples have much higher divorce rate (twins, check); couples who marry under 25 have a higher divorce rate (22 &25, check); for every daughter your rate of divorce increases 8% (3 daughters, check); major life stressors like moving house/ interstate, losing a parent, acts of war (check, check, check) - that puts us at 350% change of divorce.

Why do we laugh off these statistics??  In a word 'communication'.  I am dedicated to my husband, his career & never complain if he's home late or away for months - he's providing for our family; we dated for 3 years & talked endlessly about children, retirement, extended family; we had twins in our mid 20s with energy to burn; & we've never fallen out of love for a second.  We're physical but with months apart, we are forced to talk, write, Skype & dream, when we're together it's like a honeymoon all over again.  All in all, when he's out in a war zone, the last thing i want him worrying about is how i'm coping at home & if i still love him.  He's the strong-silent-broody type, i'm the talker, but he nods & i force him to think deeply "are you happy, what can we work on" & above all, we're always laughing together or at my expense, either way, we have SO much fun!!

The most fascinating of those statistics is the 'for every daughter your rate of divorce increases 8%', even the professor who discovered that from decades of unbias census statistics, has 3 daughters.  It's the principle that people traditionally want sons, so you're more likely to have a larger family (strain on finances, time, energy, marriage) if you have daughters first rather than sons!!  We wanted 4 children, so the fact we had 3 girls first had little to do with that bloody annoying question "are you trying for a boy" - no, just a 4th child!!

 Filled with love in my heart & children who enjoy a bit of tax deductible craft . . . i picked up these beauties from Kikki-K, which kept them busy all day making cards for friends.  I asked the children what love meant to them . . . they came up with beautiful things like "love is family", "i love you", "having someone love me as much as Daddy loves you" ahhhh . . . to unexpected comments like "i know what you & Daddy do at night, can you be quiet".  Gulp.  Love Posie

love hearts are in the air

Greetings all,

Just a little hint at what i'll be adorning my ensemble with on Valentine's Day.  Never one to shy away from a quirky hair accessory or something in the brooch department, i picked up these red heart beauties at Shop Handmade from Plushka.  Katia's work at Plushka Craft is hand sewing & embroidery perfection - she also has a giveaway on her blog this week. 

The giant sparkly bow is from Summer Blossom, i just had to have it & Shop Girl Rachel (my accessory sister) had to have one too, admitting she'd be jealous each time i wore my bow.

 Playing around with love heart balloons, pink cottons & raffia too.  I have some helium left over from a party, i'll see what i can do with these balloons then??

 Wishing you a heart filled crafty Sunday.  I'm head down bottom up sewing for Handmade Market, yikes, next Saturday!!  Love Posie

i'm grateful for 'ace teachers'

Greetings all,

Ah school . . . when you hand over your precious beloved children into the hands of teachers each new school year, it can be a lottery that you get a great one (& preferably not a pregnant one).  A teacher who understands your child, let's them be quirky & guides them positively. 

My 4 children have scored ace teachers on a regular basis.  Also LOTS of male teachers, double yay, extra handy for my children who have a daddy living interstate & overseas for 3 years!!  Not going to say sorry for the pregnant teacher comment, yes, congratulations teacher you're pregnant, great for your personal life, NOT so great for an undisrupted year of teaching for my child (making that a triple yay for male teachers who aren't stay at home dads - i've lost one that way too before).  Teachers, please don't have a personal life outside of school holidays, JUST teach my children 40 weeks of the year, it's all i ask.

This week i'm grateful for 'ace teachers' . . . thanks for asking Maxabella Loves. 

 Having issues, again, with downloading images, so here is a shot of my big girl & little boy last week in the pool.  LOVE Summer holidays, the freedom, swimming, sunshine & pyjama days.  Below is a shot of our twins from when they were 4 at preschool (5 years ago) now THEY are children with personalities & are always very popular with their teachers.  Not sure if they have bigger personalities than regular children or that because they are twins, it's enhanced as they are so different??  Either way, it's an excuse to use a cute photo from the archives.

Ace teachers this year include . . . for year 7 (at my eldest daughter's ladies college, la de da) a French chef (male); a Canadian Maths/ Science teacher (male); a Japanese teacher (female, funnily enough, teaching Japanese); a PE teacher (male); a young female teacher for Humanities & a 'mature' female home room teacher.  Great mix!!  She is LOVING high school & so far has happily kissed me in the car park, outside her home room & told me i must have a Uni degree in "awesome" - i know, soaking it up while it lasts.  She's given me her locker combination, i've met her new friends & waves when she walks off into the sea of girls in the morning.  Success & for now, i'm still cool. 
For year 4 - ah yes, haven't followed up on how my twins reacted when they realised they were in the same class this year (due to small numbers there's only one year 4 class & they've spent 3 years in seperate classes) - let's just say, gasps, hugs, kisses between them & all the parents went "ah, how sweet".  I had tears in my eyes, too adorable & sorry, not photos as requested, the day before one of them dropped the old little digital camera, which is now broken with the lens fully extended open. 

With the girls in the same class, it's handy as one is super efficient & the other would leave her head behind in the classroom with her weekend homework on a Friday afternoon.  One is the SRC/ class captain for the semester (terms 1&2) . . . i asked if they went up against each other, to which they replied "no, she'll be SRC next semester".  Oh dear, a McClelland monopoly on year 4??  I never thought of this before, but what do twins do when it comes to house/ school captain when they're both qualified, gulp.  Anyway, they have a joint teacher collective, a nice mummy teacher 2 days + a more experienced lady for the other 3 days.  As they said "we'll always be fresh", hmmm, am i fresh on a Monday morning or do i get stale?? 
Finally, my boy in year 2 - well he has inherited our middle girl's teacher from years 1 & 2, so i know him well.  If you ever needed a positive, fun, active & engaging male influence in your child's classroom (particularly a son) imagine . . . a professional ice hockey player for a teacher.  Yep, awesome & gorgeous too, poor man, this is the 3rd year out of 4 in his teaching career he's had to put up with me as a class mother.  Again, small numbers in the class (our primary school averages class sizes 20 students or less) & my son is in there with his complete harem of girlfriends.  He's also the SRC/ class captain, no doubt thanks to the female vote in his class. 
Just realised each of my children are the SRC representative every other term - i should remember, i'm always paying $8 to replace the lost badges!!  Anyway, my son & his girlfriends were sitting in a group in the hall anxiously waiting to hear their names called out for the class with the action man teacher . . . one by one they all stood up & realised they were in the cool class, together, there were hugs, squeals & high 5s. 
So i'm completely exhausted as the 1st week is over, a new school route to master, P&C fundraisers to plan, new school rules to learn, day shifts at Shop Handmade, Zumba classes & sewing for the Handmade market next weekend . . . but we're back & we're loving it.  Thank you ace teachers, you make for a wonderful school experience, love Posie