& we resume normal school life again

Greetings all,

High school was a huge success, she loves it, thanks for the fantastic comments on the last post!!  I was one of the keen parents arriving early this afternoon, i got a happy-to-see-you-mum kiss & cuddle, then she took us on a tour of her new adventure . . . the canteen, home room, locker . . . while her brother ate the chicken salad roll from her lunch box (lunch was catered today, nice!!) . . . middle girl carried her laptop & . . . 3rd daughter wore her back pack around.  It was really gorgeous to see my 4 bonding over a new experience like this, especially seeing the twins will go to this school too, in a few years.

Not to be forgotten, my primary schoolers got new pencil cases too - i aim for 35x15cm as a standard size, but you could make them the size of a pillow, they'd find stuff to shove in there!!

I had fun with a bit of ribbon detail too.  There are more images but Picasa won't upload them to my blog & i'm running slow after blowing internet allowance this month (clicks over shortly). 
To say i'm exhausted is an understatement, i feel like i'm seeing double, my eye lids are heavy.  I put 150% into our very long school holidays with my children, especially when their beloved Daddy is away.  They really are great children, easy to love & fun to be with.  They are never bored, how wonderful is that??  It's another big day tomorrow as primary school goes back.  We find out the new classes & teachers for my 4th grade twins & year 2 boy, then it's normal school life again . . . i head off to the happiness that is Shop Handmade, were i giggle away 3 days each week in the wonderful world of Handmade retail.  What a way to spend your school day when you're a housewife, i love it!!
Yawn, sigh, love Posie

packing for high school

Greetings all,
tomorrow is the day i have been thinking about since i became a mother - the day my first born starts high school.  I'm so excited, i loved high school, it was fantastic.  It's disappointing when people say something like "people who were popular at high school, that was as good as life got for them" meaning they faded away & ended up the losers in real life.  In Australia, i don't think there is THAT much empahsis on high school as so many students play regional sport, one third go to private schools (which may not be local) & have part time jobs mixing with peers outside of their insular high school world or neighbourhood.  Whatever, all i know is that i had a ball in high school, i played sport, dated boys, snuck into night clubs, 'borrowed' cars & threw some awesome parties.  It was Sydney's north shore, it was the 1990's & i had older siblings babysitting me as our parents were overseas on holiday after holiday. 

Hey, i finished high school a virgin, never smoked a cigarette or drugs & got in the top 5% of the state.  How - i have no idea, i still didn't have any common sense.  I had never EVER met a soldier yet i was voted 'most likely to marry a man in uniform', ha ha ha.  I laughed at the girls who did home science & sewing - did they want to get married & have children or something??   Um, I went on to marry my teen love, collect a couple of university degrees & pop out 4 babies in my 20s . . . i was one of 2 married girls at our 5 year reunion & the only mother of 3 at our 10 year reunion, yes, jaws were dropped, "Jennie got sensible".   

Things have changed from my high school days though . . . check out what my daughter has packed in her bag, just to walk in the school gates on day one for year 7 . . .  

all the basics like new shoes, back pack & a million dollars on uniforms; i made her a new pencil case; she has a laptop (in that purple floral personalised cover); a mobile phone; folder; note book; plus a little purse for just-in-case she gets her periods at school.  Bless my growing girl, not a single sign of puberty happening yet, but imagine, oh imagine getting your periods at school??  It might not happen for a couple of years, but we're ready.  
I have to commend her on the maturity she's shown during this whole primary to high school transition . . . trying on baggy uniforms & all the new things being thrown her way.  She hasn't been negative, rude or oppositional . . . she's been happy, interested & open to my suggestions (please let this continue into teenagedoomdome).  When i suggested a purse for sanitary products, she was like "ok, that's a good idea" & i was so impressed.  If that was my mother saying that to me . . . i would have died, withdrawn & run away with my hands over my ears.  She handles all these changes so well, like going to a huge school with 1200 girls & . . . leg hair removal.  Yes, her little legs are bruised like a toddler but unlike my mother who sent my big sister off to year 7 with hairy legs, my sister wasn't going to let that happen to me & i wasn't going to let that happen to my daughter!!  She asked about shaving her legs & i had a flash back to cutting myself with a razor (remember girls??) & thought hair removal cream might be safer, it worked a treat, i highly recommend it (i still shave, less cuts these days though).
So the uniform is pressed, laptop charged, bag packed, leg hair removed & my big girl is off to high school.  I could not be prouder & i wish her all the fun (clean, wholesome fun) i had, perhaps with less parties & car borrowing??!!  
For all of those in the ACT who finally have children commencing or resuming school this week, i think we've earned ourselves a big pat on the back & perhaps a cheap Tuesday movie??  Love Posie 
PS i made no mention of my husband's high school days for a reason, he didn't study, he got into real trouble & let's just say . . . when Oprah sent Jay Z out to donate $1M worth of laptops to an impoverished Sydney high school . . . yep, he chose my husband's old school!!  Sigh, enough said.  Joining Army cadets when he was 13 was the best thing he ever did, he was a born soldier!! 

i'm grateful for 'safe storms'

Greetings all,
Phew, how hammered is the world getting from extreme weather this week??  Tropical cyclones & floods to snow storms & blizzards, i have to say, our 'severe storm warning for Canberra' mid week was safe & as always, my children found a way to make it enjoyable.  A normal mother might suggest their children 'get out of the rain' but i became a mother living in Darwin, where things are relaxed, warm, outdoorsy & tropical . . . monsoons are to dance in.  

 It struck on garbage day of course, our street was littered with empty blown over bins.

 Seriously, bubbles?? 

 I know children race leaves in drains . . . 

 splashing in puddles never grows old!!

Oh boy, again, same mud, different day!!  They went from mud pies to a mud wedding cakes complete with Jasmine flowers for decoration.  For all your muddy wedding needs, please leave a comment for my 3 daughters to cater your next event.

  For more 'i'm grateful posts' check out Maxabella loves this Saturday.  Wishing you beautiful weekends.  Love Posie

things i'm loving . . . 'flamingo fairy lights'

Greetings all,

Playing along with Paisley Jade's 'things i'm loving' today & on this hot, sticky, humid, now stormy afternoon with additional children in my unairconditioned home on the last day of school holidays . . . i'll keep it short & sweet.

I'm loving these totally cool flamingo fairy lights, yep, a whole long ling of hot pink fun!!

 Kind of looking forward to nightfall to see how they light up my little part of the house, hopefully a whole lot better than this terribly lit photography!!

Under $20 from Typo, bought them this morning while trailing a million extremely well behaved & patient children around the Canberra Centre, through Lincraft, Bed Bath & Table, Kikki-K, Typo & the car park where i was 50c short on parking, i had to go back to the car twice for extra change.
Meanwhile at Shop Handmade today, Jamie Durie's new designer reality show Top Design is taking applications (more details & application forms here), how exciting for a wannabe famous designer in the making . . . happy Fridays everyone, love Posie
PS trip over to Paisley Jade for more things i'm loving, she has a cute icon & everything, i just can't upload it, i'll try again next week!!
EDIT: the Jamie Durie Top Design applications went off a treat - watch out Australia, there is serious talent coming out of Canberra!!

my creative space 'garden craft'

Greetings all,
Seeing my studio is sweltering in unairconditioned heat, i haven't been sewing as much i should be with a huge Handmade market looming 2 weeks away . . . but it's still school holidays, i have extra children over & the garden is always an ace place to entertain children. 

 I selected my supplies from the hardware store, swung the pick into the ground & put up a mini wooden fence for my mini pumpkin patch.

 Several bags of potting mix & special vegetable boost enhanced fancy top soil later . . . my willing helpers transplanted the 8 germinated pumpkin seeds into position.

 With carrots down the centre as an experiment, water, then the magic touch of sugar cane mulch.

 It was so hot i had that eye-stinging-sweat-dripping-off-my-face thing going on, at 9.30a.m. & when we checked on our cool new pumpkin patch, the pumpkin leaves were frying in the sun, so it lost all street cred & i put a beach umbrella over it.  There were also German Shepherd paw skid marks across the carrots, he is SO serious chasing butterflies, he clearly forgot the mini wooden fence was meant to keep large dogs out??!! 

 The lettuce continues to grow like crazy, loving my fresh herb salads at lunch.

 Don't you wish you were the mother of these girls??  Or the cleaner of their shower??  Or the washer of their fluffy towels??  Mud pies, they made them for HOURS!!

 Freshly squeezed orange juice for the masses of children.  I'm practising my mother-of-the-year wave as i pick orange pith out of my teeth.

 Easiest way to feed a group of hungry children after running around the garden all morning . . . a platter of simple sandwiches & where would a mother be without a stack of IKEA plates & cups??  Then i made up some cookie dough & broke it up into vanilla icecream for poor man's Cold Rock/ Ben&Jerry's icecream.  When one mummy collected her son, it was at icecream serving time so i fed her boys in the car too, i was very popular in the driveway!!

 They decorated the fish bowls & we swapped the fish around, yes i had unpaid child labour doing the dirty work all day.

 I can seriously imagine these two girls on Survivor, they look like they'd fit right in & yes i know they need back to school hair cuts!!  I actually had a dream once they were on a Survivor series & they were twins, but pretended to not know each other (extra sneaky) & set up alliances which were so clever . . . they ended up being runner up & winner, splitting the cash!!  Hmmm, evil twins, brilliant!!  Oh, to be the mother of reality show children, so NOT brilliant.

For proper sewing, crocheting & knitting type Creative Spaces, check out Kootoyoo, love Posie

accepting the Stylish Blogger award & happy 400 followers . . .

Greetings all,
I've seen lots of blogs accepting their Stylish Blogger awards, it's really fun to read their '7 things'.  I have been nominated half a dozen times (that is not meant as 'good GOD i'm stylish') but i wasn't speedy enough to accept the first couple a month ago.  In the past week Tammi Little Poppa & Me, Brenda Hoo Are You Lookin' At, Bianca Bigwords & Heidi Bord & Butik have nominated my blog . . . thanks ladies, i wonder if they were just being kind, like i'd been left out??  It's also great timing as a 'next 100 follower' hello like i did when i reached 200 followers, then 300 followers.  Welcome new folk, i'll bring you up to speed with what i'm about . . .   

So here goes my 7 things, i'm going to make them all about style . . .

1. i love style, classic fashion, accessories & try to keep my look interesting not trendy

2. i dress my husband like a catalogue model for fun, nice change from his uniform

3. i am really fussy with the clothes i buy my children & let them decide how to wear them

4. i love sets of things, matching Nigella Lawson mixing bowls, KitchenAid red appliances & endless Tupperware

5. my dream car is a cute Audi A3 in yellow (middle aged lady car which screams no-more-school-runs, i'll be 46 when my last child finishes high school & be at the Audi dealership that afternoon) & i can retire my 8 seater 4WD which screams 'large family + extras'

6. we are planning to build a homestead on a farm near Canberra in a couple of years, we're designing a simple spacious home in blues & neutrals, with verandah around the whole house, pool, green house, barn/ garage & grow all our own vegetables in high garden beds - i'm practising now, my lastest addition . . . pumpkins, onions & carrots

7. my husband only had big sisters so when i met him, he had style beaten into him already, we rarely clash on choosing things for our home, we still have the original furniture from when we married in 1997 (we've updated lounges to King Furniture & obviously added 4 single beds) but we still have the same daggy-pine-young-newly-wed bedroom furniture . . . so we can start a fresh when we move into our OWN home & out of Army housing!!
Thanks for reading, following, giggling & sharing with my blog journey so far.  Love Posie
EDIT: we have collected KitchenAid since we got married, first the blender, then mixer, saucepans & mega stock pot, the toaster 3 years ago & most recently at Christmas, the food processor (which is like using a power tool, scary until you know how!!)  My kitchen ideas are accented with reds with a black & white tiled floor (i've had 4 Army houses with the same grey speckled lino on the kitchen floor, a girl has to dream) & we have cherry red Le Crueset cast iron saucepans, love & collect them too.  As for King Furniture, it's the best, we saved up 10 years for the Jasper, then got a Delta II.

new mum school tips from a professional school gate mum

Greetings all,
Welcome to February & commencing/ resuming the school year.

 Before you know it, those gorgeous little babies you raise . . . head off to preschool & school & high school!!

my baby boy is in year 2, that's upstairs in the senior block

Forgive the presumptuous title of this post, but . . . I’m playing new mum this year too, at high school.  It will be the 9th school (including 5 different preschools in 3 different states & territories) for our children.  I have questions too . . . do high school mums go to the gate or is that just unnecessary & embarrassing??  I’m open to advice.

For those of you in my experienced field, primary school, here are some tips for school gate which might be useful.  Starting with the first day . . .
Be confident & positive, it will keep your child calm & interested in their first big day at school, even if YOU have to fake it & you’re actually a trembling mess.  My 4 all had 2-2.5years each of preschool, so the idea of a backpack, a ‘classroom’, a lunch box & me leaving them for 4-6 hours was normal.  I was enthusiastic but not over the top, each child took on their first day of primary school quite differently.  When our first daughter (& i) started kindergarten (NSW), she was horrified they didn’t get maths text books & learn how to read on the first day – her expectations were high. Day 2, she asked if I could just ‘drop her off in the street’ & day 3, could she catch a bus??!!  She was out there on her own starting from scratch & she loved it!!

When my twins started Transition (NT) they had each other, one extremely excited about the new adventure, her twin a little quiet, but she had her best friend by her side.  The following year in a new school, day one our quiet one couldn't find anyone (including her sister) to play with at recess, a teacher introduced her to new girl Emily & they have been best friends ever since.

My son had the huge advantage of starting primary school (ACT) with half his PreSchool class. After all those years & schools picking up his sisters, he was desperate to have his own school uniform, bag, class & journey.  He announced later that day he was going to marry his teacher - ONE DAY it took him to realise he could grow up & marry someone other than me (creepy but sweet mother-son concept)!! 

Some tips for the rest of the year . . .

School mummies are the greatest, they have local children the same ages & stages as yours!!  Some will be competitive, miserable, hilarious & fun - just like every other school, job, group or family you're associated with - there are some you will love & some you'll want to avoid.  Without being clicky or exclusive, if you hang around the school gate, you might notice you form a 'group'.  Don't be afraid to introduce yourself & join in.

Your school's P&C might be happy go lucky or extremely political, be prepared for anything, but perhaps not sign yourself up as president until you've sussed out the committment & vibe first.

Have an interesting blurb ready about who you are, it might be so much more than you standing in the playground with other children hanging off you & having "just a mum" stamped on your forehead.  Think up a fun, whitty, subtle description of who are you without making it sound like a CV.   

 Volunteer on fundraisers, craft classes, canteen & changing readers etc, they are all ice breakers & your children love knowing you're 'at school' too.  Don't go too hard too soon or you might find yourself making all the costumes for the school play & running fundraisers solo!!

Try to set an easy-friend-making example to your children & introduce yourself to a few parents. This is not some full on power networking alpha mum thing (however, you'll see those mums), but a nice way to learn some names to say hello to.

Be on time, you will be judged & arriving late will only have you flustered & your child rushed.

Avoid the negative parents, they'll sign you up for petitions & letter writing a hate-fest about the school.  Even if you have your own issues, sort it out directly & quickly.  You'll realise the negative ones do have the option of changing schools but NO school will EVER be good enough for their precious child & never see that their child is the common denominator.  
Be prepared that some children will have allergies with hesitant & careful mothers.  Be open & ask lots of questions & don't panic (it's not you) if the mother says yes to a play date but hangs around to ensure their child is safe.

Get to know your teachers, if there are any issues from their running out pencils & bullying to notes not being signed & acadmic progress, it's SO much easier for everyone if the teachers know who you are & can chat to you easily before things get complicated.
The party dilemma - do you invite a few close friends or the entire class??  Do you invite someone to your party just because they invited you to theirs??  Early on i just invited the whole class to home parties, we have used small schools which also helps this issue.

If you only have one child at school & a mum you know offers to car pool, this might be brilliant, especially if you have younger ones who still nap.  I had this situation when i had one in preschool & 3 little ones at home, a fellow mummy of 4 helped me out!!

If your school allows it, let your children play after school to get all their school-ness out of their system.  We have a 25km drive home so i let my guys run around & play with friends.  Things will change this year as we have high school finishing at 3.30p.m. for a pick up across town.

I could write a million things but my little routine consists of . . . packing school bags (homework, show&tell, hats) & laying out uniforms the night before; children eating breakfast while i make their lunches; i tidy up the house before we leave so i return to an orderly home (it's self respect) then we all hop in the car with a 15 minute traffic buffer & chat all the way to school, together.  It's just me & the children so i keep things calm, routine & stream lined.  Doing 3 girls long hair every day can have serious unforeseen challenges, hair elastics disappear in houses like pens. 

Most of all, enjoy with big kisses, cuddles & i-love-yous at the beginning & end of their school days, love Posie