Update- work

A whole lot has been happening here. I haven't thought them all through ready to present in any sort of orderly way- so just off the top of my head...

I was looking for a job- preferably just one day a week so the kids could be with their Dad, and I didn't have to miss out on seeing them (or arrange prohibitive childcare).

I finally found something that sounded fairly perfect- for 16 hours, not the 8 I had hoped for- but from home, which seemed possible. I applied, got shortlisted, had an interview, got the job, did some training and start on Monday night.

It is telephone market research from home. I'll be working 4 nights a week 6-9pm, and Saturdays 10am-2pm. It doesn't sound like a big commitment- except for my darling 3 year old- who really has not learned "wait", and seems wholly unable to grasp the concept. I'm pretty nervous about how it will work. And, if I'm being honest- it's not just the wee guy...at 11 and 7, my "big" kids are chronic at interrupting me if I'm on the phone.

But, it will mean a big change for us- a whole lot more freedom financially... not in the free-as-a-bird sense, but maybe not having to say "no" to so many (pretty ordinary) things.

How it will work, being a mother receiving a benefit, is that I will earn half as much for the second 8 hours as for the first...but it's still extra, and I'm really excited.

The "big kids" are onboard, and know they will be needed to help out...this is good for all of us. I can trust them- they know I probably can't do this without them...they know it will mean their lives get a bit more exciting. They also know, I am almost fully-available from when they wake up until close to 6pm, and will be again after 9pm. All we can do is try.

The work itself will probably be rather boring, but I'm motivated enough by the idea of taking the kids swimming every now and again, or maybe buying takeaways, and saving for the camp we plan to go on later this year.

The best bit about this is wile I hope to rely on their Dad to be caring for them on Saturdays (and have asked for one evening a week as well)...if he doesn't show for whatever reason- I can still work.

I've been really happy not working, but I think I will be happy still...it was fun going to my first interview in 14 years. I felt confident (mostly because I felt I was a shoo-in), and it feels great to be taking a bit more control over my life.

They pay an allowance for out internet- so I have bumped it up again...we will now get 40gb a month...this would not have been enough on this particular month- we are up to 47gb with 3 days to go until out new month begins...and 40gb of that was used on the first 2 days! Thanks to J-Man and xbox live.

This update is going to get gigantic- so I'll make a few updates isntead :0)

J-Man turns 11!

He had been to Moto-X the night before with his Dad, and arrived home on the morning of his birthday with his best friend J13 and cousin M12.

He opened his presents. He already had his second x-box controller, and knew about an xbox game he'd asked for and seen me purchase (PGR), but I had hoped to keep his last present secret.

Unfortunately, he had seen the courier arrive with it, and Princess had blurted what she thought it was. He had mentioned being "addicted to Guitar Hero" (a demo), and I was trying to see if I could get it and stay within my budget. Princess had told me he really wanted it and I had said I was trying to get it but not to tell him. I secreted the rather obvious-looking package away, but J-Man went looking for it and eventually confirmed what he supposed- that his final present was the guitar.

I was really disappointed for him knowing all his presents before the day- though he acted surprised enough. Anyway, he enjoyed unwrapping them and Princess and Tombliboo had made cards for him too. He had asked for a pianta, so we went outside to give that a whack.

I didn't want to make it too easy to smash, and in my exuberance- I pretty much made it impossible to smash. A slit with a craft knife soon sorted that out, and lollies, lollipops and mars bars showered down in to our carport.

The boys headed back inside with their loot, and with J-Man's favourite chips (Tomato Skoffs, ex Munchos) and fizzy (Coke) they played on his x-box, and went for a quick drive to the shop to buy x-box live points so he could get the full version of a demo he enjoyed (Castle Crashers).

We had his favourite homemade lunch (dinner usually), Chicken Laksa, and then his cake. He had requested a lemon cheesecake (like last year) "but without the onions."

There were no onions in last year's cheesecake. What happened was that the gelatin went too hard- probably I left it too long...and I wasn't sure what to do, but went ahead and beat it as the recipe directed, hoping it would come right. It didn't. The cheesecake taste nice, but the texture was somewhat less desirable. It really looked like there were small chunk of onion in it, and it was a bit of a disaster.



This year I found a recipe that had a jelly in it, and hope for the best. It tastes heavenly (though insanely sweet), and I added a hand-drawn duraseal-covered xbox controller to the top with a happy birthday sign and 11 candles. He was very pleased.

After lunch, J-Man and his friend went Rock-climbing with his Dad. He came home around 5pm ,and played on his xbox until friends of hours came over for dinner and the evening.

J-Man, Princess and Tombliboo had a wonderful time with H13, Z10 and J6..playing xbox, cards, Wii (the friends brought their's over), and swinging on our clothesline.



We got pizza for dinner- J'Man's real favourite, and said goodbye around 11pm. He was keen to watch Frankenstein, but I was had it so we agreed to head to bed and definitely watch it the following day.

The plan for his birthday had changed several times, and he didn't like that, but said it had been a great day. Happy Birthday Gorgeous!

Scooby Dooby Doo!

My children have loved Scooby since their first introduction to him. We first watched the film with J-Man when he was 3. Princess and Tombliboo have watched Scooby since birth. Their television/movie watching habits differ to J-Man's...where he would watch a movie once, then probably not want to see it again for several years- his younger siblings are happy to watch a movie, then play it again directly after.

Both the little ones, as 2 year olds would actually watch the same film only for an extraordinary amount of time- maybe 12-30 times before moving on to another film, and proceeding to watch that same film to the extremes of the first.

I won't pretend it never bothered me...it did. But I tried to keep quiet. If that is what they wanted to do, I was happy to facilitate.

Scooby has lasted such a long time. Right when it seems we have seen every episode a new movie or series will come out. This is a series that began in 1969! Between our own collection, and Fatso (dvd delivery service) and You Tube, we can see a lot of Scooby- and the little ones never seem to tire of it.

Recently they have played Scooby and Shaggy. They take breaks from it, and do other things, but they remain in character for most of the day. They replay snippets from movies/cartoon episodes, and they create their own as well.

Princess (7) plays a great Shaggy- she has a real knack for imitating voices (as evidenced by her American accent, followed by her English one, and currently an odd mixture of Kiwi-American-English). Tombliboo (3) does a good Scooby, and has incorporated "r" words in to his ordinary vocabulary. "Roh-Oh Raggy!"


Sometimes I am enlisted to join in their play. I get to be Velma, because I've got "brown hair". Yesterday I was told I must not say "Jinkies" so often. "Mu-um!", Princess informs me, "Velma says "Jinkies" when she finds a clue, just like Shaggy says "Zoinks" when he sees a monster or ghost- you can't just say them all the time and think that makes you Velma or Shaggy."

This morning, Princess in her ever-imaginative way has created a storyline which would do Hannah-Barbera proud. She has made a collar for Tombliboo, raisins in place of Scooby-snax, and various clues she has left around the house.

I love watching them in their play, listening to how it is developing, noticing how much of the subtleties of the movies they are able to incorporate in to it, seeing just how long they can play at something with minimal props. I love watching them interacting, though there are 4 years between them- this one shared interest enables them to be of equal value in the game.

I think I might clear a space on the bench, and suggest we make scooby snax together!

Quick Update

Life is great at the moment. It's sunny, which is always nice...everything is ticking along smoothly. We're at home a lot, which is great for getting things done, and giving children the freedom they need. But we're out a bit too, which gives us a neat balance.

The house is always a mess, and it's quite hard for me to handle that- since it seems like I am cleaning up all the time..but as my dear Nan (87) says..."You can't have children without mess."

I'm trying to lose weight. It seems to be working fairly well right now, but I am on Day 4 (after a break at Christmas) and that is when I usually throw it in. Hopefully it's different this time- we'll see :0)

This morning Princess found the doctor kit, and asked if I would be her patient.

Princess: "Next...that means you come in and lie down, Mum."
Me: "I'm very sick- I don't know what's wrong with me."
Princess: "I'll just check your heart. It is beating loudly- you are very loving."
Me: "Thank you, yes, I love a lot of people a great deal."
Princess: "Now I will check your blood pulse."
Tombliboo: "Pulsatilla? Yes- I have it right here."
Princess: "I think you are probably very tired and need a long rest. Can I get you something to eat or drink?"
Me: "Yes, I am very tired"
Princess: "You need to have some medicine."
Me: "Oh, I don;t really like taking medicine."
Princess: "It will be ok- it's is very necessary, and it tastes like strawberry."
Me: Right. Good. Well, now I would like to see if I can get the trampoline put up for you."
Princess: Mu-um...we're playing! We need the trampoline, but we really need you to get better. Dr T will cherish you until the morning and I'll come back to check on you."
Tombliboo: "Just lie there sir, and I will play you some music." (gets out his electric guitar).
Princess: "Cook-a-doodle-doo...Good morning- how's the patient? I've checked over all your tests and I think there is nothing medically wrong with you any more. Would you like your nails cut?"

How people learn

Just in case you're wondering if your children are learning anything much right now...I have been there. This week J-Man (nearly 11) decided he would like to do a stop motion video. He found software that he thought looked good. It was $US295. He looked around and found a trial for the same software for free.

I watched him at work, so skillful though he had only seen the software for the first time an hour ago. He made it look terribly easy, and the end result looks reasonably simple- but there is so much that goes in to even a short animation.

I thought about how cool it was that he decided to do this, and that he did it without a teacher, without any assistance at all actually- beyond reading help files and googling questions he had.

Then I got to wondering if everything he did last week, that was nothing new, was somehow "less than" what he has done this week. Crazy really- because all that went before helped get him to this point.

I thought about how he learns, with a bit of a cruise, just enjoying life, then a sudden flurry (like a whizz round an off-road track) then back to the Sunday drive. I realised too that it's a bit how I learn.

Looking in at my life, people wouldn't say "My goodness see how much she learned today"...or "Yes, I see it- a little bit more than yesterday, progress is being made".

Real life isn't like that. In school you get nice little dollops spoon-fed, and children can often recite what (the teacher said) was learned toady. Real life learning is far more random. Far more beautiful.

Princess discovered this week that she can read upside-down. It never occurred to her to check before, but it came up naturally whilst waiting for a bus, and it was cool to watch.

When J-Man gets home, I'll see if he can work out how to put his little animation on to here.

Not good...

Tombliboo had a bad accident on Tuesday night- he likes to climb on the climbing frame, then from there to the washing line, then hang there, or swing himself and jump (or drop) off on to the grass.

That night he missed something or other- my first time not watching him do it- heard him scream, ran for my life and found him curled up in a ball...I didn't really look at him too much, just snuggled him and brought him inside, then we noticed his bleeding knee and thumb- getting set to get him plasters, then looked at him again and saw the world's most enormous bump on his forehead.

I have *never* seen anything like it, and I have seen big bumps before...this was much bigger than a golf ball- i wish I had taken a photo, because it is difficult to explain the size of it- it sounds like an exaggeration, but is not.

Anyway, too busy for photos- he had been silent when I picked him up, and I didn't click at all until later that he was knocked out...he then proceeded to scream, and refuse to be put down...I showed the neighbour because I thought he probably needed to see the dr, he agreed...I borrowed their car, and drove to the hospital (not knowing where it was).

We waited for ever, then Tombliboo fell asleep- still alternating between drowsiness and screaming/moaning, but never getting off my lap.

The dr was concerned about the height from which he had fallen, and the size of the lump- by this time far, far smaller and still 6cm by 4cm...then he started to worry about a bleed on the brain, and while he thought (and hoped) Tommy would wake up fine, he couldn't say for sure and would hate to miss it- so requested an urgent ambulance for us to go to Starship for a CT brain scan.

He told the receptionist he needed the ambulance here in 10 minutes, no more than 12 for a suspected brain injury, and I held myself together only just. By this time Aimee was crying at the thought of losing her brother, and Josh was trying to cheer us all up by being supremely optimistic.

I arranged for Ben's Nana to pick the kids up from Starship Children's Hospital to take them home (already 10:45pm), and to call Ben to let him know what was happening (he had gone to Kerikeri a few hours before). Also rang J9 for moral support, and when we arrived at the hospital (miles after we should have I reckon), she and baby M(2 months) were waiting for us, as well as Nana.

Tomblioo slept for most of the ambulance ride, and they even took a blood-sugar sample without him flinching...when he eventually did come to, he spoke normally, and seemed ok albeit a little drowsy (but most chidlren would be at that time anyway). I had concerns about the CT scan- any radiation on such a small body can't be good...but J9 told me afterward that it is actually 100 times more than an xray! That is every pulse too, and there is no guarantee they will get the right shot in one attempt. He was also going to need to be sedated because of his age.

I opted for some more monitoring, so he was attached to an ecg, pulsoximeter and bp machine- until 5am...so the infernal beeping, and then fast beeping at the smallest change in readings made it impossible to rest.

In the morning, he woke perfectly lucid, with barely any swelling, and wanted to see Josh and Aimee and go to his house. They agreed he was unlikely to need a brain scan, and gave me a checklist for things to watch for over the next 12 hours. We were released around 9am, and then caught a bus and walked a bit to Ben's Nana's to pick up the kids. J9 met us there and took us to North Shore hospital so we could pick up the neighbour's car, and we went home.

He is very well now- the bruise on his head is very light, and his black eye is pretty decent, but lightening each day. He's annoyed at me for moving the climbing frame again, and really, really wants to hang on the washing line- but we'll leave that for a while I think.

Once again I have been helped by amazing friends and am very grateful we are all happy and healthy.

If you're happy and you know it...

Clap your hands (don't eat them!) :0)

We are having such a cool week!

Yesterday we had friends arrive out-of-the blue, and that was lovely.

Then, we received a giant Lego pack, purchased after selling unwanted toys.


The kids finished the Lego in a few hours, and had a blast building it all.


Then our (awesome) neighbour came over with an armchair he and his wife were going to give to the Sallies after purchasing a new suite. It's not any old armchair- it's a la-z-boy, and it is superb!

He also brought round a compost bin he has made for me! I have been hanging out for a compost bin, and burying food scraps so as not to send them to the landfill...but it is a pain, and I don;t need another garden plot.

Every time I think I have set aside money to buy a compost bin, I use it for something more pressing...and I also just discovered they are far more costly than I had supposed. It's a real boon!

Today we went to visit unschooling friends in the morning, then walked through a bush to get to a cool park and meet up with other home edders for a picnic.

The children had a fabulous time together, then we went back to our friends' home, and enjoyed another few hours with them.

In that time, the kids also had a swim at one of their friends' homes, and then we got dropped home as well (instead of having to catch a bus).

Now the kiddos are fed and happy- watching a Scooby-Doo movie, and all is right with the world :0)