T-shirt

Today at playgroup:

Me:You look hot. Wanna take off your shirt?

Ivy: Leave green one on!


Me: Yep, right. I'll take off the long-sleeve stripy one, and leave the green t-shirt on.

Ivy: (Hesitantly) Not nude?

Me: (Snickering) No, not nude.

Dishes

Look at this! They are finally useful!

Ever since I told Hazel that the scrubbing brush was for cleaning dirty pots, she's been very keen to clean a dirty pot.

And Ivy is always partial to a bit of tipping-water-from-box-to-box.

By the end, the pot was actually pretty clean.

This morning we voted. Our closest voting place is the Preston East primary school (yes, the one we've been playing at). They had sausages in bread, so we stayed there for a couple of hours. The girls stomped in puddles, waved sticks around, had bogus toilet visits (four visits and just one wee!). Trudi and I chatted with Fleur and Darren. It was a very pleasant morning.

The joy of Christmas

This was in Lincraft. I'd been trying to find a bra extender, because my intentions of eating less have not become reality. Didn't find it, but Ivy found a Christmas tree. It was a tacky cheap-looking thing, but of course she doesn't know that. She delicately touched the plastic tinsel and the plastic baubles, gazed up at the wonky plastic fairy, and wondered at the electric lights. I look at stuff like that and see infuriating short-lived ugliness, but I think Ivy saw luminous glory.

More about the school playground

More! Have you noticed the time of these posts? Commuting. Forgot to bring a book both days. Anyway.

When we were playing at the school grounds for the second time, a bloke came over to us. I expected that he was going to tell us to leave. Instead, he said if was really happy to see us there, and what do we want to see done around the place?

His name is Brendan and he is the principal of one of the schools that is quietly running in the building. His school is Pavilion, an alternative high school for kids not suited to traditional schooling. Brendan took us inside to see a class of girls whe were learning about solid shapes - cones and cubes etc.

Some of those girls are young mums, so there is a corner of toys. Ivy and Hazel threw themselves at the little fake kitchen. Brendan said we could come inside to use the toys and the toilet. How cool!

Rock babes

We are learning how to jump off things. It makes my heart speed up, but what can I do? It seems to be time to do this.

Our local primary school has closed, and its enormous grounds have been mostly unused. This week I had an email from my local Sustainability Street group in which someone reported that an Education Department person welcomed community access to the school.

So on Monday arvo I put the girls in the pram, walked over to the school, wandered in through the gate, and commenced to play. There is a slightly decrepit set of play equipment... Slide, monkey bars, you know. Once that palls (takes four minutes), there are rocks in a 'dry creek bed', grass, trees, wooden walls to climb and walk along, plus a vegie and herb garden to ransack for lavender.

On the way home, Ivy and Hazel each had a long stalk of lavender, another of grass, plus roses and dandelions on their laps. Birnam Wood.

Morsby

It's a first - one of the soft toys has a name! Until now they have all been Green Bear and Tiny Rabbit and the like. Last night Hazel called the new red-faced Norwegian cat puppet Morsby.

I don't know where she got the name.

This morning she let me know that the other cat puppet (grey-faced) is also Morsby, but it might also be Cluffy. Yet another cat toy (the red one, from Estonia) is also Morsby.

Doors

A few weeks ago, we all went to a door shop, and picked out a new screen door for the front. The old one was literally falling apart - Trudi used cable ties to keep it in one piece, but it was essentially a piece of shit.

A week ago, mum visited (imagine some big doom-y music). As we all came in the front door, I propped the "security" door open by moving the little disc thingy on the thingy up the top... what it this called? Is it worth googling it so you will know exactly what I mean? Ok, Google is no help; I don't even know what search terms to use. Where was I.

Once we were all inside, Mum tried to close the door, but it was still propped open, and she actually ripped the door off its hinges! What a magnificent security door we had.

I put it on the nature strip and it was four or five days before someone took it away. That is a measure of how crappy it was - I put a garden gnome out once, and that took fifteen minutes to go.

Today a man from Michael's Security Doors came and put up a new door, plus one for the back. Now we can have the doors open on hot nights - bliss. The poor installing guy had a hard time with the front door frame. It's had a tough life - it seems to have been randomly shaved down in various spots, so he took half an hour of serious chiselling and hammering to hang the door. Somehow the girls napped through it all, and woke to a new door.

How did you get here today?

I can see which internet searches have brought people to this blog. Here are some highlights:

• front seat slow loris
• slow loris toy
• dr luke sammartino reviews
• sourdough starter smelling like acetone
• "weed in the potty"
• "slow loris" wearing a dress
• slow loris toilet trained
• slow loris dressed up
• how to shower slow loris

Sorry to disappoint, people.

Big beds, one day

Trudi has a thing about getting the girls to move from cots to big beds. I'm happy for them to be in cots for a looooong time.

We went to bed shops today, looking. The girls took their shoes off (well we did it for them) and they jumped on beds and played hidey under piles of cushions.

The beds are expensive and kinda crap. Trudi liked the look of the bed that the Anges have for Olive, and we even know where they got it. We'll wait until the January sales, and I think T will also try to haggle, cos we'll be getting two.

Tonight when we were trying to zip the girls into their bags, Ivy lay down on the floor, spread a cloth nappy over herself like a sheet, and closed her eyes, grinning. She was SLEEPING under a big girl's sheet. Maybe this big bed thing will be OK.

Climbing and talking

In the last couple of weeks, both Hazel and Ivy have changed a lot.

They now both like climbing... up ladders in playgrounds, and up stools at home. Hazel carries a stool around the house, wondering what to inspect next. Ivy is learning to climb those playground ladders made out of chains.

Time to go to the Anges' to see Tom and Toby, plus various adults.