The morning after

Leftover pav for breakfast.  Sneaking it in while the kids are outside playing.

Will there be enough?

Ivy made her own computer

So that she can work next to me today.

She has a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and phone. That's a headset on her head.

Little white bunny is growing up

He is almost as big as his brother (by another mother).

Big grey Chipper is very glad to have a small friend to take care of.  And little white Potato is very happy to have his head licked.

Also, coleslaw

Thankyou, v-slicer!

I love my Christmas present to myself

It's a v-slicer, and I am making oven chips. It only cuts thin chips... think maccas.

Last time I par-boiled them first, but since they are so thin, I am trying them straight in the oven this time.

Not a moment too soon!

Finally, both tired cranky daughters are sleeping. I hope that this means that they can enjoy seeing their cousins this arvo.

On the road to Bunbury

It will be a big year

From Hazel:

Mum! When I am nineteen, I'm going to start my job as an acrobat. And I'm going to have my triplets.

Waiting at Tulla

Listening to Justine Clarke, singing along quietly in a droning monotone.

Grateful

I took Hazel and Ivy to their new school in for a two-hour orientation session this morning, and I am so so happy that I had to post about it.

Ivy has been having separation anxiety about kinder drop-offs on and off for years, and particularly badly in the last few months. This morning she was nervous on our way in, and then I found that they had been placed in separate classrooms - not what we had asked for! The principal sorted that out quickly, and Hazel got to work on some drawing. Ivy clung to my hand and didn't want to join in. Then after a few minutes she sat down and started gluing stuff. I said good bye to them both and Ivy waved to me as I left, with a smile on her face!!

Oh my goodness. For months, every dropoff consisted of Ivy standing at the kinder room door, crying and shouting BYE MUMMY BYE MUMMY as she watched me walk down the corridor, out the front door, then out the gate. I had to turn and wave all the way until I was out of sight. Not today!

Then the parents went to the hall and listened to the principal talk about the school and I got a bit teary, but not about how my babies are getting so big. Instead it was because of a massive upwelling of gratitude. We chose a school with lovely kind professional staff, they had space for us, and we are in the right place.

We are the luckiest family in the world. Two wonderful kids, at a beautiful school that is going to take care of them as they grow. I can ask for nothing more.

A better wig?

I am early for work and my pass won't open the door. Maybe it doesn't work before 7am?

So I strolled up Chapel St to kill some time.

Can you read the light orange words in the background of the sign on the bottom left?

The sign tells me I am in C St, which is a bit tragic, really. Like a kid desperate for a nickname. Hi, I'm not Andrew any more; can you call me Chiz?

Then the background words say TRANSFORM TOUPE FRINGE.

They are probably not meant to be read as a sentence. No doubt the copy-writers were trying for a groovy edgy bricolage effect.

But if you are trying to tell people that they have come to the place where the beautiful people shop, you probably should not subliminally tell them to adjust their wigs.

Double WHAT?

I always read this as Doubleshit and wonder why you would pay for one of those.

Time to sort

Four days of letting the clean laundry pile up. Or was it five days? We are running out of clean clothes.

What can I do with this??

Mirrored vowels

Found this catalogue of the vowel graphemes on the back of a list I wrote for work.

Portrait of a slug monster

Hazel really really loves the Monsters, Inc movies. 

She noticed that the buds on the magnolia tree look like Roz's hair. So here we are, complete with mirror-writing!

Day at home

Ivy is sick this week. It was Hazel's turn last week.

Here, they are listening to Mountain Man while looking at superhero books.

That is a hacksaw blade

Hanging biscuits

These passionfruit leaves are actually chocolate biscuits that have been hung up to dry. This will make them crispy.

Construction: A Duck

Its feet are made of passionfruit leaves.

Mashup art: Monsters, Inc and Magic Faraway Tree

Here is a window into the mind of Hazel, aged four and three quarters:

The dark green person is Mike, and he is happily sliding down the slippery slip on a cushion borrowed from Moon Face (who is not pictured). On his back, Mike has a box that contains many canisters of scream.

Boo, the purple person in the top left, is uttering terrifying roars in a green speech bubble. She has left muddy footprints (represented as purple dots) on the slide and on the paths on each side if the hill.

Sully is the blue person who is lying over the top of the hill. I think he is tired.

The purple person to the right of Mike is Hazel's toy rabbit. Not sure about the other purple being near the bottom right.

All in a foment

Tonight I realised something that has been creeping up for a few weeks: I am in a new phase. I am fermenting.

I have these projects on the go:

Kefir
Sauerkraut
Sourdough bread
Olives quietly pickling in the pantry
Seedy mustard curing in the fridge

I've always loved a pickled thing. And I seem to have noticed recently that I can get more pickly stuff in my life by inviting in the right microbes.

The kids are mildly into my pickly projects. Trudi is not so keen. The cats, rabbit, and fish are indifferent. To each her own, because that leaves MORE PICKLES FOR ME.

Now it is 7pm

The girls are in bed, chatting.

Another day is done.

I wonder what they will make of this little scene when they get up.

It is 4.53pm

And we are having dinner at Sakura, a Japanese cafe in Preston.

It's 8:45 am

And Ivy has recorded a song that she made up.

Lyrics:
MummyMummyMummyMummy I love you. MummyMummyMummyMummy I love you. MummyMummyMummyMummy I love you. MummyMummyMummyMummy I love you. MummyMummyMummyMummy I love you. 

It is just after 8 am

And Hazel has made a pair of paper shoes:

And then decided that they are too tight. It's not easy to edit paper shoes:

Dinner at 4:20pm

tired hungry kids... cheese on toast... omelette x 2... half an avocado... leftover baked beans from last night... over an hour of eating!

Mellifluous

I found this in a design spec for some software I'm documenting:

In case of misuse, this can lead into appearance of dysfunction

It really is sweeter than honey, isn't it. Being led into any appearance is a concern, but then you find out that it's the Appearance of Dysfunction!

Hazel's first writing

Hazel wrote this for her friend Rowan, who has been sick. She went into another room, made this card, then came back to show me.

It says:

DEAR ROWN AD GRETA
I AM SORE (sorry) ROWN ES VOMATENG

 

Installing DELL software

And this is the picture it shows me.

Artistic representation

What do you think this is? Hazel drew it.

Hint: If you are thinking that it is a body part that is not usually out in the open, you might be right.

Ivy and a baby Komodo dragon

At Taronga Zoo yesterday, we walked for hours and went on the Sky Safari for three and a half trips. Tony took a day off work to come with us, and he cope well with the girls making decisions about what to see. Hazel wanted crocodiles and alligators, and we saw them all, floating like logs and shifting occasionally.
Ivy wanted the hippo, which we didn't get to. Instead, she loved the reptile house. We played Spot the Camouflaged Animal.
Both girls were keen on the chimpanzees and gorillas. Both of these groups had little ones being carried and watched over by their mum.

We are classy

This is how we have breakfast by the beach at Manly.

Trudi is paddling

While we swing.

A twin moment

Yes, there are two swings.

Eating World

I like the clean simplicity of the name. Eating World. There's no ambiguity about what goes on in there. Just eating.

Kiss and Ride

I am pretty sure that this sign is trying to get people to park here to drop off their partner at the train station in the morning.
However I thought that it could also be evidence of municipal support for streetwalkers.

Seagull man

We saw him feeding seagulls as we walked back down from the Rocks.
He has a seagull on his head.

What a day

We did the tourist thing.

Ivy got up just after 5am today, so we had an early start. We walked 1km to the train station, and got a seat on the TOP LEVEL of the train. Over the big bridge, then we got off at Central. Another walk, and then we spent a couple of hours at the Chinese garden. Both girls loved this, which was a bit of a surprise. Ivy said that the paths were the best bit. Hazel invented a new imaginary friend. He is a friendly monster as big as her hand, named Scary. He lives underground and burrows along to keep up with Hazel. She throws an imaginary hammer at the ground to make a hole when he wants to come aboveground.

After the garden we walked again, had a play in a playground, then walked some more to a food court where the kids had lunch. Yes, they ate icecream and KFC chips.

Then we walked some more and caught a ferry that went under The Bridge and around to Circular Quay.
Then we got a train home again... and of course we WALKED home from the station.

Both girls were troopers. They are happy that tomorrow's plan is to drive to Manly for a day of drifting around playing.

Totoro hat

It's actually a leaf from a plane tree. On our way home from a day of sightseeing.

We look at the boats

This is the Maritime Museum, not our ferry.

Chips and ice cream for lunch at Darling Harbour

We are tourists.

Last morning at Umina Beach

Those tiny little people at the far end of the bouncy pillow are Hazel and Ivy, playing with a slightly bigger girl they met while bouncing. The kids closer to the camera are massive teenagers who are taking turns doing somersaults. Hazel is now explaining the circumstances of the bandaid on her knee to the new friend. Lucky kid, she gets to hear about the height of the tripping hazard, the nature of the tumble, the first aid rendered, and the followup monitoring.

Ivy loves mango lassi

As does Hazel. Filling up on a bucket of yoghurt after filling up on rice.

We had to order more rice

Usually three main meals is too much for the four of us at an Indian restaurant. But now Ivy likes Beef Korma and Hazel likes Butter Chicken, we ate everything and then the kids looked around for more.

Sydney Harbour Bridge with fireworks

Last right T showed the girls a photo of the Bridge on New Year's Eve, and this morning Hazel produced this little masterpiece.
I think T might have mentioned walking over the bridge, which might be why there are people amid the fireworks.

Dinner last night

Was pleasant enough, but for the big TV screens showing wrestling. When we eat somewhere with TV screens, the kids can't take their eyes off it, regardless of what's showing. Last night Trudi and I sat facing the screens, hoping that Ivy and Hazel would be spared the sight of grimacing wrestling guys with occasional fake blood on their faces. That little plan failed because the bistro has shiny glass windows in all directions.

Whichever way you look there is a clear reflection of the bloody TV. Sigh.

The food was ok. Kids liked their linguini with alleged napolitana sauce; my fish was fine; Trudi's parma was fine. The kids' meals came with "free ice cream" which turned out to be a cardboard pot of Frozen Dairy Free Gluten Free substance, with a wee pink plastic paddle.

Crappy bloggers

Remember to take a photo after they started eating.

An unusual event

Hazel usually can't nap in the day, even if she is tired. Today we took the girls horseriding. They took turns riding a 27-year-old horse while Trudi led him around a paddock.

So now we are driving around while both girls sleep heavily. Tonight we can go out for dinner at a normal time. Maybe a pub?