Funnnies

Had some funny moments today.



From Bowen:



"Riordan, Mum's got her boobies out! Come and look!"
I was just getting dressed! I don't often roam about the house topless. I don't know what the big excitement was, they see them all the time. They used to drink from them!



Austin's also found his doodle! He was in the bath this afternoon (yes, this afternoon, he'd had about fourteen changes of clothes today, and it was cold, so I thought I may as well just put his jammies on him) and there it was. He was having a bit of a fiddle, then it was forgotten. As I was dressing him after, he was sitting on the change table, and I could see the light in his brain switch on as he remembered it, and he went for it again. He found his foot instead, realised it was the wrong thing to play with and kept searching, only to be rewarded with a little fondle.



Ahh, doodles, so many of them in this house!



I also got a peak at Riordan's photo's from the agency today:

I've kept this a bit hush hush, but we've signed Riordan up with an agency (very reputable, nothing starting with a 'B') and now I'm just waiting for him to pay off our mortgage in the next year or so. He's had one casting already, and he wasn't the most compliant child, but he looked gorgeous, in my humble opinion anyway!

Study awaits me! I feel a bit cold-ish. If I go into this exam with a brain fog I'll be mightily annoyed!

Catch up

I've really been letting the blogging team down. Not only have I not been writing, I haven't been reading either.

Shame on me.

Uni work seems to take up most of my time, the session is nearing a close and I have one exam on Friday, which I should be studying for now, and the marks to get back on the assignment from last week. I've been getting good marks. I am super proud of myself, and then I think that these are courses meant for 18 year olds, and my head swiftly shrinks back down to size.

I've booked in to get my learner motorbike licence. I had visions of Darren and the boys taking off for weekends riding, and while that does sound nice, the whole house to myself in a testosterone free zone, I think I would like to go along sometimes. Be the cool 'riding mum'. It's been ages since I've been on a motorbike, the RTA says that as long as you can ride a pushbike you can do this course, so I'm hoping it comes back quickly enough.

The boys are going great guns. Austin is crawling properly, finally, after 4 months of his strange froggy-swimming style. He's got two teeth, and his top ones are cutting right now. He's an absolutely gorgeous little soul, and I am blessed to have him.

Riordan is a very headstrong little boy. He's the boss, he's always right and doesn't he let you know it! But, he's also gorgeous and loving and his spontaneous kisses just melt my heart.

Bowen is growing up at the speed of light. He's an expert at asking inappropriate questions, especially after listening to the news on the radio ('Why did the man die, Mummy?'). He's still my emotional boy, I don't think that will change.

There's my quick catch up for today. Thank goodness for open book exams, although I still have to write the notes to take into the exam! That'll be me for the day.

Sam xx

One of my favourite things

Do you have a piece of clothing that you know you just shouldn't wear, but still do? He he, I'm wearing mine right now!

For all intents and purposes, they are perfectly presentable tracksuit pants. A dark marle grey with a pink accent. I wouldn't wear them on a special night out, but for preschool drop offs, and studying, they are ideal.

If I were 3 inches shorter.

You see, they are freakishly short. Soft, warm, comfortable, but ankle freezers. They sit just a little too high above my sneakers (and soon to be ugg boots, gotta be comfy when doing assignments!). Even my mum, for whom fashion is a foreign work, has told me to throw them out, and she bought them for me.

I just can't part with them. It would be wasteful, for one, plus they match a hoodie that have perfectly. They keep me warm, and happy.

Ooh, I've just thought of a new incarnation for them... pajama pants! That's it! With some nice fluffy, knitted bedsocks, my ankles won't get cold at all.

It's all about recycling...

Our own time-zone

We had a visit from our front neighbours this morning, Melissa and her almost-four-years old son, Robson. After they had left Bowen said to me, "Mum, why was Robson dressed already?"

OK, it was 8.30 on a school morning!

I truly don't know how I am going to cope with getting Bowen to Big School on time next year. 10am starts I can handle, 9am... we'll see!

My Boring Life

I heard on the radio this morning that SBS is looking for a family to follow around for 3 months, a kind of "Sylvania Waters"-type reality show.

My first thought was, "We could do that!"

My next thought was, "Oh, God, I'd have to keep the house tidy all the time if there were cameras around."

My next thought was, "Wait! Our life is soooo boring even my mum wouldn't tune in to watch!"

I lead a blessedly boring life. A typical day would see me waking too late, tearing around trying to feed and dress three children, hang washing out, do dishes and try and turn myself into something presentable enough to go out in public, then making various child-related car trips, or walks, and then sitting in front of the computer doing uni work (or blebbing around on Facebook, more likely). The afternoons are filled with more little-boy chaos, and then a night sitting, exhausted, watching a tiny bit of TV before going to bed and waiting for it all to start again. A point of interest might be my continuing night calls for Austin (he just doesn't seem to think that he can go a whole night without some delicious breastmilk), with me stumbling up the stairs at 5am for a feed.

There are no dramas. The only tears come from over-tired children. There is no intrigue. The only mystery of our lives is where do all Bowen and Riordan's shoes go? We buy them heaps and they are never to be found.

I am grateful that we are so mundane. I read about too many sick children, or families with tragic stories, and say thanks everyday that we are not part of their number.

When they need a TV show made about an everyday family, doing very everyday things, we're available!

TEETH!!!!!!

Ooh, my much neglected blog. How I have missed you! Uni work has been taking up soooooo much of my time (why set two essays due a week apart?), but happily, I got 16.5/20 for my first assignment. I was very chuffed about that, especially since I graduated 10 years ago this year, and it's a new discipline. Exams, on the other hand, are going to be a totally new experience. I managed to avoid them entirely for the three years of my degree, but now I have no choice.

Austin is cutting some teeth! Yippee! I thought I would have to have him fitted for some infant dentures soon. His two bottom ones are peeking through. I had my suspicions on Saturday when he managed to make his little gum bleed while he was having a drink, that would only happen if there was something hard trying to break it's way through. Sure enough, I was doing my daily dental check on him and there were those little lines on his gums.

He is cutting them like a dream, I can't attribute any typical 'teething' behaviour to them. Of course, the hacking cough that is part and parcel of his bronchitis pretty much negates everything else. Poor little soul, Bowen shared his chest infection with him, and he's not coping well with it. The carpet in his bedroom wore the contents of his tummy the other night, his evening feed, spag bol and beetroot (that won't stain the carpet, nooo) went everywhere. Mixed in with it all was so much phlegm that can't go anywhere but sit in his tummy. I feel so bad for him, but I can't do much to help him. He's been sleeping through a bit lately (the other night he went to sleep after a rough start at 8pm, and slept through until 8 the next morning!) now the weather is getting cooler.

School holidays are coming to a close, and we are going to attempt a McDonald's play session again today (I haven't ventured back alone since my last disaster). The boys are fighting like cats and dogs, with Riordan just in a terrible mood all the time. Everything is wrong, he always wants his own way and he can't always have it that way!

What's cooking?

This is fast becoming my baking blog!

No more breast milk baking (although I did make some pikelets with some boob juice I had left over), this time it's all about leftovers.

I made a chocolate cake yesterday, a low-fat recipe that is cooked in the microwave (a trend that should never have gone away, I might have to search for a few more microwave cakes). It uses two egg whites, which leaves the question, what do you do with the yolks? Custard, of course!

I couldn't find a recipe for custard from scratch, but I knew roughly what to do, having made it a long, long time ago for a very unappreciative Riordan. I whisked up the yolks with some sugar and vanilla, added milk and heated it all up. So far, so good. I thought it needed a bit more substance, even though it was thickening up nicely. In went some couscous for a lovely, creamy, vanilla-y pudding! Austin thought it was quite delectable, and there is some scrummy left overs for tonight.

The big people had some honey mustard chicken with rice for dinner, and I purposely cooked too much rice so I could make something, anything, for Austin with it. It needed to be firm enough for him to pick up and feed himself (we're still doing baby-led solids for the most part), so I thought some rice balls, loosely based on arancini . Once again, my recipe books failed me, so I had to wing it. In went some grated carrot, an egg, some ricotta, a little plain flour, a tiny bit of onion and some kidney beans (Austi's newest craze). I rolled them in bread crumbs, sprayed with a little olive oil and baked them until they were firm. I then made him a simple tomato sauce with just a tin of tomatoes, some onion, more kidney beans and a touch of sugar to take away the acidity, and then blitzed it all up and cooked it until it was nice and thick. Austin thought it was divine, and hoovered up three balls the size of his fist. Not the tidiest meal, there was tomato everywhere, but he loved it and it is expanding his palate.

Next on the cooking list is going to be some polenta.

Baby Masterchef, now that's an idea for a TV show!