I have a little terror....

his name is Elijah.  Well today he was anyway.  I'm assuming its a growth spurt thats causing him to go a little crazy.  He's now at 97cm so he's grown a centimetre since I measured him two months ago.  And he's inching closer and closer to 15kg which I'm pleased about.  He woke about 6am this morning and has only just gone to sleep (its 8.30pm ish) - how can he not be exhausted??? 

He used to be so calm but since starting kindy (4 weeks ago) he seems to be bringing a totally different Elijah home.  I just hope that he is well behaved at kindy and not one of those kids that everyone looks at sideways iykwim!

The other day before going for a nap he gave me a kiss and said "When I grow up, I'm going to marry you!"  I said "No darling, you can't!  You have to marry another girl that is not part of the family" "Oh" he said "then who?"   -  oh the things kids think about!

So for a little time out for me (because he refused to have a nap) I went through my fabric.  There isn't alot there any more - I gave most of it to my sister (like she needs more stuff eh Nicky!)  But I thought before buying any more I would try to use up as much as possible of the stuff I already have.  So I made these

A tablecloth for Elijah's little table

And a cushion which he has taken to bed with him - the underside is flannelette so nice and soft

So that's two pieces of fabric out of the way!  Time for more???  Maybe not just yet

In the March issue of Better Homes and Gardens there are some great projects.  I especially like the shelving units made from old draws, plate or plant displays made from pallets and a curtain made from vintage fabric and lace.  So maybe tomorrow we might have to head out in search of a few things.

Just quickly....

Just thought I'd post this - about as artistic as I get with a glue gun.  I'm contemplating reclaiming the spare room as my craft room and thought I needed something for the other wall - the one that isn't covered in Elijah's artwork.  I just can't think where I will put all Elijah's toys!  I don't want them in the lounge, definitely not.  Must be time for another declutter session.

(This is me, apparently I own a tow truck - the bit between my legs was Elijah's effort at drawing pants but he was easily sidetracked and laughed "haha it looks like you're going toilet!"  Oh my lovely son!  The big circle is my tshirt and the small circle is my belly button.  What next???)

I now think its safe to say that Elijah loves kindy!  We get there early so he can do some art before the teachers return from lunch.  When they come out of the office, Elijah says "You can go now, Mum" and gives me a kiss and cuddle, and a very nervous wave.  He is only there a couple of hours before I pick him up and this is what happens

Well I only have an hour before I have to pick him up - needless to say I have a bit of housework to do while watching/listening to Dr Phil and Oprah!

Wednesday's Weigh In

I weighed in first thing this morning and although I hadn't lost as much weight as I would have liked, a loss is a loss.  So loss stats are as follows - not brave enough to post original weight/measurements just yet!

Weight  -700gms

Neck  -1.0cm
Chest  -4.0cm
Waist  -7.0cm
Wrist  -0.5cm
Bicep  -0.5cm
Hips  -6.0cm
Thigh upper  -3.0cm
Thigh lower  -1.0cm

So a total loss of 23cm!!!  I feel alot better and the loss gives me the motivation to go another week.

I weigh in tomorrow...

Last week I mentioned I was starting on the Lazy Girl's Diet - well its not really a diet but more of a lifestyle change.  I am the biggest I have ever been and its pretty depressing buying clothes to fit when I have a wardrobe full of the next size down.  So Wednesdays are weigh in days.  I'm pretty sure I have shed a few centimetres in the last week and the bloatedness that has plagued me for the last few years has diminished.  So here is a weeks worth of food - not all perfect choices but loads better than all the Tim Tams and Salt & Vinegar Kettle Fries I had been scoffing!

Wednesday
Breakfast - yoghurt, muesli, banana, cup of tea
Snack - few grapes, 4 vitaweats
Lunch - replacaement shake, banana
Snack - pear, few grapes
Dinner - tuna pasta, brocolli
Snack - 2 pieces licorice, cup of tea

Thursday

Breakfast - yoghurt, muesli, pear, cup of tea
Snack - banana
Lunch - salmon sandwich, few grapes, 1 piece licorice
Snack - 4 vitaweat, grapes, 2 slicces Burgen fruit toast
Dinner - tuna pasta, brocolli
Snack - 2 pieces licorice, grapes, 6 cashews

Friday

Breakfast - yoghurt, cereal, pear, 2 Burgen fruit toast, cup of tea
Snack - 4 vitaweat, 10 grapes, 10 cashews
Lunch - tuna pasta, brocolli
Snack -licorice, pear, 40gm dark choc, 1/2 serve kettle chips
Dinner - hamburger, homemade wedges
Snack - cup of tea, 4 pieces licorice

Saturday

Breakfast - yoghurt, cereal
Snack - few blueberries
Lunch - salmon on Burgen toasted, 6 cashews, nashi
Snack - 6 homemade wedges
Dinner - corn & cheese toasties
Snack - cup of tea

Sunday

Breakfast - yoghurt, cereal, pear, cup of tea
Snack - missed
Lunch - Tendergrill chicken, few fries, diet Coke (BK)
Snack - missed
Dinner - BBQ chicken sausage, 1 roti, 1/2 c couscous salad, green salad
Snack - missed

Monday

Breakfast - yoghurt, cereal, cup of tea
Snack - nashi
Lunch - toasted sandwiches corn & cheese
Snack - 4 vitaweat, nashi
Dinner - chicken sausage, couscous salad, green salad, 1 roti (leftovers)
Snack -  2 vitaweat, cup of tea

Tuesday

Breakfast - fruit toast with scrape of marg & jam, cup of tea
Snack - nashi, 6 cashews, 2 vitaweat
Lunch - 1 roti, chicken sausage, low fat choc dessert
Snack - 1/2 serve low fat choc dessert
Dinner -
Snack -

Marimekko...

I had been hearing a bit about marimekko and I know some of you will recognise various designs even if you've never heard of the brand itself.  Marimekko is a Finnish company that produces high quality fabric, clothing, bags and more.  Well, a couple of weeks ago Elijah and I went to a $1 sale at a Salvation Army.  I saw some blue and white striped sheets I thought were doubles so would be perfect for Elijah's bed (he has a king single).  They looked in good condition so I piled them into the bag along with clothes for everyone bar myself.

When we arrived home we examined our goodies and sorted them into washing piles.  Then I noticed the tag on the sheets.  Yes they were marimekko and they were queen size!  Now I don't have any duvet covers that match blue and white stripes but I put them on my bed yesterday anyway.

The cotton blanket is also a Salvation Army find - I think I only paid $2 (it was a half price sale of blankets so I bought a few)

These were by far the most comfortable sheets I've ever slept in and they're 35 years old!  So now I know what all the hype is about.  Marimekko has been added to my wish list starting with the one below for Elijah.

Our first ever BBQ...

I have never owned my own barbeque so when I saw one on special for $35 I thought I might give it a go.  Obviously its a small charcoal one but, in my opinion, the food tastes soooooo much better than on a gas barbeque.  Only downside is that I now smell like a BBQ!

It was also good family bonding time.  First we had to out it together, then get it lit (which took a little longer than expected), then cook the food (chicken & herb sausages and garlic sprinkle koftas).  Elijah isn't a big eater but he did manage a whole sausage and a roti.

nothing like a barbequed sausage!

homegrown salad! 3 types of lettuce, basil and parsley

couscous salad - I can never get it to look pretty but it tastes great!

So we will probably make Sunday BBQ day because its the only day we are all home.  Unless Mum and Nicky want to come over during the week to paint the fence *wink wink*

First step to reclaiming me...

Yesterday I started on my 'lifestyle plan'.  I've weighed in and taken all my measurements plus taken a photo as evidence.  I have to start looking after myself!  I have promised myself a haircut when I get to my first step (8 kg loss).  Right now I'm trying to steer clear of anything with flour as I'm almost certain that causes me alot of bloating!  I also limit myself to two cups of tea a day and drink water whenever I can.  Yesterday went really well.

Breakfast - yoghurt, muesli, tea and a banana
Snack - few grapes and 4 Vitaweets
Lunch - replacement shake and a banana (was running late to pick Elijah up)
Snack - pear and a few grapes
Dinner - tuna pasta with lots of brocolli
Snack - cup of tea plus two pieces of licorice (my treat!)

The humidity in Auckland has been up to 100% in the last few days so we haven't been walking.  Apparently it should start to cool down by Friday so we will start walking around the block again (3km) or maybe try to bump it up to an hours walk. 

Fate or coincidence?

Wow! What an odd afternoon we had yesterday.  Some strange force was at play.  After lunch I decided to take Elijah to the Salvation Army (yes again!).  We had only been in there for five minutes when a little voice piped up "I need to go toilet".  Well so much for not needing to go before we left home. 

I couldn't see anything overly interesting so I just grabbed a few books, paid and left.  I realised when I got home that all three books are pink!
The Lazy Girl's Guide to Losing Weight and Getting Fit by AJ Rochester
I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Of course I have started on the weight loss guide first and after the first chapter had convinced myself that I had actually written the book.

I thought the mall would be the closest toilet but as I tried to turn left into the carpark a huge truck was blocking the road so I had to flag that idea.  Wondering where the next toilet would be I asked Elijah if he was ok. Yes he was fine - no accidents so far.  The library was a couple of minutes away but I hadn't factored in the trouble I would have finding a park nearby.  So a couple of wrong turns and back tracking I was thinking how much easier life was when he was in nappies!  There were no parks in sight - even the medical centre carpark was full.  I wondered if I should just chance it and call into the church op shop.  If he asked to go there I was sure the little old lady would let him use their loo.

Well what do you know - as soon as we got inside the shop he was off playing with the toys and had forgotten about needing the toilet.  I found a few things but my pick of the day had to be the 10c Nici frog with juju lips - so cute!  Elijah also gained two bags full of stuff for free.  The lady said she was going to throw them out because she didn't know how to put it together.  It turned out to be a three level carpark/garage, a Hot Wheels track and a construction track set with trucks etc.

So we piled all our goodies into the stinking hot car and headed home.  We got halfway up the street before ours and saw a fire engine, police and ambo - hmm then I saw the car.  It must have been a head on at the top of the hill.  I always thought it would happen because its hard to see over the brow of the hill and there are often cars parked either side meaning you need to veer to the centre to get passed.  I'm guessing if you have two cars travelling towards each other at 50kph there is going to be a bit of damage.  So instead of rubbernecking and driving through it we turned around and took another route home.  I can't help but think that if we had come straight home to use the loo we could have got caught up in it.  There must have been a reason our afternoon turned out to be so unusual!

I love Your Home & Garden...

I've been having a few late nights lately. Most of you who know me will know I'm a bit of a nana and need a good night's sleep. But when the new Your Home & Garden comes out each month I spend at least a week's worth of nights scouring the pages for ideas I can use in my "not so pretty but completely practical" rental house.


I must say alot of my ideas are still stuck in that idea stage due to a severe lack of funds. Some days I wish I had an unlimited supply of cash - don't we all? But then life would get pretty boring. I mean there would be no need to take Elijah op-shopping or to garage sales. I would never step foot in a $2 shop or an emporium - those places are like Disneyland for kids (and adults) with all their treasures!

My issue with these shops is that before I enter I know exactly what I need, but as I step foot into one of these treasure troves, well my mind wanders.  I lose all sense of time and eventually leave the store with an armful of "necessities" but not actually what I went in for! 

So how do I solve this huge (not really) dilema?  I need to form a new habit - writing lists!  Not just writing them but actually using them - working through and actioning off items as they are completed.

I recently cleaned out the art box and my sewing stash (which was all over the place) and I don't know why we ended up with multiple sets of crayons, coloured pencils and felt tips.  And I had just bought Elijah all new Crayola felt tips, extendable crayons and classic crayons for his birthday!  Needless to say I packaged it all up and listed it on Trade Me.  It has now been sent off to someone in Christchurch.

Elijah is the most fantastic artist.  I'm allowed to say that because I'm his Mum!  Here is his artwork from his first two weeks at Oratia Kindergarten.  My plan is to cover the wall with his art then once a month take a photo as a record.  I will then use his artwork as wrapping paper or give it to whoever it was intended for.

Ok, back to H&G.  What I love most about it is that alot of the homes they feature have great secondhand finds incorporated.  It's not all brand new, state of the art stuff.  It shows people that you don't need alot of money to create a home - just alot of imagination!    Originally I had Elijah's room decorated with a pirate theme but he was scared of the "jazzys".  When he was younger my sister used to wear alot of skulls -which were in fashion at the time - so Elijah started calling the skulls "jazzys" and the name has stuck.  I don't think Jazz would be very impressed though. 

He now has a Cars room which he loves!  He bought himself the toy box and canvas organiser himself with money he got from having his photo in a magazine.  It makes tidying up alot easier for him because as you can see everything has its place.  And its reasonably big - he has two set of blue Thomas track and two sets of brown track and it fits perfectly.  The toys in his room are all toddler friendly just in case he has friends around.  We now keep the small Lego and books in the "library" which is just the spare room.

Granny bought the curtains and duvet cover.  His friend bought him the Cars workshop and rectangular cushion for his 2nd birthday.  I only bought the two other cushions!  He has the same set of Rimu drawers I had as a baby - they were bought secondhand by my Mum and have never been refurbished!

Well I think I'll leave it there.  For those of you who read my blog, thanks.  Sometimes it just helps to get it all out instead of keeping it all swishing and swirling around in my head :P

(some pics still to come!)

I almost wet myself....

Two days ago Elijah and I went grocery shopping.  We parked undercover and Elijah spotted a car he thought was pretty cool.  It clearly belonged to a teenage boy - old 80s car with a sparkly paint job and shiny mags.  Our conversations as follows

"oh wow Mum, I like that car - it's so staaaaaalish"

"pardon darling, what do you mean?"

"its sooooo staaaaalish!"

"Who taught you that word?" 

" Dad did"

"oooooooh you mean stylish"

"no Dad says staaalish"

Needless to say I was in hysterics and he couldn't understand why - he was just pronouncing it with his Dad's accent.

an old pic - he's about 8 months old here and already into cars - boys huh?

*cry*

I have just been out to my garden - well its more of a tiny plot because there was no existing place for me to use when we moved into this house (August 09) and this was all I could be bothered digging!

Lettuces, capsicum and eggplant are doing great but the cauli and brocolli have been attacked (not too worried about them though)

Elijah has his eye on this one - I'm not sure which colour it is though.  I 'think' we bought a purple one and an orange one but I really don't remember so it'll be a surprise!

This, I guess, is the last of the strawberries we planted in November.  We've had a constant supply (enough for a certain little boy) and they are just growing in an old wheelbarrow left by previous tenants.

And lastly my Xmas present from Jenna (my cousin) - somewhere in the centre of those crazy begonias (I think thats what they are) is a dead gerbera lol I'm hoping it might magically sprout up again next year.

Monday - always a fresh start....

It's Monday!  In terms of FlyLady this means I must complete my weekly 'home blessing'.  Well actually its something I 'want' to do rather than something I 'must' do.  It's simple really - the general rule is to spend ten minutes on each 'job' which is like a general once over to keep your cleaning up to date.  Its quick and precise so you don't need to spend the whole day 'planning' what needs to be done.  Great for procrastinators - of which I am probably one.

I have a few clothes that need mending and a bag full of unfinished prjects that I'd like to work through.  Hmm I wonder what I can get Elijah to do in the meantime so I don't get distracted every two minutes.  Don't get me wrong, I love playing with him but I'm just not that into cars and trains! Oh and I'm almost 33 so probably no longer classed as a child!

We also have to bake today.  I haven't decided what yet but maybe some of the Gooey Lemon Slice I made last week - sooooooooo yummy!  Possibly gingernuts for Elijah to take to kindy.  He just loves choc chip cookies and choc muffins but its on the no no list for kindy (although seeing what some of the other Mums pack I can't see a choc chip cookie being any worse!)  I wonder if I'll be able to leave him on his own this week.  I don't want to push it and force him to stay and cry in case he ends up hating it :( His first week didn't go so well.  I stayed with him on Day 1.  I know there were four children starting that day but I was the only parent who stayed so I assume the other kids are used to be in some sort of care.  Day 2 I left after 15 minutes and arrived 3/4 of an hour before home time so really I was only gone an hour and a half.  When I was walking up to the gate I saw he was happily pushing a truck around outside near the teacher but was so pleased to see me.  He had apparently been waiting by the gate for me :( - he told me he had cried a little bit but he must have hid it well because none of the teachers saw him crying.  Day 3 he was so tired from having a late night the night before so was grumpy before we even go to kindy so I stayed the whole time.  Even with me there he was quite tearful.  Here are a few pics from his first day.

fireworks - it may look like just scribbles but he was very carefully mixing colours and painting

the teachers were impressed by this 'alien' and the fact that he can already write his name

he has just started to colour in - before it was just drawing cars, trucks etc - he tries so hard to stay within the lines

Oh yes we made it to the Zoo today!  What a beautiful day for it.  The only downside was half the animals were in hiding but we saw the majority of what we wanted to see.  All the impressive animals - giraffes, zebras, rhinos etc.  It's a shame the lions were sleeping and the cheetahs were nowhere to be seen (they are real performers usually - they come straight up to the glass).  I think Elijah was more interested in following the bigger kids along the dragon (the same one we used to play on as kids).  And he finally went down the big slide by himself.

I'm actually sitting in bed writing this and I'm just looking at a few small piles of 'stuff' (well actually its clutter but stuff doesn't sound quite so naughty lol) I'm wondering if there are certain areas in a house that attract clutter more than others.  I know for definite my bedroom is one of those places that came with a clutter magnet.  The dressers in particular and the bedside table.... and actually the area surrounding the bedside table.  I might have to add a 15 minute declutter session to my list to do today.

One last thing :)  We watched Secondhand Wedding for the umpteenth time last week.  Great movie and best of all its NZ made!  Elijah loves garage sales so I promised to take him to one on Saturday morning.  We didn't make it to the one advertised in the paper but found a few on the way which satisfied his garage sale needs (lol he's 3 years old!)  He got a bargain - a real Transformer for 50c

I also found some great old tins for Xmas presents (yes I know its a long way away but I like to plan ahead), a sweet old Mary Lou doll, a glass bowl, a huge square cake tin and some Tupperware.  It was stuff we didn't need but what else can you do on a Saturday morning for less than $10???

Well I have stripped and remade the beds and have washing in the machine so not bad for almost 9.30am - breakfast time! then onto my 'home blessing'

Falling off the wagon....

I'm ashamed to say I didn't keep up any of my FlyLady routines so instead of relaxing today, I spent most of it catching up on housework.  It wasn't too bad but the fact that Mr3 thinks afternoons are for running around like a mad man instead of sleeping makes housework take twice as long.

We're planning a trip to Auckland Zoo tomorrow.  It's been a few months since we lasted visited and although Elijah has said he wants to go to Motat, I think he will enjoy running around at the zoo and learning about all the animals.  No doubt it will be late morning before we leave the house as he has only just gone to bed (almost 10pm) because he was waiting for Dad but became overtired and very irritable.

What amazes me most about Elijah is his thirst for knowledge.  Last week he asked me what was under our skin.  To keep it simple for him I told him bones and blood.  I showed him by pressing on my skin and letting it go white, then once I let it go I told him the blood will come back.  He fell over a couple of times yesterday (quite unusual for him!) and was more concerned about the 'blood coming out' than the actual falling over bit.
Today's lesson was spelling.  For about half an hour it was 'Mum, how do you spell this or that' and each time we sounded it out and spelled it out loud together.  He was actually pretty good at matching the sounds to the letters so I thought I would help him even further by writing down about 15 words of his choice so we could spell them out together.  He already knows the majority of the alphabet by sight so is well on his way to reading although I refuse to 'teach' him to read before he's learnt all the letters and sounds.  I don't want him to 'read' by memorising whole books!

Anyway, although its a Saturday night, I'm knackered and just feel like reading magazines in bed.  Hopefully we'll have some zoo pics to blog about tomorrow - I might even get Elijah to tell the story.