Christmas Tree!

This is what happens when you combine a pine tree allergy, a bean obelisk from Bunnings, some plastic chicken wire, a zillion plastic supermarket bags, and about fifteen hours ;) 

I spent every Jarvis Sleep Time for a couple of weeks sitting in the lounge, tying little bits of plastic bag onto the tree! I started wondering if I was completely insane, and maybe one of those fake trees from the warehouse might have been a better plan. Kinda glad I hung in there though, it looks pretty damned cool. And I won't have my traditional Christmas eczema - yay! 

Wardrobe Wednesday...

Today's picture comes to you complete with grumpy small boy (see below!) and ancient bicycle. My awesome mother-in-law snapped up this dress for me recently (thank you!), gorgeous dress, perfect size. Magic. 

Accessorised with my favourite new hair flower (just a cheapie from equip in Palmy), and my 50 cent fake pearls. I'm actually on the hunt for a new pair of (probably fake but slightly better fake) pearls, mum's kindly offered to get me some for my birthday. Super excited - now just need to hunt some down by February! As usual, shoeless ;) I found a couple of pairs of heels under the drivers seat of my car today, go figure that's why I can never find them. 

Small growly boy's mood improved not long after this, with the help of some cheese and a tomato. 

Ahh, our lovely Clare is retiring from her position as Queen of Wardrobe Wednesday. Thank you, Clare - you've invented something very cool for us mamas out there in blog land. I'll still be a postin' too, and I'm sure we'll find a new home base! 

Penguin Waffles for Breakfast

Yum is all that can really be said here. Penguin Waffle, flash Kapiti yoghurt, strawberries. Bliss.

Terrier Racing!

And in less angry news, we went to the most fantastical local invention yesterday - Terrier Racing. People bring their small (and the occasional large) dogs down for a day of races! Gorgeous! Regular running races, hurdles (where most dogs go under the jump!), fashion in the field, the Topp Twins, it was all go! 


Excuse the weird looking pics - I don't like putting anyone on here without their permission, so had to do some extreme cropping! The other problem is the old camera isn't quite so hot on the extreme action shots ;)

Jarvis met his first horse up close, he loved the horse to bits, until we tried to put him on its back! He got $3 worth of cuddles, anyhow. 

Ah, the fun with puppies. Next year we'll have to get my sister & brother in law & their terrier to come along & enter!

Don't Mess with Mama Lion...

I recently had an altercation with some people over a difference of opinion about what you do and don't do around small boys (my small boy in particular). When I tried to protect my son from something I didn't want him around, I was told 'Get over yourself'. 


Funnily enough, I don't plan to do so.


And if you mess with Mama Lion, you should expect to get eaten up.


That is all. 

A Birthday Painting for Daddy

Jarvis created a watercolour masterpiece for Daddy's birthday...We did wet on wet painting, where you sponge the paper down first to make wonderful fuzzy effects when the paint drips onto the paper & spreads out. Very pretty!

He did a bit of colour mixing, most enjoyable!

He was super proud when he presented his painting to Daddy yesterday. Jarvis has just gotten into making pictures recently, until then he preferred collage (as in ripping bits of paper & flinging them at the cat!). I've heard a whisper that his Aunty & Uncle might just be making him an easel for Christmas, I have a feeling that'll make one little picture painting boy very happy indeed :)

Wardrobe Wednesday...ball photos from ancient times!

And here it is...the ball photo from 7th form! Like Clare, I had to do a bit of creative cropping to avoid having my old school friends come & hunt me down (although saying that, this photo came from facebook! The liquid satin look was big in '97 ;) I saved up for ages to get that dress - it cost me $175 (a small fortune) and as it was so ridiculously expensive, I had to buy it myself! I recently gave it to a friend who has a costume hire shop here in town, as I think its dancing days are over (with this girl in it anyway...although it does still fit!). 

I've left my friend in this one - with a master plan though! I lost touch with this lovely gal somewhere along the line, and as is the case with girls, she's most likely gotten married, making it totally impossible to find her :( This photo's from 1998, I was in my first year of uni and did a teaching placement in the intermediate section of Waikato Diocesan School for Girls - Helen (my missing friend!) was an English student on a gap year. Added bonus of being a young'un on teaching placement, going to the school ball! That was one awesome dress, I borrowed if from my friend Jo. Gorgeous, gorgeous dress. 

Should anyone happen to recognise my companion in silver -  her name back then was Helen Nancy Saunders (or Sanders, something along those lines!) - please send her my way!!0

With those blasts from the past I'll leave you for now, we have a student to teach & a great big walnut tree to play under :) 

Happy Wardrobe Wednesday!

xx 

PS...for more wardrobe wednesday spectaculars, visit Clare over here!

Alice

Without even realising it, I'd gone & inflicted some kind of gender bias on poor Jarvis! 

Alice is a bit of a national treasure - she was my Mum's doll (her age shall remain anonymous for that reason!), and she was mine when I was wee. She bears the scars of my uncle stabbing her with a pair of scissors when he was a little boy - complete with a plaster to help her get better. I vaguely remember her going off to the 'doll hospital' when I was little to get some kind of malady fixed up, but I'll have to check with mum to find out just what ailed her ;) Anyway, she's a great doll, and before Jarvis was born she helped me with working out just how to get nappies onto a (pseudo) baby. 

A couple of weeks ago, Jarvis emerged from his room cradling Alice in his arms, kissing her on the cheek and saying 'Oh, bubba! Mama, my bubba!'. I felt dreadful - I'd never actually thought about delving into the cupboard of mysterious crap  treasures and bringing her out for Jarvis to play with! Terrible! 

Right now Alice is sitting on my knee (Jarvis saw her picture on the computer and thought she'd quite like to see herself on the screen), after playing a few games with Jarvis, eating some toast, and having her hair brushed & her face washed. He even invites her to take part in his dare devil stunts - and even I don't get to participate in those activities. 

First thing this morning, when he spied the digger out on the driveway (it's all go 'round here, they're replanting a section of the vineyard), he took Alice out & explained the digger to her ('Alice, digger, trailer, wheel, woof woof, mow mow ears (also known as safety ear muffs) tractor), then sat her in the wheelbarrow while they watched for a bit. So lovely!  Gender bias be gone, Alice has emerged from the wardrobe. And, come Christmas, she'll have a buddy called Little Emil ;) And a fab tractor (thanks, one day sales...) with a trailer for them both to ride in. 

Today's photos coming at you from the most ancient digital camera of them all!

I bought this baby in 2002, when I lived in South Korea. It has huge 2mp resolution, 3x zoom, and an actual viewfinder (which would have been pretty helpful in the pentax when the screen smashed...). It actually seems to work better than the old canon, so until the lumix returns from its extended hospital stay (please get well soon, camera!), it seems this might be my photo-taking machine! 

Have a happy day, all! 

Things to make me smile - My Pretty Expo Stand.

Rhiannon over at Toast & Life inspired me to get out of my blogging rut by thinking about some of the things that are making me smile right now...This past weekend I had my first 'promotional event' as such, a stall at the Gisborne Baby Expo, which definitely fit that criteria! 

My main mission was for people to see me & the Kindermusik brand, I wasn't actually selling anything, my stand was all about little kids playing instruments & laughing, and having their Mums & Dads see that there's another option around town for Early Childhood Music :) 

                                  

It was awesome! I spent all day playing with my puppets (you can see them in the middle picture - a cockatoo, a wombat & a kangaroo - rather aussie themed but very cute!), and talking (croaking? I was voiceless which was VERY uncool) to all of the lovely families who came to visit. 

People were so interested in what I had to say, the Kindergarten association want to meet with me about the Kindermusik programme written for a childcare setting (ABC Music & Me), and hopefully I'll have loads of gorgeous kids coming along to demo classes soon...

I loved setting up my stall (with the help of mum - it would have been impossible to set up a stand & wrangle a little bunny at the same time!), and it made me wish I had my own proper studio so I could keep a display up all the time! One day :) Nothing like unleashing the creativity to bring a smile to my face. Even if I was so tired after the expo that I was fast asleep by 7.30 ;)

Big thanks to my lovely friend Becca from Tiny Lovely  for letting me borrow her camera to take a picture of my stall! It was very nice indeed having a friend next door - go and visit her blog to find lots of very beautiful treasures for your little ones :) 

Wardrobe Wednesday!

Good morning all!! Today's Wardrobe Wednesday comes to you straight from the Gisborne Herald website - thank goodness they put me in their baby expo article or I would have been struggling to find a photo of myself in these camera-less times!

My dress is a lovely, lovely new one that Shane bought me as a special present in Wellington - not such a good view of it from there, I'll have to post it again when we have the camera back! My fabulous 50 cent fake pearls are hanging around my neck and I'm accessorising with my cockatoo hand puppet (much to the joy of the little guy I'm talking to!). 

If you're in the mood to read more about Saturday, here's a linky!  It was such a fantastic day, and my voice is almost ready to return to me (I'll write some more about my new persona of Mrs Frog later on!). 

Have a great day!

Wardrobe Wednesday...on Thursday :)

As promised, a belated Wardrobe Wednesday picture! I surprised the people at the photo place no end by presenting them with a film, I guess not so many people bring them in any more. They don't seem to have scanned so well, but you get that :)


So, we have my best going out ensemble here - Shane & I were on our way out to see Rufus Wainwright in concert in Wellington, so so SO fabulous. And I figure if you're going to go out, why not do it properly & wear your prettiest dress. 


Dress - Karen Walker. The best trade me score EVER. It still had labels on it (which read $740), and I bought it for $100. Amazing. I love it - it's made of silk & I seriously feel like a princess when I have it on. 


Black Crinoline Petticoat - another trade me buy, from a very clever lady who makes them. Makes the dress look even more super gorgeous. 


Fishnet tights & favourite shoes :) 


My absolute favourite outfit. Looking at the pics makes me want to go and put it on now, but I don't know that it's the best outfit for playing in the garden with Jarvis & the chooks!