rosey garlands // rosey cheeks //

Last weekend we made some garlands with the petals from our roses. The roses were nearing the end of their blooming beauty, and some had begun to let their petals tumble onto our table. We thought this would be a great way of remembering the velvety roses and having some fun as well. 

The garlands themselves were very simply stitched with a needle gently through each petal, and threaded onto some variegated embroidery thread we had. The kids decided that they wanted head garlands as well as one necklace for Ari - it matched his t-shirt better!

What fun they had in the garden. Running and giggling and being silly. They do love posing and playing up for the camera. And with lush green grass and vibrant colours as the background I just snapped and snapped as they kept on posing and moving and giggling and finding new props. I'm so glad our beautiful cat Lou-Lou made it into the photos too - even though he wasn't the most willing model. 

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. I think these photos perfectly sum up what I wish and hope my Mother's Day to be. My beautiful babies enjoying living in the same place that my beautiful mama (and dad) raised me and my siblings. Exploring and discovering treasures in our forest. Sitting still and watching little birds with fascination and joy. Running and laughing and being children. And all the while making this mama's heart sing through the pure joy they are experiencing. 

Oh yes. So it is. Happy Mother's Day to all you Mamas out there. 

{and extra big hugs to all those of you who are missing your mama today}. 

E xxxx

a + m

 I am making some changes to this very old blog that I once wrote on about the kids. Have decided we will start using it again, though differently. I won't delete what is already there - but as the 'abouts' will change, I wanted to keep them here as a memory. And also to make me take the time to record those little creatures of mine more and more. 

Was: 2009

A is 5.
He likes to draw and invent things.
He just received his very own camera for his birthday.
He is currently collecting parts to make a rocket ship, with his cousin.
He reads stories about dinosaurs and spaceships.

M is 2 1/2.
She likes fairies and princesses and all things pink.
She likes to draw.
She likes to read stories to her baby dolls.
She designs clothes with her mum's fabric scraps.
She is helping her brother, A, collect parts for his rocket ship.

Now: 2013
A is 8 1/2
He loves reading and can devour books in a day or so.
He is an explorer of all things.
He likes to invent and talk about inventing. Today he said 'if you believe it can work, then it can'.
He is sometimes shy, but is good at talking with adults and asking for help. He likes ordering at the restaurant, when he feels comfortable.
He says to me "mama can I ask you something", and I know he will want a cuddle. He is such a cuddly and affectionate boy.

M is 6.
She still likes fairies and things pink and purple. But she likes other colours now as well.
She loves drawing, and is very skilled at foxes and clothing and people.
She is writing and illustrating a book about some foxes.
She makes clothes for her Barbies and her dolls, using fabric or tissues, or wrapping paper, or even simply just washi tape.
She helps her brother sort the parts when they play Lego.

* The other blog may take a few weeks to get worked on, and start being regularly posted to. I hope that both of the children will be active on it as well. I will let you know. 

the little ones

this blog started originally, I think, as a place to talk about and share and mostly remember the things 

about my little ones. I am not good at regular journal keeping - and here now it seems I am not so good at blog journal keeping. I keep forgetting to write updates and birthday posts about those little creatures of mine.

today they are finalising the writing of speeches for school. The words they will say, and timing it to fit within the two or one minute they are allowed. And writing it down on palm cards so they can present it in class.

They both learn and experience words so differently. Both of them love reading, writing and story telling. Yet for Mishi spelling and writing words seems to come easier than for Ari. Sometimes I wonder if this is because of the difference in their start to schooling (Ari in Queensland prep system where reading and writing was much slower to be taught, compared to Mishi who was taught in pre-school and now in NSW kindergarten has learnt the whole alphabet and can read and spell and write and sound words out so dramatically differently. Perhaps it's also the being a second sibling, and learning so much from the older brother. That makes a big difference, I know.)

Anyway, Mishi has happily written her whole speech almost on her own. It's about kookaburras and is wonderful. She's actually worked out what she wants to say, and written it down on paper and now has transferred it to palm cards. We have timed her as she talks, and ends with her wonderful kookaburra laugh. I must remember to record her.

Ari has needed help every step of the ay with his speech, from thinking up a topic ("my grandma") to working out questions to ask, and then what to write. And then, he wants us to write his palm cards. Thankfully I think he will present it in class, and won't expect that of us as well....

Saying this - Ari is excellent with words and spelling and reading and writing. Especially for his age. 

They both have a big love of words and language. And this makes me happier than happy!

*this was written a few weeks ago, and has sat unpublished as i didn't have an edited photo to put with it. it is increasingly harder to get the photos/blog thing happening. but steps are being made to get electricity on at home - that will surely change life in quite a dramatic way. or perhaps not at all.

lines to make me smile

 

There was quite a fun, and super excellent, little thing yesterday at the Matisse Exhibition, at the GOMA. Called The Drawing Room (cute name, yes??), it was set up as a very tidy and lovely artist's studio space (sort of). There was a life model (clothed, not naked), and lots of fantastic still-life set ups, with flowers, fruit, etc. Drawing paper and pencils and space to sit and draw. Such a wonderful inspiration room. 

I wasn't feeling it for the life model drawing, but sat and did some still-life sketches of bottles and jars and such. These above are drawn on an ipad they had, where it then draws back to you each line as you drew it. If you go here, I think you can have a go yourself. The top drawing, vase with flowers, is by Ari, the bottom teapot by me. And look at this excellent one that Ari drew of the model in chair. His drawing skills are improving so much, and he's enjoying looking and just going for it. It makes me so happy to see him just draw and not get upset that it doesn't work out exactly as he wanted/planned/expected (I do that much too much myself....). I think he was really inspired by the Matisse exhibition.

I am hoping to put aside more time for myself to do drawing, painting, sketching, over the next few weeks. It's something I think I'll have to put into my diary to make sure it happens... Tell me, what do you wish you made more time for? Will you do it - join me in spending time this year doing more of what you love, for yourself. I do wish I had space to set up tablescapes like this, that could stay until I was finished..... next year for sure.

overview

a small selection of images i've snapped (on my phone) lately.
a small selection of life.
from top -
1)the boy wanted to have a sweet biscuit, i said no sugar, so he crossed out 'sugar' on the ingredient list. i so so so wanted to give him one, just to let him know how fantastic he was, and how much i love the way his head works.
2) a scene driving into town. afternoon. sun setting after the briefest of rain showers. heading on my own, out to dinner + a play with my sister.
3) on our window sill this morning. collections that Sam + the kids brought home from school athletics carnival the other day (which was held near the beach, hence the beachy type plants).
4) on the window sill - blossoms from our stone fruit trees. never any success with the fruits, so i think it's okay to pick and enjoy the blossoms.
5) as #2
6) the bees from HoneyWorld. school excursion yesterday. was quite amazing standing a room with all those hives - a most delicious sweetness of honey-smell.
7) a little piece of coral set into the stonework of the wall in our kitchen.
and below) is a fuzzy shot of those bees. i love the "mess" of their wax. and the colour. i'm so curious about the wonderful, complex world of bees - what an interesting, important creature. do you know much about bees? we have a native stingless beehive at our house (my brother put it there). they don't produce much honey (about 1kg per year), so i'm considering another hive of imported bees so we can maybe 'steal their honey'. i have to do the research about how imported honeybees might attack / take over from the native defenceless tiny little bees.
[talking about bees, look at this amazingness! what a lovely mama bee, making baby nests inside flower petals.].

now we are 6*

This is a little letter to my boy. Hello Boy. Now you are 6! {25/10/04}

Little one, you have grown so big, and bold, and confident and so yourself.

It really is wonderful to see how you can easily interact with everybody you meet on your daily adventures. You are confident chatting with adults, and easily take the lead when in a group of other children.

Your ideas, thoughts, observations are amazing to be part of. To see the things you notice, and how your brain leads you to conclusions or the stories you make up about little things.

I really do like the way you tell you little lies to me; about how you've brushed your teeth or done something or other, when really I can tell by looking at your face that you're trying to trick me.

This is you on pirate day at school (in prep, in Mrs F's class). You've loved being in this class, coming home with all sorts of facts and bits of information, new songs and stories. Constantly singing pirate songs that you've learnt.

Your drawings constantly inspire and amaze us. The dedication to your artwork, and the pride with which you present your new piece to us is so good to see and be part of. I love seeing you grow and develop into your own drawing techniques.

This is you on the walk to school, for the art night. You are dressed in those red+white striped pants that I love so much (from Blossom Child), with the singlet we made for your friend's robot party. You threw the jacket on at the last minute, as we walked out the door, announcing it made you look like a real artist! You do really care about how you look, mostly, and take pride in wearing your lovely clothes. Thankfully you will wear what we ask you to (not at all like your sister, who will only wear exactly what she wants and nothing else). I love your sense of style, and also how you appreciate other people's clothes and outfits - often you tell me in a very loving voice that you like my dress, or skirt or that I look pretty today.

You are such a beautiful, loving and caring big brother - when you want to be! Both you and the little one play fantastic games together, making up stories and making a mess all over the place. You love playing shops; you are always the shop keeper. Or if you play cafes, you make the best little menus for us to peruse before we place our order. Sometimes, with Grandma, you are a travel agent booking tickets for her to go to Italy on a cruise ship.

You got a new bike for your birthday. A beautiful blue + white treasure. You and daddy have been spending time in the street learning to ride (no training wheels on this bike!), and I think you'll be quite the bike trickster. Especially when we move to the land and you have lots of flat space to ride about with no cars nearby.

I love you, my boy. To the moon and back. The boy who made me a mum. And made your dad a dad.

*{any excuse to use an A.A. Milne reference}.
** top picture of Ari in his Mad Hatter's tea party hat, with the hat cake we made, was taken by Sally (a school friend mum).

two in green

Just a few images from a little treasure walk we went on the other day.
Both kids wearing green t-shirts.
Carrying their own little bags (both made by mama, of course) for collecting all sorts of lovely little treasures.

the remains of the day

today is ari's birthday.
5.
big boy. my baby boy.
we were talking about the day he was born. how we almost didn't make it to the hospital (which was only 3 minutes down the road from our house), because i didn't recognise the 'pushing' sensation. we did get there, with 45minutes to spare, though fully dilated. just enough time for sam to park the car and get back to the birthing room!
for parents, you know that feeling as if you've known your children for your whole life, they are so ingrained your every day and essence. you can barely remember time before them. yet you can also not quite believe that they are now old enough to..... make jokes, back chat, get themselves dressed, feed themselves... any number of every day activities.
we had a party yesterday.
so lovely. family and friends in the backyard. a Japanese theme dress-up party - so fun to see everyone pull out their kimonos. and the 'party activity' was sushi rolling - seemed most kids quite enjoyed it, and also meant i wasn't in the kitchen for hours on end rolling sushi (was in the kitchen for hours on end doing other stuff!).
and today, a quiet day. with brother + nephew and my sister + nephew.
and this afternoon. the end of a long weekend. two sleeping kids (sam at work). a quiet house. with the breeze outside bringing snippets of kids playing and birds calling and cars driving.
and me tired too. but many things heavy in my mind, things needing to be done. work to be ready for next weekend.
yet one small quiet moment to stop and observe and remember.

beep bop beep bop

We like robots around here; well, I suppose, actually, that most kids do.I had this sweet little robot from Kristen Doran, hiding in my present (underwear) draw, waiting for the right moment to hand it over to Ari.
Last Friday night we went to the Avid Reader Little Market, and Mishi chose a beautiful little handcrafted doll. (pictures another day, sorry).
Of course, Ari felt a bit sad that he didn't have a new friend. So, out came the little robot.
He loves it. Thank you so much Kristen for this perfect friend. It has all the detail that a kid loves; he keeps asking me what each button does. There are so many buttons, so many different things your robot could do.
The morning after we gave it to him, he woke up and drew this amazing illustration of 'Robie'.
Every morning Ari draws, each and every morning our house is filled with glorious images like this - and while beautiful and special and magical, it can get a bit crazy with paper everywhere.
I'd love some ideas on how you keep all the paper and artworks contained, while showing them off and appreciating them at the same time.

You can buy Kristen's robots made up, or as fabric panels - with lots of little robie friends. Over here.*bottom photos from Kristen Doran's site. Top is Ari's artwork.
**Also, just wondering, does anyone know much about kids writing styles, etc. The other day Ari wrote a whole word upside down (the word was imagination). All the letters were correct, and totally legible. He is left-handed and writes backwards just as easily as forwards, but this is the first time I have seen him write upside down. Is this natural in kids, or...... is my kid special!!. (I hope you understand the joke in asking is my kid as special, but just wondering).

today ::

today ari asked me, as we were driving past the cemetery, what it was.
i explained to him, though i knew he already knew, that it was where some people bury the people they love, when they die.
he then asked me, when all the family people have buried all the people who have died, who buries the last family person, when they die.

i had to stop and think, for a moment, and totally appreciate his thinking. his logical way of working it all out. and i smiled.
i took it literally to mean - the very last person on earth. who will bury that person. or who will mourn that person.
of course. we know
no-one will need to mourn the last person.

children remind you to think about things, don't they.
they take nothing for granted.
accept nothing as it is presented.
ask many questions until they are content that they know for themselves, what it means.
not knowing the rote of learning, the knowledge of learning.

i'm going to have to start sharing

My big boy decided that he can sew by himself. On my machine. He had this long stretch of white felt that we got from (possibly) Reverse Garbage. He drew great lines on it, just strips of colour. And a few cross lines as well. Simple. And perfect. In a very graphic art way. I really like his simplicity, his restraint with the shapes and lines. Just keeping it still and uncomplicated.
(Someone outside, in another house, is playing a beautiful lyrical piece on a flute, or something. Another one of those moments you have of living in the city. In a street where you can hear your neighbours breath and talk and yell, and play music, and laugh).So, after much talking, and me having to finish sewing my skirt (photos tomorrow, or some other time, I promise), I let him at the machine. First he sat on my lap, moving the fabric about with his hands, and pressing the button to reverse the stitches, lifting the foot up and clunking it down. All to my instruction. With me pressing the foot presser, to make it all go.
Then, while I was doing something else in the same room (my machine is now in our kitchen), he hopped onto the chair, and stretching his legs to reach the foot presser, he started doing it all on his own.So, my big (little) boy can sew. Have a look at that concentration.We got a box to make the foot presser higher, so that he can reach properly. And with standing over shoulder instructions from both mum and dad about being careful to not get fingers sewn on.
He did it.
He decided exactly where to start and when to stop the stitches. And then, half way through a line, half way across the 'page' he stopped, lifted up the foot presser, cut the thread. And declared it finished.
So, I suppose I'm going to have to share my sewing machine with him now, hey. Or buy him his own.

portrait of an artist

These photos are all taken by the little artist himself. I love the composition and viewpoints in these images.He painted this one by squeezing the paint straight from the tube, and working it into shapes. He did this all on his own, while I was doing something else. He asked me to get the paints down, while the littest one was asleep, and set about doing some beautiful and textural paintings. Pieces that needed a few days drying time.
This one, the smaller one in the middle, was a collaboration between Sam and Ari. Done with those paint pen things, straight onto canvas. Many beautiful parts in this. I hadn't even got out of bed for the day, and these two artists had completed this mini masterpiece.
The red and black piece on the left is one of Sam's canvas lipstick palms, which he has hand drawn on top of. The beetle vase in the front is by Deb Cocks, I've mentioned her before (somewhere, I think).And this is, of course, a fun and childish self portrait!