Wordless Wednesday 7 November

There is nothing like a comfy place to read.  Yes you see it right.  One 8 year old sitting in a large plant pot on a spring day.

I am linking this post to My Little Drummer Boys.

The phone for my Tweenager

So it has been a hot topic of conversation this year.  You might know the one that says

                         'Mum everyone has a phone and I don't.  I need one."

My standard response has been something like this

'What do you need a phone for?  Who is going to pay for it? When theright moment arrives then I will reconsider this decision.'

 

Of course that first moment to challenge my decision arrived and I agreed that now was the right time for a phone.  Naturally it comes with a set of rules which we have agreed to.  Here they are;

 

• the phone is not to be one the table during meal times
• the phone must not be taken to family/ social events where social intereaction is more important that sitting there txting.  It must be left at home.
• the phone is to be switched off during study and homework times.
• the phone is to be left it's overnight spot by 6.30pm.  (Oh yes we go to bed early in our house because we get up early)
• I will only pay for txting and in return the bedroom of said child. will be spick and span every weekend with no exceptions. Dusting, vacuuming, cleared surfaces and all washing out in the basket
• I can check the nature of txting going on and no txts can be deleted until I have done so.
• the phone must be used in a way that complies with the school rules.  I will not be rushing into school to get back for her if it get conviscated.  Well not in any hurry.

Naturally I bought the cheapest phone I could get.  It can not take photos, it can make phone calls and send txts.  This is despite the protests that friends
          
                         'all have touch phones and I want one too'.

Thankfully my tweenager has not yet realised about wireless connectivity because then a new set of rules will need to be thought about.

Then there are the consequeces that would see the removal of a phone for a specific lenght of time.  Yes a boundary has been breached and yes I have had a phone sitting in my sock draw for a week.  I think the lesson has been learnt, well for the time being.

 

 

 

Monday Menu 5 November

Here is my week of meals. 

Monday   Sweet and Sour chicken on noodles

Tuesday  Cold meat and salad

Wednesday  Spaghetti bolignaise (easy to reheat after orienteering)

Thursday  Indian Coconut Curry

Friday  Pizza with salasa, feta cheese, tomato any leftover vege I can find.

Saturday  Wraps

Sunday Leftovers

I am linking this post to I'm an Organising Junkie.

October in Numbers

I just can't believe how quickly this year has gone

So without ado here are my numbers

The month started with 2 weeks of holidays.  This was the final break before the long summer holidays.

• 2 weeks school holidays begin....Well the second week of the holidays is October.

• McKenzie played 6 days of hockey, 8 games and her team finished 4th in the Colliers Cup (Under 13 girls) New Zealand tournament.  Here is the coach giving the girls their half time pep talk.

 

(photo source The Times)

• 6 weeks at work this month with a new pay roll company and none of my pay fortnights have been right.  Grrrrr .....Just as well we are not solely reliant on my pay to live.

• I spent a whole 2 hours making my daughters outfit so she could look like a pupil attending school with Harry Potter.  Right down to  the owl made from a pinecone.

 

You can read about this project here on my blog.



• Working (I am a primary school teacher) 4 sometimes 5 days a week this school term.  I am trying to put some money together to pay for the house paint. 

 

 

 

• 2 days raking up bamboo, cleaning up the yard and paddocks so that all the winter rubble can be disposed of .  You can see that my 3 children helped us move the wood and bamboo

 

(The credits for this page can be found here at Nuts4Digi)

 



• Finally the need arrived for McKenzie 11 years (or nearly 12 as she would say) to have a phone.  It came with a set of rules but with her staying away with the hockey tournament we thought that it was time.

• McKenzie played her flute at St Mary's College Junior Proms.  She was one of 85 first year instrument players in the band she played in.

I am linking this post to Notes on Paper.

Fridays Fabulous Five # 25

What with me working more days that I usually do I am sort of time for browsing the web as much as I usually do but here are my finds for this week.

1. I love this new find.  As the summer holidays are not many weeks away I am sure that Plan my play will come in handy for the staycation moments.  A day out but local and hopefully something that I have not thought of doing with the family.
2. I am so into instagram now and the Thankful project found on eighteen25 looks like something I will be doing starting today.
3. The try this tea towel idea from Skip to my Lou.
4. Some green Christmas Ornaments
5. Then there is this post which is important in my house all about broken Trust Cycles

Do you have any interesting links I might like.  Please let me know.

Wordless Wednesday 31 October

Here is my photo.  Hmmmm I think it has rained too much in the last week.

The only saving grace is that we collect our rain water in tanks for drinking and so we will start the summer with full tanks.

I am linking this post to My Little Drummer Boys.

The Firsts

The moment of firsts in any house is usually full of excitements.  You know the list

• a first smile
• frist crawlling
• frist steps
• first tooth
• first words
• first food

really in life the list of does not stop.

In our house a first has been fulling my daughters head space since the beginning of the school term....her first school dance.  Last friday my tom boy (I mean that really lovingly) got dressed in our party gear and off she went.  She really is growing up. 

Her school has said that the fierls must wear a skirt or a dresss and that statement threw us into a spin.  Apart from one too small denim skirt and outfit needed to be found.  I could live with that, the shops to find one, within budget, dress.

Oh no my list of one purchase quickly grew.  Who knew that 11 year old girls  could need want so much to go to a school dance.  Take a look

• a dress
• hair cut
• hairstraighteners
• make up
• jewellery
• just the right shoes

This list is just because the others all have/ are going to according to one 11 year old
Then as the day drew closer the list grew some more

• girls to stay over
• time at the mall the next day

Before I knew it, the very simple dance, turned into a major production consuming half of my weekend which was already busy enough.  Who could believe it.

Luckily I had a lot of prior warning about the dress and had one put away and McKenzie was due for a hair cut so I timed that to coincide with the dance but as for the rest......hmmmmm we simply made do with what we had and me the taxi driver had minimum work on.

As I dropped little miss 11 off there were some little points I noted.  When I am told everyone, in future I will read that as one person I know, unless I have seen or know differently

I am pleased to tell you all that I dropped one very excited girl off to the dance where about 500 well behaved Year 7 and 8 tween/ teen agers danced away a few hours.  The girls all looked great in their dresses and the boys typically looked good in their jeans and shirts.  I turned up at 9.30 to collect her and was pleased to see the whole hall pulsing.

While there was plenty of excitement in my house surrounding this event the stress and pressure on me was somewhat overwhelming.  When next time arrives I will be ready for the onslaught of 'but  the others have got/ are doing'. 

 

(Sadly my photos were taken in the twilight and I have to work out how to mimimise the shadows)

Monday Menu 30 October

Here is my menu.  Thankfully summer is nearly here and we don't have the same need for hot winter meals.

Monday  Curry Chicken Pasta

Tuesday  easy fried rice

Wednesday  Beef Carbonade

Thursday  Grilled chicken with salsa verde

Friday  Homemade pizza

Saturday  Cold meat with green salad

Sunday Leftovers

I am linking this post to I'm an Organising Junkie

Wordless Wednesday 23 October

Here is my photo for this week.  McKenzie off to a Harry Potter birthday party

 

 

Costume and owl made by me.

 

I am linking this post to My Little Drummer Boys.

Christmas Baking

Each year my children bake a gifts for the older generation in the family group.  This year I thought I would plan ahead what could be make and might make something fun for the school lunch boxes.

• So the first idea I have is to make a sampler box just like this little bit of eye candy.  Personally I think that I will have the children try and make these kind of cookies as Annabel Langbein makes in this blog post. 
• Then I thought homemade jam or such like.   I know the children would have great fun squashing fruit and collecting fruit.  With spring here and summer fruit such as strawberries now for sale road side I can't wait to get started on some of these.
• Then there are the homemade eadible treats.  Truffles, chocolate on a stick, maybe stainglass window cookies.  Really there are so many ideas out there it is hard to know what will work and what wont.

 

(photo source is Giverslog)

 

I am sure there must be lots of great recipes out there and when I find more I will update my post.  May you have a great recipes that my family might like could share with me here.