craft monday :: pet rocks

Last week I was reminded of something that is simple can also be so beautiful and meaningful. A simple feather found on a walk can be inspiration, a reflection, some hope, or even wisdom. Holly from Decor8 photographed a feather in different ways with her new camera and this story is what made me come to our craft for the week.

Keely and I went out and found a rock each. We were going to make pet rocks. Back when I was a child a pet rock did not have all the special things we put on ours, but it was time to jazz up a pet rock and give it some more visual life. I am sure there will be a moment in her childhood where she will pick up a simple rock and it will be her pet without any glitter and glamor.

Our saturday was full of rain and it was lovely to go hunting for our new friends in the rain. We both found our pet rocks and we waited until they dried and then out came our craft box and the glue.

Lily and Boris were born.

I loved how Keely just got into her box of craft and pulled out items I thought she would not be able to fit on her rock. She pulled a fluffy pipe cleaner which she used for Lily's legs. Lily was given one eye and a flower mouth. She was jazzed up with a little shiny shaped love heart and some crepe paper for a little hair.

Keely then photographed me doing my pet rock and I made Boris. He was a pretty boy with his red eye and long eyelashes. He was also given a flower mouth and a little purple hair.

I love how Keely wanted to grab the camera off me and capture my moments making Boris. Lily and Boris live in my orchid. They have their home here and Keely can talk to them whenever she likes. Plus it makes my orchid very pretty while it is not flowering.

I love our simple craft. The craft I did as a child. I hope you enjoy creating your pet rock.

in front of the lens :: mum moments

It is raining here to kick off our weekend; lots of these moments to be captured, a birthday party today, and a lot of gumboot wearing!

Anything special happening for your weekend?

Enjoy!

our sunday in photos

My weekends are usually pretty full and I am always doing something, even if it is as simple as our regular routines. On sundays I have Taj on my own as Keely is spending time with her dad. It is nice for Taj and I to have this one day that is really just about us. There is no real "jobs" to be done, so it is Taj and mumma time.

We had such a great sunday last weekend and I took some photos on the iphone as we went for a walk around the beach and over to the pool.

I popped Taj in the ergo baby and he had his piggy back ride all around the beach front. I had my gumboots on and umbrella. There were not that many people around. For some reason there never really is when it rains.

I think it is time we all put gumboots on and enjoyed winter instead of hiding away. There is still fun to be had; and it was beautiful!

in front of the lens :: mum moments

I feel like I am cheating a bit with my mum moments as I did another photoshoot yesterday with Taj. I decided to not share the "setup" images of us, and I would show you the fun and maybe a little bit random images instead. I am still there, just a little of me!

There will be a nice mum moment captured this afternoon as it is our fresh flowers day. Last week was sunflowers, if you did not already notice I used them in a few posts, and I cannot wait to see what she chooses this week. I will jump in the photo this time as it will be nice for Keely to see when she gets older that this was something we did together.

Enjoy your weekends if you do not pop back tomorrow to see the last mum moment of the week!

thank you :: making friends

I wanted to write this post as I need to admit my fears. Yesterday I posted up a post about my lack of friendships and the loneliness I feel as a mother. I wrote this post almost a week ago. It has sat there doing nothing, looking at me every time I wrote a new post. I looked at it with fear of looking and feeling like a loser. Like a poor mum that sits at home all on her own with her little ones. Well not at home entirely as I get out a lot!

I felt posting it would make me feel more alone. More isolated as a mother. But it did the complete opposite. I felt more normal, if there is such a thing as a normal mother or person. It made me feel like I was not alone. You have all made me feel like I can now write about anything and everything. Even the things that make me feel like I am completely naked and looking like a fool I will now write and post. The good things and the bad things we face being mothers and women are now going to be shared by me. I am woman hear me roar! Sorry had to write that as my mum used to have the Helen Reddy album and she would walk around singing this when she had stood up for herself! Go mum!

I know there are lots or opportunities that will come up with meeting people. I am sure I will still have my ups and downs. I will just have no expectations and I am sure those special friends will come along. (Easy to say though, but lets be honest I don't want to be alone, I would like some friends! There said it....not feeling too naked)! I still have my little ones to keep me on my toes and I am going to throw in some new routines. A new place to walk and explore. This then will bring new opportunities. It is so true, you really just have to go out there and get them......watch out friends here I come!

Thank you for helping me feel as if I have all of you standing over my shoulder drinking tea with me as I write. I am not alone! We are not alone.

in front of the lens :: mum moments

Yesterday it rained and it rained. It was pouring down. But off Taj and I went, gumboots and umbrella in hand. We were off to get my tea, licorice tea and it was a bit of a walk to get it. I must say there were lots of people looking at my wellies. They were not staring as they thought I looked silly, they stared as they knew how silly they were not wearing a pair!

I also wanted to share this image. Oh yes it is Taj pulling my hair. I was trying to capture a moment, a mum moment, and I captured the moment we all like to not capture. But, it is reality and this does happen. I am very happy I have this image as it does portray motherhood on the other side of all of the pretty images.

making friends

I don't have many friends. Sad but very true. I moved to Sydney about 9 years ago now, knowing only one person. A girl I worked with at the snow. She was fun, lots of fun. I was in my twenties and loving life. Not long after I met Simon and all of his friends. Had a baby, (Keely), joined mother's group, in the hope of finding my friends, and now mother's group is over.

I have two beautiful friends from mother's group. Both that have their own friends and have gone back to work. I don't see them as much as I would like. Second children come along, and routines change. You may bump into each other, or meet up again when it is a party, or when we manage to fit in a play date or coffee. Life is busy. One of them is that friend that will be there for you in a heartbeat, and she is the lucky one that was able to meet my mum.

I have made some more friends from playing down the beach with the kids, and I have one that I will call Tuesday. She is my lovely Tuesday friend! We became friends as our little girls went off and played in the park together. We knew with the way that they connected we had no choice but to be friends. And how glad I am that they are connected as Tuesday is a beautiful friend.

Being a single mum, no family and very minimal friendship network leaves me feeling quite lonely. I think being a mum is lonely at times even if you have a good support network around you. So I have made it my goal to build my network and find some new friends for me and for my children. I need more then Tuesday. I know when Keely starts big school next year we will make friends, but I don't want to wait. Taj sleeps right when playgroup is on in my area, so I need to wait for his sleep pattern to change, but I do not want to wait.

I hope I am not sounding like poor me, as I don't mean to! Yes I have had my share of ups and downs, but I wanted to share with you my lack of a support network and how I will make it better. I want this blog to show me. The real me. I am not afraid to say I am lonely and I do not have many friends.

So I will put those yoga pants on, (when I am better of course), sweat it out and maybe just make a new friend. I will ring the number of a lady that is from a mother's group with the same age children as Taj. I will stand up, and stop drinking my teas alone and make an extra circle of friends. When life throws a curve ball and I am unable to hit it out of the field, then maybe someone close to me can hit it for me.

Mum told me friends come and go. If you can count your true friends on one hand and fill that hand you are doing really well. I am lucky as the friends I do have are true friends and have been there for me more then they could ever know.

I wanted to say the lack of support, or friendships I have does not make me sad. I share the images above as these two little people make me so happy, and how cute are the images!

in front of the lens :: mum moments

I love how Keely likes to wear what I am wearing. Not completely matching of course, but just the simple beret is cute for me.

on our way for the morning coffee

a moment with a little sunshine on a cup

Do you ever feel like you are just holding it together? Even though you can feel everyone looking at you? One child screaming, the other under your feet. Rain is falling down as you struggle to put the screaming child into the pram where they do not want to be. They arch their back and stretch their legs out like they are a robot unable to bend their legs. You manage to get them in the pram after forcing them in there. Those eyes are still staring at you, as your second child is still under your feet.

Then someone asks you if he is alright. Telling you that he was fine 2 minutes ago and now he is screaming his head off. They then ask you with a concerned look, "well what are you meant to do? I don't have children, but my sister does and they do go from being happy to being unhappy in a moment." I can feel my whole body relax as I look back at him and say, "you just have to not worry about the eyes you can feel looking at you, and not care what anyone else is thinking. This is part of being a parent."

I know I have said what was completely in my subconscious the whole time. I really do think this is what was holding me together. Just knowing I am not doing anything to hurt them. One is sick with high fevers and ready for his morning sleep, the other is not completely well and she just wants to help her mum. There are moments like this where you could loose it. Where something could just push you enough to have those tears stream down your face. But thankfully that one person who even bothered to say anything was saying something positive. Not negative. The eyes that were watching were probably feeling more sorry for you, rather then thinking you are a bad parent having your children upset. But why at those moments do we feel the whole world is against us? I am now giggling as it is so very true. We do feel that. No matter how positive we are as parents, there are moments when we feel negative vibes from others. But mostly you will find they understand.

This was my morning, my saturday morning. I wore my converse shoes, not my gumboots, and it rained a lot. I opened the umbrella up for Keely and I to go under on the way home. When we were half way home, I looked up to see a HUGE spider on the inside of the umbrella hitching a ride, and staying out from the rain. I told Keely to not freak mum was going to move the umbrella for a moment. WHACK..... no spider was going to ruin my day!

in front of the lens :: mum moments

Yesterday I did a photo shoot with the kids again for a whole new look for the little pinwheel website. I had a brain wave and wanted to act on it. Simon helped out and we used his studio. Between us we captured some great moments. I was able to get behind the lens quite a bit as I have hurt one of my ribs. Well more then hurt. It is highly possible I have fractured one of them from coughing. Yes coughing! Hard to believe, but over a week of a dry cough and my chest cannot handle it anymore.

Amazing how we just keep going though. It has been toe curling to say the least, but I did manage to have my mum moment for the day with both the little ones. There are a few other moments, but I love this one. It is becoming a signature little pinwheel image with a bike in the photo.

craft monday :: the simple crafts

With more then a week of us all been sick craft has been very low key for us. There has been no fabulous projects being done in this house. Just lots of cuddles and the simple crafts, which I must say are still great. I know for me the simple art of drawing as a child is still in my memory, and how I loved to colour in. I was a little obsessed at stages in my life. I am not sure of my age but I remember using a ruler as I coloured in to keep the picture looking neat. I too took my time so I did not colour outside of the lines. Keely is yet to be at this stage. Well she does like it to be inside of the lines, however she is not as obsessed as her mum.

I love it when Keely plays with her brother. Even simple colouring in together. I had to buy Taj his first book as Keely would not let him use her books. He looks up to her so much and wants to do what she is doing.

When Taj has his day time sleeps, he is up to having just the one now, Keely and I always take a moment to pull out something from the craft cupboard, if it be drawing things, paints, or things to cut out and stick on paper. This week out came our box of playdoh. We go through stages of what we like and playdoh has not come out for a few weeks now.

Keely created two potato men; well one girl and one boy! We had to improvise on the arms as we only have one of each left. I cut a straw in half so she could have arms for her boy.

You do not have to be "crafty" to create these memories for your children. Having the simple essentials when it comes to craft in the house is all you need. Being a little more creative you can always make your own playdoh to play with, or you can draw a picture for your children to colour in. I personally love this as Keely tells me what to draw and she is always so happy to be colouring in something I drew for her. It may not be that great to me, but I don't need to be an artist to her!

Enjoy the simple crafts!

in front of the lens :: mum moments

This week I have been reminded of something really important. Something I really thought would be something I would be doing after loosing my mum. But to my surprise I am not doing this something as much as I should.

This something is capturing moments with your children. There is always one parent that is behind the lens, if it is you then get from behind the lens and jump in front of it. Create those memories with your children, images they can look back on and remember. You can turn the camera around and hold it in one hand, stand in front of a mirror or get someone else to take the photo or turn the timer on. Use your imagination!

a sunday stroll

I sadly do not have that many with my mum and I know I would love to have them right now. So this week I have taken up a challenge, and for me it will be more part of my life. I am going to make sure I am in front of the lens more. This week I will take an image with myself and at least one of the little ones, if not both. I will post this image each day. So today I will start to capture moments.....mum moments.

sunny mummy :: finding your balance

Do you ever feel as a mother that there is more to you then just mum? I know for me I am feeling very just mum and I am really trying to work out my balance. There have been huge changes for me and without family support this is more of a challenge then what I ever thought it would be. I am lucky to have my supportive x husband, and fabulous father to our children. We are working out the balances so I can too have some me time. Of course this is also hard too as this is all very new to the both of us.

To make life easier for mums, for us to really shine there is a lovely lady that has started a business, or more a community of mothers that she likes to call sunny mummies. So what is a Sunny Mummy? If you were to ask me that question, I would instantly say a sunny mummy is someone that smiles from the inside. That to me is a sunny mummy. I know personally with everyday challenges of being a mum and finding this balance that allows you to be you too, there are moments we need help finding just the right spot that opens us up to shine.

The founder of Sunny Mummy, Stacey Sullaphen, has organised a scrumptious breakfast this weekend. You will not only get to meet other sunny mummies, but you will also get to listen to some inspirational guest speakers. I was invited to attend and I sadly cannot go. {This is a whole other story for me as I feel very on the outside being a mum with no back up help}. So I have been given two tickets to give away, and if you do not win, but would still love to attend you can buy your tickets for a special price of $79, or you can buy 3 and get 1 free! Just make sure you tell Stacey that Little Pinwheel invited you.

If you live in sydney or you can get here for a girls weekend, I highly recommend coming along to find your balance as a person so you can shine from the inside out. Why not organise a table!

So what do you have to do to win.... leave a comment here, pop on over to the Sunny Mummy facebook page, like the page and say that you love little pinwheel on the wall! The prize will be drawn on Thursday to allow for the winners to organise their saturday.