look what I found over the fence

Do you remember looking over the neighbours fence as a child. Do you remember playing with all the children in your street. Running wild until your parents yelled for you to come for dinner.

I have snippets of those memories. Some I have wiped for the violation put on me as a child. Unfortunately when you wipe these times in your life, you wipe some of the good memories. I have them come back as flashbacks. Those special times my mum gave me as a child. Now I want to pass this on to my children. Times have changed, and the world is a little scary sometimes, but I believe I can give them what I had to an extent. They can still look over the fence. They can play with friends until they are called to have food.

Today I was called someone's daughter. Something that has made my day, and pretty much this whole year of change. I have never had a father. And today I have one. I have had him for over 20 years in my life. I grew up with his children. He was a great friend of my mums.

Today my little people looked over the fence with friends. Today I became a daughter. Life is beautiful for this little pinwheel family.

That is all we need; to feel part of a family. A simple BBQ, and the laughter of children, and you become part of a new family; a family that I have always been part of.

I am feeling a little lucky right now.

sprinkle the change on cupcakes

Sometimes things change. There needs to be change. You just do what is best for those little people that walk on each side of you. You hold their hands and you hope that you can protect them in every step you take together. This to me is being a parent. That simple art of walking with them, protecting them, and doing everything you possibly can to keep those smiles firmly planted on their faces, and inside their hearts.

This weekend is my first full weekend with my little people. Our first weekend to rock it together. To do what we do in one day, in two days. To make cupcakes, to giggle, to run, to play and to be ourselves on our own, and with friends.

I hope you enjoy your weekend walking with your little people, or if you have no little people, walking with your friends, and wearing those smiles.

superhero . spiderman . me

When did I decide I wore knickers on the outside of my pants. When did I believe I was some kind of superhero. Today I believed it. Maybe I shouldn't of.

I did not wear my knickers on the outside of my pants. I also did not wear hot pants, boots and a star headband. However, I did wear the heart on the outside. {Well that was the tee shirt I grabbed out of my drawer this morning}.

Today I was a mum, a friend, a photographer, a fashion buyer, a business woman, a warehouse manager, a graphic designer, a postman, a cook, some kind of superhero, and now I am going to be a university student and try to rock out a late night.

Maybe this is what being a parent is. Or am I just that crazy person that has ants in my pants, and cannot sit still until it is all done? Whatever it is, I can believe today that I was a superhero. To some extent I rocked it. And to another extent I sucked.The villain knocked me around a little.

Tomorrow is a new day, and I will have my knickers safely hidden on the inside of my pants. Like a modern day Clark Kent.

We are all heros to our little people. They do not see the part of the day where we sucked.

What superhero are you, or would you like to be?

I would like to be spiderman. He climbs buildings, flies a little, and he runs fast. Plus I have a big fear of spiders, and to be the man; the spiderman, would take that fear away.

Taj's first haircut; chop chop rockstar

And here we go. The first chop for Taj. The moment where he changes from that real cute little baby face boy, to that real rockstar little guy.

I keep staring at him. I cannot stop looking at that little guy. I thought he was a spunk before, and now I think he is an even bigger spunk. There is something about my guy; a personality that is big on kindness, and big on rockin.'

I think he looks ace. I think my little baby face boy went in a moment of a few chops.

Taj loves his head.

He actually thinks it deserves some rock on fingers.

Nothing like the modern day mullet. One that Taj rocks his way.

Rock on Taj. Big love to you big guy.

she is coming. the lady. lady pinwheel

I have been up to no good. Here is the no good I have been up to.

The lady. She is coming. I am a little excited. It is all kinds of awesome. Nice to see my business grow. There is fear. But as I have said before, an element of fear is good. Keeps you grounded.

I cannot wait to see the lady blossom. She will be in full bloom this spring.

Lady Pinwheel.

frank sinatra told me so; it will happen

In six weeks I am jetting off to the west coast, to work, to chill, to drive, and to have the best 2 weeks rockin' it my way.

If you have any tips, any towns I must stop at, tell me now. It is time to start putting them into my travel journal. My simple plan is to fly into LA. Maybe hire a car from the airport, go south a little. (This is only a maybe as I could easily catch a cab into Santa Monica for a night, and then hire a car). I am going to train a lot, cruise on my skateboard, (yes it is coming), and pick my ace friend up from LAX a week later. Make our way up the coast on highway one. Stay in Santa Cruz. Hang in San Francisco. And run a half marathon 2 days before I fly home.

I am a person that loves to fit in like a local. So tell me, if you are from the US, or if you have experienced the US, where you think I would rock it. I am no tourist. So please don't suggest Disneyland. Although, I could see myself hanging out with Mickey Mouse and his friends. This trip is giving myself a pat on the back for everything I have been through in the past 5 years. This is something I need.

Tell me everything; where to eat, where to have coffee, (this one very important. I can do my research, but always nice to hear from other coffee lovers; snobs), and I do not need help with the shopping part, this one I will rock.

The images above are from my trip to Pulp Creative Paper over the weekend. The Bon Voyage travel journal by Susui Ghahremani is sweet, and cool. This is a book I will have forever, and one that I know Keely will love to have a look through when I come home. This is my gift to my little people. I think it is nice for them to see what their mum has been up to. Thank goodness for Skype, and for my new laptop.

Yes, the other book. I know, this might offend some, but I believe if you come here to read my blog, and other blogs, you will get it. You will find the funny side. I thought it was ace, and it gave me a giggle. I will still be blogging while I am rockin' the west coast. And the 'beep you and your blog' book is my backup writing space.

Frank tells me, it will happen in Monterey. Where else will it happen.

jump on your couch

When people say, 'you are settled' in your life. One thinks of stability, love and happiness. I am very grateful to have all three of these. I guess you could call me settled.

To think over a year ago I was writing about having no friends that I could call my own. Now I have a whole bunch of them. And each and every one of them are awesome. I could call them all, my best friend.

Cathie from M.E, blogs about something grateful each saturday of the week. It is beautiful to go and read what people are grateful for. Do yourself a favour and go and click on the word grateful. This week Cathie is grateful for what I personally have been very grateful for in the past three months; my little people. They have no idea what they have helped me get through. Maybe one day they will know, how much they showed me the way to the place I am now. {Sometimes when you write what you have kept hidden inside, it brings out the emotions of the rollercoaster of events. Silly tears}!

If you asked me right now what I was grateful for, it would be the happiness I feel. Simple really. This happiness is a balloon of everything around me; my little people, my new home, my new and old friends, my business, and my future dreams and aspirations.

I hope I do not sound like someone that is over the top happy! I am far from that person that jumps out of bed each morning and instantly has that thing our children have. What is the deal with that? I do require coffee, a run, and some sunlight. Once I have one, or all of them I am pretty happy. There is no jumping on the couch Tom Cruise style. Now that is a little freakish.

I still have fear. I think that is kind of healthy to have that. It keeps me on my toes, and keeps me grounded with reality. I might jump on my new couch, non Tom Cruise style, and with my little people. Looks fun!

the ikea update

There is nothing like doing a blog post, and completely going against everything I had said. I had to return to Ikea. On a saturday, with two little people. I have no doubt you are feeling what you might think was pain for me as a parent. There was no pain. Only laughter, as I remembered my Ikea steps to success.

We arrived early. The store was experiencing technical difficulties. It opened an hour after we arrived.

We did this to entertain ourselves. One Ikea worker said to me, "you are very relaxed, and not angry." I said to her, "you are going to have enough angry people abusing you all day. It is not your fault." We were happy.

Once we had our gift card for the exchange*, we went through the store backwards. Against the grain, on a saturday. With an hours worth of customers coming the opposite way.

This is how we got around.

This is what we did for fun.

They played with anything.

We spent a good hour cruising, getting in the way, breaking a candle at the checkout, running back to get another, while half way through the self checkout service. (Honestly, I didn't care about the people waiting in line. I cared about the little girl that would of cried all the way home in the car). Sometimes you have to do what is best for you as a parent, and for your little person, and get those other people, without children to suck it up. No one got angry with us. I think there was understanding, while my little girl sat and cried.

So my advice on Ikea. Rock it any day of the week. Do it with little people. And go in there with a relaxed attitude. Enjoy it, like it is a day at the park. Sit in the 'made up' areas, and play house. Jump on the beds. Go against the grain, for shits and giggles. And remember to tell your friends you are going, it is nice to grab the little things they need. This is the Ikea code amongst friends. But be careful going with little people, you end up coming home with more than your list, or your exchange.

* Note: always write the item number down. Do not trust that the item you are looking for will be in the correct isle and location number. Sometimes, customers put things in the wrong spot, and you could pick up a 2 seater sofa cover, instead of a 3 seater sofa cover. Trust me, I pulled that darn cover as tight as I could, it was not going to fit!

rock the rain; little people show you how

Now there is playing in the rain, and there is playing in the rain. As I like to say, 'rock on'....

Why hibernate? Look at the fun our little people can have. I can actually see myself doing this, and if my little people were not in the car, I think I would of borrowed a board and rocked it.

Enjoy your (wet) weekend!

how I rock ikea

I think it is time for another Ikea chat, and how to do Ikea. I believe there is an Ikea way. Firstly, for me, I had to take the deepest breath. I am not a mall shopper, as you know, and to me this is a mall in itself. I felt sick, and there is no denying I am an online shopper at heart. Less stress.

If you are like me when it comes to mall shopping, and need some help in how to get in and out, then this is what worked for me. I do not write lists on paper, but I do have them written in my head. You can choose what best suits you. If you do not do this step you will end up being like every other Ikea shopper, and walking out with a whole lot of shit you did not need. Then you are stuck with a home full of clutter. Some like clutter, I don't do clutter. Once you have your list sorted, you can grab your pencil, shopping sheet, and your trolley with bag. You are ready to roll.

I could not help but laugh as I watched other shoppers around me. There is something about watching people shop in Ikea; you can see the heated arguments. I am that shopper that follows my list and gets out of there as quickly as possible. Yes, I will admit I did kind of stroll past different departments, but there did come a time that I just wanted to get to that checkout, and check myself out. If only you could of seen me lift a 3 seat sofa onto a trolley, on my own, and then push that and pull another trolley behind me! Who said a woman could not rock two trolleys. I did once do Ikea with both my little people, and two trolleys. I survived that trip with a whole lot of giggles.

That would be my second rule, take a buddy. Take someone to help you push stuff, (if you plan on getting those big things). The third rule would be, home delivery. Seriously it rocks. There is no way my purchases would of fitted in zippy zee. Plus some other guy carries your couch up your stairs, and I have a lot of stairs.

these dolls freaked me out

The last rule is one I completely rocked; going against the traffic. There is only one way in Ikea, and I had to go against the grain. It was interesting to say the least. So my only advice would be to make sure you have everything before leaving each department, or if you want a laugh, and you just need to do something for shits and giggles, then go against the grain!

Have fun Ikea shopping! And remember to stop a little and take in the people watching around you. It might just allow you to breathe better. Or you could be that person that hangs at Ikea all day, and has their $1 hotdogs.

I bought;

# a new couch; to create new conversations on.

# a new rug; for the little people to roll around on. (It is bright, and fluffy. A colourful wool rug).

# a toilet brush; come on we all need a new one of these every now and then.

# a bin for the bathroom; required for the finished toilet rolls, and the little people morning nappies.

# white photo frames; to capture those new memories. our new life.

tie the knot in your own jammies

There were three in the bed, and the mumma one said, 'move over, move over.' So they both moved over, and one fell out and bumped their head, and gave a shout. Please remember to tie a knot in your pyjamas. Now there were two in the bed....

There were three in my bed last night. I was squished on the edge. They are little people; I do not understand how I can still be that bear that falls out of the bed.

I have no issue with my little people jumping into bed with me during the night. I kind of like the cuddles. But when I get both at the same time, it makes for an interesting night sleep. A pounding chest, moments of hot, cold, hot, cold and the two little people kicking me was not a great mix.

Do you have your little people tap you on the shoulder in the middle of the night. Do you march them out, or lift up the blanket and snuggle?

{The images are from today. Taj and I went and checked out the big surf, before picking up Keely from school. Such a great backyard we have}

.

been told to sit; I sit here

Apparently I need to be laid up in bed. Time to put my feet up and have some rest time. I am sick with a bad chest infection. And it hurts. There is a little guy bashing inside my chest with a jack hammer. That mixed with asthma is not nice.

There is no rest for the wicked, as I sit at my new desk typing this post, and do more Little Pinwheel work. Hello new desk! I need a new chair, as this chair is one of my dining chairs, and I think a rug would be nice to complete the space.

I am feeling wicked.

Wickedly sick.

{I promise to take better images of my new home soon. I will pull out the professional piece of camera equipment, instead of the easy iphone 4, and show you my new space}.

* desk, and cabinet purchased through mark tuckey, and delivered by living edge. It is a herman miller original design. And yes, it is very special. I am in love.

winter at the beach

Here is one simple thing you should know if you come and visit us at our new home. We love the beach all year round. Therefore the floor will be a little crunchy under your feet. We have floorboards now, no carpet to hide the crunch. We bring the beach home.

The little people and I have explored our new backyard.

We actually have two backyards, one just down the road, and one around the corner, which is a nice backyard to stop at, after pre school pickup.

There is a dog walking area there. I don't have a dog, but I do have two little people that need a run. I run them there.

Every beach session ends with at least one child walking home with no pants on. What can I say?

They are classic beach bums.