A boy of five.

My dear first-born,
You are five today. Five whole years! Where did those years go?
You've always been such a talkative wee thing, asking questions from the day you could speak. So curious and so opinionated, so stubborn but also so sensitive. You make some hilarious jokes and you are a master when it comes to word play. You love to spend hours playing superheroes, or lego, narrating the whole game to whoever will listen.
You are growing into such a fine (and handsome) young man, with your short, smart hair cut and ever-increasing height, but yet somehow in my mind you are still the little, chubby, longhaired mischief maker you were a few years ago. You are still the cheeky toddler who accompanied me on all those long walks and bike rides around Nelson, the wee baby who I couldn't believe was mine, the gummy grinner who was into everything. It all seems to have gone so fast. I scoffed at the multitudes of people who told me I'd blink and you'd be all grown up but now I find myself saying the same thing to others. If you are five already it really will just be another snap of the fingers and you'll be at high school.

Thank you for the privilege of being your mum, Aesop. I know I don't always seem to appreciate it, and we don't always see eye to eye ( it's because we're so similar, really.) but I truly am thankful for the opportunity to watch you grow and to be part of the process. It's an honour.
Thank you also for being the worlds best big brother to Otto. You are so patient with him, so loving and not once have you shown even a single moment of jealousy, despite all the extra attention he demands from us, and how much attention he gets from others. He loves you so, so much, right from the day he could focus he has searched for you and listened for you, and frankly, I don't blame him.
Thanks for being awesome.

I love you Aesop. We all do. Thanks for five tough, but rewarding and mostly fun, and funny, years. I can't wait to see what comes next.

Saturday strollin'.

Saturday afternoon was ice cream weather at its finest.
I don't eat ice cream so I'm not the best judge of that, but Abraham and Aesop deemed it so, and I can't really argue with that. Either way, it was definitely a great afternoon for a stroll down to the shop.
I really like the walk down to Kope, there are so many lovely houses on our street that I like to daydream about living in. I picture what each one looks like inside and how our furniture would work, and the things we would do when we lived there.
The one on the corner, the one with the camper out the back, is perhaps one of the cutest houses I've seen. It's in nearly un-shanged condition since it was built (no aluminium windows there!), has a sprawling lawn, a HUGE backyard and a even huger garage/shed out the back that would fit multiple cars and who knows what else.
The little old couple that live there are adorable. They are always sitting outside their front door in their little retro sunchairs, or pottering in the garden. I once walked past as the elderly man was pruning the lemon tree and he loaded up bottom of my stroller with lemons. It made my day.
Imaging we own that house is easy, I just pretend that Abraham and I are the old lady and man, pottering around, sitting watching the world go by, and sharing our lemons.
Cute little old people, growing old with each other. I like to think of that one as more of a preview than a daydream.

Food, glorious food.

I love food. I like to cook it, I like to eat it and I even like to shop for it. So much so that I never, ever let Abraham go shopping without me. I've heard so many people say they can't stand supermarket shopping but, to be honest, I would spend all day at the grocery store given half a chance. It's just such a huge building full of potential.
I also love to hear about how others manage and organise their households and lives. It fascinates me! So with that, I thought I'd share a few of the things we do.

My kitchen cupboards, like the rest of our house, are not meticulously organised
I keep my grains and baking ingredients in separate (mostly) Tupperware containers but they're not labelled, so really I am the only person who can find anything quickly. I haven't found a way to label them yet which won't damage them (they were my Nanas). Everything else pretty much stays in the packaging it comes in and is put in the allocated, though not always logical, spot. I'm thinking there might be a better way to do this but I'm unsure quite what it is and how I could do it without spending much money on more containers.

Also, I remember watching an episode of 'The money man' once where he said that you save more money by using up nearly all of the food in your cupboards each week rather than stocking up on things and designing meals purely around what you feel like. Do you think that's true? What's your style? Are you one who empties the cupboard each and every week? Or are you like my old neighbours and have two pantries because if you ever see something on sale you buy three?
I like to think I am somewhere in the middle. I try to always have one more than we need that week of each of the items we go through regularly (soy milk, margarine, bread, tomato sauce, baked beans etc..) but otherwise try to use up ingredients we have in the house.
I shop (once a week, despite the urge to go every day) to a fairly precise list derived from what is needed to cook the meals on the weekly menu. I decide on seven meals each week so that, even though they are not assigned to certain days, we have enough ingredients to eat well every single night. Any meals we don't use, due to takeaways or dinner with friends etc, get carried over to the next week.
This seems to work fairly well and, as far as I can tell, is the most economical way for us.

So there you have it. My name is Rhiannon and I'm a grocery-aholic.
Also, when did my life get so exciting that I would want to be blogging about my pantry?

This week.. so far..

- Standing. So much standing. Otto is just growing in leaps and bounds. He has a top tooth nearly through (making three pegs in total), he is pulling himself up on nearly everything, and is even beginning to inch his way along to grab things while he's at it! He is (dare I jinx it?) sleeping 10, or even 12, hours most nights and is chomping his way through three meals a day. No wonder he is nearly in his size one clothes!
(Oh and he is obsessed with Blues clues. The other morning programs he can take or leave but as soon as Joe and Blue are on screen he is riiiight into it. Fear not, I do not allow him to watch the whole show with his eyeballs touching the screen, Promise.)

- Biking. I dusted off the ole chariot and took Aesop on the 'Mayoral challenge'. We rode our bikes, with a little help from Nana on foot, from the bridge to the yacht club with only one minor tumble. Aesop is not the most confident of kids when it comes to physical stuff, probably not helped by spending all of last summer in a leg cast, so this was a pretty cool achievement for him. Next time I will take a long a recorded message to save my voice 'Keep left Aesop, watch out Aesop, keep left Aesop, LEFT Aesop!)

- Lettuce! From my garden! Woo.

- A fairly productive half-week in terms of both party prep and housewifeness. I baked biscuits, tidied the house, made food from scratch each night and managed to keep up with the washing. I finished 11 vader dolls and Aesop's cape. I made a start on the light sabers handles, my costume, the shopping list, and one of his presents. I also bought the balloons, made the streamers and did a few other little things. Full steam ahead!

- School stuff. I also picked up Aesop's school supplies. HOLY. Talk about expensive. But I've ranted enough about that to pretty much everyone I know so I'll save you from it. Let's just say we will be looking into sneaky ways of making our own uniform for winter!
On the bright side, I had fun covering Aesop's books. I used old pictures from his magazines and tried to choose things he likes rather than things I want him to like. Isn't it amazing how we think we will bring our kids up on good wholesome things, have a housewold with little tv and no weapons etc, and they get to preschool and decide their favourite things are guns and Ben10?  But that's a post for another day.

Woah, longest post about nothing-in-particular ever, sorry. Well done if you made it through my rambling! I will endeavour to cchoose just one thing to blog about tomorrow : )

List update February

Okay, so there's not a huge point doing a list update this month, were only two things to cross off! Perhaps this list was a tad too ambitious.. I need to pick up the pace!
This month I aim to do numbers: 9, 24 and 26.
Half of numbers: 13, 15, and 16.
And carry on with 18 and 30.

1. Fit into my favourite summer top. - Nope, still the bust letting me down. 
2. Sew myself at least one DRESS. - Not yet, still in the planing stages.
3. Knit myself a cardigan I love. - Still far too warm for knitting.
4. Make Abraham a hoodie. - I hear there's a birthday in April...
5. Start sewing to sell again. - Might have changed my mind about this one.
6. List GIANT pile of thing on Trademe. - Everything still ready and waiting for me to start.
7. Print the majority of our photos. - Still waiting for a sale.
8. Plant a vege garden. -  Done in februrary Yay!
9. Go to the movies. - Will go this month : )
10. Back up our photos on hardrive/ preserve fruit, make jam. - No. And no.
11. Start blogging again. 01/01
12. Get business cards. - Have had them designed. But not sure I'll need them if I don't start sewing!
13. Buy 2 pairs of decent shoes. - First pair was sold out so now still have two to go!
14. Take Aesop to the zoo. - July is the month for this! Waiting on an Auckland-dwelling baby niece or nephew to arrive!
15. Send (at least) 2 parcels to Amy. - Have sent one in Jan
16. Finish at least 2 duathlon type events. - March and April are all booked and ready to go.
17. Sort out entire garage. - Have made a start, but nowhere near finishing!
18. Finish yoyo quilt. - Chipping away at it.
19. Earn $1000 through sewing. - Haven't  made a start on this one.
20. Have a bbq/dinner with over 10 people. - Nope. This might need to be a Winter event.
21. See some live music. - Done Feb.
22. Save over $1000/ have an outdoor movie night - Have found a projector to use but haven't set a date.
23. pay off our laptop and buy a new camera. - Yet to pay off the laptop but did buy the camera 01/01
24. Sew 10 garments for the kids. - 3 down (ottos crawling pants and an ewok costume.. that counts right?), 7 to go.
25. Knit Aesop a jumper. - Again, too hot.
26. Make the mix cd to end all mix cds. - Nope. But I have begun the list.
27. Cover the cushions on the window seat. - Nope.
28. Get away for a night without the kids! - Will be the end of the year (read: end of breastfeeding) for this one.
29. Get mentioned in a magazine. - Nope. Looking very unlikely if I choose not to start sewing again!
30. Make most of the gifts we give (this year). - A bit of a continuous goal this one. But going really well.

The anti-pants plan is also going swimmingly. No slip-ups again this month.

Awol.

Last week was a bit of a 'bad blogger' week for me, sorry about that!
It wasn't due to a bad week, or even an unproductive week, perhaps quite the opposite really.
'Twas a week of school visits, birthday party prep, gardening, housework and plenty of thinking about where my priorities lie and why I have been feeling so overwhelmed.
I have ended the week with a garden full of vegie seedlings, a tidy house, a dozen or so half-made vader dolls, piles of washed and ironed fabric, a new household management notebook (a section each for budget, food and to-do lists) and a renewed commitment to be a super-tastic housewife and mother above everything else in my life.
I've laid aside the inner guilt at not being an earning member of the household, allowed myself the realisation that I really don't have time to be sewing to sell right now and be doing everything else I find important at the same time. I want to use my crafty skills to make things purely for my family, friends and myself for the first time ever. Not forever, but definitely for the next few months.
I have decided I will balance out my lack of earning by  providing my family with a lovely, more organised and thus, happier home. I want to do more baking and cooking from scratch and keep a tidier house. I have also realised I need to get back into some sort of exercise and that I want to spend more time at home rather than out coffee-ing and running errands (being organised is the key to this!).
And an important realisation for me: I want more music in our lives. Less TV and much, much more music. I have grand plans to make new playlists on my mp3 player and to burn cds for easy access to great music. It really, truly changes the whole mood of the household and we've needed that lately.
All of these are just really small changes but I expect the difference will be huge.
It may affect a few of my list things though.. hmm.. but we'll deal with that later in the year.

Rachel's house.

?

One of my dearest friends, Rachel, recently moved a little closer to home.
She is living out in the sticks, in a house that was very close to being just a pile of sticks itself.
At its last valuation the house was valued at nil (!?) and it hasn't been inhabited for about 15 years. There were/are plants growing through the floor boards, holes in the walls and rats in the walls.
It is so, so beautiful.
We went out to visit yesterday afternoon and I was blown away by how envious I felt. I mean, really, I love my little warm house to pieces but she lives out in the middle of nowhere in this huge house filled to the brim with amazing arty treasures, and she an do whatever she likes with it! No landlords concerned about pin marks, no stress about children pulling the wallpaper off their walls (ta, Aesop!) and free rule of the garden too. It makes me pine for my own home.
But that wasn't the only reason I left feeling a slightly greener shade of pink. Rachie is a jeweller and an artisan in the true sense. She is finishing up her studies with a masters in making objects (you can read about it here because I definitely can't explain it! ha) and while she spends a lot of time writing as part of her course, she spends the rest of her time growing things, fixing her house, knitting, spinning, crocheting.. basically Rachel is seems to have more hours in her day than I, and more talent to fill them.
Granted having two fewer children than me (and one less husband) would free up a few hours and being without the internet at home and television would free up a few more... but unfortunately those are things (aside from the tv) that I just wouldn't be without.
Isn't it always the same? The grass is always greener in someone elses paddock. I have a sneaking suspicion Rachel would trade it all for a nice husband and a few littlies running around. I guess I just need to work on being happier where I'm at! Although I do think I'll steal a few decor ideas..

(more pictures on Rachies house in my flickr stream..)