Girls can be Scary too!

Nothing gets you in the Halloween mood like hanging out with friends, sharing a few laughs and watching your little one gut the insides out of the middle of a pumpkin.   Yesterday was a day like this.  And of course, it did make a difference that my lovely friend is American, born and bred....and had all the pumpkin carving equipment....

Start off with one HUGE pumpkin... Preferably one that your Auntie has bought in town then carted all the way home on the bus, along with enmormous cushions and bagfulls of halloween sweeties - which then result in her arms being stretched so long they're almost dragging on the ground.  We love you Auntie Ginny - you are good to us!

Find one of your (many) daughters to cut the top into a lid, at an angle of course so the whole thing doesn't collapse into the middle!

And then find another one of your (many) Daughters, preferably not a squeamish one, to pull out all the pumpkin pulp and seeds!

Checking carefully that you've got every last bit out...

Of course, some of them might not be so keen to get themselves dirty, and just might need a bit of convincing.

Choosing the pattern and stenciling it on comes next.  It's a good idea to pick your more artistic Daughters for this part..

Or even your friends Daughters...

And after much eating of roasted salted pumpkin seeds, playing and creating.. 

You might end up with something like this...

Ok, it's hardly a masterpiece - but not too shabby for a first attempt! :)

Happy Halloween Everyone! 

Lifes Laundry

Oh how I wish I had my Mothers old mangle.

I remember it moving with us from one Military house to another when I was a girl.  In the cellar in Rheindahlen, my sister and I used to put everything we could find through that thing.  Clothes, dolls, sandwiches...the lots...and yep, it all came out flat as a pancake!  It was soo very hard to turn the heavy metal handle and strangely, so much fun.  Weird kids we were.

Another bizarre memory that's just come to mind...  In that same cellar, with the steep concrete steps that led down to the dark depths of the earth (so it seemed), my Dad used to practice his pistol shooting.  So whenever Kate and I wanted to reach our playroom, (at the very end of the looooong dark concrete corridor), we had to shout down the steps to make sure that he wasn't standing at the other end of the passage way, pointing his gun at the target, which was positioned where our heads would appear as we got to the bottom.  Pretty scary when you think that he was almost always probably wearing great big sound-proof headphones, and would have no idea of our 'calling to see if he was there' or our footsteps on the stairway.  I do have a vague memory of my Mother shouting from the kitchen on occasion to remind us that he was getting in some shooting practice - it must have been enough times to teach us to be cautious - since happily, neither one of us has a hole in our heads.

But back to the mangle - this is why I wanted it today.

Take one laundry bucket full of dolls clothes...

Two enthusiastic little scrubbers....

A lot of soapy bubbles...

And a wooden clothes horse...

It's a recipe for success, as any housewife would tell you! ;)

And start em young I say...

Just don't forget to remove clothing first, before your child turns into one big soggy mess...

That Auntie Ginny is a bit of a minx, I think!

Not since my Mother regularly got my sister and I to wash by hand, have I seen a bunch of girls get so excited about laundry...

 
The irony is killing me, this is the most fun that they had all day..hehee.  I wonder what they will think 20yrs down the line....

And I'll let you in on a little secret....I'm still obsessed with laundry powder.  Sad really, and something else that I blame my Mother for, that and the fact that I still love the smell of freshly fired pistol caps - although maybe that's one for my Dad.

Summer Lovin...

Happened so fa-aa-ast!!!  It's cracking me up that I'm hearing this song about twice a day at the moment...Poppy has caught Grease-mania.  She's obsessed, possessed and actually IS Sandy - seriously - ask her!

But it's on all of our minds at the moment.  Summer Loving - the perfect way to describe the world around us right now.  It's started, it's here and we are just beginning to get into the swing of the vibrancy and excitement of this bright, fun, icy-poles, coconut suncream, water-babies in the pool, Season.

The sweet smell of jasmine is everywhere, and there are pretty greens, lilacs and pinks wherever you look.  Gorgeous, larger then life, happy colours, to add to the cheerful mood that this wonderful warm weather brings out in us.

So whether they are playing in the park.....

Drinking from the cold water bubblers...

Climbing trees...

Hanging by the pool...

Or enjoying a fun playdate...

.....It's all pretty much Summer Loving!

That reminds me,  I must go and put Grease on for me....Ooops, I mean for Poppy again....:)

Daisy Kate turns 12

She thinks she's older, but she's only turning 12, this girl of mine.  She's a little bit of everyone, and a whole lot of herself.  She's the ditsy-est, dreamiest, 12 yr old on the face of the planet and she's turning out alright.  I'm actually pretty impressed, and she can make a fantastic cup of tea - I'm serious, that's a great quality, right there!

Under all that pre-teenage angst, there is a sweet, compassionate caring little soul emerging.  She makes me want to scream, laugh and hug her all at the same time.

I love that she still looks to me for direction, reassurance and advice.  I love that she still walks forward while looking backwards, and trips over her feet.  I love the way she gabbles on and on, barely taking a breath in her excitement to get her words out.  I love that she's still very much a Bambi - just on the first journey of her teenage years, with all the naivety of a such a young fledgling.

But mostly, I just love her.

I hope that she always has a little of the ditsy in her.  I hope that I always look at this sweetheart and see part of the little girl that she still is today.

So don't grow too fast Darling, just keep being you because you're our special Daisy-Woo and we wouldn't change a bar of you.

Oh and, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! xxxx

What's the Story, Sister?

And there is a story.  Its been unraveling itself for a while now, and becoming more and more clear.  Here is it.

This girl is effervescent. The one with the long strawberry-blonde curls, the one with the gorgeous big eyes and the perfect lips - well she's bubbly and silly, she's happy and fun.  She thinks she's in charge but I can tell you, that's not the way it is.

Oh, she can be strong and determined, even a little stubborn sometimes.  And she has no idea yet, but she's not in charge.  Not anymore.  

This little girl is adorable.  The one with the loose blonde curls, the one with her Mamas expressions and a little button nose - well she's quiet and shy, she's kooky and loud.  She knows she's in charge and that is the way it is.

She can wind her big sister around her little finger, and does so on a daily basis.  She has already learnt how to be the boss without anyone noticing.   Slowly but surely, she's crept her way up, to the position of authority - and is heard by all.  Clever little thing, she is!

It had to happen.  One of these girls had to rule.  For the sake of Ying and Yang, for the sake of world wide peace on earth in the Wood household, one of them had to set the pace.

 It's just been a bit of a surprise, which one of them it was.

Two halves of one perfect whole.  My little forthright one, taking the lead, just one tiny step ahead.  And my little protector, nurturing and watching, hand held out to steady.

Will it always work this smoothly?  Will it always be sweetness and light?  Ha, I'd be kidding myself if I thought that.  These two will, no doubt, have some hum-dingers along the way...but oh it is soooo blooming lovely at the moment. And in a hectic household of many different personalities all trying to find their place, I am so embracing this!