My little pirate

Is this or is this not one of the coolest shirts you’ve ever seen? I just love it!

I got it for Tyler last weekend from Cotton On Kids. It was an absolute bargain at only $5! He looked so darn cute wearing this shirt yesterday that I decided to have a wee photo sesh with him. Luckily for me, Tyler always loves having his photo taken.

Here are some of my favourite shots. Enjoy.

And in case you are wondering … YES, Tyler does have both thumbs hooked into his pockets in that first photo (of the shirt). He actually does things like this without me telling him to. What a little dude!

LMNOP … I’m still singing

The ABC’s of Ethan.
I told you they would follow.

A is for AGE … I’m 5. I’ve only been 5 for a month, but I’m already talking about my next birthday party.

B is for BOOKS … I love books. Now I’m at school, I’m learning to read by myself. And I’m pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. I’ve already gone up 2 reading levels and I’ve only been at school for 4 weeks. I know, I’m awesome.

C is for COLLECTING … a great hobby of mine. I like to collect all kinds of stuff. My biggest collection is bottle tops. I have about 200 of them.

D is for DRAWING … I am starting to draw people with hands, feet, fingers and toes. Gone are the days of 2 circles and some sticky-out bits. I like to put the details in my pictures nowadays.

E is for EATING … I received the label “fussy eater” when I was 14 months old. I’m much better than I used to be, but I can still be fussy at times.

F is for FRIENDS … I’ve got some really good friends. Devon, Cian, Teva, Ollie, just to name a few. And I’m making even more friends at school.

G is for GIRLS … for the past year or so, I’ve had an “anti-girl” attitude. But now I’ve realised girls aren’t so bad. In my class, there are only 6 girls. There’s one in particular who’s a bit of alright. I asked her to be my friend the other day. She said “okay”. Yeah, baby.

H is for HEROES … well, Superheroes, mainly. I’m a big fan. Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Actionman, Kim Possible (yep, she’s a girl).

I is for INDEPENDENT … I think this means “calling the shots” or “doing it myself”. I don’t like to ask for help with anything. Unless I’m really stuck.

J is for JAKOB … My middle name. I was so good at writing my first and last names at school, Mrs Steel got me to start practising my middle name.

K is for KNOW … now that I’m 5, I know everything. End of story.

L is for LOVING … I’m a really affectionate boy. I love to give hugs and cuddles and kisses. One day I’m sure I will stop doing kissing my Mum in front of my classmates. But right now, I still like to share the love.

M is for MEMORY … mine is outstanding. I remember everything. Especially things from the past that I can use as leverage against my parents. Oh, and I’m da bomb at the game “Memory” as well.

N is for NANA … my Nana is the best! She’s one of my favourite people in the whole wide world. I love hanging out with her.

O is for OPINIONS … I have some pretty strong ones.

P is for PICKY … I can be picky about my clothes. I will NOT wear jeans. Under any circumstances.

Q is for QUESTIONS … I ask a LOT of these. And I don’t settle for half-hearted answers.

R is for RUN … I can run pretty fast. Mummy says she can’t wait for athletics day to see how I do in the running races. Sounds like fun to me!

S is for SINGING … I like to sing. I even make up my own songs. And yes, I can sing in tune.

T is for TYLER … he’s my little brother. I’m a pretty good big brother (most of the time). But seriously, I have to put up with a lot of stuff.  

U is for UNDERSTANDING … I’m a pretty sensitive guy. I understand and care about people’s feelings. I have genuine concern for others. Mummy says this is a good thing and if I keep it up, my future girlfriend(s) will love it.

V is for VEGETABLES … this may be hard to believe, but I like most vegetables. I especially LOVE brocolli (I’d eat it everyday if I could), tomatoes and potatoes. But I don’t like pumpkin or mushrooms.

W is for WATER … my favourite drink.

X is for X-CEL… I always like to do things really, really well. I guess you could say I’m a bit of a perfectionist.

Y is for YEARS … they’ve gone by so quickly for Mummy and Daddy since I was born.

Z is for ZZZZZ … sleeping is something I’ve always been good at. It just comes naturally to me. I can sleep through just about anything. Which came in pretty handy when my baby brother was born.

ABC … sing with me?

The ABC’s of Tyler.
(The ABC’s of Ethan may follow at a later date).

A is for AGE … I’m 2. Actually, I’m 2 and 3/4 and I can’t wait to be 3.

B is for BED … Mummy and Daddy finally decided to put me in one. Only it’s not a real bed, it’s just my old cot with the side taken off. They must think I’m stupid or something.

C is for CRACKERS … one of my favourite foods. I like pretty much anything from the end of aisle 4 that comes in a packet and makes a crunchy sound when I eat it.

D is for DANCING … I’m pretty good at shakin’ my groove thing. I especially love to get down to Crazy Frog. I’ve got some smooooooth moves.

E is for ENERGY … I’m a veritable bundle of it.

F is for FUN … I like to have a lot of it.

G is for GRANDPARENTS … mine ROCK. They spoil me. But I’d love them even if they didn’t give me lollies and let me rearrange their furniture.

H is for HAIR … I have pretty awesome hair. It’s red and curly. People comment on it all the time. Mummy and Daddy have big debates about whether to get it cut. Usually they decide not to, but every now and then I have to visit the barber. I don’t mind, I like it there.

I is for I LOVE YOU … 3 words I started to say a lot more when I realised that they lead to hugs and smiles from Mummy and Daddy.

J is for JUMP … I’m real good at this now. I can land on 2 feet at the same time.

K is for KISSES … I’m really good at the open-mouth variety. Although I have started to practice the puckered-up, closed-mouth ones too. They seem to get a better reception from the kissee.

L is for LOLLIES … I really like these things. There is something about them that is just so … good. I can’t understand why Mummy and Daddy don’t let me have them more often. Sure, I climb the walls afterwards and don’t eat my dinner, but who cares? They’re GOOD!

M is for MILK … I still like to have a nice glass of milk before bed. Okay, a plastic cup of milk. But that’s just between you and me, okay?

N is for NAUGHTY … I admit, I indulge in a bit of this type of behaviour from time to time. Just to keep my parents on their toes.

O is for OTT … my temper tantrums are what you could call over-the-top. Luckily for Mummy and Daddy, I don’t have them much anymore. But every so often, I still let rip. Can’t have them getting too smug and thinking the Terrible Two’s are over. I still have another 3 months up my sleeve.

P is for PRESCHOOL … I love my teachers. All 8 of them. Each Tuesday and Thursday, when I’m ready to leave for preschool, I tell Daddy “let’s go impress the lay-dees“. And for some reason, Daddy always laughs and gets me to say it again.

Q is for QUICKLY … how I am growing. There’s not much point in doing it slowly, I have an older brother I need to catch up to!

R is for ROBSON … my middle name. It means “Son of Rob”. I’m pretty sure Rob is my Daddy.

S is for SPEECH … this is a strong suit of mine. I started talking early and now they can’t shut me up. I like to use long sentences. The longer, the better.

T is for TY … my nickname. My mummy thinks “Ty” is a good name for a sports star or a musician. So that means I’m going to be one? We’ll see about that!

U is for UNDERWEAR … I want Buzz Lightyear underwear. I do use the potty or toilet every now and then, but I’m not going to make a real effort in this area until I get my Buzz Lightyear underwear. I don’t care if Mummy can’t find it anywhere. That’s her problem, not mine.

V is for VITALITY … apparently I have a lot of this, whatever it is.

W is for WATER … my favourite drink.

X is for X-CITED … I get like this whenever it’s time to go to the shops. I love going to the shops. Hmm, perhaps I should get my own man-bag …

Y is for YUM … this is how I would describe fruit. I practically live on the stuff. I love any fruit, but especially kiwifruit, bananas, apples, pears, passionfruit, feijoas, mandarins, grapes, peaches, strawberries … I could go on, but I won’t.

Z is for ZOO and ZEBRA … the zoo is, like, my idea of heaven. I’m a huge animal lover. My favourite animal is the zebra. Did you know they are white with black stripes, not black with white stripes?

G-Rated?

It’s good to know that my blog is G-rated. It means my kids will be actually able to read it (when they are old enough to read, that is). Which is all good.

Oh, and here’s the kicker:

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

hurt (x3)

Wow.

I also looked up a few of my friends’ blogs, and some of the results were pretty funny! I won’t post those findings here, they can take the test and find out for themselves!

High Five

I’ve been tagged by Sharon.

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:

1. Daddy Forever
2. Sparky’s Scratches
3. Scraps of Mind
4. Tales of a Cheeky Monkey
5. Blairs Boys

Next, select five people to tag:

1. Angella
2. girlfriday
3. Kayla
4. Ruth
5. Sister Harmonia

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was 19 years old and living at home.
I was in my second year at Auckland University where I did a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Pharmacology.
I had been dating Rob for about 3 months (although we had known each other for several years, and had been best friends for the previous couple of years).

What were you doing 1 year ago?
I was working for the same company I work for now. Only now, I work from home. Yay!

Five snacks you enjoy:
1. Chocolate … of any description
2. Cashew nuts
3. Oreo cookies with milk
4. Spinach & Feta dip with rice crackers
5. Pringles

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:
1. Any song from church. I’m on the music team
2. Any song by Billy Joel
3. Any song my kids like to sing
4. Last Christmas by Wham!
5. God Defend New Zealand
And about a million others. I have been blessed with the ability to remember song lyrics really easily!

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1. Pay off our mortgage
2. Buy new cars
3. Give some to family
4. Put some aside for the boys to use when they are older (for University fees, buying a house, doing an OE)
5. Donate at least 10% to charity

Five bad habits:
1. Eating too much chocolate
2. Worrying about stuff
3. Biting my fingernails (I haven’t done that for ages though)
4. Spending too much time on the computer
5. Drinking too much Coke Zero

Five things you like doing:
1. Scrapbooking
2. Spending time with my family
3. Doing crosswords or other puzzles
4. Reading blogs
5. Trying out new recipes

Five things you would never wear again:
1. A bikini. I’ve had 2 kids and it shows.
2. Spaghetti jeans. I had these turquoise blue ones! Hideous!
3. Flannel nighties. I’m a PJ girl!!
4. Jelly shoes
5. Bubble skirts. It scares me to see so many young girls wearing these now, especially with those 3/4 tights! Ugh!

Five favorite toys:
1. Digital camera
2. Computer
3. Mobile phone
4. iPod
5. Hair straighteners

Gappy smile time …

I know what you’re all thinking: Wow, that was quick! The tooth has only been wiggly for a couple of days!

Nevertheless, it’s out! And here’s the story:

Yesterday morning we had a bit of drama. Ethan went to brush his teeth before school and soon came running out of the bathroom screaming, with blood all over his face and hands. Seems he had gone to open the flip-top toothpaste lid in his usual way — with his teeth.

I know. OUCH.

After that, the tooth became a lot wigglier. The gum had gone black underneath the tooth, so once we got to school I took him to see the dental nurse. She checked the tooth and said it looked fine, and that it would come out VERY soon. The blackness was just blood inside his gums, and nothing to worry about. She offered to pull it out then and there, but Ethan said no. So he went back to class and his teacher and I said the tooth would probably come out when he ate something.
But … when I picked him up, I discovered that the only thing he had eaten ALL DAY was a small mandarin. And he only ate that because his teacher carefully pushed each segment way into the back of his mouth so he could chew it. She’d tried to coax him to eat more, but he wouldn’t. Still, that’s above and beyond the call of duty in my opinion!

Needless to say, he was starving by 3 o’clock. And pale. And lethargic. When we got home I tried to get him to eat some soft food. He took one small bite of his sandwich and then screamed and spat it out, saying his tooth was sore. I gave him some Pamol and made him a banana berry smoothie. Then I put a DVD on and told him to sit there and wiggle his tooth until the movie was finished. He spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the couch, wiggling his tooth, looking dejected and saying things like “how will I live?” … such a drama King!!

When Rob came home from work, I’d had enough of Ethan moping around and being miserable. I said “pull it”. And he did. I think Ethan was quite surprised to discover that it didn’t hurt and hardly bled.

The Tooth Fairy visited last night and left him $2. Generous, I know. But I figured 50 cents wouldn’t be much of a reward for him, considering he’d have to wait for another 3 teeth to fall out before he could buy something at the $2 shop (which is what he said he wanted to do with the money). So $2 per tooth is the going rate in this house.

He’s extremely proud of his “missing tooth”. He’s going to talk about it at school today. His friend Cian was in awe when he saw Ethan’s new smile this morning! Too cute!

Meet “Jack”

Have you heard? A new Kiwi website has been set up called Jack Me Up. Every month, the girls hi-JACK a layout, and challenge other scrappers to use it as inspiration for creating their own version.

I decided to join in, so last night I completed my “Jack” of Vicky’s fun & playful layout (which can be seen on the Jack Me Up website).

I had so much fun doing this layout! The style is a little different to what I’m used to, but I really enjoyed it. Can’t wait for the next one now!

A milestone …

Much excitement in our house tonight, as it was discovered that Ethan has his very first loose tooth!!!

He had brushed his teeth before bed and I was finishing off. I wasn’t brushing very hard, but he said it hurt and that he had “toothache”. So I stopped and asked which tooth was sore. Gave it a little wiggle with my finger and sure enough, it was loose! I must have had the biggest smile on my face because his eyes just lit up and from that second on he couldn’t stop talking about it.

We had to ring Nana & Grandad, and then have a discussion about the Tooth Fairy. He wanted to know how long it would be before it came right out and he could put it under his pillow. I said it might be a few weeks (which may as well be a few years to a 5-year-old!!) … but when I checked online it said some teeth can be loose for a few months before they fall out! Heck, we’ll have one very unhappy little boy if he has to wait that long!

Rob and I were both a little surprised that it happened so soon. He only just turned 5! But having said that, he was a very early teether, getting his first tooth before he was 4 months old. And I read somewhere that early teethers will lose their baby teeth early too.

He’s really excited about going to school tomorrow and telling his friends and the teacher. I wonder if he’ll be the first one in his class to have a loose tooth? I’m sure he’d be rapt if he was, but I’ll make sure he realises it’s not a competition!

I can’t wait for photos of him with a gappy smile. I think kids look SO cute with missing teeth!

Feeling the love

I’m not usually this soppy, but I just had to share the sweetness that is my boys. They truly are the most amazing little boys in the world, and I love them to bits!

I had my hair cut on Thursday night. On Friday morning, when Ethan saw me for the first time, his jaw dropped and he looked at me, amazed: “You’ve had your hair cut, Mummy! And it just looks so … so wonderful!!!”

Yesterday I was working on the computer and I could hear Ethan and Tyler whispering at the door of the playroom (the computer is in the far corner of the room, and I sit with my back to the door).

E: “Let’s sneak up on Mummy.”
T: “Okay!”
E: “But remember Tyler, Mummy has eyes in the back of her head.”
T: “What?”
E: “Mummy has eyes in the back of her head, so we have to be very, very quiet.”
T: “Okay.”

Of course, I was a good sport. I let them “sneak up on me” and pretended to be surprised when they jumped out on either side of me, shouting “BOO”.
I guess the eyes in the back of my head were having a bit of a rest yesterday.

This morning Tyler was snuggling with me in bed. He’d woken up early (6.30) and it was way too cold to get up. Now Tyler can be quite affectionate at times, but it’s usually a quick cuddle and “I love you”. Not to mention the fact that his kisses aren’t quite “right” yet. In other words, he hasn’t fully mastered the puckered-up, closed-mouth kiss.
Until now. This morning in bed, he put his little arms around me and hugged me so hard I could hardly move. Then he whispered, “Mummy, you are beautiful” and kissed me properly on the cheek.

I know. This kind of sweetness is hard to fathom. Try not to hurt yourself as you take it all in.

I’ve been feeling the love in other ways this week as well. Yesterday I got an email from Up2Scrap, asking for one of my layouts for their upcoming August issue.
The layout they want (Ride of a Lifetime) is actually one I submitted months ago, and since I never heard back from them, I went ahead and used it for my Paper Pesto Design Team entry! Anyway, I’m just about to go and package it up and send it off.
I’m pretty stoked about being published again. Nice to know it wasn’t a fluke the first time! LOL.

Accepting me

I have just completed my second ever “me” layout. And I love it! Admittedly, at first it was difficult working with photos of myself. The journalling was a challenge. I wanted to be honest, I wanted to say something meaningful.

I have had a very busy week with work, and my scrapping desk has been sitting untouched for several days. A lovely pile of pink, girly, feminine scrapping supplies has been beckoning me. Finally, this morning, I had some time to scrap. And this is the finished result:

Yep, this is me. No make-up (I don’t wear it). Hair not done. Just me, standing in my hallway. Self-portraits. Untouched. And I’m fine with that!

Journalling reads:
At the age of 29, I feel like I have finally accepted myself. I’m happy with who I am, and what I look like. Sure, I still want to lose my post-baby tummy (and yes, I definitely though I’d have done it by now!). I don’t like getting zits. I don’t want wrinkles. I wish I wasn’t pear-shaped. But when I compare the way I feel about myself to how I felt a few years ago … well, it couldn’t be more different. I’m just happy being me. I know Rob loves me and is attracted to me just the way I am. I don’t have to impress anybody. I’m a nice person. A good friend. Those things matter. I’m beautiful on the inside, and most days I think I look pretty good on the outside as well!

I really enjoyed using these “girly” products, too. Basic Grey Blush papers, crystal brads, flowers, lace, feathers, leaves, beads, mosaic tiles, pins, cheeky clips and rub-ons. Yum!