Monday musings

This is going to be one of those random posts.
Sorry, but I’m sick, and my brain doesn’t work properly when I’m not well. I have the flu. Rob and the boys have had it (although Ethan’s was more of a cold) and I smugly thought I had managed to escape it. Wrong.

Anyway, this isn’t a pity party so I won’t harp on about how crappy I’m feeling.

Instead, I would like to brag about my boy. Again. I would have included this in my original bragging post, but when I wrote that I didn’t know he would be getting a Deputy Principal’s Award at the whole school assembly on Friday!!

Yep, that’s right! My boy got a certificate and had to go up the front at assembly … in front of 600 kids! His certificate was for “learning to write lots of words and leaving finger spaces in his writing“. And his name was written with Red Pen, which apparently (according to the DP) means it is an “extra special” achievement. Woohoo!
I went along to assembly so I could watch him getting his certificate. I was sitting at the back (because I had Tyler with me) and the photos didn’t come out very well. So I took another one when he got home as well.

In other news, I received my kit from Paper Pesto on Friday morning. And I have already done 2 layouts! The kit is just gorgeous, and I’m so glad I got one. I love everything in it! Here is one of the layouts I did; there are more in the pipeline.

WHY THE PINK CHAIR?

Thankful

I’ve got a long list of things to be thankful for. Everyday.
Today, it’s these things:

Heart-shaped cookies

My dear friend Christi popped around unexpectedly this afternoon with 2 cartons of delicious home-baked heart-shaped cookies, complete with pink icing and sprinkles. Just for me. Just because she loves me. How sweet is that?
Thanks babe, I love ya!

Spunky new banner

Don’t you just love it?
Alas, I cannot take any credit for it. The hard work was done by the wonderfully talented Ariell. Thanks, Ariell! I love it.

Brand new fence

The guy next door has been helping his mate build a new fence. To replace our 40-year-old one that fell over during the storm. They’ve been working pretty much all day, every day, for the past week. And it’s almost finished. It looks good.
Insurance is paying for it all, but I’m still grateful to them for the work they’ve been doing. Our house still needs painting, and our garden needs landscaping, so having the fence taken care of … well, it’s one less thing for us to worry about.

Really good mail

Over the next couple of days I am expecting some good mail. Namely … scrapping supplies from Scrapbooking By Design, the July kit from Paper Pesto, a copy of Nic Howard’s new book, a cheque for $1300 from our insurance company, and the latest issue of Little Treasures magazine.
Ya gotta love mail like that!

Proud as can be!

Beware: this post contains blatant bragging and boasting about my boy … and I do not apologise for any of it! It’s my right as his Mum to be proud of him and to shout it out to the rest of the world! So here goes:

Ethan has been at school for 6 weeks now. This afternoon I had my first official interview with his teacher. Basically I sat there listening to her rave about how wonderful my son is. Words like “focused”, “smart”, “attentive”, “polite”, well-behaved”, “conscientious”, “perfect”, “hard-working” and “role model” just rolled off her tongue.

She said she was “absolutely thrilled” with his progress. Apparently he is achieving at the level of a child 6 months older than him, and his reading, writing and maths skills are comparable to those of children who started school at the beginning of the year!

He’s in the top writing group of his class, and he’s in high-level reading and maths groups, along with children from the other Year 1 classes who started during Term 1 (he is in Year 0). He actually went up 2 reading groups during his first 3 weeks at school! I knew he was doing well because he kept getting moved up into higher groups, but I didn’t realise just how well he was doing.

Mrs Steel said Ethan has been exceeding every goal she has set for him, so she’s constantly having to think about new goals for him. She said because he’s so focused and attentive during class time, she knows that anything she teaches him will be learned and retained immediately. As a result, she’s been teaching him things that she normally wouldn’t try introducing to a new entrant.

Of course I was extremely pleased to hear about how well he is doing academically, but I also wanted to know about his behaviour and how he relates to other kids. She said his behaviour was perfect, and that he gets heaps of “green traffic lights” for his excellent behaviour in class.
He’s friendly and well-liked, and always ensures that everybody follows the rules. That’s my boy! He’s a stickler for the rules!! Always has been. I was worried that tendency could make him a bit of a tattler, but she assured me he doesn’t do that at all. He’s more of a “mother hen”, helping others out and reminding them how/why to do things.

He’s made lots of new friends since he started school, and his best friend Devon (who is in a different class) is no longer the only person he wants to play with. This is a good thing! He’s been having playdates with some of his other friends (Cian and Riley, who are both lovely kids).

He’s just coming out of his shell much more now. I’m amazed at how effortlessly he has settled into school. He took several months to really settle into Kindergarten, and I’m sure that’s because there’s hardly any structure there; it’s just one big playtime. He absolutely thrives on routine, familiarity and structure, so school is just perfect for him. And I have to say, he was soooo ready for it!

As a reward for his excellent “report”, we took the boys to Burger King in Albany for dinner. I’ve told him at least 5 times that I’m really proud of him. I want him to know that I’m pleased with his progress and that he’s on the right track. I’m one Super Proud Mumma!!

Internal monologue

A transcript of the conversation I had with Ethan after school today.
It cracks me up, some of the words he uses now!

Ethan: When you want to be silly, do you know what you have to do?
Me: No, what?
Ethan: You have to do an internal monologue. Do you know what that means?
Me: What does it mean?
Ethan: It means say it in your head, not out loud.

Bacon, Feta and Sundried Tomato Quiche

This is a basic quiche recipe that I’ve adapted. It’s great for lunch or a light dinner. My kids love this one!

1 sheet (about 200g) pastry
Filling:
1T butter
3 rashers bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2T flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1T basil pesto
1/2 cup grated cheese
150g feta cheese, cubed
6 large sundried tomatoes, sliced

To make filling, melt butter in a saucepan. Add bacon and onion. Cook until onion is clear. Stir in flour and cook until frothy. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until mixture boils and thickens. Remove pan from the heat.
Lightly beat eggs with a fork. Add eggs, basil pesto, cheese, feta and tomatoes to saucepan. Stir to combine, and season with salt and pepper.

Use pastry to line a 20cm flan or quiche dish. Trim excess pastry off. Blind bake at 200C for 12 minutes. Remove baking blind material and return to oven for 1 minute to dry pastry out. Remove from oven.

Pour filling into pastry base. Return to oven and bake for 30 minutes or until filling is golden and set.
Serve hot or cold.

Serves 4-6.

Up to the challenge?

Sister Harmonia set a scrapbooking challenge the other day, and specifically asked me if I’d like to take part.

The challenge was to create a layout over the weekend, using the following sketch:

I altered the sketch a little, but decided to keep this one pretty simple (for a change!):

It was good to scrap some older photos – these ones are of Ethan at 15 months of age! I don’t scrap in chronological order, so I have plenty of older photos waiting to be scrapped. I enjoy going back and seeing how little my boys were!

We also got some good news this morning. Rob rang our insurance company to ask if they received the quote we sent them (for replacing our fence; we put in a claim after the storm). While he was on the phone, he asked if the computer damage would also be covered under the same claim, since it happened as a result of the same storm.
We weren’t sure it would be covered at all, as most insurance companies don’t cover computer damage due to power surges. But they said YES! We ARE covered, and we don’t have to pay the $500 excess again!
I’m doing the happy dance right now. It’s really nice to have some good news for a change.

And to finish, a photo of my 2 little guys. But be careful, don’t let their utterly delicious cuteness knock you off your seat …

Oops, I did it again!

I took Tyler to the barber.

And I let somebody do this to him:

You only have to go back to my recent Pirate post to see how long his hair was before. I noticed it was getting in his eyes, so today I decided to take him to the Rodney Wayne Barbershop for a trim. I steered clear of the old lady who works there, for she was the one who butchered his hair the last 2 times. Instead, I chose the young, hip-looking, 30-something who seemed to know what she was doing. I asked for a trim, especially around the front. I asked for the curls at the back to be left alone.

His fringe was not trimmed. It couldn’t be any shorter!! And the curls at the back? Gone.

You would have thought we’d learned our lesson after the First Haircut. After all, the first cut is the deepest. We were truly wounded by the sight of Tyler’s curl-less head.

Fortunately, his curls grew back after each haircut. But last time we swore we would never allow somebody to butcher his hair like that again. So what possessed me to take him back there? Why can’t we find somebody who can cut the child’s hair properly? Without charging $20?!

At least I know his curls will grow back. Time heals all wounds.

**Edited to add**
Several people have suggested that I take Tyler to my own stylist. Just wanted to point out that I’ve done that (with Ethan) and LOVED the results … but not the prices! Kid’s cuts are over $20 at my hair salon. And I don’t go to a really expensive one, either!

On the menu today …

… fried Hard Drive!!

Yep, that’s right, my computer was “cooked” thanks to 3 short power cuts on Sunday night. I’m pretty sure the power cuts were a result of work/maintenance being done on the power lines in our area following last week’s storm. The power was out for about 10-15 min, then on again for a little while, and this repeated itself 3 times.

Monday morning, I went to start up my computer and begin my working week. It went on okay, but Windows wouldn’t start up. So it was off to the computer repair shop.

Two days later, I have a new hard drive and a bill for $300. Nice.

Luckily, they were able to save all the data on my old hard drive. I had *most* of it backed up anyway, but I would have lost the most recent photos that I hadn’t had time to put onto a CD. Nothing major, but I’m still pleased that nothing was lost.

I’m not pleased that I’m now at least 1.5 days behind on my week’s work. I had to go into the office on Monday. That was a shock to the system! Tuesday I took the day off. This morning I picked up my computer and I’m getting caught up on work. But it will be head down, bum up for the rest of the week getting it all done.

But before that, a bit of fun! I’ve been tagged by Angela:

My roommate and I once: I’ve never had a roommate!
Never in my life have I: smoked a cigarette.
High school was: filled with fun, friends and sadness when it was time to leave. Great memories that I’ll cherish forever!
When I’m nervous: I feel nauseous and can’t eat.
My hair: should only be seen after the straighteners have been used on it!
When I was 5: I had a 2-year-old sister and no front teeth.
When I turn my head left: I see my kids’ toys (I share my “office” and “scrap room” with the kids’ playroom).
I should be: working!
By this time next year: I hope Rob will have finished painting the outside of our house.
My favorite aunt is: I don’t like to pick favourites, but Auntie Rae is a pretty special person.
I have a hard time understanding: people who complain and moan all the time, but don’t try to make things better for themselves.
You know I like you if: I invite you to my house and cook for you!
My ideal breakfast is: I really enjoy a nice cooked breakfast (bacon, eggs, toast, etc), but that’s only for a treat. Otherwise I love Blackcurrent Mini Wheats.
If you visit my home town: you’ll love all the beaches!
If you spend the night at my house: you’ll need to be prepared for an early morning wake-up call (6.30/7), courtesy of Tyler!
My Favorite blonde is: my sister.
My favorite brunette is: Wentworth Miller.
The animal I would like to see flying besides birds: can’t say I’ve given this much thought!
I shouldn’t have been: pigging out on chocolate when I had PMS.
Last night I: went to Music practice at church.
A better name for me would be: Sam, that’s what my Dad calls me and I’ve always wanted to change my name to Samantha.
I’ve been told I look like: Brooke Shields (it’s only because of the bushy eyebrows!!) and Patricia Heaton!
If I could have any car, it would be: a brand new Audi station wagon, because that’s what my hubby wants, and I’d love to surprise him.

I’m not tagging anybody this time!

Jack Part II

A new “Jack” was posted at Jack Me Up yesterday, and I was keen to get started as soon as I saw it! This time round, they hi-jacked one of Roo’s layouts, and it’s a beauty. I really loved the cut-out photo, the handwritten journalling on notebook paper, and the crown!

So here’s my take on it:

There are quite a few subtle things going on with my page … for example, I deliberately used the denim-style paper + denim flower (thanks Rochelle!!) together with the pink paisley paper + the white frilly flower to show the contrast between me and my boys. Likewise, I used one pink and one blue pin (traditionally “girl” and “boy” colours) behind the flower.

The journalling, in case you can’t read my writing:

“Who would have ever thought that I’d end up in a household of males? I’ve always been a `girl’ in every sense of the word. Growing up it was just my sister and I, we had no brothers to fight with. But God had a plan for how I’d live my adult life. With no pink dresses or Barbie dolls. Instead, I’d learn to love Batman and trucks. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love being QUEEN!!”

I had a lot of fun with this one!

I’m a Winner!

The lovely Harmonia has presented me with the Power of Schmooze Award! Ostensibly, this means that I’m a good schmoozer!

Good schmoozers effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly comments, happily making new friends along the way.

I guess this is a fairly accurate description of me, when I’m wearing my Blogger Hat. I have made some wonderful friends through blogging. I try to keep my blog up-to-date, interesting and well-written. And I try my best to comment on all the blogs I read.

Schmoozing, in this context, is a good thing. I’ve often heard the word used in a negative way. But in Blogland, you want to be a good schmoozer.

Now for the Schmooze rules:
* If, and only if, you get the Thinking Blogger Award or The Power of Schmooze Award, write a post with links that make you think, or have schmoozed you into submission.
* Link to this post and Mike so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
* Optional: Proudly display the “Thinking Blogger Award” or the “Power of Schmooze Award” with a link to the post that you wrote.

And now … I am fortunate enough to hand out the Schmooze Award to a few of my well-deserving fellow bloggers. The choice was difficult, but here are the lucky winners:

1) Karen at girlfriday talks
Karen has a wonderfully unique writing style. Reading her blog is a bit like flicking through the pages of a diary you found hidden in your attic. It’s a daily account of her life, living in Tokoroa with Ken, working in Rotorua, spending her time running and baking and creating artwork. And somehow, the reader is drawn in, always anticipating the next entry.
And on top of all that, Karen is a quiet, behind-the-scenes schmoozer, replying (via email) to every comment on her blog.

2) Angella at Dutch Blitz
Super Mom to 3 gorgeous kids. Lives in “The Sticks” of Summerland, British Columbia. Brilliant writer. Awesome sense of humour. All-round nice person.
Angella has a blogroll the length of my driveway, but still manages to read and comment on almost every post. Oh, and the fact that she manages to get 40-odd comments when she encourages her “lurkers” to come out of hiding is a testament to this gal’s popularity. And schmoozability.

3) Janine at Angelic Ramblings
Janine is wholeheartedly following her dream of becoming a primary school teacher. And thanks to her blog, we’re all tagging along for the ride.
Janine is one of those really friendly people-loving bloggers. She blogs regularly, and enjoys giving lots of comment-love (schmoozing). She’s always encouraging and positive, and knows how to cheer people up when they’re down (more schmoozing). She just oozes schmooziness.

If you haven’t visited these blogs before, then you’re gonna need to start doing some serious clicking. You won’t be disappointed.