Supermum, will I ever get there?

Blog prompt from

http://www.scraptown.com

Things i'll never get to....

I am pretty sure there is one thing I will never get to & that is supermum. It all depends on how you define supermum I suppose but in my mind i will never get there.

My definition of supermum is a mother who has all the time in the world for her children, she never loses her patience or her cool. Meanwhile she still manages to have nice healthy home cooked meals laid out on the table every night, a nice clean house with all toys put away so you can actually walk through the whole house at night & not worry about standing on a lose bit of lego or twisting your ankle. She her self looks fit & trim & is always nicely presented.

That's my definition & to me I really don't think that is something I will ever get to.

I am working on having the trim & fit figure but that is a long slow road. I try very hard to have healthy home cooked meals on the table every night but things come unstuck around Thursday when all my patience just seems to fritter out. The patience is the thing that I really have to work on. I do think that since I have had children I have become more patient than I was previously but even so there are times when I just lose my cool & all sorts of stuff flies out of my mouth. I know I should watch that because the boys pick up on it, especially James. I keep dreading the day the teacher will pull me aside & mention that James has been using bad language.

I suppose another reason I wont get to that status is because it seems that by my defintion that woman is very giving & I really think that I am too selfish to give so much. In the midst of everyday life I like to take time out for myself, in a selfish way I feel I have earned it. As a mother & a housewife no one ever praises your efforts, in fact sometimes you wonder if the work you did all day can even be seen. That's why I take time for myself, to praise myself for doing what I have done in the day, because the betting is no one else will. In fact the betting is that even if I did make supermum status no one would realise it but myself.

So would I really want to get to supermum status anyway?

Week ending 29 April 2007

Well I only have one more day of school holidays to survive. The boys don't start back until Tuesday which seemed to take Scott by surprise, but they always start back on a strange day of the week.

Last week I tried to keep the boys occupied with going on runs around Hagley Park in the morning & that seemed to tire them a bit so the morning would be nicely cooperative. Then it would be lunch & watching a DVD then it would be time for all the fighting & arguing to start. We have been in to Ballentyne's & bought the boys the peices of uniform they were missing. We've been very lucky in that neither have grown out of the heavy winter shorts. Ballentyne's doesn't have any in stock so we are very lucky there.

Friday was the boys first swimming lesson for the term. Talk about rabbit warren, QE2 is just a maze to try & work out where you are going. Although the boys are in different pools we are very lucky that they are both in the same wee pokey room. There is hardly anywhere for parents to sit & watch but once I had the boys in the right pools & the right lanes everything went smoothly. We even had nana come & watch, which was wonderful & the boys really appreciated that. I think Scott enjoyed getting to watch the boys swim too, seen as he hasn't been to a swimming lesson for quite some time. 5pm is actully quite a nice time for a lesson as it kind of winds us down & into weekend mode.

Yesterday we listened avidly to the cancellations only to find that there were none for soccer. We strolled along in the drizzle to the fields at 9:15 to be told James' team doesn't have a coach & none of the team was there. Being the first time in the Junior Development meant that we didn't realise that we don't have to be at the grounds until it is time to play (10am). We stood in the drizzle that got heavier & heavier which then became rain, add a bit of a breeze & we were all quite cold. The organiser told us that she normally wouldn't make the juniors play in that weather but it was first week, open day so we needed to get teams organised & have strips. At 10am the rest of James' team arrived & from amongst the fathers out popped a coach. Appparently he has been a coach before so he knows what he is doing. From now on James is playing not for Burnside but for Leeds United. He has a bright blue & yellow. The boys got the strip & then got taken to a field & had a bit of a run around & kick of the ball before they decided to play a game. Brent & Scott then left to take Brent to his team's training so it was nana & me standing laughing our heads off on the side line. These little guys don't seem to play to sideline's & at times James' team was playing on the neighbouyring field. Positional play is irrelevant & they all just stand all over the ball so that it is hard for anyone to get a good kick or run with the ball. It really was very funny to watch with their shorts down round their shins & their tops down around their bottoms. At least it kind of kept them warm. It wasn't a long game but I think everyone really enjoyed it, especially the little boy in James' team who managed to score 5 of the 6 goals.

We then got James dressed warmly & left to watch Brent's game. Brent's team, Newcastle, had one team member less than the opposition, Aresenal. I unnderstand that Arsenal all played together last year & the difference between the Junior Development & 8th grade boys with regards to positional play is huge. In the first half Brent was playing up front but at half time he slipped back to a more half/back position. He has already improved in a week so he might well be a good little player by the end of the season. Unfortunately Brent's team lost 6-1.

The other big news of Saturday was Brent coming out of his bedroom saying "I've got a loose tooth mum." He is absolutely thrilled & his main worry was that it was going to come out at soccer & get lost on the field. However he still has it in his mouth today but he really wants it to come out. I was told on Saturday that I am to call him "Wiggly Tooth Boy."

In the coming week I have the boys starting school on Tuesday & Scott flies to Wellington then too. On Wednesday I get to have a long overdue haircut & on Thursday my car is going in for servicing. Scott & I are going to drinks with Year 3 parents on Thursday night so nana will be looking after the boys. Friday will be swimming lessons & Saturday morning will be soccer.

I hope everyone has a great week, I am looking forward to it. I can't wait to hit the gym & go swimming again.

Poetry?

Let's write a poem. Try a haiku, rhyming, or any other style you like.

I have not written a poem for a very long time. The last time I remember doing so was sitting on the balcony at Church Bay & it was about the sounds of the birds. I didn't keep it though.

I have tried to write a haiku.

The leaves are falling
Quietly fluttering down
Colours dying, rest.

A minute's silence

Today is ANZAC day. A day where NZers take a minute's silence to think about the soldiers that bravely fought at Gallipoli on April 25 1915. For those who are up early enough there are dawn parades, I really must go to one of them in my lifetime.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.


LEST WE FORGET

Time to Create

Is there a time of the day when you feel most creative?

I feel most creative while doing the routine exercise. If I am doing my weights routine I am too busy concentrating on my appl;ication to it to think about anything else. However it's usually when I am jogging or swimming that the creative bursts come to me. I am doing an activity that doesn't require too much of my brain in some respects so my brain seems to switch into a creative zone. Of course there is a problem here, I can't swim & scrap at the same time so I have decided to keep a notebook in my car & when I finish my swim I can jot down any ideas that came through, if I can remember them.

I do most of my creative work at night, once the boys are in bed. I have wondered about switching my routine around & doing my scrapping in the morning but I am a morning person & if I don't get the exercise done in the morning, it just doesn't happen, & exercise is important. Besides which, it may just be the freeing of the mind while doing the mindless exercise that my brain needs to be creative.

Scrapbooking

The altered tin was a project that I started long before Christmas as a class at http://www.scrapbookoutletnz.co.nz I am using this tin to hold christmas cards that I have already made for sending out as well as christmas present ideas & a list of things to do before in the run up to christmas.

This 6*6 canvas come in a http://www.clubscrap.com box way back in 2005. I thought it might be nice to hang in our bedroom. Now I just need to get a nice photo of us on our cruise & then put it on a canvas as well.

This was a class I took at a scrapbook shop that has since closed down. I had it sitting around for a few months waiting for me to put some photos on it.

This layout is created with all product from http://www.clubscrap.com It is James with his great grandfather, obviously quite a few years ago now.

I feel that creating has taken a backwards step at the moment. I think it always does when it is holiday time. Hopefully I'll be able to put the finishing touches on a few more layouts soon just to keep those scrapbooks feeling full.

Effort Cards

At the end of term the boys came home with their effort cards. Brent has had quite a good term effort wise but it is interesting to see that his social effort dropped back. I noticed it at home but thought it was just a home thing but obviously his awful attitude got taken to school too. I was really pleased to see that the teacher noticed the effort he was putting into his maths as we had been trying very hard to fix up this area. He actually isn't bad at maths, he's already at a year 4 level but he is just middling in his class at it. Overall it seems that I was pretty bang on with what effort he was putting in over the term.

James' effort card has shown an improvement, which is wonderful. It is great to see that his effort that he is putting into his written homework are being seen, as well as his reading. We are trying to get him interested in reading but he just wasn't "into" it. Over the holidays though, by himself because we have been slack parents & haven't pushed his reading at all, he is starting to get that different letters make different sounds & is starting to guess what letter some words begin with. I am kind of hoping that by not drilling the reading into him, that he might just turn a corner & want to learn to read. As Dr Phil says "was it working for you?" The answer was a resounding no so just at the moment I'll try the softly softly approach & see what transpires after the holidays. I think Mrs Williams will have a fit for not getting him to read but I hope that after the first couple of weeks of next term we might have got further than before.

So things I need to work with the boys next term looks to be reading & letter recognition for James, maths & work presentation for Brent. Don't you love parenting when even once they are at school you still have homework & have to set goals for what you are going to concentrate on homework wise. I often wonder when will it ever stop? When will I never have to be teaching my children. All I can say is thank goodness I don't homeschool, I really don't think I am cut out to be a teacher.

I'm blue Da ba de

What's your favorite color? Describe it. Has it always been your favorite? Why is it your favorite?

My favourite colour is not purple, it is actually blue. I have always quite liked blue, when it wasn't red (red went faster in those young days). I think I like it because it is the colour of the ocean, lakes & the sky on a cloudless day. The mountains sometimes look blue too. Those particular items have a hidden strength that appeal to me & I suppose I think of blue as a strong colour. I know that when "you are blue" you are not feeling very strong so I am not quite sure where my thinking goes off the rails but there you have it my favourtie colour. So I have to say that this song just cracked me up when it was released, I still have a certain fondness for it.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/eiffel65/bluedabade.html

EIFFEL 65 LYRICS"Blue (Da Ba De)

"Yo listen up here's a story
About a little guy that lives in a blue world
And all day and all night and everything he sees
Is just blue like him inside and outside
Blue his house with a blue little window
And a blue corvette
And everything is blue for him and hisself
And everybody around
Cos he ain't got nobody to listen to

I'm blue da ba dee da ba die...

I have a blue house with a blue window.
Blue is the colour of all that I wear.
Blue are the streets and all the trees are too.
I have a girlfriend and she is so blue.
Blue are the people here that walk around,
Blue like my corvette, it's standing outside.
Blue are the words I say and what I think.
Blue are the feelings that live inside me.

I'm blue da ba dee da ba die...

I have a blue house with a blue window.
Blue is the colour of all that I wear.
Blue are the streets and all the trees are too.
I have a girlfriend and she is so blue.
Blue are the people here that walk around,
Blue like my corvette, it's standing outside.
Blue are the words I say and what I think.
Blue are the feelings that live inside me.

I'm blue da ba dee da ba die...

Inside and outside blue his house
With the blue little window and a blue corvette
And everything is blue for him and hisself
And everybody around cause he aint got
Nobody to listen to

I'm blue da ba dee da ba die...
I'm blue (if I was green I would die)

By the way I do drive a blue car, just not a corvette & I do have blue window trims & my house has blue carpet & even a blue room.

The routine & creativity

What is the most tedious or boring part of your daily routine/job? What is the most creative?

The most boring part of my day has to be the hour and half of housework everyday. It seems to always be the same. Laundry, prep dinner, load dishwasher, wash dishes that don't fit in dishwasher, laundry again, clean toilets & then take a break. Then laundry, do flylady zone mission, clean up hotspots, garden, laundry & then it's lunch time. I stop that horrible routine at lunch time & from then on it is a couple of hours to myself before picking up the boys & everything revolves around the family again.

My most creative part of my job is the time I get to create at the end of the day or for 1/2 an hour during my lunch/me time. Another creative part must be making dinner. Sure I don't present it all to restaurant standards but the whole fitting in helping boys with homework, making dinner, & making it edible, settling disputes does sometimes take a bit of creativity. About Thursday creativity in that particular area is almost gone so quite often it is takeaways for dinner on Thursdays.

Current Reads

Since we haven't done a reading prompt in awhile, let's talk about books (one of my most favorite topics!). Are you currently reading anything that you'd recommend? Or maybe you have an old favorite that you recommend to everyone.

At the moment I am reading a Danielle Steel book "Vanished" . I have only just started it so can't really tell you if it is any good. This is one of the books that my aunt swapped with me. I have finished all the Barbara Taylor Bradford ones she gave me so now I'm up to Danielle Steel. I only have a few more left before it will be time to head back to the library & start reading library books again.

Reading, a favourite pastime

What was your favorite pastime as a child? Did you prefer doing it alone, or with someone else?

It was probably reading. I loved reading & found it was a good way to get away from the people around me if I wanted. I loved Winnie the Pooh being read to me but as I got older I loved to read to myself. I read Millie Molly Mandy, Famous Five, Secret Seven & Trixie Beldon. Most of those titles have several books in the sequence, so they could keep me amused for hours. What I didn't like was reading the same book twice & even now I can't stand reading a book more than once.

I still love reading although I don't get as much time to read now. I have found though that I have to read a few pages, or a chapter a night before switching off my light at night. I can't seem to get to sleep if I haven't read a few pages before turning off the light. It must be a time when my brain switches off from what I have been doing during the day, & the worries about what has to be done in the future.

I love historical romances, family sagas & the odd action adventure. The one type that I won't read is horror stories. The one problem I have is working out where to put all the books I have read. My aunt & I did a swap a while ago which is wonderful, but now I still have books sitting around, that I am wondering what to do with. Maybe I will just have to put them all together in a big lot & list them on trademe.

A words

Letter of the Day is "A"

It is Autumn here at the moment & James just loves going down the street to the oak tree & picking up Acorns. He is such a little squirrel & he puts his little treasures into a cute little purse with a cat on it. It has actually gone to school today for news.

I have to say I love having crisp apples around in the house to eat at the moment. I know you can get apples all year round but the ones that are fresh off the tree, not from a coolstore are so crisp & delicious.

Have you ever wondered how to sound out the word ARE? James has that as a step three word that he has to learn to read. I have been trying to teach him to sound out the letters to get the word. It has taken until now for him to get the gist of this & then we get the word ARE. I have decided that it must be one of the words in the English language that you just have to learn by rote. Can't the English language be hard to learn sometimes?

Wishes

Blow out the candles and make a wish! What did you wish for and why?

I have a simple wish. I wish my family & friends the best of health & to have a wonderful easter break. If you have children at school, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with lots of pleasant memories created.

If I were to have two wishes my next one would be purely for me. I wish I could get a laptop. I want to be really greedy & have my laptop for digital scrapping & internet, email purposes when away from home. I would love to retain my desktop for email & internet purposes at home, I just love my nice big screen on my desktop. That's being really greedy but I just really like the idea of taking a laptop away to do scrapping rather than having to lug a XXL everywhere. However this holidays it shouldn't matter too much as we will have double the luggage capacity so guess what is going to Wanaka with me! I better get going & make up some more page kits.

Weekly Update

It has been a rather quiet week. There was a junior school church service last Sunday & the boys had mufti day on Friday. The theme of the day was "superheroes" with the money raised going to the Blind Society. James was a "super chef" who cooked food for the poor. Brent was a lifeguard.

On saturday Brent had two parties to go to. He had a party for Andrew quickly followed by a school friend's party at the hydroslide at QE2. He had never been down a hydroslide before but apparently he really loved it. On sunday Brent was in the Meridian Energy Bike Jam. He really enjoyed it & got a medal, certificate of completion & a t-shirt.

James stayed the weekend with nana & cleaned her car, went to Andrew's birthday party on saturday. On sunday he went to the Selwyn House school carnival.

I was away in Otaki at ScrapCamp. It was wonderful to get a break away from family & just spend time eating chocolate (not too much really), chatting & scrapping. It was a wonderful weekend & I got quite a few layouts completed as well as doing up some letters.

Earlier this week I booked the boys into swimming lessons for next term. The boys will be swimming at QE2 on a Friday afternoon. Hopefully that will mean I can pick the boys up from school, go home pack up the bag of boys pjs etc & then pick up Scott & carry on out to QE2. Their swimming lessons are at 5pm so after that we should be able to carry on over to nana's for the friday night dinner.

I also extended my gym membership for another year & have decided I'll be using Centenial pool from now on.

This week is a wind down week for the boys & they finish the term on Thursday. I can't believe that the first term is almost over, it seemed to go by very quickly. After James' swimming lesson on Thursday we'll go home, pack the cars & head off to Wanaka. We are going in 2 cars because Scott will drive back Monday to be able to fly out to Melbourne on Tuesday. The boys & I will stay in Wanaka until the weekend, when Scott will join us & we can then go home on Sunday.

I better go pick up the boys & go to Brent's last swimming lesson for the term. Have a good week & great easter.