Saturday, March 24, 2012

Pics




I posted these straight from Picasa and can't seem to get the cursor above the first picture!
Sweety pie at 5 months old. He's not exactly one of those happy gurgly contented little things, but now that he's sleeping better and I feel better after ditching the breastfeeding, I am managing much more to enjoy his babyness and not wish it away. He has his first tooth!

Evidence that things are a little less crazy these days (though not since the building began!): I made a dress. I used a free pattern from the internet (The Oliver + S Popver dress) and it was SUCH FUN. I bought this material months and months ago and it was so nice to be able to sew it up for my girl, who won't be happy to wear Mommy made dresses for much longer. I wish there was time to make more - actually, I could make little bits of time to sew - it's the fabric shopping that's hard to do!

I love this photo. I so hope they are friends when they grow up.

Before picture. Ugh.
During picture. This is what I have been living in for weeks. Every now and then there would be a day when NOTHING happened and I would nearly cry. But now it's starting to take shape and it is going to be so worth it.

This little guy had his third birthday. Here he is licking the potato salad bowl after his party - which we had at Mom's house because of the state of our house. He wanted a Mickey Mouse cake so out came the black food colouring I had left from Robin's racetrack cake last year. I managed to make the cake in the building site at least!
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Monday, March 19, 2012

Mommy misery moment: humour me

Kitchen has been half demolished and plastered in the last two weeks, so decluttering and tidying not going so well.

I had great intentions to tidy something last night but after getting washing ready for the morning, tidying some mess, sorting out supper dishes, getting bags of baby clothes sorted and ready to give away - I was bushed. Beat. Good for nothing much at all.

Tonight my man is away - the house is so quiet. The kids are asleep at last - it was a looooong day. Poor things, they had a dreadful mommy today. I may or may not have yelled, cried, ignored, and forgotten someone's art exhibition. Dreadful mommy. F. I feel defeated and tired. And tomorrow it's the same again - building, baby, homeschooling, lifting, feeding everyone. It is sometimes so hard. Today three of them needed assistance with poop within the space of about five minutes. Maybe I should just laugh.

Nope, don't feel like laughing. I feel like driving away for a weekend. But then again I don't. And of course I won't.

One thought though: HOW DO MOMS DO THIS WITHOUT DOMESTIC HELP? Today PLUS laundry and bath scum? Today PLUS mopping and cleaning up cement dust? Today PLUS waking up grouchy baby from his nap to fetch big kids from school? I would be more brain dead than I already am.

Right now I'm going to get up, go to the cement-floored plaster-spattered kitchen and clean out a cupboard. Only joking, I'm going to make some tea and go to bed. MUCH better plan.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

I am on a mission ...

...to declutter and organize our house.

I was one of those kids with a messy room.

My personality is one suited to build ups of mess, then big cleanouts.

That does not work in a smallish house with four kids in it.

Since baby arrived and homeschool began things have deteriorated BADLY. And now my kitchen is being fiddled with by builders with big heavy hammers, the floor is filthy cement, there are vegetables in the laundry and the microwave is on the dining room table. The mess has suddenly started to bother me.

I MUST be organized, and I must be ruthless with clutter.

And besides that, I WANT to have less around us. I think it's healthier. Less stress, less mess.

BUT ... I want it all cleaned up and organized NOW!

Not an option with my current lifestyle, which includes baby, building and homeschooling.

So I have a list of areas (I couldn't believe how many areas I could come up with!) and I am going to clean out at least one every day. I am, I am, I am.

I've already ticked off my dressing table drawer and the kids' books. And I do love me a good ticked off list!

Watch this space. I might even get my camera back from my mom's house and do some before and after photos. The one of the garage will be amazingly impressive, because at the moment it is a black hole of trash. And tools and lawnmowers and bikes. And a huge aircon unit. And 4 enormous empty paint buckets. And quite possibly a few kilograms of plain old dirty dust, spread over most of the surfaces. And perhaps some cockroaches.

It's gonna change.

YEAH!