Happy New Year

Well, it's 2010 already! I can't believe it! I saw someone with a car number plate which had "91" on it, and I thought to myself "They are SO not old enough to drive if they were born in 91", but then I thought about it... Wow, how fast the time is going past!

We had a really fun New Year's Eve this year. My mum and Dave had been in Darwin during their cracker night, so they had bought a couple of bags of mixed fireworks. It was heaps of fun! Some of them were duds, some were awesome, some really quite strange, but it was funny working out which was which!

When I get my computer back (IF I get my computer back!) I'll upload some photos from over the Christmas/New Year period. Of course I took WAY too many photos! I don't know how I'll be able to scrap even a quarter of them...

I am a bad mummy

I am a bad mummy. I must be. So many people are telling me I am. My brother called me daft, a friend asked why I was ruining things for my kids, others just think I'm a nutter.

What have I done that's so horrible? So disgusting and wrong???

I've told my kids that Santa is a great story that heaps of people like to pretend is real, but it really isn't true. Santa doesn't magically leave presents under the tree, Mummy and Daddy do. It's something Matt and I have dscussed and something we felt was the right thing to do.

I guess it's unforgiveable. We are ruining their Christmasses for the rest of their lives. We are taking away the magic of their childhoods. We are scarring them for life and segregating them from all other people in the human race. Or at least that's the impression I'm getting from everyone else!

Why do we feel the need to out-an-out LIE to our children to create a magical and imaginative world for them to live in? Kids are amazing creatures. They can watch movies and be taken to fantastical worlds, read book and be transported to out-of-this-world wonderous lands. They play with a brown box that can amazingly become a car, a rocket ship, a boat, a house, a cave, or whatever else they want. But when it comes to Santa, we can't trust our kids to take it as an amazingly wonderful story about the giving spirit behind Christmas? Why do we have to tell our kids that Santa is alive and well today and lives in the North Pole and has magical elves and reindeer and delivers presents personally to each and every child? Why do our news programmes feel the need to perpetuate this downright lie by giving updates on "Santa" and even little graphics on where he is by using the modern technology of GPS? Why can we not trust our kids to create some magic themselves, and instead foist it on them in the form of our own ideas?

Elizabeth isn't missing out on anything. She gets to lie under the Christmas tree and count all the twinkling lights with me. Tonight or tomorrow night we're going to pop some popcorn and drive around looking at Christmas lights and ooohhhh and aaahhh. She's getting a chocolate every day from the Advent calendar as we count down the days. She has heaps of presents under the Christmas tree all waiting for her to unwrap (she claims there are 10 - that's a big number for her). She'll celebrate on Christmas Day with a whole pile of loving people and plenty of good food.

Phillip doesn't seem to be missing out on anything magical either. He screams with excitement at every single Christmas decoration he sees (if it has flashing lights that deserves an even bigger yell). He's overjoyed every time he comes down the stairs to see our Christmas tree (despite the original fear because he shattered a glass bauble). I can just imagine the noise tonight or tomorrow as we search for lights! I might bring some ear plugs. He's gobbled down each Advent chocolate as I give them to him. And he's sure to gorge himself silly on Christmas Day!

Why on earth do we have to lie to them about a big fat man in a red suit to make it magical???

And why am I classified as a bad mother and a killjoy because we have chosen this way, and why do I have to keep justifying our choice to every friend, brother, shop assistant, and meddler around?

I'm running away!

I am a bad bad blogging mummy. I have neglected my blog. How bad am I???

Sorry blog. What can I do to make it up to you?

Maybe after my retreat this weekend I'll have some cool things to put up in here. I'm running away to QLD for a few days! I'll be heading to the Ohana retread with all my lovely ScrapChat friends (except for some that sadly couldn't make it - we'll miss you guys!).

As it is, I'll just have post up a few photos from the last couple of (rather busy) months. I hope that makes you happy, my poor neglected blog...

We've had Elizabeth's 4th birthday. That was heaps of fun. She got heaps and heaps of presents, and her cake was a treasure chest that she helped me decorate...

My sister had her baby - Isabella Ruth Alice. It was a looooong labour, and was set to go even longer, but they decided enough was enough and chopped her out by emergency c-section. Both mummy and baby are doing really well now.

I finished crocheting a dress for Isabella, about 1 week before she was born. Good timing I reckon! Modelled by the ever-poseable (but rather grumpy) doll Beatrice.

And we had fun around Halloween by actually carving jack-o-lanterns! Not that we actually celebrate Halloween, but I've always wanted to carve a jack-o-lantern, and now I have!

And finally, a quick picture of my 2 kiddles *acting* like little angels. Of course Blogger is having a little hissy fit, so you might have to flip your head sideways to get a good look at them...

OK, I'd better run. Phillip's having his immunisations this morning. That'll be heaps of fun...

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Phillip is sitting on my lap right now about to head off to bed, and he just wanted to say "hi", and "good night". I guess his spelling isn't the greatest... LOL

I actually got a few photos of my kiddles the other morning. TOGETHER! That is virtually impossible. The last photo I had of the 2 of them together and both looking at the camera, and HAPPY was in January I think. I've been able to photoshop a couple of decent pictures from combining 2 vaguely decent ones, but it's not the same! So here's one of the photos I got on Friday morning. There are others that I love too. Maybe I'll share them in my next post...

Last weekend I got to stay over at Sharon's house (thanks for the hospitality Sharon if you ever read this!) to do a bit of scrapping on the Saturday, and then we headed off to the stitches and craft show in Sydney on the Sunday. I managed to complete a few things on the Saturday.

Sadly I'm not as impressed by the work I do when I'm out of the house, as the stuff I do when I'm at home. I tend to get a bit more arty and do a lot more detailed work at home. At crops and retreats I tend to do a lot more clean-cut stuff and it tends to be a bit more, I dunno, boring? Not really the right word, but I'm never quite as happy with the things I do. But in the end I have a few more memories down on paper, a few more challenges done, and most of all, I get to have fun! And I guess that is the point eh?

The "Fashionista" LO is the basis for a sketch over at TAN's blog if you want to have something to get your creative juices flowing...

I'm starting working on a rag quilt at the moment (I figure if I put it in here I might actually FINISH a creative project!). I haven't really made a quilt before. I made a king-sized quilt cover for my mum using a very random style, but never actually a REAL quilt! Wish me luck!

Woo Hoo! I'm on a roll!

Elizabeth likes dressing herself at the moment. We have had some interesting combinations so far - dresses over jeans, singlet tops in winter, and of COURSE orange, navy, pink and red go SO well together. But yesterday's outfit was a stunner...

So what if the grey and black striped leggings are inside out? So what if the bright blue knitted jumper is inside out too? So what if the off-the-shoulder checked red gingham Dorothy the Dinosaur top doesn't match anything? It's FASHION daaaahhhlings!