Airing Out The Dirty Laundry

I don't know about anyone else but I have never considered it before last night. Now how ever I have clothes in bags but not for the bin. They are going 'out of sight' and hopefully 'out of mind' for a while. The washing pile will never get so large again!! 

Since the rains we received on Australia Day I have finally had a good supply of water. Which is a great thing for a number of reasons but mainly because I could get my washing done. Naturally, of course, once we actually got our power back. My house pump decided that it could no longer stand the rigours of its life and died on me. I kept it pretty cool. I calmly went about monitoring the kids clothing situation, and it is a 'situation' my children, it seems, don't view clothes as something you put on in the morning and then wear until bath time. NO. My children seem to see clothes as something you must immediately discard after wearing it for longer than an hour, if a drop of water, or a speck of food touches them. 

Yesterday I did the washing. Everyday I do the washing, which is not unusual considering there are nine people in the house, tonight, after cuddling a very unsettled Littlest Miss ( she has a cold) and comforting Miss Thinker and Little Miss ( also  cold sufferers) I put another load of washing on (the fifth for the day) when I realised all but MAYBE three of the items were washed yesterday. I lost it.

How fortunate that there was a perfect cartoon strip from Bitstrips  

about laundry over load. I have been catching up on  ours since 

the house pump decided to die last week.  But this is not about that.

Call it sleep deprived. Call it hormonal. Hell, call it crazy. In fact call it whatever you like. I decided there and then that I was effectively stripping everyone of all clothing except for 8 outfits. 'Enough is enough!' I muttered to myself as, the kids had by this stage (10pm) finally fallen to sleep and there was no way I was chancing waking anyone up! I grabbed a roll of garbage bags, after considering dumping all my craft and sewing stuff in the bin to use the storage boxes. My plan was/is simple all clothing excluding undies and socks will be put out of sight and only 8 outfits will be left out. 

Not 8 of each item, oh no, that would still leave too many clothes for the kids to change into. No, I am talking outfits. The dressups are no longer accessible. I am giving it two weeks. What ever we need I will pull out of storage. After a month what ever is left, if not needed or missed goes to charity. I am expecting to never have too much washing again! Hopefully the kids can deal with wearing the same outfit all day. To make matters worse (for my 'Darlings') they will be responsible for putting away and folding their own clothes,after talking to a few mums I have come to realise I am way to lenient when it comes to exactly what the kids have to do when it comes to their clothes... probably the reason why they go through so many outfits a day... wouldn't you say? 

Well I feel better! What about you? What do you do when it comes to clothes and your children? What are your children expected to do when it comes to the folding/putting away of their clothes?

The Breakdown

Every year we go camping at Xmas/New Years. It has been a Family tradition for My Beloved since he was a child ( quite possibly even longer). Usually it is the beach. But this year we all decided to camp at a dam so we could go water skiing and when I say we, I mean some of us. I am not one of them. I am pretty certain I would fall to my death or just fall and get some kind of injury ( I heard about ‘water enemas’ and that pretty much cured me as well!) The last thing I want to do is be camping and injured looking after small children. Oh good lord that would be pure hell, wouldn’t it!

The dam was roughly two hours from our home and after a night and day of warning the kids that we would not be going until they had tidied up and organised their wetsuits. They finally cottoned on to the seriousness of the matter and by 1.30 that afternoon we were on our way.


We stopped to gather some beverage supplies for our New Years Eve at the dam and that was when we got first hint of trouble. As My Beloved was loading an esky with ice and other goodies he received a phone call. His father had broken down and was stuck on the road halfway between us and the dam. To make matters worse it was in the middle of a no service area and he had to give a kind Samaritan our number and that of his daughter as well. They promised to continue calling those numbers until they spoke to someone and informed them of their whereabouts.

“We gotta go. Dads broken down and he is waiting for us in the middle of nowhere.” My
Beloved said to me as I pulled littlest Miss out of her car seat for a feed, she was unimpressed with the restriction of the car seat and it was getting quite hot.

”Oh, OK.” I said “just let me give bub a drink.”Not long after we set off and an hour later we reached the spot. By this time My Father in Law and My Step Mum in Law had been broken down on the side of the road for three hours.

I had been stuck behind a very slow moving car for twenty minutes with no way to over take and I was pretty cranky, I wont lie, had that driver been a fly on the ‘wall’ of my car they would have been slightly hurt by some of the comments I was muttering in their general direction! Littlest Miss had, by this stage, become completely over sitting still and had been crying and trying to get out of her seat for half and hour.




Once we pulled over the girls in  my car and I sat in comfort while everyone else suffered the heat of the day. The ‘men’ all stood around a cooked engine and scratched their heads and discussed what ever it is men discuss whilst standing around an open bonnet. Eventually we decided to meet everyone ( in the process of hooking up the cooked car to tow) in the nearest town, Kingaroy. We enjoyed shade and full mobile reception until they crept into town and left My Father in Law's car with a friend of his and despite his dreams of 'just going home' we all drove the further half and hour or so to the dam and our home for three days. It was not the end of car trouble for that holiday. Not by a long shot!...

How To Get Organised For School The Stress Free Way

I must confess. The title is very misleading. This post is more a 'Mother makes good' story when it comes to the 'Back to School' madness that grips us all. Well nearly all. I do have a stress free way to get  ready for another school year, it just has never really worked before now. So read on if you are somewhat intrigued, besides it is always nice to hear how sometimes things go right without you actually having to put any real effort into it at all. We mothers deserve that at least once in a while. Wouldn't you agree?

I have been lazy for near two months now and loving it! This year the school holidays have actually been relaxing for the first time in 18 years. I have come to the time of year where the kids start back at school and I am normally  running around doing school shopping with either limited resources or lots of kids clinging to me or quite literally in labour, holding up traffic as I kriss cross the road, going into each store I need to, to ensure everyone has all the bits and bobs required to be this years Dux of the the class... OK so THAT may not have happened yet, but there is still hope! Age Champion does not count. And I still have two yet to start school. There is always hope!!

And there is always, always hope. Yes I have said that a lot and I better be able to back that statement up. I get that. I can. Because I have spent precisely ( well not precisely but pretty close) to two hours getting school supplies. That includes ordering, thinking, covering, buying and preparing any thing to do with school. Now considering I have five at school, two in high school and doing tafe courses,I think that is an achievement worth the time I spend typing this post.

How? What secrets do you have to share? You may be wondering and I am happy to share them with you right now. Do nothing! I mean, you have to do something, but it is nothing compared to the usual run around.


Step 1 Shopping for school  - You need to have a family member owe you a sum of money  (karma people), it does help if that family member only has one child still at home and it is a real positive if that family member enjoys shopping. Simply agree to the said family member taking three of your children shopping for all their bags, lunching utensils, shoes, socks, hats and other bits. The particular family member I chose also happens to be very good at saving money and knows how to not only get a bargain but a quality one.

Step 2 Book Lists -  Don't give them a moments thought. Don't pre order. Have a 'She'll be right mate' kind of attitude instead of the usual Rainman like attitude, you know where you go over the booklists of each child and their class and figure out what you have, what you need to get and what you can safely ignore ( like that box of tissues if you have two kids in the same class and they just do not GET colds anyway) or that particular brand of colour pencil. Then with a week to go before school starts and you have nothing prepared, start thinking to yourself.

'Hmmmmmm I possibly should have taken advantage of that back to school sale they had two weeks ago.'

Within 48 hours of that thought (and still no attempts made to actually do anything about it) you will find that the school principal will call you and you can just mention to them how spectacularly unprepared for the new school year you are, and that you were really hoping beyond hope that you actually sent the forms back to school in the last term of the year before to say you would indeed be taking advantage of the school book packs. You hopes will be dashed momentarily by the answer in the negative but then *angelic chorus*  you will be informed that book packs were purchased for all three of your children who are students at the school because ' I know what you're like.' and 'You always do buy them.' ( don't be offended by the 'I know what you're like.' statement as it was not meant that way... I am sure! ;) )

Step 3 Go Food Shopping -   By Food Shopping I really mean shoot into town for the basics because you can't put it off any more and technically the holidays are over (and you have to eat) whilst there pick up the last few items you need for everyone. Come home unpack the bags and pat yourself on the back. You are done. You have achieved the impossible. You have organised primary, highschool and tafe requirements for five children for  another year with no effort at all!

When things go right they sure as hell go right around here!

How were your back to school preparations this year?

A New Family Member- Meet Oscar

I have nothing to say, I really do not. I have been sewing slip covers ( well actually only one so far) and trying desperately to get around to finishing off the furniture arrangement in our room (since I knocked those walls down I have had to rethink where things are going and IF I will be keeping it at all).

We are caring for a tailless (runner) Scaly Breasted Lorikeet that was being attacked by his 'friends' down the bottom of our driveway. My Beloved's step mum saved him and passed him to us... we are loving his presence and he seems to love us too.

Big Miss and Oscar

Apart from his food I bought ( as I really was not interested in 'making' it up from scratch coz I am lazy like that ;) )  Mr Cheeky and I go and collect a heap of flowers every morning and every afternoon so he can have a treat. I throw in the odd peach from our tree here and there too.

(He loves the Hibiscus at the moment.)

What you looking at?!

He surprised us with how friendly he is.

The Man Child and Miss Thinker have taken a huge shine to him.

 I have also been waiting patiently for the Man Child and My Beloved to do more of the back yard, which they assure me will happen tomorrow, besides that I have been busy doing 'life'. More tomorrow, I promise!

 I am tired and ready for the Xmas Holidays... SLEEP INS HERE I COME!!!!!

Customer Service

This past week has consisted of me trying  to get things done and failing spectacularly. It has also opened my eyes to the appealing lack of customer service skills of many stores in my local area. I usually find everyone to be pleasant and helpful. I am always mindful of the fact the people behind the counters at any of the businesses I go into are there to do a job and have to deal with the public ( who can at times be incredibly stupid and very rude) and I always try to make sure I smile and am polite and friendly, unless I am tired or have the shits, then I'll still smile and be polite but I wont be one for a chat.

I have however had two shocking moments of utterly terrible customer service the first left me shocked and certain to never shop there again and the other left me furious and kinda wishing I was a man who happened to be built like an ox and didn't have a problem causing a 'ruckus' in a seaside towns' shopping centre car park. I wont go into detail except to say this...

Don't assume that just because a store is a well known fabric and other related items retailer, it will have nice, crafty, homey type people, who are more than happy to help. Or even have the items advertised on sale in their catalogues in stock. You should in fact expect them to actually have the shits with you for asking if they do have these advertised things in stock especially if they have to go looking out the back and you don't want to 'come back Monday'. If you should happen to have a three year old son who is feeling very hot to the touch and out of the blue decides to vomit all over you as you (stupidly, it turns out) run out of the store with him so he does not vomit all over the store (whilst you are running out the three year old manages to spew all over you, and I do mean ALL OVER YOU) do not expect to return to find the fabric you were going to purchase actually has been cut or that the sleeping 11 month old you left in the pram by the counter to be there. Expect to find both the 'sales assistant' and the baby gone, just not together. 

Also do not expect to go shopping in a local seaside towns' IGA and manage to put the groceries in the car and drive off to your destination, apparently it is not as simple as that. In fact, expect the man, who you would be forgiven in thinking was a drunkard sitting in the gutter outside the bottle shop, ( that is situated next to the said IGA) to walk over to your car as you are reversing and COMPLETELY IGNORE YOUR THREE ATTEMPTS at asking him what he wants. Expect him also to stick his head INSIDE your car and take a good look around with a cocked eyebrow and an arrogant look on his face. Then expect him to walk off back into the bottle shop. If you are anything like me, expect to fight off the very strong urge to pull back into the parking spot and go into the bottle shop and find out exactly what he thinks he was doing and let him know just what you think of him. If you are like me, the only thing stopping you would be the fact you have small children in the car. Turns out (if you asked the teenage boys in the back of the car what the hell just happened) you can not expect to buy a carton of coke cans without complete strangers thinking you are stealing the little red shopping baskets!

But one thing I have found is I can expect to go into my bank branch and come out with both money AND a kids video! But that is another story!

I hope your week was better than mine!

Welcome To The World Twinnies!

Malachi Lee and Asher Lee Hamilton made a easy (well for me) entry into the world on the 28th of November 2012. Asher was born at 7.19pm and weighed 6 pound. Malachi was born at 7.49 pm and weighed 7 pound.  Mummy Rebecca did very well I am told and Daddy Lee also managed to 'hang in there'. Well done guys!! :) They are just perfect in every way. Nawwwwwwwwwwwwww Aunty Emma loves you so much xx

Our Week In Pictures

1 I spent a rather sad amount of time trying to figure out how to add an image to some odd tiles I had. After brainstorming I stumbled on using gesso (an acrylic primer). To my utter shock it worked, not perfectly BUT it worked!!

2 Mr Cheeky and his sisters did a lot of drawing. Mr Cheeky decided to display his art work (the fridge was covered) in his room. I saw no harm in that, until he asked me to come and see how 'pretty' the room was. I walked up the hall and briefly noticed a zinc cream tube. I soon learnt why it was there, he had used it as 'blu tack' to decorate his sister's cot.

3 Our peach tree has been a great source of sustenance. The kids have been helping them selves to fruit all week.

4 After some discussion about entertaining yourself and Miss Independents constant cries of boredom I showed her how to make 'card castles' and it was a hit for most of the weekend.

1 The size of the dining and lounge room was bugging me (has been since My Beloved built the walls to make an extra room) and when My Beloved left for Fraser Island I decided they had to go!!

2 The night the walls were due to be knocked down the girls and I had Maccas for dinner, Littlest Miss missed out as usual and as usual she was not impressed! We sat around the table talking about our day and we had some laughs at some of the things that were said.

3 Is the 'before' photo. The black wall was stripped of the family pics and I had long given up on painting the brown wall white to make it 'disappear'. Littlest Miss slept for a few hours that day and Mr Cheeky managed to not wake her up with his constant singing.

4 Little Miss was being cute all day.

1 The back side of the black wall. I took a million pictures of the knocking down process and it must be said I was excited, even the mess didn't bother me... then.

2 It was a hot day and my brother worked up a sweat. He had just finished a 26 hour stint on a fishing boat the day before and had come home from work an hour earlier, he is a good brother, I think I'll keep him!

3 the fine dust from the crushed bricks and mortar was everywhere and after day 1 I decided that I'd use dust covers the next day. I took me three hours to dust everything but the floors, walls and doors then I used most of the sheets in my hall cupboard to cover everything.

4 Dust, mess and excitement.

1 Day two saw my brother bring out the 'Big guns' and instead of using a hammer he used a hammer drill and I made him clean up the rubble!

2 Mr Cheeky, who thinks his Uncle is exceptionally cool had to be told to go away from the 'worksite' regularly through out the morning.

3 With the walls gone I realised just how much space we had again and just how much more tiling My Beloved still has to do! ( Something he noticed when he came home and he said it with a sigh)

4 I found this clock and I had to have it, of course it does not work, at present it is about three hours slow!!!

1 My Beloved and I  got excited about buying the paint and cornicing required to start on the finishing touches... so we painted and painted and painted... the wall with the fruit salad plant stencil still is not finished...

2 LOOK AT ALL THE SPACE! :)

3 We used carpet squares to cover the untiled floor in the lounge room so we did not have to see the old painted concrete floors. ( The whole area will be tiled, but not before Xmas.)

4 It was 7pm when My Beloved and Miss Independent put the carpet squares down ( Miss Independent 'created'  the 'design'). It only took twenty minutes, they make a good team!

1 I found this old cast iron bed, with wheels and I bought it, only to discover that the rods that hold the base were missing... I am still working on that one but it should be easy enough. I hope.

2 The clock, again...

3 My Beloved earned himself a caramel tart, yes a very basic one, but I am not a dessert chef! ( Yes I cheated and used the canned caramel AND a pre maid tart shell - what?

4 I saw this sign at our local auto shop and I had to have it. The graphics and colour were what drew me to it, it was not until Biggest Miss questioned the message that I actually realised what it said. Ooops.

1 Littlest Miss was a very good girl all week considering we were very busy.

2 I was on top of the world going on (and on and on and on) about all the space we had since those walls were knocked down.

3 Mr Cheeky was his usual cheeky self. There were a MILLION pictures of him through out the week, however he was unfortunately naked in just about ALL of them.

4 We went to a B.B.Q on Friday night ( a well deserved break) and we had a great time Thanks TANIA!! ;)  She gave Little Miss a talking cookie jar ( can't imagine why she'd give it away as he has such a way with words...)

How was your week?