Children's Book review

Thanks to Kiwi Mummy Blogs, I got a lovely new book for Turbo to read and review in the "Your Money" series called "What is money?".

I've found that this is good age (two years, 9 months) to start introducing the concept of money, although I'm sure you could do that earlier. We coincided the book with the introduction of a piggy bank (well, elephant actually) and Turbo has started saving some coins.

He was immediately interested in the book because of it's lovely colourful illustrations that have lots to look at and discuss. The messages in the book are sound and easy to grasp. The book dicusses how children come to have money (doing chores, birthdays, a treat), saving money, not spending it on the wrong thing, and keeping money safe.

At the end of the book, it explains that there are more important things in life than having money or possessions like playing a game with your dad.

Since receiving it a couple of weeks back, we have read "the money book" several times a day at Turbo's request. And every single night before bedtime, despite my efforts to interest him in another book (because I'M tired of it!!).

In Turbo's eyes (the eyes that matter!), I'd say we have a winner.

If you’d like a copy, click here to purchase from Fishpond http://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Childrens/Fiction/Business_Economics/9780750260954/?cf=3&rid=892116951&i=4&keywords=what+is+money

A little bit of this and that

You would think after receieving such a lovely gift from Mr Samoa, I might remember to wear it more than once. Not the case. Apparently I now need to create a habit of wearing it. Who would have thought?

The culprit has claimed another victim. My wonderful mom stayed the night last to help me out while Mr Samoa is away. After getting up several times last night, my mom took over in the early hours of the morning. Apparently she was up for two hours with him!
And so a rather shattered and exhausted mom has now left me to it. At least she has seen it firsthand and knows I'm not kidding about how bad he is at the moment.

My mom with my gorgeous niece

I feel this leaves me no option but to leave him to cry. I am going to put my mattress next to his cot, though, and offer reassurance every now and then. And if he wakes Angel Turbo, we will just have to deal with that.

Who would have thought I'd he calling Turbo an angel!! But he is. A delight.

Thankful for that.

Smiley took his first steps a couple of weeks ago, a week before he turned 11 months. And now he's really going for it. So cute to see! Motherhood is so full of contradictory emotions. I am such a tired, exhuasted, frustrated, but very proud and full of love Mama. Here's a little video on the very day he took his first steps:

(Sorry it's sideways but i don't know how to edit it...I did download software and try!)

And nothing like coffee with some other awesome bloggers to pick you up a little.
You probably have already, but check out the great blogs of Sammy, Gail and Simone.
Note to self: remember to pay next time before you leave the cafe!

A sheepish thanks to Gail and Sammy. I owe you!

 

My friend doubt

Love times a thousand the message we had at church Sunday morning. This particular preacher tends to bring a real, new perspective on passages of the Bible that we've all heard many times before.

This was the story of the journey of Mary, Jesus' mother, prior to His birth and the growing up part of Jesus' life up until He was about 12 years old. Long story short, even though Mary had been visited by angels before Jesus' birth, visited by shepherds and strange, wise men after His birth, and had a huge star above the place she gave birth (I thought of  this one!), her and Joseph were still amazed by the words Simeon spoke when they took Jesus to the temple when He was a week or so old.

New Zealand actress Keisha Castle-Hughes playing Mary in the movie The Nativity Story

Photo from here

And spite of all that had happened and all that was said, she was still surprised when 12 year old Jesus went missing after the annual trip to Jerusalem and was later found in the temple, learning from the scholars and asking questions.

She had a friend that we all have: doubt. And we tend to get more and more friendly with doubt as the years pass by and the words we once believed have not yet happened.

But without doubt, there is no room for faith. If we weren't doubtful about the outcome of something, we wouldn't need to exercise our faith because we'd already know that it was going to be ok.

Yes! Doubt is my friend. Because it gives me the opportunity to be a woman of faith.

Perfume, baby!

Thanks so much for all your kind words on my last post.
Reading it now, it does sound quite dramatic - Torture Chamber, ha ha - but that's how I honestly feel...tortured!!
I would like to say things are better but they're not. In fact, last night was an all time low. And now Mr Samoa is away for three days.
But let's not go there
So I'll talk about something nice that's happened to me lately instead.

True to his word, Mr Samoa bought me perfume with his first paycheck. I haven't had perfume in a looooong time. I didn't even know where to start. So I pretty much bought the first one I liked the smell of within my price range.

I am loving wearing....  

It's amazing how wonderful a spritz of nice smelling stuff can make you feel....feminine and lovely.

Love you Mr Samoa. You've made me a happy lady ♥

What makes you feel feminine and lovely?

The torture chamber

A.K.A. Smiley's bedroom

It began at 11.30pm. I was in that lovely deep slumber that you fall into an hour or so after going to sleep. Smiley was up.
I fed him quickly and popped him back into bed which is usually all I have to do. He started crying again before I'd even reached the door. Damn.

I picked him up again and fed him again. He finished feeding and looked up at me, wide awake. Double damn.

At that point the options are leave him to cry, which can last for over an hour or try to settle him. Patting does not work, he gets even more upset. And (stupidly in this case!) I prefer not use a dummy with my babies. So into my arms he came and I began pacing the torture chamber, his head on my shoulder.

About 10 minutes later I gently put him down. He starts crying as soon as he hits the cot. I pick him and start pacing again.

15 minutes later I gently lay him down and leave the room. Phew. I lie down and start to drift off. Blissful sleep.

The culprit, who is also criminally cute

The crying begins again shortly after. Mr Samoa gets up. It's his second week of his new job tomorrow. Not a good look to be yawning. Anyway.

10 minutes later he emerges from the chamber. The crying starts up again. I storm into the room and yell at Smiley. Yes, I did. I am a crazy woman in the middle of the night. Of course, this makes him cry even more.

I try feeding him again. This doesn't work. By this time I've been up an hour anyway. Should have just left him to cry. Problem is, in our small unit, you hear, with clarity, every gut-wrenching wail. And despite ear plugs, I can still hear and am on edge the whole time, almost crying myself. O, and he'll often wake Turbo. And another thing, I swore I would never leave my Smiley to cry after all we went through with Turbo.

So the pacing starts again. I am deperate by now. Eventually his body goes limp and I am able to lay him down. I fall back alseep.

You would think this would be all for the night but no, there's more!

1am the crying begins again. In hindsight, I should have given him paracetamol at this point, but instead I stumbled groggily into the chamber and began pacing, tripping over my own feet in my exhuastion. Thankfully this time it was quick.

3.45am he's up again. I feed him this time. I know I shouldn't, but I am at my wits' end.

5.20 am he's up. And this time, despite both Mr Samos and I settling him, he will not go to sleep. At 6am I turn on his light and put some toys in his cot. He screams even louder. 5 minutes later he settles down. It's shortlived though. Turbo is now up. The day has begun. I am not ready for it. I am exhausted.

Please, please, God, may tonight be better.


So now you also know why I am absent from blogland every few days. Just trying to survive.


{Note: Sorry, but I'm not looking for advice. I know enough sleep training methods to write a book after all I've been through with both boys. I did have Smiley sleeping through the night at 5 months, but at great cost to me. What you can do is pray for me. Thanks!}

Dear Turbo

You're two years and nine months today. Random age, I know, but you are growing and changing so fast and I don't want to forget

how amazing you are.

On Sunday, one of the awesome ladies who look after our kids at church, said I need the award for the fittest mother! They were playing a game where they call two names and those two children run across the room. You, Turbo, ran every single time whether your name was called or not. And there were a lot of kids!

You are fiercely loyal and tell us off when either one of us raise our voices at each other. You are talking in short sentences now. Sentences like, "Mummy, I don't want it" is a favourite, mostly concerning dinner, or "Mummy, come see, ober dere" (over there) is another one we hear frequently. Your Daddy often tells you he's proud of you, so often you say it back to us.

A really strange but cute word you have come up with is 'tikkamaa'.

You use that to refer to any boy racer type car. In the movie Cars, there are four boy racer cars that come and put Mack to sleep on the freeway/highway. When these cars accelerate, the noise they make is tikkamaaaaaa (hold the maaa and go upwards in pitch towards end). Don't worry if you don't get it. It's quite hard to explain. Only two year old brains really get it.

You LOVE other children and will make friends wherever you go. You often follow a group of kids around and join in their game whether they like it or not. But most times, they end up liking you anyway. I mean, what's not to like?

I can count the number of time we have a had a toilet accident on my one hand. And always number one accidents. You are amazing!

You love your younger brother but are having a hard time sharing your toys now that's he's mobile. He often ruins your games and wants what you're playing with. We're doing our best to be fair to both of you. But I can imagine Smiley must be extremely annoying sometimes.

You hate brushing your teeth and always make a fuss of it, even though we do it every single day. Your persistence is a thing to be admired.

You have very good manners for your age, and are especially good at saying thank you. It's so nice to hear your cute little "Senk you!" when I do something for you. 

Other adults say you are a joy to have around and listen well, and my heart swells with pride. We do, of course, have our days, like this morning, when you wailed all the way through the mall to the car because you didn't want to walk. You are always loud, and commit fully to everything you do, including your meltdowns.

You are, and will always be, my amazing, loving,

spirited baby little boy

Fizzy Saturdays

I think this is my fourth cup of filter cofee today. Not good. But some days, I really just need want it.
And an awesome friend gave me some carrot cake...can't have that without coffee right? Right?

This year Mr Samoa and I are going to get a bit more healthy. Mr Samoa does not drink any water! Yip, nil H20. Really not good. And we eat our fair share of chocolate, biscuits and ice cream. But I'd say it's what we drink that is the main contributor to our slightly fuller waistlines that have appeared in the last year or so.

So the goals are simple:

• More water - which means no cordial in the house, which is Mr Samoa's standby drink. Water with meals. A little ice makes a big difference.

• Less fizzy - actually we're aiming for just on Saturdays but not quite there yet. Mr Samoa gently reminded me that when someone has been doing something a certain way his whole life, it's a bit much to expect them to change in one day. And we've changed to Coke Zero/Diet on most occasions. I'm totally not liking it but I'll get used to it. Surprisingly Mr Samoa is fine with this change.

• Trim milk - we have only ever bought dark blue, full fat milk. We've changed to light blue now. And it's not so bad. I can however taste the difference. So that also means I have to remember to order trim mochas when I get my coffees. Haven't remembered every time so far.

• Less sugar - so that means less mochas and more cappucinos. I'm not saying no mochas, just less. Because when I say I can't have it, that will be the one thing I do want. Anyone else like that? And less sugar means thinking twice before buying that icecream or chocolate. We don't have a lot of that in the house, it's when we go out that we feel we need something to eat to go with the outing. Is that wierd?

 

For us, the key to making it sustainable is for it to be do-able. So I'm not saying NO anything, just less.

We're out in the open now. It's more final when on paper (or screen?).

Will see how we go and report back in a month or so...more for my benefit than for yours. Sorry if this bores you!

So let's fill up that glass (of water!!!) and say cheers to a new way for us this year!

image source

Anyone else have any goals like these for this 2011?

Recapturing romance

This Saturday I'm grateful for date nights

Lately I've been yearning for those days when Mr Samoa and I were dating. Butterflies in my tummy, thoughts consumed by him all day.

I know, I know. That's not what marriage is about...feelings.

But just a little of those feelings is good to have sometimes. You know, just a little more...zing, for want of a better word. And I'm not talking about sex.

We're coming up to our sixth wedding anniversary in a few months.

We've been together seven years in total now.

And I have heard of the seven year itch. Yikes!!!

Not being with Mr Samoa has never been an option. The D-word (divorce) is not in our vocabulary and goes against everything we stand for.

But I can see how people with different values and beliefs would go looking elsewhere when the feelings go walking. 

Like in the movie Eat, Pray, Love. I'm not a fan of it.

In these times, we choose to love and say those loving words and we know that soon the feelings will follow.

But we have decided to be a little more proactive in our date nights and inject a bit more romance into our marriage.  

I volunteered to organise the first night. So I got my mom to babysit and we set off on our romantic adventure.

I took him to Mount Eden that has lots of lovely cafes and cute shops. But we didn't do the usual and go out for coffee or dessert. I told Mr Samoa to pick the thing he would most like to eat or drink and get it takeaway.

He chose a chocolate milkshake! I, of course, got a coffee, a mochacino to be exact, and a piece of chocolate mouse cake. Yum!

Then I took Mr Samoa to the top of Mount Eden. We sat wrapped in each other's arms, drinking in the beautiful sunset, looking for landmarks, chatting about nothing and enjoying each other's presence. No kid-talk was allowed.

It was different and it was simple. Yet it was exactly what we needed.

Nights like these are going to become a regular occurence in our marriage.And we don't even have to leave our house. Candles and dinner in the garden? 

Since having Smiley, these nights taken a back seat.

We're so darn tired and busy.

But I don't want to be wishing for more in our marriage.

I want to make it happen instead.

We also realised we had different definitions of what romance was. Any guesses for what one of Mr Samoa's definitions was?

If you've got any different, simple ideas for recapturing romance, please leave me a comment. I'd love to hear them!

The winner is...

Been a bit absent from blogland. A lot's been going on.

One car down with a leak, then within days the second car died...for good. 

She had it coming but it's still sad.

So have been trying to sort out a car for Mr Samoa to get to work in next week, his very first week, while the other car is at the mechanics....which only opens on Monday.

Nice for some.

Anyway, I do apologise and hope to be more frequent again soon...both in posting and commenting.

Thanks to all who entered the giveaway and thanks heaps for following my blog!

Drum roll please....

The winner is:

Jules from Mama Wears Jandals



Well done Jules!!
Please leave me your email address and I'll organise to post them to you asap

Ticking over into Twenty Eleven

{If you haven't entered my giveaway yet, there's still time! And remember if you mention the giveaway on your blog, you get an extra entry.}

I haven't done a post about 2011 yet. You see, I'm not quite sure what the year holds for me.

2011 still finds me in survival mode with Smiley's sleep. And until he's sleeping better at night, I feel a bit like I'm living at limited capacity.

But I'm ok with that. I'm being kind to myself until this season is over.

There are a few things that I am continuing on with.

I wrote this post in August 2009 and it really was a defining time for me.

One of the decisions I talk about in the post was to learn to play guitar.

No this is not me. I just love all the pink and cool guitar.

I have always wanted to but never quite got there. I tend to put too much pressure and expectation on myself to be brilliant at things when actually, I just need to start and maybe I'll be brilliant one day after a whole lot of practise and hard work! I set myself a realistic time frame of 5 years too. Plenty of time left.

Since writing that post, I have learned 9 chords and I am loving it. I don't practise as much I as I would like but I'm pleased with my progress.

Music is in me and it feels so good to nurture that.

In 2011 I also want to continue putting time into this blog. I have loved the journey! And loved the people I have met.

At one point I was thinking of looking for work or going back to finish my degree, but neither of those options sits right with me at the moment. 

So for now, I am just "continuing on" into 2011.

Being the best mother and wife that I can be.

Trusting that if I live open to God, he will, as Joyce Meyer says, "come and get me" and show me where I need to be.

I want to live "careless in the care of God" this year.

(Matthew 6:27, The Message)

It's feeling good already.

New Year's Giveaway

Yes, you read right.

My first ever giveaway.

I am soooo excited!

For those of you who have only been following me a short while, I have been in a very 'lean' season financially for the last 5 years while Mr Samoa completed his degree. He starts work in 3 weeks!

3 weeks people!!

And while the income has not quite yet started, it's worth a bit of celebration anyway.

So I want to celebrate YOU ♥

All you who choose to read my little blog. Thank you!

I have loved getting to know you. 

Here they are:

To win these lovely necklaces (or win them for someone else if they're not your style), all you have to do is:

1.Become a follower (if you're not one already) by clicking the "Follow" button on the left hand side bar 

2. Then leave me a comment, and you're in! 

If you mention this giveaway on your blog, you'll get an extra entry. Just leave me another comment to let me know.

Open to anyone, anywhere in the world.

Well, what you waiting for?

I ♥ family

Well hello there.

Been having a lovely holiday, filled with lots of family time.

I was saying to Mr Samoa that this year was the most enjoyable Christmas I've had so far.

The first four Christmases of our married life were pretty bad. We spent them arguing and unhappy, each feeling misunderstood and hard done by.

Our families are so very different, you see, and do things very differently from each other's.

Of course this would take some getting used to, but we (I!) seem to think that when we get married, a switch is flicked and immediately our differences merge into one glowing, love-filled ball of harmony.

Unfortunately, the differences seem the hardest to cope with around Christmas time. 

I think it's due to the expectation and the excitement all built up around this one day.

We've now been married five and half years and I think this year I've truly come to appreciate how wonderful, and wonderfully different our families are. They have different strengths, each so enjoyable in their own ways.

What used to phase me no longer does. I've learned to relax and go with the flow a whole lot more because of Mr Samoa's family. When nothing is planned or organised, just stick around, enjoy yourself, and it will all come together.

All my awesome sisters

At the same time, I can enjoy that my family always plans ahead and relish putting that date down in my diary.

I fell in love with Mr Samoa because he was different from me. But it's these very differences that can drive a wedge between us. I am so thankful we are learning and growing together, and willing to make changes for each other.

I'm so looking forward to the years ahead...with both of our awesome families.