Happy For

Yesterday it began to rain while I was at school helping to organise the end of year Christmas pageant (so not a pageant but when else would I get to use that word!!) I had washing on the line....

When I came home this is what I found - my neighbour rescued the washing off the line and put the pegs in Flip's cap and put it all under the verandah thingy we have. God Bless a washing fairy!

These 2 boys that love each other so much - The Atlas and I found them playing together with this suitcase one morning before school.

I love that the when a very large and exciting advent box arrived Flip decided to race down to his room and wrap a parcel for Daddy so he didn't feel left out - I so love that kid's generous heart.

I love that I have the best advent swap partner ever!! Leonie is one of those incredible, generous, over-achievers (love a good overachiever!!) - I am in for an AWESOME December.

The box also contained those 'air bag' packaging things which were joyfully burst as well.

I love that the box quickly became a boat for the teddies and then a table for a picnic afternoon tea and then a prop in the 'wipeout' obstacle course that the boys built.

And I'm also totally awed by our brains - I am learning lines for a performance next week and it kind of blows my mind that we can with a small amount of intention memorize and regurgitate lines we read - our brain is fearfully and wonderfully made indeed.

I love that it's Friday and tomorrow I proudly turn 35!! Halfway to 70 - bring it. :o)

I bet Meghan has an amazing collection of things she is grateful for too - her list is always cool.

Make My Week #48 - Advent Calendars

This year I wanted to make the boys an advent calendar to store the special advent activities we have planned, which are a surprise to them.

This coming weekend we are also having a special early celebrations with some other families and each family brings a $10 gift for another family. So I made a second version as our gift.

The trees are made from felt with gold thread couched onto them (my first attempt at couching) and 24 buttons sewn on. I made our one first out of the lighter coloured felt and a random selection of buttons but I like my second effort better!

Then I made 24 little felt Xs with holes in the middle of them so each day a little decoration is added to the tree.

For the other family I added chocolates to each mesh pocket. Ours have numbered cards with the activity written on the other side of the number.

They are a bit random but I rather like them and I think the boys will like it.

On Tuesday I'll go through some of our advent activities but if you want a list to do something similar leave a comment and I'll email you our list.

Joining in with Our Creative Spaces - button and link on the right.

How's your Christmas making coming along??

Wardrobe Wednesday - Oh Beloved Body

Every Wednesday, Every Wardrobe Welcome.

This week I have read 2 excellent posts that I would love to recommend to you
Deb's post about dieting and Catherine's post about airbrushing.

In light of these I want to be really clear about a couple of things here:
1. I play around with the contrast and mid-tone adjustment on the photos here because I want to emphasise the clothes and make the light work. So in that sense the photos are touched up but I have never played around with the shape of my body or my wrinkles.... because for me I'd feel like I was lying to you and at the end of the day if we were ever in the same place I'd love to catch up for a coffee and I'd hate you to think I didn't look like I do in real life.

2. I do pick flattering photos - I realise in real life I pull strange faces, I forget to use perfect posture and I can create a several chin effect quite easily. I also often have unshaven legs and forget to can't be bothered to put on make-up. So some photos get edited out. But I figure we all choose our best pics???? This week I have purposely chosen a stretchy, fitting dress because I'm not hiding here. This is who I am and I have no idea what you are thinking about my body on the other end of your computer and actually it doesn't matter. What matters most of all is how I feel about my body. (1000 people can tell you how gorgeous you are but at the end of the day you pick what you believe and that influences everything).

3. I am still on a journey with body love. I have tall, short, slim, wide, perfect-skin, wrinkled skin..... friends. I love them because they are my friends. I find them beautiful. When I look in the mirror and feel dissatisfied I tell myself 'You may never be slimmer, you will never be younger or less wrinkly, your 'bye-bye' arms are only likely to get looser. So you love yourself right now. Stop waiting for the perfect body to dress and start having fun dressing the one you have now.' (mostly it works and I go eat some more chocolate. Sometimes I need to remind myself that if I would like to be a different shape that's down to my effort alone. Mostly I'm too lazy to care.)

You may choose to airbrush yourself, you may think your body is perfect, you may hate it but today please stop and read the articles above. Stop and ask yourself this: would you like the 'perfect' body that didn't work or would you like to embrace this body you have that works, that gets you from place to place, that allows you to make things, that laughs and hugs and cries and keeps you breathing and thinking so you can enjoy all the good around you?

Today love yourself, this place/shell in which you (the real you) dwells. Marvel at all it's intricacies and if you are me you can give your stretchmarks a little rub and tell them you think they are okay too.

If we refuse to love ourselves we make it very hard for others to love us too.

Today I'd love you to tell me what you love about your body - I love my hands because they help me to make things, the allow me to hug, they let me type, they make my life easy. I love them and I think I have a great smile and a pretty good rack too! :o)

No disclaimers either - just own something about your body and love it. 'kay? Take a risk. Do something that scares you.

So what is Wardrobe Wednesday?

• It's a chance to take some time once a week to peel off the polar fleece trackies (I have a pair too!!) and put on something that gives you a chance to have a 'play' in your wardrobe, to make yourself feel pretty/ stylish/ like a woman or at least not slummy!
•  It's a time to celebrate and hopefully to embrace your body however you find it - post baby, young or old your body is lovely and functional and precious and I want this place to be a place for you to see other women (ordinary, beautiful women) who don't live in designer homes on designer budgets with designer bodies.

How to play?

1. Link in your specific blog post not just your general blog

2. Link to a post about clothes - that's what we're here for

3. Please add a link back here so other people can come over and see people's clothing posts too - the old fashioned way or grab a button

4. Be encouraging and visit people - leave a comment now and again too everyone loves to get encouragement

Here's the button copy and paste away

<center> <a href=" http://createhopeinspire.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/Wardrobe%20Wednesday"><img border="0" src="http://i1145.photobucket.com/albums/o516/CreateHopeInspire/WWbutton.jpg" width="160" height="160"/></a></center> Thanks so much for your company, your comments and your compliments :o) 

B.M.W.B #48 - Without Technology

I think sometimes that technology is the greatest barrier to good parenting and its greatest inspiration.

The lure of the quick email check, the scintillating blog post that distracts and I'm not even on facebook or twitter!

But then there is the inspiration, the solidarity, the sharing of the joy in the journey, the ease of finding tips, party plans, reward charts..... the ease of sharing photos.... it's not all bad.

On Sunday The Atlas was away and I had promised the boys we would bike to the dairy to spend some pocket-money. For more on how we do pocket-money see here.

As we left I said 'we could go to the dairy you suggested or we could bike down to the one by school and stop for a play on the playground'. Unanimously accepted the alternative!

So we biked in the sun with no hurry. We stopped and ate ice-blocks and played on the playground. I had no camera (the photo is an old one), no phone, no book to read, no other adult to chat with - just 2 boys to enjoy. We were very thankful for the open toilets... possibly accidental .... but when it was number 2s we needed to do I'm sure the caretaker was pleased too.

I even played tree tag and I'm not usually a tag player. The Atlas is naturally good at these things - being present, playing tag, not hurrying.... I am learning them and without him there I had the choice of stepping up. I'm pleased I did.

I know there are lots of you doing wonderful things with your children coming up to Christmas and so I am going to do a linky here during December for you to link in your wonderful parenting posts so others can get inspired too. Right here next Tuesday.

This year I am making more of a conscious effort to have quality moments with my boys. B.M.W.B (becoming the mama I want to be)  is my way of recording and hopefully inspiring other mama’s too. 

 Simple. Achievable. Intentional: becoming the mama I want to be.

And happy anniversary to The Atlas - man of my life. So thrilled to have spent the last 13 years playing wife to you. xxxx

Congratulations and a Request

The winner of the Caravan book is Tammy

also if you are a kiwi blogger please, please would you take 5 mins to complete this survey and spread it around your blogging contacts too - go on....

Have a beautiful day

When Friday Comes

I am so grateful for the sunshine that has graced us this week

a little boy who played his violin at school assembly this week and the kind of children that sing along to 'twinkle, twinkle' and tell him he did really well

the sweet friendships my boys have and the ways in which they play as a group when others come without drawing lines about ages and genders...long may this last

I loved teaching a class for children at the Make Cafe last week and seeing their sense of excitement and satisfaction when they made something - some of them had never threaded a needle before the class

and the beautiful way Kirsty set the class up makes me excited about the one I am going to attend
Loving laughing until I cry watching You tube clips of wipe out - kinda a cheap laugh but we all think it is hilarious here.....

I love that it's nearly December and so The Atlas will be soon shaving the world's most awful mo off soon... can't come soon enough

and I'm loving and getting totally anxious about this performance coming up soon....

Christmas is just around the corner!!! Wheee I am so looking forward to the season of advent this year

Don't forget to enter my giveaway I'm drawing it on Sunday

Fill your heart with good things here

Make My Week #47 - More Jewellery

The super glue, the pre-bought fixtures, the speed - what's not to love??

This week I used some gorgeous vintage buttons my sister bought me in Europe to make these super sweet earrings.(I used a mini saw to shave off the back loops)

I also used some dahlia flowers in resin (or similar something!!) to make another pair of earrings

and this rather large rose ring.

So long as you can control yourself not to touch them too soon (give them 12 hours) these have to be the easiest fastest craft ever.

I had the inspired idea to use my pincushion to hold the earring stalks in place while they dried - it worked a treat.

Other creative types over at Our Creative Spaces - blue button down on the right.

Can anyone else believe it is 47 weeks already.... does that mean there are only 5 weeks left of the year?????

Wardrobe Wednesday - Going Public

Every Wednesday, Every Wardrobe Welcome

Thanks so much for coming to play today

I like to go out dressed up. It doesn't worry me that people sometimes look sideways at the particular ensemble I have chosen to wear. I am often a couple of steps above the generally accepted code required - at the supermarket, church, school run....

However this week I challenged myself in a new way I went public with my photo taking. Usually I take my photos in the privacy of my own home with the self timer (hoping the neighbour won't come down the driveway and see me posing!).

This week on Saturday we took our boys to the park and I happily snapped shots of them but then I got The Atlas (my hubby) to do my photos. Directly opposite me was a field of children playing cricket with their parents watching on. It was pretty obvious what we were doing.... and very not the kind of thing you usually see at your kids Saturday sport!

It was kind of awkward - being that I don't look like your average model, The Atlas doesn't look like a professional photographer and we had a gaggle of children on bikes with us! I've done filming in public before but that doesn't feel weird - all the equipment makes it seem official.

I think it also suddenly dawns on me that posing like this in public makes me feel like people must imagine I think that I'm all that and a box of crackers.... which I don't incidentally!!

I'm interested.... how do people react to you taking your photos?
Do you take them in public places with people watching on?
Do you feel weird about it? 

Outfit:
Dress - Handmade Simplicity 3673  made from Taffeta
Cardi - Salvation Army Op/Thrift Shop $3
Shoes - The Warehouse
Bracelet - Birthday gift from when I was a teenager
Ring - Hand-me-down
Earrings - Hand made from vintage buttons I received for my birthday last year
Necklace - 50cents school fair
Sunnies - dollar shop $5

So what is Wardrobe Wednesday?

• It's a chance to take some time once a week to peel off the polar fleece trackies (I have a pair too!!) and put on something that gives you a chance to have a 'play' in your wardrobe, to make yourself feel pretty/ stylish/ like a woman!
•  It's a time to celebrate and hopefully to embrace your body however you find it - post baby, young or old your body is lovely and functional and precious and I want this place to be a place for you to see other women (ordinary, beautiful women) who don't live in designer homes on designer budgets with designer bodies.
• 
  

How to play?

1. Link in your specific blog post not just your general blog

2. Link to a post about clothes - that's what we're here for

3. Please add a link back here so other people can come over and see people's clothing posts too - the old fashioned way or grab a button

4. Be encouraging and visit people - leave a comment now and again too everyone loves to get encouragement

Here's the button copy and paste away

<center> <a href=" http://createhopeinspire.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/Wardrobe%20Wednesday"><img border="0" src="http://i1145.photobucket.com/albums/o516/CreateHopeInspire/WWbutton.jpg" width="160" height="160"/></a></center>