Book Week

We survived our first Book Week at school!

 

It was a confusing start. The theme this year is ‘Champions Read’ and a few weeks ago I was racking my brain trying to think of some sort of champion to dress Sienna up as. A champion that also reads.

The olympics gave me some inspiration. With all the merchandise in the shops, I thought I’d pick up some sort of champ-type t-shirt, add a tutu and she’d be set.

But Sienna came home from school and told me that’s not how it’s done. Apparently everyone dresses up as whatever character they’d like. They don’t have to stick to the theme. I thought it was another ploy for me to let her wear some fancy-schmancy thing out of our dress up box. Turns out, she was actually right. (Why doubt a 6 year old?!)

 

Both of her Belle and Cinderella costumes are getting a bit small. Actually they’re the same dress – one of those two-in-one dress up things. So Sienna and I put our heads together and decided Alice in Wonderland was a great idea, both having blonde hair and all...! And it’s also one of Sienna’s favourite stories.

Luckily we picked up a bargain Alice outfit on eBay that only took a couple of days to arrive. My beautiful girl had a great first Book Week and it was great to see the whole school get into the fun of it too.

 

Puberty Blues Vs Facebook

(Photo taken from Google Images)

 

Who’s been watching that new show Puberty Blues?

I’d forgotten all about it until Boo sent me a text last week to remind me that it was on. I’m actually really enjoying it! Although we both think it’s more 80s than 70s. Definitely.

It’s bringing back a flood of memories from my teenage years. That really is what went on at high school! Were we really all like that? Was I really that naive?!

High school was a time when it felt like life was one of two extremes – the whole world was amazing and wonderful; or the whole world was going to end. There was no in between.

There was the clicky groups, the bullies, the nerds, the sportos, the musos. No groups ever really crossed over or interacted with the others, apart from in classes. And yet, now we’re all friends on Facebook and none of that old stuff matters anymore. We’ve found common ground because we’ve all grown up - we’ve got families, interesting careers, travels to talk about. There's a mutual respect for where we're all at. And friendships now, that may not have been there 15 years ago.

Yet today’s high schoolies have Facebook in their lives already. And that’s their whole centre. Their whole social being seems to revolve around it. They are ruled by it. What happened to good old fashioned conversations in the playground, none of this ‘inbox me’ stuff. When going out with someone just meant holding hands shyly, not declaring marriage on Facebook. Mobile phones were not even ‘in’ back then and if they had been, you can bet that they wouldn’t have had any place in the classroom.

It’s scary to think how much has changed since I was at high school. What will it be like when my three kiddies get to that stage? Will I let them go with the flow? Or will I be a parent that will ban all of this stuff and single them out? Only time will tell.

I think that’s why I like this new show though, it’s so relatable. Even the parents are relatable to our own parents! But I shudder to think that our parents were sitting around playing strip poker with friends back in the ‘olden’ days...surely they didn’t?! (Goudie girls or Brown-family kids – care to comment?!)

-          Mem x

So I sew...kind of...

Back in high school, I was terrible in textiles. I had no desire to sit at a sewing machine and create wonderful pieces for me to wear. I liked making scrunchies (remember them?!) to put in my hair. But that was about it.

The class started with an easy tie-dyed bag. No probs. Whipped that up in no time – never mind the holes where I ran off the side of the material, or that it wasn’t a perfect rectangle.

We moved on to basic shorts. Coolest fabric – navy and red tartan, as was the fashion in 1994. My hems didn’t match up, one leg was longer than the other, but I was proud of them. Then I tackled a jacket with a zip. The zip seemed too long for the pattern...so I cut it in half. (The zip, not the pattern – just to be clear).

Thank goodness for my Mum, who is an excellent sewer and saved me from failing when I took it all home for homework!

I had little to no patience and no vision for what a piece of material could become, so that’s where I left my sewing ambitions – back in Year 8. Or so I thought.

When I had my girls, I started noticing all these very cute vintage-type dresses popping up all over the place. Most were handmade and selling on Etsy or at markets. Suddenly a sewing bug crept upon me!

I looked into some patterns – a pillowcase dress seemed easy enough, made from an actual pillowcase, how hard could it be?

I used invisable cotton – how cool is that stuff?! The seams are completely invisble! I hand sewed the whole thing. Added ribbons – voila! A pillowcase dress. Lex looked so ridiculous in it, I had to put it away in a box so I can show her one day what her silly Mum did!

But then Mum bought me a sewing machine for my 30^th, oh I was thrilled! And bit by bit, I tought myself how to sew properly. Following patterns, techniques, etc. I even ‘adapt’ patterns a bit these days and they work most of the time. I’ve found my sewing mojo!

I must say though – I still lack patience with it all. I rarely pin my material, just cut it out and off I go. I don’t always double hem, instead I use zig zag stitching to prevent fraying. But if it looks good on the outside, who cares? As long as it doesn’t fall apart in the first wash, it’s a success! I’m not planning on going into the business of selling my creations! It’s just something I’ve found I love to do, a burst of another favourite creativity of mine, but it comes and goes. One day I could sit and sew all day. The next day I just can’t be arsed!

I love the old fashioned nighties that my sister and I used to wear in the 80s. So I whipped a couple of them up for my girls this week. I absolutely love them and so do they!

 So is this going to turn into a crafty Mummy blog – highly unlikely! But a few little crafty posts from me might pop up from time to time, when I get the urge!

 - Mem x

Doing some 'me' things

So this writing/blogging thing has really sucked me in! I'd forgotten just how much I actually love sitting down and writing.

Some gorgeous friends and I have recently been discussing what makes us 'me'. Or more to the point, did we lose being 'me' when we became wives and mothers? When we were little, what did we want to be when we grew up?

It's stuck in my mind and I've been thinking about it heaps lately. What does make me, 'me'?

I remember being in Year 12 and really having no clue what I was going to do with my life. When I was really young, I had dreams of being famous. Of dancing and singing. (Yes, I was your typical first-born Leo child!) But I never did go down that path as a profession. 

There's so much to me. I love my babies, my husband. I love photography. I love fashion. I love home things. I love chocolate, Mexican food and champers. My friends, my family, making others happy. I love sunny days and rainy days. Reading blogs and Pinterest.

But what do I do that's just for me? When I was younger, I'd take to pen and paper and write everything down - hopes, dreams, feelings. I'd spend hours writing stories. But over the last few years, life has been a tad busy...! 

So this blog has been fantastic for me. It's helped me find my love of writing again. And if it's time to do something for me, I want to write.

- Mem x