A Change is as Good as a Holiday

At least, that’s what they say, isn’t it?

Well, we received some news just under a fortnight ago that will really put this adage to the test.

We’ve been evicted, with 90 days notice as of the 21st August.
That gives us until the 21st November to hand over the keys.

We’re not sure why, as the landlord hasn’t given the agent any reason, but we think it’s because he wants to move back in here.

You could say that it kind of threw a spanner in the works.

We had planned to continue renting here for another couple of years, until we’d saved a good deposit for our own home. It was a bit of a shock to the ol’ system.

On looking around at other rental properties in our area, we realised that to live in a similar~quality place we’ll have to pay at least $70 per week more than we do now. There goes a good chunk out of our regular savings plan.

A fortnight went by, with WonderHubby researching details while I alternated between sleeping and throwing up (remember, I’ve been sick?).

After looking at things closely, we’ve decided to go ahead and buy a house of our own, now.

It’s a bit ahead of schedule, and it will mean things will be tight for the first six months, but it’s the best way to go.

Grandma will be minding the kidz a lot over the next few weeks, while WH & I scour the open houses and get all intimate with the local real estate agents.

Since we’ve decided to change the direction of our lives, the stuff here at Kidzarama will reflect that from now on, too.

You can expect a lot more on moving tips, money-saving and home maintenance, because that’s what we’ll be doing here “in real, real life” (as Mr Bump would put it).

If all goes according to plan, we should be in our own home by Christmas!

Award time

The perfect way to ease back into blogging, with an award ceremony and a bit of linklove for my friends who have sent me love while I’ve been sick.

Although to be honest, I’ve been considering letting the whole thing blow and eloping with my pillow.
We’ve gotten to know each other really well in the last 3 weeks.

I’ve got a few awards to hand out before I do that though, so don’t write me off just yet.

So, to The Smile Award. Because I’ve really needed some smiles lately. Thank you to Tonya for choosing Kidzarama for this award.

Tonya is an Aussie Mum living in California, and currently visiting famiily back here in Oz at the moment.

Hope you’re having a great time, Tonya!

I hereby nominate:

1. Willow at Apron Strings and Angst, for her lovely comments, tweets & emails over the past few weeks.
2. Trish, because she’s been in need of smiles lately. ~ And shares them so readily herself.
3. Lauren of Can You Be a Part of My Life?, for her sense of humour and support.
4. Mummified x 5’s Tina, because she gets our weather before we do and it’s good to have someone to commiserate with.
5. Kate at Picklebums, another Aussie mum. I just love the name of her blog, it gives me the giggles every time.

Thank you all for your patience and lovely words while I’ve been so ill.

The kidz were kind enough to bring home a nice virus each and shared them with me last week, but it looks like we’re all on the road to recovery finally.

We’ve still got out kitty~camper in the back yard, and I’ve been spending some time laying in the sun with her.  She has a very gentle, healing energy, and it’s perfect timing that she’s turned up just now.

But more about that later…

Here’s the rules for the Smile Award ~

1. The recipient must link back to the award’s creator (http://www.thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/)
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

Characteristics for the Smile Award ~

1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times–we are all human)
2. Must love one another
3. Must make mistakes
4. Must learn from others
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world
6. Must love life
7. Must love kids

We Apologise for the Break in Transmission

This is a quick update for you regarding the August edition of the Kraft for Kidz blog carnival, which was supposed to be published today.

Unfortunately, I’m quite unwell at the moment and the carnival will have to wait until next weekend.

After a Saturday filled with moving furniture, sorting boxes and generally being householdy, I find I’ve really overdone it.

I’m exhausted.

I’ve actually been in bed, sleeping, for most yesterday afternoon and today.
Which is why there was nothing posted yesterday, and just this short message today.

Please bear with me, as I won’t be around much this week while I recover.

It doesn’t seem to matter that I’ve had two decades of CFS in which to learn to pace myself, I still get carried away and end up wiped out!

Hopefully, I will be up to some writing later in the week.
I may have to get WonderHubby to bring me the laptop in bed, in order to prevent blogging withdrawal.

If you’re new here, I hope you’ll take the time to look at some past craft projects & recipes, dig into the dark, musty archives and visit some of the fantabulous sites on my blogroll, which are well worth a squizz.

In the meanwhile, if anyone has any labour~saving tips to help me out as I slowly recover my energy, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments or by email.

Chalky the Guinea Pig

Just use your imagination, okay?

Our son is very talented and we want to keep our illusions about that intact.

Plus, my mother always told me that if you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything.

So it’s a guinea pig, because Mr Bump said so.

And if you can find something nice to say, we’d really really appreciate it.
Seriously.

Looking for more friendly people to stalk?
Go visit Candid Carrie’s Friday Fiesta Foto Finish.

Wet Weather Button Sorting

I used to love going through my mum’s button tin.

There were so many different shapes and colours that it completely absorbed my attention for hours at a time.

Recently, Mum passed her magical button tin down to me, and I found that it held the same fascination for Wren and Mr Bump.

They spent hours sorting by colour, shape, size and prettiness.

Together.

A perfect cure for wet weather boredom.

Some things are just timeless, and now I can start collecting buttons to add to the magical button tin, too.

Nameless Kitty Camper

Or Trespussers will be Mollycoddled.

Meet our Nameless Kitty Camper.

We did just that on Tuesday last week.

Since then, she’s spent every day and night in our backyard, either snoozing in the Winter sun or curled up in the box we used to keep kindling in.

Now we keep a cat in it.

Fortunately, we love cats at the UpsideDownHouse.

The only reason we don’t have one is that our landlord said we would have to keep it outside. I don’t agree with cats being out at night, so we decided to wait until we buy a house in a couple of years.

Of course, if she hangs around I’ll be checking with all the neighbours and so on. But we’ve been here for 2 years so far and hadn’t seen her before this, so I have the feeling that she’s either been dumped or abandoned.

If we can’t track down her owners we’ll take over the kitty healthcare stuff.

And yes, I am a sucker. I’ve bought some cat biscuits and chicken necks and we are feeding her.

But she’s sooo affectionate. Even before I started feeding her.

So we don’t really have a pet cat, but we do.

Does that make sense?

Blogging Prompt ~ Pet Story

For this week’s blogging prompt, I’m asking you about your pets.

Family pets, childhood pets, dream pets, nightmare pets, imaginary pets.

On the subject of imaginary pets, Wren had a pony called “Lofty” who was rainbow~coloured and the best fun to ride around the backyard.

When Mr Bump was old enough, he got one of his own, who he named “Flower”.

The two of them often used to go riding together, and when I was still allowed to walk into school, they’d ride down to where the car was parked of an afternoon.

Tomorrow, I’ll be talking about the pets we have that you can see.

Mr Bump Goes to School

Sounds like the title of a new kid’s film, doesn’t it?

Also somehow reminiscent of a Mr Bean title, but without the stuff-ups, I hope.

My baby boy certainly couldn’t be getting ready for kindergarten yet, could he?

Turns out that yes, he could.

Today was the first visit for us for next year’s kindie intake at school.

Being a preschool day, part of the excitement for him was being taken out especially for this special event.

I was surprised at how quiet he was, although I probably shouldn’t have been. It didn’t take him long to warm up though, and start telling the teacher about our cat that isn’t ours.

We met in the school library and were treated to a story about a cat, read by one of the kindie teachers. She discussed the story with the children as she read, drawing them out and getting to know them a little.

I was exceedingly proud that Mr Bump was the only child to say “excuse me” before speaking, and he did so twice.

Aren’t I just a sickeningly besotted mum?

Because we were visiting school during the preschool lunchtime, we sat for a while in the car afterwards while my little man ate his lunch.

Or tried to. After just a few mouthfuls, he pronounced his tummy full. I think there was just too much going on to focus on food.

Then Mr Bump returned to preschool for the afternoon, doubtless to regale them all with tales of his big-school exploits.

WonderHubby’s Comfort Food for Lucky Wives

WonderHubby’s Masterpiece Omelette is one of my very very favouritest foods ever, and my wonderful, fantastic, incredibly kind husband is kind enough to cook it for me about once a week in Winter.

I also love Campbell’s Split Pea & Ham soup, french toast and scrambled eggs.

These are the foods that I come crawling back to when I’ve had an especially tiring day, things just haven’t gone right, or my brain has gone on holiday again and I’ve reached a vegetative state.

Stuff You’ll Need:

6 large eggs
Dash of milk
Herbs, salt & pepper
100g diced bacon
100g grated cheese
Chopped radish
Sliced tomato
20cm frypan

How to Create WonderHubby’s Masterpiece Omlette:

Fry 100g diced bacon in a 20cm frypan, then leave to drain on some paper kitchen towel.

Preheat oven to 200ºC.

Take 6 eggs, beat with a dash of milk and add herbs & spices to taste.

Pour into frypan and stir on medium heat until it starts to thicken.

Stir in cheese, radish and bacon and place slices of tomato on top.

Cook in oven for a couple of minutes, until firmed. Check with a fork to see if it’s ready.

No need to flip, and if you use a non~stick frypan, the thing can go straight in the dishwasher with no yicky pans in the sink to bother with.

Serves two hungry parents in vegetative states.

Mona Lisa, the Preschool Edition

Ever wondered what the Mona Lisa would have looked like if Leonardo da Vinci had painted her just a few years earlier?

Now you can discover the answer for yourself, and keep the kids occupied at the same time.

Laura at All Dressed in Blue has a wonderful art project that any child can tackle.

Use pencils, crayons, textas, paints or oil pastels to create a fun version of the lady with the mysterious smile. Or any other classic painting you feel like hacking into.

Now I’m off to listen to some Natalie Cole. I’m going to be humming the tune all night.

Mona Lisa, my artistic kidz have made you,

You’re so like the lady with the mystic smile…