Olympic effort

I give us a gold for TV watching in the last 17 days!!

As Charlie said repeatedly throughout – “It is only every 4 years Mum, and only for 17 days!”

There were some days when we simply just forgot about it, or when even Charlie, the most hardened watcher had enough and picked up a book or moved back to his Lego…  He is now an expert on all the adverts played, and can sing along to their theme songs.  Plus the scoring for each sport and medal tally…

He has also decided that Hockey is the game for him and is keen to play.
I have checked in with the kids every year as to whether they want to  play a team sport, or pick up anything.   Often you have to really see something in action to understand what is involved, Charlie is definitely one of these people.

For a whole year I asked him every week if he wanted to go to Cub Scouts with Ollie (and Wayne, who is a leader).  He assured me every week that …”Cubs is Ollie’s thing and not mine, thank you very much!”
It is one of those times when you just know that they will love something and have to see it, so of course when he finally went (sick of me asking him perhaps) he just LOVED it and came home and told me that  “Cubs is very much my thing!”

So even though his best mate plays hockey, now he has seen it in action – and let’s face it pretty  fantastic action at that, he is as keen as mustard to play himself!

It is so exciting when one of your children are keen to  try a new skill, put themselves out there so confidently and just know that it is the right time for them.   I am constantly being reminded by them to let them guide as to when they are ready for the next thing.

The boys loved watching the Tae Kwon Doh too.  All three males in our household do this and do it with a passion!

Ollie has very much found his thing (one of many ) and is a natural.  It only inspired more kicking, punching and other well disciplined moves.  This is all a delight as you may have gathered we have new, springy carpet and a still very empty lounge.  Hard to put 7 years of acquisitions back into a small and very tidy looking space…..and so the garage sale pile grows daily – my de-cluttering mantra is  “If is isn’t beautiful to look at or you haven’t used it in 6 months…out it goes!”  I am testing this now.

Back to the Olympics.
I am a total Pollyanna so do not buy into any of the negativity floating around.
I just love the Olympics.  It fills me with hope of the most wonderful and most simplistic kind.  That we are all one and can indeed live in harmony together.  I loved seeing the closing ceremony, the wonderful music and so many people all singing and dancing.  That is how life should be.  For a short time  yesterday  we all got to experience that.
The Monty Python song could  have been written by me,  – “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”

Indeed for a few hours it felt as though everyone was.

I am aware of human rights issues, the huge amount of money being spent…..but I believe you get what you focus on , so I very definitely focus on the positive, the wonderful things that such an international gathering has brought us all.   With the intention that we  will then have more of this on our planet – more
togetherness,
music,
sharing,
fun,
caring …..
with perhaps a touch of synchronised swimming  thrown in, or that diving… oh and maybe more tri-athalons and pole vaulting…..

 

Poker face

I have often thought I should get around to teaching the kids poker.
We play many cool card games and some with betting involved. We have a big jar of old coins – right up Charlie’s street.   He is by far the keenest game player and loves to play anything – we tend to go through phases where we play the same game for a few months on end – Backgammon, Yahtzee(touched on poker), Canasta, Chess, Settlers of Catan, Mancala….

How fantastic it was this weekend when their cousin Finn, taught them poker.
The three boys played for hours on end, luckily Granny had a large collection of coins for betting (what does she  get up to??)

I love it when the kids learn new things from other people.

It really expands their world and makes a change from me!

Then of course when they tell me all about it and want to teach
me their new skills it is so exciting for me to hear what they have                         been up to.

This is how Ollie arranged all his money during the game.
Full of Olympic spirit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They played for hours at a time over the weekend.

This gave us time to indulge in our favourite game – Bananagrams and now a new game, using the same letter tiles taught to us up the mountain tramping recently – Anagrams.  Very great game for word lovers  like my mum and me.  We played with an Olympic theme, in honour of the moment – which gave the game a good twist and kept our brains stretching.

Mid winter?

We have just been away to stay with Granny, at the beach – sometimes affectionately known as “Granny Beach” even!

It is so spring-like already and how wonderful that is!  We were down on the beach in the sunshine, water sparkling and that wonderful thing that happens when you go to the beach with kids.  You know when they all just melt away and do their own thing and are so completely absorbed  in their own little world.  The natural world just seems to bring out the very best of us all, especially kids.  It seems to have a calming effect  I have always loved just hanging at the beach, or going to a park or  into the bush.  It is as though a big sigh escapes us all and everyone drifts off  into their own bliss.

Charlie, Ollie and cousin Finn
making a fire with a flint and dry grass…
only!

As they get older though, I guess things change, the way they play.   Luckily Ollie always has his flint & his survival kit on hand and the desire to practice his fire lighting skills.  So, with best friend and cousin Finn, he collected tinder and twigs and made a gorgeous little fire.

This is the little surround they built .
Drift wood is just the best to build with!!

Charlie got straight into digging connecting tunnels.  Totally immersed, totally creative, totally happy!

Endless hours of fun!

Mid winter?

I got to wander, sit and chat to my Mum in the sun, paddle (briefly!) collect driftwood…and we all munched on chocolate!

It feels so good to have the sun on my skin and the sand between my toes and a touch of Vitamin D on the skin.  Enough to get through the rest of winter…. until the next sunny day at the beach.

Our vegetarian journey

I have had a request to write more about our vegetarianism….

For me it started when I was 6 or 7 years old and I found out where meat came from! That was it!
I wasn’t a big meat eater anyway, but our family was pretty traditional at the time, so for the next 2 or 3 years I ate only potatoes, peas, carrots….supplemented with cheese!   I was lucky that my mum was very laid back about food and never put any stress onto me about meeting nutritional needs.  She says it was just ignorance!

I remember once, aged 10, getting really mad with a teacher who said it was impossible to  live without meat.  We had just seen a move about an abbatoir, which only served to confirm my convictions!  I was pretty shy then believe it or not, and couldn’t bring myself to challenge her, but my words were ringing around in my head –
“Well, touch me, am I a ghost them??!”
Funny the things you remember…

My sister got really sick when I was a teenager and after trips to the Natropath, Mum and therefore the rest of us, went healthy & vegetarian which was lovely for me, after  years of  lonely cutting-myself-a-piece-of-cheese mealtimes.  Now it was my carnivorous brother who cooked up his own meat at mealtimes!

Vegetarianism just wasn’t as known about back in the ….um, well when I was growing up.  As a teenager I remember being billeted out in Christchurch on a school music trip and my host family served up a one pot stew for dinner!  I was so nervous about saying something, but had to make myself.  They were completely thrown and I ended up having bread and butter for dinner!!

I have ploughed through many a quiche over the years, the classic  “Oh I have a vegetarian coming for tea” dish. Often there would just be “just a few bits of bacon in it too.”
Farm folk especially just would not accept no meat – “You will eat fish though, or chicken, that isn’t meat!”

I had three healthy pregnancies, never had low iron (I put it down to considerable amounts of chocolate personally) and although I dithered for the first year or so with Hannah, I then realised…. of course I would raise the kids as veges, no debate.

I am under no illusions that they will try eating meat as adults and I have no problem with that.  Just as I know they will end up at McDonalds one day too.
I am raising them to make their own decisions and make their lives their own.
I cook yummy meals, and lots of them, so they have no complaints and never seem to think they are missing out on anything.

Wayne has even chosen vegetarian meals when we eat out sometimes –  he has been known to order a felafel Kebab like the rest of us!
Most people I know seem to eat alot of vegetarian meals these days, which makes it easier for us all, and I am so glad for my kids that eating at friend’s homes is so easy.
It has been a subject of ridicule for years, but luckily friends have found other topics to tease me about lately!
(and there are plenty of those to choose from just don’t get me started!)

Favourite beans…..

Chickpeas – make hummus, have cold in a salad, eat with toothpicks, fry up with soy sauce, put in any other dish

Kidney beans – good for nacho type mix to have on rice, over potatoes, mash up and have in tortillas

Haricot beans – I make our own baked beans – fry up onions and garlic, when soft add a small amount or sugar, curry powder and oregano,  cook a couple more minutes then add soy sauce &  a tin of tomatoes.  Blend this up and it goes all creamy and looks like the tinned ones!  Of course it tastes much better.  Add the cooked haricot beans.  I make bulk and freeze portions.

Lentils – red and brown – in everything, pasta sauce, lasagne, soups, salads,  patties & everything as they are so quick!

Black eyed beans – nice in a tomato and herb flavoured stew thing with coconut cream added.

Most beans need an over night soak and a boil for one and a half hours.
Lentils are the exception and take only 30 mins (brown)and 10 mins (red)

I like making dips (like hummus) from different beans – black beans are yummy and using white beans like haricot are great when you want to make a interesting colour.  For example beetroot is a fantastic pink!  Or piles of spinach, or sundried tomatoes and paprika,

What new carpet has brought us

There has been an interesting juxaposition lately as I read Little House on the Prairie to Charlie(8), and sometimes Ollie (11).   I have been yearning for a simpler life.  One less cluttered.

Where kids get a tin mug for Christmas and are just over the moon.
A time where a family of 5 can pack up a household in an hour and be on the road.
A life where the simple things are the only things.

So we have been pulling up old carpet.  But first having to remove 7 years of stuff we have accumulated…. x 5!!

And the hall, 2 bedrooms and our lounge are empty!  Beautiful wooden floors (why are we covering them!!??)

Our wooden hallway!

 

Our bedroom and conservatory are piled high with boxes and furniture, we are so lucky to have a large house!
I am tempted to open the conservatory door and put up a   “Garage Sale “sign…..
I will definately only put selected things back in though after the carpet comes.

 

It feels fun just camping out, minimalistic for two days….
Sort of Little House on the Prairie, but with the Olympics on in the background….

 

 

 

And yesterday,  after emptying Ollies room the kids were reminded that in his cupboard lies the one and only route to ‘underneath-the-house’!  So, with another friend who was here, they donned beanies, took brushes rigged up a light and disappeared!

The entrance to the Secret Base

 

Hours later they had designed and made two rooms, using heaps of cardboard boxes as walls.  They had old carpet on the ground, plans for food supplies to be left there, a flap over the air vent and the sound of hammering reverberated through the house all afternoon…..

 

Charlie in the main room

Very cool game.  When friends arrived for dinner they all disappeared down to the new base.  There is only about half a metre/two foot of space under there, so card games were conducted reclining on the carpet. Shrieks of laughter were muffled.

Big plans for expansion are afoot, with  the excitement of introducing it to other friends, who we know will love the base.  As Ollie says it is the perfect base really –  if it was outside it would have to be waterproof, if it was in the house somewhere they would have to clean it up. (sometimes)  Under there it is large, relatively adult proof and secret.
The irony was that this weekend has been warm and delightfully springy (daffodils beginning to appear even)…..yet   the boys have spent big chunks of it down under the house!

You can’t beat a good base/hut……

 

Growing up

I have just subscribed to Lauren Fisher’s inspiring blog.      http://www.sparklingadventures.com/   She is a prolific blogger, not sure how she gets the time, and a beautiful photographer.   She opened today’s blog with the words    “It is so easy to travel with young children.”
This sent a pang through me as I could only agree.  How I love to travel and to travel anywhere with my children is my absolutely most favourite thing in the whole world!   Every single time I have gotten in to the car in the last 13 years, with my off-spring safety belted in beside me and  snacks at the ready I have experienced a jolt of excitement. The promise of adventure is important to me, my life blood.  I have learned that adventure is never far away and is simply an attitude.

It may be we are heading to the big city for a day of museum adventures, the zoo, up to the  snow, the beach or to visit friends further afield.
Very often is has been with a car of tents, beach gear, food for an extended wild camp right away from our everyday life.
Everyday there are local adventures to be had.  Just last week the boys and I went to our local river, a lovely walk through bush.  It was a gorgeous day.  Ollie, being Ollie, suggested a fire and whipped out his flint and with a minimal bit of natural tinder got a fire going.  Me, being me, whipped out food and drink and while we sat in the winter sun, fed the fire, and ourselves I read a novel to them.
This has been a common adventure for us over the years.  Being outside, hanging out, making a fire…..
I am so grateful for having such beautiful environs right on our doorstep.  And for living in NZ where we are so free to just get in the car, with a tent and take off to many magical and wonderful places of great beauty.

Yes, to travel with young children is a breeze for me, an absolute joy, combining the two great loves of my life.

What has changed for me in recent times though is that our numbers are dwindling.  Hannah is very independent now days, and only very rarely accompanies us on our trips.   I have to be honest and say how this saddens me, but only for selfish reasons, as I love to  have my children close  by….. For her, I am very excited to see her growing up to be such a beautiful and self assured young woman and I look forward to being a part of her changing  life.  When she does occasionally hang out with us I feel complete again, like in the good old days.
Of course, Ollie is next and has already started to stretch his wings and test them in little leaps from the side of the nest.  I am so happy for him and it is so exciting to see and be a part of his growing up.
It does mean that more and more I look around me as we go out and think….and then there was one…..

As I become more and more accepting of this I get very excited and know that my time is coming!  And I will be so much more confident and sure of who I am than I was in my twenties. New adventures await, new things to learn and our family will only expand over time, just like your love as a parent does each time you have another baby.
So yes I could have kept on having babies.  But I am so lucky to have such amazing kids and to be enjoying their childhoods so very much.  It is a bit like that Dr. Suess book  “Oh the places you’ll see”.   We have seen some pretty amazing places and get to see more and more.

I just realised I haven’t even mentioned our biggest sojourn, 18 months in a house bus…oh boy…watch this space!!

Busy Busy…

I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, but it seemed a bit banal so I never posted it, but now I think  no, this shows that homeschooling can be ultra sociable and wonderful….all when we choose it to be! And not every week….

Life seems so busy!

This week we have            – been ice skating (a cool temporary rink)
– made a medieval movie
– are going roller skating (tomorrow)
– the kids ukulele group is going busking (tomorrow)
– have  a shared Pizza dinner  (tomorrow)
(this is all with our amazing homeschool group)

 

Here is Charlie defending the goal while roller-blading.
They spent most of the time playing a game, on skates with lots of balls..

 

 

 

The boys have been to Tae Kwon Do, Scouts and Cubs.  We had a lovely  walk to the river where we made a fire, had food and I read the book  I am reading to the boys  (Micheal Morpungo – Twist of Gold and highly recommended!!).
Ollie has been editing the Medieval movie with the friend that filmed it, had a fire with some other friends, done some prep for helping out at Cubs (knot tying).  We have been to town, the library, Charlie busked for 20 minutes  while I was in the Supermarket and make a cool $15!  Charlie has been playing lego,  feeding birds, reading, playing ukulele and playing endless games of Canasta with me.
Our weekend is full of music – the Ukulele group is performing on Saturday morning at an International Market day, then we have a Folk band practice all afternoon.  Ultra-sociable for the kids!!

First time on the ice…
Ollie racking up a total of zero tumbles!!

 

 

 

I was bemoaning the fact to Hannah, (who has been unwell and therefore not at Drama, French or Piano and lessening the busyness this week believe it or not!!) that I just haven’t been able to get on the computer to write this week.  I asked her about how often she blogs and she gave me the look that said obviously she posts new things several times a day!!

Oh my!
Maybe if we stopped eating I would have more time….. Tonight I have cooked Leek and Potato soup for dinner, a loaf of bread, piles of mini pizzas, two apple cakes, banana muffins….And still will make sushi in the morning for lunch.  (NB – this is not normal, I am the queen of leftover revamps and always over-cater so there is plenty)

Last week I was enjoying a quiet time with no commitments, and telling others how important it is to just hibernate in winter, not rush around so much, to do less with the seasonally intuitive feeling, to read a book by the fire etc.   It feels like a lifetime ago….

 

Sex,drugs and other curly questions

A friend with younger children asked me yesterday if there things that I didn’t want my children to learn.  I thought this was an interesting question.  I have to say I have been scratching around trying to think if there were things I didn’t want them to know about.
I guess when they were younger especially,  I  wanted to protect them from many of the negative things that go on in the world.  One of the reasons we don’t have a TV (except for the Olympics at the the moment!) is that I don’t want them knowing about all the bad things happening, the things that we call The News.   I do find this obsession with all things bad very hard.   I know that what you focus on in life you get.
I also know there are millions of amazing  and wonderful people doing positive and inspiring  things all over the planet everyday, but unfortunately,  good news doesn’t seem to  make the grade as mainstream news does.
So I find the positive in books, music, nature, and by  surrounding myself with positive people.  Then I try to pass this on to my children.
But, if something comes up, something they have heard mentioned or  seen on The News at someones house, then I will do my best to answer honestly, in a way that is appropriate to their age and maturity.  How hard it is when your 5 year old asks you what rape is.  When any young child asks why people lay land mines, massacre other people and ignore world hunger it really is impossible for me to answer as I myself do not know how we have come to be living in a world where these things happen.

I see a young child’s life as sacrosanct.  I see my role as exposing them to everything I can, but  filtered through my rose tinted glasses  (I am a glass half full sort of person,  a Pollyanna).
But also I have  a sense that you can never un-hear things once heard!

My biggest fear has always been them being abducted, and whenever they have been out of my sight for even a few seconds I see newspaper headlines flashing before my eyes….   I have not wanted to pass on my fear to them, but have also wanted to show them how to be safe, who to talk to if you need help etc.  I stay positive though and remind them that most people in the world are wonderful, helpful and just lovely.  And they are.  This is backed up through our experience of meeting new people when we are away, camping, traveling and make new friends out of strangers in a short time.  I love that!  Ollie is really good at this, he seems to collect younger children especially and has new friends wherever we go.

So I  guess as they grow and the opportunities arise, the more unsavoury aspects of the human race  become apparent to them.   But hopefully this is coupled with a mostly positive experience in their own lives. My wish for them is to know that they can make a difference.

In terms of other  topics, that can have negative spin offs, I try to be up front,  honest and trust that if they are asking they really want to know.  I heard some good advice once.   If a child is asking about, say sex, and you doubt whether they are ready to hear about it just ask them if they really want to know.
I had vague, but grand plans about having a big talk to my kids when the time was right about them growing up as sexual beings.      But as it happened it was just another question being asked by a curious child, while I was cooking dinner or saying goodnight.
This only served to remind me that kids are very in the moment, very interested in everything life has to offer and are susceptible to any ideas/feelings you have about a topic that they will pick up.
I am careful to own my own ideas and opinions and not push them on to the kids.  Also to let them be themselves and accept their opinions as valid for them

I know for me it works best to be open and not withhold information.  I am naturally very honest, so find this very easy.   The kids are naturally very inquisitive so it is a winning formula really!
We have alot of open discussions.  I can’t remember ever thinking – “I don’t want to tell you this.”  I don’t think telling them about drug dealers will make them want to be one.

I am so grateful and so amazed by the kids curiosity.   It seems to be a big part of the   way they learn  so I embrace it.