Ok - I have heaps I want to share.
The first is funny- its the middle child searching for something- he had his fingers on his temples and was pretending to 'zone in' to its whereabouts. I captured the moment when he found it, lol.

Next is DD sleeping after her huge party - the last guest left 24 hours after the party started...she sat down to do her homework (! yes..yes...i know! ) and promplty fell asleep for 4 hours- slept through her favourite dinner too *grin*

Then a detail of the boys bedroom wall that ive recently been working on (many many more animals to complete still!)

And finally- just to send everyone in to hysterics.
Thats me- looking worse than i could have imagined. That is the morning AFTER the great big party...... I had had virtually no sleep. I opened my eyes and felt like id been hit by a truck - so I took a pic. I look all puffy and cross. It scared me too ;-)
 

I received an email this afternoon asking for ideas for the new anti whaling campaign. 945 whales will die if we dont speak up.
If you are passionate about these beautiful animals, as I am, then please help
you can post your own ideas or just vote on the ones already there. (look in 'gallery' the link is at the top of the page)
I am listed under 'chrysaliskey'  whales.greenpeace.org/global

My idea is very simple and humble *smile* but the idea just popped into my head (just attention grabbing t-shirts) as I was reading the email so i went ahead and drew the designs and posted on the site. I didnt develop my idea - the drawings are rough draft and the slogans need work- but I just wanted to get them up there- i will tidy them later.
Please vote for the idea and leave a comment on the website- if you like my thoughts. there are other super ideas on there - so please have a look.
With Love. x

1) Harpoon rope in a circle- harpoon through whale (making the 'no' symbol
"I KNOW you see me  -HELP me"

2) Whale holding fake breasts to her chest
" No- I dont have breasts  I dont have a voice either  But YOU do  Save me!"
or
"It took breasts to get your attention  It will only take your voice to help me "

I am having trouble recovering from the weekend birthday bash- at my age having no sleep (well not much) is tough , lol.
I yawned my way through work yesterday and havent been online much. Hopefully I will get to bed soonish so I better go and get the lunches ready for tomorrow. *YAWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN*
Talk soon
xoxoxoxoxo

Whew- well its all over - very successful 13th birthday bash for DD.

50 guests partied with her in the double garage and adjoining carport which we had cleared and decorated for the occasion.

We chased the last of the boys at about 12.30am and the 13 girls who were staying the night made themselves a massive nest of mattresses airbeds and blankets and settled down to giggle the night away ;-)

The last two guests finally left about half an hour ago at 4pm (sunday) - a full 24 hours after the first ones arrived at 4pm on Saturday!

Relieved to be on the other side of it but delighted that it all went so smoothly- YAY!

taking the youngest to paediatric dentist after lunch. He has had so much trouble with his teeth poor little mite- the other two have lovely strong teeth so its a shame - and he eats good food and drinks lots of water etc etc.
Anyway- we have been to several different dentists and they all have different opinions , figured taking him to a lady who specialises in treating childrens teeth will help make decisions as to where to go from here.

Finishing up my tea then off we go........ wish us luck !

Sorry- the pics are a bit blurred - will post better ones- but for now there is a quick peep at some detail from the boys bedroom wall

managed to make my target 10 animals finished on the boys walls yesterday!
done 2 more today but so many other things to do!
Too hot at work  (gardening) so I came home but have to take out little guy to the dentist shortly. Whipped up an article on parties- I think I could have written 10 articles on that one subject- maybe I will write about teenage parties after this weekend....... (big bash coming up on saturday...heh....

We had a busy and fun weekend  - local show on saturday- then Monster trucks at night, took the family out for afternoon tea on Sunday- its just been go go go.
Oh and I started painting the ANIMALS into the boys rainforest. (I painted a forest all over their walls and ceiling earlier in the year and have been promising the animals for the last couple of months. Well ive finally started- 54 animals sketched on and blocked in with a pale yellow orange shade- just have to fill int he details and proper colours!!!!
I will post a pic later.

I won a prize! I just bought something from the last Guardian chemist catalogue and filled in an entry form and I won a very cool HP iPAQ rw6828 Multimedia messenger- this groovy little device has the same memory our old computer has (64Mb)!
If I had been buying it (some chance!) it would have set me back $1100 !!!!!! Can you imagine!!!

I have spent the afternoon learning how to use it. Its lots of fun

Give a Pointful gift. (my daughter coined this - the opposite to Pointless)

Our family has decided to start a new tradition- where on the occasion of a birthday celebration the 'birthday person' gets to allocate $50 towards a charitable organisation of their choice. At Christmas we have $100 set aside to buy presents to put under local department stores 'giving trees' (each of our children will get to choose something to be bought and wrapped to put under these trees to be given to disadvantaged children.)

I have written about what we are doing and the rationale behind it- plus a big list of organisations and the options/choices/costs.

Please consider. www.minti.com/parenting-advice/2559/A-Pointful-Present/
xoxoxoxo

OMG- they rang this morning they will be here in half an hour- I am so excited!!!!!!
(I am easily excited )

at making my articles look (and i hope read) better. I just went back and edited one of my earlier articles

Kids hair and clothes; When is it not your problem?

and put in little subject headings for the paragraphs, added photographs etc. Looks a lot better i think

( if you get a chance have a quick peep and see if you like the way it looks! )

xox

OMG- I am so excited - In one month exactly my bestie and I will be at the Kylie concert in Melbourne- whhooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooooooo
What should I wearrrrrrr!!!!//?????????

Hmmmm, I want people to post replies in my blog, lol.
Maybe I need to come up with a controversial topic!

Ok I shall- How do people feel about the Prime Minister John Howard announcing funding to provide a Chaplain in schools?

I think this is totally ridiculous and inappropriate.

Mental health and support is a fabulous focus  - which should be provided by  a NON RELIGIOUS trained counsellor ; provide funding for that- it is more appropriate and acceptable to people from ALL religious backgrounds then.

I am also TOTALLY against what they choose to call "religious education " in public schools. It is actually Religious Instruction (in the Christian Religion)
Religious INSTRUCTION belongs in the home and in church- NOT A PUBLIC SCHOOL (where there are children all all race/religion/background)
When I argued this at our school- suggesting that Religious ed class could be an opportunity to EDUCATE children about ALL religions (to break down barriers created by ignorance and fear) I was told that would be inappropriate. Therefore I removed my child fromt eh so called 'education' class. What a waste of taxpayers money that class is.

A Chaplain in our schools is just as ridiculous and prejudiced.

And a thunderstorm has just started so I think its time to shut down the computer!
Just thought id blog so that I have something down for the 12th ;-)

G'night all xoxo

Collated and delivered about 400 catalogues today. No wait- 400 houses so 3600 , lol. About the same to do tomorrow.

Cant wait until this month is finished and I can stop doing this!

It seemed like such a good idea at the time - I wanted to get more exercise- didnt want to travel to a gym- or pay the fees. Figured this way I would get PAID to lose weight!
Brilliant

Thing is it takes about 4 hours just to collate the things then about 6 to 8 hours to deliver them. Twice a week.

Never again! If DS8 wasnt helping me (bless his heart) I would collapse in a heap. Dont worry he is being well rewarded for his dedication.

Did I do anything else today? Its all a blur ......oh yes DH and I went out for our usual Saturday morning cuppa at the local cafe- lovely.

Thanks lansvale1 for the gorgeous image ;-)

Well, isnt that an interesting little fact.
Please take heed next time you are stranded in the middle of the snowy frozen arctic and happen to come across a dead polar bear- or perhaps become locked in a struggle for survival with one and manage to dispatch it with your pocket knife or some such miraculous event.
DO NOT EAT ITS LIVER.

Apparently Polar bear livers are so high in Vitamin A that eating a mere 500 grams of it (mmm wouldnt that be yummy eaten raw) will provide you with a LETHAL dose.

I am reading "They are what you feed them" by Dr Alex Richardson (a book on healthy nutrition for children)

The point being made was that although Vitamin A is essential to our optimal health- too much is toxic.

So although oily fish, pate and cod liver oil are useful to bump up the ole Vit A - dont over do it. He also explains that a safer way to get Vitamin A is through vegetables containing beta-carotene (carrots and oranges for instance) as your body manufactures Vit A itself from these sources (and only makes what it needs).

There is your handy hint for the day.
 Yawn.


I should be asleep but I am waiting just one more hour so I can go and pick up DD from the ball (she is a princess tonight - at the school formal). Apparently she turns back into cinderella at midnight so her carriage must dutifully await her outside the hall at that magical moment........
Where IS that coachman!!!!!?

I have just spent the last hour writing a very complicated detailed article- which will be relevant to a tiny percentage of people - BUT i hope will offer something to those few, hahahaha.

At least they will know they are not alone. I very much doubt it will interest anyone as it is all about poop. (chronic constipation). It is a very serious article with no humour at all.

I am exhausted *collapses*

Its so true that the simple things can be just as much, if not more, fun as those that cost a lot of money and time.
Tonight we went out for a walk to finish up a catalogue delivery ( the catalogue delivery idea- well that is another story in itself ......)
Perfect evening- clear sky, no wind, mild temperature, just lovely.

The boys were riding their bikes and helping delivery to the mailboxes.
They found a hill and whizzed down it.
Then they pushed their bikes to the top and did it again
and again
and again
and
again
and one more time!!!!!!
They were laughing and shrieking with joy and excitement and traveling at ridiculous speeds!

When we finally got home they collapsed on the lounge room floor laughing and bubbling with the thrill of it all - then came and hugged me and exclaimed it was the best day of their lives and they had had the most fun ever!
?
ROFLMAO
x

I was at work today when I took a moment to pause in my toil and gaze out across the nearby farmland and hills.

In one of those odd lucid moments it occurred to me that the 'empty space' I was looking at in idle reflection was in fact teeming with life. Not only the obvious cows, sheep, few horses and a couple of dogs, the magpies, the ducks and dozens of other assorted birdlife I could see, but the multitudes of insects and then the countless bacteria and microscopic soil fauna.

No it wasnt some blinding revelation- but just a humbling moment - as from there- comes the multitudes of humans around the globe- and each small area that they call home is also home to billions and billions of other life forms.

Whew.

I felt quite philosophical for a moment and considered how teeny weeny I was in this great kaleidoscope of life. A itsy bitsy coloured fleck which nonetheless fits in with the others and shifts and changes with them through continuing interactions to form the big picture.

Love it.
x

This is nice- I can make more attractive blog entries now.

For those of you who read my RANT yesterday I just want to add a little.

It is very very easy in cyber space for the written word to be misinterpreted/misunderstood and misrepresented.
That is why the powers that be have provided us with emoticons - and the ability to put in CAPITALS, bold and italics.
We also can add comments like "j/k" and ROFL and *smile* to let people know we are joking or that our comment is to be taken lightly or is delivered gently. (at least we can when our browser allows us)

Of course for people new to computers none of this Knowledge is available (it certainly wasn't taught in the classroom when I was at school - although it is apparently an extra curricular activity for the majority of high school students now *grin*)

Even those of us with reasonable experience and knowledge of computers can do well to pause and consider out netiquette. (spell check that Jack). In the famous words from the movie Bambi by Thumper- "if you cant say anything nice- dont say anything at all."
Comments about how an article is written can be constructive, helpful and very kind and positive - if delivered in a thoughtful and delicate way. Matthew (matthew.minti.com/ ) is a master at this - have a look through his comments.

For those of you who missed it- I was distressed after finding less considered comments yesterday. (no- not on my articles - but for anyone who would like to go and add a positive note to this lady's Minti experience cleannut.minti.com/

Please stop and think before writing. Imagine how it would feel to read it on your own work- remember there are older people, people with English as a second language, people new to computers and SHOCK -- people with low level literacy.
Be patient, be kind and enjoy the knowledge and experience that people have taken the time and trouble to share - as best they can.
x

OMG....... IT WORKS


Look at THIS.

• I can format
• I can make spaces
• I can put in emoticons

HA

I am just like other people on Minti- I DO NOT HAVE TO WRITE IN WORD PAD AND COPY AND PASTE.

THANK YOU FRONTIER I LOVE YOU FOREVER.

Okay - im sticking my neck out here. I was just browsing through the low rated advice - just curious to see what was there (NO IM NOT OBSESSED ABOUT STARS; ROFL ROFL ROFL) I came across a lady who from reading her posts and profile is an older lady (with grown up children) and id say possibly of European descent (im guessing with english as a second language - could be wrong) This lady joined last month and notes that she is NOT very computer literate but she 'will do her best'. OUCH - the comments she has received on her posts would have totally devastated me. From- "this isnt advice" - "this should be in such and such a group"- to "I cant understand it" "its badly written" "couldnt be bothered reading it all" CRIKEYS I was cringing for this lady. She is doing her best. This is someone who has not had much to do with computers- perhaps not had the education opportunities most of us have enjoyed - she is an older person and by heck - this lady has more knowledge and experience to share about parenting than the majority of us have had time to accumulate yet. Some caring constructive comments would have gone a long way. How about taking the time and patience to see beyond the halting english- poorly constructed sentences- basic grammar and lack of punctuation. Perhaps a kind gentle email - " I noticed you are not used to using Computers- im lucky ive had one at home for the last 15 years and we have them at uni and school nowadays. Its tricky getting the hang of it at first- but here are some tips to make it easier for people to read your posts. DONT WORRY _ I HAVE SENT HER ONE. GEE - I was distressed about a 2 star rating- oh boy at least people werent openly attacking my writing style and lack of knowledge of computers, grammar and punctuation. AND IF THIS HAS NO PUNCTUATION ITS BECAUSE I HAVE TO COPY FROM WORD PAD AND MAYBE SO DOES SHE., Hmmmmphhhhh. If anyone would like to be kind to this lovely lady - she is to be found at http://cleannut.minti.com/ There I have had todays rant and calmed my offended self (offended on her behalf). Its alright I dont need any soothing *grin*. Attack me if you will *bares under-belly defiantly* xox

Ok , im over the whole star thing, lol, and feel all shy and embarrassed ;-)
I shall continue to write - love it , hate it- stars or no stars. Dont want anyone to think im acting like a Prima Donna *grin*.

 My goodness though- you have all been so nice- its funny- blogging is sort of like thinking something and then realising that you have actually said it out loud....and that people are LISTENING ....but...hey its ok- cos they are NICE ;-) and supportive and friendly ;-) *

 Maybe though - the ranking system could be there without the word "poor" - it just seems a bit harshly worded . Ive felt really bad for other people when I see their advice branded 'poor' - it has connotations rather different from the original vote of "doesnt work for me".

 ANYWAY - MOVING RIGHT ALONG!
 lol. I have spent the day shopping with DD. She has a school formal to go to on friday night....so that required the purchase of shoes....dress....a plastic tiara and a wand (the theme is princesses and pirates), this...not surprisingly..took ALL DAY (and ALL my money LOL). whoops- I have to go and pick the said Princess up from dancing lessons....byeeeee!

yes yes I know its silly to let it - peoples opinions are their own and they are entitled to them of course! However late last night I was (foolishly , rofl) up VERY late talking to an old friend on msn. Anyway somehow we touched on something which had happened years ago ( I had expanded the traditional fib of the tooth fairy and not only brought money for teeth but for about 6 months was a tooth fairy pen pal who mentored and supported and built the self esteem of DD while she was going through a really low patch.) Its an unuausl story and I decided to share it as 'advice'. i wasnt sure whether to or not and as it is quite a 'personal' story I felt more 'vulnerable' than usual publishing. Nevertheless I figured it might help someone and give people ideas they can adapt. I did and do realise that some people will find it quite controversial ( heck i even had reservations myself at the time- but crikeys- it worked for us). I know some people would consider it lying and that some people are against the tooth fairy, santa claus , easter bunny and so on because it is a trust issue - fair enough. Still this is the culture I was brought up with and I enjoyed it as a child- and all mine have too and none seem damaged by participating in the 'magic' of santa claus (oh BOY I remember how plain and ordinary Christmas became once I knew there was no SANTA! lol) Anyway- I am waffling again. It was a bit of a shock even though I knew it may not rate well as advice (and who cares anyway - oh thats right - I do hahhaha) when I had two people in quick succession give it a 'poor' 2 star vote. It would have been nice if they had taken the time to leave a comment. Im not going to be bothered by someone having a difference of opinion- but why not share your thoughts and reasons? Of course I dont expect everyone to like and agree with everything I write but hey- say what you think! Thats my opinion anyway. There I think ive finished. It was a relief to see that some positive people had left lovely supportive comments on the article this morning! As you know ive only been on the site for 5 days and it is still a source of total amazement to me that people are READING the articles im so enjoying writing. As ive been having trouble with blogging (due to the many times mentioned GREMLIN) and even Minti Mail wont work well for ME - writing articles has stopped me from being bored hahhaha. IM SORRY IF THERE IS NO PARAGRAPHS IN THIS_ I have to write in word pad and paste in before i LOSE THE COMMENT BOX (3 seconds) and the formatting does not copy and paste from word pad to Minti , LOL.

and sometimes its working perfectly for me and sometimes i just cant post no matter what i do- the comment box dodges me. So im now writing in word pad as usual , teehee and i'll paste in. Ive had a busy day with work and catalogue delivery. OH BOY_ HANDS UP who has done catalogue delivery and lived to tell the tale!!!!!????? NEVER AGAIN. It wouldnt be so bad if the leaflets arrived collated but after three weeks I am already DREADING the arrival of 4500 leaflets TWICE a week """""ARGHHHHHHHH"""""" It takes about 3 hours to collate them (on average) depending how many there is to each bundle - but there is 850 houses to deliver to regardless of whether there is one or six leaflets to each bundle...... You seeeee....I had this BRIGHT idea that instead of spending money to go to a gym - not to mention the travelling 100kms round trip to get to one...... i would deliver leaflets...then id have to exercise AND id lose weight for FREEEE in fact- CRIKEY (its just WIN WIN) I WOULD GET PAID TO DO IT. Oh my - do i ever regret it!!!!!! Yes there is a bit of extra cash but the hours involved are horrendous- about 20 hours a week and as most of our town does not have footpaths its pretty difficult dragging around my little trolley loaded with bundles. Thankfully one of my children DS8 has pledged to help and so far he has been plodding along determinedly - I wouldnt be able to do it without him! Anyway I have handed in my resignation and will finish up first week in Dec. 8 weeks will be enough for me i think- at least it will help a lot with Christmas! Hmmm- what else is new...hmmm DH's bike wouldnt start this morning (he drives B-double trucks and leaves at about 2am) so i had to get up *sob* and take him to work- oh heck it was a struggle! I had planned to get up at 5 and deliver leaflets- but no i just couldnt manage it! We did end up getting a couple of hundred done this evening though........

Hi all- welcome to the new day- well here in Australia anyway. For the rest of you on the dark side- fear not it will come soon enough. The effects of daylight saving are wearing off a little for our family (no not for me I still hate it this week), but the kids are through in the lounge room and happily dressed themselves in their school clothes - and they were up at 7 YAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAY (not being dragged out kicking and screaming from their cosy covers at 8.15 lol) I have actually been able to visit a few friends lounges this morning and post- so that was nice- the commment box is still doing a strange disappearing act on me now and then- but this morning it seems to be only in my blog....... so once again im typing this in word pad and if im very fast i will be able to paste it in when the comment box does its flying visit. Ok - i must get the breakfasts ready now - then off to school and work. luv to ya all- have a great day !!!! xox

There- now ive got your attention, hahahah. I noticed a question about what to do when your kids access porn. This got me thinking. At first I was just blank- crikeys what do you do, lol and various lines of thought run through my head. I did a search in the advice too for 'porn' and came up with nothing. So i figured its time we started talking about this interesting little issue. Ive written a bit of blah blah http://www.minti.com/parenting-advice/2358/Porn-what-to-do-when-the-kids-access-it/ to get the ball rolling so im really hoping that you gals will jump in and get the discussion flowing - esp the Mums with older children who may have been through this or getting to 'that age'. The birds and the bees and sex discussion/education well thats all part of the bigger picture. Lets hear what you think!

Well here we are again - itsthe end of the weekend already!!!!!! Time to get ready for the school/work week. Trying to get the kids into bed at a reasonable time... Making lunches.This is still playing up for me big time and the only way I can add to my blog is to write in word pad- then have it ready to paste in. When the comment box shows up for a second i have to quickly paste it in and then it disappears- then i save and its in my blog....hmmm very frustrating and time consuming (takes a few trys each time to get it to work). The garden suffered a small attack last night- we forgot to go on a sanil/slug hunt and one lettuce and one zucchini were nibbled. Tonight we went out to check but the culprits were not in sight- we have put out a couple of beer traps tonight though.....

Well the garden is doing very nicely. I actually tried to update this last night and for some reason could NOT get it to post- later i realised I should just have written it in word pad and pasted in here later. No matter.

Yesterday DS8 had a sickie and as he recovered by lunch time we spent a lovely afternoon in the garden ;-) We bought some potting mix and Dynamic lifter.- we sprinkled the D.Lifter everywhere and made potting mix pools. Then the fun part we went off to the nursery. We bought - a tomato plant, zucchini, capsicum, strawberries, lettuce and pea and corn seed. We also got a punnet of bright marigolds.

A extra little serve of Dynamic Lifter beside each baby plant and some nice water and that was ready.

Last night was very exciting as we went on a 'slug hunt' as per the book "Eddies Garden" we caught quite a haul - 70 snails and 5 slugs heading in the general direction of the new vegie garden. All the slippery critters were relocated to a more appropriate location (the front garden where there are no delicate seedlings and an army or snails already live (they march out each night to eat the grass on the nature strip - its fascinating).

Today the garden was lovingly tended by DS and some photos were taken so we can compare as things grow. The pea seeds which we soaked overnight were planted (see photo).

Arghhhh, How is everyone coping with daylight saving ?

WHY OH WHY do they do it! Its already lighter at night. It means that it is too light way past bed time!

My boys go to bed with no problems at all until daylight savings starts- and this year it is early!!!!!!!!  I think it shouldnt start until the school year starts. No wait- I wish it didnt start at all. I loathe it.

It is now dark when i get up for my early morning walk instead of getting up to gentle light and birdsong ;-) Plus im exhausted anyway as ive been up way too late the night before.

The boys are happily playing outside at half seven and as its bright I let them go a little longer.... as a result they are not getting to bed until 9 (instead of 8). even then they take ages to settle- mine were still whispering (thats chattering toned down cos Mummy threatened to choose one of them to slepp out with the dogs if they didnt settle!) at 10.30 last night *sob* then i am behind in my routine and then i linger with a cuppa for my wind down time- way later than usual...etc etc.

Then the kids cant get up in the morning as its effectively an hour earlier (and they went to bed late)

I think it is the stupidest concept imaginable for families with school age children.

There I have had my rant ;-)

A few nights ago I read the boys a cute bedtime story "Eddies Garden (and how to make things grow)" By Sarah Garland. Although it was a story it was packed with ideas for kids gardens and certainly inspired our 8 year old!

He asked for an area of the garden for his own.

No dig gardening seemed like the perfect solution- we didnt need to weed an area or dig or wait for anything. As I have been delivering junk mail and the free community newspaper for the last three weeks we had a pile of left over catalogues and newspapers.

First we found the perfect spot- nice and sunny ..in the kids play area (which is fenced off from the dogs) and against the chicken wire fence so he can grow peas and beans.

Then we soaked the newspapers in a big plastic drum and wet the ground too. Together we spread out the papers- overlapping them as we went to make a very thick mulch layer. we wet this again thoroughly and then srinkled blood and bone over the top. Over this we spread a bale of pea-straw.

This is the stage we are at so far!

I will keep you posted :-)

Right- just to get this started! I have no idea what im going to write about but rather than a blank page noting that I have 'no blog entries' I shall fill in a couple of lines!

Came across this site this morning- and as Ive just got home from work (feeling off colour with a sore throat ) been having a poke around. Very interesting and useful resource- wish Id had it when the kids were smaller! Think im starting to get the hang of it all, posted a couple of replies and accidentally posted a reply as an advice article, lol ah well no matter.

Will report back later we have Milo Cricket straight after school and i have to vacuum ;-)