Friday, November 26, 2010

The Little Things

At the op shop near me they have a big Christmas sale towards the end of November each year. Last year I had a pretty good haul from them so I made a point of going along again this year. It was pretty disappointing this time - however there was the best. gift. EVER! And it was a brand new ukulele. And not a toy one, I can't stress this enough. It's a proper ukulele and has a great sound, strong, sturdy construction and now it also has the love of a young child. For when Ted saw me bend down to pick up the box from the ground he starting going bonkers in the carrier. Screaming "TAH! TAH!" and then "DOWN! DOWN!" he proceeded to carry around that ukulele as if it was his own first born. And at $8 I was smiling too. It's just a shame he saw it before Christmas, but I'm thinking of wrapping the thing up for Dec 25th and he can just have his favourite item in the world all over again.

He loves it to death. He takes it everywhere. As you can see above! He loves to hold it whilst breastfeeding and I can tell you that's not so great from my point of view. He also has tried to sleep with it but after banging his head with it twice (hard too!) I just had to put up with the screams and howls of anguish because it was better that than the head injuries he would no doubt sustain. And sustaining head injuries is Ted's forte at the moment. On Friday last week I went to Harriet's school's secondhand uniform sale. Wow! Talk about bargains! But I'll cover that in a moment. When we were there however, Ted managed to fall down a set of stairs not once, but twice, and the second time he emerged with a huge soft egg above his left eyebrow, and a dark purple/black straight line right through the middle of it. And did I mention my children are complete opposites? Because apart from an immediate cry out in pain, he was immediately wriggling out of my arms (again, with the command of "DOWN!") to go and play with the older children (Harriet, aka "Nyah-nyah" from Ted and her friends). Harriet meanwhile called me over specifically to look and coo over her tiny scrape near her toe. In fact I couldn't see it at first so had to ask for clarification on exactly what it was I was supposed to be comforting her for.

Now on to the uniform sale. I went in early, as all good sale hunters do. James and I had taken Harry over to the uniform shop a few weeks earlier in order to size her for the dresses and tops she'd need. To put this all into perspective too, let me just point out that the dresses for her school are $65 each. So knowing that, I bought:
*backpack *2 swimming costumes (different sizes) *3 dresses *2 winter tunics *2 long sleeved tops *2 collared shirts *2 pairs of skorts (SO cute) *3 polo tops *5 (yes FIVE) jumpers *2 pairs of socks *2 wide brimmed hats *1 cap *1 pair of long pants
So I have these in her current size (sz8) and a few things in the next size up too so we don't have to buy later in the year (it's not like she's going to get smaller!). And the total cost? $163. Oh yes, you read correctly people! Mwahahaha!!! *rubs hands in acquisition glee*

Harriet was so excited after we paid for the huge mounds of clothes that she asked to get changed into her uniform straight away. A dress would have been preferred, but any permutation was acceptable. So she popped on the first items that were on top (skorts and polo top) and she and her friend Lucy (who got changed into a dress) were thrilled and skipped all the way up to the shopping centre where we were parked. Harriet then came home and changed into her uniform dress and then slept in it that night. And the next morning she went to cricket wearing her school sports uniform. And tehn came home and changed back into her dress. So yep, I think she likes the uniform for now. Of course we'll re-evaluate that opinion when she's been wearing it for a month or so.

We had an attic storage space installed in our lounge room. Unfortunately the pitch of the roof meant that we couldn't have the entrance in the hallway and they had to cut into our gorgeous, much coveted patterned ceilings. James and I had been putting it off for ages because, although we DESPERATELY needed the space, we were horrified at the thought of being such modern day cannibals to that amazing ceiling. But eventually the weight of my fabric scraps, tubs of DVDs, memory books from my teenage years, camping equipment, blankets, heaters, fans and all the stuff in the shed we haven't seen in years...well all of that made us succumb. And as can be expected, Harriet is in love with the new space. Luckily she probably won't spend too much time up there what with the summer heat being a little stifling and all, but for now she holds school lessons up there with Bear and his friends, and Ted likes to stand at the bottom of the ladder and cry until I eventually go up with him and sit in front of the hole, terrified that he's going to fall through and end up a quadriplegic and I'll spend the rest of my days looking after him and feeling guilty for my negligent parenting. Oh yes, all very normal I'm sure.

We've been pretty busy lately but I guess it's just that time of year. I have a list a mile long of gifts I want to make and no time to make them in. I have gifts I've bought that I need to wrap. Gifts I haven't bought yet that I need to organise. Waiting for gifts that should have already arrived from overseas. You know, the usual end of year stuff. I think 2011 is the year of culling friends and family and living in a secret hollowed out log with ants and lichen until people forget about me and then I'll spend November and December skipping through the forest singing with the birds and pointing out rainbows.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Oh Teddy looks so inlove with his new tiny guitar ! Its just the right size for dragging around everywhere....maybe he could wear a crash helmet to bed Cas ?? ;-) Can't wait to see Harru's uniform in all its glory !!! (and my photos !!!)
xx Lis