Under the Sea

August is a busy month for birthdays in our house. Oldest and Youngest KAT get to enjoy special days this month.

In the case of Youngest KAT it was party central a couple of weeks back. Because I could run classes in the art of "keeping up appearances" and at that point wasn't complying with the instructions to take it easy I decided that it would be a good idea (even a sane idea) to a craft party at our place for fifteen 7yr olds!

Here are some shots of the decorations. Suffice to say it was a great success but probably contributed to my less than stellar mental state post-party!! It's all good though...completely worth it to see our little  girl enjoy herself so.

Craft activity #1 was to make a fish using paper plates, colored tissue paper, washi tape and the essential googly eyes. 

After a break for party food we had a go at Craft activity #2....my version of Jellfish! 

I had pre-painted the paper bowls and pre-sewn crepe paper tentacles. Can I just say how my life is truly complete having stumbled across the under-appreciated art of the ruffled crepe paper effect? It is deceptively simple but highly effective - straight stitch on the sewing machine with a little bit of pressure applied to the thread as it comes off the feeder thingy...voila you have instant ruffles! I sewed two strips of crepe paper together and we had more ruffles than Strictly Ballroom!!

The table backdrop was a feast of mummy creativity. Thank goodness I am versatility personified in the range of glue dots and double sided tape I possess!

Spotlight was extremely forthcoming in the sparkly fabric department which was used for tablecloths and a photo backdrop. It has now been put to use as a princess outfit for the birthday girl...my sewing is nothing to write home about but I'm good at improvising...

I must say, the jellyfish were my fave party decor addition. Miss 7 had a blast and I have survived to party-plan another day:)

In Between Times

It's been a month since I found my lump. It really illustrates how life can change in an instant.

I'm now recuperating from my 2nd surgery and today am feeling quite washed out. The pathology results showed the cancer to be high grade and therefore fast growing but thankfully not in my nodes...I'll still need chemo but at least I can feel relatively reassured about my prospects.

We have been receiving lots of lovely flowers...they are so beautiful

There's also been lots of food delivered which Saint Mike particularly loves!!! Our chest freezer is coming in very handy:)

Life goes on and August is a birthday month in our house -Littlest KAT turning 6 and Oldest KAT soon to turn 13!!!

Middle KAT is keeping us amused with her antics...she's found a new use for the lovely breast support cushion (we call it the "booby cushion")...

Our cancelled overseas trip is still there in the background giving me pangs of sadness...emails from French hotels with check-in info which we no longer need:( I know it will still be there when I recover but I'm not feeling very trusting in making plans I may not get to fulfil.

For now I continue to recover and think of the chemo ordeal ahead...my body needs all the nurturing I can give it so I'm on the Green Smoothie bandwagon!

 

 

 

Littlest KAT turns five

Flower banner created when Oldest KAT turned 6

Prepare yourself people! This is one of those posts. You know, the ones that may make you want to smack me!!!

It's the birthday party post. Littlest KATs 5th to be precise.

Held some weeks after her actual birthday because it's a bit hard to look like the effortless party mum when you're swanning around with a broken arm, torn ligaments in your wrist and matching travertine step indentations on your shin and thigh.

Due to our backyard resembling a building site (Saint Mike may have many inimitable qualities but a tidy site isn't one of them) we chose to place our trust in Mother Nature and held this soirée at a great local park.

Invitations were duly prepared.  These shall not be shared as they mark an all-time low in my history to date of party invites.  Traps for young players include

1. Badly handwritten due to dodgy wrist/arm (remember I'm a leftie and this is the hand that has been out of action somewhat)
2. When you have a dodgy hand it's best not to have party at a park with a looooong Aboriginal name located on a street of the same name....can someone explain to me why Aboriginal place names have so many 'o's in them???
3. When writing invitiations for a delayed party check when Fathers' Day is....will help avoid writing twenty invites with 2nd September and then having to go back, cross out that date and find a new one!!!
4. Allowing Littlest KAT to write the envelopes which though educational and something I can clutch at when pondering my "good mother" status was slightly frustrating and took A.VERY.LONG.TIME!!!!

So you may ask yourself why in light of dodgy hand/wrist did I not simply do a McDonalds party or something that wouldn't involve all the usual party shenanigans?  Well, because I have this slightly anal-retentive nature (isn't that a pre-requisite of being a mum) that means I actually really enjoy doing parties for the girls...and doing them in a way that is special and unique for each particular KAT.

Each party I try to do something unique for that particular child.  In the case of youngest KAT she had really wanted a Diego party which I simply couldn't countenance.  The combination of commercial crap and really bad color combo (horrid shade of yellow and blue) had me clutching for something else that she could hang her hat on so to speak....which is where the pinata came in.



Thanks goodness for a glue gun

Yes folks, this is where the "what were you thinking" moment occurs.  A pinata, handmade out of a cardboard box, copious amounts of masking tape and tissue paper. 

I refuse to admit how much time it took because the end result was worth it.  Time consuming, yes.  Worth it?  Every minute!

I am a sucker for a bit of crafty stuff and this was actually a fun project - done with very little in the way of instruction just a picture from a blog as inspiration....mind you, that picture was from a 1st birthday party.  Let me tell you folks, a number one pinata has a heck of a lot less sides and curves than a number five!!!!!

I chose to fill it with lollies and trinkets...minimal cheap ones was the plan.

The kids all got an empty party bag and after the pinata was broken (hilarious), they got to put a certain amount in their bag...although some (won't mention any names Tessa) had 'issues' with counting, they mostly got it right and didn't overload...at least on purpose:))

I wish I had more photos but I was too busy being a good hostess and didn't snap enough!

Speaking of snapping, that was the other "feature" of this party.  I ran out and picked up one of the new instant cameras (ours is a Polaroid 300 Instant Camera) and we took photos of all the little ones with their heads poking through the flower banner.  So cute and a great take home idea.

The camera itself was just under $100, the film is pricey but given that we had no costs for 'entertainment' at this party (that was managed by Middle and Oldest KAT) I justified the cost as money well spent!

One of the "entertainment" highlights was a Yarn Trail conducted by Middle KAT with the help of a friend she had along for the ride.  Armed with a few rolls of colorful twine they proceeded to create a "trail" through the trees and undergrowth for the littlies to "follow" in search of treasure (some gold chocky coins).

As an exercise in frustration for Middle KAT it was a huge success.  As a ten minute diversion and "ice-breaker" for a bunch of five year olds it was hysterical!!!!  I got the idea from my favourite time-waster destination Pinterest

Find it on Pinterest here

The other park visitors that day must have been scratching their heads but it was a fun distraction and the kids seemed to enjoy it.

In the end, delaying this party meant I had more time to plan, managed to be on top of things in terms of execution and it all came off without a hitch...a great day for Littlest KAT.

 

There endeth the lesson in how to over-engineer a 5th birthday party:)

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Happy birthday to our very own saint

Today is a special day.  It's Saint Mike's birthday.

We won't discuss his age, it's not considered polite conversation!

I told him yesterday that we were going to celebrate in a style that befitted him as a young at heart man of action....even if that's not exactly how he's feeling at this particular juncture given the amount of stress he's been under of late:)

So we hired a double kayak with a child seat for the youngest KAT and set off at 8am from the Spit to Balmoral...a leisurely paddle of about 25minutes.

Our older two KATs are returning today from Melbourne where they've been hanging out with their nana (my mum), cousins, aunt and uncle and having a super-dooper trip unencumbered by their parents!!

Anyway, back to our birthday adventure...

Once back on dry land I adjourned the beach briefly to purchase coffees and egg and bacon rolls (plus a chocky croissant for youngest KAT) and we sat and enjoyed a magnificent morning looking out towards the Sydney Harbour Heads.

When the rigours of life are getting us down we've always found respite in admiring this view and today was no different.

We paddled, we sang, we ate, we drank, we relaxed and we celebrated a special day for a very special husband, daddy, bestie and all round Saint :)

Once back home I have made a yummy stuffing, stuffed it up the clacker of a chook and made a birthday cake...in an hour or so we'll head off to the airport to pick up our unaccompanied minors and then come home to our building site of a home and get that bird a cookin!! 

Oh and there will be a few pressies for SM to unwrap:))

Youngest KAT having a great time making a kayak in the sand!

Doing a few laps in the pool of self-congratulation

I have learnt as a mother that things don't usually go to plan.

I probably should have learnt this particular life lesson well before having children, but having arrived at the parenting caper without this particular skill I have spent a fair amount of time attempting to feel comfortable in the "shit that really went to hell in a hand basket" zone!

Yesterday however, was one of those sunshiny parenting days where things managed to go off without a hitch.

I had Saturday to get ready for the birthday extravaganza we had organized for our Middle KAT on Sunday (note to self - plan any future parties for a Sunday and block no commitments Saturday to prepare as it really is great for not losing your mind).

Sunday morning I managed to get all the final "details" sorted with time to shower and do a passable impression of "self grooming".  I had the able assistance of my production co ordinator, Saint Mike and we managed to get kids, food, gear, decorations and all the other bits and pieces (including the KATs) loaded into the car and to the venue with our sanity completely intact and enjoying the ride!

I didn't lose the plot.....not even ONCE which is unheard of, I didn't exhibit too much extreme control enthusiast behavior and the party went off without a hitch. 

Even better than a very happy birthday girl was a very happy birthday mother who managed to get her 'table scaping' just about perfect and even managed to get photographic evidence of it.....