Sunday, January 30, 2011

2233 homemade jam is the best


2233 homemade jam is the best
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

Every now and then I get to beating myself up about being dull and uninventive... it's new to me, this full time stay at home mummy thing - the pressure is on. But then I remember what I have done with my days. Yes I have done washing, nappies, swept floors, made sandwiches etc... but perhaps I have also read books to the boys in a cave under the kitchen table, made scones and homemade jam with the gherkin, splashed in the (world's smallest) "pool", danced and played the ukelele, decorated items with glitter. So sometimes I think I am doing ok. Other ideas always welcomed though! How do you spend your time with the kids at home???
have fun xo

Saturday, January 22, 2011

gorgeous gorgeous baby boy


gorgeous gorgeous baby boy
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

oh my. i love these creases, these rolls, these yummy yummy thighs. what a delight is our little pickle. xo

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

now sydneysiders...

Hello! Well, here I am in our new home in Sydney, tap-tap-tapping away after a whole month without internet. Heavens above!

Surpised that we ended up in Sydney? Yes, so were we. When the house sold we sat for half an hour in silence. Then one of us suggested the move north to be closer to family. The other agreed. Not a couple to mess about, we then started packing. So here we are.

The boys are doing beautifully in their new home.

The gherkin grows and grows and is becoming such a big boy. He is adjusting well to a new home, though I think he misses socialising with other small people (as much as I miss big people!). We are working though our list of things to do when you arrive to a new area with small people, things like finding new playgroups, childcare, join the library, find our local ABA counsellor and group, etc etc etc. So life seems very busy and yet seems strangely quiet - I will confess to being quite lonely - I miss my friends in sunny Melbs. I have also caught myself by surprise - in particular I miss the women I have been meeting with every week for the past two and a half years, who it seems I have been taking horribly for granted and undervalued until  they were gone, my playgroup. But I am sure I will find some lovely likeminded mums nearby. This will all just take time.

The gherkin is a hoot! His language reveals things about him we would not have otherwise known. He tells us what he likes, "I'm loving this song mummy", what he doesn't "No! I don't like it mummy", asks us questions "Where's my's cup?", disagrees with us, tells us about his dreams (this is just starting and is magical - not surprisingly Humpty Dumpty features quite strongly), cries with happiness when daddy gets home from work, sings so many songs - he does requests - and has started to play around with the words (how much I laughed when he cheekily sang "Happy birthday poo poo!", mad grin on face). He is incredibly beautiful, with such a gorgeous heart, and is hard work (he is two, after all). In his new home he has discovered a love of the sandpit, lizards and dancing under the sprinkler, all things he would possibly not have known in our little semi in Brunswick.

Little pickle is also growing way too fast. Though chubbier by the second, he is also on the move. He started to crawl a week ago, and has also started pulling to stand on the furniture. The gherkin has become his motivator... he wants to be with him, playing with him at all time. Little pickle is still our big frowner, but as I get to know him better, I understand this to be a studying look, rather than an unhappy one. He pays attention. He waves hello/goodbye. He is bossy, believing himself to be king of the house and expecting all to obey. He cackles with laughter (especially with the gherkin, especially in the bath). He loves his mummy and he loves his food (hard to separate the two). He is delightful.

And James Brown has settled in too. It is a long way from the house to the water bowl at the top of the garden! So much space, I am not sure he knows what to do with it. He spends most of his time on the back verandah, sleeping on a cane chair (a dog's life). That is, when he is not being chased around our big back yard by a certain two year old or around the verandah by a certain crawling 8 month old.

Photos will follow soon... just have to get myself organised! But it is good to be back in blogland again. I hope to connect with you all soon... will have to play catch up for a while.

Take care and have fun xo

Sunday, October 17, 2010

quick update on the boys

and we're rollin'!

the boy who does nothing by halves has rolled onto his tummy from his back for the first time today (about 10 minutes ago) and then from his tummy onto his back abd from his back onto his tummy again. straight off the clean mat onto our dusty dirty floorboards. smartiepants.

xo

Friday, October 8, 2010

not seventy six, but still thrilling!


liamtrombones1
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

The gherkin has a new fascination. Trombones. Who would know why (though there was a redheaded trombonist called James on playschool recently), but he is hooked. It's all about the brass.

So this week, we caught some of the Melbourne International Festival of Brass. Did you know it was on? We didn't, I only stumbled across it by chance.

So on Thursday, off we went, the three of us - gherkin, mummy, little pickle. But not to a whizzy-bang concert. Instead, we went to the trombone warm up. This $20 ticket gave us an hour and a half of pure trombone joy. The gherkin was not overwhelmed by the noise, but thrilled by it, not bored by the repetitive drills, but entranced. What an amazing morning!

One of the exhibitors then gave us one of his trombone pamphlets. You can see the gherkin reading the trombone end of this pamphlet in front of the South Melbourne Town Hall in this photo. The "trombone book" is such a treasure now at our house!

There is always so much going on in this amazing city, [sigh] I love Melbourne.

I wonder what the gherkin will be like when he grows older? Still loving music? Brass? Trombones? What were you fascinated by when you were younger? Does it still tickle you?

Chat soon xo

Monday, August 30, 2010

playing around... and scaring myself!

There are some days when living with a toddler is just heaven. There are other days when it is just plain old hard work. Today was one of the better days. Yes there were tantrums, there were tears, there were toys thrown*, but there were also great cuddles, there was dancing, reading books, giggling. But even though today was fantastic, when I was skyping and playing with my new laptop (and webcam app), I scared myself silly. I put on one of the filters when skyping with mum and dad, just for a laugh... and look what happened..

I am impressed by each and every one of you who has twins. Just seeing gherkin twins on the screen was enough to make my heart miss a beat or two (and not in a good way!). Ah, living with a toddler can be hard, but at least I am not outnumbered by a pair of them!

Chat soon xo

* and that was just me... no, I'm kidding.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

yes, it is that time of year again...

robyn's garden

yep! it's nearly september everyone! nearly spring, which means nearly nearly summer!

so... it is that time of year again... time for family and friends to start browing the summer pickles flickr page and selecting your favourite 10 photos of the two small pickles of the past year. and to make it less tricky, this year you can select 20 photos each (as we have two boys now, and we know how hard you found the challenge last year!).

so.. get cracking! you can continue to make photos a favourite until mid-November and then the door will be firmly closed for voting.

don't forget that you can also nominate photos from December 2009 as favourites.

have fun everyone! xo

ps. please mark photo as a favourite using the favourite star above the photo. you can also type in fave [your name] in the comments so we know if there are more than 2 votes for the one photo coming from the one house.