My Tropical Babes Travel South

 

 

 

Otherwise known as, what two children do when they have no memory of cold weather or falling leaves.

Tom Kitten for one has never been in the cold (apart from a week last winter when he was two months old and I took him back to my parents) and Ginger unfortunately has no memory of our time in Toowoomba, where it certainly was cold and the leaves certainly fell. 

Two weeks ago we spontaneously decided to use one of our RLLT entitlements (a military travel entitlement for remote postings) and head south to the Southern Autumn.  Bliss is all I can say.

We spent most of the time in Canberra, and the surrounding areas of NSW.  

Travelling with young children is quite a different experience.  We did  a lot of research on where to eat before we went, and that helped a lot.  There is a list of some of our hits at the bottom of this post.  We also had a serviced apartment in Canberra which meant we could make breakfast and dinner, and do the washing!  And, we were realistic in what we wanted to do - and that involved hanging out in a lot of parks. 

Clothing was another interesting issue.  Ginger had some left from last winter's trip south, and I ran her up a couple of dresses on the sewing machine.  This was complemented with some thrifted jumpers and a coat ($2, actually got in Toowoomba)! She is a skinny little thing and we not buy pants that fit her on the waist (size 0 or 6-12 months) and on the legs (size 2, or 18-24 months) so she just needed  a couple of pairs of tights and she was right.  Her shoes still fitted from last winter (despite there being 2 years between them, there is only one shoe size between my children!).

Tom Kitten I got lucky with.  I had thrifted a couple of things over time as I have seen them in the op shops here, but I found someone moving south on Gumtree who was selling their baby boy clothes (all of which were winter clothing).  Unfortunately, their baby was the same age as Tom Kitten so they were keeping the 12-18 month size for him, but because they were leaving in a caravan they were selling the size below (6-12 months) and above too (18-24 months).  Now because we breed 'em lean here, Tom Kitten can still fit 6-9 month clothing so pretty much his entire wardrobe was sourced there.  And, know what?  It is much better brands than I could ever afford new - mostly UK brands like Zara and Gap.  I also have a fair few clothes for next winter for him too.  $70 for the lot and it took up a whole Coles Reusable bag (ie the plastic one!).  His shoes I had left from a nearly new sale in Toowooma when Ginger was a little baby, we never ended up using them for her as a friend passed on her daughter's fairy leather shoes - they rather fit with the leaf theme though.

Best Eats of the Trip!

Sugar Loaf Patisserie - 37 President Ave, Kogarah NSW.  We stopped here for breakfast when we got off the midnight horror and were about to drive to Canberra.  Great churros and croissants.  And, the owner was really friendly.  Very good prices.

Flour and Stone - 53 Riley St, Woolloomooloo NSW.  We had our last day in Sydney and went here for breakfast as we were staying in a hotel so couldn't make our own.  Fantastic croissants (go the almond), and Mr Provincial had an apparently very yummy Bran muffin.  The tea was proper loose leaf.  Yummy.

South Beach Seafood - 20 Gerrale St Cronulla.  Dinner here before we left on another night horror flight!  Food was great.  Unfortunately Tom Kitten was overtired and cried the whole time, so I didn't get to eat much.

We had a great pie out at the Fyshwick markets for lunch one day - but I can't recall the name of the bakery.

Wagamama was great for our one night in Sydney city.  They do free kids meals - our kids had chicken, rice and cucumber - with the purchase of an adult's meal.

We also had a great meal for lunch on the way to Canberra, but I am struggling to remember the town.  They had an outdoor seating area which, despite the cafe being packed inside, we had to ourselves.  They had outdoor toys and the kids had a great time.  If anyone is actually interested I will ask Mr Provincial - he has a much better memory for such details.  I made the rest of this list off the jottings in the notebook we took with us.

Easter Making (Stash Bash) and Baking

 

It has just occurred to me that if I don't hurry up and get this post up the events it depicts will be well and truly in the past!

Crazily, after finally completing Ginger's birthday dress with time to spare (not to mention her presents - post forthcoming) I decided that I should sew Ginger and Tom Kitten matching Easter outfits.  Nuts, given (a) they have well and truly enough clothing already and (b) they are not even the same sex so obviously completely matching outfits are out of the question.  I decided that it had to use something in my stash and use patterns that I already had.  So, I decided a t-shirt appliqued with a cross for the top, and blue gingham shorts and skirt for the bottom.

The shorts and skirt sewed up really fast.  I used the Lazy Days Skirt from Oliver and S (with a hem since I didn't have the ribbon on hand), and this pattern for Tom Kitten's shorts.  I made the mistake with the T-shirts of buying up a size (Tom Kitten a 12-18 month and Ginger a 24-36 month) and so they were both too big and looked pretty average.  Oh, well.  The cross Mr Provincial free handed for me and my new Brother sewing machine sewed it on with blanket stitch nice and easily.

As you can see cooperation on both parties for a photo is difficult.  This was the best I could do, before Ginger wanted off to hunt eggs.  And, our children got watering cans from the Easter Bunny rather than a tonne of chocolate!

I made our usual hot cross buns on Good Friday and a Simnel Cake for sunday.  I used my boiled fruit cake recipe and store bought marzipan this year.  It was much better than last year's effort!

Joining Crunchy Catholic Momma in this stash bash effort.

And now you are 3!

Ginger turned three earlier this week.  I can't believe how the last three years have flown.  I really can't imagine life without her.

Ginger you delight and frustrate me in equal measure.  Baby girl, you have the most wonderful personality. You regularly thank us for what we do for you, and I never expected that from a three year old.  Just today you said "Thank you Mummy for making my lunch.  It is too yummy!"

You love to dance.  The biggest excitement for you of turning three is the chance to go to ballet.  You can already do plies, gallop, spring point, turn pirouettes, put your arms in fifth and keep your feet in first.  Mummy is pretty excited about you going to ballet too, I have been waiting for this moment since the 20 week scan that showed you were a girl.

And truly, you are such a girl.  You love playing with your baby dolls, particularly baby Beth.  You like fairy wings, wands and pretty dresses.  Your favourite colour is pink.  You also love going to the fabric shop, which is a most welcome development for Mummy, though it must be said that your delight is intensified when we are shopping for fabrics for your dresses and quilts!

And you are so stubborn, which I am sure will serve you well through your life but boy can it be trying getting you to do something you don't want to do. You are also a born organiser both of your peers and the adults in your life! "Come on everyone".  "How about we do X.  That would be a good idea" is probably the most commonly heard statement from you.

You have such poise with your friends and in all social settings.  I don't know where it has come from but I think it is a blessing given the itenerant life we read.

You love to read. You will sit and be read to for hours.  Your favourite stories at the moment are Paddington Bear and some stories from an ancient collection of "Listen with Mother".  You love to take a "big pile" of books to bed at rest time and will happily spend a couple of hours in your bed reading to yourself.

You faith grows ever stronger and this has been one of the things that makes me most proud.  You really love your Jesus stories, as you call the bible and you ask to take it to bed with you every nap time.  Most days you actually take two children's bibles to bed.

You love your brother, and often say to him, in a small echo of Mummy, "Tom Kitten, darling, I love you".

Little girl, thank you for the last three years.  I look forward to seeing what the next year holds for you.

Happy Birthday.

*The dress used fabric from Spotlight, chosen by Ginger. Well, the mermaids were; I coordinated the red spot. The pattern is The Paper Fan Dress by Anna Maria Horner.

The girls loved playing Ring a Rosie at the party.  The wings are just sheer fabric with holes for arms cut out.  My MIL made them and they were quite a hit.

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}

Joining these lovely ladies in finding contentment in the everyday.

{Pretty}

In the face of some pretty challenging behaviour from Ginger this week it was good to find some photos which show her gorgeous, if strong, personality.

I have been praying for grace with dealing with her as her defiance has been coupled with some pretty unspectacular parenting moments of my own.  Including this morning where every single toy was one by one put out onto the verandah - and she still did not comply with my request. Where to after that?

Anyway, I was quickly turning through our local paper as Ginger was eating her breakfast when I spotted a Catholic Care ad for Parenting Magic 123.  I am taking it as God given because I don't even normally bother to open the paper because it is always wet from the sprinklers.  Hopefully I will find some nugget of help there.  Though given the time it starts I am going to have to brainstorm some ideas for how to give Tom Kitten an early bedtime feed before I need to leave the house

But back to my post on how special this little girl is.  Ginger came home from Spotlight on Saturday with a pink balloon.  Daddy had taken her to return a tablecloth I bought on clearance which turned out to have a giant hole in it.

"Is there a balloon for Tom Kitten?" she asked as she rushed into the kitchen.

"No darling, not unless Daddy bought him one too" I replied.

"Oh well, maybe he can chase my balloon." was her response.  Such love for her brother.

I also had to include in my {pretty} Ginger's nightly adieu to the moon.

"I see the moon, and the moon sees me.  God bless the moon and God bless me"

"I see the stars, and the stars see me.  God bless the stars and God bless me."

"I see the birds flying home to their nest, it must be time to take my rest"

Yes I did make the last line up one night when we spotted some birds heading home for their nests.

Ginger is wearing her new pajamas bought by her grandparents in Vietnam.  All I can say is the Vietnamese must think Westerner's are huge as Ginger's are sized at 18 months and she will be 3 in a couple of weeks (though she does still fit size 18-24 months in clothing).

{Happy}

Noah looks mighty contented for a former sewer dweller!

{Funny}

Do you belong to your local toy library?  If not, why not?  We are new members of the Darwin Toy Library this year and it is fantastic.  For our annual membership fee we can hire seven items at any one time, for a two week period.  Three of the seven are allowed to be big items (which do attract a small fee for each item).  Our trouble is that our car is not very big, but this week we managed to fit in the Cozy Coupe for Ginger.  They are having such fun with it.

I love the photo below.  Tom Kitten looks so sophisticated and cool; just hanging out with his Sis'.

And, when you have a new car you can afford to be benevolent with your castoffs (incidentally picked up at the op-shop the other week for 20c).

Oh, actually, you can never have too many cars.  Better make sure you have one for baby too.

 

{Real}

Jelly on a plate.

Jelly on a plate.

Wibble wobble.

Wibble wobble.

Jelly on a plate.

There has been a bit about Apple Juice Jelly on some of my favourite Aussie blog sites - Town Mouse and Little Brown Wren.

I thought perhaps I was missing out on something so made some of our own on the weekend.  800 mls of apple juice bought to boil, and 2 tablespoons of powdered gelatine stirred in.  

They are onto something.  It is delicious.  And healthy.

Only thing is I couldn't get it out of the jelly mould.  We had to scoop it out.  Any suggestions?

{PHFR}

Joining these ladies in finding everyday contentment.

{Pretty}

Sorry for the flash glare - the photos taken without flash were all blurry!

 

Lately I have been doing a lot of work to pretty up corners of our home.  Every so often I sink into the slump of not wanting to do anything more than minimal housework because this is not our own home.  Recognising the beauty in small parts of the house is the best anecdote to that.  Once you tidy and rearrange a corner of the room, you tend to be more inclined to go on and deep clean other areas.

In part I blame the weather for this affliction.  It is just so hot here.  All. The. Time.  And, it gets to me - as I am definitely a winter loving girl.  I love living the seasons; turning inwards as the days grow short and cold and cleaning as warmth fills the air.  Ah well, I keep reminding myself that it is only a matter of months before we are out of here (and my baby goes to Kindergarten.  Sob! I am really struggling to come to terms with that.  She is only just about to turn 3 and I will only have six months more of her at home!)  And there are some pretty good things in Darwin, one of which I will come to in my {Happy}.

We purchased this beautiful print of Our Lady of the Southern Cross by Paul Newman.  As we draw towards Easter we come ever closer to the conclusion of our RCIA programme and I wanted to find a way to thank our sponsors for their support and the time they have given us - not to mention babysitting our children so we can attend together!  I found this beautiful print online that was commissioned for World Youth Day when it was held in Sydney in 2008.  I loved it, and so bought a copy for each of them (which we will give them after Easter Vigil) and one for our own wall.  

It is our first piece of "Religious Art".  Multiple times a day I stop at it on the way to the kitchen and contemplate it.  I know it is a very westernised version of Jesus and Mary and that in all probability that were dark skinned, but the fact that the infant Jesus reminds me of Tom Kitten so much - with that little belly sticking out - just reinforces for the humaness of the story.  Only recently has the reality, by which I mean their pain, joy, and fear, of the people in the bible come home to me and I think part of it has to do with becoming a mother and thus identifying with Mary and Jesus. 

One of the aspects I have loved about the RCIA programme has been the development of my knowledge and understanding of my Christian faith - yes, in part it has been learning about the Catholic church and its teaching but more than that I have had the chance to discuss the bible in a level of detail I - a post-catechism born Anglican (ie. one who grew up in the Anglican church after teaching the catechism had fallen out of favour) - have never been exposed to before.  We are very blessed with our parish Priest who is most unassuming but so knowledgeable and a wonderful teacher.  One of the comments Father made in the lead-up to Christmas last year was that Mary was a Jew who knew her scriptures and knew what was foretold in terms of sacrifice for her son as a saviour to the world.  And, that is what I think about everytime I see this picture.  Mary knew and yet she still did what God asked of her.  And, Jesus, Saviour of the world a tiny infant in his mothers arm's - loving cuddles, and closeness just like Tom Kitten, and with fate of such enormity and criticalness in front of him.  Our God, came down to earth not just as a human, but as the most vulnerable of humans - a baby. 

The RCIA journey has also seen our little family turn inward, and in part explains my long absence from this site.  My maternal grandmother who I unfortunately never had the privilege to meet as she died when my Mum was young, grew up a Quaker and had the most beautiful philosophy on faith differences.  She believed that we all look through different windows on the same God.  To me, being christian unites us, and our particular denomination / faith is simply our window on the same God.  We have found a window that is clearer for us.  I pray that yours is clear for you too.

And boy, have I got off track on that one.  Hijacked my {Pretty} discussion well and truly.  Other pretty corners of the house have been my framed and completed Winterwoods cross-stitch, which though my first attempt at cross-stitch will certainly not be my last.  Our table glows with roses found on half price sale at Woolworths.  And Noah our street cat turned house pet, residing on his new 'Circus' cat scratcher.  Not a necessity I grant you, but it was an attempt to save the leather couches and floor rugs from a certain feline's claws. Cats do maketh a home I find and we love having Noah around!  We found him undesexed, uncollared, unmicrochipped and very skinny wandering under the rainbow - hence the name.

{Happy}

Ginger loves her uncle!

 

A few weeks ago we purchased year long tickets to the Territory Wildlife Park.  We love going there.  On Saturday morning we got up early and Mr Provincial baked crumpies for breakfast.  We headed out to the wildlife park and along with Mr Provincial's brother were the only ones there.  We got the Pelican feeding all to ourselves.  Since the pelicans were proving fussy about which fish they would eat - for the record they like mullet not herring - the keeper also threw fish to the Whistling Kite and we saw it catch the fish in mid air.  

Mr Provincial and his brother got to feed the stringrays at the 'Oolloo Sandbar'.  Meanwhile I tried to hold onto Tom Kitten who was attempting to scale the fence into the enclosure while pacifying Ginger who was sobbing because she didn't want Daddy to go into the water with the stingrays!

{Funny}

Ginger and I spent Tom Kitten's nap the other day sculpting with playdough.  

Here we have her cat and my cat.

{Real}

Tom Kitten is a climber.

Let me restate that.  Tom Kitten is a really good climber.  And, he is only 10 months old yet and can't actually walk yet.  I fear for the future!

The other day I made Ginger a sandwich.  She ate half and left the remainder on the bench.  She called me over to something she wanted and then I turned around and saw this.

Tom Kitten at the kitchen bench eating her sandwich and looking very pleased with himself.

Then there was the incident at the Wildlife Park on the train.

Excuse appearance, have I mentioned it's hot here?

 Oh, and he can also get on Ginger's little wooden table.

It is now impossible to leave him unsupervised for even a minute.  I have no idea how I will ever get housework done again.

{PHFR} Tom Kitten's Quilt

Joining the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter.

{Pretty}

I finally finished Tom Kitten's baby quilt.  It looks quite {pretty} I think, with the pictures above his bed from Peter's Old House.  We had picked up a used copy of the book from a book sale a couple of years ago, but some of the pages were scribbled on when we bought it (it pays to check children's books thoroughly!) and so I used what was salvagable here.

{Happy}

The quilt's usual place of residence, if a term of less than five days placement can be ascribed the term 'usual', is on the feeding chair.  That would be the feeding chair I found on Gumtree following Sukie's living room post from last week.  Not that Tom Kitten will be fed on this chair, he apparently prefers the pillow and the bed setup we have had going for the last 9 months.

{Funny}

Tom Kitten the climber!

In her post last week Sukie alluded to the sofa she chose on Craigslist not having the upholstery she quite expected.  Well, this chair did not have the upholstery I expected.  I had thought it was a particular IKEA rocking chair (the slant of the wood looked right), but Mr Provincial had to go and pick it up because we had to take the carseats out of the car to get it home.  When it came home it was fake suede, not cotton like the IKEA ones, and rather dirty suede at that!

Dirty to the point where I would probably not have taken, had I been there.  But, what's done is done.  So I hunted around on line and found a recipe for washing fake suede.   It called for half a cup cheap shampoo and half a cup white vinegar.  And, you know what - it worked!  Rendering us a nice, clean, if useless, feeding chair for Tom Kitten's room.  Hey, at least there is a place to store the quilt.  Because, well we live in the tropics so it's not likely to see any use any time soon.

{Real}

Well my original {real} was this photo which shows when I started the quilt, oh May of last year!  Giving the project a gestation period of 9 months just like Tom Kitten.

But, my current real is the ridiculousness of  service life which sees my husband called in for work at 4am following four phone calls between the hours of 3am and 4 am which have rendered me wide awake at said ridiculous hour of the morning and writing this post.  The reason for this early start - a practice call-up followed by a pack march.  One would have thought one phonecall sufficient for that, wouldn't one?

And while it is apparently perfectly reasonable for the rest of the unit to start at 6:30am for the SAME task, my husband's company has a (truly struggling to keep an even tone here) interesting commander who has decided that his company needs to be ready to go at 5:30 for the 6:30 task and that the officers need to be in at 4am.  Why, is unfathomable.  Coming on the back of a series of similarly inane finish times for no legitimate reason in the last fortnight, I am feeling supremely cross.  Not to mention the fact that Tom Kitten actually slept through the night last night so I could have had a reasonable night's sleep!  Grrr.