February 2012 Archives - mocha beanie mummy

“The Superman”, “The Rapunzel” and “The Questionable Tail or Maybe It’s Something Else”

February 29, 2012 By mocha beanie mummy 8 Comments

Remember when you were a kid, and you used to get a tea towel or similar and attach it to your head so you looked like a nun? Or maybe you had really short hair, and wanted long hair for the day so you draped it like “fake hair”?

Or maybe you’re a (tom)boy and you always wanted a cape, so you persuaded your parents to tie said tea towel around your neck? Or if they refused (how dull) you did your best to tuck it into the neck of your t-shirt? Yeah, I remember doing all of the above, and more, and watching my brother and sister do the same thing. We were kids! It’s what kids do.

So obviously, The Smalls discovered the same thing with their burpies (muslin cloths, now their beloved comforters which they drag almost everywhere). Noah particularly likes doing The Superman, even though he’s not entirely sure who Superman is (give the kid a break, he’s 4, for crying out loud. Oh yeah, and I’ve done my best to shelter him. Hah). I think his understanding of capes and cloaks comes from watching The Incredibles, which I think is much more (read: entirely) acceptable.

Isaac, however, seems to have different ideas.

Having spent much time obsessing over the Disney film “Tangled”, he currently enjoys “The Rapunzel”.

I kinda like it. I would have called it “The Pirate”, or perhaps even “The Princess”, but…well this will do.

Now, you can’t knock a kid for his imagination. But what you can do, is wonder wtf their imagination is about when they start talking to you about stuff.

“Make a splash”, said Isaac, handing me his burpie.

Wtf? A splash? Make a splash with a burpie? Uhhh…right. So I took it, threw it up in the air, and made a splashing sloshing noise as it hit the ground. After much shouting and crying from frustration, it quickly became apparent I was very wrong.

As it turns out, “The Splash” was in fact, a puddle. He wanted me to lay it out perfectly flat on the floor, like a puddle, so that he could splash into it. Well OBVIOUSLY. How the hell could I not figure that one out immediately? (Holy crap…)

The latest one is a little confusing me. Sometimes it’s “The Beard” and sometimes it’s “The Pirate”. Occasionally, it’s “The Cowboy”, which makes the most sense to me. I dunno. I’m not even going to speculate.

Anyway, my favourite would have to be “The Tail”.

For this…well, there are no words.

Filed Under: Isaac, Noah, Stuff to make you laaaauuuuuuugh, wtf

Despite being bad for your feet, Lego can kind of save lives. Kind of.

February 27, 2012 By mocha beanie mummy 5 Comments

Ever since I was about 4 or 5, I remember my older brother (by about 7 years) having the most insane amount of Lego I could ever comprehend. It was a HUGE bucket; and I’m not talking nappy bucket size. He and his mate Malcolm (gotta love the 80s) used to play with it, and all the additional Lego Star Wars, and I wasn’t allowed to touch ANY of it.

So of course, I did, all the time, when they weren’t around. Heh.

Now of course, with Noah and Isaac around, I’m absolutely swamped with Lego, and I confess I have my own tub stashed away for er, yes well, let’s just say that my little Lego figures are more grown up than one might expect.

Obviously Noah and Isaac are very young, but they do love Lego. My GOD do they love Lego. They got tons of it over Christmas, and it’s everywhere. Which is lovely, since you know, I love Lego with a passion.

However. It does make me goddam stabby at times. As if it wasn’t enough that you have no choice but to scream to the very high heavens if you stand on one of those sons of bitches, as it leaves a 3 day imprint in your foot (does that happen on purpose? Are they designed with that in mind??) but when you’re trying to build the stuff as fast as possible with a 4 and nearly 3 year old breathing down your neck, it becomes a wee bit stressful, no?

And sweet baby Jesus, some of them are complicated.

Because you know, they can’t just play with the Lego Duplo, for kids their age, no. They got bored and wanted the big complicated stuff.

They both love that orange rescue truck thing, but the top isn’t stable. Every time they breathe on it, it pretty much collapses. So every 2-3 minutes, it’s “Mommy can you fix the roof please?” Rinse, repeat. And the ambulance is awesome (I confess I may have enjoyed building that a little too much) but the inside is small to get stuff in and out, and once dumped in the Lego tub, you can guarantee I’m not allowed to hoover the lounge until all the tiny “lights” have been found.

Much as the stuff can drive me a bit batshit, I LOVE how some of the sets help their creativity. They both obviously have a huge love of anything with a wheel on it, 4 wheels is a bonus, and 6 or more is pure heaven. So using some of those “mix ‘n’ match” sets were absolutely brilliant. Creating their own car shop with stacked tyres and mechanics and workmen and computers and rescue services and “gangstas” and patrol cars and more? Hell yeah.

What with all the chicken pox that went on over the last month (I do not ever want to do that again), I was convinced we were all pretty much going to die. I had visions of us not making it through, for all the stress, crying, scratching, whining, and demands for snacks. And that’s just me. I’m eternally thankful that there’s enough of the stuff in the Lego tub now (yes, including a random pair of socks. I’m yet to figure that one out).

And hey! I’ll even let them play with it.

Filed Under: actual happy times, AWESOMENESS, illness, Lego, MAKE IT STOP, photos, Uncategorized

Silent Sunday

February 26, 2012 By mocha beanie mummy 4 Comments

~≈~≈~≈~≈~≈~≈~≈~
What is Silent Sunday?

Filed Under: Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday. It’s BACK. And it’s bigger, bolder AND SMELLING LESS LIKE AFTERSHAVE.

February 20, 2012 By mocha beanie mummy 14 Comments

When I ditched the Silent Sunday linky back sometime in 2011 (I can’t remember when), the sigh of relief was so big, caused a hurricane in the middle of the pacific ocean. No one was affected though, because I don’t like world disasters and being responsible for mass death and destruction; it just makes me uncomfortable. The very same day that it was announced, approximately a zillion people got in touch asking if they could “take it” so I wouldn’t have to deal with it.

Ahhhh there’s the problem.

Much as I didn’t like the linky and the epic shit that came with it, I was genuinely sad to cut people off. I don’t think I fit in very well with the “mummy blogging” “community”, and rarely seem to fit in anywhere else on line. So to sever the last chunk of communication with the blogging world, being my love of photography, was a wee bit sad. However, Silent Sunday was always my blogging baby. And you know when you give birth, and have the newborn, and someone comes along with some hideously strong perfume or aftershave and leaves your bubba wreaking of that, rather than the natural essence of the thing you created in the first place? And all you can smell is the wreak, and not your lovely bubba? Well it’s the most bizarre analogy ever, but it’s the most accurate analogy ever.

Silent Sunday was not for others to take off me and leave their smell all over it. The end.

AND THEN, along came Love All Blogs a couple of weeks ago, asking if they would be allowed to host The Linky for me, so that my meme (meem? MeMe? Mehm?) could be resurrected properly, without being taken away from me. Am I possessive? Hell yeah. But if you know me, if you’ve spent the time reading my blog, if you have the vaguest idea of the sort of person I am, you’ll know why a SILENT Sunday is so important to me. Why I was (and still am) so particular about it.

There are shit loads of people out there whom I know for a fact snipe at Silent Sunday for whatever reason. “What’s the point? It’s just a photo.” Or, “Geeze this blog is dull, it’s nothing but photos and no words. What am I supposed to read?” Or maybe “Why should you have to follow rules to post a photo? Over on my blog I can do what the hell I like.” If those are your views, then that’s absolutely fine! I’m not going to slate you; the world would be dull if we all thought the same, no?

But I would like to say this. First – I’m a photographer. I can express myself very well with photos alone. I don’t expect you to do the same. Second – I’m crap with words. I’m not a writer. I’ve never declared myself a writer. If you want something to read, go find another blog. I promise I won’t be offended. Third – Of course you can blog what you like! But may I remind you that the rules do not stipulate that if you post a photo then YOU MUST link it up to something. Just saying. You don’t have to link it up if you don’t want to follow the rules. So please. Please show some (A LOT) of respect over on Lovel All Blogs.

Annie at Love All Blogs pitched to me absolutely perfectly, was bloody lovely about it, and was brilliant in “asking me first” if it was ok to go ahead. I have a lot of respect for her for that. And so, the Silent Sunday linky is back, and can be found on Love All Blogs Silent Sunday Linky, and the badge as ever can be found there or here. Ok, much like my tagline, I’m emitting all manner of crap now. So go. Do your Silent Sunday.

The Rules still apply. Why wouldn’t they? It wouldn’t be Silent Sunday without them.