Happiness this week

I don't have any weekly things I do on this blog. Perhaps because I'm not a routine type person. I thought I might start one - what, this week, was good. A reminder for thankfulness and appreciating the day.

This week:

making a great tasting tofu noodle soup, that I will add to my keeper recipes
watching my boys play together, which they have only really just started doing
preaching a sermon that yet again spoke to me at least, about how to wait on God
having good friends over for dinner
seeing my 3 year old be spontaneously generous to his brother several times

What was good for you this week?

Ever thought astrology didn't work?

I've always been very sceptical about astrology - having a twin 5 minutes younger who wasn't very like me kinda does that for you.

I just did an online test as to how much i fitted my star sign - the answer is 40%! (I'm an aries, but never sounded like the description).

So I did another test to see what my star sign REALLy should have been!

Your True Sign Is Pisces

Kind Dreamy Gentle Psychic Idealist Vulnerable Empathetic Introverted

What Sign Woman Are You, Really?

So I should have been born a month earlier - well despite the fact I was already premature!

I've been reading

Some very quick book reviews.

I've recently read 2 books by Sheri Tepper - sci fi - quite similar to each other - called the companions and the margarets. Both look at an overpopulated Earth interacting with aliens. I enjoyed them because she always does interesting alien cultures. What intrigued me about both these is that in both, humans have been interfered with by malign aliens at an early stage, and this explains why humans have both the capacity for great good (as they were meant to be) and great evil (as a result of the change). As a Christian, this is quite similar in some ways to the biblical view of humans. Except that the Bible says that humans are culpable for moving away from their intended selves, but then tells of forgiveness and a way out. It made me think that this ambiguous and ambivalent nature of humanity is one of the questions that this world sets us. Why are we like this? and is there a solution? I wasn't sure about Tepper's answers, but was very interested in the process of exploring them anyway.

On a different note, I just read the Memory Keeper's daughter (get this! the local library was selling books for a dollar a pop and this was one - I bought 6). A blogging friend recently reviewed this - see here. 2 things that struck me - the destructive nature of secrets, and the importance of every single person. As a twin, this book really got me in - I couldn't even imagine growing up without my twin, as happens to Paul in this book, when his twin sister with down syndrome is sent away. There are all sorts of ethical questions with this book, but in the end it is a book about treasuring people for who they are in their uniqueness. It made me resolve to bring up 2 boys who are radiantly secure in my love, that do not feel that they have to achieve something or be something other than they are. Before I was a parent I thought this was easy to do - but now I know how easy it is as a parent to unwittingly weigh your kids down with your dreams for them.

Will Owl make it to adulthood?

Owl turned one last Saturday. He has also entered into the typical 12 month old assertion of independence alternating with separation anxiety, so he is driving me up the wall at the moment.

What is really worrying me though, is his personality's particular combination of cleverness, ingenuity, sneakiness and sense of adventure. Added to being no 2 kid, this means I am constantly just in the nick of time (or not) to save him from some kind of hair-raising misadventure. Last week, I was staying at my parent's place looking after my 89 year old grandmother (who lives behind them) while they were away. Owl got into scary situations twice while at her house. Probably because with my grandmother and 2 kids, it was really like looking after 3 kids, in a house that did not cater for kids, and so my attention was even more diverted. Owl managed to :1) within a minute of inattention , because both Sparky and grandmother were talking at me, get into her laundry, take out all the cleaning products left on a ground level open shelf, throw them around so some leaked out. I got to him BEFORE he drank any (phew!)
2) My grandmother had made herself a tea without milk and left it in the middle of the kitchen bench. I was standing in the kitchen supervising the use of the water fountain by Sparky and my grandmother (don't ask!), holding Owl. I wasn't even right next to the bench, and the tea was about a body length from him. But seeing his opportunity to try one of these things he is never allowed to touch, he suddenly dove out of my arms across the bench to put his fingers in the tea. I caught him and pulled out his fingers, and ran them under water for 10 mins. No lasting damage.

Then tonight, as I was reading Sparky a story in his bedroom while Owl played on the floor, he climbed up on a plastic box, pulled open a drawer in a mini set of drawers Sparky has, and tried to use that as a step to climb up to the top of the drawers. I took him down and put him elsewhere in the room, and continued the story. As soon as I averted my eyes to read the book, he dashed back to it, and started climbing again, and of course the drawer couldn't support him and he fell and scratched inside his mouth a little with his fingernail. I was impressed by his understanding of the step principle, but wished he had also worked out the necessity for stability! As Pope said "A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring". Too clever for his own good - but completely lacking in caution! arrgghh! does anyone else have a little adventuresome one?

a questiony meme

I was tagged by Prue (some time ago, but I've been busy!!)

1. Were you named after anyone? my middle name is for both my grandmothers, who shared the same name (Joy) I try to live up to it.
2. When was the last time you cried?couple of days ago, I think. I cry happy and sad tears - and I've become quite sentimental since becoming a mum. Anything with kids in it tears me up.
3. Do you like your handwriting?Yes. It's messy but I like to think it has character...
4. What is your favourite lunch meat?I'm vego. but I do like bacon.
5. Do you have kids? 2 boys
6. If you were another person would you be friends with you? depends which other person I was
7. Do you use sarcasm alot? no
8. Do you still have your tonsils?Yes.
9. Would you bungee jump?No. I don't like adrenalin rushes.
10. What is your favourite cereal? those cluster things
11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?not always
12. Do you think you are strong?surprisingly so for my size
13. What is your favourite icecream?anything decadent and fancy (coffee with choc almonds and grand marnier is nice)
14. What is the first thing you notice about people?eyes
15. Red or pink? both. i like colours. (except orange, but its growing on me)
16. What is the thing that you like least about yourself?my lack of confidence.
17. Who do you miss the most?my twin who lives interstate
19. What colour pants and shoes are you wearing?wearing a nightie barefoot
20. Have you ever re-gifted?yep - hey it's environmental
21. What are you listening to right now?a mouse in the house
22. If you were a crayon what colour would you be?soft misty blue grey
23. Favourite smells?spices
24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?my mother in law
25. Do you like the person who sent this to you?yes (hi prue!)
26. Favourite sports to watch? pretty ones, ice skating, gymnastics. oh and I like swimming.
27. Hair colour?naturally dark blonde now, but I dye it lighter. It went darker during my 3 pregnancies.
28. Eye colour?Blue/grey/green
29. Do you wear contacts?No, glasses. Contacts scare me.
30. Favourite food?chocolate
31. Scary movies or happy endings?Happy endings.
32. Last movie you watched? Death at a funeral, funny - I snorted!
33. What colour shirt are you wearing? black nightie
34. Summer or winter?winter. hot choc, fires, beanies - I love the whole thing.
35. Hugs or kisses? Both
36. Favourite dessert?Crème brulee. (natch prue!)
39. What book are you reading now?Just finished a sci fi from library by Sherri S Tepper. She is always interesting as she uses sci fi as a way to explore culture though I think we would have quite different world views.
40. What is on your mousepad?no mouse - use laptop.
41. What did you watch on tv last night?west wing on DVD.
42. Favourite sound?singing
43. Rolling stones or Beatles?The Beatles.
44. What is the furthest you have been from home?UK
45. Do you have a special talent? I can sing. I also write poetry, but rarely show it
46. Where born? Sydney

I tag Mim and Nicole

book club Kite Runner blogging this week

Go see our book club blog this week - we have been posting about the Kite Runner. So far, Prue discusses Afghanistan and new learning from the book, Kris discusses at first disliking and then warming to the book, and I talk about parenting and redemption.

Link to left side of this page.

owls

Here they are! The mostly green one is Owl's, the mostly blue one is Sparky's. Posed on our dining chair, you can see Owl's arm near floor. I have put them slightly side on so you can see the different colour backs. Made using felt and fabric - the fabric is by designer Amy Butler, who does gorgeous stuff. You can find the original mini mockup by the very clever Prue here - mine is larger of course, I have used fabric patches, and I have omitted the legs - while very cute, I was making these for hugging in bed, so thought the legs may be a bit scratchy for that purpose. I attached the wings correctly on Sparky's, but abandoned beauty on Owl's for just making them very securely attached on his, as he is still at the chewy stage. Oh, and worth noting I used synthetic felt, but as Sparky's is already pilling (he cuddles his in bed) next time will shell out for wool felt.

playing favourites

I just finished reading Jodi Picoult's my sister's keeper. Not my favourite author, but she does write about gripping issues. It is about a girl conceived by her parents and chosen out of several embryos to save the life of her sister who has leukemia, and the consequences for her and the entire family. While about a specific medical ethical conundrum, which was of interest in itself (I end up having problems with throwing away the other embryos, but can understand the motivation of the parents), it raises questions more generally for me about how we balance the needs of the different children in the family. Obviously, if one child is ill or has some other special need, that will affect the others greatly. But in any family, I think, this balancing act occurs. For us at the moment, Sparky our eldest, often has to be aware of the needs of the younger Owl (for instance by being quiet when he sleeps). How much of this is good for a child, as it teaches being other centred, and when does it start to affect the child negatively, for example unwittingly telling a child they are less important than the other?