1st Anniversary

Miss you, Princess Fatty Puss <3

Tony Abbott - Dumb Ways to Lie

Tony Abbott - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Happy

Scott Ludlam's Speech to Tony Abbott

"...For anyone listening in from outside this almost empty Senate chamber, the truth is that Prime Minister Tony Abbott and this benighted attempt at a government are a temporary phenomenon. They will pass, and we need to keep our eyes on the bigger picture. 

Just as the reign of the dinosaurs was cut short to their great surprise, it may be that the Abbott government will appear as nothing more than a thin, greasy layer in the core sample of future political scientists drilling back into the early years of the 21st century...

Prime Minister, you are welcome to take your heartless racist exploitation of people's fears and ram it as far from Western Australia as your taxpayer funded travel entitlements can take you..."

=D>  Well said, Senator Ludlam.

Scott Morrison's Operation Sovereign Murders

That's quite some Freudian slip.

The Bad Government

Over lunch one day The OH and I were discussing Tony Abbott and detention centres. Shmoo and Loo wanted to know what we were talking about. We explained it to them and they were perplexed, they couldn't understand why anyone would want to treat other human beings like that. And Loo's comment...

"Everybody has to fight the bad government!"

Brave - Sara Bareilles

Awesome, inspiring, catchy song and music video.

Tourism Film Shoot - Pioneer Park

We were asked to attend a film shoot for a tourism ad at a local camping ground today. The 15 second ad will eventually be shown on the Spirit of Tasmania and at tourism information centres.

 

Listening To... Ordinary Day by Great Big Sea

Loo and I are loving this song at the moment. Toe-tapping, jig-dancing fun with great lyrics.

Shmoo's MasterChef Bread, Butter and Jam

 

  

  

  

 

MasterChef's No Prove Bread with Butter and Raspberry Jam recipe.

So easy and delish. I thought that the butter, in particular, turned out beautifully - so creamy and with a great flavour. It did take a looooong time to change from cream into butter though (I can't believe they did it by hand on the show!) and we did end up squeezing the final result between paper towels to remove the excess water. Overall, a great recipe for an 8 year old to have a go at, with just a little assistance.

Cooking with Shmoo

Love having my biggest boy help me make dinner. He really seems to enjoy cooking. He helped wash, peel and cut veggies and then we made pancakes and macerated strawberries for dessert... I've even started letting him crack the eggs now that Loo's no longer quite so allergic. (Shmoo and I have recently become quite fond of Masterchef - the OH and I have always loved Heston Blumenthal so we particularly enjoyed this week).

Birth Clips

The boys and I spent a good part of the afternoon YouTubing, watching homebirth videos. We started off with a bunch of great ones I'd previously bookmarked from Gloria Lemay's blog and then moved on to searching YouTube itself.

The boys loved watching all the babies being born (including the photo montage of their own births) and it's good to know that they won't be too concerned by the sights and sounds of a normal, natural labour. Shmoo and Loo had wanted to see Beanie being born but things happened so quickly we didn't get a chance to wake them up... Hopefully they'll get to see Baby Bear's birth!

Afterwards we got the doppler out and they each had a go at finding Baby Bear's heartbeat as well as their own.

Man Made Marvels: Okinawa Aquarium

Wow, what a cool doco. The OH recorded it earlier this evening and then we sat down with the older boys and watched it after Beanie had gone to bed. It was fascinating watching the construction of the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium and seeing the level of sustainability that they've attained within the aquarium marine life. It was a great doco to watch with the kids - the sea creatures appealed to both of them and Shmoo was quite interested in the engineering side of things.

The Face of Birth (DVD)

The Face of Birth. Wonderful DVD :)

"A movie about respecting and protecting a woman's right to choose 

how, where and with whom she gives birth

Through the diverse and moving stories of five women who choose to have homebirths The Face of Birth gives us the big-picture on the importance of how, where and with whom we give birth to our children.

Featuring interviews with some of the world's top childbirth experts The Face of Birth explores the links between choice and safety. It exposes the hidden costs, and broader social consequences of rising rates of intervention.

A must-see for all parents, and anyone intending to give birth, this feature-length movie about pregnancy, childbirth and the power of choice will change the way you view childbirth."

Merry Christmas

   

   

Hope your Christmas was as lovely as ours.

The boys loved all of their pressies, particularly the Viewmasters :D Always satisfying to see them take such joy in exploring and appreciating their gifts.

I'm looking forward to sitting down and watching the DVD that The OH got me - The Face of Birth. Hopefully one night soon when I'm not feeling absolutely exhausted.

The OH was pretty chuffed too with his pressies... a 'Bazinga!' Hoodie and a Tea Stix stainless steel tea diffuser.

I Love...

Sitting here watching the Christmas carols on TV with the kids; their hands eagerly pressed against my tummy, feeling the regular bump-bump-bump of their baby brother hiccuping away inside.

White Wine In The Sun (Tim Minchin)

One of my fave Christmas songs ever...

Ditto's Keep Safe Adventure

This afternoon we all sat down and watched Ditto's Keep Safe Adventure Show, a DVD (starring Ditto the lion cub and Fairysafe) that aims to teach kids personal safety skills. It's also Australian - so nice to have the Aussie accents!

I was a little put off at first by the over-the-top, slightly condescending way in which Fairysafe spoke to the audience but I'm aware that lots of kids' TV/DVD shows use this tone and most people probably wouldn't be aware or bothered by it. Certainly it didn't have any trouble holding the attention of my 3 boys!

The DVD covers a number of topics and uses catchy tunes to help teach kids about 'yes feelings' and 'no feelings' and how those feelings might physically make them feel; good and bad secrets; private parts; saying 'no'; and telling someone that they can trust, amongst other subjects. Personally I generally don't use the term 'secret' when talking to my kids, preferring the term 'surprise' (ie. "I got Daddy a Bazinga hoodie for Christmas but don't tell him, it's a surprise" ;) ). There's nothing too specific either when discussing private parts, leaving any specific terminology up to the parents (private parts are defined as mouth, chest, between the legs and bottom).

I wasn't overly keen on the blanket statements regarding the people that children can trust (teacher, policeman etc) but given that pretty much everything comes with 'as long as you feel safe' I didn't feel it was such a big deal. And as with anything on this subject matter, the DVD shouldn't be treated as a stand-alone, teaches your kids everything they need to know thing. Parental involvement is so important! I was quite happy with it as a tool to facilitate discussion with the kids.

After we watched the DVD we went through the activity book and I gave the boys their mini Dittos (which they instantly fell in love with). We did skip a few pages in the activity book but the boys enjoyed what we did do and then they went back through it of their own accord later and did some of the colouring in and other activities (or scribbled as in Beanie's case). It was quite evident that they had actually absorbed a fair amount of useful information from the DVD that they were able to apply and discuss as we went through the book. Loo then requested to watch the DVD again so we had a repeat screening. :)

I'd say that Shmoo got the most out of both the DVD and activity book. Loo probably got more out of the DVD but still did enjoy the book. I'd recommend it for kids aged about 4 or 5 through to about 10. We also have the CD of songs used in the DVD but we haven't listened to it yet, probably will in the car tomorrow!

There's a bit more info about Ditto here; and the DVD, activity book and other resources are available to purchase from here.