With a new family member on the way we had to upsize the car. We got a Grand Voyager and, after our previous car, it does in fact feel like you are in the captains seat of the star ship enterprise. It is enormous. The kids love the electric sliding doors. I love it when they work and I don't have to manually override them. I also love the fact that it is so much easier to get in and out of when you are pregnant. No more of that rolling out of the car nonsense. It came with an inbuilt TV / DVD player which doesn't work (thankfully). The children have been great about it, but Mehran is determined to have it in proper working order. He had someone look at it only to discover that it is beyond repair and that it will need to be replaced. He didn't want to pay the full cost so instead of ordering one from Chrysler he ordered elsewhere. Twice. The first one was too small and the second one too big (I think there is a lesson here somewhere don't you?) Anyway the doors don't always work and when we first got it it sounded like a small aircraft was trapped under the hood, but that's been fixed and all has been well. Until yesterday afternoon. We returned home from picking up the kids at school. I parked the car at the top of the driveway (engine still running), employed the emergency break (something Mehran normally scoffs at, but that I will forever more continue to do) and hopped out of the car to open the garage door. As I turn around the car begins rolling down the driveway with the children still inside. I grab onto the outer side of the open door and hold on (in case you are curious this is not the most effective means for stopping a two tonne vehicle) I let go when it picks up speed going down the driveway and am reduced to chasing it across the street. I have visions of the car crashing into the neighbours garage and destroying his beautifully manicured lawns. Ruhi told me later that she too was waiting for the crash. Thankfully it never came. When the car jumped the curb and headed up the incline it slowed down enough for me to grab hold again and jump inside before picking up speed and heading back to the road once more. If you think that sounds impressive you should try it when you're pregnant. I may or may not have peed my pants at some stage during this process. Anyway the car had somehow stalled and while we sat in the middle of the road blocking traffic in both directions (thankfully there hadn't been any traffic a few moments earlier) I desperately tried to get it started and moving again. With some difficulty I managed to get it going, get up the driveway and into the garage. I still don't know what went wrong. I'm just grateful that everyone is OK, that no property was damaged and that no cars were flying around the corner of the street while I chased ours across the road. For now I'm just waiting for the shaking to stop and am seriously contemplating snagging some airplane tire props to tuck behind the wheels...
Friday, July 30, 2010
Drama in the driveway
With a new family member on the way we had to upsize the car. We got a Grand Voyager and, after our previous car, it does in fact feel like you are in the captains seat of the star ship enterprise. It is enormous. The kids love the electric sliding doors. I love it when they work and I don't have to manually override them. I also love the fact that it is so much easier to get in and out of when you are pregnant. No more of that rolling out of the car nonsense. It came with an inbuilt TV / DVD player which doesn't work (thankfully). The children have been great about it, but Mehran is determined to have it in proper working order. He had someone look at it only to discover that it is beyond repair and that it will need to be replaced. He didn't want to pay the full cost so instead of ordering one from Chrysler he ordered elsewhere. Twice. The first one was too small and the second one too big (I think there is a lesson here somewhere don't you?) Anyway the doors don't always work and when we first got it it sounded like a small aircraft was trapped under the hood, but that's been fixed and all has been well. Until yesterday afternoon. We returned home from picking up the kids at school. I parked the car at the top of the driveway (engine still running), employed the emergency break (something Mehran normally scoffs at, but that I will forever more continue to do) and hopped out of the car to open the garage door. As I turn around the car begins rolling down the driveway with the children still inside. I grab onto the outer side of the open door and hold on (in case you are curious this is not the most effective means for stopping a two tonne vehicle) I let go when it picks up speed going down the driveway and am reduced to chasing it across the street. I have visions of the car crashing into the neighbours garage and destroying his beautifully manicured lawns. Ruhi told me later that she too was waiting for the crash. Thankfully it never came. When the car jumped the curb and headed up the incline it slowed down enough for me to grab hold again and jump inside before picking up speed and heading back to the road once more. If you think that sounds impressive you should try it when you're pregnant. I may or may not have peed my pants at some stage during this process. Anyway the car had somehow stalled and while we sat in the middle of the road blocking traffic in both directions (thankfully there hadn't been any traffic a few moments earlier) I desperately tried to get it started and moving again. With some difficulty I managed to get it going, get up the driveway and into the garage. I still don't know what went wrong. I'm just grateful that everyone is OK, that no property was damaged and that no cars were flying around the corner of the street while I chased ours across the road. For now I'm just waiting for the shaking to stop and am seriously contemplating snagging some airplane tire props to tuck behind the wheels...
Friday, July 23, 2010
"I have a beaver...on my head."
Not that kind. This kind:
Bayan woke up during the night with a "beaver (fever) on his head." The beaver didn't come down until morning and made for a lousy night's sleep. The poor darling was less beaverish but was still not well and had to join us at school while I helped 40 kids with the first stages of constructing the Mexican pinatas. Bayan was a true champion. He helped explain the paper mache process to a room full of children and even helped make the paste but as the day wore on his eyes got glassier and he unhappier. We left at lunch and came home to rest. All of us hoping that the beaver will go back where it came from. Thursday, July 22, 2010
Shining lights
in an otherwise dark and dreary week:
her self developed action plan to improve her own behaviour
her bright smile,
his sweet hugs,
her self developed action plan to improve her own behaviour and butterfly kicks from this one.
Simple, little, things that did much to lift my spirit and remind me that, despite the obstacles and challenges, life is still very good.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Stay-cation day 4
For our final day of our stay-cation we decided to join forces with some friends. I had read about a fairyland village tucked away in the hills and we decided to make a day of it with a picnic lunch, a trip to an animal farm and toy workshop and topped off with a visit to our favorite chocolate factory. Sadly this post will be picture-less. My fabulous camera decided not to function for me that day. I tried everything I could think of but apparently my trouble-shooting skills are no match for temperamental cameras or, lets face it, for any technological device whatsoever. I even tried pilfering photos from Martha's blog when the download and e-mail attempts failed but even that was unsuccessful so you will simply have to visualize.
Here, I'll help you. The description of the Fairytale village went something like this: 'Hidden away in the heart of the hills lies an enchanted land where you will find 17 chalets tucked along a meandering path each cottage depicting part of a well known fairytale. You may explore the home of the seven dwarfs, admire sleeping Beauty and meet Cinderella (to name but a few). After a tour of Santa's workshop and a peek at old mother Hubbard come and join us in our lavish tea room filled with fabulous fairy treats.' Ohhhh I was so excited imagining the Swiss style chalets that we could enter and explore (to say nothing of the kids who didn't know where we were going until we arrived. You should have heard the kids when we pulled up to two pillars and a castle-like entrance way. Anisa could hardly contain herself.) But then as we drove around to the main entrance... a slightly different picture began to emerge. A muddy drive and a run-down function center blocked most of the "chalets" from view. A 29 dollar fee bought us full access to a decrepit array of shacks with peeling paint and sagging, moss-covered, roofs. There was no access to anything. You got to peer into darkened, shadowy windows for a glimpse of Rumpelstiltskin and if you were lucky there might be a button that you could press and if you were even luckier that button would work and a light would turn on or something would move. I will confess that I was less than impressed. It could have been (should have been for 29 dollars) so much better. But there was a make-shift playground (and a lavishly stocked gift shop) that the kids loved. The highlight was a twirly contraption that they could all ride at once and they had a grand time playing together. So, despite any disappointments, it was not a wasted trip. And it got better. We had a lovely lunch in the cozy tea room and made our way to a toy factory and animal farm (free by the way) that the children enjoyed to their hearts content. The animals were all very tame and friendly (except for a ravenous pony that tried to eat Bayan). But he recovered quickly (Bayan not the pony) and was quite his old self by the time we hit the chocolate factory. We were too late to witness production this time, but there were samples to taste and everyone got to choose a treat to take home. All in all it was a lovely end to our stay-cation, made even more so by the presence of friends.
Here, I'll help you. The description of the Fairytale village went something like this: 'Hidden away in the heart of the hills lies an enchanted land where you will find 17 chalets tucked along a meandering path each cottage depicting part of a well known fairytale. You may explore the home of the seven dwarfs, admire sleeping Beauty and meet Cinderella (to name but a few). After a tour of Santa's workshop and a peek at old mother Hubbard come and join us in our lavish tea room filled with fabulous fairy treats.' Ohhhh I was so excited imagining the Swiss style chalets that we could enter and explore (to say nothing of the kids who didn't know where we were going until we arrived. You should have heard the kids when we pulled up to two pillars and a castle-like entrance way. Anisa could hardly contain herself.) But then as we drove around to the main entrance... a slightly different picture began to emerge. A muddy drive and a run-down function center blocked most of the "chalets" from view. A 29 dollar fee bought us full access to a decrepit array of shacks with peeling paint and sagging, moss-covered, roofs. There was no access to anything. You got to peer into darkened, shadowy windows for a glimpse of Rumpelstiltskin and if you were lucky there might be a button that you could press and if you were even luckier that button would work and a light would turn on or something would move. I will confess that I was less than impressed. It could have been (should have been for 29 dollars) so much better. But there was a make-shift playground (and a lavishly stocked gift shop) that the kids loved. The highlight was a twirly contraption that they could all ride at once and they had a grand time playing together. So, despite any disappointments, it was not a wasted trip. And it got better. We had a lovely lunch in the cozy tea room and made our way to a toy factory and animal farm (free by the way) that the children enjoyed to their hearts content. The animals were all very tame and friendly (except for a ravenous pony that tried to eat Bayan). But he recovered quickly (Bayan not the pony) and was quite his old self by the time we hit the chocolate factory. We were too late to witness production this time, but there were samples to taste and everyone got to choose a treat to take home. All in all it was a lovely end to our stay-cation, made even more so by the presence of friends.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Stay-cation Day 3
The weather forecast was for rain, but the skies were were a beautiful, clear, blue without a cloud to be seen. So I decided to chance it and take the kids on a river cruise. 
They were told nothing. Just that today's itinerary included something special that they have not done before, that we needed to be ready to leave in a couple of hours and that they needed to dress warm. Hmmm. There was much speculation about where we could be headed and what we might be doing. But nothing came close to being correct until we got closer to our destination and they could see the water and all the boats. They were super excited. We saw a few friendly dolphins dashing about in the waves, but no mermaids. Though Anisa kept a steadfast lookout. 
Halfway through our cruise the sky grew very dark and masses of storm clouds thundered on the horizon. The rain they had forecast hit before we returned to the dock. We took refuge in an old lighthouse while it poured down and when it eased off the kids headed up to the top to have a look around.
They were told nothing. Just that today's itinerary included something special that they have not done before, that we needed to be ready to leave in a couple of hours and that they needed to dress warm. Hmmm. There was much speculation about where we could be headed and what we might be doing. But nothing came close to being correct until we got closer to our destination and they could see the water and all the boats. They were super excited. We saw a few friendly dolphins dashing about in the waves, but no mermaids. Though Anisa kept a steadfast lookout. Halfway through our cruise the sky grew very dark and masses of storm clouds thundered on the horizon. The rain they had forecast hit before we returned to the dock. We took refuge in an old lighthouse while it poured down and when it eased off the kids headed up to the top to have a look around.Bayan got a little jiggy and slipped over landing right in a puddle (so much for our efforts to stay dry) the girls comforted him while I (the ever compassionate and sympathetic mother) took photos. We headed home shortly thereafter in the hopes of avoiding further torrential downpours and had fish and chips for dinner. Yum.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Stay-cation Day 2
We did this following our outing to the pool, but since then I have had a nausea induced loss of momentum. So a few of the things I had planned to do have not exactly happened. We have had a fair bit of rain which has also hampered our plans.
Anyhow back to day 2. A cold, rainy, winter's day - minus a car = Spa Day. 
The Spa coordinator got a few facial cleansing recipes off the Internet involving pantry items like oatmeal, honey and egg whites, found some relaxing music and cut up a platter of fresh fruits. She brought out the foot spas (She has an extra one thanks to a lucky find at the markets. Though lucky is not the word her husband would use) and attempted to set up the back massager. She says attempted because one of the main cords was missing and eluded her best attempts at locating it. Grrrrr. She put it out anyway as a third station was needed and encouraged the kids to imagine how soothing and wonderful their massage was. They played musical chairs between the foot spas and massager and had facials and fruit (well Bayan opted against the facial as he didn't want "any yucky stuff" on his face.) It was going pretty well until Bayan went to change his foot spa and wound up flooding the dining room with frothy peppermint foot soak and water.
The Spa coordinator got a few facial cleansing recipes off the Internet involving pantry items like oatmeal, honey and egg whites, found some relaxing music and cut up a platter of fresh fruits. She brought out the foot spas (She has an extra one thanks to a lucky find at the markets. Though lucky is not the word her husband would use) and attempted to set up the back massager. She says attempted because one of the main cords was missing and eluded her best attempts at locating it. Grrrrr. She put it out anyway as a third station was needed and encouraged the kids to imagine how soothing and wonderful their massage was. They played musical chairs between the foot spas and massager and had facials and fruit (well Bayan opted against the facial as he didn't want "any yucky stuff" on his face.) It was going pretty well until Bayan went to change his foot spa and wound up flooding the dining room with frothy peppermint foot soak and water. Despite her best efforts and all the soothing music the spa coordinator was anything but relaxed and calm. She was in fact, quite possibly, the reincarnation of Oscar the Grouch. And thus ended our spa experience. By late afternoon she had regained enough composure to organize a dinner theatre that, with help from Junior management, contained illustrated munu options. Luckily there were a few left-overs to choose from and once the carpet was rolled away and the furniture reorganized the movie began complete with a fully-serviced dinner.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The Stay-cation
We had talked about the possibility of going away for a little while. Maybe taking a short trip to Tasmania during the school holidays, but with a baby on the way and money being rather tight that plan is now very much on the back burner. So instead of a vacation I have planned a stay-cation. I got the idea from JesseKate designs. She has the PDF on her blog (sorry I don't know how to link) so you can just print off the please do not disturb signs, the room service menu and a daily itinerary if you wish. So that was how we started. After dinner I placed a towel, a chocolate, a pencil, a new bar of natural soap, welcome to the Staycation Hotel sign and a room service menu complete with breakfast in bed options on a bed in each of the back bedrooms.
I used scrapbooking materials to make room numbers for the doors and then made coordinating room number keys which I placed in a bag and had the kids choose at random.
They were so excited. Ruhi is determined that we should do this every holiday.
I used scrapbooking materials to make room numbers for the doors and then made coordinating room number keys which I placed in a bag and had the kids choose at random. They were so excited. Ruhi is determined that we should do this every holiday. The next morning they got breakfast in bed (definitely a highlight).
I found some gluten free rainbow fruit loops in the health food section. Low in sugar and colored with natural things like turmeric this was a special holiday treat and an easy, special, breakfast as well. It was also more convenient for me because I knew they would all want to try it. So that created less chaos for management, lest each guest choose a different item from the breakfast menu.
I found some gluten free rainbow fruit loops in the health food section. Low in sugar and colored with natural things like turmeric this was a special holiday treat and an easy, special, breakfast as well. It was also more convenient for me because I knew they would all want to try it. So that created less chaos for management, lest each guest choose a different item from the breakfast menu.After lunch we went swimming at a local pool. It had new flooring, tropical palms and a giant sea monster and was just the thing to put us in a holiday mood. The kids played here for hours and had a fabulous time.
There is currently much speculation about what activities may (or may not) be planned for tomorrow. I just hope the reality does not disappoint.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Viva la France
The girls have been studying France this term at school and are having a "French Day" to celebrate some of the contributions this delightful European country has shared with the world. The kids all dressed up in French colors or costumes (one little girl came as Napoleon - super cute). I made some mini French Flags to go in Ruhi and Anisa's hair and even did some wonky French braids for Ruhi. Anisa took one look at her sister's hair and opted for a simpler style. I really must revisit that youtube tutorial again. The children, including Bayan, have all memorized a French prayer which the girls recited at school and they spent the day playing French games, enjoying a special parade and eating French food like croque monsieur (ham and cheese croissants) French onion soup, fresh crepes etc. Next term I have volunteered to help out with a unit on Mexico. This will probably be my last chance to help out before the baby is born and Ruhi is especially looking forward to it. I just hope I can get myself organized in time.
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