Nanna is relaxing for New Year's Eve

I am having a wonderfully quiet evening enjoying blogging and having no pressure to go out and party.... to be honest I am a bit over parting.... I shall go into the New Year well rested....

I am wishing all my beautiful children and grandchildren a wonderful New Year... and hope that the pressures of life will be small for them and that the children will blossom and bloom into superb young children guided by their parents... and of course the grandparents..... its sounding a bit Corny.... what the hell...

Whats in store for the grandchildren.... Jasmine starts school... year 1, Dylan starts Pre-school and has his tonsils out in January (no swimming for 3 weeks poor boy), Jessica starts Kindergarten not before time.... she will love it... Talia is our in between child at two and a half... then there is Sam, Isabella and Logan who are all 18mths there abouts Logan being the youngest at 15mths.... so I guess its their turn to be home alone with mum/dad.... and miss the sibling that has gone to school.... it will be interesting to see how these three blossom this year.

But there parents still have to entertain them until February.... oh how I use to get so tired of the Christmas holidays..... it does bring back memories......

until next time wishing you all a Happy New Year.......

Summer is great for the kids playing in the pool.....

Dylan, Jasmine, Jessica



Over the week or so I have managed to spend more time with the family... what a surprise... because I have been off work... even though I do have work to do, i have not been motivated to do it... the weather has been wonderfully hot therefore I have spent a lot of time in the pool.

Jodie with Sam and Talia


Isabella


Scott & Logan


I looked over previous blogs and note that I have not blogged much on this site....that is mainly because I have been too busy with my other blogs and work... there are many times I have spent with the grandchild and have laughed at comments they have made and thought I must blog that .... but alas time gets away with me and I don't get it done. The children come out with such gems..... at times...you wonder where they get it from.

With seven grandchildren we are busy all the time.... I do try very hard to be fair and equal with them all in terms of everything.... this week we have one each night for a sleep over...of the older children...the younger ones make it to hard... already having the kids invades on our sleep in of the mornings and our playtime... remembering this is our holiday too as during the year we are both busy and tired. We do have to train the grand kids to knock on our door.... before entering...

Jasmine helped wash the dog (Muffin) don't know who needed their hair brush more!

Next year Jasmine starts school, Dylan starts pre-school and Jessica starts kindy so a big year for all of them.... they are certainly ready for it...Talia who really is the middle one will probably do four year old kindy, then there is Sam, Isabella and Logan who will be left at home..... I also think next year we may be heading for grandchild number 8 if Ben & Peta's plan goes ahead.... that is there baby plan... so watch this space for more adventures with the family.
All the very best for 2010 to everyone.

Santa came to visit on Christmas Day:

The kids call out Santa, Santa, Santa and then Santa appears with lollies and presents in hand....


Joy at our house, we have a special arrangement with Santa, he comes to our home to give out the Christmas presents in the evening with all the family.... it is such a special time.... everyone is welcome... and often we have special people visit us...like Auntie Pastie from England who was staying with Auntie Audrey and you know what, Santa had presents for them as well wasn't he cleaver.... we put a lounge chair and an umbrella in the back garden and Santa sits in comfort and hands out the presents to the eagerly awaiting children and parents.... it really is a fun day....



We went to see Jasmine, Talia & Sam at there house for lunch.... just as well because the kids were at there best..the girls looked great in the dresses, that I bought them in Singapore last year... I get so much pleasure out of seeing the kids wearing the outfits you buy for them.... in the afternoon the two little kids were tired and poor Sam was sick.... it really is a big day for the kids....



There is lots of family, friends, food and drinks... a good time was had by all....




Isabella Rose in her angel dress was as cute as ever.. however she was not impressed with Santa.. she stuck close by to mummy....


like wise Logan Mark.... stayed close to Daddy... this is a great picture of father and son... both smiling at the camera.... they have the same nose...thats his grand-dads nose....


Dylan got this great present from his Uncle Scott & Auntie Nikki.... he went around asking everybody if you could open it after mum and dad said wait.... poor boy...Nanna found it hard to say no.... but she did...


The family having Christmas dinner outside after Santa's visit, it was all very good food and fun... roast turkey, pork, ham, crayfish, prawn salad, roast potatoes, salads.... cakes, lollies, Moet Champagne......etc

I am so blessed to have a loving family.....Thank you....

Putting up the Christmas Tree with the grandchildren

Dylan helping nanna put up the Christmas tree he did a terrific job..



Singapore: a Christmas tree made with teddy bears:


Oh my favourite time of the year.... work has come to an end at least for a few weeks... I switch off and concentrate on my family life... leading up to Christmas is always very busy... this year I was in Singapore early December which puts pressure on in terms of time and Christmas parties.



My Christmas tree was late going up this year... as Kirsten moved out in October and she normally helps me.... so I was tardy getting up this year... until I thought the grand kids can help put it up... so there begins a new trend.... the kids putting up the tree.... they are such helpful little cherubs.... even Isabella helped by the decorations on the tree..




The Christmas cake was later than usual but the fruit managed to get a soak for at least a week.... it was too late this year to make the gingerbread house.... so I had to find something else to make for the kids that would distract from the usual ginger bread house.... so I put chocolates and candy sticks in the welcome bowl near the front door and made some Christmas crackles which went down a treat... and nobody mentioned the gingerbread house... will do it next year.....




Then the kids decided that uncle Scott could be decorated as a Christmas tree and then Dylan also thought he would make a good Christmas tree and put the tinsel all over him... it was all good fun......

Dylan's first Kindy Christmas Concert:

Oh the joys of Christmas... I just love it... I love the fact that I can buy the children presents... looking through the shops to see what they would like.. to spoil them in a nice way... to see there faces as they open their presents... it is a real pleasure one which I look forward to and enjoy immensely...



With Christmas comes the children's concerts.... how I love to watch them... it brings a tear to my eye...they look so cute and innocent and they try so very hard to please and do the right thing.



Dylan's kindy class was dancing to Lilo & Stitch - Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride - they were all dressed in Hawaiian shirts and the girls had grass skirts on they all looked so cute.... and did a wonderful job... I managed to persuade the others to watch several other performances before we left for dinner at Faye & Brendon's with the other grandparents.... Dylan was so proud that both sets of grandparents came to watch him on stage... he really loves all the attention and love he gets from both his grandies... and I must say I do enjoy spending time with them all.... it is one of my greatest pleasures in life..... and I look forward to many more concerts.....

April...Grandparents day.... Jasmine...

Nanna this is where I hang up my school bag



I am a real sucker for watching the school kids especially at Assembly and singing..Grandparents day what a fantastic idea.... we never had that when my kids were little... I wonder if it is an acknowledgement for the work that grandparents do... or is it that more grandparents are looking after children. The children sang beautifully... they had also written poems about their grandparents... it did bring a tear to my eye.... and Jasmine kept an eye on me to make sure I was watching her... and she knew all the words to the songs.. so cleaver.



For me this has become very important because I never knew the concept of grandparents... or extended family... because mine all died young... as for my parents... I came from a rather dysfunctional family... so my children didn't grow up with grandparents... or rather they did know a sort of grandparent..... so it has been very important for me to be the best Nana possible .... our family has grown rather significantly... there are uncles and aunties and cousins... plus the fact that Ian and I are the Brady Bunch... three kids each which makes for seven grandchildren.... so we are steppies.... so to speak... but we all mix well and for all the grandchildren we are Nanna and Pops..... and we do our best to treat them all equally.... and believe me that can be a merry dance.....



I was so proud of Jasmine... she looked so sweet... we sat on the mat and read a few stories... she showed me around the school and introduced me to the teacher... she is so cleaver sometimes I think she is way beyond her years.... she is a bright cookie... and needs lots of one to one time... there are no flies on this girl.. does not miss a trick... she has a better sense of direction than me... in fact on this morning I took her to school and she showed me the way.... which was a good 20 mins from home.... she was 4 when she did this... I am slow at putting this post up.... because grandparent day was at the beginning of this year.... sorry Jasmine... just too busy....
But she did a brilliant job.... I got lost coming back to work....

The grandkids are growing up quickly

Its been a long time since I have written on this blog... thought of it often but work is so busy that I have not had time. What reminded me was all the stories I have to tell about the grandies....they just make you laugh... they are so much fun... today Jess, Dlyan, Isabella and Logan all came to visit... the two older ones are four and the younger 16mths and 13mths... and off course there are the other three grandchildren that were not here today... that would really make the house full.... surprising you think the house is big enough until you get the kids in it and it never seems big enough...


For me as a Nanna it gives me time to play like a child again, watch cartoons and Disney Movies....it is so much fun.... and to listen to them talk.... the incredible stories they come out with and the way they mimic their parents... it is so much fun being a nanna, although there are times you cringe at what they say.... and wonder where do they get it from....

Nanna I don't like anything on your oven rail... please dont put tea towels on here!This is the only baby grandchild to come this close to Monty....



Little Logan is walking and like a walking tornado and an eating machine, Bella is sweet a real girl, with a high pitch squeal and trying to boss everyone, Dylan is a georgoues little man so helpful... ready to come to resuce everyone and Jessica, Miss Jessica wise beyond her years... "Nanna dont you know 'sex is when you get naked' pursing her lips towards me... its a worry.... when I asked where did you hear that she replied "the TV".Grandpops said "I want to watch her TV"... I do wonder what is she watching on TV and do the kids just watch too much....



Dylan has almost finished his first year at kindy.... he bought his books for nanna to look at today.... how nice... he was so proud of the work he had done...."Nanna look I did this" so cute....



Jessica is always telling me she wants to marry Dyan..."Nanna he's my best friend" and I keep trying to explain you can not marry your cousin... especially your first cousin.... alas it falls on deaf ears... the only saving grace is that in a year or two she would make lots more friends and have a bigger social network her cousin won't be as important to her....she will be to busy with her school frends.


Yes this is how I keep them all in one place....and quiet.... 'ice cream'

Telethon Toddle 2009

Harry Chapin sings a song called ‘circle’ this song is apt when you think about life and how things go round in swings and roundabouts. I remember when I used to take my children to the telethon breakfast and building the money brick wall now that would be over 20 years ago. Now I am going with my grandchildren – life is really a circle! When you do these things when your children are young you really do not realise what impact it has if any impact. For my daughter Faye, she remembers those times as happy fun family times, going to meet Fat Cat, Percy and Humphrey B Bear, she now wants her children to enjoy the same things. I must say it is different now to what it was back then, it’s more complicated now.

All my life's a circle;
Sunrise and sundown;
Moon rolls thru the night time;
Till the daybreak comes around.

All my life's a circle;
But I can't tell you why;
Season's spinning round again;
The years keep rollin' by.

Faye decided that it would be a good idea to go on the Telethon 2km Toddle walk this year, and both sets of grandees can go along for the walk too. Yes great idea, I love being a grandparent, however I think I am old enough for the job.


Sunday morning is usually our sleep in morning – not this Sunday we are up at the crack of dawn, well not quite. We decided that as there were two sets of grandparents going we need more children to go, so we took Jasmine 4.5yrs and Talia almost 2yrs old. It was the first time we had taken Talia out without mum and dad – she was so excited, going out with big sis, nanna and pops. Talia proudly waved bye bye to a nervous mum and dad, mind you I am sure they would enjoy a few hours break with only Sam left at home (8mths). We would be meeting them later in the day for a family birthday lunch.

I’m not sure of the numbers that attended, but it was packed. I was a little disappointed at the organisation of the day. The first problem was the power went off and the walk was delayed for at least 30 mins. Dylan enjoyed watching Bob the Builder and Jasmine is old enough to really enjoy the dancing routines; her favourite was the bumble bees. The walk really needs to be a one way walk, not 1km there and turn around and come back. The path is too narrow with pushers, prams, bikes, toddlers, dogs and some oldies, not me.


It was fun to see the markers each 0.5km and we took Jasmines picture at each sign, she was really good and walked the whole two k’s.





As for Dylan he to walked but often had a ride on Dad’s shoulders, Talia was in the stroller for ¾ of the way and Isabella was in the pusher and managed a sleep. Both granddads did well, and off course the nanna’s didn’t have a problem. At the end of the walk was the ‘good fairy’ and the kids had their photo with her and received some fairy dust, off course grand pops wanted his picture taken, what a surprise that was!




I was disappointed that Fat Cat only appeared on stage for a short period, it would be nice if he could mingle amongst the kids so that the grandparents could take some photos, alas that did not happen. It was time for a nice cold drink and some food, thank goodness the other nanna and Faye were organised with food, as we were going out for lunch, I just took a packet of biscuits and some water. Better planning is required for next year. All the kids had balloons, Jasmine seem to lose every balloon we managed to give her. We took Dylan, Jasmine and Talia on the mini Ferris wheel - Talia was all keen to go on, until it started to move upwards, then the crying started and the call of 'nanna' came - it was time to go to the rescue and get her off - it reminded me of the time when we were in Durban and Faye went on a spinning wheel and really did not like it, in fact she was sick, so there was flying vomit!!! yuk, it took her a long time to forgive me and she was much older than Talia. So I was very worried about little Talia, I didn't want her upset or traumatised. Nothing some fairy floss did not fix.


A good time was had by all, we left about 1230 to go to lunch, I thought the kids would have a sleep in the car, you know what thought did! the others stayed and had a nice picnic lunch and then all went home for an afternoon siesta.

Be good until the next nanna adventure with the little darlings!

The making of Isabells christening gown

Isabella's christening was last week, Faye organised it for March and has asked me to make the dress. Which was not unexpected as I did make Dylan's outfit and his was a challenge because you want it to be special but boyish. Me I like grandiose, lace pretty etc, but for a boy well you have to curtail the pretty and lace, so I made a Satin suit, bow tie and a satin blue embosted waist coat. However for a girl, well, I could just go mad. But my daughter added a special challenge for me, that was to incorporate some family lace on her husbands side for me to use - some beautifully handmade lace which was around some pillow cases. The lace was handmade by Isabella's great grandmother it was quite heavy looked croqueted but it wasn't it was very nice but not what I had in mind, so I had to re think the whole outfit. I looked for a pattern that would enhance both my ideas of what I wanted and also bring out the best in the lace. I spent several weeks looking for material that would match this lace. If you know anything about material it fades or looses it's original colour, for whites they go yellowish or off white. I eventually found some beautiful off white satinish material, imprinted with a rose through out, it matched the lace perfectly. Faye and I both went to this fantastic store called 'Fabulous Fabrics' in Balcatta, what a store, lace galore from all prices we looked at some that were $175.00 per meter, I could not justify that, we settled for one that was $45.00 per meter and it was fabulous.


Now the hard bit was done, finding the pattern, lace and material. I set aside a whole weekend for the job of making the outfit, nobody was invited to the house for dinner and no looking after grandchildren or socialising with friends. A small problem occurred I had not used my sewing machine for at least a year an had forgotten how to use the roll hem feature - so had to call on my Shaz to help, we used to do lots of crafts together, those were the days, making teddy bears, where have they gone! just not enough time. Thankfully between us both we worked out how to roll hem the lace. I spent the whole weekend sewing - Bella had a fitting on the Saturday night, Faye cooked us a lovely dinner then it was home to burn the midnight oil, which is not unusual for me at the best of times.
You might well ask how do you fit it all in, well you know there is an old saying 'the more you have to do in a day the more you do' 'the less you have to do, the less you do' how true that is for me, however very rarely do I have less to do.
I thoroughly enjoyed challenge of making the outfit, where I added the lace was trial and error, it looked perfect on the bottom and around the sleeves of the dress, however the hat really showed off the lace and Bella, I am sure great grandmother would be smiling from heaven, both Nanni's and mum were delighted and Bella is truly blessed.

I get such joy out of making things for the children, I feel the days of hand making are over, it is so expensive now to make your own clothes. Material is not cheap any more and then off course there is your own time and labour. When my children were small it was cheaper to make there clothes, now it is not, apart from the personal pleasure there is no benefit from it at all.
My consolation is that in generations to come I will be the great grandmother smiling from heaven and I will be remembered for making this gown and a tradition continues.

I am so happy & grateful for having a wonderful family.


Dylan's Christening 16 October 2006 & Jessica