I love my wife (enough to get her name tattooed on my arm anyway)

I have finally added a profile photo to my blog. You will probably recognise it as a tattoo. Those of you that know us may even recognise it as one of my husband's earlier tattoos.

Even though you can't see it, the mermaid is holding a scroll with my name. She is looking a bit faded these days but I love her Vegas feel.

IKEA tragic

Here are my two darling daughters in their bedroom relaxing.  You will notice how neat and tidy they keep their room.  Almost looks like an advert in a furniture catalogue.  Hang on!  That furniture looks familiar.  Is that a price tag attached to the pink bad, the chest of drawers, the rug?

Okay, we stopped at IKEA on the way home from the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.  After dropping the boys off at Smaland us girls enjoyed a bite to eat in the cafe and a wander around the children's department.

I must say that I was relieved when the kids were finally old enough to go to Smaland.  I always felt like I was some sort of IKEA tragic when I walked around the store with them yelling out 'their somewhat Scandinavian names'.

Let's try something different

So, I decided that I would try something different today.  There are only so many times that I can say (or in my case yell) 'leave your brother/sister alone' or 'stop making that noise' or 'I am not your slave' or 'how would I know what you feel like eating' or 'don't think that you are bringing that into the house' or 'I just cleaned that room' - you get the idea - the list goes on.  So I decided that toady a day trip was in order.

We almost didn't make it out of the house.  Shoes that were difficult to find (disappearing shoes may be a future blog).  Arguments over breakfast (I'm not buying you food as soon as we get there).  Have you brushed your teeth?  Yes you need to change into clean clothes (no you can't wear the same t-shirt that you have been wearing for a week).  But leave the house we did and off we went to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

Oh the excitement of sitting on a rock.  Son number 2 is being his usual charitable self to daughter number 2 and letting her share his rock.

The delight of eating ice cream.  Yes this is the face that she makes when she eats.  It is hard to capture in a photo but she always looks very serious, almost angry when she eats.

And yes he always poses for the camera.

The thrill of sliding down the slide over and over again.  You can see in the photo the coffee that I was trying to drink at the time.  Unfortunately she could not master scaling the mini rock climbing wall arrangement that they had going so after a quick wizz to the bottom of the slide I had to lift her back up to the top.

Did I mention the sheer pleasure of digging in the sand?

And the impossibility of getting four children to all look at the camera at the same time.

We gave up in the end.

By now you may be wondering where the 'wildlife' part of our day went.  You may be thinking 'surely they have rocks, ice cream and sand within walking distance of their house instead of having to drive for over an hour south'.  Well the kids did manage time for the kangaroos.  This actually was son number 1's favourite part of the day.  He loves animals and especially loved how soft their fur was.  Daughter number 2 was in 'monkey see monkey do' mode.

Daughter number 1's favourite part of the day was the high ropes (which were pretty cool if you were tall enough, of which only the two eldest children were).

Did I mention how exciting it is to climb on rocks while waiting for your brother and sister who are on the high ropes?

Not convinced

In case you are not yet convinced about Japanese plates I have another beautiful example for you. This one came from an opp shop that I have only recently started visiting in Annerley.

It may be a little more difficult to source yourself one of these. The inscription reads Superior Underglaze - Made in Japan. Although a quick search of the Internet lists other plates with the same inscription.

I have a thing for Japanese plates

I have a thing for Japanese plates. Not the beautiful plates with intricate designs. No, I love the plates for every day use that are made in Japan. Below is a photo of my latest purchase.

This beauty is Electra Stoneware - Luna 9011. A quick search on eBay revealed that you too could own the exact same plate for around $10.

we miss you magic land!

Where do you go when it is school holidays, the house feels like it is shrinking and there is no escaping the kids? The Gallery of Modern Art, otherwise known as GOMA. We are absolutely blessed to be walking distance of this amazing building. Although if you ask my children they would beg to differ. Not about being blessed but about it being walking distance.

One of the brilliant things about the GOMA is the Children's Art Centre. One of the current exhibitions is 'we miss you magic land!'. It is a fantasy world created by Pip and Pop. They used cake decorating tools, sugar, glitter, modelling clay and mirrors to create the most magical wonderland.

The photos don't really do the art work justice but will give you a glimpse at its beauty.

New Year

Well, there is no way to put it other than to say that 2011 was another difficult year. Not to say that it was without highlights. After working for 4 employers this year I think that I have found one where I will be happy. And I did regain my passion for making things and even sold some things. With my creativity returned so has my passion for writing. Happy New Year!