Introductions

I would like to introduce you all to the newest member of our family....

His name is Shumba.

He’s a car. To be precise he’s a 1976 Toyota Land cruiser, or as Papadada prefers to say, ‘an investment’ (questionable)...

Shumba is Papadada’s new love. They spend a lot of time together. To and from work, little tune-ups here, bashing and banging with spanners there, pots of Vaseline to stop leaks in the roof. It’s pure joy for him.

As can be expected, Sticky Baby now also worships at the Church of Shumba. Like father, like son, right?

This is a daily ritual now. PapaD comes home from work, and my two boys disappear inside the beige carcass that is Shumba (South African for ‘Lion’, in case you were wondering...)

Honestly, I can’t complain. Shumba time = mama time = Kell on Earth (new fave show) + cup of tea time.

I now also worship at the Shumba Temple....

I told you guys it was Award Season!

It’s no secret that I am as excited about Award Season as Charlie Sheen in a hotel room full of skanks. So, you can imagine my delight when my lovely blog-friend Erin over at Huddy P, one of my daily don’t-talk-to-me-until-I’ve-read-this blogs, presented me with the Stylish Blogger Award. Hot Dang! Thanks Ezza! (That’s Aussie for Erin.)

In following with this award’s tradition, I shall now list 7 things that you may not know about me:

1/

I didn’t speak until I was 3 years old. You can stop laughing now. And for those of you who know me well, I have MORE than made up for lost time! The reason I didn’t speak until that age? I was absorbing two languages at once, french and english. Now, I am a bilingual genius. Take that haters! PS: How cute is  that pacifier?? You can actually buy them here

2/

I love OPI nail polishes. The quality is second to none and the names they give each hue make me giddily happy. ElePhantastic Pink, MonSooner of Later, Black Cherry Chutney. Love.

3/

See that cat? Mr Bigglesworth? He was previously a hairy feline....and then, we crossed paths and  I WAXED him!!! Yes, I’m a hair removal nut! I love tweezing, hot wax, threading, you name it.  I’ve been waxing my legs since I was 12 years old (I was rather hirsute as a youngster and my mother refused to let me shave. Thanks mum, I owe you big time!). Now, I own my very own semi-professional wax pot and I go all out on my eyebrows (and other areas) every few weeks. Looooooove.

4/

I have recurring nightmares about tidal waves. I’m often standing on the shore watching it race towards me. Weird and scary. Can someone tell me what this means??

5/

Papadada and I were quite old-fashioned when we first started dating. Yup. Day-dates only. Outings to the beach, lunch, movies, stuff like that. It was very sweet and quite revolutionary for both us. Didn’t last long, ‘cause we were H.O.T for each other, but you know, it was lovely while it lasted and IT WORKED! I bagged me a smokin’ hubby from being all coy and frigid. BAHAHAHAHHA!

6/

When I gave birth to Sticky Baby, I actually, physically, pulled him out of my vajin (as Kourtney Kardashian would say). In France, this is how they do it. During the birthing classes, the thought of this made me feel quite grossed out unsure. But, but, BUT, it was probably one of the most exhilarating, unforgettable experiences of my life! Once his little shoulders were out, the midwife instructed me to grab hold of him under his arm pits, and then, voila, I PULLED HIM OUT OF ME AND ONTO MY CHEST! Magic. Pure, surreal, magic. (I kind of felt like Brooke Shields in Blue Lagoon). Papadada kept saying, “Holy Shit, HOLY SHIT”!

7/ 

I speak french to Sticky Baby. 

Papadada and I speak English to one another. 

Papadada speaks fr-english to Sticky Baby. 

Sticky Baby speaks....well who knows what he speaks....but it’s beautiful. 

Seriously, it’s the United Nations over at our house. For real.

And there you have it, readers. Do you still love me or are you all still totally grossed out about the me-yanking-Sticky-Baby-out-of-my-vajin thing? Too much info? Maybe....

Perhaps I should rename this blog TMI....

The Boy from Oz

(Not a post about Hugh Jackman, sorry to disappoint....)

As promised, here are some pics from our Tru Blu Australia Day, this past Wednesday. A big “Shank-u" to Zoe and Adam, our consummate hosts, who each year play a pivotal role in their neighbourhood’s Annual Billy Cart Races. So cute! So fun! There were eskys and beer and wine and lamingtons and sweaty children and sunglasses and Australian flags galore! Just the way we like it....

The men’s final once-over of ‘our’ billy-cart 

(and yes, that is a wheelbarrow with wheelchair wheels and two toddlers as the pilots..)

Sticky Baby making a love connection over the esky. That’s our boy.

Totally rocking the oz hat.

Us

Perspiring kidlets under the hot aussie sun. Minutes before the big race.

In the eye of the beholder

This morning at the gym I witnessed the most beautiful display of love and admiration.

A mother and her 3 or 4 year old daughter were signing in at the front desk. The mother was perhaps in her mid to late 30s, a solid-set lady with dark curly hair pulled back in the all-too-familiar pony tail.

In the reception area of the gym there is a large poster advertising a popular work-out apparel brand, featuring a young, blonde, super toned model.

The little girl ran up to the poster and exclaimed, "Mummy! That's you!"

My heart melted on the spot.

The mother simply replied, "You are the best kid in the world".

Now if that's not the truest example of the phrase 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder', I don't know what is.

So, if you're feeling a little blah today just remember that your little one thinks you look hotter than Megan fox and Miranda Kerr combined:)

Fail

This morning, over breakfast, watching "the land before time" cartoon....

Sticky Baby: "Puppy!" (pointing to a menacing T-Rex)

Me: "ummmmm, not quite bubby, that is actually a man-eating reptile".

Clearly, mistaking a predator for fido would've meant a short life span for my child, had he been born in pre-historic times....

Happy oz day!

Today is Australia day, the day we celebrate all that is uniquely Aussie and everything that makes our great country so special - mates, bbqs, perpetually kick-ass weather, rubber flip flops, cold chisel songs, Tim tams, Home&Away, tru blu slang that only we understand....ahhh the list could go on and on...

This Australia day is super special for us seeing that we are actually HERE! On today's agenda: a street party in Sandgate complete with sausage sizzle, lots of cold beer and Billy-cart races for the kids!

Sticky baby's outfit for the day will consist of an all-in-one green Terry-toweling suit, baby flip flops and the quintessential Australia flag bowler hat. Pictures to come.

The sun is shining, the sunscreen is on. I love this coutry!

As a side note....we LOVED Black Swan!! What a crazy flick! What did everyone else think of it?

Homeless

Renovations are yet to begin (soon, soon) so in the meantime we are nomadically-floating gypsies. This month? House-sitting for my grandparents who are away for 6weeks cruising the world. Some people are so unlucky...

Their Internet connection is about as young as they are which translates to semi-blog abandonment. Posting via iPhone isn't that crash hot though I'm doing it right now..

So don't expect any gems from me in the near future. I will try and brush up on one-liner brilliance though being concise has never really been my forte. High school assignments requiring 1000 words usually resulted in me submitting something resembling a coffee table book. Nerd.

So this is just a short post to gloat that tonight is DATE-NIGHT for the handsome one and I. Hooray! We are off to see Black Swan. Can't wait. Sushi is also on the cards. Double-hooray!

Hope you are all having a good week and revelling in Oprah's half-sister news.