We love play dough!

Here is my little 'Martha Stewart' doing what she loves... making play dough!

Elly could make play dough with her eyes closed! Before we even started making our own play dough, she found a video on YouTube on how to make it and would watch it all the time! She was the one who told me about the ingredients we needed and how to make it... as I thought "huh?, doesn't it just come  already made in a tub?" and "what the heck is 'cream of tartar' and where do I find it!?"

Well, I know what cream of tartar is now and in what isle I can find it, and it's become such a fun (and quiet) activity for us to do together while Noah naps. But what I love about it most, is watching Elly and her captivating mannerisms and the way she narrates the whole process, as she imagines herself making her own instructional video- for her 'large audience' of 'YouTube followers.'

Thanks El for teaching me little lessons all the time. Wether they're about making play dough, or more profound ones such as patience, forgiveness , trust, or unconditional love... just to name a few, I really appreciate it. 

'So You think you can dance?'

...Yes Elly, I totally think you can dance! Elena has been taking jazz/ballet classes for just over 2 months now, and she absolutely loves it! I can tell that she loves it because it only takes one "let's get ready for dance" announcement for her to run to her room, put on her tu-tu and grab her ballet shoes. The other hint is that she so willingly lets me pull her hair back into a bun- every other time just brushing her hair is a nightmare!

Yesterday was parent viewing day. I was so excited to go see my little dancer in action and just see her having fun and being the typical cheeky Elly. Well, I was so stunned when I noticed my little chatter box "button her lips"(as her dance teacher puts it), straighten her posture, pay complete attention to all of the teacher's instructions, and perform every stretch, exercise and step so well. She had completely transformed into a little dancer! I don't want to brag -but I will, I even noticed her teacher choosing her to lead the group a few times. I'm so proud of her and so is Joe, who admittedly hopes her new found talent can make us her a lot of money one day. ;)

Blessings of motherhood no. 53

One of the things I love about motherhood, is how it teaches you to become a better person- a more selfless one. Before I was married and definitely before my children, I hate to admit it, but I was quite a selfish person. For example, I was one of those people that if there was danger looming I would run, save myself and leave whoever behind! Thankfully, I've changed that about myself and I have motherhood to thank for it.

Today I had a little accident that hopefully will illustrate what I mean a little better. We have a safety gate (that I love and hate at the same time) across the kitchen entrance to keep Noah out. Well, this morning Noah broke in- thanks to his sister, so I picked him up to carry him back over the gate. As I did this, I leaned on the gate and it gave way. As I felt myself falling with Noah, all I could think of was to save him, keep him safe, not let him hit the ground, and not crush him! I thought of all this in the short seconds it took for me to fall to the ground and keep my 56kg weight off him (ok, might be a little bit more after easter :). I managed to keep Noah up- right and bump free by allowing my ankle to take all of my own and Noah's weight. The old me, would have used whatever I was holding- object or human as a cushion for my landing.

As I sat there with the pain in my ankle, Noah gave me one of the BIGGEST cuddles ever! As to say "thanks mum!" and Elly quickly ran over and administered first aide... a princess band-aid...thanks El.

Noah, I'd take a fall for you over and over again. There is nothing I wouldn't do for you and your sister to keep you safe and out of harm's way. You are definitely worth my sore, swollen ankle and silly old person's limp.

BLOGchitis!

If there is such a thing as 'Blogchitis'- an illness where you feel like all you want to do is blog... I think I've caught it! I'm feeling a little like Dougie Houser at the moment blogging away on a daily basis, sometimes typing away late into the night and hearing my own voice-over in my head! I find my self regularly thinking about what I'm going to write about next, or taking out my camera phone and making my children pose every ten minutes for a picture- like i'm some paparazzi!

I'm going to blame it on two things. The first is that I'm sill in the 'honeymoon period' with my blog and the second is living in a small country town and being so far away from friends and family, it's not hard to get a little lonely out here. Therefore, it's nice to just escape for a bit  with my new found love interest and blog away what i'm feeling or experiencing.
Also, I think Joe is pretty happy that I'm not blabbering away to him  about random and trivial things (such as the subject of this post) as much as I used to. Now I just blog about it... and then make him read my babble instead (small compromise babe)! So on behalf of Joe and myself, thank you blog... and where have you been all my life?!

4 going on 14!

Elly the day of her 4th (not 14th) birthday!

Lately, I have been feeling like a mother of a teenage girl. Elly has been 4 for just over a month now, but the last couple of days she has been acting like a 14 year old! Let me give you some examples of what Joe and I have been dealing with here...

1. A Few days ago, I heard a conversation between her and Joe where she asked him if he can please get her a new phone- a real one, oh and of course a pink one. When Joe asked her why she wanted a phone she answered "so I can call all my friends and talk to my cousin Sofia!" Hmmm... maybe we need to start skyping her cousin Sofia who lives in Canada!

2. Her little friend Te Rina was visiting from Brisbane so we had a little get together with her family at the dam. Just like a couple of teenage girls, they were hanging out and being BFF's when all of a sudden, it turned dramatic... like watching a scene from  the OC. After their little silent treatments for one another and death stares, like true teenage girls- they where BFF's once again! 

3. At the Rodeo on Saturday night, she bumped into Mitchell- a friend from kindy. They played together and had a great time! When I asked her if she enjoyed seeing her friend Mitchell at the Rodeo, she quickly replied "Yes! Isn't he handsome?!" Oh, dear...

4. On Sunday, she refused to go to her  primary class, and "wagged" the second half of it! Enough said.

5. The last couple of days in particular, she's had such a bad attitude! She's been talking back at us and has been so rude and demanding! It has honestly felt like the Queen  had come to stay with us over the long weekend and was throwing out demands and orders left, right and centre! If she didn't get her way or what she wanted ASAP it ended up in tears and tantrums. 

I am so confused. Did I miss the memo? I've heard of 'terrible two's' but is there a 'teenage preview four's' that I don't know about? Where did my nice and polite little 4 year old girl go? I do admit, she was here today and we had a lovely day together up until dinner time and then the 14 yr old teenage girl/Queen of England returned. Now she is sleeping and looking so sweet and innocent and I love her all over again. Please stay little for as long as you can Elly Belly. 14 can wait. 

A quick and requested update...

So at the moment I have 1 follower...woot woot! My sister Irma (my follower on blog and in life:) wanted un update about my "Lesson learned" post, where Noah opened up a big easter egg that I couldn't afford at Target and I just put it back on the shelf.

  Well, the morning after, Elly had Kindy and I promised her that we would get an ice-cream from Mcdonalds after. I also decided that we would head out that afternoon to make my wrong a right and teach my children this important lesson. So I picked up Elly from kindy and of course the first thing she  remembered was the ice-cream I promised her. I told her that I hadn't forgotten about the ice- cream, but first mummy needed to do something important. She looked at me wondering what could possibly be more important than her ice-cream?! I reminded her about the incident with the Easter egg, told her about what I did and what I should have done, how I felt and what a I needed to do to feel better. The whole time she looked, listened, and soaked in all my words of wisdom... so I thought.
As I concluded, I asked her "ok, are we ready to go to Target and help mummy make things right?" To which she responded "huh? Target! I want my ice-cream!" Hmmmm.... not the reaction I was after. Glad to see you didn't loose any sleep or felt bad about the whole incident El.

So we got the ice-cream and the egg all while I repeated my earlier message. This time she really was listening and the message got across ( I know so because I made her repeat it to me:). So to put it all in a nutshell... I redeemed myself, Elly got her ice-cream (and knows what the word repentance means),  and Noah couldn't believe his luck when I handed him the easter egg he had been craving the whole time! :)

Easter weekend

We had a lovely Easter weekend. If you are ever considering a visit to Emerald (ha ha), Easter is the time to come on over. There is an annual Sunflower festival, where a sunflower queen is selected (which by the way I should look into, as they win a trip to Canada to visit Emerald's sister city). There's also the sunflower parade where local businesses decorate a float and throw lollies and easter eggs into the crowd (I think I was targeted, I got hit a few times), and last but not least, there is the Emerald Rodeo! Yes, we love a good rodeo... and the cowboys aren't so bad either ;-).

Here are some photos of what we got up too...

ps. I need camera. These were just taken with my iphone and are not very good.... hmmm, mother's day is coming up, right Joe???

Raining candy! Every kid's (and Joe's) dream.

Elly's  loot!

Noah's loot.

All dressed for the Rodeo!

Little cowboy.

El, and the biggest fairy floss ever!

The girls, checking out the cowboys  rodeo action.

The Easter bunny arrived nice and early on Sunday morning, leaving behind some paw prints and treats for the kids!

This is the life! Straight out of bed and still in his sleeping bag. Unlike Elly who donated her chocolate eggs to us and was more than happy to just play with her new little princess figurines from the easter bunny, Noah went straight for the chocolate. 

Noah eventually took a break from his chocolate breakfast and checked out his present from the easter bunny. Please note the cute easter baskets in the background ;)

It really was a great Easter weekend! Though we have an endless amount of lollies from the parade, fun memories from  the rodeo, and treats from the easter bunny, Joe and I both agree that nothing beats watching Elena's face as she listened so intensively while we shared the easter story and as we watched an Easter  message video for our family night. It was one of those special and rewarding moments where you feel so blessed as a parent and find yourself thinking... "life is good," closely followed  by... "I must be doing something right!" :)

One too many roasts

This was dinner tonight.

Who wouldn't want a nice lamb roast for dinner? I'll tell you who... Joseph! I told him I would dedicate a post about his "offence" at a roast dinner (his own choice of word), he even helped me title it... "One too many roasts". I on the other hand, have learnt to not take offence when I see his face cringe every time I mention we are having one for dinner, which is a little too often for poor Joe. The kids and I are like every other normal person who does enjoy a good roast... right?  Therefore, Joe has been 'taking one for the team' every time I make one (a lot!).

This is what I find a little funny, and the real reason I wanted to write this post. It just goes to show how completely different our worlds were growing up, and how we have some how managed to combine our backgrounds well together... up until roasts are involved.

For instance, Joe's argument is that he grew up eating roasts all the time (sorry, but I have no  sympathy there), and thinks they are boring and overrated. Instead, he would be more than happy eating tacos, my mum's tamales, pupusas and refried beans (all the stuff he didn't have growing up). 

As for my argument, I was at a HIGH SCHOOL camp when I first experienced a nice roast and thought it was the most delicious meal ever! All I had growing up were tacos, tamales, pupusas and refried beans (no sympathy from Joe there). 

So it got me thinking tonight as I saw Joe taking another one for the team, maybe it's my turn? I think that when Joe married me he thought I was going to cook Salvadorian/mexican delights all the time, just like my mum... wrong! At the start of our marriage my lack of cultural cooking was fine because we would just go 10mins down the road to mum's house where he would get his fix. But now that we live 10hrs up the road from my mum's cooking, it's all up to me to make my Salvadorian cuisine deprived husband happy. So I think its my turn to 'take one for team' and lay off the delicious roasts for a while and bring on more taco nights... just for you babe. See how much I love you. :)

Unlike his father, here is Noah enjoying his roast dinner. Even complementing me by licking his plate clean!

Lesson Learned.

Easter is approaching. Like always, I leave everything to the last minute. I remembered today that I still hadn't gotten the kids some easter egg baskets I had promised them for the egg hunt we are planning. Simple task right? Nope, not when you live in Emerald! I couldn't find a single basket anywhere today, they were all sold out!  So I went to plan B, just get them a beach bucket that they can later use for sandcastles... nope, that must of been everyone else's plan B too. There were no buckets to be found, or any type of container with a handle.
So I rang my trusty store, ' Target country'. I thought I'd ring them first because they have relocated further out of town due to the floods earlier this year, and I didn't want to drive all the way out there only to be disappointed.  As always, Target Country pulled through for me. The lady on the phone gave me the good news that there were a few baskets left and gave me the price.
So I set out with the exact amount of cash I needed so I wouldn't buy anything else (that store gets me every time!).
I found the cute baskets, grabbed two and everything was going to plan. For once I was going to just walk in and out of this store until... I got distracted. I stopped to look at something for what I thought was a second, until I heard Elly saying "mum, look at Noah! He's opening an egg!" Sure enough, Noah had reached out from the trolly and had helped himself to a nice big easter egg and had taken most of the foil off! Nooooooo! I couldn't afford to buy this egg! I had the exact amount of cash I needed for my two cute baskets, that I had searched all day long for! I inspected the egg. Still looked good and I'm pretty sure, though not certain, that he didn't touch the chocolate. I had two options...

 1. Put the foil back on the egg the best I could and pretend nothing happened or
 2. show and teach my children the value of honesty and sacrifice one of my baskets and buy the easter egg.

I buckled under the pressure, and opted for option 1. Did I mention I searched for baskets all day?

So I quickly put the foil back on the best I could, and put it towards the back of the other nicer looking eggs. Just as I thought to myself "no one will ever know," one of the workers started cleaning around the section, and the next thing I hear is my lovely Elena saying to this nice and un aware worker "excuse me, my little brother got one of your easter eggs and opened it."
Noooooooo! I looked at the worker, the worker stared at me with this look that kinda said "is this true?" Well, to be honest, I had no idea what her look was saying but again, I had two options...

1. Confess, put back one of my cute baskets, get the hideous looking egg, and go pay for it. Or...
2. Look at the lady with a "I have no idea what she's talking about" look, smile, grab my children with baskets in tow, pay and leave as quickly as possible.

Again, I buckled under pressure and went with option 2.

Now, I have both of my cute baskets but I also have this feeling of disappointment and regret. I always look for little teachable moments for my children, wether they're educational or spiritual, this could have been a good moment but instead I feel like I let them, my heavenly father and my self  down.
So lesson learned. Doing the right thing can be hard sometimes and inconvenient but you can't do wrong and feel right. I rather feel right and teach my children right, and what better time to teach them about repentance than at easter! So I've been blessed with a second chance at a teachable moment.
I'm going back tomorrow. I'm going to go buy that easter egg (i'm sure i'll have no trouble finding it) and tell my children that mummy is sorry and that it's what I should have done in the first place and feel right. I'm sure eating the egg afterwards will help. :)

For longer than forever

 One of my favourite animated movies when I was a kid was 'The swan princess'. It's based on the 'Swan lake story' and directed by Ritchie Rich, who is a member of the church. I loved it so much that my sisters and I, including my brother Juan (who we'd out number so he really had no choice), would watch it every chance we got. So imagine my excitement when I saw it at Woolies on dvd! I had to get it! I was excited for Elly to watch it too, as I knew she would like it. Well, she more than liked it, she loved it! Needless to say, she or should I say we, have watched it everyday since we brought it home. It never gets old, truly a classic.

I know it's a little cheesy, but I love the message in the movie about finding your true love, making a vow of everlasting love, and being together 'for longer than forever' as the lovely song from the movie puts it. I used this for a little teaching moment with El, and reminded her about the temple. The place where mummy and daddy got married and sealed together for longer than forever- eternity. She expressed that when she is big, she also wants to marry 'prince Derrick' for longer than forever in the temple... a true romantic.

It reminded me of myself as a little girl watching this movie, wondering who my tall dark and handsome 'prince Derrick' would be? Well, I have him now. His name is not Derrick, he's not very tall, not dark but tanned, but he sure is handsome. Joseph Alexander Dunbar, my real life prince and perfect man for me. I'm blessed to have found him,  married or "trapped him" as he would most likely put it (jokingly of course), in that special and sacred place, for longer than forever.

Doctor's orders

Since having children, the whole 'sick days' thing I once had and enjoyed as a working girl all those years ago (4 to be exact), are now non-existent. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I never get sick now (I wish), It's just that once you become a mum, there is no such thing as 'chucking a sickie' or having a 'sick day.'
No matter if I have a thumping head ache, stinging eyes, a blocked nose, a burning sore throat, or yucky cough, I still have to get up at some ridiculous time of the morning and report for duty... I mean take care of my lovely and compassionate to the sick, young children. Which just goes to show how much I love my munchkins. I must really, really love them.
Because even with the flu and all, there is nothing I wouldn't do for my two (I just might not do it with a big smile on my face).

It helps that i've finally come to deal with and accept the fact that even though sometimes I'd give anything to just 'chuck a sickie' or show them a doctor's certificate clearly outlining that I rest and do nothing for the remainder of the day, I know there is just no such thing for a mother of young children. Or maybe there is?
Elena said the best thing to me the other morning as I laid sick in bed with a tissue up my nose and Noah just waking up in the other room... "mummy, are you still sick today?" "Yes" I replied. So she went on to say " mum, just stay in bed and sleep all day ok. I'll get Noah and I'll look after him for you today." "Are you sure El?, you don't think you're too young?" I said jokingly, to which El replied "Trust me mum, just trust me."
I'm not gonna lie, I considered it for a minute or two... or three. Wouldn't that be nice! Maybe in a couple of months El... I mean years, i'll take you up on your offer and the privilege of having a 'sick day.' :)

No more sticky notes.

Finally, I've done it! I've always enjoyed reading (or stalking) other people's blogs, so I thought I should just start my own to document all the wonderful and not so wonderful things that happen in our casita (little home). Up until now, my style of journaling was sticking little notes about special milestones all over my fridge, in hope that one day I would record them down in a book. Surprisingly, this has not been working for me. All those little notes are sadly still there months later and my fridge looks a mess. Clearly, I've never been great at journaling. I'm more of a journal reader- just ask my sisters, but I'm excited to finally do away with my sticky notes and have my own little space that will hopefully motivate me to journal often.

I think the key for me will be to keep it short, sweet and simple. Just thinking of a title for this blog almost had me questioning the whole thing. I thought about it for a long time and couldn't come up with anything special. Lucky for me I have my Joey, who I always turn to for a little bit of inspiration and saved this blog from being called something like "New kids on the Blog"( yes, I really did think that was a cool name) to something more homely and meaningful. So this is the start of 'La Casita Dunbar', or in other words, 'The little Dunbar home'. A place of love and laughter and the occasional tears. So welcome to my blog... mi casa es tu casa (too cheesy? haha, couldn't help myself).