YouTube QUEEEEEEEEEEEN!

Kids YouTube videos.

You love them or you hate them. Generally if you love them you actually are a kid and if you hate them then you are an adult who, for 5 minutes of peace, lets your kid watch them and before you know it they've been watching for an hour and you are going to hear the theme song from whichever surprise egg video has caught their attention, in your sleep for the next week.

Our little Butterfly has her favourites. She gets an allocation of "YouTube time" each weekend in which to binge watch them and then that's it for the week. Every now and then I catch her playing a real life game in which she is a YouTube Kid. She pretends to be unboxing a toy or unwrapping a Shopkin from it's packaging. So you can imagine that then when she actually gets one she wants to do a real YouTube reveal video or unboxing video.

This week she had earned a treat and picked a Lego Minifig blind bag from the available stash.  Instead of tearing into it she asked if I could set up the camera so she could do a video. Now this girl has approximately 10 million words that she needs to use each day. At this point in the day, around lunch time, she was well on her way to beating her word count by more than double so when she asked to make a reveal video I figured it would be PERFECT! She could use up some of her words on imaginary friends!! My ears could rest and I wouldn't have to feel guilty when I realised I had tuned out of her 48 minute recount of a 3 minute event.

I did however tune in and out when she was recording and found that it was actually quite funny. I shared on my Facebook page that this is what she was doing and a couple of people suggested that we do actually put it on YouTube. Well later that night I watched it with Wolf and it was hilarious! Not so much the intentional content of the blind bag opening and then the second video she made of herself playing with play dough, but the "extra dash of crazy" that she brings to everything she does.  It gave a great insight into what life with our Butterfly is like. She actually dubbed herself YouTube Queen! So while I was out enjoying a coffee with a friend in between youth group drop off and pick up, Wolf got to editing... all the crazy into one almost 4 minute video. Actually, it wasn't even ALL the crazy, but 4 minutes felt like long enough.

So, without further ado, here is Butterfly McTavish, self professed YouTube QUEEEEEEEEEN!

Ring my bell

Butterfly is a little hard to understand most of the time. Not because her words aren't clear... it's her meaning that we have trouble figuring out.

About an hour ago we were playing a game where we were throwing this small pink frisbee inside and then when it was my turn to throw it she would leave and I would throw it and then ring the bell for her to come and pick it up for me and bring it back. It really was quite a lovely lazy game for me.

Eventually she got distracted, I didn't ring the bell and she didn't notice.

Fastforward an hour and she is in the bathroom blowing bubbles and I'm messing around on my computer when I hear a command... "RING THE BELL!"

I'm exhausted and it's time for my afternoon coffee so I ignore her and hope for the best.

"YOU NEED TO RING THE BELL NOW!"

*sigh* I ring the bell.

She comes running back and starts looking around on the floor, then looks at me exasperated and says "Why did you need me to come and get mine Tinkerbell frisbee right now?"

"I didn't," I reply, "you told me to ring the bell"

"Yes, I told you to ring the bell so I would come and find mine Tinkerbell frisbee for you." She counters.

"Yes, but... I... you... oh never mind."

You have a blog?

Blogging comes up often amongst homeschoolers. A lot of them keep a blog of sorts to help keep track of their schooling journey or to record when they did what, what programs and curriculum they were using... lots of reason... also in spite of the constant pace of things homeschool mums tend to get bored, I think. Not regular "there's nothing to do" kind of bored, more tired of the monotony and the education-centric thinking of almost every aspect of their day.

Without fail when blogging comes up and I mention that we have a blog I get this response... "You have a blog? You should put all that crazy stuff from Facebook on your blog!" And I know I should, but the short and sweet format of Facebook fits better with my schedule, or lack of schedule.

Right now though, I miss the cathartic outlet of writing, the focus that it allows me (even if the writing has nothing to do with whatever I need to focus on, it's weird) and the creative expression.  So............ I'm going to try and get blogging again. I might just do a few lines here and there, maybe a little catch up from my Facebook posts, maybe I'll fade away again after a week or two, but I need to get my fingers typing and record some of our year of homeschooling.

So for now, until I get my backside moving, here's a photo of Butterfly doing what girls do...

New Blog Header

Grannysaurus has been at me for AGES to update the header on the blog. Yes, the nearly two year old Butterfly wasn't even thought of yet didn't even feature in it. Yes, the nearly five year old was only five months old when the photos were taken. So FINALLY, now that I am trying to blog a bit more I decided that I would do my best to take/find photos of all four kids that could be used for a new header... because a photo of them all together is just not going to happen... ever. So, here it is.

Lion, 9yrs 3mths; Dragon, 7yrs 3mths; Monkey, 4yrs 9mths; Butterfly, 1yr 11mths.

Now I've got another 4 years before I need to do anything about updating this one... right?

The tape I used is by Hummie of Hummies World

When Life Hands You Lemons...

The one where "Life" is your 1 year old daughter, and "Lemons" involves cat vomit and maggots.

I don't think there has ever or will ever exist a more adorable 1 year old girl than this one...

Lets just focus on her dark innocent eyes, her cute little mouth, her soft fluffy hair, the way she looks crammed into a Bonds Wondersuit for the last winter any of my kids will ever fit into a beautiful cuddly soft Bonds Wondersuit... yeah, she's mine and she's adorable.

Now that we have that out of the way, let me tell you something...

THIS CHILD, this same innocent looking, sweet as pie child handed me a handful of cat vomit crawling with maggots that she found on the driveway because she wanted me to see the "snakes" in it. Uh huh. What a way to start your Tuesday.  Of course I didn't take her offered gift.

You know how you read books and well meaning people tell you to consider before the time comes how you will handle certain situations. What will you say the first time one of the kids asks where babies come from? What will you do if your child hits another child on purpose? What will you say when the times comes to discuss the death of a loved one with your kids? These are all well and good to prepare for but no one ever told me to prepare for the day my little girl handed me a handful of cat vomit filled with maggots!

So not having prepared for this scenario I whacked it from her hand and then held her by the wrists and I took her to clean up while I freaked out about whether I had actually seen as much as I thought I had and had I perhaps missed any of the action and had she put any in her mouth? (the kid sampled the delicacy that is a gecko tail removed by the screen door, and also some frog poop, she's not shy on this stuff) Thankfully I was able to reassure myself that no, I had witnessed her squatting down, placing her apple on the ground and picking something up which I had at the time assumed to be dried grass or something that is slightly more normal to find on the driveway.

So I cleaned her up, threw out her apple which was still sitting next to the pile and as I was strapping her in the car her brothers enquired as to what all the fuss was about? So I explained. Rookie mistake (remember I had never prepared for maggot filled cat vomit so I was flying blind here). Each of them had to get out of the car, go find the pile, inspect it far too closely, then gag and wretch as they headed back to the car. How we got to school without anyone giving their breakfast an encore appearance I don't know!

This is real life, McTavish style.

Hope you weren't eating breakfast when you read this.

Anzac Day 2014 *catch up*

*Catch up post* (yeah right, like I could ever catch up from how far behind I am)

Anzac day each year we go down to Anzac Park in the city at dusk for dinner and a wander around looking at the monuments and memorials (and a chance to get a few more photos of the kids). This year was no different except I had a most adorable little assistant who got me all excited for my future shoots by wanting to carry my tripod for me...

I'm thinking that I might need to do a little more training with my little assistant. Like maybe teaching her the difference between a tripod and a camera...

The boys all had their scooters to get around on but they were going too fast and weren't keen on having their photo taken. Thankfully Butterfly decided that she needed to let me get a photo of SOMEONE on a scooter. Lucky her Daddy isn't that hard to convince when she asks him to help her have a ride.

The fountain was *mostly* doing everything it was supposed to. All it's colours worked and most of the different squirty bits were squirting like they should. The kids were, as usual, fascinated with it, especially Butterfly. I think this is one of my favourite photos of the kids. Though the one I took shortly after this of Lion's silhouette coathangering Butterfly's silhouette as she tried to get away and climb down into the fountain is pretty good too.

Left to right, they are Butterfly, Lion, Dragon, Monkey.

Then, as Wolf was loading the kids into the car, I stood and waited for the lights and fountain to go through their changes for one last photo. As it finally changed to where I wanted it a group who had obviously been revealing since the pubs opened decided to jump in and try to photobomb it. Thankfully there was one soberish one who pulled the most insistent one away leaving me with just enough time to snap a couple of shots.

Not much longer...

I'm desperately hoping that Butterfly takes after her biggest brother, Lion, who kept up his daytime naps right up until he started school.

Dragon stopped them about 8 months before he started at school... I could handle that too.

Monkey.

Monkey, Monkey, Monkey... He was 3 when he decided this wasn't working for him any more.

My thought now, even though she's not even 2 yet, is that even if she does keep having naps until she's starting school it just feels, some weeks, like that's not all that far away.

So today I am thankful for daytime naps.

I'm thankful for my big girl and for baby dolls and for naps in tutus and for bruises on shins and for her wispy hair that gets in my mouth when I kiss her sleeping head.

What does the Butterfly say?

She's talking an awful lot lately. Much is indecipherable, but some of it is vaguely understandable as sentences. Though often the meaning is lost in the absolute cuteness of how she says it.

"Op, towwy Nummy, door"

Translation: Oops, sorry Monkey, I just slammed that door in your face.

It's hard to hold a grudge after that.

I'm totally not making excuses here, but....

Do you ever have those days where you wake up and immediately think "I've got this"?

"Today I will get the kitchen sparkling, I'll vacuum so the carpets won't be coated in tissues that the little one tore up a few days ago, I'll scrub the floor so it won't feel kind of... I don't know, kind of sticky but kind of gritty as well and theres another feel to them that defies explanation, also I might whip up a batch of healthy treats made with beetroot and flax seeds and my kids will totally think they are delicious and chocolate and be completely fooled and while that's baking I'll blog a bit of what we've been up to."

Then the little one starts hollering over the baby monitor "Muuuuuuuumy".

Next the 4 year old comes racing into the room dobbing at world record speeds with the brother he was dobbing on hurtling in at break neck speeds behind him explaining why it totally wasn't his fault that he smashed the 4 year old in the face with his foot and it was really all because...

Then someone starts asking for breakfast and then for me to find them paddle-pop sticks and masking tape.

They all follow right at my heels as I go get the littlest from her overnight prison and check for poop before I hug her (that girl has Houdini poop, it escapes that nappy like nobody's business).

At this point, I'm still thinking "I've got this"... but my list is more along the lines of "I will feed them a decent meal for dinner... in 12 hours... if I survive that long... if THEY survive that long... it'll be bedtime just after that, I can make it... it's only 12 hours..."

So, uh, not making excuses or anything... but we are all still alive here, and that's about where things are up to at the moment.

Here's a cute photo of the kids from the start of January.

Butterfly 18mos, Monkey 4, Dragon 7, Lion 9

We tried and tried to get them all to look in the same direction at the same time.

Butterfly did NOT want to conform... which is totally her little personality.

Butterfly at 8 Months Old

I am now 8 months old (back on the 4th March). I love to do my own thing exploring all the stuff I am not supposed to get into. My teeth are so very close but STILL not getting through. I can crawl pretty fast now, and I pull myself up on EVERYTHING. I like to be the centre of attention and if I think you should be looking at me and you aren't then I will let you know!

"Am I doing this right?"

She was tired and didn't feel like sitting up by herself and kept trying to lean back and get comfy. I didn't have my usual assistant (Dragon) and had to use Monkey... which didn't work out very well.

♥♥♥

I was trying to get a photo of the rose hair clip I had made her but she couldn't take those sweet eyes off me.
♥♥♥

"MY BLING!"

When she wasn't going to cooperate I gave her my necklace to try to distract her from climbing/falling off the seat. It worked, but I couldn't get her to keep it out of her mouth for more than a few seconds!

I love her chubby little hands.

Butterfly Beauty

It's been a while and I need to make sure the In-Laws are seeing photos of this precious princess.  She's growing at a great rate now and is at that fantastic stage where everything is JUST-SO-EXCITING! Her hands do what she wants them to (mostly) and she can get around pretty well, the world is her dinner plate. So, here are Butterfly's seven month old milestone photos.

I'm seven months old now (Well, I was 11 days ago but Mummy was sick so we missed it). I'm incredibly cheeky and love to giggle at my silly brother Dragon. I am developing a taste for pretty things, I love to eat them! I can caterpillar crawl, sit up and eat everything in sight. I am on formula and getting more chunkalicious by the day. My teeth are STILL just under the surface but are not causing me many problems. My favourite two tricks are acting shy to get attention and seeing what things look like when I turn my head on the side.

Her outfit today was very special. The dress is a beautiful hand-me-down from "House of Hannah" and the bow is from the fabulous pinkberrykisses and they just happen to match perfectly!

She was actually in the mood for photos today, so we got more than one good one :-) Dragon was my usual baby wrangler extrordinaire, but she goes all serious (confusion maybe?) before she starts to laugh and smile at him, I am glad I got a photo of it.

♥♥♥♥♥ Last one, just because she's so stinkin' cute ♥♥♥♥♥

This and that

Since the arrival off Baby Butterfly we have been a bit overwhelmed. Now there is a bit of a reprieve from the constant busy-mess of life and we are feeling a little more relaxed I thought I would share some photos of what we have been up too.

Mummy made a very colourful baptism cake for Butterfly, the boys thought it was very yummy.

The boys climbed a 'Mountain' with Daddy and still had energy to be silly.

Monkey has taken charge of his new baby sister and thinks he is her protector, but sometimes she needs protecting from him.

I took Monkey out for a treat the other day, he wanted ice cream, he did a good job of finishing his and half of Daddies. He was a champion because he pushed through the pain of 'ice cream headache' to complete his task of eating more ice cream than Daddy.

Monkey also discovered that he likes turkey, he liked the size of the drumstick and asked if there was any bigger drumsticks available. I said maybe an emu, but he didn't think he would like to try emu.  You can find a picture of an Emu drumstick here.  Yum.

Mummy complains because she doesn't get in the photos, so here is one of her and her baby girl.

Speaking of food, I went out shopping the other day and saw an good special. 2 for $4, however my favourite must be everyone else's favourite, can you guess which flavour?

And finally this one taken today. Butterfly the fairy.

Baby Butterfly

Born on the 4th of July... she's our little Butterfly.

Born just before 11am weighing 3.59kg (7lb 14oz) she entered the world screaming... and screaming some more... and then screaming a bit more just for good measure. The OB threatened to not let her back in theatre to see me if she didn't stop her screaming... he was just joking but she did settle down just in time to come back in and cuddle with me while I was getting my insides stitched back inside me.

She was 1 week old in the photo at the top, she's two weeks old today... I'm a bit slow with this stuff lately.

She's eating well, sleeping well and generally being wonderful!

Welcome to the world little Butterfly.