let's talk about colouring*

*And no, I don't mean colouring ...

Colouring-in has gotten a bad rap over the years, the premise being that it stifles kid's creative drawing, use of imagination etc etc blah blah blah.

We're in a big colouring phase (I'm trying to type with a straight face here) and I think it's great.
Firstly, it's super easy to print pages off the internet depending on what they're interested in - in the last month we've been through unicorns (of course), fairies (of course), frogs, bee's, eagles and a medley of patterns and floral designs.
Secondly, what they're learning about colour and shading, and the pencil-grip practise they get puts paid to all other concerns.

Thirdly, they're still totally drawing freehand as well.
Fourthly, printing out and handing them a stack of blank, inspirational pages buys me some time to do other things around the house - and what's not to love about that?
And lastly, we've seen such a huge improvement in Sunday's colouring skills in just a few weeks. From random scrawls, to real progress in keeping between the lines and using different colours etc.

My favourite thing at the moment is to listen in on them working together. Real discussion about colour choices and the personalities of the figures they're colouring or the stories behind their pictures.

Imagination, creativity, sisterly bonding - all of this is good. Now if someone would invent a self-sharpening pencil crayon I'd be completely happy.

self portraits

Saturday morning drawings.

Friday: I'm an angel Mum, bringing joy and happiness to the world. (Wise ass.)

Sunday: I'm a monster.

From the mouths of babes. Anyone who'd like to tell me again 'shame, it must've been those bad ears which was making her so difficult' should come and spend a couple of days in our house #justsaying.

cake of macabre magnificence

On the strength of the fabulous cake we made for Friday's birthday (no apologies for the brag), a good friend asked us to make her a birthday cake this weekend.
She has a taste for the macabre does our Janine, and requested something a little twisted. We were happy to oblige ...

This was our first time making a themed cake for someone outside of our immediate family and I have to admit it was a teeny bit stressful - I don't think I could ever do this for money, or to a strict brief. It's fun to have an idea and then just go with it, never sure quite how it'll work out.

But as with the birthday cakes we've made for our daughters, the best part was thinking fondly of the recipient as we made it, chortling at how much she'd love it. As weird as it may be to imbue a blood-splattered cake with warmth and love, this one was splattered with both.
Happy birthday Janine!

And some notes for those interested ... the 3 tiers were standard Victoria sponge (double mixture), sandwiched in this case with strawberry jam and iced (by my husband the master icer) with white buttercream. The edible blood was a bit of a coup - after researching many recipes online (most of which called for cup of corn syrup - eeeuwww), we made our own by modifying a chocolate glaze recipe which we've used often before, this time using just a little bit of cocoa powder and lots of red and green food colouring.
Artfully applied with a basting brush, the glaze harden beautifully, looked super gory and tasted delicious!

cute coffee stop

Driving down Constantia Main Rd the other day (which incidentally, and appropriately, as to be the most la-di-da Main Rd in Cape Town, not at all what we expect from a Main Rd really) - in fact, I didn't even know it was called that until recently - you know, the road which goes from Constantia Village all the way up to Constantia Nek?

Okay, wait. Driving down Constantia Main Rd the other day I came upon this, near the High Constantia Shopping Centre:

How cute?!

Not the cheapest coffee in town but it was delicious, and total props for style ...

... and you get a loyalty card that only needs 5 stamps to get a freebie! I like.

An inspired initiative by a Hout Bay coffee lover (who also serves tea). Go support him!

big girls and small girls

Raising girls is challenging!

(You know what else is challenging? Not having reliable internet for over a MONTH. But I'm trying to get over that, and proceed as if nothing happened. Which it did, for a MONTH. Thanks a lot Telkom.)

Anyhoo. Girls. Challenging.

Yesterday evening for example. I accidentally smashed an empty peanut butter jar all over the floor, and it took me 3 times longer to clear it up due to the inordinate amount of distracting glitter twinkling and shining all over the place.
Girls.

But I loved this article I just read off Facebook today. The forgotten years of girlhood. 10 to 14 the author reckons. Years in which girls should be sorting out some of the fundamentals of their personalities, while probably being at their most easily distractable ever.

It was the line about 'learning to be women' which really struck me. As the author says, there are so many inappropriate ways for girls to learn about womanhood - glossies, most TV programmes, their peers who by definition will be floundering just like them - that it's really important to consciously introduce more balanced influences.
Enter the Aunties.

My womanhood was, is, so strongly influenced by my mother, her friends, and a life time's observation of the the relationships and dynamics between them. These aunties - strong, creative, funny, intelligent, sometimes vulnerable women - taught me so much.

Which is why I was so happy when, after my birthday tea in May, an afternoon with some of my closest girlfriends, Friday declared that 'I love your friends Mum. I wish they were my friends too.' And even happier when I could say, 'But they are sweetie, I think they'd all call themselves your friend', and she beamed with delight.

I love my friends. I'm so grateful to them for all the ways they've supported and spoiled and saved me over the years. And now I'm grateful to them for something else. For being strong, creative, funny, intelligent, sometimes vulnerable women in my daughter's lives too.

Chicks rule!