Handedness and brainness.

These are some of the things I’ve been thinking while hanging out the washing, cleaning the bathroom and vaccuuming the house.

• Handed-ness. I’ve been thinking about our Left-brain dominant society. Concrete thinking, logic, mathematics and science. Facts. These are the things emphasised in our education systems. Thinking creatively, or doing things in different ways is not actively encouraged. So we end up from childhood with people Left-brain dominant. Is this why most people are right handed? And what are the implications of education that encourages both left and right brain functions more equally? Would there after a generation or two be more left handed people? What is the history of this right hand dominant society? Thinking, thinking. Maybe I shall encourage my 16 month old to use a pencil in both hands. And my four year old is just starting to learn to write…..if I allow both hands, does it exercise opposite sides of the brain. Can you be right brain dominant and still be right handed? So many questions. Probably not time or inclination to find out. So if you know all this please tell me.

 

• Oh yes and on that note… I think everyone has seen this image all over the internet. The dancer can be seen twirling in either direction depending on your brain. Clockwise = right brain, and vise versa. I tend to see her spinning clockwise, but can make her turn the other way with a bit of concentration. I kind of will her to do it. But the real point of this is really that she’s stark naked and has perky breasts. I don’t think it matters which side of your brain you are using. You should still be able to see them.

 

Well stone the flamin’ crows!

There was talk about orphans in church today. About bloody time.

The 11th thing I love about New Zealand

So, a while ago I wrote about 10 Things I love About New Zealand.

Well…I have to add one more. Without further ado…

11. Guy Fawkes

Ok, so I know it’s not uniquely New Zealand, but I love it, and we never did the Guy Fawkes thing back in Australia. I love how excited the kids get that they can’t sleep and how as it gets dark they start looking out the windows to see the fireworks around the neighbourhood.  We lit a few ourselves in the front garden last night and the kids screamed and ran around like maniacs. Fun!

Image by Brenda Anderson via Flickr

Things to do before I die

Sometimes called a bucket list, here’s my list of things I want to do before I die.  I’m sure there are more than 53 things I’d like to do. It’s a work in progress.

1. Witness/support someone giving birth
2. Feed a hungry child (I feed mine everyday, but I mean a starving child)
3. Take my kids on an international holiday
4. Drive the Great Ocean Road
5. Stay on a Marae
6. Write a book whether or not it’s published
7. Visit London
8. Sleep under the stars in the Australian outback
9. Teach someone to read (other than my children)
10. Plant a garden and have it actually survive
11. Drive across the Nullabor
12. Travel the South Island
13. See my daughter walk down the aisle
14. Stand in falling snow
15. Swim with dolphins
16. Take my kids to the town where I was born
17. Spend a night at a really nice hotel
18. See my sons turn into men
19. Own a house outright
20. Camp in the Flinders Ranges
21. Go on a long train journey
22. Create a photo album for each of my children
23. Get running fit again
24. Camp in the front yard with the kids
25. Surprise my husband with a really excellent present
26. Throw a Christmas Eve cocktail party and serve egg nog and mulled wine
27. Participate in a micro-finance loan to help someone out of poverty
28. Go to the ballet
29. Get back into enjoying live music
30. Go ice skating
31. Make damper over a camp fire
32. Do some volunteer work with World Vision
33. Hang out with my brother and his family
34. Spend a whole day on the beach reading a book
35. Spend a whole day in bed reading a book
36. Build my kids a tree house
37. Go on a camping holiday with another family
38. Enjoy regular hand written letters to and from a friend
39. Read To Kill a Mockingbird & One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
40. Start AND finish a knitting project
41. Have a picnic and fall asleep under a tree
42. Read Tolstoy
43. Have a weekend with my hubby in the Bay of Islands
44. Eat a Cornish Pasty and drink Farmers Union Iced Coffee at Wallaroo
45. Watch a sunset at Seacliff with my feet in the sand
46. Make a quilt
47. Make ice cream
48. Have a cup of tea with an old friend
49. Show my kids where I went to school
50. Makeover my house
51. Own a teapot and drink loose leaf tea
52. Learn to get up early
53. Teach my daughter my best recipes

My Sweet Little Boy

Samuel at just over three months. What a lovely little boy he is. I am so enjoying him. He loves his brothers and sister, and smiles when they talk to him. He loves looking at the mirror. The other day he laughed out loud when Emma sneezed. What a sweetie.

Love you my little one xoxo

Updated Armistice day post

For those of you who use a feed reader and might have missed it, I have updated the last post with some family history if you’re at all interested.

How much does a kindy weigh?

I know I’m not the first to post about this. You know, the stats page where it shows what terms people have used in search engines when they found your blog? Based on these terms, I know for certain that hardly anyone sets out looking for my blog. Most people who come from search engines to my blog are searching for ‘funny kids’, ‘home birth’, or ”home schooling’. A surprising number have come my way searching for ‘eye excema’ (huh?) but people have also found my blog when searching for the following:

ugly dresses for kids to wear

all i do all day is drink

did you know stuff about marijuana

husband + mess

exercise for flappy butt

fat transfer breast

inside a spray bottle photos

broken stereo jokes

naked helicopter pilots

I found god at the bottom of my handbag

funny and random things to say in a letter

Thinking, It’s too hard

why is my bathroom ceiling soggy?

ways to unblock toilets

curly hair replanting treatment cost

macadamia husking machine

unblocking kitchen roll from toilet

spy picture person on earth

how much does an average kindy weigh?

Strange, strange people. If you have a blog, what’s the strangest thing in you’ve seen on your stats?

The Party’s Over

I’m nearly always the last to leave a party. Maybe that’s just because I don’t get out much these days and when I do get out, I’m like an animal out of it’s cage and I just don’t wanna get back in. Nevertheless, there always comes a time when nearly all the guests have gone, there are empty glasses and empty bottles, dangling streamers and straggling balloons, the left over bits of food and it’s time to say good night.

Thanks for all those who visited my blog this week for the Ultimate Blog Party…it’s been fun, and I hope you’ll all pop around for a coffee from time to time. I’ve come across some new blogs to read which I’ll add to my blogroll one of these days.

Just one more thing before you all head home…. it’s time to draw a winner. I have written the names of all the commenters here:

Placed them all in this beautiful new kete:

One was drawn randomly (and you’ll just have to trust me on that one) AND>>>>The winner of the little giveaway mentioned here is *drumroll please ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….*

Congratulations Michelle R….I’ll be emailing you for a postal address and something will be coming your way! (I’ll post pics of what it is when I think of something it’s on it’s way.) Thanks for playing everyone.

Pay it Forward 365 Giveaway

So Sarah Bean is playing this Pay it Forward thing. I joined in the fun on her blog and in return I pay it forward to you!

Here’s how it works:

• Anyone with a blog can join
• The first three people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade gift from me
• I will send the gift in the next 365 days
• In return you have to pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog

See how easy that is?

And if you don’t have a blog, it’s a great incentive to get one. It’s so easy…just start here. (Hint Tamara, AT of the nose piercing adventure and SH who is thinking about home schooling and LK…you know who you are!) But if you really don’t want a blog it’s ok because I’m a nice person, and people without a blog that leave me a comment will also be eligible to receive a handmade gift from me within 365 days. You can pay it forward to me! someone anyway OK…honour system. I’m quite happy to send overseas, so don’t let that stop you!

That’s it!! Let the comments roll!!

The case of the missing post

If you were here before and read a post that’s no longer here, it’s because it was supposed to be set as a Private post. I had originally set it to private and went back to edit it for spelling, and it apparently lost it’s private status. A mistake I’d rather not have made….talk about baring your soul Over The INTERNET! he he ….Oh, well never mind.

To the commenters; This is what I wrote in reply on that post which you now can’t see because it’s Private:

Eeeeek! Thanks so much guys….

Jen…not brave to share so much as distracted….it was supposed to be private, and I set it as private and then went back to edit spelling errors and must have forgotten to check. I might make it so now if I can because I’m not sure who’s reading this blog and don’t want to bring up stuff for other family members. 

Case closed.