My first movie date with Lego Boy

Almost four years ago a very excited four-year-old and I went on our first movie date, and guess what the movie was?

CARS!

I remember the day well. We both came out of the cinema with big smiles on our faces to greet Oma (my mum) and his (then) 4-month-old sister, Princess. Lego Boy was over-the-moon,  having watched his first movie on the big screen! What a bonus that it also happened to be about something that was, and remains dear to his heart…vehicles. Hey, “car” was one of the first words that he ever spoke! I loved the movie because of the message it was communicating to me…to take hold of where I’m at as I journey through life, much like Be A Fun Mum’s “Love the Moment challenge“.

How excited do you think we are about seeing the Cars 2 movie? Have a sneak peak…

A few months after we saw Cars, Lego Boy received the dvd  for Christmas, and played it almost daily, to the point of sprouting out bits of dialogue at various points of the day.

We love the music from the movie, and the cd gets played regularly when we’re roaming around in the car. With the dvd having been played over and over and in serious need of replacing, we were also very thankful that he received the Cars dvd again for a subsequent birthday.

So, thanks to the lovely people at nuffnang, you can get some tickets for your family by writing a blogpost, though you’d better get your engines seriously revved up, because you have until 5pm AEDST today!

Here’s what you need to do…

a) Write a blog post to create awareness of the upcoming flick, Disney/Pixar Cars 2
b) Include the Disney/Pixar Cars 2 trailer so your readers can score a sneak peak as to just how awesome this movie is!
c) Once your blog post is live, leave a link to it in a comment on this very blog post and email your full name and postal details to competitions@nuffnang.com.au and we’ll have a pass out to you in the mail.

Competition is open to Australian residents who are able to attend screenings within Australia.

Entries  close on 17/6/11 at 5pm.

Please refer to the Terms & Conditions for more details!

Now if you don’t believe me, race on over to this blogpost.

You can cruise along to see the Cars 2 movie in cinemas from June 23rd 🙂

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Dialogue Detectives: In the burbs

The leaves in the backyard are whispering, and it’s a bright sunny day. Neighbours busy in their backyards. Surely this is the perfect opportunity to be a Dialogue Detective, as suggested by Gill for this week’s Writing on Wednesday task?

A rubbish truck comes past…segue to the sound of rushing water hitting to the base of what sounds like a big green wheelie bin.

Clang, bash…the squeaking of brakes at regular intervals. SQUAWK!

There’s some mumbling in the distance. Interesting, this peace and quiet of the burbs, while Miss Chatty sings along with The Wiggles.

“Do you want me to bring this inside?” is muttered behind me. No response, and the sound of obsessive washing and cleaning of a deep vessel (rubbish bin?) continues.

“How about that one, you know if you just cut it off?” Shortly after the sound of some leaves rustling, and the thud of a branch falling to the ground.

“You want me to cut it down really low, ay?”  is followed by the sound of rustling leaves. The voices fade into the background, and I strain to hear how the conversation continues.

“MAMA!”

I guess I’ll have to call it a day.

It’s time!

I know that my heart will be pounding as I hit the publish button. So many great writers are out there, and I am just a novice. Anyway, I am here to learn, and can only do that by actually doing something about it, so here I go!

Thanks to Gillian over at inkpaperpen for taking the initiative to

Week one

Stretching the Writing Muscles: Start with the following exercise each week: Write for 60 seconds without stopping. Set a timer and simply write. Do not take your pen off the page (or fingers off the keyboard!) – even if you are writing “I don’t know what to write” for 60 seconds. Do not judge what you write. It is then up to you to decide whether you post this warm up exercise or not.

So here I am, trying to write. I’m not a real writer, just trying to be. I want to make a difference some how, through music or writing. Trying to juggle through life:  family and being organised. So many ideas that would be great to follow through with. Perhaps I just need to start somewhere and carry on with it. Run with an idea like a kid with a kite. Enjoy the wind and see where the kite goes. That kid wills and wants to fly as high up as the kite and for as long the wind allows, up in the clouds. It’s a connection to the “where-all-is-possible” part of the world. You get a different perspective from up there. I just need to do something…to capture that breeze that refreshes my soul.

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 1 – Very Pleased to Meet You!: Write about yourself as you are in this moment. Use the five senses to do so. The main idea is that we should get a little more insight into YOU after we read your piece. Here are some (optional) questions to get you started: How do YOU look right now? What colours/fabrics/accessories are you wearing? What can you see? Consider lighting, shapes, objects. How do YOU sound right now? What can you hear? What can you smell? Does the smell remind you of anything? Can you taste anything? How do YOU feel? Comfortable? Tired? What are you touching? Is it cold, hot, smooth? What is your posture like? Slumped? Sitting? Standing? What does your posture say about your mood?

The little ones are fast asleep. The clock ticks on, and on, and on. Should I really be sitting here tapping away, in rhythms that are out of sync with the constant ticking?

Five minutes of silence…that’s what I need. In the background someone talks about organising on a podcast . Organising yes, well, that’s something that I need to work on. Queen of the last-minute am I. It’s my artistic temperament. Well, that’s my excuse.

Pen on paper. Tapping on keys.It’s like therapy, just as music and chocolate are food  for my soul. I CANNOT wait to play again. Something to look forward to…a gig as a wandering minstrel.

While my fingers want to continue tapping away, and my mind longs to dwell on words to describe the present, in the now my head throbs. A sign for me to go and get some sleep in the warmth and safety of my bed.

Moments savoured…memories awakened

 So, what do you think of my attempt at being crafty?

With my kids constantly bringing artwork home, and making some things at home too, I thought that they would like these. Here were their responses to discovering them on their pillows…

Lego Boy: “Oh, what’s this for? I know, to say that you love me.”

Princess: “Thank you Mummy. When I look at this I know that you care about me. Can you please make another one for me so that I can take it to school, and look at it when something-that’s-not-nice happens to me?”

Miss Chatty: ” Why did you cut de photo like dat? I don’t like how you cut de luff heart.”

THANKS KIDS 😉

“I know that I’ll be a different person at the end of this month” is what I wrote on May 4th, and I most definitely am. I’ll admit to feeling daunted when I put myself up for the challenge. Of all the months for US ALL to be sick THIS WAS IT! My original plans for many of the challenges were thwarted due to this, but it also forced me to be more creative in my interpretation, after all, my family had to take precedence. Despite this, having this challenge to focus on has given me…has given us all…moments to savour. It made me think about what Kelly had shared about using our senses in this post…”Slow life down without being less busy “.

Interesting isn’t it, how a colour, a scent, a taste, a sound, a touch, can awaken a bank of wonderful memories? I have been transported back to certain moments in my life such as:

• a visit to Monet’s garden in the spring with my husband
• the fun my sister and I would have cooking pancakes with my Dad
• walking arm-in-arm with my Mum as we went shopping
• the Balinese music that my sister and I used to dance to, wearing bright and colourful costumes and make-up
• cherry-picking with my family as a kid

Throughout the challenge this has been going through my mind, ‘I hope and pray that my kids will have wonderful memories when they look back at their childhood, just as I have.’

Thanks again to Kelly at Be A Fun Mum for the inspiration to