Two becoming fourteen

 These two turned fourteen. It's a funny age as they have elements of little boy and elements of man all mixed in with deep voices and sweat and smelly boots and huge appetites. Strangely there has been a rather delightful return to some very affectionate gestures for their Mum.

Miraculously, they are even showing each other a shaving of affection but I think that's only permissible when one is in rugby gear so one is clear that it is "rough" affectionate.

  

These are the drawings I made them for their birthdays. It was a last minute thought as I had no idea what I was getting them and they actually liked them and have put them up in their room. The transformer is the left hand twin as he was always into being a warrior/ explorer/ space dude. The other one had more of the lego knight about him. He was a little more shy and timid as a wee un but no longer.

How did those big swarthy boys grow out of such poppets. This is one of my favorite photos of them just sitting on the floor in their overalls. They make me laugh, cry, rant, chuckle and tap dance on the front lawn. My first borns. They were never twinny at all just brother's born at the same time. They are each others' greatest opponents and staunchest supporters. As the boyness dwindles away, the idea of having tall men who are my babies is becoming less weird and more interesting.

When we were getting to know each other in the maternity ward, this song kept coming into my head. It always pops back into my consciousness around their birthday although I no longer sing them to sleep with my lullaby version of it. 

Fishy scored a drawing today too as there is more time and space here to make some bigger art than there is at home. The Michelin Man toy appeared on the footpath a few days ago and, as drawing toys is working for me right now, I'm going to follow it for a while. Maybe there could be one for each child like the quilts. Still working on those.

Now for Easter. Bonnets on!

Twosies

In honour of all things twinnie, here are some twosies that have happened this week.

The little missus and I popped into Matt Blatt while Lala was twirling in a hoop at circus. The Child formerly known as Shorty informs us that this name is in inappropriate for a big kid in red group at kindy so henceforth she shall be known as the Divine Miss M. You all know she is Maya anyhoo. 

She chose this chair for her room. Is that princessy enough for you? At least it's a cheery yellow and not pink or purple. The jury is still out on the boar's head table.

Room furniture you want

 In fact she will have to settle for some rather charming felt animals from GOMA and a pink crocheted bowl which has a delightful tendency to glow in the morning sun. I just wanted to show you that because it is pretty...no? I think all gift shopping should be done in the Gomalicious shop especially if it's for me. It beats the pink aisle at Kmart which always makes me feel sightly giddy.

Room furniture you have.

Now you all remember this photo from last week of the Fishboy's room. Did I mention there is a cello and guitar in there as they don't fit next to the euphonium, two trombones and violin in the lounge?

Room sans giant instrument

 Now I invite you to see if you can find something different in these images. Compare and contrast if you will. Those music teachers have been on the Pimms again and are rolling around on the rehearsal room floor laughing. It does not fit in the Big Fella's car as it is for big fellas not big hollow instruments. The boy loves it but does not sleep with it as he does his football. Probably for the best.

Did anyone read that sign...anyone!

Room avec giant instrument

Meanwhile back at Matt Blatt, we saw these chairs. Yes, they were repro! Yes, they were lovely and yes, I wanted one in every colour. Like the bath towels I could allocate one to each family member and they would be responsible for chipping off their own hardened spag bog as a post dining parlour game.

Chairs I wanted

Instead I showed great restraint and bought these. They were display ones to entertain the kiddies of people who actually buy real chairs at Mat Blatt. The D.V. M. (remember the divine Miss M?) loved them and it was her birthday so we bought them reduced as they were a little shop soiled. They ended up in the bath anyway, then were covered in her permanent marker moniker so they were unsoiled then soiled again....the Circle of Life at our house.

Chairs I got

There has been a tiny bit of artistica going on here at work as there will never be time at home unless you count hanging the washing in colour coded spirals around the garden. I found some nice bits of wood and painted them black, then white, then red. Then I sanded them back. I don't know why either. It seemed to be the thing to do at the time. They have some contact stencils on them in Exhibit A. In Exhibit B you can see a couple of them getting worked into something.  Not sure yet. I'll let you know. Exhibit B also has the Michelin man on it as I am making some drawings for my boys' rooms of toys. The real twinnies got one each for their birthday/s.

exhibit A

exhibit B

Back later for more twinniness as it is the flavour of the month this week at our house. Stay tuned...