Glitter fabric paint

could quite possibly be the most amazing invention ever. I mean that.

I bought some.

I used it.

I painted hearts on the girls' t-shirts.

And I made my plain black top look as though it is adorned by sparkles all around the neckline.

And this opens up a whole new branch of my life. I can, quite confidently, be glitter craft queen.

And OH. MY. GOD. I am SO bloody excited about that!

I adore glitter. You know that. Everyone knows that. People that don't know me know that. So to discover that for the tiny sum of $5.95 I can go to one of my favourite shops (Spotlight - could spend hours there - and Oh Em Gee for the second time when they have the 40% off sales!!!!) and get these tubes of glittery wonderful fabric painting joy, well, my life is officially fabulous. And sparkly.

So tomorrow night is my 40th "do". I think I have over-catered. I know, hard to believe, but I think I have.

But, at least we will have food left over.

Today kind of amazed me a little bit. Well, not today, but my kids today. The girls in particular. So much so that it resulted in their names being placed on the "good list" which then resulted in that amazing achievement of having been on the "good list" 5 times which meant they get to choose something as a treat. I was preparing for a trip to the shops to get them each a little something. Nope. They wanted something from the "treat box". This box, a Tupperware container actually, is full of those things that I don't really like the kids having all that often, but are a bit of fun and good for a treat. Things like mini packs of maltesers, roll-ups (don't get me started), and other little things like that.

What was the act that got them on the good list?

Well, we are not 'well-off', so I frequent the local op shop when new clothes are needed. $2 a piece. Fabulous. I was lucky enough to find two t-shirts the other day, fairly similar, but not quite. Both black with lots of colours painted on, and both with a bit of sparkle. One had an A shape and one was fitted.

So I gave Miss 5 the fitted one and Miss 4 the A shaped one. Miss 5 saw Miss 4's top and decided she liked that one better and started to get a little upset. And here's where it became amazing. Miss 4 reached out her top to Miss 5 and said "Here you go", and swapped tops.

I could have cried. Miss 4 saw how much Miss 5 wanted that top, and, instead of keeping it for herself, gave it to Miss 5 so she wasn't upset. You can never describe the feeling of pride in your children. Never. Unless you have your own, and have experienced it. I was just so proud of my little Miss 4.

And what happened next?

I told Miss 4 how proud I was of her for being so caring and sharing and I gave her a great big hug.

Miss 5 smiled. And said to Miss 4 "Here you go" and gave the top back, and took her own, original top back, which then made Miss 4 smile, because deep down she really did like that top more.

And these are the moments that nobody can ever tell you about. They just can't. Nobody can tell you that your heart could almost burst watching two of your children care so much about one another that they will do whatever they can to help make the other feel less sad.

It was a truly amazing moment, and still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it.

That said, it isn't always the way. Ask Master 3 who is sporting a massive bruise on the head courtesy of Miss 4 throwing him, quite vigorously, in the direction of a wall, with which he did make contact..... Frozen peas were applied....

Life is never dull. It can go from moments of pure and utter joy - such as this morning where we were all in my bed just laughing and carrying on like idiots - to moments like this afternoon where to be perfectly honest I was hoping a storm would come in so the sky would get dark and I could tell the kids it was bedtime.

I wouldn't have it any other way. Any of it.