A little gift of sunshine

I really did not intend to go near an op shop today. But since the presents are all sorted and the tree is decorated, how could I not? This little pile of included the sunshine yellow pyrex, two pillowcases and a sheet all for $8.

I'm quite liking the simplicity of the dead stick tree. While I'm not normally one for specific New Years resolutions, I will say that that terrible two tone custard/undercoat wall will be GONE by next Christmas.

Now, for other goings on that should have been posted weeks ago.

This little cushion is the finished product of the recent frenzied midnight sewing session. I have been wanting  a pile of colourful cushions on my lounge for the longest time but was waiting for fabric inspiration to strike. Despite my inability to cut or sew in  a straight line, I think it turned out quite ok (just don't get out one of those rulers that tells you if things are square).

I really loved that floral tablecloth fabric and it was easy to chop into as large parts of it were too stained to use. The St George teatowel seemed to have just the colours that I needed. The insert was a $3 cushion from Ikea. Here is the other side. I'm itching to make more now.

On the garden front, here is our completed raised bed full of vege seedlings. We are amazed to be able to report that the pegged down bird netting does indeed appear to be possum proof.

Unforunately the herbs did not fare so well on account of these free loaders living in our carport roof. That's the mother on the right and the baby kicking back on the left. With the amount of noise my rabble make getting in and out of the car these possums must be seriously sleep deprived. Perhaps that is why in just one night they decimated both the dill and the continental parsley. We have applied chicken wire now and will see what bounces back.


And what about that proof we found that Christmas is just about upon us? Well we were down at the park collecting seedpods when we stumbled on a little tree covered in these Christmas jewels. I haven't seen Christmas beetles since I was at school, did I just forget to look all these years? It's times like this that I am reminded that having children makes us slow down and notice all those little details that get lost in our big busy rushed adult lives.

And that is really the best gift a mother could ask for.

Only three more sleeps.

Holiday Hijinks

Well we seem to be settling into our school holiday groove. While I was looking forward to 6 weeks without clock watching, I was more than a little worried how my kidlets were going to go spending all day together. So far there have been some moments of pure joy like this one,  kicking back on the home made- lets- destroy- the- lounge and make a fort. Must check for pirates.

Yikes, I think I see some. What are they doing to those babies?

Now that is just a tad concerning. Surely they are not going to eat them without sauce.

Aaargh I see, lets have a duel then shall we. With that oldest Menace brother neighbour popping over, there is never a dull moment. See even his budgie Buddy is happy to get into the pirate theme and do the parrot on shoulder thing.

Since we've got all day, lets make a whole rainbow of playdoh colours.

Buddy was a little threatened by his playdoh replica and proceeded to try and pick off his embellishments.

While Liongirl napped, Roboboy worked on the architectural plans for his house. He likes to talk out loud to himself to problem solve what else he needs. There was a long dialogue about where to put his best friend for a sleepover. Should it be on the top of the 4 story bunk bed or perhaps they could share a bed. Could boys actually get married? His poor best friend is a little stressed as Roboboy had written  him a note about getting married and the best friend really just wants to marry a girl in their class. Best friends mother stepped in and pointed out that "marry" was not actually spelt  " Maree" and therefore Roboboy must have been meaning something else entirely. Phew, crisis averted. The bachelor pad appears to have  a sustainable vege garden, bowling alley,waterslide, aeroplane runway and elevator shaft running through the middle.

Ok plans are done, lets knock up a quick castle.

Parents won't agree to an i phone? Just whip your own up. Complete with i pad and docking pod to charge the phone up.

And if things are getting a little dull, there is always a Tupperware container cupboard to sort and tidy. We need some more space for the pyrex.

And finally with a mere 5 days to go, we popped down to our local park to find a dead stick to drag home.  Yes that corner of the lounge room is still half undercoat half custard. Resolutions will be made shortly.

We also found PROOF that Christmas is imminent. Stay posted for photographic evidence and other festivities.

Pinkety Pink Party

Happy, happy day to my pink loving tutu wearing girl. She is loud, she is fearless, she will try anything that the big boys try, and she really loves pink, and tutus, and tea parties. She wanted an Angelina Ballerina fairy princess party. The invites did not actually mention pink but suggested wearing a tutu or fairy dress. Since I didn't have a blog when she was a baby, here is a tiny snippet of the last three years.

When you were ONE I baked you a Rainbow Fish. I like to make up my own designs, the only two rules being maximal colour and maximal lolly coverage. Here are Roboboy's birthday cakes.

When you were TWO ....

the party you had been talking about for weeks, or was it months, was rained out and postponed three times. We celebrated with your best friend and a very last minute cake. You thought it was fantastic.

 When you were THREE we invited your best friends for girls only tea party.

And I baked you a Fairy Princess cake. The actual idea came at about 11 pm the night before the party, hence the more slap dash than usual icing.

We were so lucky to have our big kid neighbours on holidays, and BORED. They begged me to come and help out at the party. They help put faces on goody bag gingerbread men, dolloped cream onto scones, hung balloons, lay out more pink food than you could imagine, hid lollies, ran the lolly hunt and pass the parcel and that oldest Menace brother even donned a pink rabbit costume and brought his pet mouse and budgie over for extra entertainment.

Apparently you cannot tyre swing without constant squealing and giggling.

Nothing better than just hanging around with all your mates.

And best of all....... PRESENTS.

HAPPY BIG THREE my gorgeous girl. I think there are going to be a whole lot more tea parties going on over here.

Crazy Busy

Look at this dolly kicking back in her faux wicker chair, quietly pausing and reflecting over a cup of tea. She is in no way reminiscent of what is actually going on at my place, which is crazy non stop festive and end of school year hoo-ha. . This has of course left me no time to blog for nearly two weeks and has rendered me crazy enough to be playing with dollies.

This dolly has been hiding in my cupboard for nearly 2 years waiting for miss Liongirl to turn 3 which is happening soon but we pretended it  happened last week as that was  a whole lot more convenient! Would you believe I just found the little table and perfectly sized chair at two different op shops in the last week, 50 cents each. As staging a tea party is Liongirl's favourite way to while away the hours, these were all a big hit.

Last week was one of THOSE weeks. You know the ones where it is 30 degrees and you have just discovered your  air conditioner has died. The timing is exceptionally poor as you are required to make 40 dairy free cupcakes for the end of year Christmas parties for both school and childcare. Of course your husband would be away interstate for a few nights. While carefully placing the first tray of cupcakes in the oven you are clumsy and manage to tip the entire batch out into the oven and watch in horror as vast quantities of mixture spreads  into every crevice and starts baking itself onto racks and trays.

You rapidly come to the realization that with the time it takes for your oven to cool down then warm up again, you have no choice but to clear the thickest of it up and then just BAKE through it. You are so addled whilst making the next batch  you manage to omit the sugar. During the third and fourth batches the stench of burnt cupcake permeates every nook of your 30 degree house. In the midst of this baking debacle it starts to  storm and the three loads of  dry washing on the line get completely drenched before you remember that they are even out there. Don't even get me started on the merits of icing 40 cupcakes with two small children in the morning before you have to go to work, or the resultant state of your house/kitchen and the fact that you also have a birthday party to pull off less than 48 hours later. Now you can see why I have resorted to playing with dolls whilst quietly rocking myself back and forth on the lounge room floor.

We also had to squeeze in our first school swim carnival.

The infamous street Christmas party.

My work Christmas party which of course required a new frock. The cardi did  not actually come with it, instead there are glorious green straps like the belt. It is from this lovely shop. Luckily I missed the spring collection or I would have been coveting the entire store.

Somewhere in there I had to squeeze in my turn presenting to the prep class about my job, parent teacher interviews and producing an installation for the prep class village hospital. After producing this creation mid year, I knew we could do something that the kids could find really interactive. Meet Sam, a very sick patient.

Poor Sam really needs to keep track of all his internal organs.

And he should know better than to insert tiny objects into his ears. Now that 20 little preppies have had a good look I'm sure he's feeling really regretful.

And I bet he wished he hadn't complained about a sore throat. Those tonsils were whipped out faster than you could blink.

Frankly I think he was a whisker away from a lobotomy as well.

Preppies are probably best described as being very enthusiastic, and very random. One little boy stood up in front of the whole class and proudly shared that his dad was  a garbage collector. Not sure what his investment banker father would make of that one. They do philosophy now in prep.  And boy, they sure don't shy away from the weighty topics. I personally witnessed both "Should animals be kept in zoos" and "Is Santa Claus Real" being debated by the entire class.

And at parent teacher interviews, I discovered that while understanding diversity is not one of Roboboy's strengths (he is of the absolute belief that boys cannot wear pink) , he was the driving force behind a protest rally to save the rainforest. Staged on the school oval, complete with posters and resulting in a $100 fundraise for the Wilderness Society. And that weird animal he had been talking about all term - the one with stripes like a zebra, head like a giraffe, velvet fur and a purple tongue- the one that had been baffling his teacher and I, yep it is real, it's an OKAPI. See what those Diego shows are doing to our children.

See you all soon with a great wall of pink. Yep Miss Liongirl rocks the big THREE, in a tutu of course.