Happy Birthday my big little girl!

6 years have sure flown.....what fun we've had :) Thank you for being my wonderful little one.

 

 

Hark the Herald Angels Sing!

Here are our three angelic girls all dressed up and ready for the church Christmas party. It was a "back to Bethlehem" theme and everyone was dressed as someone from the era. Hubby looked fabulous in his recycled doona cover shepherds outfit! The girls decided I looked like a 'girl in the village' after they saw me dressed up :P
Great fun!

 
 
 

Merry Christmas Mummy!

I probably shouldn't post this as it might jinx things but Miss 2 and 7mths has had 3 days in a row with no accidents and 2 dry nights inbetween.

Here's hoping all my Christmas wishes come true!

 

Mmm...gingerbread house!

Here's one I made this week at our Christmas Relief Society get together. We were all rather sticky by the end of the evening but a lovely time was had by all. Those white icing spots on the picture above are evidence that miss 2 can still reach the house even though it was on top of the very high mantle. Sigh. It now lives in a higher cupboard til Christmas so I can show it my folks who are driving down from the big smoke. Everyone here is super excited about them coming and it looks like it will be a very Merry Christmas :)

Looking for a vintage pattern

I know this is a really long shot as this company has been gone for almost a decade but I'm desperately searching the pattern pictured above in the smaller sizes, 4,5,6,7 ish.

I'll have two of the girls at school next year and it will be three before too long so to be able to make my own would be a real blessing! I've already sourced the fabric....and I do have a very holey second hand dress here which I could cut up for a pattern as a last resort but I'm not sure I would be able to get it back together right!!

Please could you ask around.....or have a look in your local op-shop or even grannies sewing box.

Big THANKS!

Kimono jim jams

I've had this tutorial bookmarked for the longest time and since the girls have outgrown last years summer pj's I thought I'd give it a go. The tutorial is found here. It is really quick and easy to make especially if you're using a bias maker. I did adjust the pattern ever so slightly to make it more snug around the neck and shoulders as the girls are quite narrow. But apart from that it was a great fit, I did size 4T for both the older two and then just make some basic PJ pants to match.

Highly recommend and I'll be making many more! Here's Becky, Miss 4 wearing her pair in front of one very large Christmas tree that we hunted down today. We must have looked a sight driving through the town with this strapped to the roof of the car :P

Can I do my funny face now mum??

Proud to be parents again.....

....to two teeny chicks and a little red hen. Some lovely friends of ours had promised us a couple of their new chicks if we had the set up for them. Daddy the builder got busy over the last few days and finished the hen house and fenced the yard. It's up the back corner of our block and has some shady trees and lots of warm sunshine too.....I hope they will be happy there.

Here are the new arrivals.....the chicks have new names every day depending on what the girls feel like but the little red hen is now Geraldine. She's already tried to escape a few times so we had to raise the fence and the chicks were so teeny they just jumped through the holes. A roll of shade cloth is doing the job for the time being until they get fatter. 

 

 

 Our eldest little miss is a real mother hen and spends ages out there playing with the and cuddling them. Baby is equally as keen but we have to really watch her as she can be a little excited and rough! Our middle miss however is a lot more cautious which is quite funny as she's usually the daredevil of the three...go figure.

Daddy is a pro at looking after them and handling them (and catching the escaping ones) while I'm happy to just watch....yes, I'm a chicken! Geraldine found a cosy spot under my legs though while I taking some pics of the girls.

Busy busy week

Every week is busy with kids but this one was especially hectic but loads of fun too. Our little island had a visit from my favourite Latter Day Saint musician Kenneth Cope. Earlier this year he had participated in a video link up with a group of youth in our church and it was such a uplifting and well received experience that he wanted to visit and perform for us during a rare trip to Australia. Our girls were thrilled to meet him in person! I was able to make it with the girls for the second performance and it was fantastic. He sang such heartfelt songs about his faith in Jesus Christ and how each one of us are loved children of God.

We also had my youngest brother stay for a few days which is always fun. The girls adore him and run him ragged with endless games of hide and seek. He always find great hiding spots though...not sure if it's to escape the girls or not :P

There was also a special visit from an old missionary companion from QLD which was a lovely treat! We were missionaries together about 8 years ago in Melbourne and had such a fun time riding our bikes around (while wearing skirts!) trying not to get clipped by buses. More importantly we loved sharing the gospel message together with all we met. It was a blast to catch up...so many special memories!

Finally we finished the week with the local show, rain and all. I'd picked up a brochure for entering the home industries section a while back and as a family we though we'd give it a go for a laugh. Well, I was super proud of my little girls who worked hard on some free hand embroidery, decorated bikkies, handmade greeting cards and lots more. Both the two older girls won a prize or two and were so excited to see their items on display. (Miss 2 was a little young to enter this year but next year for sure!) Even hubby entered a few things and is now a prize winning bread maker :) I sure married up!

It was loads of fun entering and a real hoot to see our humble offerings on display amongst such huge talent. Hubby is already planning for next year, he thinking sponge cake, cream puff and lamingtons.....watch out ladies!

A special thanks goes out to my Grandma who passed on the recipes to me. I'm keeping the traditions alive Grandma :-)

It was a great day wandering around checking everything out. It had all the trademarks of a country show, the cows, the horse trials, the sleezy side show owners, the over priced greasy food and of course the wood chopping. The girls especially loved the animals...my favourite had to be the poultry shed, some of those roosters were enormous!

 Well, that was our week! Off to put my feet up.

Ottobre 1/2008 Muffin Top

Funny name but cute top :) I have used this pattern lots of times and really really love how it comes together. The original pattern has an extra panel on the bottom and long sleeves but I've slimmed it down a little and lengthened the front piece to make up for leaving the bottom panel off. Also the original had a little vent opening at the back that was to close with a button or snap but after having a button one one of my first attempts get caught in one of the girls long hair resulting in a scissors treatment I have just made it a t-shirt style neckline with stretchy ribbed binding and it goes on and off just fine. It's a real shame this issue has gone out of print as it's a really great one.

Little Mary, Miss 2 is modeling this one....complete with her sticker from the dentist. She watched patiently with wide eyes as her two big sisters had their turns. One sister even had to have a cap put on her front chipped tooth but that's a story for another day. When it came time for Miss 2's turn she was happy to sit on my lap in the chair but point blank refused to open her mouth. No amount of bribing or trying to distract her with shiny mirrors and funny glasses would work and in the end I had to hold her forehead with one hand and hold her jaw open with the other. She wasn't upset by it all just being a typical stubborn 2 year old. Afterwards she happily sprang off the chair announcing "I was so brave at the dentist now I can have my sticker".......sigh.

As you can see taking a decent photo of a 2 year old is also a trying experience :P

Daddy the builder

He's at it again! This time it's a chicken house...we don't have the chicks yet but we're getting ready. The previous owner kindly left old fence pailings all over the place and so we've put them to good use. It's not finished yet but the girls think it's a pretty fantastic cubby!

 

 

Paying homage to Google

You might remember the recent post about mr DIY and the saving of several hundreds of dollars thanks to a google search and a few you tube clips. Well, this week it was the fridge. It had been leaking for a week inside and then yesterday refused to get cold enough to stop the milk from curdling so we turned to our friend google. Again we gained instruction and guidance (complete with diagrams) from our dear friend and by the end of the day we had one fixed fridge and it didn't cost us a cent! So yes, when all else fails (and you're as cheap as we are!) give google (and of course you tube) a go....you'd be suprised what it can teach you :P

Simple pleasures

All it took was 2 lengths of pine, a few bolts and two trips to the tip shop to fill numerous buckets with sand and we now have one of the greatest joys of childhood!

I spent a few hours in there with the kids today reliving my youth....sandcastles, sand pies, sand between your toes and down your shirt. What could be better?

Mr DIY

So we live in a small town and Lionel decided he needed some network cabling done, there are only 2 people in town that could do it, one didn't know what it was and the other wanted to charge $700!

This is what I found when I got up one morning I followed the leads and found this

 

And by the end of the day there was a bunch of these around the house, $700 saved.....way to go Mr DIY (I'm actually really impressed...since we've moved here he's been do all the odd jobs that need doing around the house and fixing things left right and centre, nice!!)

Moving day

I didn't actually the think the day would ever come but it did and on a bright and beautiful sunny morning (after weeks of rain and floods!) we said goodbye to this

Packed all our life into this

And moved over the bridge to a little cosy place we now call home. With a huge thanks going out to everyone who helped us that day! Especially my darling daddy who came from ol' sydney town to help us, we couldn't have done it without him :)

After a wonderful holiday on the big island we're back to settling in and giving this little home the Wallys touch.

Here are some reasons why I love it here.....

My new garden beds built from old fence pailings

Little slimy friends that live in abundance in our soil

Breathtaking bulbs that have sprung up everywhere

Blossoms on a tree that look suspiciously like stone fruit, peach or nectarine, yum!

More tulip pants pics

I caught miss 2 long enough to take a few snaps....the length is great but they are a teeny bit snug over her cloth nappy....bring on the potty training

 

I should be packing and cleaning....

but sewing is much more exciting! I've had this pair of pants cut out since the new Otto kids arrived last month and finally had a chance to sew them up. Partly spurred on by the fact that Mary is growing like a weed and all her pants are now capris :P
They are the "Tulip" pants from 4/2009 ( love love love the aututumn issues) and I've modified them just a little to make them elastic waisted instead of a zippered front. I also omitted the back pockets for the sake of time (and sanity....waaaay too fiddly!) Everything came together fairly easily, the gathering took a little time and the front pockets binding was a little fiddly but nothing too dramatic. I forgot a pic of the back but there is another gathered panel sitting lower than the front for a bit of variety. (and also to make them not look like huge clown pants!)
Mary has taken to calling herself "Mary Cherry" when you ask her what her name is so I thought the fabric suited perfectly!

 

 

 

 Excuse the bad night time photos.....I might chase her around tomorrow and see if I can get some action shots :)

On the moving front we are down to one week on Friday and boy I can't wait! I was all packed and ready to go this week but then there was a hold up....always something! So we're tripping over boxes for just a little longer. Of course my sewing machine is the last thing to be packed, infact I think that will just come with me in the car!