Tassie Wildlife

Guess who we met on the way back from piano this evening? He was a little shy at first but took quite a liking to Hannah! Beck took a bit more convincing, I think the spikes were worrying her and you can hear her whispering to Hannah to "move over!" during the clip :)

A recital by Hannah

Here's miss Hannah playing a piece from her first grade book, "Swans on the Lake"

We also had another lost tooth today, perhaps her next song should be "All I want for Christmas is my two from teeth"!

Holiday to the beach

We took a rare opportunity a few weeks ago to get away from the hustle and bustle (of our sleepy country town!) and head to the beach. We haven't visited the east coast of Tassie before now and it was every bit as gorgeous as everyone told us. We stayed at a cute little cabin across the road from the beach in a town called Swansea. We also made a day trip to Bicheno, which was such a pretty place.It was so relaxing and fun to just kick back and have nothing to do! The girls were great in the car, lots of books and Chronicles of Narnia audio books kept them amused. and we even did a library crawl on the way back to collect new books! Can't wait to do it again!

We know who's boss around here!

Here name is all over our front steps!

I love how children at this age can write their name backwards and not even realise it....the top step was the right way around and then every other one was back the front, crazy kid :)

Another tooth out!

Becky is always itching to be doing whatever Hannah is doing, so when Hannahs came out Beck was determined to lose one too! (both had them loose at same time and it was a bit of a race to see whos woulc come out first)Also a new shirt for Mary refashioned from a ladies shirt. The first picture she's telling me she doesn't want her photo taken and she isn't keen on the shirt. The second photo is where Mummy offered her a chocolate to smile nicely, sigh, the things we do!

Why wait for Christmas?

Mmmm.....I woke up this morning thinking of how much I love gingerbread! A great school holiday treat anytime of the year!

Here's my gingerbread recipe....

2 1/2 cups of plain flour (you may need more so keep a 1/2 cup close by)
2tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground giner
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice (all spice)

Mix these all in a bowl and add 1 egg, 1/2 cup softened butter and 3/4 cup of golder syrup. Mix together with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until it starts sticking together. Turn onto a floured surface and knead into a smooth ball. Pop in the fridge to firm up.
The rest is straight forward, roll out, cut your shapes and bake in a mod. 180c over for about 8 to 10 mins. Watch carefully as they burn quickly. Cool on wire rack.

Ottobre 1/2011 Tangerine top

Well.....dress actually!

The top is a simple peasant style but I've lengthened it to be a dress and added a casing inside around the middle to give it a bit of shape so it hopefully doesn't look like a nightie! Fabric is a stripe interlock from SL.

All in all a happy little girl with a very comfy "play dress" as she calls it!

End of Term Achievement

We were invited by Beckys class teacher to come along to the school assembley celebrating the end of term 2. (Yah for holidays!)

She didn't tell us why but we were thrilled to see Beck receive a special award for achievement throughout the whole term! We were so excited for her and pleased that she is enjoying school and excelling. We still have some tricky days with tears and not wanting to go to school but it's getting so much better. (Kinder was a real struggle for her and there were lots of tears and scuffed shoes from dragging her feet and not wanting to go!)

Here's the little muchkin and her certificate. There is also some beautiful artwork that my girls have decorated the balconey with :)

Book Week 2011

Big fans of Book Week here in our house! It's so much fun coming up with costumes every year and seeing what the other kids/teachers come up with. Our school really goes all out and has a big parade and all the teachers dress up too. There is a competition to see which class can have 100% participation and this year Beckys class was one of them. They get to choose a special rewards like an extra play time or games afternoon etc.

The girls thought long and hard about costumes this year and this is what they chose.....



Introducing Lettice the Dancing RabbitAnd The Enormous Turnip

(I was rather impressed with Becks courage to do something a little outrageous, she's got spunk that kid!)

Hagley Farm with Pre-Kinder class

Mary had her very first excursion this well, well, her first one that has actually been for her and own class and not just a tag along with her older sisters!

Her pre-kinder class went to visit Hagley Farm school and it was a magical day! The weather was looking pretty dicey in the morning with rain and wind but it all blew away and we had lots of lovely sunshine (and mud!)

Mary was a hoot......loved the animals from a distance but was a little uneasy about them close up. She made me feed the sheep first to make sure it was safe before she would have a go. So gooey!

Here are some pics...Feeding the donkeys, Tea Rose and MimosaChecking out a goat from a safe distanceSame with the pony, he was adorable but she wasn't about to get any closer!Pretending to be a sheep.Having a grand old time on the playthings!

Hannah and the saga of the tooth!

So this saga goes way back to 2004 with this pic...

Hannah aged 19mths with her first two teeth finally coming through.

(Her dr was having serious doubts as the whether they were even there!)

Now not 2 years later we had a collision with her sister and damaged that beautiful front tooth that we had waited so long for! She chipped it badly enough to expose the roots and our local dentist wanted to do root canal on her when she was sedated with valium! Umm....no!

It was a blessing that we were able to be seen by a wonderful pediatric dentist, Professor Widmer at Westmead Childrens and he worked with her for a few months and was able to cap it with no dramas. She was super good and he really helped her to be comfortable and not afraid. He was so impressed at how well she did that he photographed us for the cover of his new textbook! (Our 15mins of fame)

The first picture shows the chip, the second is the textbook and the third shows what a fabulous job he did on her little tooth.

We didn't hold high hopes for the tooth lasting too long as it was pretty bad and the cap did have to be replaced a few times. She hadn't lost any teeth to date as being so late getting them they will also be a bit late in coming out. There were a few wobbly ones though but nothing to write home about.

Just a few weeks ago though Hannah developed a cyst on the gum above the tooth and we took her in to see a dentist in Launceston who decided that the cyst was a bit of a worry and the capped tooth was the problem and would need to come out....

then and there!

She was super brave again and I really think all the wonderful work Professor Widmer did with her all those years ago helped her to be so calm and take it all in her stride. A few needles and a pair of pliers later we had finally lost our first tooth, age 7 and 8mths.

Here is a pic in the car on the way home and then another a week later.....



Can you see what happened too? Another tooth on the bottom decided to join the fun and pop out all on it's own!

The tooth fairy was on holidays so the book fairy stepped in and Missy was quite taken with the two new books for her under her pillow!

Becky can't wait for her turn :)

wibble wobble jelly in an....orange?

Mum send this idea to us and it's a hit!

I looked up a recipe here although really it's rather straight forward.
I did make the jelly a little firmer than usual by not adding as much water.
We used a muffin tin to keep the oranges upright in the fridge.
Also another tip is that it's much easier to cut the wedges when the half orange is face
down on the chopping board, the jelly seemed to break up if you cut it with the jelly facing up.

Stop the artsy photos already Mum and let us eat them!

Bathroom serenade

We can always tell where Mary is if we hear singing.....

Piano time......

We recently started Hannah and Becky in piano lessons...it was a trial for a term to see how they went and whether they were ready/old enough. Both love it and their teacher has said they are doing really well. They are both at the same level which is rather handy as they can help each other.



I got crafty this evening and finally made a bag for their books, I love using decorating fabric for bags as it's so strong and durable. It's girly approved apparently because it has sparkles (not sure if you can see them in the picture)

More Dortje pants and Nutties

I finished a pair of Dortje pants for Mary this time, all her pants are up around her knees as she's been growing like a weed! I should have come and looked at my last review before I started as I remember only after they were done that the back pockets are really too low and need to be moved up an inch...oh well! Curved hems are hard to sew by the way, I think I will do straight edges on the next pants hems. The fake fly looks great though and these turned out better than the one I made for Beck as the cord was thinner and so the topsticthing etc looks neater.

Marys munching on a couple of nutties in the pic, it's a family favourite recipe and is basically an anzac cookie but we've always called them Grandma Hoopers Nutties.

Recipe goes a little like this:

1 cup sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 cup oats
1 cup coconut
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1 tsp bi-carb soda
2 tablespoons boiling water
4 tablespoons of butter (4 ounces)


Mums method that she gave me is a little sparse on instructions but this is how I do it, boil the water in the kettle while I'm melting the butter and golden syrup in the microwave. Add the water to the mix and then the bicarb and watch it foam!
Then add to the already mixed dry ingredients and roll into small balls and bake in a mod oven for about 10mins.....don't leave them as they burn real quick! They should be a golden colour when done and will still be a little soft but will firm up on the cooling tray.
Enjoy!

P is for......

Pinnies made from Ottobre 4/2004 and made reversible using the tute found here.
(P is also for Puffer which is rather impossible to get a 4 year old to use, even though it's makes a cool whistle and everything! A freddo frog was the clincher in the end! She's putting on a brave face here as she's rather not well.)P is also for Pyjamas worn underneath Pinnies because everyone is feeling a bit under the weather and it's raining outside so pyjamas is a perfect outfit of choice.

P is for Puppets made from the scraps of the pinnie fabric and then
P is for hilarious Puppet shows!

My week in pictures....

Earlier on in the week I looked up from the dishes to see thisWe also feasted on this caramel pudding....check out the artistic dribble of sauce down the side of the dish!Spent some cold winter evenings with the machine whirring and made these for Becky. I don't have a big picture of the purple skirt but it's just a gathered skirt with elastic waist, nothing fancy. The embroidery around the bottom took forever as it's a very full skirt.
The second outift is the Ottobre 4/2004 leggings and a gathered skirt from a Spotlight knit I've had stashed away for ages. I thought it a more grown up print/colour so I had been waiting til the girls were a bit older.

Warm Jammies!

We're having a bit of a cold snap at the moment.....lots of snow on the Western Tiers which you can see from the end of our street.Consequently we need some really warm jammies at our place, so the girls are now snuggling up with comfy knit tops made from fabric Grandma scored out of the remnants bing at Spotlight! Bargain :)
It's the Ottobre Creative Workshop t-shirt pattern 301 which I use for all their basic t-shirts. I did the box style shirt this time rather than the slim fit to give them a bit of extra growing room.
The flannel pants are ones that I've made recently using the Make It Perfect PJ pants pattern that I tested for her book. They are a great pants pattern but waaaay too long for my little gnomes, Mary is in a size 3 but cut short to about a size 1 and a 1/2 and Hannah and Beck wear size 5's but cut to the size 3 length :PHere's a little something I wanted to remember as well.....it was rather funny at 4am this morning. We have a little night owl who like to come and visit most nights and this time it was accompanied with this....
"Dadda!! Dadda!! Can you come and help me, my blankets are all confused and I can't fix them"

Birthday time...

Another catch up from May this year.

Our baby is not a baby anymore!
From this....

to this.....in just 4 short years!

Happy Birthday baby girl!