Please please go to sleep

Emily's Dance Recital 2011

2011-11-26T19:25:00.002+11:00

Emily performed at her Tiny Tutu's dance recital today.
She had her Good Ship Lollipop dance, the opening run on/wave/run off
as well as the finale dance.
It's hard to believe she only turned 3 last month!!

I was a little worried she wouldn't do any dancing at all.
She was very tired and quite clingy behind stage.
But when put in her spot before the curtain opened she went from crying to professional in a split second and performed beautifully!!

She even spoke on the microphone!

Afterwards as we put her in the car to go home she up-chucked all over herself.
So glad we changed her out of her Tutu!!

Turns out she has a fever, poor thing.
A bath and panadol when we got home has done wonders.

How amazing are 3 year olds!

Rehearsal

2011-11-19T15:16:00.002+11:00

Kwik Sew 3775 Birthday Dress

2011-11-04T11:58:00.005+11:00

Emily's Birthday Dress this year is made from Kwik Sew 3775.

Main Fabric is Strawberry Fields and Contrast is Meadow Dot both in Robin's Egg

from Sandi Henderson's Meadow Sweet 2 Fabric Collection.

The Pattern was easy enough to follow, and the finish is very neat - especially on the inside.
It went well until I somehow ended up with more pleats in the front that the pattern showed ?

A little white rick rack, red apple buttons on the front and red snaps in the back finished it off.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T20:21:00.004+11:00

This is our 1st year dressing up for Halloween.
The kiddies had a great time at our neighbours party and they
really enjoyed trick or treating with all the other kids in the street.

(We went to homes that were expecting us, our neighbour
dropped off bags of lollies at each house before we headed out)

Emily is 3!!!!

2011-10-24T12:13:00.003+11:00

I Love my Ice Cream Bowl

2011-10-10T14:34:00.004+11:00

I have a Breville Freeze & Mix Bowl that attaches to my Mixer - it is the best!!!

This is my latest batch of Choc Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream.
Made with chocolate from the Margaret River Chocolate Factory in Perth.

Fishing

2011-10-08T23:04:00.002+11:00

Tom fishing on Pa's boat.

Rag Curl Fun with Emily

2011-09-27T11:38:00.002+10:00

Lately Emily has been asking for curly hair (like Aunty Courtney).

I cut up some scrap fabric from Rod's Grandma and away we went.

Emily Loves the result, and we have done it twice more since last friday.

Father's Day 2011

2011-09-05T11:35:00.006+10:00

We spent Father's Day in Bobs Farm at Murray's Brewery.

It was such a lovely sunny day and we had a fantastic time eating lunch in the sun listening to live music.

Rodney had the special Father's Day 1kg pork Ribs with the matching Beer: Murray's Best Extra Porter.

We all had such a great time we are planning on going back again next year!

Emily's New Hat

2011-08-21T15:55:00.003+10:00

A Big Thank You to Great Aunty Kerry!

Lovin the 30 mins

2011-07-20T17:13:00.004+10:00

Grabbed a copy of Jamie's 30 min Meals the very next day
after watching a few episodes on the Plane from Perth to Sydney.

So Far I've cooked the Peri, Peri Chicken, The Jools Pasta and the Oozy Mushroom Risotto
all were bloody FANTASTIC!!!

I plan on making the Pork chops and Wonky pasta meals this week.

I love cookbooks, and this one is really very very good - so far everything I've tried has worked and tasted better than I'd expected.

My only issue with it is - I just can't seem to get the meals made in
"well under 30 mins".
So far the 3 I have done have taken almost an hour. It could be my teeny weeny kitchen, or the fact I have to stop and read the directions every few mins or so, I'm bummed about the 30 mins thing - but as all 3 (3 couse meals) I've cooked were so darn good I'll forgive poor old Jamie - this time.

Perth Zoo Monday

2011-07-04T18:01:00.003+10:00

Aqwa

2011-07-03T09:43:00.003+10:00

Crochet Bun Cover Attempt for Emmy

2011-06-25T08:11:00.004+10:00

Emily's hair is so fine and soft I have issues getting it to stay in a bun for dancing.

I followed this free pattern and made her a bun cover.

Not too bad considering I don't know how to crochet.
I had to watch youtube video's to work out what I was supposed to be doing.

Don't look too closely,
It's a bit wonky and some rounds the flower has more petals than others.

Working on The Singer Cabinet

2011-06-23T08:25:00.005+10:00

I've been working on the Singer Sewing cabinet these last 2 weeks.
Mainly working on the damaged top.

Before:

Ready for a New top:

New Top on (3mm ply with a nice finish):

I'm now working on sanding the whole cabinet, then we will be ready for the next step.

Emily's New Jacket

2011-06-17T09:35:00.006+10:00

A Big Thank you to Kelly from Zoobeedoobee!!!!

I won a giveaway on Kelly's blog a few weeks ago
and
this gorgeous fully lined woollen coat arrived yesterday
Super Speedy.

It is just perfect for Emily.

The orange is so vivid, and matches this beanie Rodney's Mum made a few years ago for Tom.

The sizing is great - I'm hoping it will fit her next winter as well.

Checkout this gorgeous lining.

And the buttons - stunning.

I just love it.
Thank you so much Kelly and Zoobeedoobee for such a generous giveaway gift!!

Everyone needs to checkout Kelly's Blog and Facebook Page
she makes the most wonderful woollen Elf Coats!!

New Toy

2011-06-13T20:03:00.004+10:00

I picked up a 1952 201-1 Singer Treadle Sewing Machine today.

It needs some work and the cabinet top is shocking.

I borrowed some books from Rod's Dad, so hopefully I'll get it looking nice, and the machine in working order.

All Booked in

2011-06-10T11:37:00.005+10:00

Next School Holidays

To Perth we go!

Sydney to Perth - it's a longer flight than to NZ!!

All Done

2011-06-09T18:39:00.005+10:00

It's been over 3 weeks now since Emily had her last Breastfeed.

We made it to 2 years 7 months!!!

To Celebrate I bought myself a Normal Bra.
Yes a Normal Bra!!!

(This isn't me, I just thought this model seemed happy with herself.)

I'm Trying to show how proud I feel to have fed Emily for so long -without showing a dodgy picture of myself heh.

And tonight I'm enjoying a nice glass of wine.

It's been a wonderful journey.
I've enjoyed every moment of it.
I'm not missing it - it was our time!

Thomas is 6!!

2011-06-02T10:28:00.002+10:00

Thomas turned 6 on Saturday.
We had lunch at Hungry Jacks, then back home for his cave cake.

Thomas said he wanted a cave cake with ghosts and scary eyes.
I think I captured that heh :)

We gave Tom a Lego Pirate ship - it took 2 full days for him to build.

Emily's Finished Quilt

2011-05-27T11:59:00.003+10:00

I finished putting the binding on Emily's quilt last Friday.

Front:

Back:

Just need to make a label for it.

All Barbie fabrics except for the MM Fairy Frost (Binding and around the pannels on the back).

Emily's Table and Chairs

2011-05-24T09:59:00.002+10:00

We had a great weekend with Rodney's Mum, Dad and Grandma in Dunedoo.

Emily's Great Grandma gave her a cute little table and chairs.

She had tea parties with her Great Uncles on Sunday, and today she is painting (it was delivered less than 5 mins ago!).

I think she will cherish this generous gift!

Quilt Binding for Emily's Barbie Quilt

2011-05-17T12:03:00.008+10:00

Yummmy Shimmery Michael Miller Fairy Frost Binding.

Finally finished the quilting for Emily's barbie Quilt - just finished making the binding - now just to put it on :)

It's been a long project - I started collecting the barbie fabrics towards the end of 2009 !

See my progress:
Collecting the fabric
Quilting
Using the scraps

Hopefully it won't be too long and I will be posting pictures of it all finished!!

Babysitting

2011-05-03T19:58:00.006+10:00

Back to School and Dance (Term 2)

2011-04-29T09:20:00.004+10:00

This week Tom was back to School in winter uniform including a tie!

I had Rodney tie it so I just need to loosen it off in the afternoon's and pop it back on the next morning. I should learn how to do it myself one of these days.

Here he is looking very handsome !!

Emily is wearing her Bed of Roses Stenzo Oliver + S hopscotch dress.

Emily went back to dance lessons this week in winter uniform which ment she wore stockings and a wrap over her tutu.

Now to get back into the school drop off and pick up routine again.

Cape for Emily

2011-04-21T19:44:00.003+10:00

After seeing this Cape I just had to make a cape for Emily.

Pattern is Ottobre 6/2008 #22
Fabric is some Pink Polar Fleece from Spotlight
Floral trim was from a local discount shop
Farbenmix Flora Fox Ribbon on applique

The applique is from Ottobre 1/2009 (it's also a free download!)

Cheeky Gnome Shirt

2011-04-18T13:12:00.004+10:00

Sewed this shirt up this morning.

Fabric - Stella in White and Charcoal Marle.
Iron On + Ribbon - Farbenmix.
All from Crafty Mamas.

I've been meaning to get to it for a few weeks, but I've been unhappy with the patterns I had.

The PJ pattern I used here, fitted nicely but I wasn't happy with the neckline.
I then sewed Thomas up another pair of PJ's using this top pattern, loved the neckline but the sleeves and body were very very baggy - good for PJ's, but not what i was after in a T-Shirt.

So I traced around a T-shirt that fits Thomas well, and altered the Simplicity 8946 pattern to something I thought should be ok.

I am happy with the results - but there is a little bulk under his arm - not sure how to get rid of that hmmm.

I plan on making another shirt with some different colours and iron-on's.

Thomas loves how soft the fabric is.

Tom's Baby Ninja PJ's

2011-04-07T20:06:00.003+10:00

Made these for Tom last week from a pattern Rodney's Mum gave me.

They are a size 6 with size 8 length.

Rodney's Birthday

2011-03-31T16:54:00.002+11:00

Pink Birdy Bridal Modkid Penny

2011-03-24T16:06:00.004+11:00

My new Modkid Penny Pattern arrived in the mail this morning from Crafty Mamas.

Last week Emily and I purchased some fabric last week specifically for this pattern, but when it arrived I had a great idea to finally use the farbenmix Velour Birdy Bridal Couple I purchased a while ago.

Emily is very happy, and I think it looks really cute on her!

The pattern is for 3/4 length sleeves, I don't much like that look so I traced out the size 2T with the 4t sleeve length - much better length for winter.

It was quick and easy to put together - I will be making a few more shortly.

Mmmm shopping

2011-03-18T12:24:00.002+11:00

Emily and I went to Spotlight early this week.

Emily had a great time picking out fabric - 20% off !!!

This lot is destined to be some winter Pj's and Long Sleeved Dresses.

Choc Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

2011-02-28T16:34:00.002+11:00

My 2nd batch of Cookie Dough Ice Cream.

Recipe from my Ben & Jerry's Book.

It's good, really really good!
Creamy with lots and lots of chunks, and it fits perfectly in my favorite pink lunchbox Yeah.

New Ice Cream 'Cookbook'

2011-02-15T17:33:00.002+11:00

My new cookbook arrived today from the Book Depository!!

Looking forward to some lovely homemade ice cream in our near future.

2nd Day of School

2011-02-03T09:20:00.004+11:00

Tom's 2nd day of school - normal uniform today.

You can see his missing tooth in this one!
(He lost his first tooth this week)

A Day of Firsts

2011-02-02T20:15:00.002+11:00

Today was Thomas's first day at School.
It was sport uniform today, so tomorrow I'll take some photo's of him in the 'normal' uniform as well.

Today was also Emily's first Ballet lesson.
She had fun dancing (running) around the room wearing sparkly purple fairy wings.

After Emily's dance lesson we went to Mayfield to an ABA meeting where a Lactation Consultant gave a talk - it was really good.

Rushed home had a quick lunch then off to pick up Tom from school.

We spent the afternoon playing with the hose in the back yard and blowing bubbles.

Tangled

2011-01-26T19:53:00.002+11:00

Happy Australia Day!

It was a hot one, so we took the Kids to see Tangled.

I haven't been to the movies since seeing Indiana Jones (Crystal Skull one) - way back in 2008.

It was really quite enjoyable.

Water Fun

2011-01-22T19:45:00.002+11:00

Hello Kitty's new Outfit

2011-01-17T12:59:00.006+11:00

Santa gave Emily a Sitting Hello Kitty Dress Me Plushie for Christmas.

Hello Kitty is known in our house as Meow.

Emily really loves her Meow, she takes her everywhere and sleeps with her too.

Meow came with a couple of outfits, and loves to be dressed up over and over again.

This morning I sewed up a new dress for Meow using some leftover fabric. I traced around meow's existing top and used that as a guide.

To make the flowers I followed this tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBHQ4Z6eO2U then I hot glued on some sequins and some Velcro so it can attach to her head.

Back View:

Emily was very excited, I think I may have to make some more - another day.

Emily's Barbie Quilt Progress

2011-01-11T10:23:00.004+11:00

Gosh it was 12 months ago when I first blogged about the Barbie quilt I had planned for Emily.

http://nadiney.blogspot.com/2010/01/barbie-quilt.html

Today I'm continuing to work on quilting the blocks.

Emily has had this on her bed for a few months now, and whenever I have spare time I try to work on it.

The quilt top is 100% barbie fabric gathered mainly from eBay from various countries.

The back is probably 50-50.
I grabbed some Michael Miller fairy Frost to finish the back as I just couldn't find that much Barbie fabric. There is barbie fabric on the sides, and a strip of pieced barbie scraps down the middle, with the Fairy Frost surrounding the pieced bits.

It's quite large and very pink!

Cooking, Playmobil and Sewing

2010-12-30T11:00:00.003+11:00

The first recipe I've tried from my new cookbook was the Old Fashioned Gingerbread Cake.

Yum Yum Yum!!!

___________________________________________________________

Emily had the Playmobil 'Pony Ranch' Advent calendar this year.

Thomas had the Lego Kingdoms Advent Calendar.

Lots and lots of little bits and pieces.

Tom's bits went into his Lego bucket.

Emily didn't have anywhere to keep hers all together so I made her a drawstring bag.
I Printed the playmobil logo on some Iron-on paper, I ran out of colour ink so it's black, but still does the job.

Now to encourage her to keep all of her bits and bobs in the bag.

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T15:43:00.003+11:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hope you all had a fun day,

Lots of gifts,

And some fantastic food!!!

Because we did!!

My New Cookbook

2010-12-20T11:11:00.003+11:00

My Lovely sister-in-law Louise gave me a cookbook for christmas!!

I LOVE cookbooks.

And this one has 5 recipe's for gingerbread YAY

Gingerbread Houses 2010 Part 4

2010-12-14T20:23:00.003+11:00

The kids just finished their houses!

Tom's has star windows and is finished off with some sparkles.

Emily's house has heart Windows and was finished off with some snow and sparkles.

The kids both really enjoyed making them - will see how we go next year :)

Gingerbread Houses 2010 Part 3

2010-12-14T09:04:00.003+11:00

We have all 4 Walls up on both Gingerbread Houses!

Need to make up a fresh batch of Royal icing before we tackle the roofs.

Gingerbread Houses 2010 Part 2

2010-12-13T09:57:00.003+11:00

This morning, we have erected 2 walls of the kids houses.
So far so good - will leave these to dry a while before adding more walls.

These houses are quite a bit smaller than the huge one Tom and I did last year - here is the picture of last years - they are the same mugs being used for stability!

Gingerbread Houses 2010 Part 1

2010-12-12T15:14:00.002+11:00

The Kids started to Decorate their Gingerbread Houses today.

This year I'm using Jasmine's recipe and I've taken her expert advice and had the kids decorate the front, back and walls before we start construction.

I've decorated a few pieces so we have some spare walls just in case we have a shocker during construction.

Jasmine

2010-12-04T20:03:00.002+11:00

Melissa's baby Girl Jasmine.

Tom's Christmas Party

2010-12-03T17:24:00.002+11:00

Facepainting, Cupcakes, lollies and Santa.

What else can you ask for in a Christmas party.

The kids wore their Christmas Outfits and looked quite the part!

Tom's Graduation

2010-11-26T20:44:00.005+11:00

Tonight we had Tom's Preschool Graduation.

They had caps and were presented with Certificates.

He had a great time and lots of yummy cupcakes afterwards.

Swimming

2010-11-26T15:54:00.005+11:00

Took the kids to the local pool this morning with Nanna.

Emily being silly (Tom off to one side not wanting to be in a photo.)

Emily watching Nanna swim.

Emily had a fantastic time!
Tom was a bit weary of the big pool but had lots of fun in the little pool.

When it was time to go home, noticed Emily's skin had a reaction - red and blotchy.
She is now sleeping it off after some Phenergan and being dipped in Calamine Lotion.

Girl-ing up Emily's Room

2010-11-25T13:21:00.004+11:00

I've been trying to Girly up Em's room in hopes she will want to sleep in her own bed.

At the moment her bed is Blue - and has Thomas the tank Engine all over it!

A few weeks ago I bought some pink spotty sheets for her bed - at least now she doesn't have blue sheets on her blue bed!

On Monday I finally finished her curtains - YAY for Girly curtains. She had just the plain white lining up, and I still have to trim the lining as it's too long - but thats for another day.

Today I'm working on some covers for her Bed Head, Side Rails and Bed End. These will hopefully cover the Thomas's all over it.

This was made with some scraps from her quilt, it's going to be the middle of a cover for her bed head.

Her Quilt is a Barbie quilt - it's on her bed but I've only quilted around 1/3 of it - oops.

Giveaway over at Handmade Kids

2010-11-10T13:03:00.004+11:00

Head over to Handmade Kids and enter their fantastic giveaway!.

The prize is this gorgeous waldorf doll from Poppy Bean and Bloss.

Christmas Dress Progress

2010-11-03T19:09:00.002+11:00

Emily and I went Christmas fabric shopping yesterday.

She chose blue this year with ice skating polar bears - cute!

Today we got the bodice done - and added some glitter fabric paint to accentuate the design.

This is from a free pattern - The Spin Around Dress. Not sure if i will use that pattern's skirt, thinking of just gathering up a rectangle and putting a band on the bottom in co-ordinating fabric.

I just won a copy of Farbenmix's Caroline!!

2010-10-24T11:18:00.003+11:00

Thanks to the generosity of Willow and Moo, I've won a copy of the Caroline pattern!!

This pattern has been on my wish list for a while now :)

Emily's 2nd Birthday Meow Cake

2010-10-23T09:53:00.003+11:00

Happy Birthday Emily!!

(Notice the dolls house - thats was our gift)

I sat down with Emily and we went through the Woman's Weekly Cake book and not surprisingly, she chose the Cat :)

Emily's 2nd Birthday Meow Dress

2010-10-21T14:20:00.004+11:00

This is Emily's 2nd Birthday Dress - Just finished today - A good thing as it's her birthday tomorrow!

Pattern = Farbenmix Destina from Crafty Mamas.
Fabric = 8 x Fancy Cat Fat Quarters from eBay.
Buttons - 4 x Fancy Cat from Cardiff tapestry Shop.

This dress all started with these 4 cute cat buttons.
(Sorry not a very good view of them)

Emily love's Meows (Cats), and when I was at the Cardiff Tapestry shop and when I found these 4 cute cat buttons, I just HAD to get them.

One day whilst browsing eBay I found fabric that looked surprisingly similar to those buttons I'd bought an put away. After scrounging around and finding them I realised the fabric matched exactly YAY. So I purchased 8 different varieties of the fancy cat fabrics - with no idea what they and the buttons were to become.

Then magic struck and they combined together with the Destina pattern to become a Birthday Meow dress!!

Pink Dress for Emily - Modkid Maya

2010-10-20T12:49:00.005+11:00

Modkid Maya Dress

Main = Stella Girly Pink/White stripes
Contrast = Stella Girl Pink

All from Crafty Mama's shop - they have so many fantastic things!

This was really quick to sew up and I think it looks super cute on!

Not sure if i'm happy with the rolled hem, so when I make it again i'll try another option.

My 30th Birthday

2010-10-04T15:44:00.002+11:00

Eeeek Guess who is turning 30

2010-09-24T17:11:00.002+10:00

Image from http://www.glassofwin.com/?p=2170

Yes it's me!!! Next Wednesday I turn the big 30.

To celebrate we are jetting off to New Zealand for 11 days yeah! Just Me, Rod, Tom and Em - I am really really looking forward to it!

And as I say to Tom, only 4 more sleeps till the airplane ride YAY

I have booked the four of us in for Dinner at a cultural theatre in Rotorua for my birthday feed, and I hope to see something explode during the day!

Holidays are great for big birthdays, helps with the excitement, and leaves no time for worrying over the the getting old part!!

Emily's Orange Dress

2010-09-08T15:12:00.003+10:00

I made Emily a Peasant style dress from the Portabello Pixie Claire pattern.

The Spotty and checkered fabric is from a huge bag of various fabric pieces my Mother in Law gave me from her Mothers house, the orange is some calico I dyed up a while ago.

I was planning on having spotty sleeves - but there just wasn't enough of the spots.

I was quite pleased with myself, until Thomas said it was a Clown dress.

Tom Eating my Hair

2010-08-20T17:40:00.000+10:00

Oh Yeah Doughnuts

2010-08-04T20:03:00.003+10:00

I used Jamie oliver's recipe from his 'Cook with Jamie' book.

More Web Cam Fun with the Kiddies

2010-08-04T13:06:00.003+10:00

Web Cam Fun with Emily

2010-08-03T17:29:00.002+10:00

WWE in Sydney

2010-08-01T10:18:00.002+10:00

Went to see WWE in Sydney last night - it was FANTASTIC!! This is our 4th time seeing WWE live, but it's been 3 years since we last went.

The best match was Matt Hardy vs Christian - Matt Hardy WON !!!!!

We caught the train - $10.80 return - can't beat that! We got home just before 3am, Kiddies were sound asleep - thanks Mum!!

Hopefully we wont wait 3 years to see them again!

Trains

2010-07-04T08:05:00.003+10:00

On the last public holiday - almost a month ago now, we took the kids to Richmond Vale Railway Museum to ride the Steam Trains.

The kids really enjoyed the day - both came home with coal in their hair! (loved having their heads out the window of the moving trains)

They were very interested in watching the celtic knight's, Tom even got to try on a helmet!

And Emily liked looking at all of the shields.

Hot dogs and cookies for lunch.

A really nice day out :)

2010-07-03T10:07:00.000+10:00

Pony Tail and Laptop

2010-06-29T19:27:00.003+10:00

Emily is 20 months old and she now has enough hair to put up in a pony tail!!
So super cute :) Rodney thinks she looks very different with all her hair pulled back from her face - a bit too grown up.

This afternoon I worked on my very crappy and old Sony Vaio Laptop - it's super old (3.5 yrs at least). It died in April, and I was a bit cranky with it.

After a few hours this afternoon I have it up and running for the moment. It is now Thomas's laptop till it dies again. He is very happy to have his own computer.

The Touch

2010-06-28T09:36:00.003+10:00

I picked this book up for $1 at a garage sale a few weeks ago.

I like that it is set in Australia in the late 19th Century, and they build railroads, import steam engines and have a gold mine!

Babies

2010-06-24T15:06:00.003+10:00

Emily and I spent this morning with lots of gorgeous babies!!

First we went to an ABA meeting, I got to hold a 2 month old!

Then we went to the Hospital and visited Rodney's Brother's new baby - Harry - super cute!

Just had to brag!!!!!

Rodney is an Uncle!

2010-06-23T10:37:00.000+10:00

Finally!!

Fabric Giveaway

2010-06-12T07:57:00.002+10:00

Pop over to Crafty Mamas Blog for your chance to win some fantastic Euro fabric!

But you have to be quick - closes on the 12th June!!!

Link: http://craftymamas.blogspot.com/2010/06/farbenmix-fabric-give-away.html

Off to the Farm

2010-06-09T18:50:00.003+10:00

We had a surprise yesterday morning our Ducks, Frank and Lady had babies!

Lady had been sitting on a clutch of eggs for a while now, but I really didn't think they would hatch being so cold.

Once I discovered they were hatching I was in a panic, running around chasing chickens into their house, removing Frank from the duck house, and worrying about what to do with the babies.

Perviously we have sold them to a local pet shop, but this time I looked on farmstock.com.au and was lucky enough to find a wanted add for ducklings in my area YAY!!

The kind young man and his wife came this afternoon and picked up the babies as well as Frank and Lady, they gave Thomas some money and we are going to get some new lego!

Budget Meals

2010-06-06T18:42:00.003+10:00

With our credit cards maxed out (oops ) from the lounge room renovations, I'm trying to save money.

Budget Meal Planning - I thought I'd give this a go.
Last night I sat down and organised recipe's for 14 dinners
.
I went grocery shopping today, and spent around $110 (including household items like toilet paper, dish detergent etc).

So $110 for 14 days, with 3 meals a day works out to around $2.60 a meal sorta - I can't be bothered looking at the receipt to see how much wasn't actually foods.

But $2.60 a meal for 4 isn't too bad - if we can stick to it without buying anything else for the fortnight.

Tonight we had Roast chicken and gravy (done in the slow cooker), and rice balls with creamy basil sauce.

Yum Yum Yum!!! Even Thomas ate it with minimal fuss.

It was so hard not to put cookies in the trolley - I have weakness for cookies and sweets. So to satisfy my sweet tooth I will make everything myself!

So tonight we have a butter cake with chocolate icing!

Not sure how much this will save us, but it feels good to be organised and know what food I can make.

Thomas is 5 !!

2010-05-28T16:51:00.005+10:00

Today is Thomas's 5th birthday !

He had a Pirate Ship Chocolate Cake at preschool yesterday, with a matching Pirate ship Birthday Top.

This morning he opened his gifts from us, Rod gave him an iron man get up, it makes loud noises, has a big blue light and he loves it.

Tomorrow is his birthday party with all his friends, he is very excited!

Leggings and New Shirt

2010-05-19T13:01:00.002+10:00

Emily's new doughnut leggings arrived today - she wanted to put them on as soon as I opened the package!!

The shirt she is wearing also arrived today, we won a giveaway on a nappy forum, the lovely lady hand dye'd this shirt and applique'd a cupcake on the front - very cute!!

The not so 'Epic' pencil case

2010-05-18T15:59:00.005+10:00

A few weeks ago I was lucky enouch to win a kit for an 'Epic' pencil case from Wildchild and it arrived today !!!!!

As it is a preschool day and the pencil case is going to be a birthday gift (yep Thomas is 5 next week!!!) I just had to make it straight away!!!

The above picture shows my dodgy pocket - i somehow cut it wrong and it was around 3" too short, luckily I had enough lining left over to make my oops a 'design feature' :)

Oh and check out my super dodgy zip sewing - i followed a tutorial, it didn't work so ripped i tout, found a different tutorial and this is as good as it went - oh well, not pretty but it does open and close!

Thanks so much to Wildchild for this fantastic kit and tutorial!!

Heidi and Finn Girly little blouse 2

2010-05-10T20:28:00.001+10:00

Heidi and Finn Girly little blouse, originally uploaded by nadineyager.

Another blouse for Emily.

Emily chose this fabric :)

This pattern is so quick and easy to sew up!

Thomas's Imke number 2

2010-05-10T16:16:00.002+10:00

Thomas's Imke, originally uploaded by nadineyager.

Thomas picked the fabric, and told me which hood he wanted.

He is very pleased with the results!

Emily's Blouse

2010-05-07T16:12:00.003+10:00

Emily's Blouse 2, originally uploaded by nadineyager.

This is the Girly little Bouse pattern from heidi and finn, 12month size. I just love their patterns!!! I have 5 of them, and made 4 so far and they all look like they should.

I was worried it would look a bit like a painting smock, but i'm really pleased, it fits her quite well over a long sleeved tshirt as well!

Looks great over jeans.

The patternwas easy to follow and took 1 afternoon from start to finish - even with a little helper.
I was a bit confused by the collar but I think I got it right in the end.

Heidi and Finn Pintuck Sweater

2010-05-03T11:34:00.002+10:00

I made this jumper for emily on Saturday, it's the Heidi and Finn Pintuck sweater pattern.

Very easy and quick to sew up!

I added Farbenmix Miss Ling ribbon in grey, and I am quite pleased with the results.

Fun in the Park

2010-04-30T19:47:00.003+10:00

I took the kids shopping at spotlight today and they picked out fabrics for their winter clothes.

Afterwards we grabed some McDonalds and went to the park.

The kids had a great time chasing birds and palying on the equipment.

Emily is wearing a skirt I made, its the Girly pleated skirt pattern from Heidi and Finn. I even dye'd up the fabric - it's just cheap old calico but looks great once it's hand dye'd!

Thomas is wearing a shirt I've applique'd Thomas and Percy onto - it's his SteamFest shirt.

New Longies

2010-04-28T10:58:00.003+10:00

Erin from Kaleidoskein knitted Emily some Longies for night nappies out of Merino wool, they are lovely!

The colour is called Neapolitan and looks just like melted Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry Ice Cream.

Erin also knitted up a dress for Emily which is simply gorgeous - its a bit big but will be great next year!!

Erin was super quick - only took 2 weeks, If anyone wants some knits I highly recommend Erin over at http://www.minicuteture.com.au/store/42.

Emily's Insa

2010-04-25T17:18:00.004+10:00

This is another pattern from my book Sewing Clothes kids Love!!

It is just the underskirt part, and it's turned out a smidge too big.

It's made from a pillowcase I bought from the salvo's last year for $1, I just loved the Indian print!

The Tiddlypeep's

2010-04-21T08:53:00.002+10:00

Tom and Emmy just before Tom left to go to Steamfest with Pa.

Courtney's Engagement Party Part 2

2010-04-07T08:16:00.005+10:00

Some more pictures from Saturday night.

Tom is Jeff Wiggle, and Emily is 1980's Pop, with Courtney 1980's Madonna.

Emily and Pa Blues Brother

The chocolate fountain was a hit!

Emily and Nanna 1950's dancer

Emily loved the band.

Courtney's Engagement Party

2010-04-05T18:18:00.003+10:00

Just a few Pictures from Courtney & Brett's Engagement Party

Rock 'n' Roll Theme

The happy couple

The Boys

Me and Courtney

Will put up some of the kids later.

Imke for Thomas

2010-03-15T08:29:00.003+11:00

Over the weekend I made Tom an Imke from my new sewing book.

It is just a basic hoodie, and the fabric was $2 a meter!

He seems to have a big head so I had to re-do the neck which is why it's a bit dodgy - next time i'll cut the neck and hood from the next size up - hopefully that will make it a bit neater!

New sewing book arrived today!

2010-03-12T12:56:00.002+11:00

My new sewing book arrived today YAY!!!

Oooooooops

2010-03-10T09:15:00.001+11:00

Emily received an overdue notice for her library book oops I had forgotten we still had it.

The kids really enjoyed this one - it had a cd of the story with it!

Looks like we are off to the library with our tails between our legs to return it today!

Emmy Pants Take 1

2010-03-05T13:21:00.004+11:00

In the last 2 weeks we have had a couple of cool-ish days, Emily has no cool weather pants that fit her, we have made do with legwarmers and a badly stained too-short pair of pants.

So I made her a pair today from some fleece I have had for about a year now.

She likes them, but as you can see they are not high enough in the back - and her nappy peaks out :(

(See the pink)

So - do i just keep these as-is and make some more, or fix them hmmmmmm.

Anyways, not today!

Meter Box Upgrade

2010-02-22T19:14:00.005+11:00

My Dad upgraded our meter box on Saturday, we now have safety things, like an earth steak, and circuit breakers. We also have no more fuses!!

This is the meter box when we first bought this house in 2006. It was a museum piece :)

This is it before the upgrade - notice Energy Australia replaced the top things at some stage.

This is it now -all nice and safe :)

Half the house has been rewired, and we have light switches in the bedrooms rather than a hole with the wires shoved in - they don't work but they look nice. In the next few months we hope to get some new power points installed, and the phone jack moved so we don't need to have cables running over the floor - can't wait!!

Thanks Dad for all your work!!!!

Wooden windows are so much fun

2010-02-21T15:15:00.004+11:00

This just after taking the old Air Conditioner out, and the window is sitting on a chair!

We had a terrible time getting the 'peek-a-boo' panel out to replace the sash cord - after a few hours and a 2nd opinion we found that the panel wasn't cut right through - but it's all good now, and the window is working :)

This weekend we had a new Air Conditioner installed and our meter box upgraded - i'll be back with before and after pictures of that.

eeek

2010-02-18T16:34:00.003+11:00

I just posted off my Volunteer Trainee Application pack to enroll in the Certificate IV in Breastfeeding Education (Community).

eeek, what if they reject my application?

Or what if they accept it?

I'm feeling just a tad paranoid, but I'm really thinking i'll enjoy it!!

Lounge Room Reno 3

2010-02-07T15:29:00.003+11:00

New Couch

Today we ordered a new couch.

The La-z-boy Martelli 3 Seater in dark brown leather.

It could take a while for it to arrive, we will find out the waiting time next week.

Lounge Room Reno 2

2010-02-05T19:17:00.002+11:00

It's Friday which means Rodney has had 5 full days home working with me on the Lounge Room.

Ceiling FINISHED - took 3 coats!!!!!
Walls FINISHED - 1 coat undercoat and 2 topcoats.
Picture rail FINISHED - 1 coat undercoat and 2 topcoats + some touching up after wards.
Skirting board NEEDS 1 MORE COAT - 1 coat undercoat and 1 topcoat so far.

We went lounge shopping today, not really sure what we want yet. I was thinking leather for the easy clean factor, especially with small kiddies, but we looked at a stripy couch and woah it was nice!!!

Picked up our custom made filing cabinet for the study and a chair mat.

Next week is window week :( The wooden windows are really, really bad so not looking forward to that at all.

Nappy Giveaway at Cherubs Kiss

2010-02-05T19:12:00.004+11:00

My favorite nappy maker Lesley from Cherubs Kiss is having a giveaway!!

You'll notice her blog is always in my blog list on the side :)

Pop on over to http://cherubskiss.blogspot.com/ and enter.

Emmy has 4 of her nappies and i'm keen to get more!!!!

Lounge Room Reno

2010-02-02T22:39:00.002+11:00

Today we had a full working day with no kiddies!!
Tom went to Preschool and Emmy went to Nanna's.

We got heaps done YAY

Whole room cleaned
Walls undercoated
Ceiling 1st coat
Picture rail 1st coat
vent covers painted and plastered onto the wall!

Tomorrow both kiddies will be going to Nanna's for the morning, so we hope to get a lot more done!!

We have decided to get rid of our red leather chesterfield lounge and get a new one!!
We are also going to remove the old air-conditioner from the window and replace with a nice new wall one!!
AND get plantation shutters on the front windows!!

Lots to do.

Cuddles and Smiles

2010-01-28T13:12:00.004+11:00

Painting

2010-01-16T20:23:00.003+11:00

Rod is taking 2 weeks off in Feb and we are FINALLY going to fix up our front room!!!!

We are looking at using A141 bread Crumb Quarter for below the picture rail, and B29 Pearl Lusta for above.

I think we may need to get some samples just to make sure :)

Dear Nadine

Nadine has created a Project on the Dulux website and has sent you a shopping list.

Colours

A141
Bread Crumb Quarter

Pearl Lusta