Christmas Giveaways.

How beautiful is this fabric that the wonderful Retromummy is giving away?! Now I just need a sewing machine! Was thinking of getting one off ebay actually since I haven't sewn since Year 10 Home Ec. Any recommendations?

What a tart!

Yay for me - my winning voucher for fruit mince pies or lemon tarts from PottyMouthMama

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A new find...

The Royal Sisters

Well for me anyway. I loooooove coming across wonderful new blogs and wondering how on earth I managed to live without them in the past! This is a wonderful one filled with bunches of crochety goodness! I've especially loved the simple and easy to follow tutorials and have just sat here and made a star and tree. I strongly recommend you pop on over yourself if you haven't been there already!

Point and Shoot: Santa

I know point and shoot is all about a single image... but I couldn't resist with some of my favourites from the weekend.

Isaac sneaking in for a treat from Santa at the Kinder break up party. This was truly the funniest Santa I've ever met! Played by one of the kinder mum's fathers, he truly delved right into the role and the kids all loved him... particularly when he started talking about 'pop offs'! Toilet humour and 4 year olds make such a happy mix.

Me and Matilda - I was trying to get her warmed up to the whole Santa experience as we planned on attempting the real deal at the shops the next day.

So, it's a photo of a photo - worse, an iphone photo of a photo, but Santa turned out successfully in the end... if success means they all sat near him, no one cried and they are all vaguely looking in the direction of the camera. Can you tell Isaac has only just put his tongue back into his mouth?!

And to finish off, a tea party with all our friends. Cute, yes?

Did you have a busy weekend? Join in with FatMumSlim's point and shoots over this way.

An apple a day....

Could you not see this lovely piece of shelfy goodness in your wee person's room?

The best thing is....

you can have it as a pear too!!!

You can buy them from this sweet online store... Candy Stripe Cloud.

Things I'm grateful for this Saturday: Hairdresser Hair

Before!!!!



After!

Join in with Grateful Saturdays over here.

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Point and Shoot: Matilda turns 2

Saturday afternoon, December 4th, 2010

We had a wonderful Play School themed party for Matilda on Saturday with a few little friends to help us celebrate. As you can see by the last picture, someone partied too hard and completely zonked out on Grandma!

Join in with Point and Shoot too!

All the kings horses and all the kings men....

could put Humpty together again!!!

Lego Advent Calendar

How cool is this little number bought for us by my lovely friend Kate! Each wee window opens to reveal a piece of Christmas Lego goodness to build. We are soooo buzzed with it we haven't moved from the bench as we gaze at it's beauty!

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Desire

I had tickets to tonights U2 concert in Melbourne - alas, my husband is away for work and the small people are just a wee bit toooo small to leave home alone. Trust me though when I say I considered doing just that!

I've loved this song since my Year 11 days when the local band at the time sang it at a school social. Since I was in lust with the lead singer, I always imagined he was singing it just to me (I wish!!!).

Yeah!

What's your favourite U2 song?

Just about the coolest post ever about a lucky lady who met Bono last night!!!

Just dont mention the 'V' word!

cartoon from here

Yesterday I paid $69 for a new pill prescription!!! For just 3 months worth!!!! Somehow I think doing what the cartoon says might be a better options.

Christmas Wreath

This is our Christmas wreath this year - made by Oscar & his year 6 buddy. Cute, yes?


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I spy with my little eye....

I'm not sure why this picture keeps popping up sideways as it's orientation is the right way up in my files. Praps Blogger is having a picture tanty! Anyway, we are in high party prep at the moment. Can you spy face masks ready for colouring in? Party hats waiting to be folded? Homemade Jemima, Humpty and Big Ted cupcake toppers?

Then of course, what wouldn't you do for this sweet girl singing her own birthday songs?

Mangoes!

I collected these babies from Kinder this afternoon. The smell alone is enough to make me go weak at the knees! And since Darren is away all week and the kids dont eat them I get them all to myself. Can you overdose on mango? I think not but will let you know. I've just blended 3 of them up and mixed them through a tub of melting vanilla icecream. After a wee taste test it barely made it back into the freezer! Apart from devouring the rest as is, anyone got some easy mango recipes for me?

Scary Santa

Every year I attempt to dress my children nicely and choof off to a shopping centre for the obligatory Santa Meet and Greet Photo. I dont know why I still insist on it as they all kinda freak out about it and in reality he is quite scary up close and personal. One year I convinced Darren to dress up as Santa to see if we could get any joy. What do you think? Who looks the most unimpressed here?

The only time I have ever had any success is when they where all wee babies and didn't know what was going on. But, since I like to use the shot as our Christmas card cover I have spent the last week convincing them of the joy they should be getting out of sitting on a strange mans knee and telling him about all their Christmas wishes! Its has not been going well! Then I spied these awesome printables and decided I might cut the kids some slack this year and use these instead. How cute are they???!!!

Point and Shoot: Pip's Christmas Baubles

Sunday night, 10pm, created whilst watching Offspring (oh, Dr Chris, yum!) and downloading Margaret Fulton's Christmas app! Perhaps I should have been concentrating some more, yes? They dont quite look like Pip's gorgeous one's. I think praps I should use bigger balls next time, you know, just to spread the crochety bits out a bit and make them look prettier. What's your verdict?

Join in with Point & Shoot over here.

To market, to market...

I totally rocked this market this morning! I ran out of money, the ATM ran out of money! I cant even show you pictures as most of what I bought are headed under the Christmas tree. I was lucky enough to go ON MY OWN! That's right - no kids! I even packed a smaller handbag to take - you know, one that isn't so laden with small people paraphanalia that when hanging from your shoulder it presses your bra strap so hard into your skin you're left with bruises!

I met some lovely ladies who's blogs I happen to stalk on a fairly regular basis too (Allison from Lark and Morgan at Morgan Wills) & and managed to get supremely jealous of everyones clever craftiness. I strongly suggest you go next time. Just make sure you are cashed up!

This Saturday I'm grateful for... poles and puppies.

I'm about to spend the coming week as a single parent as my husband is going away for work for several days. I am desperately trying not to stress out about not getting any kind of break for the next five days so spent today marvelling in the joys of little people. So this Saturday, I'm grateful for:

• the joy that this little boy discovered in being finally able to go down the firemans pole at the playground without any help! Remember that feeling? It was quite the drug for him as he did it over and over again.

• puppies at pet shop windows! I know some people dont think very nice things about these dear little things spending all this time in wee glass boxes with insane people staring at them and tapping on the window every time they are trying to sleep, but for us, in our pet free home, they are the highlight of our shopping centre trips. And since Matilda had quite the meltdown in our summer shoe buying session today, we all needed a little cheering up!
  

Feeling grateful about anything in particular? Join in with Maxabella over this way.

Kids Craft - Advent Calender

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We are soooo totally going to make these origami advent cups this year! These are from a marvellous site called Kids Craft Weekly. This weeks email was all about advent calenders and these beat the daggy cardboard, tasteless chocolate numbers we normally buy from Coles! I think you should sign yourself up if you've got small people! Go on, off you go and do it.

On my Christmas list....

Donna Hay's new cookbook. So I know I dont actually cook very often, but I do soooo love to sit and look at the pictures.

Kikki K Weekly Family Diary - I used one this year and LOVED it. There is a seperate column for everyone in the family.

Victoria Mason Granny Square Neclace - available from the Lark Shop. Are there words to describe it's gorgeousness!

* Clearly there are many other lovely things that I'd like, but if I even found just one of these under my tree on Christmas morning (that I didn't have to buy, wrap and tag myself) I'd be ever so excited!

There's a bear in there...

...and a chair as well. There are people with games and stories to tell. Open wide, come inside. It's Playschool.

Who doesn't love a bit of Playschool every now and then. Especially when you're lucky enough to switch on and get one of those fantastic presenters that you loved yourself. My favourite was always Bonita although I dont think she's been on in recent times. When Oscar was a little boy we took him to a Playschool concert and I got to meet Bonita and had her sign a Humpty Dumpty for us. I tell you it was a highlight of my 'meeting celebrities' life! It certainly ranks up there with meeting Bonnie Tyler!

Matilda has adopted Oscar's signed Humpty along with a Jemima doll and is completely and utterly obsessed. I have been desperately trying to get her on video singing the theme song but of course as soon as you ask for a performance, Miss Shy pops out to say hi. Since she is turning 2 (!!!!!) next month we are going with a Playschool theme and have discovered fantastic FREE party packs on the ABC website. Cute!

Who was your favourite Playschool person when you were a small person? And what about now?

Meet Olivia

Olivia is the daughter of a friend of mine and she needs a wee bit of help buying a lovely new wheelchair. Head over here if you can help out this gorgeous girl.

Perfect Red Shoes

I live in a fantasy world of coming across perfect red shoes that will make me beautiful. It wont matter what else I have on, what my hair looks like or whether I am wearing lipstick because the focus will be on my feet, lovingly encased in these.

drawpilgrim is selling these lovelies at the moment in her yard sale. Please dont anyone else buy them as I am currently harrassing my husband that my need for them is dire and he is yet to be convinced!

Can you love someone you've never met?

(the picture is from Pip's flickr stream)

Because I do! I love Pip from Meet Me At Mikes. Who wouldn't love her crafty goodness and generosity when she goes to bunches of effort to put instructions - with pictures and video! - on her blog teaching everyone and anyone how to crochet granny squares. Then because of her marvellousness this past weekend, Pip has added instructions on crocheting Christmas baubles and hexagons! I am in crochet heaven.

Animation Friday - Granny Squares

Gif animation creator

I'm joining in this week with My Poppet's animation Friday! These animated pictures are ever so cute to try and create. I have done one or two previous ones and am getting a bit obsessed with them.

What do you think of my granny squares so far? I'm aiming for it to be for a grown up this time and am really not sure how big it needs to be so I keep spreading them out and then sitting on them to see if they'll cover my legs yet! I think I have ways to go! I'm not sure what colour I should use to crochet them all together either - I was thinking of going with a pale blue. Any thoughts?

Point and Shoot: To infinity and beyond!

Saturday, October 30th, sometime between 12 and 2!

We are finally over Isaac's birthday week, which is basically what it turned into! Thankfully the rain held off on Saturday so the party guests did get to go outside. And my Buzz cake turned out ok - although something hinky seems to be going on with his face!
How was your weekend?

Would you like to join in with point and shoot? Just head on over here.

This Saturday I'm grateful for... Birthday Cakes and Patrick Swayze

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So I'm sitting here on my own after a very busy birthday week for this certain someone. This is only one of the 3 cakes Isaac has had this week, and while it was only made from playdough it was just as good as a real one. We also had a dinosaur cake on his actual birthday at home and for his party today I attempted a Buzz Lightyear cake. Come back next week for a picture of that one!

I have been attempting to load all my photos from his party today on my computer which for some reason has almost come to a dead stop - I think I have too many pictures and videos of my smalls on here. Thank goodness Ghost is on so I have a just a bit of Patrick Swayze to keep me company. That man was quite the spunk rat, even with that crazy flippy little fringe he had.

Want to join in grateful Saturdays? Pop on over to Maxabella and sign yourself right up.

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Unfortunately this was not the bathroom that I was forced to spend some quality time in over the last 24 hours! The dreaded lurgy has hit out house and has made its way around all of us - except my husband! I swear he must have an iron stomach given what we had to deal with last night. Our big boy was sick for most of our little boys birthday, I got sick not long after my stint on kinder duty, and our poor baby girl came down with it last night and spent most of the night throwing up in our bed! 13 towels later and at 3am we were all done. I have spent most of today washing masses of bed linen and towels and madly disinfecting everyting I could get my hands on. I did come to the realisation that when you are sick, with your head over the toilet bowl, even at 35, you still just want your mum.

At my house: Isaac Thomas

Apparently this young man is turning four tomorrow! As we are having his Buzz party on the weekend, we needed a whole other cake for his birthday day - hence our dinosaur that I have been slaving over this morning with directions I might add on m&m placement!

Where does the time go?

*Some things you might need to know:

• Isaac was 11 pound 3 at birth - hence those cheeks and squished up eyes. And yes, it was a c-section!
• The cake is from a Donna Hay Kids issue.
• Join in with Lou for 'at my house'.
• I'm posting this birthday pic today cause tomorrow we'll be far too busy opening presents, going to swimming lessons, kinder, handing out birthday treats to everyone we come across and having afternoon tea with some friends so we can munch our way through that dinosaur!!!

This Saturday I'm grateful for... ebay and sisters.

Seriously what cant you buy on ebay!? We have Isaac's fourth birthday and a party coming up this week and since we are being completely commercial with our Buzz Lightyear theme, I have been able to find loads of party goods in fabulously cheap ebay stores! Much better than going to party shops, even when you do factor delivery in. A couple of people even added freebie bonus's in for ordering through them - yay, cause you gotta love freebies. Isaac and I have just finished filling up these Buzz Lightyear Treat Rocketships with goodies for his friends. Dont they look just like the ones from the movie - all waiting in hyperspace ready to be opened!

We've also had my sister here for a very short but sweet visit - on her way home from Cambodia. She gave me the most gorgeous quilt made by lovely Cambodian women and while she was here, bought me the new Maeve Binchy book, helped me make two yummy Christmas puddings, went out late at night for an ice-cream run and came home with drumsticks, gaytimes AND magnums, and even looked after my small people a few times! What a treasure. Thanks Bells - we hope you are having a very happy birthday today.

What are you grateful for? Join in with Maxabella and tell us all about it.

And so this is Christmas...

Ok, so not a fantastic shot but still.

I have one of my lovely sisters here at the moment for a short visit after her whirlwind trip to Cambodia and she has helped me make this lovely Christmas pudding. Doesn't it look great?! I follow her easy recipe which I have popped below for your benefit. I tend to soak my fruit in kahlua and for an added bonus we also add a handful ( a large handful!) of choc chips in for good measure. Yum. I'll be serving this up after Christmas lunch with a bunches of fresh raspberries, icing sugar, brandy sauce and ice-cream! So, best start that diet now right?!

Christmas Pudding

1 cup currants

2 cups of sultanas

1/2 cup of raisins

small packet of mixed peel

small packet of silvered almonds

1 cup of alcohol - like brandy, whisky or kahlua

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups of suet

1 cup of milk (mix 1 tsp of bicarb soda with this)

1 cup SR flour

2 eggs

2 cups of breadcrumbs

You will also need a pudding cloth that you can get from Lincraft of Spotlight. They are only a couple of $$'s and it needs to be largish.

Put all the red list in a big bowl with a lid and let is soak for at least 24hours (a week is better)before you mix in all of the other ingredients. Pop it into the centre of your pudding cloth (after you have dunked this in the boiled water to sterilise and wet it) and then wrap it up nice and tight. Make sure you pull the fabric up and together keeping your other hand wrapped around the top of the pudding so there is no air left once it's tied up. Secure tightly with some string and pop into a big pot of continuously boiling water for 3 and half hours. Once you have done this hang it from a big hook to dry it out. It will go all dimply like cellulite, and you may need to seperate any folds as it dries. Then on Christmas Day boil it up for another hour and enjoy!

Hello lover....

Seriously.... is there anything better than a fresh new mazagine and three hours of kiddie free time in which to gently flick lovingly through it's precious pages?

Clearly Frankie is out today.

At my house...

At my house this week:

We are in full party prep mode for a young man's 4th birthday next week! Eeek!

I am attempting to return to work! Double Eeeek!

And I am getting sucked in by cute photos of the smalls!

Isaac's kinder recently had those Vision portrait people in where you pay $12 for a family photo in a frame and then when you go to pick it up you get suckered in to buy the rest because there are some dreadfully cute pictures of your poppets and they all happen to be looking normal, with smiles on their faces and in the direction of the camera! And you know how hard that is to do yourself! Could you have left this sweet picture behind?

Join in with 'At my house...' over here.

Point and Shoot: Alice in Wonderland Birthday Party

Sunday 17th October, 2010 3pm-ish

We went to my friends little girls first birthday on Sunday - a lovely Alice in Wonderland inspired affair. See that gorgeous Mad Hatter cake that the wee little person's mummy made?! She is such a clever, marvellous lady.

Want to see what other people get up to on their weekends? Head over to FatMumSlim and join in with point and shoot.

Feeling hooked?

My husband wants to know what has come over me, since crocheting granny squares appears to have taken over my life. Each night after the smalls finally fall asleep, out comes my bag of wool and off I go, oblivious to anything around me. I cant tell you the last time I read a book or watched the tv properly or even visited blogland for a thorough read of my favourites! I was warned this might happen - the crochet addiction! Do you have it? My new favourite shops are Spotlight and Lincraft! I have bought a book with 200 different granny squares in it! My friend told me about amigurumi's which I am keen to try next! I read over here today about about how crochet feels like swimming - graceful and meditative, and tis very true. The wee granny square rug above is wonky and full of errors, but I MADE THAT! And Oh, the Satisfaction it gives me! It's heading to a sweet baby girl who is turning 1 this week to use for her dollies.

In my endless googling for crochety things, I came across this great blog, Attic 24. Well worth a look as she gives marvellous instructions for making lovely things. Check out the wonderful granny stripe rug she has made. Just beautiful.

Point and Shoot

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Saturday, October 9th, 11.30am

We went to a wee party on Saturday - and who doesn't love a good pinata whack to get their frustration out! Isaac certainly enjoyed it. What we didn't love was the dirtly old man who turned up, plonked himself in the middle of the playground with his unleashed yappy little dog and proceeded to smoke 2 cigarettes! Ick, ick, ick! Who smokes these days? Especially in a park with children?

Oh, and I couldn't resist trying out the whole animated picture do-dad that Poppet in the Post does on Fridays. I cheated and used it here just for something different.

Want to see what other lovely bloggers got up to on the weekend? Head over here and join in yourself.

Mmmmmm, Stationary!

Some advice please - since clearly my brain has been out of operation for the last six years! I'm thinking of applying for a Christmas job at Kikki-K, but what on earth does one put on a resume when you haven't worked for the last 6 years??!!! Clearly, I would mention my teaching experience (as that's where my love for stationary was really set in stone) and may even mention my hundred years of experience as a checkout chick, but really that's all old news now! I have no work references cause I haven't worked! Sure, I can put my best friend down as a personal reference - I am sure she has lovely things to say about my parenting skills! And what on earth goes in a covering letter these days?

HELP!!!

Wouldn't you like to work at a shop that sells that lovely birdy blue set?