The Kent Family... and sew on

Getting my sewjo back!

2010-11-06T21:51:00.000+08:00

So, it's been a while since I last posted!! 2 months in fact!!

We've had two birthdays since then! Elise is now 2 and Taylor is now 9 - where oh where did that time go?? I can't believe it's almost a decade since I found out I was pregnant with Taylor! Will post some pics of their birthdays a bit later :)

Today, (well, all week really) I've been getting inspired to get back into my sewing! The drawback to that is that my sewing area - whilst I do actually have a designated sewing area - is not in the least organised or unpacked from our move!! So what's a girl to do? I rummaged in the boxes to find what I wanted and got to sewing hehe. The lazy me is still alive and well!

So, today I've made Ellie two outfits :) I think they may end up forming part of her Christmas presents.

I bought this flower print at spotlight ages ago with Donni! Only $2/m from memory and I had 2m of it so will be making either a skirt or pants for Taylor as well as another skirt for Ellie (one with pockets I think!). It is the first yoyo I have made and I'm ok with how it turned out. Would have preferred it smaller but couldn't be bothered undoing it :P I picked some shirts up for Ellie from Best and Less for only $3 each and I might have to go back and get some more in larger sizes I think!

The first outfit

The second

This fabric I actually bought to make something for Taylor.... shhhhh don't tell her!! hehee This yoyo is much smaller and suits the size of the button MUCH more!

Tomorrow after teeball, I'll endeavour to sort out some more of my stuff so I can get cracking on some pants! I didn't want to get my patterns out without unpacking properly! I can feel a pile of summery pants for Ellie coming along!! I also have a few pieces of fabric set aside for pj pants (lightweight cotton) so will get onto them in the near future too :)

And with that, I'm off to watch The Backup Plan before hitting the hay :)

19 weeks 3 days

2010-09-04T08:45:00.000+08:00

Yay, we are petty much at the half way point! :)

Here is a pic of my belly at 13 and 18 weeks (didn't take one this week)

I haven't put on any weight so far which I'm happy about :) Fingers crossed I can keep it that way!

We had our big scan on Tuesday and all went well! We had all the kids with us which was just so much fun lol. I don't think we could ever take enough food with us to keep them happy for an hour! Both babies measuring a week ahead which is great :) I'm hoping that we won't end up with two 9lb+ babies but it is entirely possible!

We got a few pics to share and found out that we are expecting a boy and a girl :) Taylor is decidedly happy!! She was almost petrified that she would end up with another two "annoying brother" hehehe. I may have been nasty and told her it's two boys :P I did however tell her the truth and she is now ecstatic!

Without further ado:
Twin A: (having a big stretch)

Twin B:

Laying on top of each other:

feet:

Twin A:

Twin B:

Still quite surreal. Hard to believe there are two babies in my belly!! Even though I do look 7 months pregnant at not even 20 weeks lol.

16 weeks 4 days

2010-08-15T22:31:00.000+08:00

16 and a half weeks down and 23 or so to go....

Nothing very exciting going on here at the moment pregnancy wise! Had my first appt with my Dr last week and all is well. He did a little scan and we saw both babies and their hearts beating away frantically. I suppose the big news with regards to the pregnancy is that my big scan has been booked!! 31st August @ 3:15pm we will hopefully be finding out what is hiding in my belly :)

In other news....

We are in Geraldton! We've been here for two weeks now and we are staying with friends until we can find a house to rent. Hoping we find one soon! Will be nice to find a house and really settle back in to being back here.

We are now onto looking at buying a bigger car. We are looking at getting a 1990-1999 model Tarago. They seem mostly to be within our meager budget and there are a few around with decent kms too. Fingers crossed we find a good one when we are ready to make the trip back to Perth to get one!!

12 weeks done :)

2010-07-14T14:01:00.000+08:00

Taylor came along with me this morning for our 12 week scan and had a great time seeing her little tiny siblings!!

It's felt like a really long time coming getting to this point (found out I was pregnant before 4 weeks even!) and we've known that we are expecting two since 6 weeks. Hopefully we will be all moved and sorted soon then I can relax and just enjoy what will be my last ever pregnancy :)

Both twins are measuring exactly on track for dates and were moving heaps! Found out that we have one anterior and one posterior placenta as well.

So, more pics of course!!

3D pic of both bubs (it's a big fat placenta in between their heads lol)

To begin with, Twin A was kicking Twin B in the head (sibling rivalry already!!) and then Twin B turned so they could kick each other hehe.

Twin As heartbeat of 153bpm

Twin Bs heartbeat of 165bpm

This one isn't the best pic but it's both babies with their heads together (on the left is a profile pic looking up and on the right is looking to the screen)

The risks as a result of the NT measurements (didn't have the blood test as they are notoriously inaccurate with multiples) were great. 1: 3549 for Down's, 1:5079 for Edward's and 1:21091 for Patau's - very happy about all of that :)

8 weeks down, 32 to go!

2010-06-16T14:35:00.000+08:00

Richard and I went for our scan this morning. I was extremely anxious but he was cool as a cucumber hehehe. All is going well with both babies - YAY!!!

Both bubbas - measuring just 1 day apart

Twin 1s heartbeat 143bpm

Twin 2s heartbeat 154bpm

The doctor doing the scan was lovely! So, off we went home then I went out for a lovely lunch with Mum at the Kewdale hotel. Scrummy salt and pepper squid - YUM!!!!!!

Our big news!!

2010-06-06T17:49:00.000+08:00

Recently Richard and I decided we would add #4 to our family. I got this a couple of weeks ago!

Due to some light bleeding, I had a scan which all went well and showed us this......

We are expecting TWINS!!!!!!

We are scared, excited, nervous, happy and everything in between! We are hoping and praying that everything goes smoothly and that come January 2011, we will be welcoming two new babies into our family. It's only very early days so at the moment we are simply hoping for the best but have been told that all is looking good :)

Oat slice recipe

2010-05-11T19:44:00.000+08:00

Thought I might add some recipes that I've been using lately :)

Oat Slice
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup SR flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup coconut
125g butter
1 T honey
1 egg.

Melt butter and honey together. Beat egg and all dry ingredients together. Combine all and press into greased or lined slice tray.
Cook in moderate oven 20-25mins.
Cut into slices.

What did I do differently?

I doubled the recipe and but used only 2/3 cup of raw sugar with 3Tbsp of honey in total. I also keep mine in the fridge so it doesn't crumble too much. In the past, I've added sultanas as well and I think I might make a smaller one next time so it's thinner and add some mixed fruit and seeds oh and definitely less sugar in that :)

Snacks for the week

2010-05-11T19:04:00.000+08:00

This week so far, I've made banana and choc chip pikelets, more cookies and oat slice for Richard

The pikelets....

The oat slice (I froze half of the pikelets and slice)

And my lunch today - wholemeal pasta with chicken and avocado creamy sauce

Fortnightly meal plan

2010-05-09T23:36:00.000+08:00

Ok, I've been lazy not posting but we've been doing pretty well with not wasting money on food generally. This past week I've been sick and James got his tonsils out 3/5/10 so pretty hectic lately.

I've done the meal plan for the next fortnight and I don't need to buy ANY meat to make all this! :)

Sunday: chicken burritos with corn
Monday: low fat sausages with mash and steamed veg
Tuesday: pasta bog (sauce in freezer is mince and lentil)
Wednesday: slow cooker beef and veg soup with pearl barley
Thursday: left over soup with bread or damper?
Friday: tandoori chicken pieces with veggies
Saturday: veal curry with cous cous
Sunday: rolled beef roast with baked veggies
Monday: shepherd's pie with salad
Tuesday: slow cooker apricot chicken with rice
Wednesday: jaffles/eggs on toast (footy training)
Thursday: chicken fried rice
Friday: meatloaf with mash and salad
Saturday: minestrone soup? (or some other sort of soup to use up leftover veg)
Sunday: lamb korma roast jacket potatoes and steamed veg

I'm also going to make another pumpkin soup tomorrow to use up some more of the pumpkin in the fridge and freeze it in individual portions.

Shopping list for tomorrow:
bread, milk, potatoes, fruit oh and dish washing liquid!

Tuesday 27/4/10

2010-04-27T21:50:00.000+08:00

Tonight was meant to be fettucine carbonara but we ended up with pumpkin soup hehe. I got an email this morning saying my box of veggies has been cancelled :( and so on my trip to get Richard ham for lunches, I bought a big 5.5kg pumpkin for 99c/kg :)

Costing:
Pumpkin $1.34 (used 1/4 of the pumpkin)
Potatoes $1.00 (used just under 1kg)
Onion $0.20
Bacon $1.50
Garlic $0.05

Total = $4.09 (We used less than half giving a total of $2.05)

We also had a damper with it:
2 cups SR flour $0.40???
1/2 cup milk $0.10
Total = $0.50

Dinner total = $2.55 :)

Today I also made more pizza scrolls. I actually received complaints this morning from Taylor that there were none left lol.

Costing:
4 cups SR flour - $0.80?
1.25 cups milk - $0.25
cheese - $0.85
ham - $2.00
pizza sauce - $0.75
pineapple - $1.01 (although I ate about 1/4 of it hehe)
Total = $5.66
Which made 39 scrolls giving a cost of $0.14 each

I make the scrolls in place of buying muesli bars and such. The muesli bars we used to buy were $3.14ish for a pack of 6 which is over 50c each so a pretty big saving there!!

Oh, I also made some cookies using LittleBT's recipe which always goes down a treat! I baked around a third of it and have some more in the fridge to bake this week and a large portion in the freezer.

I thought I'd also add a pic of the chicken burgers we had on Friday, they were so tasty!!

Ok, the rest of the week's meals..... I might alter my meal plan I think.

Monday - lamb, cheese and veggie rissoles and potatoes on the bbq in the park $4.19
Tuesday - pumpkin soup - $2.55
Wednesday - veal curry in the slow cooker with couscous - $5.48
Thursday - pepper steak/chicken schnitzel, mash and vegetables - $5.10
Friday - bacon and eggs on toast with tinned spaghetti - $5.63
Saturday - spaghetti pasta - $2.64
Sunday - beef burgers with salad on toast - $5.23

I don't actually need to buy anything for this weeks meals but will do the shopping on Saturday (making the most of any markdowns) for next week.

We have James' tonsillectomy next Monday so will be an easy couple of days meals I think :)

Meal plan 26/4-2/5

2010-04-24T00:39:00.001+08:00

Oh my!!!! We are almost heading into the fifth month of the year!!! Anyway... I'm in meal planning mode (not sleepy but shhhhh don't tell Richard!) so I'm setting the menu for next week.

Monday - apricot chicken and rice - $4.23
Tuesday - fettucine carbonara - $4.86
Wednesday - chicken curry in the slow cooker with couscous - $5.48
Thursday - pepper steak/chicken schnitzel, mash and vegetables - $5.10
Friday - bacon and eggs on toast with tinned spaghetti - $5.63
Saturday - spaghetti pasta - $2.64
Sunday - beef burgers with salad on toast - $5.23

Total of...... $33.17 WOW!!!!!

The week's meals in text

2010-04-24T00:24:00.001+08:00

Sorry about the lack of pics, I kept forgetting to take them!!

Wednesday - Moroccan pumpkin and chicken soup with buttered bread - went down a treat! $5.96
Thursday - rissoles with vegetable bake - another winner!! $5.35
Friday - lemon and herb crumbed chicken burgers with salad on multigrain rolls - yummo!! $7.85

Tomorrow night we are having meatloaf with mash and salad and Sunday we are having butterflied lamb with steamed veg (gourmet night lol).

So, costing for the week's meals:

Monday - $7.54
Tuesday - $2.64
Wednesday - $5.96
Thursday - $5.35
Friday - $7.85
Saturday - $4.59
Sunday - $10.75

So, my total for this week is............................ (drumroll please).............................. $44.68
I'm really happy with that!!

Now today when I went shopping (spent $75) I stumbled across some marked down mince so bought 7 packs of that hehehe. The most expensive pack was $1.84 with the markdown as it was already on special! So, that gives us another week of cheap meat in the freezer! I have also ordered a box of fruit and veg to be delivered next Friday!

For $59.32 (delivery is free), I'm getting:
2x rockmelons
4kg Hi early apples (lunchbox size)
2x red capsicums
4x sweet corn (planning on cutting these in half to do us for two meals)
2x broccoli
3x 1kg carrots
1x celery
1x cabbage
1x cauliflower
4kg potatoes (gourmet)
4x sweet potatoes
4x butternut pumpkins
3x zucchinis

Depending on the sizes of some of it, I'm hoping it's a good deal! Hoping that it will do us for vegetables for a fortnight and I think it should however I'm still going to have to buy salad stuff when I do the shopping. Now if only I could find a place that would sell me cheap groceries and deliver for free hehehe

This week's snacks

2010-04-20T21:53:00.000+08:00

So, in an effort to reduce the food bill (read SLASH) I am now making all our snacks from scratch :)

This week, I made some savoury muffins, billy G cookies (bought the dough ages ago and found it in the freezer on the weekend), pizza scrolls and sausage rolls.

The muffins - simple savoury recipe with zucchini, carrot and cheese. I poured the remaining mix into a loaf tin and then sliced it and toasted it in fingers :)

The pizza scrolls - I made the dough using SR flour, milk and a pinch of salt and topped with pasta sauce, diced bacon, pineapple and tasty cheese.

Topped

With cheese

Ready for baking

Enjoying the scrolls on the couch! Excuse the tipped over laundry basket lol.

Sausage rolls - I bought some sausage meat this morning on clearance so mixed it up with some diced onion, grated zucchini and carrot and sage and wrapped it in some puff pastry :)

Assembly

Ready to bake - we ended up with 7 small and 9 large sausage rolls :)

Ready to eat!

I've also been asked to make a cake (by Richard) so will be doing that tomorrow.

Cheap cheap dinner - spag bog!

2010-04-20T21:29:00.000+08:00

Tonight's dinner was spag bog with beef mince and red lentils. It was much tastier than DH was expecting hehe.

I used;
600g mince (I got 1.2kg for $2.50 on clearance)
2 cups red lentils
2 carrots, grated
2/3 zucchini, grated
2 small onions, diced
2 tins diced tomatoes
1/2 jar of dolmio pasta sauce (left over from making scrolls)
beef stock
tomato paste
mixed herbs
sage
water
250g fettucine

It made enough for three meals for the 5 of us and worked out to only $2.64 per meal!! (not per serve)

Can't believe how much more filling it is with the lentils added!

Cooking, cooking, cooking..... (doesn't look very exciting does it?? lol)

Silverside in the slow cooker

2010-04-20T21:16:00.000+08:00

Ok, last night for dinner we had silverside (cooked in the slow cooker) with garlic cabbage, and steamed broccoli, sweet potato and carrot. Richard commented that it was the best silverside he has ever tasted hehe.

The vegies waiting to be cooked!

My yummy looking plate

It worked out to

$5.50 silverside
$0.20 carrots
$0.09 onion
$0.50 broccoli
$0.70 sweet potato
$0.05 vinegar & bay leaf
$0.50 corn flour, milk, butter & mustard for white sauce

= $7.54 :)

Cooking and housework

2010-04-18T21:58:00.001+08:00

Wow, it's been almost a month since my last post!!

We've had school holidays, not that it's much of an excuse! Just been lazy with blogging!

I have however been working hard on keeping on top of the housework and I've been doing an alright job :)

I've decided that I'm going to start posting my cooking adventures as I'm endeavouring to slash our food bill!! Last night I made shepherd's pie with beef mince and lentils which came to a grand total of $5.19 including the corn cobs we had with it! Gotta be happy with that! Didn't think to take pics although there is another in the freezer just ready to bake so when we have that, I'll take a pic :)

So, tonight we had sausage casserole with pasta and cauli and broccoli bake.

My dinner plate :)

It was yummy :) cheap too!

I also made Richard's lunches for the week today (he normally makes it himself on Sundays in the slow cooker but he has been working really long hours so I wanted to do it for him - cos I'm such a great wife hehe).

And so, Thai red pork curry with cous cous was made :)

The curry

Gee it smelled GOOD!!

The couscous (looks so exciting hey!)

And in the container ready to be taken for lunch!

I've been doing up a meal planner during the week to use up most of what we have in the freezer (HEAPS!) So, I'll jot down our planner for this week :)

Monday: silverside with steamed veg
Tuesday: spaghetti bog with beef mince and lentils (1.2kg mince so will do 1/2 for spag bog and do something else with the other half)
Wednesday: Moroccan Chicken and Pumpkin soup (slow cooker) with dinner rolls
Thursday: lemon and herb crumbed chicken with continental pasta and salad
Friday: bacon and eggs on toast
Saturday: meatloaf, mash and salad
Sunday: butterfly lamb and steamed veg

And the shopping list to go with this weeks meals?
* potatoes
* sweet potato
* broccoli
* carrots
* tomatoes

We also need the following to see us through the week for lunches and afternoon snacks:
* bread
* milk
* margarine
* fruit
* ham (or diced bacon)
* zucchini
* cheese slices (horrible stuff!! but, Richard 'needs' it if he is going to take sandwiches instead of hot meals for lunches lol)

I'm planning on doing some baking this week!
* pizza scrolls - the whole family LOVE these (Ellie ate FIVE on Friday for lunch)
* savoury muffins
* oat slice

There will be no more buying muesli bars or fruit bars! We will be making all our snacks from now on :)

Perth's big storm

2010-03-24T11:21:00.000+08:00

Ok, on Monday we had a severe storm hit Perth. I sat on the trampoline with James as it rolled in as he hasn't had much opportunity to see lightning as most of our storms are at night time here. He loved seeing the clouds rolling in (and they were amazing!! twisting and surging every which way), the lightning flashes and then exclaiming at the volume of each crash of thunder!

The kids loved the storm, running around in the rain and hail! We had some damn big hail, getting close to golf ball size in some instances, thankfully, the car only received a few dents on the roof and apart from the garage flooding, we escaped unharmed :)

So, here are some pics - pretty crappy but you get the idea :)

James collecting 'yummy ice' to eat heheh

The view from our back step as the storm hit

Doing a jig after the hail has stopped

Scooting down the river hehe

As the water recedes....

The big kid got in on it too!!

The toy room is done!!

2010-03-24T10:48:00.000+08:00

Ok, so last week I finished the toy room but I couldn't find the camera to take pics. Well, I've found the camera :)

So here are the pics! I'm really pleased with it, especially the fact that as everything has it's own home, it all get packed away really easily and the kids have been keeping it tidy with NO help from us!! Woooohoooo!!

View from the door. The cabinet in front of the window I picked up off the side of the road (Thanks Donni) and is just perfect for the toy room! In the drawers, we have (L-R) matchbox cars, littlest petshop animals and bits, random small toys and figurines for the dolls house (the dolls house is folded up and slid in beside the expedit bookcase). The expedit is in the robe recess and we have Taylor's books and other special books on the top shelves, communal books on the bottom shelves, James' books on the second and Ellie's books on the third shelves.

James' little workshop bench is in between the bookcase and the sofa bed (which I also picked up from the side of the road with Donni's help). It keeps it kinda out of sight out of mind for Ellie as she doesn't see it as soon as she walks in the room so it all stays together MUCH better than it used to!

The kids love the sofa bed (please ignore the knickers and makeup on Taylor). James slept on it over the weekend when we had Lilly here for a sleepover. I need to make a cover for it as it's such horrible fabric to sit on!

Beside the sofa bed is the toy box, fan and heater. All necessities of course!

So glad the James and Taylor are sharing a room now! Life is much easier having that extra living area.

the start of a new week

2010-03-15T02:16:00.001+08:00

I've been thinking about making little weekly planners for each of the bigger kids so that in the morning I'm not constantly reminding them what is happening. I was browsing blogs earlier and found this post and went ooooh that's a nice simple idea that should work well!! So, I've made the pages and now all I need is to print them :)

Let's see how we are going for the meal plan :P

* Thursday - Richard made the kids and his dinner and I had fried rice
* Friday - ~~possibly going out~~...... I did indeed go out!!
* Saturday - ~~something simple - bacon and eggs?~~ I made fried rice instead
* Sunday - ~~lamb korma roast with baked veggies~~ I didn't get it out of the freezer in time so we had fajitas!!
* Monday - ~~fajitas~~ so, I need to come up with something else for tomorrow cos we had it tonight lol I'm thinking spag bog (will just have to cook the pasta for the kids as the sauce is in the freezer) and I'll have left over fried rice from last night!
* Tuesday -savoury mince
* Wednesday - chicken and veggie stir fry with noodles
* Thursday - fish, chips and salad
* Friday - lasagne and salad
* Saturday - savoury mince
* Sunday - silverside and veggies
* Monday - burritos
* Tuesday - sausages, mash and steamed veggies
* Wednesday - curry with ~~brown~~ basmati rice

Tomorrow I will be........
* finishing the toy room - vacuum, organise remaining toys
* go through kids drawers and get rid of everything that doesn't fit (both sets of drawers are in the one room now)
* 3 loads of washing to be washed and hung out (after I get the clothes off the line and hang the nappies out)
* sweep whole house
* fold and put away all clothes
* get to school for 2:30pm appt with James' teacher :)

Half the week is over

2010-03-10T21:12:00.000+08:00

Hump day is now over!

Today was a big let down. The air con people came around to install the new split system but alas, we are still without said air con. And so....... I got cranky and went out instead of staying home and sorting out the kids bedrooms!

So, today I have;
* dyed Donni's hair (and then she dyed mine)
* made play dough with the kids and then played with it for ages - it turned out pretty crappy though :( dry and crumbly even following Donni's recipe which is always so fab when she makes it!
* washed the nappies
* swept the floors - omg you wouldn't believe how much crap I swept up even after sweeping and mopping last night and the kids being at school/daycare ALL day!!!
* played banana drama with the big kids

I am now thinking about sewing!! My table is nice and clear so I've got plenty of cutting space but what to make first!!?? The challenge for March in the 2010 Challenge is to make a softie and god knows I've got enough cuddle fleece/minky to sink a ship so I might make something for that. James has also put in a few requests for blankets for winter oh and I have Gen's birthday next month and I've got plans for that hehehe. Caitie's birthday is next week but that one is all sorted :)

Richard is working so damn hard at the moment! He is doing a lot of 10hr days and is coming home REALLY exhausted. I really need to start having dinner organised to be ready for 6pm. And so, here is our menu plan for the next fortnight (Thurs-Wed also fits in with the supermarkets sales);

* Thursday - Taylor has dance - fried rice and thai fish cakes
* Friday - possibly going out......
* Saturday - something simple - bacon and eggs?
* Sunday - lamb korma roast with baked veggies
* Monday - fajitas
* Tuesday -savoury mince
* Wednesday - chicken and veggie stir fry with noodles
* Thursday - fish, chips and salad
* Friday - lasagne and salad
* Saturday - savoury mince
* Sunday - silverside and veggies
* Monday - burritos
* Tuesday - sausages, mash and steamed veggies
* Wednesday - curry with brown rice

Looks good..... now if only someone else would cook it all for me too lol.

It's a good day :)

2010-03-09T23:04:00.002+08:00

This morning, after taking Taylor to school, I took James and Ellie to the shops to get a quick few things before coming home and putting Ellie to bed. After that, I asked James if he wanted to do some painting and surprise surprise, he said YES!!! He generally declines the offer so I was stoked!

So, we got the paints and the new canvas we just bought for him to paint on and went out the back and started to paint. James decided we were painting Dora, who then proceeded to hide "ahind the bushes". James was pretty pleased with his efforts which I will have to take a photo of tomorrow!

Not too long later, after lunch, James came up to me and gave me a big cuddle and said "I had very good fun". I felt very loved!!

The plan for tomorrow is a play dough free for all after school pick up which I'm sure will be enjoyed! Hmmmmm, where is that play dough recipe I had bookmarked??

I think tomorrow I'll also do some baking - gotta do something while tradies install the air con lol.

So, all up today I have;
* spent my vouchers I got for managing Taylor's teeball team for the season (I got 3 new tops and a new purple handbag - so pretty!)
* painted with James
* tidied, sorted, chucked in the dining room
* swept and mopped - dining, kitchen, lounge and hall
* organised my sewing corner - FINALLY! :)
* taken James to dancing

All in all, a good day!

Tomorrow:
* ~~finish dining table and wipe~~
* ~~take kids to school/daycare~~
* put away all folded clothes
* ~~wash nappies~~
* change James' room into the new toy room!! This will involve moving Taylor's expedit into his room which in itself will involve a LOT of chucking and sorting!!
* Taylor's desk sorted and put in James' room
* James' drawers sorted and put in Taylor's room
* ~~find recipe for play dough play in the afternoon~~

Looks like a nice productive and busy day!

Plans for the week...

2010-03-08T22:01:00.002+08:00

I've been feeling like time is simply passing me by without actually accomplishing much at all. So, I've decided that I'm going to list weekly goals for what I want to achieve in all different areas of life. So, for this week, my goals are......

Health & Fitness
* walk or ride kids to school daily (I won't be able to do this on Wednesday but can every other day) failing miserably at this - Ellie keeps sleeping in lol
* redo week 2 of the couch to 5km program before embarking on week 3 next week
* swim 45mins at least once this week
* get back to into my healthy eating - I was feeling MUCH better when I was eating healthy (less tired, more energy and happier/less moody)

Organisational
* dismantle James' bed and set his room up as our new toy room (planned for Wednesday afternoon)
* sort through/chuck the crap on the expedit in the dining room (not until the rest of the dining room is done)
* sort through Taylor and James' clothes and chuck/sell/give/op shop stuff that is too small (planned for Wednesday afternoon)

Creative
* get all the bits and pieces I need to make the items I plan to next week (will need to make a list for this!)
* do a different craft activity each day with the kids - ~~Tuesday will be painting~~, Wednesday we are going to make play dough, Thursday will be some drawing (possibly on fabric to make some simple stuffed toys) and Friday we are going to do some simple embroidery like this. Will put my thinking cap on to decide what to do over the weekend :)

Housework
* tidy up the dining room table - ~~sort, chuck, put away~~ and wipe table
* tidy up the dining room floor - ~~sort, pack away fabrics, chuck crap, sweep and mop~~
* keep on top of all the washing - nappies every second day, towels weekly, sheets fortnightly (unless soiled)
* do a 15min tidy of all living areas before dinner time so far so good :)
* do a meal plan for the next fortnight and ONLY buy what we don't already have to fill the meal plan

It's been a while.......

2010-03-07T22:14:00.003+08:00

So, I haven't been doing a lot really. Was working but have stopped now and getting back into just being Mum :)

We are having a new air conditioner installed Wednesday this week so I'm not allowed to sew until after then (my sewing area is where the air con is being put lol). I am however going to make a note of all the items that I want to make or do in the near future :)

* chunky crayons - as seen here I think these will be a hit with Ellie!
* shower curtain car mat - found here I think all the kids will enjoy this :)
* snail painting - found here I think James in particular will LOVE this one!!
* cardboard lego cars - found here might even convince James to colour in :P
* a whole themed scene - like this not necessarily the ocean but something :)
* some generic painting in the back yard!
* some random drawing turned into stuffed toys - like this
* paint some rocks to make some rock pets - oh, do you remember the days!!!??

That's enough for now I'd say lol.

I am also going to clean up my dining room tomorrow!! It's been needing to be done for so long now........ will be back to update after I've done it! :) I'm part way there lol

I'll also be doing 3 sessions a week with James with speech games (other times will simply be including it in everyday life). This week we are focusing on categories and using three key words to describe scenarios. I'm hoping that getting James into some more craft activities will help improving his speech too :)

It's a new week!

2010-01-25T09:21:00.000+08:00

Ok, so I've crossed out all the things that DID get done last week and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would look lol.

This week, I'm not going to include the 'bigger stuff' in my plan as I think I'm just going to leave that stuff for after school goes back then I can do it while Ellie is sleeping :)

Monday

load of washing
strip and make beds, wash sheets
15min tidy - lounge, dining, kitchen

Tuesday

wash nappies
15min tidy - lounge, dining, kitchen
picnic at the Fremantle Esplanade for Australia Day with fireworks

Wednesday

load of washing
bathrooms
15min tidy - lounge, dining, kitchen
WORKING!!!!

Thursday

wash nappies
snacks, drinks etc
take big kids to the museum for robotic dinosaurs!!!! (bus and train)
15min tidy - lounge, dining, kitchen

Friday

load of washing
toilets
Pick up school books and uniforms from the school
meal plan
15min tidy - lounge, dining, kitchen

Saturday

wash nappies
wash towels
quick shop for fruit and veg
bake some lunchbox snacks
15min tidy - lounge, dining, kitchen

Sunday

load of washing (x2)
get school bags ready for first day of school
organise uniforms
15min tidy - lounge, dining, kitchen

I've decided not to schedule sewing in as it simply drives me crazy having a time where I am 'meant' to be sewing! I much prefer to do it when I WANT to :)

I can't believe how fast the school holidays have gone! This time next week, I'll be coming home from the school with only Ellie!! Our first day of nobody but us :)

Oh in breaking news............ Richard had a doctor's appointment on Friday and he is now allowed to ride again!!! So, today at work they are getting him to deliver for an hour to see how it goes and they will go from there. He is really excited about getting back to work properly and he went for a short ride on his bike on the weekend. He wants to go full time as soon as they will let him so we can get some money behind us which will be GREAT! So proud of my muchard!

I've started training for a short triathlon that I am going to participate in on February 28th. It is only 150m swim, 5km ride and 1.5km run so it's nothing huge but mentally it is!! The swim and the ride I'm fine with but the run is what I really need to work on between now and then (and for a long time after lol). Last night I went for a 55min ride and Saturday my ride was 45mins. I've done myself a training schedule which includes swimming twice a week, c25k three times a week and riding most days (however I'll only be doing training rides 2-3 times a week). Feeling really good about it all!!

Ok, Ellie is asleep and the big kids are chilling in the lounge room so I'm going to go and chuck a load of washing on so I'm ready to strip the beds as soon as Ellie gets up!!

Doing better at a few things

2010-01-16T23:58:00.002+08:00

Ok, so most of my Friday list is done :) Tomorrow when Ellie is down for a sleep, I'll do the appliance cupboard and mop the floors!

Time for me to do the plan for the coming week I think. I'm going to put less on each day and see if that helps in getting it done - maybe I was being a tad unrealistic??

Here goes.......

Monday

take all of the 'too small' clothes out of the kids rooms - sort into selling, giving and op shopping
~~wash nappies (just a reminder of which days)~~
~~15min tidy - lounge, dining and kitchen~~

Tuesday

container cupboard
cut everything for the NY swap
~~decide on what to make for the 2010 January challenge - 'Something for me'~~
~~15min tidy - lounge, dining and kitchen~~
~~load of washing~~

Wednesday

sew for NY swap
~~wash nappies~~
~~take Taylor to rollaways!~~
~~15min tidy - lounge, dining and kitchen~~

Thursday

~~snacks, lunches and drinks~~
~~take kids to the zoo!~~
~~15min tidy - lounge, dining and kitchen~~

Friday

~~toilets~~
~~wash nappies~~
strip beds
wash sheets
~~bbq lunch at Bibra Lake~~ - CANCELLED
~~15min tidy - lounge, dining and kitchen~~

Saturday

~~wash towels~~
organise filing - bills, uni stuff, school, speech etc
~~quick food shop for fresh fruit, veg and other staples only~~
~~15min tidy - lounge, dining and kitchen~~

Sunday

~~wash nappies~~
~~15min tidy - lounge, dining and kitchen~~

I am logging my dietary intake daily at my fitness pal and have so far done it for 15 days straight. I remember reading somewhere that it takes 30 days to get rid of a bad habit and 60 days to forge a new one.

My fitness/health goals for this week are:

>30mins exercise every day
log daily at mfp
drink 2.5L water daily
use the cross trainer >2 times

I am really pleased with the way things have been going over the past couple of weeks :) I've been exercising regularly, eating well and drinking plenty of water so my goals are simply to maintain that plus add in the cross trainer - it will NOT beat me hehehe

My creative goals for this coming week:

sew something with a pattern (or strictly follow a tute)
cut all pieces for the NY swap before starting sewing!
keep my sewing cabinet at least usable (instead of a huge big mess)

It's not failing if you keep going, right?

2010-01-14T22:39:00.005+08:00

Ok, so this week so far has gone completely NOT to plan!

Tomorrow was going to be a trip to the zoo but I've decided to do that next week instead and tomorrow catch up around the house :)

So, here is the NEW plan for tomorrow January 15th

~~Washing - wash two loads, bring all washing in, fold and put away - one done!~~
~~Meal plan - 14 meals for the fortnight and shopping list to suit~~ done!!
~~Dining room -~~ ~~sweep, chuck crap,~~ ~~organise sewing area (this is a BIG job and I've done half so far)~~
Floors - ~~sweep~~ and mop (will be done after the kids are in bed tonight)
~~Clean bathrooms - showers,~~ ~~toilets,~~ ~~vanities, bath~~
Appliance cupboard - sort and wipe out
~~Bake something with the kids for snacks~~
~~Do the shopping~~

There, that's enough for tomorrow. I will log in during the day and cross things off the list as I do them :)

Oh and what DID I do from my lists this week???

~~sort out the linen cupboard - in desperate need of being done! I'm thinking I'll follow the hint of putting the sheet sets inside the matching pillow case so things don't get separated~~
~~plan what I am making for the EB new year sewing swap~~

Gee, didn't get much done at all did I!!??

Hello 2010!!

2010-01-10T21:34:00.000+08:00

Ok, so this it my first post for 2010 - can you believe it?? It is almost half way through the month already!!

This year, I want to get organised and stay that way (at least on some level!) With the kids in full time care, the house wasn't too bad but with them all home all the time now, the house is looking like a warzone pretty much every day (and I'll admit, it was never 'good' to begin with!).

So, for the coming week I have the following plan......
Monday 11th Jan

go through all of Taylor's clothes and sort into wearable/chuckable/op shop-able etc and get them OUT of her room!!
sort out the linen cupboard - in desperate need of being done! I'm thinking I'll follow the hint of putting the sheet sets inside the matching pillow case so things don't get separated
vacuum James and Taylor's rooms (Ellie's was done today)

Tuesday 12th Jan

sort James and Ellie's clothes the same as Taylor's
clean both bathrooms (including toilets which will then become a Friday chore)
plan what I am making for the EB new year sewing swap

Wednesday 13th Jan

container cupboard - chuck all the odds and tidy - wipe it all out
appliance cupboard - make sure all the bits for each appliance are there, wipe out cupboard
clear out our wardrobe - it is SHOCKING! I want to be able to actually use the space in there and to do that, I need to get HEAPS of stuff out of there and organise it, find new homes for it all and vacuum

Thursday 14th Jan

take photos of all the items I want to sell on EB and/or ebay (while Ellie is sleeping)
tidy my bedroom (which is appalling currently)
bake something with the kids for snacks

Friday 15th Jan

take the kids to the zoo - with snacks, lunch, drinks etc (catching the train and ferry)

Saturday 16th Jan

change and wash all towels

I'm hoping that after the next couple of weeks, the house will be in a state where spending 15mins on each room will be enough to keep it looking tidy and comfortable. This week, I will also be spending 15mins each day on a problem area which at this stage is my sewing area - whoops! I need it all organised so that I can get in there and sew without being surrounded by clutter!

2010 is just ONE sleep away!

2009-12-31T13:29:00.000+08:00

Richard and I have had numerous talks and I am deferring uni this year in favour of spending the year at home with the kids. I'm really looking forward to getting really involved withe the kidlets and getting them immersed in the things that I love.

Taylor has asked for a sewing machine for her birthday in 2010 which I think will be a great lifelong present and to go with it, I think I'll make a little pack for her with her own scissors, fabrics, threads, and I already have some patterns for her :)

James has been so reluctant to be involved in craft for a long time now. At the op shop a few weeks ago, I bought a craft pack with Thomas on it which he is excited about so we might open it next week after swimming lessons and get to making something!

Ellie and I are going to be spending a LOT of time together hehehe. She is up to so much mischief at the moment getting into cupboards and the fridge lol. I can't wait to start doing things together :)

I'm planning on being very creative this year and as such, I've joined in Carolyn's 2010 challenge to make something each month in order to challenge myself.

I'm really looking forward to coming up with set items to make each month! I think with being home for the year means I'll be able to really participate in this year long challenge to the best of my ability :)

My new year resolutions:

Organise my sewing area and keep it that way
Use a different pattern every month to sew
Ride the kids to school whenever the weather allows (James and Ellie in the trailer to begin with)
Use the cross trainer weekly
Setup and maintain a cleaning and tidying schedule (I will be blogging this and the eventual results too)
Menu plan at least for weeknights
Establish a reasonable budget and STICK WITH IT
Home make ALL Christmas presents this year - including the kids (our focus is shifting to appreciation instead of collection of crap hehe)
More may be added.....

Some homemade chrissy present snaps

2009-12-28T23:17:00.000+08:00

Ok, so I didn't get pics of all the presents I made but here are some :)

Mel's cooler bag
Front:

Top:

Inside:

Gen's mini-cooler bag
Front:

Inside:

Nanna's wine cooler bag
Front:

Top:

Dad's 50th Birthday Present
Middle strip:

Brown outer & fleece backing:

I also did a batch of around 100 biscuits in jars for extended family, coin purses for Caitie and Lilly and this for Mum that I made earlier this month. Oh, I also made my brother and my Mum cooler bags as well. Jason's was blue drill with a contrasting strip of computer office scene cotton which was also used for the drawstring section. Mum's was black drill with the drawstring section in grey ocean-ish themed poplin.

All in all, I was pretty pleased with how they all turned out :)

Another trip to SL!

2009-12-17T00:34:00.000+08:00

Another trip to Spotlight this morning resulted in another craft bag being purchased along with 3 patterns and 1m of Thomas the Tank satin (James came with me lol).

This craft bag wasn't quite as good as the other one I got but after rifling through all of the bags marked down, definitely the right choice!

Bag contents:

The patterns are for tops/dresses for me and pants and shirts for Richard and James. Can't beat $2 for a pattern!!!

Patterns:

Pattern backs:

No sewing but great news!

2009-12-15T23:00:00.000+08:00

Today was playgroup's Christmas party so I adorned my youngest kids in their matching Christmas clothes, myself in my new homemade top, grabbed the now wrapped secret santa gift and container with cookies and away we went. Planned was a Dora bouncy castle as well as wonderful face painting by Nikki-Marie.

I'd like to explain that James (almost 4yrs) has had numerous issues with sensory sensitivities including application of sunscreen, hairbrushing etc which we have been working with this year. It's been a hard slog with slow progress.

However, today James astounded me and made me SOOOOO proud!!!!! He had his face painted!!! What an awesome difference it was to the boy we started the year with. We started off with a spider on one forearm (with me verging on fighting the resistance that is James) which progressed into another on the other arm with a web and then - ON HIS OWN ACCORD got another spider painted on his face!

Here comes the web!

Showing off all three spiders!

More showing off lol

He was so proud of them! When we got to daycare, he showed his carers as well as showing Taylor about 100 times after getting home!!

So much to do!!

2009-12-14T22:30:00.000+08:00

Ok, thought I'd make a list of everything I need to finish before Christmas. I am hereby pledging NOT to make anything not on the list until two things on the list are completed!

Complete and wrap secret santa present for playgroup tomorrow!!!
Jason's Christmas present (sewing)
Mum's Christmas present (sewing and making)
Mel's Christmas present (sewing)
Dad's Christmas present (sewing)
Nanna's Christmas present (sewing and making)
A little something for Caitie and Lilly
Gen's Christmas present
Dad's 50th present - needs to be completed!

Gee, not much at all there!!! The upside is that I have started most of it and at least know what I'm doing for all bar one. Ok, off I go to finish the present for tomorrow! Playgroup goes from 9am-1pm tomorrow and I'm hoping to be able to cross something off my list before dinner tomorrow. I think probably Gen's present and maybe cut out Jason's too!

Something for me!

2009-12-14T22:20:00.000+08:00

Ok, so I'm always making things for the kids because they are so quick and easy and I am VERY much an instant gratification person when it comes to creating :P

Tonight however, I made something for me!

I found the black print at SL months and months ago knowing that I would make something with it for me but just never got to it till now. I got the green knit from an op shop and I honestly never paired them up till this afternoon when I was perusing my stash. My stash is MUCH too large so things sometimes get lost for a while hehe.

Front:

Side:

Back:

What will I do differently? I needed to cut the neck hole bigger so that it sits under my boobs properly instead of kinda at nipple line. That's why I added the elastic under my boobs - to keep it there lol. I'd also cut BIGGER so that I can alter easier! I do love how it looks from behind! I am still tempted to turn it into a little shrug instead of the top but will leave it as this top for the time being at least! If I do change it, I'll add a black band underneath and probably a couple of snaps to do it up :)

Sausage rolls for dinner!

2009-12-14T18:40:00.000+08:00

I bought some sausage meat on clearance a few weeks ago and chucked it in the freezer with plans to make sausage rolls with the kidlets.

Tonight, Taylor and James both helped me to make satay sausage rolls!

The mix (looks oh so very appetizing lol):

Ready to bake:

Taylor doing the egg wash:

James doing the egg wash (can you believe it!!??):

We also put up the Christmas tree (finally!) So will put some pics of that up later :)

Tom's backpack

2009-12-12T21:38:00.000+08:00

Ok, so as I type, Taylor is at Tom's sleepover party so I assume presents have been opened - hope he likes it!

Taylor picked the fabric from my stash and away I went. I changed it from my other backpacks by lining it, adding firm interfacing to the exterior and I used strapping and adjustable clippy things (lol) for the straps. I also changed it to an angled opening instead of straight which I really like.

What didn't I like about it? I forgot to increase the length of the two front panels so they don't overlap much at all! I looked high and low for my snaps so that I could add a snap or two to the front to hold it all together but they seem to have gone walkabout! :( So, I'll keep looking and I'll let Deb know :)

Front:

Back:

Opening:

Advent Blog -A-Long Day 11

2009-12-12T00:00:00.000+08:00

Ok, so I'm cheating because I haven't actually blogged every day this month but it is the 11th :P

Taylor has a sleep over party tomorrow night and she doesn't have a toilet bag - bad mum I know! So, I thought I'd just whip something up for her big enough to hold her brush, toothbrush etc. The exterior is a cotton print from TT that I laid eyes on and just knew I had to get for my girl! It's been sitting in my stash for a few months waiting for me to do something with it! The lining is some satin from SL's remnant box for $1 that I really did NOT enjoy sewing with lol.

Outside:

This is the truest to the lining colour:

The lining:

This is how bright the colours are IRL:

Leaving presents

2009-12-11T15:48:00.000+08:00

The main carer for Elise has her last day today and of course, I left making her present till the very last minute!

I made her a messenger satchel and some cookies so I hope she likes both! (I'm going to let her know that if she doesn't think she'll use the bag that I'll happily keep it hehe)

I'm really happy with how it turned out, especially given that I didn't use a pattern and made it up as I went hehe. I got the denim as a remnant for $1 and Taylor picked the paisley-ish print from TT a while ago (hope she doesn't get angry that I used it!
Front:

Open:

Pen Slot:

Phone pocket (elasticated):

Closed showing the strap:

Cookies with the card:

Showing the cookies:

Will be dropping them off in half an hour :)

$5 later....

2009-12-10T23:21:00.001+08:00

I went to SL today as some fabric I got yesterday had a fault in it and I also needed more black thread. I was doing REALLY well and only got what I needed until I noticed that their lucky dip bags had been reduced to $5 each!!! What's a girl to do right? So, I got one! Yes, only ONE!!!

Here is what was in it!
Part one:

2x Papier paper and wood paints
2x 200 silver photo corners
slick writer (permanent marker for slick surfaces)
memory system texta (thick one end, thin the other)
10pk silver heart charms
6pk scrappy christmas tiles
love theme brads
5pk pirate ship die cut outs
2x puffy stickers packs
Hannah Montana Applique label
2x Hannah Montana iron on transfers
10pk square cards
10pk punch out cards
3pk paper mache luggage tags

Part two:

2x Halloween reusable decals pages
blade storage tray
scrappy tile embellishments

And there was also some scrapping paper and a few (5) trick or treat bags too... oh and a plastic chair cover lol

How awesome is that for $5!!??

A black cheery bag

2009-12-09T21:13:00.001+08:00

Ellie's main carer at daycare is finishing up at the end of the week to go on holidays and then going back to uni in the new year. I want to make her a leaving gift and originally thought a little basket bag with some chocolates in it would be lovely but then I found this fabric in my stash that I had forgotten about and just had to use and I ended up making a little tote with an external pocket and internal phone pocket (which I forgot to stitch down the sides!)

I love that its black but just that bit cheeky as well!!

Bag:

Inside:

Close up of phone pocket:

Not sure Hilda will actually get this! I might tax it for myself hehe

Fishy pants

2009-12-09T00:37:00.000+08:00

Ok, so here is the evidence of the only sewing I did today :)

I bought both fabrics from Spotlight yesterday. The grey is some sort of light weight suiting from the remnant box for $2 and the fish is just a poplin print that jumped out at me as I walked past.

I wanted to make James some long shorts so I altered what I normally do for lounge pants and went from there. Oh except that I did all of my topstitching in zigzag which I really like the look of. I'm happy with how they turned out EXCEPT I twisted the elastic!!!!! of course, I noticed AFTER I stitched the gap closed and I am a most reluctant unpicker at the best of times so at almost 12:30am it's truly not looking likely to happen tonight! I hope James likes them! It's the first time I've done applique with vlisofix and it is definitely the start of a new addiction hehehe I think I'm going to have to start making shirts so that I can applique them to match!

So, here they are!

Front:

Back:

Close up pocket and trim:

Close up applique:

The name tag:

I have zigzagged everywhere as my overlocker needs to go to the doctor!

Advent Blog -A-Long

2009-12-08T20:44:00.000+08:00

I've decided to join the Advent Blog-A-Long. I will be endeavouring to post daily until Christmas with something that I've created each day.

We had some cream in the fridge that needed to be used today and the kids had icy poles this afternoon (made with cordial) which was apparently a big let down lol. So, today's effort was ice cream!

'Recipe'
600ml cream
1 tin condensed milk
1cup chocolate melts chopped up
4 scotch finger biscuits crumbled

I mixed the cream and milk until thick before adding the chocolate and biscuits. I then put some in icy pole molds and some in other containers for me and Richard!

Adding the chocolate:

Adding the biscuits:

In the icy pole molds:

The end result:

It's yummy but oh so very sweet :P I plan on doing some sewing tonight but not sure what yet! I'm still yet to start on Tom's backpack so I really should get onto that but realistically I know that won't be tonight!

So, what am I going to make?? Off to browse blogs and craftster for inspiration!

I like box purses!

2009-12-07T17:16:00.000+08:00

Similar to the LPS 'home', I've made both Taylor and James a box purse each to put little nicknacks in for their Advent Calendar today.

Here they are (the Mickey one is actually square lol):

Mickey:

Dragons:

Ribbons - the ribbons were an after thought and as such, I put it on the wrong end of the Mickey one but I'm sure James won't mind! Other than that, I'm pleased with how they turned out! :)

A little something for a santa sack!

2009-12-07T12:56:00.000+08:00

So, even though I haven't made the santa sacks as yet, I've made something to go in Taylor's lol.

She has numerous Littlest Petshop figurines and will be getting more for Christmas so I've made somewhere for them all to live!!! I was at TT this morning and saw that their cotton prints were marked down from $12 to $6.50 so I snapped up half a metre of this LPS print as well as 1/2m each of Dr Seuss and Mickey Mouse.

I'm thinking a little dress for Ellie from the Dr Seuss print but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Mickey yet for James.

Taylor's hmmmm 'thing':

Open:

Side View:

Years ago...

2009-12-06T23:09:00.000+08:00

My Mum had a boob tube dress made out of green satin with some cream flowers scattered on it. She got rid of the dress a long time ago however has hung on to the remaining fabric all these years - till recently!

You see, Mum stopped sewing a long time ago and as such, passed on her sewing machine, overlocker and horn sewing cabinet to little old me (how lucky am I!!) she also passed on most of her fabric that she was still holding on to. One of the pieces of fabric she gave me, was indeed the leftovers from said dress!!

Since Mum gave it to me, I have been waiting for inspiration to hit as I want to turn it into something for her. I saw a tute a long time ago for lined zippered purses and then forgot about it. Donni made some for the hafla yesterday which reminded me and so I dug out Mum's satin and made her a little zippered purse lined with some nice floral print that I got from Spotlight.

It didn't turn out anywhere near as good as I had hoped but as it was my first I'm not too worried and Mum will still love it! I'll keep my thinking cap on and see if I can come up with something else matching to go with it - maybe an eye mask and something else.

Outside:

Inside:

I love the fabric combo that I used and will definitely use the same combo for anything else I make to go with it :)

Sunday baking.....

2009-12-06T16:52:00.005+08:00

So, last week, I found a great recipe for making a bulk load of cookies and seeing as though I'm a 'bake-once-in-a-blue-moon' kind of baker I thought it would suit me to a 'T'. Well, I was right! I made a batch Tuesday morning for playgroup which were well received and I baked the rest of the mix throughout the week in batches.

So, here are the pics....

All 3 batches:

Original recipe:

Choc chip:

Almond and white choc chip:

I made one third the original recipe which includes dessicated coconut, sultanas and milk chocolate chips. The second third I ommited those and added slithered almonds and white choc chips instead. The third batch I added milk and white choc chips.

The finished products:

Outfits for the Christmas Hafla

2009-12-05T16:13:00.004+08:00

Ok here I am yet again!

I've made Ellie a dress and James some pants for the Hafla tonight. James saw the dress and insisted that he needs a dress too and not pants this was however when I was half way through his pants and upon seeing them, he was quite pleased lol.

The dress is a peasant style top that I found a tute for here I extended it a little to make it a dress and added a band of elastic mid torso and some back ties :)

Dress:

The pants I followed the same tute as before from here but added some pockets in the same Christmas print as Ellie's dress.

Front:

Back:

The outfits both ready!

Pretty pleased with how they both turned out :) The dress I will definitely make again but shrink the width a bit first :P The pants I just need to work on pocket location I think. Richard saw them on James just after I finished them and I got "oh they are REAL pants" lol I don't think he thinks lounge pants are real pants hehee

More action shots!

2009-12-05T10:40:00.004+08:00

I got Taylor to try on her Christmas dress this morning before teeball (thus the spunky teeball pants peeking out below).

The front (mind the interesting expression!):

The back:

I really love the way it looks from the back!

It fits well except I made it a little too wide at the front and so it gapes a little. I think I might do some unpicking (arrgrhhhhh I even hate the word!) and add a little strip of elastic vertically in the front to gather it down a little. That is if I start feeling enthusiastic hehe.

I'm going to make Ellie a new dress for the hafla tonight and might make James some new pants to wear too :)

This is why Richard doesn't like me going out with Donni!

2009-12-05T00:12:00.004+08:00

why? because I come home with fabric :P

Textile Traders (yes, I had a reason for going there - needed some thread!) had 30% of craft fabrics which meant their prepacked cotton prints in 1.5m lots were only $5 each! As anyone who has seen my fabric stash can atest, I'm a fabric whore and it doesn't take much to entice me!

So, I was brave and only came home with TWO (could have been MUCH worse lol) 1.5m lots with plans to transform them into dresses for Ellie!

The first one jumped at me to go with black or denim for a dress or possibly peasant top..... or maybe both??

The second is a border print. I like them after making Ellie and Taylor's dresses! I think Ellie will look gorgeous in a dress like the MM animals one made from this! Who knows, she might need a new dress for the hafla tomorrow night!!

Forgot to add:

James came with us (as well as Ainsley) and he didn't come away empty handed! He got a buzz car from the op shop and then chose a fat quarter:
Not entirely sure what we are going to do with it but he picked it up saying "Mum, this is mine" so how could I resist (for $1.75 lol). I was thinking of making him some of these so maybe he needs a matching wallet or something?? Anyone have any good boy ideas for a fat quarter?

Taylor's Dress

2009-12-04T23:55:00.003+08:00

So, I asked Taylor if she wanted a dress matching Ellie's to wear for Christmas Day and she did :) So I made it tonight (I was meant to be making Tom's birthday bag but I might do that tomorrow instead).

Front:

Back:

Size difference of the dresses:

I changed it by actually having a sort of bodice instead of just a strip across the top which was a lot more complex than I anticipated lol. Next time I might plan it a bit better instead of just fumbling through!

Something for James!

2009-12-04T18:48:00.003+08:00

Finally got around to making James some pants out of this Michael Miller print that I got too many months ago hehe

He was very eager while I was making them and kept coming back to check on me for progress reports lol

I'm quite happy with how they turned out however next time I'll be adding some more butt space lol Why do I have kids with big bums damnit!

The pants:

The action shot - that's his little sisters drink bottle hehe

So, what's next on the to do list?

Backpack for Tom's birthday (next weekend) might make this tonight :)
Christmas dress for Taylor - will match Ellie's Christmas dress - cutting this out tonight :)
Christmas set for James - thinking long shorts with an appliqued shirt, not sure which fabric to use for a special outfit though - hard to decide when the girls will be matching!
Something for me! I have a literal tonne of fabric that I have bought with good intentions

Action shots!

2009-12-04T07:21:00.008+08:00

I put the dress on Ellie this morning and it FITS!!!! Oh yeah.

The front - this was catching the just after smile lol

Side on
The back - kinda hehe

She got a bit cranky when she tried to crawl but seeing as though I planned it as a walking dress, I'm ok with that hehe

Now, onto the backpack!

Her happy clap for something good :P

Interesting!

2009-12-03T23:01:00.002+08:00

So, James just came out to me at 11pm asking me to help him with his bed - he spilt his drink of water.

This is what I was presented with when he entered the lounge room.....

He has NOT had a dummy for more than 2 yrs now!!

Another backpack :)

2009-12-03T21:59:00.007+08:00

I think the sewing bug has well and truly bitten!

I bought this fabric from Spotlight for $2/m a couple of months ago with plans for 3/4 length pants for both Taylor and James.

I added a pocket, lengthened the body and straps and overlapped the front panels a bit more.

I can't believe how fast they go together really!

So, here are the pics!

Front:

Open:

Back:

Next time I'm going to apply interfacing to the body pieces before assembling which will turn it into more of a 'real' backpack!

Happy with how it turned out but not sure who it's for yet!

It's been a productive day!

2009-12-03T18:23:00.009+08:00

I made Ellie a Toddler backpack from here this afternoon! It's a zipless bag which just overlaps at the front.

Front:

Showing the front opening:

Back:

Top (excuse the non turned corner on the right hehe) oh and Taylor is modelling!

So, what did I change? I sketched the pattern myself instead of printing so my shape is a little different, I added a hook so that we can hang it up if it gets taken to daycare and ummmm I think thats about it.

I think next time I will overlap the front panels a bit more (I'm thinking of adding a snap to the middle to hold it closed but I think I'll wait and see how Ellie goes with it first. I also didn't do any interfacing as the fabric I used was quite sturdy and canvas-ish.

Taylor has asked me to make her a backpack as well now so I'll be on the lookout for the perfect fabric for her! She has requested black (surprise, surprise lol) I'm thinking black and red checks for the back and side and fingers crossed I can find some Jack Skellington print for the front - if you know where I can get some, please let me know!

Finally, a creation! (or two)

2009-12-03T13:54:00.008+08:00

So, here is Ellie's christmas outfit for this year! Pretty pleased with it overall and just crossing my fingers that it will fit well :) Followed the tute from here

The front:
The back (yes looks the same except you can kinda see where I put elastic in the bodice piece and the back seam where the print doesn't quite line up):

And also..... the Christmas Tree hanging with 3 kiddies pouches instead of a typical Advent Calendar. The kids get something little in their pouches every day. I made the pouches a decent size so that they can be used during the year as well as I'm sure they will choose different prints for their pouches next year!

The tree - empty lol

The tree - with the pouches

The pouches. Taylor chose the dragons fabric when she came to Textile Traders some time during the year. The wonky trains if of course James' as he is only 'slightly' obsessed with trains hehe. The oriental fishy flowers I bought from the remnant box at Spotlight for $1/m and I love it! I also got the same print but in red and I'm planning on either making a reversible pinny or possibly the Faith dress I've seen on others blogs.
I've got James' santa sack half finished (will finish tonight) as well as cutting and sewing the girls'. I'm also going to make Taylor a skirt or dress to match Ellie for Christmas - will ask her which she wants tonight! Other than that, I need to decide what I'm doing for James' Christmas outfit as so far I'm drawing a blank! Might do some shorts and an applique t-shirt. Will see if I can find some spunky ideas on some blogs hehe

How lazy am I!?

2009-12-02T15:39:00.002+08:00

So, it's been much too long since my last post but quite a bit has happened too :)

I've completed the first year of my nursing degree and am now on holidays for a month before going back.

Taylor has turned 8, Elise has turned one and James is turning 4 in less than a month! Where has the time gone?

Ellie is starting to walk at 14.5mths which is the latest of all three. She is a happy mostly content baby who is an awesome sleeper! In the past couple of months, she has been really developing her personality which is just great to watch and be a part of!

James has been undergoing speech therapy as well as OT this year. At his assessment last week, his speech was still 18 months delayed which is what it was prior to getting his grommets in July... we thought he was doing MUCH better than that :( I've been looking for some help online and have managed to find quite a bit of speech related activities which we will be focusing on over summer. He starts kindy at the end of January which is exciting. He asked for the first time this morning if he could go to school instead of daycare which was nice!

Taylor is about to finish year two. She has had the same teacher for three years in a row now so it will be interesting to see how next year goes with a new teacher! Hopefully she will settle well and thoroughly enjoy it! It's hard to believe that in less than 10 years she will be able to drive!!!

We have had a "fun" time since mid-July. Richard had his bike accident on the way to work and ended up with a broken femur and metatarsals as well as road rash on his back. It's been 4.5mths now and he is still walking with a pretty severe limp and quite a bit of pain. We have lodged a claim with the insurance commission as it is a suspected hit and run. I'm hoping the pain will ease and that Richard can get back to doing the things he wants to do :) (and yes, that means he will be riding again too)

I'll have to look through my files and post some photos of the kids and I've been doing some sewing with more to do before Christmas so will be sewing my bum off in the coming weeks! Will definitely post pics :)

Elise's birth story

2008-10-08T23:32:00.005+08:00

Some background on my other kids' births...

Taylor was born at 41 weeks in 2001 after being induced via ARM and synto drip. I had pethidene and gas and after an almost 12hr induced labour, she was born in one push flying onto the bed (I was laying on my back) 7lb 15oz of gorgeous…

James was born at 40+3 in 2006 after a spontaneous labour but with ARM at 6cm. After a grueling 27.5hr labour with gas for pain relief (grueling because hubby had BAD food poisoning whilst I was in labour and was effectively pretty useless at the time and therefore I got to share the experience with my lovely Mum), James was born weighing 9lb 12oz.

Fast forward to 2008 and I sat here 36 weeks pregnant having problems with the hospital I was booked into and wishing and praying that I made it onto the funded homebirth program here in Perth… that didn’t happen but I did end up finding an independent midwife Sally who was available and lovely!

I had my 40 week appointment with Sally with no signs of anything happening and by the time my 41 week appointment came around, I was hoping desperately to go into labour before the appointment lol. That didn’t happen but I did ask Sally to have a poke around to see if anything was happening (with a VERY interested DS watching on lol). My 41 week appointment was on Monday 15th .

I woke at 4:30am on the 16th of September with contractions about 6 minutes apart and lasting around 45 seconds each. I got up and fuddled around on the net for a bit before going back to bed at 6am to tell hubby that he wasn’t going to work today. My contractions continued and increased in intensity and started becoming more frequent but I was still in denial… after sooooo many people seemingly waiting sooooo long for me to give birth, surely it wasn’t ACTUALLY HAPPENING lol.

Hubby started setting the birth pool up and then took the kids off to school and a friend looked after James for us as it was evident that he just had no clue lol.

I got into the pool at around 10am and by 11am I started wondering if homebirth was a good idea lol Hubby called the midwife at about 11:30 to see how long she would be and to say that my contractions were 3 minutes apart and that they really hurt… at this point, I was still thinking we had quite a while to go and so did my midwife – especially after having a long labour with James.

Just after hubby got off the phone, he got back in the pool with me (I was laying on my side and pushing off the walls with each contraction) and then there was NO gap between the contractions and I remember saying to him “why aren’t they stopping!?” of course then I needed to push and with a couple of pushes, the head was out. Hubby cried “what do I do?” and I just said hold it! Hehehe With the next push, she was fully born (at 11:45am!!) we brought her up to my chest and hubby got a blanket to lay over her and keep her warm with me in the pool. Our gorgeous new little daughter had been born into her daddy’s loving arms with just us in the house and it was really lovely!

Our midwife arrived around half an hour after DD was born and my Mum about 10 minutes after her… I ended up delivering the placenta around 1pm (I was lazy and just wanted to sit holding my new baby). Whilst I was in the shower, DD was weighed and measured and she is almost the same size as DS was! She was 9lb 12oz and 53cm long with a 37cm head.

Taylor absolutely in love with her new little sister (who remained nameless for a couple of days)

James hasn't actually hit her with the car, she just didnt want to see it! haha

Meet the family

2008-10-08T22:43:00.006+08:00

Ok, where to start?? I'll introduce my family :)

Richard and I have been together since late 2004 and were married in November 2007 (photo with my folks). We live in Perth and I'm currently on maternity leave until August 2009.

Taylor is now unbelievably 7 years old and James (our anything-with-wheels mad son) will be 3 in January.

And...our newest addition.. Elise! Born 16th September 2008

And that is our little family... so far.