A little taste of Oz for friends far away...

A few days ago I wrote this post about an exchange of home made wares I did with a fellow blogger who lives in America.... and you might recall I said that I'd post about what I sent her and her beautiful girls?  Well, here is the loot (excuse the table - could have benefited from a polish before I took this photo!):

Of course there are the obligatory book bags and pencil rolls - plus all manner of Australiana.....  Michelle had told me that The Bee is a very classic girl, so I flipped out when I found this button.... I was soooo excited (and according to Michelle The Bee loved it too - bingo!)

The new addition to my repertoire though was these little cuties - little birdy handwarmers!  I couldn't even tell you where I got the idea for these, but I knew at some point I wanted to make them for someone who lived somewhere cold....  Little friends to heat up and hold in your coat pockets when its chilly - how cosy does that sound?  And so here they are, with their little buttons for eyes (I just filled them with lavender).

Michelle told me Felafel slept with hers the first night - sooooooooo cute! :)  And that The Bee called her Kangaroo Jefferey - I'm a big fan of people names for animals too, I love it!

And if you'd like to see Felafel admiring the goods, hop on over to Michelle's blog here and check it out.

Bye for now :)

A moment in time : Wild Hog!

A day without (or with very few) words - just a photo or two to capture a

moment in time during the last week. 

I've been inspired by, and will be linking up to, Felafel and The Bee's Wordless{ish} Wednesday post and Soule Mama's {this moment} Friday ritual post.  If you feel motivated to capture your own moment in time, please leave me a link via comments so I can have a look :)

It happened quite by accident... Mimi was watching 'Wild Hogs'... Alex wandered in and became enthralled.... then obsessed.... and now we can only refer to him as 'Woody!' (Thank goodness most of it goes over his head!)  :)

Where I left off - finally, an EPIC update!

Well you can see from the last couple of days, I've kind of got my blogging mojo back.  I'm not making any promises but I have a plan, and I hope it will last.  So, what's been happening?  In the interests of not making this the longest blog post in history (and in all fairness, it still might be) I will categorise and give you all the news in bullet form…

FAMILY AND FRIENDS:

::  Late November we headed down to Melbourne for a wedding (see below) and an early Christmas with my Dad and step Mum and all our family down there, as well as my brother, sister-in-law and niece from Sydney - we had a ball and Alex loved playing with his cousins Ella and Elijah, who we don't get to see nearly often enough, and they are both getting cuter and cuter by the day!

::  While we were in Melbourne, my step brother Glen married his beautiful bride Annette - seriously, could be the best wedding I've ever been to, or tied with my brother's and other step brother's, and my own!  Just a beautiful couple who were destined to be together and obviously so in love - it was AWESOME!  Delightful venue, fabulous food, very witty MC and just general happiness and good cheer :)  Another of my step brothers, Warren, made their cake which was so incredibly impressive (he is a very talented chef).

Here are the beautiful couple…

And the incredible cake Waz made... That is a cherry blossom tree on the top (made of fairy floss), and each layer is separated by 'stained glass' which Waz painstakingly made from isomalt - it was quite a process but the result was amazing.

Glen and Annette are now expecting a baby, so I am very excited for them both (and excited also to be an Aunty again too!)

::  On 21st December my Mum arrived for a visit from Sydney and we found out that she would be moving up to live with us sooner rather than later!  So in January my Mum (aka Mim) moved into our house… it has taken so much pressure off us to have her here, especially the last few weeks when I've been working like a maniac.  We are all a bit more chillaxed now :)

::  Recently I found out that one of my Sydney besties is going to be a Mum for the first time - so exciting!  Congrats to Suz and George - here is the proud new Mum to be:

::  A few weeks back we found out that Alex has been accepted into the school just a few short blocks from us - it is a lovely little school with wonderful facilities and very reasonable fees for a private school, so we're very excited!  I still can't quite believe my baby is going to Prep next year!

::  A couple of weeks ago I had a birthday - I am now officially 39 years old - yikes!!  Next year is the big one!!


AROUND THE HOUSE:

You can expect to see/ hear more about these ones in posts to come….

::  The toy room got a small makeover - it's not finished yet, but I cleared a lot of toys, we painted the walls and moved out the chocolate coloured lounge that was in there (we needed another space to accommodate visitors with Mim moving in).

::  All the way back in August (when all the family were in town for Alex's Christening) my bro Mick and sista Nadine helped me to finally sort out the wall above the desk…  I will post after pics soon, but as a teaser, it used to look like this… a whole lotta boring going on!

::  Mim's room (formerly the guest room) has had a makeover in the form of paint also.  Before we moved in, it was a little girl's nursery with a bright pink 'feature' wall.  Then we painted one wall mustard (what were we thinking?) and finally with Mim's imminent arrival it got its proper colour, along with the rest of the house - Dulux Half Self Destruct on the walls with Quarter Lexicon White on the trim.  A bunch of shelves have gone up, along with a very creative dressing table for her small space, a gallery wall and some curtains.  I still need to have the discussion with her about whether she will let me share photos on the blog - thoughts Mum? ;)

::  I recently set about converting Alex's room from a more baby room into a bigger boy's room.  I have always preferred neutrals for Alex's room, but I did want to get some bright colours in there this time….  I have recently done a few tweaks and Alex is really enjoying the transformations so far.  Here is an old pic I took right after putting those decals up of Alex's 'toddler' room….

You'll have to stay tuned for the afters as it evolves, but I can tell you the woodland creatures are gone, as is the doona cover and that chair (which didn't stay long anyway - we moved an old armchair out to put that one in, and Alex demanded the old one back!  We've finally got rid of the armchair too… its taken us about 2 years to convince him! Lol).

::  You might recall a million years ago in this post, I mentioned I was going to move those random cupboards out of the back area of our living space?  Well I finally did it…. Stay tuned for that makeover too!

OUT THE BACK:

::  If you've read this blog before, you'll know that last year I got our vege patch looking fab and in great shape, and we had a great yield of all sorts of things… but for the second year running, once the really warm weather hit and we had our customary torrential downpours, a lot of the plants couldn't take it anymore and fell in a heap (much like myself!!)….  And as of a week ago, it looked like this:

We've actually had an incredibly productive week where the vege patch is concerned though, so stay tuned for an update on that really soon.

::  For Alex's Baptism back in August, we removed the outdoor setting from under the pergola and replaced it with a day bed and a coffee table the kids can sit at to do art.  We liked it so much that it has stayed and the outdoor setting has now been moved into the garage…  I'm yet to share a photo of this revamp, but to recap, here is how it looked just before the Baptism when I cleaned it all up:

CRAFTY GOODNESS:

::  I've been on a roll with book bags and pencil rolls (to which I then add a book and a set of pencils) for the kids in our lives for some time now.  I got the bags from EcoShopper and sewed names to the front.  For Christmas I ended up making 6 pencil rolls and 6 bags and have even made a few more since - I wish I'd taken photos of the really girly ones I did, but I didn’t - so here is a photo of one I did for Alex's buddy Jack:

::  Alex's besties Jack and Vanessa turned 5 in November and are both avid fans of the matchbox/ hotwheels car!  Since Alex is too, I know that having a place to put them all (to avoiding tripping over one every 5 minutes) is a problem, so I set about creating something that would help with storage.  I made them these hanging car organisers for their presents, and they loved them!  Here they are before they started to load them up!

I have all the fabric cut out to make one for Alex, but in all honesty, they were slow and painful to make and I should have done them all at once - now I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to it!

::  I mentioned recently that I made some things to send over to Michelle from for her kids - they include (of course) bags and pencil rolls, but I also tried my hand at something new!  I'll share all that very soon ;)

So there you have it - you're pretty well up to date now.  And if you're still reading, thanks for persevering, and your certificate of completion is in the mail!

Bye for now :)

Alex's pick of the week - Green Eggs And Ham

A blog I frequent, Felafel and The Bee (I mentioned my blogger friend Michelle in yesterday's post), does a weekly post called ‘On Our Shelves Sunday’ where she talks about the books her children are currently reading and what they like about them.  I like this little 'series' - I like it a lot!  And so I'm doing something similar....

I'll give you the low-down on things we're reading this week - it's most likely to be something Alex is enthused about, but could be something I've enjoyed too :)  Whatever has been our favourite in the past week.  I'd love to hear about what you're reading too, so feel free to leave me a comment.  I'm linking this post back to Michelle's 'On Our Shelves Sunday' post - if you like the idea, please check hers out too.

Alex has a few consistent favourite books that he asks for over and over – and one of those is the Dr Seuss classic, Green Eggs And Ham….  so this is the one we're starting with this week!

This is basically the story of Sam I Am badgering his friend to try something new, even though his friend insists he won’t like it.... I hate to spoil the ending, but of course he eventually tries it and loves it in the end!  Alex’s favourite thing about this story are all the wacky places that Sam I Am suggests he might like to try green eggs and ham (in a box, with a fox, on a train, in the rain, here or there, anywhere!) I love reading him this one as I am always guaranteed lots of giggles, and what can be better than that? ;)

I'm linking this up to Felafel and The Bee's On Our Shelves Sunday post this week. 

What are you enjoying at the moment?

Bye for now :)

A long-overdue thank you!

This post is a long overdue thank you to a blogger I recently 'met' - and I'll warn you now, it is very heavy on the photos!   But let me back up....  There is a blog that I love to read called Felafel & The Bee…  This blogger extraordinaire, Michelle, is a Mum of 2 girls (who she calls Felafel and The Bee - not their real names) and posts all sorts of wonderful things about family life, crafts, sewing, cooking and photography.  I love to read it and look at her beautiful photos.

Anyways, I'm not usually a huge commenter on blogs, but I might have mentioned I really like this particular blog?  LOL.  Michelle seemed really down to earth and I like her style of writing, so just felt compelled to comment... so I started commenting on lots of her posts....  and through this commenting Michelle and I started chatting and struck up a long distance friendship - we're like electronic penpals now (remember having penpals as kids?  So fun!)  :)  And somewhere along the line we came up with this great idea that we should do a 'swap' of sorts of some handmade goodies for our kids - awesome!

So Michelle, being the super creative and efficient person she is, got right onto it and put together a box of goodies that made it here all the way from the US of A super fast!  Just before she sent it off, she wrote this post as a sneak peek, featuring her daughter Felafel giving Alex's newest best friend to be (Super Bear) a test run - so gorgeous!

Alex was soooooo excited to receive it all, especially Super Bear (who has slept in his bed every single night since he arrived).  He has a globe in his room, so when I said this package had come from a long way away, we got the globe down so he could see where Michelle and her family live in relation to our family.... a loooong way away!

Alex loves how Super Bear has a reversible cape...  Red for daytime when he needs extra speed, and the blue sparkles on the other side (he tells me) are stars which means that's his night time cape :)  In the box there were also a bunch of other cute things like a slinky, hand made recycled crayons, a bow tie, a lace up game and a book by John Lithgow called Marsupial Sue - wow!!!  Here he is enjoying his goodies...


Some quiet time reading Marsupial Sue - so cute!

Playing with his new lace up game - he loves this!



Having fun with slinky

Crayon drawing

More crayon drawing - and check out my bow tie!

Favourite truck crayon :)

Super Bear in full flight!

Super Bear gets a cape adjustment!

Super Bear cosy and warm in his favourite spot - Alex's bed!

Thank you SO MUCH Michelle! As you can see its all been a big hit!! :)

So where is my exchange package you might ask?  Well, Michelle may have asked that as well, since it was a considerable amount of time between the arrival of Michelle's package and the posting of mine (except she wouldn't ask, because she's way too nice! :))  In any case, I did eventually complete my little projects and send them off, and they were gratefully received at their destination - more to come on that soon!
Its fantastic the people you can meet through this world wide wonderful web isn't it!!  This was such a fun exchange to do - I really enjoyed it.  And I love that I made a new friend in the process as well.

Bye for now :)

A land of flooding rains... Happy Australia Day!

Hello again!


Well I still haven't quite got around to completing those posts about what I've been doing for the last 3 months…. But they're coming!


For now, we are in the middle of another full on wet spell here on the (not so) sunny Gold Coast! Remember that tourism slogan of yore "beautiful one day, perfect the next"? Well now we are "pouring one day, unbearably humid the next"! Those in Australia may also recall that this time last year, 75% of the state of Queensland was under water - the Gold Coast managed to dodge the worst of it last year, but with the combination of heavy rain and king tides, we've had quite a bit of flooding this time around. Although I must say, this is not even close to the devastation experienced last year in places like Theodore, Brisbane, Toowoomba or Grantham (where sadly, lives were lost) so comparatively we are very, very lucky.


Anyways, I thought you might like to see some images I found of our beloved Gold Coast from Wednesday 25 January… (all images courtesy of Gold Coast Weather)


A street not very far from us at 9am – this is a busy industrial area, and that is supposed to be a road, not a river!

This is a local school oval (obviously the school was evacuated)…

A normally busy road under water…

A freeway off ramp looking more like a tranquil bush scene (apart from the massive sign sticking out!)

And last but not least, one of the Gold Coast’s leading theme parks, Movie World, underwater!

Pretty wild, huh? We've had some water problems in our garage, and its been a very soggy ride to work this week, but hopefully it won’t get any worse.


As I mentioned, Wednesday was a wash out for sure - most schools on the Gold Coast were closed due to flooding, roads were impassable all over the place…. Then on Thursday, Australia Day, a miracle happened…. The flood waters (mostly) subsided, and the sun came out! And let me tell you, it was oh so humid - blurgh! Still, it was great to see the sun. We did the all Australian thing and went to a barbeque… we didn’t do as Melissa Tkautz and Sam Kekovich suggested, and throw on some lamb chops (have you seen this special Australia Day take on Barbie Girl? Hysterical!)….

But Mum and I shared some prawns with fresh lemon and avocado, so still pretty patriotic! Aussie Aussie Aussie – Oi Oi Oi!!!


Well that's all for now folks - I just thought I'd share our wild weather… Forecasters say the worst may not be over yet - the current time as I type is 12:30pm, and it's been absolutely bucketing down all morning - just for fun, here is a pic of the radar as it is right now:

We are right under that crazy storm cell and the one over to the left there is likely to arrive later today.  The thing that is so uncharacteristic about this rain is that it is so slow moving - we are used to storms that hit wild and fast, 20 minutes later it's all over and you just clean up!  Lol...  But these storms are taking their sweet time.  There is also expected to be more rain over the weekend, so it sounds like great weather for staying inside and sewing doesn’t it! :)

Hope the sun is shining where you are!

Bye for now :)

Word of the Year 2012

Happy 2012, friends!

I know its been, like, a million years since I last checked into this blog and updated it.  I will post again soon with some big updates and my myriad of excuses for not posting since October 2011... but for now I just had a revelation that I felt compelled to share.  I hope this post won't be too airy fairy for you - its quite different  (and a bit more personal) to anything I've posted before - and just warning you now, its a very wordy, winding kinda post :)

So I was cruising through my Google Reader yesterday and I noticed this post by Layla of The Lettered Cottage.  I should precede any further explanation by stating that I LOVE this blog.  Lovely ideas, lovely decorating, lovely people (not that I know them personally of course, but they do seem very lovely - and judging by their gazillion followers, I'm not the only one who thinks so!)

Anyway, I started to read this post called Word of the Year about a lady called Ali Edwards.  I think this concept is best explained in Ali's own words as they appeared in this post on The Lettered Cottage:

"In 2006, I began a tradition of choosing one word for myself each January – a word that I can focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life. I invite it into my life. I live with it. I let it speak to me. I might even follow where it leads.


Choosing a word each year came about as an alternative to a list of resolutions. I wanted something I could hold close and actually develop a relationship with over the course of the year.


Some years my word has made a major difference, and other years it’s been a more silent companion through the challenges and celebrations in my life.


The action of choosing a word (or having a word find you) is full of potential and possibility. And here’s one thing that’s totally interesting: sometimes a word pops into your brain and it doesn’t make any sense right now. Give it some time. Let it percolate a bit. I have often found that our hearts speak to us in very unique ways. Maybe it’s a word you need to hear, but you just aren’t ready for it yet. Again, be open to the possibilities."


At this point I was feeling a bit dismissive - I briefly thought about trying to think of a word, then immediately thought:  I have too much on my plate to be trying to dwell on a word I dreamed up on a whim for the rest of the year, and trying to apply it to my life.  And just as I was about to engage the mega scroll on my mouse and speedily skim the rest of the post, something bizarre happened....  A word just popped into my head!  Did I have to spend the next half an hour thinking if it was THE word and where I could apply it?  No, I did not!  I immediately understood exactly where I wanted it to fit into my life.  I'm tellin ya, it was freaky!!

The word that my brain decided to scream at me?  RETREAT.  Initially (like in the first 45 seconds) it was about a parents retreat - something that, if money was no object, we would build as a second storey addition to our existing home.  I was just thinking about creating a vision board for this the other day, so its relatively fresh in my mind.

As I often do though, I immediately follow a thought about a material want with a mental slap on the hand, and think to myself that I should be wishing for something more spiritual.   (I don't know why I do this).  And then straight away my brain seemingly engaged and reminded me that retreat is not just something to plop on top of my house - it also means to withdraw...  I can't say it any better than this definition I found at www.freedictionary.com:

"retreat

1.

a. The act or process of withdrawing, especially from something hazardous, formidable, or unpleasant.

b. The process of going backward or receding from a position or condition gained.

2. A place affording peace, quiet, privacy, or security. See Synonyms at shelter.

3.

a. A period of seclusion, retirement, or solitude.

b. A period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, or study: a religious retreat."

To me, retreat simply means peace - whether that be by finding a place of seclusion for myself, or withdrawing from a possible conflict.  

http://imgfave.com/view/1717364

You may ask, why is this word suddenly so important to me?  You see, today our lives as we know it are going to be changed forever.  My Mum is moving from interstate to live with us in our home.  We are overjoyed that she's chosen to live with us, and I am really looking forward to spending more time with Mum, and for her to spend more time with Alex.  A small part of me, however, would be lying if I said I didn't have some teeny tiny concerns about how our family will adjust to the addition of another person to our household and our established family dynamic - as does Mum.  I have two main concerns - the first is conflict.  I'm not worried about others losing it, it's me who will be the problem... the fact is I can get pretty full on when I'm feeling stressed or overwhelmed - hence the need to remind myself to retreat from conflict while we all adjust, to talk things through calmly as they arise, to consider others' feelings not just my own - it is a period of adjustment for us all.  The other concern of course is how we will all find our own personal space in this new arrangement.

So you can see how this word, retreat, really has meaning for me right now... it really fits with my life and the challenges and joys that 2012 will bring.  

http://zenflower.posterous.com/mindfulness

I need to really have my new word at the forefront of my mind especially if there are challenges, to remember that sometimes I need to be a bit more altruistic in order to facilitate my goal - a peaceful, happy household.  I know it is achievable, and I also know that others in my home will not have to try quite so hard as I will to be more selfless... not an easy admission to make!  But there will be lots of great times to focus on too, and I am looking forward to those :)


I have no idea how I will go keeping my word close to me, but I'm going to try very hard to really live and breathe this word in all senses this year while all members of our household adjust to living together harmoniously and finding our own individual retreat in a busy household.

As part of this, I will go ahead and create that vision board for our parents retreat - you can get more info on vision boards by simply googling, or you can have a look here at Christine Kane's blog, which I think explains it very well.  You know what they say - where focus goes, energy flows.  So why not, it can't hurt!  (I'm sounding very Oprah today aren't I?  Lol)

I am linking this post up to Layla's Word of the Year post over at The Lettered Cottage - thanks so much Ali and Layla for the inspiration and direction.  And welcome to Queensland, Mum!!! xxxx

Bye for now :)