Nay's Place

Canvas update!

2011-12-14T15:44:00.000+10:00

Just thought you might all like to see how the canvas turned out after I asked for everyone's opinions in this post.

Right after I posted that Snapfish had a 50% off special on their canvases, so I hopped on and ordered one quick! Now I am completely up to date...until Baby O arrives in March and we do the newborn shoot in April :)

And here is the subject posing with her latest canvas (no show without punch in this house...I'm surprised I managed to snap it without the dog sticking is nose in the shot, too).

I love it - just need to get some more 3M velcro strips to get it up on the wall...which will be this weekend's job.

Getting Arty...

2011-12-12T15:40:00.000+10:00

As anyone that knows me in real life will know...I am not what you would call "Artistic". I can't draw to save myself, I have no talent in putting colours together and the closest to art I come is enjoying colouring in (as in colouring in the kids colouring in pages :P ).

So it surprised me when Charlotte started drawing faces on her blackboard/whiteboard and paper...completely out of the blue. And definitely not something I have taught her!

The little green bits on the pink circle are ears...and the pink line down the side is an arm/hand.

Not saying she's a child-genius artist, but its a start...and completely on par with my current ability to draw people/faces. Hahaha!

Unwelcome Guest

2011-12-10T15:50:00.000+10:00

We're normally very excited to receive house guests...but only the kind with 2-4 legs. Anything over that is considerably less exciting.

Such as....

I'm not sure if the true size of him can be fathomed from this photo...but all I can say is that our cornice is not that narrow...therefore this guy was rather large.

It took The Husband a few minutes to work out a plan of attack (and a few practice swings) to make sure that he was 100% going to be able to smack it...while leaving enough room for it to fall to the floor and not on him or the chair he was standing on...and smack it well enough to kill it on the first shot.

And then when he did...the dirty little guy (spider, not husband) left yukky blue stuff on our wall. Blerk!!!

Dance Recital

2011-12-08T15:39:00.000+10:00

Earlier this month Charlotte had her end of year Recital for dancing. Her class (the Tiny Tots) did three dances in each show and they performed a matinee show and an evening show...so a total of six dances all on one day! Quite the ask for a 3 year old!

We're still waiting to see the photos taken during the actual Recital but here is my little Flower Pot (that's what the Tinies were). Excuse the quality...it is a photo of a photo as the CD hasn't arrived, yet.

The "wings" on her back are actually the petals of a flower - very cute. We purchased the costume for her so she can be a flower pot any time she likes :D

She did remarkably well (for her age). No tears, tantrums or freak-outs. She participated fully in each and every dance and excelled at the "blowing kisses and running off stage at the end" part ;)

Sewing: Kindy Sheet Set

2011-11-26T10:33:00.000+10:00

I've (finally) started to get my sewing mojo back!

A couple of weeks ago I went on a fabric-shopping trip with the lovely Leonie. We managed to knock off three fabric shops (and it wasn't just a pit stop in and out, trust me!!) in a morning.

I also managed to de-stash some furnishing fabric in Leonie's direction....which was great as I definitely filled that space in my fabric storage with my purchases from the day :)

The cheapest find for me was the lovely red gingham I picked up for $3.95 a metre. Perfect to jazz up the Kindy sheets that I had to put together for Charlotte's Kindy Sheet Set! And I've still got lots left over....so if Baby O is a girl there might be a cute pinafore in the making for next summer :)

The Sheet Set was super easy to put together. I had an old winter-weight sheet in my fabric stash which I made into a large bottom sheet and a shorter top sheet. Sewn together at the bottom with elastic across each corner of the bottom sheet so that Charlotte can easily hook it over her wee mattress at Kindy.

Then I popped a strip of the gingham across the top of the top sheet and (when I get back to Spotlight to get more vilosofix!!) I'll put a wee appliqué on that panel, too.

Next was a pillow. I have a lot of batting in my fabric stash so I whipped up a small case out of some left-over summer-weight sheet I had hanging around and stuffed it so it was nice and plump. Then put together a cute wee gingham pillow case with an appliquéd "C" on it. I had *just* enough vilosofix to squeeze the C on!

Last was a bag to put it all in - just a simple drawstring bag in the red gingham. Again - appliqué to follow...

Voilà! She's so pleased with it (which is all that you can ask for when you're hand-making stuff for your kids!) and it is completely different from anyone else's in her class so (theoretically) it should be hard to lose!

Starting at Kindy

2011-11-22T04:37:00.000+10:00

With Charlotte turning 3 we decided it was time to start her at "Kindy".

After the obligatory "checking out the place" visit we decided that having a couple of weeks' worth of "visits" was the best way to transition her into her room/classmates/carers at her new centre.

"Visits" were her and I going and joining the room for a morning...eating morning tea, doing the art/craft activity, joining in the free play, etc, etc, etc.

Those of you who know me (well) will realize how much of a tedious task this was!! Kids are great. As long as I'm not shut in a room with 20 of them for hours on end!! I truly do not know how those carers do it...day in....day out....and staying sane!!

Anyways, back to the topic - after two weeks of visiting the "First Day of Kindy" arrived. Obligatory photos were taken, preparation talks were completed ("So today, Mummy is going to go home and you're going to stay at Kindy." ), lunchboxes were filled and water bottles chilled.

I mentally prepared myself for bawling, clinging to leg-ness and general wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Could not have been further from the truth.

I parked her on the mat with the rest of the kids, put her lunch in the fridge and bag in her locker. Kissed her goodbye and told her to have fun.

No tears.

Hmmm....walked out, closed the door. Looked through the window.

No tears, just listening to the story being read.

Hmmm...maybe it will hit home in half an hour or so? Then there will be tears. FOR SURE. I just know there will.

Called Kindy at lunchtime. No tears. Had a great morning.

Oooookkkkkkk.......

Go to collect her at 2.45pm (we decided to try and stick to NZ-ish Kindy times seeing as her Kindy is an all day affair and we can drop off and pick up when we like). All set for the "Oh, thank goodness you've come to rescue me!!!!! I thought I'd never see you again!!!! Mummy, you're the best, I missed you sooooo much!!!"

Instead I get:

"Mum, I can't come home NOW. I need to have my morning (afternoon actually...she can't get those straight) tea. AND I've just put my sunblock on so I need to go outside and play first."

What the?

So I offer to leave her there while I go to the supermarket and the mall to do a few jobs and collect her on the way home. Fully expecting her to wail and say "No, no, no....take me with youuuuuuu."

"Ok, Mum. Bye."

Are. You. Serious. ????

So I'm sent on my way and return at 4pm. Only to have to physically carry her out of the centre because she didn't want to come home with me!

Who would have thought, hey? Little Miss Independent. :O

Adjustment period for going to Kindy = Not Required. Thank you very much ;)

Comparing the Belly

2011-11-20T14:31:00.000+10:00

It is that time again!

Time to see how the bump is going this time, compared to when I was carrying Charlotte.

It's a bit scary, I tell ya. Quite, in fact. But I'll let you see for yourselves...

Carrying Charlotte @ 20 wks

Carrying Baby O @ 20 wks

Oh. My.

Nappy Update

2011-11-18T14:17:00.001+10:00

Because you were all having withdrawal symptoms from not hearing about my cloth nappy obsession, right?

No?

Oh well!

I would like to announce that my cloth nappy hunt is now officially complete. I now have 30 lovely cloth nappies in my hot little hands (or in my parent's spare room at the moment...but they will be in my hot little hands soon enough!).

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Thanks to Trade Me for linking me up with a lovely seller who had 13 Baby Cheeks nappies for sale for the bargain price of NZ$70. I couldn't believe my luck!

So I think that 30 will do me. Or Baby O, at least. Along with my home made collection I will have plenty to ensure that they aren't on high rotation and that I don't need to be living in a Laundromat during the winter months just to get the nappies dry.

Stoked :)

Thermomix

2011-11-16T02:04:00.000+10:00

Well, I guess my time had to come...right? Everyone who is anyone in blog-land has done a post about the amazingly wonderful supertastic cooks-dinner-does-the-dishes-and-vacuums-the-floor-as-well Thermomix machine.

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Haven't they?

Well, maybe not everyone. But lots of bloggers out there have. And now it is my turn. Oh, and I might have been exaggerating about the doing the dishes and vacuumming the floor bit. Ah hem.

Anyways, today the very lovely Kylie from Mealy and I is kindly conducting a demonstration of this ah-mazing kitchen machine at my house for a couple of friends and me.

I. Can't. Wait.

I have seriously been wanting to see what this machine is all about since I first heard of it about 2-ish years ago. Everyone that has one raves over it.

In the (approximately) hour and a half demo, Kylie is going to whip up a total of six dishes for us.

In an hour and a half!!

We are going to be feasting on:

Fresh Fruit Sorbet
Wholegrain Bread Rolls
Hummus Dip
Coleslaw Salad
Mushroom Risotto

and...

wait for it...

Lemon Custard.

Yup. Read it and weep (unless you're one of my guests - haha!).

So stay tuned...I'll be back to report on how exactly Kylie manages to put together six dishes in 90 minutes. I think it's going to feel like a Masterchef Pressure Test!

Thanks, Everyone :)

2011-11-14T14:04:00.000+10:00

Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment, email, text and fb me with their vote for the next photo for our canvas wall!

Number 2 was the unanimous winner, so I'll be sitting her waiting for darling old Snapfish to have a sale on their canvases :P Cheap, much??

And on that note...did you know that Snapfish currently has 50% (Yes, FIFTY PERCENT!!!) off their photobooks??? Offer available until Nov 21, 2012. All you need to do is enter the code XE50BAU11 when you check out and pay for your book.

I'm about to get started on finishing up (is that even a sentence?!) Charlotte's latest yearly photobook. I'm excited to get it done and published so quickly this year :)

The Big Decision

2011-11-11T17:20:00.001+10:00

I'm currently deciding on a "3 yr old" photo of Charlotte to join our canvas wall. I've narrowed it down to two photos....tell me which one you would choose :)

Option 1

Option 2

For anyone that feels they can not comment, please use the "Anonymous" option from the drop-down box in the comment section. If you are still unable to comment using that then I'm all out of solutions...you'll just have to email me (nayschocolateswap at gmail dot com still works if you don't have my personal address), facebook me, text me or knock on my door and tell me which option you like best ;)

Cloth Nappies...the great nappy hunt

2011-11-09T11:04:00.001+10:00

Sick of it, yet? Yeah, thought so ;) But I just wanted to document my exhausting nappy hunt to replenish my stock of Baby Cheeks nappies for Baby O...the lengths that a mother will go to in order to cloth nappy their child!

When Charlotte TT'ed my cloth nappies were in no state to do another baby. Because I had been "cheap" and only purchased a small number they were on extremely high rotation and got approximately twice the use a normal cloth nappy would have in the same time frame. They were legendary, but had done their dash. Time to throw them out.

I thought I had it sorted second time around. I wouldn't have to worry about spending hours on the net scouring cloth nappy websites for the best and most reasonably priced nappies...I knew exactly what I wanted!

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Winning!

But, no.

I searched and searched and searched....I sent Mum around every baby store within yelling distance and had her calling baby stores in other cities to try and track down precious Baby Cheeks nappies. I was scouring Australian nappy websites for any mention of Baby Cheeks.

And we got nothing.

Zip.

Nada.

Zero.

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It appears that Baby Cheeks have disappeared off the radar in Australia and New Zealand...apart from one lone little cloth nappy website in Australia that was selling highly-priced ultimate starter packs....of which I only wanted the nappies....and not the piles of inserts, wet bags etc that came with it....

And so the search widened.

And finished in the United Arab Emirates (?!) and the UK. Where I found better prices and nappies sold individually without the plethora of unwanted (for me) inserts.

But, seriously?? I had to order nappies that were originally designed in New Zealand from the UK???

Not when you have a lovely network of Mums in New Zealand and one of them has some never-used (or used once, max) Baby Cheeks...and another who shows amazing generosity in allowing me to purchase a bulk lot of never-used Baby Cheeks nappies off Trade Me using her account (the auction was a restricted auction for "trusted" members). NOW I'm winning!

AND then I managed to win an auction (in the UK!!) for a brand new Baby Cheeks nappy....for AU$8 including postage. Score!!

Thank you, eBay!

So, after much more time and effort than I ever anticipated I now have a great stash of Baby Cheeks cloth nappies (in lovely colours...no khaki in sight!!!) ready for Baby O. And the total cost has come in at about AU$160. About $10 a nappy!! Which is amazing. I'm hoping to add a couple more here and there but if I don't stumble across any more bargains we will still be set.

Phew! I know you're all breathing a sigh of relief over that ;)

Cloth Nappies...my preferred brand

2011-11-07T10:45:00.000+10:00

Now, onto the discussion of my preferred brand of cloth nappy.

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Home made are great. If you have a lovely mother-in-law (like me!) who will make them for you.

BUT, they look (to me) very difficult to actually make yourself!! And you need to have a good stash...and if they aren't OSFA then you need to keep replenishing your stash as your child grows. Which, as babies, they have a slightly annoying habit of doing. A lot. And often.

So my nappy stash is made up of home-made and "commercial" cloth nappies. I have a few nappies (home) made especially for newborns that have the cutest little cut out especially for their umbilical cord (while they still have it/are healing). They are so tiny it is hard to believe that anyone would ever fit into them. But they are great

My preferred brand of nappies is Baby Cheeks, a New Zealand brand.

Now, I would put a link to an Australian/New Zealand website so that you could all rush over and take a look (and perhaps buy up large on the best cloth nappies in the whole-wide-world. However, they don't appear to have an Australiasian site any more. Or be (widely) available for sale in Australia or New Zealand any more. But more on that later.

So, for now, I will leave you with a link to the UK website...Baby Cheeks UK.

The thing that I love the most about Baby Cheeks is that they are truly OSFA and last Charlotte from a few weeks old (I didn't have the organisation/gumption/energy to cloth nappy for those first few exhausting weeks) until she TT'ed at 25 months. And there was still plenty of room in them for her, if she had decided to TT later.

So my original buy lasted the entire time and I didn't have to ever buy a larger size for the growing child.

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A lot of nappies state that they are OSFA but where Baby Cheeks are different is in the OSFA legs system that they have...it is genius and works! With no leaks. The adjustable leg-elastic fasteners are magic and so easy to adjust as baby grows.

They are also a pocket nappy so dry in no-time flat (especially in the brilliant climate of Brisbane :) ). The pocket opening (where you insert the "liners" or "absorbers" is wide and you don't get your hand stuck/caught/squished when you're "stuffing" them. Meaning less faffing about and quicker preparation.

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AND they come in gorgeous colours!! Poor Charlotte ended up with a boys pack because when we purchased hers we were erring on the side of caution and felt sure I was carrying a little boy...so khaki featured on her little bottom every now and again :O

One more cloth nappy post to follow - hang in with me there :)

Cloth Nappies...and all of their glory

2011-11-05T10:45:00.001+10:00

It has only just occurred to me that I have never mentioned my "crunchy" parenting side and my complete and utter love affair with cloth nappies.

How did that happen?

I guess they were just so much a natural part of everyday life in our household that I never thought it interesting enough to blog about them! Anyway, for the first 2 yrs and 1 month of Charlotte's life she was a cloth-bummed baby/child.

It.

Was.

Great.

We weren't strict "A disposable nappy will never touch my child's bottom" kind of parents. We just preferred to use cloth as much as we possibly could to
a) save money (and boy, did we manage to do that)
b) save the environment (crunch, crunch)
c) avoid nappy rash (BIG tick on this one)

The money saving was amazing. Every few months I'd have to replenish our stock of disposables and every single time I would think "Man alive, imagine if we were splashing out money on these things on a weekly basis." Thank goodness we weren't!

Save the environment. We're not great environment advocates but like to do what we can where we can. Nappies was something that we could really feel a difference with. Our washing machine and toilets run off our own tank water (water collected from our roof) so it was really just the extra bit of washing powder that we were using.

Avoid nappy rash - a contentious point...some say that cloth encourages nappy rash. We found the complete opposite. The one and only time Charlotte ever had nappy rash was when she was in disposables for a week+ when we were holidaying in NZ. The rest of the time she had lovely clear skin without any problems. Yay for her (and us)!

Anyway, I'm sure you've heard it all before. And cloth nappies are completely a personal thing. You are either in to them, or you're not. And I really don't care if you're not. Just don't bag me for being a cloth-nappy addict! This post is really just a lead up to my next couple of posts...so if you're not into cloth nappies, look away.

Now.

And maybe come back in a week's time for some non-cloth-nappy related posts!

Things I'm Loving...

2011-10-28T05:27:00.001+10:00

Things I'm loving this week...

Playdates with new-found friends who are due in March, too! Kids had a blast and it was lovely to sit back and relax...love Chipmunks :)

Linking up with the inspiring Paisley Jade...

Christmas Preparations...

2011-10-25T17:27:00.000+10:00

...have begun!!

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Of course the present buying started back at the mid-year Toy Sale. But really that's as far as I've gone with that. Although I do have ideas on what to get people...so that's a start, right?!

BUT, the Annual Wrapping Theme decision has been made and suitable Wrapping Materials purchased! Now THAT is the true indicator that Christmas preparations have begun in the O household :)

Not my tree...but how pretty is this?!
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This year we are going for red, gold and white - white wrapping with red and gold embellishments. It will clash horribly with the tree* but that doesn't matter because our presents won't actually be under our tree this Christmas so Christmas morning won't be an awful sight of clashing colours. Phew!

Next week I'll start writing our Christmas cards so that they are all ready to wing their way around the countries come Dec 1st. I also have a shopping expedition with a fabulous crafty friend (you know who you are, Mrs Leonie :D ) and I'm hoping to pick up some lovely fabric to make a tree skirt so that the tree is truly dressed on Dec 1st.

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I think that Charlotte will also be getting a small tree of her own that she can put in her room. Then she can decorate that while we're decorating our big one and we won't have to worry about any glass baubles being smashed/little fingers being sliced. If she's lucky, she might also get a tree skirt...assuming my craftiness thrives that long. Haha.

* We were supposed to be buying a whole new set of decorations in a new colour scheme for our tree this year...but seeing as we are buying a whole bunch of baby stuff for Baby O's arrival I decided that we can put that off until next year. Watch this space!!

Off the Wagon...

2011-10-21T13:59:00.000+10:00

Again!

Just a quick note to say that I'm falling off the Blogtoberfest wagon again for a few days.

I'll be back again next week after we have farewelled our third lot of family visitors in four weeks. It has been a busy time in the O household recently!

Comparing the Belly

2011-10-20T13:59:00.000+10:00

Because the day had to come, right? When I started comparing my children.

Everyone does it. Don't they? Tell me they do....please...

The first time I did it was when I first felt morning sickness...back in July. It went something like this....

"What the *** is this all about? Do I have a tummy bug? Did we eat something that wasn't quite "right"?? It CAN'T be morning sickness. Because I didn't get any of that with Charlotte."

Yep, at approximately 5 weeks pregnant I was comparing my children. And it won't be ending any time soon, at a vague guess.

So here is a belly comparison.

Charlotte

Baby O*

So, it is safe to say that there was NO abdominal muscle left after Charlotte...hence nothing to hold anything in this time around. It's all just hanging about out there in the breeze.

Awesome.

Pleased I at least have bras that fit at this point in the pregnancy, though...which is a vast difference to last time, apparently :D

* Which stands for Baby O(insert remainder of our last name here) for all of those who thought it was something exciting, such as Baby's name ;) Sorry to disappoint!

Party - Guests

2011-10-19T11:14:00.000+10:00

Last, but not least...the most important part of the entire party....the guests!

Guest of honour and #1 Birthday Girl!

Charlotte and best friend, Chase.
I love this photo.

Charlotte and her new favourite My Little Pony...
Pinkie Pie who walks, talks, sucks a dummy and eats/drinks :O

Clockwise: Alice, (little) Charlotte and (big) Charlotte

Mmmm...cupcake.

L-R: Joshie and Archie

After the food and before the cake eating we hopped over to the park for a treasure hunt, using the little handbags. The kids had soooo much fun and I don't think there were any lollies left hiding when they were done...much to the bigger kids' (who were playing in the park when we happened to be there) disappointment, I bet!

Treasure hunt was fun, and so easy! I just wandered around and threw a massive bag of lollies about the place. Might need to make it a bit harder as they get older, but for this age it was a true winner :)

And here end-eth the party posts :)

Party - Cake

2011-10-18T11:08:00.000+10:00

And the inspiration for the entire party theme....was chosen due to the fact that it was the next easiest-looking cake in the Women's Weekly Kids Birthday Cakes book :p And because Charlotte's best friend happens to be Chase....of course...

Easy as pie, but time-consuming putting all
of those marshmallows on!

Blowing out the candles...all on her own!
And she doesn't even spit everywhere when she does it ;)

Cutting the cake with Daddy.

I was really pleased with how the cake turned out and Charlotte was stoked with it, too.

I think it will be the very last time that I get to choose her birthday cake entirely on my own so I'm off to stick the pages containing the extremely fiddly/difficult cakes together so that she doesn't get any ideas when she's looking through the cake book :D

Party - Food

2011-10-17T11:07:00.001+10:00

Continuing with the party theme :)

As is usual with parties, I didn't get photos of all of the food that we had...but here is a taste (hahaha) of what was on offer.

Vanilla cupcakes with pink buttercream icing.

Ham and cream cheese sandwiches...
which were very popular, especially with the birthday girl!

Fruit cups with honeydew melon, grapes and strawberries.
Also a bit hit, especially with the birthday girl!

We also had candy floss, popcorn, pink and white marshmallows, savouries and turkish bread with hummus and roasted capsicum dip.

In the drinks department we had non-alcoholic punch, OJ, the usual soft drinks and beer and wine. The punch is my favourite punch recipe and was a hit, as usual. I must post the recipe on here sometime soon!

Birthday cake details to come tomorrow...

Party - Decorations

2011-10-16T11:58:00.000+10:00

So I'm back (again)! The next few posts will be a party overload, so if you're not into parties, then look away. Now.

First up is the decorations. Back in Jan I decided what the cake would be and built the theme from there...this is how we ended up...

Bunting above the food table

Food table decorations

The food table in it's entirety...almost.
There was more food once the party actually started.

A mini Eiffel Tower for the kids' tables.

A table setting for the kids' tables.
Excuse the gladwrap over the candy floss cones!

One of the kids' tables in it's entirety.
We pushed them against the walls for the start while the kids played.
Then pulled them out for the main eating event.

Party hats and handbags! Loving the fluff :)
The black and fluff-less were for the boys.

Charlotte's personalised hat and handbag.

Favour bags.
Included: 3 x balloons in the party colours,
2 x bubble mixture
1 x iced poodle biscuit (which I didn't photograph!)
1 x packet of coconut ice in pink and white

Glasses, cups, handbags and popcorn cones ready to go!

Lanterns lining our hallway from the door to the "party room"

I was really pleased with how all of the decorations turned out and came together.

The theme, if you haven't guessed by now (!), was Poodles in Paris.

Tomorrow you can see some of the food we had...

Ohhh...Errr...

2011-10-14T16:47:00.000+10:00

So it seems I fell off the blogging bandwagon and barely made it a week into Blogtoberfest.

Doh!!

But never fear, there is a reason. We've been busy in our house with 3rd birthday party preparations and also visiting family so when everything cools down (ie, next week) I'll be back in business with lots of posts to write!

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Promise!

I "Heart" Cake

2011-10-11T10:09:00.000+10:00

My latest cake...created for my Mum...

Yes, it is large.

No, it probably didn't need to be that large.

Yes, it differs (entirely) from the original plan.

No, I'm not overly happy with the outcome. But considering how things were going part way through the process I'm pretty stoked that there was a presentable cake at the end of it all ;)

Onwards and upwards, I learnt a lot from doing this cake. So a win in the end :)

On Holiday

2011-10-10T08:34:00.000+10:00

For the last couple of days we've been away on holiday...down the Gold Coast. Which is a complete turn-up for the books for us because if we usually head as far away from the Gold Coast as possible :P Sorry, Gold Coast...

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Our plans were to spend a day shopping at Harbour Town (love that place!) and then a day at Sea World (because that is my Mum's #1 place to visit. I'm sure she'd live there if she could.)

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BUT the weather was predicted to be rubbishy....so you'll just have to wait and see what we actually ended up doing and how the weather actually ended up being.

Watch this space!

iPhone 4S

2011-10-09T08:45:00.000+10:00

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So everyone was expecting Apple to announce the new iPhone 5 last week...and they announced the iPhone 4S instead.

Hordes of people were disappointed.

WHY??? They still announced a "new" phone with lots of fabulous upgrades and new "gimmicks" compared to the iPhone 4!!!!

If they had announced the exact same phone and called it iPhone 5 would everyone have been happier?

Anyway, seeing as I'm still carting around my little old iPhone 3 I am definitely upgrading! I don't care what it is called, it will be faster and more functional than what I have. And the battery will likely not need to be charged every evening as is the current situation!

New phone, here I come!!

Pre-natal Yoga

2011-10-08T14:05:00.000+10:00

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In the interests of preparing for this baby to arrive, I have started pre-natal yoga classes at a new yoga studio near our house.

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The classes are so lovely and small and the instructor lovely....and the best bit is that I get to get out of the house for a couple of hours on my own every single week! Horrah!

Things I'm Loving...

2011-10-07T08:35:00.021+10:00

Getting back into the "Things I'm Loving..." swing of things...

House guests...two lots within two weeks of each other!

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Creating...getting back into sewing and doing some specialty cakes, too...

Garlic bread...mmmm....need I say more...

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I sewed!

2011-10-06T15:33:00.000+10:00

I know. I hope you were sitting down for that grand statement.

I sewed.

I (literally) dusted my machine off...got out my fabric stash and I sewed.

It was, of course, a tricky project....an oversized, square cushion for my pre-natal yoga class. I dismantled an old pillow that was destined for the tip and whipped up an "inner" cover and a removable "outer" cover.

For a size comparison...but also because
there really is no show without punch
in our household!

Simple envelope opening

In the process I did remember why I hadn't been sewing much recently. Little hands that like to "help" by sticking extra pins in when you are concentrating on what you are doing. It is a real "joy" finding those pins later. And also, little eyes that want to see what you're doing by literally climbing into your lap while you are at the sewing machine.

But I got there! And it's comfy, too :)

Next project - fixing up the too-small-dress that I picked up for a bargain at the maternity store so that it fits. It is all pinned up, just need to get the gumption up to sew the slippery, stretchy fabric!

Introducing...

2011-10-05T13:29:00.000+10:00

Baby O...making his or her debut in the last week of March, 2012 (approximately).

2011-10-04T13:36:00.000+10:00

via

Happy birthday, Mum/Grandma. Don't work too hard and we'll see you in a few days!

Weekend Eats

2011-10-03T08:01:00.000+10:00

As a Housewife I have had a fabulously successful weekend....not! Aside from breakfast, we have eaten a grand total of one home-made meal (and even that was just fresh bread and ham/bacon from the supermarket...hahaha) since lunchtime Friday.

BUT, I must say we've discovered two great new places to eat...

On Saturday (which, I may point out, is Bevan's night to cook...so perhaps the fail wasn't all me :P ) night we had Chicken Tikka Masala with Garlic Naan from Sitar. We don't usually do Indian Take-away. That is usually something that I'll make at home or we'll go and sit down at a restaurant to eat. But we'll be making a habit of it from now on because it was sooooo good. Best Chicken Tikka Masala I've ever had and the Naan were HUGE! In fact, I would love another serving right now - haha!

Last night we had Zara staying so we went out to Montezuma's for Zara to try Mexican for the first time. It was yummy and the service was super fast. We were served at lightning speed.

We umm'ed and ahh'ed over the dessert menu before finally deciding that we had to take Zara for her first Cold Rock experience. And who doesn't have a fabulous experience at Cold Rock??!

Now back to normal programming....sausages and potato bake for dinner tonight...mmmm....yummmyyyyy!!!!

Lightning Macqueen - Vroom!

2011-10-02T12:23:00.005+10:00

My latest cake creation....introducing....Lightning Macqueen! In all of his racey/sporty/goodness :)

This was made-to-order for one of Charlotte's Playgroup friends. And it is such a wonderful reminder of why I choose the cakes that Charlotte is going to have for her birthday....if I choose them I can control the level of intricacy ;) ;)

I used the fabulous tutorial by Lady Muck over at the Mucky Macbook. Thank you, Lady Muck, for giving such great detail and for doing all of the hard yards for me to just come along and copy :D

Blogtober Fest

2011-10-01T12:21:00.000+10:00

Soooo.....time to haul myself back onto the blogging bandwagon. To help kick-start my motivation I am joining in Blogtober Fest.

Here's to a month of blogging!! Gambatte, me ;)

Things I'm Loving...

2011-07-01T06:34:00.001+10:00

My new car....which I picked up a couple of days ago!!!

Mine is black, of course ;)

Isn't she beautiful??!! For anyone caring enough, she is a 2011 Mazda CX9, Luxury badge.

I drove into the dealership with this...

Which reads "166966" if you can't make it out.

And drove out with this!!

Which reads "5" :P

And the reason there are no photos of my actual car is because it has been raining and she's been on the motorway and is dirty...so as soon as she gets cleaned up I'll take some snaps. All vehicle images via.

Now, other things that I'm loving this week...

Image via. These are not my actual grandparents ;)

Having my grandparents over to visit. They haven't been over for a few years (since I had Charlotte) and it has been nice having the extra time during the week to spend with them while everyone else is working. Charlotte has been revelling in the attention and has been entertaining them with her antics...of course!

Image via

A night out at the Australian Outback Spectacular. I wasn't over thrilled about it to begin with but it was a great night in the end. Helped that I was child-free and didn't have to cook dinner :D

Linking up with the lovely PJ.

Things I'm Loving...

2011-05-27T08:48:00.000+10:00

We've had a lovely week in our household this week...here are a few things I've been loving this week :)

Image via

Rainy days...

...where you just get to sit inside all sung and cosy and watch the rain outside.

Image via

Adventures on the bus...
...to the mall for a milkshake! Such an exciting thing for a 2.5 yr old who has never been on a bus :) I'm sure the driver and other passengers appreciated her commentary the whole way, too.

Image via

Sugarland...
...my local cake decorating shop that has loads of supplies, friendly staff with lots of advice and tips and the exact cake tin that I wanted for a special cake I'm making this weekend...which they hired to me for $5!!! Woop woop!

Linking up with lots of other gorgeous bloggers at Paisley Jade.

Taking a Bloggy Break

2011-05-22T14:14:00.002+10:00

Gasp!

Of late I haven't been feeling overly inspired to blog (or do anything creative, really). Nay's Place has been alive and well for almost 5 years and I'm thinking it is time for me to take a break, re-charge the blogging batteries and see if the bloggy-ness returns to me.

Hopefully I will re-discover my sewing machine, hot glue gun and fabric stash and get all inspired to get creating things that I can post about again. For now, I will head back to the kitchen where I have been getting excited about trying new recipes and re-invigorating our regular menu...never know, I might have a few recipes to put on here in the very near future!

I will, however, be reading everyone else's blogs as religiously as ever :D

I'm hoping that I will still feel inspired to do a "Things I'm Loving..." post every now and again. Just to keep my hand in....

'Till "later"...

PS - Sincere apologies to my newest follower... :'( Hope you stick around until I get back into it :)

Things I'm Loving...

2011-05-20T08:47:00.001+10:00

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something to be thankful for...no matter how simple it is.

Things I am loving this week...

Masterchef!!
Each year I get totally addicted to the Australian Masterchef series...and this year is no different. We've already started downloading a few of the recipes that have appeared on the show ;)

Internet shopping ;)
Lately I have been picking up a few bargains on ol' eBay. A pair of practically-brand-new tap shoes for Charlotte for.....$7!! And a few other things....all from the comfort of my couch.

My camera.
This week I've actually had it out and about and have caught a couple of (what I think are) really good shots. Loving it.

My new subscription to the paper!
Such an old-person thing, but I have so missed the daily paper that we used to get delivered to our door (actually, through our door....bonus, didn't even have to set foot outside!!) in Japan. The internet is great, but the actual newspaper is greater!

Linking up with the always-wonderful Paisley Jade...

Easter Baskets and Decorations

2011-05-19T14:13:00.000+10:00

So....this post was supposed to go live during that whole "Blogger down time"...guess it got lost in the down-time-ness! Anyway, here it is now, you'll just have to shuffle your minds back a bit to before the other Easter posts :D

Let us hark back a week, or so, to the great weekend that was Easter...consider this post one, of two :)

In the lead-up to Easter my little hot glue gun was as busy as a bee getting these baskets ready for our Annual Easter Hunt (which was started last year....read more here and here).

There were three baskets this year, one for Charlotte (we just used her same one from last year), one for me and one for Nana. I guessed the boys wouldn't want baskets, so they just got plastic bags to collect their eggs in!!

I started with two baskets like this one.

And they turned at as so...red for Nana and teal for me.

I was so pleased with how cute they looked :)

On Good Friday I put a wee Easter display together for the end of our dining table. It worked out really well because I didn't have to keep moving it every time we sat down to eat and it was so much easier to create when I only had to worry about it looking good from one direction!!

The wine flutes were a wedding gift and the other glassware came from the Salvation Army Op Shop for $1 a piece. The bunny was Charlotte's "goal" for the Easter Hunt and he sat on a wee box which was hidden by the napkin.

Speaking of the napkins....5 for $3 at the Salvation Army Op Shop!! They were slightly yellow/brown when I got them but after a good bleaching and then an airing in the gorgeous QLD sun they were as white as snow and look great.

Of course, they're not real linen by any stretch of the imagination...out and out polyester!! But they serve my purposes very well until I can fulfil my dream of owning gorgeous linen napkins with a matching table cloth.

Easter, part two, coming soon!

Playing Huts

2011-05-16T13:09:00.000+10:00

Autumn/Winter finally arrived in Brisbane about a month ago and we had a few days of chilly, rainy weather. Perfect time to play huts under the dining room table with blankets :)

The blue towel was the "door", in case you're wondering.

I'm not sure who liked it the most...Charlotte or Chase...?!

The Easter Hunt!

2011-05-14T14:28:00.000+10:00

Now that Charlotte is older, and actually walking, I went a little further in my Easter Hunt preparations and used this great free printable kit to make up some laminated bunny feet, nibbled carrots and Easter Bunny signs...

The idea was to start at the start sign (duh!), follow the bunny footprints and nibbled carrots and pick up Easter Eggs....my original idea was that the bunny feet would point you in the general direction and the carrots would depict where chocolate was "hidden". Two carrots was to indicate where a pile of choc was to be found. BUT, I went a *little* overboard with the chocolate shopping and we had loads and loads of Easter Eggs so we ended up just dropping them willy nilly along the trail of bunny feet and carrots!!

After you followed the trail of footprints and carrots around the house you had to find the sign with your name on it, which was with your pile of goodies.

Generally bunny footprints directed you where to look...

Easter Baskets at the ready!!

I asked her to smile....this is what I got!!!

Start!
How much do you love that photo!!! She was so excited...

And quickly got into the swing of picking up each and every egg that she came across!

Grandad followed the footprints to his wee stash...

And then pointed out to Bevan that he'd missed one on the trail to his stash! So he helped him out with that one ;)

Poor Chase was locked inside for the fun....he watched from the window (and from behind the screen door...have a look at the photo of Charlotte pointing to the start sign above...in the background you can just make out Chase behind the screen door!!)

Turns out I was far too kind to everyone when I hid their eggs....because this is where my stash was kindly hidden (by Bevan). Hrmmmmm....I'll remember that for next year!!

And then we sat down on the grass to eat our haul....and for some of us, that was quite large!!

In fact, days (weeks!) later we were still working our way through them all :D

Sewing: More Hair Clips!

2011-05-10T14:10:00.000+10:00

I've been trying out a few different things with the hot glue gun...

Hmmm...good start...

Getting there...

Now we've got the idea!!

Ka-ching! I'm in love.

I just love the last four. And have ideas for more colour combinations/styles, too...keep watching :)

Front-Facing Bookshelves

2011-05-08T13:21:00.000+10:00

A few months ago I spotted this fabulous tutorial on Ucreate for DIY Front-Facing Bookshelves.

They were exactly what I was looking for for Charlotte's room and they looked super easy. In fact, they were. The hardest (longest??) part was painting them!!

I love them and Charlotte loves them, too...and the bedroom floor loves the fact that it is no longer covered in books!

Can you tell that Charlotte puts her own books away now?!

Things I'm Loving...

2011-05-06T09:03:00.000+10:00

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something that you can be thankful for... no matter how simple it is.

Sooooo....haven't joined in here for a week, or so!! But that's been because of the busy-ness of life, not because I haven't been thankful for anything.

Getting back into the swing of things :)

I decided to "treat" myself to some nice (read: not the budget/homemade stuff) laundry liquid the other day....
Man, I am sooooo loving Surf's Essential Oils Tropical Flower/Ylang Ylang liquid. It smells divine and our clothes are carrying the fragrance right through into the drawers and I can still smell it when I'm wearing them!!

Don't get that when you make your own stuff ;)

I am truly looooooving Bali Huts....we have recently decided to pursue them as the shade solution for our backyard and I am loving looking at all of the options on the web. Now to get myself to a display to check them out in real life!

Sleep-ins!!! Recently the small person of the household has been sleeping until 7.45am. At least.
I know! Check me out!! She has done it regularly for the last week now. Such a refreshing change from the 6.01am wake-ups that we are used to. I'm thinking it might be due to the colder weather, she is enjoying being snuggly warm in her bed. Long may it continue!

Linking up with the gorgeous Paisley Jade!

Video Day

2011-05-04T13:02:00.000+10:00

A couple of videos from a month ago (I really need to empty the Bloggie more often!).

Translation: Chasey eat outside! Outside, Chasey!! Outside!!!
As you can see, Chase doesn't quite get Charlotte-speak, yet.

In case you're wondering, she was asking what time Neighbours was on...and when we told her and then asked her what time it was she would look at her wrist :D

In dancing they practice skipping...obviously Charlotte still has a bit of a way to go in that department :P

Style Queen

2011-05-02T12:58:00.000+10:00

Guess who is right into their dress-ups at the moment?

All of those dancing costumes that Mum has been hoarding for 15-odd years are finally coming in to their own :)

It doesn't take long...

2011-04-30T09:09:00.000+10:00

This was taken the morning after I picked up my iPad 2...you should note that I waited until Charlotte was in bed the previous night before I opened it myself and started playing with it. Which means she mastered what it was all about in approximately 2 seconds flat. Kids these days, huh??!

Which reminds me...did I ever tell you the story about how I got our iPad 2s???

Those in the Apple Know will be aware that the launch was huge around the world. People lined up for hours and hours (some overnight) to get their hands on an iPad 2. The were released in Brisbane on a Friday at 5pm...all day Friday I followed the progress of the line (online...I <3 Twitter) at our local Apple Store. It was manic. People lined up from 5.30am (the earliest the mall opened, I think). The line snaked up and down and up and down and up and down and finally out of the mall and into the car park. It was mental. 500+ people was the estimation.

We had resigned ourselves to having to buy online and wait weeks/months for delivery as Bevan was working and I wasn't able to line up with the crazy people for hours as I had Charlotte (Making a 2 yr old wait in line for hours and hours simply so her mother and father can have a piece of new technology = child abuse anyone??!!!).

Bevan came home at 4pm and we hopped online to see what the line at the Apple Store was doing. Then we had a small light-bulb moment and thought we'd call a few Harvey Norman stores to see if they had received any stock (we had spoken with them earlier in the week and they said they wouldn't know if they were getting any until the day of the launch, when they arrived).

The first few we called said they had stock but they were all spoken for by the people that had lined up all day to get them. No point coming down. Fair enough.

Then we called our old local Harvey Norman in Fortitude Valley (the city). And they said "Come on down, we've got plenty."

Ummm...

What??

For about 2 mins we umm'ed and ahh'ed about me going in. It would take me 40 mins to get there...would it be wasted due to more people lining up in those 40 mins?

At 4.15pm I jumped in Bevan's wee car (zippier in traffic than mine) and headed into the city. At 4.56pm I coasted into a car park directly outside the HN doors....4.57pm I walked into the computer dept to find a handful of people milling around...a HN computer guy comes up and asks which iPad 2 I'm after and then proceeds to immediately do the computer work and get my requested accessories together.

...am I dreaming?

At 5pm he disappears into the back room and reappears carrying my two iPad 2s with accessories and I head to the cashier to pay.

What the??!!

The two guys in front of me are just as incredulous...while we're waiting to pay they quip that it feels like we cheated the system and we joke about all of those idiots that spent hours sitting in camp chairs in the middle of the mall (or car park if they were unlucky!!) when we just walked in and picked ours up.

At 5.07pm I was driving out of the HN car park.

Nice.

Thanks, Harvey Norman!!

Learning to Count

2011-04-28T09:08:00.000+10:00

Crouch, Touch, Pause....Engage!

2011-04-26T09:06:00.000+10:00

Bevan is trying to get Charlotte excited about the Super 15 (is it? or is it Super 35 these days?? I can't keep up) this year....

Its working. She claps and cheers when ever someone scores a try :)

ANZAC Day

2011-04-25T14:17:00.000+10:00

Ode of Remberance

(abridged)

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Lest we forget.

Cake: Paradise the VW Combi

2011-04-24T08:46:00.000+10:00

For the last 18 months (or maybe even 2 years?!) my cousin, a very talented vehicle re-finisher (spray painter), has been stripping back, fixing up and re-painting his girlfriend's VW Combi.

She (the Combi) is called Paradise.

There was an immense amount of hard-work, frustration and, on occasion, blood. So when she was finished, her mags added and some of her interior re-done (this is an expensive task and will be done and bits and pieces as it can be afforded) they decided to throw an "Unveiling Party" for everyone to come and see the new and improved Paradise.

Which is just amazing.

Photos do not do her justice. People come to the house to ask about her and where they can get one just because they see her in the driveway as they are walking/driving by. She is that amazing.

About three days before the party I decided that I would attempt to make a Paradise cake to give to Sam (her owner) in celebration of her being finished. In hindsight, I should have made this great decision a few days earlier...!! Never mind. BUT, I didn't tell anyone but my cousin I was attempting to make it in case it flopped big time and I didn't end up giving it to her ;)

So I found some pics of Paradise from right after her paintwork was finished (no mags, yet) and set about attempting the most difficult cake I've ever had the inclination to make...

I used these photos, plus a few others, to go by.

Paradise is a pop-top Combi, which Bevan pointed out just as I was about to crumb-coat her...so I had to add a bit onto the top at the last minute!!

Hmmm...must work on my smoothing techniques.

The finished product!

The pink fondant dried out far too much and went too light (which I was disappointed about as I spent a long time working to get the right colour initially!)...it also slumped/shrunk on the cake so it ended up a good 1/2 inch lower than I had intended. I also need to be more careful with my proportioning...things ended up a but higgledy piggledy in that respect.

Otherwise I was really pleased with how the number plate ended up - it is Paradise's actual number plate (because her original number plate is so amazingly appropriate it has never been personalised apart from the colour). I also liked the wheels/mags...I knew I could never replicate her actual mags so just went with silver stars. The VW sign worked out well, too.

I really need to work on my colouring of black fondant (wayyyyy too much colour meant it was goopy) and learnt a lot about handling fondant and what to put on wet and what to put on dry. It was an excellent learning tool.

The main thing was that Sam loved the cake :)

Calling All Kiwi Ex-Pats!

2011-04-22T05:00:00.000+10:00

Kea New Zealand has set up a survey for Kiwi Ex-Pats to complete...a census of sorts for those of us living abroad.

Go here to put your two cents worth in!

Hot Cross Bun Time!

2011-04-21T14:38:00.000+10:00

Just thought I would remind everyone of my very yummy Hot Cross Bun recipe.

'Tis that time of year, after all ;)

Britain Still Has Talent

2011-04-21T10:58:00.001+10:00

The latest sensation to hit the Britain's Got Talent stage....I could listen to this guy all day long, what an amazing voice he's got with that "something extra" to make it pure listening heaven.

Can't wait to hear more from him!

Link to video.

The owner of the video, ITV, has restricted sharing on it so I can't embed it in the post...but please do visit the link to listen - it is well worth it, trust me!

Sewing: Hair Clips

2011-04-20T08:34:00.000+10:00

Hrrrmmmm....well, I'm not sure they can come under the "Sewing" heading, but it as close as I can get without adding more categories to my blog, so we'll go with that! All of the materials came from my "Sewing" room so perhaps we'll sneak them in that way ;)

A week or so ago I bought a gorgeous hair clip off another Dancing Mum...her Mum makes them as a hobby and she had a few at dancing in case anyone was interested.

Well....were we interested. They were drop-dead gorgeous. EVERYone bought at least one item. Some, a whole bag full. I settled for two :)

When I got home I took a look at the purchased clip and thought, I can make that! So I dragged out my newly purchased hot glue gun, my bag full of ribbon and my sequins and stick-on jewels and after only an hour this is what I had...

I made two of some of them - one to give away to a friend's little girl. I didn't get pics of the back, but basically they attach to the hair, or a soft headband with a little alligator-style hair clip. I've since made more but given some of them away and haven't taken photos of the others, yet. Slack!

Looking closely, I need to neaten up my finishing technique and be more precise with my cutting technique, but I'm really pleased with them and they look great in the hair (even if I do say so myself!). I can't wait to make more to pop in with birthday presents.

I won't do a tutorial on them as they aren't my original idea, I am just copy-catting something I have seen and it is probably bad enough that I'm stealing the idea and making my own, let alone broadcasting how it is done to all of the interwebber-crafters out there :)

I'm pretty sure you can all figure out how they go together, though...

I have a few more ideas and am hoping to pick up some more ribbon at Spotlight today...watch this space!

Giveaway Winner!

2011-04-19T13:13:00.003+10:00

Sooooo....better late than never!! I promise I actually drew the winner right at the end of the entry period...Its just taken me a wee while to get the pics and winner's name up. You'll be happy to know that the prize is already on its way to the winner, though :)

The winner of my Queen Natural Extracts Review/giveaway was......

.....drum roll, please.....

Catherine from The Sewing Attic!!!

Congratulations, Catherine!

I was so pleased to be able to send off a parcel to Catherine because late last year I was the very lucky recipient of a custom-made cushion from Catherine. You can read about it/see the cushion here.

Thanks for entering and, Catherine, I hope your parcel arrives with you very soon :)

Dancing...perhaps?

2011-04-18T14:21:00.000+10:00

Charlotte has taken to "sticking" her leg out behind her (in a dog-leg-crooked kind of fashion) and stating that she is "dancing".

We have no idea where she got this from! And neither does her dancing teacher...?!

We can only guess that she has seen a photo of a ballerina doing an arabesque and thinks that she is copying that...

Image via

??!!

Sewing: Crayon Caddy

2011-04-16T14:17:00.000+10:00

I've recently finished another Crayon Caddy for a special girl who has just turned 3.

Happy birthday, Isla!

I tossed up whether to do a silhouette appliqué on the front, or not...I chatted to Isla's Dad and when I found out that she was a Wiggles fan and loves Dorothy the Dinosaur and Henry the Octopus I decided that I would flag the appliqué for this caddy - hahaha!

Instead I sewed beads into the middle of some of the dots...and sewed them very securely....just in case!

I love this fabric - you just can't beat spots. Ever.

Mary Poppins

2011-04-14T14:06:00.000+10:00

Did you know that the author of Mary Poppins (PL Travers or Helen Lyndon Goff) was born in Maryborough (just north of Brisbane)?

Me neither!

We had to stop by at the super-cute statue in Maryborough that celebrates the fact.

Now...I really should go and either
a) Read the book, or
b) Watch the whole movie

Because I only really know the gist of that story...!

Red Dirt

2011-04-12T14:01:00.000+10:00

Everyone knows that Australia is famous for its red dirt. We have a smidgen of it around here, but nothing to write home about.

Up north? Different story. Completely.

This is outside Bevan's client...the stains are just from the dirt splashing up in the rain.

So...if its on the wall of the surgery...it will be on the walls of the houses, too. Ew!

A whole field/paddock of it!

And it sticks to anything and everything...like glue.

The Bundaberg Barrel

2011-04-10T13:54:00.000+10:00

When we were in Bundaberg I just had to stop by The Bundaberg Barrel, home to Bundaberg Brewed Drinks.

First of all, it is just an awesome building...and looks exactly like a barrel!

Second, I was super interested in their interactive tour and tasting (fourteen different beverages!!). The tour didn't disappoint - it was appropriate for Charlotte, interesting and fun for me and the tasting at the end was great.

Beyond the standard Bundaberg Ginger Beer I wasn't really sure what else they brewed.

And now I have a few favourites! And a few that I know not to try....Sarsaparilla = blerk!!

We came away with a six-pack of my favourites to take back to Childers for Bevan to have a taste, too...can't have him missing out on all of the fun.

I would say that the Café Range would have to have been my overall favourite :)

Aussie Flora and Fauna

2011-04-08T13:48:00.000+10:00

We saw a bit of flora, fauna and general Aussie Icons up north...

Kangaroos...of course...

We went all the way to Gin Gin to see what we can
see at our front gate ;)

Sugar cane!! Oh my goodness.....so much sugar cane. It was insane.

And Dragon Fruit!

There was a sign on the side of the road between Gin Gin and Bundaberg announcing "Dragon Fruit" so I pulled an emergency stop (OMG, the little car was so good for things like this!!) and took some pics because I've never seen (or tasted) Dragon Fruit before. The trees were quite alien-like and the fruit a very beautiful colour.

I assume they were selling them (and not just advertising the fact that they had them so people could stop and take photos) but there was no one around so I didn't buy any.

Anyone had Dragon Fruit before??

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T01:24:00.000+10:00

Strolling on the beach while on holiday a few weeks ago...

Review: Queen Natural Extracts

2011-04-05T13:48:00.000+10:00

I was recently invited to test and review the new Queen Natural Extracts range (for colouring food and drinks).

At first I wasn't sure that I needed to take the next step and go "natural" with my food colourings...I mean, I don't use them that often, and when I do I don't use that much of them. But then I considered kids (and some adults, too!) that have really bad reactions to artificial colourings and thought that natural is definitely something to look in to.

Why not give it a shot? If I can start making my cakes/playdough/cupcakes/messy-play as natural and "friendly" as possible then why not?

So when my cute wee pack of colourings arrived in the mail I got stuck into a batch of cupcakes so that I could play with the icing and colours.

The details...

The pack contains four colours (as above) and they are packaged in a great dropper-style bottle/vial. An excellent idea because you can "drop" your colours in directly from the vial and not have to worry about accidentally slipping and sloshing a great lot of colouring in. Each vial is 7ml.

The method...

After I had made my butter cream I divided it between four bowls and added 10 drops of colour to each bowl.

And then iced the cupcakes....can you tell that I have never piped before??!! I think I need to practice a *little* bit more to improve my technique!

The verdict?

I found three of the colours to be a nice shade...but the purple was a not-very-nice shade of....grey? Maybe? I hoped that it might improve with age but, alas, it did not.

Now, I'm used to using gel colours in my icings, I only use liquid colours when I'm making messy-play "stuff" (play dough, coloured pasta/rice, paint). I found these colours to be quite weak, but absolutely no weaker than my regular Queen food colourings.

So, to compare apples with apples - they are fine. BUT, don't buy the pack if you are specifically after a purple. You'll be disappointed. The other colours are good, you'll be happy with them.

If you are looking for a natural alternative to your gel colours...keep looking. You won't be happy with the strength of these ones.

I loved the dropper vial that they come in. Why on Earth hasn't someone done that before??!! Good work, Queen.

The giveaway...

Don't get me wrong, I liked these. I would highly recommend them, especially if you have a child (or husband!) who reacts badly to artificial colours...these are a necessity! Plus, you'll love the dropper vial.

BUT, I would like to give away the pack that I received from Queen to one lucky reader. Yes, I have used 10 drops from each vial....but you can see the used vials in the pic above....hardly looks like I've used anything! So you won't be receiving a half empty pack, trust me! I wouldn't do that to you lovely people.

All you need to do to enter to win is leave a comment below telling me what you mostly use food colouring for....cakes? Messy play? Drinks? Icing/decorating cakes?

This giveaway is open to all readers, I will post internationally. Don't forget to leave your email address, or make sure that your google profile has an email address attached to it, so that I can contact you if you win!

Entries close at 5pm (Brisbane time), on April 9th 2011.

Bundaberg Botanic Gardens

2011-04-04T13:42:00.000+10:00

Continuing on with the holiday story...

Charlotte and I took a day and spent it in Bundaberg, which had soooo much to do that we didn't even scratch the surface and will be heading back at the earliest opportunity!

We spent the morning at the Botanic Gardens and looked through an old homestead/museum from a sugar cane farm. I'm quite fascinated by the whole sugar cane thing and found this really interesting.

Charlotte liked the fact that she got to whack a great big bell (the bell they used to use to call the workers in from the fields) with a great big mallet!

Then we wandered through the Japanese Garden in the grounds.

And came across so many of these guys (both teeny and *ah hem* large) that it just wasn't funny (especially the large ones. They weren't funny. At all.)

Then we headed to a local playground to have a picnic lunch and...of course...play...and play...and play...and play.

Charlotte can safely testify to the fact that the playgrounds up north are just as good as the ones around here.

Family Holiday

2011-04-02T13:28:00.004+10:00

The weekend after my trip to Mudgee we took a family trip up north to Childers for four days....it was a business trip for Bevan and a holiday for Charlotte and I. Charlotte and I were very happy with how it worked out ;)

Because it was a business trip we took our small car, which is officially our "business car". BUT, you'd be surprised how much stuff you can fit into a small car!!

On the drive up we took our time and stopped off at a few places.

If you've got your sunnies on, then you're
officially on holiday.

The beach...so gorgeous and only a handful of people
around.

Just make yourself at home...

Charlotte was soooooo excited about the whole motel thing (either that or it was all of the jelly snakes that Bevan kept feeding her on the way up....hmmm...) that she spent the first 20 minutes racing around the rooms like a mad thing, bouncing on the beds, checking out the shower, crawling into bed (ours, not hers) and dragging her dolls from one room to the other. Then she spent the next 3 minutes puking all over our bed, the bedspread, the sheets and both pillows.

Awesome.

But she did manage to calm down enough for bedtime and had no issues sleeping in a strange bed, in a strange room. And she didn't fall out of bed either. Bonus :D

More to come on the holiday...watch this space...

Now We Need...

2011-03-31T14:35:00.000+10:00

...a pool and a trampoline!

We went for a BBQ at a friend's place a while ago and they have a beautiful pool and a (barely used) trampoline...I don't think Charlotte wanted to come home!

Actually, I don't think Bevan or Charlotte wanted to come home...!

Rice Cooker

2011-03-29T14:45:00.001+10:00

I loved my Sunbeam Rice Cooker....but I didn't love the fact that the non-stick coating was coming off the bottom of the bowl and sticking to my rice.

Ewww.

So it had to go (because replacing the bowl would cost practically as much as the entire rice cooker did *rolls eyes*).

In Japan we had an amazing rice cooker that had all sorts of functions, including a timer so that you could set it to come on in a few hours time. I used that function so much (when I was working) it was fabulous. So I decided that I'd prefer one with a start delay function. I was also adamant that I wanted a vacuum lid. I have never had anything else and I like them. And I'm afraid of change.....and....then....I....found....this....

Tefal's 4-in-1 Rice Cooker with a start delay function. AND a vacuum lid. Boo yah.

The 4-in-1?

Rice cooker (duh)
Steamer (standard for rice cookers, me thinks)
Porridge maker (hmmm....may come in handy)
Slow cooker

Oh. Yeah.

Various people have been on at me to get a slow cooker for years, but I just haven't been able to justify the cupboard space for something that I wasn't sure I would use. I'm not a huge fan of slow-cooked food. I'm not sure what it is but I don't go nuts over it. However, I liked the idea of having one available for doing things like pie fillings, curries, lasagne meat sauce and whatever anyone else might like to suggest :)

So the decision was made and I happened to rock up to Harvey Norman on a day when they were just taking random amounts off small appliances. Plus, when I got to the cashier it scanned at an even lower amount.

Fate, no?!

It is a massive 10-cup machine (for rice purposes) as well, so will fit our expanding family.

Bahahahahahaha - not! Will be perfect for when we have visitors, though. :P

So far I have made a pie using it and today I've got lasagne meat sauce cooking. I love not having to stand over the stove. That part is good. I do, however, have to get more organised so that getting it on in the morning is less of a hassle! More practice required, I think.

Mudgee

2011-03-27T14:15:00.000+10:00

A few weekends ago I travelled down to Mudge, NSW for four days of child-and-husband-freeness.

Four days.

Can you believe it?! It was the first time that Bevan had looked after Charlotte on his own (ie, without any other help from grandparents, sisters, neighbours) for more than five hours. Ever.

He was understandably nervous.

But, the coped. And had a ball, by all accounts.

Anyways, back to me and my fabulous weekend! The purpose of the trip was to spend a birthday weekend with my oldest and dearest friend as she was turning 30. The itinerary was something along these lines...

A lot of eating
A lot of drinking
A bit of shopping
Rinse and repeat

It was fabulous. I looked after no-one but myself and I didn't have to share my food/drink with ANYone!! Can you believe it?!! Very spoilt.

We spent Saturday afternoon touring five of the cellar doors (of the many) that Mudgee boasts and I was pleasantly surprised. There was only one out of the five that I didn't take an instant liking to, but even they had one wine that I truly enjoyed, so all was not lost. As I was travelling hand-luggage-only I didn't purchase any wine :(

But can I just say that it is a fabulous way to travel for a weekend!! I loved not having to trek around collecting my luggage between flights (different airlines, you see). I also checked in on the net for my Bris-Syd flight so just whistled straight in the door of the airport and directly to my gate! Would definitely do it again.

On Sunday we managed to fit in a cheese tasting at a local cheese place (is there a better name for this?!!) and I loved it. I'm a real cheese fan and their selection was amazing. I came away with a jar of marinated feta (I know!! I don't usually even like feta!) and a wedge of brie. So ripe and delicious.

Without further ado, here are some pics...

I love this photo!

First stop on our wine tour

The boys patiently waiting outside one of the cellar doors

Our transport...brilliant way to get around when you have
lots of people visiting from out of town!

Resident at one of the cellar doors we visited.
There was a chocolatey resident as well :D

Monty (one of Zara's cats)...looking how I felt when I got home at the end of the
weekend!

It was such a great weekend, Mudgee is a very interesting place to visit and I wish that I had had more time to explore. Next time I'll try and take Bevan and Charlotte down with me, too.

The only fly in the ointment was Jetstar's less than fabulous service...my flight down was delayed by 3-ish hours : O Luckily I had left a "buffer" between my flight to Sydney and my flight to Mudgee (being aware of Jetstar's reputation when it comes to punctuality)...it almost wasn't enough but turned out ok in the end! Heaven forbid I might have missed out on the first night's eating and drinking :P

Big thanks to Bevan for being a solo parent for the four days. xxoo.

Things I'm Loving...

2011-03-25T08:59:00.000+10:00

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something that you can be thankful for... no matter how simple it is.

Today is a hard day for me to find things I'm loving....(more on that in a future post! Beware!) but this is what I'm loving this week :D

Image via

A little girl that doesn't wear a nappy at all....day or night...
Charlotte has been toilet trained for over three months now....that is a quarter of a year!!!!

Weekends away to celebrate special birthdays with special friends.
Three days in Mudgee, NSW was not enough! What a beautiful place, made better by great friends. Can't wait to go back! Will post more about my weekend away later.

Niece-kitties and nephew-kitties...
Here is my nephew-kitty, Monty, who I met for the first time a couple of weekends ago. Isn't he gorgeous?!

The iPad 2 is being released in Australia today!!!!
Charlotte and I are going to try our luck at bagging two (you don't think Bevan and I could possibly share, do you?!!) today. Fingers crossed...otherwise it will be a month-or-so as we wait for an online order to arrive....I'll be counting the sleeps if that is the case!!!

Linking up with Paisley Jade :)

Recipe: Sweet & Sour Sauce

2011-03-23T12:19:00.000+10:00

I was recently asked for my Sweet & Sour Sauce recipe and realised that I haven't added it my recipes page! So, here it is...I'll put my method for pork up soon because you can't have sweet and sour sauce on its own ;)

Sweet & Sour Sauce
2 tsps vegetable oil
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 small onion, cut into thin wedges
1 small carrot, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 small green pepper/capsicum, cut into thing strips about 5cm long
1/2 cup canned pineapple chunks, well drained with 1/3 cup juice reserved
1/4 cup sliced bamboo shoots
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 1/2 tbsps rice vinegar
1 1/2 tbsps sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsps cornflour combined with 1/2 cup water

Heat wok, add oil and swirl to coat. Add ginger, garlic and onion and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add carrot and stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add green pepper/capsicum and cook for 1 minute, or until vegetables are tender but still crunchy.

Add the pineapple chunks and bamboo shoots, toss well and cook for 1 minute, or until heated through. Remove from wok.

Combine tomato sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, cornflour mixture and reserved pineapple juice and pour into wok. Cook over high heat for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce boils and thickens then return the vegetables to the wok. Stir well, then remove from heat.

Life is Hard

2011-03-21T14:30:00.000+10:00

When your name is Chase...

Going to Work

2011-03-19T14:25:00.000+10:00

Charlotte's new favourite game at the moment is "Going to work."

She grabs her "handbag" (her Nana's old handbag), puts a few things in (blocks, usually...sometimes my lipstick if she can get her paws on it) and goes out to the garage, climbs in one of the cars and "drives" to work.

Note the handbag on the passenger seat?
And how she's "changing gear"?

She's starting to add a few more steps into her routine...a couple of days ago she put teddy in the carseat and strapped him in before she jumped in the driver's seat, put her lipstick on and then drove to work.

Starting early?

The Great Tower of Bevan

2011-03-17T14:23:00.000+10:00

This is what happens when Dad plays with Charlotte's lego...

Intense concentration

Ta daaaa!

But wait, I can make it bigger!

Breaking in the Tap Shoes

2011-03-15T12:51:00.000+10:00

I mentioned earlier that the taps on Charlotte's new tap shoes were as slick as ice when we first got them. Here are a few videos of her "breaking them in" on the concrete floor of the garage.

Don't try this at home, kids!! It will eat your taps away like nothing else so is only good for a couple of times :D

Party Lunch

2011-03-13T14:18:00.000+10:00

A few weekends ago Charlotte had a birthday party to go to...but we got sick and couldn't go :(

So I decided that we would have our very own Party Lunch at home that day seeing as she was missing out.

A quick trip to the supermarket and a Party Lunch we had!

There were savouries with T-sauce...

...Fairy Bread, of course! ...

...and lollies!!

Healthy, no?!

It certainly brightened Charlotte's day...she was still going on about her "Party Lunch" days later.

Hooray for 100's and 1000's!!!

Things I'm Loving...

2011-03-11T08:00:00.000+10:00

I've been meaning to start linking up with Paisley Jade's Things I'm Loving for ages now....and here I am finally getting around to it!

So, the aim of the game is this:

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something that you can be thankful for... no matter how simple it is.

Things I'm loving this week:

My new iron! The Tefal Ultimate Autoclean.
And on a side note...did you know that you shouldn't use tap water in your iron unless it has an anti-calcification device installed?!! Who knew? Not me! You should be using distilled water....as if anyone goes to the trouble of using distilled water in their iron...pffft!

Looking through old photos....did she really used to be that small? And angelic?!

Paper Glitter on Etsy!

I've started planning Charlotte's birthday party (already, I know) and have found this fabulous shop on Etsy with lots of beautiful party kits!!! And they are so reasonably priced (especially with the Australian$ having parity with the US$). Gorgeous!

Big girls that go to dancing lessons on their own...
Charlotte's dancing teacher spoke to me after class the other day to say how pleased she was with Charlotte's progress. She is a lovely student to have in class, she's doing very well and improving her balance, she always tries to do what the teacher is asking (being the youngest some things are physically out of her reach, though) and always obeys instructions.
And she isn't even 2 and a half!

Linking up with Paisley Jade (for the first time - whoop!)

A Baptism

2011-03-09T12:58:00.000+10:00

A few weekends ago the O'Neills went to church.

I know. Hold the phones.

The O'Neills went to church.

And not just any church, we went to St John's Cathedral in Brisbane City.

Image via

The very same church that we lived across the street from for 3 and a half years...the very same church that used to wake us up every Sunday morning with their hideous bell ringing (and ruin our Thursday evenings with their hideous bell ringing practice).

Seriously. They couldn't pull a tune if there was money on it. Oh and did you know that the bell ringing doesn't start until 9am on a Sunday?? And we always thought it was so early when it woke us up :P

Anyways, the reason for the visit to church was for wee Hamish's Baptism. When the invitation arrived it advised "cool, comfortable clothing" and that the service was "quite lengthy". Hmmmm...turns out the service was an hour and a half, and the temperature on that particular day was about 37 (Celsius). Noice. As the lady sitting next to me said, no wonder people don't go to church very much these days...they're probably scared they're going to pass out from heat exhaustion! It was hot. And long.

But Charlotte was such a good girl. She played at our feet with her crayons and stickers (thank you, Crayon Caddy!) and went to join the Sunday School fun and games at the back of the cathedral for some of the time. She also watched with intense interest when the service moved up and down the aisle with candle, bible and cross bearers reciting....whatever it is that they recite. Prayers? Psalms?

She did look quite pleased not to be in the firing line when it came to the Baptism and the "dunking". The Minister was quite enthusiastic with his water splashing and quite a few litres of water was sloshed out of the font and onto the floor (and feet of the congregation surrounding the font) for each child that was Baptised! Wish I could have gotten that on camera but I wasn't fast enough to get in the front so didn't have a very good view for photos :(

Here are a few pics from our morning:

I was so pleased with this shot...but really would have preferred that lady to not have been standing there! I waited for ages, finally took the shot and then she moved :(

Hamish with his Mummy and Grandma (can you tell? ;) )

My little angel, paying attention during the service.

The family during the Baptism part of the service.

The cake! The sunflowers were from Hamish's parents' wedding cake.

Cutting the cake.

I would have loved to have taken more photos of the church, it was amazing inside (although no flash photography allowed so it does make it a little tricky). I don't think that just before Sunday service is really a great time to be snapping off loads of shots but must try and get back there during the week to take some more photos. It is a pretty amazing cathedral.

The entire time we were living opposite it it was being refurbished and had scaffolding etc covering it. As soon as we moved, it was completed :( Looks fabulous now, though!

But their bell ringing hasn't improved any...

Summer Fun: Playing with the Hose

2011-03-07T12:50:00.000+10:00

Who doesn't like playing under the hose in the summer (or any day that it is warm enough, really)...

An Afternoon at Redcliffe

2011-03-05T12:58:00.001+10:00

A few weekends ago we decided to head out to Redcliffe to make the most of the cooler evening and to grab some dinner.

Redcliffe foreshore is packed with kids playgrounds...

After all of the running around and playing (and getting filthy feet, as you can see in the last vid!!) we headed to The Coffee Club for our first "family evening meal out". Charlotte was very well behaved and wolfed down her dinner (playing makes you hungry, you know). Seems that we are now at an age when we can go out for dinner and not have her turn into a screaming, tired mess!!

Recipe: Belgium Biscuits

2011-03-03T09:07:00.000+10:00

I saw Belgium Biscuits mentioned somewhere the other day and it gave me a real craving for some, so I quickly consulted the trusty Edmond's Cook Book and found the recipe to whip up a batch.

Yummmmmm!!!

Belguim Biscuits
125g butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon cocoa

Icing
3/4 - 1 cup icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon raspberry or vanilla essence
few drops of red or pink food colouring
water

Filling
1/2 cup raspberry jam, approximately

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well.
Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, mixed spice and cocoa together. Mix into creamed mixture to make a firm dough.

On a lightly floured board roll dough out to 3mm thickness. Cut rounds (I did rounds and different shapes...smaller ones for Charlotte) using a 6.5cm cutter.

Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 15 minutes or until golden.

When cold, ice half the biscuits. Spread un-iced biscuits with rapsberry jam and place iced biscuits on top.

Icing
Mix icing sugar with flavouring and colouring. Add sufficient water to make a pink icing of spreading consistency.

Welcome, Riley Robin!

2011-03-02T13:34:00.000+10:00

Paula and Geoff have recently welcomed gorgeous wee Riley Robin into the world.

Well done, Mum on a lovely quick labour! And well done, Riley...arriving on your due date. Clever girl :)

Both Mum and Riley are doing well, as is Dad. And in my professional opinion little Riley is the spit of her big cousin, Ashley!

12.51pm ~ Tuesday, February 22, 2011

2011-03-01T09:51:00.000+10:00

Two minutes silence is being observed around New Zealand (and every other part of the world that currently houses Kiwi Ex-pats) at 12.51pm (New Zealand Time) today.

The silence is to honour those that lost their lives in the devastating earthquake that hit Christchurch, New Zealand last Tuesday, 22nd February, 2011.

February 22, 2011. Just another ordinary day in Christchurch. Workers on their lunch break leave the office to grab a bite. Shoppers go about their daily business. Tourists at ChristChurch Cathedral - the majestic 19th-century beauty that came to symbolise a city - enjoy the view from the spire. Just another day, no different from the one before. Then, at 12.51pm, it hit.

The 6.3 magnitude earthquake that brought a city to its knees and broke a nation's heart. Our darkest day. A disaster beyond comprehension that has left hundreds missing, scores dead and ruined countless lives. Hopes have faded and dreams have crumbled, much like that once-mighty cathedral. So many lives, so much loss, the sorrow is almost too much to bear. The little boy who never made it to his six-month birthday. The brother who was due to give his sister away at her wedding. The father who left home to get groceries, never to return to his wife and their children.

The girl in the rubble who texted her father in China to tell him she was trapped. The little sister whose loving brother just wants her to come home. These are the victims, these are their stories. And we will remember them.

This excerpt has been borrowed from Stuff. Click here to pay your respects to those that were lost.

We have a lot of friends and family in Christchurch but have been fortunate in that every one of them is safe and with a roof over their heads. Thank you all for you messages and enquiries to ask after them all.

At the time of writing, there have been 345 earthquakes to hit Christchurch since 12.51 last Tuesday. Stay strong, Christchurch. We're thinking of you.

Happy Birthday, Corinna!

2011-02-28T01:39:00.000+10:00

Hope you are having a lovely day and being spoilt rotten!

Big Girl Bed

2011-02-26T13:08:00.000+10:00

Lots of "Big Girl" occasions happening in our household over the last 3 months...

Going to the toilet like a Big Girl (Dec)
Not wearing a nappy at night time like a Big Girl (Jan)
Big Girl Dancing Lessons (Feb)
Big Girl Bed... (Feb)

In March 2009 we moved her into her cot from her bassinette...here are the pics:

And now we have finally moved her into her big girl bed...I was keen but Bevan was not so much...so in the end I just went ahead and converted the cot into the toddler bed while he was at work one day! The instructions said it was a two person job.

Pfft.

Whatever.

I managed to do it on my own with a toddler swinging off one leg and a dog getting under my other foot.

I am woman. Hear me roar.

Basically the sides of the cot came off and the legs of the cot came off so that it is lower. You can then move the base of the bed up (in the cot pics above it is at its highest setting, we moved it down to the lower setting when she started standing up in the cot). I left it as it was because then it is nice and low to the floor and she doesn't whack her head as much when she falls out :D Its a really nice height because she can sit on the edge of her bed with her feet flat on the ground. And she doesn't actually fall out that often. We don't think.

Charlotte was sooooooo excited when I had finished converting it. Her and Chase were all over the bed like a rash. And the transition has been smooth. She has always been so brilliant about going to bed, sometimes she asks to go to bed. She just hops in and then orders you to tuck her in, turn out the light and shut the door. Simple. No climbing back out and opening the door and coming out to the living room or anything.

She has her panda sheets on...when I was pregnant we nick-named her Panda as we didn't know her gender and when we were feeling her first movements the movie Kung Fu Panda was just being released (read: the TV was playing the promos non-stop).

Poser!

We think she looks so small in her "big bed", even though it is the same size as her cot!!! And she isn't so small in it!!! I guess it is just the different perspective. Once she gets this whole "sleeping in a bed" thing sorted out (and stops falling out!) we'll convert it into the double bed for her.

Softies for Christchurch

2011-02-24T12:51:00.000+10:00

The very lovely Leonie over at Kiwi at Heart is organising a Softies Drive to get as many handmade soft toys together for children effected by the devastating Christchurch earthquake.

Click here to read more and sign up!

Sewing: Hair Clip Organiser

2011-02-22T12:52:00.022+10:00

Recently there was a little girl's birthday...but we were in NZ for her party...but her brother's Christening is this weekend...so a present was required asap!

With all of the fabric and bits and bobs in my sewing room I really couldn't justify going out and spending money on something...when I knew that her mother was crying out for a hairclip organiser.

So I quickly put this together for her, as you can see it is a simpler version of Charlotte's Hair Accessories Organiser. Notice the blue and white spotted fabric thing I have going on with these things?? Not the same fabric, either...I just have a thing about spots :)

This one has a wee ribbon that it can be hung by.

And a small rosette at the top for a bit of embellishment. In fact, that was the most time consuming part of the whole project.

I hope she likes it!

Laura-Jane & Howie's Wedding

2011-02-20T08:15:00.000+10:00

While we were in NZ, Bevan and I fobbed Charlotte off on my parents (for a whole, entire week!!!) and headed down to Dunedin for Laura-Jane and Howie's wedding.

Laura-Jane is one of the girls that I did my exchange to Japan with. There are seven of us that keep in reasonably regular contact and we always make an effort to make weddings...in fact, I wouldn't miss one for the world!! There were four of us (plus three husbands) that were able to make Laura-Jane's wedding and it was such a great day. Awesome catching up with the girls, great seeing the boys again and so wonderful sharing Laura-Jane's special day.

Typical Dunedin turned on a slightly chilly day, but the lovely sunshine in the courtyard of the wee wine bar we sought refuge in between the ceremony and the reception made up for it. Or maybe that was the Bacardi and cokes? Anyways, no matter...

Here are a few photos of the day:

The Groom, looking splendid

The Kun-ei Girls.
Also looking splendid!

The beautiful bride in her
absolutely stunning dress.

The guest of honour!
With her own seat ;)

How kind of Laura-Jane to coordinate her bridal cars with Tahlia and Xenia's outfits!!

Laura-Jane did the sweetest thing and had place names for the kids as well. Even though Jennie and I left ours at home :P

Centrepieces were gorgeous

Jennie and Xenia

Bevan and myself

Tahlia and Andrew
Its hard getting a serious photo of these two!

Hamish and Jennie

Recreating our traditional group wedding photo!

Have you ever seen a Dessert Sculpture?
It was divine!!!

And that was really where the night started to deteriorate ;)

Such a brilliant day. It doesn't matter how many years it has been since we all saw each other, we all still get on like a house on fire.

Although I must say that the boys need to behave themselves a little more...ah hem....!

A Duck to Water

2011-02-18T14:15:00.000+10:00

When we were in NZ it rained (as it does) and on one (warm) rainy day I let Charlotte loose on Mum and Dad's back deck...and this is what happened...

Check out the humidity frizz!

Keeping it fairly tame (and dry)...

...and look out. Going nuts in the rain.

Note how saturated her hair is? She just kept playing,

and playing, and playing out there all day!

For Sale: Basic Espresso & Cappucino Machine

2011-02-17T13:37:00.000+10:00

This is a Caffe Salton Espresso & Cappucino Machine. Model No. 10444CS. Instructions are included, as well as all original accessories (shown in picture).

This machine has an automatic milk frothing attachment (shown in picture) which can be removed for you to froth your milk manually, if you wish.

Compact design, doesn't take up a lot of bench space and is light and easy to take in and out of a cupboard if you can't keep it on your bench full time.

Great machine for the beginner coffee maker, for students or anyone who doesn't want to pay lots of $'s for a top of the range machine but who wants something better than instant coffee.

Machine has a few scratches/marks from everyday use, cosmetic only. In perfect working order and has been used without fault the entire time we have had it.

Asking price is AU$50 (postage not incl), but make us an offer!

Ebay listing here or let me know via email/comments if you are interested!

Have Potty...

2011-02-16T14:10:00.000+10:00

...will travel.

I just love our travel potty!! A Tommy Tippee Potette. It is perfect for long trips in the car.

This is what they look like, because you can't really tell from the pic above!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T02:12:00.000+10:00

Via

I hope you all got something just as lovely as this :D

Mama's 80th Birthday

2011-02-12T14:02:00.000+10:00

In mid-January my Grandmother, Mama, turned 80 and so we had a bit of a knee's up to celebrate. As well as Charlotte and I being home, my Aunty and Uncle travelled from Brisbane with their son and his partner.

Here are a few pics from the afternoon tea that she had to celebrate...

Mama & Grandad

The entire Murdoch Family.
Shena, Mama, Grandad, Gaeline

Mama & Charlotte
Or should that be "Great-Mama"?

Mum organised to have Mama and Grandad taken to the venue
in a vintage car identical to the one they had when they first got married.

The wrist corsage

The cake

The venue had garden games, which kept Charlotte
amused for the whole afternoon.

Cutting the cake and thank-you speech

by Shena.

"Big Girl Dancing"

2011-02-10T15:22:00.000+10:00

A few pics from Charlotte's first day of "Big Girl Dancing Class"...

Excited about wearing her special "Dancing Dress"

Had to wear our special ballet hair clips

A little uncertain now that we're in the studio

The whole class lined up

As you can see, Charlotte is the smallest/youngest in the class, although the little girl standing next to her isn't that much older, perhaps just a few months?

Once they found each other they kind of stuck together next to the teacher's aide (in the black leotard). To be honest, neither of them did a lot, but they did start following instructions without personal prompting and they did do everything asked of them when they were one-on-one with the teacher/aide...which is pretty good for the first day!

Oh, and she stayed in the studio for the entire class (45 mins) and was fine when I left the studio, too. Much better than I first anticipated!

Teeny Tiny Dancing Shoes

2011-02-09T13:45:00.000+10:00

This year Charlotte is starting in the "Tiny Tots and Tap Class" at her dance studio. What we like to refer to as "The Big Girl Class". Last year we were in the "Mummy and Me Class" where I went in with her. Tiny Tots is where they go into the class without a parent.

This meant that there needed to be some shopping done...so off we went to the Bloch store to get her kitted out.

To me, a girl's first pair of dancing shoes is special. I wanted her to have new ones that were hers and hers alone. In future, when she is growing like a mad thing, we will probably look at second-hand options for tap shoes and ballet flats. But for now I wanted her to have new ones.

Bevan just went along with the flow ;)

First up were the ballet flats...once she got them on, she didn't want to take them off! A good sign, perhaps...They didn't have a size that was quite small enough for her, but these were close enough. Look how tiny they are, still!

Using Daddy's hand as a size indicator

And then, my absolute favourite part, the tap shoes...I was really after a specific style, but they were out of stock. These patent leather ones have really grown on me, though...I just love the patent leather. Plus she is the only one in her class with patent leather so it will be harder for her to misplace them among everyone else's!

Tap shoes come with taps already installed these days...
My Dad reckons Bevan is getting it too easy ;)

How gorgeous are they?!
Again, Daddy's hand as a size indicator

When we got them home the taps were as slick as anything (probably a big down-side to having the shoes come with taps already attached?? Each pair of new shoes means you have to break the shoes and the taps in?) so we've had Charlotte out in the garage "dancing" on the concrete to get them a bit scratched up to give her a little bit more traction. It is dancing, after all, not ice skating.

Watch this space to hear/see how the first "Big Girl Class" went :D

Chocolate Swap Package

2011-02-08T15:09:00.000+10:00

When I arrived in New Zealand there was a lovely box of goodies awaiting me...my chocolate swap package from Mel!

Everything was so beautifully wrapped...

...and inside was a whole bunch of yummy stuff! The jar is filled with homemade hot chocolate mix...and the chocolate spoons right next to it were perfect, as were the marshmallows. You can't have hot chocolate without marshmallows, after all! And the Lindor chocolates??! Well, I'm pretty sure they speak for themselves :P

Thanks, Mel. I loved every little thing you sent!

Op Shopping

2011-02-06T07:58:00.000+10:00

A few weekends ago we decided that enough was enough and the linen cupboard got a massive clean out and organisation...I don't say re-organisation because to be honest it has never been organised. We moved in when Charlotte was a month-or-so old and at the time everything that didn't have a home was just biffed in the linen cupboard. And I just never got up the motivation to rectify the situation!

So anyway, after much sorting, re-sorting and sorting again I had a large bag of stuff for my local Salvation Army Op Shop.

I made the mistake (big mistake?) of dropping the bag off during trading hours...how could I not go in for a quick look when I had gone to the trouble of getting Charlotte out of the car???

And inside I found a few treasures...The first I couldn't believe when I saw them...and was stoked when there were two...and couldn't have ungripped my fingers from them if I'd tried once I saw the price...

$3 each!! Loving it!

I know they're not "real" but for the amount they'll be used in my house they're perfect! They're actually in perfect condition...the "dent" you can see in the picture is actually the reflection of the light fitting on the ceiling :P

Then I was suckered into the book section...all three books I picked up were in such perfect condition and only $3 each as well. I swear they would only have been read once...and I would be paying about $30 each at the bookshop.

Of course we couldn't just walk out with an armful of stuff for me, so I picked up a Golden Book classic for Charlotte. It's so gorgeous, and in lovely condition for a vintage book. In fact, I think it is my first vintage purchase :D

And do you know what? It cost me a whopping 20 cents...

Christmas - NZ Style

2011-02-04T14:34:00.000+10:00

Posting about Christmas in February....yeah, slightly behind the times, but it has taken me this long to sort my photos out and get the uploaded to Flickr!! In fact, they're not quite all uploaded, yet...or sorted...if the truth be known.

Just as I thought I was getting to the end of the photos Mum goes and uploads her pics to my Flickr account so now I have to go through those, too!! Thanks, Mum...ah hem. Muwah, muwah! Love you :)

Anyways...we travelled to Bevan's parents' place in Waimate for Christmas 2010. My parents arrived down on Christmas Eve so Charlotte was lucky enough to have both sets of Grandparents around for Christmas Day.

Here are a few pics from our NZ Christmas...

Tradition dictates that we must open one present in bed
before we get up for the day.

A camera! Stoked!

Presents?! Did someone say there were more presents??
After breakfast we opened the remainder of our presents.

So, with the Santa hat in place we proceeded with the present opening...

Ohhh...I wonder what it is...

Ummm...yeah.

The token noisy toy was received.
Thanks, Nana and Grandad!

After presents we all sat down to Christmas Lunch.
And it was super yummy!

In the afternoon we took a long walk around Waimate and checked out everyone's houses and gardens, as ya do ;) It was lovely - not too hot but not overly cold, either.

Thanks for such a perfect Christmas, everyone :D

Somebody Loves My Blog!

2011-02-02T15:14:00.000+10:00

Late last year Kiwi Mummy Blogs ran an event called "I Love Your Blog". Basically, you wrote in with your favourite blog/s and then the lovely Sarah tallied up all of the nominations and then sent out lovely prizes based on nominations and comments from submissions.

And, apparently, someone out there loves my blog because I was lucky enough to receive a delightful package of stationery in the post!!

So thank you very much for those that nominated my blog - I love that someone, other than myself and my immediate family, gets something from my ramblings. If it wasn't for my lovely followers and their encouraging comments I would not have lasted the five-odd years that I have!!

Love to you all,

Giveaway: Heart Felt

2011-01-31T19:31:00.000+10:00

There is one gorgeous giveaway happening over at Heart Felt.

Via

How funky are they?!