playing in mud puddles

Holiday sweetness

Good thing I put the carob bananas in the advent calendar the other day. Perhaps it will null and void the rest of the daily sweet intake for the month of December?

We're having fun (and lucky we have a lot of space and a trampoline for sugar highs!).

Trying (okay, not really) to keep excessive Peppermint Bark out of our mouths (mostly mine).

Oh my yum. Oh my yum.

We bought one of those awful (in the sense of jam packed full of nasties) but really fun gingerbread houses. They are made in the Northern Hemispehere (where it is COLD at Christmas). The package came with all the fun things and it all sticks together with icing glue. 

Can you tell the spontaneous splodging of icing by one was not part of the group plan?

The trick is because it is hot and HUMID here, the gingerbread house stays together for approximately 2 minutes. 

We had to - QUICK take a photo! - after the lollies were put on as the roof was already sliding apart from the humidity!

But, we still do it every year.... because it's just FUN.

Hope you are finding some space for FUN in your day today.

xx

Thank you wall

In the hustle and bustle of becoming school goers again this past term, things were often in and then OUT of my head.

I found these wall stickers at the shop and thought they'd be perfect. Perfect for writing last minute reminders, like "remember your lunch"... or "buy more toothpaste" or "school hats!".

That is how it was in our home (for a little while). Then, well, as goings on often do in our house... things changed.

 

And one day it occurred to me that the sliding glass door had become a  THANK YOU WALL.

During the day, while the children were at school, I would often think of something they had done that I hadn't had time to say  THANK YOU for. SO, I'd write it up on the wall. I'd often forget to even show the children when they returned home (theme of forgetfulness is quite STRONG lately in my head), but that was OK because, without a doubt, they'd see it.

Things went on like this for a bit. Then, one day, other messages began to appear. Perhaps to a sister or a brother and then, (EVEN) to a mother and a father (WOWEE). 

And that. is. beautiful. wonderful. hopeful. amazing. blessed.

 

Makings...advent calendar

 

I felt all warm and snuggly inside (not just because of the HUMID HOT weather)  when the children all said, "It's the first of December tomorrow. Let's get out the advent calendar! (and I actually knew where it was - all these baby steps are paying off I tell you)"

I thought I'd share ...

Now, it's not much. Not very fancy. Not very finished.

But, at the exact same time, it's SO much.

WE made this TOGETHER 2 Christmases / Christmas's/ Christmas' ago (how do I spell that?) .

I was determined to learn how to use my sewing machine, and in spite of breaking it only once in the process (thanks for the quick repair during the holiday season Mr. sewing machine man), we sewed all of those little felt pockets together. We all cut and had a first go with glitter glue. And brainstorming our ideas for the design was full of, well, you know how brainstorming goes -  let's say it was dynamic. You can tell the children had ALOT of input in materials.

 

Upon completion, I looked around at my lovely 4 children and remembered.... I have 4 children. It's hard to fit 4 treats into those wee little pockets.

This led to our Advent Calendar Treasure Hunt.

Every day one child chooses the clue from the correctly dated pocket. The clue is then read aloud and off they go through the house trying to find a red bag (in the top  left corner) filled with a little treat. Yesterday was 1/2 of a carob covered banana. The day before a couple of stickers.

This gives us a break from the unending lollies and sweets (Though we will be making Peppermint Bark in a few days, thanks to soulemama and orangette - looks yum). And what child doen't love a good treasure hunt?! Even 25 days of treasure hunts.... 

Over the past few days they've all come up to me and said... "remember when we made this and I did..."

What more could I wish for? Yum.

Makings...crocheted stones

Oh fun! 

This past weekend I was bedbound. The positive side to this was I was able to explore the wonderful world of Margaret Ooman... sigh...bliss...

I was led to her tutorial on crocheted stones at Purl Bee and away I went. 

I ended up using a UK size 3.00 crochet hook and regular crochet cotton and it all worked fine...

She mentions that the process is a bit addicting, and I didn't want this ONE to be lonely (and I was laying in bed doing nothing after all)...

So then, there were TWO...

And suddenly a little friend came by for a visit...

And you know how you can never have too many friends....

 

Well, there ended up being a bit of a party on our piano bench (all stones behaved quite respectably - there were no innappropriate comments made about hook size, thread quality or colour combinations). In fact, it all went so well, I might consider having another in the future...

Let me know if you are inspired to have a party at yours (it is the festive season, after all)...

 

Yum Yum Yum!

Funny rainy weather this weekend cooled things down enough to inspire some yummy "Peanut Butter - Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies".

 Soulemama shared this recipe which she had found at Martha Stewart Living. As you can see below, it was a success and even yielded enough to include in school lunches today. 

I did use 1 cup LESS sugar than called for in the recipe and they were still quite sweet enough.

There was plenty for hungry hands.

Even the indecisive ones (who may have been busy licking the bowl) ...

had time to pick "just the right" one.

Yum! 

Hoping you have a sweet Monday... with or without chocolate chips...

Do you like Pina Coladas?

Remember that song? When I used to hear it, I always imagined a really really HOT day.

Today was a REALLY REALLY HOT day. 

No pina coladas, BUT something nearly as refreshing that the whole family could enjoy...

I was inspired last night while reading justb... for a yummy summer drink.

Our family version today was ...

Pineapple coconut milk and mint smoothie.....

Just combined

        1 pineapple

        1 tin coconut milk or coconut cream

        fresh mint

        2 trays of ice

in the thermomix for about 15 seconds and .... instant refreshment!

Nice and frothy, a bit thick and fresh....

Hope you can use it or the justb recipe to cool yourself off this weekend. Enjoy!

Makings... sweet little rug

With four constantly growing little ones (I'm sure they grow overnight sometimes), there is a steady flow of clothes going to the op shop. I've had moments... sometimes even collected little piles of really special pieces that I promise myself I'll make a quilt out of...

I usually find these pieces months later all mouldy in a box or bag somewhere (it's very humid and mouldy where we leave, hence the lush green of everything, including the clothes, shoes, etc, on occasion).Yucko!

Yummo! I was inspired by Pip at meet me at mikes (look in "Learn to Make Stuff"). She had crocheted a sweet little rug. I thought, "YES! I can do that!"

Then, things got even BETTER because she included a link to knitting on trains which included a link to  MAKING YARN FROM OLD CLOTHES (WOWEE!!!) ! So, I was an uber blogger linker extraordinaire which led me to this...

 

Yippee!

So, a quick recount...

*inspired - Pip at meet me at mikes (remember to look in "Learn to make stuff")

*further inspired - Jess at knitting on trains

*recycled kid's clothes into yarn - craft passion

*crocheted rug in an amigurumi spiral round - 

                magic loop for spiral - wire my soul on youtube

                beginning amigurumi spiral - wire my soul amigurumi spiral on youtube

 

I used a big wooden crochet hook ( I think I bought it about 5 years ago and never used til now) and an old scrap of the children's knitting as a marker (purple bit in corner) for my rows. Perks to being a bit of a hoarder...

 

Here I am ("Smile, mum!") crocheting while we all watch Junior Masterchef...

 

 

Here I am, concentrating. Even though it's really easy, I'm a beginner and I have to remember to  COUNT while I stitch (and after 4 babies I lose track really easy - concentrate! focus!).

 

 

Success! And, I've heard the kids explaining the HISTORY of this little rug...

"That's my old singlet.That's my old nightgown. Those are our old yellow t-shirts. Those are the yellow t-shirts that mum washed with the dark blue clothes...."

Oops.

 

Now, I just have to let people step on it....

Go on... have a go... 

Jam on

You may remember our peach tree in the backyard. 

Well, we did the most amazing thing the other day... WE MADE JAM!

I know this is a very obviously simple task for most of you. For me, I am jam challenged.

When I am challenged with something I get this (secret)(secret)(so secret I can't even tell myself and I have to write only in parentheses) MASSIVE amount of fear and anxiety which I have to keep totally hidden.

The end result is that I just DON'T DO IT. 

I'll gather materials, buy books about the topic (got the recipe from "Jams and Preserves"), even read up on the said "challenge". But really, that's all a mask for NOT DOING IT. Then, I 'll start the head chatter -

"Do it!"

"But, what if..."

"DO it!"

"But, this could FAIL...."

"DO IT!"

"But, I could never be good enough.."

"Do IT, already!"

See, you're getting tired just reading this! You can imagine all the time I waste...

Anyways, the "DO IT!" voice eventually wins (Thank goodness). It may take a couple days, a couple weeks, it may take a couple years (like getting the courage to give this blog thing a try)...

But, always, in the end, cool things happen -

like making jam...

We collected the peaches from the tree for a couple of days. All were unripe, so we kept them inside to ripen for a couple more days. 

Then, we had to peel the skins off after covering them with boiling water. Because they weren't completely ripe (?), most had to be peeled with a knife.

(I was given instruction, "Smile, mum!" by said super photographer)

Then chopped up into itty bitty bits...

Then, lots of boiling with lots of sugar and a little bit of lemon (and chopped up apple in a muslin cloth for pectin )

And voila!

This sure gives me a new appreciation for jam.

And guess what... I gave some to our lovely neighbour (who is a jam queen) and SHE LIKED IT! She said it actually tasted like peaches, not just sugar (which made me do a secret WOO HOO! and made me feel all swirly whirly inside). 

So, go on, give a secret something a go today and see how you feel. Even if it doesn't work out, at least you have COURAGE to give it a try. 

How'd you go?

Lounge saver quilt

Do you have anything that you really don't like? That every time you look at it, it just makes you feel like curdled milk? Well, maybe that's a little bit extreme, but not much. See, we've got these (in my mind) really really BLAH lounges ...

Ah ha! You GET it now. They're just that beige. THAT beige.

But, their saving graces are that they are teeny enough to fit in that cute cozy tiny SPACE that I recently rearranged AND they are really really comfy AND they were about $150 for both  AND, well, that's enough reason I suppose. Hence, I HAD TO FIND A WAY TO LOVE THEM.

Enter, quilt makings....

Oh, and Hipstamatic, of course (had to see what all the fuss was about.. I GET IT! YUM!)

I started this as a "wonderful homeschooling project" about 7 months ago. Trouble was, no one was really interested in making it (ah, the challenges amongst the fun of homeschooling...). Alas, it was shelved.

But, with the urgency of the above mentioned DILEMMA... well, I HAD to do something! You see, my life is SO CALM and TRANQUIL that this was the ONLY thing causing me to fret and dither... as I'm sure your life is too (ha ha).

But, it came together!

And it's cozy...

And I can look at the lounge without that curdled milk feeling ...

Lots of stories to be read here, that's for sure.

Super Cuffs!

Do you ever feel like you need a little boost? 

Maybe, the small things are getting you a bit down?

Too much laundry, not enough money, house is  a mess, never enough time to.....

Sounds like you need a pair of super cuffs!

They fix EVERYTHING!!!

Wearing  them, you feel EMPOWERED! VALUED! ENOUGH!

Able to face all obstacles with gumption and grace...

They're soft on the outside,

FUZZY and soft on the inside

(to keep those night time worries away)

and induce such a deep sleep that you don't notice your mum photographing

you in the wee hours of the morning

Wishing you a pair of super cuffs for your day!!