.grumpy monkeys.

Made these grumpy sock monkeys for two little girl's birthdays...
I didn't mean them to come out grumpy, thats just the way sock monkeys are.
Grumpy and ugly!

.Australia Day at the Beach.

One of my favourite things about living by the beach is not having to pack bags full of stuff. It makes the visit much more pleasant and enjoyable when I haven't spent the morning getting ready to go and know that we can run home in a couple of minutes if we need to!

Australia Day on Monday was one such occasion. We heard that some friends and family were spending the day there so we joined them for an afternoon of good company, beautiful sunshine and lots of running around for Oscar.

In true Australian style a game of beach cricket was played, how Aussie are the homemade driftwood wickets??
Oscar was delighted when he saw the Corona kids. He loves them soooo much and had a great afternoon with them building sandcastles, playing with balls and running around crazy. The little ones thought it was hilarious when Jackson buried himself in sand and they could torture him! We were going to bring out the lipstick and paint his lips...
Cousin Emmy took Lil for a paddle. She didn't even blink an eye at the cool water, honestly, I don't think anything will phase this girl - lets hope she stays that way when she is a teenager!

.her first swim.

After a sweltering hot day we were grateful to have a swim and BBQ at the Latrobe Pool for our Ward's Australia Day activity. I didn't even know that Latrobe had a public swimming pool, it was lovely and warm and a nice way to cool off. I hadn't planned on putting Lil in the water, but the water was just too tempting so we put her in in her clothes. She absolutely LOVED it, was kicking and splashing and giggling away. So cute. We have been at the beach all day today (more about that later) and she loved the water there too.
Such a happy-go-lucky easy to take anywhere little girl.

.Recipe Monday.

SPINACH DIP IN COB LOAF

1 packet frozen spinach
1 carton sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 packet spring vegetable soup
1 cob loaf
Extra loaf of unsliced bread for dipping

Defrost spinach and squeeze out extra liquid.
Mix in a bowl with other ingredients.
Scoop out center of cob loaf. Allow dip to stand for 2 hours before putting into loaf.
Break up bread into pieces for dipping.
Put dip into loaf just before serving.

.crocheted flowers.

Filipa is having a vintage/hippie feel to her wedding and I had this crazy idea that I, who has never crocheted before would be able to whip up heaps of pretty little crocheted flowers for her!
Seriously, how hard could they be? Well, it might have helped if I had an incy little clue about the general rules of crochet - which I don't. I couldn't even hold the needle right - is that what it is called, hmm...hook, maybe?!! So after quite a few fumbled attempts, I was about to give up.
...Until Linda came around on Friday afternoon and I roped her into giving me a crash-course! It is soooo much easier to learn first-hand from one who is skilled in the art, than try and follow written instructions online!
So, thankyou SO much Linda...they finally worked out! Pretty cute, huh? I am having visions of these little pretties dressing up bags, tops, jeans, hats, cushions...I'm off to have a play at a few different pattens now!
BTW, I used this very helpful tutorial to get me going...

.special friends.

Yesterday we were lucky to have a fun visit from our special friends.

Melissa, Linda, Danielle and I have been friends since we had our first children all within a couple of month of each other. Unfortunately, Danielle was unable to come to our get together yesterday as she is going away for the long weekend (lucky her!). I always love it when we get together, our kids are usually going through the same stages and its good to share our coping strategies with one another!

Oscar just LOVES playing with Riley and Zoe, he talks about them all the time and he actually plays WITH them when they get together. I think he feels totally comfortable with them because he has known them since he was born and has spent time at each of their houses and grown up with them.

We were having a picnic lunch outside soaking up the lovely sunshine when we noticed that the little munchkins had disappeared and were suddenly very quiet - every mother knows that when two-year-olds go quiet that something is not right! We could hear mischievous giggles behind the big bush and this is what we discovered...
The boys were having the time of their lives emptying dirt out of the pots and spreading it all over the ground and their faces! Zoe wasn't really in on the mess-making but was laughing at the boys and daintily rubbing her feed into the dirt! It was so funny, luckily there were no plants in the pots, just old dirt. Two-year-olds will be two-year olds!
After being cleaned up...
Zoe helping Linda finish off her vanilla slice...she just couldn't get enough (Zoe, I mean!)
Riley having a quiet moment -pretty rare, isn't it Melissa?!!
Lil had such a sleepy day yesterday. I felt like I hardly saw her, she just slept and slept and slept. In the afternoon I put her under her playgym after a feed and within 5 minutes she was fast asleep! I didn't want to disturb her so just left her there and she slept for another hour. Perfect timing with Oscar in bed, I managed to have a little snooze on the couch too.

.inspiring and making.

The last few days I have been help captive reading this blog. February 2007, Shey lost her 3 1/2 year old daugher, Ava. She got trapped inside a car and died as a result of heat exhaustion after just half an hour. Her mother's story is so sad, the way she writes is so captivating, her photos are amazing. I am in awe of her talent, her eloquent way of expressing her feelings of sadness and love for her family. It has made me realise how precious and fragile life can be and that you can never be too cautious, especially when it comes to children and cars. I hardly ever lock our car when we go inside during the day, but have started making sure that it is locked all the time now so that my children can't get trapped inside. Its sad, but worth a read and gets you thinking.

We had a good day today, after doing some computer work for Dad in the morning, the rest of the day was spend making. The housework was pushed aside and I had some time getting creative. After making a bag for a friend, I had a play with some fabric that I bought to make myself a skirt to wear to Filipa's wedding. Fil and Chris are having a picnic reception and have asked all of their guests to wear a little or a lot of their wedding colours (aquamarine and salmon) so that their guests are helping to decorate and their photos will have splashes of their colours. Cute! So I bought myself some fabric and sewed up this skirt today. I have a wrap-around maternity skirt that I wear more when I am not pregnant than when I am! (See the end of this long post for photos). It is is one of my favourites and is so versatile and funky. After a little bit of studying and scribbling down some plans I recreated the skirt in my new fabric. I'm really happy with it, love the colours and think I might even put together a little tutorial with instructions so you can make it too!

.miss you already.

Yesterday we said our goodbyes to Carli and the kids. We had lots of fun times with them, especially more fun now that we are so close to them when they stay at Mum and Dad's. Oscar loved having playmates and is thoroughly exhausted now! I am looking forward to a few long day time sleeps from him for the rest of the week. Lil has taken a leaf out of Michaela's book and started to roll over today! She has gone a few times from her back to tummy and once from her tummy to back. Seriously, you should see Michaela, she does tricks like a baby on steroids...there is no stopping her when she gets in the jolly jumper, she jumps higher than any baby I have ever seen in it! She is a great roller too and is constantly flipping from her back to her tummy. Nice of her to teach Lil a few tricks while she was down! We are lucky to only have a few weeks apart as the kids and I arrive in Sydney on the 4th February for Filipa's wedding!

.I am a computer geek.

I fear that blogging has officially turned me into a computer geek...last night I stayed up into the wee small hours of the morning (NOT a good move for a breastfeeding mother who has to get up in a couple of hours to feed her young) figuring out HTML. Absolutely, totally geeky! And the worst bit is that I actually enjoyed it! So, now I have a new, customised blog complete with three columns, no distracting lines and lots of fun colour...I like!

**Have just discovered a few teething problems...apparently Internet Explorer doesn't like my blog's new format...I use Mozilla Firefox (heaps more safe and reliable than Internet Explorer) so if it looks funny and you use Internet Explorer that is why. You could always change to Mozilla if it bothers you that much!**

.Girl's Garden Party.

Our Girl's Garden Party was held on Saturday afternoon in Filipa's honour. She had lots of friends and family come to celebrate her engagement to Chris and wish her well in her married life. After a week of lovely weather, Saturday turned out to be grey and rainy...so the Garden Party was moved from the lovely outside surrounds to sardines in my loungeroom! We had about 30 people attend and played a few games and listened to Filipa tell stories of her engagement.
Mum, Carli, Filipa and I cooked up a storm and had a delectable array of food for afternoon tea from smoked salmon blinis to fresh fruit and vegie platters to pretty little cupcakes. We had a fun afternoon and are excited about Filipa's wedding in 2 and a bit weeks.
Nan holding her newest great-grandchild, Alexander Watson.

.Recipe Monday.

ORANGE POPPY SEED CAKE
¼c poppy seeds
¼c milk
185g butter
1 ½t finely grated orange rind
1 ¼c sugar
3 eggs
¾c plain flour
¾c SR flour
½c ground almonds
1/3c orange juice

Orange Cream:
500g packaged cream cheese, softened
½c sour cream
2T finely grated orange rind
¾c icing sugar
1T orange juice

Grease deep 22cm round cake pan, line base with baking paper.
Combine seeds and milk in small bowl, stand 20 minutes.
Beat butter, rind and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until just combined between additions.
Transfer mixture to large bowl, stir in sifted flours, almonds, undrained poppy seeds and juice; spread mixture into prepared pan.
Bake in moderate oven 45 minutes. Stand cake 5 minutes; turn onto wire rack to cool.
Split cake into 2 or 3 layers; sandwich layers with the orange cream, cover top and side of cake with remaining orange cream.

Orange Cream:
Combine all ingredients in small bowl and beat with electric mixer until smooth.

.cute suit.

Grandie and Nana bought Oscar a suit from America and Nana gave it to him on her recent trip home. I laugh every time I see him wearing it! He looks so grown up and preppy! Before church this morning I finally got around to taking a photo of him in it. All little boys ride their bikes before church, right?...

.running in the rain...barefoot.

A Tassie Summer is a funny thing. After a week of lovely sunshine the clouds rolled over and today it began to rain. Happy because I love the rain, sad because today was Fil's Girl's Garden Party and it couldn't be held in the garden so we had to set up a fake garden inside!

I finished The Best Me Challenge for week 3 last night and I love it! The prompt this week was to frame something that you love, something that will make you feel happy every time you see it. So I put together a little board that hangs next to the computer (because I spend waaaaaay too much time there...) that I can interchange quotes, pictures, photos, words, things to think about. Its not your typical frame, but it works for me!

I just took it outside to try and take some photos in the light as it is so dark and difficult to get a good pic inside on a dreary day. I was standing under the front porch protected by the rain in a photo-taking daydream and the door locked shut behind me. Jaron had just gone to put Oscar to bed so my options were to stand out there for 15 minutes waiting for him to come back and open the door for me or go for a run in the rain...barefoot. I grumbly choose the rain option. I started off with a very adult-like outlook, sooking about getting wet and being cold until my bare feet splashed in big, muddy puddles on the ground and I began to feel like a little child running barefoot in the rain with not a care in the world. Fun stuff! Do you remember when you were a kid and loved running in the rain? I do. If you haven't done it in awhile make sure you do.

.Lil Eats.

We started Lil on her first solids on Saturday. I can't believe how FAST she has grown! It seemed like it took forever for Oscar to start eating real food...and it seems like only yesterday that Lil was born! So she has had some rice cereal, which she didn't seem to mind too much (I LOVE baby rice cereal, so my kids have to fight me for it!) Today I gave her some pureed apples and she really liked them, was getting excited and searching around for more when she had finished her mouthful. So cute!

.fresh.

mmmm...straight off the tree in our backyard. The MOST sweet, juicy perfect apricots I have ever tried. I had forgotten how good apricots are SUPPOSED to be...not like the dry, tasteless ones in the shop. YUM!

.Flilpa and Chris.

Well we have FINALLY met our new brother-in-law (to be...). Filipa and Chris came down from Queensland late Friday night and we had a fun family weekend together getting to know him and getting excited about their wedding. It was just a short trip for Chris, 2 days (perhaps he was playing it safe and didn't want to stay for too long in case he thought we were strange!). Fil is here for another week. We had a fun weekend, Chris fitted into the family really well...it helped that he is 6' 8" and a HUGE basketballer so the boys were very happy!
We had pancake breakfast on Saturday morning and Mum and Dad took Fil and Chris to visit Nan and Pop in Deloraine, then we had a bbq and mini family engagement party on Saturday night.
I made an orange and poppy seed cake and Mum decorated it with flowers from the garden for their "engagement cake". It looked very pretty...
Lil and Michaela after dinner on Sunday night...they are such cuties - see what I mean about Michaela being so much bigger! It will be fun having them so close in age, watching them grow up together.I think Cade is VERY happy with his new brother-in-law!

.Recipe Monday.

I don't like bananas...but I LOVE this banana bread.

Quick Banana Bread
250g cream cheese, softened
1 cup raw sugar
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
300g packet scone mix
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease a loaf tin and line the base and sides with baking paper.
Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl with electric beaters until light and smooth. Add the banana and eggs and beat for 2 minutes or until well combined. Fold in the scone mix and pecans until well combined.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Bake for 40 minutes. Cover with foil and bake for a further 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. Cool completely before serving.
Banana bread will keep for up to 5 days stored in an airtight container.

.The Best Me Challenge - week 2.

The challenge for this week was to think of something that has been on your mind a lot lately that you really want to do, but never get around to. Then to actually do it so that you can free your mind and have one less thing bugging you!

Something I have been meaning to do for AGES, is to get into regular exercise again. Nothing flash...just a simple walk or a bit of resistance training at home. Just because it makes me feel good and helps me have a better outlook on life.

.keep your mind wide open.

ooohhh...I REALLY wanted to go to bed early tonight - by 10pm at least, my usual bed time lately is around 11pm, I love it because there is sooo much I want to do while the kids are asleep and the house is clean, but I really need more sleep!
So, this is keeping me up tonight...have just finished watching The Bridge to Terabithia and HAD to write about it before I go to bed!
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant movie! I know I am a bit behind on the movie scene as we never go to the movies anymore (actually, I tell a small lie...we did go a few weeks ago and saw Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium, that was brilliant too - I could go on about that but wouldn't get to bed forever...) anyway, this was one sweet movie. Right up my alley...I'm not into waste of time movies - killing, coarse language, violence - I like movies that make me feel good, that I can think about for a long time after and that I want to tell everyone about.
So, anyway, I wish I had read the book before I watched the movie, but I hadn't...I am very looking forward to getting my hands on a copy now so that I can learn and feel even more about these special kids.
Leslie and Jess are from completely different worlds and seem to have nothing in common...until they discover a magical world together and solve all of their problems. I love anything that promotes children (and adults) using their imagination and really believing they can go to a far away place and imagine ANYTHING they want to.
The author of the book, Katherine Paterson wrote the book to help her 8 year old son deal with aa difficult situation that she didn't know how to explain or make better, the only way she knew to help him was to write a story to help him with his feelings. How sweet is that? A mother writing a story to help her son that ends up helping thousands of people...brilliant!
So...if you haven't seen the movie, hire it tomorrow for a Saturday night movie at home and let me know what you think.P.S. How come blog posts get so lengthy late at night?