Another Change

Well last night we had a boy who thankfully went to bed relatively early (8pm) and woke at 10pm to see of it was time to get ready for school.  His mind was obviously racing with all things school.  Thankfully he went straight back to sleep when I told him he still had another 8 hours before he needed to think about that.

Before going to bed, I caught my two little monkeys on the lounge room floor having a deep conversation.  Obviously I didn't want to interrupt, but I couldn't help but eavesdrop.  Right?  Paddy was reassuring Grace that she will be okay at school without him.  You see, this is the first time that the two of them haven't been at school together.  They check up on each other most days and I think it is a comforting thought knowing that they are there for each other.  Check out the two of them mid conversation below...

A few photos from his first day...

I'm now enjoying a 'girly' day with Gracie.  She is watching a few re-runs of The Brady Bunch and I'm having a giggle as we watch them together.

I'm counting down the time until I pick him up and hear about his day.  Fingers crossed!

Insta-Friday on Monday

Well we've been incredibly busy here and added to that I have one little boy who has used up most of my monthly internet allowance so my computer speed has been slowed down - frustration plus!

 

Anyway, I wanted to link up with Jeanett for Insta-Friday (even if it is now MONDAY).

Friday night is ALWAYS pizza night and movie night.  We make the pizza from scratch and the kids always help me make them.  I LOVE the routine of Friday's and I know the kids do, too.

I have no doubt that Gracie will end up doing something creative when she is older.  She is always painting, drawing and she is quite the little knitter too.  She has made a scarf (or two) for her 'babies'. Of course, I help her with dropped stitches, but in general, she does well for a seven year old.  It warms my heart to watch her knitting needles in action.

We visited the Melbourne Aquarium last weekend.  We were all enthralled with the penguins.  It was so fun to watch them waddle about in their enclosure.

The jelly fish at the Aquarium were amazing, too.

Gracie insists on taking a handbag wherever we go.  She has a few favourites but I decided to surprise her one morning with one that I had sewed for her.  It is now her ultimate favourite...HOORAY!

A little display I had on our coffee to mark Australia Day.  I couldn't let the day go by without some form of decorating.

Saturday night was 'girl' night at a friend's house - pizza, delicious desserts, lots of chatting, music and wine. Fun!

Yesterday we went to Geelong as a final outing before school returns.  It was a hot Melbourne day and we ALL enjoyed a swim and lunch at the foreshore.

My little shell collector and sand castle creators

Patrick starts at a new school tomorrow.  He has mixed feelings, mostly he's excited but he said he feel anxious in his stomach (poor boy).  I'm trying to get my head around the fact that my boy is growing up way too fast!

Wishing you a happy week!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety-Jig

We're home again!  The past week was magical in so many ways.  We were incredibly blessed by good company, wonderful weather and beautiful sunsets every evening.  There was giggles and laughter morning noon and night, late nights with the kids falling asleep as soon as they were tucked into bed, and plenty of delicious meals shared between friends.  We feel so lucky to have such dear and special friends and family.  It was a blissful week

We all came home with tired but happy bodies, and me, I came home with lots of new sewing ideas.  I visited a few of my favourite sewing stores in the city and I was inspired in so many ways.  I also came home to laundry.  Lots and lots of laundry.  And now, as much as I feel sad about leaving friends and family (again) I am ready to return to the routine of home and to get the kids ready to return to school.

It is wonderful to be back in this space.  I love 'home'.  I love being back into sewing, knitting and crocheting.  As much as I am tired and exhausted I feel so ready to create.  This is what I made last night...

I made two Note Folders last night.  Grace is going to a friends party and she will take one as a gift.  We need to go shopping together and select some special things to go inside.

The little girl who will get the Note Folder will also receive this cute little bag.  Having a daughter, I know how much fun can be had with a bag and that the right bag is important.

A bit of embellishment on the bag.  Buttons - how i love thee! 

I also created and made this little purse for Gracie.  She was given some money for Christmas and needed somewhere to keep the coins.  It has two little pockets inside (see below).

These are the wristers I made while we were away.  In fact, I made two pairs because I felt the need to knit.  I had to add a button or two.

Wishing you a happy week!

Off We Go Again...

The kids and I are flying up to Sydney today.  Time to catch up with friends that we didn't see when we were there for Christmas.  I have my crocheting and knitting packed.  To me that's the best part of a flight - no excuse but to sit down and do nothing.  I'm currently working on this project (see my squares below) but I can't take scissors on the plane and I need to cut the wool many times so I don't think I can take it with me...sigh  Instead I will make these super easy wristers.

I hope that Sydney has better weather for us than Melbourne.  Mind you, it was warm here yesterday and today is suppose to be hot, but prior to that, it's been FREEZING.  I've been questioning where summer has gone.  Look at my poor boy on Saturday.  He could not get warm.

Also, I have a new favourite part of Melbourne - South Melbourne.  On Saturday we spent hours wandering the streets.  Such an amazing array of cafes and places to eat great food, a fantastic food market and stores with cool stuff that I wanted to buy.  Even the kids enjoyed looking at the stores without saying - " Can we go home now?" and to me, that is the sign of a good day

I won't have a chance to be here much this week but I hope to post some Instagrams from our time away on the weekend.

Ciao for now! x

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is not a big celebration in Australia. Sure you can buy flowers at exorbitant prices or a few knick knacks at the shops, but it is not huge here like other parts of the world. Me, I like to do a few special things with my family to remind them how much they mean to me. There are so many ideas out there and it's hard to knuckle down to one or two favourites but here is what I intend to create...

I think this gum ball necklace is so cute. It's from One Charming Party.  I have one little girl here who would LOVE it!  Guess who?

I adore this pillow and now that I have my new sewing machine. I hope to find some time to make it.

It would fit perfectly in our family room. The tutorial is here.  I also like that it can be used anytime throughout the year, not just for Valentine's.

I hope to make these cute little Noughts and Crosses (Tic Tac Toe) kits to play with the kids while we celebrate a special Valentine's meal together.

Source

So much fun!  I know that it is still a few weeks away but the organised person in me likes to get things sorted well before the celebration begins.  I am a Capricorn after all.

InstaFriday

I'm linking up with Jeannett at Life Rearranged for InstaFriday.

Instafriday is a simple way to document the crazy and real moments from the week.  However, the photos must be taken using a mobile phone.

See my week below...

It was a beautiful day so Grace insisted on bathing her 'babies' in the sun.

The kids got a slushy machine for Christmas.  It's a real hit for them but for me, not so much.  I hate cordial drinks and soft drinks and obviously with this, we need to add some flavour and colouring.  Can you see the joy on Patrick's face?  or is that a sugary high?

Enjoying an amazing garden in Bendigo.  It was absolutely beautiful.  I could have spent hours there but it was a hot, hot day and the kids were exhausted.  

She LOVES her dolls so much.

It's school holidays here in Australia and every holiday I try to complete a large puzzle with the kids.  I love it when they pass by and feel excited to add their bit to the picture.  This puzzle was particularly tricky because there was so much sky in it.  It felt like we were focused on blue piece after blue piece but we got there in the end and completed it...TOGETHER!

Enjoying lunch together

FRUSTRATION!  I ordered some photos through Apple and when they arrived in the post they had been cropped and I couldn't use any of them. FRUSTRATION PLUS!  When I uploaded the photos onto iPhotos and viewed my cart they were perfect (I spent hours figuring out the ration aspect).  Thankfully Apple refunded the order...phew!

Patrick is about to change schools.  This week we bought his new uniform.  He looks so grown up in it.

My little seamstress.  Gracie sewing a skirt for her 'baby'.

My little monkey

Swinging with her 'baby'.

Pinterest

Do you Pinterest?

I have an obsessive tendency towards it.  Yes, I'm addicted.

For those of you who are not familiar with Pinterest, it is a website that allows you to share and organise beautiful things you find in your life or on the web.  You can list your favourite links onto your personal page and organise them onto boards.

I always manage to find so many things I like, things I want, things that I dream about, things that I want to create NOW, things that inspire me to be a better person, things that my kids NEED and quotes to live by and reflect upon.  It is oh so PINTERESTING!  


You can follow my pins here

I'm off to pin some more inspiration on my board...

A Twirly Skirt

I finished off the Twirly Skirt for Grace and she loves it.  It was a fun sew.  Here is Grace showing off her new attire...

Do you notice her sweet necklace?  I got it from GreenDDesign.  It's adorable and Grace thinks that it's wonderful.  Can't you see how much she loves it in the photo below?

Sorry about the blurry photo - it's an action shot.

In fact, she loves her twirly skirt so much she insisted on creating and sewing one for her 'baby', too.  She is hand sewing it all.  She has made a few things on my sewing machine but I am not ready to let her go free on my new one.

Sewing a dolly skirt for her 'baby'.

I LOVE watching her create and sew.  It reminds me of when I was young and the joy I had watching my Mum, Nanny and Mama create and then 'trying' to do something myself.  Aghh, good times.

My New Machine

Well I picked up my new sewing machine yesterday...hooray!  I'm having loads of fun with it, too.  I ended up spending a little more than I intended but I got the Brother NV-600.  I know that it's early days with the machine but I'm loving playing with the new stitches and also exploring free motion sewing...whee!

Yesterday I made these cute little note folders for Patrick and Grace.

We're flying back up to Sydney to visit some friends next week so I thought these would be perfect for our flight and also for some fun at the hotel.

I bought Gracie the Junie B Jones puzzle book and slipped it inside along with a blank note pad and a new pen.

Paddy loves word searches so I popped a book inside his folder, too

Enjoying the machine

Sewing the fabric for the tie on the Twirly Skirt I made for Gracie.  I am still finishing it off so more photos of that tomorrow.