Wow! Sorry for my extended break. I was living out of home for too long. It is lovely to be back, I appreciate what we have so much more now, and feel beautifully refreshed. 

The little ones’ birthday parties went well. I’m even proud enough to show the cakes! Thank you SFI for the instructions on making the lion cake… it was so easy and the birthday girl loved it.

It was a teeny tiny party for Zoe. She had been a shy girl in group situations and I didn’t want to worry her. But as it turns out, she turned two and came out of her shell in the one day. Miss Zoe, you are utterly adorable! After the success of the lion cake I was feeling confident when a month later it was time to make the dinosaur cake. This time the SFI dino cake didn’t cut it…. too scary! Tate chose an orange Triceratops cake, why of course! I waited until the last minute to create the dinosaur (I have this zany theory that I work well under pressure, and well, I’m fairly unorganised). My partner had enlarged a dinosaur picture on the photocopier for me and it was just a matter of joining a couple of cakes together with icing, cutting around the template and then decorating. Voila! I present to you the Triceratops cake…. The 2 to 4 year old birthday guests, and the big 4 year old birthday boy himself were all suitably impressed by the cake. I will admit that the dinosaur shaped sequins used for decorative purposes were a BAD IDEA. Why did I think that little kids would know that the green dinos on the cake were edible, but the awesome sparkly ones on the board are not? Whoops.Now this is T the morning after the party. Please note the special dinosaur tshirt. Yes, its the same one he wore on his birthday. He did want a bath, but then a stupid hoodie got stuck on, so then he went to bed in the hoodie, then woke up too hot and I had to cut a hysterical boy out of the hoodie. Which explains the puffy eyes I cut the jumper, not the boy. I might add that I also made the bunting, which is designed to be timeless and gender neutral, I think it wound up looking a bit boring.

Oh, and the awesome electric guitar? Birthday present!

Honey boy, you are divine! (and those wooden ice creams are a real hit!)

I promise to post more regularly and will be back soon to share the crafty stuff I’ve been up to and all the cute stuff I find at oppies

xoxo

Well it feels that way at the moment. I’ve begun working as a barmaid, at a bowling club which means lots of lovely old folks. It feels good to be out and working again, making new friends and being useful.

 At this stage there is no apron as part of the uniform, but I plan to work on that. A little black apron with pockets is on the cards. My black work pants are sans pockets, and an apron would be lovely.

I was so happy to sell some of my aprons this week! So the packing and sending of those has taken a little while, then there’s the vintage sheet swap I’m participating in. Sorry, I don’t have a link, I have lost it myself! I’ve been finding, washing, ironing, cutting, ironing and folding vintage sheet fat quarters a little laborious I must admit. It will be wonderful to recieve my parcel of different fqs though!

Then there’s the snailblazer swap I mentioned a few posts back. I’m making aprons for that too (no surprises here right?) and bought some fabric today. So I’m going to be busy making 10 ladies aprons in the next month. It will be fun to create the design though, which simply must be super cute. I’m loving Snailblazer’s travellers. They are gorgeous and such a great idea. I’m so tempted to by a couple for the kids to put away. They’re a bit young just yet.

Oh, and this morning I woke up at 6am BY CHOICE, although the kids both slept through(!) to ensure I won this baby on ebay. Cute huh? Oh ebay, I have missed you.

And, the gorgeous thing (well one of) taking up the majority of my time? This little fella. He is a singing and dancing delight. So full of questions and hilarity.

One itty bitty big toe, bitten by the biggest bull ant I have ever seen!  So last night I sent Zoe into the lounge to find her socks (she had been carrying them around), about a minute later I hear blood curdling screams. I run into the lounge to find her lying on the floor, a huge bull ant marching away. This is the first bull ant I’ve ever seen in our house! I try and squash the fellow with my slipper, which proves to be difficult on carpet while holding a screaming child. Thankfully ’he’ comes to the rescue saying “maybe it didn’t bite her, maybe she just got a fright”. We look at the toe…. it is red and swollen with definite pincer marks. It turns out baby Zoe knows about stomping on ants, and wasn’t afraid to have a crack at the big boy. Oh dear.

She woke this morning with no sign of the bite (see above), but plenty of ‘big ant’ stories for all.

Oh, and this delicious wool arrived in my mail box! From the lovely Lisa as part of a Ravelry swap.

It is seriously the softest wool ever and neeeeeeds to be something I can drape around my neck. Which is saying something, because I have a very itch sensitive neck. Lisa dyed and spun the wool just for me!

Lisa’s store is ‘Knot Your Nanna’s Knits’ over at Yarn Collective.  I’m very tempted to buy some of the lovely fleece ready to be spun, Mum has a spinning wheel and I think I need to have a go.

From tiKKi ~ a gorgeous Rainbow Dress for the girl. The knitting is perfect, the wool is soft and lovely and the fit on Zoe is beautiful! A lovely and thoughtful gift from a great friend Who humbles me with her crafty talents time and again.

Zoe adores the dress, she wore it all day today and reluctantly took it off to change into pjs tonight.

I hope to be able to knit one myself one day, but at the moment I can only knit plain and my tension is all over the shop. I think it might be a little while away, somehow. My grey ‘practise’ knitting sits forlorn near the front door. I’d better get some more practise in before my next lesson on Sunday… 

til the Easter Bunny comes. One little boy getting very excited here.  Alot of egg colouring happening.

sweet bunny

Oh, I’m loving this WP theme…. I think it might be ‘the one’.

I’ve had the image of this apron in my mind for some time. The kids were in bed early last night, so I got sewing!!

Shown on 1.5 year old Zoe, it would fit a wide size range (looks pretty cute on me!) I love it… Soon to be available for purchase over at ozebaby.

So if you’re a child living at my place, you have definitely recieved a rainbow present. What is a rainbow present? I hear you ask. A rainbow present is the ultimate bribe. It is ANYTHING wrapped in bright fabric and tied with a ribbon.  Rainbow presents are usually given in the morning, following a little boy’s good behaviour at bedtime ~ going to sleep by himself in his bed. Past rainbow presents have included a variety of op shop surprises, books, chocolate frog, cooking stuff, an apple etc. The item can be as big or as small as you like. The enjoyment for the recipient is in the anticipation. Tate loves holding the parcel, wondering at its contents, for a good while before opening.

Now this may not be a perfect parenting practice, but it works It was first introduced when my partner was away for two weeks on a fishing trip, and made bed time easy peasy.

Today’s rainbow present… his much requested train apron.