Pay it forward

OK..out in blog land there has been a little PIF scheme happening for quite some time. Ive been tempted so many times to play along,tonight Ive finally succumbed and joined in the fun. Ive put my name down on Cars blog for her PIF.

If you would like to play along and pay it forward leave me a comment on this post. The first three people to comment will be choosen. The rules are simple. I will make you a hand-made gift and send it to you sometime within the next 365 days. All you have to do is pledge on your blog to Pay it forward in return - you will have to make three other people who comment on your post something within the next 365 days. And so on, so forth. It's all about sharing the love.

20 months

To my sweet little Jazzie,

Another month has passed. You are growing up so quickly now, my 'baby' has gone and has been replaced with a sweet little girl. I had forgotten what a delightful age this is. You are amazed by everything, you love to play little games, sing little songs and laugh until you give yourself hiccups - just because you can! Despite looking like a sweet girly little girl, you can more often than not you can be found playng with dump trucks or cricket bats or any other of the stereotypical boys stuff that is always laying around here.The other day you woked out how to make the little wiggles car go forwards all by yourself. You were so excited. Now you can ride around and around the table with Isaac. I think its time to get you a little ride on of your own. Toni gave us this old one of tanners, but it doesnt even have a seat...not that you seem to mind!

You are still attracted to dirt and mud, thank goodness that its finally starting to warm up, and the puddles of mud have dissapeared. The other day you and Isaac were outside alone for five minutes and this was the result. Seriously I didnt know where to start, it was right through everything.

You have started to take a real interest in the couple of dolls you have as well. You try to feed them, and wrap them up and kiss them goodnight - its very cute to watch. Im still hoping Grandpa will make you a cradle (just like I had) for Christmas so you will have a special place for your 'babies' to sleep. More and more you are beginning to engage in pretend play with Isaac. You both love being dogs, crawling around on the ground chasing each other, tounges hanging out, panting like puppies. Tea parties are a regular occurance, and you were thrilled that we had some real water in the cups the other day - one of the advantages of the spring weather finally arriving. Ive done a couple of little photo shoots of you having a tea party with some of your great Nannas tea cups, it was lots of fun.

Your language skills are developing rapidly now. There are new words being mastered, and in between all of your gabbled conversations a distinguishable word will suddenly appear and take us by suprise. You say Mummy, Daddy, puppy, up, off, moolsh (milk), cup, cack (quack), hat a;; the time.

We got to catch up with Tracy, Chloe, Mia, Carina and Damon this month. Mia and Damon were born around the same time as you, and Mummy became friends with Tracy & Carina through an online parenting forum. All of our babies were due between the 15th-29th Feb 2008. There are a group of us who are still in regular contact, and these are the two that Ive had the pleasure of getting together with in real life.

On Nathans birthday and you loved helping to blow out the candles. You loved the cake even more!

Your bedroom is finally finished. I bound your quilt, and got all the finishing touches done. Its a really pretty room, and I was thrilled to have it featured on Spearmint Baby.
You really are a sweet little girl. You are quite clingy to Daddy and I at the moment though. If we go any where you spend most of the time climbing up my legs. You want to sit up in the lounge with us, but as soon as you get up there you want to hop back down again. You follow us around the house like a shadow, and like to be right in the middle of what ever we are doing. You have discovered how to open cupboards and are always getting cups and plates out, or your toothbrush out of the bathroom or putting things in the rubbish bin. If we growl you burst into tears. If someone takes something away that you want, you yell. If we try and give you something you dont want, you will either not take it, or throw it away. You love giving us kisses and cuddles, but love the power that comes with being able to shake your head and giggle cheekily if Mummy asks for a kiss and you dont want one. You frighten easily, and are not at all brave. You have woked out how to get safely up and down the stairs at Auntie Vics place, but cant manage the two steps down from Georgias cubby house. Now that daylight savings has started Ive been trying to push your dinner and bed time later so that you can eat with us. You no longer let me feed you with a spoon - either you do it yourself, or you flat out refuse to eat it. You prefer a plate of finger foods that you can pick up and eat yourself. You will usually still let me feed you your weetbix for breakfast - you still have three most mornings. You drink mostly water, although milk is your drink of choice at the moment. You love to run away naked when I have dried you after your bath, and you still kick and carry on nearly everytime I dress you. You love shoes - yours and everyone elses, we are always looking for one of our shoes that you have slipped on and left in some strange place around the house or yard. You like to push things around on the tiles - the noisier the better.

I love you so much my baby girl.

Mummy xxxx

my cake worked!

Here is my Apple & Oat cake recipe from today- mainly so I dont forget it, because according to the children, it absolutley delicious....which equates to, it is pretty much all gone already! Its loosely based on a couple of different apple cake recipes I found this morning. Ive had a go at making it a little healither than the usual butter and sugar filled versions.

Im always on the look out for some yummy treats that are remotely healthy - Im happy for this as an after school snack...might even manage to fill them up for a while!

Apple & Oat Cake

2 apples, peeled and chopped finely

1 cup sugar (could probably get away with 3/4 cup)

1 cup instant rolled oats

1 1/2 cups SR flour

3/4 cup extra light olive oil

2 eggs lightly beaten

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1. Mix all ingredients with a wooden spoon until combined. This is quite a dry mix.

2. Gently press the mixture into a greased and floured round cake tin

3. Bake at 180 degrees C (fan forced) for approx 45 - 50 min or until a skewer comes out clean.

4. Remove from tin and cool on a cake rack. Can be served warm or cold.

Wednesday 21 October 2009 | 1.30pm

As I walked through my house just now, this is what I could see.

I thought I would record some of the everyday life stuff - excuse the not so perfect photos, they really are just snapshots!

Apple & Oat cake, Chocolate muffins & scones that we baked this morning.

As much as I love the computer, it really is the one big distraction when Im trying to get things done.

A pile of stuff to re home after the big declutter of Isaacs room on the weekend, and a fishing rod that was being used to catch a baby sister earlier.

Thank goodness for the dishwasher!

Isaacs dump truck quarry which has kept him amused for the last week, and which I just packed up - I wonder how long before he notices?

I spend half my life sweeping up. I tend to leave the broom sitting here where I can grab it when ever I need - drives Craig crazy!

One of the joys of having little ones in the house - always toys laying around

One boy, sound asleep..and he still is!

With four males in the house, this is a sight I have had to get used to..and why is it so hard for anyone to put a new roll of toilet paper on?

and while Im wondering why?, kids dirty clothes on the floor - right next to the basket!

Another hazard of having a larger family - the amount of washing...its never ending!

One little girl, who has just woken up.

The beds are unmade, but in all, quite tidy for a change!

There is always a pile of clean washing waiting to be sorted and folded.

This end of kitchen bench tends to accumulate all sorts of things that shouldnt be there!

The coffee machine is all set and waiting for me to make my afternoon cuppa - I still havnt got back to do that!

A little man and some trains that I picked up this morning, sat on the shelf while I did something else, and still havnt put away yet.

"mummy.....Muummy..................MUUUUUUUUUUUUMYYYYYYYYY...................{I look over and smile}......BOO"

I think she is ready to get up now!

Bye!

One dolls quilt - finished

Its all ready to be packed up and sent off to its new home...I hope they like it. I will put some pics up of the completed quilt after opening day...and share what we recieved as well!

A few final sneak peeks...

My big kindy boy

Today was Isaacs first day of kindy - well pre entry anyway, one two hour session a week for the rest of the term. He had a great time, but as usual was less than co-operative when I wanted a 'nice' photo before we left home...

Jacintas room featured on Spearmint Baby

Im so excited......

Jacintas Room has been featured on Spearmint baby today
(my favourite source of nursery inspiration)

What a buzz! After all the time Ive spent lookng at all the gorgeous things they have on there, its a thrill to have finished her room and now be featured on there myself!

boys wear skirts too!

well OK - maybe only if they are three and are being bribed with a chocolate frog to put one on! I made this little skirt for Jazz today.

There is a sew along being hosted by Mel Goodsell on her blog, and there are so many gorgeous skirts being shown that I couldn't resist having a go.

The good news is, not only did I have a piece of suitable fabric, but I actually managed to do it - I didnt use a pattern, I just guessed and hoped for the best - it only took about 1/2 hour. The downside to my hoping for the best, was the guestimate of the sizing was a bit off. Its too small for Isaac (well for a little girl the same size as him), and too big for Jazz. I did think about putting a couple of straps on it and making it into a little top - might look cute with some denim cutoffs.

my diary, quilts and fishing

1. My 2009 Diary/Organiser - wow Ive been a bit overwhelmed with the response to this post. Obviously there is a real lack of practical diaries out there that cater for families with more than two kids. Im still recieving requests, a month after my original post, for a template of my diary. Im working on my 2010 version right now, and hope to have it done by the end of this month. I will post here when have finished a basic template that you can customise yourself - and worked out the easiest way to share it.

2. EBDQS3 - Im making progress on my dolls quilt. I have a tiny bit of the applique to finish, and then its ready to be sandwiched and quilted. Here is another sneak peek...

3. Jacintas quilt - lots of requests from my quilting friends to share some more detailed shots of Jacints cot quilt. They should enlarge when you click on them. I wanted it to have a modern feel to it, hence the simplicity of the design...but I also wanted it to be like a 'real' quilt which is why I had it machine quilted and did the binding by hand.

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4. Gone Fishing - I mentioned in my last post that Craig took the boys fishing in a friends dam on Sunday. Nathan was the only one to catch anything...his patience and perserverence paid off! Here he is with his redfin - we cooked it up and it tasted yummo.

anyone for tea?

Jacinta LOVES having tea parties.

Ive had a few ideas for some tea party photos running around in my head for a while now. Yesterday I got out a gorgeous vintage tea set that belonged to my Nanna and we went out in the paddock across the road - it was a lovely overcast day - until we got out there, and the sun kept peeking through the clouds and making my life difficult! Anyway (despite the crappy light) here is my favourite shot - it did not translate exactly from what I had in my mind...but considering whats in my mind is way more advanced than my skill level, Im happy to settle for this shot...

This afternoon Craig took the boys fishing for a few hours, while Jazz and I had a girly afternoon...with the camera of course. This little shoot started out with her fully clothed, but the only way to get her to sit there was to keep filling her cup up with water. Her attempts to drink the water resulted in one very wet little girl. We ditched the clothes and added a little bling - high tea, baby style!

And by the way, did any one see who took my little baby away and replaced her with this sweet little girl? Where is the time going?

Jacintas Room - its FINALLY finished!

It seems like so long ago that I started re-decorating Jacintas room, and Im thrilled that at 5pm tonight I finished hand stitching the binding on her quilt, made her cot up with it and finally got to stand back and take it all in! Here are lots of photos (click to enlarge them) of the finished room, along with the story of how it all came about - mainly just to record it all somewhere for when Jazz is older and wants to know all about it. Ive spent the last months checking out so many gorgeous rooms and ideas, especially those featured on Spearmint baby - there is so much inspiration out there.

Her room is quite small, only about 3m x 3m once the built in robe was installed. The room was created on a relatively small budget. The cot and change table are on loan from my best friend, the majority of the items in the room have been hand made by me, or have been gifts given to Jacinta. Ive tried to incorporate all my ideas with out the room feeling cluttered. I wanted a modern'ish', unclutterd yet cosy room, that was filled with love, history and memories, I was also mindful that it wont be too long until she will move from a cot to a bed. I think that most of the things in her room will grow with her in the years to come.

This is the view from the doorway. The gorgeous pink childrens sofa was from Kmart and was a gift from us for her first Christmas. The built in robes were made in the simplest profile available, and match the wall colour. I didnt want them to be a feature of the room. The tree mural is "love tree girl' from the hip infant and was a 1st birthday gift from Grandma & Grandpa.








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I wanted some sort of mobile in the room. I loved this one, but wanted to personalise it for her room. I used the shape of the birds from the wardrobe mural
to make these fabric birdies, and mounted the branch to the wall with 3M velcro mounting strips. The butterflys were hand cut from Michael Miller fabric paper and hung with invisible thread.

These frames are from Ikea. The top one has a strip of scrapbooking patterned paper down the centre, and metal butterfly is from a necklace I picked up second hand for $2. The middle frame has a hand cut felt initial and a piece of the gorgeous fabric that features in the cot quilt. The bottom frame has a vintage transfer of a deer in it. I picked a couple of sheets of these up secondhand - they are the same range that my mum used on our dolls cradles and wardrobes when we were babies.

Most of the toys are packed away (or laying around the house somewhere!) but there is a small basket of toys and some favourite books in the corner of her room.

The gorgeous fabric doll was a gift from Auntie Mandy, Uncle John, Jason and Rhiannon when Jazz was born - its her first dolly, so will always be a bit special.

The large fabric butterfly is from Tiger Tribe and was also from the Hip Infant. It was a 1st birthday gift from the boys. The smaller butterfly and the little one on the frame are handmade and were purchased as a Christmas gift at the local Christmas markets.

This collection of frames is a bit of an eclectic mix. I made the alphabet frame from patterned paper, fabric paper and a mix of chipboard letters which I painted all black. I really like the effect of combining the different fonts. The large picture on the left is by Belle & Boo and was a free download from the feed your soul project, as were the two top centre prints. The little bird mirror was bought from a favourite local gift shop one day when Craig took Jazz & I out for lunch. Above the mirror is a page taken from a little golden book that was mine as a child, a favourite photo and a couple of other artworks that I made complete the group. My plan is that this will be a changing display. I invivion that as she grows older it will display favoutrite things and her handmade artworks.

The centre fabric for this quilt was sourced from the US. It is a print from a Pottery Barn kids range called Penelope. Unfortunately it is not available in Australia, and it is also a discontinued range. From the first time I saw it on etsy, I just knew that I had to have it for Jacintas room. After weeks of searching on etsy and ebay, I finally found the most lovely seller that previously had some listed. Although she didnt have any left, she went out of her way to track some down for me and get it sent over. (Thanks so much McKinley, I really appreciate it...and now you finally get to see the results, took long enough didnt it LOL)

All of our cloth nappies and accessories are stored under the change table. I must confess that the top is usually covered in a pile of clothes and nappies waiting to be sorted, folded and put away. I prefer to change her on the floor anyway!

This set of prints were also made by me. THe little girl in the centre was based on a print from etsy that i loved. Unfortunately I saved it to a favourite folder, but have no idea who the origianl artist was. They are pen drawings whch were then coloured using water colour pencils. The birds above are chipboard covered in one of the quilt fabrics, and the heart garland is chipboard covered in some excess pieces from the mural on the wardrobe.

So there it is! A girly pink bedroom for my little princess. I love it, and more importantly she loves it. She loves all the birdies and loves blowing the butterflys to make them flutter, she went to sleep cuddled up under her new quilt, sucking her dummy, her little pink blankie held securely up near her face. Ahhhhhhhhhh I love this little girl so much!!!!