Speaking of party games...

What's The Time, Mr Wolf?

...Dinner Time!

In between Pass the parcel (or 'Parcel the parcel' as I overheard one little girl call it!) and Musical Statues, I think this was the favourite game at a 3rd birthday party we went to, on the weekend. Good old fashioned fun, played over and over again;

Humpty Dumpty Game

We always celebrate 3rd birthdays with a Humpty Dumpty cake. For Elly's birthday party next weekend, I thought I'd make a little party game... it's not quite finished, but I'm working on a "Pin the bow tie on Humpty!". I am going to make a few different coloured bow ties, to make it easy to see who gets the closest!

It's painted on a piece of cardboard, ripped from a television box... I often go to Retravision to pick up huge empty cardboard boxes for the girls to play in and decorate. Sometimes the boxes are used for cubbies, boats, cars, side pieces torn off and used for surfboards, sleds or slippery dips. Another thing, the girls love being outside in the sun, painting them;

And it turns out, so do I!

However, it has been a long time since I did any painting, so poor Humpty is a bit wonky!

My First Quilt - Nearly Finished!

All rows joined together, batting and backing attached; I quilted it yesterday afternoon (when my husband took the girls for a swim in the pool - Thank you, Nick!) using the 'stitch in the ditch' method. The last task is the binding; I will buy the pre-made type tomorrow and hopefully finish it all before Elly's birthday on Tuesday!

Elly has been helping me with the quilt whenever she can - Not yet 3 years old, but always my willing helper - taking pins out, holding bits of fabric, testing out the quilt to see if it makes a good hiding place. It is just big enough to fit her toddler bed... so it will be hers and Livvie gets the next one. It's six months until her birthday and it will probably take me that long to get the motivation to start and finish another quilt!

We took the girls to Manly for a swim (in the sprinkling rain!) today and of course, a play in the fountains;

Livvie, the budding photographer, snapped this funny picture of us at the cafe before we left;

Look at Elly's little (chubby) face. She was standing up and her chin just reached the table top!

Then we popped into one of my favourite shops on the way home;

Pulp Creative Paper. I picked up some goodies for Elly's birthday party on the weekend. We are having family over for a little celebration and I can't resist making some cute little decorations. This is the best place to go for fancy paper and inspiration!

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This probably should go in another post, but I'll add it on here...

Friday was my first day at my new job and it went so well - I loved it! I came home happy and exhausted (in a good way). I spent the day with the most lovely teacher who took the time to explain everything to me. We were in the Junior classroom (6-12 years) and although we only had four students in the class that day (two were away sick), we were non-stop busy-busy-busy all day.

I knew the staff were the bend-over-backwards caring types when the first student arrived that morning. She was crying and in so much pain, due to her Scoliosis. She had cried all the way to school on the school bus, just heartbreaking. Every single staff member dropped what they were doing to go to her aid and I got my first lesson in using the hoist, to get her out of her wheelchair and onto a bed so she could lie on her side and take the pressure off her back.

Soon, the Junior students were arriving and after packing away their things for the day, getting them changed and settled, it was Circle Time. It was so interesting to see how the teacher interacts with and teaches children who are intellectually and physically disabled, some also being blind and deaf (to varying degrees) and one child who also has Autism.

With two children, we mainly communicated through the sense of touch. Certain signals for certain messages, hands places on their bodies to tell them what was happening. The other two children also had no verbal language but were able to communicate with us through clicks (the child would reach out to click a big button, which would have a pre-recorded sentence, which would speak for the child - if that makes sense?).

I was in awe of these amazing children (and their teacher) all day. Needless to say I learned so much and can't wait to go back...

Exciting News

[Random drawing of an Astronaut by Livvie, Age 4)

I can finally share my exciting news. No, I am not pregnant, despite the high hopes of both my daughters that twin baby girls will magically arrive on our doorstep!

No, I went for a job interview last week and... I got the job! I will be a Teacher's Aide (it's now called a 'School Learning Support Officer') at a local K-12 school for students with intellectual and physical disabilities. It will be casual/on-call to begin with, building to two regular, set days each week.

I am really excited... This is something I have always wanted to do - I often said to Nick that once the girls were older, I wanted to volunteer at a local school for deaf and blind children. Now it seems I have found the perfect {paid!} job, in my desired field, working with children, in school hours, close to home.

I had two telephone interviews, a face-to-face interview and a little tour of the school. It was amazing to see the students in their classes, all with very high support needs and all-but-one in a wheel chair, but all very, very inspiring.

My role will be to assist in classroom activities, school routines and the care and management of students with disabilities. I will help the teacher implement individual education programs and provide opportunities for students to develop personal, social, independent living and pre-vocational skills.

My first day is this Friday. I am happy and nervous and... hope I have what it takes! With the girls both at Pre-school now and me back at work, this is a new phase for our little family. So, this blog might be a little quiet for a bit, while we are settling in to a new routine, but...

I will definitely aim to finish my Quilt asap! I have come too far with it and believe me, I have now seen the irony of cutting up beautiful pieces of fabric into little pieces, only to have to sew them all back together again! [Next time, my squares will be BIG... I might just buy a bunch of fat quarters and sew them all together and avoid the cutting part entirely!]. But it has been fun and definitely very motivating to share a project like this.

I will also start updating our private family blog again, for those who are wanting to see the latest pics and news of the girls (ie. the girls' Grandmothers!).

They are both so funny right now, Elly scraping her knee and telling me she has 'Egg-ma' like her sister (that would be eczema). I now use my magnetic shopping list on the fridge to jot down all the funny things the girls say that I don't want to forget. It confuses my husband ('Where should I go to buy Egg-ma's?') but that's funny too! And there are just so many photos like this one, that I feel the need to share;

So funny!

It's going to a fun year...the last, before Livvie starts school.

I'll be back here soon, with my finished quilt...

{And for those who need it, let me know if you've lost the other blog address/access}

My First Quilt - Week 3

Well, my squares have been stitched together (all 120 of them!) to form the rows of my quilt and I think they look so lovely, hanging over the back of a chair!

Now, onto the job of sewing all the rows together...

Natasha has finished her quilt and I hope she will do the full reveal soon!

My First Quilt - Week 2

Progress is being made and all cutting is complete! For now, anyway...I still need to cut the backing fabric, batting and binding. I went with 4' squares, to make maximum use of my fat quarters and smaller strips of fabric. Then I had fun deciding which squares go where...

Now I'm halfway through sewing them all together. I think its amazing how you can go from a pile of prints... to something that almost resembles a quilt in only two short weeks!

Highlight of the week:

...definitely the impromptu Coffee Table Concert the girls performed for us!

We finally brought back our coffee table, after it's three year holiday in Hawaii (not really, it's been in the storage area of our pool room). I was always worried about the girls toddling near it when they were younger and potentially knocking a tooth out on one of the edges. Now look!

I had put on some relaxation music to wind-down before bed... but within minutes, the dress-up box was opened. There was lots of twirling and prancing around...

Funny how you relax about things with time... Here they were spinning around on top of it!

{It does make a great stage}

There was tippy-toes and a bit of bollywood...

And a good time was had by all...

[These funny little concerts are definitely one of the perks of having two rather dramatic little girls. They are definitely entertaining!]

My First Quilt - Week 2

What a week! It's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster (long story, more on that later)...

I haven't cut all my squares for my quilt as yet...maybe about 50% and while it is quite nice to get into a rhythm with it, I still have more to go. I really want to stick to our schedule. Natasha is doing so well and her quilt top already looks so fantastic! I must put my skates on and catch up. However, I have organised all my thread by colour and surely that counts for something?!?!

Now, I just need to follow this advice...

...And hopefully everything will come together and I might even have the quilt top finished this weekend {well, that's wishful thinking, maybe at least some rows stitched together!}

Livvie

Livvie had to make a poster about herself for Preschool. They have a new format for 'news' now, where they are given a project with a list of questions to explore and present to the class, any way they wish. This time the topic was, 'All about me', with questions such as Where do I live? Who do I live with? Who are my friends? What do I like to do at home?

Livvie chose all the photos, wrote all the headings, helped cut out the photos and drew a picture of herself (complete with al-foil princess crown). She also added drawings of a dinosaur (not sure why) and a vacuum cleaner... because she loves vacuuming the house for me!

Yesterday she stood in front of her class and in a big, loud voice, told them all about her favourite things to do at home... 'practice my hula-hoop tricks' was top of the list, as well as playing with goop and shaving cream, playing doctors and nurses with her sister, swimming with Daddy and doing sewing with Mummy.

This just melts my heart. I find it so amazing that the little baby I had four-and-a-half years ago can do all these wonderful things now!

Valentines Day

What a sweet day. Luckily, I remembered I had bought these little love birds in the post-Christmas sales (I was thinking ahead to Valentines Day, even back then!) which we hung on our front door;

Nick hadn't seen them before, so I was surprised when I opened the card he gave me and saw more love birds;

We had both bought each other Valentine's cards from the same shop (Kikki K), without knowing!

We were very excited to give the girls their presents too. We found something perfect for all of us, the day that Nick and I had our lunch date when the girls started Pre-school (that would be the 11th Jan... still thinking about Valentine's Day, even a month before!). We had it all nicely wrapped up by the lady at Wittards of Chelsea;

The girls were so excited!

Then we prepared a special dinner...

With love birds;

And lovely bunnies;

All from Bed, Bath N Table (The Easter range, but in Valentine's colours)

Last week, the girls made some tea-light holders / lanterns for the table;

I gave them glass jars, Japanese rice paper and glue and they did all the tearing and pasting. Look at the concentration!

So pretty with a bit of ribbon;

(We also made some little Valentines for our friends)

We started dinner with a creamy tomato soup...

And by the time they had finished the first course, they had already declared it 'The Best Dinner Ever!'. [It was Heinz Big Red tinned tomato soup! Best dinner ever!] I think that is so funny...

It was so nice to have candlelit dinner together as a family;

The girls were late to bed, as they wanted us to put on a puppet show with the birds and bunnies, which became more like a musical as the night wore on! Then it was time for us to relax;

We rarely ever have a dessert wine, so this was quite a treat and a nice surprise.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Party time

The girls went to a 4th Birthday Cupcake Party today and had a blast!

However... when we got home, my 4 yr old Livvie was playing with her glow-stick bracelet and it somehow cracked open and the gel flicked into her eye. She screamed and screamed (that really high-pitched scream... what a horrible, scary sound) so we immediately put her in the shower and tried to flush it out with water. Thank goodness my husband has good survival and First Aid skills, because my natural instinct isn't flight or fight, it's freeze!

When the screaming continued, I raced her to the hospital - after battling to put her seatbelt on for a good two minutes - it kept jamming every time I pulled it - 'You shouldn't try to pull it so fast, Mummy!' she giggled. Meanwhile, I was shaking and so scared - I am hopeless in emergencies!.... but we were seen immediately and spent the next hour flushing her eye out.

A nurse and I had the drip pouring over her eye (such fun), which we had to hold open for her (Oh, she loved that), while poor Livvie thrashed around and screamed some more...but eventually laughed because the water trickled down and soaked her from head to toe!

And the good news is she is fine now and her eye is ok. Still a little bit sore, but it should be fine.

Phew. What an ordeal! Yet another day in this parenting gig I would never want to repeat!

Belle Fleur

Valentines Day has started a little early in our house, with the arrival of this little box tonight!


Nick made a special visit to Belle Fleur today (he may have been politely asked ~ and then begged ~ to do this, whenever his work appointments take him across the Anzac Bridge!)

These are my favourite chocolates in the whole wide world! I know my chocolates... When we lived in Scotland, I was a member of The Chocolate Tasting Club and received a box of chocolates each month - a different selection each time, with a tasting menu and score card. It was so much fun. In fact, I have just ordered a catalogue from their website tonight...

Luckily Nick understands what a complete chocoholic I am {And I do always share... Although he does know he has to be quick, because they seem to disappear pretty fast!}. Here is the beautiful heart he gave me from Belle Fleur for Valentines Day 2008;

The heart box is made entirely from chocolate too!

One of the many reasons I love my husband (and belle fleur!).

Monsters in the Bushes!

With my daughter's 3rd birthday fast approaching and considering her current obsession with monsters (of all things!)... I could not resist buying this print for her from Rifle Paper Co. She will love having this on her bedroom wall AND her favourite colour is green! Perfect.

Rifle Paper Co has such beautiful cards, stationery, prints and invitations... My other favourite is the Francis the Bear Invitations. Adorable!

My First Quilt - Week 1

Week 1: Designs and fabric

My good friend Natasha from Mini Mocha and I have embarked on a quest to make a quilt each! We will be sharing our journey on our blogs and trying to keep each other motivated along the way. Making a quilt is something we have both always wanted to do, so we started this week. I have almost no experience in this (except for a very small Dolls Quilt) so I began by making up a very sketchy timetable for us (because I don't really know how long it will take to make a big quilt!) and this week's task was to choose our fabrics and the design of our quilt.

Here is a sneak peek at the fabric I have chosen;

I am mainly using fat quarters so have lots of colours and different designs; my quilt will be pretty mixy-matchy, but that's ok. I tried to incorporate my girls favourite colours, pink and green, and before I knew it, I had blue, brown, and cream in there as well! Do all these colours really go together? Who knows! We will find out soon enough!

(This might be why I have always put off making a quilt... it is so hard deciding on just a few colours, especially with my star sign being Libra, I keep changing my mind!)

Size: 60' x 60' - Baby Blanket size, however I envisage my quilt being used by the girls for picnics, tea parties, cubbies and cuddles.

Design: 12 rows, each with 12 squares measuring 5' x 5'. No border. Pre-made binding. Quilting technique to be decided on, but definitely not free-motion! Probably knots.

Natasha is making a beautiful single bed quilt in red, white and blue, which you can see here. I know it is early days, but I can't wait to see it when it is finished!

Next step... cutting!

[Oh! I just uploaded this post and noticed that my quilt colours are very similar to the colours on my blog header and border. How bizarre!]

Gift Cards

How cute are these little gift cards? Seeds to plant herbs, in tiny bottles attached with string... I love it. I bought these today from Grosgrain. Livvie has a little friend at Preschool whose family is building a new house, a few doors up the street from us. They move in later this month and I thought these little tags would be perfect to attach to a little house-warming present. Maybe some potted plants or something for the garden...

Sensory Tub - Rice

My girls always loved the sensory tubs at my college's Play Sessions last year, so when I saw a 5kg bag of rice for $5 when I was grocery shopping last night, I popped it in the trolley straight away.

Today it became the perfect little activity for Elly, who has been sick and is home from Preschool this week. She had her own ideas about what else she wanted to put in it - the sand and water wheel, funnels, her little dump truck, medicine measuring cups (such has been her experience these past few days) and my favourite, plastic eggs to fill up and then crack open!

It's not an activity I would recommend for those with an aversion to mess on the floor (I had to vacuum the whole house twice today! It gets dropped and then walked through to other rooms) but considering it kept her busy on and off for hours and hours, I would say it has a good fun-to-mess ratio. And it feels so nice to play with...

I found myself asking her to play it with me at times. Very relaxing (apart from the cleaning-up afterwards!).