Sewing, babies and Chocolate!!!!!!!!!

So I can finally add this picture. I finished this blanket for my newest neice, Mollie. I didnt want to put it up until I knew it had arrived!
Jessa decided to dress Charlie up in her pink fluffy head band - I dont think Charlie was quite as impressed with the handiwork as Jessa was! I took several photos and didnt get a single smile out of him. This totally unusual for him.

Everyone got in for a family photo, apart from Daniel who decided he wasnt in a photogenic mood that day. Still no smiles from the model - guess he just wasnt getting in touch with his feminine side that day.

Here is the choccy cake I made. It is a choc sponge filled with choc mousse and covered in choc fudge icing. I made it with my new cake tin. I got the tin to make my birthday cake in October but needed to practice so I took it to playgroup. Daniel said to me 'mum can you ask the adults not to eat it all so we can have some for afternoon tea please' There was indeed some left, apparently it was very good, despite my mixing the choc for the mousse at the wrong temperature and making it go lumpy. I have found out that apparently you can buy packet mix mousse and I am thinking this might be the way to go!

So much to do so little time..........

Well, what a busy week - but if you ask me what we did - I dont know if I could actually tell you it all!!
I have spent lots of time sorting out the kids bedrooms and moving clothes and sorting stuff to try and make their rooms easier for them to keep tidy (one can always have hope!) Jase is making up some shelves for the girls room and we need to get some storage boxes and then hopefully we will have some sort of order going on!

Last night we attempted to do the school quiz night and failed abysmally at answering most of the questions. But we did have a good time and a bit of a laugh. Infact sitting in the Rugby club drinking Speights (beer for the non NZers) brought back some rather fun memories!!!

This week I bit the bullet and had to admit my baby is growing up. My gorgeous, happy, snuggly little man is very near 6 months old now!!!!!!!! I decided I should get him the highchair out to eat his meals in. He likes sitting up and watching what is going on. Although he does seem to prefer sitting on my knee when everyone else is up to the table.




Jessa in her new skivvy from Grannie and her new top from Nana. We were heading out to music and movement.












Sammy brought me the camera earlier and asked me to take a picture. He always say 'CHEEEEESE' for me. I think he is just a bit of a cutie!

















Jase
The kids started to wash the truck yesterday so Jase and Sam finished it this morning. Sam had a great time and then got his wee bike out to drive through some puddles!

Laura had netball today so I took the opportunity to take a couple of pictures. The drew the game 4 all and were really close to a final winning goal when injury time was called and it was all over rover! She is playing really well and really enjoys it.

Just because I can

A bit of a show off now, this is our gorgeous nephew Lucas. His mum knitted him this lovely little jersey. Her very first project and I have to say I am impressed - it looks awesome. Of course the most adorable model to show it off too. Well done BJ!!

New Daks

Well there was great excitement the other morning when parcels from Grannie arrived. There was furious opening and trying on of new clothes. Here is some picture proof........

Well actually the first one isnt of any of the new clothes lol!! It was nearly time to go to school so I didnt change Charlie or Sam. But here is Charlie in his new top I got from a friend in Auckland who has her own label http://www.tigerandlily.co.nz she has the most awesome clothes and I reckon this one suits the wee man. The trousers are the ones Uncle Bruce and Auntie Hannah sent when he was born.

Lauras favourite item.............
Jessa who managed to wear her new clothes for over two days and not get them totally dirty!!!
Very groovy!!!

Sewing day today............

Well it has been the most horriblist, wettest coldest day we have had so far this year. So a day inside was in order. Lauras netball was cancelled so we didnt need to go anywhere. So I got the sewing machine out. I had someone ask me if I could make them a feeding pillow so I made that this morning.

Three of my boys enjoying some cuddle time.

Last night I finished Daniels Jersey that I did most of in Queenstown. Daniel didnt want to model it so Laura popped it on, it is a little small for her but a little big for Daniel. I really like it.
Jessa found this scrap of material after I finished the feeding pillow and asked me if I could make something for her with it. So I turned it into a sleeping bag for her baby, complete with little pink snaps down the side for easy access. I popped it next to her while she had her nap and she saw it when she woke up. Now pink baby is tucked in next to her for the night.
I finally made a start on the pajamas for the kids. I realised that I needed to preshrink my flannette so I dug out some small pieces of microfleece that I had left over in my stash and made some snuggly soft jammies for Jessa.
Modelled by the pretty girl herself - trousers a bit long and top a bit short but they seem to fit pretty comfortably and she is very happy with them. I even attempted to applique the bear on the top to make the matching - all I can say is it is a good job you cant see it close up!!!

Lots happening.......

Well updates have been a bit slow this week (and last!) We have been a house full of bugs, coughs and colds. Sammy has had an ear infection and then the other night he fell out of bed (about 5am) and hurt his neck so that required a trip to the doctors. Some pain relief and he was feeling much better. He seems fine now.

Last week was the area cross country. Four schools and a muddy paddock. Daniel did the fun run and really enjoyed it - he came 4th (although his sticker says second but I think they all got those!)
Laura had to run 1.2km, much to her disgust lol! She came second in the girls section and that meant she was through to central - 14 schools and cow poo filled paddock or two! She was even more disgusted lol. She ran it though and finished. She even stopped to help another girl who fell and hurt her ankle and then carried on to the finish so I was proud of her.

Daniel after the race.

Laura near the finish line
I think we need a bigger bath!!!!!!!!!
Charlie loving his first time in the jolly jumper.
A couple of weeks ago the kids entered a colouring competition at the local hardware store, Laura won 3rd prize and a 4L tin of Jelly beans - YUMMY!!!

The big Weekend Away

What a fantastic weekend we have had. Brenda, Helen and I tripped away to Queenstown for a gettaway. We took our scrapbooks and and I am pleased to report that I completed 8 pages for Daniels album. We also did lots of knitting, nattering and had the odd glass of wine. Of course we also managed to fit in a walk around the town and a spot of browsing in the shops. We found the most decadent chocolate shop, they make their own and have all the flavours that you can imagine. They also had the most delicious hot chocolate that I have ever tried! So if you are in Queenstown go to Patagonias. http://www.patagoniachocolates.com/ We also found the wee shop where they actually make the chocolates in Arrowtown and the smell is out of this world divine!

The other place that I found was The British Lolly Shop. I was very excited to find many wonders from my childhood and bought a couple of things in there. We did have to go back the next day though becuase I had eaten them and wanted more lol! http://www.thebritishlollyshop.com.au/t-queenstown.aspx

I managed to fit in a walk around Fernhill which was lovely. The weather was crisp and cool but very still. I really enjoyed it. I have found lots and lots of clothes that will look fantastic when I have lost lots of weight - so I will need a trip back up there to buy them all later in the year hehe. Although the $900 merino shawl might stay in the shop lol!!!!

It was great to have some one on one time with my gorgeous bubba Charlie. Lots of relaxation, laughs and chatter, just what the doctor ordered.

Here is the gorgeous view from the patio of the house we stayed in - cant get much better than that huh!

The knitting part.......
The gorgeous Charlie, just chilling out.......
Cuddles with nana...........

Pig Pig Pig

Look what we got............



10 little piggies! One for the freezer, one for the neighbours freezer and 8 little piggies for the market. Not sure what breed they are - but they look like they might have some Duroc in them. The neighbours got some mastitis milk given but had no where to keep the pigs, so we are going halvers in them. The kids were so excited when we got back from school and they were there. So we dug out some fruit scraps to go feed them.
Sam said "pig pig, ugh, ugh" which his his oink sound!

After pig feeding (there is now a Spotty, a Babe and a Jessa!) We went out into the paddock toget some carrots. There was a few parsnips and we even got some new potatoes!!! YUMMY.
The kids love picking stuff we have grown and they helped to plant.

Check out Jessas huge carrot - she was very excited about this one, even if she did get a little muddy pulling it out! (check out the knee) Daniel found a huge one too - they are really sweet to the taste too. We had homegrown carrots, swede and potatoes with homegrown beef topside stew and peas (they were from the vege stall) very satisfying.
In other news - the kids stall is now up and running and the other day they sold two swedes ( We think it might have been the neighbour) And today there were several bags of kindling gone and some horse poo. So in one week they now have the total of $24. They were so excited, there were lots of coins so they thought there was heaps of money there. It is really cool to see them reap the rewards to their efforts of collecting all the horse poo. (Dad helped with making the stall, chopping swedes and bagging the kindling) They are all set to collect more horse poo and kindling this weekend.

Which brings me onto the other exciting news - I am going away for the weekend and leaving the kids with Jase, I am so excited and looking forward to it. I am taking Charlie of course, he sort of needs me right now (although we did have to have a talk about biting the boob that feeds you the other day!) I have sorted all my scrapbooking stuff to take, my knitting is at the ready and I think I may even be able to sneak in a little bottle of wine! My sister in law and mother in law are coming too and we are going to Queenstown to stay in a friends house (thanks so much if you are reading this - it is awesome and just what we needed) Cant wait to update on what a great weekend we had!

School Disco

Friday night was the school disco. Much excitement has been happening in our house this week with the promise of dancing and fun - and a late night! The theme was pirates and princesses. So both the kids decided they wanted to be pirates. Daniel was easy as he got his pirate costume from uncle Bruce a couple of years ago. Laura took a bit more thought. She is wearing my boots and shirt with a cut down pair of her old trousers. The boots add about three inches to her height and I got a bit of a fright when she put them on - 8 going 18!!!! She asked if she could keep them - ahem NO!!!
Anyway when we got to the disco I realised that there was some of the younger kids there too plus a couple of Jessas wee friends. I felt mean because I thought it was just for the school kids and had told her she couldnt go. She was round at Nanas with dad. So I popped home and got her wee dress and then went around and asked if Cinderella wanted to go to the ball. The look on her face says it all. She was so excited she kept hugging and kissing me. She had a great time and partied on long after Daniel had fallen asleep in the corner! (well 9pm is late when you are little) We had lovely supper (which funnily enough Daniel woke up for) and then home to put some tired little people to bed.

Doing the limbo!

We have spent most of the weekend around at Armagh as Gina and the 'tussons' (cousins) were down for a couple of days. The kids had great fun all playing - nanas lounge looked like a toystore after an eathquake though!

We had potluck tea on Saturday which was yummy and Nana Dark came out for the night. Nana Dark is Jasons nana, she has 5 children, 22 grandchildren and I am not sure how many great grandchildren but I am guessing it is somewhere in the 50s or 60s! She is a lovely lady and I think she enjoyed seeing all of the great grandchildren in this part of her family.

Lochiel School Enviro Day

Well we have had a great day. We had a special day for preschoolers based around our Enviro school status. There was lots of activities for the wee kids to do and they had a ball.

Peter brought the horses around which were a huge crowd puller of course. Everyone wanted a ride. Lauras class did a homework project on the Cobb and Co coach so they had some questions to ask afterwards. Thanks Peter, you made the kids day.

Jessa enjoyed the activities - here she is decorating a pot in which she then planted a native seedling to grow at home. Not sure what she got but I know Daniels is a Kowhai!
Sam spent most of the morning in the coach with the horses or at the bubble blowing activity. There was a bubble machine and big bubble hoops which were very impressive.

So all in all a great day has been had, the kids enjoyed themselves immensely.

Sams new coat

Well I made Sam a new coat this week from my new pattern magazine. (check out http://www.ottobredesign.com/ ) I had some fleece that is windproof and too thick for normal stuff. It has made a lovely duffel coat. It is lined with dinosaur print cotton.
I am really pleased with it as my first 'real' item of clothing that I have made and Sam just loves it.


Jessa - I caught jessa in the bathroom using my electric toothbrush to clean her hands. Apparently just rubbing didnt work. Unfortunately she had been digging worms with Daniel so her hands were quite dirty!!! It makes me wonder how many other times she has used the motorised scrubbing brush!! Little ratbag.

The gorgeous Charlie and a word of warning...

We got an exersaucer for Charlie to try out this week. He loves being able to see what everyone is up to but gets a little tired with all the head control and stuff! The Toy Library is a great thing for borrowing things like this from.
He is 4months old now. I cant believe how quick it has gone. He is such a little person now but still oh so snuggly.

Playing with big brother
A word of warning - make sure you always supervise the 2 yr old while you are feeding the baby - I was feeding Charlie and Sam was in the kitchen (which I could see from where I was, I just wasnt looking!) when I glanced over I found Sam had the sunblock - he must have thought it was going to be a sunny day!

It was raining this morning as we drove past a field of deer. Jessa said they were Reindeer and I said no sweetie they are just deer. She said, but they are laying in the rain the must be raindeer!!!!

grrr computers

I was trying to put some photos on but I am having issues getting them to upload. I have just cleaned the computer out so maybe that will help.
The kids are back at school now and enjoying seeing their friends again. They have started netball and hockey practices too.
Jessa is stoked to be back at kindy again. It tires her out a bit too which is good for me lol!!!
Well I really havnt got much news, I just thought I should update for fear you may think I am getting slack!!!!
Oh I think I forgot to update how the weight watchers is going too. I lost 1.1kg last week and 400g this week. I was actually pleased with the lower loss because we went out for tea during the week and I managed to blow my diet with a huge creme brulee. But it was really yummy!!!
I am starting to notice my snug fitting clothes are getting a little looser now and I have more energy. Also I have noticed it is easier to sit down on the floor with the kids and roll around and stuff!! So it is all good.
Well that is all from me for now - have a nice day.

School Holidays - Week 2

Monday was a lovely clear, warm day with only a breath of wind. I got a heap of washing done and dried and we decided to get the bubble machine out. We had thousands of bubbles in the garden. Much fun was had catching, popping and even eating (!) bubbles!






Tuesday was spent pompom making, Laura made some with her friend the other day so all the kids wanted to try. Sam wasnt quite up to making them but enjoyed running round leaving trails of wool behind him! Then it was off to get some much needed haircuts.

And today we made playdough, each child (well apart from Charlie!) had a wee bowl and made thier own playdough. Sam tried eating the flour and the look on his face was priceless - apparently it didnt taste very nice! But they had fun with the finished product.
I did have a photo of them all but my computer appears to be sucking them out and putting them in funny places and I cant find that one.