I heart daisies

What a lucky girl I am!

The amazing cake lady A.K.A Lor Lor has been going from strength to strenght with her cake design. Here is a link to her blog (which I may have linked to once or twice before ;) ) . Her cakes are awesome!!

This makes me lucky in two ways, one I know Lor in real life! She just happens to be one of my favourite people! And two - she gives me birthday presents.

This year as part of my birthday gift I was given this!!!

Isn't it super super cute??

I love daisies. I think they are so cheerful and friendly looking. I think I also love how they look like flowers are supposed to look LOL it appeals to the child in me :-)

mmm crumbled cookie soil

look at them all smiling at us!

Happy happy happy!

Thanks Lor !

I am sure I will be even happier tonight, when I cut into the yummy chocolate cake goodness !

It's Christmas!!!!

Ok it's not really, I know, it is still 162 sleeps until the big guy comes ;-) .

It has however, been Christmas in July over at craftaholics anonymous where blogger Linda, organised a Christmas in July gift swap. It was so much fun! We all had to leave a comment and then send a handmade gift to the person who left a comment below yours.
I was so excited when a package arrived for me,all the way from the US! Inside , tucked into a lovely little organza bag, was the sweetest bracelet ever.

My photos don't do it justice! It is so pretty! needless to say  I am hopeless taking photos one handed!

Thank you again to Kylee who made this pretty gift and thanks to Linda for hosting such a fun event.

Ho Ho Ho

Bits and bobs

Another mish mash post I am afraid. I was going to split it into 3 or 4 posts for the next few days., But I know myself, I will be too lazy or forget   get too busy and the posts rolling around in my tired old head will never materialise and just disappear into the great blue yonder.

Celebrations!

On Saturday it was my Birthday! Yay!! I turned 29. I know some people struggle with the idea that their 20s are nearly over. For me? I can honestly say I will be relieved! I feel like I have been in my 30s since I was about 17 LOL so it will be nice to finally be there!
I had a super day filled with all of my favourite things. My family, my favourite foods and well I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the gifts :-)

Birthdays in our house always begin with the Birthday Boy/girl's choice of breakfast. I was given mine in bed! After a delicious long lie. Thanks Honey, I don't know how you kept K busy for so long so I could sleep and sleep :-) xx

I also got a lovely top and a home made Birthday cake. How awesome is this??

White chocolate sprinkles AND mini marshmallows!

Made by my 3 favourite people. They were all holed up in the kitchen the night before my big day. I could hear lots of excited chatter and the oven timer pinging. ( I had a small idea of what was going on, seeing as I had popped to the supermarket for a couple of last minute ingredients ;) lol)  at bedtime K was just bursting with excitement.

K - mummy I have a secret
me - Ooh tht sounds exciting, I can't wait to find out what it is!
K - I'll tell you
me - no no it's a secret
K (whispering) it's ok I'll just tell you a wee bit - it's pink on de outside and chocolate in de middle!

LOL

Make a wish Mummy!

My fab family all came for a BBQ to help me enjoy my day, everyone contributed to the huge spread and we had a great time. 
Thanks for cooking in the rain Murray! Why does it always rain on my birthday?


Much wine was drunk.......


by me and Beebs lol

The rest of my gifts will be in some posts to follow!


Returning to childhood

Another gift I received on my Birthday, was a copy of Charlottes web by E.B. White, from Beebs. This was one of my favourite books from when I was little. It was also on my list for the you've got mail reading challenge. I had mentioned to Fi that I wanted to get a copy of all the children's books on my list, so that I could read them to/with K when she is older. So I was so happy and touched that she remembered this conversation and bought me a copy.

I read it all in on Sunday night. I forgot how sweet it was and yes I cried. I felt just like I was 8 years old, all over again.

My saddest part,obviously, is when Charlotte dies. How sad to lose such a good friend. Their friendship lives on though as Wilbur carefully carries Charlotte's egg sac back to the barn after the County fair.

Wilbur had already decided how he would carry the egg sac - there was only one way possible. He carefully took the little bundle in his mouth and held it there on top  of his tongue. He remembered what Charlotte had told him- that the sac was waterproof and strong. It felt funny on his tongue and made him drool a bit. And of course he couldn't say anything.
But as he was being shoved into the crate, he looked up at Charlotte and gave her a wink. She knew he was saying goodbye in the only way he could. And she knew her children were safe.
"Good-bye!" she whispered. Then she summoned all her strength and waved one of her front legs at him.
She never moved again. Next day, as the ferris wheel was being taken apart and the race horses were being loaded into vans and the entertainers were packing up their belongings and driving away in their trailers Charlotte died. The fair grounds were soon deserted. The sheds and buildings were empty and forlorn. The infield was littered with bottles and trash. Nobody, of the hundreds of people that had visited the fair, knew that a grey spider had played the most important part of all. No one was with her when she died.

sob.


Summer fun

Yesterday it was a beautiful Summers day, I had 5 kids and so we decided our best course of action would be to head out and enjoy the sunshine. Luckily Granny and Beebs came along to keep me sane
 offer extra helping hands. We walked to the common and had a mini picnic. We were enjoying a great game of flying tail (imagine a baseball with a long neon coloured tail) , you throw it to each other and ot goes super fast and super high.

Well there is always someone who ruins the fun huh? I don't have the best history of playing outdoor games. When Fraser was only 3 I hit him in the face with a frisbee. He got a chipped tooth and a fatlip. Awesome Mummy.

Luckily no one was injured, but the flying tail did get stuck in a tree. Ok ok I accidently lodged Murrays Fi's favourite childhood game in the highest tree on the commonc

oops.

We had to call "the Dads" (my dad and father in law) to come and rescue us. They came armed with a ladder and a super long stick

success!!

I think I will be on the bench for a few years again though.

And Finally

Today. What a great inside kind of day it is. It is raining and windy and cold. The kids are still in their Pjs and we have done nothing but read books, watch tv and play with a paper dress up Barbie. I love it, these are my best kind of days, I am a winter girl and days like this in the summer remind me of everything I love about my favourite seasons.

I have this terrible sickness. As soon as July comes, I start thinking about Christmas time. I know, I know. I was relieved to find out that I am not alone in this! Cheryl from A pretty cool life is guest blogging, today, on a feature for Christmas in July  . I have also been involved in a Christmas in July gift exchamge, blog hop coming up soon to show off the gifts given and received :)

 So really, there must be other crazy people out there just like me!

This afternoon I have a little sewing planned. ( I will soon have pics of my kitchen to share yay!)

Maybe a cup of tea in my favourite mug

Definitely snuggling up on the couch with a quilt to watch some Mary Poppins

And enjoy this lovely view from my window

Happy Wednesday xx

Week one!

A quick round up of our holiday fun so far. I haven't been able to find the lead for my camera all week and I havent been able to upload. So here are the highlights.

Day 1

Fraser made pancakes, all by himself!

he did good huh?

K wanted to help, but Fraser wanted to see if he could do it all alone.

So we bathed babies instead

Then, later in the week, we got to cuddle the real deal

Scrumptious Joe!

An impromptu visit to the beach to look for shells and crabs

Check out the huge rock!!

On Thursday we were to collect Daddy from work, so we sneaked in a trip to the adventure playground at Camperdown park

the sun came out! .... a little

Alas, the rain returned on Friday. So we hunkered inside and made some salt dough

 

looking forward to painting these.

And this little guy!

Finally - seeing as it has been a while

Here's some Meatball love for ya!

Time flies

Fraser aged 4 1/2 in Primary 1.

Such a baby!!

And here he is all dressed up for his leaver's disco

So grown up!

where does it go??

Picnics

Nothing says summer like a picnic! I woke up this morning and the sun was shining. While in the shower I decided it was a great day for a picnic. I came downstairs and decided to do a blog post about picnics. While my photos were uploading I was checking my blogs, facebook, you know doing my thing, and I came across 2 amazing picnic stories/articles. So it really must be a picnic day!

The first was from Marth Stewart, who shows you how to make a picnic blanket into a picnic basket by using some sort of origami.

cool huh?? the link is here

And an article by Kelle Hampton about packing the perfect picnic. I am sure Kelle needs no introduction, but just in case, here is her amazing blog - enjoying the small things

I wonder if everyone has a picnic memory? Is it one of these universal childhood things that everyone has experienced?

For me a picnic was mostly something I enjoyed with my big sister. In the summer holidays we would grab any opportunity for a picnic. The ones I remember most vividly were when we would grab a blanket, or a towel and just lay it out on the grass. We would be wearing our Betty Boop swimming costumes, shorts and bright plastic sunglasses. Our food was just whatever we were having for lunch, but eating it outside on the grass made it taste so much better.

We would also sometimes pack a sandwich, crisps and a juice and head off out on our bikes for a "cycle run". We would find a nice spot to stop and enjoy our picnic.

We didn't even need sun! On rainy days we would have carpet picnics. I remember one where we drank sweet milky tea through straws on the floor of our caravan while on holiday, the rain pattering on the windows.

Perfect.

These photos were taken a couple of months ago. I took K and one of my minded kids along to a park. This particular park has the most amazing blossom trees in the spring and I had been looking forward to a picnic under the falling blossom.

oops we were 2 days too late

well we sort of got our wish lol the blossom was on the ground so we sort of got to eat our picnic amongst the blossom.

It was still a pretty perfect afternoon though

we ate teeny tiny sandwiches

and strawberries

and there was sunshine and polka dots.

And plenty of space to run and play.

And we even had bright coloured plastic sunglasses.

I hope my kids look back in years to come, maybe even sit at their kitchen tables and blog about our picnics, and remember them fondly.

Maybe Kirsten will remember the day when we ate our strawberries amongst the blossom.

so far so good

Well, the dreaded last day came. I cried. A lot.

Here is my boy, walking from his school, for the last time.

So now with the sadness behind me, we can move on to our summer of fun.

Starting with a night away for Mummy and Daddy (yay!) and a sleepover at Granny Mary and Grandad Jimmy's (aka Jimbo) house, for the kids.

We had us some summer fun!

Music

Outdoor table tennis and the green string you can see is the "badminton net" that Jimbo set up for Fraser and I.

 

My Dad has also made a golf hole in the middle of his grass , so they can play putting

A hole in one for Jimbo!!

All the while being serenaded by our wee star

And even in the summer , at Granny Mary's house, a cup of tea is never far away

Sunshine and family time

Perfect

linking up ( a little late) with

  

who is showing some beautiful carousel photos this week.