Party Time

Before any good party, you have to have a power nap - especially on New Years Eve. The twins went down relatively easy today, but of course it was together - and they actually slept.

Then it was party time - over at a friends house a few families gathered for a beer and barbie and it was such a good night. The kids all played really well with each other, and we were left to chat about nothings. (and whether Kellie from Hi5 was pregnant or just got fat). We didn't quite manage to see the new year in there but had a great time.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas day was as always a fun, busy, filling and exhaustive day for all of us. We started at home opening Santa's presents and were lucky to have Grandfather staying to help. From there we headed to Nana and Popeye's where there was another exchange of presents followed by our traditional Christmas lunch.
It is nice to not have too many people as we have quite a small family, but to spend the Christmas season with those special people.
As you can see, the Ben 10 obsession continues, as Nana made him an authentic Alien Force jacket.
Paulie and I got together to make mum's outfit which we bought a couple of different t-tops, made a skirt, bought the funky red bag, black shoes and made her three different chilli inspired necklaces, a bracelet and earrings.
I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and spent it with family, friends and loved ones. I also hope Santa brought you exactly what you wanted.

Christmas Eve

The stocking were hung from the chimney with care, magic reindeer food scattered on the lawn and Santa's plate loaded with a biscuit and milk and I sat down to wrap. And what better way to do it than in front of the telly. No, it wasn't the carols or anything even remotely festive - much more important than that... the finale of Project Runway, my Wednesday night companion. Leanne was a deserving winner, and a nice end to a busy few weeks - Merry Christmas.

Start earlier next year

Today was the last delivery from my gift board and it was all worthwhile. Robyn got one of the green dresses when she came over for dinner (not what was planned, but enjoyable nonetheless)
I got them all done and they all seemed to fit. Even the bathers - which sadly I forgot to photograph on Friday, and now she has them I'm even less likely to get one with her in them! - were a good fit. Note to self to make more bathers as they aren't very hard and it avoids that awful changeroom!
The other big hit was the cream and black kaftan. I delivered that to work, and the work top got whipped off and replaced with this. It looked great over a white top and white pants. Yeah - just next year I vow to start sewing earlier.
Sadly no christmas cards got made, let alone sent this year and the business christmas presents will have to be new years gifts??

Just add water

1 large bucket + a little water+bubbles+paintbrushes = hours of fun for three boys.

Tis the season

December is SO the silly season. Most of the kids I know (or even have) have birthdays, there is the whole Christmas thing, and the big squirrels clients all want everything finished by Christmas. So as what is becoming some what of a Christmas tradition, he was working, and we went to a birthday/christmas party at Two Little Buttons, as it was button 2's 2nd birthday. He had a lovely day, as did my boys roaming around in the backyard ( I had lectured in the car on the way there that there was to be no swimming, and thankfully it wasn't an issue). The sun was out which was a rarity this summer and we hope he had a happy birthday. Sadly, as my hands were full of children, I have no photos of the day, I do have photos of the lovely gifts she gave us. Above are great picnic placemat rolls which the boys love. My favorites are the peg reindeers which were tied onto the magic reindeer food, to scatter on the lawn on christmas eve to help santa find your house. Because she wasn't already generous or busy enough, she also made cupcakes for all the kids to take home, which were decorated like reindeers, with pretzels for antlers. I dont have any photos of these either - because the boys devoured them in the car!!

Its a date

Today was a day the big squirrel told me to set aside for something special. He has been working so much lately that we have hardly seen each other and it has been hard work for both of us. Even though we were tired and he had to work in the morning, we were off on a date.

We got picked up and driven into the city to see Billy Elliot. Thankfully it was the matinee but it was great. We had time for yum cha before hand and a chat(!) then off into the dark for the afternoon watching some brilliant dancing. A lovely day which was over too soon. Thanks big squirrel for a lovely afternoon.

Fun sandwiches

Firstly, who thought sandwiches could be fun? Not me.
Who thought making them fun and cutting the crust off would make them eat said crust? Certainly not me. Let me elaborate.
I was out doing some Christmas shopping locally as I can't bare shopping centres from December 1 and I spied this great little product which had to come home with me. It is call the lunch punch and essentially is a sandwich cutter (like a cookie cutter) in jigsaw pieces. The other great thing is there are actually FOUR different sandwich sized shapes. This one in the photo is for two pieces, but the other ones cut into fours. The boys love them for sandwiches and fairy bread but I reckon they would make the best cookies - and you could play with them. I bought mine at Belinda Janes in Ashburton, but you can also go to their website - www.thelunchpunch.com. Just so you know, this is unsolicited - just a COOL product... and he ate the entire crust!

The party must go on...

"I'll go home now so we dont have two cars at your house" said my mum, yet she didn't know how ominous this was.
We had been busy planning christmas dinner as we were hosting my mums extended family. This is always done about a week before christmas and is a fun night. We had been busy preparing and the turkey was roasting. Mum had been a great help with preparations, and was coming back with Dad. It was when I was in the front room getting changed when I heard the bang and instinctively knew it was them.
Half dresses, I raced outside to find Mum and Dad trapped still in the car, but very luckily they were ok. They had been rear-ended as they were stationery waiting to turn right into our driveway. They were pushed into two lanes of oncoming traffic, but thankfully the oncoming driver saw the whole thing and safely slowed down. These lovely people stopped and rang for all of the emergency services who were all so lovely and helpful.

It was only an accident and thankfully no one except this little white car, were really injured. Mum went to hospital to get her neck checked out and Dad went with her, all while our guests were arriving.

Dinner was later than anticipated, but the turkey didn't burn and all the kids were good. Mum and Dad were back for presents and dessert and the party went on..

Last day of Kinder

My little boy is growing up fast. Today was the last day of kinder and I even got a bit teary. Maybe it was the late night making peg decorations for all the kinder group!
(the tshirt he is wearing is the boys shirt I did back in september for the little boys for christmas - the stencil is modified from ottobre and I added the bead to make it rudolf.)

Who needs a doll?

Party time

After a few days of endless rain the clouds cleared, and we had a casual little BBQ for the twins birtday. Before you know it the yard was full of kids and they were off. They were all really good too.Benji the birthday boy
Spencer - the birthday boy

And blowing out their candles - of course on separate cakes, a chocolate one for Benji and a white chocolate and rasberry for Spence.

And a big thanks to grandfather and popeye to managing the BBQ.

More sewing presents

The machine has been busy - firstly another birthday present. For a Cars themed birthday we made a personalised library bag and lined a wooden box with metalic contact. This got a bit of stationery in it too. Another dress off the list - the light blue is a lining fabric and top dress is quite sheer, my standard DKNY dress. Below is a bag for my sister-in-law who has a love for dolphins and whales and this is a replacement for her beloved green bag.n (a kwik sew pattern)

Finally another drawstring bag/backpack for a cousin. She is on the move so it was filled with personalised stationary.

First steps to space

For Alexander's fifth birthday, we are planning a space party. As he has a January birthday, he doesn't get to spend it at school - so we had to get the invites out to his kinder friends before term finishes- another pre-christmas job!

Cardboard cut outs and glitter - but then we needed a photo....a bit of crayon on the window...

And the final product. We decided to laminate them to stop the glitter going everywhere. I kept seeing little bits on my face.

Aussie Boy

Dashing through the bush

In a rusty Holden ute

Kicking up the dust

Esky in the boot

Kelpie by my side

Singing Christmas songs

Its summer time and I am in

my singlet shorts and thongs oh

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,

Jingle all the way

Christmas in Australia on a

scorching summers day - phew

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Christmas time is beaut

Oh what fun it is to ride

in a rusty holden ute!

A busy day today - (with 2 long posts!) Alexander had his Christmas concert at kinder - where he was an aussie boy. Tragically authentic outfit drawn purely from existing items!

He also 'acted" in the play of Wombat Divine as a wombat.

After the concert, we got a bag of goodies which proves they have been very very busy at kinder of late.

Birthday Boys

Happy Birthday to Benji and Spencer. It was two years ago today that you were born - a much more pleasant visit to Monash Medical Centre than our recent one! I can't believe you have ony been in our lives for two years - it seems like you have always been here. I do remember thinking how we were going to cope with two new additions to our family, and now I wonder how we would ever live without you. While our lives are always busy, most of the time it is always fun.

Spencer is a sensitive and loving little boy. He loves hugs and kisses and his deep chesty laugh always makes me giggle. He is getting chattier and I can't wait to have real conversations with himu, as you are always watching and taking things in. If your current interests shape your future, I imagine we will have lots of chats about footy, soccer and any sport involving a ball!

Benji is a cheeky little man, who will fake being asleep if he thinks he is going to get into trouble. Always the first out of bed, and into Spencers, he has a twinkle in his eye that lets me know he is concocting a plan! He is always up to something and loves being around people. He is always making sure that everyone else is ok. I love the way his smile takes over your whole face, but I can live without the tanties! You are both such individuals and such little sweeties.

We had our usual birthday morning presents in our bed - which is already getting squishy. My plan of colour coding worked fairly well - just Dad is a bit slow on the uptake. Benji's gifts are wrapped in blue and Spencer's in red (I have green of the same paper for Xander) and those gifts to share are half and half. Alexander helped make drawstring bags for the boys to carry their trains in, and he made paper to wrap them in. I think it is very important to get the kids involved in giving as well as receiving, however as I was going to sleep last night, I thought maybe the twins need to give each other something - as they are brothers too? Another dilema to overcome!

We had Mum, Dad and Paul over for dinner and Spencer's eyes have gone down significantly since this morning which is great. They got a train set which was enjoyed by all. A lovely end to a lovely day.

(This may just be the christmas photo- cropped the cake out and include more tree (sans decorations) but not so keen about being in it!!!)

Health Update

The anti-hystermine worked and the swelling started to reduce. The pharmacist told me it would take a few days to totally go away. We are off to OUR GP to do a double check, but we don't know what bit him or when. The biggest problem was that he wasn't in any pain or showing any signs of discomfort at all. When he looked SO awful and acted so normally it is hard to grasp. Thanks for your concern - we are all doing better today.

Not a pleasant visit

So I was updating my blog yesterday when the boys woke from a long nap. Benji was happy and normal. Spencer seemed fine however when I looked at him my heart started racing. Somehow his head had swollen and the left side of his forehead was significantly. I had no idea what had caused it, but he could walk, talk and didn't seem to be in any pain. As I was home by myself late on a Saturday afternoon, I called the ambulance and started to get the boys ready to leave. Of course mobiles being as they are - the big squirrel wasn't answering his but I got on to my parents and they were heading over to look after the kids. There is only room for one extra child in an ambulance, not two.

While Alexander was in a panic and trying to calm him down, the paramedic talked through Spencer's symptoms and suggested we did not need the ambulance rather a GP on call or a clinic visit. I was anxious to find out the cause - now a suspected insect bite - so we went to a local 24 hour clinic. The big squirrel and I sat with Spence for an hour, and paid an additional $35 to see a "GP". I have never felt so insulted in my life - Spencer looked like the elephant man, and while we were concerned - we were not irrational. It was however Saturday night and I didn't want to end up in emergency... I asked him lots of questions and he said to us "is this all you are concerned about - this bump?" He offered no treatment - not even to suggest an icepack and sent us on our way. I was not really happy with that, but thought if he is that blase we must really be warped.

Back at home he ate his dinner, and while he was a little more sedate than usual - nothing of note - but the swelling appeared to be getting worse. I called nurse on call (who know me quite well now) and they are a fabulous service. They talk through the symptoms and suggest what may occur and what to do if that does happen. She suggested an antihystemine (sp??) would reduce the swelling and stop any inflamation of his throat. The GP had not mentioned anything of the sort. Of course when I got to the chemist they had just shut - albeit a couple of minutes early.

So we soldiered on, following the advice to check on him overnight. When we woke him he could not open his left eye for swelling. So we had to call the ambulance.

They came quickly and quietly (not disturbing the other sleeping beauties) and we were off for a ride. That is pretty scary but he coped well. At monash we were seen quickly and put into a cubicle. The doctors, nurses and other staff were fantastic. My fears seemed justified when the paramedics suggested he go to hospital where he was given antihystemine - which we now have on hand! We were discharged around 1:20 am and the taxi came around 3:15. So we have a groggy swollen boy and two tired but very thankful parents.

Another try

We were up early today, as is sadly becoming the norm around here. The boys were still tired but sitting up on the couch together I thought I would give the photo another try. Ticks a few boxes but I dont think the shortie jammies are what they want sent out to our friends and family. It may not be a problem now but in the future........
The other outing of the day was to Darn Cheap Fabrics. I don' t know if it is just because they have such great bargains, but I always come home with so much stuff. There is some serious sewing required!

this was all $2 a meter with the exception of the denim which is for my aprons as drawstring bags. Everything is 15o wide. If we work clockwise from the top left - the fawn is a stretch which I am going to make all the boys pants. The black is a crushed jersy which is earmarked for a top and skirt for me. The stripe is a nice 2 way knit which may be a dress- not sure yet - may end up in the pile. The green and fawn is a stretch poplin for shirts for the twins. The grey dots is a sheer mesh which I think will be a top, again not really sure - but it was all darn cheap and had to come home with me. Lucky when they do go to sleep it is for a few hours so I can be at the machine!!

More Photos...

There are quite a lot of people that we are only in contact with at christmas time. This is sad I know, but at this time I like to send a photo of the boys. They grow so quickly that it gives people an indication of what we are dealing with.

So, the challenge is trying to get a photograph of three children all together, all looking in the same direction, all smiling and all looking presentable. This combination remains elusive to me. Today the twins were riding their taxi bike together so I grabbed the camera. Alexander is easier to get into a picture as at almost 5 he is directable. There was nice light and it was on.

The problem was they were facing the wrong way, and everywhere I looked the background was so junky it was depressing. Mum tried to help me, but ended up distracting them. We this is the best we got!
Then as she left we got this one on the front porch. They are together and looking and somewhat smiling, but cant say they tick the presentable box for me. Oh I forgot, I actually want a christmas theme too, but today that was too much to ask!!