hoedown

We had a 9th birthday to celebrate, hoedown style. My eldest's little friend, Seisia. Seven little cowgirls scored an invite.

So naturally, there were lots of plaits, denim shorts and cowgirl hats to be seen...

 The party was held at my friend's farm, at Imbil. We had the company of a curious poddy calf, a tame little guy who came to check out the spilt popcorn...

There were hay bales, some classic rusting farm toys and a tall treehouse...

lots of presents...

disco balls hung in trees, karaoke and party games...

some amazing boots...

and a delicious marbled birthday cake, horseshoe shaped..

and of course, party bags.

Happy birthday, Seisia xoxoxoxo

8/52

Stella: all long limbs and brownness.. nice to see her recovered from her lethargy of last week

Ruby: always my cheeky monkey.. and still happy to pose for me..

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Joining in with Jodi, here

rock pools

Today was rainy. As it has been all weekend. My sister had come to visit with her daughter and it seemed as if we were going to miss out on a beach trip.

When you live at the beach, I guess you take it a bit for granted. I guess going for a walk in the rain can seem like too much hard work. But my sister insisted. She hadn't driven for 2 hours to sit in my lounge room and read the Saturday papers, so (groan groan) we got ready and went out. 

I didn't even put in my togs. Neither did PK. We donned raincoats and packed warm tops and set out for the National Park

As we walked along the track, the rain cleared. The umbrella came down and the girls skipped between the raindrops.

When we got to Tea Tree, it was starting to clear. My sis went straight in for a swim.

PK and the girls decided to explore the rock pools.

It was amazing. I forgot how perfectly formed the rock pools are, and how warm and fun they can be.

 The kids built dams, found crabs and squealed in delight as the waves came crashing in on their feet.

We all dipped into the water. Even those of us without our togs. 

And I was so so pleased that my sister had made us go

The girls had a great time. Right now they take it for granted, having close family around. I do keep telling them how lucky they are to have cousins to grow up with. This is such a special time in all of our lives. I am appreciating every moment.

with love

Happy Valentine's Day. 

Hope it was filled with love and laughter.

before work

We're a one car family. It's a conscious choice. It works for us in a number of ways. 

Firstly, it cuts down on household expenses.

Secondly, it encourages us to walk and appreciate the beauty of our surroundings.

Thirdly, it contributes to a more eco friendly way of life, and that makes me happy as we try to be aware of our impact on our environment.

When PK needs the car for the girls and I must away to work, I catch our local bus. It's early, it's quiet, and it goes via the river, which is so beautiful in the early morning.

When I bus it to work, I get off a stop early and walk slowly up to work via a sleepy, less used section of our busy tourist waterway.

It helps me come to terms with the fact I'll be spending at least ten hours indoors in a potentially frantic and stressful environment.

This particular stretch of the river is frequented by dodgy old houseboats and all kinds of bird life..

Ducks contemplate the quiet calm of the morning....

old boats and canoes are pulled up onto the beach....

glimpses of sun through the dappled shady foreshore...

It's a peaceful start to the day.

7/52

Ruby: post-it grumpy face. She loves mucking about.

Stella: pensive at the beach. Such a lovely morning for rock pools

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Joining in with Jodi, here

my knitted elephant

Since Christmas, I've been reading like crazy. It's been great to have a book on my bedside table again. For a while there, while the girls were small, there was no time for book-worming, and then, as they got older, it just seemed hard for me to concentrate for more than 5 minutes on anything that seemed a bit self indulgent.

Anyhow, lately I decided it's just so important for the girls to see me sitting down and enjoying reading. Especially as my eldest has now become so obsessed with it. So now it's become one of those beautiful things I can do with them. One of my favourite ever things is to curl up in bed with Stella while she reads her book and I read mine. I cannot describe the pure feeling of contentment that comes from spending that peaceful time with her..

Anyway... I digress...

I just finished a book when a great friend rang me to tell me he and his wife are expecting a baby. They just got married last year, and while he now has an eleven year-old stepdaughter he adores, this will be his first immersion into true babyhood. I felt so happy for him that I decided to pull out the knitting needles and see if I could produce a handmade toy...

And so my rainbow elephant grows. I don't know if my friend is having a boy or a girl (he doesn't know or he won't tell), but as I knit this elephant up, I'm realising just how much pink and purple is in this recycled wool of mine. No matter. 

I just need to complete the tusks, sew it together and stuff it. And then hopefully it will look something like this

We'll see... 

Hopefully I'll be posting the finished project before too long.. Baby is due in August, so I have plenty of time :-)

6/52

Stella: will always pick the smallest or weakest to love

Ruby: loves the ginger cat because it's the only ginger one..

(I'm happy both my children have kind hearts)

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

sew quick

last night I made a tote bag from a pattern I found on Pinterest. I've been looking for a birthday present for a friend of mine and had had no luck in finding something I thought she'd like. In the end I gave up out of frustration and decided to make her something; not too hard, that wouldn't take too long.

I have loads of remnant material and some really strange stuff my mum gave me when she recently moved house. I've got 4-odd metres of this weird shiny yellow fabric with a diamond stitch detail on it...which just happened to colour match this left over Japanese style fabric I bought to make into a dress for my daughter.

In a hour and and a half, I had this really cute tote bag which rolls up and is secured by a button and some elastic. The button just happened to go perfectly on top of the fabric girl's up-do, making her hairstyle look 3D. My girls were really impressed by this and spent ages perfecting the roll up technique.

My friend really liked it. She also loved that it was home-made, with love.... so a win-win :-)

forty-four

Today is my birthday..I'm 44 years old...

Yesterday the girls and I made and decorated cupcakes and today we ate them with coffee (me) and sparkling apple juice (them)

The heart one was made especially for me by my eldest. 

I'm very lucky.

5/52

Focusing on the eyes this week..

Stella...has the beautiful green-blue eyes with just a hint of hazel.. very similar to her older cousin..

Ruby.. the big baby blue eyes of her father, deep set with long dark eyelashes..

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."