Meet Chirpy

Cute isn't she? I'm making more of a foray into the world of handmade toys for Beth... (as if I didn't have enough hobbies and interests already!)... I have always wished I was a better sew-er (I think I'd generously describe my skills at best as being a "basic & minimal"), so I guess the only way to get better is to practise... and so Chirpy was born... :) She's very small (fits in the palm of my hand) and I made her based on a tutorial found at Molly Chicken... I'm pretty pleased for a first attempt... It took me about an hour (including time rummaging through my fabric box looking for some scraps of fabric to use). I learnt some new techniques (french knots for the eyes, using ladder stitch to sew close an opening, sewing on lining), and the workmanship is still dodgy and it didn't help I didn't follow the instructions at the end that said to put the gap at the bottom near the birds legs (I ended up with an opening on the left side of the head... which explains the mis-shapen head)... but all in all, she's cute... and what's better, Beth loves her and likes to hold her and make her fly... :) I might have to put wings on the next one I attempt to make...

What could be more perfect...

than a refreshing homemade mango and yoghurt iceblock after some splashing in the wading pool on a hot summer's day?

I do believe I have Kryptonite hands...

This afternoon has been all about *mess* ... Beth did some painting this afternoon... and this is what happened... then I had to position her where there was some decent light so I could take a photo (flash had run out of batteries), so I was trying to stop her from swiping the walls/kitchen counter/floor with her very messy, paint covered, green hands! Then we had some water play in the backyard with the wading pool... lots of splashing... and she poured water all over me, but the mess that takes the cake for the day came after that...

I was making dinner, Beth was watching TV... I come into the lounge room to check on her and smell something whiffy... and then realise she's done a poo, has taken off her nappy, has sat on a cream coloured cushion (so there are now nice brown poo smear stained on it) and is standing in the middle of the lounge room watching TV, with her hands on her bottom... perfectly charming... messy... and so not what I wanted to be cleaning up... luckily, Phan was home at the time and he managed to clean up the slight poo stains on the rug... I chucked the cushion cover in the laundry to soak... finished off cooking dinner and then hauled my most disagreeable child into the bathroom to have shower to clean the poo-ey smell off her...(I'm sure she managed to get poo in her hair or something, 'cos she didn't smell that great)... she was all fresh as a daisy (although still disagreeable) after her shower...

So the moral of the story... put pants on child to stop them from ripping off the nappy. I'm about to recommence toilet training in a couple of weeks... we're off for a flying visit to Adelaide next week, so once we come back from that trip, I'm going to start it again... We've had bad ongoing constipation issues for about 2.5 months, which is why I put off the toilet training in the first place... but in the last 2.5 weeks it's been a lot better, and I think I can safely say, we have sorted them out now (it was related to hydration... Beth needs *a lot* of fluids to prevent constipation).

A Daily Ritual

Journalling Reads -
Oh my, you are little miss independent... You step up to the bathroom basin and think you can brush your teeth all by yourself now... (but I still have to give you a hand to make sure you do a proper job of cleaning your teeth!)

On a separate note, Sheye Rosemeyer created a special Christmas tree in memory of her beautiful Ava during the Christmas season and asked if people wanted to, they could send a little decoration in for the tree. Today she did a post on her blog with lots of photos of just some of the beautiful decorations she received in Ava's memory... (see here) there are just so many beautiful things there. I sent Sheye a little handmade pink felt star, beaded with little pink seed beads (rather dodgily, but with much love and thought)... and you can see it in her post today... it's the 9th row down... the pink star on the right... It's a bit funny, but I feel rather privileged to be able to have given something so small and simple in memory of a very special girl who I have never met, but who has changed my life profoundly. I also made a matching pink star for our Christmas tree, which we proudly hung on our tree at Christmas, so that we could also have a little bit of Ava's memory in our house... I have my own sentimental attachment to that star too... it will always have a special place in my heart...

My Little Gardening Fairy...

This afternoon, I finally got around to making Beth a tutu for dressing up in... (I'm sure it's only taken me about 9 or so months to get around to it!) I whipped it up in about 30 minutes... and it is possibly *the* dodgiest tutu around... I had no idea how annoying and hard it is to work with tulle! I couldn't sew a straight line to save myself! Not to mention, it doesn't really help having a 2 year old jumping and rolling around on the fabric whilst you're trying to cut it. Anyway... the result was a tutu, that Beth does enjoy wearing ("TUTU!" She says when I ask her what it is). She loved it so much she wanted to traipse around the garden in it and water her plants...

The Axis of Awesome

Phan has been listening to the radio station 97.3FM and last week they played a snippet of "The Axis of Awesome" which he found on the web tonight and got me to listen to... It's based on the premise that a lot of the hit songs on the charts are based on the same four chords... It's fascinating and quite amusing too... Check it out below -

Happy Valentines Day

Yes.. it's that mushy, soppy time of year again... We don't really do much for Valentine's anymore... we keep it low key... we're too old middle-aging... :)

Phan did get me these gorgeous potted orchids -


























And I did make us a lovely homemade dinner on Friday night (bbq-ed MSA grade steaks) and I got a piece of the best vanilla slice for us to share for dessert... yummy.

This morning, we had Valentine's Pancakes for breakfast -

























And I made Beth mini hearts (note the little hand at the top of the photo... she's diving in the help herself to them... :))

























Beth and I also gave Phan these homemade flowers for Valentine's Day (Beth's contribution are the paddle pop sticks with orange squiggles on them) -




And that second photo would be my husband who is a hottie... :) Tonight Phan went to a friend's wedding, being held at Q1 on the Gold Coast... I would have gone, but we had no babysitter, so Phan had to go by himself. Our friend Koh lent Phan a tux for the black tie event, and it was a perfect fit... I do think tuxes suit him... he looks so dapper... :)