At my house.....

Well, I can say I survived my first week of solo parenting. I can also admit it is not easy. It is exhausting. It was a challenging week. There were a few moments where I doubted my sanity. There were more moments where I questioned what the heck have we got ourselves into. Chris is now in Hong Kong, having started his new job last week. The role he has taken needed to be filled as soon as possible, so he has gone over first. We don't know when the girls and I will move over - there is still so much to do here, with packing and sorting, and just the everyday running of our house. It is not ideal being apart as a family, we all miss him so much.

And there is this silly thing called Christmas happening soon. I am busy making some little thank you presents for Abbey's kinder teachers and our lovely librarians who host story time every week - almost finished.

I am happy to say my Christmas shopping is finished - but I still have some Christmas present making to do.

At our house this week, there is lots of pretend play. Abbey has been making amazing picnic's. Zoe has started walking. Abbey has been helping me with the hoovering. I am loving online supermarket shopping - delivered to my kitchen table.

I am trying to be positive that we CAN do this. Thank goodness for modern technology, Chris was on skype yesterday chatting to the girls, reading them some books (long distance baby sitting!) while I cooked dinner. It felt like he was almost here with us.

I want to say thank you to my lovely friends and family who have been checking up on us all week. A special thank you to Nell who cooked us a yummy dinner on Friday night, and cracked open a bottle of pink champagne - I so needed that drink!

Lou is hosting At my house, do pay her a visit.

Have a lovely week.

Cat.

At my house.....

At my house this week, I really don't know what Abbey was doing to her daddy. He was very still and patient while she decorated him with mega and jenga blocks. There was a BIG mess on the floor after he (finally!) got up, but she did tidy the mess up, so I was happy.

At my house this week, Abbey has been playing "Office". She is the officer (as she puts it) and goes off to work. Here is her desk, with tissue box computer screens, an egg carton keyboard (and a real one) her Tinkerbell phone, tea cup, pens and paper and Tinky Winky sits next to her. He does not say much.

This week, Abbey was also playing at being the "door inspector", again, her idea (where do these ideas come from?) We were counting how many doors we had in our house, and she came up to me and quietly asked "What is an inspector?". It was very hard not to giggle.

At my house, Zoe has been fascinated by my Cherry Doc's. It was so cold and wet for much of this week, I had to wear my Cherry's to keep my feet dry and warm.

The beer monster appears to have returned too....

Pop in and see Lou and visit some other houses this week.

Today is the last day to enter into my Paddington Bear give away. I'll draw the winner tonight.

Have a lovely week.

Cat

At my house.....

Another quiet week at our house, still some runny noses and sore throats, but slowly getting better - we hope.

This week at our house has been all about pretend play. Abbey playing Cinderella, dressing up as daddy in his home made tie and wearing his work back pack (no photo of this) and quite a few tea parties.

For over 12 months we have been talking about the dummy fairy visiting. This week the dummy fairy finally visited, and magicked away the last few of Abbey's dummies. The dummy fairy was very sweet, and left a little note covered in fairy dust, saying thank you. The deal was when the dummies went, Abbey could get a Ken doll so he could marry her barbie doll. So off to the shops we went to choose a Ken doll - do you think we could find one? No! All we could find was a Barbie Rapunzel and Flynn Rider boxed together - so she got her "boy" barbie and an extra girl one (Rapunzel) - not a bad deal (for Abbey)

The first two nights with no dummy were fine, but the last 3 have been quite awful, with lots of playing up. She told me this morning that she misses the dummy. But the dummy fairy has them now, so there is no turning back.....wish us luck for tonight.

I best be off and peg out some more washing, while the sun is shining.

Please leave a comment here if you want to win one of my hand made Paddington Bear baby rattles.

Visit Lou's house for lots more fun.

Have a lovely week.

Cat

At my house.....

There has been lots going on here now we are all feeling much better. And the sunshine we have had in Melbourne - it has been glorious! Winter finally feels over, and you can tell summer is on it's way soon.

This week Zoe had her first bounce (more like a crawl) on the trampoline. Abbey got to practice her forward rolls (somersaults) at the same time. The girls are really starting to play together now, it is so lovely to watch.

The last few weeks they have both been getting really cranky around 4.30pm each day (the witching hour I call it) It is the time when I am very tired, and we are all getting hungry and I need to be cooking dinner - so this week I have given in and let them play in the plastic container cupboard in the kitchen. It has kept them entertained long enough for me to cook dinner, but it does create extra mess. Maybe I need to make packing them all up a game?

Another day this week Abbey helped me with washing the dishes. She happily played for 45 minutes, washing all the plastics, and making us some bubble soup.

Did you know dinosaurs also like to wear hair bobbles? Well, ours do!

This week I have lost count of how many times we have played "pairs". Abbey is really good at it. Further proof my memory is shot and I really need some more sleep.

More evidence that some days I can't leave the room (even to go to the toilet!) Two little girls unsupervised for a few minutes created this mess. I guess it could have been worse.

Today, there is still a mermaid in the house.

Visit Lou for more fun.

Have a great week.

Cat.

At my house.....

We have had a very quiet week. Two little girls had runny noses (one of them was also cutting two new teeth), and one big girl (me!) sick with a razor blade sore throat, aching ears, cold flushes and just general aching all over. It really is no fun looking after kids when you are sick, especially when your husband is away for two days and one night on a work trip. We seemed to live in our pj's for most of the week (which was fun)

I am almost better, but the little girls still have runny noses.

Today we have had the most lovely day. My dear friend Ruth who I have known since primary school is visiting Australia. We have been friends for 27 years.

Ruth lives in South America now, after many years in London. Chris and I met through Ruth and her husband, and she was bridesmaid at our wedding. Cupcake Nell and her two kiddies came over too, and we had the most lovely time catching up, drinking tea, eating chicken and avocado rolls and chocolate brownie slice.

On the weekend we made these hand print art works. One hand print from each of us on a page, a different colour each. Blue for daddy, purple for me, pink for Abbey and red for Zoe. It was quite difficult getting a good hand print from Zoe, she wanted to eat the paint.

Join in, and visit Lou to see what other peeps are doing this week.

Visit Kasia and see what other kiddie crafts peeps are doing this week.

Have a lovely week.

Cat.

My Creative Space

My favourite oppy recently yielded this gem. At first I thought it was a single bed sheet, but it really is an actual piece of novelty Paddington Bear fabric. It has been ripped and sewn up in weird places, but it is almost one metre of fabric.

I knew straight away I had to make some baby rattles.

I have used polyester polyfill for these two, but I am thinking of trying this new Inner Green stuffing I have just heard about. Has anyone tried it and can offer an opinion? Or offer an opinion on any other more natural toy stuffing I can use in these and my rattle cubes (has to be washable and baby friendly)

Kirsty is back from holidays, many lovely creative spaces over at Kootoyou.

Happy Thursday to you.

Cat

At my house.....

We have been making silly aliens, thanks to Kris' funny faces printables.

Abbey took the photo below, of my aliens.

This one below was Abbey's first page of aliens.

And Abbey taking another photo of my aliens.

Otherwise, not much happening at my house. There are a few runny noses and sore throats, so we are taking it easy. Even better, it is the school holidays, so no running around for kinder, story time at the library or gymnastics.

Pop in and visit Lou for more.

Have a great week.

Cat.

At my house.....

Zoe's birthday week is officially over. I still can't believe she is one. The last year has flown past so quickly.....

This week I will finish clearing and cleaning up from her afternoon tea party. Not that there is much to do actually, I have just been going very slowly.

Zoe has been helping me to hang out the washing, kind of....

Abbey has been making what she calls amazing inventions, by raiding the kitchen draws...

Doctor Abbey has been attending to a sick Dotty doll.

Last week my mum and I took my Grandma over to see her little sister, my Great Auntie, the girls Great, Great Auntie. Grandma and her sister talk on the phone every week, but don't get to see each other very often anymore. It is always lovely to see them together, they have been sisters for almost 80 years now, quite impressive. I love visiting as my Great Auntie always makes the most amazing egg sandwiches. They taste so good as she uses the eggs from her own chickens. This visit she made us a passion fruit sponge cake. I don't normally eat, or like, many cakes, but I am so glad that I tried this cake, as it was AMAZING! Look how yellow it is, she made this with her own chicken's eggs too. She also gave me her sponge cake recipe. One day, when I am feeling brave, I'll give it a try.

The bad news about this visit was that Zoe came home wheezing. My Auntie has two long haired cats, and Zoe was crawling all over the house, chasing one of the cats. Being allergic to cats runs in both my family and Chris's family. I am in denial, for now, I so don't want her to be allergic as some dear friends we know also have cats. Not that I have any control over this. Poor Zoe.

Pop over and visit Lou for more fun.

Have a great week. Cat.

At my house.....

We have had a lovely weekend. A very wet weekend in Melbourne, but we managed to stay dry. Whenever I have the camera out lately, Abbey insists on taking some photos. Some are not so good, but these ones turned out. I am really happy with these ones (even if I am in them! hehe)

This week I intend to do some gardening. This is (a section of) our front garden - all weeds. All the rain we have had in Melbourne lately has made the weeds spread. The soil is so wet, at least they are coming out really easily.

My head is still spinning that Zoe turns one this week. I will be busy finishing off this doll I am making for her.

Have a lovely week. Visit Lou for more.

Cat

At my house.....

At my house this week, Abbey discovered my button jars (for the very first time) She had lots of fun going through them, and I am sure there will be more button exploration going on around here now.

What do you say when a 4 year old wants to wash the dishes for you? You say go for it! (I washed all the fragiles, bulky items and knives, and left her all the plastic to do) Yes, the floor was rather wet afterwards, but she had so much fun. My favourite part was when she asked me "is this splash-you-la clean?", meaning spatula. Too cute.

Chris and Abbey had a guitar jamming session. There was some lovely music played and some silly songs made up. Oh, and Barbie joined in too, not sure what her contribution was (Abbey's guitar is really a pink ukulele)

This is the way Zoe started out playing (tasting the) guitar:

But in the end, she got the hang of it.

There is some secret Father's day arts and crafts going on this week. Don't tell Chris/daddy!

This week, I better finish planning for Zoe's birthday - my baby turns ONE next week. How did that happen so quickly? A very casual afternoon tea we are having, with a (vague) lady bug theme.

Tonight I am off out for a coffee and chat (and cake/pudding - maybe?) with my bestie, after all our kids are in bed. No children to interrupt our conversations - we may finish a few, for a change!

Visit Lou for more.

Have a great week :)

Cat

At my house.....

The last week has been tough. Chris was sick for 4 days, with some awful diarrhea bug, so he spent most of it in bed or running to the toilet. Luckily, no one else caught it and he is better now :) During these same 4 days, Zoe cut 2 new teeth, and was very unsettled and cranky overall (as you would be, cutting new teeth)

Him being out of action for 4 days made me realise he does help a lot around the house - especially with Abbey. She really missed him when he was sick. At the end of each day, I was shattered.

I am exhausted now. It may take all week to feel human again, I can see lots of Nana naps for me.

I got to take Abbey to her gymnastics class on Saturday morning as Chris was still recovering. I loved seeing her, a different Abbey, participating in class. I was so proud with her behaviour - she listens to her teacher, waits her turn, asks questions politely, and asks for help if she needs it. If only she was like this for me!

Zoe has been helping unpack the shopping.

We made pikelets. Again. This recipe is the best (we leave out the blueberries, and I use 1 cup of wholemeal SR flour, 1 cup SR flour) Abbey asks for them at least once a week, not that I make them that often.

Abbey has been dressing up the wombat.

And we had a busy weekend.

This post has seriously taken me 4 hours to write in between making lunch, a walk to the park and being referee to 2 little girls not sharing toys (read as: baby taking big sisters toys left lying around, and big sister not liking this)

Have a great week peeps, Cat

At my house...

I am enjoying my new shoes. I just love them. They match perfectly with my favourite skirt.

We are having a quiet week, still recovering from two birthday parties on the weekend. The third birthday party at least is on next weekend.

Have you read Lou's honest post about not being a superwoman? I agree with all she says, I try to do so much, but something has to give. This week my house is rather messy as last week every spare second was spent making birthday presents. I enjoyed making all the presents, and I would rather be sewing and making things than washing and cleaning, but my family needs to be fed. Now I feel guilty that I have spent no time on any sewing for my Raspberry Rainbow shop. It is a constant balancing act. At the end of the day though, I am grateful my life is so full.

Because I am no superwoman, I am combining two posts into one (again) Here are a few photo's of the last few presents I made for the little birthday people (for last weekend)

Abbey and I had a few joint crafting sessions in the last few weeks, and Abbey designed this bag for Miss turning 5. Abbey made some of the flower templates, and she chose all of the felt colours to use. I helped with the rest.

We got the idea from this great book, called "Fairy things to stitch and Sew". The book has some fantastic ideas in it, I know we will be making many more things from it in the future.

Little Miss turning 5 is the daughter of one of my nearest and dearest friends. I wanted to make her some thing special from me, so I made this skirt. I have made lots of skirts, but I have never decorated one like this before. I am really pleased how it turned out, I'll be making some for Abbey and Zoe for this summer now, with different fabric combinations.

I also made a few matching yo-yo hair clips.

Abbey has been having fun with a helium balloon she got at one of the birthday parties. Chris and I have had an interesting time trying to explain to her what helium and gas is.

Now I am off to finish making the last few birthday presents and try to tidy, and maybe even clean, our house. But I better get dressed first, and finish my breakfast, and read a few blogs.......

Visit Lou for more.

Have a great week. Cat

At my house.....

Today, at my house, I am being grateful. Very grateful that I don't have to go back to work today, after 12 months of maternity leave after Zoe's birth. I am grateful that I am able to delay my return to work, and my position will still be available. Not everyone can do this.

Three special little people in our lives will be celebrating their birthdays this week. I am busy making them some birthday presents. They are turning 5, 6, and 7. Every time this year I hope their birthday celebrations will not all be on at the same time, I hate having to choose which one/s to attend, and which one/s we can't make it too. All three of these children are dear to us.

I have been sewing them all zippered pouches, thanks to this tutorial (finally) making it clear to me how easy they are to sew. I have made these 4 zippered pouches, all different sizes, depending on how much fabric I have and what matching zips I have available.

Miss turning 5 loves animals, so I have made her a large zippered pouch using jolly jungle fabric. I know her mummy loves this fabric, and I am sure she will too. I also got her two animals to add to her collection and hope to make her a skirt if I get the time.

Mr turning 6 is lego mad, so we will be using this tute to make him a birthday card. He will also be given a large zippered pouch made with the green aliens fabric, and a smaller pouch with the flames fabric.

Miss turning 7 loves guitars, so I was very happy to find the funky colourful guitar fabric scraps months ago. The rest of her present I am still thinking about.

I am noticing some pretty new additions to our garden this week. I love it when daffodils just appear, their bulbs hidden under the soil all year. I always forget we have some in our garden, and it is such a lovely surprise every year to see them pop up and make me smile. The cherry blossom is just budding now too - lovely.

I am also wondering why we decided to night time toilet train Abbey in the middle of winter? Oh, the washing. Mentally she is ready, but maybe not physically? Any tips welcome.

Now, I better go and get these birthday presents finished, after hanging out another load of washing.

Have a lovely week. See lots more over at Lou's house.

Cat.