Out of the Mouths of Babes

In helping out a friend, I recently had the pleasure of taking a very bright 3 year old to Kindy.  Upon arrival, I asked him to show me what we needed to do.  First was to find his name and phone number on the board, I then asked him what came next and he led me to the sign in table.  What next I asked?  He showed me where the lunch boxes were stored and so as we headed towards the row of hooks I stupidly asked - where do you hang up your bag, to which he replied - You know, I said I didn't (cause I really wasn't sure if he had his own special hook or anything). He sighed, looked up at me and said "Oh Carolann, use your eyes!"  Well hey, why didn't I think of that?

Despite my obvious lack of brain power earlier in the morning, I remembered how to get back to the Kindy to pick him up and we had a great afternoon! Thanks Buddy!

Crochet Flowers

I wanted to learn how to make crochet flowers.  I started with YouTube and whilst it got me started, my first two attempts were hilarious.  The first one looks nothing like a flower - in fact, it's square in shape.  The second one had more of a flower shape, but some pretty strange petals.  I thought about my grandmother, who was fantastic at crochet when she was alive and wished I had developed an interest 15-20 years ago when she perhaps could have shown me the art.  I still have some of her pieces in my linen cupboard and one in the studio (that I use to make impressions onto clay).  Anyway, I persevered on my own.  The third one wasn't too bad for a beginner and the 4th one even had a second layer of petals.  After that, I had my lovely friend (and design team member) Glenna show me how she makes hers (after she stopped laughing at my first two flowers).  Although she uses wool and a larger hook, the principle is the same and so after a couple of fairly OK flowers, I got the hang of it.  As you will see below, I'm well into the swing of it now and have made over 40 of them, hoping to have a good little stock of them to sell at Craft Out West in July.

 Once I had been making those for a few days, it was time to try something else.  First was the heart, but I haven't quite got the top middle of the heart right yet, so might have to practice a bit more on that.

 Then came the rose - which is relatively easy.  Just like making a large open flower, then rolling it up. Then onto leaves.  I haven't quite got the shape right yet, so might have to look for some sort of pattern, but loving the possibilities and ability to experiment to create new things.  No doubt one of my upcoming scrapbook layouts will feature some crochet embellishments.

My aunt Pat recently told me she has some of my grandmother's old crochet hooks.  I think I might see if I can borrow one of the hooks and try some real fine work.  How awesome will that be to be crocheting with the same hook my grandmother used to use years ago?  

Wet, wet, wet

We recently had a heat pump installed.  The team were very professional and did a great job of the insulation, but... in the process of installing the wiring, they move a roof tile and forgot to replace it.  We then had 2 days of full on rain and our roof cavity and walls filled up with water, which then flowed down through the walls, out onto the chipboard floor, soaking the carpet.  The wallpaper also started peeling off the walls.  We had to have a commercial blower under the carpet with a commercial dehumidifier going in the lounge.  These were both exceptionally noisey and sucked up the power too.   We are still in the process of dealing with the insurance company over the necessary repairs.  Here are the photos to date.

Birthday Boy

On the morning of Jayden's birthday, we got him up early so he could get ready for school and still have enough time to open his presents.

 I'm still not quite sure why, but he's wanted one of these High Vis jackets for ages and we finally found one small enough for him!

 Then off to school he went, but we had one more present waiting for him when he got home!

 His own iPod shuffle.  He was stoked.  Then it was off to the chemist to get his ear pierced.  He asked me when he was 9 and I told him to wait till he was 10, then if he still really wanted it we would get it done.  I thought he might forget or change his mind, but it wasn't to be and I kept my promise and off we went.  When asked which one he said "The left one or I'll be gay!"

So the left it was.  A simple silver stud with a clear crystal in the middle.

 My children don't get to have their first Coke till they are 10 and Jayden had long waited for this.

 I was kind of hoping that he might not like it...but the smile told the story.  He just had a small amount and saved the rest for another day, but he also knows that it's only going to be an occasional drink, not something he will be able to have too regularly.

Hope you had an awesome day Jayden!

Some Blurry Birthday Photos

My camera is on the blink and so I borrowed Jayden's to take some birthday snaps.  They all came out blurry, so I was beginning to think maybe it was just me, but later learned the camera was set on 'snow' conditions?  Anyway, not sure I can scrapbook these, but here are some shots from the Sunday 'Cake with Family' event the day before his birthday.

Jayden Turns 10

Still can't believe my 'baby' is 10.  They grow up all too quick for my liking (some days).  Anyway, being the boy that he is, he asked for 'no party' and 'no friends over', just family around for some cake, so that is what we did.

I let him choose his own cake, which he originally chose as a treasure chest, but I wasn't organised enough and couldn't get the 'treasure' items he wanted, or find any of the chocolate fondant I've used previously, so he happily went with his second choice of a porcupine - yay, so simple!  Here is the end result:

I simply made a double batch of vanilla cake and loaded it up into one high edged round pan, then cooked it a little higher than usual, so it rose high in the middle (and split a little too which was expected), which provided me with the basic shape of the body.  I only had to trim a little from each side and end, which I then used to create the nose end.  Jayden loved it and everyone enjoyed the chocolate fingers.  Now I have to admit, that I was going to use flakes and cut them in half, then each half into four pieces lengthwise (a heck of a job), when Michael asked if I was going to use chocolate finger biscuits!  Hmm, I hadn't thought of that and it seemed so much easier, so that' what I did!

A Day With Vienna

A couple of weekends ago, I had the pleasure of having little Miss Vienna for the day, as Ashley and Wendy went to Hamilton to take a load of boxes and check out some real estate.  We had a fun day.  Unfortunately, my camera has been playing up and I often get super blurry photos and some of these aren't the best, but hopefully I can sharpen some enough to scrapbook them.  The first is my favourite from the day.  We had so much fun do the shopping.  I'd forgotten what it was like to shop with a toddler.  Thanks for an awesome day Vienna.