Wishing you all the happiest Christmas as we remember the birth of a very special baby, Jesus!

   In the words of a favorite hymn:

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
~ O Holy Night 

We are heading out of town for a couple of weeks, for a much needed break. So it could be a while between posts. So I hope your Christmas is a special one, and somewhere you get to spend time with loved ones and friends.
I have been sewing like mad trying to get things organised for the trip. New covers for the sleeping bags, repairs to another. I have also made a 'bed-in-a-bag' for the port-a-cot and one of the camp stretchers. They have a fitted bottom sheet and top sheet all attached to a drawstring bag (thanks to the preschool sheets for the idea!).  They are going to be great, can't wait to get them into use!

I will be back sometime in the New Year, Happy Holidays!

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Joining in {this moment} at Soulemama.

Schools out! Let the summer begin.

monkey

Some things really do seem to take forever don't they? This guy here being one of them. Say hello to Monkey, Jude's new friend! You may remember when I was in the piecing-together-stage back here, well I am glad to say that is over. He was one tricky little monkey to stitch together! Monkey was suppose to be ready for Jude's 1st birthday, but unfortunately got rather delayed. Somewhere along the way I lost enthusiasm for the whole project. But let me say how nice it is to finally have him out of the knitting bag, outfit complete and all! He is a hit with Jude, who calls him 'eee eee'. Boy am I glad I triple stitched his limbs on! He has been swung and pulled this way and that on many occasions, and I can only imagine there is far worse to come.
Pattern is from Knitted Toys by Fiona McTague. The linen overalls were not in the book. They were made with my own simple pattern.

four

 Birthday celebrations were in place at our house this week for our sweet Maeve who is now 4.

Four, surely not? Yes, the big day finally arrived and she was bursting with excitement. 

She loved her gifts, loved the cake, loved going out for an icecream with her friend. 

But I think the most special thing was having everyone's attention for the day, she just beamed!

Four is such a delightful age, and we love everything about this Maeve of ours!

She is so sweet, kind and generous of heart, yet at the same time strong, determined and fearless.

We like to call her Maeve the Brave.

Happy birthday beautiful girl, you fill out hearts with joy xoxo

For a peek at her younger years...

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Sorry... he didn't save you any bolognese. Mess has gone to a whole new level around here!

in pots

Loving these pots of ours and the tasty treasures growing inside. The Snow pea's are so crunchy and juicy, and I can't wait for the Cherry Tomatoes to finally ripen up! The Sunflower's look like they are reaching out for the sky as they shoot up the pole, overtaking the peas. Unfortunately, the big green grubs have also discovered the tomatoes, so we are out there most days pulling off as many as we can. If anyone can tell me how to get rid of these little trouble makers, I would be very glad to hear! Can I pick the tomatoes while they are still partially green, and let them ripen on a windowsill inside? Please share your gardening wisdom, I need answers!

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Joining in {this moment} at Soulemama.

'Lunching with friends'

shorts

New shorts for the boy, made from some pretty cheerful fabric I picked up from Spotlight last summer. It can be so hard to come by decent fabrics for little boys, so when I saw this one I had to add it to the stash. It feels so good to have finally turned it into something wearable, and at the same time made a little more room in the sewing cupboard! I have used this pattern a few times now, and really like it (Ottobre 3/2008). They did turn out a tad longer than I had planned, but at the rate this babe is growing its no issue at all. And our machine/engine loving boy highly approved of the fabric choice, which was a first! Lots of 'brrr brrr, rooom rooom' noises, excited squeals and frantic pointing with pudgy little hands. He is so lovable!

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Joining in {this moment} at Soulemama.

on our feet

I have a confession to make. Our shoes basket seems to be overflowing with the arrival of many pairs of Saltwater sandals. And you cant blame me, can you? They are just so simple, colourful and downright funky! Just in time for the warmer weather and beach wanderings. This is the first time I have been able to find Saltwaters for sale in Australia, so I was a little more than overjoyed when I saw them pop up in a local children's wear shop. I then found some ebay bargains, and ordered some for me and the boy from the State's, and before you knew it, the basket by the front door was full. Jude's pair (Surfer style), are his first real shoes, and when I tried them on him, he danced around in circles yelling 'Oh wow! Shzz!'. And the best bit... they fit all of us perfectly with no blisters in sight.

Happy feet, Happy days!

flashback friday

 The lovely Abby of Sew Much Ado was very kind to feature me this week on Flashback Friday. 

Head over here to read more. Thankyou Abby!

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Joining in {this moment} at Soulemama.

Littles ones playing catch at the beach.

Izzy's new skirt

I came out of bed this morning to see the girls sitting at the table fashioning a new skirt for Izzy. Held together with a hair tie and looking anything but modest. I had to have a laugh! I am sure the skirt was inspired by some we made recently for a disco party the girls were invited to.  They did try and make her leggings to go with the skirt, but that was most unsuccessful!

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Joining in {this moment} at Soulemama

summer frocks

 After pricing summer dresses in the local children's clothes shop, I came home determined to make my own. Sure the one's in the shop were nice, but seriously overpriced for little girls. I have a stash of lovely voile's in the cupboard, so when I saw this gorgeous dress Ansia had made for her daughter, I just had to give it a go. The instructions can be found here on 'From an Igloo'. My girls are so happy with the result. Soft and floaty, feminine and twirly! Grace chose the subtle floral voile which suits her perfectly. She is steering clear of bright colour choices these days. Maeve still loves all things pink, so the checks were her choice. She looks adorable. We had such a lovely afternoon at the beach. The breeze was up, but that didn't stop the squeals of delight as the girls raced up and down the sandy slopes. Jude and I did a little shell collecting. Spring = happy days.