Cookie Cutter Decoration Ta-dah!

I do love it when things just come together...

Cookie cutters on an awesome special...

Divine box of Washi Tape and Washi Tape Stickers finally arrive...

Already have pray paint....

Sun shining for the first time in 2 weeks....

Kindergarten teachers need a little prezzie...

Time to get busy!!!

Set out cookie cutters....

Give them a good going over with spray paint...

 

While waiting for them to dry, get cracking on some rainbows:)

 

Carefully wrap gorgeous washi tape rainbows onto cutters...

 

Coming along nicely...

 

Rainbow cutter ta-dah! I just adore Christmas decorations that are a little bit different :) 

Now that the painted cookie cutters are dry I started carefully running washi tape stickers along the outside of the cutters. The most difficult task was choosing which design to use! 

 

Ta-dah! I love them! 

 

Last step is to drill a hole in the top and thread through some string...

 

All done! 

 

Add a chocolate, wrap it nicely and you have some happy Kindy teachers....

 

After having washi tape on the brain for the last while it was just amazing to finally get to play with some! Stay tuned I have some more washi tape adventures planned :) 

Catrien 

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Looking up

This is my view. 

If you take it at face value, it is a slightly messy deck area, but this is what I see....

While looking at this I am sitting down on my back door step, sitting down for the first time since 7am this morning. I dont know why Big L's pillow is out here, I dont know why the hand towel is on the deck and I am quietly Thanking God for plants that mostly tend themselves (that'll be the stuff that is still alive). 

In the background I can hear my kids eating their loveless meal in front of the tv. 

To be honest I feel a bit tapped out. And quite tired. 

The last couple of months have been hard. I have learned a lot about business, friendship, people and as always mothering. Learning when is the right time to fight and when is the right time to let it go, and accepting whatever comes with that. Learning that people are mean, that is life, but I dont have to be. Being reminded that N has my back and who the ones are that I can trust. 

Knowing that I can trust my instincts. 

I do not mean this to be read as whiny post, rather a commitment to myself that next week this time I will be in a better place. To accept what I cant change and change what I can. 

Done. Next week will be better. 

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Tick Tock

Today I engaged in two main activities, sorting out clothes that my ever growing children can no longer fit and helping Little L and Little S to fill out their birthday invites. 

My babies are turning 4 in a couple of weeks and I am so not ready! This year they wanted separate invites (Princesses and Spiderman) and wanted to be able to give them to people themselves. They have taken great pride in deciding on the friends to invite, making their lists and hand delivering the invites either to the person or the mail man. It has also been the first time they have insisted on not being treated as 'one'. And even though it was one of my main aims from the start to encourage their individuality, I feel a bit sad. They are just growing up so fast. 

Just look at these delicious bundles I brought home! This is the only way they would sleep for months and I am pleased that they still love each other this much.

Big L on the other hand is not slowing down either. Almost through his first year at school, I cannot believe how much he has learned in a year! He is finding things that he is good at and loves, gymnastics for one, he is a real monkey! And most noticeably has been the physical changes. His feet are huge, arms and legs dangly, and his shoulders just that bit broader. Where has this year gone!? 

He was my first baby love, picture perfect and the start of a great adventure.

I have a heavy heart tonight, time is moving so fast. But I am also incredibly proud. This photo represents both the hardest thing I have ever done and the very best thing I have ever done. I am just so lucky to be on this ride. 

 

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Could the holidays get any better?

I LOVE school holidays. I love getting my rascals all to myself and going on adventures. Today was exactly that! Quality time and adventure :) Combined with some solid company! 

Give us a beach any day! We hit our favourite spot, Huia.

Fabulous biking and beach play and the coffee/ice cream is amazing so there is great incentive to play hard! We went on a crab hunt, we made 'families' in the sand, we biked around the dam, we stopped for many snack breaks, we hunted for treasure, played football, and just generally had a great day!

I am often these days just blown away by what good company my rascals have become :)

 Little L devouring an ice cream!

 Big L, one happy little guy- ice cream, football and a dog!

 My most divinely beautiful baby girl! 

 

And then we ended our day with an easy dinner on the deck out in the sunshine.

 N even came home early! YAY! 

Perfect end to a perfect day! 

I am Lucky 

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I am all about that bass...

Fo Sho I am all about that Bass! I have a lady figure and I am slowly learning to love all the right junk in all the right places :)

I am turing this song up LOUD today! Dye pots are on and the Sun is out, everything is goooood!

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Look who is here to meet you...

Look who I finished last night.... 

Before and after 'styling' her hair, either way she is rockin' those pink undies! 

Love her! 

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My new obsession...

If you have been following my blog at all then you will know that I LOVE presents. In my opinion 'more is better' and 'as often as you please' when it comes to presents. I cant get enough of them. 

So it goes without saying that a fair bit of research usually goes into my present buying process, because I like to get it just right.

 My babies will be turning 4 soon (I know! 4! Where has the time gone!) and so I have been thinking and researching presents over the past few weeks. Little L is easy, from they day he could communicate with us all he talks about is Fire Engines and his attitude is very similar to mine in regards to presents, 'more is better' and 'as often as you please'. So with his present it was more about searching for the right price and it is all now sorted :)

 Little S on the other hand, what a dilemma! She is not a super girly girl that I can get something hideously pink and she will be over the moon but she is not such a tom boy that I could get her a football and she would be stoked either. She is what I would call in the healthy middle, very similar to her own Mamma. She is however very into nurturing at the moment so I have been searching along those lines. But alas I have come up short. I loathe to have more plastic in my house and have not yet won the lottery so am unable to get the other options.

Then this week I accidentally struck GOLD thanks to a lovely friend. Here I was sipping coffee and dining on Lemon Coconut Cakes (YUM! Some people are worth knowing!) in her kitchen when she dropped this divine book on my lap My Crochet Doll by Isabelle Kessedjiam. 

I oooohed and aaaahed over these pages and then it dawned on me that this is my perfect birthday present solution for Little S! 

I raced home and searched through my supplies and to my surprise I have everything I need! Is it a sign? Sure! So I got cracking....

I started making Little S's doll but before long I gave in and moved on to the part of the project that truely won over my heart... the suitcase... Look at these pictures! What is not to love....

The most snugly bed for a gorgeous doll!

Complete with a pillow and granny square blanket and a secret compartment to store her undies... swooooooooonnnn...

I happened to have some gorgeous fat quarters in my stash from my darling sister from my birthday and the perfect cotton to match....

Then I blinked and I had made this! To go with an apron and a tea set of course :) 

Honestly I am in creative heaven at the moment and I thoroughly look forward to the evenings where I can get stuck into this project. Cant wait to show you the rest of the treasures from this most fabulous book! Get ready for a pretty decent Tadah very soon!

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Well loved :)

Spotted my other half wearing this on the deck this morning and realized that I have never photographed it or shared even though I knitted this two years ago and he wears it all the time! It was my first adult knit (and experiment with colourwork) and I cursed myself the whole way because it took soooooo long but it has also been my most rewarding because of how well loved it has been. And it has worn so well, still looks brand new!

Nothing makes me smile more than when you put loads of time into a handmade item and the person truly loves it and enjoys it....

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Whirlwind of Seasons...

I trotted around our Auckland home in jeans and a T-shirt preparing things, packing things, making lists, ticking things off, loading up, for our first Family Snow Trip to Mt Ruapehu, it struck me that the kids dont really know that the snow is actually COLD! They have been making wild plans of snow fights, races, snowy walks, even a Gruffalo hunt, all under the impression that we will be TENTING! But Oh No Rascally people this will be nothing like our usual bathing suit clad camping holidays. It will be cold. "Sure sure" they smile. They have no clue! Oh well, only one way to find out! 

The next morning was the fastest I have ever seen my family get ready and hop in the car! Miracle! Perhaps school could keep a wee bit of snow? We were dressed in every warm and waterproof item of clothing we own, we were ready! And what ensued next was the most fantastic family holiday we have had to date! The Rascals were fabulously well  behaved and honestly, fantastic company! We played, we sleighed, and we embraced the snowy fun that is really only a hop and skip away from our regular sandy shores.

And Boy oh Boy did the weather turn in on for us :) 

We played until we were frozen and dragged ourselves inside to demolish some hot chocolates and the lightest fluffiest scones lathered in jam and cream....

We went for long snowy walks... no Grufallo though much to the Rascals disappointment!

We enjoyed some good old fashioned family fun, board games! And the adults washed it down with some wine ;)

We enjoyed swimming in the  beautifully warm local Geo-thermal pools under the open sky. It even snowed on us while we were swimming! What a magical experience :)

We finished the holiday with one more spectacular day of fun filled snow time before making our way back North towards our home. The further we traveled the more layers we shed and leaving the cold snow behind us. N and I marveled at how far we had come... A mere 3 years ago all we were thinking about was surviving parenthood, now we are actually enjoying it! 

Before we knew it we were back home with a truck load of washing in tow. We arrived home with a happy family and a sea breeze at our back door and some happy little flowery faces in our garden! Hello to our first daffodils! 

So all in three days in the month of August. 

Jeans and Tshirts

Full on Snow Gear

Jeans and Tshirts

Daffodils

Pretty cool country really :) 

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Some days

Today has been a complete write off. I engaged in some of the worst parenting. I yelled. And yelled. And it accomplished nothing. Apart from breaking down my kids' self esteem. I feel over worked and under appreciated. I guess that is the root of it all. Can hardly blame a 5 year old and a couple of 3 year olds tho can I? Righto something has to give.

So after the school run I decided to 'restart' the day. I was kind to myself and drove to school (it would only have made things worse if I had to jolly along the Wee Rascals to school on foot). Cut up lots of fresh fruit for afternoon tea (gave up on making Little L eat his lunch, it had been 4 hours and we were both just unhappy, so I threw it in the bin), and did lots of 'mummy on the floor playing'. We put on some tunes. We sprawled out in the sun and did some drawing. We built puzzles. We built a eyeball monster factory out of lego. We made some jewelry. And to my surprise slowly, ever so slowly my mood started lifting, even if I had to suppress my Grumpy Mummy Voice at times. My kids are quite fun. Even if they have selective hearing.

The house work is not done. Emails went unanswered. Homework is not done. I just dont care.  We had fun. Little S planned her wedding, with all appropriate jewelry now having been made. Quick lets find a dress! And what about the hair? But who will she marry? Her best friend Natey is not here, Big L will do. Find some music! Rings exchanged. It is done. An afternoon of innocent jewelry making has turned into incest. Not sure how that happened. But feeling a bit more jovial now as they settle in for the evening.

Tomorrow is another day.
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