List update: January

Thought a bit of a monthly list update might be in order.
Obviously the first month of the year wasn't a big one in terms of ticking things off. Alot of the things on the lists are 'chipping-away-at' things, and I estimate that the middle-end of the year will incur the most crosses. But all the same, and mostly for my own benefit (and encouragement), I thought I would see where I was up to with each thing.

1. Fit into my favourite summer top. - uh, my belly fits but there's no forcing the button over Otto's kitchen. 

2. Sew myself at least one DRESS. - have multiple designs in my head, need to make them happen.
3. Knit myself a cardigan I love. - too hot for knitting! goodness me, much too hot.
4. Make Abraham a hoodie. - off to Rotorua next month, will purchase fabric there.
5. Start sewing to sell again. - have done one update but am not counting that as a true start!
6. List GIANT pile of thing on Trademe. - have everything ready to start taking photos.
7. Print the majority of our photos. - waiting for a sale.
8. Plant a vege garden. - dirt organised, wood organised. Even found someone to make the raised bed! Feb is the month for this!
9. Go to the movies. - waiting for a good movie to take Aesop to.
10. Back up our photos on hardrive/ preserve fruit, make jam. - no. And no.
11. Start blogging again. 01/01
12. Get business cards. - have had them designed. Waiting to start sewing again and for some extra $$.
13. Buy 2 pairs of decent shoes. - have ordered one pair, waiting for them to arrive.
14. Take Aesop to the zoo. - july is the month for this! Waiting on an Auckland-dwelling baby niece or nephew to arrive!
15. Send (at least) 2 parcels to Amy. - have sent one 01/01
16. Finish at least 2 duathlon type events. - March and April are all booked and ready to go.
17. Sort out entire garage. - have made a start, but nowhere near finishing!
18. Finish yoyo quilt. - chipping away at it.
19. Earn $1000 through sewing. - haven't  made a start on this one.
20. Have a bbq/dinner with over 10 people. - nope.
21. See some live music. - not yet.
22. Save over $1000/ have an outdoor movie night - have found a projector to use but haven't set a date.
23. pay off our laptop and buy a new camera. - yet to pay off the laptop but did buy the camera 01/01
24. Sew 10 garments for the kids. - 2 down (ottos crawling pants), 8 to go.
25. Knit Aesop a jumper. - again, too hot.
26. Make the mix cd to end all mix cds. - nope.
27. Cover the cushions on the window seat. - nope.
28. Get away for a night without the kids! - will be the end of the year (read: end of breastfeeding) for this one.
29. Get mentioned in a magazine. - nope.
30. Make most of the gifts we give (this year). - a bit of a continuous goal this one.
Am also happy to report that, other than exercising, I have not worn pants or shorts out into the public eye. Viva la skirt!

Happy days.

Happy days = new baby cuddles, cupcakes with new crafty friends (who bring me fabric and watermelon! Thank you!), takeaways by the water, sitting babies, chasing birds and spending time with my good-looking husband. What more could a girl want?

This week, in ten.

An idea borrowed from Soulemama, our life this week captured in ten words and ten pictures.

1. Planning.

2. Busy.

3. Growing.

4. Speed.

5. Food!

6. Hot.

7. LEGO. (Always)

8. Tears (Just a few)

9. Washing

10. Love

Sunday dinner.

We were gifted a smoked fish today ( thanks Rach!), so a smoked fish pie was an absolute must for dinner tonight.
I like to keep my smoked fish pie pretty simple and old fashioned. Just a simple white sauce with a few peas, topped with dollops of mashed potato and kumara and just a sprinkle of cheese. And then served with fresh green salad and home made coleslaw.. perfect!
Oh, and while I was at it I thought I may as well use the rhubarb and lemons we were gifted yesterday too. I had some leftover pastry from making lemon curd tarts last night so naturally they became a rhubarb tart and some more gorgeous lemon curd. Such decadence!
There really is nothing better than good food shared with family, except maybe leftover tart for breakfast! ( I can't wait!)

Weekly, erm, studio tour?

All but one corner of my studio was sorted and organized this week. Does that make up for a distinct lack of sewing or other productivity? I hope so! I keep telling myself that tidying my studio is the first step towards great inspiration and huge amounts of sewing.... the beginning of sewing to sell again. Perhaps that's why I am procrastinating on the last corner! Heh.

A cloudy day.

Today the sky, and the mood, were decidedly dark.
We went to a beautiful, but very, very heartbreakingly sad funeral this morning. The rain, and the tears flowed. Funerals are never easy but celebrating the life, and mourning the sudden death, of someone younger than yourself is always so much harder. I wish much strength and comfort to everyone who is mourning the loss of Leah, Especially her family. And Leah, to you I wish much rest and peace.
You were (are) beautiful and are very loved and missed by many.

Thrift karma.

I have been sorting through things the last few months and finally taking some long-overdue things (back) to the op shop. I have boxes still in the garage from when we moved, over a year ago, into this place. But, I am pleased to say, they are disappearing slowly.
As a result of my donations, my 'thrift karma' seems to be doing really well at the moment. I've had a bit of a dry spell for a few months, but this last week, or two, has well and truly made up for it!
Yesterday I came home with the softest crochet blanket in history, a very old, handmade golly, and two huge bags full of 100's of dollars worth of Lego Bionicles, gameboy advanced games and other boys things... all for $17!  And earlier in the week I scored the faux chucks, the trivets and some fabric for $4!
The thrift gods are smiling on me.
I'm figuring that if I take the rest of the boxes out of the garage they might keep smiling (and I'm sure Abraham will smile too!). Here's hoping!

Look out Porridge!

Better sleep with one eye open Porridge, one of these days Otto will chase you and water won't be enough to distract him!

Let the force be with me.

Aesop, as I said, is turning 5 in a mere 7 weeks.
Over the years we have had some pretty cool birthday parties for him.
His first birthday was a casual affair, down in Nelson with mostly just family, great food and a bit of a placenta plating ritual.
His second was up here in Whakatane, a 'lello' party. Everything was yellow (Aesop's favourite colour at the time) including the clothes everyone wore, most of the food ( I don't recommend ever making yellow lamingtons, but a banana cake shaped like a banana is always a good idea!) and the bunting etc.
His third birthday was also a theme of his own choosing. He wanted a pink party, and he wanted everyone to wear fake moustaches. Riiiight. We got some funny looks when we sent out the invites but the party was awesome. Everyone (bar one person, I think) wore something pink and a moustache and all the decorations were pink. We ate cake (he was quite specific about this.. must be chocolate.. must have marshmellows and strawberries and must be served with yogurt!), ate yummo food and sat and the kids ran around outside.
His fourth birthday was a bit more work. We had a pirate party. This, of course, involved costumes. And because the kids were a bit older we also had some activities (pass the loot, pin the parrot on the pirate and a treasure hunt. Abraham did so well making all of these. What a man.) and put a lot more effort into the theme. It was a hoot but we were left feeling like we put too much into it and that the kids really couldn't care less about detailed activities and would much rather have just played with the presents etc.
So this year Aesop has decided he wants a 'Starwars' party. My biggest mission (other than finding time to organise it!) is going to be getting that balance right. Figuring out how to put enough of an effort in that the party is awesome but not over doing it when, really, five-year-olds are not even going to see the little details.
I've done a wee brainstorm and scoured the net for ideas. So far I have decided on costumes for the boys and I ( if anyone can help me out with A darth vader helmet/mask, a big old teddy bear to cut up or some white leggings I'll be eternally grateful!), pretty much decided on what I will make for the take home gifts, and maybe chosen two activities for the kids to do. Hoping to get started on the costumes next week.
Any ideas would be very appreciated and, as always, I'll keep you posted on my progress!

A real young man.

Aesop is going to be five soon.
He is growing into a very fine young man. He is very, very clever, very well mannered and, if I  do say so myself, pretty darned handsome. He's funny and he's imaginative, everyone we meet tells me what a character and a delight he is.  He is the best big brother anyone could ask for, always looking out for Otto, sharing his toys with him, carrying him around and trying to make him laugh. Basically, He's awesome.

As much as I hate to say it, Aesop and I haven't been getting along too well lately.
Aesop talks ALOT. In fact, I'm pretty sure his mouth never stops moving. He has always talked alot, and we sort of just accepted the fact and got used to it, I mean he started making talking noises the day he was born, what did we expect? But since turning four Aesop also seems to argue ALOT, he nearly constantly goes about telling me I'm wrong, he talks back, he asks a trillion questions and then doesn't listen to the answers, and, worse of all, he fibs.
I'm pretty sure this is all completely normal four year old behaviour. I've heard the' four is even harder than two' and all about the surges of hormones and what-not, and I don't doubt that that's what this is, but by golly am I struggling with it. Perhaps it's the lack of sleep? The attention that I need to shower on Otto at the same time? The struggling for just one quiet moment in the day? Who knows, but it really sucks.
Does anyone else have this problem? Obviously I love love love the boy to pieces and we still have some really great times together, but I feel like I spend much too much time feeling grouchy with him, having to growl at him and sitting him on the naughty chair. Will this just pass, or is there something I need to do that I just haven't clicked onto yet? Do I just need to let the naughtiness slide sometimes to keep the peace?
I just want to start having fun with him and make the most of the next few years before he gets to the stage where I'm not cool anymore and he'd rather aim his magnitudes of speech at someone else. Any ideas?

Weekly round-up

I can't believe it's already time for another weekly round-up! Man, time flies!
This week has been a little more productive than last, or at least I have a few more finished projects to show for myself.

I'm sad to announce I had a wee accident with my digital camera this week, which ended in it dying a very painful death. While I will miss my dear Sony dearly, it was a pretty good excuse to upgrade to a slightly newer, flasher Canon model I've had my eye on for awhile now. Having a more expensive camera I decided it was probably time to start taking better care (hmm.. did I mention the wee accident involved a falling camera?) so I whipped up a wee padded case for my new friend. After another wee accident (this time the finger kind) I now have a cute little case in fabric that matches my nappy bag. Sweet.

I am working my way through some WIPs for etsy, and these skirts were meant to be in this weeks update, but will have to wait for next week due to a lack of model. So pleased to have them finished though!

I did, however, manage to get pictures taken and all set and ready to add this bag and five special brooches to my Etsy shop this evening (well, it's after midnight so I can only juuust say I did it this evening!). The brooches were my little secret project from last week. They are wee appliques done from sketches I made of some of my Nanas (bless her) teacups, onto teacuppish floral fabrics and popped into thrifted mini embroidery hoops. I am quite fond of them, personally, and I hope you like them too!

I also managed a bit more on the yoyo quilt and finished up the wee pants for Otto. No knitting going on at the moment as it's just too darned hot.