50 Dangerous Things: #48 Explode a glass bottle in the freezer.

The book told us that this would be a great project to do while we were doing something else - and it was! We decided to pop a bottle in the freezer just before dinnertime.



Aesop was in charge of filling the bottle. We used a sweet chilli sauce bottle, and we filled it right to the top.

Otto placed it, carefully, into a plastic container (which would catch all of the pieces, when it did explode!) ready to go into the freezer.

We popped it in, covered with a tea towel for extra safety, and we waited.
We checked it after dinner, nothing.
We checked it before bed, still nothing.

We checked it in the morning...

Smashed!

We talked about why the bottle had broken, about how careful we needed to be around the broken glass and also noted things we could do differently next time. We noted that there was ice all around the bottle, so it must not have been completely frozen when the bottle broke, and that the top had also popped right off. We thought we might try different sized bottles, and maybe starting with different temperatures of water?

Have you ever tried this one?

Me & Mine project: Intro and a dress for me!

You know what's weird? How mechanics have broken cars, and builders have never-ending renos.. and sewing people never make things for their own family!  I'm forever being asked if I made the dress I'm wearing, or the clothes the boys are wearing, or, well, any fabric gift we give anyone.
And I very rarely have made those things. I am always so busy sewing up custom orders, or readymades, for Croutons - so sewing stuff for us seems less exciting, and less productive (due to not earning money from it!)
But, it sucks. Really, it does. Earning money is great (and much needed) but our kids are growing fast, and I really want them to be the type of grown-ups who complain about how Mum insisted on putting them in homemade clothes! Heh. And the ones who are embarrassed when Mum turns up to pick them up from a party wearing a homemade nana-frock. My best friend in primary had a Mum who made everything for her and her three siblings. Everything from jeans to undies!
(While I wish I could be that dedicated, I can't quite, but I want to at least make the undies...)

And, with that, I announce my personal project for this year. Inspired (heavily) by my friend Hazel (and also by Talia Christine!) I'm doing a 'Me & Mine' project.
I am not setting myself any numbers, but I want to greatly increase the amount of sewing/crafting I do for my family. I want to sew clothes, repurpose things, paint and decorate things, maybe even BUILD things? Who knows where this will lead.

Behold, my first project:

 

I've been wanting to do this for a long time, this was just the kick in the pants I needed.
I took one of my favourite vintage dresses - a style I have found many times, in many sizes, and is super flattering - and traced a pattern from it.

 

I took a duvet cover I found at the Sallie a few weeks ago, and I cut out the pattern pieces.
Then I whipped it up over the course of last weekend.

I was so pleased with how quickly it came together. And even more thrilled when my dodgy pattern taking technique actually proved to be quite accurate!!

I didn't need to alter many things, and I have taken some notes on possible improvements for next time. (Oh, there WILL be a next time - soon!)

 

I'm especially pleased with the pattern placement, totally worked out how it looked in my head. Love it when that happens!
I'm excited to be able to say 'yes!' next time someone asks me if I made my dress.

(Bonus shots of Mol modelling her birthday suit, and of my swish new non-frumpy-housewife haircut. Heh.)

50 Dangerous Things : #2 Lick a 9-volt Battery.

Number two - Lick a 9-volt battery! Eeep. This one got some of us feeling very nervous, indeed.
On the face of it, it seems pretty simple. Tongue plus battery, done. Right? But trying to get your brain to allow your hand to physically put that battery onto something as sensitive as your tongue is a a big hurdle!

As I expected, Otto (aged 4) took upon the task with gusto. He was very keen to go first, he stuck his tongue out and did it without much of a reaction at all. He wasn't keen to do it again, but he did it. He described the feeling as 'yuck'.
Abraham had a bit of a struggle to get his brain to cooperate, but did it pretty quickly. He described the feeling more like a bitter taste than an actual buzz.

Aesop, our nearly-nine year old, is a bright spark. He also struggles to do things that he is not 100% certain about. His brain works overtime and he struggles to overcome it. In a lot of ways, he is the main driving force behind us doing this 50 Dangerous Things challenge.
It took about 20 minutes of talking him into it,  but he felt so much better once he had done it. I knew the feeling of not being included in the challenge, and not having his picture in the book would be far worse than any discomfort from the battery!

I found this surprisingly easy. I had the initial panic and then decided that I needed to tough it out if there was any chance of Aesop having a turn. It was a really strange feeling, a buzzing, almost pinching sensation and a bitter metallic after taste.
Strange, but not truly shocking ; )

That makes 2/50 complete! Whoop!

50 Dangerous Things - Intro and thing #1!

Inspired by one of my favourite friends (who happens to be a super great blogger) and her sweet family, our family has purchased this book and set ourselves a challenge for this year : to get brave, and complete these 50 Dangerous Things. We're calling it a team building exercise.

If I'm really honest, it's a much-needed reminder, for Abraham and I, to let our kids experience the simple-yet-memorable things that we all did as kids.
Things like licking batteries, making slingshots, burning things with a magnifying glass, sleeping in the wild, building campfires and sticking your arm out of a moving car.
I mean, we did those things and survived, right? We probably didn't even do them with supervision and instruction from adults.. we had a blast, and we still survived to tell the tale. 
It's really easy to bubble wrap our kids. Society encourages it! We're forever hearing of schools banning playground games, toys being deemed 'unsafe', our favourite fireworks going off the market, children getting hurt doing things that would have been everyday activities a decade ago. I find myself discouraging all sorts of things, without realising it.
It's really hard for kids to learn about danger, without experiencing any. And really hard for parents to remember how important that learning is. We're hoping that, by encouraging our kids to try these things, that they'll learn about the boundaries of danger and learn when it's okay to give things a go, and when it's best to give it a miss. (And we'll learn not to be so afraid to let them be kids!)

We've had a flick through the book, trying to decide where to start - and then, yesterday, the weather decided for us! The clouds darkened, the temperature dropped, and it started hailing!
Number 2 in the book is - Play in a hailstorm! Perfect!

The book suggested putting a metal bowl on your head (for the sound effects!), donning a coat, long pants and gloves and heading out to play. We compromised a little - figured maybe going out in a lightening storm with a metal bowl wasn't super smart - and used plastic bowls. We also skipped the warm, protective clothing, it wasn't hailing really hard and wasn't too cold. We had a warm-up bath afterwards, instead.
The kids loved it. They didn't stay out long, due to the very loud thunder freaking them out a bit, but they managed to eat some hail that had collected on the tramp and run around a bit.

They were mostly just excited to have made a start on the project! They're busy deciding right now which activities we might be able to do this weekend.

(As the storm continued, we decided that a pizza and movie night was also in order. So nice to snug up on the couch on a rainy evening.)

Ahhhh Summertime.

 Happy new year, lovelies!

We're full into the swing of Summertime, over here. Beaches and pools are being swum in, Christmas presents are being played with (especially that big, bouncy one!), dinners are being eaten outdoors and general chaos is the norm at our place!
(Summer is not my favourite time of the year, but I'm doing my best to roll with it this year, I even donned togs the other day! Say whaaaa?!)

We had the coolest Christmas this year. We spent just over a week camping over at Ohiwa (about 40 minutes from home, nice and handy but juuuust far enough away to make it a real holiday!) with my parents. We had the most glorious weather, just a few wee spots of rain the whole time - just enough to keep the temperature reasonable, actually. We beached, crabbed, walked, blobbed, gifted, ate our body weight in treats, beached a bit more, walked a bit more and even caught the odd afternoon nap. So relaxed and lovely. I really enjoyed not stressing about traveling from family to family, or about getting the house tidy, or even really about preparing a fancy lunch. We ate the most delicious, simple bbq meal and it was just what we needed.
Can't wait to do it all again next Christmas.

I feel a bit like it has taken me 9 days to feel ready for it to be a new year, and a new start! Always need a wee break after a holiday with three kids. Hah. But yesterday morning I woke up feeling like it was a fresh year. I logged myself out of Facebook, for what I hope is going to be a really long break (crushing that addiction will make a HUGE change to my life... you can laugh, but FB addiction is some serious stuff!) and got stuck into my housework. I revised our budgets and I bought a new daily/monthly planner - I'm getting myself organised. 2014, BRING IT!

Mollie's Chair: 18 Months (A catch up!)

Mollie
18 Months

My goodness, this girl is getting big!
Life is so busy at the moment that I, sadly, completely forgot to take the 17 month photos. Mothering fail!

One-and-a-half is proving to be a good age for Mol.
We've gained a few teeth (cutting a huge molar at the moment! Ouch!), finally starting to grow a tiny bit of hair and are getting taller by the week.
Mol is getting steadier on her feet, far less toddling when she walks, and her grasp of words is growing so quickly, too. She delights is greetings and farewells 'Hiya!' ' Bye!' ''Eeeeya!'
Mollie is learning her brothers names ('To!' 'Op!'), learning other peoples names, learning names for things around the house. One of my favourites is the way she says her own name 'Mo-yee'. So sweet.

Sleep has been up and down. We attempted to take the side of the cot, without much success. It has now gone back on and things have calmed down a little. Next step might be teaching her to get to sleep without the boob..

I think it's safe to say that Mol is no longer a little baby, she's very much a toddler. She insists on doing everything that her brothers get to do, and can't understand if she's left out.
Her favourite things include dancing, playing with the babies, washing dishes, riding the tandem trike, 'reading' books and chasing the boys.

I realised, when taking these pictures, that the suit she is wearing is the same fabric as the one she was wearing in these first pictures - at just one week old. She's a bit bigger now, huh?!
Must say, I'm still a little sniffly when I think about the fact that we'll never have a teensy one in the house again, but I'm also realllly looking forward to the adventures these kids will have when they're all old enough to play and explore together.

Lately (a catch up..)

You know it's time to write a blog post when people start emailing to see if you are alright (thank you!).
I AM! I'm actually pretty good! I've just been in a bit of a funny headspace for blogging.
Shall I catch you up a little bit?

We've all been battling the common Winter ailments - coughs and snuffles, a minor dose of the Winter Blues... head lice. Haha. Maybe not so Wintry, but definitely an ailment. Those things are NASTY!
We have come through it all, though. One of us with a bald head, and one who still has a tinge of green in her nostrils, but we're all ready for Spring now.

I've been sewing. I've filled lots of custom orders, made some readymades, and have plenty more on the go. I'm still struggling to find that balance, and things are taking much longer than I would like them to.. but I'm getting there.

We've been doing a lot of assessing of our lives the past few weeks, setting some goals, figuring things out. One of the major things to come from this, for me, is that we decided to put Mollie in daycare for a few hours a week - so that I can spend some more time sewing, put a little more energy and effort into my little business/hobby.
It has been a time of conflicted feelings for me.
While I wish I was the type of person who could thrive from being around my kids 24/7, I'm not. I feel ridiculous amounts of guilt about that. I also feel like putting Mol in care, even for 6 hours a week, is making her grow up even faster - not what I want at all! But the little miss is such a social creature, she gets incredibly bored and frustrated stuck at home with me all day and I, in turn, end up frustrated with her. Not ideal! So yeah, she needs the social time and I need the sewing time (read: the money..) Ugh. I know I don't need to justify any of this to you (you, kind blog reader, wouldn't judge me, aye?) but I'm kind of more still justifying it to myself!

The past few weeks, we've been doing bits and pieces around the house. Windowsills got painted, kitchen light got fixed, trees and plants got planted, vegies went into the ground..
It's starting to really feel like home, despite there still being a long list of things we'd like to do. Guessing that list never really gets shorter!
I think the next things on our short term list are hanging a pinboard for the kids artwork, hanging more pictures on the walls, and painting that horrible blue strip around the bottom of the house!
Midterm plans include more garden/vege beds and replacing the gas fire with a woodburner.

I'm not sure if I've even mentioned it here, but I've been on a bit of a weightloss/healthy eating mission. I completed the C25K program on the crosstrainer, and have joined WeightWatchers.
I'm struggling to stay on the wagon a bit this week (highs and lows!) but I've lost just under 10kg so far (in 10 weeks) and am excited to be starting to see the difference in my energy levels and how my clothes fit.
This Catherine Campbell print was a small reward I nabbed for myself. I've been trying to treat myself to a little something every 2kg loss : )

I think that's about as much of a recap as I can manage. Otherwise, we've just been bumbling along like usual. Mostly, anyway.

What have you been up to?