Introducing Bubbles...

Unfortunately her stay with us was very short...but we will get to visit her.

She has gone to a home close by...Where I hope she will be loved.

She was an absolute joy to put together.

Will be making another soon...maybe 2.

Merry Christmas

I'm quite convinced that no one actually reads this blog...but just in case...

Wishing you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS

and a prosperous NEW YEAR filled with love hope and all things handmade,

A Quilt, a bunny and a moose!!!

Only one of these is a Christmas present...the other two are for C for her first birthday...didn't quite get them finished on time, but I'm sure she'll never know. The quilt is my FIRST EVER and I'm not especially happy with it. I have since discovered the world of beautiful fabrics out there. The bunny and the moose are both out the fabulous book Kaleidoscope by Melanie Hurlston of Melly & Me.

Melvin the moose is for a gorgeous little 16 month old boy. I really hope he likes it. Bella Boo the Bunny is for Miss C...but her sister has fallen in love with her and I have promised her one of her very own (after Christmas is over of course).

I have finished 2 market skirts and have 1 more to go and hopefully I can get done what I want to for another special little girl...the time is ticking away so fast.

12 months ago today...

...this little girl came into the world...
...in a rush.

Her face was all bruised, she was really red and her thick crop of jet black hair was full of meconium...

It was love at first sight...

Now she is a walking, babbling, too cheeky, almost blonde one year old...

I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by...

I am soo not ready for her to be a toddler...

It only feels like yesterday...

Happy Birthday Boo!!

Love you my gorgeous cheeky mischief maker...

Still have a party to prepare for on the weekend...having a birthday in the middle of the silly season is crazy...I haven't even thought about Christmas shopping yet.

Better get to it I guess...

She's Walking...

Miss C will be ONE on Tuesday...
No photos yet...but she's walking.

She looks like a drunk sailor...but she's walking.

I managed to disassemble this...

and fix the problem.

A bent AF/MF switch. Put it back to together and it was working...still sounded a bit clunky though.

Took some photos and then it just suddenly lost communication with the camera. Then the lens assembly fell out of the front of the camera. The main flex cable tore...So pissed.

I've googled looking for one but no joy!! Am thinking of emailing Canon to see if I can get one and have a go at soldering it in myself...what have I got to lose (depending on how much they want for a flex cable I guess).

Managed to take these... 

Am really quite bummed about the lens.

Cindy

Creative Christmas

Hooray!!!!

I finished a project for Christmas at last.

This little take along drawing pouch is for Miss S's bestie.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out. She loves butterflies so hopefully it will be a hit.

I have promised to make one for S herself when the craziness of Christmas creating is over.

Still have so much to do...and with a trip to the river, a first birthday to organise and the two princesses to keep entertained, the task is looking monumental.

How many days is it until Christmas?????? Don't tell me...I don't want to know.

On a side note...I mangaed to put the wrong phone number on the invitations for Miss C's first birthday...I guess that would explain why I haven't had anyone RSVP!!! Oops.

Totally scatterbrained at the moment...ughh!!

Back to the sewing machine it is for me.

Beach Days and Fearlessness...

This kid is fearless...

I put her down on the sand and she crawled straight for the waves...

Miss S on the other hand needed a little time and encouragement...

Time for a much needed snack...

A great day shared with family...

It broke...AGAIN!!!!

and this time I was calm enough to get a photo.

It snapped back together again...it's like the lens with 9 lives.

Still works...I think it probably has a ridiculous amount of dust in it though.

Just got back from the Dentist (arrgghh!!!) Had my final of 3 fillings today. Looks like being a very lean Christmas this year. When did fillings start to cost $200+ each. My bank account says OUCH!!

My upper lip and nose are completely numb, absolutely the strangest feeling ever.

and just because I can't have a post full of  bad news...check out this gorgeousness

taken barely 5 minutes apart in the car on our way to Geelong...Sweet Girl...Love her...Still getting accustomed to those toothie pegs.

The Market Skirt

Made using this tutorial.

Really cute and easy skirt...only has one pocket on it...was feeling a little weary when I made this.

Perhaps I was thinking about all the Christmas presents that I promised I would make and have yet to make a start on.

The Holiday is Over...

Mr two pixies went back to work this week. We didn't do a great deal for his 2 weeks of annual leave, but it was nice to just hang out...as a family of four, which is something we haven't really done much of.

As already mentioned we went down to the beach for 2 nights...

C was still facing rearward in her carseat for the 2 and a half hour trip. She only managed to sleep for an hour on the way down, so we had a stop off for lunch in Mortlake. Miss S harldy stopped talking the entire trip...so we tried to distract her by getting her to look for a Koala in the trees on the side of the road...worked a treat, in fact she still looks for them every time we drive anywhere.

C had all her daytime sleeps in the car while we where away, which was a bit of a bonus for me. I got to indulge my little obsession with these things. The windfarm near Portland is not nearly as impressive as the one a Waubra, but we didn't really manage to get very close to them.

I really don't like taking photos in the middle of the day with all the harsh shadows and bright light...and this is why!!!  I'm really not happy with it, especially the bright dot of sunlight on her top lip where she is biting it. I do however love the composition and the location...so I thought I would share it anyway.  The other one was taken on the steps of the place we stayed. I didn't manage to actually get any photos of the outside of the building itself. It was on the main street of Koroit. I'm so happy that we stayed there and not in Warnambool. It was quiet (except for all the dairy truck in the middle of the night, but I've lived on busier streets so It didn't bother) and easy to get to and Koroit is a lovely friendy little town.

We didn't go into the Tower Hill Reserve, but here it is...

I remember as a child climbing this hill over and over with my family on our regular trips to Warnambool. It felt incredibly steep to me then. As we were leaving to head home I made Mr two pixies stop so I could show the girls a turtle that was crossing the road just near where this photo was taken...silly man, he picked it up and it peed all over him.

We stopped in Colac for an ice cream and a break...then put the unwilling back into the car and drove home...and our mini break was over.

We did turn the car seat around to face forward for C after this trip. We headed down to the beach again (closer to home this time) and it was a whole new experience for her...she loved it.

That trip is a whole other blog entry in itself...I'll get to it eventually.

Cindy

Beach Toes

too cute not to share...

More Canola...

...up close and personal. I think that should satisfy my obsession for the yellow flowers for a while.

Actually I have had a little change of heart about the Canola...When I drove through a native forest and saw it infiltrating like a nasty weed. It's seems to be spreading everywhere, and if it isn't cut down it just keep on growing, to ridiculously large proportions. *sigh*

On a completely different note. Charlottes first birthday is a matter of weeks away, and I am in serious denial. I don't want my little baby girl to be a toddler. I haven't even sent out the invites for her party yet. Sooo disorganised. I need to get to Officeworks and do some copying for them, but the child in question is in bed, and I'm hoping she stays there for another hour or so. She has dropped down to one sleep, because she has been really difficult to get to sleep at night.

Hope to head off to the beach again on Wednesday with the girls...should be fun now that little Miss 3 has decided the beach is okay.

Will have more beach photos after then hopefully.

Cindy

Holiday...

We just got back from a lovely 2 night stay at Koroit..loved the beach.
Here is one of my fave shots.

I now realise how difficult it is to organise 2 small girls for an evening of beach photographs...especially with an impatient dadda standing by. So this was taken {horror of horrors} in the middle of the day. I put my CPF on and snapped away. Love the amazing saturation of blues in the sky and the sea. This is pretty much SOOC, just a little bit of sharpening applied.

The place we stayed was nice too. Will post more pics later.

Cindy

Childhood Memories and a Sleepless Baby

It was a lovely day last Wednesday, and everyone had pretty much recovered from the nasty stomach virus, so we packed up the girls and headed out for a drive. To tell the truth the intention was to get Miss C to have a sleep, but she wasn't playing along. We ended up out at Lal Lal Falls. My memories are very vague, but I remember visiting there often with my family and climbing down the steep hill to the very bottom of the falls. This would have been back in the mid eighties. Now it is all fenced off and the stairs we used to go down have been removed. Most likely as the result of an accident in the 90's where two teenage girls on a school excursion fell to their deaths. It is incredibly dry now, and alot of the trees are dead or dying. The well worn path we walked is still visible from the viewing platform. Lovely memories of a happy childhood.

There is a playground and toilets and a picnic area now, and we spent a little bit of time there before we jumped back in the car in hopes that the 10 month old  would sleep on the drive home. Again she had a different idea...

I have a feeling she is ready to drop back to one sleep a day...Oh the horror. We tried it on Thursday and all she managed was 35 minutes sleep, so she went back for an afternoon sleep. Seems to be if she sleeps for an hour to an hour and a half that is enough for her. She is quite content to be awake from Midday to bedtime at 8!!! My memory isn't great, but I'm sure her sister transitioned to one sleep at about 10 months, and then no daytime sleep by 14 months...eeek!!

Oh well, you do what you can. There is no way to make them sleep more, and in my opinion the old saying "sleep breeds sleep" is just a load of absolute rubbish. I would much prefer to have her sleep at night...Not exactly sure when that is gonna happen, but anyway...

two pixies...

has been hit with the tummy bug. Ewww!!

Miss 3 was the first to come down with it. As she puts it she "spewed" three times on Friday. She found great joy in regaling her Gran and Grumbles of the exact details of these events. She is back firing on all 8 cylinders now, after just 24 hours.

Then it was my turn late on Friday night...

Then joy of joys the little one got it and covered me in breastmilk...3 times so far. When the only way she will go to sleep is with a breastfeed it makes life mighty difficult. Feeling extremely drained last night so I had a reverse sleep in...I went to bed when C did at 7:30 and slept till about 6:30 this morning. She fed about 5 times during that time but it didn't disturb me too much.

Feeling a bit better for the sleep, but am having some vision problems now. I have new glasses and they were fabulous for the first 3 days, but now I am having a bit of trouble focusing and it could be because of the tummy bug. Will wait and see before I go back to the Optometrist.

I'm hoping that C shakes the bug soon...


Before we all got the tummy bug, we went for a drive so Miss C could get a sleep in and I took these...

I am completly obsessed with Canola at the moment...I just want to get into a field of it and take photos of my girls, but I don't really want to trespass on private property and risk the wrath of a farmer. I love the little bits of wool on the wire fence where the sheep have been rubbing against it.

This is the view on the other side of the car, and what I originally went to photograph...I also have an obsession with old buildings.

This one is in Avoca...

I see alot of great old buildings while driving, but I don't always have the camera with me, or the inclination to stop and risk waking up the girl or girls. Sometimes I go back when they are awake. I have one in mind for my next drive. Hope to post pics of it soon.

Decisions Decisions

I couldn't decide which photos I liked best for her first birthday invites...so I chose 6 different ones.

Now to spend another 3 hours on the wording *sigh*

So it seems

I have given up.

I really wasn't that committed to begin with.

I only managed a grand total of 13 days of my 365 challenge. And I only posted 7 of those.

I got bored.

I need some help. A theme perhaps. Maybe a monthly scavenger hunt instead.

I am having a strange relationship with my camera at the moment.

I'm frustrated with it. I'm not entirely sure why.

Right now it's 3 in the morning and Miss C has been awake since 12ish...she is wired...she hasn't done this for weeks. I don't know what the deal is. She's like the Energizer Bunny on Speed. Maybe mummy had too many coffees. Maybe the decaf she asked for wasn't really decaf after all?????? Back to dairy free perhaps?

Hopefully I can get some sleep before the sun comes up.
But while I wait...I can always blog :)

A lovely day...

...at last

Some nice Spring sunshine and a chance to get outside and take some photos.

It is so difficult to capture Miss 3 in a natural pose. She is either doing the fake smile or sticking her tongue out. But I love both of these shots of her. She was pretending to be a tiger in the long grass...

As for Miss C...she's 10 months old now and growing up way too fast.

She's cruising the furniture...

Walking holding on with just one hand...

Feeding herself...

Still NOT sleeping through the night...

and just got her FIRST tooth.

She has way more attitude than her sister did at this age, boy are we in for trouble later.

These photos may even drag me out of my photo slump.

Here's to more sunny days.

Flying Solo

My little girl is growing up...

...she had her first swimming lesson without a parent on Wednesday. It was just her, her 3 classmates (all girls) and her instructor. We sat on the sidelines and drank our coffee as she instructed us to do, while her Dadda felt useless and unneeded.

She did really well. She has been ready for this for a long time.

Now she can get down to the business of really learning how to swim. They practiced kicking and freestyle stroke and floating on their backs. It has been an issue for us whether we should discontinue her swimming lessons when she starts Kinder next year...I still haven't decided.

Not doing so well...

with the 365. True, I have taken a photo a day for a week...but I haven't really challenged myself. The idea is to push your limits, do something new. As it stands at the moment I'm just plodding along with it. In fact it usually gets to 5 in the afternoon and I think Oh! I have to take a photo. So here are 5, 6 and 7. The photo of the town hall clock was taken as I waited for my man to finish work. The hand in the grass was one of those oh crap photos (an almost 10 month old exploring the grass is fun though)...and the photo of Peanut I love..she was really playing up to the camera. In fact Peanut has been quite strange lately. She has never really been a cuddly cat, but for the past 2 weeks she has been wanting to sleep on me and she's pawing at me...maybe it's spring.

I think I'll head down to the roadworks in our street for a walk with the girls and take todays photo down there. Our street is blocked off in one direction while they construct a roundabout. Which isn't so bad, but someone in their infinite wisdom decided it would be a good idea to have roadworks on the main street past our house as well. As a consequence of this we have had hundreds of cars...and that's no exaggeration...turning our corner, realising they can't get through and then doing  a u-turn, quite often with a squeal of tyres (frustrating and irritating). On an up note...I finished the 21st dress I was working on and it's gone to it's new owner, to be worn this Saturday. I have also finished the cushions I was working on for birthday presents...hopefully I can find the time to make a cute little ruby doll to go with each of them (twins) by Thursday.