Sammy at the dentist

Sammy is back from her dad's place in time to see the dentist. It's a new dentist and his name is Sam. He seems nice. My old dentist is too far away now that there are four kids to ferry around. I saw Mark yesterday and touch wood have no holes. Yay!She also has no holes!! We're going to get a referral to an orthodontist and she just needs a clean today. She's being super brave!Now fluoride and the her beautiful smile is done!! No dentist for another 6 months and the health fund covered the whole lot so it didn't cost a cent!

Holidays without Sammy and Josh

The house always seems empty when Sammy and Josh are staying at their dads place. It's now also noticeable by Bella! So I decided to try and make the time without Josh and Sammy fun. Bella missed her big brother and sister but we coped. Stuff just wasn't as much fun without them.
We went scootering, but got bored quickly without Josh racing past and Sammy going ahead a little and then coming back. The flying fox that was so much fun with Josh helping ended up giving Bella a bleeding lip. Poor little thing!! We tried to cheer up by going and getting afternoon tea.
It seemed to work. But since Hamish takes up so much of my time at the moment Bella really misses her older siblings. I try to be fun but I don't really succeed. We did manage to do some baking and craft as well , but the best news of all was finding out that Josh and Sammy were coming home early. Yay!!

Finally smiling

Hamish is finally really smiling and talking to us. I had Josh and Isabella making him smile so I could take a photo. Only thing is as soon as I get my phone ready to take a photo he would stop smiling!! Isn't that always the way. He is so adorable and so loved. I wonder what he must think with all our enormous heads hovering over him making silly noises and funny faces. He must think we're a pretty funny bunch.
Chatting away.
And smiling so sweetly.

Ten pin bowling!

It's the school holidays and so I asked the kids what they wanted to do. Bowling was up there on the todo list. I must admit that I love bowling and hadn't been in a long time. Dave was at home working and so it was just me and the four kids. Josh and Sammy are very helpful. I really couldn't cope without them. They were able to help Isabella when she needed it and keep her happy when I was feeding Hamish.

We had two games and a hotdog, chips and coke. The kids were in heaven and me too. I've been couting calories trying to get these pesky last 4 kilos to disappear and haven't been eating much junk at all. Hotdog and chips. Yum!
Both Josh and Sammy were great at helping Isabella at her first ten pin bowling outing.
I even managed to bowl with Hamish. He slept for 3 hours!!! I wish he would be that good while I was doing my Physio class. Oh well.
We all enjoyed the hotdogs!
The only reason I won was that Josh gave me two strikes and Sammy gave me a spare while I fed Hamish. Weren't they kind. He he he

The Craftroom Cupboard first coat

I finally had a little time to paint after getting the painting supplies I needed. Hamish was being a good boy and actually slept when I had some energy. This doesn't happen that often. Isabella was also wanting to help but was prepared to draw for the hour it took me to paint the first coat of paint on the cupboard as long as she could paint afterwards. First I painted over the dents that had been filled and spots I didn't think the roller would get into. Then I rolled away to my hearts content. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. Isn't that always the way! An hour all up.
This is after only one coat. The only problem was the awful paint smell in the house for a good day after. Dave put an onion in the room to help with the smell. I'd never heard of this. It seemed to work. He put half an onion in a bowl of water.
Afterwards I took Isabella outside to do magic water painting. She loved it! Very cheap clean fun that entertains for hours. All the kids have loved painting with water.

Holidays have begun...

It's that time of the year again and holidays are upon us. We decided to make a list of things we'd like to do over the first week including a menu. Very cute! The first thing on the agenda was a visit to Buffalo Park to scooter. Isabella now has her own scooter and was keen to ride it like the big kids. While we were there we had afternoon tea. Coffee for me, hot chocolates and pastries for the older two and a baby chino for Isabella. She also shared some of the older twos pastries.
We then took the kids to see "Mr Poppers Penguins" as promised. So much to do and so little time. The older two are going to be spending the second week of the school holidays with their dad, hence the cramming of as much as possible into the first week.
It was also Hamish's first movie. He behaved himself and fed for most of the movie. I also spent quite a bit of time jiggling him at the entrance to the movie theatre. Thankfully on a Sunday night at 7:30 there were only two other couples in the theatre. So it was pretty stress free over all and a cute movie. For Dave and I probably the most memorable part will be the two car trips it took us to get there and back. It will be great when we're in a position to get a car that will fit us all! I'm sure we'll be able to laugh about it one day, but at the moment it's just a painful reminder that we can't afford to do anything about it at the moment. Frustrating, but doable never the less!
You can see Sammy wasn't expecting a photo! A beautiful movie with a lovely message about family.

Making Bunting

I have been talking about making bunting for Sammy's room for months. Today I finally got around to starting.

First I used the cardboard template and traced around it on the ironed fabric with a special chalk pen. Sorry no photos of that. I cut them out and pinned them wrong sides together.

Next I sewed the two long sides together using a straight stitch.
You can see how I put the foot next to the edge of the material.
I cut the point off each flag.
I turned them all inside out using a knitting needle. Make sure to do it carefully so that you don't push through the stitches.
I was lucky enough to have two twelve year olds helping. Sammy has her best friend staying over and she was keen to help. Yay for me! It's really hard getting anything done with a newborn around. I love my little man but some days he doesn't want to do anything other than attach himself to me.
Iron all the flags and then cut the little bit of seam sticking out off.
Almost done!
Then take your bias tape and pin the flags in the fold.
Once the flags have been pinned in place it's time to sew your bunting together.
Turn the ends in and sew them.
You're now finished. All you have to do is put the bunting up now and Hamish has been sleeping peacefully in Aunty Lisa's arms after much standing and rocking by her. So grateful!!

7 Years Today.

It was 7 years ago today that I met the love of my life. Who would've guessed that here we would be with our family of 6. I think we're officially a large family now! Some days are mad but I wouldn't have it any other way!! I feel honoured to have met someone so wonderful as my dear and darling husband.

You are my soul mate and I love you with all my heart!

Progress

Dave my love decided that I should paint the top. I must admit I wasn't going to. But if it is painted it'll be much cleaner and I'll actually be able to put stuff on the top if I choose to. I'm very grateful for his cleaning and dusting of my furniture. I love you honey!! And yes my dear husband is very tall. 6'5" in fact! So although he makes my cupboard look small it's really not!

Ready to paint

I finally chose a colour for the new cupboard Dave got for me(freebie). I wanted a bluey grey. I searched the net for colour ideas, but of course the colour names here aren't the same. In the end I decided to stop being so indecisive and just chose one. I think I'll be very happy and if not its just paint isn't it. I also got some black paint to finish off the beautiful old school cupboard. Before and after pics and posts to come soon.
Weekends at Bunnings are always crazy. But so glad we finally made it.

Two-Tone Choc-chip Cookies

 Preparation time: 15 minutes
Total cooking time: 12-15 minutes
Makes about 40

125g butter
1 1/2 C soft brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 C plain flour
1 tsp bicarb of soda
150 g dark choc bits
150 g white choc bits
1. Preheat oven to moderate. Line two trays with baking paper.
2. Using electric beaters, beat butter, sugar and essence in small bowl until light and creamy. Add eggs gradually, beating well after each addition. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. Using a metal spoon, fold sifted flour, soda and choc bits into creamed mixture; mix until smooth.
4. Drop level tablespoons of mixture onto prepared trays, allowing for spreading; flatten mixture slightly.
5. Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Mix well.


Put spoonfuls on a cookie sheet.


Bake.


Cool.

Repeat one handed until all baked. Try not to put the baby down or he will scream.

Lunch at Kazbah

Being on maternity leave means I can now go out to lunch during the work day. I caught up with Jenny and it was so decadent doing lunch while others were working! There were so many good things to choose on the menu, but since the breakfast menu was still on we both chose something from that. Yummo!