Our Outdoor Space...

We moved into our town house 2 1/2 years ago and for 2 1/2 years, this is what our patio looked like:



Um...not too pretty. Or exciting. Or inviting.

Since Millie loves being outside and it's not always easy to pack up in the car and head to the park, we decided to invest in making our patio a nicer place to hang out.

First, we had to clean up the space.



Millie helped. A little. Mainly by getting wet and dirty.



Then our new furniture was delivered yesterday!

It fits perfectly in the space and I absolutely love it.



Millie quickly claimed the green chair on the left as her chair...and then figured out exactly what the sofa is for.



Yeah. This is where we'll be this summer.

Tom's Place.

Tom has started a blog. You can find it here.

I am going to get him writing on it as a part of his home school curriculum next term.

I am sure he would love anyone that is interested to follow him and it would probably encourage him to post a bit more on it.

Thanks
Therese.

Jervis and Jen.

Herman's brother Jervis and his fiance Jen are getting married in September, so they asked Herman (who is an AMAZING photographer) to take their engagement photos for them.





He did such a great job!

Winter sewing.

Winter is really upon us now and I need to get some winter things sewn for the boys especially. They seem to have all grown suddenly and all their jumpers and jeans are too short on their arms and legs.

This week is the last week of school and then we have two weeks holidays. I thought if I can get all the patterns and fabric cut out this week, it would be a good job for me to do over the holidays.

These are the patterns I have to do.


For Tom and Christopher. These are Kwik Sew pattern 2543. I have done these jeans several times and the pattern is an old favourite.


For Amelia and Brigette possibly. Brigette is starting to prefer shop bought clothes to mums home made. This is kwik sew pattern 3135. I haven't sewn it before but it has a couple of good reviews.


For Brigette, Tom, Amelia and Christopher. I have this pattern in all sizes. Another very easy kwik sew pattern. Numb er 2536.



For Brigette and Amelia. A very simple poncho pattern. This is kwik sew 3458. I think in my sewing patterns now, kwik sew would be my biggest lot. I really like the paper they are on and their instructions are easy to understand.

For Joseph. This is kwik sew 3089.

winter pyjamas for the boys. Kwik sew 3042


This kwik sew pattern is the pattern I used for all the boys summer shirts. It was a very simple pattern. I was looking for a similar one with long sleeves to make them both some winter shirts but haven't found one. I have decided to use this pattern and have a go at lengthening the sleeve and putting a cuff on it. I am hoping this will turn out because I have a great fabric for their winter shirts.


My final winter pattern is a pinafore for Amelia. This is kwik sew 3190.

I know I won't get them all done by the end of the holidays but I am hoping they will all have at least one outfit sewn each.

7 quick Takes.

--1--

Joseph

Joseph is rolling over all the time now and playing more with toys. Everything goes in his mouth as soon as he has a hold of it. He is starting to dislike being in the sling at times. He still really loves being there but there are times when he just doesn't want that. He still wants to be held by me but not in the sling at those times. Here is a video of Amelia holding Joseph in the sling. She keeps on telling me that she is Josephs official baby sitter and thinks I should pay her $1.00 a week for the hard work she does.

--2--

Christopher.

Yesterday Christopher had his 6 teeth pulled out. Steve took him to Whyalla for the surgery and I stayed home with Tom, Amelia and Joseph. It was a long day for Christopher but he doesn't seem to be affected at all from this.

--3--
No Internet.

This week is the third week of no internet between 8am and 4pm. I miss reading a lot of blogs but I have been able to catch up most weekends with everything that is happening.

Home school is going really well because of this and I am keeping up with all the house work.

I really noticed it today when we had all our Saturday jobs done by lunch time.

--4--

Photos by Christopher.

Christopher picked up my camera on Sunday and started taking photos of everyone.

Here is the photo he took of me and Joseph



He wanted to take a photo of himself and this is the result.



I said to him, maybe he would be able to get a good one of himself by taking a photo of himself in a mirror. He headed up to our bathroom and this is what he got:

This is so cute.

--5--

Bed Times!!!!!!!!!

This is one of the things Steve and I are finding hard with having young children and teenagers in the house.

Because we have teenage children coming and going and making noise, the younger children seem to find it hard to settle down to sleep.

I remember when Daniel, Sam, Madeline and Brigette were all under 10, our house was quiet by 8.00 and all the children were asleep.

That just seems to be a thing of the past for us. Do you have any advise for getting the younger children to sleep when the older ones are sitting around still and sometimes watching TV?

--6--

New Laptop.

Steve bought a new laptop while we were in Adelaide. We now have three computers in our house.

The laptop Steve bought is a Toshiba. So far we all love it.

I had to laugh at Erin's quick take about their computers and naming them. I wonder what names my children would come up with for our computers.

--7--

Skype.

The new laptop has a camera so I have joined Skype.

Skype allows free online video calls. I haven't used it on the laptop yet but had a chat with a friend the other day from my computer.

I would love to connect up with some other bloggers some time.

My skype account is Therese8972 so if you have a skype account, please add me.

Pop over to Jen's for some other quick takes.

Wordless Wednesday!!!!!! Brigette's confirmation

Brigette with Sian. (Godparents daughter)

Brigette with her God parents, Malcolm and Bernadette.

Brigette with our Bishop, Bishop O'Kelly.

The Rustic Elegant Baby Shower.

Jaejean's baby shower was on Saturday and it all came together so well!

The setting (Bates gorgeous apartment)...



The table...




The beverages...




The cake pops...




The details...





The favors...





And the beautiful mom to be...



Thanks to Bates and Elizabeth and Lucretia for your amazing work and food! And JJ...we love you and cannot wait to meet this baby girl!

Trailer for The Chronicles of Nania, Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

My friend Leticia has the trailer for the next in the Nania serices. Go and check it out here.

Josephs first jump on the trampoline.

This was videoed this afternoon. Daniel and Abbey wanted to take Joseph on the trampoline. Since this is his first time, I had to get a video of it. Christopher always has to be a part of the action so he gets right in it too.

Joseph Says........

Go Aussie Go.

Best Card Trick Ever

Best Card Trick Ever

Quick post today. Joseph needs a new jacket and hat to keep him warm so I will be spending the day sewing. This card trick is pretty clever and entertaining. See if you can do the hand trick too.


This is the pattern I am using for Joseph's hat and jacket. Will post pictures when they are finished.

Our Trip to Adelaide.

While we were in Adelaide we were able to catch up with family and friends. On Saturday night we went to my friend Lynda's house. She had a great meal for us and we really enjoyed spending the night with her and her children. I must say a special hi to Toby who wanted to know if I was going to talk about our visit with them on my blog. So here you go Toby, you get a special mention.

Here is a video of Amelia at Lynda's house. Amelia really loved Mary's Barbie Camper van. In this video she is showing how to set it up.



On Sunday we decided to go to Mass at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral. After mass we saw some friends that we haven't seen since leaving Adelaide in 2000. Bob and Toni were there with their youngest daughter Catherine. We had coffee with them and then went to their place on Monday night for tea. They served a great meal and we had a wonderful time with them too.

Tuesday, Steve had his meeting so I took the children shopping for winter clothes. We left Adelaide early Wednesday morning. I thought that Joseph would sleep for most of the trip but he was a bit upset for some of the trip. I sat in the back seat with him for a while which Christopher thought was pretty funny since I hardly ever get in the back. This video was about 15 minutes before he fell asleep when we had just another 100 km to go or so.




This weekend, Brigette will be confirmed by our Bishop, Bishop O'Kelly. She has taken
St. Gemma Galgani as her patron saint.

Therese.

The Lion and Bear Masks...

The inspiration:




I completely forgot to take photos during the making process. Woops.

Basically I drew the bear and lion in Illustrator, printed them on regular copy paper to get them the right size, then once I had them at the right size, printed them on a thicker paper stock and used that as a template to cut the shapes. I used a wool blend felt and put a thin piece of batting in between the front and backs to give it a bit more weight.

I love the lion one...but it took FOREVER to make. Oh well.

Did I mention that this was the first time I'd "sewed" (sewn? See! That's how green I am!) something? That's why you're not getting super detailed images. But, I did have a good time making them and am even thinking about making a few more animals for her. Because...come on. Look at her. Is there anything cuter?

Back from Adelaide.

Yesterday we arrived home from Adelaide. Steve had a meeting to go to in Adelaide on Tuesday and since it was a long weekend, we decided to go down and catch up with friends and family.

We had a great weekend catching up with family and friends. I have photos and video's to upload but not enough time to do it right now. Will hopefully get them up tonight.

Two!

Emilia turned two yesterday!

A month ago, Herman and I really thought we were just going to do something small and quiet for her first birthday with us...then a couple of weeks ago we decided to just go for it and throw her a 2nd birthday party.

This is the invite I made...because at that point I didn't know what I was going to do for her party!


Then one afternoon, I read "The Large and Growly Bear" to Emilia. And. She. LOVED. It. We knew she loved bears and lions, but this was on another level entirely. It took me forever to read her the story because she insisted on kissing each and every picture of the "bear-bear". Yup. That's my kid. Such a little lover.

So after that, it was easy. I wanted to throw her a "bear-bear" party (it was initially going to be a bear-bear and lion party...but I had to toss out the lions. More on that later).

I sent our adult guests home with Schleich bears (love their animals!) with "thank you" tags around their necks and little bags of orange, brown, and yellow M&M's




I made cupcake toppers from the images in the book...

And each kid was sent home with a bear-bear mask. Remember how I said I was going to do bears AND lions? Well, once I designed each mask and started to assemble them, I realized that the lions took at least twice as long to make as the bears, so I had to drop them (sadly. Emilia does have a lion mask...I'll show that sometime). If I hadn't, I'd still be making lions and probably would have missed the party. Which would have been sad.

Here's our own little 2 year old bear-bear (the cutest you've ever seen, right?). I also made her a "2" shirt to wear at the party.

Happy birthday baby girl! We love you so!