Bush Walk

We spent the day down at Mum's yesterday and went for a lovely bush walk in between the rain.

Hope you all had a great Saturday
xx

I'm Back!

From nowhere in particular...just having an impromptu blogging break, but now I've got a bit more time because Ella (my youngest) started school last week so I should be a bit more organised. That's the plan anyway, we'll see how it goes.

Hope you are all well and had a lovely Christmas and New Years. Thanks to those who sent me messages wondering if I was OK.

We had a lovely break and really enjoyed not having to do the morning 'get ready for school' routine.

I did get some sewing done. A top for me which is a first...well the first one I've actually worn! It's a really light cotton voile fabric and I used Simplicity pattern 4177 that I bought for $1 a while ago.

It's so comfy and cool on these hot summer days. I think I'll be making another one soon.

Well, that's all for now. I'm looking forward to sitting down and catching up on all your blogs.

Cheers, Hannah
xx

Ducks Dux of the School

Edited to say: who knew that people from outside Australia wouldn't know what Dux (pronounced 'ducks') is so just to explain, it's when someone tops their school academically for the year. Hope that clears it up :)

Last week my niece got Dux of her school (actually she got joint Dux because they couldn't split her and her friend). I asked Joe if he wanted to make her a card for becoming Dux of her school and this is what he came up with...

It's now in a frame on her bookshelf.

This was her present from her parents...

She said it didn't hurt too much. I wouldn't know, I've never had mine done.

I got her this as well. It's not due to arrive for a few weeks so she'll have to wait.

Love you darling, we are so proud of you! xx

Turning Two!

Yesterday my gorgeous little nephew turned two so we spent the first day of school holidays lazing around at my Sister's place.

I bought him a Chunky Chooky softie (thanks Cath!) which we wrapped in about four boxes just like a pass the parcel.

His Mum and Sister made him a cute cake which we had after dinner.

All in all a lovely start to the school holidays. I hope you've all had a nice week. xx

Tree Climbing

The kids just had fun climbing the Jacaranda tree out the front of our house.

Trip to the Tip

We've been doing a big garden clean up this weekend so a trip to the tip was in order. I'm apologising now for any trailer envy caused by this post...sorry.

Here's us arriving at the tip and removing the tarp. Shane likes to think he is the best tarp tie-er downer-er (??) in the world, no movement from that little sucker all the way to the tip. He also managed impressively not to jack-knife the trailer as we backed into position... not that it was close or anything.

Next the back of the trailer comes off...now here's where your thinking the rake comes out, we climb into the trailer and start pushing it all out, yes...

...no. Ella (fairy dress and all) starts winding the trailer...what??? a tip trailer??? Here's where the trailer envy starts I'm afraid.

All tipped up and now all Shane has to do is get back in the car...drive forward a tad...

...and voila, the neatest pile of garden waste you've ever seen. See all the people behind us in the line...they're all using rakes and getting all dusty (not that we were having a giggle or anything).

We don't even have to take a broom to the tip to sweep out the trailer. We just tip it back to horizontal, chuck the tarp and straps into the back of the car and we're off.

I should mention that the trailer is homemade by Shane's Dad, brilliant design. Now I have to pack it full of all our camping stuff for our next camping trip.

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend. xx

PS - check tomorrows post where I write about meeting another blogger!

The Christmas tree, another disco and morning tea

On Saturday we put up the Christmas tree, I say we but really the kids pretty much did it on their own which produced this...

The tree is about 10 years old and on it's last legs and it has a big gap where there's no branches so Joe made 'Reindeer Hollow'...

Can't wait to get a new live tree that we can just bring inside each year.

Ella's finishing up day care this year to start 'big school' so there was an end of year farewell disco on Friday. She was happy to wear the same outfit as the last disco and had her face painted just like a butterfly...so cute.

Me and Ella had a lovely morning tea this morning catching up with Jenine from Made by Jenine. Thanks for the lovely food and chat Jenine!

Hope you're all having a great Monday. xx

Shane's Birthday

It was Shane's birthday today (hubby) and look at the adorable card Joe whipped up for him. The only question he asked while he was writing was "does world have an 'e' on the end?"

Happy Birthday

I love you Dad, you're the best person in the world

Hope you all had a nice Saturday. xx

Ella's first disco

Last night Ella went to her very first disco. Her cousin, Freya, gave her a very sparkly dress last week which was way too big so I took it in a bit and made it shorter and she had the perfect disco dress.

She was dressed at lunch time and practiced her moves all afternoon.

She had a ball, the DJ was awesome (some kudos coming his way) and the lolly shop got a lot of business! Joe danced all night as well, so cute.

Hope you have a lovely weekend.
xx

Ever wondered where lightsabers come from?

Joe: Did you know you can go to Nippers and learn to be a lightsaber?

Mum and Dad: Really?

Joe: Yeah, you really can, it's true.

xx

Concerning Chickens

So, my sister finally got some chooks and after an initial run in with a very laid back Whippet who no one knows what came over when she first met the chooks, they've settled in well.

They love mulberries when the kids shake the tree.

And they occasionally come inside and poo...nice.

Can't wait till we can get some as well.

Hope you're all having a nice Tuesday. xx

Mmmmm....Max Brenner

Today I went to Max Brenner for the very first time...and now I feel sick.

The kids got a bit carried away and we nearly had an incident, but we walked out with no burns to speak of (I did see Joe putting his finger sheepishly in a cup of cold water, but he didn't speak of it so it doesn't count).

Thanks Aunty Kyla for planning it on a lovely rainy day.

Hope you've all had a nice Saturday. xx

Darth Maul

During the school holidays Joe got invited to a spooky party and since he's really into Star Wars at the moment he was desperate to go as Darth Vader...do you think I could find a cheap Darth Vader mask anywhere???

No, so he ended up going as Darth Maul instead which worked pretty well. I just had to buy red and black face paint and a couple of $2.50 lightsabers.

I found a couple of meters of black fabric in an op shop and made the cloak.

He's wearing my pants and my top (which looks like a tunic on him...clever huh), his wellies and some black fabric strips as a belt and around his wrists. I couldn't figure out a better way to make all the strips stay on so I made him stand there while I stitched him into his costume (then I had to unpick him when he got home). I also had to take in the pants and stitch a sort of V neck in the top to make it fit.

The lightsaber is made from two stuck together with black electrical tape and covered in red tissue paper and glue. Luckily it fitted into the car...just. It would have looked pretty funny if I had to stick it on the roof.

I had about 10 minutes left to paint his face so it's a pretty dodgy job, but he was impressed and that's all that matters. He said the party was brilliant and his lightsaber was a hit with all the other kids.

Hope you're all well. xx

Sunday Hailstorm

It was lovely and sunny on Sunday...there were a few clouds in the sky but we decided to go for a bushwalk anyway...

...and then it started raining...

...then hailing! We hid under some trees when it started hurting.

Then my glasses snapped...what else could go wrong?

I did manage to see some nice things though.

Saturday Mudfight

Yesterday was such a nice day that the kids got to strip off and play outside with mud. They made a boogie board mud slide...

and got very dirty...

...the laundry didn't come off so well but at least the kids were playing nicely together.

Hope you're all having a nice weekend. xx