A Week of Bento

Well what was happening at our house for the last two weeks meant that Sophie spent a lot of time not at our house. And I mean a lot. She was babysat a stack of fabulous people, some of whom gave up their time twice to look after her for long periods. I can not thank these people enough.

Anyway, while Sophie has been out and about, I decided I'd use the times to make her great lunches and practice some bento making. Sadly, because we have been so busy some of them are particularly boring or repetitive, but I still think they made her feel very loved by me in my absence because most of them came home eaten. Hooray!

I don't want the hard work that went into these to be missed, so I thought I'd share them with the internet for safe keeping. Sorry for some of the bad quality photos. I was taking these either in a rush, the night before, or in bad cluttered situations. Bear with me.

Bento one is the most boring looking. Pear, crackers, Vegemite sandwich and cheese. Eaten though, and that's the goal here.

Bento two is much more fun. Frog lunch box, apple and strawberry fruit salad, cheese (two types!), dip, rice crackers and more rice crackers. There are sultanas in the little "Tasty!" box.

This bento was also really fun. Crackers, avocado, dip, a heart shaped egg, yogurt and strawberries. I was really impressed at the way that Sophie didn't come home with the yogurt all over her. Well done to the baby sitters for their diligent efforts. :)

Here's a photo just so you can see how the heart shaped egg came to be. I've got a star shaped mold too. One day I dream of having a car, or a fish mold as well, though there are lots of others out there. 

This lunch was in the frog box again. Ham and cheese sandwich with avocado and tomato (that sadly didn't get eaten), strawberries, rice crackers and yogurt. Sultanas again in the "Tasty!" box.

I feel like this lunch is very gluten free. Rice crackers, star egg, cheese and yogurt. Strawberry and apple fruit salad and sultanas in the "Hello!" box. Are you seeing the repetition yet? Thankfully I've used a different colored spoon each time, so Sophie probably didn't notice.

And finally, yogurt and strawberries. A star egg, cheese and Vegemite sandwiches cut into little flower shapes. I would have put in little animal picks to eat the cheese but Sophie might have been too distracted or choked on it, so I'll wait until she's older to unleash that awesome on her.

Creative Moment

A while ago, I saw this creative idea on the internet somewhere and decided I'd give it a go. I feel bad that I don't know where it was that I saw this, because the idea was not mine at all. All you need is a stack of the snap lids from baby-wipes packs and some photos. 

I glued the photos behind the snap lids and then stuck them to a big bit of cardboard I had lying around. They looked pretty ordinary so I stuck some scrap material on top. Sadly the glue that I used didn't really hold the material too well, but that's ok.

Sophie has a great time looking for different family members and can now recognize all of them, even the family she doesn't see too often, which is really good when they come to visit. From a teaching perspective, it's also great for her gross/fine motor skills too, as she snaps the lids open and shut. Sometimes I have to remember that not everything is teaching. :P

Heck yeah for another great toy that cost about $2.50, which was the expensive price of printing those photos.

Exhausted

The last two and a half weeks have been pretty chaotic and really exhausting. What has made them so is still on-going, so I can't say I'm back for regular blogging yet. I do have lots of posts lined up though, albeit only in my head at the moment, so I imagine I'll be back soon. 

In the mean time, here is my first ever attempt at a pavlova, which was my brother-in-law's 30th birthday cake last week. 

It was delicious. I can't believe that pav is so easy to make and yet I've never done so before. I'll be making this again soon. Maybe for Steve's 29th birthday in a months time. :)

For Your Amusement

I've spoken before about cleaning the bathroom. It's not a fun job. I'm not sure I know anyone in the world who would say they enjoy it. I've noticed in the last few months that cleaning the shower has gotten harder and harder and yet, despite my sometimes diligent scrubbing, I don't seem to be making much headway in the battle against yucky stains and shower scum.

Thursday night, as I readied myself to clean the bathroom again, I pondered this situation and wondered if I was doing something wrong. I checked the cleaning stuff that I've been using, thinking that maybe there was a secret instruction like "add water", or "leave for half and hour" that I was missing.

I was missing something. Turns out, for the last few months, I've been cleaning the shower with a kitchen cleaner. That's right folks. It may be great on grease and grime in the kitchen, but it does nothing for the shower scum and soap build up on the tiles. That answers a few questions I guess, despite leaving me feeling just a little  bit stupid, and a little disheartened at the wasted effort of scrubbing I've been putting in.

Rest assured, shower cleaner is now on the shopping list, and when I venture forth to acquire it, I will be triple checking the bottle I pick up to ensure it is the right thing.

Off the Shelf

Last year, I made this gem and I'm excited to say that last week, Sophie took it off the shelf and had a good twenty minutes using it.

I am well pleased.

New Experiences

Last week I let Sophie have her first attempt at finger painting, inspired by my friend Ruth who blogs over at Twenty-first Century Lady. I figured if she could do it with her bub, who is only eight months old, it was about time I let Sophie have a go. 

She had a lovely time, there were even tears when it was time to pack up. I'll have to let her have a go again soon. I don't know how long the pictures will last though, given that I made the paint with flour, water and food dye. Oh well. Until then, it's decorating her room nicely.

 Also, why make one pair of cool shorts, when you can make five? Hehehe.

Domesticated

For those playing along at home, here is what I was working on last week. The not-sewing stuff. :) 

Though it doesn't turn, it does do the job of a clothes line, in that it dries the clothes. Sophie knew what to do with it, though she struggled a little with the pegs, and where to put some of the clothes (she liked to hang things off the wood, rather than the line... not sure why).

Job well done. Thanks for the wood from the garden shed Dad. I'm sure I'll find some uses for the rest of your scrap wood in the duration of my girl's childhoods.

Tomatoes

Since mum and dad have been away I've been looking after their fish and the garden. It's not hard. I just go around every Wednesday as I would normally if they were there, on my way to prayer. The girls play (well, Rachel lies around while Sophie plays) and I make sure things are still alive. As a result, I've been lucky enough to reap the benefits of the garden. 

I've collected an abundance of passion fruit (see what some of them turned into here), and most recently, these tomatoes have decided to turn a delicious red color. 

As I've been looking after these tomatoes waiting for them to ripen, I've had to do a bit of work. The tomatoes are really heavy, and as they grow, they weigh down the vines. If you don't stake them up and tie them, quite tightly, to the stakes, the tomatoes grow on the ground and end up rotting. 

I was thinking about this in relation to my own walk with God. Sometimes I'm growing like the vines. I am going to church, bible study, praying, so I have fertile ground to grow in. Things are green. Then I'm producing fruit, meeting up with girls, encouraging other Christians, trying to have spiritual conversations with mums at the park. 

The thing is, that this fruit producing process gets heavy. Even if you are growing in good soil, you need to be staked up to be able to bear the weight. I need to be tightly bound to Gods word and walking with him daily or I will be like the tomato plants with the fruit on the ground: bearing fruit, but it's rotting quickly. 

I wonder how tightly I'm staked to God. Time to hide his word in my heart and meditate on his marvelous deeds (Psalm 119). Daily. 

Not Sewing

I've been spending an hour or two each day this week doing some of this not sewing stuff that I keep talking about. This specific not sewing project has made me feel very "handyman". I have used the drill, and the saw, and the handyman measuring tape. I've even used the hammer and only a few more nails than I was supposed to need.

What is this exciting thing you've been working on? I hear you ask. Well, as it's not quite finished, you'll have to wait a bit longer. Only two coats of varnish to go.

More than Sewing

Though the majority of my posts do involve some kind of sewing, I do actually do more with my life than spend time with Sally. I feel that recently, I've been doing a lot more of this "not sewing" stuff, though much of it has not appeared on the blog. Oh well. Just because it's not on the internet, doesn't mean I don't do it!

Anyway, here is something that is not sewing that I did recently with the abundance of passion fruits I collected from my parents garden in their absence.

Chocolate and Passion Fruit Muffins for breakfast on Fathers Day. Yay! You get a picture of my muffins, because Steve was still asleep and when he did wake up for his breakfast, he devoured it too fast.

Birthday Shorts

Though this is a gift that will not be given for another month, I'm posting early for two reasons. 1. I think these are really groovy, and 2. I'll be busy around the time that they will be given.

I sewed these up with the Sycamore Shorts Pattern from Sew Like My Mom. This pattern was fabulous and easy to sew. The pockets on the side are super cool and I even put a tag in so it's easy to tell the front from the back.

Is that double stitching along the cuffs? I hear you asking. Yes, yes it is! I feel like these shorts are possibly the most professional sewing I've ever done. Hooray! I hope they get worn a lot.

On the super dooper plus side, I got the material when Spotlight was having a mega sale, so I got a meter of each, even though I knew I'd only use a quarter of that. So there is a stack left over for more shorts! Can you see Sophie in a pair? I know I can!

Felt Food: Strawberries

I feel I should give credit where credit is due when it comes to my sudden foray into the world of felt food. When I googled "Felt Food" the first result was this post at Apartment Therapy. Thank you Google, and thank you Apartment Therapy for going to the effort of listing (and linking) all those felt foods.

There were a number of strawberry tutorials which I did peruse, but pretty much just ended up making it up as I went. They were pretty simple. A little more than a semicircle of red felt, some yellow embroidery thread, stuffing and a scrap of green. Sophie loved these so much she didn't mind waiting for me to sew them (to the point just watching and not grabbing or anything!). And she also helped me to stuff them with the stuffing without eating any of it or running around the house with it! Hooray!

I saved a plastic strawberry container to house these in (which was very hard to photograph) but my estimation skills are a little off and there is space for two more. Maybe next week. I don't think the plastic container will last long anyway, because Sophie can't open it independently and would rather scrunch it up in her hands to listen to the sound than put the strawberries back in. Oh well.

Equality

Just wanting it to be clear that I have no favoritism with my children, I thought I'd share this photo from when Rachel was about a month old.

See? I don't just put Sophie in a bowl, I put Rachel in one too. :D

Felt Food

Now that the bigger things on my to do list are done, I've been crossing off several of the smaller things. It feels really good to get them done, quickly and easily, though most of them feel they don't warrant a post (like a pair of modesty pants for Sophie that match her latest party dress). That said, I've made my first foray into making felt food for Sophie to play with in her kitchen, which I feel is a milestone worth celebrating.

I actually started by making some sunny-side-up eggs (sorry no photos), which got an ok response from Sophie. She understood they were food, but didn't really connect. Not too surprising since most times she has eggs, they are scrambled or hard boiled. Anyway, second on the list were these donuts, which I made using this tutorial for inspiration.

Sophie could not care less about these donuts. She really has no clue that they are delicious food. I even took her to the donut shop to show her the pink iced donuts, but alas, no response. What she is excited about however, are the felt strawberries I'm making. Two down, four to go, should get them done today.

In the meantime, here is a photo of Rachel modeling a donut for me. She's a helper.

Embroidery

One of the ladies from church who I see at prayer every week, gave Rachel this beautiful cloth book, which she no doubt sewed herself.

I couldn't bear to write on it with a sharpie, so I spent some time thinking and then sewing and came up with this.

I know it's just a cloth book that won't last, but I think I've made something special here, so I'm happy.

Nehemiah

Have been thinking about a number of things lately, and even writing half of the blog in my head, but when I come to the computer, it all seems to just run away. Maybe it's got something to do with my current mental state. Here's an example for you.

Last week, I was cleaning the bathroom. Not the most fun job in the world, and admittedly I had left it a little long, so it was a bit more gross than usual. I am there on my hands and knees scrubbing away thinking to myself: "This is gross. Humans are gross. Look at the mess we make. It's everywhere. All I do all day is clean up this crap."

It doesn't end there, because I keep thinking.

"This mess isn't just our outside. We are dirty inside as well. We try to do good, but fail all the time. I'm trying to love people, do the right thing, read my bible, but I'm failing. Everyday. Failing."

And it's true. We, as humans, can try as hard as we like, but in the end, we are going to fail. We are not perfect. We can never make it. I know this is why we need Jesus. This is why we need a God who comes down to us to bridge the gap. I find that I relate to Paul's sentiment from Romans 7 more and more.

Anyway, enough of my mental state. I am getting through it, as always. God is good. All the time.

Recently in church we have read through Nehemiah, and last Sunday, because it was the 5th Sunday of the month, we recapped the whole 13 chapters. I must admit, I was a little dubious about recapping 13 chapters in one night, but I did enjoy the sermons on Nehemiah that I had heard, so I was also looking forward to hearing the parts I had missed.

Neil did a great job. Nehemiah tells the story of a broken Jerusalem. Not just the physical place, but also the people. God is faithful to these people, this broken place. Nehemiah has the job of organizing the people to rebuild the wall, and then lead the people in coming back to God.

The story is so encouraging, and yet heartbreaking, because in Chapter 13, after all of these reforms, Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem after being away to find the people have fallen back into their old ways. I know I've read it before, but I was so sad to hear it again on Sunday. Maybe because I can relate. Why is God so faithful to people who just forget about him? Why is he so faithful to me?

How amazing is God's love for us. How great is it to remember that he has abundant forgiveness and grace for all our failings. God is good. All the time.

Secrets Finished

Have been trying to use my spare time to finish things on the to-do list rather than add more things. It's difficult when I have so much inspiration from watching Sophie play and blog-land. But, I'm happy to report that the not-so-secret Christmas presents I've been working on are now finished. Man did it feel good to have that last push through nap-time yesterday and see them all complete.

Of course, I'm still trying to be a little vague about them, so you don't get good photos until after Christmas. Sorry folks.

Previous posts on this secret topic appear here, here, here and here.

Tea Party Table

I was cooking or cleaning, or doing something in the kitchen on Monday when I turned around to see Sophie doing this:

I thought to myself: "I've probably got enough cardboard somewhere to make her an actual table to sit at." And I totally did. All those cardboard toilet paper, cling wrap, and paper towel rolls I've been hoarding now have a use (well some of them anyway). I wanted the table top to have two layers of cardboard for stability, and I used the cling wrap rolls for the legs (they were the thickest). After some thinking, I realized that it would be sturdier if I put a layer of cut toilet paper rolls in, though when I was actually cutting and gluing them I wondered if I was putting too much effort in. I mean, it's just cardboard right?

But the table is fabulous and just the right size for Sophie, so I'm glad I did it. Sophie knew exactly what to do with it come Tuesday morning. I have given her a table cloth to make it much prettier, by the way, but I do love the home-made look, especially given what she's currently using for chairs. Maybe I'll upgrade them next.

The take away here is why buy a table and chairs set for your kid, when they will get just as much fun out of some cardboard boxes? Take that consumerism!

Roast Chicken Success

Last night, we feasted on my first ever roast chicken, complete with homemade apple and bacon stuffing, roast potato and sweet potato with steamed carrots and broccoli. It was delicious.

The inspiration for this meal came from Steve browsing through the junk mail and mentioning to me that there was a recipe that included bacon. Given that I make most of the decisions regarding dinner, I like to give Steve the opportunity to choose a meal every now and then (especially since the meals he's most often likely to choose, I'll vote down on (say no to chow mein people!)). Thus, without really reading the recipe, I say: "Sure, I can do that."

After spending altogether too long prepping this meal while feeding Sophie lunch and juggling Rachel in the middle of the day yesterday, I sent Steve a text warning him that I would consider him delusional if he thought I was going to make this again any time soon. Admittedly, I didn't really think through the logistics of trying a new (and fairly complicated) recipe on a Monday, with two small children, but it was a lot of work.

Thankfully it was delicious, though I stand by my sentiments that we won't be having it again soon. Unless you count eating the leftovers.

Bucket List

Last Sunday going to church, Steve mentioned something, I can't even remember what, but it was vaguely related to a bucket list type thing. I don't actually have a physical list (or even an imaginary list) of "things I'd like to do before I die", but I said: "You know what I'd really like to do that I've never done? Go to a drive in." That's right people. I've never seen a movie at a drive in.

So Steve, being the wonderful husband that he is, promptly pulled out his phone and looked up drive in movies for us (Google knows too much; Steve typed in "yat" and it was the first suggestion). We then did a brainstorm about how to logistically pull it off (baby sitting, dinner etc) and Tuesday night, we went to the movies.

It was pretty wonderful, all warm and snugly in the car watching movies. I really enjoyed it. I would do it again. I would also say I've got an excellent husband who loves to make things happen. Thanks husband! It's great that we are married.

Sarah's Party

Hooray! Today is my sisters birthday! I feel like today saw a lot of things come together that have been in the pipelines for a while. Maybe, maybe not. But I did just go through a heap of photos, so here we go!

Firstly, Sophie did wear her party dress today. It's a little long, and got fairly dirty (thanks to the rain making the dirt mud, and the fact that she's a toddler who regularly falls down) but worked well in the sunshine.

The Bike Bunting made the party fabulous. It was so breezy, so those happy triangles danced about like they were having the time of their lives. Such fun!

And the thing that I spent most of this morning, as well as copious amounts of time yesterday and the day before on, were the cakes. initially, I had offered to make a cake for Sarah because I had some fondant icing to use up. But the thing about fondant icing cakes is that usually they look good, but the cake inside is often not great. I ummed and ahhed for a while before mum decided she'd just make a fruit cake for it. Delicious, but possibly not what Sarah was looking for in a birthday cake.

Still, fun to ice, and it does look very classy. For those with OCD, you will be pleased to know that there is an even number of flowers on this cake. I know it makes my mind rest at ease when I look at it. Anyway, I asked Sarah's Steve what cake might be good, and he said that she'd love a black forest cake. I died a little inside, since I don't like black forest cakes, but rolled up my sleeves and got to work.

I made the cake yesterday and then put it all together this morning. The thing that makes me dislike black forest most of all, I believe, is that it looks so good. Those lovely layers with their colors and textures all complimenting each other. But then you take a bite and the cherries are not what you expected, the cake is all soggy from the juices and you can hardly find the cream any more. But I digress.

I covered this cake with a chocolate ganache (as per the recipe) which was the most delicious part (glad there is leftovers). This is what the cake looked like after everyone had a bit:

Demolished! Sophie was very compliant helping me put the cake together this morning and spent much of her time on the step in the kitchen diligently licking the spoons.

Party Dress

My sister's birthday is less than a week away, and though I have tried to find a dress for me to wear, I'm still coming up short. Might be wearing jeans and a T at this rate. Anyway, on Saturday I figured if I couldn't wear a party dress, I could at least make one for Sophie to wear. That way, at least one of us can have fun looking fabulous. 

Hopefully I'll get a good shot of Sophie in it on Sunday. It's simple and required no fiddly buttons or zips. My kind of dress. I did actually use a pattern this time: The Summer Picnic Dress from the Cottage Mama.

These ruffles on the bottom were the hardest part. Stupid gathering.

And for those interested, I decided to be professional and neat and on the inside, I did French Seams for all exposed seams. Very shiny. I am well pleased. 

The Unappreciated Bento

I've been slightly slack about making Sophie cool lunches when we venture out into the world around lunch time. Mostly because I'm busy, but also because she has a distinct lack of appreciation for a cute looking bento box. Today I have an example of her lack of appreciation.

This was a neatly packed top half of a bento. Then Sophie opened it and immediately pulled out the star shaped cup holding the tomato neatly together and it all fell apart. Also those cucumber pieces that I cut into cute cherry blossom shapes didn't get touched. Sigh. I wonder why I bother. Then I remember that this is good practice for when she will be able to appreciate the cute-ness and the hard work I've put in.

Then this cute star cup will get it's time to shine, while all the other kids have boring Australian lunchboxes with their sandwiches and roll-ups. Ha!

Birthday Bike Bunting: Complete!

This is what 120  bunting triangles looks like when sewn together and then dumped on the floor.

That's right people, along with the first lot of bike bunting that I made for my sister's birthday (click here to refresh your memories on that), I also cut out 240 extra small triangles to sew into bunting as well. Rodger the Rotary Cutter sure got a work out that day. People tell me I should sell bunting, but honestly, it would not be worth the time and effort.

This bunting, for example, as I've already mentioned had 240 triangles! And then you've got to cut the strips to bind the top with, along with all the thinking time it takes to work out if you've got enough material and how many triangles are going to go on each strip (if you are a bit OCD, like me, that will take a while until you are satisfied that it's all going to come together with the right amount of even numbers). Then there is the time you take to actual sew it all together. Not something that takes five minutes let me tell you.

But there they are, looking all shiny and stacked and ready to go to my sisters and bring joy and general festivity to her party. Happy Birthday Sarah. I'm looking forward to taking photos of the bunting in action. :)

Stars

The whole house has been up and down with sickness in the last two weeks now, so come 7:00 at night, the last thing I have been feeling like doing has been sitting down with Sally to finish off the bunting for my sister. In fact, I think if I had tried Steve would have staged an intervention. Yesterday I made some yummy star biscuits to cheer us all up. Maybe procrastination, maybe therapy, but I'll get to that bunting soon I promise. In the mean time, I'll snack on these and remind myself that among the sickness, Sophie has achieved another milestone and now sleeps the nights (and the naps!) away in the big bed. Success.  

Birthday Bike Bunting

My older sister's 30th birthday is coming up, and her one request of me for the big day was that there be bunting for the party. Who am I to refuse such an excellent request? How could I possibly resist? Of course, she meant for me just to bring the abundance of bunting I already have lying around, but given that it is her birthday, I thought it'd be way cooler if she actually had some of her own (ok, maybe that was just an excuse, but come on - Bunting!).

Given that both Sarah and her Steve love to bike ride (in copious amounts; I'm talking 100s of ks here), I had been on the look out for some bike fabric for a while. This stuff that I found was pretty perfect, apparently there is a penny farthing bike and a cruiser bike and a ... I can't remember what other kinds of bikes there, but lots of bikes. In cool colours. Then I just got some cool stripy material and bright solid colours to help lift the blackness.

I do love how it turned out, and so does Sarah. Which is perfect, since it is part of her birthday present. :) Last week, I was trying valiantly to get it all finished when Sophie got sick (cold, tonsillitis and conjunctivitis all in one go) and then decided she'd share it with Steve and I (and now Rachel has at least the cold part (really praying it's not the rest too, poor little five-week-old child)), so I didn't quite get to finish it all before the pre-birthday celebration with the parents who are leaving to travel the world for two months. But I'll get the other 120 triangles sewn into more bunting soon, ready for the actual birthday party. Maybe now in fact.

(Thanks Dad for helping me take the photos!)