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!)

Writing Letters

I've been wondering a lot recently about what my Christian life looks like now that I'm a stay at home mum. Previously, I was a teacher, and it was easy to see that work as my mission field. The students, the staff, the parents even, were the ones I was called to share the gospel with. I'm wasn't neglecting other areas of my life, certainly, I'd say I prayed for my friends, family and church just as much, but the drive to work kind of highlighted for me that I was going somewhere God had placed me to do his work.

Now, I don't have a drive to work. I don't have several classes of students to manage, and to try to see as God sees them. There are no people in my staff room to encourage or uphold. There are no parents to teach me patience.

What am I doing? I wonder. I want to use every opportunity to have God's good news on my lips, but I'm lacking the vast number of people to share it with. Sure, I'm meeting new people at the park, but I have to meet them repeatedly, to be able to build up that rapport. Yep, I've got my girls to teach everyday, but they are currently 18 months and four weeks. Hardly ready for a gospel smack down.

In bible study, we are reading through Acts (apparently, we've been doing Acts for more than six months now, but it doesn't seem that long to me). At the end of chapter 24, Paul is in prison. In fact, he's been there for two years.

It strikes me that Paul, who is pretty obsessed with using every chance he gets to share the gospel, was determined to get to Rome to do that work. In fact, God had told him (Acts 23:11) that he would get to do just that. And now here Paul is, stuck in prison (or under house arrest, but either way, not really heading to Rome anytime soon).

We were discussing this last Wednesday night, and someone said "What was he doing for two years?" To which the answer is: writing letters. Paul used his time to write letters to the churches he had started, to encourage, build, correct, direct and instruct. Without Paul's two years in jail, we wouldn't have a substantial amount of the New Testament.

So maybe this is my time to write letters. I may not be in a position to be sharing the gospel to lots of people, or even planting churches like Paul was, but I am in a position to encourage those people I have around me in my life. I can be writing letters to build up my fellow Christians. I can be praying for them. Even though I feel like this is a rather stagnant time of life, God has a purpose for it, just as he had a purpose for Paul's time in jail.

Coming Along Nicely

The rather not-so-secret Christmas presents I've been working on are coming along nicely. I have everything I need to get them finished. I've been taking photos of my progress (which I can't share with you). That said, I'm taking a break now though so I can get onto making something for my sister's upcoming birthday.

A Different Kind of Bunting

Sophie is the kind of cool kid who wakes up from a big sleep, or a nap, and is not bothered by the fact that she is trapped in her cot. She (so far) has not really been in any rush to get out. No big screams, or calls for mum. I am thankful for this. Instead, she usually just has a little chat to herself.

I noticed some time ago though, that even though we moved all the necessary furniture items to her new room for her, the things that were on the wall in the nursery, didn't move with her. So in Sophie's new room, the walls are actually blank. Very blank. While she's chatting to herself there, all alone in the room, it must be pretty boring with  nothing to look at. I had several ideas about how to fix this, but I finally decided what the room really needed was some bunting. 

I don't really have the time now to be making the intense kind of bunting I'm prone to making, but I whipped this stuff up out of some felt and it now decorates Sophie's room nicely. It makes the room just that little bit more fun. 

Vest Upcycle

Recently, when not working on publishing my writing (eek!), looking after my girls, or any of those various house-hold things that a stay at home mum does, I've been making a vest for Sophie. We got her one from Coles on sale that is not really big enough, but I figured I could trace the pattern and make a new one for her. Excellent chance to use snaps and practice quilting things. Hooray!

 So I've done just that. It took a little longer than I expected, because I get distracted by things and then I think about things, and then I try to take short cuts and have to unpick a whole lot of things, but I managed to finish it off during last Monday's nap time.

The black material is actually an old hoodie of Steve's (affectionately called "Pintsize" (the name of the little android on the front)). I knew I'd been saving it for something and I'm glad to see it live again. And that pocket on the front right (left as you look at it) is still usable. Yay! The frog stuff is another random hand me down from who knows where. Steve liked both materials, and wanted me to make it reversible. Yeah right. Instead, I flipped the back panel, so the fun frogs are out and the boring black is in. I like it.

As with most things I sew, it's big. In fact, it might not fit Sophie for another two years or so, but at least it's ready. Can't call me unprepared! This was Sophie wearing it this morning (with her frog hat on backwards, hilarious. :D)

This vest marks the  best binding job I've ever done though. Hooray! I'm progressing in life! I bought three meters of the stuff from Spotlight thinking it would be plenty. This was all I had left:

So glad I didn't have to go back for more.

Published!

There it is everyone! If you were to go to amazon.com right now and type in "Just As It Should", the first result would be my story. Published! (You can also get it in the kindle store, and other electronic-book-store-type places. Just saying.)

The final uploading of everything last night took a lot longer than I expected. It's not just about pushing one button. There are various steps and things you have to check before you can finally upload your precious book. But it is done. I pushed the Publish button last night and at 1:00 am my book was available. (Thank you early morning motherhood duties for waking me at that unsightly hour.)

I have to say a massive thank you to everyone who has helped me get here, though I'm not going to try to mention everyone specifically, because I'll miss someone and then I'll have offended friends. No one wants that. Steve though, gets a mention, because he's my husband! Super work husband, for supporting me (even if you read the story so long ago now that you can't actually remember what it's about :P). I love being married to you. Also, I just want to mention, I had the cover art done by Ellie, from Taffy and Twine who was just fabulous. Highly recommend her works.

Now, I breath a contented sigh and realize I'm a published author. Not one who is going to make a lot of money or probably have any fame, but published none the less. Hooray!

Sometime Soon

I think I'm finally in the last part of getting things together to get my first book published! Eek! Story written: Check. Editing done: Check. Proof reading complete: Check. Formatting finished: Check. Cover art acquired: Check.

Now all I need to do is to get it into the Amazon store, and then anyone with an electronic device can down load it. My original goal was to have this done before Rachel was born. New goal is to have it done by Saturday. Wish me luck!

Order in the Chaos

Talking to Steve yesterday, we were discussing who would do what menial task before we had to head off to church. Taking the washing off the line or doing the washing up. (Gosh, it's moments like these that you know you are a real grown up adult person. :P Sigh. I suppose it had to happen sometime.)

I say: "I'd rather take the washing off the line, because I can do it in order so it's easy to put away. It's the little things like this that remind me that there is a small amount of order in my otherwise chaotic life. It makes me happy."

Steve replies: "Don't your two daughters make you happy?"

"Not like the washing; they are responsible for all the chaos."