Owie Dolls: Christmas Presents 2018

The girls did get handmade presents this year! I can't remember when, but at least two years ago now, I made an expensive spur of the moment purchase of an Owie Doll Kit from Take and Make. You can't get the kits any more, but Owie Dolls are designed by my fav blogger Leir from Ikat Bag, and you can still get the pattern for the dolls from her website.

Anyway, it was so expensive (shipping to Australia makes me cry every time), that I almost couldn't bring myself to actually make it when it came. It was probably some form of denial that I had actually purchased something so expensive, and then paid even more expensive shipping costs. Sigh. So I put it in the cupboard telling myself I'd wait until the girls were older and make them for Christmas then.

Hello 2018. Busiest year we've had yet, just when I thought nothing could top 2017 and the Big Travels we had then. This year, we've been to Bundaberg seven times total, talked to builders, planners and who knows who else to start a renovation on our house, went camping for a long weekend with friends, celebrated 10 years of marriage (with a trip to Cairns!), Steve went to San Francisco for work, Sophie lost five teeth, Rachel got our first pets and I started looking after even more children. I feel a little bit like this doll after all of that.

Christmas rolls around and we are ready for a break. And of course, three weeks before Christmas I decide that this is the year to make the girls their Owie Dolls. Never before have I felt the time pressure of a deadline, even when I made these Bags from Santa two days before Christmas in 2014. Obviously they were much less involved. Owie Dolls were an entirely new level of sewing, even if I did have some soft toy sewing experience up my sleeve.

Finish them I did though, thanks in part to my parents who took the girls for half a day so I could finish all of the extra bits. Whew.

These dolls have short hair, because I couldn't be bothered making long hair, and I also wanted some gender diversity in the dolls we have. Their heads/faces seem a little wonky to me, probably because I can't sew straight even after all these years, but the girls don't mind a bit. They love them. Especially the bandaids, that they can Velcro on and off to their hearts content.

They have leg and arm bandages, an arm sling, head bandage, eye patch, reversible hospital outfits (including modesty pants), and slippers. So far they have been in numerous accidents and needed lots of care and attention and it looks like they will be getting loads more. I'm glad the expensive purchase was worth it in the end.

Tomatoes

After we moved the garden bed in August, I planted a heap of seeds, most of which, didn't bother growing at all. But, luckily, a whole heap of unintentionally planted seeds did. Mostly tomatoes. There were some late season snow peas that decided to make an appearance too, but given the heat, they died off a lot sooner. 

The tomatoes however, have been going strong, despite my neglect of them; I didn't bother to try to stake any of them up at all really. The lucky plants at the back used the fence for support, but everything else just grew on top of whatever was next to it.

Rachel is ever helpful in the garden, always the first to suggest she jump into the actual garden bed to reach the ones at the back.

So many delicious red tomatoes. We lost maybe a quarter to bugs, but the rest have been so fantastic. Rachel took a box to kindy for show and share, and it came back empty. Satisfaction right there.

Belated Christmas

Merry Christmas from us to you!

It was a lot warmer this year, compared to last, but it is the same Jesus we celebrate, no matter where we are.

Reading 2018

With our increased library visits this year, I've been lucky enough to pick up some books for my self. Oh the joys of reading! I always miss it when it's been a while.

After forgetting the names of a few that I had read, I went back to the library website to see if my "borrowed history" existed somewhere, but alas, it does not. So I made sure that I wrote down the rest of them, so I wouldn't have to rely on my somewhat faulty memory if I needed to.

Here's what I've read:

Wonder at the Edge of the World by Nicole Helget
Crown of Three by J. D. Rinehart
Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
The Firefly Code by Megan Frazer Blakemore
The Lost Property Office by James R Hannibal
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
Tales from a Tall Forest by Shaun Micallef
Theophilus Grey and the Demon Thief by Catherine Jinks
Theophilus Grey and the Traitor's Mask by Catherine Jinks
Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
Crow's Revenge by Marcus Alexander
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
The House of Months and Years by Emma Trevayne
I Was a Rat or The Scarlet Slippers by Philip Pullman
The Book of Lost Things by Cynthia Voigt

I did read one other with the word star in the title as well, about I can't for the life of me remember what it was called. It was about the constellations and was very cool, but no idea what it was called. Oh, and one more, right back at the start, but I can't even remember what it was about because I went from that (which I'm sure was set in a Steam Punk Elizabethan England era) straight to Wonder at the Edge of the World, which was set in a farm in Mississippi or Alabama or somewhere, and was just worlds apart.

I have to say that reading books by authors that I read as a teenager myself makes me super happy, because these authors are still doing what they love and doing it really well. The Philip Pullman, Cynthia Voigt and Catherine Jinks books are all fantastic. Read them!

What not to read on this list is absolutely without a doubt Crow's Revenge by Marcus Alexander. I do not know how this book could have possibly ever been published because it was terrible from start to finish. And yes, despite hating it from chapter one, I did finish it. Steve kept telling me that I didn't need to, and at first I told him I was sure it could get better, but when I was a third of the way in, I had well and truly realized that it was, in fact, not going to get better. Then I just kept reading it because I'm too task oriented for my own good and I couldn't not finish it. It was awful. Completely. Never read this book, ever.

A couple of these books were the first in a duo, trio or series, which I wouldn't mind finishing but so far have had no luck picking up the next books. Steve has encouraged me to use the order system on the library website to get them on hold, but I'm not sure I want to commit just yet. Picking up a book or two each time we happen to be in the library feels a lot more manageable than actually asking for a book. That feels like I'm going to need to read it, no matter how busy I am.

Extension Progress

Believe it or not, renovation works have begun! When I posted about it back in August, I didn't really believe it would ever get off the ground. And then there were delays, which helped to confirm all my deepest fears about renovations. But works have begun and been in full swing for over a month now. The girls even talk about the extension to others and make wishes on dandelion flowers that the deck will be finished tomorrow.

As things progress, I took the liberty this weekend to do some painting, and in the process, did what every parent probably dreads their children ever doing:

We painted the wall.

This wall is going to be knocked out for our extension (you can kind of see what's going to be there beyond the windows if you are desperate for some kind of building update), so I knew it was an opportunity too good to be missed. I only wish I'd done it sooner, but we have been exceedingly busy this last month.

The girls were a little skeptical when I told them we were going to paint the wall, in multiple colors, and that they were allowed to help, and paint whatever they wanted to. I really did give them free reign. The only stipulations were not the door, or the adjacent wall near the piano.

I did some rather boring patterns up the top, while the girls when crazy down below. I loved listening to them talking as they painted, and adding in different things as they crossed their mind. For example, after painting herself, some squirrels, the sky and trees, Sophie decided to paint some jellyfish, which she painted in the sky, because it was the most appropriate blue space she could think of.

I love this wall, even though I know it will be gone soon, just like the last one. But maybe, I'll be ambitious and paint a feature wall in the study when the extension is done, so I can have some creative crazy in our house for a little longer. Maybe I'll even let the girls help again too.