recovered

Thank you for all of your lovely comments, Keira had a wonderful birthday and its only taken me a week to recover from her party! I'm still finding little barbie shoes and accessories around the house but at least there is plenty to keep my little miss occupied!


I did manage to squeeze in some knitting this week and hope the recipient likes it. Its another of the Debbie Bliss bolero's made in Lincraft's soft n cosy wool which is super soft and the palest of pinks. I'm now on to my 3rd bolero of the season, this time for miss keira using Bendigo's Luxury which is just lovely.....if you're yet to try it you won't be disappointed and the colour range keeps everyone happy!


Now I better get ready for my Japanese Cooking Class which is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon...cooking, eating, talking and no children for 4 hours! woo hoo! I've never tackled tempura before but have always enjoyed it so am most looking forward to learning how to prepare it!

three

Where have the years gone...you were so wanted and I prayed to have you. We saw doctors, had tests, took tablets and I wanted nothing more than for you to come into our lives. You had a wonderful time inside my tummy and didn't want to come out so the doctor had to take you out and what a lovely chubby little thing you were.


I remember your first days with us and what a funny little person you were...smiling at us and our visitors in the hospital and we kept being told you must have wind. You didn't like to sleep at night so we pampered you and let you sleep with us until you were 2.


You were always laughing and happy and have kept us entertained everyday that you have been with us.


You are the most chatty little person and my own mummy tells me I was exactly the same so we must have a lot in common. Some days you just never stop talking to me.


today you are still as happy as ever, always friendly and you want everyone to be your friend. You talk to everyone and if we don't listen you say ' mummy talk to me'....and that makes me laugh.


You love dancing, princesses, marshmallows, cupcakes, anything pink, dresses, shopping, your little friends and of course your mummy, daddy and little Finn & Tillie. YOu love to sing Frere Jacques, Hey diddle where the dishwasher and the spoon ran off together and Alouette. You say hello to people in japanese and french and introduce me as 'corrie my mummy' to everyone.


I still thank God for giving you to me and pray for you everyday. I love that its my full time job to look after you and bring you up to be the most wonderful little lady. To my very beautiful and precious keira happy birthday and I can't wait to watch you grow up into an ever more amazing person than you are. Don't change a thing for anyone my darling


love mummy

creating a first impression

here is my front hallway still looking pretty from Keira's party. My mother in law's vintage singer table (with machine hidden away), ikea enamel jug and 2 bunches of roses. The previous owners had exactly the same table in this spot when we came to view the house so I knew this house was ours!


I love fresh flowers and really should buy a bunch each week as they totally transform your home!


p.s I'm so sorry I'm behind with replying to your lovely comments...I've been so preoccupied with keira's party and had to make another cake today for pre-school, will do a cake for tonight's dinner and then another one for playgroup on friday! phew!
p.p.s The Craft Room is meeting tomorrow night so if you want to come and are close to Sydney's northern beaches then its only $2 and we'd love to have you. Just drop me an email if you're interested (retromummy@gmail.com)

all cupcaked out!

phew! I was too tired to type anything last night and I'm still waiting for all the photos from our party photographer (aka my dad!) but here are a few! The little girls ate marshmallows, heart shaped hamwiches and fairy bread, the very traditional sausage rolls and party franks (or footy franks if you come from Victoria according to my husband), white chocolate rocky road (recipe tomorrow) and of course cupcakes.


When the little girls arrived I had them colour in the tablemat which provided some entertainment while we waited for everyone to arrive.


then we played pass the parcel, marshmallow and spoon race, musical statues, hide and seek and whats the time mr wolf....we sang happy birthday, ate cake, had lots of play time with balls going into the pool and then it was hometime!


All the mums had a lovely time too chatting to each other and I was so happy with how it turned out!!!!!! I also had 2 cupcakes for lunch and have a secret stash of lollies left in the pantry to get me through the week!

and two for the girls

I love russian dolls and so does miss keira so we made a few tees up....she loved the ones I made her last winter and this time around I've used a different fabric but just as cute...no I think its cuter!


I'm still working on my model standing still


Now I've got some party preparations to continue with....we have 8 little misses coming over to celebrate with miss keira on sunday and I am one busy mummy till then!!!!!

one for the boys

poor little Finn, I love pink so much I don't make as much for him as I should!


but this cute japanese fabric has been sitting in my stash untouched for almost 2 years! its perfect for little retro boys!

melt n mix banana bread

We love a good banana bread recipe in this house but sometimes I can't be bothered creaming my butter and sugar! So here is our current favourite recipe which I've made so I don't have to get out my mixer! We whipped up a loaf today which made for some lovely afternoon tea.....


2 large mashed bananas
125g melted butter
2 Tbsp maple syrup (optional)
2 Tbsp milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 Cup castor sugar (or brown)

Combine butter, maple syrup, milk, eggs, sugar and add banana to this mixture. Sift in flour and baking powder and pour into lined loaf tin. Bake for 1 - 1 1/4 hours in 170degree oven. Cool on cake rack and serve warm. If your mixture is a little too wet just add a tablespoon or two of sifted flour. Another little tip is to freeze 2 or 3 peeled bananas in a ziplock bag or freezer container, mash while slightly frozen and pop them in your cake mix.....too easy! I also added some sultanas in this loaf but little choc chips are also a great addition!

And this is what happens when you turn your back on a toddler...they reach up and grab cake for themselves rather than ask for another piece...lovely Keira, just lovely!

just smile for mummy

I tried to get my little miss to stay still & smile


and I kept trying


and finally we got there! A few hats made it to madeit


Then I tried my little miss number 2.....I had to crawl around after her & gave up in the end!

new labels

My black retro mummy labels don't really suit all of the sweet little girly things I make. Sooooo, when this nice lady told me she got her labels here well I decided to try them out.


Verdict....I love them! Perfectly girly and sweet!

tired babies

We love Fridays! We all go off to playgroup and I'm not sure who has more fun.....me or my little ones! Shortly after we arrived home today Keira fell asleep behind the couch cushions...and check out her new buddy! I never win anything in my life (oh woe is me) but managed to win this baby and a new pattern from this clever lady! Thanks Kellie!


and look at these little guys feeding themselves...the hair fairy visited tillie overnight but it was so cute I didn't brush it out!!! Now I better get them off to sleep so I can get some time to myself...and have another coffee and brownie!

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

Oh thank goodness! I'm back but now my keyboard is playing up, time for a new computer I think! My house is still spotless,so spotless that this morning retro daddy told me it was immaculate.....this is rare for midweek with no visitors expected! Going forward I'm going to try my bestest to limit my online time (well I'll try).


Apart from being on my hands and knees to clean my floors, I've also been crocheting! I've even managed to create my own little hat pattern when I realised I had no pattern for what I wanted the little girls in my life to be wearing this winter. I followed the trial and error method of pattern design and wasted (oops I mean spent) an entire saturday night trying to work out the right sizing and stitches and had nothing to show for it but unravelled wool and frustration. I'm a knitter and we knitters make our hats from the bottom up but crochet requires going top down! Anyway, I made a hat that was just the right size for barbie and figured I'd done something wrong but we're all good now.


I also whipped up some little flower hair elastics when I couldn't work out how to make flowers with complicated instructions. I am amazed that I can do it myself because I've always been the one to buy lots of patterns but shock horror I can do it all on my own!!!!


So moral of the story....turn off your computer and get busy! Oh and I'm hoping to put some of these babies on madeit over the weekend......

no computer = no blogging

Uggggggh my laptop has been tipped off the couch one too many times and the power cord snapped off....7 calls to dell today and over 3 hours on hold and I'm still waiting for someone to call me back and tell me how to get my hands on a new cord and adaptor! You can't buy them in the shops.....in good news, my house is spotless, the washing has all been done, folded and put away, I just finished my 4th beanie in 2 days and even made up the pattern myself. I hope to be back up and running again later in the week! But there is something to be said for no internet time....its very productive!

making it up as you go along

I took the amitie blog challenge as an opportunity to make something practical for my own dear mum for mothers day. She is off her feet waiting for her hip replacement (she's waaaay too young to need one) and she'll be off her feet for a while afterwards. She loves to crochet so I thought it would be perfect to make a home for some new hooks for her.


I'm sure there is a pattern to follow or a right way to do it but I just made it up as I went along, grabbing binding and ric rac as I got to that stage. There is even room for a pair of scissors at the end of the roll and you could also fit knitting needles in there too.


I won't win any awards for my free motion quilting and certainly not for attaching my binding (but it was super fast), its cute and I completed the challenge. You can't complain about that!!!!

still knitting

I just love knitting when the weather turns cold.....this little hat took 2 nights in front of the tv and an afternoon to knit and keira loves it. The pattern is from a Cleckeaton book called 'Handknits to Wrap and Adorn' and is cute but it was fiddly picking up stitches around the little ear flaps


but it looks super cute and the yarn was a steal at $5 for a 100g ball (100% australian wool) at lincraft! The sizing is a bit off but thats why you're supposed to do tension squares.....I was doing so well with tension squares but decided if it didn't fit keira it would fit someone! And you know what, I think we may have put it on backwards!!!


I'm not sure how long the plaits will last as miss keira likes to walk around pulling at them.....

sweet lil' shrug

here it is all finished! I had to make a quick trip out this morning to get darning needles (I swear there are about 10 or so hiding from me at my house) to weave in all the ends! I could make one in every colour for my little miss and she's now having her nap all warm and cosy.


The pattern is from Debbie Bliss Simply Baby but aren't you lucky that you can get it free here. I used Ella Rae Classic but any old 10 ply will do and this colour is so sweet, a really girly pink. I took these pics so quickly before she crawled off.


ps thanks for all your lovely comments! I've just put it down as one of those awkward social situations!

quick & healthy lasagne

now a totally random thing about me is that I actually have a Diploma in vegetarian cooking which I earned way back in 2005 just after we got married. I had started it in the UK and had to fly back just to finish it off.....this recipe does NOT show that I have all these cooking skills up my sleeve! But apparently I'm making you all fat with my brownie and cookie recipes so here is my quick vegie lasagne which I have simplified since having the twins! no more cheese sauce from scratch or homemade tomato sauce....no my friends its bottled sauce and ricotta for this recipe.


You'll need
1 packed lasagne sheets
assorted vegetables ( I like carrots, zucchini, sweet potato, mushrooms and peas in mine)
1 jar pasta sauce (like I said quick recipe so not for our gourmet chefs out there)
500g low fat ricotta (add some parmesan cheese and black pepper for a bit of flavour)
1 cup grated low fat cheese for the topping


Preheat your oven to 190 degrees then cut and steam your vegies in the microwave (you can saute if you prefer and have time up your sleeve). Add the pasta sauce to your vegies and season with salt and pepper. Spread 2-3Tbsp of this vegie mixture across the bottom of your oven dish then place a layer of lasagne sheets on top. Cover with 1/2 vegetables and another layer of lasagne sheets then 1/2 ricotta mixture and repeat the vegie and ricotta layers putting grated cheese on top of the ricotta and place in oven for about 40 minutes or until cheese is golden on top. I love this the next day!