almost there

Firstly, wow and thank you for your sweet words. It's reassuring to know that strangers stop to tell you their thoughts whether you have zero, one or more children. Feeling much more normal now. Plus I have bigger things to worry about like my 2 hour glucose test tomorrow (because I had high blood sugars on the regular test) and the Don't Look Now quilting workshop I've organised for this weekend.

So I've been carbo loading before the glucose test and making up 19 goody bags for the weekend. But  my biggest job is still to be finished - basting 40 quilt sandwiches. Thankfully they are cushion size but still a huge job. Kellie arrives friday night (yikes, that would be tomorrow!) to stay at our house and there are still all those jobs to do before you have a house guest. Thank goodness Kellie's a mum of 4 including twins so I won't need to apologise for anything like the noise level or little children running around at home.

Picture from here

Our project for the weekend is Kellie's gorgeous 'Wish you were here' cushion and I'm really excited. I love my free motion quilting and to learn from such a beautiful quilter like Kellie is going to be a fabulous experience. I'm doing it all over again next year and will definitely have learnt a lot from this weekend. So, I'll be back on Sunday to give you the full debrief.............see you then.

are they all yours?

Yes, people, they are all my children. And yes I am pregnant with number 4. And no I'm not brave or crazy, I'm actually very lucky. Do you want to listen to my whole infertility story and know that this baby is a little miracle that required no drugs or doctors visits to get inside my tummy. Or that I feel so blessed to have such beautiful, happy and healthy children who are the love of my life.

I am only saying this because today I went to Spotlight for a quick trip. Not 1, not 2 but yes, 3 different people stopped me to ask exactly the same question 'are they all yours?'  Oh no, I just love walking around shopping malls with other people's children. It's such a pleasant experience to have 3 small children on the loose at the shops. I'm not sure what is wrong with people but obviously they are my children.

'we've just been playing at the park' hair!

Thankfully, I just smile sweetly but deep down I'm thinking derrrr why of course they are my own children and couldn't you think of something nicer to say. And let me tell you people's faces and voices aren't always super sweet and friendly when they ask this question. Maybe I wouldn't mind if they were like some nice people who just say 'gosh you have beautiful children'. We like those people, they are usually the people at our church who love to tell us that.  Anything you need to get off your chest today??? I sure needed to get that one off my chest!

escaping to Country Living

In the last week or so, this pregnancy has really been catching up on me. At home we are calling it the fastest pregnancy on record as it is flying by. But now the 14kgs I have gained (did I just say that!) is slowing me down. I pretty much count down the hours till it is acceptable to put on my jammies and dressing gown and plonk myself down somewhere and not move again. And one of my favourite things to do is to grab a big pile of magazines and a cup of peppermint tea. Pretty magazines are my weakness (one of my weaknesses).

At the moment I am loving the August issue of Notebook (ha ha, of course I am) and the British Edition of Country Living. My newsagent sells the magazine the month after it is released in the UK for $8.95 which is so reasonable for an overseas mag and I just love it. I love the interiors, homewares and pretty china....

the beautiful english country gardens and the pretty pictures of roses (shame I've had no luck growing them in my garden)...

and of course I love the recipes. You can find the recipe for these very sweet fondant fancies here......

So what is your favourite magazine??????

simple perfect enchiladas

Well after chicken pie took half the day to prepare last week, I am going back to making new recipes on weekends. And in keeping with this strategy, last night I made pioneer woman's simple perfect enchiladas. Honestly, it's like she has written her cookbook for retro daddy. Anything I make from her book, retro daddy devours and I won't tell you how many enchiladas he ate last night.

Here they are before they went into the oven. Don't they look fresh with the red sauce, spring onions, coriander and cheese. Delicious and the kids enjoyed it too. We ended up with 2 baking dishes full of enchiladas but I had some issues with frying my tortillas so had to ditch that stage (probably better for our health). I also must have missed the tip about the sour cream but will definitely remember for next time. And there will be a next time. 

sunday

Taking my three to a park on my own is stressful as the twins go one way, keira goes another and no one ever wants to get back in the car (think big tantrums and throwing themselves on the ground). So I save the park for weekends.....................when retro daddy is on hand.

I get to sit down on a bench and relax. We've had such a great sunday together starting with hosting morning tea at church, playing at the park, trying out a new sushi train restaurant and picking up the latest edition of Country Living (ok well that one was for mummy).

And now I'm off to sew.......perfect!

twinnie time

I'm up early with the twinnies this morning. The rest of the house is quiet but these two are enjoying their new Toy Story dvd and breakfast with mummy.

Tillie is mastering drinking from a cup on her own

we still have some spills

but she's very proud of herself

Oh my these two are so funny. They make me laugh everyday, which is a good thing because they never stop moving. They keep me on my toes from the moment they wake up in the morning till the time they are fast asleep.

And I hope you like the photos.  I'm playing around with my new camera which I'll be revealing next week. It's so  fun to have a new toy......

proud mummy moment

Yesterday 'the letter' arrived! I've been listening and peeking out every day this week for the mailman to deliver 'the letter'. Its been almost 2 months of waiting and if my big girl had been born a couple of months earlier I wouldn't have needed to work myself up about 'the letter'. But it arrived................ and my big bright girl is off to school next year and we are sooooooooooo excited.

We've always known that miss keira would go to school early, she's bright and articulate and let's just say when she had turned 2 and was teaching 4 year olds how to read numbers and the alphabet we knew she was a little smartie. But schools these days don't always feel the same way when you're so young starting school! She did so well in her interview but I stressed, I prayed, I stressed some more, I talked to everyone about it until I couldn't talk about it anymore......

and now it's just relief and happiness (ok, well I actually burst into tears). We know that there will be challenges ahead of us with miss keira being the youngest in the class but we're so glad the first hurdle is behind us! And so we celebrated with pizza, lemonade and ice-cream at Keira's request.

and a quick trip to the new gymboree store at Eastgardens (this mummy is so proud of herself for driving into unknown territory).  Ok, well who am I kidding - the shopping trip was really for mummy but keira is modelling her new outfit (hair ribbons included) and everyone came back with a few things. It's just a shame that some of the girlswear was so disappointing - think big sunflowers, green and yellow (hello nineties).

I'll give it another go and then might be sticking to my online orders - of which there have been a few! Thankfully, retro daddy hasn't said anything............yet!

first rolled hem

Well, this is a little embarrassing since I've been using overlockers for a few years now - but here is my first ever rolled hem. It was so easy! Why I haven't done one before I'll never know, but there is no stopping me now. I did have to pull out the manual and fiddle around but once your overlocker is set up for it you're on fire. I'm thinking quick tablecloths, placemats and napkins..........so look out fabric, here I come!!

And with Mathildas Market less than 3 weeks away, I think the old sewing machine will be coming into the dining room at night time so I can keep warm and sew up some more stock. I'm currently set up in the back room which would have to be the coldest part of the house but enough is enough I need to get cracking on my sewing list!

tillie steals some limelight

Tillie is not the most photogenic of my three! She is so cute and sweet but  prefers to run away from the camera. Today after lunch she was in a pretty chilled out mood so I decided to snap a few pictures of her quickly before she moved! First up is her signature frown

oh my, look at those big lips......

oh wait, is that a little smile for me......

and now we're just keeping it real by sticking our finger up our nose, just lovely!!!!

And that is my Tillie......aged 23 1/2 months!

a crafty retreat giveaway

Sonia is a sweet lady who lives down the road from me! I first met her way back when I was pregnant with Keira and needed a new craft - haha no I've never needed a new craft but she ran a beautiful scrapbooking store and I did a day long class and had a ball. Now I'm no scrapbooker but you don't need to be either ....check out this amazing giveaway that Sonia is running.

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Forever Always ULTIMATE Retreat Weekend Giveaway!!!


Forever Always is excited to invite YOU to their 14th Annual Retreat Scheduled for August 5-8th in North Turramurra NSW! Forever Always has held amazing scrapbooking and papercraft retreats for the past 6 years and is excited to offer their first ultimate weekend Giveaway! This 14th Annual retreat marks the begining of more crafts being offered, in the past we have included Scrapbooking, Cardmaking and Photography - this retreat we are also offering Stitching and Quilting Classes.

This event will be held at Glengarry House, situated on the edge of Ku-ring-gai National park in Sydney's leafy suburb of North Turramurra and features 70 hours of non-stop crafting time, with fully equipped Forever Always Online Store, Mini Retro Mummy Table and hopefully a Mini Nutrimetics Table for all your shopping needs, dining with friends on the best homecooked meals, generous well lit crafting space, comfy beds, a Forever Always signature handmade with love goodie bag, lucky door prizes, mini free hand massages and much, much, more.

A range of packages are available for Dormitory or Private Rooms and also a single Day pass. To register and checkout packages click here. Forever Always workshops/classes are taught by our talented design team members PAULA PERRY, MICHELLE WINSTON AND SONIA BOWERS, who are published and recognised in their fields. In addition, CORRIE from Retro Mummy (that's me!) , will also be attending to stitch and chat amongst us and man her little stand on Saturday afternoon.We are also hoping to have Tammy from Nutrimetics come and do mini hand massages but this is still yet to be confirmed.

Wouldn't YOU love to attend this retreat with some of your best crafty girlfriends? I know I sure would!
Well guess what? Forever Always and Just Calls and Crops have generously offered ONE lucky Crafter free attendance to this event. Can you believe it?!? Yes, you read it right ... FREE!!!

To enter to win, simply comment over at Sonia's blog here telling her why you want to attend and what you would love to learn whilst attending :) and the Name/s of the friend/s you would bring along. For bonus entries, you can also comment in the relevant FA ULTIMATE RETREAT WEEKEND GIVEAWAY POST on the JUST CALLS AND CROPS BLOG, and RETROMUMMY'S BLOG, also become a Facebook fan of Forever Always and Facebook fan of Just calls and Crops - be sure to let us know that you have done these in seperate comments - so that you go in the draw.

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So there you have it....................go and enter at Sonia's blog and for a bonus entry you can comment here too and I'll see the winner there on Saturday 7th August! You need to pay your own travel costs to get to Sydney/the venue but what a great giveaway...........

feeding your man

I've been trying lots of new recipes lately as retro daddy gets a little bit sick of the same old, same old. The most popular I've tried so far most definitely has to  be pioneer woman's meatloaf (from her cookbook) with creamy mashed potato (these potatoes have butter, cream cheese and cream and are sooooooooooooo good). The recipe did two meals and that makes it a winner in my book. Unfortunately, my photo of the dinner was a little disappointing (3 hungry little people screaming in the background was not helping the situation) so here is the more appetising photo from the book...

And why I am telling you all of this! Because I've just broken up a whole chicken for the first time in my life (remember I don't normally eat meat)  to make Pioneer Woman's chicken pot pie (this link is for her turkey pie and the only difference in her book is that you'll use 2 cups of fresh chicken).  The pastry, the chicken, the filling will all be cooked from scratch and so what if it takes half the day, I'm feeling pretty proud of myself as this is not a normal weeknight meal around here. Here was my progress at 12.30

and the final result

I really recommend pioneer woman recipes if you need to please your man/kids/significant other........last week I was surprised with a bottle of Chanel Allure (my absolute favourite perfume and a real luxury for me these days) and some super cute russian doll measuring cups. Edited to add that these cups came from Chalet but I've also seen them in homewares/gift stores nearby..... 

Totally out of the blue and for no reason and I'd like to think it's because of all of the delicious food coming out of my kitchen!!!!!!! 

baby and toddler crochet hat patterns

Or I could have called this post 'What to do when your gorgeous model is at preschool?'. Thanks to George for stepping in today, he was very co-operative and stood still for me. So at last, here are more of my crocheted hat patterns for you. These will actually be named Operation Christmas Child hats so that people can make up the hats and pop them in boxes as part of Operation Christmas Child. I'll share the link to my hats once its up there!

Sizes : baby (toddler, preschooler)

what you'll need :

2x50g balls 8 ply wool ( I used Lincraft's 'cosy' wool for this project)

6.5mm hook for hat

scraps of wool for your flower

4mm hook for flower

Ok, let's get stuck into it. Again I'm not going to use abbreviations to make it easier for all of you!

Using 2 strands of wool (one from each ball), chain 5 (6,6) and with a slip stitch form a ring.

Round 1: Chain 3 and then make 15 ( 17, 19 ) double crochet into your ring. Join with a slip stitch to the top of your first chain 3 (so basically your 3rd chain).

Round 2: Chain 3 (this gives you the height of the round) then starting with your next stitch do 2 double crochet (if you're using aussie/UK terminology you call these trebles) into every stitch the whole way around. Join with a slip stitch to the top of your first chain 3.

Rounds 3-6 : Chain 3 and do 1 double crochet in each stitch the whole way around. Join with slip stitch to the top of your first chain 3.  For the preschooler hat or if its looking too short on your model/recipient/nearest child in sight then add another round or two of exactly the same so you end up with 7 or 8 rounds.  Cut wool and weave in ends.

Flower
Using the 4mm hook and one strand of wool, chain 5 and with a slip stitch form a ring.

Round 1 : chain 3 and then do 20 double crochet (you might call these a treble) into the ring. Slip stitch to join to the top of the first chain 3.

Round 2: chain 1 then single crochet in each double crochet of the previous round.

Round 3: single crochet, *skip one stitch of previous round then 7 double crochet in the next stitch, skip one stitch then do a single crochet. Repeat from * until you reach your first single crochet and slip stitch to finish. Leave 50cm of wool, cut and pull through the loop on your hook. Attach your flower using a darning needle and the wool strand you left on the flower.


Now remember this is for you to make for your family, friends, charity and not for resale! Please be nice and respect that so I can keep sharing patterns with you, for FREE! Next up I'll have newborn and adult sizes.

Boys love quilting too........

Well in this case my boy loves quilting when 50 metres of batting arrives on your doorstep wrapped in plastic.

It was obviously just calling out to be played on, rolled around on

 fall off

He sure loved that batting! The reason I have so much batting is that it's only 2 weeks till the very lovely Kellie of Don't Look Now arrives in Sydney for my first ever quilting weekend. I'm very excited and I know all 18 ladies coming are excited too. It's been a learning curve to organise this weekend, manage the cancellations, remember to collect money, buy the supplies.......  Let's remember I studied accounting and not events management but it's all coming together nicely and I'm so crazy that I'm going to do it all again with Kellie next year.  

bear with me

Well I'm changing around the look of my blog so bear with me as I DIY it! I've been wanting bigger pictures and more white so hang in there. I also found this great tutorial here on how to make your own blog header....genius! Who knew I could make my own header........

plum + berry crumble

Don't come to my house on a friday night expecting anything fancy for dinner! I do my shopping on a saturday so it's use what you have in the fridge/freezer/cupboard when it comes to dinner time. But last night I had a real craving for some fruit crumble and ice-cream. So using what I had in the pantry, I've adapted the crumble recipe from One Pot Cooking by Super Food Ideas............enjoy!

1 can plums, drained and stones removed (825g can- the only canned fruit I could find in the house)
1/2 cup frozen berries (all I had left in the freezer)
1/2 cup caster sugar

and for the topping:
2/3 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 self raising flour
2 big Tbsp butter/margerine 

place plums, berry and sugar in a greased souffle/oven proof dish. In a separate bowl combine all of the dry ingredients and rub in butter/marg.  I wasn't in the mood for rubbing butter into the dry ingredients so I partly melted my margerine and added it in, still tasted fabulous. Now tip out your crumble mixture on top of the fruit mixture.

Bake for about 45 minutes in 180 degree oven until top is golden and fruit is bubbling underneath.

And enjoy............this was so delicious and I'm so glad to use up that can of plums that had been sitting there doing nothing and some leftover berries!!!!!!

my crochet hat for big girls

Well I'm finally getting around to writing up my hat patterns and I'm starting with the big girls first. Now this hat will fit age 5/6 upwards - I'll just put it out there that we have big heads in this family so Keira probably wears a size 6 on her head.  This will fit up to a teenager as the hat is really stretchy. I've designed the pattern using 2 strands of wool making it a super fast crochet and you'll have wool left over! I've also tried to avoid abbreviations to help my beginners out there..........and yes this pattern is suitable for beginners!

What you'll need
2 x 100g balls of 8 ply wool (or 1 x 200g ball of bendigo wool)
6.5mm crochet hook
scraps for flower
4mm hook for flower

OK lets begin! Using 2 strands of wool (if you're using a bendigo 200g ball then pull out the end of the wool from the centre of the ball and you'll be using both ends of the ball).

We're going to chain 7 and join with a slip stitch to form a ring

Round 1 : chain 3 and then do 21 double crochet into the ring (now I'm using US terminology so if you're an aussie/UK crocheter you call my double a treble). Join with slip stitch to the top of the first chain 3.

Round 2: chain 3 (this gives you the height of the round) then into your next stitch you are going to do 2 double crochet in the top of the double crochet of the previous round. Repeat 2 double crochet the whole way around and join with slip stitch to the top of the first chain 3.

Round 3 to 8: chain 3 and then double crochet in the top of each double crochet of the previous round. Join with slip stitch to top of the first chain 3. Cut wool and pull through loop on your hook, then weave in with a wool/darning needle. If you need a longer hat (say for teenagers, then just add another round so you have a total of 9 rounds in your hat).

To make the flower:
Chain 5 and with a slip stitch form a ring.

Round 1 : chain 3 and then do 20 double crochet (you might call these a treble) into the ring. Slip stitch to join to the top of the first chain 3.

Round 2: chain 1 then single crochet in each double crochet of the previous round.

Round 3: single crochet, *skip one stitch of previous round then 7 double crochet in the next stitch, skip one stitch then do a single crochet. Repeat from * until you reach your first single crochet and slip stitch to finish. Leave 50cm of wool, cut and pull through the loop on your hook. Attach your flower using a darning needle and the wool strand you left on the flower.

Now this pattern is for you to make for your family and friends and not for resale! Please be nice and respect that so I can keep sharing patterns with you, for FREE! Coming up over the weekend will be baby and toddler patterns as well as an adult size! Watch this space..............

a little baby knitting book

I love this little book which arrived in the post today. Baby Knits 50 Beautiful Patterns has just been released here in australia and caught my eye on fishpond last week. It is actually a Marie Claire book originally printed in france that has now been published here in Australia. That means classic french designs with a modern touch....we like that.

My most favourite pattern is definitely this little sleep sack...how adorable

and I love the summary of the sweet sweaters and slippers

 

Its a lovely book and its also so well priced at $19.95...we really like that! I actually picked mine up on fishpond for less......

I've assured retro daddy I will be giving myself a self imposed 'maternity leave' where I will do no work and just craft, relax and keep a low profile before the baby is born. This book will definitely keep me sticking to my promise.....

what do tigers dream of......

Maybe it was because it was after 11pm, maybe it was because I was in a silly mood, maybe its because I love the hangover or maybe it was just because the student yelled and carried on at me about the internet (we've shipped him off, thankfully). So for whatever reason, watching this song on Ellen this week just had me in hysterics....

The Hangover is one of the funniest movies I've seen, sometimes it was so wrong in parts but gosh it was so funny. And to set the scene they've all just woken up from the bucks night...the room is trashed, the groom-to-be is missing, there is a tiger in the bathroom and they can't remember a thing. Hoping to be uploading photos tomorrow.

Edited because retro daddy thought I should warn some of you that the word 'sugar honey iced tea' comes up at the end of the song

The Craft Room at Amitie

In very exciting news, Notebook Magazine's The Craft Room is launching at Amitie in Melbourne this August. And only at my favourite patchwork store.....ever! You can choose from knitting, design your own knitwear (I so want to fly down and do this class with Jo Nathan who designs for Cleckheaton), embroidery, beginner sewing, a quilt as you go log cabin cushion and paper piecing.  

You'll find some familiar faces amongst the teachers and I know they are getting excited about sharing their skills too. So to see the timetable just go here (click through to next month for August) and to book your classes just go here.....................Too easy! In September we're adding crochet and hand carving your own cute stamps to the class list too.

today was a new day

I woke up this morning and said a little prayer that today was a new day and I'm going to start it happy and not let the little things get to me! Oh if only I knew how I needed that prayer to get through the day and the challenges that lay ahead. No hot water for either retro daddy or myself! Not the best way to start your day...so retro daddy asked our new homestay student (a 16 year old boy - say no more?) Did you have a shower today? was it hot?. Oh yes he said I had a lovely hot shower at 6.30am....which I guess is code for 'long use up all the hot water' shower.

But I wasn't going to let it get to me, I was going to keep smiling eventhough my hair needed a wash and I didn't feel awake yet. So I switch on the computer to check emails....oh so slow. No photos coming up on my blog. This is odd. Haven't had this happen before. I had to duck out for a little playdate. Note to self that taking a tray of cinnamon rolls to your friend's oven will just cement your friendship and make sure you're remembered by her husband.  Mike, I hope you enjoyed them!

So I get home, feed everyone and ring telstra who tell me that my 'unlimited' plan (I think they use the word 'unlimited' loosely) has been exceeded in one week. The guy was like 'wow, its just shot up to 4000 MB a day and thats pretty huge'. That meant nothing to me but I knew the culprit. So despite changing plans immediately and banning the culprit from the internet I'm still running slow, oh so slow, and can't download for another week. Blogs are no fun to read without pictures......trust me!

Cut a long story short I'll be sharing photos already on my computer for the next 7 days. I'll also try to be nice to my student who has obviously been downloading and skyping to his heart's content in his room each night instead of reading the house rules!! But we're still smiling and tomorrow is another new day......... and of course when your children are this cute tomorrow is always a new day to enjoy with them.

cinnamon roll city

This is what your kitchen looks like after baking a batch of PW cinnamon rolls. I ended up with 5 big full trays to be exact. We ate one straight away and once these babies had cooled, I wrapped up 3 of the trays tightly in foil as per the recipe and popped them in the freezer. We are working our way through the other tray for breakfasts and snacks. So as you can see, don't be frightened by baking 40 to 50 rolls....they will go quickly!

And let me tell you.......breakfast of champions when you have one with a cup of tea! And I needed all of that sweetness to fight the two not so nice emails I woke up to this morning. This is the 'I love retro mummy blog', people! 

To end on a sweeter note, I was so thrilled to receive an email later in the day from the marketing manager of Samaritans Purse thanking me for mentioning them on my charity list. They asked me for any good patterns for their site so if you have one drop me an email - think cute soft toys and handmade items for children! 

church + cinnamon rolls

Firstly, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your beautiful comments yesterday. I'm determined to reply to each and everyone of you to say thank you and I really hope you enjoy the issue. I've kept it a pretty good secret, don't you think? 

And so it's Sunday. For some people that means sleep-ins and relaxing but to me Sunday morning means one thing - getting 3 little people fed, dressed in their Sunday best and out the door in time for 9am mass. No sleep in's here and I'm always so happy when we arrive and the music hasn't started meaning we're early (no such luck this morning, late again).  Here is Keira this morning with her pretty new hairclips from Gymboree.....

So after church today I knew it was time for some baking. And don't you love it when you think you have all your ingredients and I discovered I was missing cinnamon, only like an essential ingredient for the cinnamon rolls I had planned. And a warning if you let your children help you - be prepared for the mess! Flour.......EVERYWHERE

Meanwhile, Retro Daddy was still a little concerned that I was baking 40-50 scrolls and that we would have to eat them all.  I assured him I would give some away to family and friends during the week but I must admit the dough mixture was huge and I needed to upsize bowls twice as my big tupperware mixing bowl just wasn't big enough.

I really liked the tip about using aluminium trays to bake them in and then pop them in the freezer or give  away. The trays cost a couple of dollars at the supermarket for a pack of 3 and fit 12 scrolls nice and neatly, then stack up in the freezer easily.  But if you have room in your freezer you might be hard pressed to give these babies away because I think they'll be perfect when you need a morning tea or special treat for breakfast. So here they are as I'm filling up the trays.......

and here is how quickly we almost demolished one whole tray for afternoon tea. Oh my they are so good. Retro Daddy was coming back for seconds, thirds....and well let's just say he just loved them. Worth the time and baking........

and let's get a nice close up.....mmmmmmm......so yummy. A few tips would be to start them before 12 o'clock so that they are coming out of the oven just in time for afternoon tea, have all of your ingredients out and ready to go, use your biggest mixing bowl, melt 2 x 250g butter sticks when you're rolling out your dough so you have it all ready and lastly have a nice stack of fresh tea towels out to cover up the dough and then the rolls when they are in their tins. I left out the coffee as I know retro daddy and the little people don't like it so my icing was a bit paler than the recipe.

Lots of time (and washing up) went into these but oh so worth it! I definitely think they'd be a winner at your house...........you can find the recipe here by Pioneer Woman