goals for a new year

I love making new years resolutions but am calling them goals this year! Something to work towards. I've decided that all my old favourites like lose weight, join a gym, spend less $$$ and use up my stash are right up there. Carried forward from 2010 like an outstanding balance, since I definitely didn't achieve any of them. But I do have a baby to show for the year so I won't be too hard on myself.

Then I thought of some wholesome, sweet, 'I'm a good catholic mummy set a good example for the little people' kind of goals like be a nicer person, gossip less, volunteer more, put more money in the plate on a sunday...that sort of thing.

And how about I stop hiding things in cupboards as a way of cleaning the house, because it only makes retro daddy get the crankies (ditto for under the couch). I really need to work on this. I'm a huge fan of the quick fix solution but you can get away with it when you're newly married but it's catching up on me. I've run out of cupboards and hiding spots and he's on to me!

On the craft front, how 'bout finishing projects before starting another one. I try to do this but am woefully bad at it. I have overflowing draws devoted to projects just waiting to be finished. And I'd love to see the twins beds and our own bed covered in beautiful handmade quilts. Gosh, I'm sooooo glad I bought a new machine this year for my quilting only to see it gather dust in my sewing room.

my nicey jane quilt

And apparently, well this is according to retro daddy, I'm not going to talk over the top of him and I'm going to spend less so we can get a new kitchen. This is a biggie for me (kitchen not talking over the top of him, of course).  Dangle the promise of a new kitchen in front of me and I'll do anything. Anything! Very exciting. Making plans for this and saving is our main goal of the year! Because I married an accountant (in case you didn't know) and you just don't borrow money to do these sort of things. Like cars. It's a pain in the rear end but I'm glad he's so financially conservative as we balance each other out. Spender and saver living in harmony.

dream kitchen from Something's Gotta Give........image source here

So that's it! A pretty impressive list. Achievable? Let's see. Wishing you all a happy new year and I'd love to know what your own goals are for the new year ahead!

2010 - what a year

WARNING.........LONG, WAFFLY, RAMBLING, REFLECTIVE POST AHEAD!

I love looking back over a year and thinking about all that has happened and all of the possibilities and unknown joys that lie in the year ahead. It's been quite the year for me. When I started the year I  had no idea I'd have a baby! Feeling sick for a week in February only to discover I was pregnant. It was a huge surprise as all of our other babies required doctors, drugs and umpteen home pregnancy tests a month.

It was this day at a market that the nausea really kicked in but I just thought I picked up a virus!

We made a baby au naturale -this is what my OB put on my card, told me I've done more than my bit for Australia now that I've had 4 babies. So of course Elodie was the greatest project of the year. I adore her! She is a miniature version of keira and finn and the sweetest, cuddliest little bundle you could wish for. Having one baby after twins is a dream and I totally recommend it. No running around like a crazy woman with 2 crying babies in the background and you can cuddle away without worrying have you cuddled the other twin that day!  This is the reason I'm so addicted to having little bundles of joy, they are just so adorably sweet and innocent. We are so lucky to have you with us, sweet Elodie. Sorry you had to come and live at such a noisy house!  

There are moments where I sit back and look at all 4 and wonder are they really all ours? And I'm starting to feel that I'm done, that 4 is my magic number and my tummy lives to tell the tale, let me tell you.  But then I have moments where I think we have room for one more and wouldn't 5 be lovely. But retro daddy firmly says no. I think Elodie may be the straw that broke that camel's back, not mine, his! But look at those little faces....they would love one more little brother or sister, don't you think!

please daddy, please let mummy have another baby, pleeeeease!

My other big project of the year was Notebook Magazine's The Craft Room. I went from going in to their offices to hear about their latest idea, The Craft Room, last year to running the show and being featured in their magazine. All moments where I needed to pinch myself and think wow is this really happening. To me. Little old me. It was a beautiful and inspring magazine to be associated with and a lovely team of people. It was a lot of hard work but I miss you Notebook.  

Oh and another big project was the Don't Look Now workshop. How could I forget about that other baby. It was so much fun and an honour to bring such a talented quilter like Kellie up to Sydney to teach such enthuisiastic ladies. I'd like to think I put 110% effort into it and can't wait to do it all over again in 2011. 

the best group of quilters ever!!!!!

And who could forget the day we got to visit the playschool set! That was a highlight for all of us, and I know a lot of you mummies wanted to go!

STILL WITH ME? I won't lie that it's been a totally crazy year. Exhaustion from being pregnant and then a new mummy, managing the homefront, 3 other children who all need me 24/7, a store, a blog, markets in sydney and canberra, Notebook work, retro daddy who works 24/7, family and friends, the jobs we do at church........and so it goes on. I'm a worrier by nature (just ask retro daddy as it drives him nuts) and I always worry that I am not doing everything 100%. That people will say oh that Corrie, she doesn't have time for me anymore/didn't reply back to me/didn't call me back/didn't post my order and so on. I'm learning to accept that with a family of 6 you have to prioritise. If people aren't happy with you or don't like you then don't worry. It's their loss, move on.  I'm working on this.

 

this is why I don't always reply to you! I have kids going crazy in the background!

But in all honesty, my mum's health has been my biggest worry of the year.  Cancer spread again  this year and it has been devastating news for all of us to come to terms with. All I want in 2011 is for her to be happy, healthy and surrounded by the people who love her most.  She is off to France for a dream holiday in a couple of days and I'm so glad that she and my Dad are doing this. To all of you who have been touched by illness or sadness this year, I hope from the bottom of my heart that 2011 is a better year for all of you.  

  

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of things to show in the craft department. In fact, I'm not really sure what I actually made this year. How sad is that, this is supposed to be a craft blog! There were no new big quilts, but there were lots of dresses and small projects. I hope in 2011 to make some big quilts and spend more time with my machine! I miss you!

um, the biggest thing I quilted this year! not very impressive!

So what is in store for 2011? I honestly don't know but I do hope it will be exciting. What with my big girl starting school, twins starting kindy one day a week, a new car, starting to make plans for our new kitchen and renovations on the house, mathilda's markets, more nuffnang opprtunities, new fabrics for the store,.... 

So thank you for joining me this year. I can't leave 2010 without some big thank yous! Thank you to retro daddy who accepts that I need to spend time on the computer when he's home. Thank you to Nuffnang and my sponsors who give me some great products to give away and review. Thank you to my family and friends who rely on my blog to see what I've been up to. Thank you to my customers who send me reminder emails if I forget to do something for you.  And thank you to my lovely readers and customers who stop by to see what we've been up to. You make me laugh with your comments, your emails and your own blogs, you've supported me, encouraged me and made me feel less like I'm spending my days at home with no adult company!! Thank you for stopping by. I wish I could sit and reply to each and every email and comment but I hope to get better at it next year. My other goals for 2011 are coming tomorrow.............

the perfect present

I can't believe I haven't shown you my present haul from Christmas yet! I really spoiled myself (since I buy my own presents)! But I do love that one of my favourite presents was not bought by me AND was also the least expensive coming in at $9.99. Thank you retro daddy, I love them! 

image source

I already have the measuring cups and now I have matching matroyshka measuring spoons! What more does a girl need!

late night shopping

Well the shops are offering late night shopping at the moment and Posie popped over for a little late night shopping of her own tonight.



I'll always make the time for this lovely lady to pop over and stock up on fabric...............and the latest gossip. The two of us are fast talkers and fast cutters.

it's all very fancy, sitting at the bottom of the stairs, phone cords dangling in the background! 

Meanwhile these little people started watching Aladdin on their mini couches but were asleep in no time. We are in holiday mode right now with no real bedtime which I am soooo going to pay for later on in January when it is time to get back into routine! 

and retro daddy is back to work tomorrow so it's kind of the end of my mini holiday!

must.stop.eating

Oh my goodness, the problem with hosting two days of festivities is that we are surrounded with leftovers. Everywhere I look there is something calling out to be eaten. Corrie.....eat me! Sure, we could choose not to eat it, to close the fridge or keep on walking but heh it's Christmas once a year! And normally I send everyone home with little care packages but it was such a crazy whirlwind few days I just forgot! Mind you I am impressed that I did try a few new dishes  this year................like my first ever trifle!

pavlova......ok I cheated with this one by buying a last minute pre-made base (remember I have a newborn - mmmmmm wonder how long am I going to use that excuse!) and then chucked the precious fresh raspberries around in my sieve so that they were splattered all over the pavlova but I learnt my lesson, won't do that again.

and some gorgeous salads from this blog - a delicious creamy potato salad and this sweet potato salad which was just perfect! I just wanted simple but tasty recipes and these delivered!

We took a break from eating to do some shopping at the sales this morning. Nothing for me but the best way to buy up for next summer and outfit 4 children. My tactic in the sales is always to buy quality, buy it on sale, stick to your basic colours (for me its navy, white, red, pink, khaki) and you're doing well. But I must admit that retro daddy is still learning. He turns to me in country road and says do you really need another white platter? Oh retro daddy, a gorgeous large white platter for $15..........I need 3! And so I bought them!

my sweet mum poses for the photo with the sweet platter!

But then it was straight back into some eating again as soon as we got home! When else can I have delicious fruit cakes and chocolate for lunch. I hope you're all enjoying a little break and enjoying some sweet treats too................

our christmas

Well you couldn't ask for a more perfect day for an australian christmas.....sun shining through the gumtrees and a lovely inviting pool....

Festivities start the night before for us with Christmas eve mass. Here is Elodie as baby Jesus, she cried and did a nice big smelly nappy but did a lovely job

I just love mass on Christmas eve - the carols, the nativity play, santa makes an appearance and it just gets everyone in the festive mood. Here are some very excited little people after mass getting very excited about going home and getting ready for Santa's arrival. Don't you wish you were always driving these noisy little people around everywhere...it's a full load that's for sure!

Here was the view when we came down the stairs this morning, Santa had definitely stopped off at our house

Keira was our most excited present unwrapper! Santa bought her the Barbie jet, a barbie digital camera, wooden beads, a lovely new dress, a huge makeup set and a Cinderella dress. 

 

 

for one happy little boy it was all about duplo and toy story!

our littlest miss, bless her,  was looking on watching all the excited present opening............next year Elodie you'll be right in there with the paper and big kids!

But notice someone was missing. Miss Tillie is not a morning person and also not a fan of visitors to the house so coming down the stairs to find houseguests meant she went straight back to her room. About 2 hours later she was coaxed down but showed no interest in present opening! Not what we expected and it really upset me but hopefully we have better luck next year!

And so after present opening it was a mad rush to get ready for lunch at 11am!  And here is our spread! Don't you love how I left the margerine container out! I am so not a food blogger! Normally I have all my dishes laid out the night before but it's been just crazy and I couldn't find my dish for the margerine so container on the table it was!

........and I love these dahlia's so much! My sister picked them up on the way to our house and they brightened up the table perfectly. 

And this little miss..............well she slept for 3 1/2 hours right through lunch so I got to enjoy a glass of champagne, a couple of prawns and make the pavlova and enjoy present opening. I'd just like to point out that this never ever happens so perhaps this was santa's present to me!

And so of course since it's Christmas we were all totally stuffed full of food and spent the afternoon relaxing, eating more food and playing with the toys. And now we'll do it all over again tomorrow with more family and then I need some time off.............to rest!

merry christmas

To my lovely readers and friends,

May you all have a wonderful Christmas wherever you are.  I hope you all take time to celebrate, reflect, indulge and enjoy the joy and sprit of this very special time of year. Thank you for sharing this year with me, I am so excited to be having our first christmas as a family of 6 and having a little newborn at Christmas is oh special!

“An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

~Luke 2:9-12

Merry Christmas,

Corrie

xxxxxxxxx

Tangled movie pass giveaway

Sponsored by Nuffnang.

I've told you before and I'll tell you again. I love me a good Disney movie. Especially when it involves princesses and fairy tales. So we are all very excited that next month sees the Australian release of Tangled,  the latest fairy tale from Disney retelling the story of Rapunzel. A pretty princess, a handsome prince, comedy, action, romance, lots of hair  - looks like it has covered all bases for my little ones. But that doesn't surprise me as Disney just know how to retell a fairy tale for the little ones and still keep the adults happy. Here is the trailer which my little ones want to watch again and again.........and then some more...

And since there is boy against girl competition in the movie, we were asked to have a little family competition pitting girls against boys to see who would win. I had a good think and one of our favourite activities is sushi train and seeing who eats the most plates. Retro daddy and I used to play this while dating! And so off we went to our favourite sushi train, 3 girls against 2 boys. Don't mess with this girl and her chopsticks.

And let's just say we were up against some tough competition - 2 boys with big appetites as Finn is my plate clearer who learnt from the master....retro daddy.

It was all going well until I made a serious error in judgement picking up something I thought was salmon, retro daddy thought was tofu and was actually a cold chip (as in the potato kind) covered in sweet sticky sauce with sesame seeds. I had to leave that plate uneaten.

Fusion gone wrong. I don't know who thought up that baby but it was bad..............not in a good way.

Anyway the final scores were tallied - a total of 20 plates, $64 at the register, 2 chopsticks and 1 inari on the floor, no soy sauce on clothes, 11 plates to the boys and 9 to the girls... boys win.

So Tangled is due for release in Australia on  January 6 and I can't wait to take the whole family! I know we aren't alone in our love of Disney movies so am sure lots of you will be out at the cinemas too.............. and you can win 1 of 2 family passes for 4 right here at Retro Mummy (yes that's 2 family passes just for my lovely readers).....just by telling me your all time favourite Disney movie and why. Mine................Snow White because it always scared me growing up! All the Terms and conditions can be found here. Entries close January 9.

But wait there is more, yes more! Head over to the Nuffnang blog where they are running a competition where you go in the running to win $500. Just write a blog post about a funny boy vs. girls experience. Full details are here.

Santa photo 2010

Done and dusted.....for another year at least. My littlies look adorable don't they but oh if you were in the queue with us you'd know what really went on.

Each of the twinnies had a major meltdown.......throw themselves on the floor crying in the queue kind of tantrum...where people in the queue look to you to see what you're going to do about it. Ohhhhh yeah, I looked like I had it all under control.............baby in my arms getting a bottle, one twin pulling up my dress and wrapping himself around my leg, the other doing a high pitched scream about a dora plate set and throwing herself on the floor. There was nothing else to do but send retro daddy over to the food department to pick up lollies. But it's all over for another year and maybe next year the twins will smile!

And yes I wrote this post after 1am this morning and no I'm not going to bed soon!

flower sugar giveaway

Time for another big fabric giveaway? I think so, what with it being Christmas and all. So up for grabs are 2 fat quarter packs of the lot.....that is 20 fat quarters of the gorgeous Flower Sugar range from Lecien as featured in this lovely picture.

Imagine what you could make with all of those pretty fat quarters. All you need to do is mention the giveaway on your blog with a link back to here and leave a comment. My blogless readers just need to leave a comment. Feel free to copy and use the picture too.......it's so pretty. I'll draw 2 winners on new years eve......and giveaway is open to everyone, wherever you may live!

I'm lovin' it!

My hair that is! I've been wanting to go short for so long and it feels so good......

My hairdresser did a gorgeous job and it's exactly how I wanted it. Mind you, the fun really starts when I have to style it myself in a couple of days time.....until then I'll enjoy my hairdresser hair!

christmas lists

How are your lists coming along? Mine seem to be growing longer by the day and I really need another week to get ready for Christmas. Thankfully in the present department I just have the adults left....oh and retro daddy the hardest person to buy for........ever!. At the moment he is thinking a docking station for his ipod and some ralph lauren for his casual friday's in the office and church. This is major progress from last weekend when he offered up no suggestions. Nothing. Oh we are so different. I've bought all my presents and could still fill an A4 page with my wish list.

I was fond of the 'water fountain' pony tail



Mind you, I still haven't finalised the christmas menu yet and I normally bake to my hearts content on Christmas eve. However, turns out Elodie playing baby Jesus is quite the production with 2 rehearsals, getting there early on Christmas Eve as well as my responsibilities on the home front -  managing house guests, hosting christmas day lunch and boxing  day and of course just general day to day family life.

showing my inexperience - I didn't get dressed up or put make up on. I didn't realise keira wouldn't want to sit on santa's lap!

And I can't believe I haven't even had the santa photo done yet, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, I am normally onto that by now.  So that will be this Sunday after mass and the rehearsal while everyone is looking nice and presentable. The thing is that I definitely need retro daddy on hand as I'm guessing the twins are not going to be huge fans of Santa's knee.

my chubba chops twins and what was i thinking with keira's shoes!

I do love looking back over all of the Santa photos because they just tell the story of our little family..........in a word.......EXPANDING! There is no way I could of ever imagined that we would have 4 little ones so close together. No way. I just can't wait to add this year's photo..........

shhhhh.....Flower Sugar 2

Sometimes a fabric range comes along that I just can't resist. Where I have to have it all (well almost all). Flower Sugar 2 is that range.

Oh my, it is so pretty and I'm sharing with you a sneak-still-wrapped-in-plastic-peek. But shhhhhh don't tell retro daddy. He won't be impressed as I already have too many bolts of fabric here taking over the whole house. But in my defence, this range is to tide me over throughout the first half of 2011 because I skipped the last trade show.

Unfortunately box 1 of 4 has gone missing this morning so I'm patiently waiting for the phone to ring and hoping it is just sitting in a truck somewhere.....waiting to come to mummy!

So in the meantime, drool away! I hope to have these up in the store tomorrow once the rest of my order turns up and I'll be launching a huge giveaway too...........

kids bedrooms

I love seeing inside other people's homes and thought you might like a sneak peek at mine. I should say at the outset it is nothing fancy so don't get too excited! Having 4 little ones so close together and moving house a couple of times in between has meant that I haven't had a lot of time (or money) to decorate our house and especially the bedrooms. Keira's room is very light and airy and is actually a rumpus room on the floor plans but makes a perfect large bedroom that she'll share with Elodie next year...

I love this quilt which I made about 2 years ago from the first Material Obsession book.

I can honestly say that this room has been decorated using what we had around the house. The ikea wardrobe from the childrens range when she was born, quilts, buntings and cushions made by me, handmade toys, white paper pom pom from Pulp and white tree from Bed Bath and Table which I use for markets.

Since taking this picture Keira actually got a new bed so I'll have to take a pic

the rocking chair was picked up from vinnies when I was pregnant with Keira.  We were clearing out our flat for sale and taking carloads of stuff down there and somehow the chair came back with us. It had a very dated 80's floral seat and skirt. We paid  $80 for the chair and took it to an upholsterer and paid a couple of hundred dollars for the re-covering and I still love it.

The twins share another room  upstairs and I defnitely need to do some more work on this room. Here is Finn's side of the room....bed set from Spotlight - no expense spared as you can tell. I'd love to make each of the twins a lovely quilt next year just like Keira's....

and tillie's corner....crying out for a handmade quilt and cushions made by mummy don't you think?

One of my goals for 2011 is to finish the bedrooms and have them looking as handmade and lovely as possible. I thought if I showed you the pictures it will motivate me to follow through and show you the after pictures when I'm done.  Are your kids bedrooms all perfectly decorated?