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ballet open day

September 22, 2010 By corrie 11 Comments

Keira loves wednesday afternoons….it’s the highlight of her week, ballet with Miss Cassie. This mummy loves ballet and did it for almost half of her life but finds taking everyone to ballet is an event in itself – the finding a carpark on a busy road, getting everyone out of the car and in to the hall safely, getting up and down the stairs safely and keeping the twins entertained for almost 45 minutes in a small room. It’s not the highlight of my week and I can only see it getting worse when I add another baby to the mix but I remind myself it won’t be like this forever.

But today was ballet open day and so cute to see miss keira doing her dancing

she was very cute and very focused the whole class and I was so proud of her and I learnt my lesson from last time and took the right lens for my camera so I could take photos from a distance!

next highlight of the ballet year will be the ballet concert in november when she is a little bird!

Filed Under: everything else

a knock knock joke

September 22, 2010 By corrie 15 Comments

Keira loves a good knock knock joke and I heard this one on tv this week and knew she’d love it (any bottom humour she finds very funny right now). So thought I’d share it with you……..here goes.

knock knock

who’s there

I did up

I did up who (I did a poo!)

insert laughter here…………….

Keira kills herself laughing every time we tell this one……love to hear your best knock knock joke!

Filed Under: parenting

a sunny afternoon

September 20, 2010 By corrie 4 Comments

Well I have 5 product reviews to photograph and write up today so I’m going to leave you with some pictures of our sunny saturday afternoon in Manly. Oh we just love the warmer weather and living near the beach is so much fun.

You can feel like a tourist and pop down to Manly for an ice cream and walk along the beach…..mind you buying ice-creams has just got a whole lot more expensive now there are 5 of us to buy for.

And Finn has been known to finish his in record speed and want another one………look at him tucking into it as if he’s never had an ice-cream in his little life! He was so focused on eating it while tillie was taking in the view and passers by.

and yes, I think I own Australia’s dirtiest pram. It lives in the boot of my car….please tell me you have trouble keeping your prams clean too???????

Filed Under: manly, twins

The Weekly Times

September 20, 2010 By corrie 7 Comments

Although I’m a Sydney girl, it was fun to hear that my Notebook article was included in the Weekly Times last week. But I’ve just opened my store email account today to find lots of emails from readers looking for the actual patterns! Thank you for taking the time to email me and I’m so sorry that no link was included in the article.

So here you go………………..to make the dress just go here and to make the pants just go here. The patterns are available there to download and you just stick them together with tape. Also I’ve been told the pants run on the small side so go up a size just to be safe. They were modelled on my girls!

Happy sewing………..

Filed Under: media, notebook magazine, patterns, sewing

knitting in the sun

September 18, 2010 By corrie 14 Comments

We are having the most gorgeously sunny day here in Sydney today. Retro daddy loves to go for long runs in weather like this so I thought to myself why should I be doing the housework on my own while he runs. So I took my knitting and the kids outside for some playtime…………..

Here is the little lace vest I’m making. I’m sure my little bub will look much happier than the model they have here. Anyway, I’ve ditched the February Baby Sweater as it was knitting up rather large and my pregnant brain couldn’t get with the lace pattern either. So with not long to go I’ve decided to make a few little pieces baby can wear as soon as she comes home.

And here is my progress….I started last night and it’s a lovely easy little lace pattern, nothing too fancy and the front and back are identical so I think I can have this finished in a week and ready to add to baby’s new wardrobe.

I’m picturing this over the top of a very little sweet floral dress………….

Filed Under: knitting, patons

the one where she shows her belly

September 15, 2010 By corrie 24 Comments

Yes, this is the post where I show you my baby belly….all under wraps of course! Those of you who were reading my blog when I was pregnant with twins might remember there were quite a few belly shots….ahhh memories. That belly really was huge but I’m pretty proud of the baby belly I have going on right now.

My OB predicts baby’s weight will be about 3.6kgs and since she’s coming out a week early I think that’s pretty impressive for this little lady. Mind you, I did marry retro daddy…..all 6ft 2 of him and I don’t really do small babies! And I won’t reveal how many pictures I took to ensure there was no big double chin….. but there were a few…..and I really should have wiped those little fingerprints off the mirror too. Glass and mirrors don’t stay clean for long in this house………

Filed Under: baby, pregnancy, retro daddy, retro mummy

my sewing room

September 15, 2010 By corrie 21 Comments

Well after 2 years in this house I have permanently moved back into my sewing room……..and am loving it. It’s still a work in progress and there is nothing fancy but I love that no more exchange students means I can stay put and have everything at my fingertips. I also love that it’s a little craft refuge away from the rest of the house. Mind you, look who likes to follow me in there. And can you see I’ve been sewing …..lots more dresses for Mathilda’s.

We moved the bookshelf in so I have all my craft and cooking books in one spot…this is just my craft book and magazine collection with an overflow of a couple of cooking books. I also devoted one cube to childrens books in case I get little visitors (and I do…..often). I just need to train the little visitors to put books back instead of spread them across the whole floor!

Odds and ends and craft supplies are in this bookshelf….unfortunately some things are in reach of little people and buttons and fabrics are very popular to play with.

I turned one of my market tables into a makeshift cutting table and have set it up with a mini ironing board, iron, snap press machine and cutting mat. I am loving this table and it sure beats the floor!

and here my little Brothers sit side by side for some sewing action. I put my scissors, pins, measuring tapes and machine supplies in the basket behind my machine which I am also loving. No getting up trying to find something which is what usually happens.

and my market rack is also set up so I can add dresses to it as I go and also remind myself I still have lots more dresses to get done before October 30!

and then behind me is a huge double wardrobe overflowing with fabric and batting. I’ll need to fold and tidy it up before I show you. I am actually very spoilt by having 2 adjoining rooms and my own bathroom as my sewing room. The bathroom is hiding christmas presents and the other room is crammed with 12 big plastic tubs stacked to the ceiling full of fabric, wool and patterns and all my market stock too………that’s for another time when it’s looking neater! Like I said…work in progress!

Filed Under: homes, sewing, sewing machine

still sewing

September 14, 2010 By corrie Leave a Comment

Yes, I’m still sewing here! With Mathilda’s at the end of October, umpteen bolts of fabric and our little baby coming in between I had to promise retro daddy that I would have all my sewing and market preparations done before she arrives.

So my sewing room is like a sweat shop as I cut and sew and try to fill the very sad looking clothes rack which was almost empty after the last Mathilda’s at Lane Cove. I had a great idea to do a new dress pattern but that will have to wait till next year……

And retro daddy will also be given a crash course in Markets 101 as he will be my helper on the day. He always sets up and packs down with me but normally leaves me to my business but for the rest of the year will be helping me out the entire market- it could be interesting……………..

Filed Under: markets, sewing

Good old fashioned cake

September 14, 2010 By corrie 10 Comments

I don’t have any quaint little handwritten recipes passed down to me from older relatives tucked away at my house. But I do have the CWA Cookbook which I think makes up for it! I just love that I can make something yummy with just a few ingredients that I know I have in the pantry and fridge! There are no fancy ingredients and since we are having a home day (in other words the weather is terrible and I’m exhausted), I decided to try the sultana cake…….

Sultana Cake

Cream 225g butter and 230g (1 cup) caster sugar in a bowl. Add 3 eggs one at a time beating well after each. Sift together 2 1/3 cups of flour, 1 1/2tsp baking powder and pinch of salt, Sift 3 times. Dust 1 3/4 cups of sultanas in flour and flavour 150ml milk with a little vanilla essence. Add flour, sultanas and milk alternately to the butter mixture until incorporated. Grease and line a 20cm square/round cake tin with baking paper and bake in 180 degree oven for 1 hour 15 minutes (mine was done in 50 minutes because I need my eyes checked and added too much flour but keep an eye on your cake in the oven). Cool in tin

You’ll find all the recipes in the book are written like this in paragraph form and there are no pictures but you’ll get used to it. If you want to try a few more I found some on their website too. Happy baking…………….

Filed Under: baking, recipe

cameras

September 12, 2010 By corrie 19 Comments

I never thought I’d really be a camera person. I leave it all to my Dad who tells me which model to get and orders them for me. So I’ve been having a play around with some of his lenses recently. You see I wanted a macro lens so decided on a 35mm macro lens, then my dad started talking me into the pro series 50mm macro lens which is what he uses…………

and gosh I love the photos I took at home testing it out

but then he showed me his pro-series 14-54mm and I loved that one too. Not loving this face too much, this is an all too often scene at our house when things aren’t going princess tillie’s way………I might keep this one for her 21st. But now when I look at this photo I feel very sad thinking she can get this upset over the littlest thing………….

So it’s a toss up between the 50mm macro and the 14-54mm or it could be both if I’m good for Santa this year. Of course pro-series means more expensive!!!! And I was very sad to give them back to him.

But the good news is that when I do buy them I can also use them on my lovely Panasonic G2 with an adaptor which makes them very versatile!

Are you a camera person and has blogging led you to become one??????

Filed Under: camera, olympus, panasonic G2

don’t fall off your chair

September 11, 2010 By corrie 16 Comments

But I’ve been sewing. Yes, it’s true. I took a break from craft room schedules, fabric cutting, blogging, folding laundry (it’s really been piling up here) and finally plugged in my little machine.

I whipped up some quick baby bibs this week and it felt good! Really good. I used a pattern from Quilts and more Spring 2010 issue which uses 2 layers of cotton fabric and some quilt batting in between. Genius. So soft and lovely.

And then I kept going and before I knew it I had whipped up 5 for the new baby. So that is one thing off the list……….

next up I think will be some quick sheets and muslin wraps. Just over 4 weeks to go and time is ticking………….

Filed Under: baby, fabric, sewing

Polly And Me

September 9, 2010 By corrie 20 Comments

When was the last time you watched a movie that just moved you so much and left you shell shocked and oh so sad. That was me last night when I watched a short australian film called Polly And Me. A fictional story based on true stories about child abuse and neglect right here in Australia. I kept thinking surely this isn’t real, surely this doesn’t go on, I really should change the channel and watch those cheery Duggars on Discovery Health……..but I kept watching.

Image source here

I woke up and covered each of my little ones in kisses and cuddles and thanked my lucky stars that I can give my children the best life possible, a life that is protected, full of love, happiness, opportunity and not of neglect. It was very confronting, very dark, very thought provoking but so necessary to watch. If you watched it let me know what you thought……. it certainly opened my eyes and reminded me that as a member of society I have a responsibility to look out for other people and to not just live in my own little world.

phew, pretty deep for a friday morning isn’t it but I just can’t get it out of my mind.

Filed Under: polly and me

what people forget

September 9, 2010 By corrie 16 Comments

Mummies, I’m sure you’ve heard it before…. you have your hands full/how do you do it all/are they all yours/you’re a super mum/you must be busy/do you sleep and so it goes on. But for me one of the great things about having 3 (soon to be 4) children so close together means one thing………

they play together!!!!!!!!!!! Really, I’m just there for breaking up the fights, cleaning up (ok that never ends), refreshments and constant supervision…..playtime happens all day long and doesn’t require too much from me. They find things to do, games to play, the colouring, the playdough and places to go in the house like their favourite of climbing the stairs when mummy isn’t watching and thinks she can’t hear us stomping around up there. So moral of the story – keep having babies! (retro daddy you know I’m just kidding!)

Filed Under: parenting, photos, twins

my giveaway winners

September 9, 2010 By corrie 4 Comments

So many giveaways going on my blog right now! OK, so Nuffnang will be drawing the Panasonic one, Cadbury giveaway is still going (and yes tasmanians can enter – little mistake there with the T&C) and this morning I’ve drawn the winners of my own little giveaway. So random.org. tells me:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

17 34 86
Timestamp: 2010-09-08 23:51:33 UTC

And that means Belinda , Domoshar and skipping daisies are the winners! I’ll be in touch to grab your address details and see what you’d like…….

Filed Under: giveaways

the best ice cream van

September 8, 2010 By corrie 9 Comments

Life is tough when your nearest ice cream van………….

is parked next to views like this! It’s at times like these when I just love living where we live in this big bustling city of Sydney! When you can forget about the high cost of living/real estate/pollution/traffic/number of people and so on……………

and for Keira, well it’s the best ice cream van because she gets an ice cream on the way home as a special treat.

Sadly for this mummy, soft serve is off the menu while pregnant but I’ll be ready and waiting this summer for my own ice cream(s)!

Filed Under: food, homes, sydney