Lovely Giveaway!

On Nadine's blog :)

17 years ago today . . .

. . . my mother died.

I was 17 when she died, so it is now half my life that she has been gone. Well, if I were going to be *really* accurate I would say that it isn't actually exactly half my life because I'd already turned 17 when she died. So half my life will be in another couple of months, but who's counting, right?

One of my sisters and her children came over today and we all went to the cemetery, which is very close to my house. Despite the proximity of the cemetery where Mum is buried, I rarely go there. I don't suppose it's something that I'm keen to do although it was kind of nice (if I might use that word) to take my children there.

Since having children I've been a bit caught up in them to really remember my grief for my mother. I think because this year's anniversary is quite important, being the halfway point as it were, it seems to have come back and hit me at full force. Grief's funny like that. Sometimes I wonder whether I set myself up for it or whether Grief really has a mind of its own and comes and goes as it pleases. Quite probably it is a combination of both. I have been reading some books about Grief lately as I have been a bit apprehensive about this anniversary. I'm getting old enough to say that something happened "half my life" ago and I can remember the details :).

It is significant that this past year I have felt the need to move through to the next stage of my Grief. I was cocky enough to think that I was "over it" and that I had "moved on". Don't you love how we like to think of Grief as being "over" or "through"? I am reading Grieving Mindfully at the moment. It comes from a Buddhist perspective and as I'm learning some Mindfulness exercises and meditation at the moment it seems to really hit the spot for me.

I am quite surprised and a little perturbed at how distressed I was this morning. Possibly the anticipation of going to the cemetery, not wanting to be upset around my children/sister/ children/husband/anyone! Possibly not wanting to feel the anger and hurt and sadness that I feel when I remember my loss. I was quite surprised by the amount of anger and hurt. I think out of all the emotions, as I get older, Anger is predominant. And I mean that capital A. Just as I'm giving Grief a capital G. These emotions are becoming more than just acquaintances to me, and I think that's because they've been around for so long! So perhaps instead of dreading them I should welcome them with open arms and live with them. We have known each other for half a lifetime after all :)

I thought I'd share a couple of pictures from our trip to the cemetery this morning. Perhaps it's morbid to take photos at a cemetery? I don't know. It is what it is.

Kindy costumes

Have had these on my to do list for awhile. Thought I'd post some pics. I volunteered to make up some kindy dress-ups that weren't ballet skirts or fairy-related :) I've already made a mechanics jumpsuit and some cowboy chaps - but I forgot to take pics of them! I'm making another mechanic's jumpsuit so I'll take pics of that when I'm done.

Here are a few doctors' coats and some vests - both from a Butterick kids' costume pattern that I got from Lesley when she had a clean-out :) The coats came from an old bed sheet so they are quite stiff and sturdy like medical coats are. I don't think they would have worked very well if they were from polycotton.

The coat is a size 5 - the biggest the pattern went up to. I don't know that I'd bother making it smaller ever. Here is Miss E in the same coat. Now, she is a tall 2-year-old but still - she'd grow out of it quickly enough!

The red crosses are painted on with really cool fabric textas that I got from Crafty Mamas - my favourite shop :)

These are the vests, from the same costume pattern as the coats - one out of fluoro fabric and the other of a cow print. Master O wouldn't wear the cow print so Baby Girl obliged. They're both size 5 as well - again I would never bother making a smaller one for E.

These were so quick to whip up - love fast, satisfying jobs, especially ones that don't cost a whole lot.

Pattern - free

Material - old bed sheet that was given to us

Fluoro - about $1

Cow - about $2

Now to make some for the kids to keep.

Some sewing for me :)

I finally made myself the wallet I've always wanted! I bought this pattern in a co-op and it sat on my desk for a couple of months while I became more and more irritated with the coins falling out of my falling-apart wallet down to the depths of my handbag.

The only good thing about having a wallet with a hole in the coin compartment is that you always find a treasure when you're digging around in your handbag looking for a tissue or a pen :) Bonus!

Here are some pics. I was very happy with how it turned out - although sewing through that many layers is tricky when you don't have a denim needle and are impatient to get the sewing done. so I only managed to break 4 universal size 80 needles on this one project :) Blasted Zips!

This is the outside zip compartment - there is one on the other side too. I am using one side to hold all my membership/loyalty cards. I don't know how I have so many! The other side I've got stamps and business cards and doc appointment cards. I love this - in my old wallet the cards would always make my wallet bulge and get out of shape. I can't see this happening here.

This is the outside of the wallet.

This is the wallet open and you can see from left to right there is a zipper compartment for coins, space for cards, more cards with the notes compartment behind it and then a pen loop although you can't see it well in this photo.

Here's the open coin compartment.

And the notes compartment looking very sad and empty:)

And here's my lovely pen loop. I love this - no more digging around to find a pen.

Thanks for looking and please leave a comment if you like - I like to know that I'm not just blogging to myself :)

More Party Photos

Thought I might share some more Pics from the Big Boy's birthday party from last weekend. As it was apirate party we decided to do a treasure hunt. With the help from a lovely friend who is an art teacher, I made this treasure chest.

It's a box that the kids' new sleeping bags came in - perfect size. I just covered it in the wood-grain contact that costs about $2 a roll at the $2 shop and put some stickers on that we also found at the $2 for around $4 I think. The contents of the treasure chest for the kindy party was a whole heap of plastic gold coins, some pirate hooks (styrofoam cups with pipe-cleaner hooks and a folded straw to hold onto inside the cup) and the alfoil covered paper towel tubes were the makeshift telescopes. There were also some eyepatches in there as well but I bought them as well. Also for the jewels we had some bead necklaces and big chunky palstic rings, 6 of each for $4. The little boys loved it! It is looking a bit the worse for wear in these photos.

For the family party the following weekend there was a heap of chocolate coins, some party blowers and some party hats. The kids loved finding the clues and traipsing around the house and yard to find the next clue.

The cake is from the Women's Weekly Kids' party cakes book. The Ghostly Galleon.

Here you can see my attempt at writing with icing. Not toooo bad. I'm sure I'll get lots of practise over the years.

And here is my little pirate showing his tough pirate tatts :)

I was also happy with how the decorations turned out. I made a whole heap os black flag shapes and stuck each with a round white circle of white contact paper - I was trying to find circular printing labels which I have seen before but could not find anywhere! I trimmed the circles to look like skull shapes - just a small trim on each side - and drew the bones on with liquid paper. Then drew eyes and teeth on with black sharpie pen. They look good from far away :) This is the best picture I have as I forgot to take any photos of them when they were up. And now they are at Kindy ready for the last day of term's Pirate Day.

Thanks for looking.

Big Boy Birthday!

Well the day came yesterday . . . my little baby turned five! I can still remember the day he was born five years ago. I was 32 weeks pregnant and my waters broke! So the first five weeks of his life he lived in the hospital. They took such good care of him - and now he's five!

Here he is at 3 days old - so tiny!



And here he is only last weekend getting ready for a cowboy birthday party for a kindy friend. This is him galloping :)





And my two little chickens in front of our fishtank. I think I'll take a photo of them in front of the tank at each birthday from now on to see their growth - something to compare them with.



And another photo of my big boy just because he is so darn cute!



This was the most popular present - a bowling set from National Geographic shop. The pins and ball are really nicely weighted so you actually feel like you are bowling. Plus there is a pin template made of plastic which you lay on the floor so an adult is not needed to set up the pins repeatedly :) Everyone's a winner!







And of course . . . . Mousetrap!




Happy Birthday my big fella! Love you!

Oh how I laughed!

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