What Goes Around ...

They say that what you put out into the world will come back to you ... yesterday I sent halloween cookies to work with Ashley (sending baking to work with Ashley is not unusual for me - his colleagues love it and I get to do the baking without the eating of it all at the end! which is way better for the size of me bum!). Then ...



This came home from Ashley's work for me:

I know that it means they have been cheating on me and getting their baking elsewhere but it looks so yummy and smells so strawberryish and I am so chuffed to have it brought home to me that I forgive them, and thank them very much!

1 Week To Go

Today marks 39 weeks of growing for Tiny.

Eeeeeek Spiders!

Not for the faint hearted!

More halloween cookies, this time with the assistance of Ashley.

He came home from band practice and was inspired to lend a helping hand, he painted the webs on and did a great job.

It was fun to be in the kitchen being creative together.

Ahhhh we've been over run by ghosts!!!!

Very cute ghosts!

My last day at work on Friday is nicely timed with halloween celebrations, making it easy to decide what cute food to take along for morning tea.

I found this idea on the interwebs and adapted it to met the Miss Wendy cute food standard.

The Bond of Mother and Son

Smiles and happiness! I love how happy Louise and Corey are.

Emily eats Cake

YUM! The only way to eat chocolate cake is in your underwear!

Sleepover @ Beth's Place

Last night we headed out to Mauku to have a sleepover at Beth's place. Uncle Tony and Aunty Lyn were away for a long weekend at the beach with the family and we went out to Mauku to feed Beth and her friends.

They were all so excited to see us, Beth was doing her crazy 'I'm a lamb' thing, bouncing around the paddock with Ashley, the real lamb who is so cute and big was trying to make friends with Ashley but it's scaredy Mama said 'Hell No' we don't associate with him. Missy the pig chased Ashley and the pig food bucket across the paddock in excitement. And I sorted out the domestic animals with their cute little tins of cat food.

We had a nice night away and took advantage of the bath - I haven't had a bath since we lived out in Mauku with Uncle Tony and Aunty Lyn - It was sooooo nice!

Today I sorted out Beth's latest fleece (she's naked at the moment!) and got it ready for sending away for cleaning and carding. She sure did keep some odd things tucked away in her fleece - sticks, stones, parts of different foliage and sheep nuts (i guess it is like keeping candy in your pocket to snack on later).

What a lovely night away.

Who's that girl up a tree?

Oh, that would be me!

I just love how Ashley's nephew Ryan is looking up at me, I can almost hear his thoughts:

"I wish I was bigger and could climb that high!"

2 Weeks To Go

Today marks 38 weeks of growing for Tiny

Creative Grandma

Tiny is so lucky to have such a creative Grandma. A few years ago, at the Raglan dump shop I saw a very cool woollen baby wrap with an attached hood and told Eveyln about it. She went there and bought it and has had it tucked away waiting for a pregnant day. Using the old wrap as a guide she has created this beautiful version for me. She knows that I like things plain and simple so has made it without patterns etc except for the gorgeous edging that some how looks like a plait.

I think that it is just beautiful and that Tiny is very lucky to have such a clever Grandma.

The View From Up Here

Tiny grows bigger and bigger and the view of my toes gets smaller and smaller!

I love it!

Strawberrilicious!

The first one is ready.

Harvested.

and Eaten!

Yummy!

I can't wait for more to ripen up.

For Renee

Renee's school has their annual fair coming up soon. It is the coolest fair and I love going along each year. This year my contribution is 'make your own card kits', I think they are pretty cool and I would definitely have bought one as a little girl. There is a big card, a small card, an envelope, a bunch of coloured paper and shapes and a rhinestone.



I have had lots of fun going through my stash of stuff and sorting out things to help out my best girl, I hope that it passes the Renee standard test!

Relaxing in Raglan

We went for a drive to the Waikato yesterday.

First we had a lovely visit with Kat, Renee and Emily. It was great to see them as always even if we did have an alterior motive of depositing a cull of books and other stuff from our house to theirs. Renee goes to the Steiner school in Hamilton and they sell second hand books as an ongoing fundraiser to update replace their school desks. A great cause!

Then we went to Raglan to see Ashley's folks and hang out with them. Evelyn had done lots of gorgeous knitting for Tiny and we got to bring it home. It is all soooo cute. We had a great time just relaxing with them and spending the night away from Auckland - we chatted, went for a walk and got coffee, watched Reverence videos and just hung out. I just had to snap this pic of Ashley and Fred watching videos on the laptop, from where I was sitting it just made me smile - the serious concentrating expression on both of their faces is priceless!

Rock and Roll

Last night Tiny and I went along to the Stampede Bar in Papakura to watch Reverence in their heat of Battle of the Bands.

They drew the short straw and had to play first - it is always hard to be the first on, before everyone has had a few drinks and loosened up for the evening. But personally I was happy, as I meant that this sick girl could get back home at a reasonable hour.

Because the bar was really close to Paula's place she came down to check the boys out, I hope she enjoyed herself.

Unfortunately I took truely poo photos this gig, there are some good videos though, including the new song 'So Dirty' which is shaping up really well, I really like it - and Tiny did too (and did lots of dancing!).

Reverence got the highest judge votes of the night and so have made it through to the finals - this could be an interesting juggle as they are on the night that Tiny is due to make an entrance into the world. Lets hope that either Tiny is late arriving or that Carrie is right and Tiny is coming early.

3 Weeks To Go

Today marks 37 weeks of growing for Tiny.

Lemonade

Yum! I haven't made Miss Wendy's lemonade for ages! But it seemed to be the day for it when I woke up with a nasty cough and sore throat and then when I got home from work the lemon fairy (my landlord) had been and there was a pile of lemons on my steps.

So peel, cut, juice, measure and mix ...

Then the discovery that I need to buy more bottles ... these are the last I have. The OCD in me has huge issues with just putting the lemonade in a jug in the fridge, I need the bottles to make it right!

I know that for now I just have to deal with it but I will probably buy some more bottles soon ... how can I share the lemonade love without bottles? and anyway summer is coming and I will need bottles for tomato sauce ... yes, that is good justification, that will do it. I don't know where I will find space for them in my little flat but they have been justified now.

Anyway ... now I am sitting down enjoying a soothing mug of hot Miss Wendy's lemonade, the best medicine for a sore throat.

Scrapbooking at Home

I can't believe that I have actually been scrapbooking at home! I haven't done this for quite some time. Usually it waits for Friday night scraps or camp. Any way ...



I started the page at some point in the past, maybe on the Sunday of last camp? Anyway, it has been sitting in my work in progress folder for a while. Yesterday morning I was in bed thinking about how to finish it and when I got up and got it out everything just fell into place. I just finished it off today and am happy with it ... especially as Emily and Hawiki aren't really babies anymore.

Visiting Beth

Inspired by the beautiful sunny weather and the excess of pig food in our freezer we decided to take a trip out to Uncle Tony and Aunty Lyn's place to deliver the pig food to Missy and visit with our Beth.

Beth is looking a bit raggety at the moment with long wool and the windy day. But Ashley was too so she didn't feel too bad.

Beth was very much in the mood for visitors, she enjoyed getting scratches and cuddles with Ashley and then played running games. She was bouncing around like a two month old lamb not a two year old sheep.

Of course, the Maori sheep and her baby are big ole scaredy cats and so were quite upset by all the frolicking happening in the paddock. The baby has gotten so big since I last saw it. Missy the pig wan't bothered at all though, she slept through it all.

A great outing in the sun, visiting with our friend Beth. Yay for sunny Sundays!

Cute Food - Candy Sushi

At scrapbook camp earlier this year I decided to try out this fun recipe that I had found on the interwebs.

We all love sushi and we all love candy, so ... ... ... lets combine the two!

There is marshmellow rice bubble cake, wrapped around gummy worms and encased in fruit rollups.

It was fiddly as hell to make but damn it looked cute!

It tasted great too!

Mmmmm sushi.

4 Weeks To Go

Today marks 36 weeks of growing for Tiny.

Tiny Books for Tiny

Finished at last! I have been working on this gorgeous Kaiser Craft mini bookself for Tiny for a wee while.

The shelf and the books come flat pack and I did all the boring prep work of sanding and painting at a Friday night scrap a few weeks ago. Then at Scrapbook Camp last week I did all the exciting stuff, and finally over the last few evenings I have finished the binding of the books.

I am soooo happy with how great it looks and each month of Tiny's first year I will be able to gather a little collection of photos.

18 Days of Growing

This is the first time I have grown strawberries and I am sooo happy with the results. It is so much fun to go outside each day and see how much the little berries have grown. I don't think they will be a large meal but I am sure they will be a tasty one!