Narnia

All those years ago (2005) when we went to the Narnia Cast and Crew Screening I was so amazed by the ceiling at the Civic Theatre in Auckland. The way it turned into the night sky ... the twinkling stars ... WOW!

Organised

I finally bought the 3m removeable hooks to let me hang up the bags Kat made for Vienna's change area. It feels so great to have it a bit more organised!

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String

I've been busy knitting again, some more of these very cool dish cloths;

this time for Eileen. She saw me knitting one of the ones that Kat got for Christmas and took an interest ... soooo here they come Eileen, enjoy.

Home-grown Goodness

Thanks Phil and Kahla for watering my cherry tomato plants while I was away in Raglan during December. Here are some for you.

Enjoy!

Smiling Girl

Just so darn cute, she giggles now too!

she has stolen my heart!

Strawberrilicious Cupcakes

Ashley came home from work on Monday night with strawberries for me from the production team, YUMMY! But too many for me to eat so the next morning I got creative ...

And produced ... strawberry and dark choc chip cupcakes with strawberry frosting ... YUMMY! Then Vienna and I went for a drive over to Glen Eden and delivered them, a nice little outing - especially for Vienna who had lots of people to talk to and smile at.

Danger

I was staying with Robert in Aussie and he says to me "come over to the park and watch me fire dance" ... it just didn't seem right ... really, this boy is seriously un-coordinated and he wanted me to watch him throw fire around! was he fricken kidding?

Anyway, it turns out that he was pretty good, he and Rana gave me a great display of their awesome fire dancing.


Big thanks to Vienna for sleeping today while I did all the hand sewing.

Swimming Girls

Renee and Vienna had a swim together after Emily's birthday party on Saturday, Kat took quite a few photos and I just LOVE this one. It is such a great photo. They had a great time together, Renee loved hanging out with Vienna and Vienna loved swimming - kicking her legs and splashing. She was happy to stay in the water for ages.

BMX Chick

Yay! I scrapbooked today! It was great!

Helping

We had a busy day today so I was very grateful for Vienna's help in getting the nappies off the line - now I just have to teach her to fold them up for me!

All Tuckered Out

Vienna had such a big day on Saturday - helping get ready for Emily's party, then the party, then a swim with Renee, then we drove to Raglan to spend a couple of nights with Grandma and Grandpa. At the end of all this she was completely tuckered out and fell asleep on the couch still in her party dress - she slept for 9 1/2 hours!

New Recipe of the Week - Savoury Muffins

After having a yummy bacon/onion/cheese muffin at the Pokeno Bacon Cafe at Mercer I felt inspired to be a little creative in the kitchen. I bought a few slices of their yummy bacon and got to thinking on my drive home. The next morning I got busy and came up with these yummy muffins:

They taste soooo good and for those avoiding gluten they are completely gluten free.

Miss Wendy's Savoury Muffins

3/4 cup pea flour

3/4 cup corn meal

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon herb salt

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 can creamed corn

1/2 cup pokeno bacon - diced

1/2 cup spring onion - sliced finely

Combine wet ingredients in bowl, combine dry ingredients in another bowl.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, stir to combine.

Bake at 180 degrees in muffin pans until golden brown and cooked, 10 - 20 minutes depending on size of muffin pans.

ENJOY!

Our New Cousin

Vienna got to meet her Seabright cousins ... she is their first cousin and Cameron especially was very excited to meet her ...

He played close by her while she slept, showing her his toys and chatting to her.

They played with Grandpa, Cameron was quite happy to share his Grandpa with his new cousin.

He loved getting to have a cuddle of his own ... WOW!

Uncle Jody meet his niece.






Jody figured out that she is the first girl in the family to bear the Seabright name for 39 years!

Cute Food - Emily's Birthday Treats

Emily's 2nd Birthday called for Miss Wendy to produce some cute food. As I have been so unwell lately it was hard to reach my usual cute party food standard, but I did manage some banana muffins,



and some decorated biscuits (please forgive that they aren't home made biscuits).

Emily Turns 2

Emily turned 2 on Saturday 16 January 2010. Vienna and I had stayed the night so that we could help out with party preparations, I'm not sure how much help we really were but it was great to see Kat, Renee and Emily and hang out with them. I love these pictures of Emily, they are so sweet and she looks so innocent (deceptive!), and lovely.

December Mini Book

Whilst I felt like I was barely up at camp at all and only caring for Vienna's needs as she was so clingly with me being unwell, I did actually manage to get a little bit of crafting done.

The December mini book looks great and is totally cute!

Cute Food - Christmas Treats

More Christmas treats that didn't make it online before Christmas. These are oddfellow truffles and have been a favourite of Miss Wendy for quite a few years now. They are yummy, easy and fun to make ... they need a hammer!

Quick, grab the camera!

Uh oh, it is half way through the month and I haven't taken hardly any photos of Vienna ... quick, grab the camera!

Resolutions

My resolutions for this year have finally made it into print, in the year 2010 I aspire to:

* To be the best partner that I can be

* To be the best mother that I can be

* To be creative, every week

* To be as healthy as I can be

* To be as eco friendly as I can be

* To end each month weighing less than at the start of the month

* To end each month with less stuff in our house than at the start of the month

Sleeping Girl

Sleeping was not generally enjoyed by our family during our trip to Tariki. Vienna had a sore tummy from my antibiotics and she didn't settle very well at all. But after a morning bath by Dad and a walk outside in the fresh air, Vienna went off to sleep on Daddy. He managed to transfer her to the bed and they took a little nap together.

They look so peaceful!

In Hospital

We have had an interesting start to our year, with me and Vienna doing some hospital time. Thankfully it was me that was admitted not Vienna. I had mastitis in my left breast and spent the night of 3rd January in Ward 10 at Middlemore. Vienna came and stayed with me, she had work to do to keep draining the breast of as much milk as possible. They kindly ordered her a bed of her own ... but when it came ... it was quite huge! She slept sideways in it overnight and all around it during the day! It makes her look so little.

I was discharged on the 4th with more antibiotics but they didn't quite do the trick so was back again on the 8th for another couple of nights, in Ward 34E this time. I had surgery on the evening of the 9th to drain a big abscess that had formed (125mls - YUK), after 20 something hours with no food - very draining and tiring while still breast feeding. Vienna went home with Daddy while I was in surgery but she wasn't happy without her Mum and gave him quite a hard time, poor Ashley! For this stay Vienna had a more regular sized bed (a basinet from the Maternity Ward) that was on wheels and had potential for some great games! And walks up and down the corridor once Mum was feeling better. I was discharged on the 10th and was happy to be out in the fresh air! though still sore and achy and with a big hole in me. So keep an eye out over the next few days while I catch up on my postings and letting you know what else we have been up to.

Tariki

We went away to Tariki to celebrate the New Year with Chris and family and friends. Vienna was well received by all the girls - Lily and Esme Winter, Abbey and Teri Hedges, and by the little girls too - Jessie Hedges and Jenny's little girl Maddie.

She was immediately swamped by her fans with them sorting out which order their cuddles were to happen in - it was quite a thing!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ...

Happy Happy New Year! Welcome 2010!