Girl after my own heart

This morning, on waking, India said to me "(sigh) I wish I was eating cake".

I like her thinking!

A word for my first cushion

Go ye forth and multiply and fill the earth

(or my couch at the very least)...

because it's nearly the end of cushion month!!!

More for the babies

Not gifts this time, but cupcakes!

I made 30 yummy cakes yesterday, to match this pastel bunting, for a friend's baby shower.

With Tim having been away most of this week, it was going to be a challenge to manage a day of both kids and cupcakes. I couldn't have done it without calling for back-up... my super sisters Lauren (who is a cupcake extraordinaire herself), and Clare. Thanks girls ;)

Bibs, booties and bunting

With quite a few babies arriving this year, I'm thinking about baby gifts. I admit that it's tempting to buy some of the clothing I see in the shops because it is: 1. So cute (and tiny); 2. Quick; and 3. So cute. Hmmm, those points don't even convince me when I read them back! So, my aim is to make gifts that are: 1. So cute; 2. Quick and easy projects; and 3. One-of-a-kind items. Here are a first of the many you will see on my blog this year...

($8 packet of bibs, decorated with scraps of fabric and trimming)

(These are from the Amy Butler pattern found in this book)

(With baby's name appliqued on to the flags)

Let me know if you have any baby gift suggestions for me!

Art

The materials we need to create......masterpieces for the art gallery. And a warning to the dinosaurs to keep away from our leaves...

...because we need to collect them... ...to make leaf people.

My bare couch

It has been almost a year since we moved into our own little home. Unfortunately, I have been so slack in decorating that it still looks like a rental house. The walls are bare (apart from one in the lounge, only recently finished), and there is a distinct lack of colour and interest. It's about time for some cushion work. I'm declaring the month of April to be cushion month amongst my blogging friends. If your couch is overdue for some cushy love, please join me! Yesterday I purchased these fat quarters from Funky Fabrix so I'm armed and ready to share my progress.

Good luck!

Boys and their toys

I haven't had a whole lot of experience when it comes to little boys.

But I do remember this old poem which gives me some clues:

"What are little boys made of?

Frogs and snails and puppy-dogs' tails,

And that's what little boys are made of."

I think that's why I love these little boy bags. They are perfect for collecting...frogs or snails or thomas the tank engine toys! I made these personalised bags for birthday gifts and popped in a little torch or a toy. They are really easy to make, and heaps of fun dangling off your jeans. You can find the tutorial here!

About Easter

A couple of weeks ago Elara was excited about the prospect of turning 100 one day. She asked if I would be at her party. So I said no, and explained that when she was as old as 100, I would be too old to be alive anymore and would have probably died quite some time ago, and now be in Heaven. This upset her so much that I was a bit taken aback. She started crying immediately. It wasn’t that “I’ve hurt my knee’ kind of crying. Or the ‘but that’s not the way I want it’ kind of crying. It was the ‘I’ve lost my Mum in the shops’ kind of crying: panicked, emotional, uncontrollable.

She said that she was upset because she wanted us to die at the same time, together (at this I did a quick and secret prayer that this would never be the case and that she would far outlive me). She also said that she was upset because in this case I wouldn’t be there to carry her to Heaven when she died. My response? That God would look after her better than I ever could, and that His angels were protecting her even then. We talked about it for awhile and she became calm, though I didn’t think she was completely satisfied.

Last week (after our bedtime prayers), she burst into the same crying and questions as the previous time. This time she asked me to ask God to carry her to Heaven if I couldn’t. I suggested that she ask. So there we were in her bed, me crying quietly at the beauty of my child and at the honesty of real prayer, and Elara shouting out, through tears, “please can YOU carry me to Heaven God?”

I am so grateful that I have confidence in the answers I give to my children about God and love and life. I don’t have to make something up, or tell them what they want to hear, then walk away wondering myself.
I know it.
It brings me peace.
And I can pass that peace on to my kids.
That’s what I love about Easter.

The tradition of the bunny

While the bunny doesn't visit our house at Easter, the girls understand that he is a tradition among many families. So in keeping with this tradition, we made these softies for Elara's Kindy teachers. We added a chocolate carrot and a bit of love and goodwill (one of our Easter traditions), with a handwritten note from Elara in the bunny's back pockets. You can find the pattern here.

Easter bonnet parade

Easter bonnet parades and Elara were always meant to be together. She loves craft. She loves costumes. She loves to celebrate. This is her first ever Easter hat, decorated by her (except for the hot gluing). The hat came from my Mum's vast collection, and the embellishments from Elara's craft box. She was so excited to wear it into Kindy today, and to see all the other creative head wear!

This squinty eye pose is Elara's favourite at the moment. It's a bit 'Dirt Girl'-esque.

And, in case you were wondering the reason for so few India photos lately, it's because this is the face she pulls every time a camera comes out. I have a whole lot of photos like this, but my posts would get a bit boring :)

She's a cheeky one.