Capturing a personality ...

Sometimes when you capture and image of a person, you can look at it and almost see their whole personality laid before your eyes. When I saw these images on my computer screen, I could almost hear the little cackle that our dear little Lacey makes. I could see her little personality shining through the screen. These images are the perfect captures of the essence of Lacey. 

She is determined,

Stubborn,

Strong willed,

Defiant,

Cheeky 

And often pretty naughty

But she is also super affectionate,

very loving,

gives THE BEST cuddles out of all the kids.

She is smart

she is loyal 

And is so caring when it comes to her siblings

This girl is going to run the country some day! Or at least do a darn good job at ruling the roost at her own home, with her own husband and family. 

It is always hard to get a good photo of Lacey as she just won't stand and pose for you, so these are already cherished. 

This is our Lacey ... 

The Icecream Party - Details.....

Ohhh I'm here!! Just!!

Finally... I have some details about the cute little Ice cream Party that we held to celebrate Max and Lacey's 3rd birthdays.

As I have previously mentioned, this party was thrown together at short notice but I still had time to organise a few cute touches.

Firstly, I found a free printable pack on the wonderful world wide web, and the colour scheme was just what I was looking for. Being a unisex party, I wanted to keep the colours light but still related to the theme. Best of all? Its a free printable!! You can find more details HERE

Seeing as though pack contained some cute flags for making a bunting , I got my lovely husband to cute 2 pieces of pipe (that stood inside the holes of bricks) and strung the 2 'YUM' buntings above the table. Quick and easy but effective all the same. (And it was free as we already had the pipe)

The printable pack contains lots of tags for the toppings, cupcake toppers, signs etc, and as fate would have it, I had started to collect little bits and pieces and they all fit the colour scheme well.
The ice cream bowls (front left of photo below) are from a local discount store for $2.50 and come with little ice cream sticks. The Serviettes are from IKEA and the plates were bought for Angus' party and didn't arrive in time so I re purposed them.

The cute hanging 'Icecream cones' were made using cheap pom poms (Red Dot are now stocking a pack for $3 for 2) and some brown card stock rolled into a cone and secured with double sided tape.

The gorgeous stands on either side of the table displayed the different toppings available for ice-cream. These are actually Herb planters from Bunnings that I bought on sale for $13 (they came with 4 little wooden pots too) They are foldable, are easy to store and perfect for what I wanted.
The little aqua bowls (my favourite colour at the moment) I bought at the Reject shop a while ago and held crushed oreos, but the other toppings were- Raspberry lollies, chopped nuts, chocolate sprinkles, sprinkles and then strawberry and chocolate topping ( seen in the pics wrapped with some yellow patterned paper to conceal an ugly label)

I attempted to bake cupcakes in Ice cream cones for the first time and it was a success (thanks to all who gave advice on my facebook page).
I simply filled the cones to the top of the small base section and baked for the appropriate amount of time. Iced to look like Sundaes, there were a real hit and super cute too!!
In hindsight, the cones did go a tad soft for my liking , these would definitely be better baked fresh the day you are going to use them, but time is never on my side for Parties so they were just fine the way they were!

The cute Ice cream bowls and spoons on the bottom shelf of the Toppings stands came in a 2 pack of pink and blue, and I bought them from Red Dot also (got to love a cheap shop!). I have received a lot of queries regarding those, and to be honest , I don't think too much when organising a party. I knew last year that I wanted to do an Ice cream theme this year , so I just start to keep a look out for things I like and these were one of those purchases.

The lolly bags were simple white bags from Spotlight for just a few dollars (seen above) but I ran a strip of Washi Tape through the middle and it tizzied them up enough to look cute.


The food was kept simple, as the guest list was too. Immediate family and the twins Godmother and her children, but we had : cupcakes, Oreo Pops, Fruit kebabs, dip tray with vegetables, vanilla custard in small cups , sausage rolls, party pies and of course, ice cream sundaes!!

I LOVED throwing and decorating this party. It was simple, Super duper CHEAP and the kids had an absolute ball creating their own sundaes with toppings that were a bit special (considering our kids don't have ice cream at home ever!)

Lately I have been receiving emails asking advice on throwing childrens parties, and I am definitely NO expert, but I do have one main piece of advice that helps me no end!

Set your theme in advance, and I am talking WELL WELL in advance. 

Like I said, I knew last year that I wanted to do an Ice cream party, so as I saw things in the shops, I bought them. As I was looking on Pinterest etc, I would store that idea to my memory bank. It makes the whole organising experience easier, less stressful not to mention cheaper. When you are buying a few things every few weeks for just $3, it doesn't hurt the bank balance too much. I am not one to get on a website and make an order of a few hundred dollars. To be honest, I couldn't think of anything worse. Plus, making decorations yourself, scouting the net for free things to use, its all part of the fun!!

I am sorry this took so long to write, I have just not had the headspace for much at the moment. 

BIG changes are happening here!! I'll keep you posted x

Ice Cream Party

Last weekend we held a wee little party for Max and Lacey's 3rd Birthday!!

It was quite a rushed party really, with the time and date/day only sent with 5 days to go , but seeing as though I had already picked the theme some months back and started to collect bits and pieces, the prep wasn't too hard!!

We kept the guests to a bare minimum, my sister and her family (4 kids) and my cousin and her 3 kids and my parents (in laws were away). Having a small number of guests was fantastic, as I have held quite a few parties in the past that have got well out of hand in the guest department and it makes the party less enjoyable for everyone. As far as Max and Lacey were concerned, their were kids, lolly bags and cake. That makes for a pretty good party in a 3 year old eyes!

But obviously in my opinion, with more time, I probably could have pulled together a few things a bit better, but I happy with the way the party looked/ran with minimal effort involved.

Anyway, I thought I could share with you some pics, them them speak for themselves and then do an info post to follow tomorrow. So if you have anything in particular you would like to know about, just shoot me an email or message of Facebook or comment on this post.

So without further ado, Max and Lacey's Ice cream Party.

(Please excuse the lighting in the table pics, the party was held under our patio. Very practical but it doesn't make for the best backdrop and certainly doesn't do the camera and lens any favours. But you have to choose practicality over looks sometimes, just sometimes.

There is always one child that doesn't like tot play the game and join in on the group photo. (and a 5 year old that likes to smile with her 'fake' smile!

The kids all LOVED creating their own ice cream sundaes, choosing the sauces and toppings is a real novelty (especially for our kids who don't get ice cream very often, if ever)

Stay tuned for more info x

Lately...

Lately.. I have been busy trying to keep my head above water.

Adjusting to full time school, after school activities and day time ones for Max and Lacey also.
Throw in a few meetings, sports and windups plus a broken washing machine and a major slice to my thumb resulting in stitches and lots of glue, its been rather busy!!

So forgive me for being so tardy, a blogger that doesn't post but I am feeling a little more back on track.

But can you blame me? These cherubs are worth it!!
Well and truely!

Totally worth it. x

Wonderful Weather

We have been so blessed with such glorious weather lately!
It doesn't feel like it at the moment, as it blows a gale outside and rains off and on, but when the sun is shining lately, its like the bees and birds are singing!

 

My parents are building on a rural block at the moment and the kids have a ball there!

I was lucky enough to capture some beautiful images of our little darlings. In all their investigating happiness.

 

(Photo overload coming now!!)

 

 

I don't know about the birds and the bees, but these make my heart sing!

How lucky are we?

Even on bad days ( and I seem to be having a few with our terrible two lately, they still make me smile on the inside and out. (more so when they are sleeping though! haha)

 

A special bond....

Twins really are something special.

Hard work, testing and a totally different parenting experience yet so completely amazing to watch a bond grow and develop between two little people, whom have never been separated.

 

Its pretty obvious to see the differences between Max and Lacey, but they aren't just skin deep.

 

He is emotional and needy.

She is confident and independent

 

He is quite selfish ( a man right?!)

And she always thinks about and worries about him.

 

He is left handed

She is right handed

 

He is all about having fun

She is all about finding the fun

 

 

 

Lacey really is a devil at heart. She is the first to find and create mischief and I can honestly say that "LACEY" is the most used word in this house, even more than NO and SHHHHHHHH.

Lacey is too smart for her own good and when you watch her interact, you can see her little mind ticking over. Working 100 miles an hour, problem solving, watching how you did something to recreate it. Often we perceive this as being 'naughty' and at times it just is. But at others, I think we should be praising her for figuring out how to do something independently.

I really wish she wasn't so much like her Mother though! hmmmmm

 

Lacey really watches out for her 'big' brother. If she is given a biscuit, she will automatically ask for his, just to make sure he does not miss out.

If she moves her chair, she will then move his too!

If they are in bed, going to sleep, she will wait for him to be there before she settles.

Now that is love.

That is a special bond that no one in the world will ever be able to separate!

Thats twin love

xo

 

 

And a little poem that Lacey was given on a print for her birthday. It brings me to tears every.single.time.

 

I'm sch a lucky little girl

My Mummy told me so

 

Because I've got a secret

and I want you to know

 

I never have to be lonely

I always have a friend

 

We play and play

and laugh all day

Our giggles never end

 

There's something very special

about this friend of mine

 

We grew in Mummy's tummy and

we were born at the same time.

 

Mummy told me about it

We've been together from the start

 

And he is more than my best friend

He is half of my heart

 

xo