Festival Fun

We had a fantastic, but full on weekend, and Stella had a ball!!
Friday arvos Noel finishes a bit early, so he met me at the party shop , to gather supplies for the up coming Christening for the twins this weekend. When we were leaving, we decided on a spontaneous dinner at the park. So he set off home to get some things and I went to get tea and we met down at our amazing foreshore park. The weather was perfect, such a warm day and beautiful evenin, if only the flies were more well behaved. My Mum joined us too, as Dad went out. Stella played happily and we watched!
But it wasn't all good!! As I said there waiting for  Mum and Noel, I met a lady who had twin girls, who were 2, and 2 other kids aswell.  She was sitting right beside me and got up to put her icecream cups in the bin, only to return and not see one of the girls! She asked her compainion where was "Isabelle" but no one knew. She was right in front of us one minute and the next, gone!! SO then the Mother got a bit frantic and ran around looking for her precious daughter! After what seemed like forever, someone said that there was a girl on the beach, sure enough, Isabella had run to the beach and was thigh deep in the rolling and rough waves. She was so lucky, and her mother was in tears. I seriously sat there thinking, oh what a perfect evening and everything is great and I am going to bear witness to a massive tragedy! I got goosebumps and couldn't hug my children tight enough after that!!

Anyway, after working Saturday, we went down to our Foreshore for the Festival carnival that had been set up for the 2 weeks that our "Sunshine Festival" was on. Its an annual event , held in the school holidays , and its filled with all sorts of fun activities!

Stella had her first go at the Clowns, and loved it!!

Had a long jump on the Bouncy Castle (with a huge help to get up the slide by a very strong Daddy!

Max and Lacey had a great time too!

And got her Face painted, or to her "Pace Fainted". She has had it done once before and loved it, and this time was no exception!! She said so so still and looked gorgeous when finished!

The slingshot ( she wanted to go but obviously she couldn't!!)

My Mum and Dad met us down there , about half way through our outing, and the foreshore started filling up as the fireworks were on. We didnt' stay for these, we let her have another play on the equipment (and I had to go down the slide too!!) and we grabbed some hot chips on the way home and sat on our mat and had a picnic dinner watching the kids movie on TV.

Noel and I had a meaningful discussion about nights like these. Its what memories are made of, what children treasure in their mind and it will last and be with them forever. The simple things of a play at the park, an impromptu picnic or letting them stay up late and laying on a rug with Dad, watching "A Bugs Life". Stella loved every minute and so did we!!

Pure Sweetness

On Wednesday night, we had my niece and Stella's best friend, Denbi over for a sleepover. Little did know , what was to follow was 'pure sweetness'. Not the kind that makes your teeth ache, but more the , "ohhhhhhh" kind. I lost count of the amount of times I said that to myself in my head, and even out loud.

Stella LOVES her Denbi (Membi) and follows her around like a lost sheep. Copy Catting, repeating, playing, hugging , loving..... it was .... Pure sweetness.

We had a great day, cooking, crafting, playing shops, playing towns (with animals and trains and all!!) and dancing like there was no tomorrow!! (It helps entertain grumpy babies too, much to my delight, so Denbi put on a show for them!!)

You wouldn't think that a 5 year old and a 2 year old could interact in such a way, yet they day. It makes my heart melt, Denbi is a beautiful little sole, and has reassured me that she like staying at Aunty's, "Cos I do Cwarf" (aka Craft)

Their creations!

Hamming it up for the camera!! With pure love of course!

xo



finally......

The photowall is done. This is something I have wanted to do for such a long time, yet always refrained , as we were going to sell our house and move on. Not anymore. Plans have changed (for only the 100th time!!) and we are staying, are I feel really good about our decision for once, its amazing what kids do to you.

First off I set all the frames out on the floor, with the photos and played around with the layout until I was happy. (Most of the frames are Ikea, some Target, some Red Dot)

Anyway , this is before (sorry I did forget so it was actually blank)

And this is during;

We Noel has learnt the hard way, and something like this didn't work out, so this time we used the newspaper method I had seen on Better Homes and Gardens show on TV. It worked perfectly!! We simply traced around all the frames and cut them out of newspaper. We then sticky taped them to the wall and could adjust as we saw fit, then with drilling the hole, Noel could measure where the hanger should be and drilled right through the paper.

And this is after!! I LOVE IT!!

Sorry for bad lighting, will attempt another one!

Its in the heart of our home, opposite my kitchen bench and our main living area for all to see and me to admire on a day to day, (more like 1000 times a day) basis!!

I absolutely love photos, I love everything about them. Taking them, and having them (not so much being in them bleh) and so its really important to me to have them around. As the years go on, I will interchange the photos in the frames but at least that will be an easy task!!

I'm off to work, ( and really can't be bothered tonight, I love my job, but its hard to get motivated to go at night , with sleep deprivation, and a thumping headache!)

We had a great day , with Denbi my niece here. I have some beautiful photos to share, back later!

Gawkers

Ok, it comes with the territory of having twins that you get continuously stopped by random people, who choose to explain their lives to you, touch your babies, give their opinions on your situation and just ask wayyyy too many personal questions! I am sure my fellow twin mummies out there agree 100%!!
I love having twins. I really do. They are so so special, and a real double blessing for our lives, however, they come with their drawbacks too!
When I was pregnant, I read a bit about twins, books, websites etc and they all explained about these "gawkers". I really didn't believe everything I had read, although , boy do I now!

Max, butter wouldn't melt

As I walk through town, as anyone does , with my children in their pram, I am constantly stopped, spoken to and smiled at. People are quite friendly but I have to say, I am getting sick of the same commments.
"Boy you have your hands full!" (with Stella on the front of twin pram in toddler seat!)
"ohhh how cute, twins"
"I always wanted twins"
"My twins are (random age) now"
"oh my twins were the same, one big , one small"

BUT my all time favourite;
"Are they identical?' (Love, they are Boy /Girl, thats a silly question!!)

AND the ones I don't like;
"Are they natural , or IVF?" (Hmmm why does someone think they have the right to ask me such a personal question? They are natural, but really, would I tell a stranger that we had fertility issues?)
And
"You poor thing!!"  ( Actually, I think I am pretty bloody lucky! Sure its not all tea and roses , but I prefer not to think of my babies as a burden thankyou!)

How good is waking up to this? Lacey

Having said all these nasty things about people, smack for Liz, there are some people that actually stop me to ask if I need help, to commend me on how put together I look, and how well behaved my toddler is, so it all evens out in the end!
But , I have to say, the downside is - 3 bibs each a day= 6 bibs x 7 days = 42 bibs a week!! Yep the story of my life at the moment, no wonder I was everyday!

Today was Stella's daycare day, and actually, nothing got created at home. I left the house at 10am and got home at 3pm!! Lots of jobs and running around to do, but I did buy the backing and wadding for my quilt and dropped it back to the MIL, sorry for those who were waiting for a pic, I forgot, but rest assured, it looks amazing!!
Tomorrow is a new day, a bit of crafting hopefully, more organising of the christening, Mothers Group, and having my niece and Stella's favourite person, Denbi, for a sleepover, but I am not sure much sleeping will get done!
BTW- If you are interested in Anna Maria Horner Fabrics, check out her website.

Useless stuff

We all know how much I love Sundays. Fun and family = favourite day! Today was no exception, I headed off the the Annual Patchwork and Craft fair , and had a ball. Scored some goodies, picked out the twins Christening outfits and I seriously can't believe the amazingly clever people in our town!!
We had a BBQ lunch with friends, the kids played happily and we chatted away the sunny arvo, ahh bliss!! I LOVE summer!!
To top it off, we got a phone call from the Horrocks Beach Chalets (we have been on the waiting list since Dec 09) and we are in!! So we are excited already about a week in the gorgeous little place, leaving Boxing Day. I seriously can not think of a better way to recover from the crazy Christmas season in the salon!!

Today I'd like to share 10 totally useless facts and info about myself, and would like to pass the challenge onto other fellow bloggers to do the same, so these are the blogs I am paying it forward to; Kristy from Bread N Butter Factory ,  Jess from My Family Our Home and fellow twin Mum Anne-Marie from Curiosity Killed The Cat. Love to see your useless stuff too, its always the best stuff to know!

My 10;
1) I HATE brocolli, its gross, don't mind it raw, but cooked bleh!! Its the texture, all furry and stuff
2) My eyes change colour with my moods and emotions, sometimes blue, sometimes green
3) I drive a "mini van", and I LOVE it!!
4) I have a 'thing' for white, if you hadn't noticed!!
5) Noel and I have been together for 7 1/2 years, doesn't sound like long, but it is when you are only just 25!!
6) My favourite colours are Orange, green and wait for it - White of course!!
7) I don't like white chocolate, custard or fresh cream. Weird I know, but its true, yucky!
8) I am a Sex and The city fan, like BIG time, know each season, episode, lines , the whole lot!
9) At primary school, I was a book worm, I still love books and reading, but I used to organise them in alphabetical order, just like at the library, and pretend I was a teacher!
10) My favourite things in my life are my 3 adorable children and one gorgeous (and 6ft 9in) husband!

That was harder than I thought, trying to think of stuff I haven;t already spoken about!!
 Off to bed, surprise suprise, the night owl having an early night!

Stay tuned , hopefully tomorrow I will post a pic of my GORGEOUS quilt top , made out of Anna Marie Horner fabrics. I got them on sale and my Mother in Law is a very talented quilter , remember she made this ,and she is making me one to throw over the couch and it is to die for!!
Night all, enjoy!

New wool for a new project!

Behind a man

So, I know this is a bit D & M but I kinda got to thinking a bit this week, after quite a few different things, about me, right.
Behind every great man, is an even greater woman , dare I say it! (Lucky I don;t have many male readers huh!!)
Exibit A) Anyone watch the footy show a week or so ago? They asked the AFL player Christ Judd ,if he had forgotten to shave? He ever so politely answered "No, Bec thinks I look a bit funny having a shaved head and face so I have to run with the shadow" haha . Now that is one successful man, with an even greater woman behind him! She knows what she wants, how she wants it, and he just goes with the flow (obviously the right way to go!!)

Now, Exibit B) When I was watching the Powderfinger concert, and looking up at the big screen to an emotional and teary lead singer Bernard Fanning, I got to thinking as to why someone would want to give it up?! Why would you want to throw it all in, and Bernard was the one who told the band he was done, when you had the world at your feet, millions in the bank and fans screaming for you? Well family of course, his wife, and child, live overseas. It takes a pretty big woman to let their husband travel the world , whist they remain at home and parent their child. Now that is a greater woman, and obviously the reason behind his emotion and cause for the bands spilt. But never the less, a MUCH greater woman, behind a great man.


And lastly but definately not least, and I am bound to think of others, and have done over the last week; I follow a blog, one of many. But I stumbled across this blog, and I can;t even remember where , and its called Its Twinsanity. Now I read this blog when I am having an shit "off" day. You know the ones, no need to explain here! Now this woman, has been parenting, and home school none the less, her 6 children, all by herself whilst her husband, has had  a large deployment to Iraq, for the 2nd time!! She has not one, but 2 sets of twins and he left when the youngest set were 3 months old. She has recently packed up her family, house , everything and has been travelling across America to where they will be living, an a Winnabago thing (sp sorry) by herself, with her 6 kids! Poo dumps, sickness ect.
Now don't get me wrong, I think its an azazing thing this man is doing for his country and he is a great man, but boy oh boy is this woman a greater woman!! Thankfully he has just returned, unharmed , and yes, I bawled when reading her post and seeing her pictures!! Do yourselves a favour and check it out!! Kinda puts things back into perspective and reality huh?

All around us, everyday, woman are doing extra ordianary things, men are too , yes. But most of the time a woman needs to run a house, take care of children, feed and nourish everyone and provide the emotional support that the family needs , and yes men are fantastic. Mine is no exception and I take him for granted every minute of every day, but sometimes , when I am having a bad day, its nice to know that without me, he wouldn't be so fantastic. Lots of things wouldn't get done, (or they would just not as good ;) and that no matter what, there is always someone out there who is doing it tougher!
The moral of my long winded story, girls, be proud, for what you achieve on a day to day basis, it may not be huge in your eyes, but without you, it wouldn't have got done at all, and whether they choose to tell you or not, men folk need us!! And secrectly, they do enjoy our antics! haha

My hsuband and I, pregnant with the twins

What a Wonderful Wednesday!!

What amazing weather we had here today!! Perfect to spend the whole, yes the WHOLE , day at home!! Apparently it reached about 36 degrees and the babies had their first day in legless rompers, sooo cute, one skinny set of pegs and one chubby bubby set! We have pulled out the pedestal fans and boy does it feel like barbeque weather!! Just the way I like it too!

And what made my day so wonderful you say?
Well all these things of course!!

Stella's Morning tea ( I just had fruit salad) yummy yummy

Ohh how precious, a BIG sleep today!! I even got an hour too!!

Play time for babies

Nothing better than the sight of Nappies drying on the line!!

Play time



She LOVES her trampoline, and hat of course, yay for Summer!



Piles of clean washing!

Beautiful cuddles

And a few of my favourite things around my home at the moment;

My new Compost bin, love it!! Beats the ice cream container of late!

Our hobby herb and vege garden, nothing major, but showing Stella where it comes from!

New bar stools from Ikea

My trivet , from Greece. LOVE it!! This time last year we were touring Europe!

There are definately more things around , but its just a piece of my day, and the things that make me smile :)