Susan's Quilt

This year, for the xmas draw,

I scored Susan, Peters sister.

I decided to create a quilt for her.

I stippled an all over swirly pattern,

my first attempt of stipple.

I was really happy with how it all came together.

I contemplated keeping it for myself

but I quickly attached the label

then I knew I would have to part with it.

Jacqueline :)

An 8 Year Old Visits

I want to share these amazing drawings.

Do you recognise this painting?

Before the xmas crazy set in, we had the pleasure

of a lovely visit from an eight year old boy.

He bought his sketch book along for

me to have a look at.

I was amazed at his drawings - he is only 8!

What a talented young man.

Self portrait, fantastic job Mr 8.

Here's the real 8 year old (left).

His mum was working, so he spent the morning with

2nd born, 3rd born and myself.

He is very interested in the

vegie patch and cooking,

we picked some zucchini and some herbs

and made a zucchini slice

The boys ate their zucchini slice for lunch.

After lunch, the 8 year old showed us another

special talent he has, he can burp the alphabet!

2nd born was laughing so much, he could hardly breath.

It was very funny

Boys will be boys!

I printed out the recipe for him to take home,

and included some picks of his

morning with us.

Thanks so much for visiting Mr 8.

We all enjoyed your company

and had a great time.

Jacks Zucchini Slice

1 medium zucchini grated

3 rashes of bacon chopped

1 cup chopped cooked chicken

1 cup self-raising flour

4 eggs

1 large onion finely chopped

1 cup grated cheese

½ cup olive oil

Shake of mixed herbs (or fresh herbs are better)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Pour into a lined baking dish.

Cook for approx 30 mins at 200 deg

Jacqueline :)

Record Sales

Yesterday the boys and I set up our annual

Reindeer Food Shoppe

The boys had so much fun playing real shops.

We placed this sign out on the road,

did some modern day marketing

via facebook, text message's and email.

Word got around town pretty fast and trade was brisk

They set up shop at 9am,

we decided if they had a sleep in the arvo

they would be able to stay up late

and trade into the evening,

so of they went to catch some zzzzzz's

We all did actually :)

We placed our trading table out on the footpath

and the boys still made money while they slept!

Evening trade was a little slower, but still steady.

Thismorning we tallied up the loot and had

$105

not bad for 50 cents a bag,

the boys are not sure what to spend their earnings on yet.

(Just quietly...

I think it should be something for mum

for filling all those little bags!)

It was a big day, closing up shop at 10pm

the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves,

as did the grown ups and the customers.

Thanks to everyone that called by

and well done to the 3 little boys to stick it out all day

Plans are already under way for next years shoppe.

Jacqueline :)

Note: I have been creating, just can't show them yet.

Knee Deep

This afternoon I've been knee deep

in bird seed and glitter.

More about this later.

Have a great weekend.

Jacqueline :)

Nursery Rhyme Nightmares

 

A few days ago,

I overheard the bedtime story being lovingly read to the 3 little ones.

I had a giggle to myself.

It went like this
There was a little man,

And he had a little gun,

And his bullets were made of

lead, lead, lead;

He went to the brook,

And saw a little duck,

And shot it through the

head, head, head.

The book belongs to Peter,

from his younger days.

Things have changed.

Does the lamb in the top pic look like

it is having the life squeezed out of it

by that lovely little girl,

or is that just my imagination?

Jacqueline :)

The Birthday

The birthday get together was 3 weeks ago now.

We had a BBQ at home with some friends and lots of kids.

I think the kids out numbered the grown ups,

but they were all beautifully behaved.

It was a very hot night, I bought a bucket of water pistols

and sidewalk chalk for them to decorate the driveway.

A couple of teenagers also attended, they did some

fantastic, creative grafitti on the drive.

A nice night was had by all.

Lisa made a lovely cake - thanks Lisa!

And, these are some of the lovelies that apperaed on the day,

thanks Peter & the boys, Ray & Lisa, Lyndal & Ross,

Simone & Andrew, and Jenni, Daniel & Chris,

I've been very spoilt.

Thanks to everyone for you thoughtful birthday greetings.

And thanks to about 20 kids for your perfect behaviour!

Jacqueline :)

Butter

Thismorning at breakfast, we ran out of butter for the toast.

My fault, had not been to the shops for a while.

A while ago I read this post over at Rhonda's,

And thought I would like to give butter making a go.

Today was the perfect opportunity.

It took longer than the tutorial,

I just used the Bulla cream that was in the fridge.

We made some scones after the butter,

I had never made scones before either,

pretty easy really, not sure why I had'nt before.

I was happy with the result of both butter and scones
(homemade apricot & pineapple jam by Gran)

The boys were also happy

All scones have vanished

Have a nice weekend

Jacqueline :)

Fridays Projects

Creche day today,

I bought a new CD

{which I am very happy with}

to tap my foot to as the machine hummed along

Today I made some buntings for the boys to give

as birthday gifts for parties attended thisevening.

The pink bunting is ready to be sent off to it's new home

It is to co-ordinate with this name garland

All boys are finally in bed and asleep,

hope the sugar high from 2 parties

wears off by morning.

Have a great weekend.

Jacqueline :)

Your Place and Mine - Front Door

Here's our front door.

It does not get used at the moment, as the sign says

"Please use the back door"

There are 2 reasons why we dont use it.

One - with the movement in the ground, if we open it,

it's bloody hard to get shut again.

Reason Two - it's my creating space on the other side.

The cupboard to the left is full of my stash.

On the other side of the cupboard is our living area

and computer corner.

It's all open, so I can create and watch the boys playing

or watch teev or chat, or sort out the disagreements.

We did have an office/sewing room,

but decided to make that into a toy room.

The change has worked out really well.

The boys also use this side of the desk, they hord my scraps

and make all sorts of treasures.

To the right is a lovely big window

overlooking the front garden.

We are planning on renovating this house over

the next few years,

hopefully having my own sewing room.

Pop over here to see more front doors.

Jacqueline :)

Greenbacks & The Patch

On Monday, Peter headed of to Seattle for a Microsoft Study Tour.

We drove down to Melbourne on Sunday and

spent the night at Southbank on our own.

It's the first time we have been on our own without the boys.

It was lovely.

It's been 7 years since 1st Born arrived.

I had a day shopping on my own on Monday before driving back to Horsham.

I spotted this busy bee working in the patch thismorning,

he was covered in pollen from the zucchini flowers,

Think it's time he returned to the hive!

It's up to the boy's and I to take care of his beloved vegie patch,

and nurse it through this heat wave.

The plan over the last few years is to plant everything really early,

protect it from the frost,

so as most of the summer crop is finished before the searing

temperatures of Feb and March.

Think it will all be finished a bit earlier this year.

The zucchini's will be ready very shortly

tomato's have begun to form

Beetroot is ready to preserve

Onions are doing well

Cucumbers will also be ready soon

The corn is forming cobbs

I think we are doing OK, nothing has wilted and died yet.

Hope you enjoyed the pics Peter,

Have a great time.

Oh Peter, almost forgot, saw Mr. Giamettio yesterday morning,

he has picked 2 tomato's already!

Jacqueline :)

PS

pop over to Bianca's,

she is doing a give away with her

groovy wraps, great pressie's.

Check it out here!