Happy Birthday Christopher
It's so difficult to believe that my little man is turning ten. Like every mother the world over, my children's birthdays are a time to remember that tiny little person and the miracle of their joining our family. Ten years ago today was a pretty rough day, a long day of waiting with very little progress, and then a brand new baby, born at a quarter to midnight, after the rude shock of prepping and an emergency csection. I remember almost nothing of that first night with my baby, though I do have pictures to prove I was there!

That was the day that made clear to me the true value of family. We were surrounded by wonderful people.I can't find the words to express the support and love I felt from my dear Hubby, his parents and my mother. I am all misty eyed just thinking about it.

It's our family tradition to send cupcakes to school on the day of a birthday. Christopher requested these caramel concoctions, made with real caramel sauce in the cake as well as the frosting. By my calculations there is almost half a cup of sugar in each one. I wasn't even tempted to lick the bowl after a little taste, they are so very sweet.


I happened to be in the school office when the kids recieved their cupcakes at morning break. They all sounded very impressed by the flavour. I am certain that these cakes will be a regular request.

Now to clean the caramel sticky floor...

Some days you just want to nap. Today is one of them for me. I have had a very active couple of days, excavating children's bedrooms. I knew I studied Archaeology at university for a reason. On top of that, I have had a frog pond disaster - a couple of cold days and very cold nights killed all my little fishes. I had to empty, clean and refill the pond, and now I will need a new set of fish. To cap everything off, my dear Hubby has been away for a few nights, and very much missed. I never sleep well when he's away, and wake with every sound. Of course, this is the week that all our kids have been chattering in their sleep, so I have been up and down all night every night. I'm so sleepy, and really looking forward to Hubby's return tonight.

Daffodils make me happy. I buy a couple of bunchs every year at this time, to support the Cancer people's Daffodil Day fundraiser.

Playdough brings peace.

I'll be doing buttonholes and binding this weekend. Pictures will follow.

The sweet peas I planted in autumn are beginning to bloom this week. They are one of my favourite flowers, a happy memory of a whole fence of them, smelling so sweet.

We bought a mixed packet, but all we have is pink so far. There are some yellowy buds, so we can't wait to see that colour. The buds are much more muted than the pinkness of the petals.

I am making progress on Cinderella. It's nice to feel like stitching again. I have had a very productive weekend, almost finished my first solo quilt effort, finished a dress for Samara, bar the buttonholes. I want to do a few practise ones first - never having done a button hole before.

And here are a couple of pictures of my littlest weirdo, dressed in his super hero outfit (Mr Goggles!) and hiding in his stronghold. No evil villain will find him here!

I have just wasted a whole hour reading a blog about cake disasters. It makes my birthday cake attempts look REALLY good. It has also made me crave buttercream. Lucky there is a birthday coming up in our house.

Eggciting Week!

In Samara's classroom this week they are hatching eggs, in keeping with the farmyard theme this term. Every morning the kids rush to school to see what has happened in the incubator overnight. By 8:45am everyone in the school knows exactly how many eggs have hatched and how many we are still waiting on.

They are adorable, all fluffy sweetness, huddled together under their lamp. The children in the class are taking turns to name them. Luckily these chicks will not be burdened with their names too long, as they are given to families after the program is finished. Many of the names are quite dodgy.

I was amused by the chicks falling asleep standing up. Their little heads would sink slowly forward, until their beaks hit the ground. Even that wouldn't wake them up.

Spring Gardening

It's the last month of winter in my part of the world. We're still getting cool nights, enough to make us want to wear a coat, but frost is very uncommon on the coast here. Last week there were a few snow flakes about 3 - 4 hours from here, causing a rush on the tourist accommodation in that town, but our winters are very mild.

The kids and I have been building a frog pond. That is to say, we dug a hole in the back yard, lined it and filled it with water. There are grand schemes for garden beds, and I need to obtain more mulch and a few big rocks to add as features, but the water has children and pets fascinated. Because we're trying to encourage indigenous wildlife in our little yard, I made sure to get indigenous water plants. Last night I noticed mosquitoes hanging around the water, so today I went off to the local garden shop and bought 6 little native fish (guaranteed to eat mosquito larvae, not tadpoles, and to reproduce by summer).

You can just make out a few fish in the above photo. When they first went into the water they huddled in one spot, then they did a sedate tour of their new domain. Now they are shooting around in rapid figure 8s. Josh reckons it's because they came out of a tiny tank, and they're excited to have space to play.

Other pretties around our yard include self seeded marigolds in our somewhat unkempt lawn.

And a lot of cheerful little daisies. It's been a damp sort of a winter, so we're soaking up every moment of glorious sunshine.