A bit chuffed

This Winter I have been surrounded by woolly inspiration, and when I mentioned my crazy idea of wanting to give it a go to my friend Corrie from Retro Mummy (you've all been over there a millions times right?….very creative mumma that one!), she gave me this gorgeous gift. A big ball of Bendigo Wool and some o so cute needles!

So here was my inspiration:

Mum made this gorgeous blanket for my nephew last month

My Aunty is madly knitting this fun little rug for, I'm guessing, her yet-to-be-conceived-granddaughter (she has 4 boys and is obviously craving some pink)

My Mother inlaw sent me this pic of the submarine in her home town. It has been dressed by the locals for Winter as 'The Yellow Submarine'.

….and so with a bucket load of inspiration, I began my first ever knitting project: A basic cowl scarf.

Unpicking has proved to be my strong point.

I was so chuffed with how I was travelling (despite the fact it took me two months!), but then I got to the button hole bit…..and from there it went totally pear shaped. Literally.

An emergency call to Corrie and a quick instruction on blocking, and I sort of sorted the above problem out.

Drum roll…..I present:

The Neck brace

 (I may have got a bit impatient and omitted the last 4 inches?!)

Have you been working on a Winter project?

Much Love

Liv x

Kids were here

Last year I linked up with the Kids were project, a collaborative project involving lots of different photographers sharing their view of what life with children looks like. You can see my other entries here.

But today as the biggies headed back to school and my sidekick enjoyed his very first day of preschool, I revelled in the studio and contemplated life with kids.

My kids were here:

Would I have it any other way ???

It's tempting…

But no. 

Liv xo

Family cook off #3

This little pet wasn't included in the "official cook off" so she took it into her own hands today and made her own spaghetti and meatballs.

Wool, sticky-tape-wrapped red paper and chopped up leaves

Well done Luce, you nailed it.

My better judgement says Mike wins overall for technicality,

My tastebuds say Jim's red sauce was amazing and better than my own,

 But my creative heart says Lulu takes the crown

?!?!

Love you all. It's a tie!

Mum x

Family cook off #2

It's close, both boys have outdone themselves !!!

Round one here

Last night Buzzy took technique to a whole new level. He marinated, grilled on the BBQ, fried on the stove, and cooked in the saucepan!

Dinner: Lemongrass chicken with rice and salad

Dessert: massive servings of caramelised dumplings

 They better not get used to fizzy drink at dinner time.

 OH&S was questionable….

What he lacked in presentation, he made up in flavour. 

Pop joined us for dinner and a truck load of dumplings.

We finished off the night (complementary of Buzzy's $30 budget)

with even more sweets for the final Origin match. With two kids born in NSW and two in QLD, we were split even.

Whilst the Maroons won last nights game, they lost the last two, seeing the Blues take home the series!

And as my eloquent brother in law would say, we were 'as full as a fat lady's sock' (or 'a 24 hr colostomy bag')

Well done fellas,

I hope your future wives appreciate my training!

Mum x

Family cook off #1

Last week I set the boys a challenge: to make (and clean up) dinner and dessert for the whole family (they could copy a recipe off the internet or make it up themselves). They also had to "dress" the table.

Budget: $30 

Their immediate response:

Buz: "Can we keep the change?, if so we're having snags"

Jim: "I'm getting takeaway"

Not quite the response I had hoped for.

So yesterday we made a trip to the shops, and as everything was being whisked through the checkout, I stopped the checkout chick just before she swiped three jumbo KitKats and a pack of Lemon-lime bitters, "Oh sorry but those aren't mine"

Jim: "Actually they are, 30 bucks worth mum"

Today Chef #1, Jimmy,  took on the challenge.

Dinner: Spaghetti and meatballs

Dessert: Cookies & cream ice-cream sandwiches and KitKats

Drinks: (warm) Pop-tops and Lemon-lime bitters

Shortly after being left to his own devices, Jimmy came into my room.
Jim: "Ah Mum, I've boiled the water but can you teach me how to cook meatballs?"
Me: "Jim, you've had a whole week to research all of this, and it's 2pm, you only boil the water for the pasta at the last minute……also, never use the front hotplate and always face the handle out of Henry's reach (*speech on burns)…there should be more than 1cm of water when boiling a whole packet of spaghetti…..and why is there fettuccine all over the bench?"
Jim: "That's spagetti."
(* it was a long afternoon)

Jim: "These onions are horrible"

Me: "Now do you appreciate what I do everyday"

Jim: "Yeah but you're a mum, you're used to it"

*Gloves came complementary with the challenge!

Then it turned nasty, as it often does...

But dessert smoothed everything over. Ice-cream sandwiches and KitKats. 

I have to say I was totally shocked, it was really tasty. He had the red sauce simmering away slowly for 3 hours and it was pretty darn good.
Buzzy has a big challenge ahead of him.

Well done Jimmy

Love Mum x

Winter Holidays 2014

We've just clocked up two weeks of the 3 week break and boy o boy its been full….full of words. See, one of my 4 is a details man. If you ask a short question you generally get a thesis + the weather and what he wants for lunch in reply, so I never ask anything when I'm in a rush. Infact I generally like to have a cuppa brewed for the occasion, and I've learnt never to ask about the book he is reading NEVER.

So, other than that tricky bit of info….now I'm realising he is just like me (ouch, the truth just kicked me in the guts)…so to other news.

We haven't done a hell of a lot because my amazing bread winner is winning bread, so its just been day trips here and there, friends and cousin time.

 …and no I didn't say "Peace me, pose and caress Repunzel", all I said was 'look this way'.

 We went to an AFL game, Bear was not convinced, straight back to rugby.

I attempted one painting these hols, but the boys have all but completely taken over the studio with their cousins for sleep-overs and ghost stories. 

 I got a day respite from this cute fella when Pop took him to the shops….this is what they got up to.

Ummm….not sure what to caption this with.

'special child likes to read upside down on kids car' ?!?!

 Lazy afternoons knitting in front of Nana's fire with the sun streaming through the windows. 

(A whole post on my first ever knitting project coming up soon)

Today we went to the movies and then I braved Woolies and Aldi with 4 kids.  One and a half trollies later and I was ready to book myself in to an institution. Don't do it. I always think that it will never be as bad as last time, but it's worse cos you beat yourself up that you did it again.
I suppose it didn't help that I had given the big boys a cooking challenge. They had $30 to plan and cook a meal for the family, but a lot of rubbish seemed to slip into the trolley too. (another post on the Masterchef cook off coming soon too)

On top of that we caught the obligatory holiday vomit bug and next week…..lots of nothing. I'm expecting the worst, praying for the best.

Hope your hols have been fun.

Much Love

Liv xo