Exhausted but happy!

Is there any better feeling than spending a day in the sunshine and playing hard, only to come home and feel down-to-the-bone tiredness and a big smile on your face?

Today Max had a half day of school (tomorrow is his very last day of Kindergarten) and then we put our swimsuits on and headed out to a friends' house for a end of school party! We splashed around, threw water balloons, ate pizza, cake and ice cream. We jumped on trampolines and danced silly dances. After all the fun, excitement and sugar we came home and crashed. I bet we will all sleep well tonight.

Tomorrow we're going to give the teachers some well-deserved presents. This year Max's teacher has worked very hard to bring him out of his shell. She could tell right away that Max doesn't like loud noises, being put on the spot and that he needs encouragement more than criticism and adapted to his needs. Now he's a confident little boy who loves to read and who has even taken books to school to read to his whole class. Thank you Mrs. Benson, you rock!

Crafty Kick

I have a frustrated creative person trapped inside my body and lately, she has been wanting to come out! I saw some cute little 4 inch tall coke glasses a few weeks ago and bought them on a whim. I remembered that I had some candle making things left over from a previous project (tea cup candles) and combined with some of the kids' leftover crayons, this is what I came up with



A little coke/rootbeer float vanilla scented candle. I made another batch this week that turned out a little better but of course I forgot to take photos before I gave them away.

I always wanted to learn how to crochet too, but with Mum living so far away I turned to YouTube! I found some free patterns online and then just watch instructional videos on how to do each stitch. Last year I made a few scarves and a very misshapen hat for my poor sister (sorry Nik!) and kind of got put off. But with baby showers looming I tried again and found a great pattern that comes together really quickly - using two strands at once, making a nice quilt-like blanket. Here's one that I just finished for a friend's baby shower this weekend





The finished blanket is about 3x3 ft. It's the first time I've made a flower too! My friend isn't sure if she's having a boy or a girl so the flower is just pinned on for now - just in case. Another blanket is in the works and this time I'd like to do a scalloped edge on the hat too. Any crocheting experts - please leave your top tips and links to beginner patterns below!!

11 years ago

11 years ago today, I was standing in a beautiful garden, with the sun on my face, birds singing and my heart was filled with joy.




We looked so young!



It's been a beautiful, fun and satisfying 11 years and I am happier than ever. Thank you my love.

This week in short

Tim went on a business trip to a convention in Vegas. Usually when he goes away for a few days I like to do some extra fun things with the kids to make up for Daddy being away. My plans got slowed down for a few days by some bad chinese food but on Thursday after picking up Max from school I was feeling better. We decided to go straight from school, get some good Mexican food and go to the movie theater - on a school night! Some things are just better when they're on a whim. We watched How to Train Your Dragon in 3D. Simply put it was awesome! A really great movie, not too scary for little ones, they just loved it.

Yesterday Daddy came home, loaded with free swag from the convention. Boy was he missed! Now we are all back under one roof and all is right with the world again.