Making Christmas

I'm trying to make as many Christmas presents as I can this year. It's not only to keep the costs down but also because I don't want to buy the same old things as everyone else in the shops. 

 

Two of my nephews are getting these laundry bags.

 

A laundry bag is certainly not a fun gift but their mum did request them.  I may make some superhero masks and gauntlettes like I did for Little Miss R recently so they have something a bit more exciting.

 



 

For Little Miss R's teacher I've made a couple of Ouchie packs.  She has two small boys and I thought these would be great for them.  They're just small wheat packs which I keep in the freezer so when the kids have their bumps and spills they grab an Ouchie pack. 

 

They're cool enough and pliable enough to go on bumps and bruises but not so completely freezing that they don't want to use them.

 

 

I've also made a number of shopping bags which I'll give to various people with their presents, including Little Miss R's teacher.

 



 

 

They're really easy to make and I always fully line them and make sure everything's re-inforced so they're pretty sturdy.

 

 



 

I've almost finished 3 more swimming bags which will soon be winging their way north to Cairns for my two nephews and niece.

 

 

Yes the sewing elf has been busy around here. 

 

Don't you love these elf boots.  My nephew was going to his daycare concert dressed as an elf and my sister-in-law asked if I could sew him some elf boots. 

 

I found a couple of patterns for them but I didn't really like them too much so I just made my own up.  They're pretty awesome and Nephew R loves them.  Master M and Little Miss R now both want a pair!

 



 

 

I've also realised that there's less than two weeks to go until the big day and I'm nowhere near ready at this stage.  I'd better exercise that presser foot!

 

xx Susan

What my boy's up to now

Master M is so ready for school. We just need to survive the Christmas period and get through January without too many more disaster's.

 

Yesterday I left him outside with the dog for LESS THAN 5 MINUTES while I ran inside and wrapped my Mum's birthday present.

 

I came outside to this....

 

 

Somehow my not quite 5 year old son got some rope around one corner of the clothes line and then wrapped it around the pole of the clothes line.  I'm not sure exactly what he did to get it looking like this though.

 

 

 

It's definately snapped off.  As hubby's back at work my neighbour and his son (yes, the ones who felled a tree on my fence and gate last week), came over to look at it for me. 

 

It's now in two parts with the line section on the ground and hopefully some cutting and welding by hubby next week to get it back together.

 

Oh and he's also painted the toilet blue using the toilet brush.  It's now quite stained.

 

Family beware, I maybe in need of your assistance with sleepovers during the school holidays to help save my sanity when Shane's away.

 

xx Susan



We are now a family of 5

Meet Patch.

 

 

He's 11 weeks old and from the litter that my brother's dog had.

 

It would seem it was 3 against 1 to get a dog.  I was obviously the one. We'll see how I cope when hubby goes back to work tomorrow.

 

 

A wolfhound/staghound cross dog is not what  I would normally choose, especially with our small yard.  He is lovely though with soulful brown eyes and he seems to want to follow me around.  I think he's worked out in a short time who'll be looking after him!

 

xx Susan

Oh dear boys....

Yesterday evening I was inside, happily organising dinner for just hubby and myself.  Both kidlettes were having a sleepover at my brother's place so we were looking forward to an extremely rare night on our own.

 

I could hear a chainsaw going and didn't take much notice of it knowing it was just the neighbours clearing up some trees in their yard. 

 

Then I heard the big crash and knew something wasn't quite right so I ran outside to find the neighbour, his teenage son and lovely hubby standing around looking at this......

 

 

 

The chainsaws were then busy cutting the palm tree up.

 

We are now left with this tangled mess.

 

 



 

...and yes, Oh dear boys was the polite version of what I said to them.

 

xx Susan



I would like to thank my sister and brother-in-law....

....for buying a house with a swimming pool all those years ago.

 

You are both very loved for yourselves but in summer and especially on these disgustingly hot days (high 30C and low 40C), the pool is probably the most loved thing right now.

 

Fantastic foresight in buying a house only 500 metres from the school too so we can pop in for a quick dip of an afternoon.

 

Your company is a bonus :)

 

xx Susie 

 





Tree Day

One of the days during the first weekend in December is designated as Tree Day every year.

 

This is a tradition started by my sister and takes place at her house every December.  It's the day when her niece and nephews decorate her Christmas tree.

 

It's such a lovely tradition and as the kids are getting older they are beginning to remember previous years and look forward to the day.

 

First of all there's the anticipation of their first Christmas present of the year which is always a special decoration.

 

 

 

 

Opening presents at any time is always so much fun and tree day is no exception.

 

 



 

 

It's all very exciting getting that new decoration that are always the first to go on the tree.

 

 



 

 

Then it's time to go through all the other decorations and hang them wherever they fit. 

 

 



 

 

Chairs are used because the kidlettes always want the decorations placed higher than they can reach.

 

 



 

 

We may also have some budding mechanics in the family as the underside of the tree is not to be left out.

 

 



 

 

When it comes to the special decorations, the kids now have lovely memories from years past.  My sister always writes somewhere on the decoration the child's name and which year they were given it.

 

 



 

 

Sandy and her husband love to travel and she often buys the kidlettes special decorations from other countries during the years they've been away.

 

Two years ago they travelled to Canada and some parts of north-west America and so the decoration was this gorgeous gold maple leaf.

 

 



 

 

The final look will never be found in the pages of a magazine but we know just how much fun has been had decorating so that makes it so lovely and special.

 



 

 

It's not just the tree that gets decorated of course.  The kidlettes are given some other decorations and tinsel to put up around the house to make the important areas look festive.  Areas like the lounge, the dining room, the toilet.....

 

 



 

 

...the bathroom....

 

 



 

 

I'm sure my sister will be finding decorations in odd places for the next few days.

 

The most exciting of rooms that they all wanted to help decorate was Uncle Jeff's office.

 

 



 

I'm sure he's so happy with the love that has been thrown his way.

 

It was a really hot day so after the decorating and leftover birthday cake (from hubby's party the night before), it was time for a swim.  Hubby got to spend nice pool time with the kids while I stayed in my sister's air-conditioned house and watched the cricket. (I'm shocking I know!)

 

Hope you all have you own lovely little Christmas traditions.

 

xx Susan

Busy

It's certainly been a busy week around here.

 

First up I was busy with the usual time on my own with the kids with hubby away at work. 

 

Then in the early hours of Wednesday morning hubby arrived home and a few hours later decided to go away fishing and camping for the night with Master M.

 

That meant that once I picked Little Miss R up from school we were going to have some girl time.

 

As it was a hot day we decided to go for a swim.  Yes I tried out my new togs and they fit although as I certainly filled out the top.  I am rather large breasted and in those togs I'm sure a porn star would be envious!

 

 

We had a special tasty plate and movie night and still an early enough bedtime for a school night.

 

The rest of the week was busy getting things ready for my husband's 40th birthday party on Saturday night.  His birthday's not until the 5th December but he'll be away at work so we had the party on the 1st.

 

I've been making roast vege and cous cous salads....

 

 



 

 

...potato bakes, potato salads (hmm, a few carbs there),  we had green salads too and a yummy caprese salad.  I made thai chicken sausage rolls, sticky chicken wings and other yummy nibblies.

 

Then there was the cheesecake.

 

 



 

 

I can't believe I'd never made a cheesecake before, especially considering it's one of my favourite foods.  I made a classic New York baked cheesecake and it was pretty huge. 

 

It also must have been pretty nice because the whole cheesecake got eaten and I never got a piece.  Looks like I'll have to make another one just to try it I think!

 

As for the party, it ended up being lovely.  It was just family (both mine and hubby's) and a nice casual barbeque which is pretty well about all we ever do.  No big flash parties for us.

 

 



 

 

The best thing about the night was hubby's brother turning up as a surprise.  He'd flown in from Cairns the night before and was heading back again on the Sunday so it was a short trip just for the party. 

 

My man of few words was pretty chuffed that his brother did this for him.

 

My brother-in-law (my sister's husband) was also away at a scout camp in Noosa for the weekend which is about an hours drive away and he turned up as well before heading back to the camp later that night. 

 

 



 

The above photo is the only one I have of my husband for the night.  I was so busy that I didn't think about taking any photos until cake time.  Ah well.

 

So it has been a busy week, I've broken nearly every fingernail because I've washed up about a thousand times with all the cooking I've done.

 

The cleanup has begun and I'm intending to have a quiet afternoon relaxing because hubby goes back to work tomorrow and I need a couple of hours to breathe before getting back into it all again.

 

I hope you've all had a fantastic week and weekend too.

 

xx Susan