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Friday, November 29, 2013

Another Down-Under Thanksgiving

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving in Australia again. The original plan was to be in America with my side of the family but we couldn't make it because of the new baby (and flying with a 2 year old is the exact opposite of fun). But that didn't stop us from celebrating and having a really good time. 

Knowing that Thanksgiving dinner usually takes nearly all day to prepare - without two small children to look after - I started making dinner early in the morning and Brett's lovely sister and her partner came over very early to help look after the girls! (Thank you!) 

Basically the day went well, making dinner, hanging out and ended with a lovely apple pie (a la mode of course) 

Our Thanksgiving dinner menu:
  • Mom's Seitan Roast -Which was amazing, Mom! Even all of the meat lovers enjoyed it! (I'll hopefully post the recipe soon after I ask for permission)
  • Brett's mashed potatoes with gravy - they're different every time and always delicious
  • Amazing green bean casserole - From FatFreeVegan, this is actually my most favorite holiday dish
  • Stuffing
  • and jellied cranberry sauce!
  • Apple pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert
Super tasty Seitan Roast

Yummy apple pie

C ready to eat!

Brett was attempting to hold E up without being seen...

Everything was extremely tasty and we have hardly any left-overs, which is a good thing (I didn't have to put anything away last night) and bad thing (I want more this morning).


Happy Thanksgiving!!

And so, on to Christmasy things! We're getting out the tree and decorations this weekend! Yippee! Hello hardcore Christmas baking and crafts!

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving with lots of loved ones!

XOXO
 

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Salt dough Ornaments

I've always loved Christmas - even as an atheist - but as an adult with two small children, it's much more about the lead up to Christmas that I enjoy now. I love holiday baking/cooking and Christmas crafts. Yesterday C and I started the Christmas time activities. I made a giant red and green Christmas chain that hangs from one side of the living room to the other. We also made gingerbread cookies and salt dough ornaments. 

C loved using the cookies cutters and the rolling pin. 

 GINGERBREAD COOKIES
gingerbread "spidermen" 
(I'm not sure why she was calling the man cookie cutter a "spiderman")

SALT DOUGH ORNAMENTS

1 cup salt
1 cup flour
1 cup water (roughly)

Mix together with hands, roll out, cut shapes and bake at 100 degrees C for about 6 hours

I used a bit of sea salt in my dough because I wanted it too look a bit like snow but I think I would do without next time. 


We haven't finished painting them yet. I painted a few last night to make sure that they looked alright with the sea salt in them. I think painting these will be a weekend Xmas project. 

Hope you'll be enjoying the Holiday season with crafts and baking too! 

xoxo









Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Reupholstered Glider Chair

This post is really just to show off one of the projects I accomplished while waiting for baby #2 to arrive.

One of the things I had on my "To-Do Before Baby Arrives" list was buy a second hand glider chair. I didn't intend on reupholstering it until I got it home and realized that I really hated the upholstery. The chair and cushions are in great condition but I couldn't get over the ugly fabric. So, I went to Spotlight and found some great fabric that we liked (they were having a great sale on decorating fabric, bonus!) and got online to figure out how to reupholster glider chairs.

I used this blog to help me work out how I would go about this project. All I did, really, was make slip covers for all of the cushions because they are all easily removed from the chair. I measured each cushion, cut the fabric to be slightly larger, sewed the fabric pieces together and then used snaps to close off one of the sides. 

Chair and ottoman before

Chair after

Chair and ottoman after
I even had enough fabric left over to reupholster our 6 dining room chairs. They look really fantastic.

And of course, a picture of the girls - C loves to lay in bed with us in the morning after she wakes up. 







Thursday, November 14, 2013

Our new addition

This blog has been neglected for much too long but it has been for good reason. We have spent the last few months preparing our home for a new addition and a few weeks ago we welcomed our second baby into the world. We had a beautiful, uncomplicated home birth that lasted only a few hours and have been getting settled in ever since.

C is coping surprisingly well and loves her new sister. We're all getting used to the new addition and getting to know her more everyday.

Our lovely midwife, Debbie, took this photo minutes after E was born. 

One of the first times C got to hold her new sister

Dad with her girls

E's first trip to the beach


Sisterly love

I'm hoping that I'll be posting more because we're getting more settled all the time. xo