The Move, Birthday, Dad's Visit

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post, although I could have sworn it was longer. We've moved, I've turned 26 and my Dad has come and gone since that last post.

So this post will be a concise summary of the happenings in the last month or so. 

My dad came over from America to visit but also to help us move. I really don't know how we could have managed to move everything and clean with out his help. He drove the truck for us - through the city, on the WRONG side of the road! - and did most of the cleaning for the bond refund. I think we'll need to have him come back when we move again ;) Thank you Dad!!! 

My birthday wasn't a huge deal this year because we actually needed to rent the truck and move EVERYTHING in one day. So, needless to say, we were pretty exhausted by the end and only just managed to make it to dinner with a few friends.

Terry and Uncle Darren on my birthday

D and C on my birthday. Besties.

Brett and C with the weird head at the pizza place

While Dad was here we did actually get to do a few fun things. We got to take Dad to Noosa National Park, the Glass House Mountains, Mt. Tamborine and Byron Bay. He also got to see South Bank and the Botanical gardens in the city. All in all, we were fairly productive for being so busy.

Exploring Wynnum

Big Pineapple on the way to Noosa

Noosa National Park

C icing her head after a nasty fall

Sky Walk at Mt. Tamborine

My Dad wanted to see kangaroos (which he got to see) and a koala. We were lucky enough to see this koala crossing the road at Mt. Tamborine. He crawled into a small tree really close to the road.

Byron Bay

C helping my dad put together a wardrobe

Thanks again Dad! We can't wait until you visit again!

Homemade Play-doh

Recently it's been pretty rainy and nasty outside so I've been looking for fun things for C to do indoors. I found a recipe for homemade play-doh so I thought I'd give it a shot.

The recipe was super simple and it turned out great!

All you need is:

flour
salt
water
cream of tar tar
coconut oil
essential oils (I wanted to make them smell nice...even though I think that may have prompted C to try eating it..)
food coloring


All you do then is put everything (minus the coloring and essential oil)  in a pot on the stove on low heat

all of the ingredients (minus the essential oils and coloring)

Mix all the ingredients together until they're not so lumpy

The ingredients starting to come together and not look so lumpy

When the mixture isn't lumpy anymore add the coloring and essential oils

after adding the essential oil and color (this batch was yellow and smells of grapefruit)

a bit more mixing

And then mix until the dough comes away from the sides of the pot and sticks together in the center (you'll need a sturdy spoon for this) then lay it on a non-stick surface to cool.

the play-doh after cooking. It comes away from the sides and sticks together. This is when it's ready to be laid out on a non-stick surface to cool.

C loves playing with it! I also made some that smells like lavender and is purple (she didn't want to eat that one as much) 

Menu Planning Board

Every week I sit down and write a menu plan before I go to the store so I don't have to go more than necessary and to help us save money. But this takes me what seems like forever and I'm really starting to loath the task. So when I saw this awesome idea for a menu planning board I immediately wanted to make one for our kitchen.

The menu planning board consists of clothes pins that are each assigned to a day of the week, two boxes for holding meal cards that have already been used and meal cards that have not yet been used and of course the meal cards themselves.

I started off by making the meal cards because I knew it would take the most time.  I only have 30 meal cards made right now because I didn't have the time to make more but I'm keeping lists of other meals we like and I'll make more cards when I have enough saved to make the task worth the time.

The cards have the meal name on the front and an ingredients list on the back, which makes writing my weekly shopping list a breeze. The cards are color-coded - quick and easy meals, meals heavy in carbohydrates, grains and treat night (like Take Out).

I also included the name of the cookbook and the page the recipe is located on (if the meal requires a recipe) 

After I finished the cards and laminated them I covered the board with fabric using a hot glue gun and my upholstery stapler. For the boarder I used bias tape that I had left over from another project.

The last thing I did was make the boxes. I had been wanting to make fabric boxes for organization around the house so I thought it might be a good idea to start by making them for this project. I found this tutorial and went from there. I loved these shabby little boxes because they were quick to make and didn't take much fabric at all. They would be wonderful to make with scrap fabric.

Lastly, I attached everything to the board using hot glue, tacks and velcro. (I used anything I had on hand to make everything stick to the board) 

Things I would do differently next time: 

• I would start by completely gluing the fabric to the board as well as using the upholstery staples. I found that the fabric sagged under the weight of the boxes. 
• I wouldn't use a magnetic board because I couldn't get magnets to stick to the board through the fabric so having a magnetic board was useless anyway.
• I would make the boxes stronger and not so tall. 

But other than those few things I'm very happy with the way this board turned out and am enjoying how easy mean planning and shopping for the week have become. 

Until next time... xx

Queensland Storm 2013

We had a crazy storm here last week where we lost power for four days and thousands of others were much more severely affected. There is a drainage ditch behind the property our house sits on and I was convinced that it was going to flood like so many other creeks and rivers were doing in Queensland so Brett and I packed bags, gathered important documents and raised all important things off the ground -only to find out later that this property didn't even flood in 2011 when the flooding was much much worse- anyway, it gave us piece of mind. The really scary part of the storm, though, was the wind. I've never seen wind like that and was terrified that one of the huge trees that borders the back yard was going to fall onto the house so we moved our mattress into the front room and we all slept there. C loved having the mattress on the ground to play on and we enjoyed it because it was like a sleepover!

We came through the storm just fine with just some broken trees in the back yard and lots of palm fronds on the ground. Not having power for four days though wasn't so great. We couldn't wash laundry or cook food indoors - we cooked everything on the bbq- needless to say we were thrilled to get power back late last week. 

How did some of you other come through the storm? Okay I hope. xoxo

Now for photos of C because I know that's why most of you are here ;) 

C got this for Christmas from her Grandma Debbie and just recently decided she knew how to get on and ride it. 

Trying out the forward facing camera on my new phone. She loves it. 

1 Year Anniversary

It's been nearly 1 year since I started this blog. I originally started writing to let friends and family around the world know what was happening with C and the rest of us but I have since slightly expanded it to include other things like recipes and a few DIY projects that I've managed to complete over the last year. I hope to expand on these things and write more often this year.

I've slightly revamped the blog with a new background and I've added a new page called "About" which is about my family. I've also added a few new features on the side panel.

I can't believe that January is already coming to a close. This month has seen us attempting to get C to sleep better and in her own room (I'm not really liking that part) which means that Brett and I are perpetually exhausted but we're hoping to see improvements soon...

We've been to the beach a few times and have started house hunting for a new place which we'll move into at the beginning of March. We've already been incredibly busy this year and it shows no signs of stopping.

I hope your year has started off the way you hoped it would!

C feeding the gulls at Wellington Point

Trying out our new water proof camera...sorry that we kept dunking you baby girl...

Giving herself cuddles

Happy Birthday Chucky!

Chucky's birthday is not long after the holidays so we've been very busy lately. This week is finally quite and I'm getting the chance to get a lot done.

We had C's first birthday party at South Bank because of the pool, kids areas and bbq. Brett and I arrived very early to get a bbq and set up before any one else arrived. 

Charlie had a great time with a few of her friends and cousins. She fell asleep not long after the party started because she didn't have her morning nap and missed saying bye to a few of her friends but she enjoyed the rest of her birthday party. Thank you to all who made it!

Sleepy girl

Party dress

C's birthday "cake"

Happy 1st Birthday C! 

C with Grandma Debbie after her birthday party

On her actual birthday, Brett took the day off work and we took Charlie to Alma Park Zoo. We really enjoyed it because you can get close to the animals, feed them and there are plenty of places to have picnics. Charlie enjoyed seeing new animals. 

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She LOVED the camels

Trying to get close to a peacock

Feeding the very pushy sheep

Brett will love this... ;)

Trying to get the hang of feeding the deer

Yey! 

I received a lot of messages and emails from friends and family in America about Chucky's first birthday. I appreciate all of them so much. It means so much to me that you would remember her birthday. I am very sorry that I haven't been able to email or respond yet. I've devoted all of C's nap times today to getting photos uploaded, writing blog entries and getting back to people (we'll see how far I get). I miss you all and wish every one of our friends and family members could have helped us celebrate C's first birthday.

I can't believe how much she's grown in the last few months, let alone the past year. She can say several words-bye, up, down, plane, doggie, daddy, hi and more and can recognize many more. She nearly running and has such a wonderful funny personality.

We love you so much little Chucky, Happy 1st Birthday!

Happy Holidays!

I know this is very late but I'm just beginning to get caught up from being gone for the holidays.

We had a lovely Xmas in Agnes Water with Brett's family and spent New Year's Eve in Brisbane at South Bank (even though we didn't make it to midnight...)

Charlie had a wonderful time with all of her cousins but really wasn't interested in opening gifts.

C with her Cousin in their xmas outfits

in her santa outfit

Where we spent xmas morning

I have uploaded LOTS of videos to youtube of C; enjoy!