Proud to be parents again.....

to two teeny chicks and a little red hen. Some lovely friends of ours had promised us a couple of their new chicks if we had the set up for them. Daddy the builder got busy over the last few days and finished the hen house and fenced the yard. It's up the back corner of our block and has some shady trees and lots of warm sunshine too.....I hope they will be happy there.

Here are the new arrivals.....the chicks have new names every day depending on what the girls feel like but the little red hen is now Geraldine. She's already tried to escape a few times so we had to raise the fence and the chicks were so teeny they just jumped through the holes. A roll of shade cloth is doing the job for the time being until they get fatter.

Our eldest little miss is a real mother hen and spends ages out there playing with the and cuddling them. Baby is equally as keen but we have to really watch her as she can be a little excited and rough! Our middle miss however is a lot more cautious which is quite funny as she's usually the daredevil of the three...go figure.

Daddy is a pro at looking after them and handling them (and catching the escaping ones) while I'm happy to just watch....yes, I'm a chicken! Geraldine found a cosy spot under my legs though while I taking some pics of the girls.

Busy busy week

Every week is busy with kids but this one was especially hectic but loads of fun too. Our little island had a visit from my favourite Latter Day Saint musician Kenneth Cope. Earlier this year he had participated in a video link up with a group of youth in our church and it was such a uplifting and well received experience that he wanted to visit and perform for us during a rare trip to Australia. Our girls were thrilled to meet him in person! I was able to make it with the girls for the second performance and it was fantastic. He sang such heartfelt songs about his faith in Jesus Christ and how each one of us are loved children of God.

We also had my youngest brother stay for a few days which is always fun. The girls adore him and run him ragged with endless games of hide and seek. He always find great hiding spots though...not sure if it's to escape the girls or not :P

There was also a special visit from an old missionary companion from QLD which was a lovely treat! We were missionaries together about 8 years ago in Melbourne and had such a fun time riding our bikes around (while wearing skirts!) trying not to get clipped by buses. More importantly we loved sharing the gospel message together with all we met. It was a blast to catch up...so many special memories!

Finally we finished the week with the local show, rain and all. I'd picked up a brochure for entering the home industries section a while back and as a family we though we'd give it a go for a laugh. Well, I was super proud of my little girls who worked hard on some free hand embroidery, decorated bikkies, handmade greeting cards and lots more. Both the two older girls won prize or two and were so excited to see their items on display. (Miss 2 was a little young to enter this year but next year for sure!) Even hubby entered a few things and is now a prize winning bread maker :) I sure married up!

It was loads of fun entering and a real hoot to see our humble offerings on display amongst such huge talent. Hubby is already planning for next year, he thinking sponge cake, cream puff and lamingtons.....watch out ladies!

A special thanks goes out to my Grandma whos recipes came through for me. I'm keeping the traditions alive Grandma :-)

It was a great day wandering around checking everything out. It had all the trademarks of a country show, the cows, the horse trials, the sleezy side show owners, the over priced greasy food and of course the wood chopping. The girls especially loved the animals...my favourite had to be the poultry shed, some of those roosters were enormous!

Well, that was our week!

Off to put my feet up.

Ottobre 1/2008 Muffin Top

Funny name but cute top :) I have used this pattern lots of times and really really love how it comes together. The original pattern has an extra panel on the bottom and long sleeves but I've slimmed it down a little and lengthened the front piece to make up for leaving the bottom panel off. Also the original had a little vent opening at the back that was to close with a button or snap but after having a button one one of my first attempts get caught in one of the girls long hair resulting in a scissors treatment I have just made it a t-shirt style neckline with stretchy ribbed binding and it goes on and off just fine. It's a real shame this issue has gone out of print as it's a really great one.

Little miss 2 is modeling this one....complete with her sticker from the dentist. She watched patiently with wide eyes as her two big sisters had their turns. One sister even had to have a cap put on her front chipped tooth but that's a story for another day. When it came time for miss 2's turn she was happy to sit on my lap in the chair but point blank refused to open her mouth. No amount of bribing or trying to distract her with shiny mirrors and funny glasses would work and in the end I had to hold her forehead with one hand and hold her jaw open with the other. She wasn't upset by it all just being a typical stubborn 2 year old. Afterwards she happily sprang off the chair announcing "I was so brave at the dentist now I can have my sticker".......sigh.

As you can see taking a decent photo of a 2 year old is also a trying experience :P

Daddy the builder

He's at it again! This time it's a chicken house...we don't have the chicks yet but we're getting ready. The previous owner kindly left old fence pailings all over the place and so we've put them to good use. It's not finished yet but the girls think it's a pretty fantastic cubby!

Paying homage to Google

You might remember the recent post about mr DIY and the saving of several hundreds of dollars thanks to a google search and a few you tube clips. Well, this week it was the fridge. It had been leaking for a week inside and then yesterday refused to get cold enough to stop the milk from curdling so we turned to our friend google. Again we gained instruction and guidance (complete with diagrams) from our dear friend and by the end of the day we had one fixed fridge and it didn't cost us a cent!

So yes, when all else fails (and you're as cheap as we are!) give google (and of course you tube) a go....you'd be suprised what it can teach you :P

Simple pleasures

All it took was 2 lengths of pine, a few bolts and two trips to the tip shop to fill numerous buckets with sand and we now have one of the greatest joys of childhood!

I spent a few hours in there with the kids today reliving my youth....sandcastles, sand pies, sand between your toes and down your shirt. What could be better?

Mr DIY

So we live in a small town and Lionel decided he needed some network cabling done, there are only 2 people in town that could do it, one didn't know what it was and the other wanted to charge $700! Eeep

This is what I found when I got up one morning

I followed the leads and found this

And by the end of the day there was a bunch of these around the house

$700 saved.....way to go Mr DIY

(I'm actually really impressed...since we've moved here he's been do all the odd jobs that need doing around the house and fixing things left right and centre, nice!!)