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Wednesday 16 January 2013

Birthday Celebrations

As I said in yesterdays post, the last week was mostly lovely but busy because of both Mission Toilet Train which you can read about here and also because my Boy turned 3.

We had both a family gathering and friends party to celebrate the milestone...

There were pancakes for breakfast...


There were presents to play with...



There was cake to be had...



And more cake to be had...


There were friends to share the cake with...


And then there was a concert from the next Tommy Emmanuel...

It always seems like so much work but the Boy really enjoyed himself and that is what is all about in the end. Isn't it?

x

P.S linking up with Twinkle In The Eye for Wordless Wednesday. Pin It

Tuesday 15 January 2013

Mission Toilet Train...

Last week was busy and mostly really lovely...What is to follow is the not so lovely part...

My mum came to stay and for those of you that don't have your parents living down the street, you will know what I mean when I say "it was so nice to have an extra pair of hands to take the load off!". Those extra pair of hands were a especially a blessing as we attempted (take note, that I said attempted, wont you?) toilet training my son who turned 3 last week also (more on that fun in a later blog!).

I was starting to recognize when the Boy needed to go to the toilet because he would start doing what my husband and I call 'the poo dance'- if you can imagine a young Michael Flatly (king of the Irish dance) you would have a pretty good idea of what I am talking about. He was also waking up dry from his day sleep which also supposedly indicates readiness for the big switcheroo from nappy to pants.

So on Day 1 of 'Mission Toilet Train' we put the big boy pants on the little Boy. He was pretty excited with the train on the front and I was hopeful that this whole toilet training thing would be a breeze.
There my mum and I were, asking my son every five or so minutes wether he needed to go to the toilet and when we first took him to the toilet for the day he did a little 'dribble' when we asked him too and we were so chuffed with him and ourselves... until about 5 minutes later when the rest of what needed to come out did so, on the kitchen floor and the hallway floor and the...well I think you get the picture. This continued throughout the day whereby we were giving high fives for little sprinkles on the back lawn and then commiserations and reassurances for big downpours on the pavement 2 minutes later!

Day 2 and we thought a new tactic was in order and so every time we needed to go to the toilet we would tell the whole house of our plans and left the door open so that the Boy could wander in and check out the scene if desired (yes, I know what your thinking, and yes all your dignity goes out the door when you were pushing your baby out into the world however long ago it was!). We encouraged the boy to tell Mama or Mum when he needed to go to the toilet, so with that in mind we all went happily about the day. Mama and the boy were playing shops and he starts yelling at her 'Mama, Mama, Mama' and she is wondering what he is on about. The boy comes out to see me with a puddle trailing behind him.... hmm... new tactic required. Perhaps we had better tell the boy just to yell out 'wee, wee, wee' or 'poo, poo, poo' as the case may be! Surely then there will be no possibility of misunderstanding...

Day 3 and misunderstanding is paramount, wether that is from the Boy or from us, I just really don't know anymore. It is decided that hubby needs to step up and take this toilet trainer under his wing and show him how it's done. Sometimes a woman just doesn't have what it takes (literally) to teach their children about the world and all the gadgets in it.

Day 4 of 'Mission Toilet Train' is underway and my poor husband is being plied with every beverage under the sun, so he can show his son what's supposed to happen. (needless to say hubby is getting grumpier and grumpier for the lack of privacy he is getting especially when the mother-in-law is in the house!) My poor son is getting more and more terrified of going to the toilet to the point of kicking and screaming at the site of that white porcelain bowl. Meanwhile I am getting more and more frustrated at the amount of washing and cleaning up I have to do.

It is decided to abandon the leaking ship for the safety of the entire crew on board. Morale is down and I think we all need a bit of time on dry land before we attempt to go out again into those unchartered waters of growing up!


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Wednesday 9 January 2013

A month of challenges...

This month I am taking part in Photo A Day with Fat Mum Slim...

Today's photo prompt was 'paper'...




I am also playing along with A Month of Moments with Pip Lincolne from justb...

Todays moment was 'pattern'...


I am enjoying a new creative outlet with my Iphone photography. If you enjoy what you see here, you can follow me on Instagram here or my profile name is jloucrawford. Or you can find me on Twitter here.

You might find some inspiration and may even decide to join in with the challenges too!

x

P.S Linking up with Twinkle in the Eye for Wordless Wednesday. Pin It

Tuesday 8 January 2013

DIY lampshade upscale

I have been wanting to do this project for a long time now but I have only had the chance (and the guts) to do it just recently! My eldest son has moved into his big boys room in the last 6 months and the decor still resembles a guest bedroom rather than a 3 year olds. Up until now his bedside lamp has been black and boring...


I have had some gorgeous fabric that I got last christmas that I wanted to cover the shade with but have been to chicken to use it in case I ruin it! Originally I wanted to sew the fabric together but because I am still too afraid to get the sewing machine out, I used the good old Mod Podge instead and it worked a treat!


I used Moda Fabric Charm squares that are 5 inch x 5 inch in size.

I glued the first piece to the bottom of the lampshade. I left about a 2cm overhang so that I could glue that to the inside of the lampshade. Then I glued the next piece to the top of the lampshade also leaving the same overhang. The top piece of fabric overlapped the bottom piece by about 1cm.


I repeated this process the entire way around the lamp...

And this was the final result...



I was so pleased with how it turned out and reading stories at bedtime will be extra fun now!

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Thursday 3 January 2013

Banana Muffins with a little bit more

I have had a few Banana's that I needed to use up before they went dodgy in this scorching heat, so this is their story...


Once upon a time their were a couple of unkempt looking Banana's laying around in the fruit bowl and their owner thought she might turn them into beautiful muffins...

And so she did...

Ingredients

2 cups of self-raising flower
3/4 cup of caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup of milk
60g melted butter
2 ripe bananas
(+ the following three ingredients that I added for a little bit more taste)
1 cup of frozen blueberries
Tspn of vanilla essence
Tspn of ground cinnamon


1. Preheat the oven to 210 degrees (I used Fan Forced). Lightly grease a 12 case muffin tin.
2. Sift the flour into a large bowl and stir in the sugar. Make a well.
3. Mix together the eggs, milk, butter, and mashed banana and pour into the well of the bowl.
4. Stir the ingredients with a spoon.
5. Add the blueberries, vanilla essence and ground cinnamon and stir until just mixed.
6. Spoon the mixture into the muffin holes.
7. Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until the muffins have risen and are golden brown.
8. Remove from oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

And this is what those ugly bananas turned into. Unfortunately they did not live happily ever after as they came to an untimely demise in their owners stomach.

The End.

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Wednesday 2 January 2013

Happy New Year...

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year?

Mine was quiet and I am actually really happy with that, because now I can get on with this bright and brave new year where I try and become more organised around the home, with my kids and with this little blogging adventure. (not asking for much hey!)

New Years Day was spent at the beach and playground early in the morning before it got too hot. 


I wonder where he is headed for the year ahead? 

Where are you steering yourself towards this year?

x

P.S Linking up with Twinkle in the Eye for Wordless Wednesday
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