My new pet...

I have a new pet, a small tiger or a cat - depending on the day.

She comes with me to the city to visit the State Library...

She 'torments' the other pet of the house by chasing, meowing and staring at her...

She always seems to find a comfy chair to sit in when shopping...

Or when at home...

I find her curled up around the house in various places...

Like most cats, she sleeps soundly in cooler weather...

And on hot nights...

And today she got to wear her entire outfit to kinder, for dress up day to end the first term.
Can you tell she was very pleased about that!

Excuse the dirty tail tip - she'd been dragging it through the dirt on the way to school drop-off!

Imagination is a wonderful thing.

We love you lots small cat.

Ribbon and lace

The last of the party stuff - I promise!!

The Outfits:

Always an important factor of any party for our family...

The girls and I saw some really sweet lace and ribbon vintage-styled outfits in Zara recently and so decided that was the way to go for the very girly party.

The apricot skirt I had made previously - layered stretch tulle ruffled onto a cotton base.

The cream skirt is a basic full skirt gathered onto a flat top section with an elastic waistband. It has a stretch underskirt too as the lace is quite transparent.

This is post-party and it was quite cool, they look a bit stiff!

For about the first time ever I didn't pre-wash my fabric for the skirt... bound to be a bad move wasn't it...

Morning of the party, excited birthday girl puts on her new skirt at 7.30am (party started at 3pm) and then got a blood nose...

I first got wind of what had inevitably happened (yep, blood on a cream lace skirt) when I heard her dad say "I better get that in the wash before your mum sees it!!"

He got it washed and hung it to dry but even on a cold cycle the lace shrunk considerably more than the stretch layer, so the bottom layer poked out underneath.

No-one noticed and it didn't really matter but with the day being as busy as it was I didn't get the chance to fix it once it had dried.

Anyway, on to the tops...

There is a small blue spot of supposedly water-soluble marking pen that I cannot for the life of me get off - any suggestions!!??

These were made using the Oliver + S Badminton skirt/top/dress pattern.

I wanted to get the items to coordinate a little so chose to use a cotton lace for teh ribbon casing rather than making a fabric casing.

It worked a treat, as it brought the whole outfit together.

I also used some of the skirt fabric for the ruffled sleeve caps, just doing a rolled hem on the lace ones to prevent fraying.

I may stitch the ribbon as it was a little prone to untying 

I will say please don't look too closely at the top-stitching as it is a long way from perfect, the cream in particular was hideous to work with, the blue marginally better.

Both were very slippery so for making the yoke it was slow work as it was hard to keep it from slipping.

And to keep the small kid happy I made her a new skirt the night before too - a badminton skirt (without the scallops) but you can't see that yet because despite me staying up til 2am to get it done (so she wouldn't feel left out with no new outfit), she decided she didn't want to wear it - and I was too tired to argue the point!

I was really happy with the way these outfits came out - the girls have both worn them again by choice - and that's always a good sign, though they do look a little shiny in flash-photos!

Another post-party-pic

As always the Oliver+ s pattern was a dream to work with.

The skirt (that you can't see) is flat-fronted with a beautifully constructed elastic casing for the back waist.

The tops were made entirely on my sewing machine (except the rolled hem on the lace sleeves) with French seams and all ends/edges are bound in bias at the sleeves and through the yoke.

And that is it for the festival of L and A!!

Let's party!!

So, the party...!

As I mentioned it was a 'pamper' theme.

The reason - I'm that Mum who pretty much always says 'no' to painted nails and things I feel are going to make my girls grow up too fast.

For once I wanted to be the person saying 'Yes' not 'No'!

Yep, sad I know!

Also it's their birthday - the party is meant to be something special - and they couldn't decide what to do/have so when I offered them this they nearly jumped on me saying "yes please!"

The decorations:

Thanks to good old Martha Stewart for the paper flowers idea.

They hung in clusters, artfully arranged by the lovely man of the house, from the roof of our covered deck.

Signs of direction, welcome and advice (Eat, Drink, Be Merry over the food table) were printed onto pink paper.

Both cakes from the original Australian Women's Weekly Birthday Cake book!

The cakes:
After MUCH deliberation the girls went for the Sweet Shop...

And the number seven...

Possibly the two easiest cakes I have made - and both with the same colour icing (though it doesn't appear that way from these pics!).

The activities:
Two parties in one really.
Each girl invited eight friends so we had Team A and Team L.
On arrival everyone had a glass of pink fizzy drink in a plastic champagne flute with a strawberry on it and a paper cocktail umbrella, the girls loved this!
Then one group went outside on the deck and had their toe and fingernails painted by the marvellous Claire, while being entertained by a fabulous fellow school mum.

The birthday girls got jewels added to their nails as well as wearing a pink feather boa!

The girls all thought this was great fun and were very patient waiting their turn.
We fed them while they waited and their foot soaking basins were topped up with warm water as needed.

Of course this kid got in on the action!

Claire brought all the nail-polishes, basins, towels and necessary equipment with her and treated the girls like princesses.

Having two-year-old twin girls of her own she may also have got a glimpse of her future!!

(If you are in Melbourne and want Claire's details for a party just email me or leave a comment, you won't be disappointed).

Feeling very much like the Princess!

I know I am not the only parent who is cautious about all things 'grown-up' for little girls so with the invitation I mentioned to all parents that we planned to paint fingers and toes and asked if they were not happy with this to let me know and we would arrange an alternative activity, but no-one did.

Of course they all chose pale and sultry colours.... NOT!!

While the nail painting was happening - the second group went inside and made lip balm, choosing two 'flavours' from a menu of four we had pre-selected.
They then chose and glued on the flowers for their snap clips.

After this they played some musical statues while they waited to swap over.

Can you tell blue is her new favourite colour??

Tricky business this gluing!

There was plenty of time for the girls to hang out with their friends - because in the past they have said how they didn't have time to 'play' with their friends - so this was accounted for this time.

They also had time to unwrap their gifts with their guests - which I think is a nice thing to do - so the guests see them enjoying what they have selected for them.

Not sure what the 'etiquette" is around this though...

Then they blew out the candles - we took some group photos and everyone went home.

One stubborn candle!

Her new toy is tucked under her arm!

One of the girls' friends said to me it was 'the best party ever'!

My girls agreed, so that's all I need to hear.

Next up - the outfits!!

12/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013"

I'm really enjoying this process - it makes me look at what the girls do and think about who they are as individuals, and I hope it will also improve my photography skills along the way.

This little lady LOVES to read.
She devours books in a way that I remember doing as a child.
Every spare moment she has she picks up a book; she retains facts in a truly remarkable way for her age and is reading books way beyond what is expected of her years.
While all that is lovely, it's the fact that she just genuinely loves to read with such a passion and that it gives her such delight that makes me so happy.
It's a lifelong love that we foster at every opportunity.

Here she reads a bedtime story to her sisters, "Tessa snaps snakes" - by possibly her all-time favourite author, Alison Lester.

Such a grown up pose for a little girl.  She's in 'teacher' mode!

While the shot below shows all three girls - it's the portrait I chose this week for the smallest kid because for me this is truly reflective of her personality.

If she doesn't end up on the stage I will be amazed.
She loves a theatrical entry into a room, with arms spread and a loud 'ta-da' to be heard.
She sings 'opera' at the top of her lungs through the house.
She constantly makes up voices and characters and tells outlandish stories that are a pure delight.
And clearly she decided that she should be the centre of attention in this photo too!

It's all about her isn't it??

This little lady is having a huge year - with so much more self-confidence than last year.
We worked out it was a peer who was making her doubt herself and now, having been separated from that child, she is blossoming.

With that - her gorgeous cheeky smile has returned, the sparkle is back in her eye and it makes me so very, very happy to see it.

In case you were wondering, the cow is fibreglass!

Playing along at Che and Fidel if you want to join in.

In the bag

Ok so this is sort of starting at the end I guess but it's the job I started first... the contents of the party bag.

Those who know me know I love a good kids party - the planning and making is all part of the fun for me - I love it!

So here's what each of the 16 kids (plus two lovely adults) took home.
Firstly let me say it was a 'pamper' party, so I tried to theme the bags to that.
I'll explain more in another post about why we chose that theme for the party, but I digress...

Each item had a label, usually made on scrap-booking paper and cut with either decorative edged scissors or using a paper punch.
The labels were stamped using a set of individual letters I bought the girls a while back.

No plastic throw-away rubbish in this party bag!

EAT - lollies of course

WASH - a boxed Dove soap just wrapped and be-ribboned

SCRUB - homemade sugar scrub, recipe provided by a friend

TIE - set of two hair ties from the cute free pattern by Oliver+s

CLIP - set of two hairclips, colours of the girls' choosing that they made during the party. I got the supplies from the incredibly helpful Kerrie of Jackobindi.

And then there were two pots of natural lip balm in two different flavours that the girls chose during the party. They decorated the pots the gloss went in.

Essentially, make a paper tube and sew the ends closed in opposite directions

The lolly tubes were made using a tutorial I found on the Crate blog via, where else, Pinterest.

The girls insisted on me using a 'fancy' stitch

Of course the ends of the lolly tubes had to be closed with a chain of hearts...

So simple and so effective; and it smelled great!

The wrapped soap idea also came via Pinterest and is from the "Honey We're Home" blog.

Ties were presented on pieces of cut scrap-booking paper

The hair ties had to be in a mix of pinks and blues - blue being the favourite colour of a few of the girls, they are 'too mature' for pink I think, or at least they do!

And below - the bags themselves.

I don't go fancy for these, just a plain white paper bag from Lombard decorated with some washi tape and another paper-punched and stamped piece of scrapbooking paper.
I picked up a small pad of paper from Big W - great value as I used it throughout the bags and it costs under $10.

So that was the goody bags - I included instructions on how to use the scrub saying it was actually aimed more at the Mums (or Dads) than the kids.

There's got to be something it it for the parents after all!

Next time - the party!

11/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Joining in with Che and Fidel again for the portrait project.

This gives you a tiny inkling of the cheekiness of this child.
Sipping her 'pink bubbles' drink at the start of her sisters' 7th birthday party.

I love the vulnerability of this shot, posing for me at the end of the party.

Not a huge smiling grin, but a soft smile as is her way.

There's a lovely sparkle in her face in this one - smiling at a joke a friend she has known since birth has made as they prepared to race each other on their scooters.

By not 'posing' we get her true smile - not the slightly cheesy one seven-year-olds are wont to do!

There's been lots of sewing here - and craft of the party variety.

I'll share it all with you in the next few days - once I have recovered!

Joining in late... 10/52

I'd seen Kylie's posts about Che and Fidel's Portrait a week for a year project and while I am a little late joining the party I thought, better late than never.

So here we go:

Miss L - newly Seven years old

Miss A - newly Seven years old

Miss G - 4.5 years old

Despite starting life as a 'sand-baby', Miss L has a new-found love of the surf - and boogie boarding in particular.

It makes her blue eyes sparkle.

A new bike to fit the long-lanky legs was on the birthday list this year. Miss A seems pretty happy with hers.

Usually the first to smile and pose for the camera, I loved the quiet concentration here as Miss G builds her sandcastle.

Joining in with Che & Fidel.

7

"Give me a child until he is seven, and I will give you the man" 

(Francis Xavier - Jesuit Order)

'The guy who lives' here and I always joke that based on the above quote, we had seven years to 'shape', direct and mould these small people into the adults they would become.

Two tiny people heading out into the world.

Whether this is really true or not remains to be seen.
But if it were, then I am absolutely delighted with who they have become.

Miss A on the left and Miss L with her pinkie in the air!

When sleeping they always reached out for each other

Seven years ago today these two little people stole our hearts away and are yet to give them back.
They had been long-wanted and are now much-loved.

It's been an amazing year for them - starting school and the incredible experiences and confidence this has brought to them both.

I am delighted by their eagerness to learn, to experience all school and life have to offer, their ability to get in and try new things, the way they love, laugh and life their lives; together and apart.

Their constant companion - who always manages to worm her way into the middle of photos!

We love them more than these words and pictures can express; each for their own gifts and talents, challenges and joys.

                          

Happy birthday gorgeous girls.

Taken 9th March 2013, seven years old today