Facebook v's Blogging

Ok so how can their possibly be a comparison?
There can not be, but somehow that is where I have found myself over the last 15 months.

So much has happened over the last 15 months, We have moved house, and after 12 months I was finally able to unpack all of my sewing boxes, the kids are both 15 months older, with my baby off to big school next year.

And my big girl doing well in dance and choir - I just love her lines in this photo.

We have lost 1 cat and gained 2 (Violet and Rose),

we were the caretakers of 2 mice for about 9 months and are now the owners of 2 chickens (Chickpea and Lindsay).I guess I stopped sewing, crafting and blogging so much as well, but whilst so much has happened, so much has stayed the same.

I am back into my sewing, crafting and hopefully blogging - I hope to see you again more regularly.

Some recent projects

Sarah

xx

It's been a while

Well I did not realise how many of you read my blog so it has been on the backburner while we have been house hunting and out and about. Sorry I will try to be more regular so my post are not so lengthy

House Hunting

We have had quite an exciting but tiring few months. We decided to get into the house hunting market but this time to buy our own place. Wow it is so much harder than renting, so much more on the line. First there is price and what and where we can afford to buy in Sydney, then there are the schools - we need to place high priority on both primary and high schools as by 2012 I will be commuting to both every morning and afternoon and the kids will be socialising in them and then the area, the size of the house and of course the bank evaluation. We have put in offers on 2 properties now 1 which we declined on because of area and then the second came well under valuation and proved too costly in repairs it ticked a number of boxes especially walking distance to both schools and I could have my own sewing room and Bruce could have a study but we were unsure of area and the bank valuation was high importance because we would not get a loan. So after this disaster we have reassessed our priorities and have decided to downsize for a number of years to get into an area we love, build up some equity and then upsize. it will mean the girls share a room, I do not get much sewing space and living areas are smaller but I think school choice is important. Our available market is much smaller but well patience is a virtue.

Out and about

We have been extremely busy and very lucky over this period with exciting outings in and around town. Here is the exciting list and some pics.

Baby Ballet at the Opera House with Miranda

Gruffalo Theatre Production at Riverside Theatre Parramatta with Bronte & Miranda

3 Birthday Parties (2, 4yrs old parties and 1, 3yr old party)

Two reversible aprons and a chef hat each were made for 2 gifts

Australian Girls Choir Concert at the Hills Centre where Bronte sang and we adored her singing.
A Cheerleading Trivia Concert where both girls danced up a storm

A school Dance performance where Bronte danced

A Dance scholarship where Bronte competed in Jazz, Tap and Ballet. I was so impressed by how much she has learnt this year. Bronte has been dancing for a few years now but when we moved we changed dance schools and her new dance school teaches from a syllabus so she is learning so much more.

Ice Skating 3 times

Hannah Montana movie

Luna Park

Ice Age 3 Movie at the drive-in's

and I have been lucky enough to get out twice without the kids and enjoy dinner and a movie (Bruno) with a friend and dinner and a movie (The Proposal) with Bruce

Swap Goodness

The Postie had been working hard over at Snailblazer's swap and I was lucky enough to receive my swap package with some really lovely loot all for me.

And it's not even my birthday.

In my Package I received
Some lovely bird cards from Jo
A cute Headband and fabric flower from Suzanne
A useful tissue holder from Natasha
A handy phone cosy from Bec
A zippered purse from Danielle
A funky yellow broach from Sophie
A make up purse from Kat
A Hanging Chain from Monica
A Birdy Hair Tie Travel Case with some lovely hair clips from Kylie
A knitted wash cloth from Leah

A really fun swap which I would be keen on doing again.

Thanks to Cass for organising such a fantastic swap. And I really love my poem envelope titled
Sarah's Poem
There was a mouse
Lived in my house
I said: 'For Heaven's sake!
Your squeaky talk
And tapping walk
Are keeping me awake.'

The mouse stopped dead
And turned it's head
It said: 'I beg your pardon!
I'd rather freeze
On a piece of cheese
Than move into your garden.........well it stops short I would love to have read more but it was rather cute.

Excuse me now I'm off to get another tissue from my tissue holder, if only i could roll up in bed and not get out.

Threads - Not from my sewing table!

"Mummy I have worms in my......" I am sure you can fill in the blank.
Since Easter we have had Croup, Ear infections, colds and then thread worms (and that is only one child) - what more I thought.
After treating the whole family and madly washing everything in the house - including all surfaces they came back 2 days later. How long has she had these things - no wonder every 5 minutes we heard "Mummy I'm hungry".
Well with strict handwashing and a retreatment I am hoping the only threads I find are the ones on my sewing table which do not move.

Book Review: Handle with Care - Jodi Picoult

Handle with Care Jodi Picoult's latest novel is about a family struggling to afford the cost of raising a child with brittle bone disease (OI) and the decision to file a lawsuit against their obstetrician (a close family friend) for wrongful birth. Picoult allows the reader to empathise with each character and as a parent can feel for all parties involved.

Handle with Care was an easy read filled with emotion, relationship struggles, questioning and ended with an unexpected turn left me feeling sort of incomplete and not ready to move onto another book just yet. However the unexpected ending was fresh and not predictable like so many others.

I have read all 16 of Picoult's novels and again enjoyed this book with similar style yet not repetitive. I especially loved the recipes added to the book a clever way of separating segments and inspiration to get ionto the kitchen.

Birthday Sewing

I have been busy sewing a birthday gift for my 2 year old niece Kayla- I decided to go with a cooking theme and make up a reversible apron and bandanna and led into a pot holder and mitten and to top it off a table setting for 4 - placemats, coasters and napkin sets. I am very please with the resultThe colours came together using the pink floral print (a fat quarter I had in my stash) I decided not to add a pocket to the floral side as it made it too busy. I quilted the blue spot to make the pot holder and mit. And needed to add some pink spot to make enough pink floral to make the bandanna. All the fabric came from my stash but I will definately be going out to replace my spots.

The table cloth has purple spots and will tie into a second apron and chefs hat for my other niece Sophie (Kayla's sister) who's favourite colour is of course purple and who's birthday is next month.

I hope they will both be cooking up a storm in thier new kitchen ware.

Sneak Peak

I have eagerly joined a Snailblazer Swap with the criteria of making 10 of something handmade. The dilemma was in what to make and then getting in and making them.

I decided to go with something that has been on my list of things to make for ME! Using some of my favorite fabrics stashed away for that perfect project.

Of Course I can not show you the finished project as that would ruin the surprise!

Packed and sent off I eagerly await my return parcel of 10 handmade items made by some extraordinary bloggers/crafters - see Snailblazers blog roll to see who is swapping.