Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween!

















Firstly, I must apologise for the photos all in the wrong order and in a big chunk. If anyone knows how to get your photos to go in between your text, please oh please let me know.
Anyway, today is Halloween, so yesterday we decided, last-minute, to have a little party to celebrate. I love rituals and traditions and I think it's nice to mark these seasonal festivals, even if we are in the "wrong" hemisphere!
Well then, first there was the preparation of the Jack'O'Lantern - isn't he a classy guy? When we put him on the front gate, trick-or-treaters seemed to materialise from all over the place. Jimmy had a ball squidging all the slimy seeds we dug out!
With our guests, the Rachel Family and the Tamara Family, we played apple-bobbing, digging in worms and eyeballs, scary ghost chasing (not too scary) and sparklers. The kids all wore their great costumes, until after dinner, when Matt, a bit flustered, came for help, saying, "I'm trying to control them, but they're all in the nude!" I don't think you ladies will be at all surprised!
For our delicious dinner, we enjoyed pumpkin soup (made from Jack's brains), herb and mushroom risotto and a salad of spinach, sweet potato, dried tomatoes, feta and pine nuts, topped off by orange cake for dessert. Don't you just love shared dinners? It's so great to eat everyone else's awesome home cooking and there's such a lovely spirit of sharing. Yum.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

New Shorts




These new shorts for Kees turned out just right with a few updates to the good old newspaper pattern. And this harlequin beetle loved them too!

Relaxing at the Beach




We have been really enjoying spending a couple of hours at the beach between Jimmy's naps. Everybody is happy and pleasantly occupied. And in other news, Jimmy now has six (!!) teeth and can clap his hands (with quite a lot of huffing, puffing and concentrating). Boy, is he cute.




A Lovely Maleny Day






On Sunday we had a beautiful day with special friends at their gorgeous Maleny home. Thank you for having us, Jane, Keith, Esmi, Mikki and Max. What a wonderful time Kees had; it was certainly worth him asking us to go every day.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Soft Duck Gets a Nest




I am happy to report that Soft Duck has been played with a little bit and even had her own cosy nest built. And this morning, with cardboard, crayons, paint and feathers, we made her some birdie friends. Looking forward to hearing any more construction/craft ideas of yours!

Friday, October 23, 2009

A Soft Duck to Cuddle





The other night as we strolled by the duck pond, Kees said, "I want a soft duck to cuddle." Well, did I need anymore asking than that? An excuse to make something cute that he might actually like? Or even play with? What a chance! So the next morning, fabric was ready for choosing, the machine threaded up in red, and we made a duck while Jimmy had his morning nap. And when it was all done, Kees threw it on the floor and ran outside to shovel dirt. Ho hum. At least Jimmy likes to suck its tail.




Thursday, October 15, 2009

Hooray!


Hooray! I just worked out how to add photos to my blog. Oh boy. I'm sure that little icon wasn't there last time I checked......


So here's a couple of photos just to test if it actually does work. Fingers crossed.


Haha! It did! I hope you like this picture. For someone who was born in the water, Jimmy hates the bath. But he loves the shower. Check out those man-boobs!