Mmmm...muffins!!!

It's been a bit of a miserable week in Melbourne - lots and lots of rain. I love it when it rains, but makes it a little difficult with a toddler. Whilst the skies seem to have dried up a little today, our backyard is a bit of a quagmire, so what am I to do with him other than watch Cars for the 671st time?

I had almost a whole punnet of blueberries in the fridge that I knew weren't going to be eaten (I attempted to give them to Master O in a fruit salad Monday morning, but were spat out even hidden amongst all the yoghurt). So I decided why not do some baking? Great activity to do with a 2 year old, as long as you're in a patient mood.

I have quite a few wonderful cookbooks around the house (including my all time favourite Women's Weekly 'Cook'), however I always seem to turn to the 'Taste' app on my iPad first. I love it when you're in the mood to cook or bake and you have all the ingredients already at home, which is what happened this morning. I made these blueberry muffins, but did substitute one cup if wholemeal self-raising flour for one cup of the plain sr flour and added a bit of vanilla, just because. They turned out very yummy, and I don't feel as guilty eating them knowing they've got a bit of wholesomeness to them (my logic). 

Master O loved getting his hands in the bowl to help rub the butter into the flour and then stirring everything together, but think licking the spoon at the end was definitely the best part. 

So we're now off to Ikea to grab some coat hangers (and maybe some meatballs). Kati helped me go through my wardrobe Wednesday afternoon and there is a lot that is no longer in there, so I now know exactly how many I need to but. I also Need to get onto eBay to sell some of the clothes I'm getting rid of, and drop the others off to an op shop somewhere. Could be a busy day ahead...

A

xoxo

Better Late Than Never, School Holidays Round Up.

So as the school holidays came to a close, I finally found time to write my first post and FINALLY post it!

Here at the McWoods household it was busier than the Bertie Beetle showbag stand!

Other than our family Oktoberfest/Shepkids festival trip to Pucka, we enjoyed many, many special treats!

The first Tuesday A, Mum and I took our 2 year olds and Master 7 to the Royal Melbourne Show. 

Oh boy was it a long day! 

We managed to see the animals, crafts, a few rides, lots of showbags and of course lunch with the CWA. 

I think we need to plan our day a bit more if we are going again.

But at the end of the day we had 3 happy and tired kids, and 3 exhaisted adults!

Then it was back to Pucka for Miss E, Master A and myself for a few days.

The highlight was Master A having a try at rock climbing at the army gym and discovering he really DOESN'T like heights.

Grand Final weekend came - a weekend of friends, drinks and apparently a footy game somewhere.

We woke up Monday and it was time to travel to the hills for the Tesselaar Tulip Festival. 

It was a first for both A and I, as well as the kids, and it was a fun day out!

We arrived about 11 and left just after 3. 

Even though it was the children's day, We could not believe the amount of people there!

It was great to see the kids run around and spot all the things to see, to touch, to pick (oops!) and play.

There were games along the way,along with a fairy and gnome garden to discover. 

As is normal, we couldn't leave without a trip to the souvenir shop where we ended up purchasing a $2.50 lucky dip for each of the kid.

They all LOVED the lollies and the toy animals, Master A scored with both a bird whistle and a gnome on a toadstool figurine!

Then came "calm down Tuesday"... or so we thought! 

A trip to the cinemas to see "Planes", who would have thought it would have ended the way it did!

Master A was excited, as was Mister O, and Miss E had no idea what was happening. 

It was at this point I would like to point out that this is the 3rd trip to the cinemas with all 3 kids this year!

It then started and Miss E was up, ready to play. 

I took her up the back to the door, but that didn't quell her playful ways so it was out to the foyer the torment the One Direction teens.

All in all, Master A was entranced, A and Mister O saw about half of the movie, Miss E and I saw more like 20 minutes. Definitely a movie I will be trying to see again for sure!

It was then time for lunch and the Pancake Parlour was calling! 

2 coffees, 2 babycinos and 1 hot chocolate and then the sugar hit! Wriggles everywhere and flying the 2 planes that came with the movie combos, I'm sure we were driving everyone around us nuts!

However, more sugar was to be had with the kids eating pancakes with syrup, ice cream and fudge sauce. 

After that indulgence we checked out the Lego area that Eastland had set up for the school holidays.

It was something so simple, but kids were quiet impressed!

There was a large lego 'ranger' and a love boat model to look at.

There was a duplo area and both the "babies" were ready to run amok, stealing other kids blocks and building fantastic towers! I had never seen Miss E build more than 3 blocks together!

Over at the "grown up" Lego area Master A was creating an Egyptian Pyramid masterpiece, complete with a pool!

After prising the kids away, a little running around at home for my two eventually tired out.

Then the rest of the week was spent cleaning, organising and getting ready for the new school term.

Friday night Master A and I went out with my in laws to the WORLD PREMIERE of "The Magic Pudding" opera, we were even seated in the FRONT row!

We felt so special and had a great night!

We got to see the conductor and all the musicians.

It was great timing too as Mum and I had just finished reading the book with Master A.

As my parents-in-law have both been involved in the opera field, they knew quiet a few people and Master A thought it was amazing that their names were (again) in the program!

To cap off the full of fun holidays, we were off to Westfield Southland for Master A to take part in the (highly anticipated) Lego Chima Champs competition. After getting there at 10.50 we rushed to find where we were meant to be, fortunately it was NOT hard to miss!

After waiting approximately half an hour in a massive line (with miss E not really wanting to be in her stroller!), we FINALLY got to the front of the line where Master A received a wristband and lane number. 

He was in a group with three other 7 years old, he didn't really pick up that they were his competitors, so was trying to help them as much as he could. 

In the end they all received on 'Chi' and tied, so the prizes were split between them all and Master A received a key ring.

Master A was then told that if he wanted to win a better prize, he could line up and try again.

So off we went to grab some lunch (and a BIG coffee!) and to the back of the line.

After a 20 minute wait we were at the front again, only to be told he could have another go, but he would NOT be able to win another prize.

So a disheartened master A had another go, and he WON! 

The instructor went to give him a prize, but being who master A is, he explained to the man that he couldn't have another prize and ran to me in tears.

After explaining to the instructor the situation, and that would have left it if he hadn't won, he chatted with his boss and gave Master A a show bag. He was VERY appreciative, it made his day! We did have a look at some shop and ended up getting Miss E a play school sticker book for being such a good girl and sitting in her stroller while Master A enjoyed his championship. She was over the moon with this book, I had never seen her react like this to anything! It was priceless!

I'm not sure if I am looking forward to getting back in routine - the house being kept clean and having some quiet time with Miss E while Master A gets back into school, or if I will miss all the smiles, laughs and fun these holidays have brought...

But only time will tell.

K. 

Finally It's Finished!!

As I mentioned in my previous post, earlier this year I decided to pick up the knitting needles for the first time in eons to make a 'textured throw'. I'm pleased to announce it is finally finished!!

It started with a trip to a girlfriend's house to visit her and her new gorgeous baby girl. Sharing a love of all things handmade and crafty Kris showed off some of the beautiful things she had received and made for Eden, including some adorable little cardigans and a wonderful crocheted cot blanket done by her mum. I came home inspired, but not sure where to start. It just so happened that around the same time Spotlight put on their Facebook page a project, the textured throw. Each week they released patterns for 2 squares. It should really have taken me about 3-4 months to do, but I think it's been closer to 6 or 7. I did lose focus and complete a few other projects in that time though. If you're interested in trying to make one yourself it's on the Spotlight Facebook page here - you'll need to click 'see more' to expand the description, all the links to the squares are there. I saved them in my iBooks on my iPad for easy reference.

It was a great way to get back into knitting and learn some new stitches (and start my new crochet obsession). Some of the squares took longer than others (fisherman's rib I'm talking about you!!), and there's one or two that I'm not a big fan of, but I'm really stoked with the overall result. YouTube was the most wonderful resource when I couldn't understand from the written instructions what to do. I just googled the stitch. 

Mum created one of these too, though she finished weeks ago. Once she gets back from NZ I hope to get a photo of the both of them to put up. It's strange how different the same blanket can look just by having different colours. 

I'm now feeling a little lost, my usual feeling when I finish something that's taken so long. It won't last long, I've already started on the next thing.

A

xoxo

I started out with the needles recommended, but after doing the first
square (garter stitch) it was much bigger than 20cm, so pulled it all
undone and started again with 3.5mm needles.

My little guy loving helping to spray the water on the finished product
to block it.

I wasn't too sure on how I wanted the edging done. In the end I went
with a double crochet border in white, finishing off with single crochet
and 2 chains in purple all the way around.

And it's all finished. 

.