Our Weekend: A Madhatters Tea Party!

In case I wasn't already quite sure I have the coolest inlaws in the whole wide world...

Yesterday they played host to a 'Madhatters Tea Party' for their nine grandchildren!

The kids sported their 'mad' hats (I was going to make one, ran out of time and bought Fern's from the $2 shop) but nanny and poppy outdid themselves with full fancy costumes:




Being such a large family, we don't get many opportunities these days to converge together but Fern adores her cousins and was totally in her element. Cake! Lollies! Green cordial (ok, I drew the line at that one, I'm the one who has to get her to sleep!), party blowers...


Fern was obsessed with her blower... except she couldn't quite get hers to make a 'toot', so she just blew it out and made her own little toot noise!

The table looked so sweet, I forgot to get a pic of all the little cakes and things (probably too busy stuffing my face):



... and there was even a gorgeous little shetland pony named 'Bunny' borrowed for the afternoon from a neighbour for the kids to ride:



... best of all, it was such a lovely sunny Autumn afternoon and despite the fact that all the kids were sugar-laden and missing their afternoon sleeps I didn't hear a single tear all party! A success!



How did your weekend pull up, did you do anything spesh?

Peeps!

Peeps!
This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you bright Easter Candy with these gorgeous pics of Peeps. Check back soon for some more of the most inspirational photographers on Flickr.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (From left to right):
Peeps, the marshmallow candy are hugely popular in the US at Easter time, if you fancy trying them, Cyber Candy sells them here in the UK.

I am off now to shower my lovely Mother with goodies, wishing you all a Happy Mother's Day! x

'Cos we are living in a technical world


So, last week a colleague asked me without a trace of irony if I could recommend some age-appropriate apps for her one year old. She did.

It's got me thinking: when is technology itself age-appropriate?

While outwardly I may be a complete wanker with a wireless tv and stereo set-up where I download movies* onto one of my two laptops** and watch them on my taking-over-the-house sized plasma while setting the TIVO from either my BlackBerry or my iPhone***, deep down inside I am a total Luddite.

Hear me out.

I didn't mean to get addicted to technology. I can think of a hundred more interesting things I'd rather be doing than watching tv or playing some mindless game on my phone****. For that reason, I don't believe in television for the under 2s (although I admit that this failed miserably for The Badoo who has been tuned in since birth due to her two siblings). I certainly don't believe in computers and apps for the juniorburgers - in fact I think school age is about the age that games and google should appear.

Which is what I really do believe, but is not what happened at our place.

In this day and age there's a fear that if your child isn't unwired from birth, she's missing out. It's almost as if being able to use technology has become a developmental milestone. I was never one for propping the Tsunamis in front of the giggle box and to this day they are not huge tele watchers, but I have failed in all other aspects.

I think I freaked out when Maxi-Taxi was three and thought the only mouse in existence squeaked and terrified his mumma. Within the week he was googling Diego and by the end of the month he was busy searching for the Chipmunks on Youtube. These days all three Tsunamis know how to use the iPhone and each one tends to animals in a Tap Zoo thingy that I honestly don't have a clue about. Technology for the under tens is LOML's domain.

There's something really wrong about that. But I'm not sure what. Is this just a generational reaction that I'm having? I think our grandmother's felt the same way about television and their mothers probably thought that radio was going to corrupt us all. And they were right, of course...

What do you think about technology and the youngsters? What age is the 'right' age? Does it worry you when you see kids in nappies glued to their parent's smartphone?


* Yeah, okay, so LOML does all the techy bits.
** Work and home.
*** Seriously. What am I like? I can't give up the BlackBerry email and I can't give up the iPhone apps.
**** But only one thing I'd rather be doing than blogging.


[Image by pyxelated]

Easter Paints

Easter Painting
Painted eggs
Pretty Easter Paint
Easter Paint Colours
Dulux matching my colours
Last week I took my Easter sketchbook with me to The Ideal Home Show so that I could get a couple of colours mixed up for me at Dulux. The nice gentleman at Dulux scanned a pink bird from my Bird Trail fabic and the colour was Flamingo Fun - don't you just love the name!

As soon as I got home I tried them out on my bird houses, plastic eggs and wooden butterflies. I love the colours and they are a perfect match! Thanks Dulux.

Have a sweet day!

the magic underfoot...




Standing under some old pine trees not far from my parents house - the scattering of mushrooms, pine needles, cones and bark feels earthy and slightly magical. You don't often get that in the big smoke.

grateful for

a truly inspiring & beautifully written book

 hand written & hand made cards
 sent in the mail from a blogger & friend ♥
who I hope to share a cup of tea with one day
 who takes such beautiful photographs & shares so much
last night I put on my new Winter pj's & read
in the comfort of my warm bed

so much to be grateful for


how about you?

Hello April!

Well I have to say I am thrilled it's officially Spring time but I am not thrilled about the weather lately! It's been cold for too long. I'm ready to put my winter coat away for good and bring out the flip flops. But the weather is not cooperating. So I must wait it out. Boo.

In the mean time I will be looking forward to the following:
  • Being FOUR months preggo on Monday. Another milestone!
  • Skipping a months mortgage payment...because we finally refinanced our home this week!
  • Easter Sunday. We will be visiting my grandparents I haven't seen in a couple years now and will be doing an easter egg hunt! 
  • April 28th, the day we see our bouncing bean again and find out whether it's a boy or girl!
  • Selling my two door car and buying an SUV! We've needed an AWD vehicle for the winter but in a couple months it will be a must. I've had the same car since the age of fifteen so this is exciting for me!
  • A ton of parties and get together's coming up.
  • Meeting my newest niece, Kendall, in May!
And even though it feels like forever away, I'm always looking forward to this day...
DSC_0283

Get on a roll Mother Nature. We need sunshine and warmth, it is long overdue. 
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