Hoot Hoot!

After seeing photos of my nephew and my cousin's little girl both wearing an owl beanie, I decided Miss L must have one too!
I have been hooked on crocheting lately and figured that surely there must be a pattern for these super cute hats ... so I googled ... and found one!
It was relatively easy to follow and took me a day to make.  Lucy is sick with a cold so we had lots of couch time!  She wasn't a very eager model though :(
I am now making my second one, experimenting with the size.

Fruit, Honey and Oat Bar

This recipe is a favourite amongst us sisters!  It is actually a recipe I have kept from Home Ec class in Year Eight ... a looong time ago :)  I think it may have originally come from the Australian Woman's Weekly Cakes and Slices cookbook.

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup rice bubbles

4 crushed weet bix

1 cup coconut

1 cup dried fruit medley

-------------------------------

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup honey

125g butter

Method

Mix first five ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

Put remaining ingredients in a saucepan.  Stir until melted and dissolved.

Bring to the boil, then simmer until sauce thickens.

Mix with dry ingredients.

Pour into a slice tin lined with baking paper.

Refrigerate.

Once set, cut into squares.

YUMMMMMMM

Fifty Shades ... Oh My!

I have recently finished reading the Fifty Shades trilogy by E. L. James.  I think the majority of the female population have read or are reading these saucy books!  I first heard about them when they were being reviewed by the Today show quite a while ago.
I ordered them over the internet but they were taking so long to come that I ended up buying them through i books ... which worked out quite well as I could read them inconspicuously on my phone :)

The Setting

The stories are set mainly in Seattle USA

The Characters

Anastasia Steele is a young, inexperienced uni graduate.
Christian Grey is a mega rich, extremely handsome CEO with a BDSM addiction.

The Story

Christian tries to convince Anna to become his 'submissive' and enter into a dark world of bondage, domination and sadism.  Anna, however, manages to show him another way and ends up stealing his heart.

My Thoughts

Being an avid reader and a bit of a book nerd, I have to say that the writing was not that good.  I found the story line to be pretty flaky (although it did get a little better by the third instalment).  The author used the same phrases repeatedly and all the naughty business got a bit too much at times.
Despite this, I did read them all and did like them ... something different!  I reckon I would give them a 7 out of 10!

Welcome Will!

I had one of the most AMAZING days of my life last Friday ... I got to help my sister Maree bring her little boy Will into the world!
I got the phone call at 3:30 in the morning.  After quickly getting dressed, my other sister Libby and I headed into the Mater.  Maree and Steve had just been moved into the birth suite and her contractions were getting pretty strong and regular.  We spent the next few hours sipping coffees and helping Maree as much as we could.  She was incredibly brave!  The gas wasn't really working for her and she didn't want an epidural.
At about 8:30 the midwife broke her waters and soon after the pushing began.  It was pretty hard to watch your sister in so much pain.  At one stage she almost pulled me off the chair during a contraction!  At 9:25, Libby, who is a midwife, delivered Will ... the most incredible thing I have ever seen!  He was perfect!  We all high fived each other on a job well done :)
Welcome to the world William!

Anne of Green Gables

I love reading ... I pretty much always have a book on the go and a pile on the bookshelf waiting their turn.  I can still remember the first novel I ever read.  It was Anne of Green Gables and was given to me by my Nanna who was always encouraging us to read.  I reckon I would have been 10 or 11.  After that, I then read all the rest of the books in the series.  As a teacher, I know how important it is to instil a love of books and reading into children.  I try and read a story to Lucy every night although that doesn't always happen!  Her favourite at the moment is The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

We were in a book shop the other day and I saw a copy of Anne of Green Gables.  It looked so pretty that I just had to buy it for Lucy ... although I think I may have to reread it myself first!  Hopefully when she is a bit older she will enjoy reading it as much as I did!

Mother's Day

Well Sunday was my first Mother's Day!  Lucy was up early and came in for morning cuddles and present opening.  While sipping my coffee I opened up my beautiful card (chosen by Miss L herself!), some cosy slippers, a Witchery jumper and a kindle!  How lucky am I!

We got ourselves organised and headed down the road to Mum's for breakfast with all the sisters and their families.  We gave Mum a Delicious magazine subscription as she loves cooking, and a Grandma Memory Book from Kikki K.

Mum gave all of us girls a lovely bar of Glasshouse Soap and OPI nail polish ... very sweet!

We all brought a plate of food for breakfast ... croissants, breakfast buns, muffins, and fresh fruit.

Later in the day we had a BBQ at our house with Luke's Mum and sister, my Mum and Lib.  Again lots of yummy food ... haloumi on the barbie and delish marinated chicken (according to mum the best chicken she has ever had in her life!) and apple crumble for dessert.  Lucy loved munching on the lamb cutlets.  The day before, Luke bought an outdoor fire pit from Bunnings.  We had that going ... I think it is going to get a lot of use this winter.  Nothing like sitting around a fire and having a few drinks!

My amazing Mum has her own blog and always writes such beautiful posts ... my four pretty girls

Five Year Engagement

I went and saw Five Year Engagement with my mum and sister last night.  It was hilarious!  I think I had a smile on my face the whole way through.  Heaps of funny one liners and Emily and Jason are both great.  It was quite a long movie and perhaps could have been shortened a little.  I would still sit through it again though :)  Hot tip ... Balmoral Movies are so much cheaper than Carindale!