our sunset

This week marked the end of the most beautiful chapter of our lives

I have permanently removed the option of us having more babies

and my heart is so sad.

It is the right decision for us as a family 

but the thought of no more newborn

babies, no silky soft snuggles and

no tiny fingers curled around mine

is a heartbreaking idea that

I am struggling to comprehend.

I will move forward and celebrate the

next phase, I will delight in my children

for who they are to become

and not only for what they have been.

And I will forever remain thankful that I was blessed

with six gorgeous souls to train and guide

and love

and three more I get to spend all of eternity 

with.

I am recovering well... resting my body and 

taking this rare opportunity to do nothing and be pampered.

Having so many big babies took their toll on this body of mine

and it needed quite a bit of repairing. 

(They would only do this if I was certain that we would be

having no more, hence the tubal ligation)

I feel so blessed to be surrounded with such love and care

and am grateful for the kindness and nurture

I am being showered with.

Thank you friends.

xxx

$10 leggings in 10 minutes

I have been trying for weeks without success to get my hands on some black and white leggings for Theo.

I had almost given up when my sister in law spotted this wee number in the pumpkin patch outlet shop on sale for $10.

 I figured the fabric and elastic would cost more than that

and a ready to go waistband and pre-sewn hem would make these a breeze to make!

Here's how I did it.

Fold skirt in half, grab a pair of pants that fit and lay them on top for your guide. Allow a 2.5 cm seam allowance on the side not already sewn and cut out your shape.

 Separate and sew up each leg

Turn one leg in the right way and leave one inside out.

 Tuck the pair thats right side up into the inside out leg.

Pin into place and sew right around 
pulling it into a line as you go, it will pop back into

 shape when you are done.

 Like this!

Untuck them and trim  the excess thread

and watch your sweet baby dance in his gorgeous new pants!

Cute!!

Huge thanks to Jenny over at mend and make new

for the use of her overlocker. 

My machine is still in the repair shop.

Must pick it up!

Been making anything lately??

xx

a month of cakes

I loved the balloon cake idea! Instead of blowing out candles - you pop the balloons instead! Except when you have a mama fail moment and make this cake for the child who hates popping balloons! oops!

Billy's sign caught on fire which made for fun drama at his birthday and last minute desperation called for a quick sprinkle cake when I realized an hour before Charlie's party that I 

hadn't made a cake for him!

I worked out the other day that I had made no less than 56 birthday cakes 

over the last 15 years!

No wonder my creativity has been somewhat depleted.

Especially when you foolishly commit to two! One for the actual birthday and one for the party!

I would have shown you the failure that was Theo's first cake but

somehow I managed to get absolutely no photos of it!

Oops - another fail.

Tell me, have you got any simple easy cake ideas?

Inspire me!

xx

13/52

Family dinner night at the grandparents was interrupted by the rugby game.

hello Pa! 

nice of you to join us for our family photo!

xx

8/52

This was the week our two teenagers were at youth group camp.

It was Pa's birthday so we joined the rest of the extended family in Napier 

for a fish and chip dinner to celebrate!