Project 52 - The seventh date

It was my turn this week to come up with our date. At the start of the week I had great ideas of a candle lit supper outside under the stars. I would make a nice plate of berries, maybe some chocolate and some nice sparkling grape juice. It would be very romantic and a chance sit back and relax in a different setting. We would forget about what had been going on inside of our house for a time and talk about everything and anything.

This week has been another rotten week though. Tim's hours were terrible. Between work and fire brigade stuff, he was worn out. We hardly got to talk all week. I got offended by a few insignificant moments. And I held a grudge. I was angry with him.

So, Friday night came and I wanted to skip the date. I had stuff I could be doing. I went through the motions, prepared the food as I had planned but only sat on the couch. Tim always knows when things aren't good. I wasn't hiding it well though. I cried. I talked. Tim listened. We got it sorted. I apologised for being a cranky woman. Tim was sorry for the way the week had gone.

In the end, our date was a good way to vent, catch up, move on and have that much needed time.

I hope this next week goes better and our next date will go smoother. I wonder how everyone else did this week for their Project 52 date?

Cardboard kitchen and a bit of felt food

I thought I would post some pictures of the cardboard kitchen we (I) made last winter. It lasted a good six months or more til it was thrown away. That's not bad for something made of cardboard and hot glue. And it was thrown out because kids stopped playing with it not because it was completely worn out. I would have just given it a new paint job and added some more hot glue and it would have been fine.

It started with the oven above. The inspiration for this came from one I saw on Martha. I had already started making the felt food and so the kids needed somewhere to cook it. Naturally. We didn't really want to commit the money or the space to a wooden kitchen, although some of them around are super cool.

I made the sink and fridge next.

Finally, the microwave and the kitchen dresser.

As it was all made from cardboard boxes the kids could pick it up and move it around to whatever and where ever they wanted. They played kitchen's and restaurant's. The oven was the favourite. The kids helped paint all of it. And when it was getting a bit worn looking or they were bored of being stuck inside, we would just give it a new coat of paint.

I was sad to let it go but I hope to make some more box furniture this winter. Maybe another kitchen? This is high on my list. When I get a new glue gun anyway. :)

Banana cases

I was very excited to buy some banana cases off eBay. They are super cool. Yes? My excuse for buying them was that the novelty would encourage our children, mainly Ellamay, to eat banana's. For two days, that banana filled banana case has gone to school with Ellamay for fruit time. And for two days, it has come home again. Pretty sure that means Ellamay hasn't been tricked into fruit eating by the pretty banana case. Oh well, surely sometime she will start eating them. Meanwhile, what a happy thought is a bunch of banana cases. Makes me smile.

Lined felt baskets

Just a quick post today. I am having trouble with this computer and the Internet and blogger at the moment. Very frustrating.


I used this great tutorial (great blog too) and created these. I didn't make the label window for the front because I am too impatient. Plus, I thought maybe I might make some flowers to sew on later. (If I can be bothered).



I am so happy with the way they turned out. I will give them to the girls to put out for Easter bunny to put their eggs in at Easter time. They came together really quickly. I like when I can make something in one sitting. Even better last night because I finished all three and started two more little bags like I made for Christmas. These ones will be for upcoming birthdays. I will post some pictures when I'm done.

I have also been working on more hair stuff and my own version of a cloud mobile. They are VERY popular on the net at present. Mine is frustrating me though so I don't know when I will get back to it. It's in a pile with all the other projects I get to the middle of and get stuck or lose interest in. Or something more interesting comes up.


Oh... One more thing. I just have to fill you in. Amelia has finished on the pump for the time being. She has had her last week on there and is now off until she is sick next. HURRAH! It has been a long time coming. She started treatment on it in September and has just finished this week.

I should finish up here. The kids have been entertaining themselves while I write this so I should go and see what mischief they have caused!

Project 52 - The fifth date and the sixth date

The fifth date - I had another headache. I have been getting a lot lately. We decided to continue on with the date anyway. Since I was feeling so... dull again, we decided to watch a movie. Another DVD Tim had gotten for his birthday. The Dish. A fantastic movie. (Check out this trailer on YouTube) We laughed out loud for the first half and then I got a bit dozy by the end. I should clarify though, we have seen it quite a few times. It wasn't the movie that was dull.

The sixth date - It's now my turn to come up with the dates for the next month. I was really struggling to settle on a plan. The last couple of weeks I have been struggling to keep up with everything. It's been so busy chasing after kids and school activities, and endless fighting to get kids to go to sleep at night, not to mention the contant house work stuff. We had a trip down to the big building with Amelia and Tim's work hours have been long of late.

After all that, I decided that it was about time I did something for Tim. He does so much for me. I gave Tim a back massage. Tim is a sales rep and is in his truck for many hours a day. He also does a lot of lifting so he is always happy to get a massage. So it was him that got dozy for a change! He talked all about work and the fire brigade and the kids and our house and anything. I tried to listen. Sometimes (often) I like to say my piece too and it becomes me talking and Tim listening. So I tried to stay quiet.

That about covers it. I had hoped by this stage in Project 52 that things would have settled into some kind of date night routine... as in it would be easier to make the date time work, but it hasn't. I guess it's really about making time for this - even when it's hard to. I have a few ideas for the next dates so I hope I can get sorted a bit better for the seventh.

The big building

Today we went to the 'big building'. Actually it is the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. It was time for Amelia's clinic appointment.

Amelia has Cystic Fibrosis. I have been trying to decide whether or not to talk about this on here. But you know what? This is our life. We are living this and so I am going to talk about it here. Sometimes things are okay. Sometimes they are not.

So anyway today, we went to the 'big building'. (Esther and Ellamay named it this - it is a big building.) Amelia had a check up with her specialist. This visit was great! Amelia is healthy. Her lungs were sounding good and the doctor was very happy.

As part of Amelia's ongoing treatment, she has been using a strong saline solution in a nebuliser pump twice a day since September, to help with mucus clearance. Today the doctor said that we could go back to just once a day for a week and if all was well then she could finish using it altogether for the moment. Hooray! Go Amelia!

It was taking up to 20 minutes each treatment before and now we are in sight of the finish (for the moment). I couldn't be happier about this. It will mean the work load will cut back a bit until she needs it again. And Amelia will be VERY happy not to have to be on there.

We are very worn out now. It's about two and a half hours to Melbourne. It is a big day once we go down, see all the people we have to see and then turn around and make the trip home.

The kids are all in bed asleep. Amelia has had her physio. And I am trying to catch up on this blog. It's been a bit neglected. I hope to be back tomorrow with a Project 52 and maybe a crafty thing. Finally.

Felt flower hair clips

I found a link on One Pretty Thing for some felt rose hair clips. One Pretty Thing is a fantastic site. I look at it every day. They have links to so many different sites on all manner of crafty topics.

There is a tutorial and pattern over here. These clips are so easy to make. I loved them. And I am still making more. I have made two in the girls school uniform colours and two just because they are cute colours. This photo doesn't really show up the colours very well unfortunately, but I really do like them. Do try them out. Nothing like wearing a flower in one's hair to make you feel pretty I think.