My Waterbaby

I have had a revelation... Rona is a waterbaby

She has always liked baths, then on Boxing day she had her first try in a wading pool with some of her cousins. She was the only one to not cry from water splashed on her face.

Since then she has been in her own little pool many times. She has loved it every time.

Then, Husband and I took Rona to our local public pools. She took to it like a duck to water.
Husband and I were surprised how well she took to the water.

Rona and I have been to the pool a couple of times since, and I love this time with her.

Rona and I are going to "mum and baby" swimming lessons. I am so excited, once we finish these 9 weeks of lessons I will feel more confident teaching her to swim.

Rona's Party - part 1

As you know, Rona is turning one soon, and I am planning her party.

and I had a crazy idea to make little keepsakes instead of giving party bags. So I am basing them on the design of the invitations.

So I am in the middle of making 45 felt birds.







So, now I just need to sew them together and stuff them.... unfortunately Rona has a phobia of my sewing machine, and so I can only sew when she is in bed for the night.... which gives me an hour or two a night of sewing.... if I am not doing housework.

They will be done on time, and if I have time, I am going to make Rona an extra large one, we will see.

I also have an idea for a shirt to make for her, so keep posted!

What I am working on - part three

I have been making a pettiskirt for Rona, and I am pleased to say, after many hours of work, here it is:



And I just love the ruffles



If I was ever to do one again, I would buy a ruffler foot for my sewing machine, it would be so much faster than ruffling by hand.

So.... next crafty project.... Rona's 1st birthday party....

Fasting by Scot McKnight

I got this book because I am interested in studying Fasting. I am interested in the discipline, and as my minister thinks that it is unnecessary, it is not taught in my church.

Throughout this book, McKnight's approach to fasting is to examine it as a historical practice of the Church, and as a practice of the people of God that began in the Israelite people. In the first chapter, McKnight notes that fasting is a bodily practice and that many of our problems with fasting - both in not doing it and how it is done when we practice it - stem from our misconceptions of the body. 

McKnight argues convincingly that we are biblically to understand the person as an "organic unity." He goes on to elaborate some destructive ways that we come to view our bodies as a result of making a sharp body/soul distinction: "a monster to be conquered," "a celebrity to be glorified," etc. So, he is making an arguement about the body and spirit that I find unnecessary and overly long.

It doesn't get at the whole reality of fasting, but rather reduces it to a "natural, inevitable response of a person to a grievous sacred moment in life". McKnight fails to ground fasting in the person and work of Jesus Christ or in our following Jesus as disciples.

While I appreciate the historical context of fasting, I was hoping for a frank, upfront manual on why modern Christians should, and how they should, fast. I was hoping for more than an obtuse arguement about fasting.

This book is good if you were looking for that... unfortunely, I was not. This is not a bad book, I have not found anything "wrong" with it, and as far as I can tell, it is theologically sound.

But it is not my kind of book.



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

My house is so CLEAN

Today I had the pest control man come and do his annual pest spray. Because I did not want Rona exposed to the chemicals so my mum babysat her.

Rona was gone for 2 and a half hours, and as such, I spent most of that time cleaning the house.
The house is now "mother-in-law" clean ;)

To do this I:
* Vacuumed
* Mopped
* Did the dishes
* Cleaned the kitchen
* Wiped down the cabinets
* Did 7 loads of Laundry
* Cleaned the bathroom
* Cleaned the toilet
* Ironed

It feels so very nice to have the house all clean and tidy and Done!

What I am working on - part three

Yet another project I am working on is a pettiskirt for Rona.

I was a little intimidated thinking about trying it, so I ordered a kit from Dream Spun Kids.

Now, I started off with a piece of chiffon 5.5 yards by 60 inches (now I am in Australia so that was confusing, but it is 502 cms by 152 cms).
Then I cut it into 5 and 2 inch strips, ending up with:
* 16 5 inch strips totalling 2438cms in length
* 36 2 inch strips totalling 5486cms in length

Now.... can you say argh!?!?!

Now, to sew those into each of the tiers.....

And that is where I am up to.... I will post once I finish the skirt, it all depends on when I can sew after Rona goes to bed.



The large amount of chiffon I am working on :)



The lovely, in detail instructions from Dream Spun Kids

What I am working on - part two

As I posted before, I am working on some crafty things that I have been putting off....

Well, I saw on the internet a great idea, banner flags for parties found here.
So I thought I would give it a go....




The gorgeous pink material that I started off with



The finished project, I ended up with about 8 metres of flags, they will look better when I hang them up, but this gives you the idea.

You will see these again at Rona's first birthday party in a couple of months :)

What I am working on

At the moment I am working on some projects that I have been putting off for a while.

One is a baby quilt, it's design is of the Very Hungry Caterpillar book.




The whole design



The Very Hungry Caterpillar (with scrap threads... sorry)

This is quite fiddly to quilt, but I am enjoying it a lot, I have about another 5 or so hours work until completion, which will be great.

The Winter of Our Disconnect

I got the book "The Winter of Our Disconnect" by Susan Maushart for Christmas.

This account of Susan's family's self-imposed exile from the Information Age will leave you laughing with recognition.

The book also challenges the reader to take stock of their family connections. And to create an environment that encourages the whole family to thrive.

When Susan Maushart first decided to pull the plug on all electronic media at home, she realised her children would have sooner volunteered to go without food, water or hair products. At ages 14, 15 and 18, her daughters and son didn't use media, they inhabited it. Susan calls them "Digital Natives" as opposed to her being a "Digital Immigrant".

Susan's experiment with her family was a major success and she found that having to communicate in the "old fashioned way", her family is communicating more. Despite having so many ways to communicate now (i.e. computers, mobile etc) Susan observes that we are connected more shallowly, rather than the rich feeling of belonging brought by these traditional means of communication.

At face value, The Winter of Our Disconnect is a memoir about how one family survived six months of being "unplugged", and what the learned about how they inhabited media and how they inhabited their lives. However, their story is so much more than that, it speaks of how new media impacts people, families and society as a whole.

Susan supports what she calls ‘The Experiment’ with extensive research, which could have come across as being overly educational, the book is more of a witty conversation with a good friend.

The result of her family's ‘unplugging’ is fascinating. I found the book thoroughly engaging and I do hope more people take her lead or at least turn off their electronic media occasionally. This book is for everyone with an interest in media, family dynamics and social experiments.

For Rona's first birthday party...

There is 2 months or so before Rona turns one.


So I am working on what kind of cake I am going to do for her.

I got inspiration from this lovely cake



So I am going to get Rona's invitation and try to make the cake look like the invitation.... we will see how we go....
Keep posted and I will put up a photo when I do the cake

I know it is early for Easter but......

Okay, so yes, I am jumping the gun a little for Easter, but last year I read a post on We Are That Family about making Story Eggs for Easter.

So I have decided that I will make some.

12 plastic eggs, and 12 things to go in them:

1. A picture of a donkey (Jesus triumphal entry)

2. Palm leaf  (Jesus triumphal entry)

3. A cup (from the Last Supper)

4. A leaf (representing the Garden where Jesus prayed)

5. Some coins (Judas’ betrayal)

6. A piece of leather (symbolizing the whip)

7. A thorn (crown of thorns)

8. A paper cross

9. A dice (represent the soldiers who gambled for his clothes)

10. A nail (crucifixion)

11. A rock (to cover the tomb)

12. An empty egg (to remember the empty tomb!)

You can find the original post here

Thank you to We Are That Family for a great idea!

Seriously?!?

Okay, today I am going to rant about some things that just drive me crazy about Husband

He closes windows
So not altogether a bad thing, but I happen to like letting some cool air in in the night and I open the windows so the air can circulate while we sleep. And Husband, of course, closes the windows just after I open them.

He had a one track mind
It's not what you think.... Husband only concentrates on one thing at a time. So if he is playing video games, or watching the cricket he cannot focus on talking or anything.

Games, Games everywhere
Husband's work is making computer games. And when he comes home, he plays computer games. And on weekends, he plays computer games. And when we are out at parties, at least half the time..... you guessed it, he talks about computer games.
While it is good that he loves what he does for a living and it is nice that we can claim any money we spend on computer games back on tax and research (truly, it is a work related expense), it can get really tiresome to see Husband play the forty-odd hours it takes to get through a game.

Really? You need to collect forty-hours-worth of bananas for Donkey Kong to..... be happy or whatever is the end of the game?

But for all that, Husband is a wonderful husband, he makes my life so very special and I wouldn't want to live without him.

Links for February

A List of Op Shops in NSW

Great link for information on Farmers Markets in Western Sydney

Windsor Craft Markets

Great recipes with Real Food in it