Linky party

This is a really fun linky party from aka design.

Go on over and check it out!

Rainbow Cake

 Husband's birthday is soon, and I am making him a rainbow cake. So it has lots of layers and has white buttercream inbetween. Then I am going to cover it all with white buttercream, so it looks all white until you cut yourself a slice!

Love it :)

Yes, I know I left out indigo when I was doing the cake, but to get a good indigo colour was too hard, so I left it out.

Taste the rainbow

30 followers!

I have hit 30 followers today!

Thanks guys for following me and leaving lots of lovely comments :)

Paper Giants

Recently, the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) made a TV mini series called Paper Giants.

It is a story about how the magazine called Cleo started in the 1970's. It focuses on Ita Butrose and Kerry Packer, and covers what happens in their lives as well as the political and social upheaval that was happening at that time.

I really cannot recommend this series highly enough.

Asher Keddie plays Ita Butrose, and does it fabulously, even to the signature lisp that Ita has.

I loved watching it, although I had to wait until Rona was in bed, as it is not suitable for children to see, as it is very adult.

Money Secrets of the Amish: Finding True Abundance in Simplicity, Sharing, and Saving by Lorilee Craker

Discover the money-saving and wealth-building secrets of America's thriftiest people, the Amish.

In Money Secrets of the Amish, readers go on an "Amish money makeover," learning the choices, secrets, and disciplines that safeguarded the contentment and the coffers of America's favorite plain folk by spending less, saving more, and getting happier doing it.

Craker learned that Amish money policies not only allow them to save and spend wisely, but also to find peace and contentment in their lives. They understand delayed gratification (no impulse buying!) for one thing, and always pay on time, or preferably never borrow or use credit cards. The Amish, exceptionally hard workers, also know that the best things in life are free.

Craker's writing style is delightful, breezy and conversational, which contributes to a good read.

Buttercream Icing

I am not a big fan of cakes or icing (well, when I am eating them). But I finally found a fabulous buttercream icing recipe that I like to eat and is super easy to get right

This is from The Kitchen Magpie

How To: Make The Best Buttercream Icing

Print

Recipe Type: icing,

Author: Karlynn Johnston

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 1 min

Total time: 6 mins

Serves: 6

The Best Buttercream Icing ever, all because of rich cream and salted butter. You won’t find another to match the decadence of this icing.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of salted butter
• 3 teaspoons of vanilla
• 4 cups of icing sugar
• 4-5 tablespoons of coffee cream (18% and up)

Instructions

1. Trust me on this one and use salted butter in this icing.
2. Whip that butter, with a paddle beater if you have it, if not, don’t worry.
3. Add in the icing sugar. **I came back to edit this to say that fresh icing sugar makes all the difference. Icing sugar goes stale, and you can sure taste it when it does! Crack open a fresh bag for icings, you won’t be sorry!**
4. Add in the cream. Not milk, cream. I used 4 tablespoons for my preference, you adjust to what you want.
5. Stiffer icing = less cream.
6. Whippier icing = more cream. Vanilla…. I used 3 teaspoons, again, you can try a little more if you like.Then keep mixing it until fluffy and thoroughly combined

It is absolutely fabulous and you should definitely try it!

Thanks Kitchen Magpie!

A wonderful blog

You should definitely check out Kind over matter

Especially this free compliments printable

I am going to be putting this up at my comunity noitceboard :)

God's Love Letters to You is a 40-day devotional journey. Each day begins with a Bible verse, continues with a one page devotional, followed by reflection questions and a closing prayer. The daily readings are short and the questions are thought provoking, encouraging you to spend more focused time with the Lord.

I enjoyed these short devotions, as they were exactly what I had time for, being a mother of a toddler.

The chapters are written as if they are from God, so be aware of that when you go to read it (it is good for some but some people don't like it when devotionals do that).

Devotionals are an intensely personal book, so it is all down to personal preference. I like these as they supplement bible reading, not replace it.

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.”

Your Baby Can Read - progress notes

As promised, I am updating you all about Rona's progress on Your Baby Can Read.

We have been watching the DVDs most days, and reading flash cards less often, but a couple of times a week.
Rona can get bored with the DVDs if I follow the suggested method.
This method is DVD 1 only for a month, then DVD 2 for another month. Rona doesn't like that so much, so we have watched in the past 5-6 weeks mostly DVD 1 and 2, but also started 3 about a week and a half ago.

Rona does love the DVDs, they are so cheerful and very friendly.

Rona loves playing with the flash cards, especially the slide out ones, which has a tab you can pull and show the picture that is related to the word on the card.

I don't know if she can read as yet, but she definitely knows more words since she started watching the DVDs.

Rona knows a lot of body parts (for her age) now: arm, foot/feet, toes, head, hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth and tongue.
She is also trying to say more words, which is great.

I think she is enjoying reading books even more than she did before.

Mind you,  I don't know what she would have picked up on her own, without the DVDs, but I am happy with how she is progressing.

 I would be happy with her progress no matter what, but I love seeing her learn new things, and seeing her be so proud of herself really makes my day.

Rona decided she wanted to read A LOT yesterday, we read for 50 minutes straight and read 31 books! Here is a picture of them

A day in the life

My life is so busy at the moment, I thought you all would like to see what I do all day as a Stay at Home Mum (contrary to popular belief, I don't each chocolate all day and watch Dr Phil).

6am - Rona awake for a feed, sleep
7am - Rona awake for the day
Get dressed
Eat Breakfast
8am - Watch Your baby can read DVD
8:30 - Play/Read
Clean kitchen
start load of washing
10:30 - Rona goes to sleep
I go on computer
12 - Rona wakes up, I take her to my mums (not a usual day, but this was my day yesterday)
12:30 - 3 loads of washing, washed, dried, folded, put away
Iron a weeks worth of washing
Clean kitchen
Dusted the house
De-moulded the bedroom window
Cut down and disassembled a bush in the front yard
Wash dishes
Clean oven
Clean mirrors
Clean bathroom
Vacuum house
Mop floors
Clean out and vacuum car
Generally tidy the house
3:30 - Pick up Rona
4 - Start dinner
Play/read to Rona
5:30 - Sit down to read my own book
6 - feed Rona her dinner
7 - bathe Rona and get her settled for dinner
7:30 - Eat dinner with Husband
Clean up after dinner
8 - Tidy up Rona's toys
Pay bills
9 - Read book/go on computer
11 - Breastfeed Rona, settle back to sleep
11:30 - Sleep

So, yes, I am rather busy :)

My project that is also next

I am planning a surprise for Husband's birthday, a display case for his Warhammer 40,000 collection.

Display cases can be expensive, so I am improvising.

I bought an old spoon collection display case from an op-shop, and am going to repurpose it into an Ork display case



I need to fill all the spoon slots with spak filler, sand then paint the inside and outside, and then put the glass windows back in.

This should be an interesting project, and I hope Husband really likes it

My next project

My next project will be this:

I saw this project on Weekend Designer and thought it would be a good one to try.

I got a fur jacket for a couple of dollars from an op-shop



and plan on turning it into a fur wrap

It is a bit damaged



But it will be nice to repurpose a jacket that is otherwise useless.

Revamping a bookcase

Rona really needed a bookcase, she has so many books!

I had been looking for one for ages, then found one in an op-shop (thrift store to you from America) for only $10!

But it did need a paint job

And SIX!?!?!? coats later, it looked like this



I only now need to let it dry and then fill it!
Rona will be so happy

Yet another DIY moment

Okay, so sorry if you are sick of me doing bits and pieces to my house.... but seeing I spend most of my time here....

I decided to make all my photo frames the one colour, to unify all the pictures.

Started here



Then used spray paint



And then done!

(The computer ate my done photo... will try to post one later)

Another DIY moment

I have recently wanted to do more to make my house pretty, so here is another project I did:



I redid my message board

Before it was full of junk and the magnets were ugly





So I recovered the magnets and reorganised the board



Now I have another pretty area in my house :)

On to the next!

An article I read today

I found on the web an article that I found interesting

Power of the Playground

It is thought provoking and an interesting concept

Rona's education - the beginning

A couple of weeks ago, we started the Your Baby Can Read program with Rona.

I had heard some good things about this program, and thought I could use some guidance as to how to teach her. I am not looking to create a genius child, I am just trying to do the best I can for her.

And so far, it has been great.

The program recommends that you watch the first DVD only, for the first month. Rona got a bit bored doing this, so we are watching both DVD 1 and DVD 2, which she is liking a bit better, with the larger variety.

We are looking at the flash cards, and I am reading books to Rona still (I have always done this). We only look at the flash cards when Rona wants to (she points to the basket they are kept in) and for how long she wants to, I wont force her to read, I want her to know how fun reading is.

Rona has now picked up more words, at least in understanding, if not actually being able to read (I am not going to test her). When a word is read like "head" she will put her hands on her head. This didn't happen before the Your Baby Can Read started.

Before, she only knew (in terms of body parts): eyes and nose.
She now knows: eyes, nose, ears, head, tongue, feet and toes.

So that is great.

I will keep you updated as we go along, I have been reading a lot about children's education, so bear with me as I blog about what I am learning :)

A link for July - Pinterest

I recently found a fantastic website Pinterest

I love all the pretty pictures like this

or just plain funny ones like this

So come join me!