little fingers...

guess who stuck their little fingers in mummy's coloured sand while it was drying on the windowsill?



it is good to know what will happen to my students' fingers when they touch the sand though. won't be the first time they've gone home with food dye fingers, so i'm not too worried!



take care,
em

missy in the sand...

with the weather being so beautiful today, i thought it time to break out that sandpit we found in the hard rubbish earlier this year. missy was over the moon:



here she's squealing with delight, and getting ready to throw some more sand in the air.

take care,
em

weekend blessings...

after an aggravating day at school on friday, this weekend has been full of pleasures. time to sew - these are crayon rolls for the babies in our mums' group (including missy) who are all about to turn 1:





some flowers picked by missy:



witnessing the baptism of a friend and blessing of another friend's baby; coffee and a long walk around our suburb; and plenty of time in the sunshine...

i hope your weekend was equally as pleasant!

take care,
em

sand, food dye and missy

yesterday i began a little experiment involving sand and food dye. we're studying india at school this term, and one aspect of indian culture that my class is focusing on is rangoli - artworks made from coloured sand, that are created during the diwali festival as a sign of welcome. (try google images to check out some rangoli - they're amazing.)

so here is where my experiment is currently at:



i'm hoping the sunshine will help the sand dry out, so the kids can use it on friday. (i do have a back up plan of using coloured pulses instead, in case this experiment comes to nothing!)

last night, when i was tinting my sand, missy discovered the sand bag and seemed to be in heaven:



i look forward to the sunshine and warmth returning so we can break out missy's sand pit and let her go to town!

take care,
em

p.s. and here's a gratuitous missy pic...

one month to go...

in one month from today, missy will be 1 year old. and this is part of what she will be receiving to celebrate her special day:



to be completely honest with you, i've already let her play with them several times (and she loves them, which is highly affirming for me!) i figure the concept of a surprise birthday present is a little beyond her at the moment, so there's no harm in letting her enjoy them early, especially since she seems to go looking for them any time she manages to get into our bedroom.

today was the most gloriously sunny monday we've had in a long time, and missy was eager for a swing. she learned to point this weekend just past, and so when we went outside, she crawled over to the swing, and sat underneath, pointing at it until i put her in there:



take care,
em

thank you big nanny mac for your colourful jumpers...

thank you big nanny mac for your colourful jumpers! the pink and red one has kept missy very warm today:



as did the gumnut baby beanie, along with her new navy cord coat, which kept her toasty on our walk in the sun this afternoon:



and this is what we found at the op-shop (along with some hot pink blundstones, which will serve missy well at pake and beppe's farm when she's walking):



it's a single bed doona cover, and though we don't own any single beds, how could i possibly leave it behind when it's so colourful and covered in words like quince? we'll find something to do with it...

take care,
em

a weekend in the south-west...

today missy and i drove back to melbourne after spending a weekend with my family in south west victoria. i love driving through the south-west, the landscape is shades of my favourite colours - lush greens and brilliant blues. there was a lot of water pooled on the sides of the road, remnants of last week's heavy rain. my parents' dam is looking particularly full and their lawn extremely lush:



we drove through a few rain showers today, but nothing too heavy - only enough to ensure there were rainbows in the distance for much of our journey. i noticed some other rainbows during the weekend as well:





take care,
em

happy birthday husband!

what better way to say "happy birthday!" than with a colourful dutch garland?



i am thankful for your company, your hard work, your delight in our daughter, your thoughtfulness, your love of family and home, your humour, for taking us to holland, and for (pretty much!) everything that makes you you.

take care,
em

em and the machine - reunited...

after what feels like several weeks of longingly staring at my sewing machine from afar and daydreaming about things i'd like to make, i finally got a chance to sit down and do some sewing on saturday night. (yes, saturday night. we'd already been out and come home again - the evenings are my best chance at being productive at the moment.) below is a pic of some pants i made for missy, and only finished this weekend, using some denim given to me by tante j:



as you can tell, missy's love for the piano is not dwindling in the slightest.

and just because i find it amusing - any guesses how high missy can reach these days?



take care,
em

thank you unknown gift-giver...

i'm not exactly sure who the lovely person that left these flowers on my doorstep was (though i have my suspicions), but they certainly brightened my day - the flowers smell amazing!



take care,
em

goodbye pa...

i knew this day was coming. but that doesn't make it hurt less.

this photo was taken last november when missy was only two months old. it's the first time she met pa. he was having lunch when we came to visit, and after he'd finished and we'd gone back to his room, he lit up as he watched and held his second great-grand-daughter. missy was crying from hunger, but pa was so gentle and patient with her, even as she screamed and wriggled.



i've been thinking about my favourite memories of pa in the past few months, in preparation for this time when he has gone and only they remain.

my first precious memory is of a christmas day, probably ten years ago, when pa wrote nan the most beautifully heartfelt card, telling her how much he appreciated and loved her. he got a bit of a ribbing for sucking up, but i remember feeling so impressed by the gratitude and love he had for his wife.

my second precious memory is of an afternoon, just after husband and i got engaged, when i called in to visit nan and pa on my way back to melbourne. for some reason nan wasn't home, and pa delightedly recalled what it was like during the early years of their marriage and bringing up their children. it was clear that he found much joy in his family, and loved them very much - they were definitely fond memories for him to share with me.

goodbye pa, miss you already.

love em