gettin my farm on

this week has been a week i'm giddy-pleased to be at the end of and yet, deeply grateful for.

{watching the neighbour's sheep with her new yellow twin lambs}

the three oldest kiddos left this afternoon to spend a couple of nights at my mum's.

it's just me, JR and the babe! *twiddles fingers*

oh, and - as of 20 minutes ago - this guy:

and because the kiddos aren't here, i get naming rights.

"mr muddy-knees"

(...no? too much of a mouthful??)

so if you'll excuse me i need to go get my farm on...

like, 6 feeds a day!

(and no kids to do it for me!!)

the road ahead...

{source}

...looks like this for the next little while.

back real soon.

X 

square one

both Monte and Jada vomitted again last night so this morning i put out a facebook call for quarantine treats and DVDs...

look what my sweet (brave!) sister turned up with!

PLUS a bag FULL of DVDs!

she is pure gold

X

Make my Week #29 - making it tidy

besides 3 friendship bracelets (2 for Jada, 1 for Ty) i didn't make anything last week because of the tummy bug we all had (it raised its head again last night...nooooo~~~)

so instead i'm going to show you some organising i did in my 'sewing room' (i so desperately want to say "studio" but it'd really be too much of a stretch! ha.)

this is supposed to be where i sew.

that space on the table is assigned for my sewing machine.

BUT, everyone with kids knows that sewing can really only happen right in the very heart of a home...so that's where my sewing machine pretty much lives at the moment.

i found this spice rack with jars awhile ago and painted it up.

i decided i'd start a little 'Notions Pantry' happening for all my sewing bits n pieces:

i hope your week was a little (a LOT) more productive than mine!

thanks to everyone who has introduced themselves over the last few days...some amazing women and blogs out there!

X

(does anyone else collect selvedges? or is that just me...?!)

well hello there!

wow, there are a lot of new readers!

hellooo~!!

i suspect you're here either because of this restyle

or this madness at pinterest

please, please introduce yourselves or leave a link to your blog so i can get to know you. that'd be rad :)

AND...to welcome you, i have some good news:

can you guess what it is??

yep. a tutorial (you're a persistent bunch aren't you?!!) on how to turn baggy sweater sleeves into cute puffy sleeves.

COMING SOON! (next week?) 

X

number 4

remember those new mother days? all those wonderful intentions of how you're going to parent so remarkably perfectly?

how you'll ever only let your child play with the 'safe toys' while you prepare dinner?

yeah. well.

by the time you hit #4 some of those intentions get a lil hazy...

sorry Jada, you got the plastics drawer - your brother gets the scissors!!

**********

all six of us have been wiped out - one by one - by a nasty tummy bug. it's been a lot of laundry, late night puke cleaning, sitting, DVD watching, etc...lots of Mama-Medal earning ;)

here's hoping it's exhausted its options here and leaves us alone now.

X

Make my week #28 - Wedding Dolls

if you've been a reader here for awhile, you may remember this custom portrait i did for an engagement gift at the end of last year.

well the lovely couple recently got married, and the sister who commissioned the portrait, this time commissioned some dolls:

and they have kindly agreed to share a photo of themselves with their dolls:

congratulations Georgie and John! :)

and thank you so much Summer, it's been lovely getting to know you. 

X

usurped

someone has stolen my clothes and my chair

::proof::

this is me having a natter with kute kiwi at the auckland art and craft fair in june:

{source}

i am wearing this stripe&floral dress with these mustard tights.

hrrmph!

pin real life: scarf from t shirt

k, there are SO MANY totally brill ideas on pinterest and i'm determined not to let them just sit on their little virtual pinboards mocking me with their wasted brilliance so i'm at it again:

the original pin:

(which looks wa-ay better than mine)

{originaltutorialhere}

and mine:

it looks a little more like a necklace(?) than a scarf but it only took 10 minutes and means there's one less old t shirt in the cupboard.

 

been inspired by something you've seen on pinterest?

join in:

<div align="center"><a href="http://dee-construction.blogspot.com/2011/06/pin-real-life.html" title="Pin Real LIfe"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5156/5911181965_0881300be9_m.jpg" alt="Pin Real LIfe" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

boys in tights

i used to think that tights/leggings were only for little girls. until i saw Janelle and Kristin's little boys wearing tights. i bought Danny his first pair one year ago and they have been my first choice for his growing legs ever since.

with it being wet outside, i am finding i need lots of changes (and because Squidgyums isn't currently in business) i've been making my own skinny pants out of old t shirts:

if there is a logo or image, i put it on the butt :)

MUCH cuter than baggy trackies or stiff denims, no?

and only take about 20-30 mins to make.

the gorgeous tops were made by Kristin (please go and beg her to start sewing kids' clothes for Squidgyums again!!)

(thanks so much Kristin x)

dee is...

it's true.

we are kin. except he does that smouldering eyes thing way better.

((i'm wondering if the above pic counts as a Real Life Pin?? ha!))

and i also realised this morning that if anyone hears of Brooke Shields looking out for her eyebrows, i've got them too.

(a beauty hazard of now having a long fringe and not really ever seeing your eyebrows as often) 

i DO love that my workshop ladies funded some GHDs for me though. this was taken half an hour after jonny called:

{i heard that collective exhale you know...}

Make my week #27 - redrawn art

in case you begin marvelling at the amazing crochet blanket i made this week, i'll set you straight:

i found this picture a few weeks ago while op shopping:

the composition, colours (it wasn't faded blue!) and subject matter caught my eye. (i think it reminded me of me and JR and our brood of turkeys waddling behind us!!)

i added a few sharpie lines...

...a nod to our rural upbringings

and now we have some new wall art beside our bed.

brill!

what have you been up to??

just to be clear...

• the comment i referred to on yesterday's post DID NOT offend me. at all. i was merely surprised and taken aback that that may be how i am percieved here on this blog. the commenter actually wrote a really sweet comment - so sweet, in fact, i was too embarrassed to include all of it for everyone to see.
• i don't necessarily think that those who 'have something to show' for their time are using it more effectively than those who choose to spend their time preparing hearts and lives for eternity. the latter is an infinitely (ha!) better use of time.
• i don't necessarily think that having 4 kids at home all day is more work than having one young toddler so don't let that impress you too much! siblings play with each other so in many ways it's much less work.
• i do have a lot of 'Time Opportunities" - 5-15 minute slots throughout the day. this all adds up to a lot of time and is usually how i start/complete anything.
• i sometimes dream of sending kids off to school/daycare and having all day to myself. BUT i know myself well enough by now that i would actually get less done in that kind of situation - because i'd faff around all day thinking i had all the time in the world! haha...(anyone else??) 

that is all :)
X

(i'm tossing up whether to show you a picture of my hair today. would you believe it looks JUST like jon bon jovi's in the 80s? it does. maybe i'll show you a before/after shot when i've tamed it with my new ghds?!! maybe....)

made my week #26 - time!

i love your comments. i really do.

they inspire, encourage, challenge and humble me.

once in awhile they stump me. like this one: 

 was reading your blog and i was speechless as u have soo much time ..id love to have that.

???!! me? time?

sand there i was, stumped. completely.

these four children and their schooling and their moulding and their shaping and their feeding(!) loudly and heavily demand on my time. some days i can barely breathe for awareness of the (lack of) Time i have to do all that is Unending and Insurmountable before a new days starts and i have to do it all over again.

but hurrying? that never creates more time. in my experience that ever only creates tension and regret. you?

and so, here i am, this year, finally learning that i don't need more time, i need enough time.

and stealing a whole bunch of moments just to be on the safe side:

* cousin sleep overs

* waking up to lullabies from a 19mo

* heavy rain on a high tin roof

* sharing a bed with a storm-frightened daughter

* little fingers sending heart-shaped signals through the window.

* being whipped in a memory game by a 3yo.

and this:

it turns out that coffee and toast in bed WAS too good to be true...

and reality was waiting for me downstairs!!! haha

so, no, despite how it may appear, i really don't have "soo much time" (i just don't do the housework as often as i should probably!) 

God gives me time. God gives me life. my Life Time. i am just trying to be a good steward with that gift. and somedays i 'get it' better than others :)

enjoy your time this weekend x

p.r.l. showcase!

wow, some of you have been really busy doing some real life pinning!!
here are a selection from the Pin Real Life flickr group:

Kate's real life pin:

{original from here}



***

Kristin's real life pin:

{original from here}

***

Rhiannon's real life pin:

{original from here}

***

Helen's real life pin:



{original from here}

...and there are lots more wonderful examples of how pinterest is inspiring 'pinners', so check them out sometime.
***

and for anyone else who wants to join in making pinterest a place of active inspiration instead of cancerous discontentment, there is a button! (i hope!)

<div align="center"><a href="http://dee-construction.blogspot.com/2011/06/pin-real-life.html" title="pin real life"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5156/5911181965_0881300be9_m.jpg" alt="pin real life" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

i'll put it here and on my sidebar.

grab it and add it to your real life pin posts!

hurrah!

Jada draws...with speech bubbles

Ro enters the ball and confidently declares her identity.

some, disinterested, continue to chow down the hors d'oeuvres while others are, quite simply, rather starstruck.

to which Ro (Row) insists again that she truly is who she says she is.

****

a boy comes across two girls playing tennis. innocently (not realising the trouble he is about to cause), he asks, who's winning?

player 1 replies, me.

(because i'm ambidextrous - see the ease with which i switch my racquet from left to right, to left...)

player 2 is so offended her racquet warps from the very force of her disagreement.

oh, it's on now...!!

****

happy wednesday!

X