Mud, Mud, GLORIOUS Mud!!!

Oh, to be 3 again. Look at my little girl, enjoying making mud pies on a windy and cold spring day in Perth. I had to change her pants 3 times because they were so wet and muddy, but she had a great time. It just goes to show, the simple things in life are absolutely the best!

$6, 3 metres of fabric and the bet

I had some "Mummy" time yesterday and popped out to the local Spotlight for a bit of shopping therapy. For anyone who doesn't know, Spotlight is a large furnishing, art, craft and fabric shop, and is probably the best place to purchase every day crafty things in Australia. I went to purchase something to start my Mum's birthday present, was just about to leave the shop and this fabric literally jumped out at me and said "buy me". OK, well not literally, but it did catch my eye, and was even more attractive sitting on the clearance rack for only $2 a metre! I bought what was left on the roll (3 metres), thinking that it would make a nice picnic blanket, and bought it home. I showed John, and he said "I bet that will be like all of your other projects, and I think that in a week it will still be sitting around collecting dust!". Well, humph to him - I'm going to prove him wrong, and just to sweeten the deal, he has to do the dishes all next weekend if I have used it before then! That will get him (and it will be so lovely to have a break from the dishes!).

I have since had second thoughts about the picnic blanket idea, and decided to make some new covers for some chair cushions that are looking a bit dated for our outdoor setting. That should use about half of the fabric, and I'm thinking maybe a table runner and possibly some grocery shopping bags. Oh, the possibilities.....watch this space!

Craft!

Oh, to have more time to craft! This week I have been extra tired for some reason (I'm going to blame it on the spring weather being a bit up and down!) so I've only sat up twice this week with my cross stitch.

I'm currently doing a Shepherd's Bush cross stitch stocking for Charlotte called "Mary's Stocking" (click here for the link). The stockings are just beautiful, and I'm really enjoying seeing it grow. Here it is, "Work in Progress".

I've also got an idea for my dearest Mum for her birthday (I'm not going to say until after her day in case she reads and sees - hi Mum!) but I will post after then (end of November) to show what I did.

I love reading what all the other clever ladies in blog land are doing, and my head just swims with ideas for projects and wish I didn't have to cook, clean, and sleep so I can do them all! I have probably got more things on my WIP list, but I would prefer to keep it at things that I know will get completed soon so I can "tick" them off my list and do a little happy dance every time I do! Other ladies in blog land, please keep inspiring me...I think you are all amazing!

Autism

Our little darling Charlotte was diagnosed with mild autism in December 2007 at the age of two and a half. We have been lucky enough to have her enrolled in early intervention this year (ABA therapy through ISADD) and have seen amazing progress with her which excites me every day. I have to manage her autism daily, but I try my hardest to see her as a person (and believe me, she has heaps of personality and is an absolute crack-up!) and not see the autism as something that is a label for her. I may, from time to time, mention her autism on my blog, but I certainly won't be focusing on it, as it is only a teeny-tiny part of Charlotte.

Charlotte is enrolled in kindy for 2009 (2 full days per week) and at the moment will have an aide for 25% of the time. I think she will enjoy kindy, and is already asking who her teacher will be and what her "best friend's" name is. She has come through so much already, that I'm sure she will jump through the next hoop with only a few minor hiccups. She is amazing, and I couldn't love her more.

I'm forever blowing bubbles....

...as the old song went (which, apparently, was my great grandmothers favourite!). Charlotte, like most children, loves bubbles, but hasn't been able to successfully blow them all by herself until recently. Look how clever she is now!

I must apologise to Charlotte for the first photo - I remember when I was a child my dad taking a photo of me every year blowing out my birthday candles and I had the horrible puffed out cheeks in every shot that is really unflattering! I remember one birthday (must have been in my teen years), that I "fanned" my birthday candles out instead of blowing them just to avoid the puffed cheek photo. Of course, these days the horrid photo would just be one of many hundred that would be taken at a birthday, not one of 24 like the old fashioned camera. Thank God for digital!