Luke's B-day at the Beach!

Oh my this blog is sooo neglected! Its been pretty hard to get the time to write anything at the moment. I have started my own business!!! Yes, you heard me right. It took a lot of courage and work and its all set but it takes most of the little free time I have so hence the neglect of my personal blog! I have opened an online shop for handmade toys and gifts for children. The shop and blog are called Little Wooden Shoe. You can check the blog here. You can check the shop here. I hope you pass by and check it for yourself.

Any way, my little boy turned two last month!!! Can you believe how fast it all went, it feels like it was last month I had this little newborn in my arms. So we decided to do a nice breakfast birthday on the beach. Because of the extreme hot weather we have been having over here we had to make it early in the morning, that is why the breakfast birthday. Everyone loved the idea of having it early seeing most of the parents are all awake at dawn by there little angels. So we made a cooked breakfast in the barbecue and we had cake, popcorn and other snacks for the kids. It was really an amazing day and Luke just loved it. I made his cake as his favourite cartoon character Ponyo . Naturally I did a crap job, I am no birthday cake baker but he seemed to recognise it immediately and the kids at the party seemed to love it, so mission accomplished! See trailer of the film bellow.

Very cute film!!! So bellow are some cool pictures of the party I hope you all enjoy and I am sooo sorry for the long silence.

How to make a play kitchen for your kids!

Every time we go visit friends or our playgroup and there is a little play kitchen, Luke spends most of the time role playing. So I have been for the past month looking into buying a little play kitchen for him, one who won't break the bank. They can range from $130 to $400! I really loved the wooden kitchens but of course they were the most expensive of the range. Ikea has a really cute wooden kitchen on display at the moment but still our budget just doesn't allow us to buy it. After a lot of looking around I have decided to make one for Luke from an old empty packing box we had left from our move. After just one hour putting the kitchen together I was surprised by how great it looks. It was also a great activity to make together even if he is just 20months old, he was very excited by the process. So here is how you make a play kitchen for your kids for less than $10.

Supplies:
1 large empty packing box
4 roles of contact paper (any colour u like)
1 stainless steel bowl
2 felt sheets (black and red)
1 empty paper towel role tube
1 kitchen tap- optional
play food
play pots and pans
Stanley knife
ruler
pen


Instructions:

1. Find a packing box that will be a good hight for your child. A tall box could be used for a refrigerator or laid on its side for a sink and counter. I decided to use mine on its side because I wanted to use it as a sink and stove top. Tape the box shut in all its sides. 
2. Cover all the box with contact paper of your choice. 
3. For the oven, on the front side of the box, cut across the top and ½ way down on both sides, to form the oven door. Place tin foil on this pull down door to represent the window to look through.
4. Mark area beside the oven door to make a cupboard and cut so you have two doors so your child can put all their pans/pots and play food away when done playing.
5. Cut three sections of the paper towel tube to make three handles. I made one wider for the oven handle. Glue these on the top oven door and cupboard doors with craft glue.
6. Glue the black felt on the top counter area above the oven and make two red circles with your red felt. Glue the two red circles on top of the black felt to make the stove top. You can also glue some milk bottle covers on the side to make the stove top controls. 
7. For the sink get your stainless steel bowl and cut a smaller circle to insert the sink. 
8. I had an old kitchen tap which I used as a sink tap, this of course is optional.

I love Spring!

We had a lovely weekend, the weather was just perfect! Rob and I were cleaning the gutters and eaves through out the week to get them ready to paint. So today we started painting the eaves and downpipes all white, we decided the gutters looked good enough once cleaned up. It's amazing how some paint can make such a difference, we are not done yet but it is already looking like a different house.

Yesterday Aline came by to visit us, I was very happy to see her and Nina because we haven't seen each other for over 5 months. It was a nice surprise when she left me a message in facebook saying she was coming to Perth for the long weekend. She spent the afternoon with us, Nina and Luke were all hugs and kisses; very cute! Tania, Glen and the boys came by in the end of the afternoon also for some hot-dogs, it was great to see them because we also needed to catch up. So our Saturday was a day with good friends, simple food and great weather, I couldn't ask for anything better!

Today while Rob was finishing painting, I took Luke to Lansdale Farm (petting farm) so he could work in peace and Luke could be entertained for a couple of hours. We had some great news also form Kel, she had a beautiful, healthy baby boy, so in the end of the afternoon Luke and I went to visit her in the hospital (which is three blocks away from my house, handy or what?). I got a little teary when I was holding the little bundle of joy, I must admit that I miss the baby phase even with the sleeping deprivation. It was so great to see Kel and Harley so happy with their little angel. Well that's all the news for now, enjoy all the photos from the farm and Kings Park. Take everyone!

Home Sweet Home!!!

Its been really busy around here in Oz. So many big events going on that I don't even no were to start. First, a month ago we received notice that the owner of the house we are living at the moment was having issues with the tax department. Because of this he will be needing to move back into the house in January 2010, so we found our selves homeless! So we started at full gear looking for a new rental place and re-thinking the whole, "lets wait another year to buy a house". So we started looking into sale properties and rental. After some search in the past two weeks we found an affordable 4 by 2 in a good neighbourhood, just walking distance from my mother in law. Its a great location, the neighbourhood is very green with loads of beautiful parks. The schools in the area are one of the best in Perth so for Luke this will be very good. The house is only a short walk to the shops and almost in front of the house there is a small park with huge gumtrees and a little playground for Luke. It is also in a cul-de-sac which means no big traffic so if Luke wants to play on the street he can. The house itself is on a big land 736 square meters (for Brazilian standards this is not very big but for Dutch standards this is huge!). It has an awesome big back yard with two peach trees, one mandarin tree and one lime tree so loads of "caipirinhas or margaritas" in the future. The house inside is very tiered, it needs a good scrub and a good paint job. A new kitchen is also a must in the house and floors too. All in all its a great house with so much potential, so we bought the house!!! I am very excited because its my first property and its all mine which makes a big difference from renting all the time. We got a good price for it and because we need to gut the inside we can change and do what ever we want. So very very exciting times to come ahead, I made some pictures of the inside and as you can see there are still tenants in the house but they will be gone by next week. So we probably will get the keys in December. So will start a DIY section on my blog with all the before and after photos to inspire anyone doing some renovations or thinking of renovating.

Second big event around here was Luke today, he started crawling backwards or pushing himself backwards. So he is mobile now, which means for me more work in getting the house baby prof, so I guess in a couple weeks to come he will be crawling.

Third big event was my brother in laws first photographic exposition in an art gallery. He was in the newspapers and all. That was last night, Rob and I were very proud of him and already ordered our Christmas presents (just kidding)!!

Yesterday was Halloween and we spent it at Tania's and Glen's place. It was so funny Tania had dressed up as Princess Leia from star wars, she looked awesome!!! Glen was Count Dracula, rob and I just didn't have the time to really dress up though, but we had a great time. The boys smashed a pinhata and had a blast with the treasure hunt. Unfortunately forgot to take my camera so no pictures...naughty Alex. So very busy weekend, now we are leaving to have brunch with Rob's uncle and the rest of the family. We all are going to say goodbye to one of Rob's cousins who is leaving to South of France to work as a wine expert in a winery. Have fun with all the new videos and pictures of Luke and the new house.

First time at the beach!

Here in Oz we had a long weekend which was pretty full on. On Saturday we spent the afternoon with Tania, Glen and the kids. We went to the park near their house and Glen and Rob entertained the kids with a bottle rocket launcher. It was great and all the kids in the park were very intrigued by the rocket. Glen made a video and its on facebook (don't know if the link will work) for those of you who want to check it out. Luke had his first time on a swing and he just loved it.

It was a wonderful sunny day on Saturday and on the Sunday the weather was even better. Around midday on Sunday we met Aline, Paco and Nina for lunch at the beach. We had lunch at Trigg beach cafe and the food was the best I had since arriving in Perth. The weather was just wonderful, 26 degrees Celsius!!! So after a long winter we finally manged to go to the beach and soak up the sun a bit. Nina and Luke saw the beach for the first time and cried when we put them on the water, I guess the water was still too cold for them. Luke was just mesmerised by the beach with its birds , sand and sea. The sun was pretty strong so I had to slime Luke with sun protection and keep him in the shade for most of it, but still it was just wonderful day.

Monday Luke and Rob spend the day at Grandma's and I stayed at home having some time for myself, unfortunately didn't get to do any crafts because the house was a mess and it needed some good cleaning. Managed to do so much, I forgot how easy it can be to clean the house when you don't have a baby interrupting you every 10 minutes!

I also started a scrapblog a while ago and thought it would be great to share it with all of you. I am doing this for my family so I can print it out when Luke turns one, so they can have a photobook of Luke's first year. Its turning out nicely, would recommend the site to any one wanting to do a scarpblog-book. Its a free site and very user friendly, check it out! Well will leave you all here and hope all is well. Enjoy the photos and the scrapblog.

Its Fun to Play and Dance!

Luke is getting funnier by the minute. I had to share the video below with all of you because this little man keeps making me laugh all day long! He is truly a happy baby who loves to play and have fun but it leaves me with no time at all to be crafty and I am starting to miss my machine! Oh, you might be wondering why I have a picture of ducks here but these two little fellows decided to just hang around on our roof one afternoon. I just hope they don't make a nest up there, also Luke was finding this very funny and kept yelling at the ducks!My mom and dad are arriving in Perth on the 10th of October so I just cant wait for them to be here with us and share with us our special moments. My mom will see Luke for the first time,she has seen him through photos and video calls but not in person so he will be a very spoiled little man in a couple of weeks time. I hope you enjoy the video and photos! The photos you just click on it and will take you to my web album. Will hopefully be able to post some crafty things soon!

Funny faces

Bath Time!

Having fun with Grandma

Its Play time!

Luke is growing so fast that it seems like ever day he is learning something new. His grandmother found some old toys that where from my husband when he was a bub! So Luke got some exciting vintage toys to explore. His favorite is the ball with shapes which he still cant find the corresponding shape to fit into the ball. But he has manged to get a few in when mummy helps him. He just loves it when the shape fits and disappears inside the ball, he goes on and on giggling in delight of his achievement. Luke is also starting to sit on his own but I still keep some cushions around him just in case he loses balance and falls over. After two weeks of the whole family being ill and Luke having to have a trip to the emergency room, its great to see him feeling like himself again. I haven't had the time to do any crafts lately because I was also ill and feeling very run down but hopefully this weekend I can continue to work on Luca's quilt. As you all can see I have changed the look of my blog and I think I am finally satisfied with it. I also added snapshot, which means; in places with links you can see a snapshot of the website, its a pretty cool tool. I hope all of you are well and enjoy the videos and pictures below.

Just Keep Swimming!!!

Swimming is a big part of OZ life so we decided to enroll Luke early for swimming lessons. I think is a great way also for bub and daddy to have some quality time together during the weekend. Also I can go swimming and do some sauna while they are busy with the lesson, so on the end everyone is happy. Luke didn't know what to make of his first swimming and cried a little, his instructor told us that it is normal and by the third time he will start to really enjoy it. By the second lesson he was enjoying it more and cried less. When the lesson is over we change Luke and give him his bottle and before we reach the car he is in a very deep sleep. Its funny because he doesn't even wake up when we strap him in the baby seat in the car and usually he is very light sleeper. So now during bath time Luke starts kicking the same way he does during his swimming lesson and he just laughs away while mommy gets completely wet. So here are videos and pictures of my little swimmer. Also I added the pictures of the little elephant Eli that I made, its my design also which is the first for me. Hope you all enjoy!!!!

Luke Gabriel was born!!!

I am so sorry for my very long silence but I have great news for those who don't already know. Luke Gabriel was born on the 3rd of February at 10:16 pm at the Birth Center. I had a natural labour and it was about 7 hours. For the most part of it I stayed at home and around 6:30 pm Rob took me to the Birthing Center, were I stayed in the hot tube till minutes before pushing my little angel to the world. I had only one shot of morphine for pain relief which was enough for me, I was very lucky; my labour was very fast and I could handle the pain well. Rob took two weeks off from work and they gave him one week paternal leave. It was great, cause I really needed the help in the first month. Now Luke and I are trying to get into a routine. He suffered from colic and also my milk supply is low so at the moment we are working to get my supply up. I never thought one would have this problem, I just thought milk would come poring out, like non-stop! For the rest we are all doing really well, the weather is starting to cool down which for me is a relief. Also I am already planning my holidays in Holland for June cause my brother is getting married. So very busy, as all of you can see, I hope I will be able to update the blog more frequently I will try my best to at least do one post a month. I have done a video of Luke Gabriel, I hope you all enjoy. It's a funny one, he is doing his business and he makes some funny faces, well enjoy. Hugs to all of you!

I have not forgotten my Blog!!

Sorry everyone for the long silence, but things are just hectic at the moment. Finally managed to download some pictures to the web. As you can see here I am and I am getting bigger and bigger by the minute! So we finally have are own house and how I missed my own things and my bed and my space after two years on the road. We are still unpacking boxes and the house still looks like we just moved in but we are slowly getting there. I have not started to arrange the baby room yet so it will probably be ready when the baby is 15 years old or something hahaha!!

For the rest I am healthy and the little one too, he is so strong that he kicks and leaves me sore for a couple of days but I am not complaining the midwife said is a very good sign that he is active. Rob and I are starting our labour and parent classes on the end of the month and I cant believe there is only 13 weeks to go it is sooooo scary. I am learning how to drive and that is scary too not only for me but everyone else on the road! It took sometime for the Internet to get connected that is why the long silence and also with the new house, learning how to drive and having some social life there were not enough hours on the day to update my blog. Will put more pictures up soon don't worry...the four slide shows that I have added bellow are of The Move, Zoo Trip with Tania and the kids, Making Proggy With Grandma and Belly Pics. I hope you enjoy...the proggy one and the belly picture were taken today. I miss everyone very much and I promise not to neglect my blog for so long!!!! Have fun...

Baby on board: Jumping Bean

I am aware that many of you had no idea of the great news that I am about to tell you! After a year of trying and with some sad results along the year; we are finally pregnant!!!! Yes I am 12 weeks pregnant and just had my first ultrasound yesterday! For some reason I didn't believe it was true till yesterday, after seeing my little peanut I was sure enough that he/she is here to stay. I changed its name from peanut to jumping bean because throughout the ultrasound it kept jumping around and having fun while we were watching. Jumping bean is about 5 cm at the moment, it has all its limbs and is healthy. Rob and I were so surprised because we expected not see much with the ultrasound (we thought we would just see a little blob hahaha) but than there it was a perfect mini baby with its little hands waving at us! We found out that I was pregnant a couple of days before leaving to our honeymoon in Brazil. So I didn't even go see the doctor because I was just scared that something would go wrong again so I decided to wait. I just enjoyed my honeymoon and just when I arrived here in Perth Australia did I go to the doctor. They did all the tests and everything is fine, which gives me an immense relief. For the rest everything is fine over here DOWN UNDER. The first week we just slept a lot and since then ts been non-stop with all the immigration papers. We bought a new car last week, a Subaru outback 2008. We are also at the moment looking for houses because we are staying with Rob's parents at the moment. Rob is looking for employment too. So everything is slowly arranging itself. Well this is all the news I have to give you all. Rob and I are very happy with the baby, I am sure all of you are too! Well enjoy the pictures of jumping bean bellow:

The photo above is from Kim Mallroy photographer.