Happy Birthday James

More Enid Gilchrist Designs

I'm a HUGE fan of Enid Gilchrist pattern books. This is one of my favorites. I made one for Rose last night and redrafted the pattern smaller this morning and have made one for Lilly too.

The fabrics came from an Op-shop in Port Pirie. I lined the tops. And they are fully reversible with snaps at the back. I altered the pattern slightly by adding an extension at the centre back so it can be buttoned. In the original pattern the back is fitted with a zip.

Redrafting it smaller for Lilly was easy. I left the width the same I narrowed and brought up the neckline, adjusted the depth of the armholes, and shortened the shoulder length.

I still have one more to make for Fern. I'll make her's using the pattern I drafted for Rose as the girls are similar in size and the design is pretty flexible in fit.



The girls can wear their new tops tomorrow when we go to visit Nanny.

All up the three smocks cost about $6 to make with the op-shop fabics, thread and snaps.

Pressies!

This HUGE box arrived in the mail yesterday:



It was from a very good friend and her family. I opened the box to find a letter which outlined the wrapped packages and who they were for. Josh,our Dear Friends son, explained in the letter who each gift was for and why he had chosen it.

After the kids had had their bath we sat in the lounge room and I handed out the gifts one at a time. It was like Christmas again!



I got the first present as my name was at the top of the list.

Me - Winnie the Pooh patchwork fabric precut ready to assemble into blocks and some Clinique cream.

Fern - Tamogochi. Josh thought she could play with it in the school holidays.

Rose - A new clock, Josh had remembered Rose had broken hers and thought she's like a new one.

Fern and Rose - some nice lip gloss in colours to match their gifts.

James - a pair of Walkie Talkies for james to play with Liam maybe

Liam - a cool set of shorts and t-shirts the same as the ones Josh had and really likes

Lilly - a Nemo fish toy .. Incredibly noisy ..watch out Josh's mum! Tracy is planning a noisy toy for DK in return :D

Michael - the cutest little shoes, a crochet wash cloth and a pile of clothes which were once Josh's as a baby.

And for Mummy and Daddy a bottle of Port for those cold winter nights we get here.

At the bottom of the box there was also a little book for each of the children. Lilly got a special one called "Lily" and it was about a fairy.


Thank you so much Josh's family ;D. They were beautiful and very thoughtful presents!

How to be a Badass Dad

How to be a Badass Dad

I've been reading Sol Smith's reflections on parenting. A lot of great advice here without the "I know it all" attitude of many parenting "experts".

Sol's writing is as relevant to mothers as it is to fathers. He makes me think and examine my own parenting.

Do I model the behaviour I want my children to emulate?
No not all of the time.......

Do I try to understand why my children behave the way they do? Do I empathize with them?

Not as much as I'd like too.

Do I remember the importance of Fun ?

This so speaks to me:

Resist the knee-jerk reaction. Orchestrate your day without the use of hostility. Remember to show your kids who you want to be, and it will be much easier to become that person.

Not as much as I'd like too...