Reach for the moon

"I'm going to touch the moon mama!" Ella exclaimed as she grabbed the rake so that she could reach further.

Bless you baby girl, I hope you never stop trying to reach for the moon.

xx

A springtime wedding cake

When a good friend of mine got engaged last year, straight away she asked me if I would make her cake.  Knowing that I was going to have a new baby on my hands by that stage I wasn't quite sure if I should say yes or not, but it is such a privilege to make somebody's wedding cake that I couldn't say no, especially to a friend.

I'm completely self taught when it comes to cake decorating and I am always so nervous when making a special cake like this.  There's so many things that can go wrong.  Along the way I have just learned to make sure that I plan well and make the cake with at least a day up my sleeve in case of any unforeseen issues.

For the last week I have been baking cakes (orange and poppyseed, chocolate mud and white chocolate mud cake).  I ganached them all yesterday and covered them in fondant last night and today I constructed the tiers and added the ribbons and pink roses.  I think it looks absolutely beautiful.  Perfect for a springtime wedding and it suits the bride perfectly.

I don't usually get to see the faces of the people I get to make the cakes for on their special days but I am fortunate enough to be attending the wedding on saturday and I can't wait to see the bride's face when she sees the cake for the first time.

Now I just have to get the thing to the reception!  Delivering the cake is by far the thing that I hate most, especially a whopper like this.  I'm not sure how much it weighs in total but there is nearly 3 kilos of chocolate in the ganache and 1.5 kilos of fondant, that's 4.5 kilos alone, not including the weight of the cakes themselves!  I will be nursing that thing in my lap like a precious baby come saturday.  I will be packing on the deodorant because I know that I will be sweating around every corner we take until we get there!

I haven't been to a wedding in a while so I'm really looking forward to it, and a night out with Tim without the kids.  I bought a new dress - a sassy red one (I've never owned anything red in my life!) - and I'm looking forward to getting dressed up since my uniform of late has been pyjamas or tracksuits around the house!

I love springtime and I love weddings...happy days!

Cake, cake and more cake

I haven't decorated any cakes for quite some time but of course, when it rains it pours.  A friend from mother's group asked me to make a cake for her son's 7th birthday and although I was tempted to say no because I am busy enough as it is at the moment, I said yes.

The theme was Skylanders and I had absolutely no idea who or what they were but apparently they are all the rage with boys these days.  I couldn't be very creative with my ideas as they gave me a specific picture of a cake that they wanted so I can't take credit for the look of it really as I just replicated it.    It was fun to get back into decorating though.

A very good friend of mine is also getting married this saturday and she asked me to make her wedding cake (I also made her sisters wedding cake).  So this week, I have been in the kitchen baking, ganaching and dusting coloured roses.  Thankfully mum has been able to come over and entertain the kids while I work in the kitchen.  Ella has quite the wandering hand when it comes to food in the kitchen and I could just imagine her knocking over one of the cakes or something disastrous so thank goodness for mum and her keeping little hands away (although she has done her fair share of supervised licking of the bowl and spoon after I'm done).

I always get nervous when making wedding cakes.  It's such a huge responsibility and they have to be perfect.  So far everything has gone to plan which isn't always the case.  Tomorrow I will put the fondant on and then stack the cakes (it's a three tier cake).  I can't wait to see the finished product.

I may have a bit of the decorating bug again so I'm even thinking of making gift cakes for Christmas presents to make a little bit of extra money, but that may be a little too ambitious at the moment with two little ones.  We'll see...

A coin purse for Ella

I am an absolute sucker for pretty fabric and I can't walk past a Lincraft or Spotlight store without having a quick peek, even though I have absolutely no idea how to sew.  Perhaps I don't give myself enough credit... I can sew on a button or do a basic hem (the button might not actually line up with the hole and the hem might not actually be straight but it does the trick), but that is as far as my expertise goes, however that doesn't stop me from buying said pretty fabrics thinking that just maybe, one day I'll learn or do something crafty with it.

The other day I was surfing the net and remembered the Purl Bee website which I hadn't looked at in a very long time, but recalled that it had some beautiful craft ideas on it.  I spent ages ogling all the beautiful knitted pieces and sewing projects and wished that I could sew or knit.  I came across the cutest little coin purses and remembered some fabric I had tucked away in the cupboard which would be perfect for that purpose.

While shopping today I walked past Lincraft and ducked in to see if they had any of the coin purse clasps.  They did and they were surprisingly cheap so I decided to buy a few thinking that I could make one for Ella.  Now, as I said, I don't know the first thing about sewing but surprisingly I created the little beauty pictured above in about half an hour, all sewed by hand!  I was most impressed with myself.  It's most definitely not the neatest job but I think it's gorgeous and can't wait to make more with my other scraps of fabric.  Ella loves it and I am thinking of making some for her little friends to give at Christmas time.

Maybe it's time to stop saying 'one day' I'll learn to sew, and actually do it.

Tuppetee

Ella's vocabulary is expanding so rapidly these days that sometimes I find myself shaking my head wondering how or when she learned certain phrases.  It wasn't all that long ago that she only used a few words which was frustrating for all of us when she was trying to communicate but now she definitely tells us in no uncertain terms what she is feeling and what she wants.  I love catching her talking to herself when she is playing so that I can get a tiny little glimpse into what's going on in her little head which is so full of big ideas.

Although she is fairly articulate there are times when she just can't get her point across either because she doesn't  know the words, or because we simply can't understand her.  She quickly angers when she is trying to say something that we just don't get.

The other day I was sitting down with her and she said out of the blue "Tuppetee mama".  I had no idea what she was talking about and it was the first time I'd heard her say it.  I asked her to repeat it, "Tuppetee mama!".  I still had no idea and asked her to say it again.  "TUPPETEE MAMA!!", now she was yelling at me but still I didn't know what she meant.  Then there was screaming and tears.

It wasn't until later that day when I put the kettle on and she said it again, did I put two and two together and realised that she was asking for a cup of tea.  When I asked if that's what she meant she didn't need to say any words, I could tell from the look on her face that she was thinking "of course it is you stupid woman!"

She'd never had a cup of tea before but I got out a small egg cup and poured a tiny bit of my tea into it and filled it up with milk.  She sipped on her cup of tea and after each sip made an "ahhh" sound.  Where on earth she got that from I have no idea but she thinks it's hilarious (and I must admit it is very cute and I always laugh when she does it).

The other day I was shopping and saw a cute little tea set and since she'd been a good girl that week I couldn't resist buying it for her as a reward.  Since then we've had countless tea parties with her dollies and toys and tuppetee has become a regular phrase in our house now whenever we sit down for  a cuppa and each sip is always followed by an enthusiastic "ahhhh" of appreciation.

Lucas: 8 weeks

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Dear Lucas

You are eight weeks old already and although that's only a short period of time, I can't actually remember what it was like without you.  We all adore you, especially your big sister who is always hugging and kissing you.  It's funny to watch you squirm as she does this as it seems like such a typical response from a little brother.

You are a very laid back baby and we hardly ever hear a peep out of you these days (during your first few weeks you had reflux which made you very unhappy but thankfully you seem to be growing out of this).  Over the last two weeks you have perfected your cheeky little smile. You are always smiling and it's the sweetest thing to see.  You're such a happy boy.

You are growing like a champion.  No longer do you have gangly little chicken legs (and let me tell you, you had some of the best chicken legs I ever did see on a baby).  Now you have chubby rolly polly thighs and your cheeks are filling out too.

Sweet boy, you're such a joy to be around.  I am savouring every moment with you knowing how quickly the time will fly and you'll no longer be a tiny baby.

We love you so very much.

xx

Happy Fathers Day

Fathers Day was a quiet affair at our place on sunday.  Tim woke to Ella jumping on him in bed as she excitedly screeched "Happy Father's Day!", something we had been practicing saying for the last two days.  She was most proud of herself for not only remembering that phrase, but also for sleeping through the night (we have been having some major sleep problems lately, but that's another story).

I cooked breakfast, consisting of some locally cured bacon and the biggest pancakes you ever saw.  We laughed that they reminded us of deep dish pizza's we ate in Chicago.  I'm not quite sure what happened to them or why they were so huge but Tim liked them none the less.

The rest of the day was spent playing in the backyard.  Ella was riding her bike so Tim decided he would get his mountain bike out and join her.  It was hilarious watching them ride together and watch Tim try to teach her how to do wheelies and other tricks.

Watching Tim playing with our babies makes me unbelievably happy.  I never thought I could say that I loved him more than the day we got married, until I saw him hold his children for the very first time.

Happy Fathers Day.