Sweetie's POV

I found some photos that Sweetie took on my phone and thought I would share them here. 

A new duyvken

It won't surprise you, dear reader, to learn that my Mr Duyvken and I are very fond of children. We love them squishy and new when they have to use their whole forehead to open their eyes; we love them when they are toddling; we love them when they are little kids with home readers and big laughs; we love them when they graduate to big kidness with big kid friendship dramas and a growing sense of who they are; and I am pretty certain we'll love the teenage stage we are just getting to with G. It has it's own beauty in amongst all that kik/instagram/mobile phone negotating. We really enjoy the raucous family that we've created and the chaos and love that surrounds us. We feel very intensely the passing of time and know that so much that is truly good in life is swiftly fleeting. I think, in a weird way, we even enjoy the hard work that is required to keep things afloat around here.
So, in the spirit of 'do what you love', 'hard work reaps rewards', 'life is short', and 'kids are awesome' we have decided to welcome one more baby into our family. The newest little duyvken is due in September which makes me about 26 weeks pregnant. Third trimester here we come!

Baking

Eating scones hot from the oven on a wet weekend after soccer is bliss.Almost worth the cleanup required after baking them with my two eager assistants, JW and Sweetie.

Making

G's doona came with two matching pillow cases but we've only ever used one so I've had a spare pillow case kicking around in the linen cupboard for a while. I finally pulled it out, cut it up and made a quick log cabin cushion cover. This only took an hour, fits a 45x45 insert and is perfect for leaning against to read, kik friends or play sugar sugar. 

She loves it. I think I'd be happier with it if I had thought to separate the warm and cool colours to opposite sides of the block. I'll have to try that next time.

There are so many great log cabin variations, I am sure I will be making another again soon.

Tapping Toes

J has moved up into the intermediate tap class and that means a new time slot too. Instead of 4:45 to 5:30 he is stomping from 5:30 to 6:30 and that means a change in schedule for everyone. We used to go straight down from after-school band practice but now we come home after band, eat an early dinner and then I head out just with my lads, and Sweetie and I hang out together while J shakes the hall with the rest of his class (a dozen kids tapping is LOUD). 

It still feels pretty late to me given how dark it is outside but Sweetie and I have a few tricks up our sleeves to help pass the time. Sweetie likes the toca boca games on the ipad.

...I'm a little more old-school in the front seat, although Sweetie is so chatty I don't actually get much reading done. 

Mellow Yellow

Mellow: reading time for all the little duyvkens after dinner on the days that we're not running around for after-school activities.

Mellow: a little stitching time for me, making a new cover for our spare booster seat. It lives in the boot of the car and comes in handy when friends come over for a play or need a lift home from soccer.

Yellow: new shoes for me. (And a photobomb from Molly).

Anzac Day

I took the little duyvkens for a bushwalk this morning. We are very lucky to have some great tracks just a short walk from our house and this is our favourite one. It leads to an oval which is a great spot for a picnic so we had a rest and ate some apples before heading over to Oma's house for lunch. I only snapped a few photos but I am glad I lugged the camera up and down the track because I love this photo of my two lads.
Mr Duyvken was at The Australian in Manhattan watching the AFL Anzac Day match and I was here with only my little ones and the sounds of the birds for company. Certainly two very different ways to mark Anzac Day. Lest we forget.

International Women's Day

Yes, I know that was a while ago but I came across such a great photo on Lynn's blog that I was prompted to share my own photo. This was taken by one of our friends who, while attending parent/teacher night at his daughter's school was surprised to see my face up on the wall.

Turns out that his daughter (one of my wonderful god-daughters) had to do a project on a woman who inspires her for International Women's Day. She didn't pick Quentin Bryce or Dr Fiona Wood (they would have been much easier to research thanks to Google) she chose me. I was quite taken aback when I found out about it. Quite delighted too, of course. So, be good in all you do, dear reader, someone is always paying attention. 

WIP

A stroller quilt for a new baby boy. I made a quilt for his big sister (blogged here) so I really can't leave the little fellow waiting too long for one of his own.
Famous last words, right?

Sunshine after Rain

Yesterday was a season turner. The rain was torrential and very cold. Hour after hour it poured from the dark sky beating all the warmth out of the air and leaving a chill behind. Today is sunny again but the warmth has not returned. Autumn has arrived.

The afternoon light streams in our bedroom window inviting me to lie down and to take a little nap but there are no naps for me at the moment. Mr Duyvken is away on a work trip and it is going well but I am missing that extra pair of hands on the weekend and having him here in the evenings. One week down, one week to go.
Next Sunday afternoon that beautiful light is all mine.

The 3 P's of Holiday Entertainment

Puzzles, pinterest and playdates.

Rock Pockets

I finally finished the picnic quilt I've been working on. It is a very simple squares quilt, tied with embroidery thread and bound in brown gingham.

I couldn't resist the brown gingham. It took me right back to childhood when I saw it in my local quilt shop. I am sure I remember doing a simple cross stitch on a placemat sized piece of gingham that was exactly this shade of greyish brown sometime in the late '70s. It spoke to me in that wordless whispery way that fabric and books and babies sometimes do and I just had to have it. I really don't know what came over me, dear reader, but I bought several yards of it so you can expect to see it featuring here and there in future projects.

The quilt has a little fabric pocket at each corner that can be filled with stones or sand to help keep it weighted against any breezes that might pick up while we're picnicking. It has been dragged around the yard a lot this week so I'd say it's a success.

There is a tutorial here that does the rock pockets the same way I did.