Liam's Dr Seuss 4th Birthday

This weekend my little man had his first big party. All his friends from daycare came, we had family, and close friends all emerge on a Dr Seuss filled house...

From top left: Little bottles filled with Liam's favourite Banana Milkshakes or Strawberry Milkshake

"One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Happy Birthday Liam Fish" custom water bottles

"Beezlenut Tree Blossoms" (homemade popcorn) 

fruit kebabs

"Who-Pudding" (red jelly)

chocolate covered marshmellows

"Green eggs" (spearmint leaves), "Pelf Eggs" (Raspberry licorice bullets) and "Ruffle-necked sala-ma-goox eggs" (raspberry lollies) 

cardboard origami thank you boxes containing crayons and Dr Seuss coloring-in and games

and "Rare Who Roast Beast Pies" (party pies) and "Frankenfurter Roasts" (sausage rolls)

The Cat's Hat cake

Naomi from Hello Naomi made the custom cookies which were a massive hit

and of course party games galore. Pin the hat on the cat, pass the parcel and musical statues... he had a constant smile on his little face and Mummy may have enjoyed setting us his party as much as he enjoyed it!.

Sources:

Cookies from Hello Naomi

Little bottles, bamboo spoons from The Little Big Company

Blue striped straws, polka dot cones from Little Red Chick

Custom labelled water bottles from Brewtopia

Fave Foods: Muesli Slice

We tried a new recipe this week, Muesli Slice. The little ones around here love dried fruit and like some muesli bars (mainly the Be Natural brand ones), but nearly all the bars I have found have nuts in them, which aren't cool for a nut-free school. We have tried a few recipes before, but none of us like the ones that use vegetable oil as the binder, so here is a new one using melted butter, honey and sugar instead.

Muesli Slice 

Original recipe here

Ingredients


2 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup crushed weetbix
3/4 cup chopped dried apricots
3/4 cup chopped dried dates
3/4 cup sultanas
250g butter, chopped
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (fan-forced). Grease and line a 3cm-deep, 18cm x 28cm slice pan. Line with baking paper, leaving a 2cm overhang on long sides. 
2. Combine oats, coconut, weetbix, apricots, dates and sultanas in a bowl.
3. Combine butter, sugar and honey in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until butter has melted and sugar dissolved. Bring to the boil then reduce heat to low and simmer until the mixture thickens slightly (about 3 to 4 minutes)
4. Add butter mixture to oat mixture and stir to combine.
5. Spread mixture into prepared pan. Bake until golden (which for me took about 45 minutes), starting to check after 30 minutes.
6. Cool completely in pan. Cover. Refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours until set.

Coming Soon

Crocheted rug made for my babes...

and supplies just arrived to make more thanks to encouragement from my lovely Craft Group peeps.... coming soon

Fave Foods: Orange and Almond Cake

Recipe Source: Souvlaki for the Soul

Delicious moist Orange and Almond Cake from the Souvlaki for the Soul blog, all ready for this afternoon's tea, minus the chef's mandatory taste test slice for morning tea, enjoyed with coffee while recovering from one of "those" mornings. Let's just say it involved a car, a set of keys and something being locked inside the other leaving me and two girls twiddling our thumbs waiting for Daddy to return from the city so someone could get to school. Anyone who knows me knows I loathe being late, and this morning, we were all dressed, bags packed and ready to leave 30mins before we needed to. So much for that.

Anyway, cake makes everything feel better and this is such a simple cake, with only 5 ingredients and highly recommended. Just a warning, you need to boil up the oranges in advance, so you will need to start prep in advance.

Sunday

A beautiful Spring day in Sydney today, spent enjoying the sun and our new big backyard, constructing a raised herb garden and planting vegetables chosen by the kids

And after a lovely morning in the sun, I'm attacking these three long-outstanding quilts I had in a pile hiding in the cupboard, dragging them out to see their progress.

I'm going to start with the Heather Ross squared one at the top, since it's almost done (and since this photo the last blocks sewn together), then the Far Far Away quilt after I cut some more squares and finally the Paintbox which I plan to be my first Queen sized quilt.... scary. Many many squares to cut on that baby.

Saturday

Today I should have been packing Eva and my bags for her trip into hospital for a week. We should have been starting her fasting for her surgery on Monday. I should have been finishing dinners for the freezer for the family for a week. I should have been checking off my list to make sure my Mother-in-Law who was coming to care for Liam and Bella had everything she needed, knew where everyone needed to be etc.

Instead, Dean stole Eva and took her for a walk in her pram to enjoy the sun, Liam and Bella are out on the back patio playing Hullabaloo, and I've just finished making Macaroons. A last minute cancellation by the hospital has pushed Eva's surgery back so her surgeon can instead look after an emergency case.

While I was annoyed that her surgery had been postponed at the very last minute for the second time, I was happy to have an unexpected week at home. Until I found out the Mother-in-Law is still coming, you know because she ignored my instructions to make sure she booked a flight that could be moved if something happened. She's here for a week. The whole week. Starting in about 2 hours time.

Now excuse me while I escape for coffee with a girlfriend before the week begins and devour a plate full of macaroons.

August

August has been busy...

 Miss Eva started solids

Daddy had a birthday

 For Daddy's birthday, Eva decided to start snoozing from 7.30 to 7am every night

 Bella had Book Week at school and went dressed as Dashi the Octonaut from The Octonauts and the Whale Shark

I crocheted a cardigan for Eva in a much bigger size than the last Cecily to accomodate her growing girth using some beautiful Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Tea Rose color (raveled here)

 Eva started rolling (from both tummy and back on the same day, thank you very much)

 I went to Mathilda's market and bought some fabric

I made Eva a dress (Burda 9712) and also myself a dress, but that's in the wash after I wore it the moment I finished making it.

Yep August was busy, and with little Liam's 4th birthday and a birthday extravaganza planned plus the Mother-in-Law here for a week, September is sure to be just as crazy.