Slip sliding away

Time has got away from me again, and I really have nothing to show for the last couple of weeks except some cute photos of Thomas. These should at least please my mum.



Showing off that one tooth


and splashing in the new big bath



The snow has hardly stopped falling this season, which has been fabulous. We have been given an old sled contraption for Thomas which Warren can pull behind him while he skis. Thomas really enjoyed it, and ended up being so relaxed he fell asleep. I like this because it slows Warren down enough for me to keep up with him.




We are off to Melbourne and to the snow again in the next two weeks, before I finally head back to work. I am looking forward to shopping and creative inspiration in Melbourne - I love that city.



We are still enjoying watching a family of Rosellas, who visit our bird feeder every day. This one is a baby, with its green feathers, which will eventually become just red and blue.

And finally, in this random and rambling post, the lovely Kate tagged me to list 8 facts or habits about myself.

I have been procrastinating about this one, but here goes:

1. I love learning new crafts, and get wildly enthusiastic about every one, buying all the books and paraphenalia, but after I have mastered the basics, and starting several projects, I often find myself losing interest and getting hooked instead on something else. The only saving grace is that most of the time I will eventually come back to that craft and those unfinished projects again one day.

2. In recent years I have tried sewing, quilting, knitting, crochet (didn't get very far with that one) screen printing, batik, marbling, tie dye, mosaics, shrink plastic, silver jewellery, enamelling, acrylic painting, watercolours, pastels, polymer clay, pottery, embroidery and even cake decorating. You should see our garage.

3. I have a thing for animals, and get quite worried when I see dogs roaming around - I always think they must be lost, and have in the past rescued (Warren says kidnapped) a few wandering dogs and taken them to the vet to check their microchip and find their owners. One of these pups happened to live right where I had rescued him from - he was sitting right outside his home. Warren thinks that is pretty funny.

4. I am not a morning person.

5. I have had my drivers licence since I was about 20, but have never quite mastered driving - I still feel like I should have P plates on. Today I was driving Thomas home from childcare, and I got stuck behind a bus, but I was too nervous to change lanes in heavy traffic, so I stayed behind it and stopped and started all the way home. Luckily we weren't in a hurry.

6. I have developed a bad habit of watching Dr Phil while I have lunch. It's a good thing I'm going back to work next month.

7. I can't sit in a cafe or restaurant by myself unless I have something to read.

8. Once I start a book, I find it almost impossible to put down, and I can't do much else until I've finished it. I keep meaning to borrow some talking books from the library, so I can at least get some other things done.

Well that's it from me, time for bed. I won't tag anyone else right now, but please join in if you like.

A busy week

The first days of childcare went pretty well. My initial anxiety was instantly soothed on meeting his main carer, a lovely woman who has worked at this centre for thirty years, and has such a kind and reassuring manner. Thomas loved playing with all the new toys, especially some mobiles strung on elastic from the roof which had colourful shapes and bells attached. Funny how it is often the simplest things that kids enjoy most. I stayed with him the whole time during this orientation period, but next week I will try leaving him there for an hour or two.



Yesterday we went to a first birthday party for one of his little friends. Lovely food and wine for the adults, and amazing toys for the many babies - what more could you ask for! Here is Thomas sitting in the inflatable ball playland thing -at the back. He is now sitting up by himself and almost crawling.

I made a pop up card for the birthday boy. Thomas chewed up my first effort, but this second one worked ok.



The pop up part is very simple but kind of fun with the beak opening and shutting 'talking' as you open the card - I can't remember where I learnt this - I think it was a craft book I had as a child. I've drawn a couple of pictures to explain it at the end of this post, just in case you want to try it.



And, as you can see, after months of us thinking he must be teething, Thomas has finally got his first tooth. I hope the next ones don't take so long!

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Very simple instructions for the pop up bird card

You make the beak on one layer of paper, then stick it to another backing card and decorate - you can add a layer of a different colour behind the beak for the inside mouth colour. Have fun!

The Ski Season is upon us

I have become a very bad blogger over the last few weeks - I'm blaming it on the ski season, which has well and truly arrived.



We took Thomas to the snow again last weekend, and this time there was plenty of it. Sadly Warren used up the camera batteries on racing photos, so we didn't get any of the very cute Thomas in the backpack laughing as Warren gently skied down a little slope with him. This is the only photo we managed to take - inside the nordic shelter at Perisher.



I had a lovely lunch last week with a friend and her gorgeous little daughter - we went out to the nearby country town of Murrumbateman, on a beautiful crisp sunny winter day. This is a photo just outside the restaurant. Thomas really enjoyed having a little friend sharing the back seat and entertaining him, and both kids behaved amazingly well.



The cable knit jumper is progressing slowly - I've finally finished the back. I'm already starting to worry about whether I will have enough yarn to finish it. Our local shop has run out, so I might have to order some more.



Thomas has his first morning of childcare tomorrow. I think he will love it - fingers crossed.

Now to go and catch up on all the blogs I've missed reading over the last weeks.