We have you been all their lives....

I'm a big believer in taking the girls "out" for food, teaching table manners and appropriate behaviours in public is high on my list of lessons. There are the occasions when it all falls apart but most of the time its quite an enjoyable experience.
My local cafe know my girls by name and actually smile when we arrive, scoop up Evie for a cuddle and pass out complimentary marshmallows but unfortunately its not always like this elsewhere.  I totally understand the whole eating out with kids debate but seriously if your respectful of others dining and clean up after any major mess they make it really isn't that hard. Little Eats has a great article here that I totally agree with - if fact while your there and your from Melbourne, pick out some great places to eat as well. Its usually the first place I look when brainstorming for a new place to visit.

We went to Cheeky Chino's over Easter break and all I can say is why hasn't someone done this before. Its totally a great place to start with, if your building your "eating out" confidence. What amazing service, yummy food and most importantly perfect coffee. There were TWO staff actually playing with the girls in the play area while the hubby and I had lunch and somebody helped me by taking the pram to the pram parking area and then helped set us up at the table. The food was just as good as any other high end "hipster" eatery and the fab kids menu had plenty of healthy choices (not a fried food to be seen). We enjoyed a delicious chicken sandwich and toasted foccacia, 4 coffees (yes we went back for seconds) and Lou enjoyed the choice of six different babychinos types and a yummy pink iced tea cake.  The toilets are family friendly with a place to change nappies if needed.

They have thought of absolutely everything here including plastic cups for the water just for the kids and sanitiser for bare feet in the play area. They only negative I can see that once word gets out about this place I'm sure it will be packed daily.
We will be back very soon.
 Linda xx

Photos sourced from Cheeky Chino's facey page  

The Party round-up...

We had a little celebration over the weekend to mark a very special girls first birthday. Rain was predicted all week for our party but thankfully it never arrived. The wind made a mess of my streamer backdrop but that's all that really went wrong so I couldn't complain. The husband and I decided back when Louise had her first birthday that we would go all out for our children's first party. We don't do religious events or the like, so we really wanted a chance to celebrate our child's first year and thank our loved ones for being apart of such a special time in our lives. 

I started planning (and saving) a couple months back - knowing that the guest list would probably tip the 100 mark, I wanted to be as organised as possible.

As overdone as it is .... I couldn't go past a rainbow theme for Evie, its perfect for her. Especially when I saw a custom printables range from Fairydust Stylist Stationary. I love her work and she sets up the most stunning party tables. Here's Evie's Invite:

The husband conveniently has an air compressor (to lovingly clean his beloved bike) so he had no excuse trouble getting 200 balloons blown up so I could try out Design Moms awesome Balloon Banner I found in Pinterest. It looked great in the morning but the wind certainly took its toll on it and became quite bare by the arvo.

 

  

I had a caterer do the food, so only had to take care of the fun stuff ...desserts and cake!! I have been itching to try out THE Rainbow cake - and turned out a lot better than I thought it would.

A week before the party I suddenly realised we would have about 35 kids with not much to do. The best decision I made was ask the Kindy mums if anyone knew a good entertainer - Benny Blitz had just done a session at the local hairdresser for a Shave for a cure fundraiser. He was fantastic - the kids loved his tricks and he had such a talent for making very cool balloon creations. Honestly if an entertainer is in your party budget I totally recommend getting one. It saves the time, stress and hair loss of planning games a million times over.

I did organise a photo booth area though. I wish we had had more time to use it because the photos I did get were awesome. I haven't had the heart to take it down yet. Maybe I can get visitors to pose to I have an excuse to keep it there?

I used the printables again to make up some different Thank you gifts. Chocolates, Cookies and Lolly Bags. A Big Thank you to Susie at Sweetie Darling for doing the cookies (and the gorgeous flower on top of the cake) for me.

 We had a wonderful day and our normally surly little munchkin, didn't give us a frown all day. 

She obviously enjoys being centre of attention.

 

You can see Louise 2nd, 3rd and 4th birthdays here

And we made it....

through the first year as a family of four that is.
Boy! it flew by!!
Our little Evie is turning one TODAY!! I am supposed to be madly getting ready for her big party we are hosting but have suddenly got a few pangs of sentiment.
So I put together a little movie to celebrate our little ones first year of life.

A new love....

my dear blog I have been negelcting you ..... I'm so sorry but I have found another love and just finding it so hard to keep in touch with all my social media bits and pieces.
I promise I will be back but look how fun instagram is.

Do you instagram? 

Leave your profile name so I can see what you've been up to.

Note to self.....

its important to remember to slow down

don't worry about that massive folding pile taking over the couch 

or that there is nothing for dinner and you haven't been to the gym

forget about the to-do list that is much longer than you like it to be

Sometimes its nice to change a day of running errands to just being instead.

You will remember today for the smiles of delight when she realises its ok to get wet and how many special shells were found. 

Making friends with strangers because they have castle building equipment and wiping sand away from tiny little feet.

A fairy party...

Well its taken me all week to start this post and a few bloggy friends have asked how Louise's party went so though I had better get moving. It ended up being quite an event and once again there never seems enough time to take any decent photos so this is the best of the lot.
I love entertaining and really at the moment the kids birthdays are the only excuse I really have. Louise and I made all the decorations and boy was it fun setting up her fairy princess kingdom.
I am still sweeping up rogue glitter 8 days later. She said it was her best day ever so it was probably all worth it.

~A FEW THANK YOUS~

Of course I didn't do it all by myself and wanted to take this opportunity to thank some amazing businesses out there in the handmade community.

First off the fabulosly tallented Cathie from Melbourne Epicure for making the beautiful fairy cake topper and cupcake fondant toppers. Thank you so much - Lou is in awe of her fairy and is most treasured. I'm so sorry I didn't do it justice by making a cake to match - Lou really really wanted icecream cake for the day so icecream cake it was.
Also, I got the scalloped circles I used in the decorating from A Scrap of Paper on Craftumi - Kerri was very helpful and I practically had my custom order the next next day.

I found Party Hire for Kids on facebook - Sue did an amazing job on the balloons she delivered and it was great to be able to have child sized table and chairs.

 

A friend of mine has recently started up a fantastic handmade sweets business with her friend and I was dying to have an excuse to order something. 

Susie made me a custom order of the MOST delicious pinwheel cookies ever. Seriously the hubby and I actually fought over the last one left. You must check out their facebook page. The cakes they have been making are stunning -  but you can order anything from a multi leveled ruffle cakes, cupcakes and gorgeous petit fours. I wish I had ordered more! 

 

You can find them on facebook here but be careful not to drool on your keyboard when you look at the photos...

Louise was lucky enough to have a very special visitor by the name of "Ms. Fairy Floss" all the way from Fairy land, attend her day ~ she really was remarkable. Lou got a beautiful letter in the mail from her a few days before the party and her facepainting skills were wonderful. Having an entertainer for the 20+ kids was the best idea ever and really took the pressure off. It was so nice to actually have a bit of time to enjoy the day.

Also thank you to Louise's lovely Aunties, Nonna and friends that helped her mum on the day too.

Chicken {Heart} Pie

Now that I have some of my cooking mojo back, I thought that I would post
some of my tried and tested favourite meals.
(with both pregnancies I totally lost the ability to cook - it was either burn't or tasteless)


I make this when I want to cook something yummy but can't be 

bothered going to a lot of trouble. Enjoy!

6-8 Chicken Tendeloins (organic if possible) cubed

~I like tendelions because they are not as dry as the breast but easier to cut than the thigh~

1 packet of short cut bacon cut into small pieces

1 leek sliced thin

8 Mushrooms sliced or more if you like them lots like we do

1 Big handful of baby spinach

250gram light sour cream

2 teaspoons Djion Mustard

1 teaspoon Seeded Mustard

1 tablespoon of plain flour

Dash (or more) of any white wine

Salt and pepper to taste

1 and 1/2 sheets puff pastry

egg wash for the pastry

heart shaped cookie cutter

• Gently warm the leeks (careful not to burn them as they go bitter) then add chicken and bacon to brown.
• Add the mushys cook them a little then add the wine and don't forget scrape all the goodness from the bottom of the pan as you stir. Let it simmer a little while the wine evaporates then add the flour, sour cream and mustards.
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Simmer until sauce thickens
• I like to add the spinach last so its not too soggy
• Scrape everything into a pie dish and cover with the puff pastry
• Use the cookie cutter and cut out lots of pretty hearts to decorate the top (you could skip this step but really where's the fun in that)
• Cover in the egg wash
• Place in the oven to cook for about 1/2 hour until warmed through and golden on top.

We usually have this with a lovely big salad

Easy Peasy!!

Four today...

Happy Birthday sweet one!!

I can't believe today you are 4...

Boy it has gone so quickly - you are turning into such a delightful young girl. 

At the moment craft is your thing - you spend all afternoon, cutting, sticking, pasting and drawing. Your creations surprise us - butterflies and presents and what ever else you can come up with.

 You have been writing your name perfectly for most of the year and have now moved onto practising the rest of the alphabet. We have watched your drawings go from lines and circles to perfect little people in dresses with fingers, eyelashes, and matching jewellery. You love your friends - such a little social bunny. Even when your home alone you call them on your "iphone" to see how they are or you play elaborate games with Lucy your imaginary friend.

You have a sensitive little heart and you hate when I'm mad at you... it hurts my feelings you say. 

You are a wonderful big sister and love to make Evie giggle. 

You have developed a love for dresses, parties, princesses and all things pink.

We love you Lulu ~ have a very special day!

Wordless Wednesday: Crazy Car Trips

More fab photos over at Faith Hope and a whole lotta love!

A cake for Martha

My brothers gorgeous girlfriend is off back home to Ireland tomorrow so I thought this occasion deserved a special goodbye cake. Totally loving the mini buntings - they make a perfect cake topper. I've been wanting to try a layer cake for sometime now - this one is was especially yummy. Its Raspberry Ripple Vanilla Cake with Cream cheese Icing and a sneaky layer of crumbled chocolate Flake goodness.

Farewell sweet Martha ~ you will be missed

I'm taking part in Point and Shoot once more over here