Hmmm, can I come up with valid excuse for not posting for two months (I really hadn’t realized it was that long!), well, probably not, but there has certainly been a lot going on around here.  On Monday I will be teaching my first after school art class as my own boss, yes I am officially self employed!  After some last minute issues with having to change location and consequently a delay in any advertising, I have enough students to run primary school age classes this term and I will be expanding into preschool classes next term also.

I am very excited about it all, and finally I can spend the time I want to on planning and preparing for art classes without feeling like it makes the whole thing financially unviable and now I am the first to know what is happening rather than the last.  I have some really fun projects planned for this term and have been able to divide the age groups rather than having to cater for 5-12 year olds in one class!

Ella has been showing interest in art in the last month or so and has decided she would like to do classes as well.  She has previously been interested only in the occasional one session holiday programme so I am happy that she will be coming along and I will get more pictures to hang on our new art wall in the recently painted hallway.

There has also been Ella’s sixth birthday (a breakfast pancake party) and Easter of course.  So after this week, I am hoping things will quieten down, but then there is holiday programmes to think of, next terms classes to plan for, advertising to organise, sooo many things to make and sew, Phoebe starting Montessori, PTA meetings, gymnastics, jazz classes……………the list seems neverending!

Ella’s front tooth, which has been getting progressively wobblier for weeks and has been sitting at an awkward angle for days, has finally broken loose, with some help from some small fingers.  I have no choice now but to admit she is actually growing up and will not remain my little girl forever, a theory I was quite happy having blindly believing in!

But it did give me an excuse to make a tooth fairy pillow which seems to have been accepted as suitable by Ella, though not very interesting when competing with the excitement of losing her first tooth.  But I guess it serves it’s purpose, despite my hurried,wonky stitches.

Today’s wee experiment, a small babushka drawn with Crayola fabric pens.  It turned out ok but I would definitely colour it in heavier to get a smoother finish next time.  Having said that Phoebe took an instant shine to it and is totally convinced that it is Lucy from Little Bear (one of her favourites)  - I don’t see the similarity myself, maybe the black hair?  Oh well, she is thrilled!

My main memory of these little winged cakes is from when I was about four years old and going to a dress up day at kindy when the night before I changed my mind about what I wanted to dress up as & decided I wanted to be Little Red Riding Hood and of course butterfly cakes were the only acceptable thing to carry in my basket.  So Mum (and she reminds me of this semi-regularly) had to come up with a costume and red cape and stay up making butterfly cakes for my basket.  I do remember leaving the house the next morning feeling  very Red Riding Hoodish and being sure that she would have carried nothing else in her basket but but these butterfly cakes covered in a red checked cloth.  Thanks Mum!

While I often think it would be nice to have a white christmas – building snowmen, sitting in front of  a warm fire etc, but a trip to the farm always reminds me that there is nothing not to love about a fabulous summer christmas – digging up fresh potatoes and picking fresh peas and raspberries and the gorgeous flowers that bring so much colour to this time of the year.  Harvesting our own vegies and berries has become a bit of a family tradition in the weeks before Christmas and the girls favourite things to do.  Only seven sleeps to go!

My baby girl is now a big two year old.  I am so looking foward to all the new experiences and fun we will have, and also also a little sad at all the things that will disappear as she grows over the next year.  It is true that children just grow up way too fast but it is so exciting watching Phoebe grow and develop her own very  unique and delightful personality, she is a bundle of fun and mischief.

Phoebe had been hanging out for her birthday for weeks, she seemed to know it was coming despite us not having told her.  She has been singing “Happy birthday to Phoebe” and making birthday cakes out of everything from mashed potatoes with bean candles to rolled socks with toys on top and giving herself “presents” on a regular basis.  So when it actually was her birthday she was a bit shocked at first but soon got into the swing of things and we all had a wonderful family day.