Tape

image from notemaker.com.au

Well, life got in the way of posting in May. We've had lots going on this past month...a new nephew, my birthday, my son's birthday, my sister's birthday and what seems like weeks of a household with at least 2 people sick - damn colds.

I thought I'd share an image of the present my two little boys gave me for my birthday...a beautiful, beautiful sticky tape dispenser. Infact the most beautiful sticky tape dispenser I have ever seen.

I saw this tape dispenser on NoteMaker a while back and absolutely loved it. The Mr remembered and sneakily bought it for my birthday. Such a fitting gift to be given from my sons. #1 LOVES sticky tape.

I keep telling him that I love the gift he gave me and he keeps insisting that he did not give me Spencer. Still doesn't quite understand what dispenser means....

Hot days, warm nights

image from www.alwaysmod.com

It is going to be 43 degrees in Melbs today - too hot to do anything except sit on the couch and whinge about the heat.
In more crafty news: I'm thinking about my next big project. My sister just got engaged (!) and I want to make her and her hubby-to-be a quilt. I'm struggling to pick a pattern that will stand the test of time. This will be their wedding present and I don't want them to look at it in a few years and think 'Oh gawd! How 2010 is that?!'
She recently bought this beautiful Marimekko fabric and plans to turn it into a spot of wall art. So I'm thinking that I'll use Scandinavian-esque fabrics in the quilt. Anyone out there with some good ideas for a pattern, please let me know! I'm keen to get cracking on this project, the sooner I decide on the pattern, the sooner I can shop for fabrics...

Golden hammer

We don't have many traditions in our little family. A few years ago the Mr and I decided to do away with all the tacko meaningless christmas decs and instead each of us bought one decoration that we really loved or meant something to us. Over the years we've continued to do this and as our family has grown, so has the decoration box. There are only two rules to follow:
1. each person has to contribute something to the tree
2. the decoration has the person's name and the year on it
The 2yo is all about tools. He loves 'fixing' and helping Dad. He is the only 2yo I know with two working drills. This year his contribution to the christmas tradition is the golden hammer. A friend of mine made it for his birthday, originally it was a badge (which he proudly wore) but somewhere in the chaos of this house the pin has gone AWOL. We've turned the badge into his 2009 decoration. It looks great on the tree. Each christmas it will be great to pull out the golden hammer and remember the things he loved to build and fix with his tools. A little trip down memory lane.

Losing the art

The days of receiving a handwritten letter in the post are pretty much gone. While I'm the first to say that I couldn't live without email, I do love the idea of checkingthe mailbox and opening up a letter on lined paper in somebody's scrawl or beautiful penmanship. The only handwritten letters I get now are from the Mr's grandmother. I really love getting her letters - they are super old school and contain (way too much) info about her health, the garden and her neighbours. Letter writing is therapeutic isn't it? I think the reader gets as much pleasure as the writer.
I always have good intentions on pulling out the lined paper and writing a long letter back but time gets the better of me and I end up typing a letter. Sad to think I can type a lot faster than I can write.
This letter is waiting to be mailed. Hope grandma pulls it out of the mailbox, smiles, sits down at the table with a cuppa and enjoys it.

Kissy Saturday

Today my little one learnt how to kiss! For a while, he's opened his mouth right up and every now and again, he'll press it up against my face and give me a big wet mark. But today I made a kissy sound at him and he turned around and gave me a (wet) kiss. It was soooo cute. Then the Mr said, 'Herb, give me a kiss' and what did he do? Planted one right on his lips.
We took advantage of the 10 minutes of Melbourne sunshine today and went to the zoo. What a different experience that is with a small person. We were there for 70 minutes and we pretty much saw everything (minus the birds...shudder).
Although the zoo has animals of the exotic variety, Herb's favourite seemed to be the carp swimming around near the otters. I must say, he took it very well when the lions roared and was very gentle when the kangaroo put a paw on his leg and sniffed him.
What an adventure it was. Happy days.

Image from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Lions_-_melbourne_zoo.jpg