BubbaChic

Relaxing and growing..

A wonderful weekend was had all this weekend - the kiddies because they got to spend some quality time with Daddy, doing Daddy things like trips to the zoo, ice cream shop and the home depot(!) and wonderful for Mummy because I got to spend 2 nights away with some amazing women, in peaceful tranquil surroundings - a complete contrast to the rollercoaster of activity that has swept us along in the past few weeks.

Our time was spent learning and growing in our faith, with a large dose of some unadulterated *girlfriends* time, with a little eating thrown in - and of course, some hardcore sewing was undertaken!

Inspired by my time with some wonderful friends and a very cute pattern from Easy Quilts magazine - I worked on this baby quilt - whilst chatting and drinking vast quantities of diet coke (they offered it free - all day and night...how could I refuse??)

I am a big fan of any Heather Ross fabrics - but I think that the Matreshka fabric is particularly girly and adorable and I have been eager to immortalise it in a quilt. I liked the pattern very much, it was quick to sew up the main bulk of it - and a little trickier to sew other bits - but I can see it being a good pattern to use up scraps in the future.

Regardless of the fact that we have ALOT on this week with the final deep clean of the old house needing to be finished and more upacking to do here, I am eager to join Crazy Mom Quilts Quilt-along and determined that I will be able to fit it in somewhere!!

And now, back to reality!

Winner!!

Using a random number generator, I am pleased to announce that:

Kari - from Alas three lads is the winner of the mini quilt from the bloggy giveaway!! Congratulations, it will be winging its way to you imminently!!

Spring has sprung...

Maddys beans (or are they triffids??) are growing...

Spring backdrop for the nature table has been sewn - courtesy of the new stitchette pattern

...and the Oklahoma sunshine looks like it is going to give us a fabulous weekend on mama's first weekend away without her babes or her hubby!

Banana + Walnuts = Yummmmmy

What better way to show our appreciation to our wonderful friends (and their help with our move) than to try out a new muffin recipe and take advantage of the cute martha stewart boxes that I have been wanting to use!

I stumbled accross the new recipe, whilst at a book sale at our local library -  I found this book: Mary's Bread Basket and Soup Kettle, by Mary Gubser - and whilst flicking through it, I found a number of hand-written comments like 'Excellent - easy to ovenbake!' next to recipes, and that sealed the deal for me.

The recipe was easy and really tasty - always a good combination methinks!

Our first baking session in the new house - its certainly starting to feel like our home...

Transitioning

We moved a week ago today - and have just, in the past few days, started to settle down into life in our new home. We still have boxes to unpack, curtains and pictures to put up - but we are now in a livable condition, without obstacles blocking every hallway and room.

The move seems to have taken it tolls on Joshy, who seems to be very mummified and clingy and is more prone to meltdowns right now than ever before. He has started to sleep better through the nights (thank heavens, I was struggling with him regressing back to newborn sleep!) and we are hoping that more one-on-one time and endless cuddles and reassurance will help ease the transition for him.

Maddy is taking everything in her stride still - although, she does seem to have become a bit more of a drama queen (or DQ as we now refer to that behaviour!) but she seems settled and happy in our new home.

Because of the number of times we have moved over the past 3 years, we are very aware of the drill now - and all the stages which come with moving. There is the inevitable packing up stage and moving day, but there is also a stage in between your whole home being in a box and being completely unpacked - and thats where we are now. This stage is usually defined by a number of things:

1. You know what items you are looking for, but (annoyingly) have not yet located them yet

2. You are able to cook a meal with the minimal cutlery, plates and cooking implements that you have managed to find - but its still not easy!

3. You are having to wash underwear everyday because the location of the underwear box is still to be discovered

4. You are wearing new combinations of items in your wardrobe, because *old faithfuls* are still packed up

5. The kiddies have not even noticed that 2 whole boxes of toys are missing (and don't seem to be missing them one bit!)

6. You keep going to the wrong cupboards to retrieve items you have managed to find a home for

Its starting to feel like home thats for sure - especially after an afternoon of cozying down with the kiddies yesterday and watching the spring thunderstorms - just to remind us that we are still in Oklahoma.

Catch Up Time!

Whew!! Its been a crazy few days!

The move went (pretty) smoothly - but we are still trying to catch up with the dirt and grime, not to mention cobwebs and invasion of ants that we left by the previous renters of our new home - so still lots to sort out.

We have the main rooms of the house starting to get somewhat organised - and everywhere else is filled with boxes and bags, just screaming to be unpacked. In the midst of all the moving mess, I checked the mailbox to find this wonderful little package - and even grabbed an hour of down time on saturday night for some theraputic hand sewing -

The kiddies are enjoying the new house and particularly the garden which is a lot more practical for two active little ones who love to explore. Joshy seems to be having a hard time adjusting to his new bedroom and we have had many a sleepless night since moving in - but I am sure it will settle down soon (this too shall pass, this too shall pass....)

Maddy has just fitted right into her new sourroundings and keeps saying 'Mummy, thank you for my new house!' Adaptable as ever, our Mads!

Well, I better go and continue unpacking, so that walking without sustaining an injury in the house becomes possible!

Giveaway!!

As part of the Spring Bloggy Giveaways, I will be offered a hand crafted mini art quilt to be given away on Monday 28th at 1pm (central)

Just leave a comment and you will be entered into the competition!

Good Luck!

The Home Straight

Moving day tomorrow, so today was filled with lots of packing packing packing! The kiddies helped in the way only a 2 year old and 4 year old know how::

Has my boy aged about 18 months now he has had his hair cut??? or is it just me??!

and the final room to be packed::

A day of box lifting awaits us tomorrow, so I should really get to bed!

Much of a muchness..

Another day with off colour kiddies and more of this::

...meant that when the kiddies were in bed, I grabbed a couple of hours to craft without any real purpose, other then to find my sanity...

Let the madness begin...

Its been a crazy few days, filled with lots of::

combined with a bit of::

and some more::

and just a touch of::

To keep me sane!!

The big move happens thursday, so I think photos will be all I can manage in blogland this week...

Wishing y'all a wonderful week x

Holy Hailstorm Batman

Its funny isn't it, I was wondering when this post  would come back to bite me firmly on the bum - particularly:

"I must admit, we (*ahem* - ok - I) haven't always been this level headed at the thought of severe weather."

Yeah, thats just what I was last night, level headed, when the tornado sirens started going off at 2.30am...

We had been expecting a few storms, what we weren't expecting however, was golfball sized hail, super cell storms coming one after the other, with conditions that worried officials enough to sound the tornado sirens (for twenty minutes?!!!) to alert the whole of the city that we needed to be on our guard - at 2.30 in the morning.

We brought Maddy into the bedroom to stay close should we need to seek shelter and Joshua, who was already in our room, slept soundly through the whole experience - which is incredible, because it was LOUD!!

I managed to take a few shots of the start of the hail storm, which came in the midst of all the chaos::

The hail at the beginning of the storm, piling up at the back patio door

The hail in the front garden - a blanket of white

A very restless night was had by all in this house, so I am looking forward to an early night and lots of sleep, before we do it all again tomorrow night, when we are expecting round 2...oh joy.

Progress is slow

Progress has been slow in the house for the past few days - progress on anything that is! We have the moving deadline of next thursday looming, so I am really feeling like any spare moments should be spent packing the non essentials of the house. However, spare moments are few and far between at the moment - especially when 3 out of 4 members of the house are under the weather.

The weekend was relaxing and filled with togetherness - togetherness of us all spending some quality time with each other, whether it be at our favourite breakfast spot or at the zoo. Togetherness also for Jay and I, with a blissfull few hours to relax and eat out together on sunday.

The April showers continue in Oklahoma (we are currently under a sever thunderstorm!) and Spring is really making an appearance. I am looking forward to getting into the new house and planting some flowers in the garden with Maddy.

A few projects are on the go - including a sock monkey quilt which needs finishing and I also made two baby outfits on friday night for a last minute baby shower:

They are both from the New Conceptions Baby Essentials pattern, which is a good staple pattern for anyones stash.

The plans for this week are packing, packing, packing whilst also trying to finish off some new curtains and entertain my two little (grumpy) people who seem to be full of the snots and alot of attitude right now!

I did have one of those double take moments at the weekend with Maddy - when we were walking past the DVD section of the supermarket - she looked at the veggie tales DVDs and said 'I am so over veggie tales....' *insert sigh and rolled eyes here* I kind of just stopped in my tracks and wondered if I had just really witnessed my 4 year old behaving like a grouchy teen....!

I have a feeling my guys will never cease to amaze me....

Work in progress

Turning 20 yards of this fabric::

Into curtains for the lounge and kitchen, inspired by this lampshade bought in Dallas.

Finishing this lapquilt::

Inspired by this talented mama and these charm squares

and inspiration aplenty, with the arrival of these 2 new books....I am such a sucker for books.