What's in a name?

As parents we thought long and hard about each of our children's names. Firstly I didn't want any names that started with M because I didn't want any M&M's! Also once I had used a letter to start someones name no-one else's name could start with the same letter. I also didn't want them to be really weird names that no-one had ever heard of, but I didn't want them to be so common that everyone had the same name.

Anyway, lately Amie has started to write her name AMY, instead of AMIE. When I asked her why she did that she said it was the short version of her name and she liked it better. Well it's only one letter shorter so that wasn't a good enough argument. I told her about when we choose her name and how we decided to spell it and that you can't just go around changing your name. I've still found her writing like that again but I think she is getting the right idea.

When I was choosing our children's names I also thought about what nicknames would likely go along with the name. Some names I didn't choose because I didn't like the nickname. For example for a boy we like the name Benjamin, but I really don't like the name Ben or Benny so we didn't choose it. It's funny though because Lachlan never really has used a nickname. We don't call him Loc or Lochie, it's always Lachlan. Ever since he was a baby though I have called him Buddy. I remember when my Mum was visiting us when Lachlan was born telling me that maybe I should have called him Buddy instead of Lachlan!

Amie's name can't really be shortened anymore, but I do remember when Grandma and Grandpa Montague came over to visit one time that Grandpa would call her Aim a few times! Buzz also used to call her Beans. I don't actually remember why he started doing this and it was only ever Buzz that said it. He still does it occasionally but not so much anymore.

When Caitlyn came along it took us a little while to actually give her a name. We had a few in mind but none of them really fit. In the end it was between Caitlyn and Rachael. She is definitely a Caitlyn though. There were many ways to spell her name as well. We both wanted it to start with 'C' and I wanted it to be 'y' in lyn. She does get called Cate, which she is fine with. The kids actually say 'cake' and not 'cate' which I think is so funny! Sometimes I play with her and call her 'Catie-weighty' or 'caitlyn-baitlyn' but she always firmly tells me that that is not her name!

Haylie was the hardest of all. We really didn't have a name for her at all. When we came home from the hospital she still didn't have a name. That afternoon we sat around with some friends going through all the baby name books trying to work out the perfect name. In the end Haylie was the one that stuck out to me. When we were still in the hospital she was nearly going to be called Jasmyn. We were even writing in down and working out how we wanted to spelt but it just didn't feel quite right. Again there were many ways to spell it and I love the way that we did. Haylie also has a nickname. Apart from her name being shortened to 'hay' she is often called midget. Again I think it was Buzz that started calling her that. She has always been small and when she started walking she looked really funny because she was so small. It was really funny because sometimes she wouldn't answer to 'Haylie' but you call her 'midget' and she would answer you!

I love all of my children's names and wouldn't change them at all!

Back to normal

So it's been awhile since I posted anything on here so i thought it was time that I got back into it. Christmas is past and so are the school holidays. Everything is getting back to normal. On the kids first day back at school I spent the whole day cleaning the house after it had been total chaos for weeks! It is so nice to be a routine again. As much as I don't like getting up early in the morning it is nice for the kids to go to school and learn and for me to have the time to do everything that needs to be done around the house and have a little bit of time to myself.

Housework is something that I constantly battle with. I hate doing it but I love to have a clean house. I can't win! I do need to come up with a better plan of attack though. I do try hard to do the dishes every night and tidy the lounge room and dinning room. I feel so much better getting up to a house that is clean and ready to start the day. Sometimes though by the end of the day I just want to put the kids in bed and sit in front of the tv for the rest of the night.

I must admit though that laundry is my nemisses. I really hate laundry. No matter how hard I try to keep up with it I just can't do it. I hate sorting it, washing it, hanging is out, bringing it in and folding it and putting it away. basically I hate the whole lot. If I could hire someone just to do all the washing I would!

Hopefully now I will also get some free time to do some craft projects. I have a few things that I'm working on at the moment, mostly for a baby shower that I am planning for a friend. I helps me to have a deadline. Things get done a lot quicker that way. Can't wait to show you.

And just because I don't want to blog without a picture. Here is one with Caitlyn, her cousin Zoe and her friend Monika feeding the ducks!

A visit to Santa

Last Friday night we went into the city to go a visit Santa. Grandma came with us and Poppy ended up joining us as well. While we were waiting for Daddy and Poppy to finish work we went to check out one of the toy stores. Haylie loved it and was going around grabbing things off the shelves and bringing them back to the stroller. Lachlan loved looking at all the Lego. He especially loved one that you made into a quad bike! Amie and Caitlyn loved looking at all the barbies and anything that was pink. When Daddy and Poppy got there we went to visit Santa. There was only a couple of other people in line so we didn't have to wait long. At this Santa you could take your own photos which was fantastic.

Here are Amie and Caitlyn telling Santa their names and ages. They had no trouble talking to Santa.

Then I tried to get Haylie to say Hello............

....... but she wasn't really a fan of Santa! She just screamed and tried to get away. She was ok if I stood inbetween her and Santa, but even then she was still shaking. Lachlan also wasn't a big fan of Santa until he gave out some chocolate at the end.

We then went to another department store where they have a place called Santaland. It was really cool. There was a free train ride for the kids, you could write a letter to Santa or email him, they also had the Polar Express movie playing. We didn't see Santa here but the kids went around on the train, twice. There was hardly any people there so they stayed on for another ride!

After some dinner we headed over to the Magic Cave. Again, we didn't go to see Santa we just had a ride on the carousel and looked in the funny mirrors. Here they are next to the talking tree!

We to the other big toy store in the city and a big book store before heading home. Along the way we looked out for Christmas lights! It was a really fun night out. The kids ended up writing a letter to Santa while we had dinner and they got replies in the mail a couple of days ago. They were sooooo excited to get mail just for them.

Halloween and more!

So here are a few pictures from our Halloween Party! It was a huge hit and everyone had a great time. Mum took more pictures of everyone that was there, these are just a few that I managed to take before everyone starting arriving.

These balls turned out really cool. I got the idea somewhere on the internet. The smaller balls had skittle on them. I used a hot glue gun to attach them so you couldn't eat them. The big one had raspberry lollies that I put on using toothpicks so that they could be eaten.

I love all my potions. I found some of the labels on the net and filled them with coloured water and other lovely looking stuff.

Here is Ballerina Caitlyn. I know this isn't a very good photo. Mum got a better one. She is wearing Amie's ballet costume from last years dance concert.

Here is Ghostbuster Haylie. I very cute a simple outfit. She had so much fun just running around with all the other kids and eating lollies. I hardly saw her all night!

Here is Lachlan in his prize winning costume. He won the prize for best child's costume. He came up with the idea all by himself I just put it all together. He was a dragon, zombie, frankenstein and vampire!!

Here is Amie as a ballerina spider. She didn't want to be a scary spider! Her other legs are hanging by her side, she didn't like them all tied together.

Last, but not least are Buzz and I. We decided to go as Zombie Prom king and queen. The photos don't really show how truly gross we were. I had our clothes outside in the dirt and sun all week. They were all torn and had bits falling off. We had skin peeling off and we had dirt and twigs in our hair. I ended up winning the scariest costume prize!! All in all it was a lot of hard work, but it is always worth it.

And just to finish off here is a present I made for my friends baby shower. So easy and so cute. I found the idea in a couple of places around the net.

Have a great week!

Thoughts

I've seen these in a few place around the blogging world and thought that I would give it a try.

Outside my window . . . a lone girl is swinging on the swing dressed only in her knickers (It's 36c outside today!)

I am thinking . . . about all the things that I want to sew this week.

I am thankful for . . . my Mum for helping me with all my different projects. She always listens to my ideas and helps me work out which way to go.

From the kitchen . . . the dishes are piling up and I still need to think of something to make for dinner.

I am wearing . . . a pink top and olive green shorts and no shoes.

I am creating . . . Christmas outfits for my kids to wear to all the upcoming Christmas events. the first one is the Christmas pagent coming up in a couple of weeks.

I am going . . . Banana's! My house is a mess, my kids are going silly and they are stuck inside because it is too hot outside and I have no idea of what to make for dinner!

I am reading . . . Deception Point by Dan Brown!

I am hoping . . . I improve my sewing skills and actually make something for me instead of always making things for the kids.

I am hearing . . . The fan blowing, children playing in the other room and a cartoon on the tv.

Around the house . . . the laundry is piled up, the dishes are too. I still have stuff outside from the Halloween party to put away, yet all I want to do is sew and be creating things!

One of my Favourite things . . . is going to the craft shop with me Mum and finding wonderful fabric with lots of good ideas of what to create with it!

A few plans for the rest of the week . . . Clean my house, feed my family, exercise and sew, sew, sew!

A picture to share . . . A nice cool ice block on a hot day!

PJ's and Dresses

I can't seem to stop sewing. I love it! I try to do something everyday. Getting ready for the Halloween party has made it hard this last week though. I did make some costumes, but it's not the same. Anyway here are some things that I have finished recently.

The first one is a dress for Amie.  It is like the first one that I did for Caitlyn. I really like how it turned out. Nice and bright for Summer!

The second one I'm in love with. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. I got the idea here. The top half is a t-shirt from Target and the bottom half is a skirt that mum picked up at the Op Shop. I just cut the shirt where I wanted the waist to be, adding extra for seam allowance. I then cut the skirt making sure it was the length that I wanted once it would be added to the shirt, again remembering to add seam allowance. I then gathered the skirted and sewed it to the top. Then it was just some embellishment. I added a wide ribbon around the wait to hide the seam and I put a couple of ribbon bows on the sleeves to finish it off.


The third thing is some pj's for Amie. All the flannelette was on sale at Spotlight so the kids got to choose their favourite one to make into pj's.  Amie, of course, chose Barbie. For the shirt I made a heart template and then found a good spot to place it. I appliqued it on and then sewed around it. It's been washed a couple of times now and the edges are fraying nicely.

After Halloween I'm going to start on stuff for Christmas. I have so many ideas going around my head. I can't wait to start putting it all together!

My Baby Boy!

In a couple of days my baby boys turns 7 years old! Where have the last seven years gone. From the very start Lachlan has always been the quiet one in the family. As a baby he was so easy going and just went along with whatever we did. Nothing much has changed he is the quietest person in our house and he mostly just goes along with what we do.

Anyway to celebrate I just wanted to share some of my favourite baby photos with you.

I love you Lachlan and hope that you have a really Happy Birthday!!