Albany Creek Postscript: 2013

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

World Teachers' Day

The last Friday in October came around again so quickly!

A whole year ago I made these 'smart cookie' gifts,

so this year I went with a different pun.

I used greetingbee.com to make some flat cards in 2 different colourways

(the Yr 7 son has a male teacher, the Yr 4 boy has a female).

The card has the teacher's name and the message

"Take a break and celebrate...World Teachers' Day".

The pun line is...

Hopefully they worked! I used a really simple brownie

recipe from taste.com.au that I often use - it's here if you need

a quick reference.

*The secret to good brownies is to use real chocolate.*

I packed up three big brownies with greaseproof paper

between and around them into paper treat bags

with the cards attached to the front. Then I finished with

a bow in toning ribbon. The kids report that the gifts

were well received!

P.S. "A good teacher must be able to put himself in
the place on those who find learning hard." Eliphas Levi

A good teacher must be able to put himself in the place of those who find learning hard.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/eliphaslev130396.html#GyYhdXOw8OIBRUYx.99

Middle son has the last family birthday of the year, but we have lost most of the
photos of the big day. Luckily some from the afternoon were still on the camera
when the laptop hit the floor, so I thought we should at least
make a blog record for posterity.

He always has a great day as his birthday falls in the school holidays.

This year he celebrated with a sleep-in and presents, yummy treats for morning tea

and a mud cake in the afternoon. (The main event cake was to come on the

weekend when his grandparents visited.)

The birthday person gets their choice for dinner, and he chose

the Coffee Club (with Mum).

This was the special cake for the weekend BBQ with Nan and

Grandad and the cousins...

A rainbow cake! It was originally supposed to have fondant icing all over

(like the one he saw on Pinterest) , but we ran out of time. It was delicious

anyway, as I made each layer a different flavour.

One happy birthday boy!

P.S. "Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional." Chili Davis

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/growing_up.html#plIBC5go0yVSRKht.99

Thursday, October 3, 2013

D'oh!

You may have noticed a distinct lack of posts lately.

That's because I'm alternately grieving a loss and berating myself

for my own stupidity. (This process takes time!)

The hard drive on my laptop recently met a sticky end, and because I hadn't backed

up my photos for quite a while, I have lost many of them.

source

Luckily, I do send photos to family members and use Picasa

web albums, so I haven't lost every last thing.

But it's a timely reminder to BACK UP YOUR DATA, especially photos.

P.S. "The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing." John Powell

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Minecraft Party...

Thought I'd show you some details of the 10-year old's party,

as we did have a theme.

(As all my kids have turned 10, they have had a big party with 10 friends.

This has given us time to save up for something a bit more special than just a movie

or sleepover with a friend.) This boy wanted a bowling party, but he also had a special

cake request after seeing a baker on YouTube here - a Minecraft melon cake.

This being the case, I though we could carry the Minecraft computer game

theme through to the rest of the party as well.

It started with the invitations...

a Minecraft scene and the guest's name edited in Picasa
on a brown envelope...

with an 'Are you coming?' message on the front and the party details on the inside
of a brown card. These went out 3 weeks before the party.

I found some green paper treat bags at a discount shop and printed out
some creeper faces to glue on the front. I filled the bags with various treats
that match up to items in the game, like cookies...

eggs, melon, milk, apples, and mushrooms...

TNT (otherwise known as red licorice)...

and building blocks (choc honeycomb, jersey caramels,
rocky road squares and pineapple lumps)...

packed into glassine and cellophane bags. I also included a
little maze puzzle (with a minecraft pic glued on the back)...

a compass, a party whistle and a bird balloon.

(The guests were thrilled with the haul!)

I also got a great Minecraft party printable pack on Etsy
here that included drink bottle wraps,

a banner, a party sign and a 'thank you' for the back of the treat bags.

I made a whole heap of these little cubes (free printables from here)

as table decorations.

The cake was a triumph...

and it looked fantastic on the inside!

I can safely say that a great time was had by all.

Hip, hip, hooray!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Where did that Decade go?

I can't believe that yesterday marked 10 years since my
youngest son was born.

How can that be? Wasn't I just bringing him home to
meet his brothers a few weeks ago?

But here we are!
The day started with gifts and a special breakfast...

a special addition to the back yard...

and cake for afternoon tea after school.

Hope you had a wonderful day R.

Back soon to show you the interesting gift
he requested this year!

P.S. "Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age." Jeanne Moreau

Friday, August 9, 2013

Seen and Felt...

My crafty Mum recently felted a lovely woollen jumper, and gave me
a piece of the sleeve for a phone case.

I recently got a smartphone, and my old dumb-phone case that I made
was just too small, so here's the new one...

Mum was sweet enough to sew up the bottom and add a velcro closure tab, but the
sleeve was a bit too wide for my phone. Rather than un-pick the sleeve seam and
re-size it, I decided to add a padded lining with space for my stylus as well as the phone.