Blue Spring Dress

Last year I found some prepackaged material on sale at Walmart. I loved it, so I bought it (its the material that is not blue). Once I got home and took a look at it, there was less there than I thought. So I started to think about what I could make with it. The next time I went to Walmart, I took my material piece with me to see what material I could get that would match it. I found this cute blue. Now that I had my material, I just needed to figure out what kind of dress I wanted to make Cyndi. When I figured out the style I wanted, I was to sick from morning sickness to have the energy to do anything about it. So this week I finally got round to making the dress. And I LOVE it! I really should have tried this pattern earlier, it was so easy.

As usual, Cyndi loves her dress. I think that she just likes being spoiled and being the center of attention. She loves to twirl in the dress and it looks cool when she does.

Discovered

Today as we drove past the dumpster by our apartment, I noticed a 'shiny new toy' that I wanted to investigate. So off we went. This is our first time looking at things in the dumpster. Right on top was a Fisher Price doll house. Perfect for Cyndi. Ben grabbed it, I checked it out and Cyndi claimed it - then started walking back to the apartment with it. It needed a good clean, but other than that, everything is in great condition. Who can beat a nice free toy?

Who needs doll house accessories when you have a lion?

Front view of doll house

Cyndi playing Godzilla with her doll house. She is standing on the second level.

Don't worry, after this shot was taken we explained to her that standing there was not a good idea.

Inside the doll house

Spring?

I think that the weather has amnesia. What happened to Spring?

View from our balcony

MY Mr Perfect

I married Mr Wonderful! Ben has been amazing from day one. Always knowing when to let me cry or when to cheer me up. He is always thinking of little things to do for me that would put a smile on my face. He is fabulous, and MY Mr Perfect!

MY Mr Perfect with MY Perfect little Angle

My 60 year old sewing machine has been acting up lately. Ben knows how much, and how long, I have been wanting a nice new one, but we have never had the money to replace it. And since it can sew a straight line, even though it skips a stitch here and there, the machine I have is still a good one. Well, a few weeks ago my machine started acting up. It would not pick up the bobbin thread and when it did, it would not sew. My Granny is in town and she took a look at it for me. Well it picked up the bobbin thread without a problem, but would not sew. So she got some oil and gave it a good oil. It worked like a dream for about 5 minutes after that. Then it was back to its old tricks. From her experience, she tells me that the motor is about to go. So Option A is to take it to a mechanic and go from there. Or Option B is to replace it.

Easter weekend we are at Walmart and Ben finds something that is just too good to pass by. He calls me over to take a look at it. On the CLEARANCE pile there was fancy sewing machine. It was about 65% off the original price. It was a true bargain. We ask the Walmart associate what is wrong with the machine that it is priced so low. She says nothing. It was just shipping to the wrong store and they don't carry that model so they can't sell it at full price because they don't have a demo model. I really wanted to get it, but money being tight, logic kicked in and I said to just leave it. Then my Mr Wonderful lets me in on a plan that he had been devising from a few months. He had been saving a little bit of money here and there, so when our anniversary comes around next month, he can give me the money and tell me that it is for a new sewing machine. I think of it as my early anniversary present, but Ben is now thinking of something else to do for me.

My new toy! Singer Fashion Mate.

And I absolutely love it!

Thank you Honey! You are always so amazing to me!

I LOVE YOU!

Puzzle With Dad

Cyndi asked Dad to help her with a puzzle. I thought it was so cute.

Notice the Easter candy in the background. Cyndi carried her empty egg cases around in the basket everywhere she goes.

She had to stand in the puzzle to put pieces in it. She found and put in many pieces, I was rather impressed.

Stealing Daddy's Pineapple

Today we had hamburgers for lunch. Cyndi does not like hamburgers very much, but she loves pineapple. I got her some princess noodles in tomato sauce for her to eat, but apparently stealing Daddy's pineapple was much better than princess noodles. Daddy being super wonderful, let her eat his one pineapple piece.

Cyndi Easter Funny

A speaker in church today was talking about when Jesus died. Cyndi got a very serious facial expression and turned to Ben and I and said:

"Its not dieing Jesus, its cute Jesus. Cute Jesus!"

I never thought that she paid that close attention to what was said in church.

The Red Dress (AKA Candy Striper)

Joann's had a pattern sale a few months ago. I took my Gran and we went to see what patterns we could get. It was wonderful. We found this 'project runway' pattern and thought it was cute. The original dress had shoe-string straps, so I had to redo the bodice so that it could have sleeves. The end result turned out rather cute, but I had to re-work the bodice 3 times. Apparently a size 4 child is twice the size of my 3 year old. In the end I got the dress to work and it looked adorable. I could not choose which picture to post, so I put most of them up.

EASTER!

I love Easter. It is one of the best times of the year, it has great religious meaning behind it and it truly has the best candy - hollow bunnies, cream filled eggs, sugar covered marshmallows. So each year I try to do something fun and special for everyone. This year we tried to have a braai with my mom, Gran, Layne and Marius, but the weather was not on our side. But the weather did not stop the Easter Bunny from visiting! Easter Bunny, Ouma, left some bunny-prints up the stairs leading to Ouma's house. Then there was a bag of candy for everyone and a little egg hunt for Cyndi. She was surprisingly rather clever at finding the eggs once she figured out that she had to find them. Even though it was a little cold and our braai got moved back inside, it was fun to hang out with everyone.

Bunny-prints

The Easter Bunny left Cyndi a message

Cyndi finding the bag of candy for everyone

Cyndi handing out the bag of candy to everyone

Below are two video's of Cyndi with the Bunny-prints. She is rather funny.

Trike Riding

Cyndi asked super nicely yesterday if she could ride her trike over to Ouma's house. Since Ben was here to help, we said that she could. She had such a fun time. It was worth the longer, slower walk.

Ready to go!

Cyndi is so funny. Here are the 2 video's we took of Cyndi 'riding' her trike.

Clever Cyndi

Cyndi likes to unwrap her crayons. It drives me nuts. So we came to a compromise - she could unwrap the crayons as long as she did it over the trash. We came to this compromise about 2 months ago, the first time she unwrapped her crayons. The other day she was colouring, grabbed a crayon and headed for the trash can. I was very surprised that she remember.

Choc-Chip Stealer

Ever get a choc chip cookie that only has 1 or 2 choc chips in it? Well wonder no more!

Cyndi and I made some the other day. We were waiting for the oven to finish pre-heating and I left the kitchen for a some reason. When I came back - this is what I found:

Cyndi was picking the chocolates out of the cookies! I had to laugh at her - she was so cute about it. She was squishing the dough back together as if there was never a chocolate there. She would only take one or two chocolates from a cookie then move onto a different cookie.

Crafty Cyndi

We made some bead bangles the other day. Cyndi wanted her full name on it. She was so good at taking the time to tread the beads onto her elastic.

"Lady" Bug

We made Ladybugs the other day. Cyndi's turned out to be more of a spider with 6 legs than a ladybug. She had a super fun time making the spider-bug. And then the next day she had even more fun taking everything off it. I have glitter fuzz from the fuzz balls all over my house now!

This was when I thought she was done. She then added about 10 times as much stickers - the page was covered.

Sticker Me Crazy!

Super cute Cyndi!

Playing With The Dishwasher

Cyndi loves to copy and mimic people. She found all her kitchen toys and put them in the dishwasher. We use the dishwasher as a dish dryer - it works well and hides all the dishes that are drying.

Walking Back From Ouma's

Ben and Cyndi ran over to Ouma's house the other day to borrow something for me. Cyndi got cold along the way, so Ben gave her his hoodie. She looks like she should be in a Star Wars movie.

Razor Hair Cut

Cyndi was due for another hair cut. Since she only needs a little trim, I decided to consult the experienced... my mom and Gran. They suggested to use a razor since she has curly hair and the razor cuts it on an angle to help with curls. She was a little pro. She sat still and moved her head when needed.

Before

After - love the face

After - more normal face

The little pile of hair that was taken off.

I bathed her afterwards and then reevaluated her hair and trimmed it a little more to help it be even. I also trimmed around her face to give a little side swoop fringe.

Meet Moses

Today we were running late for Church. On our way down we meet Moses. He was sitting in the middle of the stairs at the bottom, all by himself. I felt so bad for him, I had to help the little guy. I took him over to the pond to find his mother. There was one mother duck with her little ducklings swimming around. There was also the mean goose - he attacks other geese, ducks and little kids. So I walked around to the closet spot I could get to mother duck and gently put little Moses into the water. He swam as fast as his little feet could take him right to mother duck. At first she made sure all her little ducklings were behind her while she investigated little Moses, then she gave the OK and all the little ducklings came to say hi. It was so cute to watch. Little Moses swims slower than the rest of the ducklings so mother duck kept swimming back to encourage Moses to keep up.

Isn't he so cute!

After church I went back to check on everyone. I never found a little duckling alone some random spot and everyone seemed to be happy, so I am hoping that little Moses is still with mother duck.

Who Shot The Cat?

Marius took a picture at the same it I was taking this one and his camera has a red/orange light that goes on just before the flash, so it lit Mischief up a little red. I thought it was rather funny that now it looks like he has 'blood' on his tummy.

Building Mommy a Shelf

Since we have no furniture in our place, we have been looking around and pricing things out and such. As much as I would love to run out and buy everything right now, we are trying to look for the best deals. Whether they are at a DI or on sale at Walmart or Ikea or something or just home made. We were able to find a computer desk, book shelf (that now houses our games) and a glider with ottoman for a steal at the DI a few weeks ago. Our apartment is really nice, but it lacks storage space. So we have been looking prices for kitchen shelfs (you know the ones with wheels that you can put in the corner). But they are like $40. This last weekend we went to price out wood to make one. Ben has all the tools and the skills to make me one. We found some cheap particleboard at Home Depot and Home Depot said that they cut the wood for free. So we said why not. This way I get more of a custom shelf than a Walmart generic. I also know that my shelf will last since it was made with love by my fabulous husband. This morning Ben put my shelf together for me. And of course little Miss Madam had to help out, surprisingly she helped out rather well.

Cyndi putting the screws in the holes for Daddy to drill them in

Cyndi got board of the little jobs and wanted a piece of the real action, so under close supervision, Daddy helped her drill in a screw

A little video of Cyndi drilling (with Daddy's help!)

It was cheaper to get a smaller piece of wood (don't know what the right name for it would be) to put on the back in sections than to get one that would cover the whole back. Since it is only for big things, and its for me, I do not mind having the three slats.

Cyndi wanted to be in the picture of the shelf - since she helped and all

My new shelf - right before I started putting things in it to clear space in my kitchen.