To whomever dresses Norma Bates...

You are a genius.

I'm not one to be overly fashionable. I wear what I wear and I like it. I couldn't tell you what designers do what and I find shopping for clothes a complete waste of time and energy. I know there are women like me, somewhere. But I do love second hand clothes, vintage dresses, and wished more men dressed like they did back in the 1940's. There is no denying that. 

So lately, we've been watching the Bates Motel, which is a good show, but now I find myself watching it to see what the Norma Bates character is going to where in the next scene! Most of the characters are dressed as a slight throwback to the 1950's. It's worth watching just for that. 

Ahh, pleated skirts, proper waistlines, perfect hemlines, lovely shoes that aren't over the top. Granted, it is a little June Cleaver meets the Manson Family, but that's what's great about it!

Image found here

Image found here

And so... ends my take on fashion. :P

xx

A very special Monday..

Most Monday nights, we have a small group of very good friends come over for dinner. We all take turns cooking, which is a great break for me, but I love seeing what crazy things everyone makes. Anything from fondue to pork hocks, or coq au vin to spaetzle. It gets a little out of hand some nights. After consuming a ridiculous amount of food, we game. Like the geeks and nerds we are. 

But most of the time, the boys are already bathed and in bed and only hear of the stories of the dinners, or via leftovers. But on Labour Day, everyone came over early and got to hang out with H&W. They loooooooooooved it! And they loved the BBQ everyone pitched in for. 

Willem  trying on Aunty Jess' boots

And not everything had bacon! See!!

Aunty Jess having some boy-time.

Thanks guys for making our guys' day!
Love you all!!! xx

Cheese Straws - who knew?

It always makes me slightly angry when I find simple recipes like this that I could have been making for ages! Way too easy, way too yummy, way too quickly eaten. The recipe I actually used was from the Treats from Little and Friday. (which of course I'm dying to go visit the cafe in Auckland.)

Check out the book at least. There are so many great recipes.

Good cheese and fresh herbs from the garden.

Yes, I cheated. Store bought puff pastry.

Messy twisties.

And yummmmmm. Amazing warm out of the oven.

Yummy for boys, and yummy puff pastry crumbs on the floor for Timmy.

What's our favourite snack right now?

Vegemite. On anything.
Good thing I had a chance to wipe the messy faces before Oma came to visit!

Hope everyone's week is going great! x

Another Sunny Weekend!

Life is good here in Wellington. We have lucked out with the weather. It's been simply stunning. Being able to play outside and get that fresh air makes all the difference in the world. 

We had a great weekend spent with family and spending the time to catch up on little things ie. tree trimming and mending dresses (that I can actually fit into again!).

Happy 22 months to these little flower children of ours!

Hanging with Opa!

Finally fixing some summery clothes. 

And school holidays are now over! Thank goodness! The boys and I were back at Playcentre today. I'm so happy they love it! 

Good times.

And happy Monday!

xx

School holidays... Again.

It can be really hard to deal with school holidays and two crazy boys. But we manage. Playdough, drawing, outings to the dog beach, reading, playdates, baking. It's exhausting. There are those days when you want just five minutes to yourself, and it never seems to come. 

A key thing I've discovered the last couple of weeks though, it goes back to the early days when the boys were just born. The rule of - sleep when they sleep. Yep. That's me. With the new skills of playing for a bit of time on their own, I can do a bit of tidying. When they are running after each other down the hallway, I try and prep dinner. When they nap, so do I. Well, for about 15 minutes if I can. It's heavenly.

Faery crowns and playdough on demand.

Handsome Jake hanging with the boys this week. Great fun!

We've been all about routine for a long time. And now that routine is changing slightly. Time for a bit of change. I don't think I'm quite ready for that!
xx

Yes. It's time to play catch-up!

And by that, I mean - Mom, here are the latest photos of your grandsons! Yeah. Seriously. Oh and I'm also catching up on the hundreds of photos I've taken over the past week, with a NEW CAMERA! (My heart swells) xx

So much climbing. And running. And chasing each other and poor Timmy-Dog. They are non-stop. 

And when they do stop, it's quiet and you might think the worst, but lately they have really taken to playing together and having little adventures. And they help each other... H helped W put the trailer back on the bike so he could take the clown for a ride to their room. So lovely.

Speaking of their room. It's slowly becoming "Their space". Full of their toys, I've been slowly putting everything back in their room and making it fun for them to be there. They now have an old CD player they can listen to, access to more books, and most of their toys out. 

Hendrik's cot. "Peter Rabbit", Lion and "Red Monkey"

Willem's cot. "Lellow Monkey" and "Teedy Bear"

I know in the not-too-distant future, all of this is going to change. Cots will become beds. Baby toys and toddler bikes will be too small. But even though, this age has had some hard times, we have seen some amazing milestones. And some milestones that not all parents get to experience. Twin milestones are something that are a blessing. While the boys scream and fight a lot, they are becoming such good little mates! They work together and help each other out. They bring each other food and snacks and their drink bottles. They share toothbrushes. (Yuck) But watching them spend time together (when they aren't fighting) is something lovely beyond words. One morning, they sat on the bean bags in the room, listening to music, sharing books and chatting. It was that moment, I felt I could breath. 

More of that please boys!

xx

Our sunny Dutch Sunday

Last Sunday was a beautiful day. The best kind you can ever hope for living in Wellington. Sunny, calm, and spent with the cousins at the Botanical Gardens to have our own special "Dutch" day. 

Some of the amazing flowers. Loved the orange poppies!

Hello frog! and many more wandering adventures.

Hanging with Uncle Paul, drinking tea and Cousin Silas checking out the bubble scene.

Aunty Lisa and some more beauty.

More adventures of little men

Thing One, Thing Two, and Thing Timmy waiting for the weather to clear.

Sunshine, water play and some garden exploring.

So many moods. So many hats.

Slightly warmer weather makes...

... everyone happy.

Lack of a computer is...

Refreshing.

But when it's time to play catch up - it's an afternoon sitting down and sorting images.

Since the reno has started, I've been without a computer pretty much since. But not without my camera. After these last few weeks, I was able to finally get about 300 images on to my machine! Yikes.

So here is the beginning of a quick catch up...

The destruction

No-Bake Date and Almond Brownies

The last few weeks we have been going through some chaos here at the homestead. Bathroom renovations are still going on, the house is covered in a layer of dust, the hallway is off limits for the boys, we've been going out and about EVERYDAY to stay out of the way of the tradies, and to top it all off, our oven stopped working. Luckily the grill and fan still work, so we've had to cook a lot with a curve and my bread and baking have all been on hold until we can get it fixed.

Ugh.

I was able to make a variation of some date bars that I posted on FB this week though.

No-Bake Date and Almond Brownies!

Way too easy, super yummy, everyone loves them! Like eeeeeveryone. Grown ups and kiddos alike.

It's as easy as putting all of the ingredients into the food processor and letting it work it's magic for about 5 minutes.

 

Pour it out into a baking tin lined with parchment.

Let it set in the fridge for 30 minutes or so and cut it up.

Make sure you keep it in fridge to the freezer, it keeps it nicely set.

Ingredients :

• 2 cups pitted dates
• 3/4 cup natural almonds
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• A pinch of salt

Method :

1. Place all the ingredients into the food processor.
2. Blitz for at least five minutes. It will be a bumpy ride at first but once that's done, let the machine do it's thing.
3. Once it starts to look like nice wet potting soil, empty into a parchment lined smallish baking tray.
4. Spread it out and press it firmly down with the back of a spoon and smooth it out as you go.
5. Place in the fridge for a least 30 minutes.
6. Take it out of the fridge and slice.
7. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Enjoy and love the peanut buttery goodness!

 

A Few New Rules for Interacting with a Twin Caregiver

I hear a lot from other (usually young) mums how they would love to have twins. I laugh. I snicker.

Because, I know what they're thinking... Two babies, how sweet! Two cute little bums, awwww! Dressing them alike, how adorable!

But, I know the reality... Two babies, crying in the night. Two little bums, that get bigger and smellier every day. Dressing them alike, umm no. I get them confused enough as it is!

So the next time you see someone with twins, think before approaching ...

• How is their day going? Looks bad? Then don't ask, just help.
• Do they look tired? Get them a coffee or a glass of wine. Take a kid.
• Have they had to run after one while leaving another with another mum and sprint across meters to just catch the other by the arm today? Be that other mum.
• How many tantrums has your kid had today?.. Double that.
• How many times have you told your child 'no' today? Well triple that. Chances are one child gets told no, the other sees the attention the first twin is getting and tries it to get a reaction by doing the same exact thing and gets told no, first child does it again to see if it's just a random occurrence, or if he can get three out of three. His odds are good.
• How many pairs of socks has the twin mum had to pick up this morning? How many raisins or pieces of popcorn has the dog eaten? Too many.
• Is mum wearing makeup? A normal amount, she may be approachable. None, or WAY too much to cover the bags and dark circles under her eyes, do not approach, I REPEAT, DO NOT APPROACH.
• Never, ever say (men, you are the worst offenders of this) "Looks like you've got your hands full!" Let me just answer in a way that my mother used to answer those puzzling but obvious questions by say... No Shit Sherlock. Seriously? Smile and nod, smile and nod.

Ok. Now that's done, let me apologise. It's been a long couple of weeks and sometimes I just need to rant. Any other twin or non-twin parent will probably understand. All of this always happens within moments of each other, within an hour of going shopping or having not enough sleep.

I guess the important lesson here is don't feel like you have to chat to everyone that makes comments about those amazing bundles of joy sitting in the pram. There will be those days when you can't be bothered, the day has gone to shit, dinner isn't cooked, one kid will not sit in the pram without screaming and you just realised you haven't brushed your teeth. But then, amazingly there will be the days when you can't help but chatting up the elderly neighbour about how awesome these beasts are! It does happen! And it's that little pat on the back that can keep you going.

So, if I smile and nod at you, don't take it personally. Some days we just need to keep moving on...

X

 

 

These guys...

Lucky they are all so cute!

X

 

New Crochet Blankets - another WIP

Some random colour choices and progress. Always with the granny squares!

And the sun has finally started to shine, for a couple of days at least! 

x