Point And Shoot: Our Sunday

A perfect Sunday was had in our little household yesterday and fortunately, I had my camera with me to take some shots throughout the day...

  

We started off with an early breakfast at one of our regular haunts.  We were actually able to relax and enjoy our meals for once, with Sophie happy to sit in the high chair 'people watching' and sharing bites from our plates.

 

With a bit of bribery, Grace obliged as my model while I played around with our camera in manual mode, trying to practise using different settings.  I was happy to snap this sweet photo of her among the many shots I took.

 

We dragged out the slip and slide for the girls early in the morning, before it became too hot, so that they could have some fun and cool down a bit (it got to 35 degrees here in Perth yesterday). Sophie loved it almost as much as Grace and was fearless as the two of them scooted down the plastic together.

It became rather overcast and started to drizzle a bit in the afternoon so while Sophie (exhausted from the mornings antics) napped and Grace played quietly in her room for a bit, Paul and I managed to get stuck into some tidying - him in the shed, me in the study.  Huge progress was made on my part I'm happy to say.

Since it was still balmy as evening approached, we put the picnic rug out on the back lawn and had fish and chips together as a bit of a treat.  And then, as the sun went down, we let Grace have her first experience with a few sparklers.  I loved seeing the look of amazement on her face as they began fizzing.

What did the weekend look like at your place?


Linking up with Lou's Point And Shoot

Sophie's 1st Birthday Party

Sophie's first birthday party last weekend was by far my favourite party I've put together.  I'm not sure if it's because blue and white is my favourite colour combination or if because by now, after hosting several children's birthday parties I know what works for me and how I best organize things with as little stress as possible.  Either way, it was a wonderful morning celebrating the first birthday of our little girl with close family and friends.

Decorations consisted of a simple photo board, fabric bunting which I had sewn, jars of daisies wrapped in gingham ribbon, washi tape cupcake flags and checked tablecloths.  I also designed some bag toppers for the party favours which coordinated with the invites I had made.

We had some smaller tables set up under our patio but with the morning becoming quite hot, most guests congregated under the shady corner of our backyard where we had picnic blankets spread out, a picnic basket filled with baby toys and our sand pit close by for the little ones to play in.  The good old slippery dip was brought out at the end of the party too.

As for the cake and all of those fondant daisies I made, I'm not sure my photos do it justice.  I really wish I had a better shot that showed more detail as it looks smaller here than in real life and the icing was a pale lemon and not so yellow. I baked two simple butter cakes (I wasn't sure if one would be enough for all our guests) and smothered them in frosting before adding the daisies on at the last minute.

 

And as exhausted as we all were that afternoon (and the following day) we had a wonderful time celebrating.  Our mix of guests really made for a fantastic party, we had blue sunny skies (lucky considering it rained on Monday) and there was enough delicious food to go around... a perfect party combination in my books...

Our Wednesday

After all the party preparations of last week, this one has been nice and calm and slow-paced so far, free of deadlines and 'to-dos' and full of play, pottering and left over birthday cake.

One nice surprise this morning was a package that arrived on our doorstep.  Wanting to add a bit of a vintage vibe to Sophie's nursery among all the newer items, I'd been searching on Etsy for a cute ornament of some sort.  After spotting the trio of white swans above at The Vagrant Duck, I ordered them as part of her birthday present.  I chose well as Sophie kicked her chubby little legs in excitement and made her own version of a quacking noise when she saw them sitting on our kitchen bench.  I can't wait to get her shelves up now so I can display them.

The rest of our day has been spent catching up on washing while it's been good drying weather, spring-cleaning Sophie's wardrobe and tending to our vegetable patch.  I've also been sorting through the photos I took on Sunday so I can share some of them with you soon.  Be sure to pop back at the end of the week for a post about Sophie's first birthday party...

Sophie Is One!

About a month ago, we finally got around to selling Sophie's bassinet.  As I watched it being carried away, a pang of sadness hit me then and there... I suddenly realised my baby was growing up, much quicker than it felt like she should be.  Over the past few weeks since then, she's changed more and more every day as she's reached new milestones and stages.  Just like that, she's gone from a baby to a little girl.  And as excited as I am about all the wonderful times ahead of us, I can't help but feel sad and wish that it were possible to slow down the months a teeny bit.

The past year has been such a special one.  Watching Sophie develop her own personality with her unique little quirks and mannerisms has been so precious.  She is happy, smiley, cheeky, strong-willed, adventurous and oh so lovable and she lights up our world with her presence.

On this very day twelve months ago, we were waiting with excitement to meet our baby.  One year on, our family life is all the more richer having our little girl a part of it.

One Weekend Wonder: 197 Daisies

Over the weekend, I have been slowly making fondant daisies for Sophie's birthday cake  (the photo above shows only a quarter of those I have created).  Back when I first posted about my vision for her party and the picnic theme I was picturing , I was still unsure on the cake, until Catherine left a comment suggesting tying in the flowers on my inspiration board in some way.  A bit of Googling had me deciding on a simple round cake with buttercream frosting, covered in a sprinkling of edible daisies.  However, with pre-made sugar decorations costing around fifty cents each, I instead bought myself two cutters and a pack of fondant icing and added the task of making a whole bunch of these to my party preparations.

I must admit, this activity lost its novelty factor about halfway through and became a tad tiring (although making these flowers is actually very easy).  I now understand why prettily decorated wedding cakes are so expensive.  However, one positive that came from this repetitive task was that it gave me time to sit and think and reminisce...

As I worked away, I thought back to where I was at this time last year... three days away from my due date.. Sophie was head down after having been 'turned' a few weeks earlier when we discovered she was breech.  My labour bag had been packed, complete with presents for my big girl for each day she would visit me in hospital.  Grace's patchwork quilt had been finally sewn (my one 'must-do' on my list of 'nesting tasks'.)  My round belly (whilst small and compact) was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.  I was feeling a mixture of emotions... excitement at being able to finally meet our precious bub and also apprehension about how I would adjust to being a Mama to two little ones.

And yesterday, as I continued on with my mundane task and made daisy after daisy and became lost in my thoughts, I looked over to Grace and Sophie playing in the living room beside me and realised  how lucky I am to be at this point, one year on, with my precious little family and this life I am so blessed to have...


Pop over to Claire's One Weekend Wonder Link-Up to see what others have been up to this weekend...