In My Life 'Rowan, Growing into Himself, His Way'

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As the school term ends, so do my lovely days with Rowan.  Phew! thank goodness it's only for two weeks, as the sailor and I will miss the little guy popping in for breakfast every morning and hanging out with us during the day.

Over the past nine weeks I have watched Rowan blossom, not only in stature but in his cognitive and social development.  He has the wonderful ability to play, he is building the foundations for his future.  Each day I arrange different and varied baskets of activities for his day's play.  On sunny days I open the french doors so he can wander in and out, he builds, he dances, he paints and draws, he splashes and sploshes in tubs of water, he digs and frollicks with the poodles, but most of all he loves playing with his collection of 'Thomas The Tank' engines..........On other days, Rowan is just as happy to come along with me to work, he accompanies me to meetings, visits showrooms and happily plays in the studio whilst I work on my projects.  We chat about about mummy at school, Daddy in the city, Pa at the factory and Louis and Hugo at home, waiting for us, we count, we pick out colours, we cut and paste, all in a days work, with Nana.

Yesterday, after visiting a lucky boy who is getting a brand new room, we walked along Oxford Street, Paddington, a lady stopped to say hello, she told me how beautiful Rowan was, she had been observing me shopping with him, hearing his cheerful  hellos and goodbyes to the people he met in the shops, she watched him patiently wait for the man at the juice shop making him a juice and how he tried to say pleeesshhhh with a big cheesy grin.   I smiled at her and thanked her for her lovely comments, then I told her this is Rowan, this is his beautiful way, and this is my daughter's beautiful way.  She then asked me for my recipe.

 I replied......

In my experience of being mum to three intelligent, accomplished women, and Nana and carer for Rowan, I believe there is no special formula for growing the perfect child.  No amount of Reggio Emilia in the classroom, Montessorie or Stenier will grow your perfect child.  It's you, your family, your ways, your true to yourself and others,  being humble and happy and like a big sponge your child will absorb all of this goodness and build the foundations for life.

In My Life " The Play Date"

This is my gorgeous and very talented niece Sophie and her blond beauty and little pocket rocket Lily.  Sophie is an actor and a fabulous singer (how glamourous) and Lily, like Rowan has a very special Nana who looks after her.  Lily and her Nana have been on tour with Sophie for most of the year and last week  'Motherhood, the Musical' was here in Sydney.   Hurray!  A much anticipated play date was arranged and we were all very excited.  

Sophie, Lily and Nana Sue, were coming to play at my house.  A picnic was prepared, yummy sandwiches, delicious plates of fresh fruit, Rowan's favourite pretzels and big bowl of cucumber for Lily.  The weather was perfect, the back garden lush and green, I arranged toys, games, a painting table and a circus tent outside for happy toddler play.................

Your probably wondering where are all the happy pictures of Rowan and Lily playing happily together?  Sorry there is no happy playing pics of the cousins........
It went something like this.  The door bell rings and we excitedly rush down the hall and open the front door, we hug and kiss, we swap the cousins and start hugging and kissing some more.

It started with a little "That's mine" and some general standoffishness.  We all agreed that they were just settling in.  It all went pear shaped when for no particular reason, Rowan picked up a car and smashed Lily on her head, we all did a little fussing, distracted the crying children and took them outside.  More pushing and shoving from both cousins, a bit of biting and this all happened in the first thirty minutes, Rowan was put to bed!

Oh dear!  The much anticipated play date didn't go exactly to plan but Lily enjoyed eating her picnic lunch and playing with all the toys, whilst Rowan slept contently, with his bear, in his room at Nana's house.  I loved meeting Lily, I loved seeing her in her flesh, giving her big squeezes and Nana Roberta cuddles and of course sending her off on tour with some lovely Rowantree clothes.

There will always be awkward moments with children, you just have to laugh it off!

I'd love to hear about your play date moments.............

Love is being a Mother  Nana!

The Bach 'Interior Update and Exterior Colour'

Another busy mid week and weekend working bee at the bach.  I am over the fact that I couldn't  complete the project in time for Easter.   Instead of the mad rush to have it finished I will take the opportunity to enjoy every minute of decorating the interior and landscaping the gardens.  I was at the bach yesterday, a gorgeous autumnal day, sunny blue sky with just a hint of crispness in the air.   It was the perfect day for playing with paint,  the perfect day for nailing the exterior colour.  The colour I chose for the exterior is a Resene Paint, 'Manz', it is the closest shade for what I am trying to achieve.  The surrounding area is very bush like and green, the houses sit under canopies of huge eucalyptus trees so I wanted the colour of the house to reflect the movement of the trees, and the sun as it moves around the house.  I also have a love of those cheeky, menacing Sulphur Crested Cockatoos who squawk in and out of the trees through out the day.  The colour of the crest is what I imagined for the bach.  

Such  rich coloured flowers  that I see from the back deck, the yellow of the house will be so uplifting.

In the full sun the yellow bush at the back looks happy, as the mango tree I have a restoration plan for her recovery.  Oh, that nasty shed, I plan to hide it with a group Banana trees.

This is what I painted yesterday.  The original 'Manz' is the strongest colour you can see, then I started mixing it with white.  Three parts 'Manz' and one part white is the mix I am happy with.  It's the middle colour.

Here it is on the front, I love the shadows and how the lattice takes on the yellowy tones.

It was so important for me to get it right, I just needed the house to move with the surroundings, take on the rise and fall of the sun and shadows, everybody was getting so peeved with me, I just couldn't make the sailor understand where I was coming from.  Finally, with lots of painty mess, I did it, I got there.  The exterior painting can begin.  

Look!  Some furniture arrives.

 Bedroom one.  Inspiration here  

 Bedroom two, I am still in thought about this one, though I think it will be navy. Loving the blinds, they look awesome, adding texture to the inside of the room and a great beachy feel to the outside.

 The buffet and dining table look great, inspiration here.  The table surface is ready for the pineapple stencil I thought about here.  I am very happy with the floors, I choose a poly satin finish.  The walls do 

look very white, but as I start adding wall decor I'm sure the white will move back.  Love the blinds here too.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on my progress, any suggestions?  Anything you don't like?  I'm racing out the door as I ping my blog into the cloud....I look forward to hearing from you.

Rowan has something to say!

My Nan made me hold these beautiful 'Four Cow Farm' products up for you to see so you can skip on over to Nan's blog and enter to win them.  They are really, really good, they make my skin soft and the nappy balm makes my botty smooth after eating Poppa's spicy food.  Nan and Mum use them on me all the time and get really fussy when Dad and Poppa don't use them!
Whoops, Nan is going to be really fussy with me now that I have broken the package that you are going to get.

The Hungry Caterpillar Party for Rowan's First Birthday Bash!

It all started with a very hungry baby, Rowan, who just about ate everything he could see.  We aptly nicked named him 'The Hungry Caterpillar' and from an early age we knew his first birthday would be a hungry caterpillar party.  Our very own little hungry caterpillar boy, wearing his very own Rowan Romper in Spotty Spots

I hung spotted fabric over a brick wall as a backdrop for the story boards we made of pictures from Rowan's first year, it was so hard to choose which ones to use.  Story boards made a great talking point, we used two large canvases and wasabi tape.  Don't they look impressive!

The homemade party hat's were very easy to make, we started with a plan yellow cone hat and made the caterpillars and the birthday boy butterfly using the pictures from the book as a guide.

An amazing beautiful sunny sky and the the lush green lawn was the perfect picnic spot for little ones to enjoy their day.  Several weeks ago I started sewing the bunting all one hundred and seventy five triangles............but don't they look smashing

I put out a selection of vintage chairs with helium balloons.....cute

Hmmm these cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches were a hit

Fruit stars, chocolate strawberries, icy little jellies were delicious treats on such a warm day........

Now for the drum roll....

Alison Lawson Cakes

Happy little caterpillar cupcakes...not only do they look delicious they were very yummy 

The Star of the Show

When Alison delivered the cake on Friday afternoon I was on the phone calling my friends demanding they drop by to see the spectacle of a cake.  We all stood around having a few glasses of bubbles admiring it beauty

Hmmm hurry up, we live in anticipation to see it inside and taste it

Just scrumptious....

The cookie wands each one so perfect in detail........A fabulous idea for a party favour

A tired little caterpillar opens his presents.......

And sadly all his little friends have gone home

his first birthday party is over

or 

is 

it

Apparently it just got started

Sunday Lunch

Yeahhhh!  I can see the sun today.  You wouldn't  think that just two days ago here in Sydney it was blowing a gale and raining cats and dogs, and you wouldn't believe that I had planned a spring garden lunch for my family and friends on Sunday.  I ask myself why!  The answer being that on returning home from Europe to find my garden had transformed itself into a picturesque flowering haven, the rose trees abundant with crisp white buds and the sweet peas amass with colour.  I pictured the tables and chairs amidst this beautiful green backdrop.

Don't stop there.  I unearthed lots of discarded fabrics and even bought  more fabric from Ikea. (a great place to buy colourful sturdy fabrics for projects) I sat up late into the night making metres and metres of bunting.  The sailor kept mentioning something about the weather changing.  I refused to listen.  I just made more bunting.

Tuesday I ordered lots of beautiful white chairs and white table cloths from the party hire company......

Sailor mentioned to me again about the weather....

Wednesday I did the blackboard menu...

Thursday I took the crazy poodles to the dog groomers, want to see lovely dogs running around the back garden for extra ambiance.

Sailor sat me down and showed me the weather forecast...........

FRIDAY I BOUGHT A MARQUEE WITH SIDES!

Saturday I went to Rozelle Markets and bought lots of yummy food to prepare and lots of potted flowers to plant along the garden edge.

Sunday morning I knew he was right........

There was only one solution.

BRING THE SPRING GARDEN INSIDE.

Colourful paper decorations added a delightful touch to the chandelier

I planted the flowers in cut off brown paper bags.

The teatowel napkins would have worked better on the white chairs

I must admit the torrid weather didn't dampen this happy boys day....

Is that a halo I see resting above Rowan's head.....He is an angel!