The BIG Move ~ Part One

'See You Soon'

I finally have a spare moment to sit down & update you all on my hubby's posting & our families big move to the U.S of A!!

It's been a very hectic past few months...or possibly a very hectic past 12mths really. Since having our baby girl last November, we have done just over 25 flights now!! It feels like we've just been 'stopping over' in Darwin. We have a tally of one return flight to Bali, one to Singapore, one to Newcastle, one to Sydney, & the rest to Brisbane!!! Oh...and of course the BIG flight recently to Los Angeles, USA!!!! Lucky Kayla...I didn't even experience my first flight overseas until I was in my early 20s.  Spoilt much? :)

In mid-December we completed the first part of our move which entailed packing up in Darwin & saying farewell to our great friends (aka defence family). With this being our 6th move, we have learnt that with our Defence friends (& most of my GHD friends) it's no longer a sobbing sad goodbye... We now shed a few small tears & say 'See you soon' until our posting paths cross again. We had some fantastic times in Darwin & have so many memorable moments to take with us...a big one being the birth of our own little Darwinite & all of the great Mums I have met since then. Kayla has some instant best-friends to come back to... & potential boyfriends down the track too!! If hubby's reading this...yes yes, we all know that they'll have to get through you first ;)

Kayla's last play-date with her friends 

MJ & Timothy down at the Darwin Waterfront.

My close friends (& fellow fb follwers) will know the pain I went through with completing the inventory for our international move.  This entailed detailing every item we wanted to take with us on our 3yr journey, down to the brand/style/description/cost etc.  Meanwhile I had a 10.5mth old daughter who needed constant entertaining & also had begun to crawl, open drawers/cupboards & pretty much get into everything! It was a challenge...which I completed thankfully! However all could not have been accomplished without a few phone calls to my girlfriends asking them to come keep me sane after a week or so of hibernation. They helped me out with the worst of it! The worst of it being the kitchen & my wardrobe!!! Tough job culling clothing & tupperware :) A great time for Hubby to be away for a 2mth stint with work... Who says being a stay-at-home-mum & housewife isn't a full-time job?! I don't even want to imagine how hard it would have been with me having to go to work on-top of all of this! 

While I'm on the work topic, a BIG thank-you to my employer GHD in Darwin who has enabled me to extend my maternity leave for an extra 12mths, as well as offer for me to keep my job while in America.  I couldn't have ask for a better suited company for a travelling Army Wife like me! Now I just have to get approval to work there....

Kayla with one of my friends & work colleague Jana-Banana :)

This was on our 'goodbye' drop in...

Please disregard the fact that Jana is wearing no shoes! It's Darwin! Haha!

All tuckered out after my work goodbyes :)

Back to the move... Once the inventory was complete, we had medicals & dental checks to do. Kayla experienced her first dental appointment at the teeny tiny age of 11mths :) Then came the time to sell up our possessions.  First being the old Subaru followed shortly after by our trailer....we threw ourselves a Lawn Sale to clear out the odd bits & bieces we didn't want to unpack in 3yrs time (fellow QLD'ers call them a Garage Sale), & now we are still needing to sell our Kia Cerato Coupe!! If anyone is interested you can get yourself a great BARGAIN!!!!!!! Check out our ad here!! Or contact our dear friends back in Darwin for a viewing! Thanks Matty & Sam!! Apologies...just making the most of a bit of free advertising.

So the sale of our possessions were done (minus the Kia), now it was time for packing... Like we hadn't done enough of that throughout the past year with all of our trips :) We had 3days of packing with Day 1 being the packing & uplift of everything I had inventoried for our move to the States. Day 2 entailed the rest of our belongings being packed up into boxes ready for Day 3 which was the uplift.  It all didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped. That being that the packing that was meant to be complete on Day 2 rolled over into Day 3 & we didn't get out of the house until around 7.30pm.  It was a bit of a nightmare seeing the packers rushing in the last hour & having our things not packed so gently...but we won't have to worry about it for another 3yrs...already dreading the unpack :)

Kayla was great during all of this. As good as a 12mth old can be when her house is in upheaval anyhow. There were quite a few moments of her not wanting to let us out of her sight, & a lot of leg hugging & pants pulling, but all in all, she did great. 

Learning to climb the ladder with Daddy & changing light globes. 

Following in Daddies footsteps maybe?? A Sparky in the making??

Enjoying a snack amongst all of the boxes :)

Our other little baby. 

Midori snoozing away while all of the chaos takes place.

One of Kayla & Midori's last plays in our Darwin home. 

Anyhow...the household packing wasn't really the hardest part... The hardest part of the move was trying to pack for our 2.5weeks of summer Christmas Holidays in Bris Vegas/Gold Coast, aswell as a month of winter once we arrived in the USA. Our belongings were going by air but still had to go through the customs process before they met up with us again.  Oh & packing for a growing girl is SUPER hard too. She grew two sizes since leaving Darwin!! But, we did it! And oh my goodness there were a million bags!!! But once it was all complete, we were free to relax with friends.  I was able to get some pamper time with a manicure for all of my hard work & Jase's reward was a designated driver for our last dinner in Darwin :)

My manicure :) 

Ready for the Christmas & New Year Festivities!!

Here's Hubby with our total of 11 bags...There were meant to be 12... 

But in the rush from the hotel we left one behind...Whoops! Thank goodness for taxis! 

It arrived with seconds to spare before boarding time :) 

Thanks to the gentleman for helping us push our 3rd trolley too! 

Love the kindness of strangers!

It was off to Brisbane we flew! Time to unwind & enjoy our time with family & friends before the next flight to America. One of our first perks was the business class seats from Darwin to Brisbane. I don't think I want to go back to economy now :)

Taking off! 

Thank goodness for snacks & dummies.

Saying goodbye to Darwin :'( sniff sniff.

...oh I mean saying "See you Soon"!!!

Landing in Brisbane! 

I love this part of flying even though Kayla hates it.  

The loud noises means Mummy gets lots of cuddles.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of The BIG Move!

xoxo T

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Kayla's Owl Themed 1st Birthday Party - Part 2

Continued from Kayla's Owl Themed 1st Birthday Party - Part 1:

Kayla greeting more of her guests at the front door :)

TIME TO GET DECORATING!!!

A quick demonstration from 'The Cake Lady' aka Me :)

I showed the kids how to do a swirl of icing, add some sprinkles 

& a cupcake topper before I let them loose on making their own cupcake creations!

A big thank you to the parents for overseeing your well-behaved kidlets!! 

I was certain I would be wiping up icing off our rugs afterwards, 

but they were all so keen to do such a good job on their cupcakes 

that most of the toppings stayed on the table :)

VOILA!!!!

Some of the kids with their cupcake masterpieces along with 

the two 'big kids' having a cupcake-decorating-challenge. 

Nice work boys & girls!

THE CAKE CUTTING

How I love my family of three! 

Thanks for your help on the day too Jase...all of your 'jobs' got done in the end

...aswell as the xbox playing :)

Her first taste of sweet cakey goodness.....

I'm sure I don't need to mention just how much she loved it!!

A tip for Mummies: If you're worried about your child eating uneccessary sugar, sneakily take bits of the cake away leaving a tiny bite as they're busy stuffing their face with the first taste :) I also made the cake from scratch to ensure there were no additives/preservative nasties in it, & made sure there were no added colourings in the icing by using Raspberry Frosting (recipe found here)! It's so damn delicious that you will want to start using real fruit in your icings once you try it too!!!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY

Kayla Grace!

You are more than we could have ever asked for 

& we look forward to seeing you grow from our precious baby girl,

 into a gorgeous little lady. 

We love you more than words can say, 

Love always, 

Mummy & Daddy xoxo

PRESENT TIME!

The birthday girl was due a nap so we had her friends who gave her the gifts

 to help her open them & read the card to her. 

It was so lovely to see them so excited to be helping her.

HAPPY SNAP TIME BEFORE NAP-TIME

L to R: Kayla's Great Aunty Nette & her Mimi

Thanks again for your help. We loved having you be a part of Kayla's special day xoxo

Kayla & I with our fellow 'Early Birds' Mums n Bubs!

L to R: Yvette & Piper, Myself & Kayla, Jacqui & Layla

THE MAN CAVE!

While all of the Mums n Bubs were partying inside, 

the Bigger Boys were hiding out in the man cave aka our garage :)

SAYING OUR GOOD-BYES

We had cupcakes galore so I sent the kids home with more treats!

A cupcake box full of their decorated cupcakes. 

It was a big hit!!!

Our friends daughters, Sarah & Lilly, were such a big help at the party entertaining

 the little babies.  Sarah was so excited with her cupcake creations :) 

 NAP TIME

All tuckered out after her big day of celebrations!

Kayla's Owl Themed 1st Birthday Party - Part 1

This post is a little delayed, but those who know me will understand the few months of craziness we have just experienced since our daughters birthday.

Our little girl turned the big single digit "1" on the 23rd November 2012, & we couldn't be happier with how her celebrations played out!! Thank you to all of those who travelled to celebrate it with us; my Mum & Aunty (Kayla's Mimi & Great Aunty Nette) - I love you both & thank you SO much for helping me prep for the party.  I really could not have done it all without you! Thank you to all of our friends close by who brought their little ones to share her special day, I have met so many great new Mummies since having Kayla & I am so thankful for having you by my side while we venture on this new journey of Motherhood together.  A big thank you to our family & friends far away who could not make her special day but sent many gifts & beautiful cards with lovely words for our gorgeous girl. Also a big thank you to all of our childless friends... You spoilt Kayla rotten & endured a house full of loud children on a Saturday afternoon when you could have been at the pub :) We appreciate all of the generosity & loved having each & every one of you in our lives for these special moments.

That's enough words for now :)

Here are a few images from Kayla's Owl Themed 1st Birthday Party

PRESENTS!

The birthday girl's presents from her Mummy & Daddy xo

Kayla got pretty good at tearing open the wrapping paper towards the end.

THE CAKE!!

In my opinion, one of the most important parts of a birthday party

(apart from the people to share it with) is the cake!

Handmade by me :) 

No.1 Chocolate Birthday Cake covered in Raspberry Frosting,

with fondant cherry blossom decorations & a large fondant owl cake topper

I am so happy with how it turned out!!

THE SWEETS TABLE!

NO.1 BIRTHDAY CAKE POPS! 

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but these were delicious!!

Red Velvet Cake Pops decorated with white chocolate 

& sugar sprinkles for a bit of bling :)

THE CUPCAKE DECORATING TABLE!

This was a BIG hit with the kids...both big & small :)

IT'S ALL IN THE DETAILS :)

L to R: Cake pops in my homemade stand.  

Party favour bags for kids to fill as they pleased with bubblegum flavoured swizzle sticks, musk sticks, marshmallows, jelly lollies biscuits & so on. Treat jars full of fairy floss for the older kids, & jars of half/half fairy floss & yoghurt buttons for the littlies.  A close up of the Cupcake Decorating Table topped with vanilla cupcakes, sprinkles & glitter in every colour of the rainbow, & buttercream icing ready to twirl.  The centrepiece for the party...The Owl Cake Topper, overseeing all of the kids picking out their treats atop a platter of homemade pink mini meringues!

IT'S TIME TO FILL THE BAGS!

GROUP PHOTO!

Kayla & all of her Darwin buddies attempting to pose for a group photo! 

This was the best of the bunch :)

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL

Our sweet little birthday girl had all of her friends to play with, 

however instead was found hanging out at the toy box amusing herself...or hiding? 

To be continued....

xoxo T

Cake Pops

I am sure you would have seen the latest craze taking over cupcakes as the number one new bite size delicious treat. Cake Pops!  I have been wanting to do a post on Cake Pops for quite a while now.  Seen as I am officially on 'holidays' I thought it's time I dedicate some 'spare time' to my blogging. Also, you may want to make some for your family & surprise them with something different on Christmas Day :)

I have attempted to make some in the past & I feel I had a reasonable amount of success with it too!

I have relied on a clip I found on You Tube by my fave blogger Bakerella, to show me the 'how to's & step-by-step' with making them the first time...until I eventually got around to purchasing her fabulous book titled 'Cake Pops: Tips, Tricks, and Recipes for More Than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats'.

Here are some pics of my first attempts :-)

I made these for my friend Kylie's Birthday (a year ago)

instead of the usual cake or cupcakes I would bring in.  

She liked them so much she refused to share them with her work collegues :-) 

Nice one Fitzy!!

These ones above are meant to be 'Mexican Themed Cake Pops'. 

Can you see the resemblance of the Mexican Flag? Please say yes ;-)

These were for our American friends 

Jay & Kristin's Mexican Themed Housewarming Party 

that they held when they arrived in Australia.

1st Birthday Cake Pops

I made these for our baby girl's 1st Birthday Party.  These were delicious!!! 

Red Velvet Cake Pops covered with white candy melts & decorations.  

I piped a '1' onto some of them & sprinkled them with sanding sugar for a 3D effect. 

I have the best time making these now that I have mastered some of the techniques required.  I must warn you though...they are very time consuming!!! 

The thing I love most about these is that they save me from throwing out any off-cuts from any sculpted cakes I make. I simply put all of the off-cuts of cake into an airtight container & pop it in the freezer.  When I have time, I have now started making the basic balls & freezing them.  This means I can use up the leftover icing & cake at the same time.  Also, when we have an occasion that comes up, all I have to do is decorate the cake pops! Decorating is the fun part!!

Tip: If you are making the cake balls & freezing them, be sure to transfer them from the freezer to the fridge a few days before you want to decorate them.  This gives them time to defrost slowly & hold their shape.

Coming up next is a post on my daughters 1st birthday party! It was so much fun!!!

xoxo T

Lessons learnt!

Well it feels like it's been one of those days where I should've stayed home...

Lessons learnt:

Don't attempt to go out to a breakfast with friends in the pouring Darwin rain when you have a 2-door car, trying to get a baby buckled in, while attempting to get your mini chihuahua out of the car because she's scared of the storm & wants to come with you...only for her to hide further under the foot pedals; then give up & get in only to have the umbrella unfold itself!

Kayla patting Midori in the middle of the storm while she 

hides in the corner of the bathroom shaking :-( 

You can see why I gave in & let her come with me to breakfast...

Next...low fuel when I'm already running late - yes this happened the other day but I refused to fill up at Woolies without a discount fuel voucher last time.

Awesome start to my Sunday but I must admit that it was made better by enjoying the lovely breaky with friends!!

Just one of the cutest kids I know...

MJ showing off his Baby-chino Choccy-mo @ breakfast :-)

MJ & Kayla playing a 'game' where Kayla drops things on the floor 

& MJ picks it up! Much more fun watching this game than playing it :-)

Then the mistake of accepting an invite to go to a fun afternoon tea with all of the Army WAGs (& what felt like an Army of children) when your baby should be napping, only to come home to a more grizzly one! Kayla did have a great time with the kidlets though, which was fun to watch.

Kayla & the Neagle Boys (Ethan & Daniel) 

playing in Lucy's Cubby House at the Afternoon Tea!

Note to all Darwin Crew:
I'm no longer available for catch ups between the hours of 10-11.30am & 3.30-4.30pm. Yes, I've become one of those parents whose life revolves around nap time...at least for the next 2 months while hubby's away & there's no one to share the grizzly baby night time moments with ;-)

Last lesson learnt...just deal with a grizzly baby through her dinner & bath time until as close to her usual bedtime as possible, instead of putting her to bed at 5pm only to now have to go wake her for dinner...hmmm...unless...surely one skipped meal can't hurt...can it? What to do....

I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Ahhhh.... I feel better already just from venting!

That is all!

xoxo T

P.S By the time I finished completing this post my baby girl awoke.  Dinner was smooth sailing & now she is at my feet enjoying some playtime with my shoes while I finish up.  Let's hope bath time & back-to-bed time are just as easy.

Goodnight all...

Minus one Hobby!

So, while thinking about what to do with all of my hobbies I forgot that there was another one in the cupboard that I had waiting for my time as well...Scrapbooking!!! Crazy, isn't it! So last night with the help of my dear friend Candice, I went through a few drawers & came across my scrapbooking supplies, along with the BAGS & BAGS of things collected since Hubby & I have been travelling together! I was tempted to get cracking & start them all...but I know that I don't have the time, & with a little pep talk & reminder from Candice about my 'lack of time' situation, I have decided that is the first hobby to go!!

Here's what I have been storing...
I think I could have been close to becoming a victim of hoarding if it weren't for me meeting my wonderful Hubby & having to cull my possessions 6 times in the 11years that we've been together :-)

I'm a little excited about it being gone actually.  I bought this fantastic book on Amazon.com to help me cull my sentimental collection down.

Just the Ticket: Ticket Stub Organiser [Ring-bound]

So let's see how long it takes me to sort through it all & see how much 'stuff' I have trouble parting with!!

Wish me luck!

xoxo T