This past year .....

Ive run three running events, two half marathons and a 10k.....

Mahana Half Marathon

St Clair half Marathon

Kaiteriteri 10k

I've spent a lot of time here ....

 

Had an amazing summer with family, friends and lots of sun!

 

 

Had some crafty time, though didn't take a lot of pics :(

Cute high waisty!

merino shorts

yearly milo

Wow there you have it in a nut shell! I feel like these photo's are but the tip of the iceberg, but what can you do when you ignore your blog for almost a whole year!!
There has been a change in my life, coinciding I guess with the boys getting older.  I'm finding myself with a lot more 'me' time, and have really been enjoying trying out new things. These things tend to be more away from the home, and sporty in nature (i know right). The blog may have a a bit of a different emphasis, as I find myself more passionate about yoga and running, then baking and sewing. This does not however mean that I don't do the latter, just not as much as I used to!
Well if anyone is reading, thank you for sticking around! Hopefully I will as well :)

 

Sock Monkeys ...............

Faceless sock monkey!

A while ago I stumbled across this tutorial on how to make sock monkeys. I had a quick look at, thought cute i'll make these one day, and filed it away in to favourites.
Cue rainy day, school holidays, and a couple of little boys who wanted to do some craft, I decided it was a good time to give them a go.
So we gathered some socks and got started. The first part of the process where you cut out  the sock, sew the legs and stuff, is great for the kids. Charlie (5) managed to cut round the legs on his own, and they both stuffed stuffed stuffed! This part was fun, and the child participation rate was high!

                                                                                   

Whilst they were busy, I had a quick look at what we were doing next. This is where I realised there was a bit more to the project then I originally thought (pays to read the WHOLE tutorial first before starting).  So we sourced some more socks that were needed for arms, legs, tails, ears and a mouth, and started sewing. I was on the machine and the boys were still stuffing each individual item. This is where Archie started losing interest!!

Once this part was done, all the rest was hand sewing and up to me. The boys put a movie on, we all got comfy and I started sewing.Now I'm not the best at hand sewing, so this bit took me  quite a while. If you are used to it, it shouldn't take to long.

Now it was time for a face, apparently none of my buttons were suitable. So Charlie took his faceless monkey to Nana's , and it came back all pimped out!!! He also brought back some eyes for his brother, too kind.

The kids LOVE their monkeys, and have played with them heaps. Jack came home and decided he might even like to make one! All in all it was a fun thing to do, the kids were engaged and involved in quite a bit of it, and the final product wasn't too shabby!!