head down...

 
...bum up. That is what I am at the moment. Working hard on uni work whilst trying to entertain 2 kids on holidays.

Don't get me wrong. I have loved the holidays, but I am ready for the routine to return. I am also ready for my few short hours a week that I get to myself when Ruth is at school and Oliver at kindergarten.

We have had a marvelous time relaxing, watching movies, playing superheros and many other activities. I guess this is what holidays are for - so you realise how wonderful normal life is. It is not very easy studying full time and looking after two children that is for sure!! For now, I am content sitting in my bed with the kids beside me, whilst I study away and get some work done.

Have you had a wonderful school holidays?
Are you as ready for Monday morning as I am?

making pyramids

This term I am doing mathematics education as one of my subjects and, as I mentioned the other day, this means I needed to do some Geometry lessons with some children. On Saturday, we spent some time doing some 3-Dimensional object classification - making pyramids and prisms from nets and making connections - deciding what attributes each object has and which of them are pyramids.

It's always a lot of fun to do practical teaching activities with children as it is a nice change from writing essays. I actually think the girls learned something, all while they were having fun, which is pretty good news to me! 

Now to ace that assignment!

time

If there is one thing that I have always struggled with it has been time management. I often will have a huge deadline coming up and just ignore it until the last minute and end up stressed out and exhausted ensuring that I get everything finished on time. Yes - I always do get things completed, even when I manage my time poorly but this is not the point.

One big thing that I learned when I was off on my teaching rounds it was time management. This is something that I have vowed to continue to do and am doing very well at thus far. I am currently overloading at uni. This means that rather than completing the normal prescribed study load, I am doing an extra subject so that I can complete my degree earlier than I would have otherwise. I am able to do this because I don't work, I have very self-sufficient children one of which is at school full time and the other goes to kindergarten. I also set myself goals that MUST be completed. I keep a big cork board with my study planner and time table on it - I also keep a diary...

 

This is a fresh one for the new financial year.

I am finding that managing my time means that I am much less stressed at the end of the day, because I know exactly where I stand with each upcoming deadline and I know that I have used the time that I have had to work on each thing to my best ability. You can't do much more than that! Achieving my daily study / housework / sewing / fitness / kid oriented goals really puts a smile on my face.

Here are some photos of what I have gotten up to today in my well managed time.

Oliver and I made apple leather using Kate's instructions. He thinks he is a master chef and he loves to spend time helping out in the kitchen. I love to cook, so his desire to help me makes morning activity time quite easy to organise.

I worked on calisthenics head gear for the little miss. I have actually almost finished all of her costumes for this year. Hooray!!

And good old lesson plans for assignments. I actually love the kinds of assignments that I have to plan lessons for rather than just write an essay - they seem so much more relevant.

Anyway - back to it!

What are your tips for managing your time?

planning for maths

I swear this is uni work...

I'm planning for a maths education assignment this morning preparing lesson plans and trying out ideas for studying pyramids and prisms. Most importantly I am looking for FUN activities that will help these children learn the properties of pyramids beyond "it is a pyramid because it looks like a pyramid".

I found it really difficult to find a good, easy to understand set of instructions on how to make an origami pyramid for a warm up activity. One for us beginners who are more adept at folding fabric and making it hang correctly than using paper to make... well... anything.

Thankfully I found a great video over on Storm the Castle.

Looking forward to using these little pyramids to engage my learners.

blogtober 23rd: missing

Yes, I've been missing the last few days of Blogtoberfest. I have desperately wanted to post, but had computer issues, university assignments, and I decided to change my photo editing software because perhaps the previous software had something to do with the first excuse.

I have returned, I still have lots of assignments to work on and complete. One of which is a big, annoying and incredibly confusing research report that I am sure you don't want to read about. But thankfully life goes on, in a few weeks these subjects will be over and new ones will begin and I am gaining more knowledge about the profession that I will hold one day in the not so distant future.

I did promise to try to de-stash some patterns this month, and with only seven days remaining I really do wonder whether I will get another item sewn up with all of my other commitments. But I do want to start. I have two patterns that I would like to get sewn up in the near future.

Both of these patterns are yet to be opened and I am intent on doing so before the end of the year for both of them.

One is Vogue v8365 (I can't find a link to the pattern anywhere!). I am not really a shorts person generally. I don't know why, but I just think I look weird might be my height. Don't even get me started about how ridiculous I look in 3/4 pants! Anyway, I was looking through my stash of patterns and this one I had prepared with fabric chosen and everything in the folder with it ready to go. So I will divulge the desires of past-Amy and make up these shorts. Probably in view A. Short shorts are always more friendly than ones that finish just above the knee.

The other pattern is the Claire Cami Dress by Serendipity studio. This pattern has five different lengths to choose from from cami, tunic, short dress etc. I will probably (once again) head to the short option. It is getting close to summer.  I'm really looking forward to wearing one of these dresses actually.

Thirdly, and not pictured, I want to make another Anna Mini Dress. I love a good summer mini-dress and I made the longer length last year and I never wore it because it was at a silly length for me (and I made it too big). This pattern is obviously third on the list because I want to finish something I haven't started before first.

Well, its time to go make the lunches...



What photo editing software do you use?
Do you look funny in knee length shorts too?
What is your favourite Summer clothing item?

Blogtober 17th: wordless Wednesday

Snowed under by books.

Blogtober 12th: KCWC Day 4 & 5

Yesterday my space was not so creative, and my place was full of tired, cranky parents. Mr-O made the executive decision to spend most of Wednesday night awake, coming into wake me five times during the night. Teamed with an early start to sit in traffic before a long, busy day at work, and then awful traffic on the way home, I didn't sew yesterday. In fact last night I didn't do much of anything other than mumble instructions to children about eating their dinner, brushing their teeth, and going to bed.

I did make a decision about what to make for Miss-R though for the KCWC. I am playing along with Karen from and so I sew this month and de-stashing some of my patterns in her great pattern de-stash. No, I'm not giving them away. The plan is to take some of the patterns out of the stash that I haven't used before, and use them! So in light of my blogtober plans to make, and to fulfill unfulfilled sewing promises, I will be making Miss-R the Milkshake Skirt I promised her back in June.

It's amazing what sleep can do, its so refreshing, and with only 2 visits from Mr-O during the night, today I decided that sewing would be a reward for me. 

I so desperately wanted to get into the sewing room and finish off Mr-O's pants. But I do have commitments to my study and I use Friday mornings to get a lot of reading done generally. So my deal with myself was to complete an hour's study before rewarding myself with some sewing. A good deal I do think myself.

And so today I give you the finished product. The shorts should be around 3/4 length on Mr-O, I will try to get some modeled shots up by the end of the week. I made a few changes to the original idea of the pattern, and so didn't follow the instructions at all, just used the pattern pieces.

The original pattern called for the pieces to be made into lined pants that can be turned up at the bottom to create a cuff that is held up by tabs with buttons. The problem with this is that Mr-O hates buttons. He pretty much lives in trackpants, won't wear a polo-shirt, and don't even ask him to wear a button up shirt! Making him something without buttons is the only way to get him to wear it.

The pants also have a stretchy drawstring. We are big fans of drawstrings here as pants that have the pull in waists have buttons also, and on the inside, meaning they are doubly horrid to Mr-O. I am thinking I will add in a bit of topstitching to the top of the waistband though to prevent this drawstring from digging in (the original tutorial probably asked me to do that but as I didn't read it...)

So there is my first finished item. It looks probably not much like the idea the pattern asked for, but it is what I had in mind.

Was your space creative yesterday?

Do your kids have clothing that they simply will not wear?

Do you know how to stop 4 year olds visiting their mummy 5 times a night?

blogtober 7th: sunday snippets

 

Sunday Snippets, via tinniegirl

Sunday Snippets

 

Joining in with Tinniegirl for Sunday Snippets.

better late than never...

I missed my creative space post yesterday... The world was happening...

Work... Tiredness... Major meltdown in the evening (me not the kids)

So I will update you all today :)

I have done some planning for my bag for this month's sew-a-long. Which was fun, and a bit exciting. I have to do some more research yet, but there's something on paper.

I also made (translate - decorated a chesty singlet) Miss-R a top to wear to her school mini-olympics on Wednesday. MUCH appreciated by all involved. We are all pretty into the olympics here, so it was pretty exciting for Miss-R that her class got to dress up in Australia colours.

I made a dress bag for someone at Miss-R's Calisthenics club.  I even inserted gussets... these will be going on her dress bag that I will make for next year as it means it will hold more costumes.

And then after that I sat doing assignments as it is week 10 at uni (translate - end of semester) so I am crazily writing portfolio and journal entries and sleeping very very little (thus the meltdown).

I am looking forward to bed on Sunday night but know that I need to work hard to get there as I have a lot of work to do.

I hope you are enjoying your week!! 

Gotta...

...stop reading and start studying!

The end of this study period is almost near, which means I am in a mad dash to finish all of my journal and portfolio tasks. Anyone who knows me well, also knows that when I have a lot of un-motivating or uninteresting work to do, there's always so much washing, cleaning, folding and ironing to do and I simply just HAVE to do them NOW!

This morning my excuse has been that I NEED to catch up on blog reading... thankfully I have caught myself at 10am only 1 hour in before I get too caught up and forget to do my journals.

I did find this wonderful giveaway in my travels.... maybe you could go enter too! (or not... leave the prize to me!!)

Baking away...

I am doing some baking this evening after my day at home with Mr-O.

English muffins is on the menu after I found the recipe here.

I also made pikelets to to go in tomorrow's lunches just cos I am THAT awesome a mummy ;)

Hope your Tuesday was wonderful. I'd best get back to these books... they are screaming my name!

brain fry

I have a huge week of study this week, one assignment due tonight, another due on Sunday. 

So I am sitting with my head in a book, well there are many books open and I am attempting to spread my head around the lot of them at once... Its making for a very fried brain, but my assignments are coming along beautifully.

I got to do some recording yesterday. Which was lots of fun, and I hope to have a little demo of covers ready soon to send out to the local markets, pubs etc to try to pick up some little gigs. 

I have done something fantastic and cleared a whole shelf of my fabric stash off by selling a bunch of my minky fabrics.  YES!!!I'm still on fabric ban though! clearing off one shelf means nothing to the MR!

 

Hope your Monday is much more exciting than mine, and that rather than sitting in the same chair doing the same thing that you have done for the last 5 days, you are making something beautiful!

freedom!!

It's school holidays here in Melbourne and my gorgeous gorgeous children have gone off with Granny to the farm for a few nights for a holiday, giving me a lovely couple of days off from motherhood. I am so so grateful for their trip as it gives me some time to myself that I very rarely get.

So rather than wiping bottoms and peeing with the door open this week just in case anyone needs me in that 30 seconds, I'm going to spend my week doing EVERYTHING that I want to do! 

The first thing I want to do is spend time getting ahead on some of my study. I have a couple of assignments due next week so I have spent most of today sitting underneath a blankie like a little old lady reading away without interruption. 

I also intend to spend some time working on Calisthenics costumes for Miss-R as competition season is coming up in a few weeks.

 

This little dress is a bit too small, so I have to let it out for her to wear it comfortably. There's also a small stain there which I was going to attempt to tackle, but after finding the exact fabric on special at spotlight I am going to just replace the panel as it is only tacked on. There's also a leotard to take in which is kinda freaking me out a bit as I don't play nice with lycra... especially when it's sparkly...

My Sew-Jo has been on vacation for a few months, so I am hoping that this project will fan the passionate flames rather than squash them!

I've also got to re-sequin Miss-R's dress bag as being pulled in and out of car boots for 2 years has lost it a few sequins. That reminds me... I have to go get some more sequins!!

So, back to the reading after a trip to the grocery shop to purchase something to cook for dinner that my kids definitely wouldn't eat!!!!

feeling less than human

Today is one of those days... I am behind with my uni work this week. I'm still not really sure why. I was really thrown by the heater fiasco on Monday and I didn't really get any reading done after work, which has really set me back.

Mr-O has been really needy this week too. He's so so clingy (I guess its just one of those stages) which has made it really difficult to read, get on a computer do anything really other than read Cars, watch Spiderman and give cuddles. Perhaps a couple of late-nights over the weekend, while he is asleep will help me catch up.

It's been so cold here overnight and with no heating I don't think any of us are really sleeping very well. I woke up at 5.30 FREEZING so just got up and sat in front of a heater. Was actually a good time to get into some uni reading. No kids to distract me and a nice blanket and heater to keep me warm. 

source

 I don't feel much like this today though, I can feel that stuffy nose, slightly cluggy chest feeling as well which always comes with this time of the year (although Ive dodged the flu quite a bit lately so my number might be up).

 

 

source

I feel a bit more like this... technology isn't completely working for me, and there's a mountain of books on my desk that keeps falling over. I am not really in the mood to sit and read about cognitive constructivism and its relationship to social constructivism as interesting as it is of course.

 Thank goodness though, I have finished one part of my work for the week, now to read about formative assessment. Perhaps a bit of a meander through blog-land for a bit first though. When your head is slowly filling with snot, its difficult to try to put any information in it...

 

hump day...

Wednesdays are generally a fairly busy day for me and Mr-O and today is no exception.

 We've been to story time at the local library for some stories, singing and craft...

We've been and done the week's grocery shop, every little boy's favorite chore...

Now we've sat down and had a deliciously healthy lunch (well mine was, Mr-O had noodles), and I'm enjoying a cup of chai while I write away and he watches movies having a little rest.

 I also have to read some of this before we walk to the school to pick up Miss-R. 

I also made a promise to Miss-R that I'd make her a new skirt for her casual dress day on Friday at school for the end of term. I was thinking of this one.

I won this pattern last year on Toni's blog when it was released and I am yet to use it. This might just be my chance... especially since I bought a bunch of new patterns yesterday that accidentally fell in my cart when looking at them online.

Good news on our heater, it should be fixed soon! Hooray! Last night was apparently Melbourne's coldest night in 8 years, no wonder all 5 of us (that's counting the cat who snuggled in) were in our bed this morning!

Anyway, I best be off to be a good girl, read my textbooks so I can get some crafty time in later. 

Hope your Wednesday is wonderful.