Scary times in Ipswich Part II

Feeling shell shocked this evening.  I went to donate some supplies to the evacuation centre after the kids went to bed.  I desperately needed to do something as we are so safe and dry here.  I was driving through the car park and stopped alongside a family who were just tucking their little girl into a makeshift bed in the back of their ute.  She was about the same age as our little one, also with blond curls.  I started to cry as I asked the father if there was anything specific they needed.  We had already given what we felt we could from our own supplies but I was ready to come home and strip the shirts of our backs when I came face to face with this little family.  I'm happy to say they were ok, in good spirits and had already gotten what they needed for the night from the stockpile of things already donated. 

I had included some home baked bickies that some girlfriends and I made together this afternoon.  I felt a bit silly handing over our few little bags of bickies when I saw the boxes and boxes of food that had already been donated as well as knowing they wouldn't go very far toward the 1500 people in the facility .... but it just felt like something positive we could do.  The feeling of needing to 'do something' is too hard to describe for now.    

Everyone I know who is safe is feeling the same way.  We're grateful for ourselves but quite distressed about our friends who have been affected and what the extent of the damage is going to mean now, especially about the health concerns.  There is so much to be done on such a huge scale. 

I came home and bawled on my husband's shoulder when I got home from the evacuation centre.  I keep thinking about that family sleeping in their ute and how positive they were.

Scary times in Ipswich

We are very lucky our house is in a high position here in Ipswich with all this flooding.  We're not far from the evacuation centre, the roads are eerily quiet but every so often there is the sound of a helicopter taking off or landing and the occasional siren.  Even though we're in a very safe position it's hard not to feel very frightened.  I keep wondering how we would ensure the safety of a baby and a not quite 3 year old if we got into any trouble with flood waters.  We heard from friends tonight who had to be airlifted to safety and others who have been evacuated from their homes. 

Meanwhile we have been trying to watch the news without having the big girl watch too much of it and trying to stay sane while trapped indoors with no chance of a trip to the park, the train museum (a favourite place) or even the supermarket.  It's too dangerous to venture out anywhere and most businesses won't be opening anyway.  Tomorrow is supposed to be the worst of it so we'll spend another day checking on friends and family and figuring out what kind of help might be needed.       

Definitely cuppsy tea times.

Thanks Cute as Buttons

Thanks Lisa from Cute as Buttons!  It was very exciting to win your blog comp and even more exciting to open the parcel ...



A custom made tee and hair slide for Little Miss Cuggles



A gorgeous bib for Baby Cuggles





Some fabric and ribbon to play with



...and a brooch for me from Jettas's Nest.

Happy days.



Butterflys, Frogs, Bees and Bugs

A belated and excited 'Thank You' to the talented Giuseppe Poli for these gorgeous cards.  They arrived several weeks ago as a blog competition prize and I love them too much to use them yet.

xxx Kim

Making Fairy Wands

While the Baby Boy Cuggles slept this morning, the Toddler Cuggle and I did something fun!

We started with these Fairy Wands with stars that Great Aunty Cuggles sent up -

Then we traced around the stars onto some scrapbooking paper 

Mummy cut them out

Then we pasted the star shapes onto our wands with homemade glue and a paint brush

...and waited impatiently for them to dry!

While they were drying Mummy cleaned up all the mess and fed the baby while Toddler Cuggle had her lunch and watched a Tinkerbell movie.  : )



Making Glue

The Toddler and I did some craft this morning but I didn't have any kid-friendly glue for our project.  I remembered mum used to make a flour and water mixture and so gave it a go.  It works surprisingly well - here's how.

1) Put about a tablespoon of flour into a jug;
2) Add a little bit of hot water (from the tap) at a time and keep stirring until you have a paste;

3) Add more hot water until you have about 3/4 of a cup of glue, the consistency is similar to what you'd do for making gravy, just runny but not too watery.

I've decided that I'll be saving money and reducing environmental damage by using this glue for all our simple projects.  It works well and is truly non-toxic, so that makes us happy.  : )

Post baby creativity - girly girly quilt

I'm still here!!  Just thought I'd share a peek at what I'm working on for the big girl's new 'Big Girl Bed'.  Our little Girl Cuggle is the kind of child who insists on wearing dresses and skirts to bed over her pj's. 

Must fly, time to feed bub.  All still good here.

xxx Kim