Cupcake Night!

 This picture says it all!

We got all our gear out and played around with heaps of stuff! We did some moulding from fondant icing (roses, bows, and flowers). We also tried our hands at some pretty piping. The aim of the night was to have fun, share some knowledge, and discover that anyone can make a cupcake look great! We were lucky to have Fleur's input with all sorts of handy tips - thanks so much, Fleur!

Here are some links to some of our knowledge spots:
1.Loose swirl tutorials (Simply Sweets blog) & (Bella Cupcakes blog)
2.Vintage ruffle flower (Jessicakes blog)
3.Buttercream tips (Cooks And Cups blog)
4.Cheats fondant roses (my blog)

You can download the recipes we used for our icing here.

Supper was a hit too: Creamcheese Brownie, and Lemon Cake complete with Hot Chocolates!

Till next time!!

Welcome Baby Joseph!

A huge congratulations to Chelsea & Matt on the safe arrival of little Joseph Jeremiah. How cute is that little mouth!

He was born on the 4th August at 1.35am and weighed in 3.33kgs (about 7lb 5oz). Chelsea is doing well.

We look forward to getting some snuggles with your little guy!

Card Making & Origami

Last night we joined a card-making group and got our craftiness on! We had the opportunity to use so many fab materials: cuttlebugs, embossing tools, stickers, stamps, many different papers and cards - you name it, it was likely there.

We also tried our hand at a bit of basic origami.

And of course, all this was enjoyed along with a lovely supper. ;o)

If you couldn't make it, and would like to have a go at home, you can view the instructions for these origami designs on the following links:
Dress
Kusudama Flower
Kirigami Bow

Photos for night can be viewed here.

A Visit to Tin Tin's

Wow - we had SUCH a great time at Tin Tin's today!  19 of us went out there and enjoyed hanging out and chatting while our kids all ran around playing. 

It was so lovely to see so many of our sweet lil newbies there too.

With the weather being so confining, lately, it was perfect being able to let the kids loose in a large space where they could make lots of noise, do heaps of running and do a fab job of being kids.

We love days like that...

Check out the rest of the photos here.

Letter from Lokesh!

I just love this little guy! He is soo like our own kids. His favourite time of the year is his birthday, his favourite colour is pink, and he loves the playground! This could easily be one of our kids filling in these boxes...

It is really awesome that we can change the life of a child in another country in such a positive way.

Welcome Baby Joshua!

A huge congratulations to Ruth, Jason & Hannah on the birth of their lil guy!

Joshua was born on the 24th June at 12.40pm.

He weighed in nicely at 3.9kg (8lb, 10.5oz).

He's beautiful, and we're all looking forward to cuddles with this bubba in Term 3!

High Tea with Ruby!

Oh oh oh!
Delicious, pretty, dainty food!
We had sandwiches, scones, macarons, cupcakes, quiches, meringues, chocolate tarts.  Divine!  Food is such a great way of spending some time hanging out with good friends and relaxing.  We were also very lucky today to have so many wonderful people helping out with looking after our kids-we couldn't do it without you ladies!  So a huge thanks to Faith, Diane, Irene, Sharon, Shelley & Rachel.

Today Ruby shared with us a tool useful for looking at ourselves as a whole person. See the diagram below.

Here goes my recollection of her talk. Whare nga Tapa Wha means the whole body/person.  Essentially, we are made up of 4 parts.  Tinana (physical body), Hingangaro (mind & emotions, soul), Wairua (spiritual).  As women, we tend to think that all 4 parts should be going really well all at the same same.  (For a quick walk through women's history, see what Ruby spoke on last time here). However, often we are depleted in many of the areas.  Sometimes for specific reasons, sometimes just becasue of life.  God created us to enjoy life. Tinana, Hingangaro & Whanau all could be described as the PLEASURE part of life.  Which is good!  Wairua is the TREASURE part of life.  Ruby referenced Mat 6:19-21 "Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.  Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be."  Ruby shared from her own life, but I won't attempt to share that, as I think it's important that it's heard exactly as it's spoken.  When we focus on the three under pleasure, it often leaves us so tired.  Drained.  Worn out.
When we focus on Wairua, it becomes our Powerhouse!  It has the ability to energise the other 3, and can cause you to see those 3 differently too.

Ruby encouranged us to 'take our temperatures' - to look at the diagram, and work out where we are at.  Are we exhausted?  Is our focus in the right place?  How do we think we are going? 

It's certainly a refreshing way to think about ourselves.

Looking forward to hearing more from Ruby next time!