The last year of renovating our family home felt like a combat mission at times!  So, feeling a little  battle weary I took some time out to recover.  It was so good to get back into the normal rhythm of our family life and enjoy special times with loved ones in our new home without decisions and deadlines.

Where have the last 7 weeks gone?

Celebration dinner for my Dad's retirement.

Decorating gingerbread houses with my girlfriends.

Rocking out at our church Christmas Carols.

Glow sticks all round!

Master H decorating his first gingerbread house with the cousins.

Christmas baking.

Visiting Santa.

Unwrapping presents on Christmas Day.

Hosting Christmas lunch.

Celebrating Hubby M's birthday.

Trips to the glorious beach!

Hosting New Year celebrations for friends.

Of course there were still a few necessary house-related tasks of unpacking, organising, selecting, purchasing and finishing off and I'll update you in the next few blog posts.

I hope you have enjoyed some rest and family time over the holiday season too.  Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.  I look forward to our continued friendship in 2014.

There were some late nights and early starts in our first week home.  (We really need to get some window coverings for the kids' rooms!)  There was no time to sit back and relax with the deadline of Miss O's 1st birthday party on the weekend.  Lucky she was very helpful and gave me a hand to unpack!  ;-) 

We made sure the kids' bedrooms were completely unpacked along with the bathroom, living area, dining and kitchen and closed the doors on the mess in the other rooms.  I had some serious baking to do!  I really enjoy planning parties and did my best to create a special occasion for our precious Miss O under the hectic circumstances.  I was so thankful to have the help of my sister and mother-in-law!

I put to use some gorgeous pieces from Salt & Pepper's 'Dream' range to create a pretty pastel theme for the party.  My apothecary jars were trimmed with pastel stripe ribbon and filled with lollies.  The flower shaped fairy bread added some more pretty pastel colour.  My favourite chocolate mud cakes were piped with buttercream roses and I filled more patty papers with fruit balls and flower picks.

Instead of lollipop sticks, I decided to use straws and sit my cake pops down this time.  I'm really pleased with the outcome.  They were a huge hit with the kids and adults!

I made a triple layer white chocolate mudcake with fondant icing as the birthday cake.  I ran out of time to decorate the cake with anything but the number 1 birthday candle.  Thankfully the cake plate made it look a little better and at least it tasted delicious!

Sadly the outdoor kitchen bench top had not been installed so Hubby M knocked up a chipboard top covered with a party table cloth on the morning of the party.  He's such a champ!  It was a shame not to have the sink and tap for a drinks area as planned but was a great spot for the savoury food.

The backyard was not in any condition for small children to play so we decided our best option would be to hire a jumping castle and place it directly below the deck.   With very short notice Brisbane Jumping Castles came to our aid and provided a fantastic castle with a slide.  The kids had a ball!

It was a joy to celebrate the first of many special family occasions in the house with our loved ones and see the space work just as well as we had hoped.  It is definitely now our 'home'.

And seeing the happiness of little Miss O made all the hard work worthwhile!