Exhaustion, a cold and jam croissants

I am knackered and run down, and it has led into me getting sick. I have had a really busy fornight (month/year - pick one!), but can honestly say I am happy.

I hate being sick. And I'm a bad, BAD patient. Cal says that when I am not well I have to make sure that everyone feels my pain. And do yo know what, he's right. But I'm trying to change.

Last year my dad came to stay, and he was in a lot of pain with an arthritic hip, just waiting for the date of his replacement surgery. It was the most horrific weekend that I think I have EVERY spent with my parents. It really made me realise how annoying I must be when I am sick. I made a vow then to change.

Today I am suffering with a blocked nose, headache, heavy chest, cough....basically I have the cold from hell. But I am soldiering on. I am drugged up, and trying to get this house tidy after a very busy weekend.

As my last post says, my baby girl turned 4 on Saturday. We had both sets of grandparents come and stay for the weekend, and Bailey had an amazing rainbow fairy party yesterday. And that's where the 'happy' comes in.

Even though I have been running around like a mad woman, making sure that everything is 'just right' (yes I know, it's more for me than the kids), we pulled it all together without a hitch. Photos will have to come later, as I haven't had a chance to even get near my computer to download them.

Yesterday morning was a bit of a whirlwind, but the grandparents were AMAZING!!! I'm usually such a control freak that I have to do it all myself, but I am slowly starting to relegate duties to others. I have to realise their strengths and use them. Kathy, my mother-in-law was head of the decorating committee (hehe) and she did a FABULOUS job. My mum headed up catering, and made sure that all the food was plated up and ready to go. Cal was out shopping for last minute supplies, and he and his dad moved furniture and cleaned the year's worth of dust that was under our couch (ick!). My dad, well, if you knew my dad.........he made himself scarce and stayed out of the way.

The weather was pretty ordinary, so we set the party up inside, but the kids still managed to get outside and run around for a bit. We had Fairy Belle and Fairy Lily come and amuse the kids for a couple of hours so that I could concentrate on the parents. I didn't know all of them, and at 4 years old most parents won't just drop off (understandable), so I wanted to make sure that I was free to chat and make coffee and stuff. The fairy was AWESOME! I can highly recommend her to anyone looking for a fairy in Sydney. Click here to go to her website.

The food seemed to be a hit, and I was so happy with the way the cake turned out. I didn't get a photo of the food table, but I know that my friend Cass did, so when she gets it to me, I'll post it here.

The cake was a rainbow layer cake. I have seen them around a lot lately, and thought that I'd give it a go. You can find photos and a recipe at Whisk Kid, but I didn't use her recipe, just her for inspiration.

I had this vision of a plain white cake with a sugar paste fairy on top, and a #4 candle. Very plain until you cut into it. My very good friend Lache of Sugar Che made a little Bailey Fairy for the top, and she was the most beautiful thing I have every seen. She's edible, but there is no way that she is going to be eaten.

After the cake was all layered up and frosted it looked just as I had envisioned, I just had to cross my fingers and hope that it looked good when it was cut into. It didn't look all that great as I put it all together the day before, but on the day IT WORKED.......I was so pleased that it did.

Anyway I'm rattling on now. I'll be quick.
After the party it was all hands on deck again to clean the house, move furniture back and generally tidy up. I have such a wonderful family.

But later that night my body crashed too. And I feel like CRAP, but I am so happy. We have had a lovely weekend. I had to cancel a playdate for this morning to recover and just chill out, but I think it was wise. There is still so much to tidy up, and I have to find somewhere for all these wonderful presents to live. My girl was so spoiled.

We are blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

Right now it's just Miss B and I, our house guests have all departed. There is a load of washing on, the dishwasher is doing it's job, and Miss B and I are about to enjoy jam croissants together, and having a relaxing time in front of the TV.

Life is good.
K xx