playdough faces/marble transfering/ taking care of pets

Amahli's brilliant bubble machine... best entertainer EVER



Tonight I have run dry my word quota for the day ( month.. year.. it feels like) And so mostly what we did over the last couple of days will be shown in photos :) Its simple stuff... fun and involving.

Friday afternoon, Amahli and Jared were keen to play with marbles having discovered the jar in the cupboard. So they were happy to repeat something we have done a number of times and they still love it: marble transfering with tongs. Its tricky and takes patience and great hand eye control. They both spent ages doing it.




I thought I would get one last play out of my awesome playdough of last week and added some things to make faces ( Jared still is really keen to create faces: in painting, in drawing, in sand.. so this was going to encourage that a bit more) that he could stick into the dough. Eyes, paddlepop sticks and wire sticks were all used to create this funny face.


Amahli added her own touches but shoving paddlepop sticks for "hair like me!"

She was also very keen to help me when I told them I was going to was our dog, China. Poor China, was once the favoured child, is now just the dog :) Loved, but definitely last on the list. But today she needed a bath. None of them have been that interested in helping in this job, its mine alone, lucky me. Today, Amahli perched up beside me and chatted in the sweetest " mum" like voice to this poor, shivering creature, calmly assuring her it was all going to ok and we were nearly all done.



I love days like this.. flowy and easy, being in each others company and then playing alone.
Im hoping for a WHOLE week of that!

DO you get your kids involved in looking after pets? How?

friday funny: stupid i Phone apps

First part of this clip makes no sense... but it finishes pretty funny :)

Happy Friday!!

superhero capes and masks

So Im sitting at the breakfast table this morning, half awake wishing I was more than half asleep, when Jumeirah hands me a note from the depths of her school bag.
It tells me tomorrow is "S" say at school. And she needs a costume. And did I mention its TOMORROW? So she decides to be the Star she wore at the beginning of the year ( so long ago, shes such a different school girl now, thank goodness!) but I dont think that will work for a full day. So she starts throwing ideas at me: "A snake? or how about a Sea horse? OR I KNOW! ..." which is where I interrupted and said " How about a super hero?" And she agreed. :) Phew!

I had used a great pattern before and had great results in making a cape for my nephew and I knew it wouldn't take long.. its a pattern from Puking Pastilles ( its really cheap too!) and so I got to work making a supergirl cape. Fabric I got for about $9 at a local fabric shop down town that I whizzed to with two children after dropping Child number 1 at school and before I fell in a heap of crappy mum mess.. twasnt a great day. BUT! nevertheless, I WAS going to make a cape.

And sew I did ;)





Its reversible which I love, she can be two different people from the one outfit, and truly, its SO simple to make. She didnt want a letter on the back of it so its fairly plain, but its such a gorgeous colour that she will look great in it anyway.
Its also a touch shorter than I would have liked but she was happy cos she can sit down in it.
I also constructed a felt mask ( also reversible) using a simple mask outline and eye holes. Its done but cutting two layers and stitching the elastic between them. Again, not exactly as I would have liked but I am extremely time short so it will do!!





And it works well too!!



Its something really simple but fun to make. Why not whip up one for your little superhero??

rainbow experiment.. doesnt quite work

Jumeirah" Ok Mum, I need a stick, some paper and sticky tape. Oh, and have you got those pompoms yet?"
I hear this EVERYDAY, pretty much as soon as I start to get dinner out. She is a master creator, an incredibly talented ( but badly timed) and imaginative soul with a brain FULL of ideas and plans. And nothing, but NOTHING stops her. Except me. And my inability to do it right when she wants to. Which drives me crazy because I dont want to stop her doing this, I just need her to find a better time ;).
Which is why, when I had 5 spare seconds, I grabbed her and told her to get ready.. we were going to do something fun and experimenty. And so we did :)
I had found a website with a great experiment for making rainbows and she had been pretty interested in it ( of course she was, it uses Skittles!) and so I got the things we needed and we began.

The experiment measures water density, by placing differing amounts of Skittles in water, they dissolve, leaving the water with differing levels of density. the aim is the layer these amounts of water ( once dissolved and looking lovely in colour) in one glass to make a rainbow.

So we began by dissolving the Skittles. Fast forward an hour and Im nuking them in the microwave.

Once dissolved, we had gorgeous, vibrant coloured water, we began to layer them. Well, we tried anyway.

Unfortunately, sometimes experiments dont work. Sometimes the fun is in the trying. Sometimes its more fun just to drink the ridiculously sugared water at the end :)

Anyone else got any cool experiments we can try??

birthday round up

Well, we have well and truly celebrated this lovely little girl. Its been a big weekend, and now we have come down with an almighty crash as Daddy and Jumeirah fight a horrible flu virus that brings the joy of vomiting, fevers, a quick dash to emergency, and a day of incredibly lethargic creatures. EEww not a fan, no Im not. I am crossing everything and not breathing much in the hope that I dont get it!

But back to the weekend...Saturday morning dawned with a bright and bubbly 2 yr old, 2 very excited older siblings and a whole lotta kitchen fun :) It was a huge hit.

We played most of the birthday morning in here, cooking up a storm, working together and enjoying each others company. I think all three of them will come to really love this little kitchen.

The afternoon brought friends and family for a small party. (I wanted to hit the beach but rain and storm clouds made that a bit tricky).

Kids had fun decorating biscuits and playing.

Sunday I hit the markets with my newly named "Busy Bags" which was fun and fairly successful. Coming home though, I was hit with a huge wave of exhaustion which somehow got taken out on my three still bubbling cherubs. How do women do this?? Balance work and home and still manage to smile and be fun, AND take care of a house as well? I seriously am struggling with it. With hubbin not well and taking himself to bed, I found myself arguing with three small people and really not enjoying anything and so I bundled them all into the car and headed to the beach.
The beach.... my sanctuary, my solace, my place to be still.




And whilst these beauties chased fish and paddled and laughed and played, I sat beat myself up for awhile, then got sad at the things I would have done differently... and then remembered that I am just a Mum, trying to find the balance, not always getting it, but always trying. And my kids, whilst not perfect, are all turning out fine whilst I find my way. I cant beat myself up with guilt over things I should have done, I just need to keep on keeping on, one day at a time. And hubbin and I, we are doing a good job :) Mostly :)

play kitchen DONE

My last day as a 1 yr old....

For over three months now, I have had this stupid idea in my head... I should make Amahli a kitchen for her birthday. ( Next time that happens, Thump me. HARD)
Finally, the night before her birthday, it is DONE :) Its not quite what it was in my head, but its pretty close. It looks awesome and shes going to love it ( Gosh she'd better love it!) The reason I decided to create it rather than buy it was pretty simple. I couldnt fathom spending more money than what I did on my own kitchen. Sure, they are really cute but really, any more than $200?? She'd be having to REALLY cook me something in it. I also wanted it to be wooden, figuring it would last longer. And so, I started googling play kitchens. OH.MY.GOSH. There are some incredibly talented parents out there! Carving things from bits and pieces, hacking up IKEA parts, creating the most gorgeous play spaces for their kids. this one was a particular favourite...Blue Kitchen. Once I started looking, I quickly realised I was going to have to make it :)
So, most nights, I sat and dreamed how I wanted it to be.. last week, I decided I better go get some wood and get started!
Now, it just so happens, that hubbins dad is a woodworker and when I metioned I was going to make this little creation, he was keen to come to Bunnings with me and help me out. ( Which is lucky really, cos I had no idea)
He then told me he would flat pack it for me, so all I had to do was screw it together. When I arrived to pick up my flat pack, it was not so flat and more like the kitchen I had planned :)
Mum in law then had her own therapeutic time in priming and sanding it for me, Dad in law added shelves and a kitchen door, a sink and tap and sanded too. ( I couldnt even watch the sanding part... I HATE sandpaper. I am having trouble even typing it, you should see the teeth gritting going on here)

Primed and ready to paint

This is what I was manned with when Hubbin left for trivia and my arty friend rang me... she came over pretty quick :)

Last night, I began to paint it with the help of a bossy painty type friend ( who is loved, really ;)) and we completely covered it in dark blue and cream paint.
And then we repainted it cos the colour wasnt right... until midnight. Crazy.
And so today, I whizzed up curtains, painted a sign, screwed in the hooks, fixed the paint job, dropped the paintbrush on the said paint job, repainted mess, walked away for while, came back and fixed it yet again.
And here it is. FINISHED.

Set up all ready for my gorgeous 2 YEAR OLD to come play and cook.

I hope she likes it :)

sand art from the archives...

Due to the fact that I am up to my eye balls in painting, I am pulling from the archives tonight :) Really, youa re lucky to be getting anything! Its 11.54pm....


Lately, we have been dealing with a sand obsession..... Amahli has to be eating it, sitting in it, filling her nappy with it ( yes both from an external and internal perspectives, its really good for roughage Im sure), helping Jumeirah make concoctions with it, dumping small castles of it all over the house... and really just enjoying the sensation that sand is. So I took it one step further. Ages ago, I coloured it for the other two and they loved making patterns with glue and coloured sand. And so I coloured some more ( using food colouring and leaving it out in the sun) and let Amahli have a turn at using her fingers to pinch small fingerfuls of it to create picture.

Jared was straight in today, gluing and then "sprinkle sprinkle sprinkle" on his page. He loved watching the colours become brighter as they hit the page.

Amahli ran her hands through it for awhile then I gave her a paintbrush to glue, followed by a small container of coloured sand ( this activity can get a bit tricky if you dont have 24 eyes in your head :) Make sure you know where the sand containers are at all times and put lids on them when they arent being used) and she too sprinkled using two little fingers to pinch the sand. This is great for strengthening small muscles in the fingers that will be soon used for writing.

I also put their glued page into a rectangular container to contain the sand ( I really dont like it going everywhere at the best of times but when its coloured its even worse) which means they can sprinkle to their hearts content :) Then I shake the excess sand back into the sand containers.

I also encouraged Jared to sprinkle over my glued page and it revealed a "J" for "Jared!". Going to find some more fun lettery things to do.






I also tried to change sand play, using smaller containers of it so they would just play with it from outside rather than getting in it.... I added some buckets, sieves, pouring things... do you think it stopped them from getting in it???





Not so much :)