foam shapes

I found the coolest things a few months ago in Lincraft.. foam sticky backed shapes. I hid them away for a rainy day. And guess what we got today ( and are going to have for the next 6 days)?? RAIN. Nothing but rain, rain, rain.



And for some random reason, I chose to remember my little secret stash and became awesome mum when they saw them. My kids love stickers and all things stickerish.
It did take a little bit of patience for all involved ( including me, I tried so hard not to step in today) to get the backs off but once it was mastered the most amazing creations came into being...

Jared, who I thought was just sticking them on any which how, came to me when he had finished and explained this picture:



The 5 triangles across the middle are (from right to left) "Amahli, daddy, jumeirah, me and mum. The yellow triangle is China ( the dog) and thats our house ( orange triangle atop teh green square). The purple is the moon and the orange circle is the sun. They were both out yesterday at the same time.

Pick jaw off the floor, Mum.


Amahli, never one to conform to the correct idea for things, created a "crabby patty" ( thanks spongebob squarepants) or in other words a "burger".

And of course Jumeirah wanted a go when she got home from school and these are her creations :)







Now, if you dont have a lincraft nearby, you can find these type of things on ebay. Its well worth stocking up for a day such as today :)


Heres a couple I found :) ( they dont know they are on here)

Foam robots

foam shapes



Happy Sticking!!

simple salt painting

His laughter... sparkled like a splash of water in sunlight.
-- Joseph Lelyveld
This little boy... a constant source of fun and laughs, even when he isnt meaning to...I clicked this one this week, in a mini shoot cos he loved his new hat. Hes trying to read the inside of the brim :)

Sometimes its the simplest of activities that interest my kids the most....
And todays was all done by Jumeirah, the plan, the process, the result... I just stood back and took photos :)
She'd found black cardstock and asked to do a night picture. Her idea was to use salt to create a cool night looking picture.

So I gave her glue, salt and complete freedom to create as she wanted to.
She painted first, painting a cat through a fence under a starry sky. After salting the picture ( very completely salting the picture, bench and most of the floor) we shook of the excess and admired a really cool, textured creation :)

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best :)

Happy weekend!!

puffy paint

Im sorry for my semi erratic day missing in my blog over the last few weeks... its not that I dont have things to post, I do, but by the end of the day all I want to do is flop on the lounge :)


Im totally loving my little one on one time with Jared when Amahli sleeps. We've conquered puzzles I didnt think he could do, we've almost mastered writing his name, but not only that, hes starts asking earlier in the day when shes going to bed because hes enjoying it too.

Today was something we've done before but Amahli was a bit little and Jared wasnt as keen so I pulled it out again.


DIY Puffy paint.

This is such a cool paint activity because it actually works!!
To make your own puffy paint, you need:

equal amounts of self raising flour and salt ( I used one tablespoon of each per colour)
Food colouring ( or watercolour paint)

Small amount of water to add to make it runny.

I gave Amahli and Jared some ultra vibrant ( yup bit heavy handed with the food colouring today... whoops) paint and some paint brushes and only gave them the instruction that it had to painted on thickly.


Jared completed one quickly, not really keen on painting. I took him over to the microwave where we put in his painting for 10 seconds and then another 10 seconds ( you can try doing it for longer but I cant guarantee that a small fire wont break out in your microwave. Ahem.) I took it out and he was absolutely squealing at the puffy painting he was now holding. He raced back to the table to do some more :)


Joint effort of Jared and me.. I did the heart, he did the spots :) This is before the microwave...

And after !!






8 paintings each later, I thought the microwave might have had enough so we stopped. But as soon as Jumeirah came home, all three were back painting again.

DIY puffy paint?? Yep its a WINNER!!

Project 52: week 13

I have been meaning to link up each week to Kims blog Mom Tried It to not only include myself in some great photo fun, but to stretch myself as a photographer too.
I have been seriously lacking in doing this but was really focussed on doing it this week and I totally reckon you should do it too!

Anyways, this week the subject was "old".

Late last week we had a very sad and serious virus hit our beloved computer and it was quickly taken from me without much notice. I lost everything. Which didnt really hit me until hubbin told me I had also lost Photoshop and EVERYTHING that was in it... all the actions I had bought, found, been given.... EVERYTHING ( *GASP!* I know, Im still in sad land over it) . Including any cool time worn textures, taht would have ben perfect for this little challenge.

And so, without photoshop its a bit tricky to transform a photo to make it look old.
So I was looking through my weeks photos when I found something as old as creation itself that I had captured so perfectly. ( well I think so!).

Sunrise

As old as time itself, Sunrise has been going on daily ( although sometimes it is hidden from us) and therefore its OLD. And yet, nothing captures my attention, takes my breath away, and causes my to stand stock still and bask in its incredible performance everytime I catch it.
For the last three weeks, I have taken to walking on the beach at 6am. Yes, its a crap time normally to be awake, until I get to the beach. Ten minutes into every day that I walk, the 40 odd people that are soldiering along the beach in their own worlds stop and turn, and watch the show of Sunrise, never tiring of seeing it as its totally different every day.

For something so old and so everyday ish, I will never get tired of seeing it :)
And the days I dont get up?? ( about twice a week at max) I wonder about it all day :)

So this is my completely untouched photo of something "OLD".

Numbers and letters

I made a pact with myself this week that I would do more things with Jared... too often, I put Amahli to bed in the middle of the day and Jared and I go separate ways... him to watch a movie, me to crash on the closest lounge/bed/floor to pass out for a bit before picking up Jumeirah. Its too easy to do, and getting up at 6am to get walk in before the day starts is fine in the morning but by lunchtime, Im ready for a nap ;)


So I decided that that time would have some great one on one time with just the two of us. Jumeirah got such great special time before they were born, and Amahli will get a whole year to herself when the others go to school.. I dont want him to miss out! So ihad a little list of things I thought he'd enjoy doing with me, even for a short time, before finding great joy in spongebob squarepants ( dont ask.... if you dont know, you dont WANT to know :) )

So this morning, I told him of my plans, that we would spend some cool time together when Amahli goes to bed. He was very excited at this idea and about half an hour later comes to me and says " How about now?" So I got the activity I had prepared for later and did it then!


I had typed, printed off and laminated numbers 1-10 and letters A-Z. After listening to a conversation between him and Amahli last week and what was a number and what was a letter in a book they were reading, I wanted to see if he understood it completely and also to start her on it too.

I gave them to special ( wine) glasses to sort them out with and they began. He had no trouble in telling a letter from a number even though he didnt know every letter. He knew every number without any troubles.

Amahli was keen to do it too, but prefered to ask his opinion which he was pretty chuffed that he knew something more than she did.
Together they sorted them all out and she ran off to play. He was keen to keep working so I got him to sort out the numbers into order, which he did too.




We then had a game of "hidden object" which we have played before with his trains and other objects but I hadnt ever done it with numbers.
Basically, he closes his eyes, I take a number away, he opens his eyes and tells me whats missing. He absolutely loved this game and wanted to play for ages. I had a couple of turns too which he loved being in control of.



He was funny to watch playing this game as every time I told him to close his eyes he pulled some random yoga pose ( no idea where he gets that from really... maybe Waybaloo?? on tv) which cracked me up.






He asked for it again when she went to bed so he sorted and ordered them himself.
Its amazing how a little bit of special time made this little guy such a happy little person in himself for the rest of the day :)
Makes my lack of nanna nap SO worth it ;)

Tomatoes

For those wondering about the birds I talked about earlier in the week??? Here are a few :)

More to follow...



Magpie

Lorrikeets
Pink and Grey Galahs

Not too long ago, my dad bought me some fantastic corrugated square tubs in which to start our veggie patch. With much excitement, we planted squash, carrots, beans, tomatoes and strawberries.....

A few weeks later, the squash and beans came out, they were being overcrowded. Not long after, the carrots were pulled up too early and found to be growing at right angles.

Recently, I found this little sight... the tomatoes, now the sole survivors, are totally not growing where they are supposed to be. Roots are in the tubs, everything else is OUTSIDE the tub. Stupid plant!

So I went ahead with my Mothers Day plan ( that never really happened) and bought some gerberas for myself with the assistance of Littlest Miss and my little buddy.
Both were super excited to be going to Bunnings ( great big Man shed place) and being allowed to pick whatever colour they wanted.

Both pushed their own trolleys with their perfect pick and we headed home.
(I picked some tulip bulbs for Jumeirah to plant so she wouldnt feel left out)

And so last weekend, my whole little gang helped me with our new garden.
Before I pulled out all the rogue tomato plant, I gathered all the green tomatoes, wondering what the heck to do with them, when my ever helpful neighbour told me I could make Green Tomato Relish with them!! Stay tuned for that adventure :)

Almost finished collecting, I noticed this tiny red tomato under the rest of the shrub. It was unbugged, with no holes, and kinda perfect looking. I put him aside and wondered at the possibility of actually producing something I could eat.....

Jareds choice of colour: As bright an orange as you can possibly get :)

With the help of three lovelies, we weeded, watered and dug in the soil, preparing a way for my lovely flowers. Jumeirah found a worm which thrilled her no end and sent Jared inside. Amahli had a great time turning the earth for me and transferring it into the also rogue strawberries ( to be left for now..)
Jumeirah then made large holes to plant 8 tulip bulbs ( Im so excited to see if these will grow!) and then covered and watered them.

We then planted the two new gerberas and also ( for the second time) moved the old beautiful gerberas to make a whole tub of flowers. Hopefully they will survive their 2nd transplant.

Amahli's pick: Pink

Its so nice to be out in the garden, working together. I would love to be able to tend a proper veggie patch with my kids but time seems to run away from us for things like this at the moment. I'm still really keen to do potatoes but I am going to let the strawberries do their thing first and then try them.

So what did I do with my little piece of perfection ( my only tomato)??

Its was lunch :) And I was shocked and deliciously surprised at how tasty it was! And I was totally wondering whether the few tomato bushes I pruned but didnt dispose of would be replantable ;) ???

Tell me, how does your garden grow??

SoRry!!

Sorry gang, I've had my computer hijacked by my husband :( currently, working here from the iPad but with no photos, it's nowhere near as interesting ;) so I'll be back tomorrow :)

Brid Helpers

Today I had a little person home from school.... with an apparent stomachache but I have a feeling it may just be a little "need a day at home" type of ache :)
She was convincing until about an hour after school started when she said " I believe that trampoline jumping would totally fix this Mum" ...hmmmmm...

So I let her have the day at home with us. I had a craft for Jared and Amahli to do but they werent keen ( gee so unusual really) so I got something really cool out for Jumeirah and I to do.

At Nannas house ( hubbins folks) they have a wonderful backyard which is home and flight paths for the most amazing birds. Rosellas, lorrikeets, king parrots, and more recently, bower birds. Nanna has taught some of them to be hand fed but mostly they dive in and amongst the trees, much to the delight of Miss Mother Nature ( jumeirah). Only a few weeks ago, Nanna found a bower nest built by a make bower bird and then found blue pegs around the nest ( which is built on the ground)which the bird had nicked from the clothesline to attract a mate. I had seen lots of websites where kids had made hanging baskets filled with ribbons and wool that would help birds to decorate their nests and thought it would be cool to make some for these lovely birds.

A quick trip to Bunnings for wire, a quick scrounge in the wool basket and fabric... ummmm...room ( it was in a box but it seems to be reproducing all through my craft room)and some ribbon we were set to begin.

I gave Jumeirah a long length of wire with the ends twisted together and got her to loosely form a "ball" shape.

With this, we then carefuly made a gap in the top and began to put ribbons, wool and fabric inside the ball.

Gently, we then closed the top so the ribbon and things wouldnt fall out and attached wool to the top so we could hang it in the trees. A quick trip to Nannas and our beautiful bird helpers were ready to be hung.

This is the beginning of a new "bower".

They looked great in the tree! We will hopefully get a chance to come and see how they are going over the weekend but Nanna promises to keep an eye on it and let us know if they like it :)

I hope they do :)