another use for toilet rolls

Yesterday was a busy day... I seem to be finding my groove the last few days and have been successful ( for the most part) in keeping my kids happy AND getting a spot of cleaning done in the off chances.

Todays cleaning agenda was to clean some outside blocks that have been sitting there staring at me for MONTHS. Amahli has asked to play with them often but I cant let her as I know they will be filled with spiders and other nasties. But today, they were my only big job to do. So I settled down with a bucket of water, an old toothbrush and the blocks and began.

I made a commitment to myself that just ONE cleaning thing will get done each day. With that in mind, I seem to find more purpose in doing it instead of kinda half doing it before finding something else that needs doing and then wondering why nothing ever looks finished. It means that I have to finish it before I go to bed. And for this week, its working :)
Because I was outside, Amahli and Jared were keen to show me all their tricks and clever stuff on the outdoor equipment. So I watched and commented on how much they had practised and how clever they were whilst I scrubbed and cleaned blocks. How very therapeutic :)

A few nasties later...

Amahli wanted to come and help me and so I gave her a toothbrush and we chatted about our days, the weather, what she wanted for tea tonight... such a lovely little girl to be with today :)
And soon, all the blocks were clean and ready to play with. One more thing off the never ending list.

In the afternoon, Jumeirah wanted something to do so I told her to collect all the rogue multiplying toilet rolls and we would make something with them.

I dont know about you, but SOMETHING in our house makes them breed and we always seem to have about 15 in each bathroom.....

I found this little craft years ago but have never really done much with it but it was perfect for Jumeirah today.

Each toilet roll was squashed slightly in the middle, then at each end you fold in the sides to make to flaps. It makes the cutest little pillow and looks like a great idea for party favours! She is going to make some bracelets to give to her friends to put inside them.

Once we had constructed about 10 little cases, she wanted to paint them purple.

And as I sat with her and painted too ( also very therapeutic) , I got to chatting about her day and what she wanted for dinner and how school was going and what she thought of the world.... and just enjoyed spending some time with another lovely little girl. Because the drive to achieve everything and clean everything everyday was gone ( well, dulled a bit anyway) I was able to enjoy just creating and making without thinking of the thousand other things I needed to do :)

For just a week ( to start maybe) I totally recommend doing this. For yourself, for your kids, for your sanity :)

project 52: week 9

Jared: " Mum! Come and see this! I never seed this before!"


Me: "Hang on mate. I'll be there in a second! Im just doing..."

Jared: " No MUM NOW! You'll miss it!"


And so I ran out to find him ( camera in hand just in case) eye level with the out of control veggie patch... and this amazing bright yellow lady bug.

They are rare around here.. red ones I see often but not yellow.
He was so pleased with showing me this little amazing creature.



And I totally cant remember what I almost missed this for ;)

What have your kids shown you today??



linked to love that shot :)

fun in the park

There are ALOT of photos on here today.. sorry! But I cant miss any out. Im under strict 4 yr old instructions... :)

Well Autumn has hit here with a BIG drip drip drip....

Its has rained basically all day everyday the last few days.. not that I mind, actually I love it :) I am so much more productive in crap weather and it fuels me to do more. Dont know why really, but I LOVE it :)

So today its been mad cleaning, sorting, a quick trip out for a milkshake and a play with some photos of last week.

Realised I never blogged most of them so here they are and our great day in the park.

Last week, in a brief intelude from the rain, I asked my gang what they wanted to do. Jareds first response was "treasure hunting!" and so I told them thats what we would do.

I gave Jared a piece of paper with a list of "treasure" he had to find ( everything that has to be found is treasure currently, its a great game) and we looked through the list. Lots of "B" words for no other reason but that he likes that letter this week. Its a simple list, he only needed a few things that he could remember what each word was.

And so I strapped Little Miss in the pram, strapped on our shoes and headed off to treasure hunt, which just happened to be in the direction of the park.

Set on a purpose, I semi hurried our little hunters along... but he kept stopping, looking, examining, exclaiming and generally getting excited about everything we passed. I was getting kinda impatient, until he said " Why we hurry? I like stopping" and I realised that really the walk was supposed to be more about the getting there rather than the destination.

And so I stopped, listened, looked.... and was amazed.

And this is what we found....

A bridge ( apparently trolls were here so we had to be really quiet and tiptoe past)


A broken tree ( I was actually stunned he knew it was a "b" word. I thought the " b" finding thing was just something he didnt really get. Seems I was wrong)

The PARK!

More bridges

Brave babe

Beautiful boy
Buddies
Bush trails ( yep this is RIGHT near my house, the most gorgeous magical walk EVER)

Dinosaur footprint leaves ( doesnt start with b but he got so excited that I had the stop and was so surprised at his description and how it EXACTLY looks like a dinosaur footprint. When did this kid get so smart??)

Big black lizard
Blue Fly
And of course, I hunted my own favourite "b" word. "BOKEH" :)

I has the most amazing magical walk with these lovelies. Its so much fun to see the world through the eyes of a child. The wonder, the magic, the finds, the treasures.... and so I made a pact with him and myself that one other day this week I would make the time and effort to see the wonder of the world through his eyes :)

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pizza!

With the huge success of 'apple eating" of last week, I decided to push my little munchers a bit further... Pizza.
Amahli wont eat the toppings. Jared eats it all, Jumeirah wont eat any of it. So, to fix this, I decided to let them help and make their own pizzas.
They could put on it whatever they wanted.
So to begin, we went shopping. Each child could pick something they wanted to put on it, then once we got home, all three were involved in cutting up the ingredients and then arranging their own pizzas.

Hand eye co ordination, fine motor skills, cutting skills and handling a knife.... things like this cover a huge range of skills that they can practise, and food seems to become more inviting when its in tiny pieces( I dont get the logic but Im going with it!)

Jumeirah discovered she really does like ham, Amahli sneaked handfuls of cheese she wont touch normally. The pizza bases were small too so it looked like a much more managable size to eat rather than a whole pizza.

Jared, whos not into anything tactile ish, loved decorating his pizza and actually commented that the pineapple was "wet and squishy", the ham was "smooth and yum", and the pizza sauce was like "lava" which all the ingredients fell into.

I must admit, homemade pizza is delicious. And even better when someone else is cooking it for you ;)

All three had a great time making dinner for themselves, daddy and me. All three helped me serve, all three actually ATE their own pizzas :)

What other meals can I get them cooking for me ;) ??

Project 52 : week 8.

This was a moment I caught this week... him holding her hand, showing her the world, explaining the little things, her in adoration of her gorgeous big brother, talking, giggling, secrets, love.

I love these moments :)

threading fun

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rain rain rain LOVE LOVE LOVE :)

Such a nicer day today.. cooler weather is so much easier to be in. Today I got out some pasta to thread for my littles. I dyed the pasta ages ago and never used it all so it was perfect for today. (its dyed the same way as rainbow rice). It was threaded onto wool and I had taped up the end so its easier to thread on.




Amahli whizzed through it, each piece of pasta was so quick to go on I sat there in stunned amazement. She didnt even need me to show her how to do it. She absolutely loved it.

Jared was great at threading but took more time to get each piece straight in the line, and needed some encouragement to keep going. Hes not big on crafty things so this was a great non messy thing for him.
And whilst he wasnt keen, he did make a great long pasta chain to wear.

Once threading was done, I started on the kitchen ( does it ever end?)
Amahli quietly came and nicked the tongs from the drawer... then some cups, and a bowl, then her tea set ( why that was in the kitchen I dont know)
I let her do it, she was quiet and happy and Im not one to unbalance a 2 yr old on edge...
A few minutes later, I was invited to tea and pasta at a fancy resturant. These lovely two had used the pasta and tongs in a lovely play setting that I probably wouldnt have thought to set up for them.

Tongs where carefully manipulated to pick up pasta ( its really tricky!), places were set.

And it lasted over an hour.

Now THATS what I call a perfect play morning :)

Housework and rocket rides

I dont know about you, but finding the balance between playing with my kids and housework is a never ending guilt battle.

Most mornings, my kids entertain themselves until I have at least done the kitchen/dishwasher/floors before begging me to play. And when I do start playing, too often I remember the washing in the tub, or the clothes that need to be trained to put themselves away, or the dinner that needs to be started or the bathroom that needs to be cleaned.... or whatever else is climbing the walls because I NEVER SEEM TO HAVE ENOUGH TIME/ARMS/ ENERGY.....

Late last week, Jared was begging me to play in his new rocket ( from his birthday). I desperately wanted to clean up their room so the rocket could actually "launch" but too often lately Ive noticed myself leaving in the middle of play with them to do something housey so today I wasnt going to do that. So I told him I could play, but that I had to clean too. He was happy with this and helped me clear the floor so we could actually get IN the rocket.

And so we set off... between the stars, avoiding shooting stars, waving to other rockets. When we landed on the moon, I picked up the " moon dust sucker" ( vacuum) and began "taking samples" of the moon. Off to a good start, I began to move their beds closer so they could do "Lunar jumps" between the planets ( and I could vacuum along the side of the beds).

We then fixed the beds for " the man in the moon" who happened to be out of town for the day, and left the angry bed beast in the bed.

By the time to samples were all collected, we'd jumped our last Lunar jump, fixed the beds back and settled back into the rocket to come home, the room was clean, tidy and dust free :)

We then snuggled on the lounge and read a rocket book and talked of our adventures.
When Daddy came home, all Jared could talk about was our awesome adventure and the things we did. There was no talk of a vacuum cleaner and tidying, it was all about play :)
And for now, I have one clean room in the house ;)