oh no... I found a new project..... :)
Thinking I might make one for Amahli's birthday ( six weeks away, HA) or possibly for christmas but its just so ridiculously cute I cant not have a go....
Anyone want to come join me??
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
tongs and buttons
This morning we wake to a strange glow about the place... half of Australia seems to be covered in red dust! quite a strange sight, although Port Macquarie seemed to be more yellowy than the shocking red of sydney but it still made for an inside day today. Hmmmm....
view of the ocean from the lighthouseEntertaining kids inside can often be a real challenge... how to expel boundless energy without destroying your house and sanity can be a real tester! This morning I told them that we wouldnt be going outside and that I had some things for them to do inside instead.
We started with some cutting ( still leftover from yesterday) which Jared is really into at the moment. To challenge him a bit I drew lines on the strips of cardboard for him to try and cut along. He didnt want to do it at first but once he realised he could actually do it he was so excited and cut through heaps of them :)
I love setting up activities for my kids that are open ended: that dont really have a set way of doing the activity. I have found so often that their ideas are better than mine and they in turn stretch their imaginations. I also enjoy stretching their skills in a way that they enjoy without it seeming like work. So I set them up with a tray and three different types of tongs, and a whole heap of buttons.
The idea was that they would use the tongs to sort out the buttons into whatever groups they wanted. different sized tongs helps with practising and strengthening fine motor skills and fine muscles ( needed for writing later). Jumeirah set to work sorting out her buttons into ones she liked. Jared took awhile to work the tongs and got a bit frustrated but after a little while he found a set of tongs that he was able to manipulate and he set to work too. They spent ages playing here together.
We then ventured to the shops ( bad idea, dust and lungs dont mix that well) and bought a cheap bag of marbles to play with this arvo, and we changed the buttons to marbles which was easier to pick up with tongs and we picked our favourites and gave them names :)
Amahli, who I thought was still a baby ( ok so shes nearly 1 but still...), has been amazing me lately with her own abilities and I am having to find more challenging things for her to do too. This morning I set up the duplo board with some block towers on it. She quickly set to pulling them off and placing each block into the bucket beside her. She must have repeated this activity countless times through the day and was very systematic in pulling them off and placing each one away. Bright little button :)
And to end this very indoor day we ruined some packing boxes but had a great time being pirates sailing the seas. ARRGHH!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
tracing and cutting
Dont you just love find "love" in rice bubbles???
Today was a great day.. quiet and peaceful, Jared and I just "played".
Duplo buildings, a huge train track, a little bit of cutting, none of my great collage activity ( what a surprise)... I didnt use the camera much today. Jared told me "no cheese mum" so I figured we'd have a day off from photos.But so as not to dissapoint, here is an activity from my facebook notes.. its a good one for older kids and for practising cutting skills!
I really wanted to encourage Jumeirah with her cutting skills as she gets really frustrated if it doesnt work the first time. So the beginning of the week saw us snipping at pieces of paper, which she told me was too easy but jared loved :) So I thought I would challenge her with this activity :) TRACING AND CUTTING first, trace around some circle shapes ( we used the top of the vegemite jar, a chinese bowl, and my sticky tape) onto different coloured cardboard ( I used my scrapping paper or light cardboard as its thicker than paper and easier to hold. paper tends to flop over when cutting making it tricky to cut straight. It costs about 50c to $1.00 a sheet at spotlight) .I started off the first circle as it can be tricky to work out where to start. She then proceeded to cut each circle out.
Must say I was a bit impressed! I asked her if she had practised at preschool. she answered "No mum its just because I am 4 now" :) If you want to display this craft ( and it looks great when its done!) ask you child to place to circles in sizes getting smaller on another piece of cardboard. This is how it turns out!
How cool is that! I am yet to frame it but it will look great on the wall:)
Today was a great day.. quiet and peaceful, Jared and I just "played".
Duplo buildings, a huge train track, a little bit of cutting, none of my great collage activity ( what a surprise)... I didnt use the camera much today. Jared told me "no cheese mum" so I figured we'd have a day off from photos.But so as not to dissapoint, here is an activity from my facebook notes.. its a good one for older kids and for practising cutting skills!I really wanted to encourage Jumeirah with her cutting skills as she gets really frustrated if it doesnt work the first time. So the beginning of the week saw us snipping at pieces of paper, which she told me was too easy but jared loved :) So I thought I would challenge her with this activity :) TRACING AND CUTTING first, trace around some circle shapes ( we used the top of the vegemite jar, a chinese bowl, and my sticky tape) onto different coloured cardboard ( I used my scrapping paper or light cardboard as its thicker than paper and easier to hold. paper tends to flop over when cutting making it tricky to cut straight. It costs about 50c to $1.00 a sheet at spotlight) .I started off the first circle as it can be tricky to work out where to start. She then proceeded to cut each circle out.
Must say I was a bit impressed! I asked her if she had practised at preschool. she answered "No mum its just because I am 4 now" :) If you want to display this craft ( and it looks great when its done!) ask you child to place to circles in sizes getting smaller on another piece of cardboard. This is how it turns out!
How cool is that! I am yet to frame it but it will look great on the wall:)
Monday, September 21, 2009
moon sand
Wow, I did too much today.. brain is fried but kids are happy :) Guess it was worth it :)
This morning started way too early again (thanks Amahli at 5am) and I was off at 6am for a walk with my littlest Miss.Yes it sounds like a very motivated mum, but ha no, its not. She starts off chatting to herself like a little parrot but quickly escalates into a full blown squarking seagull if I dont go get her up and seeing as no one else is awake before 7.30am (Jared now sleeps until 8 at least) I have to get her out of the house. Admittedly its a lovely time to walk once I get going.. theres always a few people around and I walk past the house almost ready for us so its a nice stroll, but its so early that it kills me later in the day. Going to start the hard core sleep training tonight as I really need to have some decent sleep now! Will let you know how that goes....
Today was a very busy day. Jumeirah had heaps of plans and so after a quick breakfast/load in washing machine/fly with the vacuum/ blitz the kitchen we were ready.
At the shops yesterday she found a toy called "Moonsand". Basically looks like sand and water that you can mould with things so I thought I would see if I could make some ourselves. Found a recipe that looked fairly easy and so we got to work:
1 1/2 cups of water
3 cups of cornflour
6 cups of sand
mix the water and cornflour first to a smooth consistency, you can add food colouring here if you like
( this is where Jared left us as he could see where this was going)
add sand slowly and stir until all blended together
Jumeirah had a ball with this stuff ( as did her mother!) Its kind of smooth and easy to work with, similar to goop but not quite as runny.
What started off as a key ingredient for cooking quickly became quick sand for some animals and a poor fairy who wasnt happy about losing her legs.
It needs to be stored in an airtight container when its finished with and can be played with again (need to add water to get it back to a nice state).
We accidentally left ours outside and it dried to the consistency of concrete, but once water was added it was ok.
Next adventure was a walk through the Shrek Forest to the park. Amahli has been horribly not herself lately ( I'm blaming teeth) so we decided that she might forget her troubles outdoors. I dont take them walking to the park that often.. it always seems like such an effort and its sometimes just easier to be at home. But today I realised that walking and being there was good for all of us. The park was perfect and empty so they had a great time... Jared on the flying fox, Jumeirah climbing ( her favourite thing to do) and Amahli created bark rain for herself which amused me no end. Leaving wasnt as happy but with promises of a return trip this week all was good.
This afternoon, Jared wanted to do face painting.. just not on himself. So I painted Jumeirah as a Zebra to his( and her) delight.
And finally, on this very busy day, we made cupcakes. Jared and Jumeirah absolutely love doing this together, she reads the instructions, he helps by "tasting" everything to see if its ok :)
Nothing like starting the week off with bang... :)
This morning started way too early again (thanks Amahli at 5am) and I was off at 6am for a walk with my littlest Miss.Yes it sounds like a very motivated mum, but ha no, its not. She starts off chatting to herself like a little parrot but quickly escalates into a full blown squarking seagull if I dont go get her up and seeing as no one else is awake before 7.30am (Jared now sleeps until 8 at least) I have to get her out of the house. Admittedly its a lovely time to walk once I get going.. theres always a few people around and I walk past the house almost ready for us so its a nice stroll, but its so early that it kills me later in the day. Going to start the hard core sleep training tonight as I really need to have some decent sleep now! Will let you know how that goes....
Today was a very busy day. Jumeirah had heaps of plans and so after a quick breakfast/load in washing machine/fly with the vacuum/ blitz the kitchen we were ready.
At the shops yesterday she found a toy called "Moonsand". Basically looks like sand and water that you can mould with things so I thought I would see if I could make some ourselves. Found a recipe that looked fairly easy and so we got to work:
1 1/2 cups of water
3 cups of cornflour
6 cups of sand
mix the water and cornflour first to a smooth consistency, you can add food colouring here if you like
( this is where Jared left us as he could see where this was going)
add sand slowly and stir until all blended together
Jumeirah had a ball with this stuff ( as did her mother!) Its kind of smooth and easy to work with, similar to goop but not quite as runny.
What started off as a key ingredient for cooking quickly became quick sand for some animals and a poor fairy who wasnt happy about losing her legs.
It needs to be stored in an airtight container when its finished with and can be played with again (need to add water to get it back to a nice state).
We accidentally left ours outside and it dried to the consistency of concrete, but once water was added it was ok.
Next adventure was a walk through the Shrek Forest to the park. Amahli has been horribly not herself lately ( I'm blaming teeth) so we decided that she might forget her troubles outdoors. I dont take them walking to the park that often.. it always seems like such an effort and its sometimes just easier to be at home. But today I realised that walking and being there was good for all of us. The park was perfect and empty so they had a great time... Jared on the flying fox, Jumeirah climbing ( her favourite thing to do) and Amahli created bark rain for herself which amused me no end. Leaving wasnt as happy but with promises of a return trip this week all was good.
This afternoon, Jared wanted to do face painting.. just not on himself. So I painted Jumeirah as a Zebra to his( and her) delight.
And finally, on this very busy day, we made cupcakes. Jared and Jumeirah absolutely love doing this together, she reads the instructions, he helps by "tasting" everything to see if its ok :)
Nothing like starting the week off with bang... :)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
daddy daughter date
I love Sundays... its a quieter kind of day.. normally the beach or something outdoorsy which my kids love... but I also love Sunday cos its Daddy Daughter Day.
This special time started when Amahli was internal, a time when Jumeirah could have some time just to herself with one of us. ( Soon Jared will have the same time, hopefully he will pick me!) Originally I wanted it with me, but it quickly changed to being daddy.. favourite that he is.. *sigh*. Anyway, these two go on some great adventures while Jared and Amahli are asleep. Normally its to the coffee shop, toy shop, book shop and even sometimes to the lolly shop. The last few weeks though, they have ventured on more exotic adventures and have gone on some great bushwalks. This has been a HUGE hit with both of them. Jumeirah spends the week planning and drawing maps, then finally Sunday arrives and she can barely wait until they go to bed to take her map and head out. :) ( she starts asking Jared at about 11am whether he is tired yet).
Its such a wonderful thing to see them bonding and spending time together.. creating a tie that will hopefully last a lifetime. Here are some photos that emerged throughout the week of their adventures together. The first is the map of where they went
the second is them walking up to the light house.
But my favourite is the last one of the view on top of the mountain, looking out to sea over the rocks.
This special time started when Amahli was internal, a time when Jumeirah could have some time just to herself with one of us. ( Soon Jared will have the same time, hopefully he will pick me!) Originally I wanted it with me, but it quickly changed to being daddy.. favourite that he is.. *sigh*. Anyway, these two go on some great adventures while Jared and Amahli are asleep. Normally its to the coffee shop, toy shop, book shop and even sometimes to the lolly shop. The last few weeks though, they have ventured on more exotic adventures and have gone on some great bushwalks. This has been a HUGE hit with both of them. Jumeirah spends the week planning and drawing maps, then finally Sunday arrives and she can barely wait until they go to bed to take her map and head out. :) ( she starts asking Jared at about 11am whether he is tired yet).
Its such a wonderful thing to see them bonding and spending time together.. creating a tie that will hopefully last a lifetime. Here are some photos that emerged throughout the week of their adventures together. The first is the map of where they went
the second is them walking up to the light house.
But my favourite is the last one of the view on top of the mountain, looking out to sea over the rocks.
I love that she's used water colour to paint with.. the places they go look very peaceful :)
Maybe she'll take me one day..... :)
Maybe she'll take me one day..... :)
Saturday, September 19, 2009
easy outdoor paint fun
YAY! Saturday :)
Today we started packing as we move in TWO weeks.. I am trying not to ponder it at all, hoping to just let it happen,, somehow.... I cant wait to be finally out of the rental game and into my own place WITH MY OWN CRAFT ROOM! oh yes you read it right :) When we were first looking to build, we had two different building companies competing for our love. One was great, but the other said to me " what do you want in a house?" and I replied " a space of my own". So he trotted away and came back with one of his house designs BUT he's somehow made me my own room. And my gosh will it be a busy little hive!
Today I was all for something easy. Turned off the box and its noise and sent them outside with a new paint I found called " sidewalk chalk paint" at The Crafty Crow (another great website). I made it using 1/2 a cup of cornflour and added water until it was a thick paint consistency, and added food colouring. Put it into containers with some brushes and we were good to go. Its a really nice paint, thick and creamy and dries like chalk. Best of all it washes off!
It was very popular and BOTH the big ones spent quite a lot of time working on sections of the brick work. Even Amahli had a go :)
So nice to sit back and watch them create on a lazy saturday morning. 
what did you do today?
Friday, September 18, 2009
Fun Foto Friday
Ok so I changed Fairy Bread Friday this week to fun foto friday. Buts its really fine cos I got permission from the gang :)
Actually, we went for icecream this morning in exchange for fairy bread so all was good. Didnt take the camera to the icecream shop, but thats a mistake I wont make again! It was really quite funny watching three children attempt to eat a whole icecream, but two deciding half way through they were done, leaving their ever helpful mum to assist them. YUM :)
I got inspired from Color me Katie to do some fun photos..her blog is such a good read and photography is amazing so I thought I would have a go they turned out not too bad! I dont have the most willing models but we had fun :)
I dont tell my kids enough how wonderful I think they are. Oh dont get me wrong, they are told at least once a day Im sure. They probably dont even hear it half of the time :) But really, there are so many times I look at them busy with play, or laughing or exploring and they take my breath away with just how awesome they really are.
So when we got home, I had already set up an activity for them to do, which I somehow did during the breakfast madness.... ah yes I am the queen of multi tasking!
Anyway, when we got home, Jumeirah and Jared found a piece of paper and red watercolour paint on the table with an instruction to " paint me".
This revealed a secret clue and the mission was on.
Each clue had to be revealed by painting on the page. ( This is SO EASY, done with a candle. Only thing is, you cant see what you've written so you have to concentrate or you'll miss letters like I kept doing)
Finally we got to the final clue, a special message, and one very tasty " rainbow".
Less than a minute later: " Quick Mum, lets do that again!" Success :)
What do you do to show your kids how great they are?
I dont tell my kids enough how wonderful I think they are. Oh dont get me wrong, they are told at least once a day Im sure. They probably dont even hear it half of the time :) But really, there are so many times I look at them busy with play, or laughing or exploring and they take my breath away with just how awesome they really are.
So when we got home, I had already set up an activity for them to do, which I somehow did during the breakfast madness.... ah yes I am the queen of multi tasking!
Anyway, when we got home, Jumeirah and Jared found a piece of paper and red watercolour paint on the table with an instruction to " paint me".
This revealed a secret clue and the mission was on.
Each clue had to be revealed by painting on the page. ( This is SO EASY, done with a candle. Only thing is, you cant see what you've written so you have to concentrate or you'll miss letters like I kept doing)
Finally we got to the final clue, a special message, and one very tasty " rainbow".
Less than a minute later: " Quick Mum, lets do that again!" Success :)
What do you do to show your kids how great they are?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)