Shaving - Just Like Daddy

There's no doubt about it, kids love to imitate the adults around them. Just today, I overheard the girls playing a game of bedtime/ sleeping where I'd set up the beanbag and my tall bedroom lamp. Miss H (2.6) said, "goodnight sweetie-pie", just like daddy says as she switched off the lamp for Miss M to go to bed. Earlier Miss M was telling Miss H to go to bed and stay on her bed, just like mummy + daddy would. Bedtimes with our littlie are a little tricky.

I knew that today was the day to bring out this fun shaving activity which I'd told Miss M about last week. She's been excited about it ever since. We just needed a good day at home to give it a go. To make it happen we had to find some shaving cream in a container, some plain paddle pop sticks, a mirror, water and a cloth/ hand towel to clean up with. The bathroom was the perfect place to do it. Once everything was ready, the girls could pretend to shave, just like daddy.

Put the cream on with hands. It feels soft and goopy.

Scrape off using the paddle pop stick 'till the cream's all gone.

Do you think she enjoyed the activity? YES!

When your kids play, what have you seen them do that's just like you? Let's enjoy a little giggle.

Surprise Playdough

So, there I was sneaking around the kitchen this morning while the girlies played, hoping that they wouldn't catch me preparing this activity. All was good, they were busy in play.

I made one batch of plain play dough and once it was finished I kneaded it. Then, I put the dough into two blobs and prepared it for the big surprise. This IS called "surprise play dough!"

I pressed my fist into the centre of each blob to make a hole and to add the surprise part, I took some coloured powdered paint and sprinkled it in. For this dough I put red and yellow together so the girls could make orange. Once the powder paint was ready, I covered it up again so the dough looked like the original plain blobs with no sign of colour anywhere.

When I took the dough to the girls they seemed very excited to have some new dough to play with. Little did they know the activity would get more exciting than that. Once they started to play and roll and knead the dough, the colours started to come out and mix. This really captured Miss M's(4)interest. She worked at it 'till she had a beautiful orange colour. What a fantastic, fun-filled surprise!

Train Whistle Blowing

"All aboard!"

The girlies and I are playing together with everyone over at Childhood101 for We Play.

Two girls, different ages, same toys sometimes means squabbles so when I see them creating together, playing together, problem solving and being team players, I have to stop and enjoy the fun filled, lovely moment (and take a photo or two).

I've been collecting these fruit boxes for a while now and they came to good use when the girls decided to make a train for themselves and their toys. They made an old style train which had to have a whistle but when we couldn't find our sports whistle something else need to be used instead. Their little wooden recorders made the perfect sound. This was such a lovely game and it lasted for what seemed like ages on our cosy, homey, Sunday afternoon.

"Train whistle blowing, makes a sleepy noise. Underneath their blankets go all the girls and boys."

Come and play at the Childhood101 We Play link up.

For the Love of Baking

A cake made for "Aunty Symon" (Uncle Symon)
by my littliest, Miss H, with some help from me.
Both girls had a great time decorating it.
It's a layered chocolate mud cake - the cheat's version!

I have a passion for cooking that is absolutely unstoppable! It's what gets me up in the morning (like this morning) to try a new pancake recipe (for us). 1 cup plain flour. 1 cup milk. 1 egg. Mix and cook in a warm pan 'till golden.

It's what has me buying new recipe books and trying out the recipes.

And,it's what keeps me up late at night decorating chocolate cupcakes for the next day's function. 11/3 cups SR flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 125g butter, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 11/4 cups caster sugar, 2 eggs and 2/3 water. Mix, pour in greased cake tin and bake in moderate oven. (Women's Weekly Kids Party Cakes Recipe Book)

I just LOVE to bake but where my passion is growing deeper is when I'm passing on the great love of cooking to my girls. We read cookbooks, borrow cookbooks, talk about cooking and all the different ingredients. We discuss how things work, what ingredients will do to the taste of the food and then of course, the best part....we taste. Sometimes our cooking experiences are spontaneous and sometimes they are well planned and you'll find our ideas on the shopping list. One thing I've found though is the more we cook, the more I can start to step away from the bowl.

It's such a joy to see the girls love to cook. Will it be a case of "like mother, like daughter"? We'll have to see but for now I'm enjoying this time with my baking beauties.

Do you enjoy baking experiences with your kids? What's their favourite recipe?

A Little Bit of Cute

Look what delightful play items we found at the treasure shop today - a lovely kid's washing line and an old fashioned washing trolley. ($4 for the line. $5 for the trolley.)

Wet washing hanging on the line.

Drying very quickly when the weather's fine.

Along comes the wind and blows it all about.

Flip, flap, flip, flap, floating in and out.

Composer: Liz Olsen

Publisher: ABC Music

Playing Along - A Play Treat

The girls and I are playing along with everyone over at Childhood 101 We Play today.


This isn't exactly the healthiest game idea but boy we had fun playing it! I've been out of action now for a few days with neck, back and head pain and daddy has been taking over the daily role of "director of fun". Today was his first day back at work so I had to resume my role and this is the game we came up with - a cake and lolly shop.

Can you see our teeny tiny cakes, gummy bears (over sized), lolly pops, donuts and our yummy chocolate cake? There's lots for sale in our cake and lolly shop and as I found out, it's all pretty expensive. I payed 50 million dollars for a few lollies and a cake for a birthday party!!

Come and play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up!

Our Spring Mural - A Work in Progress

Spring arrived here in Australia on the first of September and Miss M was really keen to find out all about it. (I also think she was very keen to find out when the swimmers could come back out!) Together we decided that it would be fun to make a spring mural which could be made of anything and everything we had but showing things that might be found outside in spring.

This has been a great project to work on each afternoon as we add a few more details to our mural. I've kinda had to do what my good friend talks about and "sit on my hands". I have plenty of ideas I'd like to use but I'd prefer to see Miss M thinking about how things could be made. Miss H hasn't missed out on the fun either. She has been happy to go along with the blue painting, adding glue everywhere and putting all the flowers on. It's been a great activity for her language development.

The materials we've used so far are...

• roller painting blue and white acrylic paint for the sky background
• blue crepe paper for the water/ pond
• small patty pans for flowers
• green paddle pops for flower stems
• paper bark - we found this on one of our walks
• scrunched up paper for the tree leaves
• brown toweling for the mouse body + coloured wool for the tail

There's still lots we could add to our mural over time so we'll call it a work in progress. It would be good to collage/draw/ paint some animals to add to Miss M's mouse. It also needs some animal and plant life in the water and some things in the sky but then again, they are just my ideas. Time to talk it over with the girls again! We'll give you another peek at our spring mural soon.

Are you doing any activities to celebrate spring with your kids?

Playing Along - Wash the Dishes, Dry the Dishes....

The girls and I are playing along with everyone over at Childhood 101 We Play this week.

Washing up...

always seems fun...

when you're little!

*****

You could extend this activity by...

• Singing and playing 'Wash the Dishes, Dry the Dishes'
• Singing and dancing to 'Mrs Knife and Mr Fork' - Justine Clarke

Come play at the Childhood 101 Link up.

Wood Work With Littlies

A few week ago we excitedly purchased two little hammers (from Bunnings), one for each of the girls. We anticipated some hammering fun to happen during that week but it took some time to organise our supplies. As it turns out, leaving our hammering for a few weeks gave us the opportunity to make some lovely gifts for daddy for Father's Day.

Feeling inspired by some blogs I have read recently I wanted to set this activity up with as many unused items we had around the house. This table (kept under the house) was the perfect table for a work bench for the girls and it gave me great joy to see it being used in a different way. Daddy just had to add a few bolts to return it to its once sturdy state. Apparently one of daddy's old housemates owned it and kindly left it behind for him to enjoy. Hmmm....

It was surprising that our reno house didn't have any old bits of timber lying around so I asked friends and family if they had some soft (ish), smooth off-cuts of timber we could collect from them. People are so generous. We picked up a crate full of timber which daddy cut to different lengths for us to use. Thank you Mr Matt and Mrs Susan for the timber!

I figured hammering pieces of wood onto wood might prove to be a bit tricky for my girls at this stage so we started with something very simple. The collage tray was filled with interesting textured items to hammer on to the wood and this seemed to work well to get us started.

Standing up would have helped to put more strength into the hammering.

The hammering was a bit tricky. It took concentration, determination and a fair bit of help from mummy but we got some things onto the wood in the end. Miss M suggested to add painting to their hammering work which seemed to be the perfect idea. Here are the finished products!

You could extend this activity by....

• Singing 'Johnny Works with One Hammer'

Playing Along - X Marks the Spot With Our Play!

The girls and I are joining in the play fun over at Childhood 101's We Play today.

My "treasure bug" has become a little unstoppable of late. We've had a brilliant time rummaging through "treasure shops" and shopping at the local school fetes to find new (to us) pre-loved play items. Have you ever gone treasure hunting like this? It's such a buzz to bring home your treasures and set them up for play. These treasures have provided new and very different play opportunities for my girls.

We've read our new books before bed, in the waiting room at the doctors, outside on the blue chair, in the morning on mummy and daddy's bed and wherever or whenever we've liked. Cost 50c - $1.00 a book. $10 for all the books.

We've built tall towers and small buildings, then crashed them down again. Cost - $3 - $5 per set of blocks. Some sets are worth over $50 new.

We've taken turns and laughed as the bees tumble down. Cost - $5

We've joined pieces together and had races as we watched our marbles roll to the bottom. Cost - Fill a bag for $2.

We've repeatedly played dominoes and matching games till mummy says it's time to put them away. Cost - $2 or fill a bag for $2.

We've welcomed Billy the horse into our home. He's pretty easy to keep as he doesn't eat much. Cost - $6 (I think).

We've made patterns and pictures and sorted colours. Cost $2 - $3 a set.

We've had quiet cups of tea and played camping. Cost - $3 for the tent/ play house.

We've set up and interacted and taken our new little friends for a ride. Cost - $25 for dolls house. $3 for bus. $2 for bag of Little People.

We've had lots of play fun!

Some of these toys came in damaged boxes which I just traded for spiffy new ones and some were perfect. It's worth keeping an eye out for educational treasures. You just never know what you're going to come across. All the above toys and books were discovered over the last year or so.

In my past life, before children, I worked in child care (many many moons ago!) and then also as the children's worker at one of Brisbane's bigger churches. Just looking through the educational toy catalogues used to get me excited however the prices never did. Now I pick up the same kinds of play fun for a smidgen of the price.

Do you like to hunt for toy "treasures"? What great toy and book treasures have you found?

Come play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up.

Three Words That Helped Make a Change

These three words have changed each and every day for our family.

These three words bring a smile to my face.

These three words are wonderful!

And they are....

Three yummy things

How could you not love these three words?

They tell you that what you're about to eat for morning tea, lunch or afternoon tea should taste delicious.

You don't have to stop at one or two.

And, you can't possibly argue or ask for more because three is enough. More than enough!

Did I tell you that I love these three words?

If I could put them up in lights or write them in the sky I would!

These three words work.

You'll find them written on our fridge.

Spoken from my lips.

And now from the lips of my big girl, Miss M.

No more "more food" discussions.

No more running out of snack foods.

I can keep presenting food in a fun way, which I enjoy doing.

The grocery budget looks better.

And so does the food!

It looks like this.....

Just keep an eye out for my book and DVD.

Just kidding...but seriously, these three words were the change that needed to happen in our house and it's been positive, smooth and yummy too! I can't wait to see how it goes when we are out and about. It's always been tricky to manage the girl's food intake when it's diplayed on the table as one big spread at play dates and parties. They usually can't stop but now there's a new rule in town.

Three cheers for three yummy things I say!

This is our new rule. What do you do to keep the snacks to a minimum and the grocery budget stretching further?

Five for Friday - Five Things That Made Me Smile This Week

I am joining in the Five for Friday fun over at Aspire Mum today. Here's my list of smiley things.....

Baby Love

The next best job to being a mum is definitely being an aunty to my beautiful niece and nephews. At the end of last week SJ, my gorgeous new nephew was welcomed into the world. Seeing all the pictures family have been sending has made me smile. I'm sure I'll smile even more though when I get to meet him in person and give him a squishy cuddle. He is adorable and I am certainly one happy aunty!

The Windy Kindy

2011 will be Miss M's kindy year so we have been attending all the open days for the local kindys we enrolled Miss M in. This week we received a letter asking us if we would like to accept an offer at one of the kindys we were hoping she would attend. She is very excited and I am so pleased it has all worked out. The Open Day for this kindy happened on a very crazy windy Brisbane day but we could see how great the kindy set up was and what a lovely time Miss M will have next year. Yippee! I think she's going to love it which makes me smile just thinking about it.

"Daddy, Are You?"

I think it will always be a little sad when we have to say goodbye to some of the special sentences and words our littlies say when they are learning to speak. Miss H (21 mths) goes around the house saying, "Daddy (or Mummy), are you?", when she is looking for us. Daddy has been in Melbourne for work so early in the morning she has been wandering around the house asking, "Daddy, are you?"

Miss M (3.11) has been saying "tobally" for totally and making up all kinds of intresting songs - hilarious. How can a mummy not smile at these things!

God at Work

Just over a year ago my brother was in a motor accident where his right leg was broken in several places. We had reason to smile this week after hearing that he has been able to move his foot just a little. His leg has been in a metal frame and the bottom half of it was recently removed. Thank you God for this little glimmer of hope. This makes me smile a grateful smile. I've been so proud of my brother. He has shown great patience, determination, strength and faith over the past difficult year. We don't know what lies ahead but we know God is faithful and will look after him.

Painting Day

Today the girls and I have just enjoyed each other's company whilst playing together in the play room. One of the activities included was painting, both easel painting (to clean out our bowls of Cel mix paint from the body painting) and some simple cotton bud painting.

I love days where we can enjoy arty fun together so it was a very positive morning painting away. The girl's bright and colourful artwork drying on the outside line has made me smile ever since.

It's been a special week. What's on your Five for Friday list? Please head over to Aspire Mum to link up.

Painting the Body Beautiful

We were given a huge piece of crisp white paper last week. I was very excited because I've been looking at prices of butcher's paper and large rolls of white paper and they're not cheap. (Remember getting the freebie rolls off the ends of the newpaper runs?) Together Miss M and I decided that the paper would be fantastic for tracing and painting bodies on. This turned out to be super fun but also a very messy activity! (Don't let this put you off doing it!)

First, we stuck the paper to the floor using Blue tac.

Then I traced around the girls bodies. This was the tricky part as they had to keep super still. I traced them one at a time and Miss M went first so Miss H could see what she had to do.

We had bowls of red, blue and yellow Cel mix paint and the girls painted in between the lines. You could also use acrylic or water paints.

Once the bodies were finished we let them dry on the outside painting line. The girls had so much fun painting that the paint was too thick, so it took some time before the masterpieces could come back inside again.

For the last step, I cut around the bodies and hung them up so we could admire just how marvellous they looked. Ta da...

" Moo + Boo" - part of our girl's nicknames

It was straight into a bubble bath once the activity was over. Miss H had paint all over her but thankfully it came off after some serious bath fun!

I remember doing this same activity when Miss M was little. It's a great one for letting kids see just how big they've grown and also to know how special they are. I love my girls!

You could extend this activity by ....

• collaging on the body shape.
• drawing on the body shape.
• reading about the body - DK 'Big Book or the Human Body' is a great one!
• doing this activity again, tracing the body in many different poses.
• adding life sized clothes.
• letting your child trace you - go on, give it a go!
• singing the 'Hokey Pokey' or 'Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes'.
• giving the body a face.

Playing Along - Swing Ball - It's a Hit!

The girls and I are playing along with everyone over at Childhood 101 We Play today.

A big racquet for a little girl

I really don't know what the real name of this game is. I always wanted one of those swinging tennis games when I was a kid - the ones tied to a long string on a pole. We always knew other kids who owned them so we had a great time using theirs when we were over for play dates.

An easy idea that is quite similar is to put a tennis ball inside a stocking, with a knot at the top of the ball and hang the stocking from the clothes line or a support beam. Ours hangs from our very old Hills Hoyst clothes line which is a perfect spot for it. Just find a racquet (in our case it's Daddy's old squash racquet) and have a go at hitting the ball as it swings around.

I'm still keen to own one of the real swinging ball sets and they are well within budget coming in at under $20 for all that crazy fun. For now though, we will enjoy our swinging stocking ball which still provides my girls with the opportunity to practise using a raquet and aiming for a ball. It's a great hand/ eye co-ordination activity.

You know I think I might keep giving it a hit too. As the story goes, my brother and I used to take tennis lessons on a Saturday morning when we were quite young. Mum and Dad came to watch us one particular morning and were so embarrassed by our efforts that they took us out of lessons. This always gives me a good giggle. Now art or craft classes I may have been able to handle! ; ) And my brother, well, he is a keen basket ball player.

"Come and play at the Childhood 101 We Play Link Up"