The Princess and the Pea

When Liv was given this beautiful book for her birthday...



I knew I wanted make a softie play set to go with it.

Then I saw this beautiful Princess & the Pea Softie Toy Tutorial at Sewing in No Mans Land. After stealing moments during 'quiet time' in the middle of each day this week, it finally all came together;

The girls are usually interested in watching me sew and love to be included, so they had fun helping to choose the fabrics;


When it was finished yesterday, I put on a little puppet show so they would get the idea and then play with it themselves;

Straight-away they devised their own game called 'Find the Pea' and took turns hiding it in-between the mattress for each other to find. Then they used the mattresses as stepping stones to walk across an imaginary river. Then they made up a counting game and divided the mattress between them (lucky I made 10!). Then they put them on the floor in rows and tried to find pairs of matching colours. I love that they have found so many ways to play with this little set.

Next up, a little prince doll, a pillow and a few blankets...

36

We had a litle birthday celebration at our house last night for my older brother who turned 36 and also for my husband whose birthday is today and who is also turning 36!

I made a garland out of felt circles and then cut it into ribbons for a backdrop above our fireplace (36 circles in total) and used some fun birthday ribbon I found at a craft store;

Then I took inspiration from Pink Cupcake Vintage and made this fun cake;

Happy Birthday to Luke and Nick!

Monday

Last Monday I was the 'class helper' at Liv's PreSchool. I got to see what she does all day and all I could think was, no wonder she is so tired at the end of the day! They are so busy! From the time the triangle is chimed and they file into the classroom, there is activity-after-activity for them to move through and they just don't stop (I was exhausted after just 3 hours and seriously questioning if I have the stamina for a career in this!).

But I loved my time in the classroom, it really was fascinating to see all the little personalities working together and I was impressed by how much the children help and care about each other. It even gave me an insight into Liv's personality - that she is very curteous and always addresses others by their names and that she definitely has a love of music (especially the African Finger Piano - who knew!?!?!) and storytime.

I also discovered she gets very hungry (ie cranky!) in the middle of the day before lunch, so I better get a bit smarter with what I pack for her morning tea! Clearly a piece of fruit, as requested by the centre, does not suffice! (Today I packed her an entire tub of fruit salad)

Mondays have always been my favourite day of the week. I love the start of the week, especially Mondays at home. Elly and I had a lovely day... I finally made her the new "moo-moo" she has been asking for;

That would be a newer version of her beloved blankie which she calls "Moo-moo". (It is actually a cutting of her cot bumper that she always played with, while falling asleep). It has definitely seen better days;

She kept asking me for a new green one, with puppy's on it;

Now it remains to be seen whether she actually adopts it as her new "moo-moo" (because she told Liv this afternoon, 'Now there are 2 moo-moo's. One for me and one for you!" as she handing Liv the new one!).

This afternoon Elly told me she wanted to be a lion, so I got together all the materials for a mask;

She cut a few of the strips and I did the rest, then she glued them on and drew the face entirely herself. (I then stitched around the outside to reinforce the mane and added some elastic at the back)

Then I had a little lion chasing me around the house yelling 'Rrrroar!;

A little lion who could only see out of one eye!

Bush Walking

We promised the girls we would take them for a bush walk and yesterday was the day. We took them to Ku-Ring-Gai Wildflower Garden, which is 123 hectares of urban bushland with beautiful walking tracks;



There were also display areas, ponds (with frogs!), boardwalks, a fern house and an education centre. So many wonderful things to discover;

Including why wearing sundresses and having bare legs is perhaps not the best bush walking attire (more on this later);

(I think Nick's exact words to me before we left home were, 'You're being paranoid! If they want to wear the dresses, just let them! Keen hikers go for bush walks in shorts and bare legs all the time').

We saw lots of beautiful wild flowers. These were my favourite;

Pink, of course!

And interesting markings on trees;

Inside the fern hut;

Tired little legs;

Thank goodness for Daddy's shoulders!

One more look at the wildflower display at the education centre;

(where they were also hosting a birthday party - what a great idea!)

And then we saw this fellow, walking across the car park!

Yikes!

Then it was home to sooth a little ankle that got bitten by something (an ant?);

Of course, Elly needed a bowl (actually a rice cooker!) of cold water too. Now Liv is referring to her two feet as 'Ankle and Cankle!' Next time, I say Mum's advice should reign supreme!

The Rocks... rocks!

Two weekends ago we took the girls on a trip into town, on the ferry. It was a spectacular day to be on the harbour...

It's always fun seeing the various street performers at Circular Quay and we often give the girls their own little purse, full of coins, that they can toss into the guitar cases and hats of their favourites. This charming Charlie Chaplin was the hit of the day;

Whenever we go to the Rocks, our first stop is always Pancakes on the Rocks. The girls knew exactly what they wanted; a caterpillar each. They usually share one, but on this occasion they devoured the three mini pancakes and three scoops of icecream in about 5 minutes flat!

Then it was on to The Candle Factory;

The girls were fascinated...

...and were so well behaved, not touching a single thing (miracle!), that the lady behind the counter gave them a candle each to take home! Liv chose a purple frog and Elly chose a red frog.

I'm thinking these mice on cheese (below) and other novelty candles might look good as cake toppers for birthday parties;

I especially loved these sweet candles;

Almost as much as I liked these...

... at a little mobile cupcake bakery at The Rocks Markets... which I will remember, for the next time we visit!

Cubby

Yesterday I fashioned a cubbyhouse out of two bedsheets and our old park bench;

It was a hit! The girls played in it all afternoon and into the evening (so much, we actually delayed bathtime by two hours). We kept it up overnight as it was quite warm and they were so happy to see it was still there in the morning.

In fact, we were all in it this afternoon, with a pile of pillows and cushions, Nick and I ready for an afternoon nap and we were hoping the girls would oblige us. However, the girls were so excited and had other plans, namely a tea party. So while I didn't quite get the sleep I so desired, it was very relaxing and cozy.

Play Session

The girls love coming to Tafe with me for Play Session. They get to experience all sorts of fun as there are countless activities the students set up, both indoors and outdoors. It gives us students an opportunity to observe children at play and the children absolutely love the whole experience (Elly cried when we had to go home yesterday!)... Here are some of the highlights of our day on Friday;

Shaving Cream;


(We often do this at home, but Nick is always less-than-impressed when he has no shaving cream left the next day!)

Painting;

Mixing Goop;

This is their hands-down favourite acitivity;

In their own little world;


Beautiful, beautiful blocks;


(Wish I could take these home!)

Outdoor fun;

The water pump;

Measuring and pouring;

Playing Shops;

Collage Table;

Mirror Boxes;

And about 20 other things I didn't take photos of. It is definitely stimulation-overload but really, so much fun.

What I love most is that all these activities are open-ended, they are there for exploring and the children are free to interact with it all as they like and are never instructed (unless they ask!) on how to use any of the resources.

We always go home with an array of art and craft that is unique to each child. I especially loved the day a group of children were making robots with the box-collage material and my girls made me a beautiful flower bed out of wooden sticks and patty papers stuck into a cereal box!

(Actually, I still have it... Yes, I am one of those Mums who keeps all their kids crafty creations. They each have a box... and they each have a scrapbook of their drawings and paintings. I cannot tell you how many glue sticks I have gone through, sticking them all in. Sad, I know. It's the aspiring PreSchool Teacher in me...)

Play Session is on every day of the school term at Crows Nest and Meadowbank. My only gripe is that it takes us 30 minutes to drive there... (Otherwise we would probably go every day!).

Ahoy Me Hearties!

Two pirate costumes for my parents...I spent $20 and about 30 minutes sewing each one.

My Mum's request was simple... a pirate poncho. Not sure if she wants me posting pics of her as a pirate here, so here is the poncho itself;

(It's folded up, but you get the idea!)

Dad's was a bit more labour-intensive...


(But still quite simple, even if I didn't measure him first!)

Dad makes a lovely Santa Claus at Christmas time...



...but I think he could pass for a bona-fide Pirate too!