Ahhh

This is so much better...

...than keeping all my fabric in a big, crumpled pile inside Elly's baby cradle!

I had no idea I had so much pink fabric;

Makes me wonder if I should start a quilt...

Or some Easter sewing;

Maybe some more ruffled skirts;

Nick seems to think I won't need to buy any more fabric for a while...

Which is very funny...

Because although I am definitely a glass half-full kind of girl, when it comes to fabric, I don't think I will ever be able to say that I have enough! But I suppose it is enough for now, to keep me busy for a little while...

Her Kite

'Do you want to know what it feels like to fly a kite?' Livvie asked me before bed tonight.

'Yes, what does it feel like?'

'It feels lovely'

'Like I might just lift off the ground and fly into the sky!'

[I think she almost did - can you see how high her kite is?!?! Lucky Nick was holding onto her!]

Messy play

This week the girls have been revelling in lots of messy play, like...

Goop and glitter in a cake tin!

Painting in the front garden;

I covered a boogie-board in paper to make a more even surface... and they loved the textures that came through from underneath!

And Livvie was keen to make her own clock;

She frequently asks about the time and this week she started copying the time onto her own clock (we used a butterfly pin, so the hands would move)

I think I like her clock better than our real one!

Monsters!

I never thought with two daughters, I would ever be buying Monster Undies... but that is exactly what I did the other day! We have been making a big fuss of Elly and her toilet training (see paraphenalia above) and these were the pants she insisted on, even before she saw them.

Despite a trip down the girls underwear aisle, Elly would not be swayed by Dora, Minnie, Tinkerbell, Ladybugs or Fairies. She insisted on Monsters, so I told her we would have a look in the boys aisle, imagining there would only be trucks, cars, trains and planes... Imagine my surprise when I saw they actually had monsters... (in her words) scary monsters (bonus!)....with teeth! (Jackpot!).

For her, the scarier, the better... and her favourite colours are green and blue. This pack was made for her! I found some stickers that were monster-like too.

The Gods were smiling on us that day. Yesterday? Not so much... she got 6 stickers for trying, but it was hit and miss (mainly miss) all day. However, today was almost perfect!

Now I just have to let her teachers know about the monster undies, before they try to help her hitch up her dress... because despite appearances;

...this little cherub is prone to let out an almighty 'Raahhh!' every time she catches a glimpse of her little Monsters. Yikes!

Sewing Buttons

(Buttons sewn on by Elly, nearly 3yrs)

I saw this idea on Childhood 101 (a great resource for anyone with preschoolers) yesterday and just had to try it with the girls immediately. They are always sorting through and playing with my button collection (I have had to give the girls their own basket of buttons) and they love sewing and threading...

So, we did this after quiet time yesterday. It was surprisingly easy, even for Elly. They enjoyed it so much that when I suggested doing some painting, they begged to sew more buttons first!

I think it is a very satisfying little fine motor activity - because no matter what buttons you use or where they are sewn, the colourful and tactile result is, quite simply, very charming!

From Tea Towel to Wall Hanging

It started with a tea towel from Freedom... then I made a quick trip to Bunnings, cut some dowel and added some eye hooks (actually, I asked my Dad to do this part... Thanks Dad!) and it was ready to hang up;

I love quick and easy projects like this one.

I've also found some more tea towels I'd like to convert:

Soldier, Sailer, Ice-cream Maker and... Petrol Pump Attendant!

I love this;

And this;

All tea towels (and so many more!) from To Dry For.

Australia Day

Happy Australia Day!

Yesterday Livvie made Damper at Preschool and painted an Australian Flag to bring home. Afterwards, I gave the girls little plastic stencils of Australia (I remember these from school, all those years ago!) and we did our own drawings of our country and plotted where we live and where we want to go on holidays next (Unanimous: to see Jarrod and Harrison in Queensland!);

Today we had our traditional Aussie BBQ with family and friends, which was great fun. I made a {rather toxic-looking} version of Coconut Ice in our national colours of green and gold;


(Adding peppermint essence, green and yellow food colouring and dripped dark chocolate on top).

I also made the girls some 'green and gold' tops to wear;

Simply added some Yo-yo's to T-shirts after seeing some similar ones in Cotton On Kids the other day. There, they were 2 for $25...

I went to Target and bought two tops that were on sale for $4 each and added my own flair;

The girls helped choose their buttons and were happy with their creations;

Best thing is they can wear them again, without looking too 'green and gold'.

Funny thing was, they hardly wore them at all today;

Because they spent about four hours in the pool (a new record!)

Let's make rabbits

These were among the first words out of my 2 year old's mouth this morning and that is how we came to be making rabbits at 6.30am today. Elly has a fascination with rabbits at the moment and I happened to buy this book for her during the week, but intended to put it away until Easter.

Well, when she said 'Let's make Rabbits!', I just couldn't resist giving it to her early!

It is such a gorgeous book. This is how it starts;

'Good morning' said the scizzors to the pencil, 'What shall we do today?'

'Let's make rabbits' said the pencil. And so they do;

After reading the book, the girls wanted to draw some rabbits first...

Then they wanted to make rabbits out of fancy paper. I made it into a bit of a game, so my littlest one wouldn't get frustrated with cutting a tricky rabbit shape. So, I cut out all the shapes and drew a puzzle outline for them, which they covered in paste;

Then they got to work, sticking all the pieces together on top;

Even my nearly-3-year-old could do it;

This was one little activity where the girls felt really proud of doing all the steps to make a specific picture;

Now I'm keen to get our hands on some more beautiful books by Leo Lionni;

I would especially love the one called 'Nicholas, where have you been?' (my husband's name is Nicholas and he will think this title is funny. He has travelled the world and I have often said, 'Where haven't you been?') and I have heard 'The Alphabet Tree' is wonderful....but I think they all look absolutely delightful.

Here is a link to some great kid's activities on the Leo Lionni site. I think we'll be making those cute paper mice tomorrow. Click here to see a video of Leo making a mouse, it is sure to make you smile!

S is for...

Sushi Train

for Saturday Lunch;

And Slip 'n Slide in the Sun!

Princess

[Princess Mask by Livvie, Age 4... don't you just love the al-foil crown and lipstick!]

My husband used to nag me... to leave the girls alone! Let them find their own fun... you don't have to amuse them 24/7!!! I don't know what it is (the aspiring Preschool teacher in me maybe?), but I do like organising little crafts and fun activities for them during our days at home.

I must admit though, I leave them to their own devices quite a bit now. They play happily together (most of the time) and have their own ideas for games and the roles they want to play (however with two girls, it always seems to be socio-dramatic role plays!)

But I especially love it when my kids are so bored, they are forced to get creative and use their imaginations in order to amuse themselves. Livvie was arguing a case for going to the toy shop today, so I could buy her a princess doll. This was definitely not going to happen! She soon figured out that if she made a crown, she could turn one of her dolls into a princess;

(Don't you just love the reasoning of a 4 year old, that the simple act of wearing of crown makes for a princess)

She asked me for help once during the process, wondering 'How do I make those funny shapes at the top of the crown'?. I told her she had to cut zig-zags. If there is a short-cut for something, Livvie will find it (my husband calls it lazy*, I call it resourceful!) and sure enough she grabbed the zig zag scissors and cut around the top, added some sticker-jewels and decorative effects in crayon and had herself a princess doll, quick-sticks!

Later today, the creative urge must have struck again, because she disappeared for a while then presented me with a drawing, announcing, 'I've invented a cleaning machine for you, Mummy!';

Apparently it does the dishes, washes clothes, vacuums and tidies up the house!

Oh, if only this wonderful machine would materialise!

* Re; Lazy. On one particularly hot day this summer, Livvie was whining about the heat and how she felt so hot and she was 'boiling... and hot... and really boiling hot....' etc. I looked at her, flopped on the lounge, a fan blowing towards her from a mere two metres away and I said, 'Well, if you are really hot, you will have to get closer to the fan'.

'Mummy', she said, looking at me incredulously, 'How is that fan going to get all the way over here?'.

I think she was imagining it might grow legs and walk, because from the tone of her voice, there was no way she had even thought about the notion of getting up and moving towards it herself! hehe.