2010

These Christmas calendars were kind of home made by me (and snapfish).  The plan was to do all home made presents this year and they were mostly.  I was pretty impressed with these and how good they looked. I think I'll be making some more next year... perhaps even one for myself.

This was the Christmas bunting in progress.  Of course I didn't take a decent photo of it completed but it did hang above our dining table through much of December and into January.  I used red felt on one side and patterned fabric on the other and alternated them.

You can see it here if you like.

don't you know our bunny teeth bleed?

At 5 1/2, #1 has his first wobbly tooth.  He is very, very, very excited.  I took a photo so that he could see the new tooth coming through behind.  There has been a lot of talk about baby teeth and adult teeth and I made a wee tooth fairy bag for them.  One weird thing that both boys heard (apparently on the radio kids show)... is that your front teeth are called your bunny teeth and when you pull them out they bleed.  Lovely ;o).

poor sausage

Not sure that we're going to be having much fun in the paddling pool this afternoon! This wee fella is miserable and has a high temperature.  Both boys are upstairs watching Madagascar 2 that I recorded recently.  I should go and hang out with them.  We hope he feels better soon.

public transport ahoy

Yesterday, Mum (NanaD) and I took the boys on the ferry to Devonport for the day.  We've been there before several times (in the car) but this was the first ferry trip.  It's free for preschoolers and only $5 return for a school kid.  So we used many different forms of transportation yesterday... a bus from Nana's to town, a ferry over to Devonport, a ride on the merry go round horses, a ride behind three gorgeous clydesdale horses (thanks mum), another ferry and then the train home.  Both boys spent their $2 on a fairy finger puppet from the toy shop.

We had a sweet day but were all very hot and bothered by the time we got home just before six.  The fact that we had a book to read on the train saved us all on the crowded trip home.  #2 was about to lose the plot and I was about to lose it with him too!  Today we're having a quiet day at home.  We've inflated the paddling pool and am letting it warm up in the sun.  By afternoon it'll be lovely.

salad people

This oh so yummy cereal was made by the boys (I assisted) last week.

We just bought a new cookbook called Salad People. It is the follow up to our favourite kids cookbook Pretend Soup (link to library catalogue so you can request it - go on you'll love it).  The aim of the books is to let the kids do the cooking and the parents just oversee it (and set stuff up).  It has great tips on how to cook with preschoolers without having a melt down.  For example they crack an egg into the bottom of a bowl and then remove the shell, it's much easier than trying to  get an egg off a bench into a bowl!!  And do everything on a tray because the clean up is so much easier.

So we made the crunchy granola and it was delicious.  Not particularly healthy breakfast cereal (so much sugar and oil) but yummy!  We didn't read the recipe properly (really no excuse, it's fully illustrated) and added the dried fruit before we baked it.  Oops.  I had to pick out all the burnt sultanas before adding more fruit.  I'm thinking it'd be wonderful with almonds and cranberries or cherries for my birthday... still many months away.  If you want the recipe let me know and I'll post it.

blogger heaven

I am so excited.  I just discovered that there is an updated blog editor and I've been using the old one all this time!!  It is going to make posting these big photos oh so much faster.  YAY!!!!  I'm sure you know all about it already if you're using blogger but no one told me.

Photo of #2 with cousin Maddy taken in August.

i do believe in fairies

Tinkerbell needed rescuing in the Peter Pan movie and so everyone had to chant "I do, I do, I do believe in fairies!" over and over. We watched the movie just after Christmas and recently discovered the Rainbow Magic books and audio CDs at the library. So there has been a lot of interest in and talking about fairies. I don't imagine it will last long and so am loving their innocence while it lasts.

A week or two ago #1 suggested that he wanted to make a fairy ring in the garden for the fairies to visit and play in. He used flowers and shells and made cotton wool beds for them. Then both boys wrote notes for the fairies. Sure enough the next morning the fairies had come to visit and left some fairy dust behind. There is also a huge interest in the tooth fairy at the moment but I'll save that for another day :o)

christmas crafts

The boys helped me make these bookmarks for family and friends this Christmas. I let them draw pictures onto the fabric using a washable pen and then embroidered over the top. The pictures are of Aunty Katie snowboarding, #2 collecting eggs and some fish for DaddyB who loves catching them. The goth girl is from a tee shirt of mine that I shrunk years ago but never could part with it. I ironed some interfacing (is that what it's called?) onto the back and then cut her out. I was tempted to keep her for myself. I have another two cute kids from the same tee so I'll have to make another one. The bookmark idea is from Handmade Home.

turning four

When we celebrated #2's birthday, DaddyB took the day off work (he hadbeen working solidly since boxing day) and we did all sorts of fun family things together. The fishing and mini golf were special requests by the birthday boy.

We were away from home without anyone around to share a big cake with so I used the leftover Christmas/party marshmellows and chocolate to make a big rice bubble slice. We covered it with sprinkles and turned it into a tower. Pretty cute and not so sweet that I felt the need to eat much of it (a huge bonus that one).

We spent the morning exploring and found a fun pond to play in. I'm not sure that we should have been in it but nobody told us off!

#2 rescued a beetle from the pond and carried it around for a while. He got a mini magnifying bug catcher from his cousin Maddy which brings to four the total of different bug catcher/houses he has. One is a pop up port-a-bug which has bonus cute points.

He proudly wore his birthday crown for a lot of the day. It was so hot playing mini golf that sun hats were compulsory. We played for fun but there was a quite serious family behind us. Don't think they were too impressed by our lack of formal rules!

We've let the boys choose one special activity each for the holidays. They made a list of lots of fun things and then selected one each. #1 chose Rainbows End (the kiddy zone is only $16) and #2 chose 10Pin bowling. If you live in Auckland and can recommend a good place please leave me a comment. Thanks. Having said that we have been doing lots of other things too, it was just a way for me to not go nuts with endless requests during the holidays. Last week we enjoyed a great storyteller at the library, MOTAT, the zoo and a trip to the museum to see Midsummer at the Museum. It's a family friendly version of Midsummer Night's Dream and was pretty good too.

MOTAT and the zoo are just up the road and we have annual passes so they don't really count as special treats around here. We're very spoilt living so close and being able to visit all the time. We got to see the flamingos dancing (crazy) and x-rays of various animals at the vet center. #1 says that animals are his new hobby.

last night as a three year old

I can't believe he's four now, the years have gone by so fast.

I'm glad that I've taken all those thousands of photos ;o)

Pop in tomorrow to see what we did on his birthday.

handyman

He's so keen to help DaddyB outside it's very sweet. Sanding the house for painting wasn't exactly the easiest of jobs! He's also super keen to go fishing whenever he gets a chance (which isn't that often) and can't wait till he's big enough to go out on a boat!

loving the backyard

I love summer time for the outdoor eating and cooking. The boys enjoy having other kids over for meals. It doesn't happen as often as I'd like and I think maybe we just need to make a bit more of an effort this year.

NanaRobyn and Grandpa were here last week, and Simone, Rory and their crew came for a BBQ. The kids had a great time dressing up and battling each other with the wooden swords. We had to explain the slowmo fighting tech so that there weren't too many injuries! After dinner the kids watched Peter Pan and the grownups played Simpsons Cluedo. Not as much fun as Dominion but easier to pick up ;o) The kids ate jelly with fruit and marshmallows for dessert. Even the wee guy gobbled some up before hitting the sack (technically the portacot).

needing a nap

This is what #2 looked like at lunchtime today, when he was massively in need of a nap. It's been a few days since his last one and the past couple of days he's been getting clumsier and less and less compliant (to put it nicely). So this afternoon I tucked him in for a lovely sleep and all was right with the world again.

We spent the rest of the afternoon painting our paper mache creations from earlier in the week. #1 decided that he'd like to be a sculptor and drew a picture of SpongeBob Squarepants (a cartoon character) that he wanted to make. So we made our first ever attempt at paper mache and really it was pretty easy. Except for #1 wanting to quit after the first layer of paper. He's really not into getting sticky.

#2 loves it though. He spent about an hour painting this afternoon, once he'd done his bowl/hat and mine, he then filled page after page with paint.

school holiday fun

If you live in Auckland, weigh less than 90kg and want to give this a try, head to MOTAT this month for some school holiday fun.

We went this morning and the kids loved it. They would have had another go except for the queues. there was also giant balls, water balloon splash, and heaps of sports activities. I made a wee video of the water walking but our internet is having a huge spaz at the moment. Not sure what's up with that one but it's a huge pain.

a holiday at the beach

Daddy B has been back at work since boxing day, which didn't exactly leave much time to go away camping! So we did the next best thing and took a wee vacation by the beach on the other side of town. Four nights away at my parents flat while they were partying it up in Christchurch (they are out almost every night!).

We played lots of games, did a bit of baking (had to use up those squishy bananas), took naps, flew kites, went to the beach (obviously), explored, played soccer (the boys with chipped red nail polish), did forward rolls on Nana and Poppa's bed and generally mucked about. It was really nice. We hurried back home to clear up from Christmas just in time for Nana and Grandpa's arrival on New Year's eve. They went home last night and so it's back to big blog catch up. I've been up since five this morning (we're all having trouble sleeping lately, what's that about?). It's now half six and I've had a (Geronimo Stilton reading) five year old up with me since 5:40am! He is such an early riser it's insane. I guess it's lucky that he's an avid reader and doesn't wake us up when he wakes up.