Wednesday 10 November 2010
We took a spontaneous long weekend away to the Sunshine Coast, which is only an hour from home for us. All four of us really needed the time away from everything, we shared some lovely moments on the beach together:
The boys learned about water and waves.
We explored the rock pools (one of our all time favourite family activities).
We discovered new and interesting creatures: hermit crabs, fish, molluscs… and check out the amazing Spotted Sea Hare we found! (No, I didn’t know what it was without googling, though I guessed sea slug.)
And at the end of the day, we wandered the sandy...
Thursday 04 November 2010 -
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We have had a week of sickness, with both kids battling a raging fever followed by sniffles and the kind of cough that makes other mums raise their eyebrows. The thermometer is in constant use, and the infant paracetamol is getting a workout too. I think we’re through the worst of it now, with only the cough hanging on, but I’ll have to keep an eye on the little man as he is prone to ear infections.
This...
Tuesday 02 November 2010 -
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Thanks to a recent pupil-free day, my children had the opportunity to have a play date in our backyard with a group of kids of varying ages (from 2 – 12). I encouraged them to make cubby houses, and gave them them access to the following materials:
one sheet
string
scissors
anything already in the backyard (rocks, sticks, bamboo, etc)
It was amazing to watch the kids interact. The boys and girls naturally...
Friday 22 October 2010 -
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While I’m away at the Australasian MOPS Conference, the super-lovely Christie from Childhood101 is guest posting for me:
Sometimes as parents we are in a rush to help our children conquer the ‘big’ milestones, like learning to read and write. In our haste we sometimes forget about spending time working on the smaller steps which are just as important for our children to master along the way. Just...
Sunday 03 October 2010 -
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We had an unexpected visitor to our backyard in the form of a tame Budgerigar. The poor thing was being swooped by our resident Noisy Miners and seemed unable to fly away. We could see an identification band around its leg, so assumed it was someone’s pet.
Using a towel we carefully caught the bird without frightening it. The only container we had to put the budgie in was the one we also used for the frog! ...
Sunday 26 September 2010 -
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Some days my children are gorgeous. They play nicely together. They make each other laugh. They share adventures. They create things. They listen and follow instructions. And I look at them and think I must be doing something right.
Some days my children are a handful. They rile each other up. They have tantrums. They are disobedient. They break things. They draw on walls. And I look at them and...
Thursday 23 September 2010 -
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Birthdays are special. They are all about…
Inviting friends (and their bears) to share in the fun. I chose these fun invitations and thank you tags from Nomie Boutique Stationery. (I kind of left ordering the invites til the last minute, but Naomi had the invites ready in less than two days, and offered express postage. Phew! I was delighted with the service I received from Nomie.)
Opening presents. One...
Friday 10 September 2010 -
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If you follow my updates or tweets you may have heard that my daughter is prone to picking up ticks when outdoors. I usually find them behind an ear or on the back of her neck, which can make them tricky to remove. Several times she has wound up requiring a local anaesthetic and small cut to remove them. It’s all a little traumatic for a young mum child. Recently she managed to get two ticks within a week...
Monday 30 August 2010 -
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I wonder how many children will grow up without ever having climbed a tree? More and more in the city I am seeing tree-less backyards. Children aren’t allowed to climb trees in the vast majority of childcare centres or schools either, and kids today just don’t have the free outdoor time we did a generation or two ago. As a result I’m guessing some children will never know the triumph of conquering...
Tuesday 24 August 2010 -
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Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best, aren’t they? This week I put a piece of string up and over the branch of a tree, and tied a coloured bucked to each end. Genius. Mr Almost-Two has played with these buckets constantly.
Blue bucket down, yellow bucket up.
Yellow bucket down, blue bucket up, up, up!
And if you’re very, very clever – you can get both buckets to stop half way
and fill them...
