Letting Go

Well I have waited for over two months for my lovely sonshine sister to take her turn to post and I think maybe I might inspire her (guilt her into it) if I just jump in and do one myself. So here goes.

Sometimes I feel like I just get too caught up in directing my children in HOW to play and forcing my closed minded views upon their open little minds.

For instance, in my mind, tea bags are used for making tea and on the odd occasion they are used for making pretend tea by some imaginative little minds. Little D is often seen wandering over to the cuppa cabinet to grab a couple of jigglers, so when I saw him heading over that way the other morning, I thought nothing of it and turned my focus back to my morning cuppa and junk mail stash.

The next time I looked up I saw D working away at his train set and forgot all about his visit to the tea and coffee cupboard.



The next time I looked up I remembered.


At this point I really wanted to give him the usual "tea is for teacups" type of redirection then I thought, is it? Why couldn't he play with the teeny tiny ground up particles of tea leaves that he was spreading all over my floor? Was it because of the mess? We do own a vacuum cleaner so that problem had a solution. Was it because of the cost of replacing the tea bags? The cost of paint, glue and other craft materials is more so that was a non issue too.

I had to decide, do I, A - tell him to stop, B - join in or C - sit back and see where he goes with it. At this point after realising in my own head that it really is okay to let your two and a half year old spread tea leaves from one end of the house to the other, I really actually wanted to go with option B but the observer in me won over and I sat back to see what he'd do.

He played for well over an hour, focused and constructive, never asking for help or input, fully immersed in the world he was creating and I got to wondering if he would have been so self sufficient in his play had I butted in and started imposing my rules and limitations on him. My guess is probably not.



I finally jumped in for a go a couple of minutes before I wanted him to clean up and it was so much fun having something to fill the trucks with. I can really see how it helps his little imagination soar. When it was time to clean up, we tapped all the tea out of the engines and trucks and packed them away as usual, then it only took a few minutes to wiz over the carpet.

And I had the perfect little helper for that task.

Pine cone men!

It was one of those rare days when I got some quiet time alone with Master 4 back in August (OK, it was really July - and yes FSP, I am still hanging my head in shame at my blogging slackness of late).

Anyway, Master 4 had stumbled across the basket of pine cones we had collected from our treasure hunt in the Pine Forest which you can see here.

I asked FSP if we could borrow her much loved glue-gun (learn about her love of her gun here!)  and whilst bubs slept we heated that glue gun up and went to town making pine cone men.  

A few beads here and some embellishments there and our first pine cone man was complete.  

Master 4 was particularly proud!  (Yes, he is one of those boys who fake smiles - even his eyes fake smile)

I cut him out some leaf shaped card and asked him what he could make.  He stuck some pieces of card in half a dozen places before he came with this one.

We glued some red buttons on for eyes and in his words 'TaDaDa. A Bat!'

Then I had a turn.  I decided to make a special turkey just for FSP!  Hope you like it Tokkey!  Thanks for the use of the glue-gun.

A fun afternoon of creating with nature!

Roll up, Roll up

OK, FSP, you have well and truly guilted me into it.  And to rub insult into injury my post today is about our babies combined 1st birthday party (which was 2-1/2 months ago - hide my head in shame).

We had a circus party which, although turned out brilliantly, could have been so much better in my mind.

I had planned a Big Top in the back yard with our huge overhanging umbrella, draped with brightly coloured sheets and laden with soft cushions inside for all the kiddies to play in.  Alas, I discovered it was not to be when I awoke that morning to rain clouds.  So I pulled out my trusty roll of streamer paper and created the makeshift Big Top you see below.  NOT at all what I had in envisioned but it sufficed.

The party loot bags turned out well.

As did the cake.  I was particularly pleased with my work on that part and now the boys have a little wooden elephant each to play with.

Water bottles with the boys names on them and Popcorn boxes that I painted myself from Icy Pole boxes ( I am still peeved over the number of paint coats they needed).

I made a photo booth so we could capture the kids (and a few adults) clowning around!

Master 4 took his clown role a little too seriously but just loved the photo booth.  I do believe I have more photo's of him than anyone else.  Number 1 birthday boy was not too impressed by it though!

Tears of a clown!  Nobodies smiling.  

Finally, a smiler!  You'd be hard pressed to not get a smile out of Master 3 though.  It is generally permanently imprinted on his face.

Our very own FSP - The Hula Hoop Twirling Acrobat and Number 2 birthday boy - The Mime!

The ticket booth that greeted all guests on arrival.  I had so much fun painting this one.

The Ring Leader and the Acrobat.  Our Circus Freak Family!

Happy Birthday boys!  I hope you enjoyed the Circus as much as we did!

Another Great Op Shop Find

My lovely sunshine sister and I have been busy, busy, busy preparing for our respective 12 month olds' first birthdays. We have been creating up a storm and after all the mayhem of a joint circus themed birthday party we may finally find the time to share some of our circus themed projects with you.

Until then I will just share with you this little bric-a-brac item I grabbed at the op shop the other day. The boys and I had popped in to spend $5 Little F received from his great grandies for his big day and I saw this.



I'm sure in it's previous life it was used for neatly dividing food stuffs for dinner parties and family functions but in our imaginitive little minds we saw an animal sorting tray.

We collected all our little animals and sorted them into colours or animal types (farm, safari, bugs etc.) Little D sorted them into animals with tails. That looks like this.



Little F was not so much into the sorting yet but he enjoyed trit trotting the little animals into random compartments and then throwing them all onto the floor.

Best of all this was another minimal purchase that is going to have a long shelf life in our home with lots of imaginative re-purposing.

Toy shopping with a twist

I took my boys toy shopping yesterday. Not to a specialty toy store and not one of the many department stores around town. No, our search for playthings took us to the local op shop. Now I have bought some pretty good bargains in the op shop toy section before but this time we walked right past the pre loved Elmos and Lightning McQueens and headed straight for homewares.

"What sort of toy can you get in the homewares section?" I hear you all ask.

Well, for a start, home corner toys are easy to find at the op shop and of course they all look so real because, well, they are. Take for example this fruit bowl.

This purchase was a find made by Little D. I had told him we were looking for things made out of wood. A great opportunity for him to practice some labelling and recognition skills along with sorting and classification. He recognised that part of the fruit bowl was indeed made of wood and said "This is wood Mamma, can we get it?"
Now I didnt want to clear the shop of every wooden item they had and I still wanted to make purposeful selections so I asked D " What will you use it for?"
"Cooking" was the very sensible reply and with that we popped it in our basket and kept searching for treasures.

We found them too. We found a large wicker tray, two wooden bowls, a vase, a beautiful little souvenir box from Vietnam, a wicker stand, our fruit bowl and my favourite, a little wooden framed hourglass.

We took our purchases home and laid them out on the table and then in true imaginative style my boys turned these bits and bobs into wonderful playthings, using them for anything but cooking. The wicker stand became a bed for our lion family. The bowls became hills. Leaves and ponds were added and our fruit bowl was turned upside down to create a cage for our animals


Little F spent an eternity trying to get the lion out of the cage so D found some smaller animals that would fit through the bars. Soon a wonderful safari slash circus slash zoo world had been created and the boys just extended further and further on their own play.

Our playroom shelves and toy boxes are full of real, everyday items like this and I think my boys' enjoyment from these things is well worth the effort of thinking outside the box when we go 'toy' shopping.

Oh and as a side note, this shopping expidition cost us less than $20 and I think my imaginative little men will get more joy from these purchases than they would get from anything I bought at the 'real' toy store for that amount.
And if they don't, I've got myself a really nice fruit bowl.

paper planes

My DH is the paper aeroplane king. At any of our extended family gatherings you'll find him outside with the boys creating the most aerodynamic projectiles you'll ever see. He uses elastic bands, sticky tape and chopsticks to propel his creations high into the sky and occassionally he will stop playing long enough to make a few extras for the boys to have a turn with.

Not long after the boy's super planes have taken flight you'll find DH up on a chair, fishing rod in hand, trying to knock these paper projectiles out of a tree or down off the patio roof. Alas his playtime has ended and he must head the rescue ops for the rest of the day.

Last weekend Master 8 came to have a sleep over with Master (almost) 10. After breakfast the two boys got into my craft desk and set to, creating some amazing paper planes of their own.



They measured and marked



Cut and taped



Little F joined in the fun too



The finished product

I was very impressed with the boys initiative and skill in this activity. The only thing I helped them with was telling them where to find materials they wanted. The rest they did all on their own and they must have been paying attention to DH because their planes were truly aerodynamic.

Tips for getting to school on time!

Now, I am by no means an overly organised person but I must say that I always get my kids to school on time. It irks me that some parents are rocking up to the school 5, 10 even 20 minutes late when they only have one or two kiddlywinks to deal with in the morning.

I have an eleven month old who still wakes multiple times throughout the night so my fantastic husband is kind enough to let me have a sleep in most days. If this means that I don't get up until 8am when we have to be out the door at 8.30 then I will live with the 30 minute chaos and cherish those extra minutes of sleep.

This is a short run down of the 30 minutes from throwing my legs over the side of the bed and reluctantly getting up to starting the car engine and zooming out the driveway.

8 to 8.05 - Take in my surroundings, view where the children are (generally camped out in front of the TV still in their PJ's), see who has eaten breakfast (normally only one or two of them) and a quick trip to the toilet (I have just woken up after all).
8.05 - 8.10 - Gently remind the children that they only have twenty five minutes and to please go and get dressed for school. This only applies to the two eldest as I still have to help
Master 3 to dress (he can't open his big, heavy, solid wood drawers) and of course Master 11 months needs to have a nappy change and obviously can't dress himself.
8.10 - 8.15 - I get myself dressed, brush my hair, roughly apply any makeup I might think is necessary and return to find the eldest child still watching TV in his PJ's.
8.15 - 8.20 - NOT so gently remind the children that they only have 15 minutes to get dressed and eat their breakfast and to get a move on. I then prepare said breakfast and throw together a breakfast shake for myself to have on the go.
8.20 - 8.25 - Take the kids lunches out of the fridge and place in their school bags. Get the younger boys shoes on and laces tied. Fix the older boys collars, make sure their jumpers are on and shout at them for playing when they should be eating.
8.26 - Strap Master 11 months in the car. Strap Master 3 in the car.
8.27 - Strap Master 4 in the car. Scream at Master 8 to move his backside and get in the car.
8.28 - Put my shoes on and hop in the car. Ask if everyone has their school bags.
8.29 - Run back inside for the bags. Ask if everyone has their shoes on.
8.30 - Send Master 8 back inside for his shoes whilst I start the engine. He starts to panic because he honestly thinks I'm going to leave without him and for the first time all morning he actually does something quickly, jumps back in the car and off we go. And, my voice is only a little hoarse from all the shouting I've had to do.

So, my top tips for getting four kids dressed, fed and in the car in 30 minutes!

1) Make school lunches the night before.
2) Make sure school uniforms are ready to go the night before.
3) Shower before you go to bed so as not to need one in the morning. (If you sweat in your sleep as much as my husband I don't recommend this one - just get up 5 minutes earlier)
4) Be prepared to shout, nag and be completely frustrated for those 30 minutes.
5) Have a supportive, hands on husband (If your husband does not have these qualities consider trading him in for a new one)

How much time do you need in the mornings?