The sweetest Valentine

Miss A surprised me several times today with little envelopes, each one filled with love hearts, butterflies and cute hand drawn pictures...and all done without her having any knowledge of it being Valentine's Day.

The sweetest part though was seeing 'mum' scrawled across each envelope, in her four year old handwriting. It was one of those proud, warm and fuzzy Mummy moments.

Hope your Valentine's Day has been warm and fuzzy too xx

Crafting Together

I was so pleased yesterday when two little budding creatives joined me at work in my craft room. They brought their own chairs, and Miss A set up a little table beside me.

I was busy die cutting butterflies from pink card, and as I worked Miss A happily collected the scraps and began making butterfly bookmarks for us all.

Master R discovered some new punches on my desk, and it was serious business for him as he worked out how to use them to punch decorative borders around his pictures...one for each of us.

I love that they love to make things. I love that we make things together!

xx

Babycinos

We took two excited kiddies to Kings Park this morning with the promise of visiting the new Naturescape play area, only to discover it temporarily closed!

We had two very disappointed kiddies to contend with then...but it was nothing a babycino and scones with jam and cream couldn't fix.

We followed up with a walk through Kings Park (well, a walk for the grown-ups at least...kids just run everywhere don't they?) and we were enjoying the amazing views, the surroundings and the beautiful weather...until Master R decided to run on a stone wall...resulting in two grazed knees, a stubbed toe and a grazed elbow...well, they will run everywhere!

So the walk was cut short to take the hobbling boy home to his Transformers bandaids. We had him patched up and running around again in no time.

Hope you had some (safe) adventures this weekend!

xx

Settling in

The last few days of our school holidays were just lovely. The weather was (stinking) hot and we finally gave in to the kids nagging and filled up the pool.

There is something about water that evokes calm and relaxation...even just water in a (big) blow-up pool! I found myself really relaxing while I sat and watched Miss A and Master R paddle and play in the pool, and listening to the sounds of splashing water and my children laughing made me smile.

It made me feel happy, and it made me grateful. Grateful for the time we had just spent together as a family over the holidays, grateful for my happy home, and grateful for my happy children.

But then, just a few days later I found myself feeling really quite sad and overwhelmed with thoughts of the holidays ending and the new school year beginning. With Master R beginning Year One, and Miss A beginning Kindy, it suddenly seemed like a really big deal. I wanted to continue on as we were: together, at home, on holidays.

But of course we couldn't, and on Wednesday I let them go. It wasn't easy, but I did it. And I surprised myself and felt ok. They were brave, and confident, and excited, and so I was too. I was grateful for the lovely classrooms and teachers, grateful to my man for being there with us, and grateful for the friends who were there (and elsewhere) doing it alongside us too. And the fact that we got through it ok made me smile.

While we are still settling in...to school and new routines....I know it won't be long before it's all familiar and comfortable, and for that I am grateful.

Bird Embellishments Paper ::Cotton ::Love

Felt Flowers Paper ::Cotton ::Love

And then there is that little bit of extra time...time for me...time for craft...time that I caught a little glimpse of on Wednesday, and time that I have again today. After six and a half years as a SAHM, I know I will be grateful for that too...once we are all settled in.

Today I am linking this post to Maxabella Loves 52 Weeks of Grateful at Kidspot

Hope there are plenty of smiles in your week too

xx

Christmas wishes

 

Christmas Eve is finally here...the shopping is done...the presents are wrapped...the grown ups are relaxing...and Master R and Miss A are eagerly awaiting bedtime.

This morning I asked my children to think about what they are grateful for, and they both said family and toys! I guess that pretty much sums up what is important to kids at Christmas time too! Bless them!

It's been a busy and exciting year...and I am very grateful for all of the support and encouragement I have had from family, friends, customers and readers.

I can't wait to get started on all of the projects I have planned for next year.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.

xx Tracey

(The toys in the above photos were crocheted using patterns from magazines and websites.

Reindeer: Crafts Beautiful magazine Issue 206 Oct 2006

Angel: www.spotlight.com.au

Snowman: Handmade magazine (Christmas Special) Vol 29 No.7)

Have tree, will climb. The Playlist.

What is it about trees and climbing that kids find irresistible?

 

The adventure?

The thrill?

Or a quiet place to hide?

Master R was outside climbing 'his' tree yesterday, before he had even changed out of his pyjamas. He has been climbing this tree in our backyard from the day he was big enough to pull a chair to its base, for a leg-up to the lowest branch. Miss A had a bit of a climb, but she usually prefers to stay on the ground and keep an eye on her big brother...She does however have a huge fascination with tree-houses, and if there was a house nestled up in that tree I don't think you would get her down!

The Playlist is all about encouraging outdoor, imaginative free ranging play.

For more tree climbing fun, or to join in with The Playlist, visit 1000 Homes of Happiness.

In the mudpie kitchen for The Playlist

Miss A and Master R got to work in the mudpie kitchen this weekend.

Cooking utensils were assembled, ingredients were sourced, water was added, and mixing, pouring and slopping took place.

Chocolate

Sugar

Mudpie Cafe was opened for business, and mummy was served a lovely treat, complete with Ice-cream container lids for plates and an extra special drink on the side.  Mmm...delicious x

The Playlist is all about encouraging outdoor, imaginative free ranging play.

For more fun in the mudpie kitchen, or to join in with The Playlist visit 1000 Homes of Happiness.

Out in Nature, for The Playlist

One of our favourite places to visit for an outdoors adventure is Kings Park, Perth's Botanic Gardens. But with CHOGM happening here this weekend, and 120,000 people flocking to the banks of the Swan River for a glimpse of the Queen (and a BBQ sausage!) we decided it was probably best to avoid the crowds and road blockages. But by no means was there a shortage of outdoor play, and exploring of our natural surroundings, at home.

Miss A is rather fond of little critters, and she showed me the little house she had made for her new found friend...

Little Baby snail!

She showed me her tiny new plant, in its pot decorated with leaves...

And when I returned home from a morning of shopping, a beautiful bloom was waiting for me...lovingly picked by Miss A and Master R, and popped into a little vase.

Master R and his Dad went out on their bikes to explore the neighbourhood, and had a not-too-pleasant close encounter with a swooping Magpie (thank goodness for the bike helmets!). 

And we all spent the afternoon just hanging out in the garden together, playing with sand and water, doing a little gardening and enjoying the warmth and sunshine.

For more nature play, or to join in with The Playlist, head over to 1000 Homes of Happiness.

Rain - for The Playlist

When it rains, the first thing three year old Miss A thinks about is how happy the trees and plants will be. She loves to get out in the garden, just like her dad, and will always join him when there is planting to be done. On Friday, I captured them doing just that.

With perfect clear blue skies, warm weather, and no sign of rain, Miss A took to making her own rain, and gave those new plants and flowers a lovely big drink of water.

And with all that beautiful sunshine, who would've thought we would wake up the following morning to grey skies, thunder and the promise of rain? By late Saturday afternoon, the rain had set in, and when the kids went outside to give their pooch his dinner, there was of course no stopping Master R from running out from under the covered area and into the rain...

to run, jump, get as wet as possible...

And I even caught him trying to catch a few drops of fresh rain water in his mouth!

For more rain play, or to join in with The Playlist, pop over here.

Three little tees

I have been stocking up on summer t-shirts for my children...including plenty of inexpensive ones that they can play in, paint in or just get dirty in. I know how quickly their t-shirts get covered in stains...or a mysterious hole in them (which strangely often appears after some sort of crafty project involving scissors...hmmm.)

I usually buy inexpensive but good quality plain t-shirts for them, but my little girl, who is almost four, now refuses to wear a t-shirt unless it has a picture on it. So to keep her happy (and me too!) I have been adding my own embellishments to the t-shirts.

Three little hearts...one heart was cut from a scrap of spotty fabric, the other two from a pretty piece of floral fabric, picked up in an op-shop. The hearts were applied using an iron-on adhesive, and blanket stitch.

Three little owls cut from patterned fabric and ironed on...

And a layered flower, made from three fabric scraps, with a pink button sewn in the centre.

All of the embellishments were quick, easy and fun to make, and little Miss A is happy to have 'pictures' on her t-shirts.