Princes, Pirates and too many sweets

After reading The Creative Family recently, I have been thinking about making a little felt crown for Bubs first birthday. Today I decided to make one early so that I could use it for his Halloween costume as well. It was super quick and easy and I was reasonably happy with the results. All it took was a little bit of felt ...
some ribbon (or whatever else you would like to decorate it with) ...
and a little bit of child free time (thanks hubby) and I had nice little crown for my little prince to wear.
Off course I had to make a little cape as well but that didn't stay on very long - it gets in the way off all that crawling, climbing, cruising and standing practice that seems to fill every waking minute of bubs day.
Junior of course opted for the pirate look but I think I might have to make him a little crown too.

Happy Halloween

Take me to the Island

We have just enjoyed a long weekend at Rottnest Island (off the coast from Fremantle) and I had forgotten just how nice it is there. This was our first time at "Rotto" since we started our little family and let me tell you it really is a fantastic place to holiday with kids.
With hardly any traffic and lots of other families it is a very safe place for Junior to practice his bike riding and he loved being able to pop next door to visit his friends (who were also holidaying there).
I even managed to get on my bike a couple of times and took an early morning walk with Bub (who has taken to waking as soon as the sun is up!). I also really enjoyed a nice cup of coffee for morning tea each day at either the cafe or bakery.
The accommodation we stayed in is simple but functional and Junior loved watching the quokkas who came to visit each evening. Alas, we only stayed three nights but hopefully we will get there again in the New Year.

Bub on a bike

This afternoon was sunny and just perfect for a picnic at the river and a bike ride.
This was Bubs' first time on the back of my bike and he seemed to enjoy it - although he wasn't too keen on wearing the bike helmet.
Now that hubby has given the bikes a service and Bub has had his maiden ride we are all set for a lot more family cycling.

Gotta love our library

The boys and I took a quick visit to the local library yesterday and I happened to mention to the librarian that Junior is an avid reader but that Bub was far too busy for such sedinatary persuits. He only engages briefly when I try to read to him and only seems interested in books with pictures of babies in them.
We try to restrict screen time for the boys and I managed this well with Junior for the first couple of year - as a result he really likes his books. I don't think he saw any TV for the first 12 months of his life and it was sometime before he knew that there was more on than the cricket (generally the only time TV is on much during the daytime here is when a test is on and hubby just can't help himself).
However, once Junior discovered Play School there was no turning back and now every afternoon (when bub has his afternoon nap) Junior announces what he would like to watch for his quiet time. I know this isn't idea but it gives me a chance to catchup on a few chores and organise dinner.
Anyway, on mentioning the difficulties of reading to my second boy (mainly due to the distractions an older brother provide) our friendly local librarian recommended a couple of books and also gave me this fabulous Better Beginnings bag full of lots of useful information, activities and a great baby book (all free!). This really made my day - that and the fact that I also picked up a book to keep me happy this weekend too. Happy Reading!

Cinnamon Biscuits for Grandpa

Thanks to a friend who recently introduced me to the delights of American Biscuits, this afternoon we enjoyed a delicious plate of Cinnamon Buttermilk Biscuits using a recipe from The Rustic Table . They are incredibly easy to make and delicious served warm straight from the oven. A quick google search brings up hundreds of similar recipes although we omitted the raisins and chose vanilla glaze icing.

Junior just loves them (especially the vanilla icing) and was keen to help out.
We cooked a batch for afternoon tea with Grandpa.
Even Bub had a little taste and seemed happy with the final results.

Reasons to be cheerful

I just thought I would share with you a couple of things that are making me smile at the moment;

1. New public art at a local park - I love saying hello to these cheeky cockatoos every time I pass them on the way to the local shops (This piece is by local sculptor Andrew Kay)
2. The fantastic spring weather we had this past week. We've had sunshine and a few showers this week and Junior, who is currently obsessed with Winnie-the-Pooh, has taken to looking up at these clouds and and telling me some of the things he can see in them.
3. These photos of my boys which I had forgotten about. I took them a couple of weeks ago when our internet was down. The boys were having fun on their Uncles new BMW. Bub in particular was having a great time and was all smiles. (He had an unsettled night again last night but seems a little better this morning so hopefully my smiley boy is on the mend).

Weekending

After my negative rant in the last post I though I had better share some of the good things from our weekend ..... Friday was a perfect day for a picnic lunch by the river (our first for the season).

Saturday morning I took my usual visit to the farmers market where I bought all sorts of lovely things...
... including flowers for my kitchen (flowers in the house reminds me of home and always makes me smile).
We did a little bit of gardening (fingers crossed the snails leave some for us)
and much to Juniors excitement we are fish-sitting for the neighbours this week.

Wishful thinking

I have just been reading a wonderful post by Kat at Slugs on the Refrigerator. So often she puts so eloquently the thoughts that many mums have, and today she hit the mark once again.

I have had a week of ciaos. Both my boys have yet another cold and as a result they have both been out of sorts and competing with each other for my attention. Bub is teething and seems to be going through his first real bout of separation anxiety. My usually happy baby boy wants to be picked up and carried constantly and is inconsolable whenever I leave the room - crawling after me and crying (a lot!). As a result our house is a mess, I feel totally disorganised and I'm starting to think it would be lovely to have a little time and space of my own to retreat to.

Last night Bub had a terrible night with a fever and not very much sleeping. I spent most of the night in his room trying to settle him or attempting to nap on the sofa. After his 7am feed and a dose of paracetamol, Bub looked ready to crash so I tucked him up in bed with Hubby so I could start the day shift with Junior. Hubby and Bub didn't wake until 9am when the phone rang and Bub was back in bed by 10.30. I have no idea where our day will head now but hopeful my baby will be feeling better soon and I can try and restore some normality to this household. Wish me luck.

PS - I hadn't intended this post to be so negative so I will share some of the nice things from our week soon.

Playing with the big boys

Bub is growing and changing so quickly at the moment. He can get around quite quickly on all fours but is not content with surveying the world from ground level. He is constantly pulling up and cruising around on any object he can find, no matter how unstable.

Today we took our usual visit to the local park and Bub was determine to climb around on the playground equipment with his older brother. Despite my better judgement I popped him up on the "wobbly bridge" and he was off having a great time.

Playing with paint

A couple of weeks ago I dropped into the Educational Art Supplies shop to buy some glue and as usual I came out with far too much stuff. One of the items I bought was a set of paint scrappers. I know I don't really need them - I'm sure various household items could have done the same thing - but I bought them at a weak moment so today Junior and I have been playing with paint.
We also did a bit of sponge painting and made a start on some Christmas decorations - I know Christmas is still months away but it was a good opportunity while we had the paint out. Anyway that's another post once we get around to finishing them.

Buttermilk and Blueberry Pancakes

Bub has been having lots of trouble with teeth lately and he has almost completely given up eating anything I offer him on a spoon (yoghurt being about the only exception). He has been eating a bit of finger food - a few soft steamed vegies (especially peas which he seems to love), lots of pasta (he takes great delight in making great slurpy noises with spaghetti), a bit of toast, and lots of Rye Cruskets and sultanas which are currently my emergency food when nothing else seems to satisfy him.
I'm managing to find enough lunch and dinner options but I have been running out of ideas for breakfast. Earlier this week I noticed a recipe for Buttermilk and Blueberry Pancakes on the side of the buttermilk carton so we whipped up a batch and they were deemed acceptable by my fussy little eater. Not sure if this will last but at least I managed to get something other than sultanas into him for a change.

Salty Watercolours

Last week we finally got around to trying a craft activity I have been planning for sometime. I saw this post about Salty Watercolours at The Artful Parent a couple of months ago and we finally managed to get our supplies together and a little bit of time to try it out.
Junior loved the gluing and I was getting a little concerned that everything was going to be covered in it but we moved on to the salty bit ...
and then the colour ....
I think the results are very pretty although with all that glue and salt it did develop a bit of a crusty appearance once it dried completelty.