3!

Last week Rascal turned 3! Can you believe that? Where did that year go? We had a little celebrate the previous weekend but I seem to have been so flat out that I have only just got around to posting a couple of photos.

My loud, gorgeous, cheeky boy celebrated with a few friends and a bit of a toy story theme but wouldn't go near the Woody costume I made for him. Never mind - maybe Puggle will enjoy it in a year or two.

Last minute Advent calendars

I am so disorganised this year that everything seems to be last minute. Yesterday the boys worked on an advent calendar along the same lines as last years although Junior was in charge this time and did the bulk of the work himself.

 I did plan to make something a little more elaborate this year but time just got away from me.

Then this morning I saw this delightful Tea advent bunting and I had to make a couple for my dear tea drinking girl friends - not quite as elegant as I would have liked but I was working with whatever I had to hand and dragged the boys to the supermarket after school to pick up some extra teabags.

I just have to deliver them tonight so they arrive in time for December 1!

 The madness of the festive season has officially begun! PS Yes I did make a beer advent for Aussie Dad as well!

Summer

It looks like Summer is here. The sunflowers are out, the crickets are clicking away in the veggie garden ..... and Puggle is up by 5.15am every morning!

Warming up

It feels as though the nice mild spring we have been having is finally over with the temperature forecast to reach 36 degrees today, and 37 tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to it because I'm not really a sun loving girl. With three boys that love being outdoors it also restricts what we can do for a large part of the day. So this week there will be ...

 several trips to the local (air conditioned) library,

lots of water play (especially in the mornings or late afternoons)

and lots of racking my brain to come up with some new indoor activities that will keep my little ones entertained without them totally trashing my house. Wish me luck!

Just loving Naturescape

My three boys just love to get out and get dirty and I'm a strong believer in encouraging outdoor play. I have found the Nature Play WA website and facebook page a great resource and we spend a lot of time at the park, the river or the beach. We also try to get out of the city as much as we can and visit relatives on the farm, or take the boys bush walking or camping. Now the Naturescape playground at Perth's Kings Park allows the boys to explore a bit of nature just a 10 minute drive from our door. The boys love ...

exploring the bushland,

making a splash,

playing Pooh sticks, 

 

and climbing the towers. It really is a fun morning out but don't forget to take a hats and sunscreen, lots of snacks and drinks and a change of clothes.

Where have I been for so long

It seem like ages since I posted on this blog and the year is just flying by. Aussie Dad has been away for a couple of weeks which has made life pretty hectic for me but even with him back I'm having difficulty finding the time. I keep taking photos of what we have been up to but they haven't been making in into regular blog posts and with December almost here that may not change much. I have lots of Advent ideas swirling in my head but none of them have made it into reality yet - fingers crossed they do before the first of December. Anyway here is a little photo guide how we have been spending our days over the last few weeks. 

 Baking and eating

 Playing ball

 Drawing

and painting.

Playing with tongs

 and sorting lots of things.

Playing with dough

Making a splash.

 Trying to keep up with this young man (who is into everything).

and just hanging out. We have also been loving Naturescape at Kings Park but that is a whole other post. Hope to be back in the space again soon!

Costumes, costumes and more costumes...

Over the last couple of weeks I seem to have been making nothing but costumes (and I'm a bit over it I must say). First a clown costume for school assembly - I made some rainbow pants and a star t-shirt to match.

 
Then a late night Frankenstein costume for a school monster disco.

I was lacking inspiration so a felt covered box for a head with some toy nuts and bolts stitched to an elastic strap for the neck bolt and lots of green face paint. This photo was taken after the even so half of the face paint is missing but you get the idea.

Finally a Halloween themed birthday party (which should have been easy except I had opted out on Halloween and sent the boys trick or treating in their superhero costume). A quick trip to the party store for a Wizards hat and a simple hooded cape (made from my lovely Growing up Sew Liberated book) along with a pumpkin bag and improvised wand and we are done!

Please no more dress ups for a week or two!

Last minute trick or treat bags

Like everything in our house lately our Halloween preparations are a bit last minute. After a busy morning on school duty I quickly nipped to the supermarket to stock up on some treats and then zipped up some felt goody bags for the boys using scraps of felt.I roughly followed this Purl Bee Easter Egg bag tutorial.  I would have like to make orange bags with black bats on them but I didn't have enough orange felt so they ended up with black bags and orange pumpkins (a bit wobbly because they were cut free hand and sewn in a hurry before school pick up. Hopefully they will do the job for a bit of trick or treating this evening. 

 

Enjoy your Halloween but don't eat too much candy!

Wordless Wednesday - 7.15am not such a good start to the day!

Wordless Wednesday - Old MacDonald's Farm

Pop on over to My Little Drummer Boys and see who else is joining in with Wordless Wednesday!

Making gift bags

I like to make re-usable bags to wrap childrens birthday presents but I'm not so good at keeping a store of them ready for last minute gifts. I'm also not the worlds fastest sewer so I have been looking for a quick method of making simple gift bags. I think gift bags look much nicer with French seams but I still haven't worked out a quick way of doing this when I make draw string bags (which I usually use for gifts). Recently I tried out a new style of gift bag.

Last Christmas I saw Soul Mamma's design for Christmas bags and went out and bought a whole pile of Christmas fabric in the January sales with the intention of making these simple bags this Christmas. Last week when I was finishing off a birthday crown as part of a little girls birthday present I thought I would try out that bag design and it proved to be very quick and simple.

To make this simple gift bag;

1. Press and cut the fabric to the required size adding a couple of inches for seams.

2. Fold fabric in half right sides out and press

3. Sew French seams down the sides of the bag (ie sew a 1/4" seam down either side, fold bag inside out, press and sew a 1/2" seam).

4. Fold top edge over 1/2" and then fold again, press, tuck two lengths of ribbon into this seam (for  securing the bag) then sew seam around top edge of bag.

5. Turn right side out, press, put present in, fold over top edge and secure with ribbon at the front.

Super simple and neat! Now I just have to get cracking on my Christmas bags!

Wordless Wednesday - spring

Enjoying some lovely spring weather!

Spring

The first of September is officially the start of spring down under, so yesterday we freshened up the nature table with some of Juniors' art work, some flowers, birds and butterflies.

 When I told Junior it was the start of spring he asked "if it would be Easter soon?" I think I need to get some books about the seasons in the southern hemisphere! Any good suggestions anyone?

 Rascal (who loves all things avian) was happy to get out his "Five little ducks" cards and sing and play with them - so sweet!

After a sluggish end to Winter, I'm looking forward to some nice spring weather and more flowers in the garden. What are you looking forward to this Spring?

Tiggr

 Don't you just love having to make costumes for book week?

Nothing like a costume made with stockings, felt and duct tape! 

Thankfully I only had to make one this year - I dread the day all three of my boys are at school and need a costume!

Happy Birthday Puggle!

Last week my baby boy turned one - where did that year go! On the weekend we had a little party to celebrate but I was so busy I didn't actually remember to take many photos. The birthday boy was actually feeling a little under the weather with a cold but rallied gallantly and made a nice appearance to eat lunch and cake, and mingle with the guests before retiring for a wee nap.

I returned to work part-time a couple of week ago and so despite having a long list of plans for this party (many due to a new Pintrest addiction), most things were left to the last minute. As a result I was up late the night before finishing the extra birthday bunting and binding a new birthday table cloth (what was I thinking - surly sleep is far more important?).

 

Anyway on the day the sun was shining, the kids played happily and Aussie Dad came to the rescue and made lots of sandwiches and organised the sausage rolls. I even got to enjoy a little drink and chat with our guests.