We play Fruit Salad

We have been following along with the We Play posts and links at Childhood 101 for a few weeks now and last week we received this lovely wooden Fruit Cutting Set in the post thanks to Christie at Childhood 101 and The Toy Bug.
I love wooden toys and obviously the boys do too because it has been getting lots of use this week.
Bub particularly is enjoying cutting the fruit and making "fruit salad" in the little wooden box!
We have even made some real fruit salad with Bub cutting up the bananas with a blunt knife ...... and of course tasting a little along the way.
What have you been playing this week? “Come over and play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up”

Beachcombing

As I mentioned in my previous post we have just returned from a family holiday in Broome. Apart from lots of swimming we spent most of our playtime last week beachcombing!
The boys loved wandering along the sand, searching for crabs, splashing in rock-pools, collecting shells and discovering all kinds of critters. The boys were generally very wet and sandy after a short stroll but had a ball.
As we were staying right on the beach we also enjoyed watching the sunset over the ocean each evening. This was very popular with Aussie Dad because he could enjoy a beer at the sunset bar as well!
Where have you been playing this week? “Come over and play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up”

Happy Birthday Junior

Junior has just turned 4 and had a little celebration over the weekend. Dinosaurs were the order of the day with a few dinosaurs on the cake, dinosaur stamped party bags for his guests to take home ...
... and of course his dinosaur PJs to snuggle up in that evening.
I can't believe my little man is so grown up now or that tomorrow will be 12 months since I started this blog (my first post was about his 3rd birthday cake).

Over the next few weeks I hope to make a few changes to update the blog. With another little person on the way I'm pondering if I should find a new nickname for Bub because he won't be the baby of the household for too much longer!

Broome Time

Last week we had a lovely family holiday in Broome and enjoyed a little bit of winter warmth. It was our first family holiday to Broome and we splashed out and stayed at the Cable Beach Club Resort.
It is a bit more expensive than some of the other accommodation options but with everything supplied in the family bungalows it made for a very easy family holiday.
I had great plans to take the kids to see all the sights of Broome but I think we all needed some relaxation time so we spent most of the week wandering along the beach and hanging out by the family pool. Junior and I both celebrated birthdays while we were away and my darling husband looked after the boys and packed me off to the day spa for a bit of pampering as a birthday present - all birthdays should be like this!
Now we are back to rainy Perth but have some fantastic memories and plans to do it again next year - if I can convince Aussie Dad!

Some new Pyjamas

On the way home from work yesterday I finally got around to picking up some flanelette fabric to make Juniors pyjamas. I found some fabric with cute little dinosaurs on it which I thought would be perfect for my dinosaur mad boy. Last night I whipped up some pants using an Oliver + S pattern for Bedtime Story Pyjamas which I borrowed from my friend and neighbour.
I didn't make the top because Junior is a little fussy about having comfy clothes, instead I appliqued a green flannelette dinosaur onto a long sleeve cotton t-shirt to match the pants. I think they are very cute - I just hope he likes them.

Playing with bubbles

This week we have been playing with bubbles and boy is it fun.
We haven't had the bubble stuff out for a while but it is always a hit when we do.
Nothing like a bit of silly giggling and jumping about trying to pop them all.
Junior loves chasing them, popping them, blowing them about and making his own bubbles with the giant magic bubble set he got for Christmas.
Oh such simple pleasures! What have you been playing with this week? “Come over and play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up”

Sand Play

It always amazes me just how long my boys spend playing in their sandpit.
It is underneath their cubby house so it stays nice and shady in summer and relatively dry in winter so it gets used almost every day.
Junior loves to create sandcastles, race tracks, rivers (he is very keen on introducing vegetation and water but gets disappointed that the water disappears so quickly) and mountains.
Bub just loves to dig, dig, dig ... and dig some more. What have your kids been playing with this week? “Come over and play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up”

Preparations

After weeks of apathy I have finally got around to preparing a few things for Junior's rapidly approaching 4th Birthday. TodayI appliqued a star and Number 4 on a t-shirt to match the birthday crown I made for him sometime ago. It also matches his birthday quilt nicely. I'm also planning to make him some snug flannel pyjamas but these are still at the drawing board stage - better get a wriggle on!

Mothers Day weekend

Well I didn't get that 7am sleep-in I had been hoping for (thanks to Bub having a fever during the night) but I did spend Mother's day with my little family and my mum - and enjoyed lots of chocolate as well which always helps. Hope you enjoyed your weekend and had a lovely mother's day!

Mothers Day afternoon tea

This afternoon I was invited to Juniors' Kindy for a Mother's Day Devonshire tea. The children had made scones with jam and cream and were eagerly awaiting the arrival of their mums
They showed us to our seat, took our orders and brought us afternoon tea. They also gave us cards and gifts they had made and performed a sweet little song for us. Oh it is enough to melt a mummy's heart! Hope you have a lovely mother's day on Sunday.

Posting

This week we have been making Mothers Day cards for Grandma and Nanna. Junior loves making cards for people and posting letters so we decided to turn an empty tissue box into a letter box and make some cardboard letters.
Both Junior and Bub enjoyed making the cards and posting them.
Not sure how long the post box will hold up but we all have colds at the moment so I'm sure there will be another tissue box for converting soon enough.
What have you been making this week? “Come over and play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up”

Gardening in the bag

The boys and I have been doing a little gardening each weekend for the last few weeks - planting some basil and coriander seed, fertilizing the citrus trees, and potting-on some mint from our over-grown herb garden for our local day-care centre. This week however has been the easiest by far - thanks to a friend of ours who gave us a Living Fundraisers herb kit. The kits are being used to raise funds to start a community garden, which I think is a great cause, and they couldn't be simpler - open the packet, take out a couple of spoonfuls of soil, scatter the seeds, cover with soil and water! Now we just have to pop it on the kitchen window sill, water it occasionally and wait a few weeks for the seedlings to come up.