The weather is colder and the leaves are falling from the trees, some leaves are so pretty and colourful it is a shame to just have them fall on the ground.
If you are wondering what to do with the kids then this craft activity is for you.
This task is super easy and fun and one that will occupy all age groups.
So what do you need?
Paper
Paint
Crayons/Pencils/Textas
Autumn Leaves
Coloured craft paper
Glue Stick
Clear contact paper if you wish to do a see-through option to stick on a window
Method
Collect your colourful leaves and anything else you wish to stick to your picture. Draw or paint the branches and other items if you like. Now with the glue stick add glue to the areas you want to add the leaves and create your autumn/winter picture.
I know it is now winter but when I did this it was officially still autumn.
If you don’t want to do it on paper as we did simply add craft paper for the branches for the trees and then add the leaves, making sure to stick them all on clear contact paper. Once your picture is complete add a final top layer of see-through contact paper and then you can put on your window. Attaching this creation to your window will allow light to come in and shine on the colours in the picture.
This isn’t an expensive task and one that will be fun for everyone, and you will be the proud owner of new artwork for your walls and windows.
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Salt Dough Ornaments are a perfect craft project to do with the kids.
They are fun and you can make whatever your heart desires. Your imagination can run wild.
My kids wanted to create different animals and I made them do handprints as well. You can do feet prints if you wish.
The kids will love to see their creations hanging from the tree, or on the doorknobs of cupboards and doors.
You can make these decorations for any celebration. Easter, Birthdays and more!
Make Salt Dough Ornaments today with the kids
Ingredients
4 cups of plain flour
1 cup of salt
1 and a half cups of water
Food dye (whatever colour you wish to create)
Paint if you wish to paint the ornaments rather than colour with food dye.
Glue
Glitter or Glitter Glue
Ribbon or string to thread through the ornament.
Chopstick or another item to make the hole to hang the decoration on the tree.
All my ingredients aside from the food dye to colour the dough.
Method
Mix all the ingredients together.
Add the food dye and mix some more to make sure that it is the right colour.
I separated the dough into three different batches. I made different colours for each child. This is a good way to ensure you know who’s decorations are whos.
Mixing the blue dough.All three coloured salt dough.
Roll out the dough so it is not too thick and not too thin. (I made some of ours too thick and it has taken a while to dry)
Cut out the shapes with the cookie cutters and then press handprints or footprints on the decorations.
Adding the hole so you can hang your ornament. Make sure to do this before you bake the ornaments.
Make sure to add a hole to put the string or ribbon into the decoration. Don’t forget to do this. Once dry it will be next to impossible to add the hole for the ribbon to tie onto the tree. We used the end of a chopstick.
Put the decorations on a tray with baking paper and then bake in the oven.
Bake in the oven for 1-2 hours at 100°C. or 200 °F. Time might vary depending on how thick the dough is for your decorations.
If the ornaments are still doughy you can put them back into the oven, or maybe leave them out to firm up before you decorate them.
Once the ornaments are dry you can decorate them.
The saltdough creature is ready to bake now. You can clearly see the hole that will allow you to put string/ribbon to allow you to hang up your decoration.
Add glue to the areas you wish to add glitter then sprinkle the glitter. Make your decoration sparkle! (I ended up buying glitter glue instead of just glitter. This saved me from adding the glue and then the glitter.)
Add ribbon or string to thread through the hole that you have added to the ornament to allow you to hang on the Christmas Tree or elsewhere.
Decorating the Salt Dough Ornaments with Glitter Glue.The finished Salt Dough Ornaments. Some were harder than others as they were not as thick as the others. The thicker ones need more time. If I was to do it again I would make them a bit thinner.
I hope this helps you create your own wonderful salt dough masterpieces.
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Young kids usually have only a vague sense of time. They probably know that an hour is longer than ten minutes, and a week is shorter than a month, but it’s difficult for them to gauge time’s passing.
Making a paper chain calendar can help them learn this valuable math skill.
What You Need:
Calendar
3” x 8” strips of colored construction paper
Glue
Make a Paper Chain Calendar
What You Do:
Pick a date in the future that has some meaning for your child, for example, the first day of school, the date a relative is set to come visit, a birthday, or the start date of a favorite activity, like soccer. Ideally, the date should be about a month away.
Pull out your calendar, and with your child’s help, count the number of days until the event you’ve chosen.
Give your child the construction paper strips and explain that each strip stands for one day. Together, count out the correct number of strips (one for each day until your event), then help your child make a paper chain, by gluing the end of each strip together to form a link, then adding the rest of the links to form a “chain”.
Hang your chain in your child’s room, or in a prominent place. Each day, allow her to remove one link from the chain. As the days pass, this will give her a visual picture to associate with the numbers she sees on the calendar.
Not only does this provide a concrete image for the passing of time, but it gives your child a great excuse to practice counting backwards!
A big thank you to Education.com for this creative way to help kids learn. If you have not checked out their website make sure you stop by. Education.com have excellent resources to help your kids be super clever.
Note: First published July 2014..although this is great no matter what year.
Have you wondered what to do with the kids these school holidays? Worried that if you take them somewhere or do anything it will cost you? Well, I have a list of fun things to do that will not break the bank. Yes, these fun things will keep the kids happy as well as your bank balance.
1. Playdough Fun
The night before I made a whole batch of playdough. I created multiple colours and also some had glitter in them as well. I added the food dye to each batch and made sure they were very bright vivid colours to make it even more fun. (Make sure you wear gloves as my hands were stained for a couple of days – yes I had green and red hands)
Playdough – In resealable bags so that the dough remains fresh and does not dry out.
I gave the kids cookie cutters, rolling pins, toothpicks and more so they could make patterns and be as creative as they wished.
I made the playdough recipe from McKenzie’s Cream of Tartar for playdough as it gives a nice smooth fluffy feeling. If you use this way to make playdough it will come out so nice and soft, just like the ones at the store. Yes, you heard that right! Give it a go and see. Make a big batch and put it all in containers for a rainy day. The kids loved this and played with the dough and their creations for hours.
All the kid’s playdough creations drying. Once all is done we can have them on our shelves to display. Don’t they look amazing?
2. Baking Fun
My girls love to make cakes and of course, after the cake is in the oven, they love to lick the mixing bowl and spoon. I did that as a kid and it is the best as the mixture always tastes wonderful and is so chocolatey!
I created a marble cake and added a vanilla cake mix to a chocolate one that had chocolate bits added to it as well. Once mixed in it created a marvellous marble mixture and looked great once it was cut into. Sorry I did not get any other pictures than the one before it was all eaten. Yes, it was that good. Maybe I should be a Masterchef????
Yummy Marble Cake – Get your little chefs busy with this easy-to-make cake
If you have a packet of cake mix this keeps things easy and all you need to do is add the eggs/egg and milk, stir and then put it in the oven. Simple cake made! You can ice it or add chocolate bits as we did, the choice is yours. Enjoy!
3. Painting Fun
I wanted to get the kids painting, and I did not want paint that causes issues with clothes or bad if you accidentally eat it. So I made my own paint. How do I hear you ask??
These are the ingredients I used:
Cornflour
Water
Food dye
I started with 1 cup of cornflour and enough water to make a paste. I created all the mixture before I added the colour as I wanted different colours that would allow the kids to paint a picture and not be restricted to two colours only. I added the mixture without the colour into a cupcake tin and then added the colour to each area of the tin.
I decided to make, yellow, purple, orange, blue, green and red. I ended up using more cornflour as it was not quite a paste consistency and I used more water than I should have as it was my first attempt at making this. To make each paint set I put it in the freezer to set. I am not sure if that is the done thing but it worked out quite well.
It might have been in the freezer for a bit long but after adding a bit of water with the paintbrush the colour melted a bit and it was just like real paints but with cornflour and water.
Having fun painting. Such creative artists.
Great paint mummy! What else can I paint?
4. Movie Fun
It is always fun to watch a film you have never seen before and to have lunch. I fed the kids some food while they all sat and watched Frozen. Yes, we are late to the party and have just seen Frozen.
Mesmerized watching Frozen
Now all the kids are singing is, “I want to build a snowman!” AHHHHH Oh well, so glad they loved it and sat still to watch it. Winning I think!
So grab a film that no one has seen as it will capture their interest for longer. If you want why not make a bed on the floor of the living room and make a treat of the film. You can even popcorn if the kids like that.
5. Park Fun
Around the corner of the house is a park. So I walked the kids to the park and they all ran amok at the park. One went on the swing, the other on the monkey bars and one other was going down the slippery dip. Fresh air and exercise always help keep kids happy.
The park is free and if you are not near one you can drive to one and bring the bike/scooter the child can get more enjoyment out of playing with their toys.
Swinging is fun! I am doing it all by myself now mummy!
Look at me, I can do the monkey bars all by myself. How clever is she!
I hope this list of some fun things to do with kids helps while they are on school holidays or for the weekends. Enjoy!
Chinese New Year is nearly here, and one great way to get kids involved is with craft.
Example of what the Year of the Rat lantern looks like – download yours now
I’ve updated my printable Chinese lantern for The Year of the Rat! Yes now, you can have your house decorated with these cute little lanterns that your kids created.
All you need to do is to sign up with your email address, once confirmed your PDF download will be instantly sent to you. It’s that easy!
I hope you enjoy this printable.
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This year is the Year of the Earth Pig. To celebrate I’ve created a fun Chinese Lantern decorated with pigs.
The paper lantern is an easy craft project to do with kids and will also decorate your house for the celebration of the Lunar New Year.
Download the Year of the Pig Chinese Lantern
Instructions are on the Year of the Pig Lantern PDF that you will get as soon as you fill out the form above. The download happens instantly!
Year of the Pig Chinese Lantern – Download yours today, its free!
I’m sure your kids will have a lot of fun making their own Chinese Lanterns. The twins have done a few and have added them to their bedroom for decoration.
Year of the Pig Chinese Lanterns. The girls have added the lanterns to their room, don’t they look fab!
Enjoy this free printable and I hope your house looks more festive with these fun Year of the Pig decorations.
Need a unique gift for a family member? Don’t have heaps of money? Well, this great project will give you a cheap gift and your family member will cherish the present for years to come.
This gift can be for birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Celebrating being a new mum/dad, or even Christmas. So don’t worry it will be perfect for any occasion.
Create your own hand and feet print canvas, great gift idea. Be prepared for a mess. It was a bunch of fun though, but the baby got the messiest. Enjoy!
Gather Your Materials
Washable Paint. If you have more than 1 child you will need different colours for each child. I purchased red, blue and white paint. I made purple paint and also pink out of these colours. I ended up having purple, pink and blue for the 3 kids to use.
Canvas (You can small sizes, large ones or enormous size canvas. It is up to you and the project you are making) I chose small square ones so that they would easily fit in the post and also on a wall.
Newspaper to cover the floor or outside area. This makes sure you don’t get too messy.
Towels – You might want to have towels set up on the floor to protect the path to the bathroom so that your very messy kids can not mess things up too much once they get in there to get clean. I do find that if my kids are head to toe covered in paint, the walls and doors get covered in it too. Therefore having a washable paint is ideal as all you have to do is to give the wall and floor a quick wipe and all is good.
Paintbrushes – We used paintbrushes to put the paint on hands and feet. You can just put your hands and feet in the paint but using the paintbrush made it a bit easier.
How To Create the Prints
Step 1: Have your paint ready to go. If you need to mix colours have it all organised before the kids get near it.
Step 2: Put the newspaper down and then lay the canvas on top.
Step 3:Make sure kids are in clothes that can get dirty and then paint a foot or a hand and press on the canvas. (You might want to figure out where each hand and foot is going to go on the canvas. You don’t want to figure it out with excited kids who are ready to paint everything and anything. Before we put anything on a canvas I spoke to the girls about where each person’s hand was going to go and we were going to save space for the baby as well.)
Step 4: Since I was making more than one canvas at the same time I did this 3 times for each person. I made one for my Mother in Law, one for my mum and also one for me!
Step 5:Once you have all the hands and prints on the canvas, it now needs to dry. It should dry well overnight and be ready to post the next day. I picked one up for my Mother in Law. It just needed some bubble wrap to protect it and it sat in the box with the other goodies for her birthday.
This is a good rainy day activity. I am sure it will keep the kids happy and having fun. Afterward, they can have a bubble bath and you get some peace and quiet after they are relaxed and tired.
Maybe after the bath put on a film for them to watch or read them a story…… I do live in hope that the kids will be super tired after activities.
Oh well, whatever you do enjoy. I hope this gives you some great ideas and a cheap gift idea to create.
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Stay current with all the things that are happening on Mummy to Twins Plus One. Don’t miss a thing by signing up for my newsletter. This newsletter will list all giveaways and fabulous things that are happening.
Need a unique gift for a family member? Don’t have heaps of money? Well this great project will give you a cheap gift and your family member will cherish the present for years to come.
This gift can be for birthday’s, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Celebrating being a new mum/dad, or even Christmas. So don’t worry it will be perfect for any occasion.
Create your own hand and feet print canvas, great gift idea. Be prepared for mess. It was a bunch of fun though, but the baby got the messiest. Enjoy!
Gather Your Materials
Washable Paint. If you have more than 1 child you will need different colours for each child. I purchased red, blue and white paint. I made purple paint and also pink out of these colours. I ended up having purple, pink and blue for the 3 kids to use.
Canvas (You can small sizes, large ones or enormous size canvas. It is up to you and the project you are making) I chose small square ones so that they would easily fit in the post and also on a wall.
Newspaper to cover the floor or outside area. This makes sure you don’t get too messy.
Towels – You might want to have towels set up on the floor to protect the path to the bathroom so that your very messy kids can not mess things up too much once they get in there to get clean. I do find that if my kids are head to toe covered in paint, the walls and doors get covered in it too. Therefore having a washable paint is ideal as all you have to do is to give the wall and floor a quick wipe and all is good.
Paint brushes – We used the paint brushes to put the paint on hands and feet. You can just put your hands and feet in the paint but using the paint brush made it a bit easier.
How To Create the Prints
Step 1: Have your paint ready to go. If you need to mix colours have it all organised before the kids get near it.
Step 2: Put the newspaper down and then lay the canvas on top.
Step 3:Make sure kids are in clothes that can get dirty and then paint a foot or a hand and press on the canvas. (You might want to figure out where each hand and foot is going to go on the canvas. You don’t want to figure it out with excited kids who are ready to paint everything and anything. Before we put anything on a canvas I spoke to the girls about where each persons hand was going to go and we were going to save space for the baby as well.)
Step 4: Since I was making more than one canvas at the same time I did this 3 times for each person. I made one for my Mother in Law, one for my mum and also one for me!
Step 5:Once you have all the hands and prints on the canvas, it now needs to dry. It should dry well overnight and be ready to post the next day. I packed one up for my Mother in Law. It just needed some bubble wrap to protect it and it sat in the box with the other goodies for her birthday.
This is a good rainy day activity. I am sure it will keep the kids happy and having fun. Afterwards they can have a bubble bath and you get some peace and quiet after they are relaxed and tried. Maybe after the bath put on a film for them to watch or read them a story…… I do live in hope that the kids will be super tired after activities.
Oh well, whatever you do enjoy. I hope this gives you some great ideas and a cheap gift idea to create.
Do you sometimes feel like packing it in. No point. No one is listening, reading or paying any attention. I do. I have had many moments where I have just wanted to step back and to stop for a bit. However I have invested so much into my work and what I am building. My blog, my ideas and future products that I would love to develop.
Yes always creating and dreaming. Although like everyone self doubt and life sometimes make things difficult to keep on going. Does this happen to you?
Keep going even if you want to quit. You will get there!
This post is for all of you that are thinking of calling it quits.
Don’t!
Keep on going.
Things will happen. It might not be the millions of dollars you would like to earn, or the dream job that you would love to get. However what you are doing will lead you to the next great thing. If you are working at your craft or blog at home it is a skill that you can use to leverage to the next step.
Make things happen yourself.
It is also your outlet.
Without an outlet to express yourself and just be you, it is hard to be happy. Everyone needs something that they feel happy doing. A hobby, a passion an outlet to just be you!
If you are like me a SAHM (Stay at home mum) having an outlet and something for me is needed. I cannot give it up.
It is mine and you never know where your passion might take you. Keep going! You are great and don’t listen to others comments. Just keep plodding along.
Just give things a go. If you try something you might be good at it and it will all work out. You never know until you try!
What is your passion? Do you have a blog? Are you secretly writing a book? Do you make clothes or do you paint?
Have you had moments where you thought it is all pointless but you have kept on going? Let us know.
I started my blog nearly seven years ago. I did it due to being at home with my new born twins and feeling disconnected from my previous life as a producer of websites and content.
I wanted to have something of my own. I was suddenly a mum to two new lives that I had to be there for. I loved this and still do. However I do love to work and to have something for me, and this work has become my blog.
Hubby does support me, but I feel he would be more supportive if I was earning a wage from the blog. Do you find that others don’t see value in something that does not give you financial gain? As a mother who stays at home to look after kids, I do feel that I am undervalued due to not earning a wage. Do you feel like this?
Getting ready to blog
Why is it that just because your hobby or passion does not earn money it is irrelevant!
I suppose coming home to a messy house is not ideal. I don’t love it either and I try, however I like to update my site and somethings are topical and of course I need to keep my site current. No one wants to frequent a website if it is not changing.
However I have left hubby with some things to tidy and he managed to tinker on his computer all day and find other more important things to worry about. So why is it that I am questioned over valuing my work or my passion over something less interesting like housework? I do get it that I am supposed to do some of it, but I would really rather be blogging all day and night if I had my wish. Sad but true. I just love it.
This is not a rant over men being terrible to women, or not supporting their passions. It is more of a question on the whole of society. Why is more value put on roles that pay a lot of money? I suppose this is the eternal question.
Women who do something and it is seen as tinkering or not really employed. If you have a job that is part time it can be belittled to not being a huge role and not that important. (I know a part time job is just as hectic as a full time one can be, plus you still have the house and kids to sort out!)
My main aim was to build a site that has value. Has a community and if that makes money that would be the icing on the cake. I would really love it to earn truckloads of cash but that has not happened. Maybe in the next year or so it might. Maybe my swish redesign will work its magic once live?
Don’t worry it is not all bad, I have been paid for sponsored posts, advertising and an affiliate deal. So there are some things that are working very well, however I would love more of them to tell the truth. I’m sure I am not alone on this. A lotto win would not go astray while I am wishing.
I know others have made it big with their blogs and have turned a passion and their much loved hobby into a thriving business. One day I say! One Day!
Some bloggers that have made heaps and heaps of money are:
Here is a list of top 50 earning blogs. You will see what they earn and how they fare against the others. I think what they have done is brilliant. Built a business that works online and from home. How cool is that! I bet they had their doubters when they were starting out, or getting to the tipping point. How silly would they feel if they had given up?
Without my lovely blog and attending blogging events I would not have gotten some work from home jobs. They were short term contracts that I helped corporates with their social media management. I loved it and it also allowed me to blog and to earn at the same time. However without the blog these jobs would have never have happened. I used my experience building communities, blogging on my website and others to help these organisations. See the blog has paid off in a way.
I was also lucky in 2013 to win a blogging contest that allowed the whole family to have a trip to the Gold Coast mostly paid for. Thank you blog I say! Wouldn’t you say that this is payment from the blog? I would!
I know I am not earning a full time wage but the blog is definitely picking up steam. Emails have come in the last few weeks to test out products, attend functions and to write on others sites, and be a guest editor. The blog is gaining in readership and authority. This can only mean one thing. World domination is imminent. I’m sure you agree, right?
My blog is my outlet. It is my own empire that I can do with what I wish! Yes you heard that right. My little piece of the pie. I know currently it is small and I’m no Rupert Murdoch, or Arianna Huffington, but you have to start somewhere.
It is my baby and no boss can tell me not to publish or to do one thing or another. It is all up to me. I control the direction of my site. I like working hard at something and investing in a site that could one day change my life completely.
What hobbies or passions do you love doing? Is it your outlet? Does your partner poo poo your time you pour into your sewing, craft, blog or other hobby? Have they had to eat cake when your passion has had a big win?
Have you been terribly lucky with all your hard work and now the website or passion is now earning a good income? Let us know. Who is laughing now?
Let us know your thoughts. Why not continue the discussion on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
This post was originally created for a Father’s Day tutorial. However this could be applied for Christmas gifts, birthdays and anything at all. Use it to create some great presents for Christmas.
I do have something organised for hubby for Father’s Day. However I thought it might be nice for the twins to do something creative for daddy themselves. I have had some friends do things with sharpie pens and I have always been curious. Online I saw that you can decorate a mug/cup with sharpie pens, then bake it and all good to use. How amazing and interesting. Will it work? The only way is to give it a go.
So I got the kids some sharpie pens from the shop and a white mug each and then each child had to decorate them. I told them that they can do whatever design they wished to. One child was very expressive and creative and wanted to colour the whole mug in and the other was trying to draw and write more on the mug. Interesting the difference. It did not matter what they created, it was an expression of them to their daddy.
What do you need?
1. Sharpie Pens. I purchased mine individually as this worked out a little cheaper. You can get a pack of 12 for about $20. Packs I saw for less varied between $14 or more.
2. A cup or a mug to decorate. I choose to have white mugs as then the colours from the pens will show up more
3. An oven to bake the mugs in
Concentrating on her creation for daddy.
What is the process?
1. Once you have all your materials ready you can then start.
2. Decorate your mugs
3. Finalise your decoration and once happy you are ready to bake in the oven.
4. Bake in the oven for 30mins at 180°C or 356°F
Once baked you are good to use the cup. Might need to wait a bit and hand wash carefully to make sure it is all clean to use. As I have never done this before I am keen to see how they go. I would not put in the dishwasher.
Happy creating and this is a great cheap last minute gift for Father’s Day. Have fun!
Finished mugs ready to be baked
Note: Some colours after it was baked have changed. The gold seems to have turned into brown. Maybe I need to get different sharpies next time.
Why is it when you suddenly have time for you, the slot fills with something else to do and you never get to do what you wanted to do? I am aiming to get some sewing done but first need to think about what I would like to create first. The dilemma is that I have many things in my head currently, will it be pants, a dress, or a skirt? Not sure. I want to learn to do something different, but this takes some time to sit and analyse how to do something new.
I have set up the dining room table and will get creating today and tonight as I am keen to do something. As I have finished my exam and waiting for summer school to start I have more free time. I just hope that I can achieve what is in my head, only time will tell. You know what it is like, you have grand plans that are in your brain but sometimes they don’t come out the way you envisioned. We will see.
Are you finding that as soon as you have a free bit of time you suddenly get busy? Does this impact your things that you have been hanging to do? It happens like that for me. Send in your comments.
Last week the girls and I were watching Play School, in the episode they did craft. I don’t know if you are like me, but when these crafty segments are in the kids programs I cringe and wait for the barrage of questions and pestering, “Can we do that mummy?” So with this craft idea on play school I said yes. The girls were very excited and happy, so next morning we got started and it did not take long.
Ice Boats – Perfect fun for kids.
As you will see from the pictures the girls loved it and had a ball. So what is ice boats? Well, it is really simple.
Get plastic containers, food dye, blu-tack, straws/sticks and you can create flags for your boats if you want to. We did not but that would be the next step.
Once you have your container, add some tack to the bottom of it.
Stick your stick/straw into the tack to make sure it is not going to move.
Mix the water and colour of choice from the food dye in a mixing jug.
Pour coloured water into plastic container.
Put in freezer to set.
You might want to have a bit of room so your sail does not snap off.
When taking the ice boat out of the container, I had to put some hot water around the bottom so it would slide out easily.
Playing with the boats before they melt.
Now you have kids in bath, and they are getting clean while also having fun, plus you have done some craft time with them also. Bonus points all round.
Do you dread the crafty things on kids television programs? Does it put pressure on you to be really crafty too? I know the feeling, especially with two keen kids who want to get involved and messy to boot. I am hoping to find more crafty things that I can do with the girls while they are on school holidays, and it has started today. So project tire kids out has started in ernest.
Send in your tips and tricks and then maybe I might have some more crafty ideas to try out these holidays.
Yes another sunny wonderful day today, I am very proud of myself that I managed to do 2 loads of laundry before we left the house and nearly all was dry when we got home.
As it was sunny, we thought that we would take off to Australia Walkabout Park, we had a Cudo voucher that was going to expire. I bought it thinking that it would be great for the girls to see all different animals in their habitat. I am so glad that the weather was good and we were able to use the voucher before it expired. We raced around, got ready and packed our bag.
Julia was out of sorts all day, and we think it was due to the heat, she was moody, wanting cuddles and everything was an issue. Lillian seemed fine. My car has no air conditioning and we think it needs to be re gassed, it has to wait currently so we aired the car with the windows down. Not great, but it works, the only annoying part is when you have to stop it gets very hot.
We finally arrived to the wildlife park at about 1pm and all had some lunch. The girls saw an emu or two walking around the eating area, and they were amazed at them. Behind the cafe is the koala enclosure and the girls could not see them moving, as they were fast asleep. After lunch we all went to the talk about the diamond python, who is called Neil, (Neil Diamond, someone at this park has a sense of humour). The girls were not interested in touching the snake, petting it, or have it pretend you were a tree and lounge on you. I was not into it and was happy to look also. There were some brave kids and adults that allowed their body to be a tree for Neil the snake. I just could not do it. This idea got met with “NO, YUCK!” by both the girls. So I take it they feel the way I do and so does daddy about this. Happy to watch.
After this we all went off for a bit of a bush walk and ended up at the Tasmanian Devil talk. These creatures definitely should not be messed with, they have heaps of teeth that seriously could do you some damage. Since the weather was very hot, they were not that keen in coming out from their cool log. There was a brief moment when one came out with the coaxing from the ranger with meat and holding the devil in a position that was not cruel but would not allow the animal to eat the ranger either.
We saw koalas being fed, emus, the girls saw kangaroo’s eating and they patted them and were very taken with them. We made sure that they were safe and was around just in case. All in all it was a good day; it was long and a tiring day, the girls saw and animals and had a great experience. So glad it was hot, a taste of what summer should have been. I wonder if we will get more weather like this.
Monday
Late shower
Min: 15°C Max: 24°C
UV: Extreme
Tuesday
Possible shower
Min: 12°C Max: 18°C
UV: Extreme
Wednesday
Possible shower
Min: 12°C Max: 17°C
UV: Extreme
Thursday
Possible shower
Min: 12°C Max: 16°C
UV: Extreme
Friday
Showers
Min: 10°C Max: 16°C
UV: Extreme
Saturday
Showers
Min: 10°C Max: 16°C
UV:
Sunday
Possible shower
Min: 10°C Max: 17°C
UV: –
How disappointing that the weekend is probably the only sunny warm weather that we might have in a while. Let’s hope that the weather people have got it wrong.
When we came home from the wildlife park, I changed the sheets on our bed and the girls beds. Now the only washing I have to do is the sheets and some clothes from today. So that is good news. Aside from sorting, ironing and putting away.
There are 3 more days until the girls go to pre-school orientation; I am so excited that you would think it is me going to school. I hope it is a fun time at the school, not sure what will be discussed and shown for future students, but keen to find out. Now need to get my finger out and start the sewing project for their pants.
I hope you all had good adventures this weekend and that the weather was good. I hope that the weather is going to be sunny and warm tomorrow, I will hope for it. What did you all get up to this weekend? We managed to find some A3 paper from Officeworks this weekend for the kid’s art, so maybe tomorrow we will paint or draw. What have you got organised?
Sorry have not posted for a couple of days. Have not been feeling the best, stupid sore throat. Hoping to rid my body of it soon. Yesterday the girls great Aunts Denise and Jean came for a visit, the girls had a great time showing the Aunts things like hopping, counting, dancing and singing. Wednesday evening Julia said: “I need to go get my keys so that I can lock my pram” She got the keys. Hit the button and then said, “All done”. I just had to share as it was so funny and clever that she thought to do it. I had to stop myself from falling off my chair laughing.
On Tuesday we all went off to playgroup and they ran, played, painted and had a very active fun time with their mates and were very busy little girls.
Today we were supposed to be going to playgroup again, but I need to sort out some pants that fit the girls better before pre-school starts. As the girls are hard to fit, I have decided to make some new pants. This will be a good thing if my plan works for these pants, I can then do a similar thing to sell for my business idea, my online shop and take them to the markets. We will see. With the time that I have when girls are at school, I hopefully can sew and create more product to sell.
So today I thought we might take off to Spotlight in Penrith to see if we can get some material to make some funky new pants. Also while at Spotlight, I think we might look for some paper for the girls to draw/paint and do collage with. They might have a cheaper way to purchase a bunch of paper for art purposes. You can only hope, using printer paper is getting expensive and annoying, as when you go to print you don’t have that much paper left to print jobs.
I hope to get inspired by pretty colourful fabric that will make the perfect pants and must make sure to get all that I need for the project, elastic and anything else. Now just need to check if I have available money to spend before I go might be a good idea. When the pants are finished I will post a picture of the finished product.
It is raining yet again and just another miserable day, so not a good day to go out. What are you all doing today? How has the rain and bad weather impacted what you do with the kids or yourself? If it was not for kids, I might still be in bed.
Update: I ended up getting denim and some pattern cotton fabric for the new pants for the girls. Now need to measure them and create a pattern. I am copying a pair of pants that is Lillian’s favourite that I know fits both the girls well. Will add some length and make it a bit roomier. I also need to make them easy to get on and off, as the girls need to be able to take them off quickly to go to the bathroom.
Shopping with kids in a fabric shop has its own challenges. Julia loves pink and Lillian loves purple, so they picked up every fabric with the appropriate colour and tried to bring it to me. Julia was especially keen and got a roll of fabric off the table and tried to carry it to me. Pity that the fabric was too thin that it would not suit my needs for their new pants. I had to tell them that although pretty that we needed something thicker and warmer. This was still greeted with, “Mummy, look at this purple one, Mummy look at this pink one, It is so pretty!”
Also at the shop the girls left their toys and we had to go and save them. Lillian had her 2 dogs from the RSPCA and Julia had her Dugong, once we found them the girls claimed that they were playing hide and seek, they were happy to find them.
I was a bit disappointed that they did not stock any cord fabric yet as that is what I was after, pretty patterns in cord. However the denim will work as it will be tough wearing and also will keep them warmer in cooler weather. As we live in a cooler climate and we are going into Autumn soon it will be a good thing to have warmer clothes. Going to school in Blackheath will mean also making sure the girls are in warmer clothes. It snows and gets colder there, so should be interesting.
