Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Sienna's gift from Nanny and Pop







When it comes to birthdays little 5 year olds find it hard when they don't receive anything special on their brothers birthday. Luckily for Sienna, Nanny and Pop put a little something pink in the parcel for her to have. It is now displayed on her bedroom door knob along with our Christmas star. Take a little peak.

Monday, November 28, 2011

James 8th Birthday








James turned 8 yesterday and had a whole weekend of celebrations so I'll do a couple of posts. The first present he opened was from Nanny and Poppa Waz in Melbourne which was a construction set with 175 pieces, battery pack and marbles. James was over the moon and set about putting it together the second he opened it.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Christmas Card Photo Shoot



Yesterday afternoon I attempted to take some photos for our Christmas Card and well, let me tell you my subjects were not all that co-operative......here is a sneak peek!!! I do think it's funny though. The backdrop is made from pieces of crepe paper sourced at the $2 shop and sticky taped to the wall in a "red white green" pattern. The board is a cheap IKEA frame with a piece of cardboard painted with blackboard paint which I saw done at IKEA. Lucky for me I already had blackboard paint and some cardboard at home.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Looking through some old photos







I was just looking through my many folders on my computer with photos of the kids and came across this one of them playing a "Dora Memory Game" together. Oh how I wish they would play like that everyday. This was taken September 2010.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Sprinkler Action















I bought an old fashioned sprinkler to attach to the hose to cool off in the afternoons. I love how the kids need goggles to run through the water. Simple backyard entertainment, don't you love it!!!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Ikea Train Set








I'm sure everyone will little ones has at some stage in their life owned an "Ikea Train Set". We have amazingly never lost any of the tracks or the trains which is saying something however, during the past year or so I have attempted at least 2 or 3 times to give this away to the Salvo's since James and Sienna have outgrown it. Every time I put it in a bag in the garage to take it to the Salvo's the kids find it and say "I want to play with it" and again it comes back inside our house again and again.

Yesterday afternoon I went into Sienna's room to find her playing with the train set which I swear had gone in one of my Salvo's bag but there it was appearing again. She was playing with the train set while James had a go on her piano. Since he decided he didn't want to be photographed he took the keyboard off the stand and crawled underneath the bed to avoid the paparazzi mother. (as if that would stop me!!!!) I found it comforting to see them in the same room playing because shortly before that things were not quite so calm and they were in time out in their own bedrooms. It was a lovely change to the previous 15 mins or so.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Masterchef James















As it nears the end of the week, and the end of the year we are all getting very tired and a little cranky and my patience has gone on a holiday somewhere (destination unknown). To take James mind off being exhausted I asked him if he could help me make the pizza tonight. He first turned me down but later decided he would help. It's normally Sienna in the kitchen but I just made this about James. First of all he cut up the ham, rolled the pizza dough (homemade by me), put the pizza sauce on (also homemade by me) and then put the very simple topping of ham and cheese on the pizza.
Tonight I got the pizza stone out of a box in the garage and would you believe it I actually bought that thing from BBQ's galore this time in 2006 (yes that's 5 years ago). I bought a bit of stuff for the BBQ and it got lost somewhere in the shed and I know on the couple of occasions I went to look for it I couldn't find the box. When we were moving I finally found it. Tonight we christened the pizza stone in the oven however next time I might put it on our little BBQ which I believe you can do.

I only had enough pizza dough for the kids dinner tonight so I just had one slice and gave them the rest (what a mother)........ will have to make some more dough and freeze it again. It's handy as I have the sauce in a zip lock bag enough for a pizza and the pizza dough as well so around lunch time on the day I just pop it into the fridge and we are ready with tasty, healthy home made pizza.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

How to cool off on a hot day without a pool









On Monday afternoon it was a bit hot and since we don't have a pool any more the only other option is the good old garden hose. The kids had a ball taking turns in spraying each other. Sienna felt she needed to wear goggles and from the looks of James with the hose I think she was onto something.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Dinner outside



This afternoon we had an early dinner of sausages cooked on the BBQ (at the request of Sienna) and bread rolls. It was such a lovely way to enjoy dinner tonight. Really enjoying our new home it feels so right.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Trick or Treat in the suburbs




























Here are some pictures of our neighbourhood trick or treat the other day. There were kids from about 2 years old to about 16 years old and everybody got into the spirit of it.