Christmas Gifts November 29, 2009

We’ve been making Christmas gifts and decorations-what fun!

The kids made and painted their own Christmas decorations. I made salt dough (so easy), they chose the cookie cutters and I put a pencil through the top so that there would be a space to hang a ribbon through. While this was baking in the oven for 3 hours on a slow heat, they painted their own puzzles. This is to send to Oupa and Ouma van As and Oupa and Ouma van Buuren. I did 2 puzzles with their handprints on, and they made 2 pictures each. I also painted my own picture – but won’t be sending this to anyone (the kids can just play with it) hehehe!

We were busy the whole afternoon with painting!

The kids absolutely love painting! I try to vary it a little, some days we do water paints, other days poster paints and sometimes just finger painting!

So now we’ve made some Christmas gifts – OH! they also made their own Christmas cards to go with the gifts! I had to draw father Christmas (Jacqui – it would of been brilliant if you were here to draw for the kids).

It should take 2 weeks to reach SA, so will wait in anticipation for the phone call to say they’ve received their parcel.

ooo so exciting – hehehe!

ps: if you would like the recipe for the salt dough, please email me…

Christian turns 5! November 18, 2009

Wow, how these 5 years have flown by!

My baby (big) boy is now five years old and is about to loose his first tooth! There is never a dull moment in motherhood-I absolutely love it! He has such a soft hard, he is my little helper and he listens so nicely. I am so proud of him!

He has been asking for a skate board (for a few months now). I kept telling him to wait for his birthday. So, I went on search for a mini skate board – they are not easy to come by. I managed to find one from The Entertainer, in Harlow. A small blue one.

Christian was very excited when he woke up, running downstairs to see where I hid his present. They went to nursery in the morning. Then after lunch, we took them to the park – to have a proper go on the skate board of course!

Zac – “mine, mine, mine” “my board” “my board” – he thinks it’s his! very possessive!

Katelyn also had a go – she is my brave little girl!

3 Children 3 Pillows October 21, 2009

We have been in the pillow making mood lately. Again, using some scraps I made Katelyn a reversible pillow for her bed – with butterflies, sequence, ribbon, bows and flowers.

Zac loves to say “spida” so I decided to make his a spider pillow. I used felt for the body, beads for the eyes and embroidery cotton for the stick insect (the small green one in-case you were wondering!). And for the web I used fabric paint from Range. Range is reasonably priced for arts and crafts goodies. They have a bit of everything.

When Christian saw it, he asked for a rocket pillow. I used felt for the rocket and stars, stuffed it with toy stuffing and bought plain red buttons from Hobbycraft. For those of you who know me well enough – Range and Hobbycraft happen to be my fav shops!!!

So here is the final product! I absolutely loved making the pillows. When you do something for your children, you just give it your all.

Just to see their little faces when they come down in the morning and see what I’ve done – they’re amazed and full of joy! Priceless!

Look Mom No Stabilizers October 21, 2009

Some time ago, Katelyn asked me to take the “small” wheels off her bike. I thought she was joking but apparently not – because she asked me a few times! So I got Reynard to take them off and wow, to my amazement she just went for it. She got the hang of it very quickly – so proud of her.

Christian was so excited, he hesitated to do it – laughing so much! He did just as well. So proud of my little big boy!!!

Katelyn is a very daring little girl, not scared at all. It looks a little scary when she is on her bike – those handle bars go from side to side, but she manages to stay on her bike with a broad smile on her face!

They are growing up so quickly. I can still remember the day I learnt to ride my bike without the stabilizers and now I am helping my own children to do the same. I am so privileged to be Christian, Katelyn and Zac’s mommy! They bring my so much joy.

O and as for Zac, he was riding around on his little blue plastic motorbike, with a broad smile on his face!

Emily the rag doll! October 21, 2009

Since I have tried my hand at sewing, I thought about making a rag doll for Katelyn.

Now my mom is with me, so we tackled this project together. I must say that she has done most of the work!

It would of been easier to work from a pattern but I wanted to use the scraps of material left over from the pillows we have made. (post to follow soon)

Katelyn loves her rag doll and name her Emily.

To view other home made gifts, such as clay modeling, click here.

Camping in Thetford August 26, 2009

So we went camping a couple of week ends ago – only for one night!

Dower House camp site has a play park and a heated pool! The kids loved swimming! They are not that brave in the water as we don’t get to swim often. They enjoy going round the edges of the pool and then get out by the ladder, run around and start all over again. Either that or they swim on my back, holding on like little monkeys!!!

They quickly made friends with the “neighbors” – played cricket and football and just had nice chats.

We had a braai for supper and of course bacon and eggs for breakfast.

The camp site is in the middle of the forest  – which has deer! Katelyn needed a wee early hours of the morning. Reynard took her outside the tent and I just heard this loud rush go past the tent. (we were located right on the edge). Reynard got a fright! I was ready to go sleep in the car! Have you ever heard a deer? My goodness, sounds scary!

We all loved the one night away in the forest, sleeping in a tent. Will def attempt it again, only next time it will be for 2 nights.

Please feel free to comment and let me know if you have any suggestions for good camp sites – bearing in mind it would need to be family orientated.

Happy Camping!

Boat Trip at Broxbourne August 23, 2009

After 1 night of camping (post to follow) we went on a boat in Broxbourne, Essex.

The kids liked the idea of going on a boat but if we were to go again, I would only book 30min, not 1hour. They do get bored rather quickly!

All in all it was fun, each of them got a turn to “steer” the boat. Katelyn was rather persistent that she didn’t need any help. But Reynard had to jump in and “save” us from the bushes.

Blackberry Jam August 21, 2009

OK, I am sure most people have tried this already! We gave it a go – rather easy to do!

Reynard actually did all the work. It must be an art to pick Blackberries – way too many thorns for me (and the kids). We just watched Reynard do the picking. I had to stop Zac from doing all the squashing!!!

Jumping on the trampoline, Reynard saw some blackberries in our garden. Been here a year this month and its the first time we’ve noticed! Took a walk round the corner – loads of blackberries!

Zac in the backpack, Christian and Katelyn armed with their buckets – Reynard took them for some more blackberry picking the next day.

To make the jam, all you do is cook it up in a little bit of water and add sugar.

Easy, I told you!

Buggy Toddle August 21, 2009

Sure Start in Harlow had a Buggy Toddle for St Barnados charity. We met at Burnt Mill School (some met at The Meadows) and walked to the town park. It was not a far walk – luckily, because it was really hot!

First we went to feed the ducks, then we went to the sensory garden, then we went to Pets Corner and then it was picnic time. We also played some parachute games and finally finished off at the adventure playground. We’ve been in Harlow for a year now and have not been to this specific park before. It’s really big and has loads for the kids to do, for all ages.

A great day out! The kids got a medal at the end! I will def be going down to the adventure playground again.

Local is Lekka! August 11, 2009

All the paddling pools in Essex are now open (have been for a while) so I decided to take the kids for a swim.

Our local paddling pool is by the Norman Booth Center, Old Harlow. We got there just before 3pm and it was still very busy. The kids went straight in. Zac was wondering about in the park for a while before he decided to take to the water. When he got there, where does he decide to go….no, not play in the shallow end – gotta be daring and go to the deep end! I met another South African lady and we were chatting away. I turned around, looking for Zac. Just gave one big scream “ZAC” – he was lying face down in the water, trying to kick his legs. No body moved or did anything to help. I looked around to see/hoping for some sort of help, but everybody was just carrying on as they were. I run over and grabbed him, lifting him out of the water, and smacking him on this back. He spat out water. His heart was racing. My poor baby. Thankfully he is ok, got a huge fright. Just goes to show, you CANNOT take your eyes off them. It wasn’t long, and he was back in the water. My brave little boy!

(The Norman Booth Center can also be hired for events-follow link above for more details)