In which we gorge ourselves Catholic style...

 

Happy Shrove Tuesday everyone!  It is one of my favourite days of the year.  Although I'm not a practising Catholic anymore I still cling to the traditions as a way of marking out my days.  Shrove Tuesday is like one last hoorah, using up all the eggs and butter before the 40 days of lent.  I talked today with Minty about what lent means for us, a time of reflection, eating simply (honestly I am never voluntarily going to fast!!!) and working on bettering ourselves.  She decided she would work on not calling people 'idiots' anymore… instead she has resolved to call us all 'fools'.  As for me, Minty suggested I should work on not shouting so much.  I think that's probably a worthy goal!  We enjoyed our pancakes this morning, with freshly picked blackberries and a sprinkle of sugar.

Today's photos come from a little project we worked on this week.  We have been reading 'Silly Billy' by Anthony Browne.  It's a sweet story about a little boy who can't sleep because he worries too much.  His grandma suggests that he makes some worry dolls so that he can tell them his worries and get some sleep.  Minty was really taken with the idea of making her own worry dolls.  I did a bit of googling and there were plenty of complicated tutorials that I really didn't think the kids could manage.  Luckily I ended up stumbling across some mini wooden dolly pegs at the $2 shop, along with a cheap packet of cotton embroidery floss.  I gave these to the kids along with some fabric scraps and a black marker and let them get creative.  Both the kids really loved this activity and I think the dolls they made are very sweet.

 

The dolls (left to right): Violet, Teddy, Una, Bobby and Patrice.

In which Minty pities my foolishness...

One of the best things about living in a semi-rural area is the wildlife.  It's not uncommon to find a cute little frog in the washing basket or see a kangaroo hop past the back fence.  We even have a resident blue tongue lizard who I like to call Colin.  And yet, sometimes the worst thing about living in a rural area is also the wildlife.  

This week we've been celebrating Chinese New Year so we've been talking a lot about the year of the snake.  We made red paper lanterns and paper chain snakes.  So when Minty called out from the living room that she could see a snake I just assumed she meant one of her crafty creations.  Luckily I was having one of my finer parenting moments and decided I would play along with the game.  I had a flash of that annoying inspiring quote that is all over Facebook and Pinterest…

'if you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big because to them all of it has always been big'

So I stomped up stairs and boomed in my big theatrical 'pretending' voice, 'where's this snake?!', ready to leap onto the paper snake Steve Irwin style.  Minty rolled her eyes and gave me a pitying look, 'no mum a real snake' and gestured out the window.  Sure enough, slithering amongst the kids' bikes was a large red bellied black snake.  Alarming to say the least.  Our reptile visitor has since been relocated and the yard has had a major clean up.  

In which there are bodily fluids and literary allusions...

I really should be doing some work tonight but I'm somewhat sleep deprived.  The kids have both taken turns being sick so I've basically spent my entire week channeling Florence Nightingale.  Turi did a particularly spectacular vomit all over my pillow in the middle of the night, sat up, surveyed the mess and said a little sadly, 'Franken-soup'.  I can always trust Turi to add a little levity to any situation.

Minty is now fully recovered but has been cooped up in the house while Turi is comatose, so I've been entertaining her with some literacy games.

I used white crayon to write Minty some hidden messages.  When she painted over the paper with watercolours the messages were revealed.  She's just starting to read a little so this was a fun activity for her to be able to read the little notes.  She then spent some time making her own little resist paintings.  Turi even managed to resurrect himself lazarus style from the couch to join in the fun for a while.

This is another little literacy game we've been playing lately.  I give her a tub of small objects, along with all the corresponding beginning letters (I use coko bricks).  She matches the objects and letters and then uses this as a starting point to match the objects with a list of written words.  I try to include some easy words that she already knows along with some trickier ones.  I usually set this up the night before and she can do it independently while I get some housework done.

Last but not least, today I gave her a word list of things that could be found around the house.  I asked her to cut them all up and try to find the corresponding object and tape the label on it.  When she had finished I asked her to show me where she'd put them all and I helped her fix up any she couldn't figure out.  She had lots of fun doing this and even went around the house suggesting other words I should have included.  We've left all the labels up so hopefully this will help her remember them when she encounters them in other situations.

Conversations with Minty...

Minty: Turi, every time you breathe or you cough I can smell a bit of silliness about to happen.

-----

Me: can I snip that loose thread on your shirt?

Minty: ok but be careful not to snip my happiness

In which there are pansies and random links...

 

I actually managed to pick up the camera a few times today, which for some unknown reason appears to be a rare event this summer.  So here is a peek at our day…

We've been making lots of icy poles with our zoku.  These ones are freshly squeezed orange juice layered with strawberry yoghurt.

 

Vanilla rice porridge with caramel bananas for breakfast.  We're all feeling a bit sick of our usual porridge or wheatbix so this week we've been mixing things up with some different recipes.

 

Yesterday Minty planted some seeds so this morning she made some labels for the pots.  Then I helped her put together a little chart so she can keep track of their progress.  She wrote all the numbers in the boxes and I put in the text (although I probably could have helped her labour over the text herself, I like to keep the momentum and her enthusiasm up when we're doing projects like this so she doesn't loose interest!).

And while I'm making this rare blogging appearance I thought I'd share a few links I'm currently loving…

This new photo blog is really inspiring… makes me want to forget all my hang ups about violent toys and buy Minty an archery set so she can channel her inner Katniss Everdeen… that and make an effort to photograph the kids more often!!

I'm loving listening to all these great and varied voices reading Moby Dick.  I feel like a kid again, being read a bedtime story!

Speaking of reading, I'm currently attempting to read from this list of '1000 novels everyone must read'.  Since this is an extensive list I'm conservatively aiming to finish 30 of the novels that I haven't already read by the end of 2013.

A birthday party...

 

My adorable little nephew was born last week!  He is such a precious little snuggle pot and I'm feeling very lucky to be an Aunty again.  

To celebrate his safe arrival, all of the extended family gathered at a local winery.  It was a magical night.  We had the place completely to ourselves.  We sat outside drinking champagne while the sun set and the kids chased each other in and out of the vines.  The celebration lasted well into the night, as we shared great food under the stars.  We all stayed over in a little cottage on the property and then had possibly the best breakfast I've ever eaten at a little cafe in Koonwarra.  House made crumpets, great coffee and pancakes served with fresh berries and melted chocolate.  This kid is going to have a hard time topping this party when he turns one!!

In which Turi has ogre hands and we are suddenly popular...

   

In the weeks after Christmas our sleepy seaside village becomes a buzzing tourist hot spot.  Suddenly traffic jams are a daily experience, we have to queue for a coffee and our beaches are no longer private.  Even after almost a decade of living by the coast this never ceases to be a shock to the system. The up side to all this craziness is that all our city dwelling friends suddenly feel the lure of the ocean and are inspired to make the drive down for a visit.  This week we've been maximising time with friends and family we haven't seen in a while.  I've got loads of pictures to share with you, as soon as I find a quiet moment to download them!!

In the mean time here are a few shots I took around boxing day.  There's not much in life that's better than hooking into a brand new box of coloured markers!  'Santa' gave Turi some watercolour paper for Christmas.  By adding a little water to the coloured tissue it releases vibrant colour.  It's a little messy but loads of fun.  Turi really loved playing with this and I'm looking forward to plenty more art sessions exploring its potential.