My baby girls first day of "classes"

This term we have organised 'lessons in the park' with other homeschoolers.
A few of us had been looking for a toddler dance program for a while when we came across  dance along .

C(dd 2) had a ball! She was following directions to stretch, shake her belly with bells on, reach for the sky, stomp in a circle amongst many other fun moves. She interacted well with the teacher and smiled her way through the class.

C was delighted with her sticker when the class finished and sat down next to the teacher keeping her company while she packed up her things.

She proceeded to her second and last class for the day, Spanish lessons ( i forgot to take a photo but I will!)
She sat on the mat, quite happy to be like the big kids and was ready to learn.
She came back counting to 4 and saying 'bread' in spanish.

We all had such a lovely day catching up with the other families and C was quite happy to be included in all the action.

Simple, fun and yummy

The girls were looking for something to do and as usual something to eat.

DD(7) purchased a book at lifeline bookfest yesterday and was browsing through it when she found the 'recipe' , not that it needs a recipe but it prompted us nevertheless to make fruit kebabs.

Even dd(nearly 2) joined in....cutting the fruit,

assembling the fruit on the stick

And then eating them....yummy!!!

Galatians 5 vs 22

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control and against such things there is no law

why I danced the "potty dance" today?

This morning C(dd is 23mths) woke up taking her nappy off. This in itself is not odd as she doesn't always like having her nappy on. She happily played 'nappy free' and I had her potty nearby, which up till recently she has only sat on for fun.
She started squatting with a funny look on her face so I popped her straight on her potty and she not only did a number 2 but a number 1 also!!!

She wasn't sure why I was jumping up and down and clapping as her first reaction was to point at what she had just deposited into her potty and say 'yucky'.

I kept telling her what a big girl she was, clapping and dancing the 'potty dance' around the house and she cracked a smile and clapped too!

So maybe, just maybe this is the start of potty training?

My baby is growing up!

After I cleaned the potty she put dolly on it : )

Gingerbread Boxes!

Last year we made a gingerbread house(from scratch), it was fiddly and a lot of work but after all the sweat and yes there where tears it was well worth it, we were so proud of our creation, so much so we where hesitant to eat it.
Heres a pic : ) .... I wasnt a blogger then.

2010 Gingerbread House

This year as we where looking through Christmas Recipes, we came across gingerbread boxes and we liked that idea for something different(and secretly a bit easier).

Although still fiddly as assembling these creations are, it was once again fun and memorable.What child wouldn't love melted chocolate and a whole heap of lollies to be creative with?

They look very "home made" but I'm sure they will taste wonderful as we used the same recipe as last year and it was delicious! J(8) sampled a few biscuits this morning made from remaining dough and assures me the dough is spot on.

We also ticked off some learning outcomes, as homeschoolers we are always looking for the learning in everything we do. Maths was definitely required, although it seems we somewhat failed in that department as
some of the sides did not match up!

Even our little toddler C(22 months) got in on the action, although she did more eating than creating.

Rail Museum (Build it)

The last time we went to the train museum at Ipswich was for J's 2nd birthday. J was Thomas the Tank mad!!! The Thomas exhibit was on at the time so we braved a HOT January day and took him for a day filled with trains. We thought the place was a good day out back then, over 6 years ago!

Our home school group had an excursion and workshop booked last week for the Build It exhibit. I had booked us in to go but had second thoughts when it fell on a particularly busy week. However I decided to go and I am glad I made the effort.

The workshop itself was OK but not the highlight of the day.

There was lots of other things going on for the children to do and look at. There was a whole room dedicated to "construction" the kids big and small loved this room.

Dressing up, large and small blocks, connector straws, stencilling amongst many other things.

The children also enjoyed the play area where there was lots of ride on toys, tracks and role play areas including more dress ups.

There are lots of trains and displays to look at of course, well it is a museum. The older kids both had a turn of driving the train on a simulator and enjoyed exploring the carriage.

We were on our way out after being at the museum for 3 hours and noticed a whole section we had missed. There were all these work stations set up with different activities to try. The children got a certificate which they stamped as they completed each activity. There was plumbing, painting, welding, building, rope tying amongst a few other trades.

 At 3pm we had to leave as R had dance class that we had to be at in an hour! If we had more time we would have spent at least double the time just at these work stations. It was great for the children to have a go at different skills and a good point for discussion on the way home about various occupations.

Our family had a fabulous day and will definitely make the effort to attend the rail museum when they have their special exhibits!

She can walk....she can talk!

Baby number 3 has stolen our hearts!

We were a picture perfect(even if I do say so myself) family of 4 for nearly 5 years before baby number 3 graced us with her presence. She has definitely thrown me out of my "comfort zone" so to speak. Up till then I had life sorted with my little pigeon pair BUT oh how I was not ready for another little cherub to come and steal my heart but she did just that and I love her more than words can say and she is a true "joy" to our family.

As can often happen with baby number 3 we forget about the traditional "baby record book" so this is when I thought before I forget I will blog the milestones to 17 months(which she turns in 5 days)

• SMILE 8 weeks
• LAUGH 3 months
• SLEEP THRU THE NIGHT(which I count from 8 plus hours or more) 4 months
• ROLL OVER 5 months
• TASTE FOOD 5 months
• SIT 6 months
• CRAWLING 10 months
• STAND HOLDING ON 12 months
• STAND ALONE 15 months
• FIRST STEPS 15.5 months
• WALKING 16 months

FIRST WORDS(not necessarily in order of appearance)
Muma : )
Dada
Buba
Bye bye
Ta
Thank you(which she pronounces-tan tu)
shoes(pronounced sooz)
zhu zhu(those pet toys)
Elmo (pronounced emo)
Meme(grandma in french)
Tata(aunty in french)
Bubbles
Na nights (pats herself when she's tired)
broom broom(playing with cars or trains)
beep beep(relation to cars)
woo(impersonating a dog)


1 Peter 2 vs 2-3
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³ now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.