My Little Lady Of The Lake

I love how our days pan out here. A lazy lunch followed by an afternoon beach combing at the lake. This little girl of mine, just loves the water. She spends long periods sitting and playing quietly by the waters edge. She loves to throw pebbles into the water, taking joy in the plopping and slashing as they hit the water. 

Today this little girl of mine really made me smile. There is something about preschoolers and costumes, they are like moths to a flame, and my little Holly is no exception to that. Lately, I rarely seem to see her out of costume and todays choice was a butterfly fairy. She flittered along the waters edge, testing the water and enjoying the freedom to unleash her little butterfly fairy along the empty beach.

And as usual for my little girl, we spent time collecting the prettiest of the treasures to take home.

Gotta love days like this.  

Light Play

We have discovered a new 'hit' in our house- the light box. Both my girls can spend hours absorbed in creativity on this little box. I bought it a few weeks back, getting a great deal on a local online auction, after being inspired by a lovely blog called Play at Home Mom. Since then, we have come up with all kinds of creative variations, from coloring and tracing to playing with shells and buttons on it.

Holly in particular is a big fan of putting the buttons on it. She sits for long periods arranging the buttons in to patterns and shapes. The other thing she enjoys doing with it is pretending it is a hot stove and cooking on it.

I love watching how their little minds work, how they are able to create this whole world with just a few simple objects. Who would have thought my eclectic button collection could bring hours of joy?

My Creative Space

There has been a little fairy move in at our place. She is not very big, tiny in fact, only standing about 7cm tall. Holly found her this morning, hiding beside some flowers on her nature table. Needless to say she was very surprised but also very happy that this little miss has taken up residence at our house. 

It makes sitting up late last night to knit this wee fairy so worthwhile when I get to see the joy play out on my little girls face in the morning. 

The magic of childhood, it is truly wonderful. 

The Definition of Happiness

When you are 10 months old, without a doubt your definition of happiness must be a ride on the swing at the park. 

The little one just adores it. As soon as we get near the swings, the feet start kicking, with that whole body excitement that only little babies do. With a grin from ear to ear, she happily sits while I push her back and forth. Laughing hysterically when I grab her little feet as she comes near. She never tires of it.

That is one of the things I love most about being a mother, getting the opportunity to see the world though their eyes and find pleasure in the simplest things.

Happy weekend.

Flea Market Finds

My little girls first birthday present! I found this lovely little wooden rocking horse in a junk shop and literally could not believe my eyes. I had been wanting to get her something special to mark her first year of life in December and this fits the bill perfectly.

Home Made Crayons- Tutorial

Holly and I had a blast making these little crayons the other day, using all the broken and worn down crayons she had in her little crayon box. They were super easy to make, so I thought I would share the 'recipe' with you all.

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius
• Take all your crayons, remove any paper and group into similar colours.
• Break  crayons into small pieces
• Place crayon pieces into small silicone moulds (I used one of those trays that you use to freeze baby food, as they were the perfect size and shape)
• Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until crayons have melted.
• Remove carefully from oven. 
• Leave until completely cool before turning out of mould.
• Go and colour something in! Enjoy. 

Imagination play

In our modern society it is easy to buy kids, more, more, more. Toys are literally a dime a dozen. Toys that whizz, bang, light up and sing songs. The thing though is that a lot of modern toys take the imagination out of play, the toy is what it is and does what it does.

There is something so special about watching a little one really using their imagination when they play. One of our most versatile toys is some old wooden blocks made by my girls great granddad made many, many years ago. They have been played with in so many different ways. The little one likes to bang them together and chew on them. Holly has built towers, roads and houses with them on many an occasion. This day, when I asked her what we should make, she decided a fairy house, and so we did. A fairy house with a fairy picnic table where the fairies can eat their fairy food.

Then the best bit for me... sitting back and watching the magic begin, as my little girls settles down to play imaginary tea parties with her 'fairies'

Winter Wonderland

Turns out skiing is a lot like riding a bike, once you know how, you never forget. Last week I spent 2 amazing days at the Cardrona ski field near Wanaka. Much to my surprise, having not skied since before the girls were born, I can still do it!

The main reason we went up was to support Simon who was taking part in the Adaptive Snowsports National Festival. He did well but unfortunately did not place in the elite class. He did however, manage one almighty fall which was apparently spectacular to watch. Luckily I was not there to witness it myself.

The girls spent the day in the on-field nursery, which was great as it meant I could easily come and go during the day. They had an absolute blast playing in the snow. Holly kept repeating "So cold" between big smiles.

Turns out that granddads are pretty handy things. They will pull the sledge for far longer than Mummy or Daddy.

And they will even make fools of themselves by letting 2 year olds take them for sledge rides.

Even Isla got in on a little of the winter action.

Fun times. 

Vintage Baby!

There is something about vintage toys that really appeals to me. Maybe it is because they remind me of my own happy childhood. Or maybe it is the simplicity of them. They require no batteries and allow so much more imagination play than many modern toys.

Here are a few of the vintage toys that currently call our house home-

A little pram from Kilmarnock enterprises.

 

My Sister's 1970's Fisher Price record player. Yes thats right- records. From a time long ago, before ipods, before CDs and even before tapes, people used to play records. 

 

 

A lovely little 1960's Fisher price ferris wheel.

A little vintage dolls outfit. This was made by either my Mother or Sister in the 1970's and I think it is just too cute for words.

This Moment

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

 

One red balloon

We have been having some lovely warm days here lately and what better way to make use of these lovely days than to get out in the garden and play. Holly and I had a fabulous time with this red balloon, chasing it around the garden as the wind wiped it around unpredictably. She would laugh and squeal as she tried to catch it. We nearly lost it over the neighbors fence a couple of times  but luckily the wind always blew it back. I will miss these fun days in the sun as the weather cools with the onset of autumn.

Holly's treasures

My girl, like many toddlers, loves finding treasure. Even a walk to the shop is filled with stops to examine flowers, plants,leaves, berries and any other special finds. So, it is no surprise that a trip to the beach is one of her favorite things and a bag to collect her treasures is a must.

Holly got to do just this last week during a special trip to visit her Nan and Pop. She bought her bag of treasures home, spending much time playing with her new finds, examining them and carefully lining them up before proudly showing them off.
The thing that is most beautiful about her treasures is what she chooses. Unlike and adult, who would select beauty based on shape and colour. She selects her shells for their unusual little features, a bit of dried seaweed still attached, a hole in it or two shells fused together.

For me, it is another example of the joy I get as a parent, glimpsing the world through the eyes of my child and it, like her little shells, is beautiful.

Natures Toys

We have been having some lovely summer days here lately. It is nice to make the most of the sunshine and get the little ones out enjoying it. While Holly likes to run and climb, Isla loves nothing better than to lay on the grass and make the most of natures best mobile...

She watches in fascination as the leaves sway gently in the breeze and the suns rays are gently dappled across her. As adults we get so caught up in our busy worlds, it is sometimes nice to take some time out and enjoy the world through the eyes of a baby.

A recipe for fun

Play dough

2 cups of plain flour

1 cup of salt

2 cups of cold water

2 tablespoons of cooking oil

2 teaspoons of cream of tartar

food colouring

Cook in a pan over a medium heat, stirring continuously. Remove from heat when mixture starts to ball. Lay on a bread board to cool. Kneed well. Store in an air tight container in fridge.

Add a little rolling pin and some stamps and let the fun begin!

Simple pleasures

The littlest one has a favorite pass-time. It is nothing fancy but it brings her alot of happiness and is one of the best things I was given when I had kids. It is a black and white mobile. I have it hung over the change table and both my girls have loved lying under it having a good kick with their nappy off. I gently tap it so it moves and sing this little song- "round and round and round it goes, where it is going to stop only Isla knows". 

I was looking for one recently to give a friend who is expecting her first child but sadly I have been unable to find one the same as mine. I did however find this site where you can make your own. There are so many fancy baby toys out there that have all the bells and whistles, some times it is nice to see that the simplest toys can bring the most pleasure. 

My little picasso

Miss Holly is proving to be quite the little artist. She loves to draw and spends many hours with her little bucket filled with her crayons and one of her many many colouring books. She carries these around the house and sets to work on her pictures in all corners of the house. She puts alot of effort into her drawings, lifting up her head to show me which colour she will use next. Some times she will invite me to join her only to quickly take the crayon off me again, I guess my colouring is not up to her standard!