21 April, 2013

preparing for the dinosaur party!!!!!

So, believe it or not, our Little is turning three next week. I can't quite believe it, his babyhood has just vanished. I now am beginning to understand what people mean when they say "enjoy it dear, it all goes by so quickly". It seems it was only weeks ago that he was brand spanking new.

He is growing into a big boy and wants a dinosaur party this year. But, to be very clear, he does not want dinosaurs that Rah! coming to his party. Just the quiet ones.

So much inspiration on pinterest, it's a wonder my head just didn't pop! So many cakes, most well beyond my skill level...







And then there's all the stuff that goes with it, the games, the outfits, the party favours, the decorations, the "dessert table". I am yet to see a dessert table at a kids' party, but I am impressed that people are going to the effort. Clearly I am going to the wrong parties! Here are some other bits and pieces that caught my attention:

how cool would slime be with an itty bitty dino inside?

oh my, check out the dino biscuits (cookies)
 
want one.


So, what are we doing for our dino party?

I don't want to spoil the big reveal, but we hope to have it in the garden. The birthday boy has requested a dino treasure hunt, a dino cake and we'll probably play pass the parcel and pin the tail on the... you guessed it, dino!

Little's friends will each get a dino tail (only have a dozen to make some time in the next few days!). Very much like this one:

my big boys in their dress ups for the Gherkin's fourth birthday party last year
 
And they will also be leaving with little dino bags containing a dino stamp each, a hopping dino toy and a dino crayon.

But more on our party during the week, I have to save something for later!

Have a happy week, chat soon xx


 


20 April, 2013

he loves little peter rabbit

 
 
Funny, isn't it, just how different they are?
 
Baby Pickle just loves Little Peter Rabbit. Do you know that song? Little Peter Rabbit had a fly upon his nose...
 
At the ripe old age of eight months Baby is requesting that song by making meaningful eye contact and popping his little hands up as ears. He will keep doing it until you get the message -  such a sweetheart!
 
At eight months he is also crawling at great speeds, pulling to stand and cruising along the furniture. He refuses to be spoonfed - determined little man insists on self-feeding. He is trying so hard to clap (he tries at the end of every rendition of Little Peter Rabbit).
 
 
Love watching this new small person develop. What a privilege it is to be a mum.
 
Have fun, chat soon xx

19 April, 2013

{this moment} Little in his favourite dozy spot

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


This moment was inspired by Soulemama. If you’re tempted to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

16 April, 2013

a new necklace!



Love love love the colours in this necklace. Love the range of colours, the different shapes, sizes,  textures. I can't take the credit though. This one was made by my four year old. The Gherkin crafted one of his preschool mates a birthday present this morning. What a gorgeous result! And the concentration! Amazing. Next step? To try to get him to make one for me...

 little hands
 
concentrating
 
modelling the end result (and proud)

15 April, 2013

a month of colour | lime

This time of year is just about my favourite in the highlands. Glorious days, cold nights, leaves changing colour, life here is beautiful! And our garden is stunning.

So when a month of moments today was all about lime, I had to pop in with some garden pics! Perhaps not all "lime", but green and lovely.

Have a wonderful week!
xx

Knowing nothing about gardening, I guessed that this tree was under attack by these moths or butterflies,
or even as caterpillars?
 
 
Our poor lime tree has way too many limes for us to eat!
Some go to preschool, some to the local charity shop, and bagsful to anyone who is happy to come and pick them....

 
I know, nowhere near lime, but the colours are spectacular, aren't they? so much blue in this lichen. Just beautiful. 

12 April, 2013

feeling pinspired...

Hi again!

Now all three boys are going to bed (dare I say/write that 'out loud'?!), I have rediscovered the joy of evenings and time. Feeling pinspired last night I whipped up this little beauty:


Love the hand on the hip? Our gherkin's natural "I'm being photographed" pose - love it!

Note the monster patch on the knee. These jeans were favourites for ages until the gherkin's knee went right through them. This is not an original idea (seems I am all out of those at the moment - perhaps too much time spent on pinterest) but comes from refashion co-op (who apparently was inspired by someone else).

I did this job by hand, only because I was too nervous to unpick the seam and re-sew, but next time I will be braver. After all, Miss Cintia offered a really good tutorial on how to do this some time ago, that I have been waiting to use... next time!

Doing it by hand and stitching these on without unpicking the seam was tricky at best and a massive pain at its worse. The most difficult thing was my laziness and wanting to stitch on the teeth and mouth at the same time. Really it would have been simplest to either stitch the teeth to the red mouth or stitch the teeth to the jeans as step one and then the mouth to the jeans as step two. But no, I pinned it all on at once and then proceeded to stitch all layers together at once. Madness! And frustrating! (and causing me to spend way too much of the evening with my tongue poking out and eyes half-crossed).

But, the story has a happy ending! The Gherkin loved his new monster pants, so much that we had to Skype the grandparents immediately, and Little loved them so much that he started nagging for his own "dinosaur" pants.

Happy weekend! xx

11 April, 2013

trackie thursdays!

Hi!

Trackie Thursdays came about at our place when I found myself at home fulltime, without a clue of what to do with the kids every day, every week, every month... you get the idea.

So, some days became themed. We had Washing Monday, Library Tuesday, Explorer Wednesday and Trackie Thursday.

A very important day of the week, on Trackie Thursday, the rules are:
* you can wear trackies (tracksuits) all day, or
* you may prefer to wear your pyjamas
* you don't have to leave home for anything.
It's our slow day.

So, what do we do on our slow day? We play, and we try out new ideas that mummy (that is, me!) has found online and would like to give a go.  We try to go completely screen-free for the day, but this doesn't always work out.

This Trackie Thursday we did this:




I wish I could claim this as an original idea, but no, the idea came from this brilliant woman. The boys loved playing "the laser game" so much they want to play again tomorrow... think my yarn stash may be getting a work out in the weeks to come!

Would you like to join in on our Trackie Thursday? I'll be posting new favourite ideas for trackie Thursday (play and activities for boys) here each week. What are you doing with your kids or grandkids this week? Any suggestions?

Have a fun week, see you next trackie Thursday!
xx

Thanks

to my other half who puts up with the mess, makes me happy and keeps me sane.
to my beautiful boys who give me so much i want to remember and make the everyday something to treasure.
to my mum who alway let me play with fabric and the good scissors, and who knows a lot of songs.
to my dad who was always happy for us to make a mess and who laughs at us when we deserve it.
to both parents for making sure i still got the work done.
to my dear friends for listening and for sharing the laughs.
and, to you for visiting!