We heart Christmas!

Moving house to a whole new town has been challenging interesting lonely sad and fun all at the same time...I have had to slowly get things kicking into Christmas. I've loved decorating our new house as there are lots of cute corners and down lights that make everything pretty.

I love this season, its the best part of the year by far. I love how we talk and the Saviours birth almost everyday! I think how amazing would it have been to live during that time.

We have so much planned to make Christmas last all December long. Here's a few things we've done so far -

Lighting of the Christmas tree city concert
Made Christmas cards
Taken our annual Christmas photo
Chocolate a day Advent calendars
Special weekly devotional dinner
Christmas craft for decorating the tree
Hand made nativity blocks
Baby jesus rocking and singing a lullaby
Christmas stories - a new one to unwrap each day
Disney Christmas movies
Christmas pillow cases and fairy lights in bedrooms
New Christmas ornament for the tree
The boys baked cinnamon rolls
Christmas lights tour

and its still early in the month, so much more to do and look forward to.

We 💜 Christmas!

We're off again

We're yet again off on another adventure - not knowing what's ahead or how things will turn out. Leaving behind friends and loved ones and going to a place we've never been before. It does sound scary, some people have asked am I scared - probably the most asked question. I can honestly say scared, doesn't even come into my mind. Unsure yes, but defenitely  not scared. I like that we make plans together, John and I and we get to go off and do them. Its so cool that we've created this little family and we've got eachothers back.

Something which has been making me smile on the inside lately is how much these boys are liking eachother - they really enjoy getting up to mischief together, hiding and sneaking and giggling. I like it, I'm not ever going to get them into trouble if they are happily playing together but its past their nap time or food is going cold. I love to leave them just be and continue in the flow of their friendship.

The other day I complained to a friend how much the boys were fighting and now I've realised its probably not as much as i think, and really the more I step out of it and allow them to sort it out - they gravitate back to each other.

5 things I'm grateful for right now:
John just walked through the door
Two kids napping
Asher making me giggle
Warm comfy bed
That we move in to our new house tomorrow!

xx



Halloween 2014, usual traditions - Manly Harbour Street Parade and ward Trunk or Treat. Such a good weekend!

It all counts

I have not had any weekly at home themes for ages for the boys, which made me think I'm not doing so well. 

But then I stopped and thought what were all the things we did in this past week which could lead to learning....

Daily walks to the park/duck pond/library

Mothers group catch up

Mops group catch up with kindergarten set up

Asher practising writing letters

Listening to disney audio books

Lots of house chores

Pretend play under our house the construction site

Church attendance

Scripture reading and discussion

Listening to general conference throughout the day

Boys reading books to each other

Lots of stories read by mummy

Trip to southbank

Asher coming to saturday markets and paying for items

Visit to great grandparents

Asher learning to fix his own drinks/food

Loads more I'm sure...

I'm not missing out on anything if they are doing all of this. It's easy to forget that it all counts. 

John and I attended our annual church ball amongst it all. So nice to get dressed up and hold hands and dance to slow songs :) It was like everything was left behind...it was special. 

Don't be fooled, it all hits the fan daily in this place. I'm always feeling like I'm not doing enough, and constantly feeling overwhelmed. This is a season i know, I'm learning to not focus so much on the rubbish. Each of us have struggles. It's all perspective. 

Today has been a good day, I'm thankful to say. 

x

Frozen Ball

Asher has  "frozen" themed ball at his little childcare group over the weekend. They are amazing - run by the Salvation army - everything they do and why they decide to do it is always from the value they have of knowing children are a gift from God. They are so kind and thoughtful and hard working.

These are just a snippet of our fun time together....it was so special just to take Asher on my own, he was a lovely gentlemen as my date for the night :)

Don't mind the lousy background, a quick photo in our front yard before we rushed off was all the little guy could manage -

A dragon fly a jet plane and a gaze.

It has been 3 months since checking in here....

So much has happened.

So many experiences, my mind is blown and I wish i could document every second because it all seems so important. My days have been full to the brim, and becoming busier as the time goes on. Sariah is now eating food, jet is now using the toilet and Asher is almost writing. Sounds like the sml stuff but really these are HUGE milestones. I've read some interesting books these past few months. One on the montessori method which actually changed me. Literally. Read some things before but the book changed what I now do each day.

I read another book on behaviour. It is incredible - by a doctor call Dr Shefali Tsabary - she has incredible TED talk you should check out.

Life has been flowing and the boys have been becoming harder, speaking silly words and fighting! Oh my word with the fighting. As the eldest learns more and acts kinder it is slowly becoming managable.

I took them to my favourite playgroup today. We are the loudest and worst behaved it always seems and i get paranoia about the other mums, but overall today was nice. The playgroup co ordinator is kind and supportive so i enjoy talking with her and hearing her insights.

Above all i have most enjoyed, stopping and sharing tiny moments....i have to work hard to make sure they are frequent in each day....asher wanted me to see a dragon fly, jet showed me his favourite jet plane and as i put sariah down for a nap we stared at each other for a lovely long time and with her smiling back at me i could tell she trusted me, wanted me and needed me. It was a strong emotion to feel in a 60 second period. All seperate instances have improved my view on my children for today. The next tantrum fight or time out will be bareable as i can draw strength from the moments that were good and know that the next good moment is about to come.

So much in my mind I want to write down and share....for now this is all I can. Until a new day i have a spare moment to get back on here.

x

Play group South Bank tafe runs monday to friday 9:30-11am. It is AMAZING. Organised by the education faculty for those studying to work in childcare - painting, costumes, sand, play doh, creative toys, musical instruments....forever more good stuff!

Where we're at....

Baby girl is now 8 weeks old and I had been reflecting on how would I be coping and managing still wanting to have meaniful time with each child. I had been focussing pretty hard on not turning the TV on during pregnancy and doing learning activities with the boys and I thought how is this going to happen when there is a new baby?

Now that we're two months in I've still been going strong and happy to say activities are still happening and TV is still not going to be turned on. Sometimes I feel i need to chill more with that, but I think if I get relaxed it will send the wrong message. Yesterday after the nagging for it for so long I remember how much Asher loves to be told how strong he is, all the time, he just loves hearing it. So I said to him if you watch it too much you won't be strong, you have to be moving doing things to be strong.  I think it will require a bit more then just me saying that as I don't think he was buying it. It is true though so I will elaborate some more on it over time.

I decided last night I would make a list of all the things that I could remember we have done for the past week and see how I going, as I think I was pressuring myself to do more but when looking at it, I realised I'm doing just as much as before. (Not every week is like this, my house is still messy, food isn't elaborate and I don't look as top notch as I could, just saying so there's nothing to hide)

Acting out what's happening in story books
Pretend play: kitchen, daddy's headset, lawn mower, diggers
Vinegar and baking soda
Baking: brownies
Dress ups as a workman
Visit to see farm animals at expo
Visit grandparents
Playing with grandpas tools (the collection is huge!)
Walk to the construction site
Out of the box festival at south bank ( children's education through play)
Play under the house (workmen's area)
Dinner at two different friends houses
Puzzles
Reading of new library books
House chores:
vacuuming
tidying toy room
Putting away laundry

Obviously there are many more things that occur each day but these are some things that I had intentionally done this pst week and I think for myself with 3 alone doing these things is an achievement. I toot my own horn because if I don't I will continue in a spiral of negative thinking as I have in the past and it's not going to inspire me to do more.

I have also had a strong influential feeling to better incorporate gospel learning on a daily basis. I decided to google ideas as this was lacking. Sure Asher knows the first article of faith but I wanted more consistent teaching and more intentional then just a random scripture at bedtime. So I have started bringing out the children's scriptures with pictures and easier to read wording. The boys are seriously keen to see the pictures and ask questions. Now I just have to convince myself to slow down and not be pressured to a schedule to rush everything. For example Asher wanted to keep looking through the picture scripture book and kept asking questions after I had finished reading it to him, then I said "just go and brush your teeth" as it was getting close to head out the door. Even as the words came out of my mouth I realised how I had clearly got it wrong, the focus is the gospel learning, not the importance of rushing to the next thing to do. This is what I have to remember and also allow room for in my day.

3 kids in less then 4 years is hectic though. Every morning getting ready is crazy and all the while it's predominantly me alone doing it. In all the nappy changes, fights, lost shoes, wiping noses, making meals and time outs - I have to go back to the calm of stopping and thinking of the Saviour. For me it is so hard to do and I'm hoping that by making this a priority it will become a habit that will then become something that will stick in mine and my children's minds for a lifetime, therefore keeping them safe and helping me realise it is all worth.

Sariah

My dream has come true! A baby girl is finally all mine to call my own :) We were blessed with the beautiful arrival of this precious little thing in the early hours of Tuesday the 29th of April. I'm happy to say yet again the birth was incredible, fast, and calm....with no intervention! It started slowly throughout the day with little feelings happening and I just thought well maybe it's time so let's just wait and see. As the day went on and into the evening I knew it was time. We put the boys to bed and I got into our huge bath and just relaxed...listening to my calm birth CD and hinting excitedly about what was coming soon.

After arranging to meet my midwife at the hospital we drove calmly to he Mater Mothers and arrived with excitement. The midwife didn't think I was in labour at all because we were laughing and kidding around, just chilling before the real deal hit me. After some time my midwife encouraged me to get up and move, but I knew I just wanted to lay on my side as that was where I felt most comfortable and the contractions felt most effective. After insisting I stay put an hour later little baby girl arrived! I should have listened more to my body and have been more confident in my abilities rather then letting a professional call the shots...although they see this thing everyday I should have had the confidence to say I know what I'm doing. In the end my body did the thing it was designed to do and showed I was right and an easy and comfortable birth was the result.

Sariah has definitely been the easiest newborn I've had. I know that comes down to me being more relaxed and that John is still home (never had that luxury with the other two) and possibly because she is a girl...

I love her name so much and feel lovely when I say it. We chose her name as it comes from the name Sarah which means princess and also because Sariah in The Book of Mormon was the mother of a very righteous man, which means something to me. How did she raise such a good son? What kind of influence would she have had.

I have great dreams and hopes for this little girl, I don't know how much of them will become a reality but I love that I get to dream and hope and pray for them all to come to pass. I hope to have a very close relationship with her, where we talk on her bed late into the night discovering all that's making her tick, I love the idea that we will get to do girly things together, if that's what she likes. I wonder what kind of teenager she will be and if we will get along during those years. I dream about her dancing with Johnny at her wedding, and having a tight bond with her daddy. That is probably the most important thing to me for this little girl, something that I know means so much to John too.

I can't wait for the future but I'm really happy to take it all in for now and keep my dreams coming. I love that I have a baby girl, I love that the boys get to be her awesome big brothers who will protect her fiercely. What an incredible thing it is the Lord has given us. I will always try to remember this feeling I have right now, peace, happiness, love, confidence and hope.

xx

What I love

I am enjoying these last few weeks before our new darling arrives. I have even more then before for either of my other children looking forward to this birth and amazing blessing that is about to arrive. I guess it's my growing in motherhood that has changed my perspective, not I guess, it's what I know.

After my first baby was born I didn't think I could ever go through that anytime soon again. However 15 months later my husband and I felt the time was right to go for round two and almost instantly we were blessed with becoming pregnant. My second sons birth was amazing and I never thought I would use that word when it came to labour and childbirth but it really was. I studied breathing techniques and did a clam birth or hypnobirthing course that really hit home to me on a level that I could relate to.

Now with this baby coming I feel confident and happy that we are getting to experience it all again. Sure I'm scared as to how I'm going to manage and what it's going to take out of me, no sleep, no energy, lots of TV, and a really messy house are all coming my way, but I would not give all that up just so that I could have an easier and more "comfortable" life which revolved around me rather then children.

I love especially that I am the one looking after with all my might these little babies. I am the one that  cuddles them when they are sad or hurt, I make their food and choose what they eat, I get to play with them and snuggle up when it's reward time with a nice disney movie...last week it was a beauty and the Beast and little Asher hasn't stopped talking about it since! I love that I get to make the decisions on how to train and discipline these boys. When I say I, it is so lovely to know that my husband and I are unified in the decision making process for how we want our children to be raised. I say I because I am e one who is here all day everyday and he is not, but WE as a team and as the leaders of this family have the priveledge of calling the shots and I love that we are seeing the benefits of our patience and long suffering in training our children.

I love that I chose to stop working and becoming a full time stay at home mother. I also know that my husband loves that he is the provider as he actually says it a lot how he loves going to work and that he feels proud that I don't have to be in the workforce if I didn't want to be and that he is able to take care of his family. I think he makes comment on this issue at least once a week so I know it really means something to him. I am thankful that he also supports me no matter what decision I make, so if I did want to work he would have no hesitation in helping me achieve that, thankfully I'm not going anywhere and home is where I want to be.

This wasn't always what I thought I would like, it actually was something that I have learned and have grown into. I have a bachelors degree in International Journalism and Mass Communication, but even while completing that degree I realised that I wanted to be a mother more then anything else, meanwhile John and I didn't meet until 3 years after I graduated. I had the opportunity to work in m y field during that time and all the while I knew it wasn't where my heart was.

I have had people comment saying that it must be a huge waste now that I have "given up" my life in order to raise children. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am not only the mother, wife, cook, cleaner, doctor - but I'm also using all those talents and lessons that I have gained up until this point in my life to manage a household budget, as well as maintain our investment property and other financial goals that as a family we have made. John does not have the time to invest in any of these areas but I do, and I love it. I love that we feel secure in our finances and all because I have the time to do it. He is super good with money and spending too so really it's only my spending that I'm really tracking :) most of his spending is all toward aviation and thankfully are tax right offs every year.

We have a wonderful system and I can't imagine the stress of adding me working would do to our system.

Most days are harder then others at the job I do but I love that I'm doing it because I could imagine myself being anywhere else. Sure travelling and exploring the world might be fun, but even then you still would have to work in order to have money to do that. Mine is just a different work and one that I value more then any that provide dollars.

Today has been a good day and I'm happy I got to sit and share some thoughts...

Time for some rest and preparation for the new and beautiful day ahead tomorrow xx

Easter is coming!

I've had a lovely Sabbath day with my two little puppy dogs. Sacrament was manageable but not perfect. We went over time by a bit but I managed to keep the puppies happy with some stories I read to them quietly. Sooooo nice they love books!

Well this morning I happen to mention Easter and Asher said, "I love Easter mummy" and I said "do you know what Easter is?" and he giggled and said no. So this week I'm going to start preparing for this sacred holiday. I want to put in as much effort and thought as I do for Christmas because clearly these are special seasons of remembering the Saviour and we can get mostly consumed by all,the chocolate!

Some things I want to do are:
Have an Easter advent calendar with scripture stories
Make an Easter tree - have done this now for the past 3 years
Make clay egg ornaments for tree - incorporate words of the Saviour
Make an Easter wreath
Send Easter cards to grandparents and cousins
Prepare an Easter egg hunt with friends/family
Have a family Easter brunch with the missionaries - 2nd year running
Watch an Easter kids movie - Hop
Do Easter crafts with kiddos, find in the Friend magazine
Easter reading, unwrap one each day if theres enough Easter or rabbit themed books in our library
Visit the temple gardens with boys
Take Asher to pick a store bought Easter decoration to add upon each year
Attend General Conference weekend - have a Sunday evening Easter devotional
Decorate our house as tastefully as possible without missing the true meaning of Easter

All of this is to occur before our third baby arrives which is in about 3 weeks. I have decided themed school time will be put aside while we focus on Easter. I hope I can do well and the boys get something from this. All in all I want this time to be another tradition we cherish, building beautiful memories as a family. I hope that these boys will remember the feelings of love such traditions instill within a family. I want them to have a good feeling of the home they grew up in when they look back on these times. And then I want those feelings to still be there when our children and grown and parents of their own when they come back and visit the family home.

I have had a lovely few days with our boys being such a joy. Still tears, still fights and many tantrums but the highs have been flowing well and truly. Just last night Asher and I stayed up and watched Beauty and the Beast. He loved that special time with me. Then we got a quiet moment together after church while we ate a simple lunch. He was adorable and I was capturing his innocence and purity. I was staring at his big eyelashes and all his features just feeling blessed he is my child.

I also had a moment like that with the baby Jet, later in the day. He was repeatedly giving me cuddles and just wanting to giggle and smile and again I took in every detail of his face and my whole body felt warm.

I am now due to have another child in a very short time. People will say you're crazy for going for number three, and all I can think of now is why wouldn't you! Seeing my three year old talk and express love for me daily is an incredible feeling. He is powerful and I often don't like being around him because of his intensity, but seeing things come good from the efforts I have made with that child is an incredible feeling no one can take away from me. A child who tells me that he loves me, or that I'm his best friend or that he thinks I'm pretty on so many occasions throughout the day, is something that I do not want to be missing out on. He is learning love and trust from me and I am amazed how much this affects him. I'm learning even more so into other research I have done how this will affect him as an adult an overall as a human being.  My influence for good is reaching so far even if it is just within the walls of this home.

I love my babies, and love that I get to again teach them about the Saviour through the season of Easter.

How far we've come

I can't believe that I've almost been doing weekly pre school with Asher now for three months! That is amazing and I can see a difference in how we all feel, there's a point to our day and we get to spend good times together. Just this week I have been able to see the fruit of my labours. Asher recited the alphabet and also memorised the first article of faith. He has only begun big primary this year and already knows it, that makes me very happy and I can see he can focus and learn. These little achievements mean a lot. When I think I'm failing in most areas(house tidy, gourmet meals, behaviour etc.) I realise that I'm not actually doing all that bad, in fact I'm doing well. I love this job of being a mother and Asher has made me realise that.

When he said the article of faith I kissed and hugged him so much and was over the moon happy that he just wanted to keep saying it over and over. That just again shows me how much he wants to please and wants to be approved. It was a really good insight to my attitude toward him.

Another success this week has been implementing "the puppy award". Asher loves pretending to be a puppy, so when I found a reward certificate online called the puppy award I thought this just might work. All this week he has been doing his jobs around the house and it has been a great result for him to see me ticking off the chart. He just wants to keep getting more ticks and get that award. I have been so thrilled with seeing that he CAN do all this, that is, listen to an instruction and follow through with simple responsibilities. Each day our routine is: toy room free play, breakfast, get dressed brush teeth then Sesame Street before heading to the gym and out and about for the day. Evening is Play School at 4:30 dinner at 5:15 then before bath both boys put away all toys and straighten up toy room and rest of the house. Now these kids are 3.5 and 18 months old and they do it! This is teaching them more then just obeying me, but to care for the things we have and helping mummy shows you love her.

After bath, bed time routine is pretty easy I'm happy to say. I am always exhausted but I'm glad everything is in place and there's not usually a drama. 6pm we get out of the bath and into pjs and we head into ashers room for story time. I will read one book then just have a rest in there with them while the boys read book after book after book. This is a nice way to end the day for me and them. By ten to seven its goodnight. They brush teeth and Asher uses the bathroom and I leave his door open while he drifts off to sleep. He DOES NOT get out of his room which is lovely, he just likes to hear that I am still close by. I can do the dishes then watch a bit of TV and he just stays there quietly.  This works because he knows if he made a sound or did get up I would just close the door which he hates...he only tried this once and never has since.

The reason I'm going on about these good points of my kids is that often I never really reflect on them, just the hard stuff - tantrums, hyper active behaviour and how tired I am all the time. I'm glad I've found the goodness amongst the other.

I love my boys, I love that we are about to enjoy another baby and that we are a happy family. Isn't that just what everyone is looking for, to be happy.

On a final note, this week I've had discouraging input from family who don't think that me putting mothering before a career is what I should be doing. It's sad to say that I get this a lot from my family, close family too. There really is a lack of understanding on what I do all day and why I do it. Comments such as, you're not exercising your brain enough, come when they think all I do is baby talk and play with my children....I think I get negative talk from my family every week or whenever we catch up. It is hard to hear that and not let it play on your mind.

But then I refocus and consider the reasoning behind suc comments. Maybe they want what I have, maybe they wish they had of had the family that I have chosen to have, or maybe they just think they know better. It is seriously difficult when every decision is judged, from how I discipline to how tidy I keep the house. ENOUGH!  I will strive not to harp on it but to keep being an example and these little ones are going to be the best thing to prove it was all worth it.

Gardening

Play school episodes are all about gardening this week, and the week started off with some lovely rain. I got to talk to Asher about what plants need to grow and he was interested to know they need food and water just like us, and the Sun!

One morning we just sat in the toy room reading "the little red hen" such a good book about gardening and things growing. We then pretended to be seeds and grew tall into flowers/plants/wheat, Asher loved acting this out.

I took the boys to the huge Bunnings near our place and roamed around the gardening section while my two little puppy dogs scooted about with the kids trolleys, they are in love with them. We got to see ride on lawn mowers for sale too, then walked around the BBQ section an Asher was telling us how they all worked. When it was time to go there was a huge meltdown from them both....so draining but I'm glad I took them still.

Asher recited his ABCs this week and it was so cute. I recently hung the alphabet in our dining room so with every meal we say the alphabet, and looks like he completely know it. That's fantastic to me, for such an active little boy who I thought would take so long to focus and learn.

We did letter craft with food colouring paint and bits of glitter, this was a hit and I really love the pages I found online for these letters.

We played with our alphabet book and puzzle and little baby even had a turn at singing the alphabet...so cute that he only knows how to say B and just mumbles everything else in a singing voice :)

Machines

If I remember right I think Asher hugged me when I told him we would be learning about Machines for school time this week. Boy does that kid love machines.

One morning the boys just watched how our washing machine works and sat there for a long time as it went through the different steps in the cycle. This was fantastic to talk about machines!

Daddy also took the boys for a walk and came upon a construction site with a huge digger and bob cat. They loved watching them work and Asher mimicked with his hand how the digger scooped up the dirt. I loved seeing how happy this made him. Not happy when it was time to go though...

I opened up daddy's tool box one day and let them both just go for it. I got Asher to hammer with real nails into a milk bottle, it was so nice to see his enjoyment. He spoke very properly to his brother telling him exactly what he was doing...very cute.

We spent an afternoon outdoors in our play kitchen in the garden, the boys got busy filling pots and pans up with water and transferring dirt and water into different containers, such a busy little kitchen it was.

I set up the boys diggers one morning along with different bits of play dough and scrunched up alfoil to be as a pretend quarry. Asher liked this but I thought it would be more of a hit then it was.

I also got out daddy's spare headset and had a decent play session of airports :)

There was lots of reading as I found a couple of very factual books on diggers and tractors...each page was detailed with how each machine operated. These kind of books have always been his favourite.

Music

It's always hard to introduce school time while daddy is home. This music theme had so much potential, but then lots of distractions came up. We managed to do letter V craft, for violin, watched an orchrestra online and spoke about all the different sounds the instruments made, and we also played a hearing game, where you take turns being blind folded then listen to an instrument being played then you have to guess it. Asher loves this, especially being blind folded. I did manage to also do a milk/food colouring/dish liquid experiment which was a hit. The colours blending were mesmorizing for asher. That was pretty much it, I didn't get any library books on our theme and then things just faded. Will try to pick it up again next week.

Day and Night

I have missed a few school theme posts, and finding it not as easy to navigate from my phone since the Galazy died. New phone is just not as flash. Oh well, so here is our day and night themed week...

I have found the best way to reinforce what we are focusing on is with books as Asher just loves reading. Isn't that incredible, I suppose all young children do but I'm so happy he really really loves books. He can seriously be satisfied with a pile of books for up to an hour, that is amazing. So these little readers I found at the library have almost every pre school theme imaginable and day and night was in there. It was quite long but everyday he would read it and would barely let his brother as much as touch the cover...still working on sharing. The book had great pictures of what animals are awake during the day and the ones awake at night. This was surprisingly helpful as we have possums stomping around on our roof which makes little boy scared, so learning that they are just awake doing their thing (and not monsters) settled ashers fears. I managed to get a book on owls also and he loved reading it to his baby brother.

I set up some black construction paper one morning along with some white chalk and glitter glue pens for him to make his own night time picture. He stayed with this for some time which means success! We also had a turn at a day time picture, drawing birds and trees and garbage trucks, as they come visit sooooo early at our place. Every Wednesday morning the day starts just that little bit earlier as they wake us all up.

Everyday Asher recognised what we had been learning for the week and would say randomly, "we're learning about day and night today"....then one evening before bed he yelled mummy look its the moon! It was huge and very bright and actually out quite early so we got daddy's telescope out to have a look. Silly me couldn't figure out how to work it so it was just a bit of a pretend astronomy lesson :) Asher loved looking as much as he did anyway.

We played with bi carb and vinegar again, little boy loves this activity and he is always there for ages!

At the end of the week I took the boys to the planetarium. It was a pretty cool place, lots of astranaut set ups and pictures of planets and the moon. We watched a brief film on rockets and going into space. There wasn't a lot of serious educating going on, more just running around looking at things, but that was ok.

This has been a fun theme and in the end turned into including space. I'd like to incorporate more specific goals with each theme, although its play school, I would love to see some more focus on things like shapes numbers letters words/reading etc. But I am finding Asher to enjoy each theme I introduce so the more I bog him down with "work" and not play, I think I might loose him. Have to just see how things go.

Bugs

 

BUGS	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Table Time (letters/math)	Salt-tray writing		Learn how to spell Asher	Make a snail from playdoh, make a caterpillar	Incy Wincy spider singing
Craft	Spaghetti spider web and handprint spider	Make a paper plate frog, hand prints as feet and long red tongue	Bottle top bugs	Make a peg dragonfly by twisting cellophane in the middle of a peg. Use egg cartons to make bugs, add pipe cleaners and decorate with textas.	Draw a garden with spiders, ants, butterflies, caterpillars, snails and asher to tell a story about his picture
Game/Activity	Hide and seek toy insects around the house - use magnify glass to find them	Playtime with daddy	Read and act out the hungry caterpillar		Act out different creatures - frog, snake, bird, spider
Outdoor	Explore at the park	kindy	Family Outing	kindy

 

Book of the week - The Hungry Caterpillar

This week we did find that there were a lot more spontaneous activities that popped up - for example one day Asher just asked if he could do some cooking as he saw me making dinner in the kitchen - and he kept asking  for his own ingredients (like from last week's five senses theme). So he and Jet sat and made their own concoctions of spices and playdoh! It was great to see their imagination and here asher's dialogue to himself as he was playing. It is messy and takes effort but I like the pros better then the cons.

We managed to take the boys on a bush walk at the end of the week...first off it didn't begin so well as asher had a big fall and then spent the rest of the walk in pain being a decent graze to his knee. Come to think of it I don't think in his 3 and a half years of life he has ever grazed his knee which bled so it was a bit of a big deal although i know this is what will be the norm for the rest of their lives as these boys are serious dare devils! On the walk we were able to listen to the noises of the bush and asher spotted lots of insects included a jumping spider on the ground that I have no idea how he could see as it was so tiny. The hike ended with a picnic by a little stream and some rock throwing as per usual between asher and daddy - asher always wants daddy to find the biggest rocks ever to throw into water...and johnny being johnny is totally up for the challenge. These boys are seriously lucky to have a dad like him because he really loves to just get down and play with them - no matter what it is he's up for it. Such a good daddy! I'm all crafty and educational focussed and he's the playful one - so I'm learning to take a leaf out of his book. The baby is a little scared of wildlife as we had some close encounters with a few bush turkeys. Asher rescued us and chased them away though...it was a great way to end our bug themed week and again another lovely memory to add. It also was part of our summer bucket list so we have done well!!

One afternoon we took the boys for trip on the free city ferry we have - asher loves boats and water - but he was out of sorts as it was after he had spent the day at kindy. Probably tired and needing to just have some down time...in the end we grabbed a half price dinner that we usually go to - healthy foccacia toasted sandwiches...so yummy! The ferry ride home was a bit better but he was just too excited and didn't want to sit down although that was the rule. Jet on the other hand was just taking it all in as we floated along the water. We got to see lots of tall city buildings and go under the huge bridge - both boys loved looking up underneath - it was a very cheap easy outing - even better when toddlers aren't tired and cranky.

We made bugs out of pipe cleaners and egg cartons to start the week off and I was really surprised by how long this kept asher engaged - he did really well. I also laid out some construction paper for asher to tell me what kind of bugs he wanted in his garden. I drew them with textas and gave asher some crafty supplies to decorate his bugs with. It ended up being a few pages of lots and lots of bugs, and I couldn't believe how long he kept at it - almost a whole hour all up. I thought that was an achievement. This involves me sitting there with him for the hour - not me getting an hour to myself - but that outcome is incredible as normally he would be bouncing to another thing in 30 seconds.

We were able to take a nice quiet walk to a near by playground one morning and on our walk I talked with the boys about which bugs or insects they thought might live at our park. When we got there, a nice bunch of different birds came by to say hello - I had made some snacks so they were eyeing them off - but on a few occassions we got to see a couple of birds dig around in the grass for food which led to a discussion on what birds eat - bugs! We saw a magpie grab what looked like a worm, or something bug like and fly away with it in his mouth. It was pretty cool to have the boys see that. After play time for a bit we went exploring around the park as it is by a stream with lots of trees and shrubs. We found a pretty large dead spider which Asher got so excited over as he could see everything up close without the thing running away. A walk to the park is so simple but can be very tiring for mummy's but I'm glad I did it. Both boys were walking on their own so didn't involve me pushing a pram up the and through the hills in our neighbourhood. They were both beat by the time we got home and that worked for me as nap time was easy. I'm happy to say that at 3 and a half years old,  asher does well to take a 2 hour nap every day plus then goes on to sleep almost 12 hours each night. Jet being so young does the same but that's just what I would expect but for asher to keep at it with the day time nap is heavenly! I bet as soon as this baby arrives he won't be so good at it. He will be 3 months off 4 years old and really nap time should be dropping by then - but I know that I can get him to stay in his bedroom and read books for an hour and then have a reward of his favourite show afterwards, that he will do it. Of all the things that I find challenging in his personality there are soooo many good things like this, that I am thankful for. Every mother needs naptime each day just to breathe, have a quiet lie down or just be by herself. Well if not every mother - definitely this mother.

I randomly found some good interactive books this week while waiting in line at the post office. They were an alphabet book and a counting book - but what made me purchase them was that with each book came a set of magnets - of all the alphabet and then of all numbers up to 10. So on each page the idea is to locate the letter/number and then place it in the correct spot. I really liked them and happen to find asher had already started to give it a go when i found the book amongst his others a few days after I had bought it home. The alphabet book is all in lower case - Asher already knows all of the upper case alphabet - but hasn't fully grasped lower case as yet so this is perfect. He also knows all his numbers but both books are going to be useful to little Jet, he also has started to give the matching a go and got a couple right...probably just a fluke, but to have him see and hold the letters is a good thing as his recognition is beginning.

I managed to get to the library during the week and found some different insect books including a couple on frogs, one about a lizard and one on the rainforest. One morning the boys jumped in our bed and we had a reading fest of all the new library books I picked up. It was sooo nice to be together and daddy was home! I have said in the past how much asher loves books and how he is truly engaged when we read them to him. He isn't running off and being loud - he is actually sitting nice and still and questioning what is on each page and just loves it. I am very thankful for his love of books and how this is an activity I know that will work - it is also going to be very beneficial when it does come time to when school starts. I know that he can sit still and that means everything! The books fascinated both boys and with each turn of the page Jet was saying 'animal' to everything - frog, lizard, bug - everything. It was very cute.

Today we went to the gym - saturday morning aqua aerobics is the best! Then we usually stop by a park or the grocery store on the way home. I had grocery shopped the night before so the park it was. We were lucky enough to stumble upon a free bouncing castle and sausage sizzle that was set up in aid of a political campaign in our area...happy as anything were the boys to join in and hey I didn't have to make lunch! This particular playground is a favourite as there is a pirate ship sort of set up. Asher loved pretending to be a pirate and acting out what a pirate would do. Underneath is a pretend cash register and counter for the kids to play shop - Asher managed to turn the shop into a train station where people were coming and buying tickets off him - I love to see how he can imagine simple things - this is all part of him learning and growing. Gives me lovely feelings especially when he is getting on well with the other children in his space!

Again we have really done a lot when you look back at it for this week, and there's always more that goes on that doesn't get a mention - the boys helping daddy mow our massive back yard, visiting grandparents and having play dates come over. This house is always alive and kicking.

Our Week

This week we started off not really following the scheduled theme by Play School - I decided to set up a few activities that were things I had just wanted to try and see how the boys took to it. I stuck some contact paper onto our windows in the boys toy room and let them do whatever they wanted. So both of them were loving looking out the window and making collages with all kinds of craft bits and pieces. Asher just kept asking 'what else can I put on mummy' so I kept digging in the craft draw and he was going for it for quite some time...he used popsicle sticks, pom poms, paper, glittery pieces and some animal stickers. Jet loves animals and was most fascinated by the animal stickers and the popsicle sticks - but he just loved sticking the pom poms and then tearing them all down again - but that was ok.

Another activity that we tried was from a science experiment kids book that I have - which has over 365 different experiments. The morning we tried this we woke up to rain so I decided to find something in the weather section of the book. I put some food colouring in cups and added droppers, placed a dish with paper on the bottom on the table and let asher do whatever he wanted. The idea from the experiment book was to mimic what rain drops look like, then you trace around the drop on the paper and then compare the different shapes they can make. Well it didn't really end up that way for us because asher just kept pouring and pouring and pouring from the dropper. But that was totally ok - he ended up coming up with his own ideas of what to do with it - ended up mixing the colours together and saying look mummy - look at the coloour it makes, then started making a 'storm' and more of his own raindrops. He really loves using those droppers as we have used them a bit in the past - i can see how good it is for his co-ordination as he really needs to use his thumb and index finger quite strongly for it to suck up the water. 

All this week asher has been emptying the kitchen cupboards and getting every single piece of kitchen ware out and coming up with lots of different things to play cook. He hasn't really touched the kitchen cupboards since we first institited time out when he was about 18 months old because it used to drive me crazy! But now that he is using his imagination and its all in the name of play I'm totally happy and ok with it. So with all this messing up of my kitchen - one afternoon i set up an outdoor kitchen for the boys to get messy in. The ingredients all came from the garden so there was grass, shrubs, dirt and lots of water. I said to asheake it qr can I please order something from your cafe and he corrected me and said no mummy this is a restaurant! So it had moved up a notch. He was loving it.

Another thing we tried this week that we had done in the past but haven't gone back to for a while, was spray painting using plastic spray bottles with food colouring and water. This activity really excites asher as it really is like shooting a water gun and then a cool effect comes out on paper. I had to keep reminding him to keep it on the paper but since we were outside there was no real way of him causing too much harm. Food colouring seems to be the only pain option I'm going for these days as its totally washable and very easy to wipe away if its done straight away, poster or acrylic paint is expensive to keep buying all the time and very hard to get out of clothes.

I have been feeling very tired and in quite a bit of pain in my pelvis and lower back. I did gymstick class at the gym this week and man does that push you...but i am feeling strong and hoping all this will pay off when the birth arrives.

Go!

My beautiful Galaxy phone died this week, I am distraught! I could not justify going and buying a new one so have opted for a much smaller phone and without some of the cool stuff my old phone had. Such a bummer. But anyway it's just a silly phone.

This week we have been following the Play School theme of 'Go' and learning all about how different things go at different paces. It hasn't been particularly academic this week (am I ever?) but we have been getting through quite a lot.

Monday before heading to the gym - which was an awesome gymstick class by the way - we did some contact paper craft. I just stuck some contact paper to the windows in the toy room and let the boys decorate as much as they wanted. Asher really got into it and kept asking for more and more things he could stick on. This doesn't have anything to do with our weekly theme but it was an activity that helped the boys with their co-ordination and concentration. They loved their pieces of artwork hanging on the windows and could see them every time we left the house from the street.

I managed to find some simple readers at the library that Asher is just in love with. One was about what different jobs/occupations people can have as he always like to pretend to be a garbage man or a chef or anything for that matter. Another of the books was on how different things go fast or slow, he just keeps reading this over and over and although he can't read the words, after I had read it to him he memorised what I had said and the pictures also prompted him to know what the page was about. I love hearing him read to himself. He is totally content reading by himself for a good amount of time and that helps me a lot. He also loves reading to his baby brother and telling him to sit still and says " are you listening"...mimicking me a lot there.

We made paint this week, very very easy to do - first empty two tablespoons of Cornflour into a bowl, then add half a cup of cold water, then add boiling water until thickens. Add food colouring to make the paint colour of your choice. I put these in the fridge and the mixture turned out great. Seriously cheaper then acrylic paint and an activity to do with the little ones in itself.

Some time ago I bought a poster book of diggers and dump trucks, so we used our new paint and Asher was loving it. His favourite thing is seeing all the artwork he has completed hanging in their toy room. Another paint option is just food colouring with water and I like that the best as its seriously not messy at all. There can be lots of colour combinations too if you mix them up.

We did a bit of baking this week and Asher helped with pouring, measuring and mixing. And almost everyday this week he has emptied all of my cooking equipment from the kitchen cupboards and started playing with them. I really haven't had a problem with it as I just make sure he is the one to put it all back at the end. He has been talking to Jet about what he is making and telling him about the cords each item has and that they have electricity. It's pretty cool how these kids catch on.

I bought some magnetic books during the week and baby has been having fun doing those while we are completing an activity. They are also for Asher but Jet is really liking them. These books have the alphabet and counting up to ten where you have to match the magnetic piece to the correct spot on the page. I really like them myself.

I set up an obstacle course one morning for Asher to enjoy and it was a lot of fun. He got to jump, roll, crawl and run and I know that letting him loose with energy burning activities is great for him.

We read a lot of books each day here but something I really want to start working on is writing. I will aim to incorporate something next week I think.

The week that was

We didn't make it to doing a weekly theme this week - me and the boys ended up getting a 24 hour tummy bug (with throwing up and all) but we did as a family head to the beach and it was amazingly awesome, the one time we do go though I had some morning sickness - can't believe it's still hanging around (the tummy bug business came a few days later). The day was soooo hot that the water was actually warm which is not very common - normally chilly even on the hottest of days.

So as a family we headed to the Sunshine Coast and spent the day at Alex Headlands - the boys were having the time of their lives with daddy in the surf, and man was it rough. Asher got tossed about but loved all of it. Jet stayed close by to me but did love the thrill of being in the waves when daddy took him out. The day ended with roaming through rock pools at Mooloolaba and ice-cream!

We got very burnt - but I was silly and didn't do the slip slop slap thing. The kids were covered well and had plenty sunscreen but still copped it. But hey this is summer!

Our family has for the past two years now done a "Summer Bucket List" - so much fun - and putting it all together is Asher's favourite thing. There are lots of cool things we still want to get around to doing before summer is officially over. The best part is most things either are free or cost very minimal, such a good way to spend time together as a family and the kids look forward to it all so much.

Overnight I've had some sad news regarding a family member who is probably not going to make it - with Johnny being away the week has been quite difficult as well - the boys were really a handful at church today and I have been feeling so tired with pregnancy in general. I plan to push through and keep my head up, otherwise what else am I going to do. School Time and following the Play School themes seems all too much hard work but in reality it has been a life saver to have some structure and fun in the house and has improved the little man's behaviour.

After a week like this and a day like today - I have realised that the time I have been given is for me to do good things, not lazy things and not selfish things (occassionally just not all the time). It is hard to always have a smile on your face when life is just plain hard. I plan to show up and do my best and just stick at it. I know then that I will not live with regret and I will see the fruit of my labours eventually in all areas of my life, my children, my personality and growth and in my relationships with loved ones.

Anyway - the end.

The Five Senses

It's our second week of giving following the Play School weekly themes and using them in our school time each day. It has been much better this week second time arund with keeping Asher focused on the activity at hand. I have really seen what a difference just adding these sessions into our day is making with this little boy. I can see his behaviour improve and his mood overall just being brighter. I know that it is to do with the fact that I am giving him more of me - and that is making a big difference. I know that each activity doesn't necessarily have to be all about learning to count or write or the alphabet in order for him to benefit from this learning. I am grateful for this as sometimes the things we do are just for fun!

Theme: The five senses

Each day of the week we focused on one of the five senses - Monday was sight, Tuesday was smell, Wednesday hearing, Thursday taste and Friday was touch. This was a lot of fun to do and because we followed the play school tv schedule as well - Asher's half hour of TV time re-iterated what we had just learnt for the day (a bit of Peppa Pig got thrown in there too...totally in love with that Pig!).

This is how I broke down the week -  

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Theme	see	hear	smell	taste	touch	Family outing
Table Time	Salt Tray	Work on magna doodle	Cooking with different spices	Blind fold taste test game: apple, sultanas, salt, lemon, oats, ice,	Mystery bag/blindfold Cotton ball, piece of fruit, toy car, teddy, pencil, wooden toy,
Craft	Animal masks	Play doh face	Make patty cake flowers, spray with perfume	Cut and paste magazine pictures of food on paper plates	Trace hands and feet and decorate with glitter glue and shape pieces
Game/Activity	Celophane window	Make animal sounds then act them out/blind fold game with instruments	Set up a picnic for toys, wooden food on plates	Make sweet and savoury pizzas: apple, cinnamon, honey - cheese, celery, tomato	Draw soccer players on our hands to tiny game of soccer
Outdoor	Magnify glass search for hidden toy animals	kindy	Go for a walk	kindy	soccer

Monday morning I started the week with a lot of enthusiasm and things went pretty well - I must have had some good sleep or something because I felt really in the zone with starting all this. We made animal masks to pretend like we were seeing through their eyes - so we did a cat mask and a bird mask...Jet just loves birds!

I also stuck some celophane on a window and had the boys look out into the garden - it was cool how they could see everything as the colour red.

Tuesday morning we began with Smell (accidently got tue and wed mixed up). I used a muffin tray and placed all different kinds of spices in there - cinnamon, salt, cummin, rosemary, thyme, sugar - an let asher go to town with what he wanted to do with them. I gave him a teaspoon, some paper plates and some glue. He said he was making a birthday cake - placed the different ingredients on the plate and mixed it around with the glue. I got him to smell each spice and see what he thought. This is an activity that he has actually been doing since he was about two wih a little cardboard kitchen I had made. It was great to see him smelling the difference fragrances from the spices...he loves sniffing like a puppy too!

Wednesday I had some more time as Asher doesn't go to Kindy that day and we were able to sit and do some table time with Playdoh - we made different animals and all the different ears they have - big ears for an elephant, floppy ears for a dog, tiny cat ears, and some bunny ears. Playdoh ended up being conversations with the different animals and then we made the different noises the animals make.

Later in the day I set up a blindfold game where Asher had to guess the musical instrument that I was playing - he loved this! Then he got me to have a turn and then pulled out the blender and the cake mixer and started making their noises and asked me to guess what he was doing - very clever.

We then listened to our favourite CD - the Rio soundtrack. Soooo many different sounds on that CD - we love dancing around to it up really loud in the kitchen, a tone of fun.

Thursday was fun with taste. I blindfolded him again and set up some different things for him to taste and he had to guess what they were: vegemite, sultanas, lemon, salt, sugar and cinnamon. This was a lot of fun for him - the blindfolding part is really what gets him going - with lots of giggles and excitement. I had plans to do some more things with taste but the day got away from us.

And Friday was touch - sadly we didn't get to this 'sense' with some different things that popped up - but have a look at the planner above for ideas if you ever wanted to give it a try. I think I may have briefly been able to get him to feel some different textures when we were out and about on the day if I remember correctly but it was no set activity like the ones I had wanted to do.

We also watched an episode of The Magic School bus all about the five senses ~ this is such a good show for kids this age. Asher loves it and knows it's a treat so gets very excited.

Thoughts: I have found that the timing of each activity needs some working on - but in reality I'm not putting too much pressure on myself, most days are pretty different but usually it's off to the gym at 9am so a couple of activities will happen between 7am and 9am. That actually is working well because the little guy wakes up in a cheerful mood as he knows he will get to do something different and fun with mummy.