Holiday Wish List

It's school holidays for the kids in WA. Yay!

This is our wish list of things we want to do. We probably won't make it through all of it, but even if we do half, it'll be fun.

1. Dinosaur exhibit at Perth Museum My youngest son is really into dinosaurs at the moment.

2. Telling Tales Story Telling Festival. This is more for the older two to enjoy. It's only $5 per child and the program looks great.

3. Picnic at Golden Valley Tree Park. The kids are all looking forward to this. The park has walk trails and lots of space to run and wander in.

4. Pinnochio, the play. My daughter has a classmate who has a role in this play. I thought it would be nice to go along and support her. :)

5. Movies.

Plus trips to the library, visit the scitech thing at the shops, spend time with cousins, some cooking (got some chocolate brownie slice in my near future) and a trip or two to the beach for some winter beach combing.

Xmas Planning

Each year a small part of the christmas gift list is made up of handmade or cheap/2nd hand gifts for my kids and to a lesser extent, my children. This year I want to make it a bigger part, but more importantly, I want to rein in the spending and make it a more financially responsible time.

Now this $100 is everything. Kids, family, friends and the food. Sounds pretty impossible hey. I don't think I'll be able to keep it under $100, but I do have some advantages to help. I'm not hosting christmas lunch this year, so I'll only have to contribute a plate of something. Also my kids are happy with second hand/thrifted stuff and appreciate cool and unique things. They do like big ticket items, but they are also happy with the small things in life. As for family, I do have 5 nephews and 1 niece, but I only have to buy for 4 adults, as we only exchange gifts with the adults on my in-laws side of the family. Another advantage is my extensive fabric collection. If I can make it from fabric, chances are, I can make it cheap/free.

I know from experience that it takes a lot more planning and effort to do these sort of things so I'm making up a list with links and ideas to help me along the way.

My Kids

Dylan aged 10

Lego. Can be obtained second hand.

DS cover and game holder.

Cadel aged 3

Cool little belts, this would be good for the girls too.

Bike. Thinking gumtree or ebay for a cheap but good condition bike. If I can get one this bike basket would be cool.

Lilian aged 8

Zoe aged 5

Nephews and a Niece

Rhylie aged 6

Art caddy/tote I have a binding machine and lots of scrapbooking papers. I can make him some sketchbooks. I can also sharpen up the kids leftover pencils (we always end up with hundreds) from the end of the school year and put these in the caddy.

Evelyn aged 2

Dolls clothes. I'm pretty sure she has a baby born, and I have patterns for baby born doll clothes.

Cooper aged 4

Lochie aged 2

Dragon Slippers

Angus aged 1

Michael aged nearly 1

In Laws

MIL Water bottle holder

FIL

SIL Water bottle holder and Cute Scarf

BIL I'm thinking coffee cup cozy? with a good quality thermos cup as well?

Home Decor

Tree, we already have a base for a 'once was alive' tree. The tree we get erm ahh.... free from my kind brother in law....in an undercover mission to the pine plantation.......well not really the pine plantation itself, my BIL relocates a tree from the side of the road... a tree that has sprouted from seed or something.....he assures me it is not from the plantation....and it is so scrawny and bent, I believe him.

Tree decorations are ones we have accumulated over the years.

Would love to add a christmas tree bunting and some table runners to my home decor

Last year we did a advent calender with each day a challenge to give. We got ideas from 25 days of giving but more ideas here I want to expand on this and make an improved calender system. Perhaps something like these felt pockets

Phew, that's enough brainstorming for now.

Things kids say!

Scene: Walking in the city. Bird does a poo, just missed us!
Me: Watch out Lily, there is poop (pointing).
Lily: Doesn't God have a toilet.

Scene: Walking home from school. Explaining to kids that the cat is going to get fixed up tomorrow, so we all have to be nice to the cat when he comes home.
Dylan: What sort of operation?
Me: He's going to have his testicals removed (trying to keep a straight face).
Dylan: Are you turnng him into a girl?

This is the vegie patch now. The green manure crop is now about 30cm high and almost ready to be turned and mulched in.

The second patch has now been 'no digged' and a green manure crop was put in over the weekend just gone.

Life has certainly been busy lately and I haven't been able to keep my blog updated. But thats ok. Life over the next 6 weeks or so should start to slow a little as I prepare for the baby.

I bought some great AIO nappies from a lovely lady on ebay. So we are all set to 'go cloth'. I've used cloth more or less with the other three, but never been completely happy. I love the AIO style, much like disposables, and so easy to use. I'm still yet to clean out the baby's room.....it's still the spare room, full of junk. I have 6 weeks to go.....it feels so far away......

A Productive Weekend

I had a pleasant, productive weekend.

I weeded around the apple and orange tree, and popped in some bulbs. Not sure if they are meant to, or even can co-exist, but it should look pretty if they (bulbs) pop up and flower.
I bought 6 punnets of seedlings, alyssum, calendulas, petunia's and pansies. They are mostly for Lilian to plant, she loves gardening, but also to encourage bee's and nice insects. They haven't been planted yet, ran out of time.... but will go in today along with some sweet peas I've raised from seeds.
I bought some weed killer (*gasp*) to kill the couch grass. This stuff is indestructable. It has invaded the vegie patch and I am fighting a loosing battle with it. So I decided it was time to get hard core. I looked online to see what other people have done to get rid of the stuff and decided on chemicals. Hopefully this will work.

I started the mock up for the Desira top over at Burda Style. If it works out well I might buy some nicer quality fabric and whip up a nice top for myself. I don't normally do mock up's, I'm far to impatient, but at the same time, I have a high rate of failures, or 'dress up clothes' (because that's where they end up). Then I get frustrated and nothing is achieved. So, hopefully doing a mock up first will help me make adjustments before I make the final product.

It's also the beginning of school holidays, which means a lot of 'what can I do now'. I firmly believe it is healthy for children to experience boredom, which I believe helps them think outside the square and also helps them creative their own happiness. However it's also important to take advantage of the extra time, and do stuff with the kids. I stumbled across the Crafty Crow, which is a delightful collective blog, with links to various crafty/arty activities for children of all ages.

Family Outing

My oldest has been involved with the million puppets project school and scouts, so when I heard they were going to have a big activity day in Perth, I said we would go.





Unfortunately, we left my husband and youngest child at home, hubby just doesn't get into these type of outings and the little one still needs her day time sleep. But the big two had fun.





I was pleased that the whole day cost $7. I went halves in a family ticket for the train with my sister, which cost $4 (my half) and I bought a drink $3. I made the kids eat a big breakfast and we each took a packed lunch and we didn't by any useless junk at the event.





Next outing is next weekend for Buddah's Birthday at the Supreme Court Gardens in Perth. Again we will take a packed lunch, but this time I will let the kids pack there own. I'm hoping this will cut down on wastage as they will be more inclined to eat what they themseves pack.

I have been ordering seeds from green harvest. Just alitle order of seeds for a green manure crop for the veggie patch. I need to get the veggie patch weeded and ready soil wise (crap coastal soil here) before the baby is born. I'm due in 15 weeks so whilst I have heaps of time, it will go quick and I will be out of action for some time after. This is my first time sowing a green manure crop. I also ordered some rosella seeds, with the idea of sowing in spring, growing and giving away some plants for xmas. My bulbs have also arrived the other day, some daffodils, tulips and anemone's. They were a fundraiser for guides, and I'm looking forward to planting them out. At the moment they are getting nice and cold in my crisper.