AJ's Antics

I'm a Saturday morning footy Mum! We are loving the Rugby Tots program . There are 2 trainers and only 2 kids in his group. 1-on-1 attention you can't beat that! He says he is going to play for the Wallabies....

IVF surgery, medical complications,emergency department, morphine, baby boy turning 5, party prep mostly directed to and dispersed among family as I was too ill, 28 kids at the park, packing boxes, moving house, staying on top of things at work, family visiting, quilting deadlines, winter illness, more birthdays.....life got pretty busy there for a while! Who am I kidding it is still super busy and non-stop action. We've moved house New Neighbours The view from the front balcony It is a bigger and better designed house. There are still things in boxes, but we are functioning and loving it.  My sweet baby turned 5! I'm not sure I'm ready to send him to school next year....although he is more than ready! The Aunties out did themselves. It totally fitted the brief  - a number 5 racetrack with a bridge and a red lollipop stop sign I have more to share from his party but that is a whole other 'pinterest' post!  Sorry if you follow In I...

Be warned....this is a lot of fun....and just a little bit messy! I've done this before and have even bought some special inks/dyes a few (maybe 5 craft fairs ago) but seeing it again in Pinterest reminded me about how lovely the prints can be.... and messy holiday fun for the boy? Why not! There are more detailed instructions here and here ....but basically you just squirt a whole lot of shaving cream (a couple of bucks from the cheap shop) into a tray. Add a few drops of food colouring and give it a mix. We used a wooden skewer. I'd recommend an eye dropper or pipette or something similar if your little one wants to add the colour themselves.....We didn't have much yellow left in the bottle after Mr 4-and-a-half wanted a go at adding the colour.  Lay the paper over the shaving cream and gentle push down for 10 seconds or so and then slowly peel it off.  Let it sit for a minute or so while you make some more prints off the same pattern...

Back Blogging....20th November 2012 As a massive fan of dinosaurs we just had to try out the Lego Dinosaur range. Aden really is too little for proper Lego just yet. He loves playing with the Duplo and can manage it just fine but I'd forgotten how small Lego pieces can be! Lucky Daddy was here to help...so while Aden played with the Dinosaur and the man, Daddy built the vehicle.        He does look pretty pleased with himself if you excuse my bad photography!!     He has kept it together very well and safely put away when not being played with. I still don't think he is ready for a big Lego set just yet.....even if Mummy and Daddy are!

I'm back at work today....only 10 more weeks til Christmas holidays! Here is some dinosaur craft we did last week. Aden's enjoys watching episodes of Mr Maker and was very excited to see him make a dinosaur. So we tried it out for ourselves. Aden was able to remember each of the steps it took to make him, with a lot of details and explaining how it was supposed to look! Really the most exciting part was adding water to the 'gloopy' glue and 'stirring it fast like Mr Maker!' Here is a quick guide in case you have a dinosaur mad little one like I do!   An upside down bowl, attach some tubes of newspaper for the legs, making sure they are even so he can stand up. A long tube of newspaper for the head, bent over at one end. Don't make this too long like we did, once you add the paper and glue over the top and then the paint it becomes too heavy to keep its head up. And another tube of newspaper for the tail twisted and squashed at the end to make...

Everyone needs a little music in their life right? I think appreciating music and learning to play an instrument is essential for developing a whole range of skills. As a single mother of 4, my mum managed to gives us all lessons on 2 or 3 instruments each! As well as theory lessons. I'm very grateful for the opportunities she provided for us and the friends we've met along the way. It has actually been a few years since I played any sort of instrument and I'm not sure I'd remember how, but I keen to look in to it again. Pity we don't have the room, or money, right now for a piano....best add it to that ever growing wish list. Today Aden started his first 'music' lessons. There was lots of singing and playing a few instruments like the drums, castanets, and sleigh bells. Aden was most facinated by the teacher guitar...begging to have a turn too. 'Please Mum, I'll be really gentle. Only for 5 minutes okay? At 3 he is quite the master of the pers...

I remember when I was growing up, going on holidays with my cousins and having the best time. Hopefully Aden and his cousins will grow up with lots of happy memories playing together. We rent and the backyard could really do with some shade and some trees....there was a great climbing tree in the today park.....and it is a definite on my list when we buy a place of our own....must have trees that you can climb! Do you let your kids climb trees or do you think it is too dangerous?? Don't forget to leave a comment on my first Blogtoberfest post here to enter the giveaway and comment on any other post in October to get an extra entry!

While Hubby and I had a lovely, all be it rainy, few nights away on the Sunshine coast, Aden stayed with Nanny. It was the first 2-night stay and I'm rather pleased and proud of how well behaved he was and how he didn't miss us too much. He did ask where I was a few times but a quick cuddle from Nanny and he was happy to go back and play with his cousins. Ever since the day after Aden's Octonauts party for his 3rd birthday,just 2 months ago, he as been asking for a dinosaur party for his next birthday. And Nanny indulged him while he was there.... A pretend dinosaur 5th birthday party for Aden, complete with fairy bread, lamingtons,  watermelon, a special table setting and of course cake with 5 candles! I'd made the cake the day before for Nanny's birthday lunch so I guess the talk of birthday was just too hard resist. And of course no party is complete without singing 'Happy Birthday' and roaring like a dinosaur!   They also make necklace...

Back Blogging........12th June 2012 A friend is having a superhero party for her youngest boys 1st birthday in September. I suggested to her that I could make capes for all the boys (+ the adults so that is 9 capes!) Of course she loved the idea and so I got searching on the net for a tutorial to help get me on the way. There are a few out there but I winged most of it anyway. Great for leaping off tall buildings I made a 'practise' one first...too short, too thin in the 'straps' for velcro and the neck space was too big for Aden. So I made some adjustments to my paper pattern, retraced it and got cutting out a second one....and a third one...and a fourth one.... I've recycled the black cotton fabric table cloths from our wedding. It was a bit dusty in places where it had been packed away but it worked perfectly. I had a rainbow of colours in satin to choose from and Aden picked the light blue one. Each boy will get a different coloured cape, ...