whoops!

Goodness, I got so busy with Christmas, getting Lumpy organised for starting SCHOOL! (where did my baby go?!), getting 2.0 ready for daycare part time and getting me organised for the return to work that I haven't done a post in a long time.

Firstly - Lumpy is a absolutely loving school. She takes her homework very seriously (even waving it under my nose if I have to get dinner in the oven before we sit to do it). She has taken to writing whenever she can - need your meal plan written out? Ask Lumps, Need a shopping list? Ask Lumps. I do miss my days with her :(, but good news is it is almost easter school holidays!

Secondly - 2.0 is loving day care and is incredibly mobile and active. She is always into something (mostly the plastics drawer in the kitchen or the coffee table drawers or removing the entire content from my hand bag to locate my keys) All while still smiling, a very happy little girl. Learning, smiling, being cheeky. tat seems to be her day <3 p="">
I will be sure to post some more regular posts again. have a great weekend.

Our first week with Elf on the shelf

We have had our first week of the elf on the shelf!  What a fun week we have had! 

On the first morning, we met our elf, Lumpy gave her a name "Hatty". I have had so much fun helping Hatty get up to mischief. Lumpy has loved running around looking for her. After the sElfies, she asked why Hatty had tags. WHOOPS. I said - Maybe she hasn't decided if she will stay here yet. The next morning she asked me to help her look for tags (Hatty was baking and up the back of the bench), the tags were gone. One very excite Lumpy.

A little unsure meeting her elf!

Hatty doing some sElfies!

Hatty making a mess while cooking!

The locals were not impressed with Hatty making a mess

Hatty and Ken got married.  - whiteboard marker does not come off the rougher surface at the back of the car easily.

Hatty and Tinkerbell  having out in the fairy garden.

Playing scrabble with Elsa and Thor! what a great Saturday night.

Corn chips!

Lumpy was looking through a cook book and found a 'recipe' for home made corn chips. Of course this was then followed by - Let's make chips!.
Great idea. As soon as 2.0 went for her nap we go ou corn chip making on.

Things you need -
Corn tortilla
Oil
Salt
Lumpy wanted cheesey ones so we used parmesan on half.

Cut tortilla into triangles. Lay in a single layer on a lined tray.
Brush with oil (our pastry brush is MIA so we used a clean paint brush!)
Salt/flavouring sprinkled on.

Bake at 180° fan forced oven for 10 minutes. We did a little longer and had a crispy darker chip).

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

It's 330 am on the first of December. I was up feeding 2.0 and getting a little excited about Christmas.  In about 2 hours Lumpy will wake up and check her advent calendar bag and find a cool pair of Christmas socks.  She will then go downstairs to have breakfast and meet the newest member of the family,  our elf on the shelf.

Our tree went up yesterday as today is a Monday and there is work and kindy. Lights and outdoor decor went out yesterday too.

Well, I fell back asleep after 2.0 was back to bed. So I now have photos of Lumpy meeting her elf, who she has named Hatty. She LOVED the Christmas socks and will wear them to kindy today!

Photo memory board

While out shopping today I saw I canvas photo board which looked great. The price tag did not.
I wanted to get one as a Christmas gift for my mum, but the larger the canvas tbh e larger the price. It looked fairly simple so I thought I'd give it a go on a smaller scale.
Supplies
Canvas
String/twine/ribbon
Staple gun
Paint (optional)
Small pegs
Photos, keepsakes, quotes, awards

I painted my trial run blue. I did a few different layouts to see which way and how many rows I wanted.

Remember to make the string a little loose to be able to fit a peg in but not too loose as it will sag and hang.

I found being slightly out with sides being even ok as the string moved to look straight.

Miss Lumpy will be pretty excited in the morning when she sees her photo memory board.

Homemade Christmas decorations

We have bought new tree ornaments for this Christmas, meaning we have a few (or a heap) spare ones. We have spare craft jars, an easy but effective combination. Add a very excited Lumpy and you have a great activity to make a centre piece or hall stand decoration for the festive season.

All you need is -
Jars
Old tree ornaments
An eager child.

Baby sensory board

As you know, I am a lover of sensory play. I also believe children are never too young for sensory play. The more senses engaged in an activity the better.

I made a sensory board for 2.0 today. Lots of colours for sight, textures for touch, some of them made noises for sound (bubble wrap is crinkly and the bumpy  cardboard makes noises when touched), and the feathers were eaten (though taste wasn't a sense I had in mind for the board).

Some children and babies do not cope well with too much stimulus so adjust the amount of items on your board to suit your child.

You can use anything as the base -cardboard (strong), an old tray I used an old tile that was spare.

A hot glue gun to glue it all down

Craft supplies (Sorry Lumpy I owe you a few top ups)

****** Even though the items are glued down, there is a chance they could still come off. Close parental supervision is required