eating and crafting

if these photos are anything to go by

it seems that our life currently 

consists of crafting and eating

(and for me, more dreaming of crafting,

while actually just sitting on the couch a lot.)

but that's how it is with this spell of hot weather,

and only 7 or 8 weeks til bub's arrival!

hopefully the cooler change that's just arrived

will allow me some evening energy

to get some sewing done before bub arrives.

painting

yesterday, for the first time,

little sister did some painting.

she loved it, her preferred method

being to keep the paint carton

on top of her canvas while she worked.

as you can see by the second last photo,

she was devastated when i took the brush away.

big sister has started experimenting with colours

and was describing what was happening

when she mixed certain colours together.

her current preference if for no white bits

to be left on her canvas at all.

when we'd finished,

the girls were so filthy with paint

that i decided to send them outside

for some water-play in the afternoon sun -

and when i came back 10 minutes later,

their hands were all clean! hooray!

school holidays: thursday/friday 2

decorating our space, in readiness for term 3 music

keeping inside, out of the cold

happy birthday, little sister!

 this cheeky face is one year old today!

 our house is decorated with rainbows of celebration:

on little sister's chair, 

her shelf full of presents,

and the slingerts adorning our ceiling.

we've celebrated with dextrose cupcakes (not too bad!),

lunch at the playground in the sun,

and less-restricted time for little sister to flick the power-point.

thank you God for a whole year of this delightful,

head-butting, nose-scrunching,

cheeky-faced, amen-saying,

night-waking (again!), affectionate,

 giggly, huggable girl.

we love her very much!

window art

big sister and i have been doing some window artworks lately
idea and instructions from here.

above are some birds,
which in lent remind us that God provides all we need
and also that we have been freed from the control of sin and death
through Jesus' death in our place and his resurrection.

below are some autumn leaves,
which we made yesterday with some local little friends,
to celebrate the autumn equinox.

the golden leaves have turned to rust,
the silver clouds to grey;
we give thanks for the autumn
as the summer slips away.
(from the lion book of 1000 prayers for children)

he is risen

our new lent/easter bunting
made from paint chips
gathered on a trip to 600 bucks (aka bunnings)
during the last days at our old place.

idea from someone else who i can't remember!

my birthday

today has been a wonderful celebration of my birthday,
and has left me feeling completely assured
that moving into this big, communal house
was a most excellent, God-at-work-in-our-life idea.

my housemate, j, made the amazing rainbow cake above
and secretly conspired with husband to invite
some special friends over for morning tea.
the kidlets created mayhem, inside and out,
but the spaciousness meant it wasn't overwhelming at all.
we talked openly about life and mothering,
and the kids even sat quietly around the table,
glueing tissue paper to glass jars
to make the tea-light candle-holders above,
which in lent remind us that Jesus is the light of the world.

later, i had 2 hours of alone time, while j watched the girls,
and while i enjoyed the freedom,
i returned home with a fresh sense of delight in my family.

and now fish and chips awaits!

lent tree

our lent tree:
a branch from our peach tree,
covered with origami butterflies,
to remind us of the new life Jesus made possible for us
through his death and resurrection,
which we remember throughout lent and at easter,
accompanied by these verses:

Jesus said: "I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
(The gospel of John, ch.10, verses 10b-11)

advent 2011: day 19

from our playgroup christmas break-up:
our gingerbread trees were but one part
of a sugary feast
which left big sister completely disinterested in lunch!

JT: Hezekiah

2 Kings 18:1-6 - Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah in the third year of Hoshea's rule in Israel. Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years from Jerusalem. His mother Abi was the daughter of Zechariah. Hezekiah obeyed the LORD, just as his ancestor David had done. He destroyed the local shrines, then tore down the images of foreign gods and cut down the sacred pole for worshiping the goddess Asherah. He also smashed the bronze snake Moses had made. The people had named it Nehushtan and had been offering sacrifices to it. Hezekiah trusted the LORD God of Israel. No other king of Judah was like Hezekiah, either before or after him. He was completely faithful to the LORD and obeyed the laws the LORD had given to Moses for the people.

advent 2011: day 8

a quieter day
posting some of our cards
hanging our pasta garland
decorating some gift bags
and listening to a friend recall
the joy of childhood sinterklaas celebrations

and i've been wondering
what to do with these:
cuttings of wax paper
coloured along with our pasta.
perhaps a christmas message in our window?

JT: Jacob

Genesis 28:10-17 - Jacob left the town of Beersheba and started out for Haran. At sunset he stopped for the night and went to sleep, resting his head on a large rock. In a dream he saw a ladder that reached from earth to heaven, and God's angels were going up and down on it. The LORD was standing beside the ladder and said: I am the LORD God who was worshiped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping. Your descendants will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the specks of dust. Your family will be a blessing to all people. Wherever you go, I will watch over you, then later I will bring you back to this land. I won't leave you--I will do all I have promised. Jacob woke up suddenly and thought, "The LORD is in this place, and I didn't even know it." Then Jacob became frightened and said, "This is a fearsome place! It must be the house of God and the ladder to heaven."

advent 2011: day 7

though i'd originally planned
a lantern-making session for today
with my increasing understanding
of what would actually be
fun and achievable for a toddler
we decided to make instead:
coloured pasta garlands

to make coloured pasta:
take 2 cups of pasta
(penne or rigatoni are best for threading)
2 teaspoons of food-dye
and 3 teaspoons of rubbing alcohol
(called isocol - found in medical aisle at coles.)

put the ingredients in a ziplock bag
and mix gently until pasta is coloured.
spread pasta on lined baking trays
and leave to dry overnight.

to make the garlands
tie a wool needle on a piece of string
and let your little one
thread til their heart's content!
(which will probably take about 5 minutes...)

JT: Rebekah

Genesis 24:63-67 - One evening he was walking out in the fields, when suddenly he saw a group of people approaching on camels. So he started toward them. Rebekah saw him coming; she got down from her camel, and asked, "Who is that man?" "He is my master Isaac," the servant answered. Then Rebekah covered her face with her veil. The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. Isaac took Rebekah into the tent where his mother had lived before she died, and Rebekah became his wife. He loved her and was comforted over the loss of his mother.

more rainbow things i'd like to make

ideas 1, 2 and 3 from here

idea 1: homemade bath paints - just mix food dye and shaving cream!

idea 2: recycled crayons - just combine bits of half-used crayons in a muffin tin and melt in the oven. big sister is still going with the crayons she already has, but when we get down to a bunch of stubs, i'll definitely be making some of these.

idea 3: homemade finger paints. this picture speaks for itself really. though i have to admit these paints look fun in a "let's go outside, away from the carpet and couches, and do this wearing our least precious clothes" kind of way...

idea 4: perhaps something for next year. found here.

rainbow things i'd like to make

these cupcakes are so wrong, yet so right. (should food be this colour?) would love to make them for a rainbow-themed 3rd birthday party for big sister next year, though perhaps i'd ditch the jars. found here.


i have the felt balls already, and hope to make a garland like this in time for december 1. found here.

we've got plenty of old t-shirts i could use to weave a beauty like this for the girls' room. this is a "maybe some day..." kind of project. found here.


this is what i'm making the girls for christmas this year, though ours will be turquoise with a rainbow mosaic tiled splashback. found here.

a package

a package arrived this morning
full of goodies
for crafting

big sister was eager to open the box
and discover what was inside

i have plans
for observing advent
and preparing to celebrate christmas
through crafting and baking
giving and story-telling
with my girls

hoping to start a family tradition

enjoying birthday spoils

a spot of drawing
sitting on three rainbow eggs
birthday fun rolls on

(wow, jc, the haiku strikes again!)

growth

the party preparations are growing

and so is this girl -
8cm in the past 2 months!
(that's the length of my middle finger -
or "tall man," as he's known to big sister)

it's coming

the little party is coming...
and so is the pre-schooler pickiness!

last week, i helped look after the kids in our bible study group creche
most of the kids are a tad older than big sister
so i took this as an opportunity to glimpse into the future -
a future of, "i want to sit next to...," "i want an orange cup, not a blue one..."
(the kids were really delightful, i'm not meaning to speak ill of them!)

so yesterday, after buying these plates for her party,
big sister said, "want yoghurt on blue plate, mummy"
the future has arrived a little sooner than expected...

crazy morning

surely it was the wind
and not these tasty morsels
that made the kidlets at playgroup
go so crazy this morning...