3 Months, lots of making and doing!

Firstly, Liam is 12 weeks today (which also coincides with him being 3 months old).  He's stretching out and seems to be a bit more in control of his head which is always good!

We have also continued with our book and activity advent calendar.  One of the most popular activities has been to paint our nails in Christmas colours!

I have also made a fold-over bag to contain the wool and needles requested by the mother of a 10-year old boy who recently learnt to knit from his Dutch Oma (grandmother).  I'm not sure if being a knitter is cool when you're 10 but it sure will be when you have this hip and groovy bag to hide it in!!



Good books over the last week have included...

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss

Fold Out 12 Days of Christmas

The Night Before the Night Before Christmas by Richard Scarry

Father Christmas Needs a Wee by Nicholas Allan

Another Christmas Book, Another Christmas Thing To Do!

Today is a school day (Matilda) / childcare day (Kelvin) / work day (Trev) / rest day (Liam and me) so our Christmas countdown activity was appropriately easy.  It instructed us to drop our presents under the Wishing Tree.  Which is what we did on our way home from dinner at Granma's.

But on the way to Kmart we passed a group of Salvation Army horn players tooting carols in the street.  We used to live in the area and this was always one of my favourite things in the lead-up to Christmas.  So I swerved to the kerb and hauled the kids out and we listened to a few carols and then requested Jingle Bells and then I found myself squatting on a busy street corner with a child on each knee singing carols out loud and although the weather doesn't feel like Christmas it's beginning to feel like Christmas!!

My kids have never really been toy shopping with me before - it has always been easier to do it on our own.  However, this year I decided to let them choose something each for a child the same age and gender as themselves and they were really good!

Octonauts Book & Kwazii Kitten playset for a boy who's 3.

A fairy Barbie with an extra outfit for a girl who's 5

And I chose a Fisher Price toyset for a 6 month old boy and added in some nappies, wipes and scented nappy bags and then we headed off to put our gifts under the tree.

And then fortune had it that our book for today was 25 December Lane by Helen Ward.  This book was give to Matilda by my Mum - for her first Christmas as a big sister.  Helen Ward has also dedicated this book to a Matilda and it's about a little girl who's searching for the perfect gift for a special little brother celebrating his first Christmas.  My mum has written Kelvin's name on the last illustration, along with his birthdate and I can see this becoming a book to treasure.

What Book Today?

Our Christmas Countdown Book for today was Melrose and Croc a Christmas to Remember. I was lucky enough to win this in a giveaway last year and it's a sweet book about a dog and a crocodile who feel lonely at Christmas time and crash into each other whilst ice skating and the illustrations are lovely and a little bit retro in their muted colours.

And our activity for today was "To have a photo with Santa"!  And we had a reasonably successful trip into the city.  We didn't have to queue for a photo, there weren't too many toilet stops required, the kids chose some lovely presents to give to their Wishing Tree recipient, and the big kids both chose new sandles for summer without too many tears from anyone (including me!).

Advent 2011

It happened again - I totally forgot that there are only 30 days in November!  So at 9:30pm last night Trev and I were wrapping books so that we could have a literature countdown to Christmas Day (totally inspired by Dana)!

We already had 16 Christmas books in our collection so we wrapped them up in butchers paper (using the Christmas sticky tape) and numbered them and have lined them up along the window).  Our book for today was I Love Christmas by Anna Walker - love her illustrations!

 We also have a "things to do" countdown too.  It's just 25 bits of card bluetac-ed to the window.  Don't tell the kids but only one of these had an activity on the back - we're going to see what's happening tomorrow and write something on each evening!! 

Today's activity involved cooking playdough and chocolate cake with our friends - courtesy of Holly the Tupperware demonstrator.  I was roped into hosting a demo last week and I can really recommend the Kids in the Kitchen party, although the Flaming Pineapple party would be tempting!!

It's summer and we're officially counting down to Christmas at our place!  I wonder what we'll do tomorrow?

The kids books I love!

I've always loved kids books - even before I had kids of my own I used to browse the childrens book section in book stores. I love the pictures, I love the words and I love the sentiment.

Since having kids and hanging out at the library I have also discovered that there are a lot of really bad kids books out there. Bad pictures, awful words and no story line - they are inane, and boring and why would they get published?

Also since having kids I have discovered some fabulous books that I love (and the kids love too).

Firstly, Moo Baa La La La! by Sandra Boynton. This is such a great book to read aloud and the pictures are simple and fun. And for both my kids, it has been the first book that we can read aloud together - I do the words and they do the sounds. It is also one of those books I keep "in stock" in my present drawer for first born babies as a welcome to the world book or for their first Christmas.

I also love to read aloud any of Linley Dodd's books. We have most of the Hairy Maclary/Scarface Claw books but Slinky Malinki Catflaps is my favourite. I love making the cat fighting noises, I love being the grumpy neighbours and I love the wood heater that Slinky curls up in front of! And I think the kids quite like this book too (although maybe not as much as I do).
Another book that the kids have both loved is Penny Dale's Ten in the Bed. We borrowed from the library for Matilda and I had to renew the loan about 6 times and only returned it once I'd bought a copy for her 2nd Birthday! This another book that is fun to sing to the kids and I love doing a really, really, really loud CRASH for when Nellie (because elephants make a lot of noise when they fall out of bed). This is fast becoming one of Kelvin's favourites - it must be a 2 year old thing!

Tree Ring Circus by Adam Rex is another book I love because of the elephants!! And the pictures in this book are amazing. Basically the elephant makes 33 creatures in this tree and the tree crashes to the ground. Ever since we started reading this book that is Matilda's explaination for any fallen tree we walk past - OOOOO, elephants!!

Kelvin was given a copy of The Gruffalo last Christmas which is a great book and Julia Donaldson creates some wonderful rhymes (one of my faves being "Alright" said the Gruffalo, bursting with laughter, "you go ahead and I'll follow after."). But I really like Room on the Broom. I grew up on a staple reading diet of Meg and Mog books so perhaps I have a soft spot for any broom-riding lady in a pointy hat. But Room on the Broom has a great dragon who decides he feels like witch and chips for his tea - how could you not love it!! And in the end the witch creates herself the most amazing deluxe broom with armchairs for herself, the dog and the cat plus some special accommodation for the frog and the bird!

And my absolute favourite book is Pearl Barley & Charlie Parsley by Aaron Blabey. It is such a lovely, lovely, lovely book. And I think I love this book because I feel like Charlie is the author and Pearl is his wife. The pictures are gorgeous and I love reading it. This also doesn't seem to be a particularly well known book so I like to give this to little girls I know when they turn 3! If you're familiar with Henry & Amy by Stephen Michael King - it's a bit I think it's so much better, sweeter, more lovely. It's a great book!!
And the book we're enjoying at the moment is The Fly by Gusti. We borrowed it from the library and it's been a pleasant surprise (because the library bag can be a real jackpot). Lets just say it has graphic pictures and involves toilet humour which suits my 4 year old. It's good fun!

Oh, and if you haven't seen The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith yet (or heard the song) you're missing out! This is our "Break in Case of Emergency" CD in the car!! Clever humour, fun pictures and stick-in-your-head-in-the-middle-of-the-night song - you can't go wrong.
So do you have any favourite childrens books that you've discovered (or rediscovered) recently?

Buying Books Online

I just bought Baby Beanies, by Amanda Keeys after falling in love with the copy I'd borrowed from the library.

I did it online - at The Huggies Bookclub. If you join the bookclub (which is free), you get a 10% discount on all books and postage is also free! I ordered Baby Beanies as a special order and they got back to me within 4 hours of my email with all the details I needed. I have ordered through these guys before and have been very, very happy with their service and range and it means I don't have to drag the kids into town to buy books (and try to explain the difference between a bookstore and the library)!! And I have no affiliation with Huggies - I just really like their bookclub!

Also, my friend Jo just dropped in a shopping bag full of fabulous retro linen she'd bought from an elderly neighbour who was moving into a home. Some lovely greens, spots and florals - all ready for the Vintage Sheet FQ Swap!!