Buttons and an Easy Cubbyhouse

It's back to business as usual and we're having so much fun :)

Today the boys explored playing with a wide assortment of buttons from my craft supplies. They LOVED it!

They poured the buttons into little ceramic cups and liked the sound that they made. Then JJ started to sort them into different colours. SamSam followed suit!

Then JJ start lining them up, and made the shape of a square, "Look Mamma, a square!" he declared. Then he made some interesting patterns. The boys were engrossed with the buttons for about 40 minutes. I had to coax them to put them away.

Easiest Cubbyhouse

We all know that children love to play with boxes, but I stumbled upon something new, a large, long box that has been cut open down one side can be draped over a chair to make a very easy cubbyhouse!

The boys brought pillows to use as doors, and had a party (complete with party hats). Later I gave them a wad of stickers to decorate the outside of their house! Best of all it folds up and doesn't take up much space.

Devotions

Today's devotion was about 'Good Weapons', that we need to be on our guard against things that can hurt us, and that God can help us. There was a picture of a little boy dressed up as a superhero. The boys had never seen a shield before. JJ said he wanted to be a superhero too.

'Be strong and brave, and wait for the Lord's help' Psalm 27:14

I want to teach my boys to be strong and brave, and lean on God at all times!

Boats, Shoes, Books and a Cake

Every morning since we've been in Bright, SamSam is the first to wake up and get out of bed. He is so excited to go into the living room to play with a huge duplo train set we've found in our friend's cupboard!

I've never seen Duplo train tracks before, but this one absolutely rockksss. It's way better than the IKEA tracks or the Thomas tracks. The tracks can be stuck on Lego, which means that you can make the tracks go up onto different heights. Awesome! All the Duplo cars can fit on them, yess!

After eggs and toast, we're off to the shops to find some toy boats to sail down at our favourite river spot. While we're there I take the boys into the camping store, and we pick up some good 'river shoes' that are grippy and they can wear in the water. The river has lots of slippery pebbles and sometimes sharp rocks, so I feel much better knowing that their feet are protected.

Hurrah, we find some $2 boats at the discount shop! The boys cradle their boats as they walk around, and we check out a couple of Op shops before we head to the stream.

The temperature is oven hot by the time we get down to the water. However the water is almost icy cold, and my feet are almost aching to walk in it! But it doesn't worry the boys, they are having oodles of fun sailing their boats down the current of the river.

We have to block up the holes in our man-made waterfall as the boats sometimes escape between cracks and we watch Daddy madly chase them down the stream.

The boys have fun putting pebbles on the boat, then sticks, then sail them into the 'harbour'. They also play with our plastic drinking cups and bottles filling them with leaves, pebbles and water. This is such great explorative play for them. After a few hours it's time to take the boys back for their afternoon nap, and I feel sad to leave!

After their nap we have a cake for Daddy as it's his birthday today :) We sing Happy Birthday and the boys help to blow out the candles. They want extra serves of the chocolate cake, but we hold firm!

I give the boys some books that I bought at the Op shop this morning. They turn out to be really good ones (only 50 cents!). SamSam's is 'My S Book', and JJ's is called 'My K Book' - both by Jane Belk Moncure.

SamSam sits on the rug to look at his, while JJ sits next to me at the table and I get him to read it out loud. He learns some new words - Kaleidoscope, Koala (I can't believe I have somehow not taught him what a koala is!), Keg and Kid (as in a young goat).

These books are at the perfect reading level for JJ, and I want to go back and get the rest of the alphabet! They have such gorgeous illustrations too!

Afterwards they play outside blowing bubbles, and with a bucket of water and some cups. It's so hot that JJ is soon sitting in the bucket of water! They eventually take off all their clothes and are having a great time splashing water and playing with the garden stones and some old toy trucks and cars.

Before I know it, it's dinner time, then bath, and then books before bed. We read 'My K Book' once again, and then a section about water in 'Richard Scarry's Best Bumper Book Ever' - such a great book.

Today's devotion is about practice. The boys learn that they need to practice if they want to learn to do things, and that God can help them when they try.

Happy New Year!

The first day for 2012 was jam packed. Still on holiday in Bright, we went to the local church in the morning, then went to a trout farm in a nearby town.

The boys loved feeding the fish with the fish pellets! There were some whoppers in the ponds and we got splashed quite a few times. It was great entertainment for a two and three year old, and it only cost $2 for the fish food that lasted an hour!

There were older kids were busy trying to catch the fish with long fishing poles, and they were so excited when they actually got one.

So I highly recommend taking kids to a trout farm when on holiday!

We had lunch at the local pub - the boys first pub experience - where JJ couldn't resist getting on stage and pretending to sing. We had fish and chips and steak and chips. The steak was delicious!

Later in the day we went to our newly discovered swimming spot in a pretty flowing stream. We've started rearranging the stones and pebbles to create our own toddler pool in the flowing river, plus a larger adult sized dipping spot. So much fun!!!

Tomorrow the temperature is supposed to hit 37, and 39C the day after. This shady swim spot will come in handy!

Today's devotion was called Happy Faces. The boys learned that God can make you happy on the inside and out!

'A happy heart makes a face look cheerful'  Proverbs 15:13

Playdate & playground

I can't believee I'm playing Dora Bingo at 7 in the morning!! We play just one game and it's time for breakfast with grandpa.

This morning the three of them are singing 'Old MacDonald had a farm' together - although grandpa sings it as "Old Man Donald" hehe! Breakfast is Vegemite on toast and cereal.

We're off to a friend's house this morning. She has two beautiful girls, twins, a little older than SamSam. I think it's great for the boys to spend time playing with girls, and vice versa.

The boys share fruit with them, and then JJ and SamSam show very bad manners by tussling over a trainset which we eventually put away. They have a ride on the bikes, and suddenly we look up and one of the girls is running around the garden with no clothes on! It goes without saying that all the kids follow suit and we have four little ones running around in the summer sun, butt naked.

The kids are having the time of their lives, and their mummys are getting catch up and have a good laugh at their adorable antics! It's so wonderful to meet up with a good friend to chat, and strangely it's so much easier to look after kids when there's a bunch of them.

We come home and SamSam has to be carried to bed, he's so tired. I play "What's the Difference" with JJ - another $1 game I bought from the recent school fair. This game is supposed to encourage children to get use to describing, and practising putting sentences together. It works well for the first couple of sets of cards, but by the third time we play he's lost some interest. I have to only play this once or twice in the future!! (I broke my own rule!).

After half an hour, it's time for JJ to go to sleep. I put him down, and with only a bit of protestation (no corners today) he finally settles down to sleep. I stuff down some lunch, and get 30 minutes sleep myself. Lovely!

The boys get an afternoon snack of rice cakes with peanut butter and jam, while watching Sesame Street 1, 2, 3 and Winnie the Pooh's Heffalump movie, which they love.

Treat of treats, Daddy is coming out with us to the park! It's a beautiful Summer's day and the boys are very happy. I can't believe how big SamSam is now. He can actually sit in an adult swing!!

Back home grandpa's brought back take away dinner, tonight it's rice noodles (hor fun) and roast chicken with rice.

They have a long overdue soak in a bubble bath, and I give them a good scub. They love playing in the water and I let them have longer baths when it's summertime.

Today's devotion is about giving to others - that gifts don't have to be bought from a shop. God gives us so much and he wants us to be happy and cheerful giving to others.

We read 'The Hungry Caterpillar', Winnie the Pooh's Honey Tree story, 'Puss in Boots', and 'Thomas and the Hide and Seek Animals', then it's bedtime.

A Slow and Easy Sunday

The boys are awake at 5:45am. I'm not too impressed at this.

I get them to lie in bed with us for another 15 minutes, but SamSam gets fidgety. He goes out of the room and brings back 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff' book, so I read this in a very sleepy, whispery voice, and mostly with one eye open.

They start to get loud, and I don't want them to wake grandpa who's visiting, so I hoist myself up and walk them back to their room. I try and catch some more shut eye in JJ's toddler bed while they play picnics with the pretend food and Winnie the Pooh - and his other stuffed toy friends - on a blanket on the floor.

Finally it's 7am. Breakfast is raisin toast followed by Powergrain and Bubbles. Grandpa is also up now, and I can hear them singing the Alphabet song together as I get changed in the bedroom. It's very, very cute to hear two toddlers and an 80 year old singing the alphabet together, over and over.

Their conversations are quite funny to listen to because grandpa doesn't quite catch what they are saying, even though they are answering his questions and making conversation with him. I'll have to remember one and write it up next time!

It's Sunday so we head off to church and after some worship songs, the boys go to Sunday school. SamSam has been showing some separation anxiety recently - they say it happens particularly around the 2 year old mark - but he's fine today. It makes a big difference that it's Daddy dropping them off at Sunday school and not Mummy - who'd probably crack under the pressure and take SamSam back into the creche room!

From Sunday school the boys bring back a cutout star and a shepherd which they've coloured in. They say they liked Sunday school. The church is raising money for missionaries by selling lunch boxes of noodles - which are yummy! This is the boys lunch followed by a cupcake from yesterday's school fair.

While they're eating we play a new game - "Put your hand up if you like..." - they have to put their hand up if they like whatever comes next. If they keep their hands down (or cover their face!) it means they don't like it.

The things they liked included: Thomas, ice cream, Mummy's kisses, Maisy Mouse, swimming and cupcakes. The things they didn't like were crocodiles, Scarface Claw (fictional book character - a cat), and the big bad wolf.

They play for a while in their room with their toy cars, and have fun rolling on top of each other and squashing each other, while I fold some clothes. Then they're getting a bit too rowdy, and it's nap time.

After a really good sleep, they have a little snack and do some drawing. I've been noticing that SamSam is quite careful when he draws. He has a good think about where he is colouring with his pen - check out how he coloured in the hippo on the below left!  JJ's is on the right.

We play 'going to school'. JJ and SamSam wear their backpacks and want me to be 'Miss Honey' - the name of the bear school teacher in Richard Scarry's books. They pretend to take the school bus, and sit at a desk. They want to learn about the letter 'i'. We write the letter i, and then the only words I can think of to teach them that start with i are 'ice cream' and 'igloo'. Their mum is an ignoramous! So much for the letter i!

SamSam with backpack, riding on the bus.

We read 'Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy' again, and then the sky looks like it might rain soonish, so we quickly put on our jackets and shoes and go out on the balcony for some outdoor playtime. I'm sooo glad I bought the trike and the bike. They go round, and round, and round the balcony, and are having such a great time. They think it's funny to chase each other and are laughing.

The wind is getting really blustery, and JJ says we should go inside because it's too windy. We go inside and they play supermarkets for a little while, and because I'm a bit pooped I succumb to putting on the Richard Scarry DVDs - ABCs and 'Best Learning Songs Ever'.

Dinner is Nasi Lemak, a Malaysian dish (I'm realising we've been eating a lot of Malaysian dishes recently!). SamSam has seconds. They both eat a big stack of prawns.

It's still early, so daddy takes them for a walk to the community vegie patch - where we have a small allotment growing fruit trees and asparagus. It's nice for the boys to go out with their Dad and do 'man things'! (well it gives me a breather anyway, and I get to soak the dishes and wipe down the dinner table).

They get back, and after a shower, grandpa reads them 'Maisy Goes to the Fair' - what a treat!

Today's devotion is about how before the Bible was written, God gave messages through angels - like to Mary that she was going to have a baby. His messages are always true. I ask JJ what was the name of Mary's baby? He says Jesus! He must be learning well at Sunday School!

After some more books with mummy and milk, it's already time for bed. They look pooped!

The Fair and Grandpa Arrives

Hoorah! They wake at 7:25am :)

The boys find a plastic shopping bag that I used to collect their toys lying around the house. Inside were some percussion instruments and they think it's quite nice to walk around the house jingling and jangling the bag.

But then they tussle for the bag, as there's only one. So mummy puts together another bag for SamSam.

JJ remembers that last night before he went to bed I promised that we would play with the Sesame Street figurines. We stand them up on the rug and we make a little skittles game using a ball to try and knock them over. Ooh, lots of fun for the boys.

SamSam hands me the 'But Not the Hippopotamus' book by Sandra Boynton. They've recently begun to appreciate this book - another book that rhymes.

Breakfast is Powergrain and Bubbles, pears, a cup of milk for SamSam, and Milo for JJ. This whole 'eat like a crocodile and put it in your tummy' thing is working a real treat for SamSam. He isn't spitting out his half chewed up food anymore, and is pointing vigorously to his tummy and saying "put it in the nummy" after any significant chews and swallows.

I have to go out for the next few hours, so Daddy takes charge. He reads 'Maisy Goes to the Fair'. They do some drawing and Thomas printout activities, and spend half an hour riding their bikes around the balcony. Then treat of treats, they get to watch an hour of Thomas the Tank Engine on DVD!

When I get home, it's lunchtime. They eat rice with buk khoo teh, a traditional Malaysian dish. They like it so much they have seconds, but when they want thirds there's no rice left - so they end up slurping more soup in their bowls.

After our afternoon siesta, the boys and I head off to a local school fair.

There are lots of people and stalls, and rides, things to eat and buy. The boys have their first ever snow cone, and we buy some mini cupcakes $6, some second-hand children's books that are real gems $2, a descriptive card game $1, toy food 50c and a wind up fishing game 50c.

JJ takes his shoes and socks off to go on the bouncy castle (another first), but after waiting a while for his turn, he changes his mind, and it's time to go home for dinner. Daddy has brought home grandpa from the airport!

The boys have grandpa playing the fishing game within a few minutes. SamSam hadn't even taken his shoes off! SamSam really likes the fishing game, and JJ is really into the new plastic food.

For dinner we eat beef and chicken satay with rice, cucumbers and peanut sauce. The boys love to eat the meat off the skewers, it's a bit of a novelty. Also, they are incredibly delicious!!

Dessert is ice cream with lychees, and everyone is happy.

After a quick shower, and into their pjs, we read our library books and some current favourites. Today's devotion is about 'what will last'? We learn that the grass withers and flowers fall, but the word of God lasts forever.

Soon it's time to go to bed. Daddy has made a really great window shade out of cardboard to properly block out the morning light. They may just sleep in til 10am tomorrow!

Start of Two Honey Pots Blog

So I thought it was a good idea to start journalling what we get up to each day.

JJ is three years old, SamSam is two. With two active and curious boys I have to be on my toes everyday with things to keep their minds busy, their spirits nurtured, and their bodies moving!

Morning
A successful start with the boys sleeping in to 6:45am, Hallelujah!

Since the start of daylight saving, they've been waking up at 5:30am the last few weeks. Last night we plugged every single hole in the window where light could filter in. The room was completely black even at 7am! A very happy mummy.

As a result of a happy, non-sleep deprived mummy, we read 'The Three Little Pigs' in bed. JJ was a little apprehensive about the wolf the first few times we've read this book. He either hid behind me or his brother! He's much better now! SamSam laughs every time the wolf says he'll huff and puff the house down. He also laughs when the pigs say "No by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin!"


While I made one of their favourite breakfasts - boiled eggs and toast soldiers, they amused themselves with the Thomas Sticker book, a brilliant reusable sticker activity given by their aunty :) They get to stick all the engines' faces and numbers on.

JJ the very neat eater.

SamSam, extremely messy eater.

After breakfast with my help they wash their hands and faces, brush their teeth and get changed. I find it doesn't drag on when you get all the getting-ready-stuff out of the way! Also it means if we suddenly decide to go out, it's a much easier process of just plugging on their shoes.

Self-Dressing
JJ dresses himself now. I just put out his clothes on his bed, and ask him to put them on.
I also keep his undies in the same spot each morning, so that when he wakes up he knows where it is. Usually without complaining to me about his wet nappy, he'll simply take off his pull-up nappy put on his undies. So easy!

JJ has also recently started to rummage in the drawer to choose his own clothes. But unfortunately the only drawer he can reach is the one that holds all their pyjamas! I need to get time to swap over the clothes drawers so he can reach his daytime clothes. I don't have the heart to ask him to change out of PJs he's just donned when he's been so good at doing it himself! But he looks quite cute in his PJs walking around the shops!!

I have my eye on a rather cool kids-sized IKEA cupboard that would be perfect for helping in the self-dressing department!

Craft Activity
We tend to do craft or reading after breakfast. I find that starting out with quiet activities, or learning activities is a good way to start the day. They are at their most alert and able to concentrate really well. I tend to ramp up the energy levels towards the end of the day when I want to get them really tired out in readiness for bed!

Today the boys did some drawing. I like to get them to practise holding the pens or crayons properly. They made some really pretty scribbles!

We did some dot-to-dots which is great for practising pencil control. The printout I used was a photocopy from a Thomas The Tank Engine writing book (you'll find Thomas to be a common theme in my postings). I've found our homeoffice printer/photocopier to be an incredible resource. I buy activity books and photocopy whatever activities I want them to do. Means I can reuse the books too!

The last few weeks we've been decorating cut-out Christmas trees in readiness for Christmas cards. So the boys did some painting and glueing (their favourrrrrite). We've got quite a collection of trees now. Might be time for mummy to start pasting them into cards!

Devotions
We read today's devotion which was 'Don't Worry'. I love this little devotions book. It's especially written and illustrated for preschoolers, and so well done. The illustrations are by the same artist who drew the Care Bears!! Very, very sweet.

I feel that devotions are a great way to start to instill in the boys an understanding about the wonderful God who made us and loves us! It also has very good teaching about interacting with others, like sharing, forgiving, taking turns, and things like emotions. Great things for them to understand as they start to go to kindy and playgroups and get so much more social. It's brilliant!!!

TV
Right this very minute the boys are watching a Sesame Street DVD on Numbers and Letters. JJ specifically requested the numbers episode, and they both love it. Usually I only allow them one hour of TV a day, and only in the afternoon. But if it's purely educational I'm a bit less strict.


Library
We live in a really great location that is in walking distance to parks, shops, our health centre and our local library. We usually go once a week to the library and borrow five or six books. We'll read these books once or twice a day, every day, so that the boys really get to understand any new words and concepts. It's exciting to hear Jae use words that he's picked up through reading the books.

More recently I've also found that they like books that have onomatopeia (oohh, I can't believe I actually remember that word! The memories of high school English comes flooding back!). We recently borrowed a really nice book called the 'Rain Train', the writer portrayed the sound of the rain coming down as "A pitter-pat-pat, a pitter-pat-pat a pittery-pittery-pittery-pat". The boys would always laugh at the sound of the words! They love rhythms!

While we were out, we found many interesting things to talk about and play:

Paw prints! Who do you think made these?

SamSam throws stones into a muddy puddle.

JJ finds a snail! We nudge it and it goes back inside its shell.

Lunch
Lunch was fish congee made by Daddy in the pressure cooker! JJ really loves congee in particular. We love the pressure cooker as it's so quick and easy to prepare food. You just cut things up and bung it in the cooker, turn it on, forget about it, and by the time you remember it again, it's ready!!

In the middle of lunch SamSam was dozing off (we're trying to drop his morning nap), so we put him to bed. When there's only one boy to look after it's a great opportunity to do age-specific stuff with them, and you can see they are really quite chuffed that you're spending time solely with them.

Board Games For Toddlers
With SamSam asleep, JJ and I played a Thomas boardgame. I found this really cool collection of simple dice games bound together in an oversized book, at an Op shop in the country for only 50 cents! It has five dice boardgames with Thomas characters! Dice games are great to play with pre-schoolers because they practise counting, taking turns, and the learn the concept of winning and losing graciously (something that I must have struggled with when I grew up!).

Writing Practice
After the game we did some writing practice on one of those write-on/wipe-off books. JJ did a very passable attempt at writing the word 'house'! It's a good book because he can also do dot to dots in it, and I can wipe it all off later with a baby wipe. I just guide him a little bit with writing the letters, and if he wants to draw and doodle then that's fine.


SamSam still has around 1.5 hours sleep, JJ only 30 minutes. So after SamSam has been asleep close to an hour, I put JJ in. When they are both asleep I quickly clear away the lunch dishes (saving the washing for later), and head to bed myself for a quick powernap. I need to get enough energy for the rest of the day!

Makeshift Tent
After a good nap, we're up and at-em! I put up a makeshift tent in the boys room using their sponge sofas for the walls and a small mattress for the roof. They play for a little while and end up playing chase around the apartment.

Kerplunk Toddler Game
By popular demand the Kerplunk game was brought down from the cupboard. They simply love the combination of the coloured sticks, and holes, and marbles! It is especially good for fine motor skill development as it requires a considerable amount of concentration for little ones to thread the sticks through both holes in the cylinder. They also love the sound and excitement of the marbles falling down as they pull out the sticks!

When it comes to boardgames we only play twice before we put the game away. I find that once is too little, and by the third time they'll lose interest in it. It's much better that they still retain a 'keeness' to play the game for the next time. They always help me to put away the game, as well as setup in the beginning.

Afternoon Tea
We don't always have afternoon tea - it depends on how well they ate at lunch. Since SamSam hardly ate, they shared an apple. SamSam is going through some weird eating thing where he chews up the food in his mouth, and then spits it out - all chewed up - on his plate. I have to insist that he puts it back into his mouth, chew properly - "like a crocodile" and 'put it in his tummy.' It seems to be working, but it's a longish process.

I'm starting to wonder if he has an overbite, as his top teeth jutt out a bit from his bottom teeth when they are clenched together. This could be why he's having chewing issues? We have to go to the dentist soon (yikes), so we'll get that checked out.

Wet Weather
We attempt to play outside, but as soon as we get our gumboots on and out to the bikes, it's raining! We run back in, and I'm racking my brains with what to do with two suddenly highly energetic boys.

We commence on a series of games that only hold their attention for a few minutes at a time! I'm trying to figure out what will settle them. We play:

• Music - I put on their favourite music for dancing and using their percussion. We dance and run around their bedroom for two songs, then they get distracted by trying to wrestle each other...
• Stuffed Toy Throwing - I came up with this game a few weeks ago. The boys' beds are positioned head to toe against each other. I found that when they are each in their own beds and they have a big pile of soft toys, they can expend a lot of energy by throwing the toys over the top of the head and foot of the beds. It's bit a like having a pillow fight!
• The stuffed toy throwing morphs into pet shop role playing, and then the play settles down into calmer play.

Role Playing - At the Pet Shop & the Supermarket
The boys really love going to look at the animals at the pet shop. They love rabbits and kittens in particular. We have one stuffed toy rabbit and one toy cat. We pretended they were in the pet shop and they went and bought them (cardboard money) and took them home in a nice box. They pretended to pay money for the pets, and then got in their 'car' and drove home with them. When they got home they fed them, petted them, and put them in the 'rabbit hutch' (the cat went in too).

This play morphed into going to the supermarket - whenever they get into a pretend car, they end up going to the supermarket. We have a very meagre supply of toy fruit - a banana, a tomato and some grapes - which I picked up for a few cents at the local school market, plus some other 2D food I've cut out of supermarket brochures and mounted onto cardboard and laminated. They like pretending to go shopping, putting things in their plastic trolley, putting the food through the cash register, and paying money at the checkout. This can go on for a while, if you get them to take turns being the checkout person, and the person shopping.

The Rain Stops
Thank God, the rain finally stops, and we can go outside and expend some energy. The boys take turns on a second-hand tricycle I picked up yesterday through eBay. Surprise, surprise it's a Thomas tricycle. We go round and round, and round our wrap-around balcony. Thank goodness it's large enough to get some exercise! A good 40 minutes and it's getting cloudy again. We go inside, and it's TV time for the boys, and rest time for mummy!

Dinner is roast lamb with mash potato, courtesy of Daddy chef! JJ eats a huge meal and SamSam is more picky. Mandarins are for dessert. We finish the day with a quick shower, a sit on the sofa next to mummy and read all the library books. Definitely my favourite part of the day.