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!

It's Friday

A 6am start, I can't believe they didn't sleep in after all the exercise they had yesterday!

While I'm trying to rummage enough energy to wake up and get out of bed, the boys bring their mini tea set into bed, and we're playing tea party while I'm still half asleep.

I show them how to fry a 'pancake' - a little yellow plate - with a little plastic spatula, and then I tell them the story of 'The Little Pancake' - the Winnie the Pooh version.

Breakfast is Powergrain (the Aldi version of Nutrigrain)* with Bubbles (the Aldi version of Rice Bubbles)* followed by Vegemite on toast. *These Aldi versions are just as good as the real thing and something like half the price!

While I hang out the washing, the boys blow bubbles and play on the trike and car. I like going out in the morning to hang the washing because we all get a good dose of vitamin D before the UV rays kick in! I purposely don't put their hats on, and expose their arms when we go out early in the morning sun.

Soon after we're off to church for a women's talk held monthly. This is only the second time I've been to it, and they are simply awesome. I have been so encouraged by what I've heard, and learnt so much practical things to apply to my daily living and my walk with God. I Love It! There are women there who have little kids like me, women whose children have grown up, and those who aren't married yet. It's so good to talk with and learn from these incredible women.

The boys are looked after with other mum's kids, so they get some play time while I get to listen. There's fruit to eat, and the boys get a treat - a mini chocolate cupcake, each!


Straight after we're off in the car to out near the airport to pick up yet another thing I bought off eBay (I promise don't do this often!), a 12 inch bicycle with training wheels for Jae. A Malvern Star bike for $5 is quite a good deal, I hope!

All this driving means that the boys get their quota of sleep for the day while in the car.

On the way home we stop off at the local shops and eat avocado sushi at 'Sushi Boy', then go to the supermarket to pick up ingredients for dinner tonight - tortillas!

We inspect the bike in the garage at home and it becomes apparent that the training wheels are wonky, and the back wheel might need some more air. We need Daddy to come and fix it up!


The boys play on the makeshift mattress-slide in the spareroom, and then we read our devotion for the day.

Today's devotion is about being obedient to your parents because they know what's best for you. They are wise and they love you, and this is most definitely the same with God. We should be obedient to Him because he knows what's best for us.


We watch Sesame Street Numbers and Letters on DVD while we wait for Daddy to come home and fix up the bike. Mummy has a well deserved cuppa tea and a power nap!

After extended DVD time - 'Richard Scarry's Best Learning Songs Ever', and 'Richard Scarry's Best ABC Video Ever' - Daddy comes home, yippee! He fixes the bike, and JJ has such a great time going around the balcony with SamSam on his trike. He looks so grown up now! I can't wait to take them to the park with their new wheels!

Tonight is my night to cook. Tortillas are brilliantly fast to prepare, so healthy, and the kids can help make them, and they Love Eating them! Dessert is fresh pears.

After dinner we read 'Hairy McClary from Donaldsons Dairy' a great book with a catchy rhyme that the boys really like. They are also very intrigued by Scarface Claw a menacing cat. SamSam made me read it twice.

After their showers we tidied up and played a few rounds of animal snap, and a building puzzle logic game. What brings on this sudden desire to play games just before they're about to go to bed is a bit puzzling. Maybe they are trying to wring out some fun out of every possible minute before they have to go to sleep?

They're starting to try a little trick, after about 10 minutes of being in bed, they'll declare that they need to go to the toilet. Both of them! This is even after JJ has already been to the loo just before he goes to bed! We can't really say no, as we're on the verge of toilet training SamSam, and JJ is only a few months trained. I'll have to keep tabs on this...

Two Playgrounds

It's 6:40am, the start of a new day and SamSam is demanding "cold milk". He wakes up JJ by turning on a lamp shining directly on his face, and the day has begun.

Daddy plays Kerplunk with them, and it's not even 8am! How lucky they are!

We head down to the local bakery as a family for some brekky. We ate doughnuts at the bakery, the boys pushed the little shopping trolleys around the supermarket, we picked up some mail at our friend's house, sat outside a cafe for coffee and chocolate eclair, visited the second-hand charity shop. A lovely outing!

SamSam is too pooped to stay awake. While he sleeps, JJ and I open the pop-up tent in the spare room and grab all the library books for him to read, while I do some quiet reading of my own on the sofa bed. 20 Minutes of bliss!

Devotions and Impromptu Slide
I don't let Sam sleep too long, as I want him to have a longer sleep after lunch with JJ. We don't often play in the spare room, so it's nice to spend a bit more time there.

We read today's devotion which is about the millions of stars in the sky, and how God made them all. How wonderful God is!

We read a library book, but the boys want to roll around on the bed. Time for some physical activity!

I take JJ's mattress and rest it against the sofabed to make a slide. After a bit of experimentation we find that a glossy supermarket bag makes a great toboggan to ride down the slide! That's another 15 minutes of sliding fun!

SamSam is not so keen on the sliding, and he suggests getting out the playdough.

Playdough has to be one of the best inventions for kids. My boys can play very happily for an hour with it. The secret is you have to play with them and give them new ideas on how to play. My kids especially enjoy it when I play alongside them - whatever the activity may be.

But I find also that children need to learn how to play sometimes! They're like little sponges - once they learn from you, they will emulate what you've taught them by themselves.

I bought a cheap playdough kit from Kmart which has a few little cutters and plates, a cupcake mould and other little shape moulds. It was only about $7! I also have some little beads in the shape of hearts and stars which they really like to press into the dough. Small birthday cake candles from the $2 shop are fantastic for making little birthday cakes, and ice cream sticks are also quite nifty.

We have the Playdoh brand of playdough. It is a little pricey, but I don't allow them to mix colours, and I make sure we put the dough away once play is finished so that it doesn't dry up. This all means that the playdough lasts for ages - about five months - before I have to buy more pots. A pretty cheap investment!

Lunch is peanut butter and jam sandwiches. The boys help to spread the peanut butter with a butter knife each. They're not super good at it, but it this helps to promote independence!

The whole family goes down for a nap (while I type away furiously at the computer) and I get a few minutes rest before JJ is up again.

I remake the slide, SamSam wakes up too, and they share a box of sultanas in two bowls which makes them very happy.

I get out the guitar and JJ and leads our singing with the Alphabet song and then a Winnie the Pooh song medley. He gets out the percussion instruments and gives the harmonica to SamSam.

It's 2:50pm and the boys are getting feral. I take them to TWO playgrounds where they climb, spin, slide, swing, play in the sand and run for two hours, and by the end, their mum is more pooped than they are!

Dinner is beef noodle soop, delish! We eat really early, so the boys get to go ride their bikes around the balcony with Dad for an hour (they'll be sleeping real well tonight!). Fruit cups are for dessert.

Showers, and then milk and milo next to mummy on the sofa while we read our books. Goodnight sweethearts!

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.