The week that was... Living in the land of Oz

With Australia Day in the middle of the week just been, we've had a bit of an Aussie theme happening this week. It's been fun!

Friday this is one of Riley's fave expressions at the moment - I think it's so funny!



Saturday this is Josh's newest favourite plaything, his 'motorbike' - he spent most of Saturday out the back playing on it. Riley spends every minute that Josh is outside banging on the back door waiting for me to take him out too.



Sunday we went to a pool party for C's Auntie's birthday. Riley didn't swim, the pool was unheated and too cold for him, but Josh was eager to get in from the moment we got there.



Monday we made lamingtons for Australia Day.



Tuesday - Australia Day - we spent at my parents' eating Weber lamb and salad, watching cricket, while the boys played.



Wednesday was the first day of Storytime at our local library for 2010. Josh looooooves Storytime and it's been great for his confidence in small groups. The Storytime coordinator chose an Australian Animals theme for this week, which fit in really well with us! We read books such as Possum Magic and The Wide Mouthed Frog and made Australian Flags out of sheets of blue paper and different dried lentils.



Thursday we had a quiet day at home. After eating cheesymites in the chairs-and-sheet cubby, Josh and I made Australian animal finger puppets - a kangaroo (or a 'boinger' as Josh called it LOL), a kookaburra, a wombat and a koala.



Looking back, this week has had a bit of a Josh focus - Riley is at his happiest at the moment just crawling around doing his own thing. More of him next week, promise!

Happy Australia Day

I know 'Happy Australia Day' isn't the most PC of terms these days, and I do agree with much of the argument against the date specifically. However, I'm also a proud Australian and trying to pass that down to the boys :) so this year that part won and we celebrated Australia Day with many other members of the nation.

We began the celebrations the day before when Josh and I made lamingtons - that is to say, we cut up a store-bought sponge and did the jam, chocolate and coconut thing. Messy, but great fun!





They may not have looked authentic, but they tasted good and went down a treat.



On the actual day, we went to my parents' for a BBQ, and to play and watch some cricket. I'm not the biggest of cricket fans, but watching in good company isn't too bad! Australia won the game which helps too.

Josh and I also did a lot of flag waving, and coloured in some flags of our own and attached them to skewers to wave too.



(Don't think I've seen too many Aussie flags around that are green and red!)

End the day with some bike riding



And you've got a pile of tired, happy Australians!

Organisational task #1 - Continued

I think I'm getting a 'thing' for storage items - I find myself hunting down all these random things that might help in the task of getting more organised.

I was originally planning on getting these


from IKEA for this task, but wasn't actually planning a trip to IKEA in the near future. I actually found something very similar at Cheap as Chips, of all places, so that was lucky!

The second part of Josh's wardrobe. Used primarily for his clothes and shoes, and the top shelf is our 'desk' - stores the printer, pens, pencils and computer stuff.

It started like this:



And finished like this:



Now to see if I can train Josh to keep it this way LOL.

The week that was... sunshine, lollipops and icecream

We've had a lovely week, I hope yours has been the same. The weather, although hot at times, has been full of sunshine.

Friday Riley and I did some shopping with my sister, and came home to sort all the clothes I'd bought for the future into boxes. Riley learnt a new skill which is scaring me - he is not allowed to walk any time soon.






Saturday Josh loves helping in the kitchen, and he actually eats more during meal preparation than he does during the actual meal usually!




(btw that's not the knife he used!)

Sunday we took a lovely walk around the neighbourhood, Josh on his bike as has become the norm.



Monday we planted some new cuttings in our back garden. I have no idea what the plant is called but it's a stunning purple colour with small pink flowers. Not sure how well they'll do - Josh accidentally stepped on them before we got them in the ground - but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.





Tuesday we had a return to playgroup for 2010, which was lovely. It's taken Josh quite a long time to come out of his shell around so many people, but he's starting to form some friendships now which is wonderful to see. We also had a musical afternoon, dancing and playing our 'instruments'. Josh has apparently outgrown kiddie music - his latest faves are Audioslave and Linkin Park.





Wednesday I've already done a blog about, see here

Thursday We took Josh to get a haircut, desperately overdue - I always procrastinate, because he looks so much older with short hair. Then I got the sooks on, because I realised his next haircut will be in preparation for him to start preentry kindy in Term 2. My little boy is growing up.
(BBL with a photo, camera battery has gone flat. Sorry!)

He got a green lollipop, his favourite colour, so he was very impressed.

In other news this week, check out the progress from my herb garden in the last 2 weeks!



Doesn't look like I'm having success with the Dill though.

A gem of a day

We have just had the most wonderful outing. Only simple but so full of fun, and such a nice change from the minutae of every day life.

We set off this morning, and caught the tram from Marion Road. Only the second time Josh has been on a tram, so he was unbelievably excited.


We rode the tram all the way to Moseley Square, Glenelg, and stepped out into sunshine and LOTS of people. We decided to start with a wander down the jetty. The water was so clear we could see the bottom and a big school of fish swimming around.




We'd built up an appetite from our walk so decided to sit and have some lunch. Beside the fountain in Moseley Square suggested itself as the perfect spot to eat, people watch and, of course, have a splash in the fountain.



We then walked up Jetty Road, and stopped for an icecream. Like mother, like son, chocolate cones all round (well, not for the baby of course!).



I don't know if all three year olds do this with an icecream, but sure as eggs, this is what Josh looks like after one:



Riley spent the majority of the day observing the world from his Ergo perch, although he would've really liked a splash in that fountain!



After that it was time to catch the tram again

And return home, weary but happy, for a rest.

The week that was... much ado about nothing

This was a week of not-very-much. We have not been doing a great deal. In the beginning it was due to the weather, which was enormously hot. The latter part of this week, when the weather cooled down, we got lazy. So apologies for the post about doing not-very-much. We will try harder next week!

Fridays are traditionally Mummy and Riley days, as Josh goes to play at his Grandma's house for the day. He adores her, and gets thoroughly spoiled, and never wants to come home when it's time. Riley and I also love the one on one time we get.
Riley is loving knocking over block towers at the moment, and throwing blocks



Saturday this is the reaction C gets from our youngest, the second he steps through the door at the end of a working day



Woe betide Daddy if he walks past Riley in order to remove his boots, without a hello kiss and cuddle first!

Sunday this photo captures the relationship between my boys at the moment, which unfortunately could be better. Riley, adoring, climbing all over his big brother, who is pushing him away and backpeddling as quickly as he can.



Monday we decided to get out the crayons, cover the floor in paper and do some drawing.



Josh had a wow of a time, drawing funny faces with crazy hair, long teeth and big noses



Riley also had a wow of a time, eating paper. As you do.



Tuesday Josh and I love making music: Riley loves making noise. We had some kitchen band music happening while I cooked up a storm for Riley's freezer meals.




Wednesday both of the boys just love bath time, and it's one time when I can get a photo with both of them in it!



Thursday Josh and I did some box construction, one of Josh's favourite activities. We made a baby robot, complete with very colourful hair and sparkly pom pom buttons.





Next week heralds a return to playgroup, a train trip and an outing for coffee - three of our favourite things.

CATS - Now and Forever

Saturday night my sister and I went to an event we've been waiting for since May of last year. We went to the Festival Theatre, to see a production of CATS - Now and Forever.

It was brilliant.



The lighting, the costumes, the choreography... I wanted to jump on stage and dance to the light of the Jellicle Moon myself. Hearing Memory live for the first time was magical.

We had wonderful seats, second row from the front, smack bang centre. From there, the detail of the set and the makeup was amazing. I bet the performers were hot under all that facepaint though!

Definitely an experience worth having.

Study Inspiration

So, thanks to organisational task #1, I've been contemplating my future study. This is all hypothetical at the moment, seeing as I have no space for even a study nook, let alone a full fledged study. A girl can dream, though, right?

I thought I'd start with the colours blue and brown, and see where they took me. I love these...