16 February 2016

End of an era

A couple weeks ago I attended a good friend's baby shower. Its her first baby, and as you can imagine she's so very excited about the arrival of bubs. It was bittersweet for me, as its an end of an era for Hubby and I (we aren't having any more children). I get a tiny bit sad when I see newly pregnant people glowing. I sometimes wish I was 5 years younger, and had no health problems with my previous pregnancies as we would have loved to have had another baby. But that's not happening.

Its when I see littlies being pushed around in prams, or a tiny newborn being carried in a Baby Bjorn I get all emotional. I miss my girls being that age.

I hope so!
Cherub turns 5 this year, and is most likely going to big school next year, which I am not ready for at all. While she'll be ready academically (she's good at recognising letters, numbers, writing all our names) her gross motor skills and speech are still a bit behind a 4 1/2 year old. I have been taking her to see a speech therapist and occupational therapist, which has been helping, but she still has a way to go.

I sometimes wonder where the last 4 years have gone. What happened to my sweet bubba girl. She's such a cheeky, loud, funny, loving little preschooler. She loves going to preschool, and playing with her friends. She doesn't seem to miss me all that much which makes it a little harder for me leaving her, unlike Popette who was very clingy when I'd drop her off to daycare and cry when I left her.

Me, Popette and Cherub on holidays

Cherub is very excited about the idea of going to big school next year. She tells me that when she goes to "Big school", that she will make me a painting. She doesn't realise that Kindy isn't the same as preschool. Popette tells her that she'll be learning sight words, Jolly Phonics, home readers, and have reading groups.

Each time we drop off Popette, Cherub looks at the Kindy classrooms asking me which one she will be in. My response is a "Its too early to know". Of course she forgets this conversation the next time we walk past the classrooms, and asks me that exact same question again!

I guess I am feeling a little upset as my time as a Stay-at-home Mum is coming to an end. I have loved being able to be at home with my girls, and watch them grow up. I feel very lucky to have spent this time with them, as I know so many other Mums & Dads haven't had that opportunity.

On another note, I have been searching for part-time work or freelance work that I can do from home so I have the flexibility to take the girls to school, be their for reading groups and school events/assemblies. It is so hard to find something legitimate, and not a "Get rich quick" scheme. Has anyone got any ideas of jobs that can be done from home with minimal experience?

09 February 2016

Craft: Valentine's watercolour hearts

Over the school holidays the girls were looking for something crafty to make, so I came up with these gorgeous watercolour hearts for Valentine's Day.



All you need is:
Watercolour paints
Thick art paper
Paintbrush
Water

Optional: wire hanger, string, sticky tape, scissors


To create the hearts I first drew a heart on a piece of cardboard, which I used as a template and traced around it on the cardboard so I could a bunch of hearts all the same size.

Then the girls created some sweet designs painted with their favourite watercolour paints, creating beautiful colour combinations and patterns, then cut the hearts out when they were dry.



They had different thoughts to how they wanted to use their hearts. Cherub wanted to create a bunting that we could hang in the lounge room so we could all enjoy it. And helped pick the order of the colours she wanted stuck on the string, using a little sticky tape to attach them.



Popette thought a mobile would look nice. So we found an old wire hanger and covered the metal in different coloured crepe paper, then cut varied lengths of crepe paper before adding the hearts in a diagonal pattern.

Cherub's bunting

Popette's mobile

Both look wonderful hanging in our lounge room.

Other ideas for the hearts: Stick them on a hand drawn Valentines card, create a collage, or just keep them painted on the paper as a piece of art!

Suitable age group: 3+ yrs
Estimated setup time: 5 mins
Messiness factor: low-medium