Industrious or just messy?

It's not quite 10am, and the boys have been very, very busy..... Making a mess!!!

A friend of mine recently posted on facebook "the house was clean last night, sorry you missed it"

That is the story of our life at the moment. Every day we clean up, 2-3 times a day, and it takes only a short time for the boys to make mess again.

Ethan. He posed nicely for my photo. His brother did not!


Ben, throwing a block








Messy messy boys!


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Very smart and very grown up little boys

This evening as we were sitting at the table Ethan came out with two very grown up questions/ comments.

Firstly, to set the scene, Tracie had just literally walked in the door home from work as we sat down to dinner. About 5 mins into dinner, Ethan stops, looks at Tracie and says
"mumma, how was work today?"
Tracie replied "good thanks, how was your day?" and the conversation continued.
It was quite funny to us, and for people without a toddler, you might think - yeah, it's a simple question - but shows a lot of significance. ...
Toddlers are usually ego-centric, and operate in a world that revolves around them self. It is an interesting for him to ask how her day was.
Having said that, it is normal dinner conversation for us all to discuss our day, so he was mimicking what he heard... But it was still cute.

Later in the dinner conversation Tracie mentioned that she had developed a strange hip pain earlier that day and it was still troubling her. As she was talking about it, Ethan again speaks up and tells her that she has doctors at her work. Initially we weren't sure what he said that for, but then he went on to say something about the doctors at her work could help her hip pain.
Again, this comment was very interesting for us, as Ethan knows Tracie works in a hospital, and that there are doctors in hospitals.... but, the fact
that he can make the connection between all of the above shows a lot of thinking for a young mind.

Benjamin is a non-stop chatter box when it comes to the fire at the moment. We have recently started lighting out slow combustion fire as the evenings have been getting cooler. Ben LOVES watching the fire, and talking about it. He has a good knowledge and a good amount of fear to keep pretty safe around the fire. He talks about how a fire is hot, and how it can burn you, so don't touch it. He tells me I have to be careful when lighting it, and use the tongs to turn the wood. He keeps an eye on the fire and tells us when we need to add more wood.
He likes to listen to the sound the fire makes, and is fascinated by the sound of the metal ticking as it heats up from the flames.

Atleast with all his interest, he has some fear that results in some safety. Several times he told Ethan not to get too close, not to touch and to be careful. He saw my matches on the ground after I had lit the fire and he told me he wasn't allowed to touch them or he might get burnt.
He also told his grandma that she wasn't allowed to touch the fire, as only mummy and mumma can touch it.
He tells us to be careful we don't burn our house. There is a burnt house near their school that is just a black shell, so he is very aware what fire can do to a house. He likes to talk about that house, and how we don't want our house to burn like that.

It is truly amazing to watch their development and the things that they are now doing and saying.

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Busy morning in the garden

Our courtyard has been a disaster area for ages. We hate the little stones that hurt your feet to walk on, and we are keen to pave it. When we have a spare $10,000 we will get right on it!
In the mean time, we have gotten rid of our broken spa and done a bit of a clean up.

Earlier this morning. Tracie begins work removing the slab that the spa sat on.



And now



And where does the path lead you ask??
Check back next weekend and you will see ;)

We also did a clean up of our rather green and disgusting pond.
The pond was so over grown and never used that the boys were very surprised and enchanted when we got the waterfall working. They didn't know we even had a waterfall!! Hahaha
(pump off in this picture)


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Tea anyone?

For many months (since the boys were about 18months old) they have loved "coffee". We order or make them a 'baby chino' (warm frothy milk with chocolate powder on top) when we have a coffee ourself. We have never been tea drinkers.

About 2 weeks ago a friend of Sal's introduced her to fruit tea, and now we love it. Ben is especially taken by having a cup of tea. He knows about tea because his grandma and nana drink tea, but he's never had it before.
This tea is called 'blue bayou' and contains: blueberries, apple, elderberries, blackcurrant leaves, strawberry leaves, hibiscus flowers and rosehip. There isn't any actual tea leaves in this blend. It looks like this



And smells like blackcurrant cordial. It makes a wonderful red tea when brewed.

Both boys enjoy this tea and it is nice to have found a drink that (as far as I can tell) is very low is calories, sugar free, artificial additive free, caffeine free and actually tastes good!

I have yet to try it cold, but will do soon

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Brotherly love

My tired boys, relaxing on the couch before bed.


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Scallywaggs kinder-gym

This morning we took the boys to scallywaggs kinder-gym for the first time. And they had a WONDERFUL time!!!!!!
It is a parents participation class for 3yr olds (the manager said as they are almost 3 it would be better than the 2yr class). Due to the parent participation, we did not get any photos.
The class started with some free play in their big gym, then some group time in the circle. There was about 10 kids and their parents in the class. We sang songs and moved our body to the music. Did some jumping and stretching and crawling. The boys were a little shy for about 5 mins, then joined in a had a go of everything.
After circle time, they went out to the main part of the gym and did an obstacle course. Climbing, walking, crawling, sliding, jumping and running. They did really well for their first day, an you can see where there is a lot of room for them to get better as they develop.
The class finished up with some circle time again and a few games.
The boys came home exhausted and Ben took him self straight to bed and fell asleep. Brilliant I say!!! Hahah

You can see the gym on their website here

And one of the instructors writes a blog about the different activities and the benefits to their fine and gross motor development here. She also has some great photos and video on her site

This first lesson was just to try it out, but we loved it so much we will continue to go on a weekly basis. I think it will be a great addition to their weekly schedule, and be great for their fine and gross motor skills as well as social interactions..... Not to mention energy expenditure!

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I am a toddler

Found this today..... if you have (or know) a toddler, you will LOVE this!

If it is on, I must turn it off.
If it is off, I must turn it on.
If it is folded, I must unfold it.
If it is a liquid, it must be shaken, then spilled.
If it a solid, it must be crumbled, chewed or smeared.
If it is high, it must be reached.
If it is shelved, it must be unshelved.
If it is pointed, it must be run with at top speed.
If it has leaves, they must be picked.
If it is plugged, it must be unplugged.
If it is not trash, it must be thrown away.
If it is in the trash, it must be removed, inspected, and thrown on the floor.
If it is closed, it must be opened.
If it does not open, it must be screamed at.
If it has drawers, they must be rifled.
If it is a pencil, it must write on the refrigerator, monitor, or table.
If it is full, it will be more interesting emptied.
If it is empty, it will be more interesting full.
If it is a pile of dirt, it must be laid upon.
If it is stroller, it must under no circumstances be ridden in without protest.
It must be pushed by me instead.
If it has a flat surface, it must be banged upon.
If Mommy’s hands are full, I must be carried.
If Mommy is in a hurry and wants to carry me, I must walk alone.
If it is paper, it must be torn.
If it has buttons, they must be pressed.
If the volume is low, it must go high.
If it is toilet paper, it must be unrolled on the floor.
If it is a drawer, it must be pulled upon.
If it is a toothbrush, it must be inserted into my mouth.
If it has a faucet, it must be turned on at full force.
If it is a phone, I must talk to it.
If it is a bug, it must be swallowed.
If it doesn’t stay on my spoon, it must be dropped on the floor.
If it is not food, it must be tasted.
If it IS food, it must not be tasted.
If it is dry, it must be made wet with drool, milk, or toilet water.
If it is a carseat, it must be protested with arched back.
If it is Mommy, it must be hugged.
I am toddler!
– author unknown

Feeding the ducks with Nana.

Last sunday was a beautiful morning and Nana came to visit.
We went to the park and fed the ducks, boys rode their bikes and everyone had a great time.





















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Jumping castle

For those that don't remember, we bought the boys a jumping castle for their 2nd birthday.
We talked about hiring one for the party, but decided it was only twice the price to buy one that we could use time and time again. We have used it about 6 times in the last year, and the boys love it. They have finally gotten tall enough, with enough upper body strength to climb the wall up to the slide.

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Swimming lessons again!

I still really love swimming lessons. We are still seeing great progress every week. Today they swam further than ever before, Ethan back floated his best ever and their teacher is really focusing on getting them to turn around to the wall when they fall in. They made great progress again today.

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