origami boats

Inspired by this image from pinterest

Here's some instructions:  http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-boat.html

outside salon

Needed for girly fun:

A sunny day

A back or front yard

a Mum or other grown up

a rug

nail polish

A big pillow

A little (old) pillow 

Proof that more often than not it's the simple wee things that bring our kids the most happiness.

p.s I know that no toes aren't that pretty- especially her " I've been playing outside all day in bare feet' ones- but I love them all the same

story stones

Our recent trip to the Rangitata river mouth meant that we could finally make some of these story stones (I've been wanting to for a while0. They're a great idea for fostering creativity, language development and thinking skills.

Using these, children associate imagination and illustrations. They're perfect for our wee man who starts school in Feburary and for our girl who are both great 'talkers'.

The idea is to pull one stone out at a time and make up a story using the images as prompts. Kids ( and parents) do this until the story reaches its natural conclusion. I have always loved storytelling. I like the idea of helping children visualize a story- instead of waiting for a tv show to do it for them!). 

My step dad read the Hobbit to me when I was 10. I still remember how my Gollum and Bilbo looked and I was fascinated when the films came out. I got to see how someone else had imagined them and how they compared to mine. I absolutely LOVE the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films and I think this and my memories of being read to are part of the reasons why.

Here's our stones. We made up 15 with me drawing the the kids doing the painting. Nana Wellington ( my mum) has made us a few drawstring bags, one of these will be perfect to store them in.

they painted and when dry I added details

all done!

my faves, love M's ladybird and T's growly bear

seedling kite kit

This post is abut a fantastic gift that T got for his birthday ( available here for $29.00). It ticked all the boxes for him art ( painting on the design using plain and glittery fabric paints), building ( constructing the kite) and fun- flying it!

The perfect present for a girl or boy aged 5- 10.

 

dinosaur

dad and an alien were painted on the other side

hut happiness

We spent a night at the family hut on New Years eve. It's near the Rangitata river mouth about half an hour South of Ashburton. We love it there. Being near the sea is such a good feeling and it's a lovely stoney beach that always has lots of driftwood of different shapes and sizes.

We've been visiting the hut since the kids we small enough to have a bath in the laundry sink, a kind of tradition for the littlies.

Every New Year they light a bonfire on the beach. Last year I 'saved' 6 bentwood chairs for being burnt on it. This year I swear I saw one of these go on it! But I was too late.

On New Years day there is a community day with a best dog competition, chocolate wheels, raffles, a bouncy castle, kid's running races and the very strange Master and Miss Rangitata. This involves the kids walking in a circle in the front of a randomly chosen judge to see if they get given the prize ( T took out Master this year because apparently he looked cute doing this while also trying to hide behind a bigger boy ).

The river is deep and fast but if we're lucky we find small lagoons to swim in. If it's hot ( and it gets really hot there) nana gets the paddling pool and hose out : ).

Behind the hut ( which is called Do drop In) is a huge paddock which is great for kite flying and rabbit spotting at dusk or dawn.

Many of the huts are circa 1960-70, with everything them being from the same era. The hut beside the family's is painted pink! Most are small but with everything you might need. Some people live there full time so there's S's hut that has a phone and X's that has sky tv.

There's often a bit of drama around staying at the hut too. One year my nephew decided he was going to be born 5 weeks early and last year we got flooded out and had to wake and move the children in the middle of the night in knee deep water!

The camping ground is right behind the hut so this Waitangi weekend we're going back for 2 nights with our tent and taking some friends and their families with us.

New Year bonfire

The heat from it is amazing

We find things like a stone that looks like hokey pokey icecream : )

 a Rhino

and a long sharp sword!

run T run!

the next morning we found the bonfire still going- marshmellows for breakfast???

making with dad

M, T and dad spent much of a Saturday morning making these together. It was so sweet listening to them chat about what they could use for each part. T made a crocodile that we used as a table decoration for his birthday party table.

I'm not sure what M will do with her 50cm high multi-coloured wooden doll, we'll see : )

all painted up- VERY creative! lol