YooHoo! Tooth Fairy!

This is the pose and facial expression that Turtle wanted me to capture as he celebrates the loss of yet another one of his babyteeth. (he's holding the tooth but it's not very visible)

I loved this

School holiday fun

This post has been a while coming, but during the school holiday I didn't seem to get my head around it. We had a great holiday. It was wonderful to have a rest from the schoolruns and sports training. We enjoyed long leisurely mornings when all the kids came in for a snuggle until the hungerpangs became too strong to ignore.

The cousins managed to get together - this only happens a couple of times of year, and so it's great when we can manage it. They are all very close in age and play beautifully together.

I am very happy for their fun relationship since I grew up without a single cousin. I am from a country with a birthrate of 1.4. (This made me 1 and my brother 0.4 I suppose...... :)

But, I digress..

The Powerhouse Museum was a big hit as well. We had lots of fun pushing buttons, pulling levers and seeing some fun exhibits. Afterwards LP declard that she wants to have 2 jobs when she grows up. She wants to be a teacher and a builder. Apparently the hardhat, wheelbarrows and crane in Zoe's playhouse inspired her.

The most favourite activity was the visits to the BMX track. The last time we went we had told LP she was not allowed on it until her training wheels were off. Since then we hadn't been there and then there was the broken elbow. But literally within hours of the cast coming off, the bikes were loaded into the car. (though I'm not sure that was what the orthopaedic surgeon had recommended for the recovery).

In the first shot, I thought Doodlebug was actually going to do a forward flip, but thankfully the rear wheel made contact with the ground again.

Jake also enjoyed running on the bumps.

Turtle bread

Turtle is Mr Carb.... he loves his pasta, potatoes and bread. He's not too fond of the stuff that goes with the carbs, like sauces, vegetables or sandwich fillings and will eat things plain. So when I made breadrolls I thought I'd better make one a little more exciting since it was going to be eaten on its own. And so the Turtle roll came to be......
it had a very short life......

Trainspotting

A blast from the past for MOTH and one very excited and happy Turtle as MOTH's old trainset was unearthed in the attic. Since Turtle is the keenest train-fan of the younger generation he will take possession of it (or at least get to share it with MOTH.....). Turtle has plans of mountains, tunnels and buildings while MOTH is busy planning the electronic gadgetry like controllers. Between the two of them with their limitless imagination and electronic know-how (and not to mention Mummy's papier-mache expertise.....), they will eventually transform this bit of MDF and track into something quite exciting!

constructive play

Today after soccer Doodlebug had Best Buddy over for a play. Being kindred spirits they spent a considerable time playing on their Nintendo DS'es and then online at "Club Penguin" before I confiscated all electronic gadgetry and sent them outside to play.

Doodlebug, BB and Turtle went to the top of the garden to construct a "base" for their activities, and they had a great time doing what I love to see the most... imaginative and creative play.

It seems that they have so many opportunities to attach themselves to screens of various types, making room and time for unstructured imaginative play sadly requires conscious effort. It seems like a contradiction, doesn't it, to consciously arrange unstructured play..... But I would love for my children to have a balance in everything.

I'm amazed.... simply amazed

I didn't watch "Australia's got talent", but caught a glimpse of the Grand Final when this young man was playing. Blew me away, that's all I can say!! Very worthy winner of the competition, I thought.