New Years Goals

It's that time of year again ;-) On New Years day I sat down to reflect over the last year and contemplate last year's goals. I'm happy to say that we managed to do most of them except plumbing our toilet and washing machine into water tanks, and getting new fruit trees.

I love how far I've come with my knitting and I loved our first "real" holiday with Little B in South Australia.

So here is my list for 2011:

* increase the number of our veggie beds again (we'd like to have 8)

* since I didnt get any new fruit trees last year, I'd like to add an apricot and plum tree this year

* to expand on and improve my sewing skills

* make more of my own and Little B's clothes

* preserve more food (home grown and store bought)

* to keep improving my health

My word for this year is "Enjoy"...

* I'm going to enjoy my last year as a stay at home mum
* I'm going to enjoy my sewing and knitting
* I'm going to enjoy spending more time in the garden
* I'm going to enjoy more time with Mr B (thanks to his new part time job)

I've decided that this year I am going to enjoy more simple pleasures, more colour, and investigate my arty side.

2010 was not the best year for us, so we are looking forward to the changes and adventures that 2011 will bring :-)

Today you are 4

Four years ago today, a cheeky monkey was born...

My darling child - I admire your kindness and your compassion for others.

I couldnt live without your wicked sense of humour, your laughter and your cuddles.

I thought I had the most full and interesting life and then you came along, and improved it ten fold. You have bought me the most amazing highs, lows, joys, challenges and passion for life. And you add the most amazing colour to both Mr B and my lives.

As you tell me daily - you are my big boy now but you have and will always be such a beautiful physical representation of my heart xxx

“Making the decision to have a child - It's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”- Elizabeth Stone

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  Inspired by soulemama

 

 

Peace, love & happiness

Dancing be the heart within us,
Open be our souls to bliss,
Courage vanquish every shadow,
Greet Midsummer with a kiss.

- from Celtic Devotional - Daily Prayers & Blessings 

Wishing you all lots of peace, love and happiness at this special time of year. May you be merry, full of joy and playfulness during this Christmas holiday time in whatever form you celebrate.

  A kindy Xmas gift from Little B to us

Puddings anyone?

 Picture courtesy of www.bbcgoodfood.com **

One of my favourite things about Christmas Day is our family tradition of ice cream puddings. Granny B used to make them but for the last 9 years, it has been my contribution. In the week before Christmas, I make our own ice cream with my trusty Krups ice cream maker. I then tailor make the pudding to the individual...my brother loves home-made honeycomb and chocolate, Mr B loves traditional pudding (which I crumble and fold through), Granny B loves berries and the list goes on.

When we have extended family or friends for Christmas Day, I cater to what they like (if I know) or I like to make something light and fresh. I love making fresh cherry and dark chocolate...yummo :-)

Before Little B was born we used store bought ice cream, and for the last 3 years I've made rice milk ice cream puddings. This year I'm using Rhonda's recipe for simple vanilla ice cream. Not only was it simple but it is so creamy and absolutely divine!! Bonus is we trialled the ice cream on Little B and no allergic reaction - yay!!!! :-)

** I would love to show a pic of ours put they are in the freezer getting ready for Christmas Day LOL

a tv free childhood

After reading the comments on Meagan’s lovely post “a tv free childhood” over at ecoMILF, I thought I’d write about what we do during poison hour / crafting / day to day since we don’t use TV as an entertainment form for Little B.

I’ve slowly been acclimatising Little B to my crafting / knitting during out days together. It’s not uncommon to find me perched on the edge of the sandpit / or ensconced in a chair next to it knitting while he plays and we chat together.

When I want to do short bursts of sewing, this is what Little B does:

He loves beading at his little table near me. It’s that or threading or building big Lego towers.

During poison / impossible hour which always falls while I’m cooking dinner *sigh*, I’ve got a revolving repertoire of play dough, painting or cutting. This is all done at a table in our kitchen as he’s keen to be near me. I also play a poison hour soundtrack that we have put together which keeps both he and I calm and happy.

But these are obviously things I do with an almost 4 year old. When he was smaller, I didn’t craft during the day, but for poison hour I put a big chalk board on the floor of the kitchen and let him draw. Or I would give him a bowl with crushed ice to play with.

Other great hits were two sets of magnets (dinosaurs, alphabet) that I rotated for him to play with on the fridge. And some photos he could rearrange all over the fridge in magnetic protective covers. Banging pots and pans and emptying the bottom shelf of my pantry was another big fave :-)

And when he was littler again, I wore him in an Ergo backpack and we used to sing and dance while I cooked. I was also best-friends with my slow cooker :-)

I love Christy’s idea of bags that only come out during this time period with toys that don’t see often that rotate. If Little B was younger I would have tried this option.

Audiobooks play a huge role in our lives as well. Little B loves to listen to stories and this gives us periods of down time during the day. His current favs are Paddington at Christmas and Jack & the Beanstalk. But our collection ranges from Fireman Sam to Winnie the Pooh to Dr Suess. These are really good when he is sick or confined to the house due to crappy weather.

As one of my favourite kids books says “everybody is different”, so this post isn’t to make you feel guilty if you use TV in your house, instead I hope it gives you some ideas, so that TV isn’t the first or only port of call as you play out your days together with your little ones.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  Inspired by soulemama