Lumpy and I.

Toddler water play

2016-11-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

The weather is heating up! Summer is just around the corner and I have a very active 2year old, who likes to be busy and doing things all the time. I needed something to keep her entertained and cooling off.
A plastic "baby" water play table and a face washer = a good 30 minutes of baby washing and care. 2.0 decided to wash her dinosaurs and sea shells instead. Needless to say she ended up saturated and stayed cooled.
Such an easy activity that keeps her entertained and I got to have a coffee in peace while sitting outside supervising. I know she loved the activity because I found her sitting next to the dog water bowl with her baby and washed just yesterday!!! 😝

Halloween party food

2016-10-29T12:03:00.003-07:00

Miss Lumpy had a Halloween party to attend with her Girl Guide unit this week- where it was bring a plate to share. I may have gone a little crazy on Pinterest and found a few things I wanted to make!
I managed to control myself and only make 3 things.. Lumpy was so impressed, she said "Thank you for your hard work making all this awesome food"

- White chocolate strawberry Ghosts,
- Witches broom sticks
- Oreo spiders!

I will give a quick instruction how to do each of them.

First up the Broom sticks

You will need

- Cheese stringer/sticks

- Pretzels

-Chives

Cut your stringer cheese stick in to 3 pieces, Leaving space at the top (about a finger width) string up the bottom parts to look like a broom. Stick the pretzel in - not too far or the stringer will break (also why we don't pull the strings too far) make ribbons from your chives (I got 3 or 4 from each chive)

Next the chocolate strawberry Ghosts-

You will need-

-Melting white chocolate

- Strawberries

- Edible gel pen

- Mini m&m's for eyes

Melt your white chocolate in your preferred method. While that is melting get some baking paper and line a tray, remove all the green from your washed and dried strawberries.

Dip the strawberries into the white chocolate, don't remove the excess, let it make the tail of the ghost, While the chocolate it still wet, add the mini m&m's, once they are set draw on the mouth. refrigerate until needed.

Next up- Oreo spider

You will need

- Mini Oreos

- Lolly laces or liquorice

- Mini m&m's

- Small amount of melted white chocolate for the eyes to stick

Open you oreos - you will need to keep the sides with the filling, the plain side isn't needed for this (but can be cursed up and used for dirt for any other treat's you'e making). Cut 4 lengths of lolly lace, to the length you want the legs, and place the across the Oreo filling (so one length will do 2 legs) do this 3 more times. Then place another filling side of the Oreo on the top to hold them all together.
With a small dab of white chocolate on the top add two m&m's for eyes and let set.

ENJOY! 3 easy and relatively inexpensive Halloween party treats!

Christmas decorations!!!

2016-10-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

Pretty sure it's no secret how much I love Christmas. So, I was pinteresting away looking at lots and lots of ideas on things to make and do for Christmas.
I saw a cute little frame with a glitter reindeer (Original here) and I decided to give it a try!
I checked a few departments stores and cheap stores but was unable to find the glittery reindeer. So I decided to make my own! It was a very quick and easy activity, Lumpy will be able to do some with me. Also considering we had most of the supplies it was also very cheap and I am pretty impressed with the end result!

Supplies required -
Photo frame of your preferred size (I used a spare I had)
Printed silhouette of reindeer (I did a few different designs so I could see which I like best)
Paint and glitter in colours- I went with silver and blue colour theme - (already had these also, well Imade do with a lighter blue paint)
Backing paper/card - I went with silver wrapping paper we already had, however the next one I want to make, I think I will use card in the colour.
Glue that dries clear

Gather supplies

Once you cut out your preferred silhouette, give it a coat of paint.

While the paint is still wet, sprinkle with our glitter (once dry you may need to touch up a few spots to get even cover)

Glue on to backing paper once dry (I didn't get a photo of this step), and pop into frame. I left the glass and boarder on.
I think I will do an A4 sized one for this space. As much as I love Christmas I wont be leaving this set up! it will go away with the other decorations until 1st December

Somerset Dam

2016-10-17T12:08:00.002-07:00

I was lucky enough to have a day off on the weekend, so we decided to have a drive somewhere localish and have a BBQ picnic. We decided on Somerser Dam, we had not been as a family and neither one of us could remember going more than once as a kid (a loooooooooong, looooong time ago).
We went to the Lake Somerset The Spit day use area - we really didn't know where exactly we wanted to go so just drove there and picked somewhere!
There were lots and lots of undercover tables and chairs, there were lots of BBQs (some were a set of two to share between a few of the covered areas). They were all very clean and well maintained. There was an area to swim, a boat ramp, a play ground, lots of open space to run around. There was a food van/truck there also (cash only).
Now to the serious stuff. The amenities.
There is 1 block of toilets. Lumpy, at the age of 6.5, had her first encounter with long drop/pit toilets. She was not happy "MUM, these toilets are broken! they go down a long way" then afterwards she walks out and says "I prefer electricity and running water"!!!
We had a small play/splash around in the water however it was a little too cold to go all in.
A great day was had by all, we stopped at the Somerset General Store on the way out to have an ice cream on the deck (they take card and cash). The blisters I got from doing the monkey bars and climbing wall with the girls have now settled.

Playgroup!

2016-10-11T17:17:00.002-07:00

Something I never did with Lumpy, mostly because I had a lot of friends with babies/toddlers/children the same age- both friends and mothers group through the health centre, was join a Playgroup, I looked at them but never signed up or attended. With having a 4.5year gap between Lumpy and 2.0 and not many friends with babies at the same time, I found I needed to find something to help socialise not only 2.0 but me too.
We have been attending Playgroup during the school year this year, we love it! There is always so many things set up - some crafts, play dough, puzzles at the tables, on the floor there are play kitchens, dress ups, dolls, a clothes line and pegs, some blocks, cars or other transport activity for the children to play with to their hearts content. There is also some other activities, this week was an obstacle course. 2.0 loved it. It was the first time she actually went through the tunnel and discovered how much fun they can be.
There are other children of a variety of ages and after a play and afternoon tea, they do some songs and listen to a story.
I am glad I gave it a go and have met some wonderful parents and grandparents and 2.0 has more people to interact with.
to find your nearest play group click here

Glow sticks and balloons!

2016-10-06T02:19:00.000-07:00

My girls are obsessed with balloons and glow sticks at the moment. 2.0 especially has been playing with balloons every day - Balloon play is fantastic for gross motor skill development (kicking, throwing, catching) and I have noticed they also helping with colour recognition. While glow sticks are fun but I haven't found any benefits developmental benefits, I did find a heap of uses for doomsday prepping though, that's a whole new blog though. Anyway, we had some friends over for a play date and decided to try putting the glow sticks inside the balloons (let me tell you, it's easier in theory than in practise!). It's safe to say the kids enjoyed themselves. and once the balloons popped, we used the glow sticks in the bubble bath.
Photographing balloons with glow stick, in the dark, is very tricky. I apologise for the poor quality photos.

Supplies needed -
Ballons
glow sticks (we used both the thin and thick ones, the thin were easier to slip in after the balloon was inflated, the thick ones were brighter though)
A dark room or night time :)

Hervey Bay road trip and camping!

2016-10-02T00:05:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned once or twice before - I am all about making memories on a budget. So with this in mind, for the second week of school holidays I took the girls camping in Hervey Bay, we stayed here.
Torquay Beachfront Caravan Park the facilities were very clean, they had multiple camp kitchens (microwave, kettle and locked fridge), the sites were flat and big (though we had a very small set up) right on the beach. There is a park just next door for the kids (and a few more along the esplanade), cafes, convenience stores and restaurants in walking distance, It's a small drive to the water park (info), Urangan Pier and other wonder things to see and do. We spent most of our time down on the beach, between the flags, in the stunning water. It was calm/no waves and very small child friendly.

Lumpy was very impressed and said it was a great trip! 2.0 keeps asking to go back to the beach for a swim. I'm going total that as wins and that the trip was a success.

As I was the only driver with a 2 and 6 year old, we had a few stops along the way - or as Lumpy said "More adventure stops". Including the Mary Poppins statue and story trail in Maryborough, the birth place of P.L Travers. We also stopped at the Bauple museum which had a lovely fenced playground to let the kids stretch their legs and burn off energy.... Ok, yes, I did do the slide. Only twice.

Our small set up!

There is a stunning Lagoon and Tea Garden not too far in the car from where we stayed - the coffee was pretty good! https://www.arkarra.com.au

Mary Poppins statue!

Play ground at Bauble museum

Wet road trip!

2016-09-30T00:22:00.000-07:00

It's school holidays here at the moment, I managed to have a couple of days off mid week and wanted to do something different, new, exciting with the girls. Last week the annual Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers (info) was on. I decided to take the girls to check it out - I've always wanted to go but never got around to it, what better excuse for a girls trip, right? I had two excited girls to go on a road trip and spend the night away... except we woke up on the day and it was raining, it had been raining in Toowoomba and surrounds for a few days. I decided we would still go and hope the rain eased off so we could still see something. It didn't. So we went and got some wet weather gear and were determined to go and enjoy the flowers and events. It was like magic, we put the raincoats and gumboots on and the rain eased up and then stopped!
Of course the most exciting part for the girls were the puddles, 2.0 may as well not have worn her boots and coat because she was absolutely saturated! nothing a warm shower and pyjamas didn't fix.

On the way home we decided to take adventure and drive the scenic route, which took us to the Darling Downs Zoo (info) which I have to be honest and say, I had no idea it existed!

Lumpy and 2.0 had a great time feeding the animals, and being able to touch them. 2.0 was the perfect height to be in the firing line for the emu's so we had to be careful around them - those beaks are huge.

Water and ice play

2016-09-28T16:46:00.000-07:00

Temperatures in the high 30°c range make it very unpleasant for the small people.
Before work I make some coloured water in a dinosaur mould and put in the freezer. Thinking the girls. Would love a play after school / daycare to cool down.
Lumpy loved playing with (and eating) coloured ice dinosaurs, 2.0 was not so sure! She was fine with just the water but not the added ice. After playing with the water and ice Lumpy went off to play on the swings and 2.0 played with some shaving foam.

(I just found this draft from March 2015! so will publish now!)

WOW, I've been neglectful!

2016-09-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

So, I just realised there has been a loooooong time between posts!

Lumpy is now 6.5 - Loving school, loves reading, loving the Harry Potter series and is quiet an independent and strong willed little person.

2.0 - is now 2.25 - loving to sing (especially wheels on the bus, at 930pm), loving exploring the world, and is very opinionated on all things "mine.

I will try and do some more posts over the next few days of our adventures and happenings!

<3 p="" see="" soon="" you="">(I hope)

whoops!

2015-03-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

Goodness, I got so busy with Christmas, getting Lumpy organised for starting SCHOOL! (where did my baby go?!), getting 2.0 ready for daycare part time and getting me organised for the return to work that I haven't done a post in a long time.

Firstly - Lumpy is a absolutely loving school. She takes her homework very seriously (even waving it under my nose if I have to get dinner in the oven before we sit to do it). She has taken to writing whenever she can - need your meal plan written out? Ask Lumps, Need a shopping list? Ask Lumps. I do miss my days with her :(, but good news is it is almost easter school holidays!

Secondly - 2.0 is loving day care and is incredibly mobile and active. She is always into something (mostly the plastics drawer in the kitchen or the coffee table drawers or removing the entire content from my hand bag to locate my keys) All while still smiling, a very happy little girl. Learning, smiling, being cheeky. tat seems to be her day <3 p="">
I will be sure to post some more regular posts again. have a great weekend.

Our first week with Elf on the shelf

2014-12-06T19:37:00.002-08:00

We have had our first week of the elf on the shelf! What a fun week we have had!

On the first morning, we met our elf, Lumpy gave her a name "Hatty". I have had so much fun helping Hatty get up to mischief. Lumpy has loved running around looking for her. After the sElfies, she asked why Hatty had tags. WHOOPS. I said - Maybe she hasn't decided if she will stay here yet. The next morning she asked me to help her look for tags (Hatty was baking and up the back of the bench), the tags were gone. One very excite Lumpy.

A little unsure meeting her elf!

Hatty doing some sElfies!

Hatty making a mess while cooking!

The locals were not impressed with Hatty making a mess

Hatty and Ken got married. - whiteboard marker does not come off the rougher surface at the back of the car easily.

Hatty and Tinkerbell having out in the fairy garden.

Playing scrabble with Elsa and Thor! what a great Saturday night.

Corn chips!

2014-12-02T15:46:00.001-08:00

Lumpy was looking through a cook book and found a 'recipe' for home made corn chips. Of course this was then followed by - Let's make chips!.
Great idea. As soon as 2.0 went for her nap we go ou corn chip making on.

Things you need -
Corn tortilla
Oil
Salt
Lumpy wanted cheesey ones so we used parmesan on half.

Cut tortilla into triangles. Lay in a single layer on a lined tray.
Brush with oil (our pastry brush is MIA so we used a clean paint brush!)
Salt/flavouring sprinkled on.

Bake at 180° fan forced oven for 10 minutes. We did a little longer and had a crispy darker chip).

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2014-11-30T09:42:00.001-08:00

It's 330 am on the first of December. I was up feeding 2.0 and getting a little excited about Christmas. In about 2 hours Lumpy will wake up and check her advent calendar bag and find a cool pair of Christmas socks. She will then go downstairs to have breakfast and meet the newest member of the family, our elf on the shelf.

Our tree went up yesterday as today is a Monday and there is work and kindy. Lights and outdoor decor went out yesterday too.

Well, I fell back asleep after 2.0 was back to bed. So I now have photos of Lumpy meeting her elf, who she has named Hatty. She LOVED the Christmas socks and will wear them to kindy today!

Photo memory board

2014-11-22T03:14:00.001-08:00

While out shopping today I saw I canvas photo board which looked great. The price tag did not.
I wanted to get one as a Christmas gift for my mum, but the larger the canvas tbh e larger the price. It looked fairly simple so I thought I'd give it a go on a smaller scale.
Supplies
Canvas
String/twine/ribbon
Staple gun
Paint (optional)
Small pegs
Photos, keepsakes, quotes, awards

I painted my trial run blue. I did a few different layouts to see which way and how many rows I wanted.

Remember to make the string a little loose to be able to fit a peg in but not too loose as it will sag and hang.

I found being slightly out with sides being even ok as the string moved to look straight.

Miss Lumpy will be pretty excited in the morning when she sees her photo memory board.

Homemade Christmas decorations

2014-11-22T00:53:00.001-08:00

We have bought new tree ornaments for this Christmas, meaning we have a few (or a heap) spare ones. We have spare craft jars, an easy but effective combination. Add a very excited Lumpy and you have a great activity to make a centre piece or hall stand decoration for the festive season.

All you need is -
Jars
Old tree ornaments
An eager child.

Baby sensory board

2014-11-19T17:52:00.001-08:00

As you know, I am a lover of sensory play. I also believe children are never too young for sensory play. The more senses engaged in an activity the better.

I made a sensory board for 2.0 today. Lots of colours for sight, textures for touch, some of them made noises for sound (bubble wrap is crinkly and the bumpy cardboard makes noises when touched), and the feathers were eaten (though taste wasn't a sense I had in mind for the board).

Some children and babies do not cope well with too much stimulus so adjust the amount of items on your board to suit your child.

You can use anything as the base -cardboard (strong), an old tray I used an old tile that was spare.

A hot glue gun to glue it all down

Craft supplies (Sorry Lumpy I owe you a few top ups)

****** Even though the items are glued down, there is a chance they could still come off. Close parental supervision is required

Water & ice baby sensory play

2014-11-17T21:34:00.001-08:00

It is getting very hot here in Brisbane. It is only the end of spring. Miss 2.0 is not keen on the heat. A simple and easy sensory activity that also kept her cool was to make a splash tray. Here is all you need to make your own.

A shallow non breakable tray (can you high chair tray instead)
Small amount of water room temperature
Ice.

the ice melted pretty quickly in the heat, it left some nice cold water.

Water & oil

2014-11-10T01:47:00.001-08:00

After making another batch of cloud sand on the weekend, Lumpy asked what else we could mix oil with.
I set up this simple task - water, food colouring and cooking oil.
I asked her what she thought would happen. She was certain there would be an explosion.
She was rather disappointed at first then pretty impressed the oil could stay separate to the water.
Tomorrow we will add dish liquid to it.

Frozen inspired ribbon wind sock

2014-11-09T20:08:00.002-08:00

My sister in law planted the seed of a ribbon wind sock in my head a few weeks back. I saw hers this weekend and the blues reminded me of Frozen dress/merchandise colours.
I wanted to make one! My original plan was for Lumpy to make a rainbow one to hang outside for her and 2.0. LThe frozen inspiration part made me decide to do it as a surprise.
Off to the shops I went searching for blues and silver or white ribbon. I looked for a single snowflake Christmas decoration, this was unsuccessful. Is found a back of 6 baubles that were white with silver snowflakes.
I went to a second hand shop and found a bell and some pretty Christmas decorations for 50cents for the lot!

I used -

* Covered wire (I have also seen people use embroidery hoops)

* 3 lots of ribbon

* Binding

* Decorations (had to be fairly light as the wire isn't the strongest)- optional

* A ring to hang the finished sock

* Hot glue gun

* something to hang the decorations - like fishing line

Supplies ready to go. I used 3 different ribbons - all blue but different width, colour and patterns/textures. i had a selection of decorations bug only used a couple.

I did two loops of wire, Covered with the binding for strength and glued into place.

I precut my ribbon to the length I wanted. Hot glued them on in single ribbons. You can also twist them on so it's two pieces together.

The ring to hang it from the ceiling

Bell. I didn't want anything too noisy.

Now to pick up Lumpy and see if she notices it hanging from her ceiling!!

DIY light box

2014-11-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

I have wanted a light box for Lumpy for a long, long time. The price tag always put me off. I looked up DIY so I could make a light box. However was put off by perspex and wood frame making. Fast forward a year (or 2 or 3), I revisited the DIY light box. I discovered that all I really needed was - a white or clear box, white paper, tape, foil and a light source!! We had an old small camping lantern that we took the casing off. All supplies we have at home, no need to buy anything. Other light source ideas included - christmas light strings, the battery operated tea light candles, small led lights.

I put foil all around the sides and bottom of the box, to project the light upwards. My husband put the foil over the light so it wasn't concentrated in one place and dispersed around the box to bounce off the foil and up. I did use some tape on the foil to hold it in place. Tape white paper to the lid. I used normal printer A4 paper.

A quick test shot.

I put an old sheet and some black fabric over Lumpy's play tent, set up the light box and a few items to put on the lid - water beads, buttons, some craft beads and a few marbles

Prompt to play

playing with the buttons

Marbles!

Waterbeads.

Baby play

2014-10-31T18:33:00.001-07:00

Those who know me, know I LOVE sensory play for kids and infants. Lets confess, I love getting my hands in on shaving foam and goey messy play. After a huge Pintrest feeding session yesterday, I found a heap of cool ideas for baby sensory play!! I took some of those ideas and used what I had on hand :)

Miss 2.0 has been out of sorts and feeding a lot the last 24 or so hours, making getting stuff done hard. This morning I reallllllly needed to clean my floor, However 2.0 wasn't happy to play on the floor without me. While I am a true believer in "the dishes can wait while I show the kids the rainbow, the rainbow won't wait while I do the dishes", my floors were realllllly in need of a vacuum.
Anyway, I did see baby playing in a box. So I figured I'd find a box (Anyone who knows my husband knows we have a box or two around the house), But some soft blocks in and pop 2.0 in and moved her around the house while I did the floors. I think the picture speaks for itself!
I really, really love how determined she is at trying to grab things, The concentration on her face is priceless, and then the title "victory" noises she makes melt my heart!

We still have a lot of water beads left, so when i saw on pinterest people making sensory bags and bottles for babies, I decided to use the water beads.

You can just use a snap lock bag, I got this slightly stronger bag with purchase so used that. I reinforced the seal with clear packing tape. I did not add any gel/soap/water to the bag as the beads have quiet a good squishability and movement as is.
The water bottle I decided to not add a liquid first, purely for weight 2.0 is only 4.5 months old and I just learning to hold things, i didn't want her to drop a full/partially full bottle on herself, plus it would add weight. I will add a liquid when she is bigger so the movement of the beads is altered. Clear packing tape around the lid also.
I used clear packing tape for 2 reasons - 1) It doesn't take focus off the beads and 2) we have lots of it.

Please excuse the Brisbane Baby Uniform of a nappy and nothing else!

They were fascinating from the start!

Giving them a poke, she actually got cranky when they kept moving away from her hand.

She was fascinated in this when i was holding it and shaking it. Once she had it, it became food.

I'm already working through a few ideas for next time!

Iron balls take 1

2014-10-29T20:34:00.001-07:00

So I'm a non red meat (or pig or emu or crocodile) eating, breastfeeding Mumma. I've always had issues with my iron. I can generally keep my iron stable and need to take tablets at times of stress, big workloads or pregnant/breastfeeding.

Anyway, I was looking for iron boosting snacks.

***** Please note, if you suspect low iron, consult your doctor before attempting to treat it.
****** Please note, this is not medical advice, this is a recipe for getting more iron into MY diet. Which I am sharing for others to try as a snack.
******* Chickpeas can cause excess wind in some people, so use caution if breastfeeding. ... or going on a road trip in a full car.

Google gave me some ideas on what to eat - 100grams of chickpeas 6.2mg... YUM chickpeas.. right? !?

So I decided to make chickpea balls with some other iron containing foods

So here is my recipe for.
iron balls take 1

200 grams chickpeas (tinned, rinsed very very well) 12.4mg iron
50 g dried dates 0.5mg iron
15 g cacao 2.2mg iron
Honey
Blitzed up oats

Blend the dates and chickpeas until all combined and sticking together
Mix in honey to your taste.
I found it a little too moist so added some blitzed up oats (diy quick oats )
Roll into balls. I made 10 biggish balls, so roughly 1.5mg iron per ball.

I have a sweet tooth so I dipped my balls into melted chocolate and refrigerated. You could try rolling in coconut or chocolate sprinkles.
Store in fridge

A few things I will do different next time
1 use apricots instead of dates (slightly higher iron)
2 refrigerate the mix for 30-60 minutes before rolling/ dipping as they became very sticky towards the end (could also be the brisbane heat ;))
3 I may add peanut butter.

You could also add any protein/superfood/nutrient powders you take.

This was the first time I have worked with cacao.... no one warned me how strong the flavour is!!

Miss Lumpy enjoyed the bowl!

Lumpy and I make brownies

2014-10-24T17:21:00.001-07:00

My love of peanut butter and nutella are no secret.
So when I found this recipe, I had to try and modify it.
recipe here

Amazingly good brownies!!!!
I added nutella at the end and swirled it through.

As I'm sure I've mentioned before I like to bake with Lumpy so she learns measures and fractions. It also builds confidence (because anyone who has met Lumpy knows she needs more confidence ;)).

Clean up is important!

Baby ball play

2014-10-24T15:46:00.001-07:00

Lumpy had a play date at an indoor play centre yesterday. Of course when at this types of places, I'm redundant. So I decided to put 2.0 in the ball pit of the baby section . She loved it. Laughed, ate balls, just chilled.

So this morning I dug out Lumpy ' s old balls and put them inside the play tent for 2.0.

There was lots of rolling, talking and eating of the balls again.

She is doing very well with her grabbing and holding. It is so cute watching her tea and coordinate both hands to hold one thing ♡.

Lumpy was not impressed as there was not enough balls for her to jump in like at the play centre!