Icecream

You know the weather is warming up when ice blocks make an appearance. Jambin finished his so fast I couldn't grab a photo of him.

Planting strawberries

I have a bit of a brown thumb. No really, once I killed a cactus. Several aloe veras, African violets, and a silver queen indoor plant arrived in the great Plant Heaven after receiving my careful ministrations.

So it seems somewhat strange that I have decided that I need to start growing my own food. I have delusions visions of a lush paradise in my own backyard, verdant and healthy, in which I can wander through picking fresh, yummy, organic produce straight off the vine and popping it into my mouth.

And the first step to fulfilling this wonderful vision was the planting of 2 strawberry plants of the Nellie Kelly" variety (purchased at the advice of a random employee from Bunnings). Hopefully I can keep them alive long enough for the army of snails in our backyard to sample some of the fruit when it appears. Wish me luck!

Adventures on a Tuesday

We started the morning by making a fresh batch of bright green playdough:


We poked it:

And rolled it:


And cut it:



Then we did some cutting and sticking (aka wrapping up shoelaces in brown paper):




Then we went to see the ducks at Sydney Park:





And then went to play in the sandpit:

Our grumpy girl

This sweet girl of mine did NOT want to have her picture taken with her Nanna.
She is 15 months old in these photos. Still not walking or talking, but she has a doting older brother to do those things for her.

A touch of knitting

A few things that have kept my fingers warm over the past few wintery months:

Darcy's First Birthday

Cupcakes for afternoon tea:



Lots of lovely presents:


And a roast for dinner:


And she celebrated by walking for the first time just before birthday bedtime. What a sweet little girl we have been blessed with.

A fine motor / pre-scissors-skills activity

Just so that I feel like I'm using my OT education in some way, I set up this Montessori-inspired transferring activity for Jambin, using a silicon muffin tray, a set of plastic kiddie chopsticks, and M&M's. Initially I tried the activity with pom poms, but Jambin was less than impressed. Motivation was SO much higher when chocolate was involved.

Mr Potato Head - in chocolate!!

Feeding the Easter bunny

A well-timed encounter with a bunny, just a few days before Easter, while having a morning tea with some lovely ladies from my antenatal class.

Royal National Park, Sydney

Last weekend we continued our exploration and discovery of the place we now call home, and found ourselves at a lovely little place called Garie Beach, within the Royal National Park. It's a surf beach, but there were some gorgeous litle shallows where the kids enjoyed splashing in the water. I did a bit of paddling, but enjoyed digging my toes into the sand while I knitted.