MY HANDSOME BOYS!

My wonderful friend Siobhan Cowell took these lovely photos of my boys! Check out her website!

Harry is such a cheeky boy! He is a bundle of curls - which I just cannot bring myself to cut!













Lachlan is my 'big guy' He still wants cuddles and kisses from mummy but he wants to be cool as well! Today in the pool he was strutting around and proudly showing me his 'six pack' he is developing!!
Oliver's mind is always on the look out for trouble! I think we should have called him Dennis the Menace! He just can't stop himself! He has the gift of the gab. On the weekend whilst sitting in his fort with his brothers drinking milkshakes he sprouted out in his all knowing 'oli voice'; "I just love this time of the year"!! What a cack!! I thought to myself - yes, you have had 3 of them so far - what experience!!

SOFT! Unplug Your Kids Theme!

This weeks Unplug Your Kids theme is SOFT! I had to consider an activity which would appeal to all my 3 boys and their different ages - ANSWER : FOOD!! 'Soft Food = Marshmallows'
With that in mind I headed down to our local and bought a bag of regular sized bag of marshmallows and another bag of mini marshmallows (often found lurking in the cooking aisle!). Oliver was SO excited when he saw me put them in the trolley and I discussed our project! He asked me every 5 minutes when we were going to make things with them..and more importantly eat them!
We started off making stars. Use 5 small tooth picks and thread on about 5 small marshmallows on each one and then stick them into a large marshmallow to make a star. Oliver got right into it! At 3.5 yrs he was able to count out the amounts and discuss patterns using the pink and white colours! Luckily for him - his favourite colour is PINK! So he was very happy!
Here he is proudly holding up his star! Then the fun part began - eating it! He was very good and only ate half - the other half he put in the fridge for after dinner!
Harry - woke up from a 3 hour nap - very keen to get into the marshmallows and we made a star - he sang "Twinkle Twinkle" (favourite song!) Then we made a "Marshmallow Man" using the toothpicks and different size marshmallows!
When Lachlan arrived home from school he made his own version - "Star on a Stick". He was very careful about making his and automatically used patterns with his colours. It also includes counting out required amounts (so a bit of maths hidden into the fun!!) All three boys really enjoyed both the creating and eating of this activity. I think I ate more then helped.. and felt quite sickly afterwards - so I recommend a nice cup of tea to wash it down for mums who 'actively participate" in this one!
Best of all - they all ate their dinner straight down and emptied their plates - so they could finish eating their 'works of art' (ahh bribery - alive & well in our home!) After they had eaten their 'creations' they used their toothpicks to make all sorts of designs out of grapes & strawberrys.

Such concentration..

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Father's day in our house begins with me sneaking down stairs to make a cuppa for Nick and get the boys ready to "greet' him in bed with his cup of tea, some pressie's and lots of hugs! For him it begins with lying in bed and pretending to be asleep and awaiting the onslaught!!
Unfortunately my camera is playing up and the piccys are not coming out too clear (time for a new one I think!) But here are the boys 'sneaking into Dad's room...
Climbing on the bed to 'awaken the sleeping prince'!!
Nick very excited with his presents from the boys - a hand print hankie!, chocolate monopoly (yum!), pink polo shirts (Oli's favourite colour - his choice!!) and a book of "Things to do with Dad" - including such favourites as 'flying a kite', making a rocket launcher etc..!!
We spent the morning having a huge breakfast at Nana's. The works - sausages, eggs, bacon, hash browns, beans, croissants etc..) Then at lunch time Nick flew out and is away until Thursday. I get left with the 'aftermath'!!

INSECTS - "Unplug Your Kids Project!"

This weeks Unplug Your Kids project was INSECTS! Marvellous! With 3 Boys I have hit 'paydirt'! Generally my life revolves around 'creepy crawlies' of one kind or another! On a recent excursion to The Queensland Museum (our favourite free place to hang out!), we were given 2 baby Stick Insects to take home (they happily give them out to anyone who wants them - along with a care sheet!). I am not sure if these are readily available in other parts of the world and what they eat!? But here in Australia, all they eat is 'Gum Leaves'! So it doesn't get much easier than that!
Once a week we simply replace the jar of old gum leaves with new ones! Which are in abundance in our park at the end of the street! They have grown from 1 cm long to about 15 cm I guess!
Best of all they are harmless and fun for the kids (as long as they don't get too rough with them - like my 2 y.o.!)
They have survived us so far - which is a good thing! As you can see Lachie thinks they are pretty cool!!:-)
They need to have 'plenty of room' to grow - otherwise they become stiff and can't grow (so the care sheet told us!). It recommended keeping them in a cardboard box on it side. We originally had them in the aquarium on it side with plastic wrap stuck to the side - but then we decided to get some fish! SOOOO - poor Dad.. he was sent out the the garage to 'build'! He came up with this nifty cage with fly screen staple-gunned to the front and roof!
This one is called "Sticky"!!! (today anyway - last week the kids called it 'stripe!')
For more information on stick insects and their care go to 'BUGS ED'!!
I would love to know if these are available in other parts of the world and if so what they eat?

A DAY AT THE COAST!!

What I love MOST about spending the day at the coast is how it just completely tires out the kids!! After spending lunch at the beach with family and then running around in the surf - they are just completely zonked! All that fresh air and warm winter sun just knocks them out - and here is the proof! These were taken on the trip home! Harry slept the entire trip! LOVE IT!!!

BIRD SEED FEEDERS!! - "UNPLUG YOUR KIDS PROJECT"

There are those days that I wonder just what I can do with the kids to keep them busy (and not in front of the 'box'). I found this great idea on a website - although they used Pine Cones to make them! I couldn't seem to find any - so instead we decided to 're-use & recycle' out old toilet rolls!. This worked in perfectly with a project to a great Blog I have subscribed to called http://www.unplugyourkids.com/. This weeked project was "Cylinders!!"
Firstly we put holes in the top and threaded with ribbon, then I covered them with peanut butter! Very messy!!
Next the boys rolled them in a tray of wild bird seed. Which they thought was good fun. Oli was more interested in eating the peanut butter - and decided that birdseed isn't his 'thing'!
Lachlan holding up his masterpiece!
Lachlan Very proud - and ready to hang them out for the birds!

...we all scream for ice-cream....

With all those YUMMY strawberries we thought we better dust the ice-cream maker off and make some delicious homemade strawberry ice-cream!
Here is the ice-cream maker churning away!

Harry checking out the ice-cream maker!

..a helping hand!!!
mmmm..the finished product tasted divine!!!