Mummy Moment: UH OH!

Today was my catch up on house work and spend time with Ashton today after being out of town for Polkadots and visiting family since Wednesday last week! We got to do all that we had planned and then found a bit of spare time in the afternoon to use some over ripe bananas to do some baking! Ashton was very excited about this idea, pulled up a stool and got straight into pulling ingredients out!

Well, things seemed to be going great, the mix was looking good and Ashton even taste tested it a few times and seemed to approve the mixture, saying "mmm, yummy!" It was soon time for us to put the mixture into the muffin tins and I managed to get some on my hands... without thinking, I licked the mix off my finger and all of a sudden... I realised something wasn't right! UH OH! We had used SALT instead of SUGAR!!!

In one of those Mummy Moments where you are trying to do a million things at once, I was trying to measure out the "sugar" while Ashton was trying to crack in another egg. I reached into the wrong container boom... the mix is ruined! So, instead of getting upset, we just put it down to a good 20 minute science activity or mixing and stirring fun! Ashton loved it, and it ment I didn't eat more muffins to add to my expanding waste line!

So, we don't have any photos of our finished product! We have a photo of our clean up! ha ha.

Photo of the week

Capture a moment that shows the candidness of children. 

Ashton and I decided to do some baking and right from the beginning
Ashton was determined to show how independent and capable he was
at doing EVERYTHING on his own. "No, my do it!"
At one point, just after we had sifted the flour into the mix, he went to stir it
in and managed to fling the flour and a bit of batter all over himself. He didn't
get upset though, he just picked some of it off with his hand, put it in his mouth
and said, "mmm, yummy Mum, I taste it!" and continued on mixing.

Pebbles & Bam Bam Party Hard

My 'Mummy Moment' for the week was seeing my little man celebrating his 2nd birthday at his party on Saturday! He and his cousin Ellie are only 2 weeks apart so Dionne and I decided to have a combined party and go with a "Flinstones" theme, just go we could dress the children up as "Pebbles and Bam Bam". Because they are actually Pebbles and Bam Bam... as you can see in the photos!

So, instead of heaps of writing... I'm going to show you how the party went with photos and a few captions! 

This was the sign on the front door, welcoming our guests!

Meet Pebbles and Bam Bam! (I told you!)

Instead of having heaps of party food that goes to waste and in
keeping with the stone age theme, we gave each of the children
a "Snack Stash" from the "Bedrock Cafe". Each bag had the
children's name it, and they all thought it was pretty special to
open their own snack present!

We tried to have food that was Stone age(ish) if there is such a word!

The children got to put their bommy-knockers to good use on
our styling pinata... we left it a bit late to finish properly! ha ha.
Had a busy week of shows... the life of a Polkadot! ;o)

We did some "Rock Painting" and Ashton actually painted!
The children really loved this activity!

Each of the children were able to take their rock home to put
in their gardens.

Miss Ellie showing off her work!

Time for a bit of cake! Loveling made my Aunty Dez!

The Flinstones and the Rubbles!

We played a bit of "Duck Duck Goose" but kept to the theme of
the party by changing it to "Dino Dino, Russ!" short for "Dinosaur and Walrus!"

All of the crazy parents trying to get the children to look at
the camera and smile all at the same time... this was no set up!

It worked!

Betty, Bam Bam, Pebbles and Wilma!

The Rubbles! And Ashton with his cars of course!

I know its a bit of a shocking photo, but it was the
only one I managed to get of him with his whole costume on!
Thanks to Grandma for doing such an excellent job on the costumes!

Photo of the week!

Capture a moment that illustrates how wonderfully uninhabited children are!!!

This is how Ashton came out to me the other day after spending some time with his dress up box! I just love the combo!!!

Roadworks Heaven!!!

Roadworks heaven was right outside Polkadots Headquarters door the other day! We were all busy working away on all things Polkadotty when the house started to rumble! The whole road was being resealed and I just couldn't resist but have "Girl Jordan" (our Polkadots Nanny) bring the children over to see all the action! I don't know if the workers were use to such an interested crowd, but it put a smile on their faces and I'm sure it made them feel very important!

Ashton was sooo taken with all of the different pieces of machinery that he barely said a word the whole time we were out watching! Then as soon as we got back inside he just couldn't stop talking about everything he saw. It was such a great opportunity for the children to see the whole process in action, especially after reading our recent library book, "Roadworks."

We got to see the roller!

The big Asphalt Machine. 

Ashton loved watching the truck tip out its load with Papa!

Who would of thought I would ever pose for a photo in front of roadworks! ha ha.

Ashton's favourite thing to do at lights at the moment is
shout out STOP and GO each time he see the lights change
colour, so he loved seeing the sign doing the same thing.

THANK YOU ELMO!

I had a big Mummy Moment this week!

Ashton strongly detests brushing his teeth and every time we do it, it is a HUGE drama! So finally the other night, (while Ashton was running in the oposite direction from his tooth brush) I said to Kris, look up "Elmo brushing his teeth on YouTube! There has to be something!". . .  AND THERE WAS!

I brought Ashton over to the computer and showed him Elmo brushing his teeth and after the initial excitement of seeing Elmo and once he realised what Elmo was doing, Ashton picked up his tooth brush and started brushing his teeth! When the clip had finished he said, "More Elmo teeth!" so we did it again and he brushed again!

Since then Ashton asks "Elmo teeth?" while reaching for his tooth brush. I still have a little battle when I ask if I can have a turn (to make sure his teeth get a good clean) but all in all, thanks to Elmo, our teeth brushing experience is a lot more pleasant!

Ashton checking himself out in the mirror while brushing his teeth with Elmo!

Back To Nature

Children just don't seem to play like they use to! We feel like we have to plan every minute of their day with activities that are going to make them smarter. In the process we are totally over working ourselves and overstimulating our children!

A couple of weeks ago I did an article review in the Polkadots Blog about children returning to nature. After reading this article I got this obsession with wanting to take Ashton out for a bush walk. . . Since then we have been on three!!! And they have been the best play dates ever!

Here are some pointers for having a successful NATURE ADVENTURE!

* Dress appropriately! Wear clothes that can get muddy, or grass stains!

* Take a change of clothes. . . just in case! You're more likely to explore more deeply and be more lenient to your child going exploring into that puddle if you don't care about the clothes.

* Don't be in a rush. . . The more time you have to just relax and go with the flow, the more likely you and your child are to make new discoveries.

* Don't take toys! . . . Your child will be heaps more creative with their play and their surroundings then they don't have toys to distract them.

* Explore and enjoy alongside your child. . . follow your "inner child" instincts! If you want to roll down that big hill . . . ROLL DOWN THE HILL THEN!

If you see or hear something that fascinates you, share it with your child. The more you share with them, the more the will share with you!

* Celebrate even the most simple discoveries. . . Ashton loved the feeling of the gravel as he swished his hands over it, and also discovered that it made a pretty cool sounds when he slid his feet over it too! So we all took a minute to make music with the gravel!

* Don't be scared of yucky stuff. . . it all washes off! Just keep some wet wipes handy!

* Take time to just sit and watch, listen, smell, touch. . . You will be surprised at what you'll discover when you activate all your senses.

* Have FUN! . . . Make up stories about the animals, insects or trees. Ask the children what they think they will see before you go in to the bush walk. Sing songs while you're walking. Take photos while you go!

Some people may think its a lot of work to try and organise a bush walk. But ITS NOT! Just find a walk and go! Your child will guide you and dictate the rest of the walk. Its just up to you to facilitate and extend their discoveries as they happen. Ask them questions, share your knowledge with them, celebrate discoveries and get excited with them about all the wonderful things nature has to offer!

Our Big City Adventure

One 6 year old, one 3 year old, one 2 year old, two 1 year olds, two adults, 2 push chairs, and 3 bags. . . CHECK!

We were all ready for our big adventure into the city, via bus, to go to the Aotea Centre Pick and Mix Broadway Theatre event/workshop for children. These events are put on weekly throughout the winter and are free to the public. Each weekend a different organisation would put on a different kind of workshop for children to learn about.

I must say the actual show and workshop wasn't that fabulous. It could have been done so much better. But that didn't stop Ashton and the girls from getting up and having a boogie. They really wanted to enjoy it, so they made the effort and had a good time anyways.

The children really loved being able to run around and explore the big bustling city. I think this would have been a good enough adventure in itself! (maybe another day.) They loved watching all of the people, some were even interesting enough to make them stop and stare! ha ha. They loved pressing the pedestrian crossing buttons and then crossing the big busy streets as quickly as they could. We played Eye Spy a few times and this made them even more aware of everything around them.

It was a handful at times, trying to keep all 5 children going in the same direction, and we did get quite a few good stares ourselves!!!

One our way home the kids all opened up in their own theatrical rendition of "The Wheels on the bus" keeping everyone on the bus well entertained. When we asked them all what their favourite part of the adventure was they all agreed the bus ride was the best! We were all pretty tired by the end of our big city adventure, but it was lots of fun!

Our bus ride into town on the jam packed bus!

Waiting to cross the street.

Ashton just chilling and enjoying the music!

Cheeky Monkeys waiting for the bus.

Weeding is FUN!

I have been meaning to get round to weeding our garden for quite some time now, but with it being a bit on the colder side and with so much else (thats more exciting) to do, it just wasn't on my high priorities list. But, while I was out hanging the laundry today Ashton asked me, "I dig?" I was delighted that he was asking to do a messy play activity, (since he never does) and quickly set him up with some tools and a hole to dig in and we were away!

While sitting digging with him though, the sight of weeds kept popping into vision and distracting me. While contemplating when I would actually get round to pulling them, as if on cue, Ashton jumped up and pulled some weeds from the retaining wall and put them in his mud mix!!! Fabulous! From this point on Ashton and I shuttled backwards and forwards taking turns pulling the weeds and then adding them to our mud pie mixes! He thought it was great fun and I ended up with a reasonably weed free garden while playing with my boy!

Row Row Row Your Boat

Who would have thought that a baby bath would create so many hours of fun! Ashton has used his old baby bath for everything you could imagine lately. But his favourite activity is to turn it into a boat and sing the classic "Row Row Row your boat." So I though I would just share some of the extra verses we have found on our travels and now sing to make the adventure last longer! He loves each verse for its unique sounds and actions. . . he knows them all so well know he is already doing the actions or the sounds before I get to them!

1. Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

Life is but a dream.

2. Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream.

If you see a crocodile,

Don't forget to scream! Ahh!

3. Rock, rock, rock your boat

Gently to the shore.

If you see a lion,

Don't forget to roar! Rrrr!

4. Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the river.

If you see a polar bear,

Don't forget to shiver! Brrr!

5. Row row row your boat

To the other side

If you see a tiger there

Don't forget to hide!

6. Row row row your boat

carefully through the mist

if you pass a slithery snake

don't forget to hiss! Hisssss!

Ashton and his buddy Darcy going for a row in their boat!

Tata Town

Because our life revolves around cars... here is another activity using CARS! I actually really enjoyed creating this Car mat with Ashton! It was like being able to create your own little township.

Using the back of our washing machine box Ashton and I drew out some roads with come crayons. Once we had our road structure in place we filled in the gaps with our local shops etc. We got to put in all of the places we would love to visit, and places we felt were a necessity to every town! We ended up with a Fire Station, Police Station, Supermarket, hospital, Subway! a pet shop, a zoo, and the beach! While a was drawing Ashton was either colouring in the rest of the town, or he was busy cruising the streets of Tata Town!... or visiting the animals in the zoo! Its been lots of fun creating our town together, and we still have room for development!!!

Lets Dig!

Ashton and I have found ourselves with a number of days where nothing was planned and we just got to stay at home! I KNOW! That doesn't happen very often. . . at all! So, with it still being rather wintery, but we were lucky to have a sunny day, I was trying to think of something we could do that would get us out of the house for a while. We decided to DIG!

One of Ashton's favourite Polkadots songs is "Lets Dig" so I thought I would see if he really knew what it meant 'to dig'. We got a big spade and just dug out a little square block in the back yard and turned it out to see what we could find.

Ashton wanted to try everything I was doing, so he had a go at digging with the big spade.

As soon as we opened up the hole Aston spotted heaps of worms wiggling around, he was extremely excited!

Car meet worm... worm meet car!

Doing a bit of mixing and stirring with our digging.