Friday, December 24, 2010

christmas shadows

We love lighting candles throughout the house every night to further ignite the Christmas spirit.
This gorgeous balsa wood tree hangs at our lounge room window.  Here it is at dusk.  The little decorations come unattached and the girls loved hanging the delicate pieces on the tree.
An ornament shadow from our Christmas tree reflects on our lounge.
Our lovely wreath and white tin angel secured with a bright green ribbon on our front door, a lovely silhouette to see from indoors.
Shadows from empty bottles - all poured into our Christmas pudding...one more sleep to go to taste it!
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
X

Saturday, December 18, 2010

our christmas art and craft show!


 Ochristmas tree, oh christmas tree...



The girls have been busy creating, conceptualising, considering form and perspective, mixing paints with paints, mixing paints with water, recycling fabric, cutting and tearing to produce these little masterpieces!

Miss M's (2.9years) very own Christmas tree (below)...how cute!



Look at this great Santa made with texta, tulle, felt and foil...



Water colour paints to decorate a tree and Rudolph... 


These have been proudly displayed on the walls around our Christmas tree, our very own little gallery!

Oh, the inspiration of Christmas!
X


dear santa


The deadline was approaching for letters to be posted to a special someone at the North Pole!

There was an air of contemplation as the girls thought about their Christmas wishes...I love the simplicity of what they wished for (here are some extracts from their letters)...




The letters were carefully reviewed before...


 ...the envelopes were stamped...


...and sealed...


...and finally posted...



We now check the letterbox every afternoon for a reply from Santa.

And here we are at the Opera House for a children's theatre production of The Three Kings!  45m of the story of Christmas, carols and even a little bit of dance - fabulous!

Friday, December 10, 2010

new is not necessarily better!


I was able to indulge my passion for old books recently at a local seconds/antique store.  I am so excited that it is local!  Two floors plus an outdoor area!!!  I went to source books for the girls but came out with a few extra pieces. 


I love these little golden books, some of them I had never heard of before, which was quite exciting.  Miss E even said "Mummy I don't mind that this book has a tear and a broken sticker on it." That made me very happy.  
I think of it an introduction to the adage new is not necessarily better.

 Those nostalgic golden and black spines!
The girls were ecstatic to find two Barbie books amongst the set we picked up!!!  They sat and read on our bed for over half and hour when we got home.

Another treasure, but from a different shop - The Wind In The Willows.  I loved the old brown fabric cover and thought I would put it away for when the girls are a little older but it has not made it past my bedside table.  I never read it as a child so am enjoying it now...and the language is truly beautiful!



Off to read a page or two before sleep.








Tuesday, December 7, 2010

bare feet, scratched knees and mud pies!

On a quiet afternoon in a little corner of our garden (where we soon hope to build a cottage cubby house!) two little chefs made mud pies.
During their adventures they...

~uncovered many earthworms - just fascinating!
~discovered the best ratio of mud to water for the sloppiest mudpie consistency
~imagined picnic menus
~ Pondered over scratched knees and marvelled at how quickly they were getting better
~and requested new ingredients (I even agreed to my last two organic eggs being used...hopefully a one off request!)
Care to try some???
Meanwhile, I am in the process of making a different sort of pie, not a pie actually, but a Christmas pudding! Yum! My first (grandma's recipe), so I hope it turns out!

Friday, December 3, 2010

pretty little things


I have always quite liked hanging washing out.

It makes me happy knowing that everything that was soiled is now clean - a simple concept but satisfying nonetheless! I enjoy being 'green', using the clothesline and not the dryer and the thought of fresh air flowing through our clothes is also very satisfying and calming.

I also like admiring the little details of my little people's clothing - smocking, embroidery, frills, pop-poms, gathering, tulle, the texture of a lovely linen.

A glance at the size on their clothes floods my mind with amazement that they are already in that size clothing and brings memories of moments, days, months and years gone past...where does the time go? I feel so relieved to know that I have made the most of my time at home with them.

It's a quick, fleeting distraction but always very welcome in my day. Here are a few snaps depicting my own perspective at the clothesline as well as the little girls' perspective.





The simplicity and versatility of a basket of pegs. Indispensable tool for me; counting, ordering or make believe doll game for the girls. And natural timber - nice!