Love Love Lovin' Some More

Dash and Miss Martin - we love you!

Lovin' that School is Done
I'm saying that now. Ask me again on Monday.

We managed to complete another bunch of Christmas decorations for the schoolteachers - this time a little less wobbly (I made templates).

I'm loving that red one. And the scent of cloves.

Every kid that sniffs these deco's/doorhangers wrinkles their nose and says, "Oooh yuck, that stinks!"
Every adult breathes in the spicy scent and breathes, "Mmmmmm, yum, cloves!"

That's kids for ya!

Miss Fab and "Mr R" (as the kids call him) - Merry Christmas!

I still can't believe that another school year is over. Dash is year five next year - Senior School *gulp*
Miss Fab moves into year three - Middle School. Where has the time gone???

Sorry I know I keep saying that, but really, WHERE???
My baby Scrag is just over a year away from school himself! Waaaaaah!

Loving Cool Kiwi Inventions that will Save Me from Hours of Frustration...
I know that getting ready for "back to school" is the LAST thing on all us Kiwi mummies' minds right now... but I want to just mention briefly the coolest invention ever. It will rescue you from hours of frustration doing annoying "durasealing" of the kids schoolbooks... Bookmark this website for January, and get some of these amazing Ezy-Cover thingymajiggies. Re-usable, eco-friendly, economical, cool designs, Kiwi-made book covers that slip on in one second... and NO WRINKLES!!! I'm gonna be getting me some. Love them.

Loving Love & Thoughtfulness
I have to share with you this sweet little incident that happened on Scrag's last day of Pink Kindy (Thursday). We were rushing - nothing new there - due out the door in five minutes, still wrapping teacher gifts and I hadn't even made Scrag's lunchbox.
So I asked Dash to make Scrag a jam sandwich and throw some snacks and fruit in for his little bro.
Three minutes later, Dash hands me the lunchbox.
"Here mum, it's done... and I put a note in too," he says.
"A note?"
"Yeah, you know, for his last day at kindy, to say have a good day."

Awwwwww, man! I unzip the lunchbox and there it is, sandwich, fruit and yoghurt... and the sweetest melt-your-heart note from a big brother to a little one:

"Have a nice last day at pink kindy ♥ Josh"

 Don't you just love it when your kids surprise you with their awesomeness?

Loving New Things
Loving the package I got sent in the post this week from my sweet friend Leonie. See that new handcrafted Christmas deco? The one that's not all wobbly... saying "joy"?? Love it. Thankyou lovely Leonie!!

I'm also loving my new bargain antique tea-trolley found on TradeMe for a snip.

Isn't it pretty? It's oak and rolls on wheels. You can extend the leaves and the trolley turns into a sweet little table.

 I have all kinds of tea-party plans for it. I'm calling it an early Christmas present.

Loving Healthy Deliciousness
This colourful conconction has been recreated from the memory of some amazing vegie nachos we had at a bar in town the other week.

We have since had this mix as nacho topping (with garlic hummus on the side, mmmmmm) and as a dip at a neighbourhood BBQ last night. So good. Best of all there's no cooking involved!

YOU'LL NEED:
half a punnet of cherry tomatoes
half a red onion
4-5 strawberries
one avocado
a handful of fresh coriander


Finely chop and combine all the ingredients, then season with cracked black pepper
and squeeze over the juice of half a lemon.


That's it. So simple, so delicious.
The strawberry gives it a slight sweetness. The coriander gives it a tang.
Try it, you'll love it.





Grateful for the Season
Through all of this Loving, I am completely grateful for a relaxed Christmas season... especially since my Christmas shopping is 95% done. Woop woop.
And the Christmas book I made arrived this morning (all printed) and it turned out beautifully. Phew.

P.S. Don't forget my Christmas Linky {link up your Christmas Posts} and the Book Club Gift Ideas Linky {for some great last-minute gift ideas}...

P.P.S.Linking up with the {other} coolest linky in town...

   

Crafty Wee gifties

You may have heard me say I'm not crafty.
This is true.

When I say that, I mean I am not one to drive a sewing machine (I'm scared of stitching through my fingers).
Nor am I one to measure twice... or even once.

I don't follow patterns. Can't. Won't.
Simply don't have the patience for it.

But.
I can make things that look a bit wobbly and uneven.
If you don't mind the "truly homemade" look, then my crafting attempts may make you smile.

When it comes to teacher thankyou gifts we usually go for homemade rocky road, or cookies. Cellophane and ribbon can make anything look flash.

But this year I was inspired by my Christmas Market Doorhangers and convinced that "I could make something like this" I went mad in Geoffs Emporium buying up felt, embroidery thread and ribbon.

This is what my first attempt yielded...

See what I mean? A bit wobbly, very imperfect, but it says "I took the time to make this for you".
So on that score, it's a win. And they smell good, stuffed with cloves.

Scrag was excited to see them when he woke up this morning. He picked out which teacher got which decoration (there are four of them - teachers, that is) and he "helped" wrap the gifts.

It was hard putting on his jacket and bag today... over top of the four gifts he was clutching.
No sooner had we arrived than he thrust them eagerly at his teachers...

...and then proceeded to "help" them unwrap the gifts as well.

The teachers seemed to really like my wobbly crafting. Lucky for me they are the kind of people who value effort more than a big-bucks gift like an iPad.

Today was a big day for us. It was Scrag's very last day of "Pink Kindy", ending an association stretching back over five years to when Miss Fab enrolled at age two. I carried newborn Scrag there in his baby capsule, telling him: "One day you'll come here too." At the time it was hard to believe that day would ever come; inconceivable that my tiny baby would one day be a big kindy boy.

And now its over already! He's been... and gone, leaving behind only memories.
At least they have my awesome crafting to remember us by...
Yeah, when they look at the wobbly stitching as they hang their deco's on the tree each Christmas, they'll say, "Five years of teaching her kids and she gives us THIS?"

Four teacher-gifts down, just Dash and Miss Fab's still to go.
Better get stitching... I've got a years' worth of teaching to pay for in crafts...

{*update here they are - and they turned out even better than batch #1*}

xx

My Christmas Book is Finished...

You can view my completed book online here

Viewing Tip: The website displaying the virtual book automatically flips you through the pages, but it's too quick to read... click on the "play" button to pause it (the larger centre arrow on the controller). Then you can turn the pages manually by clicking on the arrows to the right and left. NOW you should be able to actually READ the story...

I have sent my book off to be printed at Digitalmax (Snapfish) where they have a massive discount sale on right now until December 16th - 50% off PLUS free shipping.

They promise to have your order ready before Christmas if you order by December 18th, so if you're stuck for family gift ideas, go make something with all those photos you keep snapping...

{NOTE: This is not a paid promo or a freebie post; I just think Digitalmax/Snapfish do a GREAT job and the books and calendars I get from there are amazing quality, and *woohoo* 50% off plus free shipping? A bargain.}

What's Christmas Without a Linky?

There is so much Christmas Creativity out there in Blogland.

Of course you can find a lot of it on Pinterest, which is great. But what if you're not into Pinning?

Where can you find loads of Christmas ideas in one place?

Right Here.

{Or at least you will once people start linking up their Christmas Creativity posts.}

But lets not just limit it to Creativity.
There are all kinds of great Christmas posts around - inspiration, gift ideas, memories, traditions, favourite movies, favourite books, Christmas decorating... let's link it ALL up.

Not a fan of Christmas? Tend to relate more to The Grinch than Cindy-Lou Who?
Sure, go ahead and share the reasons why. We'll be sympathetic, because haven't we all been there?

Share your Christmas posts with us: inspiration, ideas, creativity, memories, the lot.
Link up below {and grab this button for your post so people know where to find the linky}


<center><a href=" http://www.greatfun4kidsblog.com/"><img border="0" src=" http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy162/donnasimone/buttons/christmas2011button-1.png" width="140" height="140"/></a></center>

{P.S. I'm going to link a few of mine up too... including a couple of good ones from last year - link up some of your previous Christmas posts too, if you like. My entire Christmas Post collection can be found on my Christmas Page.}

Positively glowing

Spontaneity seems to be our theme this Christmas. None of the scheduling and planning that occurred last year and left me stressed out and disillusioned. This lack of pre-planning has some advantages.



For instance, when Sunday turns out to be wet and windy, you can snuggle up on the couch and spontaneously watch The Nativity Story - a wonderful Christmas movie starring NZ's Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary. Really, its a fab version of the Christmas story. A great way to spend a wet Sunday afternoon.

After watching the movie, we were feeling all warm 'n' fuzzy, and in the mood for some more Christmas cheer.

So I txted my good friend Linda, the one whose hubby is the brains behind the most gorgeous Christmas video ever. I knew that tonight was the night of "Glow - Carols by Glowstick" - a Christmas event put on by their church {St Pauls}...




I'd heard reports of Glow being fab, but had always missed out on going in years gone by. When Linda txted back that she could get us some tickets, we were on.
We pulled on jackets and shoes and headed for Vector Arena, quick smart.

{Tickets are a mere $5 - with all proceeds going to A Girl Called Hope - a charity helping struggling  young women.}

Here's Miss Fab posing for me as the arena fills up. As we entered we were all handed a glowstick on a string, and given instructions not to "snap them on" until The Countdown. 

I managed to find this clip on YouTube which someone uploaded from last night - it will give you some idea of the coolness of the moment when the lights went out and the arena was lit up with 10,000 glowy glowsticks...

Magic. that's the only word I can use to describe that moment.
We wahooed and waved our glowsticks around, the atmosphere was electric.

What a wonderful event. It was Kiwi-style, no snow or reindeer in sight.
A children's choir, our national anthem, my favourite carols and all those glowsticks.
Plus the cutest Christmas video ever...



...and its {brand new} prequel...



We left positively glowing... emerging blinking into the light.
Confused, dazed... what? Is it still light out? Yep, that'll be the daylight saving.

Thankyou St Pauls, for putting on such a wonderful event for the whole family, full of the true Spirit of Christmas, honouring the birth of Jesus and filling up our hearts with a wonderful warm fuzzy Glow.

Listen, if you are in Auckland for Christmas next year, put "go to Glow" on your list of Christmassy  Things To Do. It's on my list for sure. See you there.

♥

P.S. What is putting the warm fuzzy Christmas glow in your heart this year? Special Christmas Movies? Great local events? Heart-warming music? SHARE!

A Coupla Things I'm Lovin'

I'm love-love-lovin that my big boy is learning his times tables.
Like, steaming ahead, thanks to the intervention of his Daddy.
Daddy set him a task - write out the six-times tables from scratch and I'll mark it, he said.
The Boy did it, using the "skip-counting" method. 100%.
The next morning, daddy tested him from memory... and he knew the whole lot.

{He's also not bad at Cricket}

The following day, seven-times tables. Same deal.
He knows them.
Then yesterday, he did a multiplication grid test and scored 25/25.
A perfect score in well under time limit.
Tested on all tables up to seven times.
His teacher literally fell over backwards.
This kid is SMART... but a bit on the lazy side.
The key to this learning? Daddy's involvement.
WTG Mista Gee. You rock.
I've been woop woopin all day.

The little guy is fully toilet trained during the day.
We are fully undie people now. No more nappies, no more wiping pooey bums for me, EVER.
And at night? We've been using Huggies Dry-Nites and they are awesome.
Plus, they are also DRY nearly every night.

More woop woopin over here.

 

My Christmas book is coming together nicely.
I am loving creating it.

I've cast my kids as various angels, having fun in Photoshop creating a turquoise Heaven.
This year, its a gift just for them.
Next year, who knows?
We might take it to the world.

I'm loving that my ma and pa are on Facebook.
Woop woop!
Welcome to the 21st century, my dears.
{I'm also kinda lovin' Facebook's new timeline layout. It's nice.}

Loving the sunny weather {though not the humidity}.
Loving one week left of school {bring on lazy mornings!}
Loving that Gail is back real soon for Christmas {so soon!}

Loving that my brother and his family will be spending Christmas with us. And my Parents. And my sister.
Almost the whole family together for the first time in nearly a decade.

Also loving that my folks are coming to watch my kids in their Christmas play for the first time ever on Sunday.

Can you tell I am feeling the joy of the season?
That would be the beautiful Christmas music effect... and the piney Christmas tree magic... plus my new "take each day as it comes" Christmas philosophy.
Loving this time of the year.
Woop woop.

WW: A Real Christmas Tree

This little boy loves Christmas. He wears his Santa hat to kindy and sings Christmas songs at the top of his voice...

He can't wait to decorate the tree. Our very first "real" Christmas tree, the kind that grows in a forest and smells like Christmas should.

It is Daddy's first time helping to decorate the tree. Usually he leaves it to us, but this year is a year for firsts.

Sometimes when traditions become a bit stale and it seems like it was only six weeks ago that you packed away your fake tree, it helps to shake things up a bit. Try something new.

We were all like a bunch of little kids, excited to meet our old friends, the Christmas decorations, collected over many years...

{and our sweet Christmas angel with her Mona Lisa smile}

Of course decorating a real live tree has its drawbacks. There's the problem of getting it to stand up, for starters. Once you attach it with gold ribbon to the window and the table, you should be safe. But watch out if  it starts to slip... you'll be glad to have Daddy on hand.

 Then there's the dripping branches, because of course it was raining when you went to collect it. Just give it a good shake and mop up any puddles quickly. It's a tree. Water is good for it.

Ignore the needles that drop everywhere; it'll encourage you to vacuum more often (which isn't a bad thing). Just breathe in that piney scent... it says, "Christmas is here."

Leftover lights? Decorate the fireplace. Hang up the Christmas Stocking advent calendar you made last year. Never mind that the little stockings are empty. it still looks cute.

Then step back and admire your Christmas living room. Freshly (half) painted in duckegg blue. Smelling like Christmas. Sparkling with lights.

It says, Christmas is here, Woop Woop!