The neighbour has nearly finished his backyard fence (which adjoins part of our property) and i am so excited…..i never realised just how much we play outdoors until we haven't been able to do it this week! We did try to venture into the backyard but it is just too much of a worry when we have dropoffs and large bush rocks everywhere still. It has been a good reminder to us though that we need to try and get the landscaping completed in the backyard before the end of 2012!
Although i was darting around everywhere trying to keep them safe the toddler twosome had much fun in the red dirt of the backyard yesterday. Poor Tara had been handing me her shoes and socks all morning so i took pity on my little outdoor girl and braved the yard!
Ruby picked up this ball of red dirt and carried it with her for half an hour as she played would you believe!
Tara my adventurer assessing the bushrocks…….
Endless possibilities for a toddler mind!
We did some painting on the verandah this morning using red edicol dye and water…we are now all red!
This stamping block i made ages ago when i used to work in child care……thought it was time to give it an outing as it is so good for chubby little hands to grasp and stamp everywhere!
The pattern is made by glueing some coarse string onto the wood…as you can see you can make anything…i had many other designs but unfortunately they have been lost over the years in centres!
The toddler twosome enjoyed stamping hard to make patterns but also swiping the block side to side to make swishy sort of patterns on the paper. You can of course do this with cornflour or acrylic paint but i find water paint on a household sponge works best for toddlers and they see their patterns more clearly.
We also did another old favourite of mine for this age…sponge peg painting. Simply a dish sponge cut into thick strips, doubled over and clipped with a peg to make a nice ‘handle' for little hands to grip….a great one for the fine motor skills as they also like to take off the pegs and try to put them back on! Dip into a paint of your choice and dab or rub onto paper!
Investigating is half the fun of painting don't you think?
After all that painting action Ruby needed a good sit down with a story!
We had pumpkin scones and apple pikelets for morning tea…yummy, both a childhood favourite of mine and the scones were one of the first recipes i made on my own as a teen.
The recipe is very easy and comes from this book which i have had for many, many years….any Queenslanders will recognise the author i am sure! This book has so many of the ‘older' recipes that i remember growing up with and i treasure it!
For those of you who would like to try making some pumpkin scones the recipe is as follows…..
PUMPKIN SCONES
1 tbls butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teas salt
1 egg
1 cup cold mashed pumpkin
2 (plus sometimes extra 1/4 cup depending on pumpkin consistency)self raising flour
Beat together butter, sugar and salt. add egg, then pumpkin. Stir in sifted flour by hand. Turn out onto a floured board and cut. Place on a heated, floured tray and cook on top shelf of a very hot oven for 15-20 mins.
Mine don't ever rise very high (my scones never do and i have accepted it now, hehe)….but they taste good!
Tara enjoyed hers with vegemite as she is a true vegemite kid this one!(Seriously, i really did a shocking job of that fringe cut didn't i? Wishing it would grow each day!!!)
Hope everyone is enjoying some relaxation before the new year arrives…i can't believe that New Year's Eve will be here in Australia by tomorrow night!! We won't be doing anything special….just a family BBQ and pavlova for tea and marvelling on how quickly this year has gone and wondering what is instore for 2012……enjoy your celebrations no matter where you are! xxx
Thanks for stopping by…
Jode
Thank you for stopping by No Ordinary Blog Hop (NOBH). We’re so glad you have you join our community.
Your girls are just stunning! I love how you MADE the giant stamp..I have never seen that before! I think I am going to “pin” it as I would love to try making my own someday! Also love the simple sponge painting, again I have never seen it done like that. Thanks so much for linking up at Thrifty Thursday Jode! OH! And I am pinning the Pumpkin Scone Recipe. YUMMY!!!!!!
Happy Happy New Year!!
Thanks for following back Lynda…am enjoying reading through your community!
Thanks for your comment Katie….the stamps are easy to make and last for ages! Enjoy the scones and thanks so much for pinning…hope the ideas prove useful!
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These photos are so much fun!
You’re a good mommy to let them play in the dirt and have fun painting…my kind of mama! 🙂
The scones look really good too!
Thank you for joining us at NOBH.
Welcome!
~Kara @ The Chuppies/NOBH
Great to see the kids messy and having fun. We are studying Australia right now in our home and we will be making an Australian meal sometime in the next 2 weeks and Pumpkins scones are on our menu:) Thanks for following and I am now following back:) Welcome to the NOBH
The pumpkin scones sound DELICIOUS!! YUM! I am pinning those! Thanks for linking up to TGIF! Happy New Year,
Beth =-)
What a fun time you are having with these cute twins. I agree, exploring and making a mess is half the fun. Thanks for stopping by Monday Madness and sharing your post.