Shopping for school things

Well as the other states have headed back to school this week, here in Tas we are still on school holidays. It's still 3 weeks until my eldest starts Grade 2 and 4 weeks until my "baby" heads to school for the first time!

Today we'll be heading off to get socks & new insulated lunch bags by Penny Scallan.

Emma has chosen the "Girly Bird",

and Sophie has chosen the "Apple"

That's about it for the school list actually as I am lucky enough to have Emma's original uniform which Sophie will be able to wear and enough uniform items that Emma still fits into - at least until winter arrives anyway. As my niece & nephew used to go to the same school, my sister-in-law has also given me a spare school backpack, 2 hats, pair of new shoes and a library bag - score! I do like "new stuff" but when it comes to school uniforms and sundry, why would you buy new if you are given perfectly good 2nd hand items? I'd rather spend my money on other things.

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

Sweet Envy

Emma & I popped into a lovely new shop in North Hobart yesterday called "Sweet Envy, where we indulged in a little cupcake goodness.

Whilst I meant to take photos of our lovely cakes, they were devoured all too quickly - but they were yummy!

Here's a photo taken from their website of the "Lemon Delicious" cupcake which Emma had. Isn't it gorgeous!

They have a gorgeous window display of wedding cakes and they also sell biscuits, cupcakes, ice cream, old fashioned candy and have a wonderful range of cakes, slices & pastry items to have with your tea or coffee.

"Sweet Envy" are located at 341 Elizabeth St, North Hobart. You can also visit their website to see lots of photos of their yummy creations.

My Beautiful Girls

They are growing up so fast! These photos were taken on Sunday whilst enjoying Fathers' Day on the Hobart Waterfront.

Aren't they gorgeous!

A Proud Mum

Emma had a great week at school last week. At the school assembly she was presented with a book for reading for "100 nights". She has always loved books and is already at Grade 2 level, even though she's only in Grade 1.

She was also presented with a "Principal's Award" for "Sticking to a task even though it is hard". Her teacher told me that they had been skipping earlier in the week and Emma was having trouble with it, but instead of giving up she just kept trying until she mastered it. Emma is very hard on herself, and has high expectations so sometimes when she can't do something she will just give up. I was so proud to hear that she had stuck with it!

And finally she also received a Bronze Certificate from the Commonwealth Bank School Banking Program for making "10 deposits" so far this year. I am one of the banking co-ordinators at her school and it's a great way of fundraising as the school receives 5% of all deposits, directly from the bank. The new program this year, provides certificates as children increase their number of deposits - 10 = Bronze, 20 = Silver, 30 = Gold. They also receive a token each time they make a deposit which they can use to redeem for different prizes - bookmarks, pencils, hats, pencil cases etc.

It's so rewarding being a mum, and it's great to see your children achieving, learning and having fun at the same time.

My Creative Space ....

Well we are definitely into winter now, although the days have still been lovely and clear & sunny.

In preparation for my next market - Mathilda's on Saturday 17th July, I thought I'd get busy making something which I've been wanting to try for a while now.

So this is what I've been up to:

Baby & Kids Leg Warmers

and some more waiting to be finished

These leg warmers are One Size Fits Most, and depending on the child can fit from Newborn to 6-7yr old. The majority are made from a Cotton/Elastane blend apart from the 3rd picture which are a Wool/Modal/Nylon/Cashmere/Elastane blend - very warm & snuggly for little baby legs!

They are approx. 40cms in length and the baby ones are approx. 23cms. They can even double as arm warmers on older children.

Other features of the leg warmers are:

Protect little knees when crawling

Makes nappy changes easier

Helps keep baby's socks on

Great for toilet training

Keep legs & arms warm year round

Older kids can wear them to dancing or gymnastics

Make a fun fashion statement for any occasion!

They are all $15 each which is great value for money, as they can be worn for several years.

_______________

Here's Emma wearing a pair. She is 6yrs old and they sit over the

knee comfortably or can be pulled up to her thigh.

Here's Sophie wearing the same pair. She is only 3yrs old so the

leg warmers fit all the way up to her thigh,

with plenty of room for growth.

For more creative spaces and to play along, head over to Kootoyoo.

My Girls

The weekend before last, my mum asked if we wanted to take the girls to Kidz Bizzzz Playcentre. Seeing as hubbie was away in Melbourne, I thought it would be a great way to spend a few hours, so after church on Sunday we headed south to Kingston.

The girls had a lovely time playing, running, screaming, smiling, jumping & climbing. I tried very hard to get some nice photos, but it's quite difficult when they won't stay still! Sophie decided to have a lie down at one stage on the jumping castle (not the best place), and lay there with her hands behind her head - very cute!

Then she sat up and started to pose for the camera, finally! Here she is giving Kidz Bizzzz the big "thumbs up"! This would be a great advertising shot for them, don't you think?

Another new activity in the family is dancing. Emma has become very interested in drama and performance - yes she can be a bit of a "drama queen". We took both the girls to the local performance of "The Wizard of Oz" recently at the Theatre Royal and she absolutely loved it! We also knew a couple of the cast (father, daughter & son) and Emma wanted me to find out from them how she could be "on stage".

So we've decided to start with some non-competitve song & dance classes. She has had 3 classes so far, and is really enjoying it. It all costs money though and we had to fit her out with leotard, skirt, stockings, ballet & tap shoes and a bag. Still I'm happy to have her involved in an activity she wants to do and it helps with confidence and co-ordination. It's also happens that there is a girl in her dance class from her class at school, which is great! She's actually picked it up really quickly and is very excited to be involved in the end of year concert. So watch this space - we may have the next Broadway star on our hands!

Here's Emma testing out her dance outfit, only about 30mins after we bought it!

The Ruby Red Slippers

Emma dressed as "Dorothy" & about to see "The Wizard of "Oz at the Theatre Royal

School Holidays Week 2

I know, I know it's not school holidays anymore, in fact this is week 3 of Term 2 already - where does the time go?

Week 2 of the school holidays was nowhere near as busy as week 1, which was really nice actually. I do like school holidays, even though I have 2 at home instead of one, but it's great to be able to lounge around and not race out of the house first thing in the morning.

Sophie still had childcare on Tuesday & Friday as usual and we had our heat pump and panel heaters installed Thurs/Fri which came just in time. It has been so lovely to have the house at a fairly constant temperature, especially on those chilly mornings we have been experiencing in recent weeks.

I did have a day in town on the Wednesday when I took the girls to see the free Magic Show at Centrepoint. It was a lot of fun, although we have seen it before, but I don't think the girls even realised it was the same act!

Josh helping out "Elio the Magician" with his act.

My niece & nephew were there too, and Josh ended up on stage helping the magician - so funny!

Afterwards we headed into the new Fullers Bookshop for some lunch, before buying a book each and then popping next door to Spotlight for more sewing supplies.

That was the week gone and the holidays over for another term.

School Holidays Week 1

Here in Tasmania we are currently on school holidays, so I have both my beautiful girls at home with me. This past week has been quite busy as not only have I been trying to keep the girls occupied but I also had lots of sewing & preparation for the Barn Market which was a great success.

I decided to break the week up into times for the kids & time for me - sounds easy! It pretty much worked and I also spent most nights busying myself at the sewing machine.

Sophie at Childcare

So here's the rundown of the holidays so far:

Friday - Took Emma to the movies to see Shrek #4 Forever After, whilst Sophie was at childcare. Followed by lunch & quick bit of shopping.

Saturday - Last swimming lesson for the term, followed by trip to my hubbie's work site in Pelverata, lunch in Huonville then dropped the family home before heading to a "Learning Ladders" Party - Children's Books & Educational Products

Sunday - Church then home to do some sewing

Monday - Dropped car into be serviced, spent the morning shopping in town and then caught the bus home - great fun, the girls loved the bus ride and I think it was the highlight of the day for them.

Tuesday - Home day for Emma and I (more sewing for me), whilst Sophie was at childcare

Wednesday - Was heading to visit my husband's 94yr old grandmother with a freshly baked date loaf, however hubbie left the keys in the car overnight, which drained the battery flat! Luckily RACT didn't take long to arrive, and get the car running again. Unfortunately I had to be in town for haircuts for myself & Sophie so we had to cancel the trip to Nanny Dot's. After haircuts we headed to Kidz Bizzzz Play Centre in Kingston where the girls ran off all their energy - slept well too!

Cooking with Daddy

Thursday - My mum came and took the girls out to visit Nanny Dot with the date loaf, stayed for morning tea, then headed to the park. Gave me some time to get lots of applique tees done.

Friday - Sophie went to childcare and Emma headed off with my mum & friend Steph to the nursery, followed by lunch at Citrus Moon in Kingston. Meanwhile I finished off sewing on buttons, doing up swing tags & packing all my goodies ready for market.

Saturday - Spent the day at The Barn Market, where the girls came to visit, they then spent the afternoon at the shack with their cousins.

Sunday (Today) - Day off for everyone!

Sophie at Church with all her dolls

So that's the week so far. I have a few things planned for this week, but unfortunately we will be at home Thursday & Friday whilst we have a heat pump & panel heaters installed. I'm not complaining though, as I can't wait - no more cold winters (not inside at least).

Hope everyone in Tassie is enjoying their holidays and you all have a great week!

A Very Happy Easter!

I received a lovely call today from the office at my daughters' school, informing me that she had won prize No. 36 in the school's Easter Raffle.

Every year the school has a Free Dress day leading up to Easter, where the donation is not a gold coin but an easter egg. They then sell tickets for the raffle to win a pack of easter eggs. This year the school had an amazing amount of chocolates donated and they were able to offer 47 prizes to the children. In years gone by they only had 1st, 2nd & 3rd prizes but they have recently changed it to small baskets or parcels of easter eggs in order to give more children the chance to win a prize (and really who needs a washing basket full of chocolate anyway?). Well maybe that would come in handy - mmmmmm chocolate!!!!

So here is my beautiful daughter with her lovely package of an Easter Bunny and chocolate eggs.

And guess what she had for afternoon tea .......!

Back to School

Yes I know this is week 3 of school here in Tas but I just had to post these lovely photos. The whole family headed to school for Emma's first day of Grade 1. We were actually the first to arrive in her class (this is unheard of and I told the teacher it will probably never happen again - hehe!)

Andrew took his camera and managed to take some lovely shots of both the girls. Emma is particularly hard to photograph as she never stands still long enough and doesn't seem to like having her photo taken as a rule. Sophie on the other hand loves to pose for photos.

Emma happened to be chatting to the teacher when this photo was taken, hence the lovely smile! Sophie was busy drawing and thought she was starting school as well - she would quite happily have stayed for the whole day I'm sure!

Em had a bumpy start to the school year, as her first couple of days were full of tears and anxiety. Luckily she seems to have settled in again and is enjoying her new room, teacher and classmates. We have a school "Meet & Greet" bbq this Wednesday evening, which will allow us to hear more about how the teacher structures the day and exactly what they get up to. It's also a great chance to chat to other parents and enjoy a cheap family dinner!