Crafty Crow is my absolute favourite place for crafty inspiration. Check out these beautiful ideas I found from the Crafty Crow’s Spring collection…

Lavender Doll Tutorial from One Inch World

Tin can wind sock from Wabi-Sabi Wanderings, using directions from ‘Under the Table and Dreaming‘.

Blossom Painting from Musings from Kim K.

And here’s some fun finds from Family Fun…

Handprint Lillies from FamilyFun

Garden of Weavin’ from FamilyFun

Grass Head Guys from FamilyFun

We love having ‘Fun with Art‘ – though Mummy usually draws the short straw and does more of the facilitating and cleaning Visit the Fun with Art tab on the menu bar for some fun projects we’ve done. Sophie’s Tulips and Tissue Paper Window Collage are great fun for Spring (especially on the wetter days x).

What Spring crafts do you enjoy doing? Share them here…

I was browsing blogs on my phone, whilst taking photographs of the beautiful waves and decided to join fellow Kiwi Mummy Bloggers in ‘Wardrobe Wednesday‘.

I had the beach all to myself, so a bit of self-portraiture was involved. I tried to get a photograph of my shoes with a wave nearly touching them – but ended up ankle deep in water when I mis-calculated the waves and a larger one sneaked up and caught me out! Ha! That will teach me for trying to be arty and creative.

Anyway, here I am, very au natural, bare-faced and casual looking.

If I’d taken one of me yesterday and compared you’d think I was suffering from split-personality disorder. Yesterday I donned heels, favourite jeans, a beloved belt from Country Road and a gorgeous Lakeland suede jacket that my dear Mum bought me in the Lake District last time I was in England. The occasion was ‘Yum Char’ lunch with hubbie in town (accompanied by my excited daughter Sophie and baby Alice – yes, I was brave wearing a suede jacket – especially when you see what a messy eater she is!).

Today I braved going out with only a smidgen of mascara and terribly unkempt hair – but there was no one to care and it felt great. My old tattered trousers from Kathmandu dragged along in the wet sand, having seen many a beach on many a land in the years and years I’ve been wearing them. My comfy Ecco shoes have also seen many adventures and were nearly kicked off as my feet were tempted to feel the sand and paddle in the cool sea – but the sight of a few too many sand-flies made me think better of it. I was glad of my dusty pink jumper from Just Jeans, covering my arms from the pesky flies and warming me from the slight chill in the virgin spring air.

The sun was just the tonic I needed after the deluge of rain over the past few days. I’ve been filling a little out of sorts and was very grateful to the Universe for throwing down a cracker of a day.

I loved watching the fisherman coming and a going…

This delightful couple of Oystercatchers looking for food…

And watching the waves crashing on the shore…

After picking Sophie up from Kindergarten at midday we headed to Lyall Bay beach, where we spent the rest of the afternoon till Charlotte finished school. It was so good to remember the days of summer past and look forward to the coming summer. There were more than a few happy faces at the beach today.

Alice really has a taste for pasta bolognaise!

She just needs a sombrero and she’d pass as a Mexican with this smattering of sauce all over her chops

On Saturday, whilst Daddy played soccer, Sophie took over the kitchen to make fairy cakes and iced biscuits. Alice and I were given our orders to film the proceedings. Charlotte was happy to stay clear, except for a brief interlude from researching animals on the Internet to make some jelly (the black rings round her eyes aren’t anything to be concerned about – merely left over face paint from an impromptu Harry Potter dramatization earlier in the day!).

Sophie is fast becoming ‘Head Chef’ and when she starts chanting, ‘A good chef is a tidy chef,’ the chef’s hat is all hers! Here is her first video blog bake (Vlog)…

And here she is demonstrating her multi-tasking skills (what a love x); decorating fairy cakes whilst waiting for her iced biscuit dough to firm in the fridge:

Finally, here’s Alice taking mental notes, whilst eyeing up the 100’s & 1000’s…

Sophie has entered the Persil Kiwi Kids Have a Go in the Kitchen – click here to VOTE FOR SOPHIE! THANK YOU X

Check out the ‘What’s Cooking?’ tab on the menu bar above for more recipe ideas or click here!

In a room on one side of the world a mother plays on the piano, whilst her baby daughter sits smiling and shaking a rattle. She listens to the rain beating down on the metal roof of her warm home and thinks of the synchronicity of the piece she is playing, ‘Kiss the Rain’, with the weather outside.

Far away, on the other side of the world, a mother packs her bag for a brave journey to a place where children have no home. She is taking her laptop and camera with her. She is leaving her child in good hands. She hasn’t flown anywhere before and she is not going for a holiday, but to tell a message. She has a gift with words and there are thousands of women with stories to tell. Mothers to children that don’t have the basic health care to keep them alive. Mothers that have said sad farewells to their children needlessly.

In a tent, somewhere in the middle, a mother holds her crying child in her arms and wonders where the next meal will come from. She wishes for clean water for her child to drink and bathe in.

And so it is, these women miles apart are joined by their love for their children, but one woman is powerless – as are millions of others. It is up to those who can, to press for change.

And so the mother on the piano presses down the keys to sing out a melody, hoping for change. She presses a button and signs her name to a petition for change. She sponsors a child in a country far away and sends letters of hope. She contributes to emergency aid requests with small donations. She hopes that world leaders will pull together and listen to the pleas for help. She feels a united pull around the globe of mothers everywhere uniting and giving a voice to those who need to be heard.

And on one day in August, a mother takes a photograph – inspired by ‘Sticky Fingers: The Gallery‘.

It is the same day that three UK parenting bloggers, Josie, Sian and Eva, fly to Bangladesh for a week to help raise awareness of the work Save the Children is doing with mothers and children in one of the most poverty-stricken places on the planet.

My photograph is one of hope on a backdrop of rain. Hope that the basics of clean water, food, shelter, medical aid and a better quality of life one day become a reality for all. That the earth becomes their playground and not their foe. That their voices are heard and truly listened to.

Sarah x

Here’s how you can help Blogladesh

She bounces with glee in her jolly jumper. In her high-chair she kicks her legs with excited anticipation of food.

And, she has started waving and saying, ‘Mama!’ ADORABLE! She also loves to grab us around the neck, pull us close and give us big kisses like a puppy dog (with the teeth too!). She is sooooo ticklish – especially her tummy and under her arms. She has the best chuckle.

We haven’t really been diligent in capturing all these special moments on video, but here’s a short clip of her saying, ‘Mama!’ – well we like to think that’s what she’s saying x

The sound of the waves, the gulls cawing over head looking for their breakfast, a random rooster crying out ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’.

The wind on my face, the spring in my step. The intoxicating feeling of lungs full of fresh air and muscles working hard.

Yes! Yes! Yes! These endorphins are sooooo good (she says punching the air and doing a hi-5).

The girls think I’ve gone mental. I’m jumping around the house like a crazy Easter rabbit.

Okay, back to reality. The washing machine is calling me….

A little head-way is made during the morning, with Alice being entertained with random toys as Mummy skits around the house like a white-tornado. Clothes put away. Tea-towels, bibs and cleaning cloths. Towels and bedding. A cloth whipped round the sink and bench-tops. A dirty mirror given a quick polish. A dusty shelf brushed along in haste.

And then the mess makes a come back over lunch, combined with a play-date (Sophie in the middle)…

Alice thinks it is all hilarious. She is absolutely laughing at me in the photograph below. Here she is, second round of eating for the day, deciding yoghurt and banana definitely taste better when smeared behind the ears, over the eyes, up the sleeve… ah well, at least she’s trying hard to feed herself – top marks for trying lass! And she’s doing a pretty grand job at 6 month’s old. Did I mention she has ANOTHER tooth! That’s three munching mashers at 6 months and I can feel a fourth swelling up and getting ready to cut through.

But the mess is so worth it, right? To hear the happy sounds of children laughing. To hear Sophie playing with her friends. Sophie is such a sociable personality and needs to be around people all the time. Charlotte was always happy to entertain herself and enjoyed her own space to create and ‘be’, but Sophie is happier surrounded by people.

So, it is worth it… even if there’s paint smeared clothes to wash and art materials to clean and put away. This lovely activity of painting pebbles ended up with wet clothes scattered around the patio and house. I’d left out a bucket of warm soapy water, for them to wash their hands in, which quickly became a mini-paddling pool. Sophie, yes my darling daughter, was the leader – even climbing in the bucket (she should be in the circus being able to squeeze herself into small objects!). Within moments I had three bubble covered, wet, shivering girls running through the house looking for towels and dry clothes (despite the Spring sunshine there’s still a wintery chill in the air in Wellington).

Sophie said to me the other day, ‘Play with me Mummy’ and I really do try. I don’t want her to look back and just remember me as the house-maid, cook and cleaner. But sometimes, when I sit down to play, my mind is wondering to all the chores I have to do. Other times, I do get totally engrossed in play and can so feel the love – know what I mean?

But I can’t play all the time and that is something my children need to know. I am constantly teaching them to be involved and responsible for their belongings. And when we all pull our weight and work together there is more time for play – yah! A friend recently introduced a ‘responsible jar’ – where the children earn marbles for being responsible and when the jar is full they get to choose a treat or a family activity. Great idea!

So, this week we have introduced ‘responsible jars’. Well, like all these reward systems they seem to get more and more complicated as the children get older and wiser. Truth be told, Charlotte already is exceedingly responsible and does so much without us having to ask. But Sophie needs a little more encouraging. I am going to have to draw up a detailed list of how and when they can ‘win’ marbles. There is already some heavy negotiations going on. This morning, whilst Dan was on the phone to his Mum (organising flights to NZ for his Mum and Dad), and I was in the shower, the girls broke into a screaming row over the marbles. Afterwards we had them sit down and write apologies to Chinese Grandma and Granddad and really hope they haven’t been put off coming out here in January for five weeks!

So, the mess, yes, it starts over breakfast and never really goes away, but ebbs and flows like the tide.

And sometimes the outcome of all the mess can be something rather lovely to look at…

The girls have been churning out the artwork, particularly Sophie at Kindergarten, and this week I’ve been working on turning one wall of the house into an art gallery (turned into two walls… hey ho). There is still a large pile of yet more delightful art, which will be winging its way to four corners of the world and wrapping itself around presents in due course.

Now it’s time for me to be responsible and go and collect Sophie from Kindergarten (got to wake up sleeping Alice though – poor love). And then it’s off to see the nurse for me – as I’ve been very irresponsible and not had a smear test since 2003 (gasp!). The nurse has been on my case and finally cornered me on the phone this week. Do I get a marble?

We are all LOVING playing out in the garden again. Sophie has planted peas, strawberries and filled empty pots with ‘instant’ colour…

Charlotte & Sophie are working hard to give their cubby house a ‘make over’ with a lick of paint…

Alice is trying on some shades for size in preparation of the sunny seasons…

And she’s sitting mighty fine, with her two pearly whites, at six months…

She is loving the warmer weather too and sat out in the garden, jumping in her little play-saucer, giggling at me mowing the lawn today. She’s taken to solids so quickly and LOVES her food. She is enjoying mince-meat, broccoli, Cruskits, toast, baby yoghurt, custard, pear, carrots, crumpets, potatoes, baby museli… she is so easy to feed and taking food off a spoon (and feeding herself – very messily – with one too) as well as enjoying finger food and experimenting with all the new textures. I am NOT loving all the extra cleaning, but quickly adapting and making it a part of my day with as much positivity as I can muster.

I am NOT loving Alice waking up and needing to be resettled every hour some times. She is totally dependent on me to go to sleep. I am what she associates with sleep and I really need my big girls to give me a little time in the evening so I can start putting Alice to sleep at least partially awake (instead of falling asleep on my shoulder whilst I read with my big girls – as cute as this is). I know I need to make a change, but I LOVE reading with my big girls (currently indulging in everything from Roald Dahl & good ‘ole Harry Potter to old fashioned fairy tales and the Railway Children). I am digging out the pearls of wisdom Elizabeth Pantley writes beautifully about in her book, ‘No Cry Sleep Solution’ and introducing sleep aids of music and a baby sleeping bag. I’m not feeding her to sleep all the time, but quite often she just wants to be in my arms. I’m working at laying her down a little more awake and not completely in a deep sleep. It’ll take a while – as I like to do things gradually, but I know (from previous experience) these methods will work…. in a month or so. Meanwhile, I go to bed early each night and manage to survive At least she is asleep from around 7pm to 7am – even if she is in my arms. And she does nap well. She doesn’t cry. She is full of smiles and I am convinced she’s started waving – at everyone – even random strangers 10 metres behind me!

LOVING one on one time (when I can get it). Last Friday Charlotte, Alice and I (okay, strictly two on one) had a hot chocolate at Maranui surf cafe (LOVE Maranui & hot chocolates on a Friday afternoon!)…

On the way home we saw the Westpac Trust helicopter doing a training exercise and made an impromptu stop. It was a beautiful evening and Charlotte clambered on the rocks with such free delight, whilst Alice kicked her legs and giggled at the tide gently lapping on the shore.

A Dad from school was down there too – waiting for the helicopter to finish up so that he could row out and retrieve a net he’d left close to shore. His patience was rewarded with a good catch of four large Kahawai, which we were very impressed with. I phoned Frances and she came down with Sophie, before we returned home to cook a home made pizza. LOVE impromptu moments by the beach, with the sun casting a red glow on distant hills.

What are you loving, not loving lately?
(Inspired by Greatfun4kids)