After the usual morning routine of breakfast and kids TV till 9am, Nathan was wondering what to do, so I suggested that we could start to plan his stall for selling the potatoes. He was keen to do that so we wrote up a list of what needs to be done - bag up the potatoes, write a sign with the price and what is for sale, set up table and chair, have some spare change etc. So we first up bagged up the potatoes into 1kg bags. Since was a Tuesday and not a lot of foot-traffic going past our house, I suggested that he might like to wait for a weekend and in the meantime we would need to make a sign anyway. He was making plans for what he would like to buy - at this stage another Tintin book is the top of the list.

Nathan then wanted get out the Magnetic Kit again and work through some more of the projects. We both loved this one where we had several magnets levitating. We found if we bounced the top one they'd spring up and down like a spring. Fun.

After lunch we went down to the library and the supermarket. We spent a bit of time reading together which we haven't done so much of lately now that summer is well and truly here. I started reading the original Pinocchio story to Nathan tonight (my mum bought us a boxed set of unabridged classics) - we haven't read in the evening for weeks since he's so tired by 7pm. He literally has dinner, gets ready for bed and falls asleep. So I was pleased to get about 10mins in at bedtime of the usual 30-40min session.

Well, we're off camping for 3 nights this coming weekend to the local Organic River Festival - I'm not sure how relaxed I'm going to be, but we're planning on having a great time anyway. The kids are really looking forward to it and getting to hang with friends for 4 days!

Simon was home all day today (yay says the exhausted mama!).

Nathan was browsing through one of the new books I'd ordered called Earthwise which has some lovely ideas for environmental based activities and crafts broken down into seasons.

He came across an idea for making a stick house and was keen to get out there and make it "ummm, buddy, it's only 8.15am". It is very similar to what we've attempted before but this time we decided to try and make it a little more permanent. He had to wait a few hours before the rest of the family were ready to get into it too...

Simon made and framework from heavy bamboo and then we all wove the more flexible leafy bits of the branches amongst them.


Danielle investigating a dandelion seed head.

Our chickens having a dust bath lol. Cheeky chickens.

Danielle feeding her bubba the other day from her little bowl of crystals.

Nathan decided this morning that he wanted to build a train track and wanted me to do it with him, so he started by drawing up a plan.

He then set to work. I found it fascinating (and guess it's the whole men are from mars and women from venus when it comes to map reading) that he had his map sitting at a 90 degree angle to where he was building the track. For me, I tried to set the map the same direction as the track was but he kept resetting it back to the other angle so I left him to it. LOL

We were out the other day choosing a present for a friend's birthday party yesterday and the kids chose this little set of scales for themselves and have had fun with it.

Danielle had a little plaster of paris kit. We poured it into the mould yesterday and she was ready to start painting today. It started off as bright pink. Then later on she was repainting it and announced that it was now green - and that she'd used blue to make it (there was no green in the paint pots). I asked if she'd also used yellow to get that colour. It was fun to hear the amazement in her voice at what had happened. I still recall Nathan annoncing a similar discovery a few years back - so despite having been painting for years and seeing it happen over and over, it must just click one day at *how* that happens and so neat to see the realisation for themselves rather than me showing them (probably more due to a lazy-mama rather than by plan).

Reinventing...

OK, so maybe not reinventing myself, but changing the name of the blog certainly reflects how I feel about our life.

Today I received some new books that I had ordered. One that I've really been looking forward to getting for a year now called The Lilypad List: 7 steps to the Simple Life was the first I poked my nose into. I love Marian's style of writing - like I'm sitting there in her living room with a cuppa having a chat. It's such a heart-warming read and I hope that she doesn't mind me borrowing a line that really jumped out at me and inspired the new title of the blog.

I think too that it's a positive affirmation to myself when times seem a little frazzled around here, or I'm being a bit impatient with the kids, or not living in the moment that I can reconnect with myself, the kids and all my hopes and dreams.

And to once again feel grounded.

It's funny, when your life and what you have gets taken for granted and becomes "ordinary" and then a shake up like one's health happens - it really makes you reflect and realise how important and appreciated those "ordinary" choices really are.

I certainly love our simple life.

A few days back Simon took the kids down to one of the local pine forests for a picnic and a ride around and collected a container of pine cones.

While they were gone I spent some time in the garden. Danielle eating her "snack" - who nees a lunchbox when you can transport your snack around like this?

Yesterday got out a Magnetic Science kit that Nathan had been given for Christmas and had a go at some of the experiments.

Here they are with their metal detectors...

Nathan then started playing with his rigged up pulley/winch system again and showed Danielle what to do.


They then moved on to the sandpit while I wandered around the garden. Danielle made "ice cream" and Nathan made a magic potion.

Nathan showed me his canon that he and Simon made the other day. Nathan had gotten out his Dangerous Book for Boys and taken it down to Simon who was in the garage and wondered how they could make one. Great for shooting a tennis ball through.

Egg maths

LOL, this seems to be the way that both my kids have grasped the concept of addition and subtraction in a way that speaks to them.

When Nathan was four he accidentally broke an egg and announced that he had 3 eggs, but broke 1 and now has 2.

Just yesterday Danielle collected the eggs with me. We had 3 and I asked her what would happen if I broke 1, how many would be left to which she replied 2. Then a few seconds later she said and if I broke 1 more there would only be 1 left.

Taking it easy

Well, yesterday was fairly low key and Nathan was a bit restless and ho hum. But by late afternoon he wanted to go for a walk down to the beach.