Costumes

I finished up with the costumes I was using for some of my classes and have brought them home for the kids to enjoy for awhile. And enjoy they have. We were visited by a pilot, a fireman, a vet, a nurse and a train driver, to name a few.

They even reconstructed the dining room furniture to make way for aircraft and railway seating arrangements.

We have also been working on other dress-ups. I hit a snag when it came to a Princess dress (with a long skirt and long sleeves - it's winter here you realize) I was making for Anisa. You see, I did not measure her, but just cut out pieces according to her usual size. This was bad. Not at all the way it should have been done. Alas, we learn some things the hard way. The size five dress is too large and long even for Ruhi. At least they will both be able to wear it for a very long time. Meanwhile Anisa and I have been back to the fabric shop where we have chosen some more material and we are starting again on the winter time princess dress-up. Wish us luck. Lots of luck. Lots!

Haircuts

"I feel new." is the first thing that Ruhi said upon seeing her reflection in the mirror after having her haircut (courtesy of Mehran). She really wanted something shorter with a fringe (bangs). I didn't think to take a before shot, but here is an after. She loves it short and looks really cute. So cute that Anisa wanted her hair cut too. I am just worried that we've lost her curls as only the very end of her hair is wavy now...perhaps it was bound to happen eventually, but I love curls. Bayan even sat (sort of) for me to trim his hair. It was rather haphazard as he he didn't want the scissors to touch his hair and he kept trying to see what I was doing. The back turned out pretty good, it's just the front that needs some work, but at least he can see where he is going now.

What a tangeled web we weave...

Earlier this week after dropping Ruhi off at school I set Anisa up with a mini loom and some yarn. She quickly got the hang of the over, under, over, under technique and in no time at all was halfway through with a little blanket she was weaving for Bayan. Isn't it sweet? Bayan took more pleasure in racing off with the yarn, twirling it around his body, and collapsing in fits of giggles every time I attempted to retrieve it.

We have put our small piles of yarn to good use and have been having a brilliant time making enormous webs (the spider free kind - thankfully) in the back garden. In continuing with the treasure hunt craze that has recently taken our household by storm, I have placed a small treasure or treat somewhere in the yard and have attached it to the end of a string which has then been woven around, under, through and over all manner of objects, especially trees and play equipment. The kids (Ruhi and Anisa) have then each taken a different colored end of yarn and began unweaving the web in order to find the treasure. The first time it was a carob coated buckwheat cracker, the next time it was bananas, which we then brought inside and added to a special fruit salad for dessert. I am planning pouches of popcorn for our next web hunt and we may very well have some friends joining us. Bayan, while not unravelling the web as the girls did, had a most spiffing time dashing around the web and cheering his sisters on.

Welcome...

to (in Ruhi's words) "The Painting Face Art Shop." Where two enthusiastic artisans are standing by, ready and waiting to decorate you most thoroughly. Choose a picture, the choice is yours. Be as imaginative as possible (the artisans are) and watch your wildest face painting dreams come true...

Buzzzz

The kids and I went on an excursion to a honey farm in the hills. We had a delightful time finding our way as the address was not on any street directory, nor did it come up on web based satellite programs, but we found it nonetheless. Thanks in part to helpful petrol station attendants in a neighbouring town (which was on the map) and cute clues like this stuffed honey bee attached to an ancient gum tree.

I loved the drive it was so peaceful and serene. I am plotting ways that we might return to the area to live. Mehran isn't keen, but I can dream and scheme and plan. Perhaps someday.

In the meantime we had a delightful tour. We saw all kinds of fascinating bee keeping and honey producing equipment:the smoking apparatus (dare I say gun? It's more like an accordion with with a tiny fire inside.)

Explaining the machine that helps separate the honey from the honey comb.Explaining about the different types and flavours of honey, how it is collected, packaged and where it gets delivered. The girls really enjoyed this part of the presentation: The taste testing. Four distinct flavors of honey: Blue Gum (from the tree), Orange Blossom (really sweet) Bush Mallee (my favourite) and Meadow Honey (Ruhi's favourite). We took a kilo home and have been having a dandy time making cornflake crackles and enjoying bread with butter and honey.To top it all off they had a flock of peacocks running around the place, ferrets to catch rabbits, chickens and roosters, multiple veggie patches and a fabulous rope swing hanging from a mammoth tree overlooking numerous lush valleys and the pastureland below. Oh, and a Jurassic sandpit filled with all manner of dump trucks and beach toys. Bayan was in heaven. I wonder if there is any chance that they might adopt me... just for a little while.

Concealing Nasal Congestion

Ruhi's tip for hiding the effects of a common cold is easy, cute and effective. She suggests strapping on a fox nose. Anisa prefers a bird beak.

Muffin Tins, That Big Box & Animal Adventures

Approximately a month ago a large, eagerly anticipated box arrived. Heavily laden with books and educational tools from the States it sat alone, and unopened until last night when the children and I gathered to do the honors. While a few of the so called tools were highly overpriced an seriously disappointing the vast majority of things I can hardly wait to get stuck into and apparently neither can the kids who sat happily watching a DVD of science experiments while lunching on an assortment of nibbles, served up in a muffin tin. Ruhi insisted that we try the first experiment ourselves. Who am I to refuse? So I gathered an assortment of containers and filled each with exactly the same amount of water (tinted with food coloring) and asked the girls to guess which one they thought was the fullest. Here they are pointing to their different choices. Both gave different reasons for why they chose the way that they did and both were surprised to learn that the water was the same for every container. The experiment needs to be followed up by them each getting a chance to measure out for themselves using different containers, but we were distracted when we discovered Archimedes principle about water displacement. That was fun. Messy, but fun. We've saved the measuring for another day.

Late in the afternoon I took the kids to quickly visit Lynda (the llama) and Sparkles (formerly known as Alice - the pony). It had been awhile and after helping make a large batch of carrot and apple juice Anisa became nostalgic and begged to go see them again. They had a great time feeding them leftover apple and cucumber slices although Sparkles was as grabby as ever and barely gave Lynda a chance to sample the portions thrown her way.

I couldn't help but notice there was something different about Lynda. I am not entirely convinced that she (???) is the same llama we have previously visited. It has been a long week and I could be slightly delusional but I was quite certain that the original Lynda had one blue eye and one brown one. I took a closeup shot intending to verify it later. I still have not had a chance. At any rate the Lynda we saw yesterday had two beautiful, blue eyes.

While Ruhi noticed a couple of kangaroos engaged in what appeared to be a serious boxing competition (not a very clear picture, but you get the idea), Anisa attempted to style Sparkles hair and did all manner of interesting things with her fringe (bangs). Meanwhile Bayan just loved it all. As he stopped by this tree he flashed the biggest grin at the camera... it was gorgeous, priceless and missed (by about a nanosecond) this is the slightly cross eyed shot I got instead. Oh well. He is still entirely charming.

Treasure Hunts

Over the last week or two the girls and I have been enjoying treasure hunts around the house. Anisa has been getting very good at rhyming and will often come out with a: "Hey Mum, that rhymes with fox or stripes or vermilion green" (well maybe not the last one, but her skills are impressive.) Ruhi is working on inferring meaning from the patchy clues that are left for them to solve and will read them out to Anisa. Together they try to figure out where the next clue is hidden while Bayan enthusiastically cheers them on. Some clues were very simple and easy to work out such as "Go to the place where you rest your head. The next clue lies on your _ _ _ . " They had to work out what rhymed with head, in this case bed. They then had to find the clue, read it, and solve the riddle to find the next clue. Other clues were more tricky like working out that shower rhymed with power. Here are Ruhi and Anisa after solving the final clue which led them to the oven. The "treasure" consisted of all the necessary equipment and ingredients to make caramel popcorn. Yum! I think I am enjoying these hunts more than the kids. There is much discovery, excitement and thrill. Plus I get to work on my rhyming skills.

BOOM Baby!

I'm back! I have finally finished marking in excess of three hundred workbooks, have finalized learning outcomes across eight year levels and have graded (ugh!) the abilities of over 300 students in relation to those very outcomes. The results have been photocopied, filed and handed to teachers. And while there are still numerous demands on my time I feel the most delightful sense of freedom! Everything is joyous... even laundry. Speaking of which I had better be off... the blog is not the only thing I have neglected lately.