Bookweek Prep

So I did a bit of the work on the book week costumes like usual.  I still haven't bought a shop made costume yet!  Go me! 

Op  shops are fabulous.

A ladies skirt which was lined & super swishy, made a fabulous Harry Potter cape.  I got to test out the over locker too which I have figured out a little!  Go me again! 

A girls jacket from the op shop was another great find.  Trimmed off the fluffy edges, cut out the sleeves & turned the collar inside & stitched it down.  Turned into a tweedy type looking vest that the Fourth Doctor Who required.  A bit of hand stitching & it did the job.  I needed to remind myself that it is for Bookweek.  One day of dress up.  That's all.  The kids aren't going to inspect the finished products to see how perfect or not, they are.   

Bookweek 2018

Ten

This boy is a big boy in double digits all of a sudden... Sheesh... 

Birthday Party-ish

BJ's birthday party wasn't your average kids party.  He didn't want one.  

So having told us that a few weeks ago we came up with some other ideas on what we could do together instead.  

He chose the Queen Victoria Museum.  It was going to be a big day anyway, so it turned out OK that we didn't do it on his actual birthday in the end with him under the weather still then.  He wouldn't have enjoyed it at all.  

So today we had a road trip & quite a few hours at the museum.  

We had done a bit of research on what was being shown at the moment.  He was really keen to see the World War 1 display & also the ship that sunk.  Mostly he was interested in "The Blacksmith Shop".   Lucky for us, being there on a Sunday, we got the tour of the blacksmith shop which was good.  He was really pleased about that.  

A great time there & then lunch at a place in the area that he also loves so that was the makings of a great birthday!  

Oh & I must not forget the party bags which was actually a few things we picked at the Museum shop, so both BJ & DJ got to enjoy those bonuses.  

He's 9

What turned out to be a quieter than expected day...

He hadn't been well & was still a bit weary from his cold, so we chose to stay home today instead.  He didn't mind.  He of course had new presents to play with.  Even a present from the dog & another from the chooks.  See if you can guess which ones they were!

He was quite spoilt of course.

He chose pizza for tea which included his grandparents that were available.  A great day even if not feeling 100%.

Footy Day

Did you know that the Hawthorn Hawks are kind of a Tassie team?  Well the Tassie government give them lots of money, so Tassie is kind of their home ground.  They had a match in Tassie on Friday night apparently.  

Saturday morning saw a kids coaching clinic in our town!  So being a family of mostly Hawks supporters, Stuart was happy to drag the boys along.  Actually they went willingly.  (as did I!)  The boys joined in in the 2 hour clinic which was fun to watch.  There were 4 groups of kids & 4 Hawks players split between them.  

It was really a great day.  What a great thing to do for people though.  I imagine it would be quite a struggle for the players at times to put on a happy face for something that becomes quite frustrating, boring, repetitive for them, but they did a good job, especially after coming after a practice match the night before.  

Heck, I even got a bit of coaching done with Ben myself.  Hahaha...  yeah, watching a group of 4-5 year old's trying to follow instructions from way above their level is funny, so umm...  I helped.  I don't know if Ben was happy about that or not, but hey, I can send them off in the right direction so the plan of the footballer kind of works.  Four & five year old's just don't get it.  

We managed the autograph session where Stuart managed to get 2 of his hats signed, but the boys were wearing them of course!  lol  Plus the photos...  awesome fun.  Apparently this is worthy of "journal writing" come Monday at school!  

Boys & Ben McEvoy

Boys & Kade Stewart

Will Langford & Shaun Burgoyne

School Already?

Making

BJ said the other week he wanted to make a bear.  I said I don't have bear patterns or fur.  I did tell him that we were getting new toy patterns in at work & one of them was a dinosaur if he wanted to wait.  

Well they arrived this past week & lucky for me, the dino pattern was a good beginner pattern.  So today we started on a dino.  He got into it that is for sure.

Birthday Boy

So my big boy turned 8 yesterday.  Far out the years are moving along quite briskly...  He had an early morning start before school.  A little pizza party with his grandparents that evening & today a little party with 4 school friends.  He's enjoyed himself & been spoilt of course!

Super Socks

I tried something different in the sock knitting.  I did a bit of a pattern & the pattern even included a new heel which I ended up giving a go.  Wasn't so easy on the first sock but on the second it was a breeze.  I'm quite chuffed actually.

You know the really scary thing?  I didn't even try to match them up.  Actually I just started the second without caring as it doesn't bother me if they don't match.  But far out, if I had of tried I couldn't have got it much closer!

Somewhat proud of my big boy today - he received an award for trying so hard with his learning.  That's all we ask, that he tries.  

Stitched Memories

 In December BJ drew this picture one night.  He actually delivered it on the back of his remote control car to me from his bedroom.  Bit sweet.

This week I finally got around to stitching it.  We have this cute fabric at work with lines on it like a ruled book.   I used that to position it, avoiding the little illustrations on the fabric.  We're both pleased with it.  

Bookweek

So Bookweek is here again.

But I got of a bit lightly this year.  No sewing required.  Well I could have if I wanted to create an awful LOT of work for myself!  

BJ decided this year he wanted to be Bofur a dwarf from The Hobbit.  Ekkk...  he made the decision based on his furry hat that he had been given for his birthday I think.

The picture he showed me first up with this one...

Thank goodness this was weeks ago so I had time to think about it...  

A visit to one large op shop did the trick.  Turns out ladies clothing includes lots of brown jackets, but finding one small enough was the trick.  I didn't think over size was going to matter a great deal though for the character.  So this one worked out well, a nice Miss Shop suede jacket with furry bits.  lol  (he doesn't know it is a girls jacket!)

Anyway, Bookweek is over again for another year.  Next year will be dressing up 2 of them!  

Minecraft Day

An early start to the day for us all.  Birthday boy & his little brother were beyond excited!  

Early morning birthday haul.  Lego is always a winner.  

After school party with 5 school friends.  It was all about Minecraft which BJ lives & breathes these days.  The resources online are amazing.  All the printables I used are free.  The ideas are endless, right down to colouring Creeper faces on green party cups (& added the children's names on the back of each cup!) & also the green balloons that were all around the room.  It was fun shopping for lollies that would fit the bill of many of the Minecraft elements.  

A TNT cake.  TNT is rather important in Minecraft it seems.  (bought red fondant that looks rather pink!  But a 7 year old doesn't notice too much!)

BJ, DJ & a little friend all enjoy party food to excess!!!  lol

Party bags are an important feature for the children heading home.  Once one is given out the rest see it & they all want to go home so they can get theirs too.  I don't usually put as much edible stuff in as I did this time but it was hard to find themed things.  The Minecraft Hangers were on sale recently.  Bonus!  They are a keyring in a blind bag, so it's always a surprise what you will get.  A roll of Fruit Tingle lollies with a Minecraft printable wrapped over it.  A box of Smarties with a Minecraft printable wrapping paper over it.  Two TNT bundles that we had fun making out of raspberry twisters & a licorice wick.  A lollipop that isn't your average lollipop, in the front of the picture.  These were called Crystal Sticks on the packet even!  Perfect!  Crystals from Minecraft as well.  Couldn't be better.  Seems they were all rapt with their party haul.  

 Cake looked rather pretty in the dark with all it's TNT wicks glowing brightly before being blown out!

One very long day for all.  One very over tired, newly turned 7 year old.  He had a huge day with an all day excursion at school too.  What a bonus on his birthday that was!  So all in all a very exciting day, after a long time of much anticipation.