dirt, mud and pom poms

Well hows that for a weird title? I will explain...

I've been very keen to move on to our new house but last week I was reminded to live and appreciate the now. 

The reminder came from a morning that ebbed and flowed and seemed just like the kind of morning I would have been dreaming of as I put all that work into creating this veggie patch from the bare earth I started off with.
There have been many days just like it in recent times but I guess it takes the right mood to sit back and realize what I have in front of me.
My original goal for my self was to have a beautiful and productive veggie patch full of flowers and beauty. My goal for it as a day care space was to have places for them to dig, enough flowers for them pick as they please, and just generally a space for them to loose themselves in imaginative play. It occurred to me that its almost embarrassing how few toys we had out in the garden, and I call this a day care! Just the sandpit buckets and spades at the moment, that's it. I've been getting in the habit of helping the children put the toys in our shed each afternoon to stop them fading and getting so worn out. Well at the rate were going the toys will sure last a long while, Id forgotten to get any toys out all week and none of the children reminded me.
What were they doing instead?

digging in the dirt. Squishing and molding it

 helping me weed

 playing with our 'pom pom' flowers (i'm not sure what these are but my aunt Helena gave me some seeds from her garden and now these are everywhere. They are the best 'toy' the children love the sensory experience of rubbing them on their faces, they pull them apart to do all sorts of things with the petals, they throw them like a little ball and loads more)

 Mitch loves to open them and see what colour's inside

 luckily there are loads of them, this kept him happy for ages. All i heard from him was 'wow, its a pink one! wow it's a white one!"

 they hide among the broad beans, pick beans and peas
they plant a lot of seeds. When we eat bread with seeds they collect the seeds to plant. They collect the seeds from fruit and veg and find various seed pods on our walks

 It sure is nice to have a spot where they can truly get lost in nature

soon we'll be picking strawberries too

This morning I took the little girls for a big long walk and we ended up at the boat ramp.
I took their pants off and let them  paddle in the water in their nappies and t shirts. For two 2 year olds who have been confined in pants and shoes all winter long, it was pretty much heaven. They found some mud to squish between their toes and fall over in- even better! They were so incredibly excited that a boat came in. Better yet the fisher men said hi to them and showed them a fish. Sometimes the spontaneous days are the most fun

my hens weekend

I had the nicest time away for my hens weekend. To be honest with all the wedding planning and expenses I wasn't sure if I wanted a hens party but luckily my awesome sister got busy and found a beautiful beach shack for us to stay at. I had the nicest time! 

Friday night Aj, Lil and mum all came to my place for tea and then we packed the car and drove to our Port Clinton seaside beach shack. We had a relaxing evening. In the morning we woke up to this gorgeous view! The house and view was even nicer than we expected. We went for a walk about the town in our pajamas feeling rather embarrassed when we went past people and then did a puzzle together. I love when beach shacks have puzzles to do. It wasn't until one of mine and Benny's anniversary weekends away when it was too hot at mid day for the beach that I re discovered that I love puzzles.

 later on we wandered the beach again and walked in the cool water

 It was so lovely we couldn't help but dance

 and sit on this broken boat for cheesy seaside pictures

 Later on my friends Kylie, Sarah and very-almost-mother in law Sharon arrived and we had some drinks and went for yet another wander. It wasn't until just now writing this that it occurred to me that theirs not a whole lot to write about seems we mostly sat around chatting or walked around chatting but it was such an incredibly fun and relaxed weekend, I had the best time!

 Oh and there was food, lots of good food!

and that's about it!

counting down the weeks

Life seems to be going quite quickly at this point which is a good. Out wedding is 3 and a half weeks away. Everyone keeps asking if were ready for it it and my reply? 'Uuuum, I hope so!' 

Planning a wedding is a bit overwhelming for a person like me who is a relaxed last minute throw it together kind of a girl. I'm pretty sure I've got it all sorted but time will tell.

Last weekend was our hair and make up trial which was good fun (pictured above except my hair wasn't done in the pic) This weekend is my hens night. Were going away to a little holiday shack by the beach and its sure to be a lot of fun

I've also been sorting through our house and opp shopping all sorts of things that we don't need. I'm being quite ruthless, the more I get rid of the less we have to move. One of my favorite past times at the moment is looking at real estate sites in search of the perfect house. Yep some would say i'm a bit impatient to move!

1 more month left taking clomid (fertility drug) and then we'll go back to the specialist. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can try next. I have a feeling my near future will involve needles and quite a few of them but their may have been something less scary to try next (I've not been to him for months and cant remember what options we have left) There's been quite a lot of talk of IVF in these parts, were saving and wondering how long the waiting list is. And of course crossing our fingers that a miracle happens before then

For quite a while I've been wanting to get fitter but I just don't get around to it. Last week I went to the gym in Kadina with Kylie and it was good fun. I mentioned it to Benny's mum Sharon and she was very keen to go too so we went tonight for the first time and we are signed up and keen to go again next week. Theirs lots of exercise equipment and classes that sound really great. I can also go anytime i'm in Kadina visiting my parents and friends. I'm looking forward to feeling good and full of energy like I used to 

 On the weekend i felt like I needed a project. I haven't been feeling like knitting and couldn't think of anything in particular I wanted to work on so I decided to make a few more pieces of wool felt food for the play kitchen. I've wanted more play food but put of making it because it just didn't seem like something exciting enough to dedicate so much time to. Once i got started I enjoyed the slow hand stitching and it didn't take that long at all

The three most requested foods in my daycare at the moment are watermelon, peas and cheese. Even Maddalyn who is allergic to dairy and has no idea what cheese tastes like excitedly asks for cheese each time, just because her friends do, she figures its the thing to do:) (Luckily she has her favourite soy yogurt that I can give her instead)