DIY paint for kids

Burnsie found this recipe on Facebook so we had to share it! 

• 1 cup salt
• 1 cup gluten free flour
• 1 cup water
• Natural food colouring 
• Mix together until you get the colour you want

So simple and non toxic, the kids can make it themselves!

Embarrassing stuff kids say

"Mummy, that lady has big boobies just like you!" Yes, you read that correctly. This is what Miss 3 yells out on the train today while pointing at an attractive young South American girl sitting opposite us.

Umm, thanks for that! If you have heard my daughter's voice lately you will have a pretty good idea how this played out. She's a foghorn, not sure where she gets that from. And if that statement didn't get everyone's attention, there's more.

Next thing she lifts up her top. Oh to clarify, Ava lifts her top. Unfortunately for my dear hubby it was not the attractive young girl lifting her top. She was probably totally mortified that her boobs are being compared to mine. Despite sitting opposite the crazy family (that would be us) she is completely avoiding any eye contact whatsoever. I am also hoping like hell that this girl does not understand a word of English. Not that it mattered, the lady next to us definitely understood English.

So with her top lifted for all on the train to see, Miss fog horn screeches "When I'm a grown up I'm going to have big nipples and boobies just like mummy."  Gold. No really, it was gold. I had to give it to her, Burnsie and I had nowhere to go from there. We were speechless.

It's times like this I have mixed feelings about having a smart and articulate toddler. I know it's not unusual for kids to embarrass their parents in public, it was just a bit of a shock when it happened on a busy Inner West train.

It's not the first outburst. Previous gems include. "Mummy I have to go to the toilet. I have a wedgie." And "Mu Mummy has a baby in her tummy". The former was true, the latter was not for the record !!

Ever since my sister came to stay with the gorgeous 12 week old Gabi, Ava has been obsessed with babies and boobs. She pretends to breast feed from me and talks endlessly about her boobies. Is this normal?

My Mum calls it karma! I think there may have been a few occasions that I embarrassed her a little when I was Ava's age. So is it karma or just normal curious and innocent toddler behaviour ?

Dr Seuss

Dr Seuss is still one of my all time favourite writers! He was so ahead of his time and incredibly insightful.

He wrote The Lorax over 40 years ago because he was angered by the way people were treating our environment.

Ava's 3rd birthday party

Gotta love a party loaded with sugar!! It's not often that I wilfully feed Ava bucket loads of sweets, but birthdays come only once a year, so why not make the most of it.

Bursie really outdid himself with this cake - although it wasn't gluten free so I am already paying for the cheeky slice I had to have. My contribution! I did the writing and a bit (ok a lot) of micro management of the final touches...poor Burnsie.  

Ava seriously lost her shit (but in a good way) when she saw it before that party this morning. She said it was the bestest cake ever in the whole wide world.

I should also mention that our rather fancy Ilve oven decided to pack it in the night before the party! Seriously???  It's only 4 years old grrrr!  Luckily the cake was done, it just meant that we had less savoury adult food as I had planned on baking a batch of GF mini vegetarian quiches. 

Ava and her best friend Marli had a ball playing together in the park. They have known each other since they were born. 

We didn't invite too many kids, just Ava's cousins and her best park buddies Marli and Emily. She had so much fun running around the park, playing chasing and bossing us all around too!

The kids enjoyed blowing bubbles, playing pass the parcel and snacking on a mix of both wholesome and sweet treats.

These fruit cups were really easy to make and were a hit with the kids and adults. We chopped up watermelon, cantaloupe, nectarines, grapes and berries that morning, put them into a big container, then filled the cups at the park. Simple, beautiful and really healthy!

For a twist on fairy bread, we made wholemeal hundreds and thousands pin wheels which disappeared pretty quickly.

To make these I asked the baker to cut the bread loaf long ways. You should have seen his face, he had never been asked to do this before and thought I was totally insane.

Actually, I think he was worried that his cutting machine would destroy the bread! However he cut the bread perfectly and it was so much easier to make them rather than cutting long ways yourself.

Tip!! Flatten the bread out with a rolling pin before you butter it and sprinkle on the hundreds and thousands. Once flattened out they are so much easier to roll up. Then you cut each roll into three pin wheels. So easy.

Can you spot the dodgy one I made???

The marshmallow sticks are another super easy and very pretty sweet treat. What kid doesn't like marshmallows??

Bunsie insisted on making home made LCMs. I am not a fan, they are sickly sweet and full of sugar. As you can imagine the kids loved them...

So it kind of backfired for Burnsie, he was hoping to have them all to himself.