Getting crafty for Christmas

 

It's that time of year again, can you believe it??? I cant... i still have shopping to do, gifts to wrap, goodies to bake and then there's the cards I misplaced halfway through writing them. Sorry to all our friends who normally get a card, didn't quite get it together to buy more cards. Sheesh, hand me a wine please!!!

Despite the chaos, for us Christmas means spending time with close family and friends, eating delicious food and enjoying Ava as she discovers Santa and all the elements of the season. Well ummmmm mainly the the presents. We may not be religious, but I do want to instill in her the meaning of Christmas beyond the advertising assault of the season!

It's also a time of baking for the Burnsies! Burnsy has been hard at it, whipping up a batch of shortbread for the teachers at day care.

Home baked goods make the perfect DIY gift. Ava helped out (licking the bowl counts in my books), they are low cost and you can up cycle everyday household items to put them in.

We used an old coffee jar, ribbon, a few stickers and a card from last Christmas. These yummy treats are not gluten free, so I've had to give them a miss this year. But this weekend I'll be testing out a new GF recipe, watch this space!!

This is summer in Oz

There's nothing quite like the rare sight of a sprinkler to bring back childhood memories of long, hot summer days! Running under the spray of cool water, the hot sun beating down on our bare skin, this is what summer in Oz was all about before water restrictions and slip slop slap were invented.

My grandfather used to set up the hose, a sprinkler and plastic sheeting in the back yard as a makeshift water slide and obstacle course. The hose and sprinkler would run for hours while Grandpa squirted washing detergent onto the plastic. We'd all take turns flinging ourselves headfirst down the plastic, slipping off halfway or making it all the way down only to tumble into the garden at the bottom. Then we'd run through the sprinkler to remove some dirt and detergent, back up the garden to do it all again and again! There was the occasional bruise or grass burn after a particularly fast slippery slide, but there was always laughter and squeals for more bubbles please Grandpa!

Fast forward 30 something years... This water baby is now a city dwelling, water tight-ass with a mere square meter of grass where my girl can nude up for some time limited sprinkler action. I am a bit of a greenie, and want to instill my love of our planet in Ava. I want her to know how precious our resources are and how important it is to appreciate and conserve what Mother Nature has created. But most of all I am a Mum who was once a kid too.

I may be a try hard environmentalist, but I'm not the fun police!!! I want Ava to enjoy life's simple pleasures, like running naked through the sprinkler on a hot day. Have you or your little ones run under the sprinkler lately?