Rasita

The 7 year old making eye contact with her baby sister.

Views From The Courtyard

Icky Sticky Goopy Glue Stuff (Paper Mache Paste)

1 cup of flour
6 cups of water
1 sauce pan
1 whisk

Bring 4 cups of water to the boil
Mix remaining water and flour together until smooth
Add flour mix to boiling water and whisk until smooth, cook for a few minutes
Cool and use the goopy gluey stuff to attache paper to balloon.

Note : Allow to dry between layers

Green

Why green?
Well, I am currently decorated in odd patches of green coloured paper mache glue. It is icky sticky goopy gluey stuff.
This colour change to my skin signifies the beginning of preparations for the 5 year old's up and coming birthday party.
We are giving her an underwater sea theme and the paper mache belongs to the body of Occy the friendly octopus pinata.
Provided children do not get too excited, or disobey mum, then the pinata will last until party day. So far we are on layer one of the balloon, now all we need do is wait until it dries so I can get covered in green gloop again while listening to the wailings of bubs as the 2 year old wets the already dry laundry. I think the laundry will come off as soon as I put bubs down so it wont happen again, and I shall wait until all children are asleep, and put on the insect repellent.

Our plan for the party so far.
- dophins incorporated into a birthday cake
- Occy the octopus pinata
- Feed the shark (like pin the tail on the donkey but you are trying to feed a shark a fish - the shark is drawn on cardboard with paper fish)
- eels (lolly snakes), mini gummy sharks, pearls (mints or something similar), chips, might make biscuit oysters, lemonade, etc.
- possibly a treasure hunt with mini Easter eggs

Oh I forgot to mention, the party is the weekend before Easter.

If I remember then I shall keep you informed as to the progress of the party preparations.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

What a scare I got today, I tripped while carrying the baby. Fortunately neither of us hit the ground but I did have a sore thigh as it took the shock of the trip and successfully accommodated the uncertain lunge. I put this down to the fact that I had done a few years in martial arts training. My reflexes came into play. We all lived to tell the tale.

Tonight, while having a special treat of a dinner out, the baby smiled at her dad. He was excited. I am sure she has smiled at me a few times and even laughed once. (I am sure it wasn't just wind either) She is growing up so fast but I am enjoying every bit of it. Tonight, during home group, she was laying on the floor and I am sure she was batting at the toy I was dangling for her as she hit it about 5 times.

I started preparations, today, for the 5 year old's birthday party which is in 9 days time. She turned 5 three months ago but since it was the day after Christmas we didn't have a party with friends. We decided to have it during the year instead.

Tonight the 7 year old made a friend while out at dinner. They swapped phone numbers so they can call each other to play sometime.

The 2 year old ate too many lollies so I just hope she goes to sleep tonight.

Question : What do you do with your free time if you have no kids?

I am not sure if hubby and I got to talk tonight over dinner as we were too busy dealing with kids.

Copyright In Art

Toddlers In The Kitchen

Tonight was a good night.
The 2 year old decided she wanted to help in the kitchen and with the cooking. She did at least half the work on the scrambled eggs. I was holding the baby (6 weeks today) as she was grumbling, so the 2 year old mixed and helped add things. When it came time to cook it, she even did the stirring on the stove top, under my supervision. I made her change to a long handled spoon just so she would not burn herself. I tried to finish off the eggs but she was too insistent and had to do it all herself.
Overall, the eggs were good and she was proud of her achievement.
I thought it just had to be mentioned here.

Chicken Cannaloni/Lasagne

I had some left over fresh lasagne sheets from a lasagne I made earlier in the week, and some chicken mince, so I decided to try something a little different and make a cannaloni type lasagne dish.

Here is the recipe.

Ingrediants

400 grams chicken mince
3 cloves of garlic
oil
3 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp sugar
fresh tarragon leaves (may be substituted with the dry pre-packaged version)
1 cup of water
fresh lasagne sheets cut into squares approx. 2 inches X 2 inches
White Sauce
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour/corn flour
2-3 cups milk
1 tsp nutmeg
big handful of grated cheese

Method

1. Add a dash of oil to the pan and heat. Finely chop garlic and add to heated pan. Fry for a few minutes.
2. Add chicken mince and brown. Mince may tend to stick together so continual breaking up with spoon may be necessary.
3.Mix through tomato paste, finely chopped tarragon, and sugar. Cook for a further 1-2 minutes.
4. Add water till the desired consistency is reached. Allow to simmer for 10-20 minutes.
5.Make white sauce while the chicken mix cools.
6.Place a small amount (approx 1 dessert spoon) on a pre-cut piece of lasagne sheet and roll up, placing into the lasagne dish. Continue this process with lasagne sheets. As each layer is formed of cannaloni type lasagne, add a layer of white sauce. Top with cheese.
7. Bake in a 180C - 200C pre-heated oven for approximately 45minutes.

White Sauce
1. Melt butter in a small pan and then add flour, cooking for a few minutes.
2. Add 1 cup of milk and nutmeg, whisking to eliminate any lumps and produce a smooth consistency. Whisk until the mixture thickens. (Note: the longer you cook this the thicker it will become as the flour absorbs the liquid)
3. Add more milk, following previous instruction, until desired quantity is reached. (Note: Never boil)
4. Mix through cheese until melted and well combined.

Note : The cannaloni type lasagne will probably fall apart when it is taken out of the dish, but it should still taste nice. I shall find out this when it comes time for dinner.

Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia

Results

Well it has been one week (and a day, cause I was busy yesterday) since I posted up the questions.

Before I can take too much from the answers there is still a lot of research to be done on the topic which the questions were in relation to, but the answers did give me a good idea of things.

One of the main areas brought up was the area of hygiene and teaching the children that, followed by safety in the kitchen and basic cooking.

Hygiene and safety are the two biggest issues in a kitchen and should be the basis of all cooking. If you can't adhere to these two items then all sorts of things could happen, eg. Loose hairs in food, cut fingers, people getting sick etc etc. This was one of the first things I was taught when I commenced my studies 10 years ago. They taught us this before we even touched a food item.

The types of foods that could be taught would best be simple foods, to start with. Of course the simplicity would depend on their age and concentration level.

For the preschoolers, things that enable them to have fun and only take a few minutes to prepare would be best taught to them, incorporating safety throughout the lesson.

For ages 6-8, the tasks would become harder, teaching them proper knife handling, stove top cooking (basics), but still make it fun with which they can get their hands dirty or lick the bowl afterwards.

For those over the age of 8, what they would be taught would highly depend on their skill level. I do think that at this age they are becoming more responsible but I would still not leave them to a task in the kitchen until I was confident enough in their skill on a certain project.

Pricing

This is a difficult one to work out as I have not looked at what other factors would influence the costs apart from the teaching, and cost of ingredients. I got into a conversation with hubby the other day, and things like insurance and other things (sleep deprived mind at work here). The pricing would actually depend on where the student would be taught, in a commercial kitchen, parents home or my own home. I think it would be best to lean away from my own home as it is not set up for this purpose and then there would also be no risk of being interrupted by the people here or having to chase the kids as they got distracted by my own or other things here.

It is hard to say which price would be ideal as I have had various prices, ranging from $5 (for an hour) - $50 (for a morning session).

I think the pricing would have to vary according to the age group that was being taught; as the younger age groups would be doing simpler stuff that I do not think would be as time consuming or costly.

There could be special costs associated with certain meals, eg. Thai duck curry, exotic dishes.

Also there could be a change of fees if there was to be an excursion to different places, such as food manufacturers, etc.

It has been decided that if lessons were to be in a commercial kitchen, then ingredients would be supplied and if the lessons were in the parent's home then supply would not be necessary. This could, of course, be tailored to the parent's requests. It would not be a case of doing the grocery shopping for the household but just supplying the ingredients for a recipe.

Well I think that is enough to digest for the moment.

If anyone has suggestions of recipes they think suitable, please feel free to post them to the comments (recipe ideas, not recipes).

Thanks for your time.

Here is a good blog, outlining a positive frame of mind. How to get the best out of life and enjoy what happens, be positive.
Superhero Journal: forgetting

Carrot Cake

This is a good and very simple recipe and works well provided you don't get over enthusiastic and open the oven too early to check if it is done. It it does sink you can always fill up the hole with cream cheese icing.

Ingredients

250 grams melted butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups SR flour
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
250 grams grated carrot
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Method

1. Beat cooled melted butter, brown sugar and eggs in a large bowl.
2. Fold in sifted flour, bicarb, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg.
3. Mix in grated carrot and chopped walnuts. Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are combined.
4. Pour mix into a greased 20cm cake tin. (roughly 8 inches).
5. Bake in a 180 C preheated oven for 1 hour.

Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients

1 tub of 250 gram cream cheese (warmed to room temperature)
1 cup icing sugar
juice of half a lemon

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth.

Note : Lemon juice can be substituted for orange juice or honey. Too much juice will result in an icing that is too runny and will not set. If this happens, it goes great on pancakes.

The Things Kids Do

Well you wouldn't believe it, or maybe you would. My 5 year old, after pretending to be Sinbad and thinking she was handsome, decided to pack her bags. Yes she emptied her drawers into a plastic bag, her backpack and bucket, and walked out the front door. She didn't stray far from home, returning a minute or two later to book into the 'Dragon Motel'.

Then she left again and came back and left again and came back.

I think she has arrived at her destination and has received warm welcomes from her sisters upon her final(?) arrival.

Nope she is heading out again, this time with her elder sister and her bag of clothes.

Don't look at me like that, with puzzlement upon your face. I am sure it is just a phase/game they are going through.

I can remember as a young kid, not that young though, when my friends and I used to build little shacks out of tree branches and old blankets and pretend we were leaving home.


That'll be the door Mavis (three small travelers arrived at the doorstep)
Hello?
OK
Your rooms are down that hallway and to your left. Please make yourself comfortable.

I had fun building those little shacks/cubby houses and we were able to do it on the vacant block behind our place. It was quiet back then and a lot more freedom to roam the streets then we have today.

We also used to catch tiny grasshoppers in that grass to feed my pet bearded dragon. Inbetween this block and mine, there was a stormwater drain, open planned and in good times you could find a tiny trickle of water along the base of it except at either end which was usually good for catching wild guppies and yabbies (small freshwater crayfish). This stormwater drain rarely had much water in it so it was quite safe to play in and it led down to the park and into the saltwater creek that started not too far after the park.

We had fun in that drain, I used to practice on my skateboard, rollerblades (never very good at either thing) and bikes. We would use it as a path between friends' houses, and in times of floods, to ride down it on boogie boards. It was never very dangerous and the parents quite often joined in also. When I was a kid it seemed huge but these days it isn't quite so big (though I have not seen it for a couple of years).





Question Time

Remember to take the time to answer the few questions in Question Time.

Thanks

DVDs & Libraries

It has been a good morning.

After taking the girls to childcare (we got there 30mins earlier then normal) the 7yr old, baby and I headed off to the shopping centre. It was still early so there were plenty of good carparks available. With screaming baby in my arms, we quickly rectified her overtired hunger problem then headed off in search of a good maternity bra. (no pictures to be posted) Searched 3 shops and found what I wanted at the price I wanted (this is where I had originally looked at last week when the search started). Put it on lay-by then headed off to get some DVDs out (50cent Tuesday). Got some good ones, even one for the parents to relax and laugh to. Into the car and a short trip down the road and we came to the library.

The 7 yr old was excited about this, as she was getting her own library card. With that settled, it was off to find some books, for her and me. Enquired about their Tuesday morning story time and then headed off home. Bubs was screaming but once again we settled that and she is sleeping well now.

Read a funny story in a magazine, had a yummy lunch and now am going to take advantage of the quiet time to snooze. This day is only half over and it is already a great one. This arvo we hope to purchase some McD's fries and then early evening head out once more to girls brigade and a play in the park.

Have a great one and look to your babies for smiles!

Baby Smiles

Baby smiles are one of the best gifts you can get. You know they are genuine smiles and that they are happy in giving them.

My baby is 5 weeks old today and I am sure she has already given me a couple of smiles.

They make the grey clouds disappear to reveal a brilliant blue sky.

Both hubby and I could not help but marvel in the beauty of a newborn's face as we watched a movie together. It was so peaceful and relaxed, a pity really to have woken her. (so she could feed before I headed to bed)

Baby smiles do not disappear as they get older. I still see these smiles in the faces of my older girls.

That's my two cents for tonight.

Sleep well!

Question Time

1. What would you expect a young child (5-10years) to be taught in the way of cooking?

2. If a cooking class was offered to children, then...
a. What size would you expect the class to be? (eg, 1 on 1, group of 2-3, group of 3 or more, etc)
b. How much would you expect to pay?
c. Would you prefer the ingredients supplied or to supply them yourself?
d. Where would you prefer the classes? In the teachers home, a commercial kitchen or your own home?

Thanks for your help and in a week's time I shall post up the results.

Party Time!

The girls had a blast today, partying hard at the indoor kids playground and cafe.

Their little friend, Joshua, turned 5.

Admittedly they did not actually play much together, but still they had fun and I think it would have been hard to play much together as there was just a heap of things to do and go on and everyone seemed to scatter, plus it was more for the parents (we all knew each other, mostly).

The 2 yr old was a little tentative at first but as soon as she was introduced to the play equipment she was lost in a wonderland until her tummy started to growl. She would come back regularly for a drink and part of her meal. She also enjoyed cooking up her pair of socks in the play house area. (That is where we found them after an extensive search of making the 7 yr old look through the ball pit).

The 5 yr old just wanted to play and I think the sitting in the party room was a little confusing at first, until her hunger won her over and she was able to take in the atmosphere. She delighted in giving Joshua his spiderman scrap book, which he would then be able to use for the stickers the 7 yr old gave him. The 5 yr old had a ball on the slide and in the end I had trouble getting her away from it, but she did as she was going to say and that was have a little play before leaving. The little play being only a minute or two while I searched for her sister.

The 7 yr old loved helping with the presents, especially when the wrapping paper was tough, and placing them in a neat pile so they didn't get mixed up with the wrapping paper. She was so excited to go that she even wanted to wear her party clothes to bed last night! I had trouble finding her half of the time due to the massive amount of play equipment. Her favourite piece was the giant slide.

I had a good chat to our ex-neighbours and the others who were there. As per normal, the baby was the centre of attention and I did pass her over to our ex-neighbour, who is currently pregnant at the moment. It was relaxing in the play ground as the kids could all do their own thing and everything was also monitored (mostly the slide) and in excellent condition.

We shall have to go back there again sometime, as a special treat to the girls.

Miscellaneous Note

The baby now weighs 3610grams, that is 300grams since I last weighed her about 10 days ago. They say the average weight gain for babies is 150grams per week. Do you think she is doing well? I do. (converts to 7lb 15oz)

Extra News

After hubby finished work for the day, we headed off to the beach to enjoy in the fresh salty breeze and sunshine. It was most relaxing. After the kids had a short swim, and a climb and explore around the rock poolss, we headed off to dinner at a local seafood restaurant. (Hubby's favourite. He ate his, mine and the kids fill in fresh seafood) We had fun there and ate heaps in the all you can eat buffet.

Needless to say, the kids fell asleep on the way home, or as we just got home, so they were exhausted from their fun day out.

Poor, Poor Little Girl

My little 2 year old doesn't seem to understand a few things that happened today.

We were making chocolates (melting chocolate and putting it into moulds with sprinkles to decorate) and she was being really well behaved and not eating the chocolate as it was going in. I think she understood that we had to do this first, and also the fact her older sisters were waiting also as they filled their moulds, rather messily. When it came time to fridge the chocolates, she started to cry and throw a tantrum, wanting to eat 'her' chocolates.

After a little talking to by dad (before he headed out to soccer), she was alright and even said sorry (in regards to her tantrum). She did calm down some once they were out of sight and even indulged in the coconut rough I made with the left over chocolate.

After a short trip out this afternoon, we came back and I offered her one of the set chocs. No way, she wanted the whole tray. I solved this problem by giving her the whole tray, minus all the chocs except for 2 small ones. She was happy with that. I will never understand the workings of a two year old mind! Well except for when I was 2 myself.

Enough said, time to take advantage of a quiet household and either 'indulge' in housework or some me time. I think I will do both, me time first, then laundry when cartoons are over.

Miscellaneous Fact

It was 80% humidity today, with a reasonable temperature of 30 Celsius, no wonder sweat was dripping off me, literally, as I sat still.

Miscellaneous Rambling

It is Friday, the end of the week. The weekend approaches with increasing speed. The house looks like it has had a hard week, the children act like they are underfed and the parents act like they haven't slept all week.
None of this is of course true but it has been a hard week on us all.
Tomorrow, being Saturday, we get to 'PARTY' though. Well as much partying as you can do at a 5 year olds party.
Today's plan of creativity is - chocolate making, card making and house cleaning. (you need to be creative in house cleaning in order to get kids involved happily. I think I shall bribe them with money and jelly beans)

Tonight's menu

Meatloaf/beef burgers (Meatloaf recipe thanks to Kristyk)

Banana cake, if there is any left over.

Coconut & Oatmeal Cookies

ingredients

1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of coconut (toasted or untoasted, still is yummy both ways)
6 tbsp butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Method

1. Cream sugar and butter together
2. Add egg and vanilla, beat until combined.
3. Add oats and coconut, mixing well.
4. Drop teaspoons of mix onto a tray, allow for spreading.
5. Bake in a moderate oven for 10 minutes.

Note : You can make these into dessert cups if you wish, as they spread out like brandy snaps do when you cook them, and are quite soft upon coming out of the oven. To make dessert cups, place soft cookie on the back of a lightly greased cup and press lightly into shape, then leave to cool down.

Note 2 : To make them more like the cookies you buy in shops, with a firm floury base, then add half a cup of Self Raising flour to the mix and then form into cookie shapes. Bake as per recipe.

ZZZzzzzzzZZZzzzzz

Hello.

How was your day/night?

Last night the kids and I headed off to the 7 year olds girls brigade cafe. It was funny to watch the kids (ages 6-8) run a cafe. They were eager and excited to do things and quite often left before you finished placing your order. There were no complaints as majority of the people there were parents to the girls or at least understood how excited they were.

The menu for the night was

drinks - tea, coffee, cordial, water
food - 2 lemon cookies, chocolate muffin with sprinkles, date slice with cream, apple cake with cream.

I think the cream got forgotten in most cases, but at least the service was prompt and the price reasonable ($1 per order).

The 5 yr old and 2 yr old both enjoyed the muffins while I tried the apple cake (minus the cream). We all enjoyed the cordial and then headed home (a little early due to a sleepy mum) to rest and relax in bed (while watching Alias).

Today shall be an easy day, just do a few chores about the house, a little schooling and possibly think up ideas of what to put on a poster that I am 'thinking' of making for a 5 year old.

Good Day

Hello to the world out there, more specifically, to those reading this.

How was your day today? Was it a good one? I do hope it was.

I think this is going to be just a general rambling since I do not have anything much to say in here.

My little bubs is now 1 month old, 4 weeks today, and still oh so cute. She must be enjoying the warm day as she is sleeping well today (apart from this morning when all she wanted to do was look around). She is still in the process of learning the difference from night and day. Last night it was not too bad, especially since she chose to be awake during a movie I wanted to watch. This gave me an excuse to stay up and watch "The Mummy Returns". Brendan Fraser is hilarious in it. I would mention the other characters but I cannot remember their real names, nor any of their character names either. I have an excuse, I am the mum to a newborn!

My 2 year old is good today, absolutely loving "Barbie as Rapunzel". I think all the three older girls enjoy that movie. It is a good movie, though it has twisted the Rapunzel story a little from what I remember it as being. In the movie there is a clear definition between good and bad, and how good triumphs over evil. Not quite what else to say in here, except that the girls like all three of the barbie movies.

The 5 year old enjoys them mainly for the dancing, music, and mystical creatures in them. After the first time we watched "Barbie as Rapunzel", she wanted to build/paint castles. We then cut out some carboard shapes to make castle pictures on the table. The second time at watching the film (and the extras that accompany it) she wanted to be an artist. She came and asked both myself and hubby. Then it was outside for some painting with the last of the powder paints. Their painting got a little confused as it moved from the canvas to their bodies. She was then a super hero.

Note: She had big B's painted on her and I am not quite sure what super hero she was. Super Bravo? Super B? Super Baby?

The 7 year old has been going great guns at her schoolwork and really helping me around the house (no complaints). She was a marvelous help this past weekend when we tidied up. She did all her chores properly and in record time, then helped out the 5 year old in her bedroom.

Hubby has been in a good mood lately too. I think things are starting to settle down in regards to work. No more stressed deadlines and clearer work plans. We did a bit of planning this past weekend, to do with our next week. Working out things and organizing them in order of priority, etc.

Well I think that is about it for now. Ramblings have finished so now I shall get onto tonight's meal.

**********

Menu
Ham & cheese tortaline (sp?) topped with a creamy sauce.
Pork steaks topped with crunchy crackling
Accompaning this will be seasonal vegetables

Dessert
Dunno

Miscellaneous Note:

Potties

My two year old was very thoughtful today. After going to the potty she emptied it, right into a crate of jars!

Anzac Biscuits

Freshly baked anzac biscuits....mmmmm...the smell wafts through the house.

ingredients

roughly 1 cup each of - SR flour, coconut, brown sugar, oats
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tsp ginger powder
120 grams (6 tbsp) butter
2 tbsp water
1-2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp bi-carb

Method
1. Mix flour, coconut, sugar, oats, poppy seeds, and ginger powder in a bowl.
2. In a small saucepan, combine butter, golden syrup and water. Heat until butter is melted.
3. Add bi-carb to liquid mix, stir and remove from heat once it has frothed up.
4. Mix liquid into dry ingredients. Once combined, form into small balls and place on greased tray. Allow for spreading.
5. Cook in a slow oven for 20 minutes.

Food Glorious Food

This is what our fruit bowl looks like after we receive our weekly f&v box. Great isn't it! It is all gone by the end of the week though.



Some pizzas we made recently. One was meat, pineapple and capsicum, the other being capsicum, tomato, mushroom and possibly other stuff but I cannot remember it at the moment..

Night night, enjoy drooling.

Mercedes Picture Update

Bandido of Oz

2nd Hand

Aren't 2nd hand clothes shops great?

I think they are. Today I picked up a jump suit for the baby at a cost of only $2. Baby clothes don't really wear out, nor do they go out of fashion (unless they are one of a kind, only once in a life time would they wear that type of outfit). The outfit I bought today would have normally been $8-$10 in the shops and this one was as good as new and they even put it in a plastic bag for me. The plastic bag was free. The other good part about this is that I can just put it back into one of those clothes bins and it can get resold, thus raising funds for the less fortunate.
Now the baby has more then one outfit to wear at night times and I can get the chance to actually wash the other one.

2nd hand doesn't always have to refer to something that has been used, and then resold in a shop but it can also mean those hand me downs, something bought and never used, etc etc. I think all these things are relatively the same so I am just rambling here.

Feel Good

I feel good this afternoon for some reason. I haven't had a day time rest but I have started on my desk. I have worked only on the right hand side of my desk and that includes the inbox on that side (the inbox being an actual cardboard box). I have put in my request for a box with suspended files so I can store it under my desk and file away anything I need/want to keep.

Dinner

Well with bubs asleep, kids happily watching Clifford or cutting paper into a million small pieces with a pair of blunt scissors or leaving wet soggy pool worn clothes about the house, I am off to deal with dinner.

What are we having tonight?

Crumbed fish fillets with salad

Dessert?

Possibly but only if I can work something up or it could just be the left over banana cake iced with lemon icing.

Cute Things!

While out buying seafood for dinner, the 2 year old quite happily chatted away about going to seaworld and eating the seaworld fish. I think she was a little confused, but it was cute just the same.
We had a great afternoon out, enjoying the cool breezes of being near the beach before heading over to the crowded fish market to choose our purchases. The girls were all enthralled with the live lobsters and crabs in their tanks. They studied the fish closely and excitedly told anyone who would listen, that we were going to buy prawns for dinner. Prawns, especially the big ones, are expensive here so we do not get them that often. The kids enjoyed every single one that they ate that night and hubby enjoyed his green lip NZ mussels.
Overall it was a good afternoon and I want to go back next week, even if it is just to visit the park in the cool afternoon breeze.

Horses

The 7 year old started back at horse riding today. She did her first assessment. Well I say assessment as they were 'assessing' her in her ability to join the group lessons. This being a step up from private lessons. I was surprised that she remembered as much as she did since she hasn't been for close to 3 months. Her teacher for that lesson said she did well but had to talk it over with the head coach before making a final decision. They are doing what is best for her, which is good.
At her lessons (which are technically half an hour), they teach them how to groom, and tack up a horse/pony. This is in addition to her riding lesson, so her whole lesson goes for roughly an hour, with it more often going over time. We chose horse riding for her as she asked for 2 years to go horse riding, and it has been the only sport she seems to do well at and it seems to be able to keep her concentration throughout the whole event. Not to forget, it is good for her co-ordination and balance.

Pre-School

The 5 year old and 2 year old are off to pre-school today. The 5 year old was happy to head out and show off the butterfly net, that mummy made. I am sure they are having a great day as they always do as soon as I am gone.
The 2 year old also moves up a class sometime this month as she is now old enough to join the next class, leaving behind the babies (16mths - 2.5yrs)

With that all said, it is time to close the eyes, catch some z's and dream some pleasant dreams......all after lunch of course.