{Happy Monday: Appreciation}

Princess Pea is such a Daddy's girl, I was really hoping that with #2 I might at least get to have one that's 'mine'. Alas, recently Sweet Pea has become all about Daddy too.

When she wakes up, the first thing she says is her sister's name. The second thing is 'Daddy'. It stops there. Every time she hears anyone come in or out of the building (our kitchen window is right above the front entrance) it's the same thing. Her sister? No, honey, she's at preschool. Daddy! No, not him either, sorry.

When Daddy gets home from work they both scream and throw themselves at him. When I come or go nobody blinks an eye. Sigh.

I think that it's because mothers are always around. Like part of the furniture. We are the ones that make sure they brush their teeth, take their vitamins, don't watch too much TV, and generally enforce the rules all day long. We are such a drag, really. (What? We did crafts today? When? What playground?) We may give them soft, sweet kisses and whisper "I love you" a hundred times a day, but what they'll remember of the day is that Daddy came home and flew them around like airplanes.

Maybe when I go back to work I'll get greeted like that too. But that's a big price to pay for a little appreciation.



Yesterday was Mother's Day in our family (as for many families around the world, but not here). Usually, it's a day like any other. But this year, I got the best present ever. Coffee in bed, snuggles, and, best of all, I didn't have to get the girls ready to go out! (It was secretly my dream Mother's Day gift, but I never thought for a moment it would happen!) Daddy took care of it. He gave them their breakfast and cleaned up afterwards. He picked out outfits for them (one of his greatest stressors) and got them dressed. He packed all the things they needed for our outing. Sweet Pea's sippy cup was filled and diaper bag stocked. Princess Pea's teeth were brushed, and even her hair was combed!


Now, they're both snuggled in to Daddy on the couch, battling for space on his lap. But at least I was appreciated by Daddy yesterday! Thanks Daddy Pea!

PS - A new weekly 'Outdoor Play' linky party will be starting here on Friday! It is co-hosted by me, Kate at An Amazing Child, and Abbie at Greening Sam and Avery. Come by and link up your outdoor play posts! See you then!

{5-A-Day Books Challenge: Week 3 & Happy Monday}

I'm sorry to report that our 5-A-Day Books Challenge this past week was rather abysmal! We were away on holidays and spent pretty much all of our time either outside walking (hard to read and walk at the same time) or in the car (I can't read in the car, it makes me carsick). I did manage to read Each Peach Pear Plum a few times in the car since I know it by heart and didn't have to look at the book, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider a couple of times since I could just sing the song instead of really reading. We read a couple of other books as bedtime stories, and made up our own stories as well, so we still got some literacy time in, but mostly we were too busy having outdoor fun - a pretty good excuse, yes? (I know, I know, we should be doing both!)

So, I think for this week we will probably do the same books again as last week. However, Princess Pea has requested to add her new book, Night Monkey, Day Monkey by Julia Donaldson (the same author as The Gruffalo, which we did in Week 1) and illustrated by Lucy Richards. So we're substituting that for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

Night Monkey, Day Monkey is a story about two monkeys, one nocturnal and one not, who discover the differences in each other's surroundings. We've read it a couple of times already and it's led to new discussions about nocturnal animals, and comparing night and day. She's really interested in it, and was able to name a couple of other nocturnal animals (though she didn't know the word noctural before), and to explain why each monkey didn't know about the things they saw in the opposite time of day.

Anyway, we had a fabulous trip (which I will write about as soon as I have a chance - lots of great outdoor activities involved!), and I wanted to share something for Happy Monday. What makes me happy is SLOVENIA! I just can't get enough of that country! It's my new favourite place to visit (we went at Christmas this year and loved it so much we had to go back already at Easter!).

Check out this beautiful scenery!

And some views in winter, from our Christmastime visit:

Does it get any better than this?! Happy Monday! Oh, and Happy Easter, too!

{Happy Monday - Cottage Salvage}

This weekend we went to Great-Grandma Pea's cottage to 'help' clean it out in preparation for selling it (as you can imagine, with a three year old and a 1 year old, we were a lot of help!). It was a bit of an adventure - packing everyone up for the daytrip, picnic, baby food, diaper bag, spare clothes, stroller, Ergo carrier, toys and books to amuse the kids all day long, 2 cars to take all of us plus Grandma Pea, Grandpa Pea and Great-Grandma Pea ... and when we got there, it turned out that Great-Grandma Pea had brought the wrong keys! LOL. Fortunately, we were able to get the spare key from a neighbour, when they returned from shopping.

Anyway, while things were being tossed left, right, and centre onto a truck, I managed to salvage a couple of items that I'm so thrilled with!

This white wooden table has a little drawer in it - perfect for putting Princess Pea's gardening tools in, and her flower pots and such can go on top.

And I love this old wooden box. I think we'll use it for storing Princess Pea's collection of rocks and pine cones and nuts and things she finds out and about.

There were also some old glass marbles that Daddy Pea used to play with as a little boy, so we kept those for the girls, and a windchime - to annoy the neighbours (hehe....retaliation for trying to poison us?). Just kidding! We'll probably just hang on the inside of the kitchen window.


Happy Monday!

{Guest Post: I-Spy Animal Rain Stick}

I know I usually do a 'Happy Monday' post about something that makes me happy. This week's is a little different. What I'm really happy about today is my first guest post by my friend Nathalie! (cheer!)

Nathalie is incredibly talented and spends her 'free' time making loads of amazing toys for her cute almost-two-year-old daughter (ask her about the play kitchen she's working on....or the felted food!). I've been begging her to write about some of her projects, so here is the first one she is sharing with us.

This is based on another super creative idea from The Imagination Tree (LOVE that blog!). After reading the link I posted on the Mama Pea Pod facebook page, Nathalie decided to give the DIY rain stick a try, and it's superb! She had to make a few adjustments along the way, and she wrote about her (mis)adventures in making it for all you lovely Mama Pea Pod readers. (I'm definitely going to be trying to make one of these - I love them!) Now, take it away, Nathalie!

My good friend Mama Pea Pod has been inspiring me since the very first post! I have so many plans now for my 2 year old and me, that I need to learn how to organize our time better. I have also discovered that I am a little perfectionistic… and that I’m trying to impose that trait/flaw??? on my daughter’s activities, instead of letting her be creative and learn by herself that her ways of achieving goals are good, even if they are different from mine. This crafts time together will be a learning time for me too!

After a few weeks of work, here is our own “Rain/ Find the Animal stick”.

I followed The Imagination Tree's instructions, but trial and error were the best helpers.

First I found a hard cardboard cylinder. It has to be hard in order to hold nails that will be hammered through. The length and width may vary, I just made sure E (my toddler) was able to handle it easily.

I also used many, many nails, I think over 90… all of which were a little too long and stuck out slightly on the other side of the cylinder (the ideal length is for them to just touch the other inner side of the cylinder).

This is where my dear sister, who is very straight forward and does not skimp on words when you’ve made a mistake, called my attention to:

a) why not use appropriate sized nails and avoid an extra step…(of which I’ll tell you about later), and

b) if the nails were too long, why didn’t you put them in with a slight angle? (to help the flow of the “rain”…)

Anyways, the harm was already done and I just wanted to move on. So, the nails were hammered in following a double spiral pattern with about  1 cm between nails. This distance should vary depending on the size of what you’ll use as “rain”.

Next, E helped me gather some small rocks from the park (very much like the ones used to cover soil in plant pots, small and white) and we put them through the cylinder to test their size. They were small enough to go through the stick slowly and make a nice sound, and not too big to get stuck between the nails. We also tried dried beans and corn kernels, but I had in my head the idea that rocks would last longer and not go bad… E helped me wash and dry them (not that it is needed, she just loves water and I thought it was a good, extra activity to get out of this).

After filling the stick with the correct amount of rocks (play with it until you find the sound you like), I sealed the sides using some cardboard cut to shape and a hot glue gun.

And then, the extra step for me… since the heads and tips of the nails were too long and stuck out, I decided to cover the whole cylinder with paper mache to hide them and avoid future emergencies like cuts and scrapes… (This extra step cost me a few more days, since I had to let the layers of paper dry . Next rain stick I make, I’ll certainly make it easier!)

To finish, I decided to use some very cute animal stickers that I had bought for E a while ago and thought too pretty to waste on daily drawing paper. So we painted the stick with white acrylic paint, E placed the stickers all over and I brushed it with a layer or two of slightly diluted white glue to hold the stickers down and to give it a shiny finish. 

Now we have a pretty rain stick and animal finder!

Thanks so much, Nathalie, this looks fantastic! 

Also, see another way to make a rainstick here!

Check out the link below for more great craft ideas!

{Happy Mondays - Sweet Pea's Snuggle Blankie}

My very good friend made this snuggle blankie as a birthday present for Sweet Pea. I just love it! Look at those gorgeous ribbons!

Happy Monday!

{Happy Monday - Picture Perfect Weddings}

This week for Happy Monday, I wanted to share this blog by my friend Cherry. She is a photographer based in California and this is her (mostly wedding) photography site. I just LOVE her pictures! Every time I see them they make we want to get married all over again just so she can be my photographer! Happy Monday!

{Happy Mondays - Lavender Bowl}

I love this bowl that I got as a gift from my good friend Kathy. I had been admiring this pottery at various festivals and markets for a few years but couldn't decide which pattern to get, this one or another lavender one by a different local potter. Then by total coincedence, Kathy bought me this bowl. Perfect! Decision made for me! :-) Happy Monday!

{Happy Monday - Flower Frame}

Keeping with the 'Happy Mondays' theme, this week I am sharing this picture frame. I love everything you see here! The picture is my favourite picture from when Princess Pea was tiny and I was a brand new mum. I can still smell her soft, snuggly, newborn smell when I look at this picture. The frame I bought in Rome at Zara Home (I love that store, but it is so elusive - I have to go in and buy something any time we find one somewhere!) and I love the pink flowers painted onto the old white boards. I know it's probably not really painted and the boards probably aren't really old, since it's from Zara Home and not some out-of-the-way little antique shop, but I still love it anyway. And that little green envelope stuck on at the bottom there is a sweet little vellum paper envelope containing Princess Pea's first tiny lock of hair that I had to cut off when she was one and a half and got it so tangled round her finger in her sleep that she couldn't get her finger out (!). Smile, smile, smile :-)

{Happy Mondays}

Let's face it - nobody really likes Mondays. Mondays are not happy days. It's back-to-work, back-to-school, back-to-the-grind day. So to make Mondays a little cheerier, I've decided to make Mondays a day to share something that makes me happy. Something that whenever I see it, makes me smile a little. I invite you to do the same.

So for this week's Happy Monday, I'm sharing these pussywillows. They remind me of my grandmother. They're in our hallway, so I get to smile whenever I pass by.