My babies birthdays – part 1

The start of day two at the zoo

April is always such a busy month for our little family. As well as Easter we also celebrate two very special birthdays. A and H have their birthdays five days apart so I am always very busy making presents then planning a their special day and of course baking.

H showing me how tall a giraffe is

This year the hubby and I decided that instead of little parties for the children we would take them to the Taronga Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo. According to Google maps it should be about a five hour trip but of course with planned stops along the way, unplanned stops to feed the baby and towing our little van (and therefore travelling under the speed limit) it actually took us closer to eight hours. It was a great little holiday and the children really enjoyed seeing all those animals up close. We invited my parents to join us which was really nice for the children to spend time with Nanny and Nunu as well as having two extra pairs of hands. The three children are all pretty good little travellers and each time we go away things get a bit easier.

As soon as we got home we were straight into celebrating H’s 3rd birthday. She is of an age now where she really understands what birthdays are and we had a lovely day all together. I caught myself a few time that day in disbelief that my little girl is now three. 

Keenly watched by big brother

When I asked her what cake she would like H was very decisive and said a butterfly cake and she was pretty pleased with the result (she supervised the whole process). We have a little family tradition of having the birthday person choose the evening meal and H wanted pizza so we invited our close friends who are pretty special to the children and had a sweet, intimate celebration for a special little girl. 

Sharing a book with Baby L

Official taste tester when Mama made the cake

Baby L was asleep when we had the cake - I was hoping to get a family pic with all of us in

She loved her butterfly cake

Neither child really needed much in the way of presents, and would we rather give a few meaningful gifts. For H there was a balance bike (that we gave to her before we went away) and although she is not all that confident or coordinated yet I am sure it won’t take her long once she realises that she is better able to keep up with her big brother! We also gave her a set of Charlie and Lola books – both children LOVE books -  and Charlie and Lola have been H’s favourites for almost 12 months, she always looks for them at the library. There was also a sweet wooden dolls highchair that I was lucky enough to find in an op shop (thrift store) when H was quite young and a little set of three wood and felt peg doll fairies that I made(I always try and include a mama made gift)

{hmmmm I cant find any photos of the fairies or high chair - will have to get some}

And now I have decided to make this a two part post so I will be back soon to share A birthday.

Our Fairy Garden

Each year our children have a little Easter hunt. We do not like them to have too much chocolate so in the past there have been flower bulbs wrapped in colorful cellophane. Its a really lovely tradition because we then plant the bulbs (after reading The Story of the Root Children) and wait for their appearance in the spring. This year however we didn't really need any more daffodils so I thought of an alternative.

 A has recently shown an increasing interest in creating fairy gardens and homes as well as 'bug worlds' and other small worlds. We actually started to make fairy houses together when he was four from bits and pieces that we found in nature but his interest waned until spending time recently with a little friend who showed him the finer points of making a fairy garden.Since then he has been excavating a hole under the roots of the wisteria and making that a fairy home with H joining in finding treasures to add to the fairy home, so I thought I would capatalise on this interest and hide a few fairy garden accessories as part of the Easter hunt.

I made two wooden fairy doors, kind of following a tutorial found at Happy Whimsical Hearts and painted some small stones with Easter motifs.I carved a gourd that I grew two summers ago for the fairy house, some brightly colored aquarium gravel, a few plants and we were good to go.

One of the wooden fairy doors - so much fun to make!

It was a bit of serendipity but two weeks before Easter we borrowed a book called Lily and the Fairy House from the library. The children loved it (and so did I) so much so that it is now on my book wish list. Once we started our garden they wanted to make a swing from a hair ribbon just like in the story.

We made the garden nice and high so that it would be a comfortable height for the children and also dog and baby proof once baby L is mobile.

I love that over time we can add to the garden. who knows where it may take us

Fairy door at the base of the Wisteria

Easter 2012

Life is happy/crazy/busy right now. There is just so much happening each week which is nice but it also means little computer time (and I am also trying to listen to my body and go to bed earlier - frequently 7.30!!). I wanted to share a glimpse of our Easter, in more pictures than words

Teacher gifts - the felt carrot was well received

H's Easter basket

A's Easter basket

early morning chocolate

No chocolate for baby L - she got a puppy instead

New cosies i.e dressing gowns

egg hunt

finding treasures

opening treasures

painted fairy stepping stone

Easter this year was lovely. A is now old enough to remember our little family traditions that have been in place for a few years which makes things extra special.

Hopefully I will get back here in the next week to share what else we have been up to.