strawberry picking

In our little corner of the world, Winter/Spring is the perfect time of year for strawberries. They are pretty cheap per kilo in the stores and they are a favourite of our kids. My two will eat a punnet easy at a time! So what better than taking the kids to a strawberry farm to pick our own strawberries??

It's not a long activity, but one that is perfect for little attention spans. When you head to a strawberry picking farm, you are given a big kilo punnet to then go and pick the RED only strawberries at your hearts content. You are charged per kilo, so you can pick as many or as little as you like!

Even little 2.5 year olds love getting in on the action.

The particular strawberry farm we go to up the Sunshine Coast has strawberries that are huge!! They look like they are on steroids, but it is just the type of strawberry. Not only are they big, but they are super juicy too. They also have a cute little strawberry shop on the strawberry farm where you can buy other strawberry type foods and little knick-knacks. There is also a playground for the kids and an eating area.

Strawberry picking is obviously location specific and in South-East Queensland there are plenty of different strawberry farms you can go picking at. Have a look on google to see where there is one close to you! It is a family activity I highly recommend for all ages!

i am my own creator

I have this inner desire to create.

I like to do things with my hands and create things of meaning and of worth, for myself, my family and others. Not necessarily a masterpiece like Leonardo DaVinci, but to create something that didn't previously exist.

To think of yourself as a creator of something, I think is quite profound. I had never thought of it being anything simple from cooking a meal to something grand as growing a child inside of you.

But upon reading "The Remarkable Soul of a Woman" by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf my perspective on 'creating' changed. I like it when he says:

The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter your talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that didn't exist before ... Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfilment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganised matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty ...remember that you are a spirit daughter of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn't it remarkable to think that your very spirit is fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God?

His words are so true "Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfilment". I do always feel proud of myself for the thing I created. Perhaps that is what drives me to keep creating?

In my somewhat small time, I love to do little projects. Whether it is making a little record book of events and pictures for the children, paper craft, sewing, Christmas craft or something I saw on a favourite blog, I love making something of worth. Of course with these projects, I set out to make something on purpose. But what about the day to day things we do, where we are creating? I believe we are continuously creating, even if we don't recognise it. Making a meal from raw ingredients is creating. Making up fairy tales to young children is creating.

Creation comes in all shapes and forms. My creations may not be on a grand scale, like my Heavenly Father's (this earth is so beautiful!), but they are mine. I'm grateful to be a woman, and that I have been blessed to create - in all its shapes and sizes. I'm grateful to be a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father who has blessed me with many talents and abilities, to help me find joy in this life. I hope we never put ourselves down for what we think isn't much of a creation. We can all create and there is no right or wrong way to do it!

kids craft: shell crabs

As you know I am a beach lover and I thought it would be quite fitting to do a kids craft in relation to something beachy!! I cannot claim this idea as my own, but as my mothers. We were staying at her house (which happens to be by the beach) and she suggested we make shell crabs!! How cool!!! Why can't I think of exciting ideas like that?!

Anyway, they are really quite simple to make and very cheap. All you need to do is:

1. Go shell finding at the beach. Doesn't sound too hard right? Well we ended up going to 4 different beaches to get biggish size ones. Collect different shapes and sizes to make your crab collection fun!

2. Eyes and legs. Head on down to your local cheap store or craft store and pick up some eyes and felt. For the legs, we did a design of a diamond on a rectangle. The long rectangle is glued under the shell, while you cut the diamond in to little legs.

3. Put him/her together. Glue on the eyes, glue on the legs and presto! you have your own little shell crab family.

If you wanted to be more crafty or exciting, give each one a personality. Maybe one with crazy hair, one with glasses, one with a moustache etc. Kids will love the fact they made them and will be entertained playing with their little crab family :)

Enjoy!

photo of the month

I've decided to dedicate the last Tuesday of each month to my favourite photo taken in that month. As you already know I {L.O.V.E} taking photos, in particular scenery, but I am getting better at taking portraits and pictures of my kids too. My photography journey has been long so far (due to lack of knowledge - but I'm fixing that problem), but its one I want to share with you too. I'm open for any tips or hints that can help me along, but more importantly, it will be exciting to see how I grow and develop.

So here we go .....

Photo of the Month - August 2012

My kids love strawberry picking. These strawberries were big, juicy and bright red. I just love the vibrant colours of this picture. Happy memories :)

Cousins

Cousins are those childhood playmates who grow up to be forever friends. (Anonymous)

A few short years ago, there were no nieces  or nephews in our family. It started with one little girl, followed by 2 more quickly and then one by one they came (and are still coming with one on the way - and for many more years to come!). Having a close cousin, someone you can play with, identify with and hang out with is worth more than the treasure in all the world. Not only are our children blessed to have their cousins close by, but they truly are all best friends.

As part of a fairly new tradition, the nieces and nephew (poor little boy!) get together and have a photoshoot, for Father's Day for Pop (shhhh ... don't tell him!). Abby had the brilliant idea last year to do this and put the pictures into a photo book. Not only does Pop get to get reminded of his prosperity, but can bring out the book, anytime to remind him of the little people in his life that love him so much.

Capturing the cousins is a wonderful way to remember (a) how many there are of them at this point in time (b) how old they are and (c) to see how much they can grow in a year. Just comparing last year to this year, you can see how much they grow (especially if they are a baby in the photo shoot) and how many were born in the last year. 

There certainly is a bond between cousins, and keeping photo memories through this tradition each year, will help us to remember how lucky we are to have these wonderful children in our lives.

A Safari for kids

Last week the kids went on a safari.

Leading up to our safari we made binoculars out of used toilet rolls. (Grab two toilet rolls, masking tape them together, paint them, put string in one end and presto! your very own binoculars).

I chose 10 animals you may see in Africa if you went on a safari! At the bottom of each animal, there was a colouring in picture. With the help on an adult, they would cut and paste that animal into their very own safari adventure books.

The 10 animals the kids found were:

1. Ostrich     2. Hippopotamus     3. Rhinoceros     4. Zebra     5. Giraffe     6. Elephant     7. Monkey     8. Crocodile     9. Lion     10. Tiger

     

The activity was planned for outdoors in the park, but it was a little too windy and cold to do that, so we went on our safari inside the house.

Here the kids are with their binoculars:

And with there "My Safari Adventure" books ready to go:

Kids used their binoculars to find the animals. Then they collected the animal for their books:

Once all the animals had been found, pasted into their books, the kids coloured in the animals they found.

This was a great activity for the 2.5yrs + They had heaps of fun and enjoyed finding the animals. Plus they were pretty smart and could recognise just about all of the animals. A great learning activity for little people :)

the beach

We are lucky enough to live in one of the prettiest places in the world. Just a short drive down the road and you hit some of the nicest beaches in our country. But how often do you live in a place (that people come from all over the world to visit) and forget to get out of the house and go and visit it yourself? Sadly I think we fall into this category sometimes.

But this last weekend, we spent the whole weekend on the coast with some friends. It was only the weekend, but it felt relaxing and like we were on holidays. 

Our kids just L.O.V.E. the beach. It's simple, relaxing, tranquil and breathtaking in one take. Just the sand between your toes while paddling in the water brings such a smile and memories to my face. We grew up going to the beach every summer and it is a tradition I would love to pass onto our kids.

So this summer I'm going to make a commitment to make sure we regularly visit the beach. It's a great source of entertainment for the kids and also us BIG kids too :)

This week I have linked up to one of my favourite blogs, to celebrate the "Simple Things".

Enjoy,
Jessima xo

a good sacrifice ...

These kids are worth it. They are just so cute, helpful, loveable and happy!! However, the last 2 weeks we have been hit with illness after illness. Runny noses, virus', infections, colds etc. If it has been going around, then I can bet you that one of us have had it. But now it is my turn. Oh how I yearn not to be sick. How can I look after 3 little ones and myself??? I feel like I'm dying. I hoped and prayed we would get through the night uninterrupted last night, but sadly that was not the case. But that is ok. Getting up to these 3 IS a good sacrifice I make.

On the whole we don't really have it bad. It can be hard to look after 3 littles though when you feel you can barely look after yourself. But we are blessed to have family close by to help (thanks Mum!) and to give of their time and energy for me and our family when my husband has to go to work. I am very grateful for these experiences because every time I do get up in the night and sacrifice my sleep (even though I REALLY want to sleep), I know my character, patience and spirit are being shaped and moulded into the woman I hope to become.

photo memories

I LOVE photos. I love taking them, editing them, looking at them and displaying them.


I especially love taking photos of the kids. They are easy subjects to capture. 


But what to do with all these photos?


I have quite a few large, bulky, photo albums where the photos printed were 6x4. These are great memories to look back on. But we now live in a digital world, where it is easy to take 100 photos of pretty much the same thing. I don't want to give my kids 100 bulky photo albums to take with them when they leave home, so instead I have created a photo book for each child. 


I have only made 2 thus far, covering years from their birth to their 2nd birthday, and it sure was hard sorting through the 1000's of photos, then editing the selected ones to make a photo book. Needless to say it took hours. But I am SO glad I did. Two years are now presented in a compact landscape A4 photo book. Even if they had 10 or more photo books to take with them when they leave home, it would be a lot less bulky then my big, chunky photo albums.


It is also worth finding a good quality photo book company. I highly recommend The Photobook Club. Every so often they send fantastic deals via email that make it worth it. Even if it gets printed wrong, they will replace it, free of charge. 


A picture really does tell a thousand words, and I'm so glad that we have these photo memory books to show for it!

the honesty jar

A few months ago, we were having a little trouble with honesty - namely with our 3 year old Jenna. I know she is only 3, and sometimes I do have to pinch myself and remind myself this is so, but we KNOW she is smarter than she acts at times. After reading some inspiring parenting books including "Teaching your children values" by Richard and Lynda Eyre, we decided that we needed to really focus on honesty. So for one month I looked for times when the kids were being honest or telling a lie, and tried to help them understand HOW to be honest, and WHY we should be. We played preschool based games too and created created an HONESTY JAR:

How the jar works:
- Every time Jenna told us the truth and was being honest, she got a lolly to put into her jar. Even if she did something wrong, we still put a lolly in the jar, to let her know that it is a good thing that she told us the truth, even though what she did was wrong.
- If she touches the jar at all, then she will lose ALL of her lollies and will have to start again.
- When the jar was full, we allowed her to eat her lollies.

This activity for us was successful. It did take a while to fill the jar, but we have only needed to use the jar for her once. Learning honesty is still a process, but more often then not, Jenna will tell us the truth. Definitely our response to a situation has affected if she is confident to speak honestly with us. But whatever the situation is, showing an increase in love after it, definitely helps and foster a loving parent-child relationship.

The principle of the "Honesty Jar" can be used in many different situations, depending on the need you have at home. Good luck with this idea in your family :)

5 reasons to go to a theme park with little children....

Recently I went to Sea World on the Gold Coast by myself with 3 kids.

Daring you might say? Crazy? Glutton for punishment?

Well it didn't turn out so bad.

Here are my top 5 reasons why you should do it:

1. When their little faces light up in excitement when they see a dolphin doing a cool trick in the air. It's pure wonder and enjoyment.

2. YOU get to decide where you are going, what you are going to see, how long you stay there. You're in control of the agenda (even though they think they are).

3. It is a bonding experience. Sure, at times it can be tricky managing 3 young kids, but it certainly is a day you will remember and cherish!! (well, hopefully)

4. Seeing them experience the world around them. Seeing (and touching) animals they have only read about or seen on TV is very exciting. They just have a love for everything. Plus they get super excited when they recognise certain animals or characters (eg. sharks, Dora the Explorer).

5. After walking up and down the park all day long, you are guaranteed to have 3 very tired kids on your trip home!


...

And 1 reason why you shouldn't take 3 kids under 4 to a theme park by yourself - you are outnumbered and don't have enough hands (plus when they are under the height limit and you have to go on the ride too, it makes it tricky when you have a baby in a stroller).

a breath of fresh air

I just love the beauty of nature. 

Especially the colours.

In a recent family camp at Mt Tambourine in the Gold Coast Hinterland, I went on a walk with some cousins. I couldn't help but take my camera along and take some snaps of the different flowers along our trail. In a short space of time, I was greeted with many different flowers, each with their own beauty and colour. I think my love and appreciation for the beauty of nature stemmed from the talented Peter Lik. When I lived in Cairns 10 years ago he had an art gallery (which sadly has closed down) that I LOVED walking through. The colours were breath taking and started creating a desire within me to want to take photos like him. I am forever grateful for the times I walked through his art gallery, just admiring and wishing I could own a piece of his art work.

As I become more acquainted with my camera, my eye loves to capture the beauty around us. I now recognise it is easy to walk past a flower and not actually see it is there. But when you stop to look at the world around you, to see the beauty in the colours, shapes and sizes our Heavenly Father has created, you can't help but feel blessed and appreciation for natural beauty.

I am only a 'mum photographer', but I love this hobby of mine. Below is a showcase of the nature I experienced on my walk:

At our camp this is what we were surrounded by. Isn't it just pretty?

Nature is beautiful and breathtaking and I hope I never forget it!

the church quiet books i have made

This project was a labour of love. It took me 2 years to complete on and off, but I am SO glad that I did it.

The idea came one spring morning, when Jenna our eldest had just turned one. Church meetings can be long for little children, and I decided I wanted to fill that time with 'Gospel' centred activities. I can't remember how or when I got the idea exactly, but I thought a gospel centred quiet book would be great! I was very excited to get started and actually made 2 at once. I knew if I made only one, with the intent to make a second when I had finished, it would never happen. After making it two years later from when I started, I definitely think I was inspired to do both at the same time ... and I'm really glad I listened and did. 

In my head I thought "how hard can it be?", me, being a novice. My mum is a wonderful sewer and has made a trillion dance costumes for me over the years. I opted for a sewing machine for my 21st birthday present from Mum, but didn't put it to use for a while. I made a few little items like cushion covers and pants for Jenna, but the real creativity began with this project. 

Quiet Book

My inspiration for this book came from different quiet books on the internet. Some pages I made up, but most were inspired from a variety of locations. I actually have a quiet book made for me by my aunty when I was a little girl and that too gave me inspiration (it was a general one).  But most of all I hope my quiet book gives you the ideas you need to make your very own quiet book. To watch my kids use it that first Sunday in sacrament just made the whole two year labour of love with the sewing machine worth it. I have even contemplated making more for future niece's and nephews, but I am not making any promises!!

Enjoy!

(You can see another home-made quiet book here.)

take time

My first post ... Yay!! Such a privilege to be apart of this wonderful blog. So I think a good way to start is to introduce myself.

My name is Jessima. I am a young Mum to 3 adorable little kiddies. My husband just graduated university last year and is a dentist. We just bought our first home and are loving life at the moment. I love to blog, take pictures and play sport. I also love to make a house a home :) I hope you enjoy every Tuesday with me as I share bits and pieces from our life :)

So for my first EVER post, I wanted to share something I read in my personal journal/blog.


It seems life is wanting to take us in all directions. Whether we are a mother, daughter, sister, aunt, or friend, we each have responsibilities pulling us in all directions. Some are more important than others, some are less important but we choose to let them take up our time. As a mother of 3 little kids (all under 4), it is easy to feel like you have no time. Most days I have a lot of time, but if I'm not focused on how to use that time, it too can dwindle away very quickly. Before I know it, we have had an unproductive day. So a little while ago I came across 10 great tips to help us "Take Time" with our kids. In the LDS manual "Teaching, no greater call" President Benson said:


We need to TAKE TIME


(1) to always be at the crossroads when your children are either coming or going


(2) to be a real friend to your children


(3) to read to your children


(4) to pray with your children


(5) to have a meaningful weekly home evening ... make this one of your great family traditions


(6) to be together at meal times as often as possible


(7) daily to read the scriptures together as a family


(8) to do things together as a family


(9) to teach your children. Catch the teaching moments.


(10) to truly love your children


(To the Mothers in Zion, 8-12)




Such simple, yet effective principles. But sometimes letting the 'busyness' of life interfere with our 'mothering or parenting', we can forget the basics and our true focus. I especially like point 9 - catching the teaching moments. I'm personally not very good at that one, but one I want to work on.


I know that by being 'present' in my kids life and even my nieces (and future nephews) lives, I can hopefully be their first source of help and also to share in their highest of highs and lowest of lows in life. TIME is precious and we need to make the most of it NOW!!!