imaginary friend

Did you ever have an imaginary friend growing up?  I didn't.  I tried though at one point.  I think I lasted about two or three hours and then I forgot about poor said imaginary friend and skipped along playing another game.

I'm pretty sure my kids have one though.  His name is Stoopi and he has been around ever since my youngest child could talk.  My children play with him, he is included in most things and lately he gets told off when he misbehaves. Even I've had to tell him off.  It's quite adorable to watch. 

Lately I've asked a few questions about Stoopi...

How old is he?
            "oh he's turning 7" says my son,
            "he's six" says my daughter

Where does he live?
            "here - with us!" they say

Does he play with you all the time?
           "No, only when we ask him"  they concur

Stoopi even came overseas with us.  My daughter made sure she had a place for him on the plane, and told him where his toilet was.  Nowadays she brings toys in the car so that Stoopi can have things to do whilst we go to the shop/swimming/kinder etc.  Apparently Stoopi stays in the car.

Imaginary or not, Stoopi feels like part of the family.

Did you or your children have an imaginary friend?
Do share....

We Play: Paper Roads

Ohhh I am so excited to be linking up with this clever and inspirational Mum over at Childhood 101.

I love getting idea's and inspriation and when it comes to play idea's for my kids, the more idea's the better.

Well today, I thought I would share a little game we play here in MiraNarnie-Land.  It's the game of the The Paper Road.  My son asked to make a "new one" as his current paper road was getting a bit worn and weathered....  

And here is all you need (because the best play ideas don't cost a fortune!)
-  long piece of brown packing paper (I picked a large roll last year from Officeworks and it's still going!)
- Coloured texta's or crayons etc
- matchbox cars or other small toys

Lay some paper out on a hard surface - like floorboards and begin to draw some roads.  Fill in details like traffic lights, roundabouts, street signs, shops, train tracks and car parks. Decorate as you wish basically!  My son basically chose what he wanted me to draw - he then added some others and coloured in signs and lights.

Get your little match box cars and play till your heart is content.  When finshed - Roll it up and store away till next time!!! 

You could also draw heaps of other scenes - playground, farm, picnic scene, forest, racing car track, fairy garden etc - the limit is your imagination.  Speaking of which - fill your imagination up to the brim here!

at my house .....

Taking it easy today at my house.....

A while back we were rearranging some furniture in the house, and this little side table wasn't really required anymore, when I got an idea to shorten the legs (plans to paint it white in the future!) and now it makes for a perfect desk area for the kids....

I've been so pre-occupied making things for markets and my shop lately, that I really wanted to make my kids something so I thought of a useful item - so I make these crayon apron rolls and filled it with chunky crayons and surprised them  - they don't really want to wear them around their waist, but they love taking the crayons out and it makes for a fun pack up!

I think the new desk area and the crayon aprons are a hit!

What's going on a your house?  To join in visit Lou ....

at my house.....

Today at my house I have one extra - child that is.  Monday mornings are busy busy as we start the week off with an early morning Kinder session, so today I picked up my son's little friend too and he came home with us for some lunch and a little play whilst his mum gets a few things done.

So the chaos has died down as the empty tummy's have been filled and my little toddler is fast asleep, so now the two boys can get on with playing.  I love listening to their little conversations about toys, families and just stuff - it's really sweet.

I just had time to snap a few pictures - first of their Kinder bags left on the deck as they ran outside towards the trampoline.

And these great action shots - coz of course boys aint boys without a bit of action! 

Playing along with Lou today - so what's happening at your house??  Lou's also asking what you like/dislike about winter (seeing as today is the last day of Autumn).

Hmmmm....stuff I like about winter are things like comfort food, red wine, snuggling up with blankets and loved ones, cups of tea, listening to the rain, warm overcoats and lovely scarves and winter hats! Me, my son and daughter are all born in winter so birthdays each winter month will be lovely. What I dislike are really just quite boring and practical like the struggle to get the washing dry (or your washing finally dry and then it rains and it's still on the line), the fact that my kids LOVE to play outside and sometime the weather is not permitting and my huge gas bill I get around September, but other than that it's all good and makes me appreciate Spring that little more!

Now I'll go see what happening at your house....

Sunday, happy Sunday

It's a been a delightful weekend and I'm a bit sad that it's coming to an end.  The boys were away (husband and son) so that left the girls (me and my daughter) to play - and play we did.  Her playing and mine - which meant cooking (us), drawing (her), playing with her brothers train set without protest (her again....shhhh dont tell), buying fabric (me), reading (both of us), endless cups of tea (me and her finishing off the reset) and just a tad of housework (me, of course with my little helper to hand me pegs or assist with sponge or broom).

It's lovely just to spend some one on one time with my youngest, as she never got that alone time I did with my first born.  She has relished my attention and soaked up the idea that she can have free-rein of the toys without dispute, argument, negotiation and compromise!  Ah bliss.

And heres a sneak at what I got up to whilst she was having some shut-eye.

A bit of reading - real living mag, material obsession book (bought at social club book club for $12) and book lovers book journal (mother's day pressie) which is to record books I've read and my thoughts about them! 

Worked on a few cot quilts (after perusing Material Obsession) how could one not want to make a quilt?

Amazingly I finished one!  It's a small cot quilt or baby play mat.  I used a screen printed panel and then just created the rest by adding different colours and patterns including stripes and oriental inspired fabric. I only top stitched a small section as I didn't want to detract from the overall look of the quilt.  

Now the house smells of roasting vegies and rosemary and the boys have just arrived home - so I'm off to get updated about their adventures, share mine and get some cuddles as well. 

Hope you all had a great weekend...xx