5 Ace Lunch Bag Tutorials

We are now half way through the school year and the kids lunch bags are looking a little worse for wear so I thought I might try my hand at making them some new ones.

Of course I headed for Pinterest to track down some awesome tutorials.

Lunch Bag Tutorial- Lemon Squeezy Home

Lunch Bag Tutorial- The Long Thread

Mushroom or Owl Lunch Sack- A Lemon Squeezy Home

Lunch Bag- Martha Stewart

Reusable Lunch Bag- Craft Buds

I still haven't decided which one I will make... Possibly a mushroom and an owl one. I'll share my progress as soon as there is some. 

Have you made any lunch bags?  

the simple things- week 5 {with linky}

a weekly linky where we all can share the simple things in life that are making us smile. 

I can't believe that it is Monday already! The weekend just went way to fast. We had a super big week with both Caden and Mahli starting at their new school. Mahli has already made a bestie and Caden ended up know two kids in his class and ended up sitting right next to one of them so that made his week easier.

Some other things that made me smile this week were:

• Caden explaining the rules of basketball to me. The game is new to him and he was so excited
• Mahli 'reading' a book to me. I say ready because I think she fluked it. The picture cues were very clear and she managed to get every word right
• Ethan mastered using the swing in the back yard WITH pants on. He was pleased he didn't have to remove his shorts before he put them on 
• Managing to knock at at least 30 minutes of sweat inducing exercise every day! The kids heading back to school certainly opened up some 'free' time for me! 

 What simple things made you smile this week? I would love it if you linked up below and shared your simple things from this week.
Guidelines:
• it would be fantastic if you grabbed the badge below and added it to your post.
• please stop by and visit some of the other posts that are linked up.
• please spread the word about this linky. That would really make my day xx

 

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Wordless Wednesday- First Day of School!

I am linking up with My Little Drummer Boys

Back To School: Are you ready?

There are a few things that I have on my to do list this week. They include swimming lessons, grocery shopping, menu planning, book covering, labelling all school items and bulk cooking for school lunches.School starts back here on the 4th of February and we are a little organised. But we still have a few more things to do.I received this parcel the other day from Stuck On You.

So that will enable me to cross a few jobs off my list this week.

We received a Family Pack and just had our last name on them so that I could use the across all the kids school items.

Mahli did get some personalised items though for things at are just hers. And we got some new bag tags too, A button bag tag and a Classic Bag Tag.I also got us a new 2013 Calendar. We used to have a family planner. But this Calendar is big enough for me to list all the kids activities plus anything else that I need to record.

And now that I am all organised. It is now your chance to do the same! I have one $50 Voucher to giveaway to one lucky Actually Amy reader.

To enter simply tell me in 25 words or less your best back to school organisation tip.

Terms and Conditions:

The giveaway will commence at 10am WA Time on the 16th Of January 2013 and will end on Sunday 20th January 2013 at Midnight Western Australian time.

The winner will be notified via email (so please make sure you leave me a way to contact you)

All entries over 25 words will not be accepted.

 

If you are looking for some back to school inspiration and or want to find out more about Stuck On You you can find them on the web here:

Website- https://www.stuckonyou.com.au

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/stuckonyouofficial

Twitter – www.twitter.com/stuckonyoutweet

Google+ - Okey. gplus.to/StuckonYou

Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/StuckonYouAust/

 

 

PS - If you want to maximize your chances of winning $50 voucher from Stuck on you - enter at

My Little Drummer Boys

Mum's The Word

The Useful box

too !

Disclaimer: I was gifted the products listed in the post. I have previously used Stuck On You products so was more than happy to review these products on the blog as they are items that I love and have faith in. All opinions are my own. No money was offered or received for this post.

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He is one wise fellow,

that Cat in a Hat!

Dr Seuss books are pretty popular here in our house, and which such great quotes as

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.

and

Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you 

I am happy to read them as often as the kids like. Caden can ever read most of The Cat in a Hat by himself.

 

Book week ended today with a full school parade at Caden's school and all the kids got to get up on stage and show off their costumes.

Caden's costume was finished yesterday afternoon sans gloves, because he decided he didn't need them.

He also decided that he didn't want his face painted this morning.

But he got up on stage and told the whole school that he was Cat in a Hat and that made me smile from ear to ear. We have been having some issues with him and school. Tears every morning and pronouncements of 'I hate school, Mum!'. Or simply him hiding under his covers crying his eyes out and simply saying he wasn't going. We having been working with his teacher to try and figure out what on earth was going on as he loved school and has been doing really well academically, socially is where his issues lay. And that is something we have been working on too, building his confidence, getting him into team sports...

Anyway, seeing him up on stage in front of the whole (rather large) school and hearing his voice announce that he was Cat in a Hat made me oh so proud!

Kids, they really do make your heart beat outside your chest from the moment they are born!

My babies started school!

Here is QLD school went back yesterday. This meant that Caden was heading off to Prep and Mahli was starting Kindy!

I was confident that Caden would be fine. He has been excited about going to Prep since Kindy finished last year. Mahli on the other hand told me last week she didn't want to go to Kindy. She told me she wanted to stay home with me forever...

I explained to her that she would eventually have to go to school and pointed out that she could play on the swings for a long time, meet new friends and play with playdough to her hearts content. This seemed to butter her up a bit, but I was still worried about how she would handle drop off.

You know what? She walked in put her stuff away and headed for the swings. I pushed her for a few minutes then told hrer it was time for us to leave and we walked out. No tears at all (from either of us)

When we got home Ethan thought all his Christmases has come at once. He got to play with all the toys all day without anyone talking them off him!!! He was one happy little camper, let me tell you.

Kindy and School pick up time rolled around and I collected to very happy kids. They were excited about their days and couldn't wait to go again.

Do you have kids starting school this year? Have they started yet? How did they go?

I am linking up with Jess for IBOT

Are you freaking out about lunches yet?

Because I am! The thought of school lunches send me into a panic. I don't want the kids to have boring lunch boxes. I had them and if I ever see a lettuce and cheese sandwich again it will be to soon. I mean seriously Mum, we live in Queensland. The cheese was always melted and the lettuce was always soggy and gross.

I have been checking out pinterest on and off for the last few weeks to hunt down some ideas. I think I found a few!

Source: thischickcooks.blogspot.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: askinyourface.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: parentmap.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: parenting.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: parenting.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: parenting.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: laptoplunches.com via Amy on Pinterest

My two eldest head to Prep and Kindy next week. So my to do list this week is a little daunting. But hopefully lunch boxes wont break me out into a cold sweet anymore since I have some ideas up my sleeve.

I am linking up with Tina for Piquing My Pinterest and Natasha for Pinning and Singing.

Oh, That's Pinterest...ing- Lunch Box ideas

I know that the school year is almost over, that is probably why I am losing my creativeness when it comes to packing Caden's lunch box. So where else would I go but Pinterest to get my lunch making mojo back!

Source: google.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: store.goodbyn.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: bbcgoodfood.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: cutefoodforkids.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: casasugar.com via Amy on Pinterest

I am linking up with Tina today for Oh, That's Pinterest...ing  and 5 Minutes Just For Me. Pop on over and check out what everyone has been pinning!

Happy Monday!

School holidays are over here in Queensland. Caden went back today and was up at 6am asking if it was time to go to school yet? I am glad he loves going, the excitement and happiness in his eyes is a beautiful thing to see.

 On the way home from Kindy drop off we swung by the local primary school to pick up and enrollment pack for next year... apparently I am way to organised as they were only printing them as I walked in... I can't believe that he will be off to prep next year (not sure what that is in other states, but he is 5 in September if that helps) and Mahli will be off to kindy, leaving just Ethan at home with me 5 days at fortnight. People keep saying how much time I will next year with only Ethan at home, but I really don't see it like that. I have to do kindy and school drop off and pick up in two different locations, Ethan won't have a big sister at home with him to amuse him whilst I hang out a load of washing or any other task that needs doing without his help... I can only see life getting busier next year, not how much 'free' time I will have on my hands.

What do you think? Once your kids started school did you magically get all this free time that you never knew existed?

image from: weheartit

School... the good, the bad and the ugly....

Whilst blog hopping last week I came across this post on  Mumstrosity and after reading it and the comments it got me thinking about how much this kind of things impact on us as we grow up. If you haven't clicked the link it is about her prep aged child bringing home this note:

"On [date] we will be providing free Super Doopers [icy poles] for each child then they will have free outdoor play until lunch time.
Students who have recorded inappropriate behaviour from [date] will be supervised by a teacher in a classroom.
A note will be sent home during the week if your child is unable to attend our activity."

I don't agree with the rewarding with food and outside play time at school... I mean shouldn't they be in the class room with the whole class. What happened to a sticker or certificate and the end of week/term for good behaviour. Back in my day (which really wasn't that long ago) that was the norm.

But it also made me remember some things that happened in the classroom when I was at school. I clearly remember being in grade 7 and we were learning about graphs/charts and statistics etc. the teacher (who was uber tall and slim) made the whole class weigh themselves in front of each other and tell the whole class how much we weighed and then proceeded to write it on the board as apart of our learning exercise. The lesson went on for about a week and yep you guessed it! Our weights stayed there the whole time. I still remember the look on some of the girls faces when it was there turn (mine included!) It was so sad. I mean what made the teacher think it would be a great idea for that to happen. At that age a fair chunk of the class where going through puberty and body changes whilst others weren't which meant a vast difference in body sizes. This little exercises only exacerbated the bad body image a lot of us girls had. And to have to weigh ourselves in front of our crushes :gasp: the horror of it all!

We put the lives and development of our kids in their teachers hands to a very large extent and it scares me right now. I am scared about what kind of impact there teachers will have on them. Is a good teacher still hard to come by? So far we are happy with our kindy teachers. But we are only in kindy... I don't want me kids faking a headache to get out of maths class because there teacher was horrid ( I may or may not have done that... Woody you are an evil evil man and I hope you get what is coming to you!!!!).
I want them to enjoy school for all the joy and knowledge it brings.

Sorry for the very disjointed post today. I am still not feeling well from yesterday. Do you remember how busy my weekend was supposed to be? Well yesterday it fell apart. I had a lovely headache which is still lingering which means my linen cupboard is still calling my name! I will get there I promise! And B had to take the kids to a birthday party by himself. But that meant I got some much needed SLEEP!!!

Hope your weekend was all you hoped for and that your week is shaping up to be a good one!!

He's Home!

I have some great news! My Grandad is home! He arrived home this afternoon after getting released from hospital yesterday and appears to be recovering well. That is a huge relief let me tell you. You see he scared the bejesus out of me last Monday as he had a stroke overnight Sunday night and was unable to use his right side or communicate at all. He has regained all his speech and movement, but it will still be a long road of recovery.

Love ya GD

Some other good news! My new Sewing Machine arrived while we where in Brisbane visiting Grandad. I LOVE her soooooooooooo much!

My new baby!

 And this is what I was doing today with my new baby!

Sherbet Pips

 Isn't the fabric just devine! I bought a Jelly Roll of Sherbet Pips from Corrie at Retromummy as I wanted an easy quilting project. I was going to make pinwheels out of them, but put that idea in the to hard basket for now as I have way to much going on at the moment and just wanted to finish a project asap. I need to buy some fabric for the backing still. I am thinking a plain red or grey??? Not sure yet.

I also forgot to tell you all about Caden's first day at Kindy since I was a bit pre-occupied with my Grandad and our trip to Brisbane to see him.

He had a fantastic first day last week. And he just melted my heart when he was sooooo excited to see that I was there to pick him up at the end of the day. On his first day he made a rocket ship! Yep that's right a rocket ship. Out of HUGE boxes. I had to put it in the boot of our car to get it home and we have a Ford Territory. This thing was almost as tall as Caden.  He also made matching necklaces for himself and Mahli. Naww, how cute is my big boy?!?!?

And last but not least it was Mahli's third birthday yesterday! The last 3 years have flown by but we have fit so much in. Mahli woke up yesterday morning with a very sore neck, she couldn't moved it and just cried and cried and cried. A trip to the doctor and some panadol and heat pack and she was abit more chipper, but she was still didn't have full movement of her neck back. It is still stiff today but no cry. So that is a plus! She was spolit this year with a Jessie doll, Lotso from Toy Story, her Guinea Pigs (Jessie and Minnie), a hutch for her guinea pigs, a new 13ft Trampoline and a Jumping Castle. The Tramp and the Castle where joint presents from all our Family.

Well I best be off to bed! Nighty Night!

I need a blog title... and keep my Grandad in your thoughts this week please.

Not much really to say today... I dropped my Grandparents of at the trainstation as my Grandad has to head to Brisbane for a triple bypass and a valve replacement which is happening on Thursday. We are all just a wee bit scared, but nowhere near as scared as him. He woke up at 3am this morning, my Granny jokingly said he was excited. She is scared and I so wish I could be there to be with them but alas I can't. We were supposed to be driving down on Friday morning, but because of the floods Grandad asked us to promise not to risk driving down as the roads are horrendous and he didn't want us making the trip (I also think he silently doesn't want my three terrors being to loud in the hospital).

On a cheerer note C starts kindy on Monday and he is all excited to be starting 'school' whilst I am dreading it. Well I don't know if dreading is the word but I am going to miss that little bugger. It is only 5 days a fortnight, but it will just be so quiet around the house for those 5 days. No-one fighting over toys or arguing for the sake of it. E is to young for M to harrass just yet (thank god) M is the stirrer of the house! God help us when she is a teenager!

On the sewing front it has been two more pencil rolls and half a pleated pouch. Only half because I don't have a zipper to finish it. I will hopefully pick up one tomorrow when I head into town to drop my Mum of at the airport. She is flying down to be with my Grandparents.

Well Miss M is telling me to turn the puter off so I better go settle her into bed. Wish me luck because she is a nightowl!

Oh just because here is photo of Mr E looking a cheeky as ever!

E's first taste of Pumpkin