Showing posts with label sensory play. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sensory play. Show all posts

Monday, 3 November 2014

Week 44: Halloween

Well it's been a busy week! But it's also been a lovely week, filled with fun family activities, meetings with friends and everything themed halloween. Here's a little overview of everything that's been going on...

Our daughter is at that magical age where she can get involved with stuff and best of all, she wants to be involved. So we started the halloween festivities by turning pumpkin carving into a family activity. She had lots of fun spooning all the seeds out of the pumpkin and who knew, it makes for pretty good sensory play. Meanwhile, hubby tried his hand at carving for the first time. I think they both did and extraordinary job!

Nimue emptying the pumpkin

Hubby's handiwork

Lit up!

Lit up!
With two halloween parties to attend as well as a mummy and baby gathering, I made two big batches of cake pops, one vanilla (ghosts) and one chocolate (pumpkins). The ghosts didn't really turn out as well as I'd hoped, it's not clear whether they looked like ghosts or skulls or mummies but hey, they tasted alright and were well received by the kids, that's what matters right? In any case, there were none left by the end of the second party.



I also whipped up some quick healthy snacks for party number 2 as there were lots of kiddos there with health conscious parents. Thank you Pinterest for the idea!

Banana ghosts and satsuma pumpkins

Nimue, who loves dressing up, got to wear not one but two halloween outfits. I wish I could say I made them but the witch was a second-hand find and the monkey I bought new for just £6, there was no way something handmade could beat that price so... She did look gorgeous in both outfits though :-)

From witch...

... to monkey!
Finally, I just couldn't waste all the pumpkin flesh we'd scooped out when carving but, as neither my daughter nor my husband are particularly keen on pumpkin soup, I had to find something else to make with it. I really wanted to attempt a pumpkin pie but with very little time and no experience of making it or even knowledge of what it's meant to taste like, I gave up on the idea and opted for pumpkin bread instead. I went with the first recipe I found online and it worked out great, it was easy to make and tastes lovely and moist and spicy. I decided to top it with a cream cheese and orange icing and Nimue had lots of fun spreading it on.

Applying the icing. Pardon my very messy kitchen, it's been a busy week!
The finished product
After I'd ascertained the recipe was a winner, I made a couple more loafs and put them in the freezer for future consumption. That pretty much used up all of the leftover pumpkin flesh and any energy I had left after the week's activities!

I hope you enjoyed the halloween festivities too x

Saturday, 10 May 2014

Week 19: sunshine and tears

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm now approaching this blog in a different way. From now on I'll be blogging an update on a (hopefully!) weekly basis, interspersed with the occasional, more detailed post. If you see anything that piques your curiosity in a weekly update and you want me to elaborate, please leave me a comment or drop me a line.

This week started with a fab bank holiday weekend. The sun was shining and with the return of Make Sundays Special, Bristol was at its best. The streets were packed with people and it all had a vibrant festival-like atmosphere. There was even a massive water slide down one of the city's main arteries. Amazing! We had a fab family day out taking it all in.

Our daughter got to explore the great outdoors some more, has carried on caring for her naming tree and was introduced to the art of barbecuing.


Weeks ago, I thought I'd make some coloured rice for Nimue to play with but there's no way I'm going to let her play with it indoors (I'm not a huge fan of the vacuum cleaner at the best of times!) so with the arrival of the sunny weather, she finally had a chance to play with it. It's really simple to make and, unlike the gravel on our patio, I don't mind if she ends up eating some.


I've also started blinging up some trainers for the little miss this week but I've run out of crystals mid-project so all I can show you for now is the start. I should be able to show you the finished article later this month.

Mid-week the weather soured and we received the devastating news that a friend, who played a role in getting hubby and I together, has ended her long battle with cancer. It was a sad day with lots of tears but also many hugs and stolen kisses with my daughter. Life is oh so short and far from fair, it's important to hug the people we hold dear and tell them how much we love them as often as possible. In an attempt at dispelling some of the sadness of the day, I decided to introduce our toddler to baking. We made a chocolate and marmalade cake and an awful lot of mess! But I dare say this little one has already inherited her parents' love of baking.


It's not just baking our daughter is interested in though. Lately, she has been desperate to contribute in the kitchen. Sadly we don't have much space on the counter tops for her to sit on and it makes me really nervous when she is up there. So, my husband, who loves a bit of woodwork, has made her a little helper pod. It was finished last night and Nimue has christened it with enthusiasm today. Hubby has done us proud, it's a beautiful piece of craftsmanship and with some tender loving care, it will make a fab heirloom. The only downside is that with a toddler involved in the food prep and the washing up, we're going to have a whole lot more kitchen cleaning to do!



Tomorrow we're hosting a tea party for Contact the Elderly so there's some frantic baking going on here this weekend, you'll hear all about it in next week's update. Until then, take care x