Thank you!

I have my lovely new (blogging) friend to thank for the fact that my blog is looking so spiffie! Thank you so much Trudie for answering ALL my questions and for creating my beautiful header and button.

I would love to introduce you all to Trudie. Trudie's blog - Fun with Little Mouse - follows her homeschooling adventures with her daughter and is filled with art, crafts and activities for little ones. I hope you will pop over and go and say "Hi!"

Till next time...

Wonderful Websites

Isn't it just wonderful to stumble across a terrific website. It must be one of my favourite things. It was quite a few years ago that I happened to find www.makingfriends.com and it is a website that I have returned to many times over. I recall that I was looking for paper dolls to help my son with cutting skills and was blown away by this find.

The website offers a wonderful selection of paper dolls and outfits. These can be printed in colour or you can print the outlines, so that your little one can colour them in. You can choose outfits from a variety of categories, such as Career friends, Athletic friends and Multi-Cultural friends. There is even a doll in a wheelchair, one with spectacles and one with freckles. The dolls are also available in different ethnic colours, allowing friends to be created from different countries and cultures.

There are so many fun things that one can do with them. The dolls can easily be turned into puppets by sticking them onto popsicle sticks or tongue depressors (available from your local pharmacy). They can be used to make up new stories, have little puppet shows, or  put them on cards and party invites. A nice idea is to glue a photograph of your child's face over the paper doll's face and turn them into a "little friend".

My son loved these dolls and was very motivated to cut out the dolls and clothing. Needless to say his cutting skills are fantastic. With the Easter holidays coming up, these are a great way to keep the kids busy for awhile.

In addition to the dolls, the website also offers wonderful craft ideas, so I hope that you will enjoy visiting them as much as I do. Should you have any other ideas for these sweet little dolls, please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you.

Love Connections

Life is just so busy busy! Do you ever stop and suddenly realize that you haven't connected with your child for a few days. I'm referring to a real, meaningful, emotional connection. Perhaps you have been distracted, stressed or simply going through the motions of daily activities and commitments. Whatever the reason, it is so easy to lose that connection . Of course, we all focus on the "must-haves and must-do's", such as meals, clothing, homework, fetching -and-carrying, but we can so easily neglect the emotional stuff.

I find that my little one asks for that meaningful connection. When he asks, or usually demands my attention, as busy as I am, I respond to him. Sometimes he brings me a book to read; other times he just wants me to pick him up for a cuddle and I automatically engage with him. A hug, a kiss, a quick swing around the room. On the other hand, my older son is for the most part pretty independent and just gets on with things. It's him that I really need to connect with more frequently. Those connection moments so easily slip through the cracks. So here is my first quick and easy, but effective idea for love connections everyday.

Love letters...

These are so easy...grab a small note and jot down a positive message...something to make your child feel loved and special. It doesn't have to be pretty. I just like pretty! Then post it. Pop it into a lunchbox, put it on their pillow before bedtime, next to the cereal bowl, on the bathroom mirror...anywhere!

(My son's friends admittedly teased him when I popped it into his lunchbox, so that was not such a good idea for his age group. I have a friend, however, with daughters of the same age and she says that the girls just love it.)

Here are some suggestions for love letter writing. Start your letters with the following:

• I/We think...
• I feel...
• I love that you...
• You are...
• Always remember...

In your letters you can express your feelings towards your child, give positive affirmations, acknowledge behaviour or character traits that you like, or leave little bits of reassuring advice. Have fun writing yours...I did mine! I will post some more quick and easy love connections soon.

PS. I would like to acknowledge that my inspiration for the photographs in this post is from Katherine Marie, photographer extraordinaire! If you would like to visit her, pop over to katherinemariephotography.com

New {kid} on the blog

I just love looking at photographer's websites and it was while doing this late last year that I was introduced to the world of blogs. And Oh my, what a world it is! I quickly got drawn into reading the personal reflections of the writers/bloggers, viewing all the beautiful images and of course sharing the wonderful ideas. So many awesome ideas! Bloggers are very generous in the sharing of ideas. As I read more and more, I realised that this would be a great platform to share and to contribute to the world of child-raising.  In particular , raising happy, well-adjusted, lovely children. So here I am! I will write about "all things children"...development, play, learning, emotional health, behaviour and probably some other stuff too. I realise that this blog will gain a life of it's own and I don't quite know how it will all turn out. In the meantime, here goes, I'm diving in!