Memorable moments from our trip to the circus on Saturday...
Julia (Miss 4) is thrilled to be at the circus. We are sitting ringside and she is looking around, noticing everything, from the disco ball lights to the number of cactus painted on the backdrop. She is very excited to see the cannons, but I have to explain that although they are cannon-shaped, they are actually lights.
The performers are dancing - a flamenco type of dance - to set the scene for the next act. Julia turns to me and says "It's a bit boring Mum".
At intermission, Dad offers to buy Julia some fairy floss, which is gratefully accepted. She eats about half of the packet. Then she notices that blow up hammers, flashing light sticks and other toys are being sold nearby. Of course she asks for one, but is turned down. I tell her that she has had enough treats today, to which she laments "Oh why, oh why did we get fairy floss?"
Julia is fascinated by the most daring act - the Wheel of Death. As the performer completes his act, he pulls his long hair out of a hairband before he leaves the stage. Julia says "Mum, he looks just like a girl now".
Her favourite act - the clowns of course! I think her love of slapstick comedy comes straight from her father :)
I will be away on holidays for a few weeks - but I should have plenty to tell you about when I get back!
Circus Star
Deluxe Personalised Children's Book
$21.50 each with free shipping for delivery within Australia only.
Available now from Jelly Bean Books.
Julia (Miss 4) has a beautiful book called "No Matter What" by Debi Gliori. I bought it some time ago as I just adored the sentiment behind the words in the story - and well, let's face it, I wanted the book for myself.
"I’m grim and grumpy," said little Small,
"and I don’t think you love me at all."
"Oh Small,” said Large, “grumpy or not,
I’ll always love you, no matter what."
"If I were a grumpy grizzly bear,
would you still love me?
Would you still care?"
"Of course,” said Large. “Bear or not,
I’d always love you, no matter what."
It's become a game (and a good one for the car) for me to say something like "Would you still love me if I were a giraffe? - I'd be too tall to kiss". Julia then replies, "I'll always love you, no matter what. I'd get a ladder and climb up to kiss you".
Julia brought the book to me today and pointed to a picture inside. "I want to be just like this one, Mum", she said. I took a closer look. The cartoon-style picture is of a large green bug, sitting at a dinner table, slurping soup through a long proboscis. "Why would you want to be a bug?" was my immediate question. "So I can eat soup all the time", was her reply.
Don't grow up too soon, my gorgeous child.
When I Grow Up
Deluxe Personalised Children's Book
$21.50 each with free shipping for delivery within Australia only.
Available now from Jelly Bean Books.
Julia (Miss 4) loves Barbie dolls. She loves to undress and dress them, cook for them, play fairy tales with them and sleep with them.
Barbie's birthday was yesterday, March 9th. It's hard to believe that Barbie has been around since 1959! So whilst Barbie is celebrating her 52nd birthday (and she looks so good too!) I'm having a double celebration of my own.
Jelly Bean Books has just reached 1700 Facebook likers and Mini-Me Handcrafts has just reached 100 likers so let's have another giveaway!
For a chance to win this package, all you have to do is visit & "like" both of my Facebook pages, tag yourself in one Barbie competition photo on each page, then send me an email to chris@jellybeanbooks.com.au to confirm your entry.
Entries will close at 9.00pm (NSW) on Sunday 13th March 2011 at which time all tagged names which have been confirmed by email will go into a random draw for the package. The winner will be notified by email, then I will let you know the winner on Facebook.
Good luck and thanks for all your support!
Handmade Children's Ponchos & more
Available now from Mini-Me Handcrafts.
Personalised Children's Books
Available now from Jelly Bean Books.
Joel is 13 years old and has a dream. Like so many other boys, he would love to play for the Socceroos one day. He has been playing soccer for the past 8 years and soccer is his passion.
What sets Joel apart from others is his amazing dedication to soccer which has enabled him to play and to play well. You see, Joel has Aspergers Syndrome and also has Type 1 Diabetes. His parents were told that he would never play team sports but his absolute love for soccer has spurred him on and he has now been selected to play for Wide Bay U13's. This is one step away from making the State team!
Unfortunately, there is quite a significant cost to play at such a high level and so the Facebook community has banded together to help Joel's parents Tracey & Sebastian meet this cost. There's an auction on Facebook right now at Help Joel Kick a Goal. The auction opens at 9.30am Monday March the 7th and finishes at 8.30 pm AEST Sunday March the 13th.
There are many absolutely fabulous items donated by amazing friends and very talented people on Facebook. Please take a look and place a bid on something to help support this amazing boy and help him to reach his goals, surpass his hopes and live his dreams.
G-o-o-oal! A Soccer Story
Deluxe Personalised Children's Book
$21.50 each with free shipping for delivery within Australia only.
Available now from Jelly Bean Books.
Julia (Miss 4) was quite amazed by the pictures on TV of the recent floods in Queensland. She has been playing with her Noah's Ark and we have talked about that story, and the local creek recently rose quite high and flooded the community paths so she has seen what too much rain can do.
It seems now that every large body of water is a "flood". We live near a large lake and last time we crossed the bridge she exclaimed "Hey Mum, look at that huge flood!"
We are planning a holiday to the USA and have been talking to Julia (Miss 4) about it. She is very excited to be going on an aeroplane to get to our destination.
A few days ago, we passed by a shop with a range of world globes, so we stopped to look at them. Julia showed me where Australia is on the globe, then I showed her where we will be going.
"It's a good thing we are going on a plane to get there", she said. "Because there are a lot of floods on the way".
Noah's Ark
Deluxe Personalised Children's Book
$21.50 each with free shipping for delivery within Australia only.
Available now from Jelly Bean Books.
My little girl has grown up and has started pre-school this year. Julia (Miss 4) is so happy to be there that she hardly gave me a second glance as she walked in the door.
I've enjoyed her baby stage and her toddler stage and I'm really looking forward to this pre-school year because she is going to learn so much and have so much fun while doing it. I love watching her grow up and develop new skills and friendships, and experience so many new things.
We were talking about school a short while ago and had a memorable conversation that strikes me as one of those beautiful simplistic views of the world as seen by a 4-year-old.
Julia: "I'm looking forward to high school!"
Me: "You've got a while to go yet - first you go to pre-school, then primary school, then high school and then university".
Julia: "What do you do at university?"
Me: "You can learn how to be lots of things, like a teacher or an accountant".
Julia: "What does an accountant do?"
Me: "Works with numbers".
Julia: "Oh, like The Count - you know Mum, from Sesame Street".
Priceless.
Sesame Street: No More Nappies
Deluxe Personalised Children's Book
$21.50 each with free shipping for delivery within Australia only.
Available now from Jelly Bean Books.
Drum roll please! Here are the winners, drawn at random for each handmade package and advised via email.
Package 1 goes to Kim Scott and Package 2 goes to Lib from Lib Creative.
Congratulations to you both!
Thank you so much to everyone who took a look at my blog, visited all those lovely Facebook pages and websites and sent in competition entries. I hope you all found lots to like on those wonderful FB pages. Thanks also to my amazingly talented FB friends who let me share their goodies with you!
I am now dabbling in the handmade world myself too! I have a new Facebook page Mini-Me Handcrafts with my own handcrafted items - at present I am busy with children's crocheted ponchos. It's wonderful to be creating something to share and I hope you will take a look and "like" my new page.
This is just the start of my new handmade ventures...
Handmade Children's Ponchos
Available now from Mini-Me Handcrafts.
Personalised Children's Books
Available now from Jelly Bean Books.
