Monday, February 28, 2011

A Baby Card













Hello everyone, I hope you are all well? I have another card to show you, this time a baby card.
This card is for a baby girl or boy so I mixed the two colours pink and blue and I am quite happy with the outcome!


















I haven’t really ever made baby cards and I don’t have very many embellishments, so I stuck shiny stars on the star paper.  This was my mom’s idea.  The pink flowers also looked rather plain, so my mom suggested using tiny pink buttons for the centres
















When I saw these papers, I knew exactly which I stamp I would use!  I love the fact that the baby is sleeping on a cloud and the stars on the paper match the stars on the babygro.















I printed out a sentiment that says ‘wonderful news’

I also entered the following challenges with this baby card:

Part Time Tuesday - Anything Goes
Little Claire's Designs - Anything Goes
Guylou's Inimitability - Anything Goes
PaperCrafting Journey - Anything Goes
Lexi's Creations - Flowers
Sew Many Cards - Stars
Stamp Something - Flowers

Have a blessed week coming! I hope you like my card and thank you for stopping by!
Blessings,
Kelly-Anne

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Rebekah And The Hose Pipe

Rebekah is the youngest in our family. She is the cutest thing you ever laid your eyes upon and wants to do everything her big sisters do. Her older sister, Nancy, age 11, is responsible for fetching drinking water. We have to fill 5 litre containers about twice a day with fresh rain water from the tank outside because the tap water is not fit for drinking. Rebekah views fetching water with Nancy as ‘her job’. Nancy prefers to fetch water when madam R isn’t looking so that she doesn’t have to look after a tot while filling up the bottles. Sometimes she gets it right, but if Rebekah spots Nancy going without her, there is a big shout and she runs to also fetch water with Nancy. It is amazing to see a toddler taking full responsibility for such a job. She knows this is just ‘her job’. No matter what, she sticks to helping her big sister fetch the water!
The other morning whilst I was watering the garden, Rebekah toddled up, wanting to try hold the hose and give the plants a refreshing shower of water. Of course I let her try, guiding her ever so slightly so she didn’t wet the things that didn’t really need to be watered (like me!). Despite my attempts to hold the hose too, she broke free and I stood aside, letting her water wherever she felt it necessary. My dad came out with the camera and once Rebekah spotted him, she immediately turned the hose pipe on him. I was next in line to have a thorough soaking and I unfortunately couldn’t get out of the way and I found myself being sprayed with much enthusiasm from her! Needless to say Madam R enjoyed herself thoroughly, laughing at my protests and pleas to stop!




















“Are you hot, Daddy...?”



















“What did you say…?  Are you also hot, Kelly…?”



















“Right, Kelly’s turn...”
Rebekah is truly a blessing and I do know that even when she gives us trouble, which as human beings we tend to do, she is still one! Again I have to remind myself to just love and to let things pass. Little sisters can teach you wonderful things sometimes. Other times they help you learn to just ‘chill out’. I got absolutely soaked but do you know it was lovely seeing the naughty look on her face! She had a blast wetting me! Yes, I had to dry off and, yes about 20 minutes of my morning time was spent on this soaking episode but she had fun and it built into our relationship. Sometimes we forget to enjoy each moment that comes our way. I enjoyed this moment, she enjoyed it and we became better friends!
I do think, however, that this job should not be encouraged because some days it’s a little cold and I REALLY don’t feel like being sprayed with ice cold water! But of course, if she views this as one of ‘her jobs’ too, I’ll have to just enjoy the moment, like I said I should!!
Blessings,
Kelly-Anne

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Swimming Lessons

Wednesdays are swimming days for the homeschooled children in Twee Riviere.
There are two age groups: over 10yrs and under 10yrs. The older children swim in one of the local dams under my dad’s tutelage as he is a qualified swimming coach, and the little ones swim in a pool with another homeschooling mom coaching them.














Practising different strokes




 













We have some free time to play when we finish the lesson.















The dam is situated in a beautiful part of the countryside.
That’s our house you can see in the distance on the left.
Aren’t we so blessed?

Have a lovely week ahead!

Blessings,
Kelly-Anne

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Time For Tots - Activity #2

Hello everyone! Time for tot activity #2! It is quite an easy, non-messy activity and you can whip it up in less than 5 minutes for that possible ‘bad day’ which might perhaps occur sometime this week, though I pray not!
Toddlers can really only concentrate for their age plus one minute – not very long in Madam R’s case. She is going on two years so she played with this activity for - 3 minutes! Not very long, but long enough for me to get some cute photographs!
So here is what I did with her this morning – we played with ‘Tongs and Toys’. She learnt how to use the tongs and how to transfer each toy from one bowl to another.














You just need two bowls, tongs and various toys and things from around the house!



















Pick up one toy...



















...And put it in the other bowl...



















...And again...this time with deep concentration!
















She soon ended up playing with the toys instead of picking them up with her tongs!
Please, don’t forget you can also share activities. Just write a post on your blog with fun and easy tot activities and link your actual blog post HERE. I need all the activity ideas I can get!

Have a wonderful week ahead!

‘To the Tots’,
Kelly-Anne

Monday, February 21, 2011

My Mom's 40th Birthday

On Monday my mom turned 40! We decided to have a desserts evening to celebrate. We had three other families join us, each bringing a pudding. Throughout the week we had been busy making decorations and preparing the puddings we were making.
The theme was ‘pink and orange’ and we had lots of fun preparing everything for the party!

Learn how to make the following: Beaded Candle Holders, Decorated and Recycled Vases.
After lunch on Monday my mom and I went to a lady who lives quite close to us. She is a hairdresser and works from home for very reasonable rates. This was my mom’s first cut in about 3 years!
After that we had to hurry back to set the table and get dressed because our guests were coming at 7:00pm!
Here are some of the photographs of our ‘Desserts Evening’:

















Some of the delicious desserts!















A beautiful evening for a party!















The dessert in front is called Peach Classic Choc. Cheesecake.  It is made with our own cottage cheese and our own preserved peaches.  We also made the chocolate biscuits that are crushed for the layers!  It is a very rich dessert!















Coconut chocolate squares...



















Meringues!

We had a lovely evening of desserts and fellowship!

Dear Mom, I hope you had a lovely birthday and enjoyed your desserts evening. Love you lots, Kelly-Anne

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Time For Tots - Activity #1















This week Gabrielle and Rebekah played with gloop! It is made with maizena (cornflour) and water. It is one of the few substances known to man that is neither a liquid nor a solid...imagine that??? Never mind the little ones being amazed at this! I was playing with the gloop, too! I had to keep on reminding myself that really this activity was for the LITTLE ONES, not for ME!!
I added some green food colouring just to give some colour to the gloop.
















Feels a little bit funny...


















...Try make handprints...what do they notice??



















Can they make a ball???



















“Look at my hands!”  Rebekah (20 months)















“And Mine!” Gabrielle (Age 3.10months)
Have fun playing with gloop!
‘To The Tots’
Kelly-Anne

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

It has been such a long time since I last posted a Wordless Wednesday!























Nancy dressed her up!

Blessings,
Kelly-Anne

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Time For Tots

There will be a series of posts here on Beautiful Girlhood on activities to do with toddlers.  I think most homeschooling families with small children find themselves at a loose end when it comes to toddlers!  They are ever-demanding, and when trying to do your schoolwork, they always find a reason to interrupt...


...Or a perfect place to make a mess!

But we need to work with them, not against them. Finding and actually doing activities with them fills up their little tanks and they are happier tots the whole day leaving you in peace to finish what you are busy doing!!


If anyone has any activities that they are willing to share, please create a post with your ideas on your blog with a link back to my blog. Then leave a comment on this post with a link to your actual blog post so I can have a look and try – I always need ideas!If you would like to share ideas for things to do with toddlers, they must be easy and not overly expensive to make. Recycled things would also be good, but basically anything that little people enjoy doing! (Tried and tested please!)
When I have finished with this series I will give my top five favourite activities with a link to those blogs! So do join in!

I do believe as young girls learning to become Godly wives and mothers one day, we need to learn how to look after toddlers and what a better time to do it when we have small brothers and sisters that ALWAYS need things to do to keep them busy!


So keep those activities coming! I will be posting a new idea for toddler activities once a week here on my blog!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,
Kelly-Anne

Sunday, February 13, 2011

A Birthday Card For My Mother















Hello everyone! I have another card to show you that I made for my mom whose birthday is on Monday.

She is the most wonderful Mother anyone could hope for! She has taught my sisters and me how to do crafty things like sewing and beadwork and how to make handmade and homemade gifts. I know she loves the time she and I spend together making cards and she encourages me to try new things each time!
With this card I made sure I stretched my imagination and used scrapbooking stickers instead of a stamp. I also tried my hand at making swirls with small pearls.



















This year is a big birthday for my mom and I really wanted to make some special gifts for her!  I made a little jewellery tin decorated with paper roses and with the same paper I used for the card.  I also put three miniature chocolates inside the tin, so when she opens it there will be a surprise inside!



















My mom loves the green material ribbon I got in a prize a little while ago. I made sure I used it somewhere on her gift!

I entered the following challenges with this gift tin:

Simon Says Challenge - Anything But A Card















I love this pink, spotty ribbon – in fact any ribbon that has spots on it I love!  It goes very well with the paper on this card!



















This sticker my aunt bought for me for my 11th birthday.  When I saw how well it went with the paper and how the apron suited my mom because she loves cooking and gardening, I realised I just HAD to use it!



















I really adore this little teacup!  All the stickers on this card came in a pack and all of which suited my mom’s own style!














As I said earlier, I really stretched myself by making a swirl with the pearls because my mom wasn’t helping me!  I am quite happy with the result!
















These little slippers are so cute!


I also took part in the following challenges with my mom’s birthday card:

One Stitch At A Time Challenge - Make It Pretty
Fab N' Funky Challenges - Tempting Texture
Stampin With The Dragon - Anything Goes
Mami Doodles - Flower Card
Ooh La La Challenge - For Someone Special



















I hope my mom likes her card and gift! I will share more photographs of her other gifts in a separate posting!
I am trying very hard to keep this card a secret from my mom! My dad had to correct this post for me because my mom couldn’t read it – not yet!! So please don’t say anything to her!
For now, have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Blessings,
Kelly-Anne

Valentine’s Day Beaded Candle Holders

We are having a dessert evening this coming Monday to celebrate Valentine’s Day and more importantly my mom’s 40th birthday! We have three other families joining us, each bringing a different pudding. We too are making two or three puddings. It will be held here on the farm outside on the patio. We have decided to use candles to light up the area. My mom decided to make beaded candle holders out of old Purity jars to for this purpose!

Why don’t you try making your own?


















You Will Need:
1 Purity jar
Pliers
Assorted beads of different colours
Wire
A Tea light
















Cut two pieces of wire, one to wrap around the jar and the other for threading the beads onto (the handle).  (Make the handle quite long otherwise the flame will burn the beads!)















Make a loop on the one side of the handle and thread on the beads.

















Make another loop on the other side and attach to the wire around the jar.



















You’re finished!

Pop in the tea light, attach a piece of ribbon to the handle, and hang in the tree!

We made about fourteen of these candle holders! They are fun to make and pretty to see!

I will post pictures of the pudding evening very soon!

Blessings,
Kelly-Anne