Woodland Nursery complete!

It's now complete, the total make-over in our bedroom is finished and now awaiting our baby to arrive!
Here is the before (sooooo embarrassing actually...hadn't tidied up for awhile knowing we were taking everything out.... well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!! he he!!)

 And now the after....

I'm soooo happy with how it's all come together!! A few last minute decorator items I got today (sweet little bunny and wood candle holder) and I'm now feeling like my nest is feathered!!
If you saw my last post you would have noticed some of my favourite things I found on-line. Here are some of those ideas that inspired me....

Alphabet picture. Made with the Tiny Woods paper from Kaisercraft and chipboard letters from Stampin' Up!

Mushroom bookend. Made with felt and a pattern I made myself which I stuck to an old elephant bookend that had fallen apart. Love this!!

Assorted toys to love. Rabbit from my wonderful Paper Doll ladies, owl I found today and Hedgehog my fabbo hubbie picked out on our anniversary last weekend!

Lamp. Bought a plain white lamp from Bunning's yesterday and made the little critters from felt HERE and glued them on. Used my stamping ink to make a soft sky and grass look. Love how this turned out too!!

Of course I'd love a fabulous cushion for my feeding chair, some groovy sheets for the cot and some board books for the shelf but these things can wait...... for now I'm happy to relax and wait for the next stage in our family!
Smiles The Torrents'

Woodland Theme Nursery

It's a matter of days now till our little one arrives (well I hope!) and I've been busy decorating (well at least "researching" lovely decorations!!) for the nursery. For the first time EVER our baby will be in our room, so we've done a total makeover to the back wall of our bedroom to fit in all the necessary "baby must haves" to make it work.
Last week at my last Paper Doll stamp club for the year, the wonderful and amazing ladies of the group held me a mini Baby shower!! It was soooo thoughtful and special and very touching!! I was given a beautiful selection of baby goodies (including a new bag for me!!) and a gorgeous Woodland Themed Bunting!!

 It was made from THIS paper from Kaisercraft

Well it's got my mind racing with other ideas of what I can do to tie this wonderful theme altogether!!!

I LOVE WORKING WITH A THEME!!!! YAY!!

Here are some of the inspiring goodies I've found in the last few days that I wanted to share with you!!

 Simple, stunning ABC picture HERE

 So, so, SOOO cute Mushroom bookend HERE

Adorable Mushroom rattle HERE

 Amazing wooden critters to play with HERE

A fun game for the older children (at least till the baby can join in!) HERE

 Something wonderful to look at while I'm changing nappies

HERE

sweet little toy to love HERE

Ohhh can you see what I mean!?! Sooo many fabulous things to buy and make and get inspired with!!!

What do you like the most??? I think my all time fav is the bookend, there is a whole range to love!! GORGEOUS!!

I'll hopefully be back soon (then again.... be nice to have this little one...) and share what I've made for our nursery thanks to these great pictures!!

Smiles The Torrents'

Spring Unit study

With the wonderful arrival of Spring (and the soon to be arrival of our baby) I wanted to have some fun with this term and  the season that is upon us...... SPRING!! yay!
I ended up in the vegie garden on Wednesday weeding and prepping it ready for planting.

BEFORE:

AFTER...

 parsley and garlic chives still going

It felt sooo good to have it done and ready! YAY!!

 I transplanted the Rhubarb and Borax herb from the main bed to the tyres just outside the garden, they have lots more room there and the flowers that will attract the bees will be wonderful!!

I've also been searching on Google for HEAPS of ideas on what we can do for this Unit Study.
Each year we have a Spring/Summer vegie garden. (the sun is too low for our spot to grow vegies in the Winter!) I do know however that having a baby could make things just a little bit busier than usual and I might not get it planted, or worse look after it very well once our vegie seedlings are in!! So that's where the basis of our next unit study came from..... The children can do it!!
They will pick their own vegies they wish to grow
Journal about them in a notebook each week, taking pictures or drawing them
Learn about seeds (science)
Sketch plants in the garden (art)
Write about their favourite vegies or fruit ( do a poem)
Graph about growth (maths)
Record weather patterns, when it rained and was sunny (science)
Write down when we needed to water
WEED when they start to pop up again
Tender and look after the garden!!
I'm super excited about the variety of things we can do with this subject, including lapbooks and crafts (always a winner for the smaller girls!)
Here are just a FEW links that I found helpful.....

Spring lesson plans and ideas (not all can be printed) HERE
SPRING ACTIVITIES including puzzles, crafts and colour pages HERE, HERE, HERE
HERE, and HERE,
Pre-school Spring IDEAS, including lists of everything HERE
Pre-school Spring Songs and Poems HERE
Garden Lapbook HERE
Sprout Lapbook HERE 
Strawberry Lapbook HERE
Spring Labbook ideas HERE 

So with this and also a weather study (post to come) I think our term will be a lot of fun!!
Smiles The Torrents' 

Not long to go now.....

In less than 9 days (officially) we will be expecting our fifth little gift from God! We are sooooo excited!! What makes it even more special is that I'm pregnant at the same time as my lovely sister who is expecting her first!! I can't believe how wonderful it is to see her "glowing" and know that I too am in the same place!
Of course we don't really know when this precious bundle will arrive, all our other children have been late, anything between 2-11 days!!
On Monday Sarah and I had a quick photo shoot, thanks to her hubbie behind the lens and this is one of the pic's!!

 

I'll certainly keep you updated and look forward to sharing our wonderful news with you sometime soon....ish!!

Smiles The Torrents'