Heart Felt

Oscar's 'Science Attic' birthday party

Oscar has turned six years old! 

Recently he's taken an interest in science, chemistry and botany.  He often mixes up potions and medicines with his mortar and pestle from leaves and flowers he finds in the garden and then bottles them.  I'm always on the look out for interesting bottles and science equipment in the thrift stores and he owns quite a collection of crystals, rocks, shells, bones and birds nests.

So it seemed natural to make it the theme to his birthday party this year.

 

We managed to find this wonderful old microscope for his birthday present.

 

We always like to make our party favours and this year Oscar wanted to make a special potion for his friends to take home. 

It was called 'swamp potion'.

 

We decorated the party table in a vintage apothecary style as we already had all these things spread throughout the house. 

It was fun pulling it all together to make a wonderful display of interesting things to explore. 

 

As entertainment we had a series of science experiments. 

This was a huge hit, just be prepared with towels and water for a quick clean up.

We did the swirling milk experiment ~ process found here

The exploding bag experiment ~ process found here (caused a lot of squealing and excitement)

and finally the erupting volcanic experiment ~ process found here

 

Because it was afternoon tea, food was simple but effective.

Drinks were served in mini mason jars with a new syringe in each.  This was a big hit as they squirted their drinks into their mouths.  The fun carried on after as they took them outside and had water fights with them.

I purchased new petri dishes and test tubes.  The test tubes I filled with Nerds and the petri dishes I set with lemonade jelly and scattered sprinkles over top to look like bacteria.  The effect was excellent.

 

The cake was my favourite.  A basic chocolate cake with chocolate icing.  I bought three Crystal Ring Pops and placed them on a mound of icing and covered the plastic pieces with icing.  Then I scattered chocolate rocks and popping candy bought from the Lolly Jar.  It looked amazing and the popping candy crackled on top of the cake.

 

Happy Birthday Oscar!

Sand dunes

Sea waves are green and wet,
But up from where they die,
Rise others vaster yet,
And those are brown and dry.

They are the sea made land
To come at the fisher town,
And bury in solid sand
The men she could not drown.

She may know cove and cape,
But she does not know mankind
If by any change of shape,
She hopes to cut off mind.

Men left her a ship to sink:
They can leave her a hut as well;
And be but more free to think
For the one more cast-off shell.

- Robert Frost

Charlie's autumn poem

which was published in his school newsletter.

"The Seasons" ~ poems by Sadie

(age 4)

 

"I like summer"

The sun is really hot

so I sit in the shade.

The plants like the sun,

the grass grows in the summer.

 

"I like autumn"

I like red leaves under my feet.

I like the nature leaves.

The nature leaves are so pretty,

they can change colour.

The birds are happy when it's autumn.

 

"I like winter"

Snow falling from the sky

Snow on the mountains

Snow falling on the ground

Snow falling on people

Snow falling on the snowlady

Snow falling on the snowman

Snow falling in my eyes.

 

"I like spring"

I like blossom, the blossom is

very pretty,

the colour is white and pink.

The lambs are so warm 

in the spring sunshine.

 

 

Raspberries

A bee came buzzing by
And told me to follow
He said, "Just look at all these berries
Theres more than you can swallow."

Raspberries, so swollen and ripe
Like picking candy, off the vine
Buckets and buckets full
I’m so glad they’re mine.

I keep picking and picking
And easily off they slide
I can never get enough
Over my lips, they glide

My ruby red mouth
Will be stained for days
The way my teeth hide the seeds
I’m totally amazed!

Oh raspberry you’re beautiful
Red nectar of the season
I think you know…
You give life a reason!

[Poem sourced from here]

 

 

 

 

Bubble prizes

Family day spent at the local A&P show.

Ghost trains, merry-go-rounds and toffee apples....

Bright and noisy side shows...

and winning bubble mixtures.

Sun shine, smiles and melting ice-creams.

Peace Garden

This beautiful garden lined with flowering cherry trees is a memorial marking the site of a riot that resulted in the deaths of 48 Japanese prisoners of war and one guard during World War II.

 A plaque commemorates the site with a 17th-century haiku:

Behold the summer grass
All that remains of the
Dreams of warriors.

Inspired by Amy's annual family visits.

Under the kowhai tree

Sitting in the long damp spring grass....

Listening to the bees and tui birds in the kowhai tree.....

Finding intrieguing things....

and calling to the old ram.....

That was our afternoon under the kowhai tree.

 

Daffodils

Daffodil picking at Middlerun Homestead.

 

 

 

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze

~ William Wordsworth

 

 

 

 

 

Snow collage and poem by Sadie

When I picked Sadie up from kindergarten a couple of weeks ago I was greeted by one of Sadie's teachers who's been working with Sadie and extending her interest in art.  Jenni was excited by Sadie's recent piece reflecting on her memories of the day it snowed.

Sadie had drawn pictures of a snowlady, a snowman, herself and Charlie playing in the snow.  She had carefully cut around each character and then pasted each piece onto a piece of pink card and painted snow on the ground and falling from the sky.

Sadie then confidently spoke in front of her class about her completed art work.   The teachers then asked Sadie if they could frame it and hang it on the wall in the kindergarten which is a very special privilege indeed!

To top it off Sadie wrote a poem to go with her collage.

Snow falling from the sky

Snow on the mountains

Snow falling on the ground

Snow falling on people

Snow falling on the snowlady

Snow falling on the snowman

Snow falling in my eyes