50 Dangerous Things: #48 Explode a glass bottle in the freezer.

The book told us that this would be a great project to do while we were doing something else - and it was! We decided to pop a bottle in the freezer just before dinnertime.



Aesop was in charge of filling the bottle. We used a sweet chilli sauce bottle, and we filled it right to the top.

Otto placed it, carefully, into a plastic container (which would catch all of the pieces, when it did explode!) ready to go into the freezer.

We popped it in, covered with a tea towel for extra safety, and we waited.
We checked it after dinner, nothing.
We checked it before bed, still nothing.

We checked it in the morning...

Smashed!

We talked about why the bottle had broken, about how careful we needed to be around the broken glass and also noted things we could do differently next time. We noted that there was ice all around the bottle, so it must not have been completely frozen when the bottle broke, and that the top had also popped right off. We thought we might try different sized bottles, and maybe starting with different temperatures of water?

Have you ever tried this one?

50 Dangerous Things : #2 Lick a 9-volt Battery.

Number two - Lick a 9-volt battery! Eeep. This one got some of us feeling very nervous, indeed.
On the face of it, it seems pretty simple. Tongue plus battery, done. Right? But trying to get your brain to allow your hand to physically put that battery onto something as sensitive as your tongue is a a big hurdle!

As I expected, Otto (aged 4) took upon the task with gusto. He was very keen to go first, he stuck his tongue out and did it without much of a reaction at all. He wasn't keen to do it again, but he did it. He described the feeling as 'yuck'.
Abraham had a bit of a struggle to get his brain to cooperate, but did it pretty quickly. He described the feeling more like a bitter taste than an actual buzz.

Aesop, our nearly-nine year old, is a bright spark. He also struggles to do things that he is not 100% certain about. His brain works overtime and he struggles to overcome it. In a lot of ways, he is the main driving force behind us doing this 50 Dangerous Things challenge.
It took about 20 minutes of talking him into it,  but he felt so much better once he had done it. I knew the feeling of not being included in the challenge, and not having his picture in the book would be far worse than any discomfort from the battery!

I found this surprisingly easy. I had the initial panic and then decided that I needed to tough it out if there was any chance of Aesop having a turn. It was a really strange feeling, a buzzing, almost pinching sensation and a bitter metallic after taste.
Strange, but not truly shocking ; )

That makes 2/50 complete! Whoop!

50 Dangerous Things - Intro and thing #1!

Inspired by one of my favourite friends (who happens to be a super great blogger) and her sweet family, our family has purchased this book and set ourselves a challenge for this year : to get brave, and complete these 50 Dangerous Things. We're calling it a team building exercise.

If I'm really honest, it's a much-needed reminder, for Abraham and I, to let our kids experience the simple-yet-memorable things that we all did as kids.
Things like licking batteries, making slingshots, burning things with a magnifying glass, sleeping in the wild, building campfires and sticking your arm out of a moving car.
I mean, we did those things and survived, right? We probably didn't even do them with supervision and instruction from adults.. we had a blast, and we still survived to tell the tale. 
It's really easy to bubble wrap our kids. Society encourages it! We're forever hearing of schools banning playground games, toys being deemed 'unsafe', our favourite fireworks going off the market, children getting hurt doing things that would have been everyday activities a decade ago. I find myself discouraging all sorts of things, without realising it.
It's really hard for kids to learn about danger, without experiencing any. And really hard for parents to remember how important that learning is. We're hoping that, by encouraging our kids to try these things, that they'll learn about the boundaries of danger and learn when it's okay to give things a go, and when it's best to give it a miss. (And we'll learn not to be so afraid to let them be kids!)

We've had a flick through the book, trying to decide where to start - and then, yesterday, the weather decided for us! The clouds darkened, the temperature dropped, and it started hailing!
Number 2 in the book is - Play in a hailstorm! Perfect!

The book suggested putting a metal bowl on your head (for the sound effects!), donning a coat, long pants and gloves and heading out to play. We compromised a little - figured maybe going out in a lightening storm with a metal bowl wasn't super smart - and used plastic bowls. We also skipped the warm, protective clothing, it wasn't hailing really hard and wasn't too cold. We had a warm-up bath afterwards, instead.
The kids loved it. They didn't stay out long, due to the very loud thunder freaking them out a bit, but they managed to eat some hail that had collected on the tramp and run around a bit.

They were mostly just excited to have made a start on the project! They're busy deciding right now which activities we might be able to do this weekend.

(As the storm continued, we decided that a pizza and movie night was also in order. So nice to snug up on the couch on a rainy evening.)

A freezing Autumn Arvo.

What to do, on freezing cold afternoons, when little ones are clearly bored of being stuck at home?
The park, of course!
From our new house, this little playground is just two minutes down the road. It's next to a duck pond (which makes for great entertainment in itself!) and surrounded in great big grassy spaces (perfect for running around or kicking a ball!).
The playground itself is fairly standard  - two swings, a creaky old bridge, a slide, a fire mans pole.. and a plastic tunnel full of swear words. Haha. My kids actually call this 'swearword tunnel'.
We had a lovely time collecting pretty leaves, swinging in the swings and enjoying the fresh air - must remember to make the most of this free entertainment more often!
(Might need to rug up even more next time though, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Is it just me or is it ridiculously cold this week?)

May Themed Dinner #3 - Fast Food!

Our third theme for this month was 'Fast Food'.

My boys are big McDonalds fans. Aren't all kids?

I have no idea what the attraction is - well, I have an idea.. but I, personally, can't stand the stuff. The food tastes like nothing, and I always still feel hungry after eating something so... fake.

Aesop inhales a quarter-pounder, a shake and fries, and Abraham is a big fan, while Otto enjoys the thought of it far more than the actual food - he rarely even eats half of a happy meal (and then asks for different food!). I guess the toy might be the winning point for him.

Seemed a great plan to see if we could recreate a (slightly healthier and much tastier) Maccas meal.

   Since fast food is mostly of the takeaway variety (for us, anyway.. our kids have never 'eaten in', I don't think!) I didn't feel like we needed to do much in the way of decorating. I popped a red table cloth on the table, popped all of our 'American' style sauces (mustard, mayo, ketchup and bbq sauce) in the centre, chucked on a Beastie Boys album (with a take out menu on the front..) and voila!

The food speaks for itself, really.

Abraham whipped up some boxes for our fries and chicken nuggets (if I did this again I would make chicken tenders myself, rather than serve ones from a bag!) and I used a few sewn, recycled book, bags I had around the studio to put everything in (stamped with an 'L' for Larsen Burger, naturally! Heh). I wrapped the burgers in greaseproof paper, and we used the leftover cups and straws from Pop Roc Parties for our soy choc shakes.

My burger had a touch of greenery, but the boys had Quarter-pounder knock-offs. Meat, plastic cheese, onions, pickles, sauces.. all on a sesame seed bun. It got the seal of approval, too. Phew.

Mollie discovered a new love for chicken nuggets and Aesop inhaled the meal as if it were the real McCoy. Otto, well, he wasn't anymore enthused than he usually it. Guess it's just not his type of food (he is more of an antipasto type guy. I kid you not!), fair play.

 The biggest hit, of course, was the toy.
You didn't think I could make homemade Happy Meals without a toy, did you?
I hmmed and uhhed about what sort of toy to put in. I wanted something quality, that would not just get played with one day and then forgotten about, or broken. I also didn't want to spend more than $5. A difficult combination.
The choice was obvious in the end, though - Lego minifigures.
I was lucky enough to find them half price at Kmart, making them just $3 each.
(We even got 4 we didn't already have! Always a bonus!)

LOVING these nights. Already so excited for next weeks. Pretty sure we will be doing it all again next month. Are you tempted to join us?

May Themed Dinners #2 - Dinosaurs!

Yesterday was our second 'themed dinner' for May (you can read about the first HERE..)
This was one I was quite excited about - Dinosaurs!

I really enjoyed the planning and brainstorming for these dinners, and I love the fact we decided to go with ideas that we all loved. But also, we chose to go with ideas that didn't involve anyone getting too stressed out from all the effort. I didn't want to go all out and over the to - it would completely ruin the treat factor if one of us didn't have fun preparing for it!

The first step in our Dino-dinner was a wee snack, as this was a meal that took a little longer to prepare.
The boys (big one included) snacked on a dinosaur egg, while they drew some decorations for the table.
Otto was especially amazed by this, he wondered how on earth I snuck into the nest to take the eggs.
(I went through the back door, and nabbed them while the dino was on his Ipod, of course..)
I think there is a better way to colour eggs, rather than the basic foodcolouring and vinegar I used, but this was a last minute addition so no time for research!

We decorated with plastic dinosaurs, cacti and the beautiful drawings (attached to kebab sticks..). I found some animal print fabric in the cupboard and we chose out a record with a prehistoric scene on the cover. (Though we ended up listening to Jurassic5. A little abstract, but sort of in theme!)

Dinner was a hearty feast of baby T-rex bones, trees and roasted potatoes. We ate with our hands, of course, which the boys really relished. Otto proclaimed part-way through the meal that dinos also probably ate with their mouths open - we chose to risk authenticity and try to eat with ours closed. Hah.

Even Mol got into the spirit of things, gnawing down on a bone. We had a good roaring session, too. Turns out our baby dino can roar along with the best of them!

Dessert was heaps of fun to prepare.
I had this fabulous idea to make a prehistoric swamp cake so, with a little help from google search, the $2 shop, some green jelly and a tonne of icing.. a super dooper dino-dinner-dessert was born!
I love the 90's feel - it would be right at home in the Australian Womans Weekly cake book.
The boys thought I was pretty awesome, and even Abraham was impressed. Quite proud.

All in all, a roaring sucess!
(Get it? Roaring? Oh ho ho!)

A bit of a trim.

Both of our boys have been blondies. And both of our boys have had long hair for their first few years. And we have received a lot of schtick for it each time.
I'm not sure what it is about long tresses on a boy, but it seems to cause a lot of discussion. Even complete strangers feel the need to comment sometimes.
I can understand the confusion factor - especially with older people. We've never been ones to correct people rudely (if at all..) when they call Otto a 'lovely wee lass' or say 'good girl' to him when he uses his manners. Generally, it is easier to just nod and smile, and then have a wee giggle with him when we get to the car. I must say I don't get the niggling implications that we're being mean giving him a 'girls' haircut. pish posh. We love keeping his hair long because a) it suits him and b)we're in no hurry for him to grow up/ look grown up.
Unfortunately, the side comments are starting to get to Otto. He is starting to ask for a haircut like Aesop's, or like Dad's. He is starting to ask to go to the barber and have a haircut with the clippers. A 'boys' haircut. Sigh.

I'm not quite ready for my sweet boy to lose his cheeky look, so we made a wee compromise.
We visited our favourite hairdresser, and we asked her to take off a little more than usual. Baby steps.
She is such a wonderful stylist - Otto sat on the special kiddos chair, eating organic mandarins she shared from her lunch, and spraying the mirror with the water bottle. Otto decided he would like his hair spiked up, and that is exactly what she did.
(I asked Otto if I could have my hair spiked up too, after my fringe trim, and he said that ladies were not allowed that type of hair.. but I was allowed to slick it down onto my forehead, if I liked!)

And, as if that was not cool enough, Otto was then allowed to help to take my money (all ten dollars of it!) and then she paid him 50c for his effort. You can see why we love her, no?

Otto took his money right to the dairy around the corner, and purchased a few lollies for him and Aesop. He said 'Thank you very much', and the man behind the counter said 'Good boy!'.
Maybe sometimes Mama doesn't always know best?

Presents from brubbas.

For Mol's birthday, I had an idea that it would be really cool for Aesop to make her a present. Normally, on siblings birthdays, a card is made and the present is bought. I am really keen to change this norm, and introduce more of the handmade into our gift giving.
I asked Aesop what he might like to make, and he said a teddy bear. I asked him to draw a, relatively simple, outline of the shape he would like it to be - and the picture above is what he came up with. I love the little stumpy leg.



Aesop carefully chose out the fabric, and the felt for the details. I had planned for Aesop to do the sewing himself, but we ran out of time a little so I sewed it up, and then he stuffed it with the polyfil. He was so incredibly proud of himself!

Meanwhile, Otto decided that he also needed to make Mollie a soft toy. Unfortunately for me, he didn't want to make a simple creature - he wanted to make a puppy and it had to look 'JUST like the picture, Mum!' I had just an hour up my sleeve, and things were going to be a little tight, but who could refuse a boy who made such an AWESOME puppy picture?

(Otto told me, after I had started, the black bit at the bottom of his face is a beard. Silly me, I thought it was his tongue!)



The boys were so stoked with how they turned out, they were almost bursting at the seams for Mollie to unwrap them - and as soon as she did, they grabbed them off her to show them to Abraham (and then to Mum and Dad and anyone else who would look the next day..) and they even insisted on taking them to bed that night! Haha Guess it's the thought that counts, right?





You can't see him in these pictures but, just off to the left, Otto is waiting for me to take the picture.. then he is going to swoop in and snatch the puppy back off Mollie. Poor girl! Haha.
Luckily it won't be too long before she'll be able to design a gift for Otto, which she can then refuse to actually part with!