What were the must-have toys when you were a kid?

For me it was dolls. I loved dolls… and for a kid in the 70′s I had a lot of dolls. I think the count was 27. (and there’s my Mum telling ME not to spoil my kids.. pfft.. the apple doesn’t fall far Ma.. )

For my brother it was matchbox cars and Lego. Oh boy did he have some Lego.. and cars come to think of it. Tray upon tray of them. Mum!  

I wonder what your ‘toy choice’ says about you? I did enjoy Lego, I liked building and being creative… but only for so long.. and the cars? Well, the coolest things about them to me were the colours, but to my brother they were his world. The dolls were my babies… and I loved them, dressed them, talked to them and ’fed’  the babies. Much of my childhood was consoling my barbies, who spent a lot of time crying about their boobs… somehow they all got ‘pushed in’… and I think that my little brother spent some time playing with my dolls too.

So, I like babies, my brother likes cars and boobs. Simple.

My kids are living in this techno world, where everyone in the entire world (except me of course) has a iphone an ipad an ipod. They tap and swipe away, learning at an alarming rate. They are amazing and they have amazing toys. They have so much available to them it’s hard to see what the ‘must-have’ would be. Aside from the electronic toys, I would say Lego is the biggest favourite for my boys, it’s been this way since the Duplo years right through to the Meccano years… where as my girl has always been ‘baking’, from pretend kitchens to playdough cakes, mud pies and glorious concoctions from the garden. As soon as she was old enough she was helping in the real kitchen and inspires me to get back in there are bake too.

My 365 photos are based on what my kids ‘must-have’ toys would be.

There’s one in every crowd 166 / 365
Child #2 and I made Cake Pops today! Chocolate cake balls covered in candy melts and white chocolate! Mmm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chomp chomp 167 / 365
and today we chomped on them! Oh they were good!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lego Man 165 / 365
My Lego loving boys found their old box of Duplo and made me something special… a Mega Minifig. The little Lego man is standing on his foot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tell me… what was your  ‘must-have’ toy from when you were a kid?

Some things just BUG me

I feel like I have sat in front of the computer non stop for 2 days trying to get my newsletter done and ordering for the shop. Now it’s time for a break and we have 5 days off! My eyes might get a rest and I might be able to shake this headache. So… what do I do when I get home?  You’d be correct if you guessed “turned on the computer”. What on earth did we do before computers?

I have been enjoying the social media site of Facebook and our Scrapbook House Facebook Page  is humming along… please join in the conversation there with us!

 

Here’s are a couple more photos for you from around my house.

 

 

 

 

109 / 365

 

Actually a lot of things bug me… but I don’t really need to share that with you!
This little fellow is about the size of a ladybug, it fell from the Gum Tree, and it sits mostly with its legs and feelers tucked in underneath. Patiently I waited till it was confident to move… snap! Gotcha. Anyone know what it is?

 

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Swwweeeet!

110 / 365

 

Marshmallow Pavlova with Blueberry and Passionfruit. Now if that doesn’t soothe my sweet tooth, nothing will!

 

 

Sugar Rush

92 / 365

My daughter and her friend have been stinking up the house with burned toffee in an effort to create toffee apples. Luckily there was one saucepan of toffee that made the grade and the result is delicious. The best apples in the land are toffee apples!
Do you like my backdrop? A freaky girl with a toffee spoon. Scary huh? It WAS shaping up to be a great photo. Haha

I am 25% way through my project. That means that today is a quarter of the way though the year. Where does the time go? I swear it was New Years just a little while ago, and now I am looking at Term 2 which is just around the corner.

25% done?

Goodness me.

I feel like I have just begun.

I guess it just takes me a little while to settle in.

Very “Tania”?

It’s done, it’s done. I am so excited to have my Christmas present. You know, if I had this 16 years ago, I wouldn’t be so appreciative of it today as I am now. I keep looking in my kitchen, and I just LOOOURVE my new pantry. No more food in the bottom cupboards. Hooray.

Miss.L. (my brothers’ girlfriend) opens it up and says “It’s very “Tania”"  So what EXACTLY does she mean with that comment? I think she is refferring to the labelled containers all lined up, is this not normal???? (I would actually like everything in my house lined up and labelled, but hold myself back). Maybe she means how much processed food there is or that there are so many sauce choices? Do you detect paranoia? I don’t often open up my cupboards for critisism.

Maybe it’s about the breakfast cereal? Can you see we have shares in Kelloggs? You need choice in life don’t you?

My favourite thing in the pantry (besides the child below) is my round cake tins. I bought these with a voucher my dear friends gave me for a gift from “House”. I just love them. Hey, see that Christmas Tin with a green ribbon? It’s a Christmas Cake that Rachel made for our family to enjoy on Christmas Day. How sweet was that!

I can see this pantry is going to be hit for Hide-and-Seek . There’s longhaired child #3 – the grout is barely dry and he is in there getting white marks all over his bogan black trackies and black T. Nice.

Tiles Too!

Merry Christmas to Me!

Stirrer

When he’s not mucking about he’s actually a good worker. Trouble is, he mucks about a LOT. And makes me laugh a LOT.

I wondered where this beater went.

It makes a good stirrer for tiling glue… apparently.

Please Santa…

I dearly want “clear benches”  for Christmas.

Sanding, filling, painting done. Busy busy King.

Please please I want clear benches. I’ll be good – I promise.

How to drill around corners

or not.

Why is that boys always break their toys? Even masonry drill bits! Don’t ask me, this is just the sad look I got when I wandered into the kitchen with my camera.

at least he’s still working on the pantry! The shelving is all in, handmade by the King himself. Now there is the  sanding, filling and painting to go. Then paint and hang the door, trim the shelving edges and CLEAN THE REST OF THE HOUSE ! ! !

I’m dreaming of…

clear benches…

What a mess…

but what a husband! 

Is this the sort of mess you’d expect to come home to after being away for a few days? If you lived with The King of this house, then this wouldn’t surprise you in the slightest.

Your benchtops would be covered in “stuff”

Your floors would have “stuff” on them too.There would be a compressor in your dining room. There would be planks of wood propped up along the walls.

Oh and the sawdust… The sawdust would be everywhere. Every surface. Every nook and cranny. Lining the floors thorought the whole house. On every venetion on every blind, on every key of my keyboard. Did I mention it was everywhere?

There would be a ladder in the kitchen and you wouldn’t be suprised. You couldn’t even see the benchtops let alone make your children anything to eat for at least 2 days.

but… what’s that in the corner of the kitchen? Oh my –  it’s a new pantry. My Christmas Present, and my beautiful King has been working on it all weekend. Isn’t he a legend? I have only waited 16 years for it. He assures me I will have clear benches soon, so I am happy, and the kids are too, they’ll get lunch orders at school.