Above shows the weapons ds1 made. He had funny names for them: "The nothing-happen man", "nothing-happen monster" and some other weapons with ever-changing names so I can't even keep up with them. His rationale for the "nothing-happen" series is: nothing happens to the man or the monster even after being shot, attacked etc. So they're superpowers.
He painted them himself, and stuck on the eyes for the Man. He said the monsters don't have eyes.
I made the elephant and dragon for ds2 cos he requested for them while we were making it. As usual ds2 only fashioned bits of clay which I recycled.
Somehow this lighter foamy material, though easier to handle (for kids), breaks more easily when dried. It doesn't take the abuse my sons dish out to them. However, the oven-bake kind is still intact. (Info for those who may want to try..)
I realised ds2 loved letters, so I made some for him using leftovers. But there wasn't enough for all 26 letters of the alphabet, hence I made just their names. Then I discovered another fun way to colour the clay.
Step 1: (Left) Dot the clay with magic marker colours. Can make hearts later.
Step 2: (Right) Pull the clay to spread the colours. Can make letters with swirls of colour later.
Step 3: Fashion the swirls of colour into anything you want. That's an ant below, btw..
Also tried: those glass beads/ crystals which you sort into different colours and put into a wire frame, then bake them till they melt and form a suncatcher. Bought 2 designs, a dolphin and a unicorn at a sale. Not sure if it's cheap, it's $1.90 per kit here, have never bought it in Singapore. What's the price there? The kits contains all the crystals, a string and a plastic suction cup to hang it up, and the metal frame.
With the left over crystals, we just did silly things like a flower and a multi-coloured square. ds1 did the dolphin himself, that's why it looks a bit mixed up, and we both did the unicorn together. for the flower and the square, we fashioned the frames using aluminium foil. then after it is baked, we tore the foil off.
I am still amazed by all the surprises each tree or plant spring up every day. A lot of trees blossom first before they grow their leaves back. So it is very refreshing to see flower-laden trees all around. I also see many tulips blooming in others' gardens now. Mine hasn't though, dh says not enough sunlight yet, cos ours lie in the shade?
These are all my neighbours' trees. There are prettier ones, esp those that line a whole street, but I usually have no chance to take pics of them while traveling in the car.
The other exciting thing is the setting up of the swingset!
Sunday afternoon was the only time dh was free and we cleared the area in the backyard first. The grass was pretty long so dh had to mow the whole lawn first. We borrowed the church equipment. The handheld one was used for the grass growing by the wall or fence.
Kids found it fun and the church gave them a toy lawn mower, so I brought it out for them to play pretend at the same time. Only I don;t know why they prefer mowing the "concrete".
Then i shooed them off to take their afternoon nap, else they'd be absolutely cranky for evening service. Dh then had the peace and quiet to do the set up alone. I documented the progress, cos I just can't visualise how the mass and mess of poles in the box can end up like that.
Just before kids slept, I took the pic on the left (above). I was quite surprised to see it almost done when I spent some time making them sleep then came out again (wanting to help). There was only the slide left then (above right).
I got so excited I tried it at once. haha. But it wasn't anchored yet, so when i swung myself up, the whole thing swayed and jerked back and forth too. i had to get down immediately. Till now it is not anchored yet, cos the anchors are not included. dh says he will make them from his bow-making wood. hence only the kids can play for now.
When they woke up from their nap, it was time for evening service so they first played on it after the service. It was around 7+pm then, but still quite bright! (below)
Now everyday we will spend at least 30min on the swingset. Then another 30 min for them to just fool around in the back yard. So that helps me while away 1 hour of their time. Good investment.
Although, by today (day 5), ds1 has already started new ways of playing with the thing. Of course, all the ways are dangerous. Sigh. He will do one-leg standing up stunts while whizzing down the slide, or he will climb from the slide onto the trapeze then the first swing, then the hang glide, the other swing and then the thin horizontal supporting pole on the left (the one that straddles the swing frame at the side). Cos he says he cannot touch the ground, there's fire... and he must cross to the other side.
He also doesn't want to just sit on the swing but rather swing standing up. Although in the instruction manual it says not to let children do that. Looks like I am going to have a hard time keeping to what is stated in the manual. sigh.
ds2 is very different. he is the cautious one, and he will want me to carry him up the various items and help him with them. think he is scared of his wild elder brother and is afraid he will get hurt with the brother swinging madly.
