I started this blog just over 4 years ago, when we moved back to New Zealand after living in Australia for a year and I just had my second child. Life was good but this staying at home thing wasn’t really working for me. I needed more, I needed a challenge, a creative outlet. So I opened an Etsy shop where I sold handmade play things and started a blog to promote it. I loved it. But boy it was hard work and over the years my kids turned into real Mom blog kids.

They grew up between the projects, art & craft materials, camera’s, big ideas and a “let’s give it a go” mentality. All in all it was wonderful to see how blogging not only broadened my horizon, but also theirs. In many ways we all worked together on our projects and these memories will hopefully last a lifetime.

This blog post is a snippet of all those “laugh or you’ll cry”, “too cute to be true” and “very creative indeed” moments that all Mom bloggers and especially kid bloggers will relate to. It’s a window into the life beyond the blog post, as so much of the magic (and drama!) happens outside of the photo frame.

Enjoy.

1. When your children play with something for one whole minute. (from our Farm Small World)

2. When beautiful loose parts exploration invitations inevitably end up like this. (from Invitation to Explore Loose Parts on a Mirror)

3. When you are wondering if “Princes Elsa is opening a Day Care Centre” could be transformed into a legit blog post.

4. When your kids ruin your Pinterest perfect car garage make over. (from How My Kids Ruined My Craft Project)

5. When big sister puts a fairy dress on little brother and he ends up wearing it for 3 days straight. (from Gender Stereotypes in Play)

7. When Mommy bit off more than she could chew and you decide to help her out. (from Hairy Maclary Small World)

9. When you get your hands on the stamp pad. (from Valentine’s Day Heart Garland)

10. When someone dives into the blanket fort. (from Toddlers Guide to Epic Fort Building)

11. When you get your hands on your Mom’s sewing basket. (from DIY Treasure Map for Pretend Play)

12. When you just. can’t. leave. the. watering. hole. alone.  (from Safari Small World)

13. When you want to wear all of your Fairy braids. All of the time. (from Fairy Braids for Pretend Play)

14. When you’d rather watch Thomas the Train than play. (from 5 Ideas for Using Carpet Samples in Imaginative Play)

15. When sesnsory bins inevitably end up looking like this. (from Little Yellow Digger sensory Bin)

16. When princess braids are better suited for leashes than hair. (from Princess Hair Braids for Pretend Play)

17. When you hide your precious clay bowls in your wardrobe. (from Kid Made Stamped Clay Bowls)

18. When you use your tooth fairy pocket as a handy snack holder. (from Tooth Fairy Pocket)

19. When the inventor’s box never ceases to amaze. (from Inventor’s Box)

20. When you Mommy teaches you how to sew by hand. (from Embroidered Kid Art)

21. When your LEGO figurine’s sleeping bag is the perfect place for housing your pet rock. (from Felt Sleeping Bags for Pretend Play)

What will your next play adventure be?

It’s hard to explain to people how much this blog means to me and how it has changed our lives in a certain way, but looking at these pictures sure gives you an idea of the adventures we go on.

I wish you and your family lots of adventures too. And just like so many creative families have inspired us, I hope in some small way, we may have inspired you a little bit as well.

Lots of love,

Ann*

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