Mother's Day and Birthday Gifts

Today was my third Mothers Day . . . it should have been my fourth, but my son decided to stay put until the day *after* Mother's Day the year he was born. Turkey.

We had a very nice day, we went to pick Paul up from work and then stopped in town for some groceries. James picked out his (second) birthday gift: Mac from the Cars movie. It fits his Lightening McQueen perfectly, but sadly he's nowhere to be found. Hm.

Had BBQ scallops, asparagus and hamburgers for supper (my pick!) and after the children were sent to bed, Paul got this out for me:

and we got to work.

Elizabeth has everything a nearly one-year-old could possibly want, so we were really stumped about what to get her for her first birthday. And then we realised that we don't really have a really nice set of blocks. I really want to get her the gorgeously perfect Haba set, but they're rather expensive so we've been looking at alternatives that are a) big enough that she can't choke on them b) in a big enough set that we can all play together with or c) a smaller set that you can add on to.

So we looked around and upon realising that one of our maple trees needed a few big branches pruned off, we came up with these!

They're not bad for a first try, and they still need sanding and sealing, but so far I love them! They're cut in 2cm increments, so will hopefully fit ok with a smaller, cheaper set of the super fabulous Haba ones. (I can't see myself making a dome or an arch out of a maple branch!)