Mung bean madness

I was planning a post reminiscing about things I've made the kids over the last few years, but have been distracted making new things. Today Elliot got excited about beanbags. This would have been a super-quick project without a four year old helping. He "helped" with most parts, but I did draw the line when he crawled under the table and pushed the sewing machine pedal with his hand. Yeah, while my foot was on it.

Here he is helping me measure.

At this point he got a little bored and started to crack open the mung beans (while I made jokes such as "making some dal over there, darl".) This would normally be hard work but he happens to have a fibreglass cast on his right arm, which proved effective. A little tip for the future there, should you lose your nut crackers and have an injured child nearby.

A bit of sewing later, and ta da!

This first game looks mighty civilised. Naturally it soon degenerated into a pretend snowball fight and the institution of two basic rules for beanbags:

1. Underarm only
2. No throwing at my face.

Outdoors, we had some fun last week in one of our dormant veggie patches. Elly's childcare centre installed a butterfly garden, so we decided to make one at home too. Builders hat apparently necessary because we were digging holes.