A Long Ride...

As the holidays descend upon us, we thought that it might be useful to let eveyone in on the most up-to-date 'Child Car Restraints' laws: particularly as many of us will be taking road trips over the holiday season!

In summary:
under 6 mths: rearward facing infant capsule with inbuilt safety harness in the rear of the vehicle
6mths to 4 years: forward facing child seat with inbuilt safety harness in the rear of the vehicle
4yrs to 7 yrs: booster seats in the rear of the vehicle;unless all back seats are taken by children under 4yrs

Other important things to note include:
- Only use harnesses with the ASM (Australian Standards Mark)
- If your harness has cracked: chuck it out!
- Never install a child restraint in any seat that may be affected by an airbag: this is dangerous and illegal in NSW
- Also, no matter how tempting, don't leave your kids in the car. The temp can rise 40 degrees in 5 minutes and you can face a fine of up to $22,000

So, now after all that seriousness....something more lighthearted?? How about some games for that car trip?

Scavenger Hunt:
Make a list of things for your children to look for on their trip. Have them watch out the windows and check off things as they see them. Some suggestions: a flashing red light, a cow, a horse, a McDonald’s, a church, a police car, a sign with a Q in it, a mobile home, a yellow Volkswagon Beetle, a motorcycle, a red fence.

Group Story:
One person starts a story and stops in mid sentence. The next person finishes the sentence and adds more to the story. By the end of the story, everyone in the car has contributed and the story has taken lots of twists and turns - and the sillier the better!

Make A Story:
Get a small recording device and while you drive create a story and record it. This could be about where you are going, what you are seeing or just a story about the people in the car!

Stay safe!

Face Painting Extraordinaire's!

Yesterday saw the Rouse Hill Families Connect team spend the morning facepainting at Woodford Community Centre, to help out one of our sister programs hold a community christmas party there!

It was a lovely morning: warm sun, sausages on the barbie, loads of games and even 'the man in red' made an appearance-escorted by the local police to ensure that he arrived on time!

                           (some of the painting that was done....the penguins were a hit!)

We also had a volunteer morning tea in the garden for all the people that helped out on building the Kids Patch with scones (and jam and cream of course), mince pies, punch-and a chance to pick your own vegies from the Kids Patch!

Please, feel free to pop by and give the plants a water, pick some of the vegies, or even just have a look and a play in the playground!

On another note, the Christmas tree is up in the office, and we have been busy decorating: here is how we made some stars:

Christmas Stars
What You Need:
thick card (like a detergent box)
scissors
glue
foil candy/chocolate wrappers
hole punch
sequin stars
gold cord

What You Do:
*Draw the outline of a star onto the thick card (you can make it any size-we did all different sizes) and cut out.
*Tear the foil into small random sized pieces. Glue pieces onto the star, so they are overlapping until the entire star is covered. Leave to dry.
*Glue the sequin stars onto both sides of the foil covered star. Leave to dry.
*Using the hole punch, make a hole in the top of one of the points of the star. Thread the gold cord through the hole and tie in a knot - and then hang on the tree!!

Enjoy the decorating--we did!

What A Wonderful Time Of Year....

It was a fabulous night at the Hills Community Carols on Sunday night: we saw a whole bunch of our favourite people (hint: it's you) there, enjoying the rides, the carols and the entertainment!

Mother nature turned on a beautful show with the weather for us, and it was a perfect balmy summer evening! So lets see some of the shots from the day (thanks to Kellyville SDA for these shots):

(taking advantage of the facepainting-and the headband antlers are a nice touch)

      (Hills Adventist College - one in a series of excruciatingly cute items that they performed)

               (JP Martinez and his spanish guitar - rocking out with Feliz Navidad- awesome!!)

                  (Santa's got style and arrived to the childrens excited screams on a LOUD bike)

(Special guest star Paulini performed her favourite carols in front of a happy and tired crowd)

All up: a great afternoon out and one that Rouse Hill Families Connect was incredibly proud to be a part of, and support. We are looking forward to next year-and hope that you all put it in your diaries now for next year!

Deck The Halls.....

The end of the work year is rapidly approaching with all our groups finished up for the year now!

It's been a wonderful year and I've met lots of new people; families, mums, children and new babies! Thanks to everyone who has come along to an event, an activity-or even bumped into us around the place and had a chat.

The last big event for the year is the Hills Community Carols which we are helping out with-they will begin this Sunday 12th December at 4:30 with a fun day, and then the carols begin at 7pm! Plus a special guest will be performing: check out the website for more details: but it will be awesome!!

There is lots of exciting things coming up in the new year-but for now, some time to rest-and perhaps some Christmas treats?

A Good Feed Plus Information.....I'm there!

The sun has arrived and we are off to spend the day indoors today! It doesn't seem quite right.....

But we will be at the Family Matters Program (which is being held at Castle Glen) for the final one of the year! This great ongoing seminar series has presented on all sorts of topics, from oral health in children though to self care for mothers: and there is always a great lunch at the end. Keep your eyes out for things happening from this program next year: it is always good fun to attend! 

So as I rush out the door to the program above, I'll leave you with a recipe from the Munch Multicultural CookBook (created by Rouse Hill Families Connnect) that was entered by Liam-age 2!

RECIPE: CHICKEN PIE

60g Butter

4 rashers bacon, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 Tbsp plain flour

1½ cup BBQ chicken, chopped

½ cup grated cheese

½ cup frozen peas/carrots/corn (or any other favourtie vegies!)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 sheet puff pastry

60G butter or spray

* Pre heat oven to a moderate heat

*In a sucepan, heat butter and add bacon, onion, garlic and then cook until bacon is lightly browned.

*Add flour and stir until combined. Remove from heath and gradually stir in milk until boils and thickens. Set aside to cool.

*Stir in chicken, cheese, eggs and flour and place into a casserole dish. Lay puff pastry on top of mixture in dish, and trim off any excess.

*Brush pastry lighlty with extra melted butter

*With a knife, pierce small holes into pastry (approx 4)

*With remaining pastry, make a fun shape to put on top-perhaps a picture of dad??

*Bake uncovered in oven for approx 35 minutes, or until pastry is lightly browned and filling heated through.

Rain, Rain Go Away.....

...come again another day...or at least after the weekend is done!

Rouse Hill Families Connect has entered the blog world, and this is now another way you can see what we are up to. The idea of this blog is to provide a bit of an insight into what happens here at Rouse Hill Families Connect, and to give y'all more opportunities to feed back to us your questions, ideas, suggestions.....all info is good!

We wish you all a lovely weekend-and since it is predicted to be rain, here's a rainy day activity for you!

Look at Me! Have your child observe you for a minute. Leave the room .Return to the room, having changed a small detail in your appearance. Remove an earring, put on some lipstick or change your hair. Can they guess?

And if all else fails....put your wellies on and go outside!!

If anyone has other great rainy day activites, don't be afraid to post a comment with your suggestions!