George and Arts and Crafts

George enjoys arts and crafts, this mouse made from a kit

A Red Cape

When I was growing up my mother had sewn a red cape for my brother to play in. I think he pretended to be a superhero. I used it too to be a hero or a princess. It was one of those play items which lended itself to all sorts of make believe. So it's not surprising that a year ago I found myself sewing a red cape for my sons with neither them nor I knowing what it was for or if it was for anything at all.
I needn't have worried. Said red cape has been Superman, an accessory for school's Red Nose Day (charity fundraising day) and now a king's robe. I'm tempted to rank this as invaluable as legos and play doh.

Creativity

Henry's mother's day card to me. Believe it or not, it's a picture of his Daddy! Eyes, nose, hair, arms, legs and feet. What do you think?
He's not just an artist, Henry's also a chef. Here are his star cookies.
One of George's talents is as a builder - he built this house out of Duplo. Inside the shovel-door, there's a man watching TV.

It really is a nice idea, to let little children sit with small furries on their laps for short periods of time. Our boys were appropriately excited. Perhaps a bit surprising since they live with two cats, but the cats are young-child-phobic so the boys haven't really pet or stroked many animals!
Neither husband nor I admitted to the kids that those little pigs bit both of us, drawing blood from me... Their requests for a guinea pig as a pet was swiftly and decisively vetoed.

Gung Hay Fat Choy

The boys were treated to Chinese New Year Celebration in Birmingham city centre. Crowds, check, rides, check, food, check, drumming, check, dancing, check, Chinese dragon, check and fireworks, check! They said they want to go again.
Happy Year of the Rabbit!

George turned 5! He had waffles for breakfast, then opened his presents. Quick lunch then out bowling with family friends (they have two boys just about G&H's ages). It was his first time bowling - he enjoyed it, even more than bowling on the Wii. He got to blow out candles and have Ben 10 cupcakes. Then he had his passport photo taken for a renewal passport, and dinner out at his favorite family-style restaurant. He was a tired boy at bedtime, but happy.

Christmas was a bit flat for the boys, because their parents were too ill to properly build up the season. However, they enjoyed opening a few presents, having Christmas dinner, and then travelling down South to visit their grandparents and cousins for Christmas #2. Henry helped make mince pies, there was Christmas dinner #2, and then they came back home to trial their Santa presents - 2 new bicycles with stabilisers. (Not sure what this may say about them but George excels at braking and Henry enjoys going down slopes FAST. He doesn't have the hang of braking yet.) Here's hoping for 2011!

This is the best I could do, since the boys are now up visiting their cousins. George brought home Flu and was back to normal 2 days later. Not befor giving it to his little brother and parents. The little brother took 5 days, but the parents are still struggling 2 weeks on. Daddy has pneumonia and Mummy is trying to get rid of her chest infection on her own, since the antibiotics made her worse.
Anyway, managed to purchase a tree to help give the boys some Christmas spirit. Little soldiers that they are, they decorated it themselves, doing the best they could. Here's their creation and, to be fair, it's not half bad. Thanks boys for the Tree. Hope you can come back soon to see it again....

Turkey

George's oak leaf turkey.

Seasonal

Lots of pumpkins recently. The boys were able to choose pumpkins to scoop out and have carved (e.g. not Mummy, somebody else did the carving :) ). Nice breezy Autumn day.

Henry had a lovely time on his birthday. We celebrated on the following Saturday. He had a small birthday party at a local Ball pit and then came home for presents and a picnic tea of pizza. He had a lovely day but was shattered by the end. He really enjoyed his presents, funnily enough the noisy guitar and the bright Alien from each set of grandparents! Happy 3rd birthday, Henry.

Past few days

Here's a snapshot of life with G and H. We took a trip to a nearby House. Henry poses on a *very* large log. The House's gardens were lovely on this Autumn day.

George had to come home from school early one day after falling during playtime. He landed on a wooden mushroom. Both lips were cut and his gum tissue bled. I was not impressed with the white shirt of his uniform, but h2o2 and Vanish seemed to have done the trick.

I like this picture of Henry sleeping like the cat. I think he gets this from my side of the family.

Autumn!

George started Reception, Henry moved up to pre-school, Henry harvested his pumpkin grown from seed, and we flew kites on a breezy Sunday afternoon.

Henry enjoyed a leisurely boat trip along the Severn River near Worcester this afternoon. He was a star!

After dinner, however, we found him drawing on the carpet with crayons. I suppose there's a bit of balance somewhere in there.

G's first day at school

Here is what his school uniform looks like. Yes, that's a button down shirt and elastic-banded pre-tied tie under his jumper/sweater.
He has enjoyed his first, suffered no medical incidents, and looks forward to more.
Henry now gets to go to nursery on his own and enjoy some mummy or daddy time. :)

This is what happened when I asked George to go upstairs and find something to wear.

Soaring

The boys had the opportunity to fly their cousins' kites over the last weekend. A windy moor seems to be a good place. Henry spent quite a while with the dolphin kite, his other cousin's kite was a butterfly, and George spent a bit of time with the dragon kite. Good fun, but there is some technique to it which they haven't yet mastered. In due time. George's best bit was seeing them flying high in the sky. Henry kept being pulled down the hill; he was just barely big enough to hold on!

Summer Play

Some of the ways the boys spend summer. First up is shots from a local government funded Play Day event, where free children's activities were on offer to encourage play. This event had painting, circus toys, drumming, arts n crafts, boat rescue display and outdoor games. Without my encouragement, the boys picked up on the nerf golf. No critique on their form yet, please.
On our latest camping trip at the beach, the boys honed their sand castle making skills. With a gently sloping beach, they had time to dig the moats and build the castle and then watch how they stood up to the power of the ocean's waves. The outcome was expected, even with futile attempts to shovel out the water, but the anticipation was still good every time.

The boys and I spent several hours at a local historical museum, looking at old buildings, going on a train ride, having a picnic lunch. We were also offered a chance to help excavate the site where the ruins of a tile house had been. We spent 2+ hours digging through clay, where George found many tile pieces and Henry busied himself with the worm bounty (I found a brick). Fun for all ages. George shows off one of his tile finds and one of Henry's special toys - Sam, the frog.

Water Shooters

It's been a hot dry summer for the past few weeks. I consulted with DH about water pistols and after initial hesitation about 'guns' and George's incessant talk about guns, we decided to let them enjoy the fun of water 'shooters' (as long as we each got one too!) I can't help but wonder if I were a younger parent, would I have hesitated at all about some fun like this?
The result is lots of fun for all of us. At £2 each, these have a range of 6ft+ and are easy enough for the littlest one to use.

Update

Sorry for lack of posts. The time has been dominated with a dietary trial for George, trying to reduce the severity of his eczema. Eliminating foods has helped, but there's some confusion now in the process of adding items back in. He's still off dairy and all fruit except apples/pears/blueberries/bananas.
Henry is toilet trained in the daytime, and goes most nights without mishap. He seems to be quite a clever chap, at least with his numbers.
George starts school in September. He's been attending settling in sessions weekly and has a half day in a week. We've been shopping for his uniform; as expected, he's excited and I'm in disbelief!
The carrots we planted in March are yielding their crop. They're special stubby carrots which made them ideal for growing in a planter box. Recommended if you're short of land.