Five - it's imminent

Amar Jai, Tabitha, Zack, Loic & Jayda anticipate lighting of the candles

happy hooligans

Captain Barnacle cake - thank you the Octonauts!

nearly, almost five years old

Well, we took the bull by the horns and invited Zack's entire school class to his 5th birthday party. I wouldn't have done it if young Hector's mum, Frances, hadn't asked me if we could do a joint event. So Hector and Zack decided it was an Octonaut theme which gave us momentum and direction for the day. It was noisy and chaotic but I think the kids had a blast. I went home and into bed by 8:30pm!
It's been quite a week. Tina is away in the Philippines for another 3 weeks, and I'm trying to stay ontop of as much as I can. Today I came off my Vespa trying to deliver it to the garage to have it serviced. Ended up in A&E for a few hours. Thankfully there are no broken parts of me, but I'm in a lot of pain which doesn't make for easy "mummy-ing". The other thing that's been difficult is that Tina's replacement (a friend of hers) is expensive and not as good as her so I'm going to have to have the 'difficult conversation' with her on the weekend where I tell her not to come back next week. Emotionally it's something I find very hard to do, but there you go.
The boys are fine - their usual raucous selves. We have a babysitter standing in for Tina, Kate - a friend's daughter who's doing her A levels - and she has managed to get the boys to sleep in the same bedroom for 2 nights running. It's astounding. Keith and I are well impressed and hope it'll now be easier to pursue. We had tried it last week and ended up at 10pm shouting and screaming after n- times going upstairs and shouting at them to, 'go to sleep' and 'If I have to come up there one more time.....' you know how it goes. [sigh]
They're both thriving. Calvin is talking up a storm and Zack is wrestling with new concepts all the time. Last week it was infinity. He also had a discussion about if we could shoot at heaven.
On Tuesday we went for a play-date to Mendele's house and they discussed "Jesus, the Good Shepherd" on the way home in the car. It was pretty heated I believe, and Mendele said Jesus was no one he'd heard of and that he would kill Jesus. Oh boy! There will be time for these discussions when they're older I hope.
Tomorrow is Red Nose Day in aid of Comic Relief so I hope to capture some fun moments - Zack with crazy hair and Calvin dressed in red or PJs. That's if I'm not in too much pain to pick up the monstrous camera :)

my 2nd 2nd

Calvin's 2nd birthday followed soon after our return from holiday. Being a bank holiday (long weekend), we had the family over for lunch – Caryl & Claire, and we had a small candle-blowing ceremony too. Calvin just loved it, wanting to re-light and blow out the candles again and again. Too cute.
We decided to get him the same gift we gave Zack for his 2nd birthday – a scooter. He likes being pushed on it, but hasn't yet had the opportunity to practice much.

His little friend Mark, also celebrated his 2nd birthday (they are 3 days apart in age), and spent a fun afternoon there. Zack was also invited and was quite well behaved. As expected, there was a lot of cake consumed.

Zack is now into underpants at night - no more nappies. He is doing really well. We have had a few accidents, but overall he is dry throughout. I am very proud of him as many children struggle with this 'final' tranch of potty-training. I DO think that anxiety affects his ability to stay dry – ie. when he's worried about something (like starting school). I suppose it's the sub-concious manifesting itself.

Easter and the dregs of the birthday

Calvin's first conscious Easter, and Zack's first genuine Easter Egg hunt. By Sunday afternoon, Zack said to me, "Mommy I don't want any more chocolate". So allowing him to indulge had the desired effect... I'm getting clever - reverse psychology does work you see.

The sheer delight of discovery

the motherload

devouring the booty

We decided to spend Easter Monday at a National Trust property offering Easter Egg trails for kids. It was a hit, and tired them out with all the hunting for eggs, stamps and signs. We finished the afternoon with lunch at the Smith & Western in Boxhill. Kids were knackered and we'd had some quality time with Jax, Claudio and Alessio.

Easter Monday with Alessio at Polsden Lacey (National Trust Prop)

Zack gets the 'Easter Bunny' treatment at Polsden Lacey

Cat in the Hat ? - that's what this face reminds me of.

Last weekend was Anokye's 4th birthday party, and all four of the NCT girls were in the same place at the same time. Amazing. It was a wonderful sunny day and we spent most of it in the garden with the kids jumping on the bouncy castle. Keith and Calvin had some quality time together too, and they took the camera, so I don't have any pics of Anokye's party. Oh dear.

Calvin and Keith hit the playground together

Spiderman birthday party with fab masks from Walmart - what a winner!

The Willars sisters in trendy superhero outfits - Buzz Lightyear and retro Thunderbirds.

A delighted, exhausted, happy, very hot & sweaty birthday boy.

Hours of baking and icing amounted to a single layer, chocolate, Spiderman mask cake

Now we are Four

The much anticipated purchase of the bicycle for Zack's 4th birthday is now a moment in our collective memories. He loves it and even went so far as to ride it in the dining room, lounge and on the deck outside. He is yearning for better weather so that he can get out on it. I don't think the "stabilisers" are going to be around for very long...

Zack is 4

Four is a very big deal when you're little. It means so many things. I think Zack anticipated an enormous change when he got to his fourth birthday, and now it's alot of waiting for it to happen. He still has six months until school starts.
His birthday was marked with present opening, eating porridge for breakfast (his favourite), playing with his friends, assembling his new toys (Lego), and making play-dough creatures. All in all it was a great day, and he was exhausted by bed time.
Today (Friday), he's took cupcakes to nursery school, AND it's his chance at show-and-tell. He couldn't contain himself, so took his Vuvuzela, two light-sabers, blue blanket, and Buzz Lightyear doll with him. It's very hard to choose just one thing to talk about.

despite the photo we had a fabulous time

Today was Zack's 3rd birthday party. Unfortunately he is now in bed with a raging temperature and a little delirious, talking about fish in dark tunnels and spiderman in his bedroom (he's NEVER watched spiderman, so I don't know what he's thinking). Have given him some paracetamol and will check his temp in an hour or so. Currently it's 38.5ºC
The party was an absolute hit : good ratio of adults to children. We had pass the parcel and everyone got a treat. I put out lots of fruit and veggies (in addition to the usual culprits - crisps / sweets), and everything got munched except the tomatoes. We had ice-cream cones towards the end of the afternoon with 'sprinkles' and of course the cake.

Timing is everything....

Jake, Alessio, Zack & Mia pose with their fancy cones

Zack and Keith spent all morning putting up the new trampoline and Dean (one of the daddies) helped Keith attach the net in time for the party to start. It was a complete hit, and everyone jumped and jumped and jumped. I am really pleased it went off so well.

I am now going to sit in bed with a glass of wine - I really miss having a TV and a sofa - and read a book while the kids sleep.

back to earth with a thud...

Tomorrow is "exit day" - we fly out of OR Tambo at 21h25. It's going to be interesting to see how I cope with two little 'uns, but I'm not the first and the air hostesses have been very helpful thus far. Once I'm home tho...the daunting task of ripping up the floor and all the "dry rot work" lies ahead - what a pain in the butt. I feel exhausted just thinking about the mess and builders and Aaarrghhhh !
I lean on a verse in Matthew 6 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." [verse 34] - gives you a bit of perspective in all the mania.
On the upside tho' it'll be good to be home again. I can't wait to see the photos that Keith took and also begin the arrangements for Zack's 3rd birthday party next Saturday. Astonishing that he's turning three on Wednesday.

the Birthday Party

we had a joint birthday party with all the friends who turned one around the same time : Anokye, Caitlin and Ruby. It was a good turnout, and we were joined by family and friends. A lovely day and I think the kids enjoyed themselves immensely.


Anokye in his ceremonial outfit - too cute for words, and so photogenic.

Jackie & Alessio - growing at speed

Caitlin is already running, and there are just a few days between her and Zack.

Now we are ONE

Zack turned 1 yesterday. A momentous occasion but celebrated with very little fuss other than phone-calls, sms's and emails from friends and family. I made cupcakes for his friends at nursery today (Monday 26th), and the winning recipe is Martha Stewart's Vanilla Cupcake recipe.


Yes, yes, you're all wondering what he got ? . . . well, he got a few books, some pairs of socks, clothes, a toy mobile phone (we kid ourselves that it'll replace his fascination with the TV remote – it does not), a puzzle, aftershave (only kidding), a toy elephant and lots of wrapping paper. He enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday", and soon learnt to clap along when anyone sang it to him.
He had ice-cream for the first time on Saturday at his friend Sonny's naming ceremony. Initially he pulled faces, but once the coldness had passed he was eager for more and more and more. The sugar-rush kicked in about 20 mins later. Yeouch !
We still have the birthday party on Sunday 1 April to look forward to, so the cupcakes today were a bit of a test-run. Due to their success, there will be an encore.