Up

We all went to see Up on Friday for G's birthday and loved it. The thing I love about Pixar films is that they appeal to all ages - there are always small details/jokes included that go over the kids head but are designed for the grown-ups they know will be watching.

The film is extremely sad in parts - heart-tuggingly so, but there is an overall feeling of hope and optimism. As always with Pixar there are some great characters.
My youngest was scared during the storm scene - I think it was the noise more than anything and was a little wriggly in the middle, but other than that it kept us all entertained for a couple of hours.
Would definitely recommend - go and see it now!

Five

Happy Birthday my sweet sweet boy.

At five years old, you:

• Love computers
• Love books and being read too - favourites at the moment being anything by Roald Dahl, Mo Willems and Quentin Blake
• Are fascinated by mazes and optical illusions
• Eat very well and love anything wrapped in pastry (not especially healthy but you love veg too!)
• Love numbers and counting (you count to 300 every morning on the way to school!)
• Enjoy listening and moving to music and have the best dance moves I've ever seen by a 5 year old!
• Love school and are making amazing progress with your reading and writing (and you are so proud of yourself!)
• Love monsters and anything scary but still get scared by funny little things (like the school teacher in Beegu - although she is pretty scary!)
• Your favourite animal is a bat
• Love to explore and pretend to be Indiana Jones
• Still love to hide (same 3 hiding places everytime)
• Fight tooth and nail with your little brother but are fiercely loyal and protective of him when others are involved
• Still love to cuddle, kiss and sit on my lap (and you still insist you are going to live at home with us forever and come and work with me at school when you are grown up, when you're off duty as a super-hero of course!)
• You are my favourite 5 year old in the whole world and we love you very very much - don't ever change beautiful boy.

Vintage Ladybird books

I found three rather old, rather scruffy ladybird books in a charity shop this week, and I am very excited about them so thought I would share them with you one by one.

I have had a lifelong love affair with Ladybird books because as a child my Mum used to buy me one a week, so as you can imagine we had lots of them! I'm not sure what happened to them all - probably disintegrated form overuse, but have recently been on the search for vintage copies like the ones we used to have. Ladybird books are still going strong today of course, but most no longer have the original illustrations (which hold the most vivid memories for me)nor the original wording.

This is my favourite of the three - 'Talkabout Home'. When I first picked it up (the spine is completly worn away, so I had no idea what it was as I pulled it out of the shelf) I recognised it immediately and it almost made me cry, the memory was so sweet and strong. As I turned the pages I was faced with familiar image after image and it was a wonderful moment for me. I am desparate to show it to someone else who might also remember it so vividly (Matthew? Mum?) - my husband never had this particular one and therfore no memory of it.
Here are a few of favourite pages:








I won't say they don't make them like this anymore because they do - there are so many fantastic children's books about, it's just that this one has special memories for me. It honestly feels like I was reading it yesterday.

Christmas Idea No. 2

I have had an urge for a while now to start collecting and storing the boys artwork in a more effective way. It is currently all over the house and I would like somewhere to put all the best bits. To keep it safe so we can look back over it in the years to come and eventually one day for them to have to show their family.
I have got my eye on these A3 folders for Christmas - knights for son 1 and vehicles for son 2.
By Djeco (again! - I told you their art and craft range is fantastic) and in a range of styles, these A3 folders should do the trick and look good enough to be out on display.

Dylan

Dylan our house rabbit is 12 weeks old on Tuesday.

He is such a little darling - very friendly and (generally) well behaved. He is not quite litter trained yet - we are working on that - but is a perfect pet in every other respect.

I would definitely recommend a house rabbit as a pet.

Just look at his cute little face.

Autumn scarf

I crocheted this scarf for one of my bestest friend's birthday, which was yesterday (sorry its late Caroline). I used a self-striping Wendy yarn called Fusion (now discontinued) in Cajun and I am pleased with how it came out. I think it has a real autumny feel to it and I hope it will keep Caroline cosy and warm for many autumns to come.


Happy Birthday sweetie.

Christmas Idea No. 1

I always start thinking about Christmas presents ridiculously early and already have a little list of ideas for my two little boys (and my big boy!), so I thought I would share some with you over the following weeks.

My eldest son (he's 5 next week) really believes he will be a superhero when he is older. He actually thinks it is a career choice and we have had many conversations about what special powers he will have and how he is going to learn them. I really don't want to shatter his illusions just yet - I have started to hint at the fact that firemen, paramedics, coastguards etc could actually be classed as superheros doing what they do everyday - so am happily playing along with it. With that in mind one of these superhero capes would be perfect for him, I just need to decide which colour scheme to go with - they are all so lovely!

Autumn Collage

Whilst my eldest son was at a birthday party this afternoon, Harper and I went for a nature walk to collect some autumn goodies, with the aim being to create an autumn collage. I loved the idea of the No-glue seasonal collage from the fantastic Kids Craft Weekly blog.

Basically, you arrange some seasonal foliage onto the sticky side of some sticky-backed plastic (not sure of the technical name, its the stuff you get to cover books) then place a piece of paper or card down onto the collage and fold the plastic around it.

Its so quick and easy to do and Harper really enjoyed it.





If your kids enjoy doing craft then you should definitely have a browse through the Kids Craft Weekly blog - there are so many great ideas on there. And, what I love about it is the fact that the projects are so easy and inaffordable to do, lots of them could be done using materials you already have around the house.

Stencils

I bought these for my son when he turned three in August (because I loved the look of them) and I am pleased to say - he loves them too.

I fix them to his paper with a small bit of sellotape at the top and bottom - which can easily be peeled off when finished, this prevents them from slipping around which can be very frustrating for him!

When drawn in, he then spends time colouring them and embellishing them with felt shapes, feathers, sequins etc.

He has spent hours with these since he got them (my bigger boy likes them too) - his particular favourite is the dinousaur, of course.

They are made by Djeco, a French company, who make lots of fab toys, I love everything in their art and craft range. There are lots of other sets available from dragons to princesses (check out the range at http://www.tickety-boo.co.uk/, one of my favourite independent online toyshops), I think Father Christmas might have a few more tucked away in his sleigh for our house this Christmas!