Christmas 2011

So it is December 28th. Christmas has passed by in a blur as usual and here I am, most likely 10lbs heavier (haven't dared get weighed) waiting now to start the New Year diet and take down the tree, pack the Christmas toys away in their bedrooms and reclaim my living room as soon as school starts again!

Anyway Christmas was nice while it lasted. We had a little party on 20th December for some school friends of Melissas. My husband dressed up as Father Christmas and gave out selection boxes and we played some party games. The kids all had a great time but its not going to be an annual thing!

On Christmas eve, we did a buffet for my family in the evening and once again my husband dressed as Father Christmas and gave out presents. Not sure if he had the kids fooled or not!

Christmas day passed in a blur. Melissa openned her presents at record speed. Her favourite was a cheap make up set I bought in B&M. I am starting to regret this already as every morning she smothers her fake in glitter and blue eye shadow and then does the same to Louis. She is not allowed out in it though as it looks extremely chavtastic in my opinion-5 year old girls in make up.

Anyway, here are some pictures from our Christmas:

Christmas preparations

Well last year in December, we seemed to do a million and one imaginative Christmas themed crafts and the like. However, this year with school and pre school there doesn't seem to have been as much time. Plus we no longer live a five minute walk to town or big supermarkets so its not as easy to stock up on crafty supplies.

We did manage a few activities though;

Christmas sensory tub
This was the same as last years theme; a couple of cheap mini christmas trees and some tree decorations.


Gingerbread shapes
I made up the dough myself for quickness and then with the kids, cut out gingerbread men and house shapes. These were then decoarted with white icing (snow) and sweets.



Snowflakes
I cut out the snowflake shapes before hand and then gave the children a mix of PVA glue and glitter paint to pain them with. This was quite a messy, sticky activity and if I did it again I would probably use card instead of paper for the snowfales as they kept ripping when they got wet.



Day out
Not really christmas themed, but we have had some nice mild weather so one day we made a picnic and took a trip to two national trust parks and had a walk though the woods there.

Center Parcs

Well I never heard anything back from my begging letter about whether the children's holidays were authrosied by the school; its too late now as we are back from a fabulous 5 days in Center Parcs.

Center Parcs is excellent for children-though extremely expensive if you don't go in term time! This year we spent most of our time in the swimming pool; absolutely fantastic! Last year when we went, neither child would go down any of the kid's slides and Louis wouldn't even leave our side in the children's pool. However this year, they were much braver, going down the slides and exploring the shallow children's area by themselves (obviously eatched by us but it was nice to be able to relax a bit in the warm water, without following them round!).

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the pool as I didn't want to risk dropping my phone in the water!

When we weren't swimming, there was plenty more for the kids to do. In past years we have always booked art and craft activities but now the kids are at school I thought this would not any longer be any kind of novelty to them. Instead they did, Tot's movie mooves-which involved dancing to lots of Disney songs, Canope capers-involving parachute games and on the last day a Christmas teddy bear's picnic.

In the evenings the kids played in the bar play area while my husband and I could enjoy a drink (very expensive-over a fiver for a gllass of wine eeeek-I normally get 3 bottles for a tenner in Asda!).

Schools may moan about taking the kids out during term time and harp on about missing out on education, but in my opinion, a holiday like this has as much of a wider educational and enrichment value as a week spent in school would. Obviously I won't make a habbit of taking them out of school for holidays ALL the time but I cannot see the harm in once or twice a year!!!!

Anyway, here are some pictures:
Beautiful Christmas Swan on the lake



Taking part in Canope Capers



Melissa in the play area




In the outdoor wooden play area


Looking for red squirrels


Teddy Bear's picnic

Begging letter...

So nextr week we are off to Center Parcs. Just one thing though; we need to get the school to authorise the holidays-eek. I thought it was a simple matter of the teacher using their discretion and signing the form but Oh no!. I was made to feel like a naughty fourteen year old by the school receptionist when trying to fill in the form (she wouldn't even lend me a pen to do this). Was told to write a letter to the head to support my request-with evidence if possible why I must take the holidays now! So here is my best attempt:
Dear Mr Smith

Please would you authorise my children, xx and xx (Reception and Nursery PM) to go on a family holiday (7th-11th November).
As a parent, I obviously do not wish my children to miss any of their valuable education, however at this time it was very difficult for us to book a holiday in school holidays.
Firstly, my husband works predominantly with women with young children who take their holidays in school holiday time for childcare. As his job allows only two staff off at a time, it is very hard for him to get time off in school half terms as the priority is given to those needing it for childcare.
Secondly, we booked the holiday, a year ago when I was unaware of the school policy surrounding leave of absence for holidays.
I would be very grateful if you could authorise these holidays. I can also assure you that I feel this holiday (Centre Parks) will be of educational value to the children since they will be taking part in activities such as art and craft, drama and sports.


The end bit about the educational value of Center Parcs was such a brainwave-surely he will go with this! I was going to really tug at his heart strings and talk about what a stressful year we have had with the house move but throught that might have been taking it to far!

Obviously we are still going even if it doesn't get authorised but my poor kids will start their school life with five days 'unauthorised absense' in the first term!. Needless to say I think starring roles in the school play are also out of the question now seeing as they most likely start practising the nativity next week.

Autumn and Halloweeen stuff

Play academy-follow this link to see what others are doing http://nurturestore.co.uk/tag/the-play-academy-2

Since the kids have started school and pre school there has not been as much time for craft and theme related stuff. However, with halloween coming up, along with the dark nights and colder weather, I decided it was time to search for some inspiration.

I found some great ideas on there and adapted them a bit to fit in with the resources we had available as money is a bit limited at the moment for buying endless craft supplies!

Pumpkins

All these involved was sticking tissue paper squares on paper plates which will then have a face drawn on with black pen.


Scary looking cakes

With blue or red icing....



Threading skeletons

I bought plastic skeletons and skulls in the pound shop. Melissa threaded the skeletons into a piece of cotton (good for fine motor skills as the hole is really small) and Louis did the skulls.



Haunted Houses
These were printed off from Activity Village and were great to give the kids to get on with with minimal input from me. Very American seeing as no one round here has a house that massive though of course! The kids coloured in the house and the decorations and then Melissa was able to cut out the decorations and stick them herself. Louis on the other hand needed help but he is getting better with using scissors.

These were
Leaf Pictures

We went on a nature walk, collecting various leaves, twigs and acorns which were then stuck onto large sheets of paper cut into a leaf shape. I think sticky back plastic would have been better really but since we have moved about 5 miles from shops which sell such supplies we have had to make do a bit more with what we have in the house instead of nipping to the supermarket for supplies



So now we have decirated the house all ready for halloween. I am really excited this year that we actually haave a front garden to decorate too in readyness for trick or treaters! I am working and have a hairdressers appointment on actually halloween so we will celebrate tomorrow with a special tea and trick or treating. I kind of wish we had had a party but its only 3 weeks since Melissa's birthday party!

Melissa's 5th Birthday...

I can't quite believe it myself but my little Melissa turned 5 earlier this month. Though her actual birthday was on a Friday, due to school, we celebrated on the Saturday with a party. Not being one to do things by halves, I decided hiring a room and having a big party was the way forward. That way I could invite her old friends from playgroups, nursery, my mummy friends kids etc... as well as any new school friends. Because she had only been in school about 2 weeks when I sent out the invites, I decided, inviting all the girls in the class would be the way forward. Well about half of them replied and came but the other half; rude so and sos did not even bother to reply!!
As usual I invited too many people, thinking many wouldn't turn up. That meant in total there were about 25 children at the party. Melissa wanted it to be fancy dress so all the girls came as princesses where as the boys were a mix of pirates, super heros and dinosaurs.
In the beginning I had this idea I would provide the entertainment myself. However I soon chickened out and we hired a very good, but very expensive children's entertainer. The kids, however, did seem to enjoy it and join in!
Here are some photos...

Starting school

Well, we are almost half way through the autumn term; Melissa's first year at school and Louis first year at nursery.
It all seems to be going ok thankfully. Louis took a while to settle in to nursery. Although he always said he enjoyed himself and the teachers said he was fine, he would cry when I dropped him off. The teaching assistant has been really good with him and would make a special fuss and read him a story. Anyway, fingers crossed, about 2 weeks ago he said 'I've decided I am not going to cry now mummy.' and that was that. He has gone in happy enough ever since. It is really cute seeing him shout the names of the other children and nice he is making his own friends and devloping his own personality with some time away from Melissa.
Melissa being at school means me and Louis have two mornings together when I am not in work. I have all these plans to teach him his letters and numbers ready for school but so far all we have really done is play or have a cuddle!!
Melissa, on the other hand seems to have taken no trouble settling into school. I took her in on the first day and she went and sat down like she had been going every day of her life. She is mentioning the names of a few other children so hopefully she is making friends fine. She is very indpendent but seems popular with the other kids!
School seem to have started already with reading, writing and numbers. At the end of the first week Melissa brought home her first reading book. Strangely it had no words in it but appparently this is to get the children used to the charactors of the scheme they use. She has been bringing home 2 new words to learn more or less every night and seems to be picking them up very quickly. I am under no illusion she is a genius though-she is almost a year older than many of the kids in her class!
Tomorrow is parent's night for both kids so will find out how they are getting on.
Here are some pictures of them in their uniforms....