The 25th of September is not a great day in the history books

Honestly - go and have a look. Nothing really big happened. There are the usual tragedies and disasters. Small inventions - ok, maybe Henry Fords 8 hour day and 40 hour week deserves a mention. But that's it.  A lot of musicals seemed to have made their debuts on the day - among them Les Miserables and Evita. But nothing really big. As to famous births its really only actors that stand out - Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones and Will Smith. And Hansie Cronje - Cricketer.

When the courtyard garden explode in purple Irisses it's birthday time in our household

But the 25th of September changed our little world forever because our awesome boys were born. Nothing has ever been the same again. Our house has never been quiet again. Two such amazingly different little men. Each so unique in their very own way.

My dear L, my little Lion that has learned so much and grown up so well this year. You are so determined and strong in your own quiet way. To wear contact lenses with such ease and deal with all that comes with it at the age of 7 is admirable. You tackle every obstacle with total determination - be it academic or in any other field. You are well known for your total love and dedication to sport - both as a player and as a supporter. You memory for sport scores and games is surprising and admired by so many people. And boy! Have you grown! 3cm in the last 5 months. That's a lot for a 7 year old boy. I love you to the end of the universe my little boy.  Happy happy 8th birthday!

My dear C, my little bear. This year has been such a good one for you. You have grown so much in terms of friendship and how you see the world. Your constant yearning for knowledge is amazing - as is the fact that you remember every little bit you hear or read in a subject that may interest you. You look at the world through the eyes of an artist and will always be the one to remark on a particularly beautiful building/flower or even a car. I also love how you care about others and are always looking out for others. You are really so tall now - on Sunday I was amazed to see how tall you stand in front of the church with the birthday wishes. I love you to the end of the universe (where you are quite sure you will find some intelligent life!) Happy happy 8th birthday!

Thanks to Tanya for the date in history inspiration .http://www.dearmax.org

One on one time

Mr C had a busy weekend - on Saturday he and 21 of his best buds had a Voortrekker speciality course - animal observation. (For the international folks - think something similar to the Scouts). He also had a mad scientist party following right on. As I attended a camp with A earlier this year and Hunter went on a father and son sleepover with L I volunteered when they asked for two moms to join and help the boys on Saturday with the dad that's the leader of the group. Hunter juggled the other two kids with horse riding early and A's first hockey tournament for the season later.

So in a rather unplanned way this combination resulted in a whole day just for me and C (although of course he "shared" me in the morning). The boys had huge fun at Farm Inn seeing wild animals on a game drive and a treasure hunt in the farm yard. Many boys loved petting and feeding the bunnies and guinea pigs the most.

 He loved sitting right next to me in the game vehicle but still had fun playing around with his buddies. We left as soon as we could and headed over to the party - while all along he kept taking about everything he saw and learnt during the morning.

Just look at the inside of this cake!

At the party he immediately joined his buddies around the table and enjoyed and participated in every experiment that was shown. Boy did he adore it. He made sure though that I saw every experiment. Very tired we both left just as soon as it was decent to leave - we had a long long day.

On our way back he kept talking about the experiments and what he learnt and almost at home he fell silent for a while. As we parked I felt two little arms embracing my neck from behind. He landed a big kiss on my cheek and said "thanks mom for our wonderful special day together". When saying goodnight later - the usual hugs and kisses and tucking in he once again gave me a huge hug and said "I will never forget our special day together".

I once again realised that some one on one time with each of the children is so very important. Believe me with two parents and 3 kids with a very full program it's really not easy to do this. On Saturday afternoon Hunter and Mr L had a small pocket of time just for the two of them and it was also hugely enjoyed by them both. We will try to do it more often - because it means so much to them, and frankly to us too. And although a whole day is great, small pockets can also make a difference.

I would love to know what and how you spend one on one time - especially it you have more than two kids.

Do second kids have it easier or harder?

I guess its a bit of both really. I think it can be tough following on an older sibling especially if they are known for something or the other - like the star athlete's little sister that is just expected to win although it might not be her thing at all. It really has to be tough following a top academic achiever if you are just the average Jo Soap. Luckily I think in our family we may just bypass these issue.

However in some cases having older siblings certainly helps - they pave the road, show the courage and in some cases help their younger brothers and sisters. Although I am of the opinion that Mr C taught himself to read in grade R both he and A maintains that she had something to do with it. Whatever the case, last week he showed us not only his own guts, but that having an older sibling certainly helps.

When we get to gym on a Tuesday night the aquarobics class is still in progress in the small learning pool. Typically the boys will wait for the class to finish and the play in the small pool until their lessons and A do a few practice lengths before she plays a bit before her lesson. Last week Mr C tapped me on the arm (as he does) and said, "Do you think I can swim there?" showing the 25 meter pool. I said that he certainly could if he swam but no playing as people were doing their lengths. He got in and started with breaststroke following his sister and before long he was at the other end with a huge grin on his face and a high five from her. He turned around and did another back behind her to get a huge high 5 and congratulations from me. Boy, was I so delighted with this little man. He did another 6 lengths and then went on to his lesson. Following the example. I know a lot of kids his age swim these lengths regularly but for him it was a self motivated first.

BTW it's the second time in so many weeks that he has surprised his mom - at a bootcamp party he was the only boy of his age that managed the balance beam (a round pole) over the river without any help and while being harassed by the bootcamp instructor. He tried 3 times and succeeded on the 3rd try - quite amazing balancing skills. He thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, the mud, the water , the toughness and skills. It seems my quiet little softly spoken soul has a lot more I still need to discover.

Edited to add: Dr Kevin Lehman wrote an excellent book called "The birth order book". Do give it a read.

When ballet and rugby mom gets to be chess mom

No, we will not talk about trying to pay etoll accounts to get the reduction yesterday. About a service centre being off line for 4 hours and heaps of angry aggressive people. We can however talk about the kind lady (Monica) at the etoll kiosk that helped me on my iPad to register and when I could not get in to the VPC centre gave me the number to call directly. Half an hour on the phone but done and dusted with a friendly and kind voice on the other side. My own fault I know but we all lived in the hope that we would never have to pay it - giving me a saving of more than R600 did get me to pay ours though.

No, lets talk about extra murals again. When we asked Mr C in the beginning of the year what he wanted to do his very first request was chess, followed by tennis. Our school has a wonderful addition to the usual school curriculum - one hour of chess per week in class as part of your school fees from grade R to grade 3. Therefore all the kids learn how to play chess and solve the problems. Some just love it and then want to take it as an extra mural too.

Due to the rugby the first part of the year, Mr C and the other boys have not been able to play in one of the chess tournaments up to now . A chess tournament takes up a whole day - well at least the best part of it. And you play all your rounds - there's no slipping away somewhere else to do something else.

So on Saturday morning I left with our very own very excited little Gary Kasparov to attend his first tournament. Boy was I unprepared! We get to the school and the quad at the hall and there the parents are literally camped out - chairs, tables, cooler boxes, blankets and flasks of hot stuff. And chess sets everywhere. Because even if you do not play right now, you play outside for entertainment. It was cold and icy and a few drops even fell here and there.Thank goodness that we have a whole group playing for the school and the parents formed a very companionable group to which we were called the moment a mom spotted us. Another mom had an extra chair for me and the tuck shop supplied endless hot chocolate. Somewhere I slipped away to the closest Woollies food for reinforcements . Next time I will be more prepared for all this.

But what a nice group of parents! And because the school has a lot of kids playing the chess coach was there as well - supporting the little ones. There were 6 grade 1's competing on Saturday (and two other on holiday).  The camaraderie between the kids and the parents were fantastic. In fact, one of the moms has offered crochet classes at the next tournament! I will be there with my no 3,5 needle and double ply wool to make a bucket list item reality.

The very serious world of chess at grade 1 level

What was also an eye opener was how very serious all this gets taken. There was another grade 1 player where the organizers had to ask the parents to leave the hall! They were standing behind him, making low noises at every move and basically intimidating the opponent. There were also kids doing the "chess mate in 5 moves" trick - as our coach says - they will get away with it in grade 1 but after that they will be caught out and never got the experience of a good game played. Some kids tried to enforce the time rule (not applicable on this level) but C bravely stood his ground and said no when confronted with this. She then promptly told him she was going to win as she is the reigning no 1. I love that he gave her a great game and was not intimidated at all, even getting through with a pawn and claiming his queen back.  Wow, that they do all this for the benefit of getting the best ranking and winning the tournament. Chess seem to be a very serious and competitive business. Of course winning is important and I hear that the top players are battling it out for ranking for Northern Gauteng presentation but seriously at 6 the experience and joy of it is so much more important!

What will stay with me forever is the total joy on Mr C's face! He loved every moment - even his losses. What I also love is that this seem to be the trend in our school's players - they will run out of the hall, big smile, and then lost or drew (or won). The smile is plus minus the same - the joy of the game well played. And they were all so very very happy that one of their group won one of the money prizes.

Mr C did well for a first time competitor and ended middle of the field. Some of the kids have played 5 tournaments this year and he stood his ground. I am very proud of him - not only for doing well but for enjoying it too.

6 years ago today

 two little /big boys came into our lives What a ride! Although I think we may have underestimated the storm that descended on us, we certainly underestimated the joy we would receive in return. This morning they were totally surprised by their gifts - C has been wanting one for so long, but the Leappads hit the spot for both. I usually write a letter to the kids on or around their birthday but today I am overly emotional so it is better left for another day soon.

My little boys, I love you to no end. There is no way that I can describe how you fill my life with joy, every day. Love you to the moon and back.

Every school concert has one.

That child that steels the show, that everyone shares a laugh with and who everyone talks about? That child? That child was ours on Friday night.

 But no, although in a big role, he did not steal the show - that was up to the other twin, playing a camera man for the event. My, did we laugh at this antics! He was so into his role and the show.

Even receiving his medal was a led to some antics - a real little showman.We were blow away. He has so much confidence and can be a real comedian.

Mr C received his medal too - with grace and dignity as it should to be for Olympic flag bearers.


After the Sports show, the kids came in for the Carols by Candlelight - Mr C and Mr L were at the two ends of the back row, leaving Mr L with heaps of space to entertain the crowd while Mr C delivered a faultless appearance at his end.

We are really sad to leave our much beloved little school at the end of this year - for the last 5 years we have always had at least one kid in the school, but it will be great to have them all in the same school next year. And a great school to boot that we already love.

Mr C meet his new friends

Last Saturday it was Mr C's turn to meet his new teacher and friends for next year. He will be in the Giraffe class in grade R. My, he was so shy when we got there. Met his teacher and said his name and smiled brightly but then was so shy to sit and play with the rest of the kids until a little boy walked in and he told me that it's Jean -Pierre whom he sees at the swimming school every Friday. He happens to also be new in the school and within minutes they were playing together and I left with the other moms for them to spend some time with their teacher.

In the meantime while chatting to other parents I happened to find out that we apparently scored the teacher jackpot for him this year (as we did for Mr L - maybe bringing them into the school for evaluation did serve another good purposee ). You know, that one teacher where everybody wants their kid. Yes, that one - we got her!  We have never asked for a specific teacher as I got some inside info before the Princess went to the school that asking for a teacher practically ensured that your kid will not be placed with her so I do not bother. I am however delighted.

When I went back to his class to fetch him, he was happily busy doing some baking - slowly as is his manner, and very precisely. After giving his new teacher a huge hug we happily went home. I am sure he is going to be a very happy giraffe.

Ps - I am miles behind on blog reading or anything not work related. things are busy and I even worked over the weekend not achieving most of my goals Unexpected - but hopefully with rewards in return)

Raindrops keep falling on my head....

We have had quite a bit of rain lately - those wonderful late afternoon and night time Gauteng thunder storms. Ever since the first rain showers this year a certain little boy has been asking for his very own umbrella. He just really wanted one so much. Mommy looked around but he was quite specific in his request - it must be a boy umbrella, and green to the boot. Then mommy stumbled upon something and on a whim bought two reasoning that it will certainly make him happy despite the absence of green.

Just look at how cute the handles are - the two umbrellas although both Superman, has different colours and designs.

And as to the green, well, he tells me the yellow is almost green, a very very light green if one looks closely.
Got to love this little quirky bear of mine.

Dear son....(2012 edition)

 My dear little Bear,

Mommy stands amazed almost every day seeing you develop and grow. In the past year you have started to really get into figures and numbers, letters and drawing. While you used to love to colour, it is drawing that is your real passion now. And pottery - you love to make and create things. I am totally astounded at your knowledge of things you take an interest to - like everything space and universe related that by far outsmarts your moms.

I love to hear your little voice talk non stop, even though it usually means that you and your sister are having a verbal battle for attention.I love to see how this weekend you adapted to the social scene like a fish to the water. How you sometimes played with your brother and the other little boys but how you also enjoyed the company of the two slightly older girls. A real social player.

Mommy can not wait to see what the next year holds for us all. Mommy loves you to Uranus and back my sweet Bear.

My dear little Lion,

I am so glad that this year was a much easier one for you than the previous. That we could rejoice in so many new milestones achieved and issues dealt with. Mommy loves to see how you grow in class, how you sit and do a task, how you complete the jobs given to you. I love that you shout out right in the middle of a shopping trip "There's fireman Fred" or whatever letterlander you see. Most of all mommy loved to see you draw and elephant on your new magic board on Tuesday morning  - I had no idea that you could that.

Almost every day your brave courage and determination totally astounds me. I was so happy to see you play around this weekend, sometimes on your own as you often prefer, but very often as part of a group. It was great to see you take a small leadership roll with the two younger boys.I loved the determination you showed in mastering your bicycle on all terrains.

Mommy knows that the next year will be one that challenges you and us and I can not wait to see how you will grow. Mommy loves you as much as all the stars in the sky my brave Lion.

BTW - I love that top photo. It speaks to me of a true brotherly camaraderie and love.

On milestones

We as parents often celebrate those big moments, those milestones that we wait for so long. That first tooth, well if you ask me the whole teething thing is no celebration. That first crawl - mobility at last to mommy's delight. To be replaced by urgent packing away of everything on eye level when baby gets the hang of standing. And talking - all 3 of mine followed that first "mama" or "papa" (yes, my Mr L said papa first - he is still daddy's boy though) with floods of words often talking together to my frustration. And so we continue - it seems those first ones, celebrated with zest often have negatives to them. Then there are the other big, only positive ones -like potty training, riding the bike without trainer wheels, brushing your own teeth and tying shoelaces. All onwards and upwards towards Independence.

But I do find that the other less big in anyone else's books are often the ones that makes me the happiest. Learning to pour your own juice without making a mess, making your own bed however shabby, being able to press play enter on the DVD remote, wiping your own bum. A big one for us was to teach them to play in their rooms after they wake up on weekends - giving us an hour or so to sleep a bit more. You know, those things that really makes my life easier.

So last night when, on asking if they want to shower, the boys enthusiastically said yes, and showered without a single tear and big talk of how big they are, I shed a tear of happiness. Both where so afraid of showering - it has taken us (especially Hunter) many many frustrating tries to get this achieved. To on their own prefer the shower is BIG! Yeah to easier camping, gymming etc. And much faster bath and bed times.

Any unusual milestones that you loved? Anything you are working on at the moment?

The Bear's favorite things

Mr C's previous list was also back in October.

DVD:  Wizard of Oz
Meal:a Apparently mash - a total surprise to me.
Fruit: Banana and apple - he is my "ordinary " fruit kid
Vegetable: Carrots - raw or cooked
Breakfast: Pro Nutro or green Ice age Oaties
Drink: Water and juice
Drinking yogurt flavour: Strawberry
Sweets: Chomps and marshmallow fish
Chips/crisps: Cheese curls
Toy:  Airoplane that makes an aanoying airoplane sound - he took it to school today for show and tell
Colour: Green
I also asked him his sister's additional questions:
Animal: Zebra and giraffe (not the band, the actual animals - there is an SA band called Zebra and giraffe)
Sea animal: Sea horses.
Bird: Swan
iPad app: Make a scene - farmyard
Book: "There's no place like Space" a Dr Seuss book
Song: Juiliette - the Afrispaans (Spanish) version of the Steve Hofmeyer song.Although I do not like Steve this is a great version of a cool song
Extra mural activity: Mickey Maths and pottery
Current obsession:Space - he can tell you all about planets, black holes etc.

The straw that broke the camel's back- but didn't

Thursday was not a great day - it was jam packed with meetings the whole day after we had our first dreadful night of (no) sleep with the boys in ages and after working up to almost 12 the evening. In between I scrambled to answer mails and keep up to date and to say I was exhausted by the end of the day was no lie. So I pick up a very happy Princess and we have a great chat to the boys' school. As I get out of the car my phone rings - a work issue which I chat through up the driveway to the boys' school gate. As I open the gate my lovely new beads snap on the handle and splatter over the patio with excited little toddlers running after them. Sigh! No way of getting them all in paving and grass as some roll over the edge and a few steps down. I end the call and look up to the white notice board at the entrance which read "Career day tomorrow. Please dress up and show us what you want to be some day" I kid you not, I could possibly slap the teacher (ok I did not say that! And it was not their teacher - she would have known better ) when I asked her about the late notice and how am I suppose to get something and she replied - "Well just make something". ARE YOU KIDDING! AS SOON AS THE KIDS SLEEP I AM SLEEPING. It was just that last bit to just break my spirit.

I hate it when the schools give you short notice - really it does not consider working parents at all (I wrote about it before. The boys' school in general give us a term program which I make sure to add to our year planner so that I am well aware of everything before hand. But something went wrong and they did not hand them out until yesterday. So Friday was really sprung upon us. But the Princess (bless her little heart) immediately had the creative juices flowing suggesting a fireman for Mr L (it is his current obsession after all) with his gumboots and a play phone for a walkie talkie. Then she suggested a cowboy (nope not a "real" job) and Spiderman (nope, not real either) - she was rushing through the dress up options we have. I suggested a builder (they have little hard hats, we have drills etc and plans) but no, C did not want to be a builder (or an architect). Then as we turned the corner to our house she had it ! A chef! I though about our little apron, but what else? She remembered that we got the left over chef's hats from their party and exactly where I stored it and we got one of their cowboy bandanas. He has balck trousers with white stripes and black and red sneekers.

When the school rings

On Friday afternoon just as I was busy doing a blogpost about our little project during my lunch time( see tomorrow) , my phone rang, showing that number, you know the one that immediately charges your heart beat to 150 bpm with no exercise involved. The boy's school number. I just knew.

It turns out that Mr L had somehow managed to cut his forehead open and it was rather deep - deep enough to go to the doctor. So I quickly rang our GP and confirmed they could help us, then picked him up at school and went straight to the doctor. My, was he a brave boy - no crying, just a whimper or two as it was cleaned and fixed with strips. It turned out to be small but rather deep. So he got a nice plaster over to match his brother's ( see yesterday's photos) who fell at school on Tuesday right in front of me as I picked them up. When we picked up C later he showed us at the Wendy house where he hurt himself on a nail sticking out a bit. The school had it fixed first thing this morning.

So, matching twin war wounds.

BTW - Our server has been a tad cumbersome this morning -this whole post with photos was done with the Blogger app on the ipad

On moving forward.

We have certainly come very far in the last year. Looking back a year ago, at the start of Mr L's OT, I struggle to even remember how tough it was - somehow the brain blocks out the worst. The tantrums that we only see now and again on a very scaled down version was in full swing. There was almost no recognition of any abstract concepts like shapes and colours. The tiniest thing ticked him off. The isolation tent was in full use.We were so sleep deprived, I can hardly express how tired and totally exhausted we were (2 to 4 hours awake up to 5 nights a week). It was tough just to get to school and work and back, never mind potty training etc. Life was a huge struggle.

A year on and things have certainly changed a lot. He is fully potty trained, he is loving his school and can not wait for his weekly OT appointments. And lo and behold, I am almost scared to put it out there, but we are sleeping. At last after more than 4 and a half years. The last month has gone without one of L's classic SID kid total sleep failure nights.It is a huge thing in our lives! And I am so grateful, reading that a lot of SID kids only start sleeping through at about 6 - but we worked on it, believe me. We are still using Melatonin and rushing and compressing.

He is also learning his letters via letterland as the class proceeds (but have to mention that Mr C knows every single one of the alphabet) and although a lot of the time it is still difficult to get and hold his attention, we are certainly moving on towards better times. We have had a preliminary speech evaluation and in future we might have a stint of speech therapy. But we are moving full scale - to our target being sending them both to grade 1 at the same time at the same school. The alternatives just stress me out too much. To send him a year later (because we will not be able to hold back C who is at the moment testing a year ahead of age) to the same school has it's problems, to send him to a different school to catch up and later to the same school also has its issues. But both his OT , his current teacher and the head mistress of the school they will be attending next year for grade R(on the grounds of A's school) believes that a lot can happen in the next year and a half that could possibly just realize our dream of having him ready for main stream school on age.

O yes, it is indeed going well. He seem to progress in leaps, then stand still or even regress a bit, and then take another leap, rather than the steady development rate of our other kids. I know it is typical, but it both provides for huge stress and huge joy when achieving a new goal.

Funny how the work year started so nice and slow...

just to burst out of its seams into full force yesterday. But a lot has happened this week and a lot has to happen.

Someone had her 7th birthday and had a lot of fun - for the first time ever having her party actually on her birthday. But more about that in a separate party post. I have to show off the cake though - it was such a headache for me but I am totally happy with how it turned out. She had this 70's hippy idea in her mind and we made tie-dye shirts as invites to all the friends, so I had to make a "flower poser" cake. She wanted flip flops, and then reminded me of our giant cupcake pan - so we made a giant flower power cupcake cake with a chocolate bottom and vanilla top(icing on top piped with two colours to look like tie dye). Cupcake bottom made of fizzers to make striped cup and flip flops made of foam and pipe cleaners. She helped all the way and loved her cake. The 7 out of flowers was totally her idea.

 Apart from her party we had the usual gifts and cupcakes for breakfast at home straight after waking up and a braai with granny the evening. 

And then I had my first mommy failure moment of the year. I forgot that the Boys' school opened with the private schools on Wednesday and while driving past it saw the cars and had a bit of a facepalm moment. Eish! So back to school 2012 for them was on Thursday and my, what a change from last year for L! Happy to go to school and even happier when I fetched them the afternoon.

I am doing a i365 photo a day from the iphone (or ipad) shared on instagram, twitter and facebook this year as #catjugglesi365 - I miss capturing those daily life shots.And so much easier now on iphone! But as some of you are not on one of them, I am also sharing it on Captured by Cat when I get the chance. Do pop over and have a look at our first week of the year.

And I have joined the ipad ranks - thanks to the office. The main project I will be working on for the next 18 months is going to be run from ipads so I need to get sorted with it. Lovely to icloud with my phone! Total integration if you want. Still waiting for my ipad sim though - seems Mweb business takes 5 to 7 days to produce such from and existing account, but I shall wait. I know that I will enjoy it for private use too mainly for reading stuff I suppose. Kindle looks great on the ipad.

Little Man C's favorite things right now are:

DVD:  Anything by Andre Rieu (yes I know - a bit weird) and Happy Feet
Meal: Spaghetti bolognaise and two minute noodles 
Fruit: Banana, apples and naartjies
Vegetable: Any form of pumpkin
Breakfast: Oaties or mini wheat bix
Drink: Water.
Drinking yogurt flavour: Strawberry
Sweets: Fizz pops and fizzers
Chips/crisps: Ordinary potato chips - he calls them "leeutjie chips" to the Simba lion on them
Toy: Puzzles and drawing/colouring
Colour: Red

Dear son....

Our boys turned 4 yesterday! It feels like in the blink of an eye on the one hand and a million years on the other. Happy, happy birthday my boys!

My dear Little man L,

It has been such a tough year for you and mommy wishes she could just make everything better with the wave of a magic stick - the one your brother loves so much. But we have come so far this year - you have made so much progress. I almost can not believe it is the same little boy that went to school in January and cried his eyes out. You really try so hard at OT and am really making such progress with sleep. I so believe the rest will fall into place soon.I know that we have a long road ahead, but I also know that we will walk it together and that we will win. We are both fighters, and so is daddy. Together we will conquer this SID thing.

Mommy is so proud of how brave you are and how you try your best with most things.I love to hear you sing in your sweet voice. You are so loving and sweet and give the best hugs and kisses around. Happy Birthday my boy! May your year be blessed beyond words.

My dear Little Man C,

Wow have you grown with leaps and bounds this year. You have had such a bumper social time and never has a child adapted to school so easily - I think it took you all of 30 seconds.You love your class, your teacher and all the social moments at school. You are such a creative little soul - you colour like few your age and am a champion puzzle builder. But it is in the social arena that you really play so well. Your asthma is really getting less and less of an issue - to mommy's total delight.

Mommy is so proud of you my boy. My little talker - gosh, there is seldom a quiet moment in our home. You having taken to English as your second language like a duck to water.I love how you constantly stop me to hear a rhyme or song.You are the sweetest little lovetot around and such a charmer.Happy Birthday my boy! May your year be blessed beyond words.

Having a 4th Birthday celebration really Makes my Monday - actually, my month!

Playing along with Cheryl.

This is also my 901st blogpost!

Through a child's eyes

The week before last  we had a rather tough one with Little man C. On Monday I had to go and fetch him at school in the middle of the day as he was complaining of a tummy ache and they had a rota virus alert at the school. He really looked out of sorts - not himself, but as soon as I dropped him off with Lucy he cheered up and he never was sick or complained the rest of the day.  Tuesday night (and every night going forward) I had a question from him: "What day is it tomorrow?" I'd say Wednesday (or whatever) and then he asked if he goes to school on a Wednesday (or whatever) to which I would reply with a yes. He would then burst into tears and say that his tummy will hurt again and I would explain that it would not as he is not sick. But I have learned long ago that a sore tummy is often about emotional stuff and not real tummy aches - so I said to Hunter that something was up at school. I have to admit that my first thought was bullying.

By the Sunday night he just broke down at bath time and I asked him if someone hurt him to which Little man L replied with a name. C confirmed it an asked that I fetch him after lunch as he gets hurt after lunch. I then mentioned it to the teacher the next day who was rather surprised as the named child is one of his close friends. But promised to handle it which the school does rather well in general. But the tears continued until on Thursday. I had another chat to the teacher who said to me that she has just figured out what the problem was.She let Little man C pick up a DVD and show to me and he told me that this DVD is now going home with one of the kids and will never return to school. A big smile followed. It turned out he was scared to death of.... Charlie and the Chocolate factory! (They watch DVD at school in the cold months or rainy days in the late afternoon from 4 onwards).

So my question is, do we really know what scares kids? I would not have thought that this one would have, but it is the way Johnny Depp looks in the movie that scares him - not the story or a scene. Some of the Disney movies are quite scary too - in particular I found some scenes in The Princess and the Frog very scary.. I know the Princess was so scared of The Lion King when she first saw it (the scene with the stampede). The school has promised that they will now stick to Barney, Noddy and so forth. Safe stuff.

So what scares your kids, or you for that matter? (I remember crying my heart out and being so scared in the fire scene in Bambi as a kid). And how do you handle this issue with kids? I for one like to watch a movie or DVD with my kids for the first time so that I can handle any issues if needed.

Baby it's cold outside.

Good heavens, today is freezing. Not so much this morning which was quite bearable at about 6degrees C  (we do go down to about freezing point here) but the maximum predicted is 14degrees C - very cold for us indeed. So while the Princess is cozy at home with granny, for the Boys it was school as usual. And the cuteness of all this:

Friday already!

Gosh, this week has flown by like nothing. I have a nice little photo post for Friday entertainment, but before that, a little summary of what's happening in our little corner of the world:

• Lucy is still on sick leave - I am so so so over this but it's not her fault.
• We now have a little red boy chicken (see how I fluke the search engines!) that have joined our driveway crowd - hence we get that nostalgic crowing in the mornings. Luckily he seem to be a late sleeper. I am loving this chicken thing. I think we might have some nesting soon.

• Little man L had his first OT session last week where he did not need to do integration before starting with concentration work. He enjoyed the roller ball paint so much that he got some as a reward from his OT this week. This week however, she did integration again. She did explain that it all helps in a hand in hand way. BTW - this paint is fantastic and she says you can get it at Pick n Pay.

Onto a Friday Photo story (still catching up on our last two holidays):

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

My FIL is  a cabinet maker by trade and a retired woodwork teacher. In December when we had our quick visit to Port Elizabeth he had a huge surprise for the Boys - they made their own trucks in his workshop.

Oupa had everything prepared beforehand and they just assembled it all:

The trucks made great toys and are still a favorite. I could not believe how quiet and interested they were -up until then they have never sat so quiet for such a long time.

What a  great Oupa!