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)

There's no place like space for a great party.

Imagine having twin boys with very different passions and having to organize a party that both of them will love? Up to this year I think anything would have been fine for them and they did love their Lion and Crocodile party last year, but by 5 they very much have their own opinions and I wanted a theme that would thrill both of them. Mr C is at the moment totally obsessed with space - he knows all the planets, how many moons and rings they have and all sorts of facts that I do not even know at all.Mr L is still obsessed with everything with engines be it with wheels, wings or whatever. His ideal party would have possibly been excavators etc, but the promise of many rocket ship items the week that space was the theme for the week at school did it. And a space party was born.

We had the party at their pre-school - a brilliant idea. You can rent the school for a Saturday for a fee - it is cheaper than a party venue, has all that you need in terms of playground, tables and chairs etc and theirs even have a braai area as it is connected to a church. The school gets extra money for maintenance of equipment etc and you get a great party venue where the kids totally feel at home.

On to the decor/theme stuff:

The party packs were plain silver paper bags with each child's name on their rocket ship. Inside were some stickers, and "alien" to grow and bangles and rings for the girls and a slinky for the boys.

Silver paper plates and cellophane bags to take left over sweeties home in the party packs

A few balloons with silver stars on and CD/dvd's with silver pipe cleaners hung on the gazebo edge.

Mr C's Uranus cake. I swear I am the first mom in history to make a Uranus cake (yes, I did Google and found one bakery one). I was so stressed that he would not like it but he counted the moons, confirmed that 9 was indeed correct and gave his blessing. He loved it! (Chocolate oil cake with butter frosting)

Mr L's rocket ship cake. My, was that boy crazy about his cake! He totally loved it. (Vanilla hot milk sponge cake with butter cream frosting.)

I made some of my now (almost) famous colouring in table cloths for the tables. But due to the sunny weather not much colouring happened.

 For the first time ever I did a sweetie buffet in stead of sweets pre packed in party packs. The little aluminium containers on the left had names on and was used to dish sweeties in. Every sweet type was named something to do with space like "Space cadet vitamins" and "Alien faces". What was left at the end of the day was taken home (plus some just because). Amazingly the kids ate very little sweets, chose only what they liked so the waste was minimal and I totally loved that so many parents had some sweets and took party packs home for themselves.

Below you can see why a pre-school is the perfect party venue - lots of equipment, dressing up, sandboxes and yes, the ever popular jumping castle.

The kids just played and played until we gave them all a nice Boerewors roll to eat (Prego steaks for the parents.).

We then let them loose on the sweetie buffet. The only item that was totally finished by the end of the party was the sherbet. A total hit with all!

 Then we went on to make each kid's own little bit of space by making little mini space globes (snow globes). I used little plastic containers bought at the packaging shop, beads for planets, big stars and smaller stars and glitter for the final stardust touch. I then added water and sealed the lids with bostik. Most kids loved it, even the smaller ones.

 After a lot more playing and chatting we all dispersed just in time for us to tidy up and be back home just as the Springboks took the Aussies on.

I loved that the party had a relaxed atmosphere, I loved that it was relatively low intensity - I made everything before hand - to set it up took us about and hour, to tidy up less. Above all I loved that the boys declared it the very best party ever.

(BTW - I did not take many pictures - thanks to teacher Wendy for the ones marked "Captured by Cat" and Marcia for the rest - you two did a great job.)

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.