Halloween 2011

Happy Halloween Folks!

Last Wednesday night the kids school had their Fall Festival which is a great night filled with Trick or Treating around the school and lots of games and activities for the little folk.

In the morning Lulu and Sami were part of the Halloween Parade around the elementary school.

Sharon came along and helped me with Sami’s class telling a cute ghost story I found on the Time for Play blog here.

And I told the story about the little mouse in the woods who finds his Jack-O-Lantern friend also found over on the Time for Play blog here. 

Then we went and did it all again for Lulu’s class.

I think Sharon’s animated story was the kit of the morning for both classes.

In case you had not worked it out yet Lujayne was a Rock Star Diva and Sami was Scooby Doo.

Then in the evening Laith (the Mad Scientist) and I joined in with our costumes too.

The kids had great fun playing the games which is run by Middle schoolers.

On of the big hits of the night was the Angry Birds game.

It was so wonderful to have my sister and mum here again to join in on all the fun.

We have not yet even put away the flashing pumpkin and already the kids are planning what they would like to be next year!

Happy 1st Birthday Eyad

He is a gorgeous boy, I love him so.

His smile makes my heart sing, I am so blessed to see it every day. 

There is nothing like the unconditional love a child gives you.

Thank you Eyad, I love you dearly. Happy Birthday my precious little man.

Thanks for stopping by …

Gaelic Football, Chocolate Crackles and Hair

Do the three topics above have anything in common? No, not really just a summary of this past week in pictures.

In my birthday preparation for Sami’s party I made chocolate crackles but this time I made them with golden syrup and chocolate (thanks to LW for her suggestion) and they were  … mmmmmmmm very lush. Even Eyad had a little taste and he was in heaven!

Last Wednesday the kids had their first Gaelic Football practice. Sami and Laith are in the right hand top corner and I am not sure where Lulu was probably running around as usual, sometimes I se a little Forrest Gump in her!

They had fun with ball skills, balancing, and just general larking about really.

Here is Laith doing some foot skills.

We headed off to training tonight and as we got there and the kids were putting on their “tag belts” one of the coaches got a call to say there was a dust storm approaching. We looked puzzled and then turned and looked behind us over the spectator stand to see a HUGE wall of brown cloud approaching. It was like something out of a movie. As quick as we could without scaring the kids we got the tag belts off and headed for the cars. Just as I closed the kids car door and headed for my door IT HIT. Man it was fierce and I was so grateful that we made it to the car safely. We just stayed and sat it out. There was very heavy rain for a few minutes and then we headed home about 15 minutes later. The kids were a little freaked out by the whole experience and I have to stay it unsettles me a little too .

Here is a picture that a FB friend posted as the cloud approached …

And here is Lulu, the little diva who loves going to the salon to have her hair washed then cut and finished off with a blow dry of course!.

Thankfully it is very affordable here.

My Mum arrives tomorrow – yay!

The Montessori course is going well. There is a lot of work involved and my first assignment is due in two weeks. It has been about 20 years since I have written an essay, bibliography etc. so I am having a MAJOR sweep out of cobwebs in the old cranium area at the moment. Wish me luck!

Thanks for stopping by …

Lulu’s Room Redo

While the kids were away with their Dad on holidays I managed to also get Lulu’s room cleaned up with a few cosmetic changes.

I pretty much used existing furniture, fittings etc. with a few pictures / wall stickers here and there.

I added a small book shelf next to her bed for her favourite books of the week.

And another book shelf over her activity table.

On her ceiling are glow in the dark stars and planets and a large wall sticker that says “Reach for the Stars”.

The bathroom is pretty much the same with just a little draws on wheels unit to help tame those hair clips that seem to get a life of their own!

She was delighted to see her room tidy and organised when she returned.

Thanks for stopping by …

Sami’s Pirate Party

Sami celebrated his 4th birthday in August and at that time I promised him a birthday party after school began and his friends were back from their summer vacation. Well yesterday was the big day. It was Sami’s Pirate Party!

We started the party off with some cooling off time on the waterslide. It has been unusually hot and humid for October this year but we were graced with a slight breeze so we can not complain.

Here is the birthday boy looking a little too serious about it all … but it does show how he is no longer my “little baby”.

His friends loved the water slide and I was very grateful for the parents being able to keep an eye on them all.

Then it was time for some food before we headed off on our Treasure Hunt.

 

I had a treasure chest hidden outside and I got all the kids around and once we got it open there was a bag for each child with their name on it and inside was a treasure map like this one …

and a pirate costume (my lovely sister had sent these over a while ago) and eye patch.  I had intended to make little pirate drawstring bags but I ran out of time so instead I used Lakeland Reusable Produce Weighing Bags so that they could be reused by the wee pirates Mom after the party.

Here are our very keen pirates ready to head off on their treasure hunt. The funny faces are their Harrrrr Harrrrr me Hearties pirate roars!

First stop was a magnifying spy glass which could hang around their neck.

Second – a small party bag with pirate pencil, eraser and paddle ball.

Third – as they walked through Smugglers Cove - two awesome molds made by my friend Jess. These we painted later as a post hunt activity.

Fourth – a ping pong ball with a sticker that they then showed me at the end to get a silver or gold chocolate coin (I could not put them out or they would have melted into a big gooey mess).

Fifth  – a toothbrush tree, can you imagine a tree that grows toothbrushes!

Don’t you love the diligent pirate parents carrying the booty!

Fifth – a small wooden box just like a mini treasure chest.

We then settled down to do some painting which was a great chance for the kids to wind down a little.

I had to interrupt their creativity briefly so we could cut Sami’s birthday cake.

It was meant to be a treasure island cake. The beach is biscuit crumbs and the treasure chest is filled with chocolate coins which I meant to put on their plate when the cake was served but totally forgot, silly me.

He loved his cake and his party!  Although I have to say he was fairly shattered at the end, can you tell he was on the tired side?

He seemed to get a second wind once that blue butter icing kicked in as seen below.

Birthday parties are fun but you always breath a huge sigh of relief once they are over .

Thanks for stopping by …