A Very Hungry Caterpillar Party

It was Jenson's 1st birthday on Friday (30th). 

We had a lovely day and the birthday boy and his brother really enjoyed themselves! 

Mummy and Daddy gave Jenson a wooden trike and an activity cube and Burton gave him a Melissa & Doug latches board. He also 'wrote' a birthday card out for Jenson and made some lovely colourful squiggles inside it! 

We also gave Burton two small presents to open so that he wouldn't feel left out and to occupy him so that Jenson would be able to play with his new things. Hmmm.....like that was going to work!! Burton has enjoyed trying out all of his brother's new toys and especially likes riding his new trike!!

I spent most of the day in between occupying the boys, trying to finish off the party food. Luckily I managed to get Jenson to nap for an hour after lunch which enabled me to get some food prep completed!

Due to the weather being so glorious and because we don't have a garden to host the party in, Jon's parents very kindly agreed to let us host the party at their house so that the children could run around outside and use the trampoline and swings. The guests were a mix of family and friends, and even though several of the guests couldn't make it, which was a shame, it was a lovely gathering and everyone enjoyed themselves.

I did a theme for the party which was The Very Hungry Caterpillar , and I based all of the party food on the items that features in the story. I replaced some items for similar ones e.g.. cherry pie was actually cheese & onion quiche, the chocolate cake became mini triple decker sandwiches on wholemeal bread, I made blue & yellow cake pops for the lollipops, pizza wedges for the watermelon, mini cheddars for the oranges and ham instead of salami! I also filled ice cream wafer cornets with jelly for the ice creams. I made mini caterpillars using grapes and a cherry tomato on cocktail sticks. I then wrote cards out with the lines from the story on as menu cards

The cake turned out much better than I had imagined!! I made two chocolate sponge cakes filled with chocolate butter cream, which I placed on top of one another and covered with white chocolate ganache. Then I stuck smarties around the sides and finally I cut a hungry caterpillar out of icing to decorate the top of the cake with.

It really was a fun afternoon and Jenson really seemed to be enjoying himself and he didn't cry once!

Saturday Caption Day 31st March, 2012

Here is a photo - please leave a witty commit below

its shows my two siting in their toy cupboard!

Then why not see what other funny entries there are this week by clicking here:

One Already!

Hello! It's the birthday boy here. I turn one today and Mummy is all emotional because her (last) baby is no longer a baby really anymore. I heard her telling Burton last night that maybe he should drop the baby from my name now and just call me Jenson, I am sure I saw tears in Mummy's eyes as she was speaking.

I was born one year ago today at 9.18pm (you can read my birth story here) when I met my Mummy and Daddy for the first time

and it wasn't long before I was hungry and I had some food! I have had a very good and big appetite from that moment onwards really!


I arrived home a few hours later and I did not sleep very well and did not like it in my Moses basket! I wanted to lie near -well on- Mummy but she wanted me to sleep so she could get some, as she had been awake for a long time. This was the start of me keeping my mummy awake for most of the night, and for the first few weeks she was only getting 2 hours a night! Mummy doesn't know how she muddled through when she thanks back, but she had to just get on with it.

The next day I met my big brother for the first time. We both weren't sure what to make of each other the first time we shared a cuddle!

But after a couple of days Burton was always trying to lean over and kiss me and touch me and he loved hiding things in my Moses basket so that whenever mummy went to put me back in after a feed she would have to remove toys first! Burton was very good at preventing me from napping and waking me up too and didn't understand what Mummy meant by 'sssh' or 'let's play quietly' !

On the whole Mummy says I was a very easy going baby and was content and happy, well as long as I got my milk of course!

As people told her that the thing with the next baby, they have to make do a bit more as Mummy didn't have the time to devote to me that she had with Burton. She often felt bad that she had to leave me to cry and had to make me wait for my food longer than she had done with my brother, because she had to see to him first most of the time. I get the impression that she has had a lot of guilt since she became a Mummy to two, trying to juggle both of us and worrying that one of us would feel left out if she turned her attention to one of us over the other.

Once I became less of a newborn I became fascinated by everyone and everything around me and in particular Burton.

He did, and indeed does, make me smile and giggle a lot

which then encourages him to keep going until he does it too much and then I would have enough and end up crying! Sometimes my brother doesn't know when enough is enough! But he did enjoy cuddling me - sometimes a little tightly and Mummy would have to rush over sometimes to rescue me! He has always been very affectionate towards me which I know Mummy and Daddy have enjoyed seeing and Mummy feels very proud of her two boys and how well they get along.

From a young age I have enjoyed bath time

and I really love splashing about with my brother ! Like him, I seem to have an affinity with water and I really enjoy going swimming and don't want to get out of the pool! 

I really enjoy eating and haven't really turned anything down.... well I still won't eat cucumbers or tomatoes but just about everything else I am given.

I especially like it when Burton eats a snack on the sofa because I am straight over to him to try and help myself! I can be a little annoying at times to my brother. I enjoy nothing make than wrecking things that he has taken the time to assemble: train tracks, jigsaw puzzles, building blocks and so on. I am sure you get the picture!  The thing is I just want to copy him and do all,the fun things he can do!

I was able to make myself mobile at a much younger age than Burton, Mummy says its because I was frustrated at not being able to get to things that he was playing with. I like standing now - I can manage about 2 seconds before I fall down.

Since I have been able to sit up we do kind of play together now which is great fun! 

We both like holding hands in the car, reading books and I really enjoy playing in Burton's bedroom.

Daddy says I am a Mummy's boy as I don't like to be too far away from my mummy. Mummy says I am her little cling on! It is true I like to be near her and be cuddled.

 I only started sleeping through the nights about 6 weeks ago, as before then I was getting mummy up once or twice every night for cuddles. Recently, I am having trouble sleeping at bedtime and want mummy to hold my hand until I drop off. However, I do enjoy my daddy time too.

Mummy says she cannot believe I am one year old today, I just don't know what all the fuss is about! I sense that Mummy is a little emotional and could quite easily cry as she says goodbye to my first year as her baby. She says I will always be her baby as I am the youngest, but from now on its goodbye baby-hood and hello toddler-hood (and she mentioned something about some terrible two's!? Not sure what thats all about!)

I am just looking forward to more playing and being able to walk and talk and pester Burton some more!!
xx

The Gallery - Extreme Close Up

This week Tara has asked us to post an EXTREME CLOSE UP photograph in this weeks The Gallery.

I am using this photo of Jensons' foot. I love all parts of my children's bodies: from their beautiful big blue eyes, their little noses and pouty lips and mouths down to their chunky hands and feet. Feet are amazing :  all the lines that appear on the soles and those perfect little toes. I am envious of my children's feet with their perfect smooth and healthy looking skin, as my own feet are dreadful as I suffer with hard, dry and cracked skin on mine!!

Now check out what other extreme clue ups have been linked up to this weeks

 

Happy Feet Two DVD

Burton discovered the film Happy Feet earlier in the new year, and because he owns some cuddly friends who are also penguins this film appealed to him immediately!

Therefore, when we were sent a penguin film bundle from Warner Brothers including Happy Feet and Happy Feet 2 and The March Of The Penguins and some Happy Feet 2 goodies (a hat, magnets, a colouring book and keying) he was very happy indeed!

Straight away he asked to watch the new film while he ate his tea so we put it on and the music is amazing - I loved the Basement Jaxx bootleg song at the start. There are also some fab dance routines and even some penguin rapping!!  I was singing along while preparing the food in the

kitchen!

Happy Feet Two sees Mumbles and Gloria now with a family of their own with a son called Eric, who, as his father did before him, is finding it hard to fit in with the singing and dancing penguin clan. Eric cannot find the confidence to dance in front of people and when he does attempt it he messes it up and everyone laughs at him, making him feel left out and it knocks his confidence even more. However, Eric discovers Sven an amazing penguin who can fly and quickly becomes the young penguins role model, someone who his own Dad finds hard to compete against!

At the heart of the narration lies a father and son relationship where one needs to have more compassion for his boy's needs and feelings, and the other discovers that actually his own dad is something of a hero and someone to look up to and admire. Eric learns this as he witnesses Mumble's determination to join together different species of the frozen wilderness, to help save his colony who have become stranded as a result of a glacier collapsing and making it impossible for any penguin to enter or leave, resulting in no food getting through to the colony. 

As with Happy Feet, the soundtrack is infectious and there are some funny moments especially from a couple of krill's (voiced by Brad 'yummy' Pitt and Matt Damon) who have deserted their group to search for a better life and see more of the world! These two pink creatures reminded me of the little rodent in the Ice Age films who is always trying to catch the acorn, in their antics within the film.

Also at the core of the movie is an important message about the conservation of our planet and a reminder of what is happening to the glaciers, and the animals and creatures that inhabit it. 

Overall, we enjoyed Happy Feet two. The soundtrack and animation is excellent as is the humour. There are some clever scenes where the 'cartoon' penguins appear to be mixing with 'real life' human beings which was a bit strange to watch but cleverly done. The plot washes over Burton's head at the moment but he enjoyed tapping his feet and having me tell him what the different animal within it are called!

We give Happy Feet Two 3 toes out of five!!

Happy Feet Two is available to buy on DVD  from Warner brothers now (from 26th March, 2012)

I was sent a copy of Happy Feet Two for the purpose of this review, and all comments and opinions are my own

Little Tiger Press Book Review #1

We are big book fans in this house and although sadly I don't get the time to read any myself at the moment, I love reading stories to the boys, and they have had them included as part of their daily lives since they were very small. Daddy reads to Burton ever night before he goes to sleep and then Burton always goes off to sleep surrounded by books, which I have to remove later when I go to bed myself!

We we recently sent some new titles by LittleTiger Press to read and look at together

Monty & Milli The Totally Amazing Magic Trick

(Written by Tracey Corderoy , illustrated by Tim Warnes)

When I read this to the boys, it made me smile and I said to Burton that just as he sometimes gets fed up with Jenson copying everything he does and wrecking things like his train track when he has built it, Monty gets frustrated when his little sister Milli wants to be involved with everything he does too! Burton then proceeded to tell me about some things Jenson does!!

This is a really sweet story about a typical sibling relationship where the younger one annoys the older done by 'spoiling' their fun and generally getting in the way! It has a lovely ending showing that in fact as much as Milli frustrates him, Monty loves her very much.

We have been adopting the magic words kazaam kazim kazoom! at meal times in a bit to get Burton to finish meals he doesn't want to, and yay to magic because it has helped a couple of times now!

Bright Stanley Double Trouble

(written by Matt Buckingham)

A fish called Stanley is looking after his cousin Dennis and needs to find ways of occupying him and to keep him out of trouble. Except that little Dennis is a bit of a dare devil fish and wants some adventures and not play boring games like hide and seek!

This is a fun book with some great illustrations! Burton now likes saying 'double trouble' a lot too, and I reply "yes, just like you and Jenson!"

Duck Says Don't!

(written by Alison Ritchie, illustrated by Hannah George)

This is all about a duck who is left in charge of a busy pond while his friend Goose goes away on holiday. The trouble is, Duck takes his new role a little too seriously and started telling the ponds residents that they are not allowed to do things like jumping, splashing or fishing in the pond! To enforce his new rules Duck makes signs for them until soon the pond is full of wooden signs and nothing else! Duck is sad because he misses all his friends and he needs to apologise to them.

We really enjoyed this book and found it amusing and colourful to look at, and we enjoyed naming all the creatures featured in it.

For more information about these books please visit www.littletigerpress.com

I was sent copies of these three books for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, comments and opinion made are my own. 

My Week That Was - Mostly Outside & Sunny Weather

So its that time of the week again for my week that was! The weather has been wonderful this week - warm and sunny so this has meant lots of fresh air for us all which is always a good thing!

Monday

was Ladybirds again. As usual we had tears and protests and screaming to get him there and inside, so I left as quickly as possible so he could get on and get over his upset. I did, however, hang around outside because I knew that all the children and staff were outside enjoying the sunshine and I could see them all over the wall on my way back to the car. After about 10 minutes, out he came clutching a book and not crying anymore - he looked so small but I left then in case he saw me. He spent most of the session outside but he also did some painting with stickle bricks, and this week was the first week he ate all his lunch! That must be a good sign!

Back home and at tea time I let him help butter the bread and spread marmite on it for his tea, which he enjoyed doing very much.

Tuesday

Burton kept asking me for something at breakfast, I thought it was a biscuit to which I told him no! He went on and on for about 10 minutes until I realised that it wasn't a biscuit he was after but a picnic!! Bless him, so I let him and his 'friends' have one for breakfast

After lunch I took the boys to our local soft play centre which they both really enjoyed.

Wednesday

we popped to our local park before lunch and met Burton's cousin Ben and his Granma, so they boys could run around before lunch to work up an appetite. Back at Granma's house in the afternoon the boys played outside on the ride on tractors, the swings and the trampoline - lots of fun!

When we arrived there was a parcel for us from Warner Brothers which Burton was very excited about opening because it contained a Happy Feet DVD goodie box! 

We have now watched Happy Feet twice already this week!

Thursday

we travelled up to my Mum's late morning so I collected her and we headed to Clarks to get Burton's feet measured as I have been meaning to do so for the last couple of weeks. He has gone up a shoe shoe size and he ended up with some blue dinosaur shoes. Having the widest foot side, there are never many styles to choose from - I had the same problem growing up. Afterwards we popped into Sainsburys and took the boys into the cafe for a spot of lunch......on the floor, on the table, on the chairs lol!!

Once back at Mums we took Shadow out for a walk and Burton was very happy because Grandma let him take the lead all by himself! We also went to a park where Burton tested his new shoes out well by jumping and running up and down the wooden climbing frames, and on the grass !

Friday

we met a friend and her son at the soft play centre which Burton was happy about as he had someone to run around after!

Later on back home while Jenson slept, I let Burton do some painting which is a first in our house! He enjoyed it and I did too!!

Saturday

Daddy took Burton out on his bike, and then we all headed over to Granma and Grampy's to play outside as it was such a glorious day. Burton had great fun helping Granma with some gardening and saw some worms and got a bit muddy which he was most pleased about!

He also helped wash his uncle's car which again was ruin because it involved lots of water! Needless to say I was glad I bought a change of clothes for him as he got soaked!

Sunday

has been a brilliant day! Soooo much fun and I am still smiling about it! After a slow start to the day due to Daddy watching the F1 coverage, I packed a picnic and we went to The Big Sheep which is a local tourist attraction and one which I have never visited before. Burton found it very amusing watching Daddy and then Mummy go down the death slides!! It was also lovely seeing the lambs ;Jenson was trying to touch one on the nose and Burton had a go at feeding one!

A perfect day and ending to my week :)

I am linking this up to mummydaddyandme

and for the outdoors photos

Yeo Valley Yeogurts Giveaway

When I stopped breast feeding both of my boys around 9-10 months of age, neither of them would drink milk apart from when it was in their cereal bowl! Luckily they both LOVE fromage frais and yogurts and I think they would quite happily just eat them for every meal, and nothing else, if they each had their way!

I get through so many of them each week, but because they are so rich in calcium I am happy that they enjoy eating so many of them.

Yeo Valley has a new tasty selection of children's yogurts - or yeogurts - available in Asda, Sainsburys, Tesco and Waitrose. These include

First Yeos - ideal for weaning

Little Yeo's - slightly larger pots for bigger appetites

Yeotubes - fun squeezable tubes filled with yogurt

Yeo Smoothies - perfect for primary school aged children

Made with British organic milk, these yummy children's yeogurts are 100% Yeoganic which is this Somerset family-run organic dairy company's way of ensuring complete organic-ness and a bit more besides! Yeo Valley to the extra country mile when it comes to maintaining healthy land and livestock.

Yeo Valley currently has an exclusive on pack offer from now until stocks last. For each of their special packs of children's Yeogurts sold, you could win one of 50,000 Mini Boden t-shirts and a cool bag of Yeo Valley children's range of yogurts. Boden is a British clothing retailer who can offer a wonderful range of outfits for boys, girls and babies with their Mini Boden line.

GIVE-AWAY

I have 4 prizes up for grabs for 4 lucky people.

The prizes include a Mini Boden t-shirt and a selection of yummy Yeogurts.

Please fill in the raffle copter form below to be in with a chance of winning

The give away ends Monday 2nd April, 2012

Good luck :)

Saturday Caption Day - 24th March, 2012

Its Saturday which means its caption day again 

Here is my photo 

Please leave me a caption :)

then check out the other entries here:

Warner Brothers Oscar Inspired Film Bundle

Last week I collected a late parcel from the Post Office which Burton was very happy to help hold all the way home, because he was hoping it was going to contain the eagerly anticipated Happy Feet 2 DVD package.

Sadly for Burton, it did not contain the penguin films for him (he was a little disappointed after tearing open the brown paper when we got home), but the good news for Mummy was that it did contain an Oscar inspired collection of movies that Warner Brothers kindly sent to me.

Bless him, Burton still enthusiastically took each DVD out and waved them around saying "ooh look Mummy" !! Luckily, for me he didn't realise that the Oscar shaped items were chocolate otherwise I may have had to surrender one to him! *sniggers to herself*

I received 5 films in total all of which have been won an Oscar......or several in some cases!

They are:

Gone With The Wind - won 13 Oscars in 1939

This is my favourite film - I LOVE it! If I could play any heroine in a film role, Scarlett O'Hara would be the one. She is beautiful, feisty and stubborn and her dresses are gorgeous and well she is just such a minx! This film and her character is why I always wanted a daughter so I could call her Scarlett hmmm...well that boat has sailed now although Jenson almost got called Red!

Anyway, this film is amazing and I cannot wait to watch it all again and frankly, my dear a don't give a damn if no one agrees with this being my top film of all time!

Casablanca - won 3 Oscars in 1943

Another timeless classic and one which I have never seen all the way through....yet! But of course I will be able to now.

An American In Paris - won 6 Oscar in 1952

Bit of a love triangle plot, this film is about three friends who are trying to find work in Paris and then the friendship is put to the test when two of them fall in love. I have only ever seen the beginning of this film so I will be great to watch it all the way through.

The Blind Side - won 1 Oscar in 2009

I haven't seen this film depicting the semi biographical story of a homeless boy who goes onto become an all American football star.But I do like Sandra Bullock (who won the Oscar for best actress) so I am sure I will enjoy the film and her performance in it.

Paris After Midnight - win 1 Oscar in 2012

This Woody Allen film is an enjoyable watch and I liked the idea that after midnight during his vacation in Paris, Owen Wilson is taken back to the 1920's his favourite Parisian era where authors, artists and performers, who he enjoys in his 2011 time zone, exist and he is able to meet and chat with. It's a romantic comedy and I enjoyed seeing Wilson do something so different from his usual comic performances or, of course, as the voice to Lightening McQueen. I would recommend this to watch, as the performances from some very known actors are great to watch and I liked the narrative.

Thanks Warner Brothers!