Trick or Treat - Scooby or Scrappy

Happy Halloween everyone. Joshua and Brandon are both still a bit young to know much about Halloween but that didn't stop us trying to get them into the spirit of things. The day started with some pumpkin play. After scalping the top and gutting the pumpkin, Joshua had fun decorating his work of art with some Frankenstein pieces.

The proud boy with his masterpiece in hand.

Brandon getting a closer look (and a few ideas for his turn next year!).

The finished piece.

After dinner it was time to go trick or treating. Since Joshua gets a bit scared of anything remotely monstrous or ghastly then we decided to tone down their fancy dress for this year to save on the nightmares! So I present to you Scooby and Scrappy Doo..............

Scooby Doo...........

Scooby and scrappy sharing a loving moment.

Scrappy Doo............

Scrappy and Mummy.

Sweets glorious sweets - as you can see the boys did rather well with their trick or treat collections. Thanks to everyone.

Joshua seems pretty keen to crack into that Mars bar!

Hells Kitchen

Meet the new master chef champion for 2009. Joshua has shown a very keen interest in cooking both at school and at home. Now he has his very own apron, chefs hat and wooden spoon.

Other news on Joshua is that he no longer has his cot in his bedroom. He is now sleeping 100% in his "big boys bed".

Trolley Boys

Brandon in his first trip out in a toddler trolley seat instead of the hard blue plastic baby seats.


And sharing some time with his brother.

Joshua's Birthday Part II

Well Joshua has now officially moved up into the next class (2 year olds +) at nursery. Mixed feelings so far as all seemed to be going swimmingly until Tuesday when he had a bit of an off day. We are not sure whether it was because he has a little cough/cold or whether he is not enjoying his new class despite lots of his old friends already being there. On the plus side he did his first bit of school cooking this week and bought home a flap jack which I have to say was rather tasty.

Yesterday Joshua has also received his first ever piece of homework from nursery. He has a series of nursery songs and hand gestures to learn. Then today at his MiniMends class Joshua was given some crest seeds to grow at home. So we have got to make sure he waters them everyday and then report back on his progress next week.

Brandon is making more and more sounds each day now and is quite often header mumbling away with either "mum,mum,mum,mum,mum......mum" or "dad,dad,dad,dad,dad,dad.......dad". Although I have to confess that unlike Joshua, Brandon did say "mum" before he said "Dad".

Anyway as promised here are some more pictures from Joshua's 2nd birthday which was last Sunday. PS I am still looking for suggestions from anyone as to what I am supposed to do with all the toys - building a bigger house is not an option!!!

Brandon with "Auntie " B on the bouncy castle.

The birthday boy getting some air time - I think he is trying to show off in front of the little lady!

The "Rexy" birthday cake "rooooaaaar".

I'll huff and I'll puff................

Time to chill with a plate of party food and his friends.

This was Joshua's Pinata in the shape of Lightning McQueen. Well done to Mia for pulling the winning ribbon and opening the trap door.

Joshua opening up some of his many many presents.

Uncle Michael helping Joshua set-up his new safari plane.

Up, up and away................

At the end of the day it was time to pack up the bouncy castle. Even the birthday boy helped.

That's all folks, roll on Brandon's 1st birthday in January!

Happy Birthday Joshua - 2 TODAY

Well a big happy birthday to Joshua and thanks to everyone who came along to his party today and made it a very special day. Joshua thoroughly enjoyed seeing all his friends and family. Also thanks for all the wonderful gifts that he received - although it has left us with one major dilemma, where are we supposed to put them all??????????

Anyway as expected Joshua absolutely loved his Little Tykes Police car and has barely parted company with it all day.

Brandon playing with one of Joshua's birthday baloons.

A rare shot of Joshua letting someone else near his new wheels.

As you can see he is not proud of his car - do you think he swallowed a coat hanger upside down.

Another big success in terms of presents was Joshua's organ which his younger brother brought him. Joshua has mastered singing happy birthday to himself now.

All boys have to have a garage at some stage.

Since Joshua shows a very keen interest in art we also bought him this flip sided easel which has a chalk board one side and a white board on the other.

Nice to see that with all those toys there is still time to sit down and read a book.

The kids all loved playing on the bouncy castle. Here you can see Joshua, Ibi, Olly and Izzy.

Time to sit down for a quick bit of R&R with Sophia from next door but one.

Only a quick update for today, but check in later this week for more pictures and news from Joshua's birthday.

Guess who is 2 tomorrow?

Who can believe my little man is 2 tomorrow.

Only 1 night now until Joshua's 2nd birthday - last weekend Joshua had some practice blowing out candles by blowing out the scented candles. Joshua still struggles to add the "Birth" bit into "Birthday", so for now it is just his "Happy Day"! Can't wait to see his reaction to his Little Tykes Police Car. I think Joshua has now realised that it is his birthday tomorrow. So final preparations are taking place ready for his party tomorrow.........not sure who is more excited, him or me????

Here is the soon to be birthday boy wearing his new Scooby Doo winter coat - what a nice fit.


Brandon is teething real bad at the moment and seems to suffer far worse than Joshua ever did. One night last week I think we got a total of about 2 hours sleep! Joshua should be so grateful being up in his penthouse and suite sleeping in his big boys bed because he is completely oblivious to anything Brandon gets up too. Oh well, 5 teeth down and only another 15 to go!!! Forget bonjela, we have now moved onto Karvol to see if we can get a better nights sleep!

Looking at the pictures below you would never guess how grumpy the little dude has been last week with his teeth. Anyway as the temperatures start to drop as winter moves ever closer, here are some nice pictures of Brandon in his winter suit.

Fun Fair

Last weekend we decided to take Joshua and Brandon to the fun fair and had a great afternoon out. We bought Joshua a wrist band to enable him to go on as many rides as he liked as many times and I have to say this worked out to be a real bargain at £7. He must have gone on about a dozen rides in all (some multiple times!!!) plus the trampolines and bouncy castle/slides. I was actually surprised just how many toddler size rides there were for him as I didn't expect anywhere near as many. Poor Brandon just got to look on in frustration as there was nothing suitable for an 8 month old. It will be really great in about a years times when they can both go on the rides at the same time.

So unfortunately very few pictures of Brandon in today's blog. There is one which includes Brandon watching the world go by in his pram - and if you look in the background of that photo you will see his brother on a helicopter.


Apollo 9 we have lift off.........


All aboard the Joshua Express.....

Time for a tea break......

Here is the picture of Joshua and Brandon. Joshua doing a fly by in the background....

On the bouncy castle/slide.

Another train ride.

These planes were probably the fastest and most daring ride that Joshua went on. Pretty high up for a near 2 year old.

Time for some bouncy bouncy to tire the little man out ready for bath and bed.

Very surprisingly to me they allowed Joshua on the bumper cars accompanied by an adult (such a shame as this meant I had to go on with him!!!). The little guy absolutely loved these and thought it was great fun crashing into the other cars.

And finally Joshua on the swings with a very puzzled look as to what the boy to his right is doing.