600 years ago.

Phew another busy weekend over with. Today started with Joshua's football club followed by a trip to the cinema to watch Toy Story 3. Joshua was enthralled in the film for about 45 mins to an hour - then he fell asleep on my lap and the rest was history. Brandon lasted about an hour before he started to get a but bored and fidgety - once again this coincided with running out of snacks for him to eat.

After the cinema it was home for a bit to eat before heading out to the 600 year old Chelmsford Cathedral. For months and months Joshua has been asking to have a look in a church and every time we take him the doors seem to be locked shut. So this afternoon we finally had a few hours spare and Chelmsford Cathedral (the place of my first graduation) was open to the public.

 Joshua standing at the entrance.

And little Brandon exploring the Cathedral grounds.

This is bar far the most amazing stained glass window in the Cathedral. How awesome is this?

This is a nice picture with a very colourful backdrop for the boys to pose against.

Joshua off exploring one of the isles if the Cathedral. Just around the corner from here there was a man practicing on the organ. Despite it being very very loud and echoing all around the Cathedral, I am not sure the musician appreciated be and Joshua singing the nursery rhyme, "pia, pia, piano, piano, piano........" as he played along.

Both boys were fascinated with the candles, especially Brandon who was fixated on them.

Time to say some prayers.

And for today's Sunday service your special guest speakers are.............

The next two pictures show some more nice stained glass windows which caught the boys attention. Probably because of the Lion and the Eagle.

And the final farewell as we say goodbye and head home for dinner.

Ceramics

A year ago Joshua was making his first ever hand painted ceramic plate at nursery. One year later and it is Brandon's turn to have a go. As you can see from the pictures below, he is very proud of his handy work. Although somewhat disappointed that his plate has no food on it.



And here are the finished master pieces. Joshua's from 2009 and Brandon's from 2010.

Andrex

Joshua has a new nickname – Andrex. Why? Well lets just say that there are times when Joshua acts like a right old man. For example when doing a poo he is not in and out as quick as possible like his Dad. Oh no, it’s a 15-20 min affair and often I have asked him if he would like a book or newspaper to help pass the time and he always declines my offer. So often we just leave him to go about his business and call us back once he has finished.

Well I guess it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened and I am sure that all kids try this at some stage in their life. So in case you haven’t already guessed then Joshua decided to follow the Andrex doggy and find out exactly just how soft, long and strong a whole roll of toilet roll is by sitting there and unrolling a whole tube onto the floor. Of course you have to try not to laugh when they do something like this and explain what they did wrong followed by a brief stint on the “naughty” step, but it is not easy to keep a straight face.

Thunder

Well if nothing else in life I have taught my boys to appreciate good music. Both of them have recently become fans of ACDC's song Thunderstruck and love listening to this in the car. They are frequently running around shouting "Thunder" whilst pointing a finger as per the intro to the song. Also hot news is that Joshua can virtually sing the alphabet song (he keeps missing the "H" out) but otherwise he is nearly there and Brandon can now count to eleven. Given that we have 13 steps to each floor in the house, then I would say it is only a week or two before we can get him to 13.

Speaking of the little guy, here is a recent picture of him pushing the shopping basket around town.

Also its that time of year to get writing them letters to Santa. So this afternoon I sat down with the boys to prepare their letters saying how good they are and what presents they would like. Although given tonight's performance by both boys I might think twice about posting them. Neither of them wanted to go to bed and have played us up no end, 8.30pm and Joshua is still awake. The trouble is he will now be really tired for football club in the morning.

Maybe part of the problem tonight was sugar overload. You see I treated them to Daddy's special saucy chocolate hot pots for pudding tonight. As you can see from the pictures below, both boys had a lip smacking time even if they did consume a few too many calories and a bit too much sugar.

Military Cuts

The government may be cutting spend on our military services, but rest assured our nation is in safe hands. Joshua and Brandon took up residence in Tilbury Fort yesterday to keep any enemies at bay.

Pre-School Photo

My god 10 days since the last blog - that must be a record. Just been too busy as of late. Anyway today I have a stunning picture of Joshua taken at his pre-school recently. If anyone would like a copy then just let me know what size and I will sort it out for you. No picture of Brandon as he does not go to the pre-school yet (only his nursery). The little guy is due he next Pixi Photo soon though, so watch this space. On a slightly different subject the little guy went into nursery briefly yesterday to do some painting and make his hand print plate. So once we have the final product in our hands I will try and get a photo of Brandon proudly holding his work of art.

Pumpkin Part II

Joshua is getting smarter and smarter everyday. Recently we have noticed that he now interacts with TV programmes and answers questions. For example he will be watching Mickey Mouse Club house, and 9 times out of 10 will shout out the correct mouskatool to use before Mickey picks it.

Brandon and Joshua have also started to play fight quite a lot lately. The mean no harm to each other and often just bundle each other. Surprisingly it is usually Brandon on top as well. The little guy gives as good as he gets.

Before getting onto the subject of this blog I would also like to confirm that am officially joining the "Anti British Summer Time" clock changing!!!! Changing the clocks an hour is an absolute nightmare when you have young children. Despite putting the boys to bed an hour later, their body clock just does not adjust overnight and for 3 mornings on the trot Joshua has been up at around 5am!!!!! His usual wake up time is around 6 o'clock which I can live with, but 5am is not good.

So onto the subject of this blog. Last night it was my turn to carve the Chugger Pumpkin. Tonight it was the boys turn to work their magic and create their own pumpkin. What do you think of this monster?

And here are the finished pieces.............

Chugger Pumpkin

For those non believers who do not believe Brandon slept in his bed last night - here is photographic evidence. OK, so he ended up a bit scrunched up at the pillow end. But he stayed there until the morning and didn't get out of bed once. Having been confined to a cot for nearly 2 years, he is at that wonderful stage where he has not realised he can escape from the bed, yet! I think all Mary hell will break loose when the two of them are in beds and decide they would rather play around in the loft as opposed to going to be to go to sleep.

Also a little late for Halloween I know, but here is the first of this years pumpkin carvings for the boys. The good old monster faces are so yesterday and the boys are not impressed either. So this year it was a case of being a bit more creative and thinking outside the box - so meet the Chuggington pumpkin.