Wizz Kids Halloween Day & Trick or Treating

So its Happy Halloween and the boys both had a great day at a Wizz Kids summer club today. This saved me having to use up all my vacation during half term and gave Tina a break from looking after them all day given that she is very heavily pregnant now. Best of all is that it was effectively free of charge as I have still been saving a bit of money in child care vouchers since Brandon stopped nursery, so we already had money aside to cover this activity.

In addition to carving more pumpkins at Wizz Kids, the boys both got their faces painted.



Both boys really enjoyed their day at Wizz Kids which is great news for us as it means it is another club we can use for the odd day during school holidays / half terms.

Anyway in the last few days the boys have been getting very creative and arty with Halloween activities. Not only did they carve their pumpkins a few days ago, but Tina has had them making Halloween paper chains and Xmas door hangers, then yesterdays they visited Auntie Lisa’s Laboratory for a Halloween themed craft day where they painted pumpkins, coloured scary pictures and made some pipe cleaner spiders.
 



The boys making a Halloween paper chain.

Little B at the Lab hard at work painting his pumpkin.

 

Joshua hard at working making a mess and painting his pumpkin at Auntie Lisa's Lab.



Tonight after dinner we all dressed up in our fancy dress costumes and his the streets of the Wick for some trick or treating. I never remember Halloween being this commercialised when I was a kid (guess we have a lot to thank the Americans for). It now seems Halloween has kind of over shadowed Guy Fawkes night completely. My two know about bonfire night and fireworks, but they wouldn’t have a clue who Guy Fawkes is and certainly have never heard of “penny for a guy”.

All four of us dressed up and ready to go out trick or treating.

 

Brandon wanted to dress up as the black Spiderman this year.

Joshua had a blue Power Ranger costume but chose his scary clown for tonight's trick or treating.

Some of the houses around the neighbourhood made the most amazing effort of decorating their houses for Halloween. But by far the best was the one shown below which was themed around a haunted theme park. They had smoke, haunting sounds and music, a real working/spinning carousel, a magicians box with a dummy person inside and a saw that was automatically cutting backwards and forwards through the box using some sort of motorised mechanism, lights everywhere. It was absolutely amazing and must have took hours and hours and hours to create and set-up. The pictures really don't do this display any justice. 

The spinning carousel and the dagger throwing board in the Creepy Circus.

The saw cutting through the women in the box with the audience watching on in amazement.

As usual it seems like half of Abacus school were out doing trick or treat on the estate. To be honest it was amazing that anyone was actually inside their houses to give out treats. Before long we seemed to be moving from house to house with a mini clan of dressed up kids. Joshua was in his element as he met his best friend Tom and the two of them were pretty much just racing from one house to the next. 

The mini clan of scary kids going from door to door collecting sweets and treats.



The amount of sweets the boys accumulated in an hour and half was quite incredible really.

Overall we had an absolute blast going out trick or treating and scourered the neighbourhood for about an hour and a half in the end. It was really nice to see all the other kids and the various Mum's and Dad's from the school all out and enjoying Halloween. It gave you a real sense of being in a community and having fun. Brandon was still a little scared of some of the houses and a few people which opened their doors were a bit too much in character and subsequently he would go nowhere near them.

Anyway another important part of Halloween is of course the pumpkin carving. In total we now have 8 pumpkins on display. Two that the boys painted at the Lab, two that the carved at home, two that they carved at Wizz kids and then two that I carved ready for Bonoween this weekend. Joshua and Brandon picked the theme for my pumpkin carvings this year and I will be first to admit it is not my best work. Although a lot of trick or treat'ers did comment that they really liked the Angry Bird one.

My Angry Bird pumpkin bursting through a brick wall.

My second pumpkin carving was Turbo the snail from the new Dreamworks kids film.

Turbo and Angry Bird hanging proudly in our porch way.

On the back of Turbo I carved one of the other snail characters from the film.

Mine and the boys pumpkin carvings hanging up and on display.

Scrooge

Well Halloween and Bon Fire Night have not even passed and yet Christmas has begun! The shops are loading up with Xmas items, the big superstores have their 50% toy sales and the big garden centres have their stunning Xmas displays open. Anyway this weekend we found our self in Alton's which was one of my Mum's favourite garden centres. Mum used to love coming here for the Xmas displays and there is a great photo of her with Santa from last year.

Joshua with Santa.

My two boys with Santa and Rudolph (its not quite the Lapland experience they had last year!).



Joshua with Frosty the Snowman.

A rare picture of me with the two boys. I thought I would get the comment in about me being the Scrooge before anyone else did!!!!

The displays are so amazing and look stunning. If only this was my front garden!

Auntie Nicky would like the penguins.

Another nice picture of the boys with one of the many Xmas displays in the background.

One of the things we saw in Alton's which we really wanted to buy was another bauble for babies first Xmas. We have bought one with 2007 on it for Joshua and 2009 for Brandon. So we really wanted to get a 2013 for Bubba, however the dilemma was pink or blue. We could have hedged our bets and bought both, instead we decided to leave it and wait until after the baby is born and we know the sex.

Creepy House

First bit of news for today is that last week both boys were presented with a Creepy House certificate in their school assembly. This was presented to all the children who managed to complete the Creepy House reading challenge at the local library which was run during the summer holidays. I think they had to read a minimum 6 books each which was no problem for Josh and Brandon as they love getting library books for bedtime stories.

 

Joshua and Brandon with their Creepy House reading certificate.

Halloween is kicking into full swing now. The boys have already had heir school Halloween party and then tonight Joshua had his Beaver Scouts Halloween party. For the first hour of today's session he got to do indoor archery and seemed to really enjoy it. The archery was proper recurve bows and from what Joshua tells us he hit the target quite a few times. After the archery they had their Halloween party where he also managed to get his face painted like a green zombie type of character.

 

Brandon posing by a giant pumpkin at Barleylands farm.

On Saturday night we were tipped off by my little Bro regarding the free firework display which Southend sea front run every Saturday night throughout October. Despite the lousy weather we managed to catch a break in the rain and decided to go and see the fireworks. We had a little trouble parking up and I ended up dropping Tina and the boys off whilst I parked up a bit further away, then legged it back to them just in time for the start of the fireworks. Joshua really enjoyed the fireworks but Brandon didn't like the noisy ones much (surprising given that he is by far the noisiest person in the house!).

 

We managed to miss the rain storms and stayed completely dry - well at least me and Tina did!!!! Joshua and Brandon had other ideas as they found the Southend fountains for the first time. At first they were happy running in between the gaps of the water fountains just getting a little splash. But within about 5 minutes they were literally standing in the fountains and running right through them. Both boys were drenched to the bones to the point where we had to strip them almost naked to put them in the car and bring them home. Joshua tipped half of Southend sea out of his welly boots.

At first the boys stayed between the fountain gaps and didn't get too wet.

But the pair of trouble makers soon changed that and got completely soaked.

Oddly enough Brandon was confused as to why he got so cold when walking back to the car!!!!

Anyway with Halloween fastly approaching we decided to crack on with our pumpkin carving today. So my first job was to gut 4 pumpkins ready for carving. Whilst I was doing this the boys seemed to enjoy being given the rather messy job of separating the pumpkin seeds from the pulp.

Joshua getting his hands dirty separating pulp and seeds.

Brandon using an ice cream scoop to pick out his seeds.

Both boys loved the messy play with the pumpkin pulp.

Joshua doing an outstanding job separating all his seeds.

For the first time ever I let the boys loose with a blunt pumpkin knife to make their own ghoulish creations. I helped them initially by carving a conventional pumpkin face, but then I let them have a free reign and do what they liked on the back of their pumpkins. Joshua seemed to enjoy cutting a big hole to put his hand through, for some reason Brandon was cutting star shapes. 

Joshua cutting his hand hole in the back of his pumpkin.

Brandon very happy that he is trusted with a pumpkin knife.

Its nice to see both boys enjoying some pumpkin craft.

 

You will have to wait until Halloween to see the final creations.

2013 School Pictures

Finally we have got the boys 2013 school pictures. This is Brandon's first official school photo. Also a very nice picture of both the boys at school. Not long now and there will be 3 of them. I think Tina worked out that Bubba will be starting school just as Joshua is leaving Abacus, therefore we can look forward to a school picture of all 3 of them in a few years to come.

Brandon 2013 Blue Class School Picture

Joshua and Brandon 2013 Abacus School picture

Joshua2013 Red Class School Picture

School Halloween Party

As next week is half term the boys school seems to be wrapping up all their Halloween activities before they all finish tomorrow. Today was their after school Halloween party where they all got to dress up in their scary costumes and do some dancing and play some games. Then tomorrow the Halloween theme continues as they are all going to enjoy the Halloween themed school dinner (should be interesting to see what Brandon eats!).

 

Zac (demon), Brandon (vampire) and Joshua (blue Power Ranger) all ready dressed up for their scary school Halloween disco.

Joint Parents Evening

Yesterday we attended Abacus school for our first joint parents evening where we had to see both Joshua and Brandon's school teachers. This first half term parents evening is really just for parents to understand how their children are settling into their new classes and if either the parents or teachers have any concerns.

 

So we started with Joshua's teacher first. The feedback was pretty much as expected and similar to last year. He can be a bit boisterous and loud at times and likes to be a dominant character in the class. He has calmed down during the first half term and academically is exactly where he should be. His language/speech is excellent, his maths is very good and apparently he enjoys this subject the most. His hand writing is getting a lot neater and his reading is at stage 4 which is where he should be at this stage in his schooling. About the only thing that lets him down is that he loses concentration during literacy and needs to concentrate a bit harder. The discussion with his teacher was really beneficial to us as she gave us some really good tips to help develop his reading and literacy at home with some simple fun type of activities regarding story writing and sharing ready books etc.

 

Next was Brandon. He has settled into foundation year amazingly and thoroughly enjoys school, Not once have we had him cry about having to go to school or waking up and saying he doesn't want to go to school. It sounds like he was a bit quiet and did not contribute in group activities for the first few weeks. But apparently that has all changed and he is starting to come out of his shell and is building a bigger circle of friends (instead of just him, Zac and Nathan). His phonics, numbers and speech are all very good and during the next term we will start getting homework for him in the form of reading books and sounds of the week. Probably the biggest surprise was that his teach told us he is very independent at school where as at home he is very dependant! For example at school he always feeds himself fine on his own whether having school dinners or packed lunch, yet at home he gets lazy and slow with his eating and expects one of us to feed him.

 

Anyway overall it seems both boys are doing very well and there are no causes for concern at the moment.

2, 4, 6 or 8 weeks?

Well it is 43 days today (or 6 weeks) until the official due date which we have been given for Bubba. However here are a few scary scenario’s to consider. Joshua was born bang on his due date, but Little B was two weeks early. So if Bubba takes after Brandon and is 2 weeks early then potentially the birth could be in around 4 week’s time. However, since day 1 when we first found out Tina was pregnant she has been convinced that she is actually 2 weeks ahead of the official due date based on her last cycle and the size of the baby etc – call it a woman’s intuition. So worst (or best depending on how you look at it) case scenario could be if Tina is right about her 2 week pull ahead, then the baby is also 2 weeks early as Little B was – then potentially Bubba could be born in 2 week’s time!!!! (How scary is that?). I am not sure we a quite ready and prepared for 2 week’s time.

So roll up, roll up, place your bets here. Will it be 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks (actual due date) or worst case 8 week’s time (based on the assumption that they will only allow Tina to go 2 weeks over the due date before inducing her). What are your bets on a November baby or a December baby? What are your bets on girl or boy? What are your bets on the baby weight (remember Joshua was heavy at 9lb 4oz and Little B was titchy at just 6lb 4oz)?

Gymnastics Party

So yesterdays Joshua had us up early to crack into his birthday presents. I think overall he was very, very pleased with his presents and in particular he liked his new bike, his golf set and his Sponge Bob mp3 player. The one thing he is disappointed about is not getting a kids Little Henry hoover!!!! So I guess that's what he will be spending his birthday money on.

 

So, Joshua starts tearing into his stack of birthday presents.

Brandon was drafted in for some help to unwrap the golf bag.

Team work as the golf set is revealed.

I took the boys over to the driving range today so that Joshua could try out his new golf set and he is really pleased with them. So next I need to find a pitch and putt course for him before we attempt a par 3 course. The downside was that we had major tantrums from Brandon as he feels left out not having his own golf set like me and Joshua, so guess what is now number 1 on Little B's Christmas list?

Joshua trying out his new bike for size.

Joshua chose the bike himself from Cycles UK and I have to say the green is pretty bright to say the least. It is a 20" Alien bike and his first bike to have gears. He is really impressed with the gears and now thinks he can come out riding with me as he has a fast bike. The 20" bike is probably a fraction too big for him right now, but he can ride it very competently. By next summer it will be a perfect size for him, where as had we of bought him an 18" bike he probably would have outgrown it.

Joshua with his very first golf set. Uncle David commented that the head on his wood is bigger than his one.

Joshua is all smiles as he shows everyone all his presents.

A common theme of Disney Planes and Skylanders for Joshua's 6th birthday.

Surprisingly Joshua managed to get all his presents opened before school started and this meant he had time to test out his new bike. He was very proud of his new wheels and he bragged to everyone in the school playground that it was his birthday and that this was his new bike.

 

 

Joshua riding his new bike to school.

So other than Skylanders the boys are both really into Disney Planes and one present we bought for Joshua was the kids Disney Planes Monopoly. It was an absolute pleasure to sit down with Joshua and Brandon and play our first ever game of Monopoly. Joshua now claims this is his favourite game. Brandon lost the game by going bankrupt first and then started crying because he didn't want to lose!

Me and the boys playing our first game of Monopoly together.

Joshua taking his go (and yes he is wearing a Blue Power Ranger costumer!).

We gave Joshua a choice to go out anywhere for dinner on his birthday and fully expected to end up back at the boys old favourite - the Quays. However surprisingly all Joshua wanted for his birthday was a KFC! Easily pleased. So we took him to the Pitsea KFC and boy was he a happy chap. He was saying this was the best dinner ever and that it was his best ever birthday. Who would have thought simple chicken and chips could make someone so happy and content.

Joshua thoroughly enjoying his birthday KFC.

Little B tucking into his KFC corn on the cob.

The 6th birthday cake was of course Skylanders (couldn't find a Disney Planes one!).

So the birthday celebrations continued today as Joshua had his 6th birthday party. This year it was a gymnastics themed party at the Basildon Sporting Village and he had about 22 of his friends attend. These gym parties are a genius idea for kids and I wish they had of had these when I was a little boy. They are different from the normal parties, great exercise for the kids and it opens up a door for them to try their hand at gymnastics.

Joshua getting ready to hang on a parallel bay over the sponge pit.

Brandon and cousin Mia showing excellent form and balance on the beam.

Josh just hanging around with his best buddy Tom.

A test of grip strength on the high rings. How long can Josh hold before plummeting to the pit below.

Some of the soft play on the gym floor area,

Brandon practising some Spiderman moves on the parallel bars

Brandon losing himself in the foam pit.

Mia hanging around on the high rings.

Joshua trying to get a swing going.

Mia, Brandon and Joshua.

All the kids were getting very hot and rosey cheeked. So the boys all started to strip their tops off like proper little gymnasts.

Little B on the trampoline.

And launching himself from the trampoline into the foam pit.

Mia and B in the pit.

Joshua using a spring board to bounce up onto some crash mats.

So a bit thank you to all the children who came along and made Joshua's birthday so special. He now has another huge pile of presents to start opening tomorrow which means I can probably expect to be woken at about 5am again tomorrow (or has the gymnastics really tired him out?).

All the kiddies that came to Joshua's party. Joshua is right at the top proudly holding his birthday gymnastics party.