BREAKING NEWS : No More Thumb Sucking thanks to Sock Boots

Well its been a long battle with Joshua that has taken the best part of 10 years, but it appears that we have finally cracked the thumb sucking problem. A few weeks ago he saw a really nice pair of football sock boots in Decathlon that he wanted. So I told him that I would happily buy them for him once he stopped sucking his thumb. To be honest I really didn't expect this incentive to work as we have previously promised him healies, single seater canoes and all sorts of other rewards if he stops sucking his thumb and it has never worked.

 

However he must have really wanted these sock boots as it has been over a week now since we last caught him with his thumb in his mouth!!!! HOORAY. So being true to my word we headed to Decathlon to buy him his sock boots. Fortunately Tina and Joshua had done a boot sale earlier in the day and made a bit of extra money for holiday next week. Instead half of the money they made went on two pairs of sock boots for the boys.

 

Of course with me being a bit of a wind-up character I didn't just give in a buy the sock boots straight away. First I stuffed one of my socks in Joshua's hiking boots and presented this to him as a pair of sock boots. He wasn't impressed!!!!

 

Apparently this isn't what Joshua meant by a pair of sock boots.

These were the bad boys that finally convinced Joshua to stop sucking his thumb. Worth every penny after a near 10 year battle.

Joshua and Brandon all smiles with their new footy boots. Shame we are on holiday for a week or so and they won't get to test them at training/matches.

 

 

Also on Saturday Joshua had a Cubs skills day at the Grange school and seemed to have a really good day. He has been a bit sketchy remembering all the activities that he participated in. The one that he was really proud of was that he was one of the few that managed to light his own camp fire and subsequently managed to cook marshmallows on it. Also in teams they had to build and wooden tripod which was strong enough to hold a bowl of water. Then with the water balanced on top they had to sit underneath their tripod to show faith in their creation. 

 

Joshua sitting underneath his tripod which seems to be supporting the bowl of water adequately.

Joshua was one of the only ones that got his camp fire going. So he cooked marsh mallows and homemade wrap pizzas.

Fidget Spinners





So the latest craze with the kids is a new thing called fidget spinners. Basically fidget spinners are addictive little gadgets that come in a range of shapes and colours. They were originally designed as a stress-relieving tool, they have even been used to help children with additional needs such as ADHD. Put simply they are like little propeller-shaped gadgets with ball bearings that allow them to spin. Like I said it is the latest craze with the kids who seem to enjoy competing to see who can come up with the best tricks or keep their gadget spinning the longest. They can also help kids focus on daily tasks, and relieve anxiety levels.

So like all crazes we have been sucked in and managed to buy the boys one of these must have gadgets before all the shops ran out. This week it seems that every man and his dog is trying to buy fidget spinners. I suspect this will fizzle out very quickly as we heard the school already banned these today as someone got hurt by one. I guess the kids will all move on to the fidget cubes next arguing that these are not spinners and they can take them to school!

 

Joshua and Brandon with the latest craze - fidget spinners.

Simple in design but all the kids must have one!!! Haven't seen many tricks from the boys yet.



Holly's First Hair Plait

 Holly is now getting really lovely long blond hair which is often being brushed aside by her as it gets in her face. However she seems to really dislike having her hair tied back in a band or using a head band and only keeps then in for a few minutes. Earlier this week Tina managed to plait Holly's hair for the first time and it looked really pretty. Holly kept it in for a little while but by the time she finished pre-school it was out. So as I was out at work the only evidence I have is this picture!

 

Holly's first ever hair plait.

 

 

Brandon is currently really losing interest in Beavers as he has been there for virtually 3 years and has done everything that they do at least twice over and so finds it boring. He was due to go up to Cubs (where Joshua is) in January but up until now there has been no space for him. However this week we got the good news that from June the 1st he now has a space in Cubs. So after 3 years at Beavers and 3 years of me being an Assistant Leader it will all be coming to an end. I just need to motivate Brandon to at least give the Cubs a go now as it will give him a lot of different activities and experiences, but on the flip side is a lot more disciplined.

 

This week at Beavers Brandon was making rubbish bag fashion clothing and as you can see from the picture he made a West Ham United bin bag vest top (with a bit of help from me). We desperately tried to get him to smile for the picture but he wasn't having any of it!!

 

Brandon looking rather happy (NOT) with his bin bag fashion item that he made at Beavers. West Ham's 17/18 new kit.

Snorkel Masks

With only 10 days until we are off on holiday to Menorca we are frantically starting to buy all those last minute items, book parking, arrange currency etc.etc. Today's objective was to head over to Decathlon and pick up some full face snorkel masks for the boys. They both absolutely love snorkeling but Brandon in particular doesn't like the salt water and struggles to breath through a conventional mouth snorkel which often don't fit him very well.

 

These full face snorkels are a fantastic idea for kids as they give much wider visibility and seal around the outside of the face meaning they can breath normally. The breath tube has a one way valve so there is no chance of them sucking water through the tube even if they decide to dive under the water. When we got home today the boys were keen to test out the masks in the jacuzzi ahead of holiday in just over a weeks time.

 

Josh looks more like and astronaut wearing his full face snorkel mask.

Fingers crossed Brandon will spend more time in the sea and come out snorkeling with me and Joshua.



Even Holly wanted to have a little try of the mask! The instructions say not for children under 10 though so no chance of getting her one yet (even though they do sell them in pink).

 

Also this afternoon we were playing around in the garden and like all responsible parents I was watching over the kids making sure they were safe and not getting up to mischief. Well not quite, instead I got the bean bag out of the living room and encouraged them to jump off of the climbing frame on to the bean bag!!! They absolutely loved it, even Holly wanted to have a go but I had to say no for her as it is a bit too high!.



Action shot of Brandon taking a leap off of the climbing frame.

Brandon just about to nail a landing as Joshua readies for a jump.

Joshua poised for a take off. Looks quite high.

Off he goes............ good responsible parenting or simply boys being boys????

Tops Pre-School Closing Down

You may recall a blog around September time last year showing that Holly was starting at the Tops Foundation Pre-School. She now does four half days a week and she absolutely loves it there. She has really settled with the teachers and has a few friends that she often talks about. She is learning so much everyday with new nursery rhymes, counting, trying new foods, cutting and sticking and so much more.

 

In fact things are going so good for her at Tops that we had absolutely no doubt at all that we would keep her there until she starts school in September 18. However last week we received some devastating news that the Wick Community Centre (where the pre-school is based) are apparently increasing the rent so much that they are closing down this June!!!

 

As you can imagine there has been an uproar in the local community with partitions formed, letters sent to MP's meetings with the council and news reports on the local Echo paper. If the pre-school closes down it will have such an impact an all the kids and families already using this fabulous facility in addition to the great staff who will all be losing their jobs. We will be at a complete loss as to where to send Holly if this does go ahead as there are no other local pre-schools and all the nurseries have a huge waiting list.

 

So fingers crossed the council and MP's can get something sorted, otherwise Holly might be in for a year of home-pre-schooling!!

 

 

Holly's first day at Tops in 2016. She was so happy to be starting big girls school.

A recent photo of some of the staff and kids which appeared in the local Echo paper to try and raise some support for Tops.

Captain Caveman

To start today's blog I have a few odd pictures from over Easter. Firstly Brandon using up some of his Easter Eggs by using half of one of them as a bowl to hold his morning blueberry wheat's!!! And yes that is an AC/DC t-shirt he is proudly wearing - how cool is that, an 8 year old that loves AC/DC?



 

Brandon with his half Easter Egg bowl and wearing a cool ACDC T-shirt.

That's how you make an Easter breakfast.

Holly also enjoyed some more Easter craft activities as I got her to paint some plastic eggs. She absolutely loves doing any sort of cutting, painting, sticking so she thoroughly enjoyed this. She told me off on numerous occasions for helping her and ruining her painting!

 

Holly really enjoying some Easter crafts.

Concentrating hard as she paints her beautiful Easter design.

 

The reason this post is called Captain Caveman is because the two boys are studying the Stoneage at school at the moment and had a dress up day today where they had to go as Cavemen. Its really good that the school do these learning / activity days but it does frustrate me a bit keep forking out for costumes. We tried making Joshua a Roman costume once which I was really proud of and thought we did a really good job, but some of the kids at school took the mickey out of him so now Tina insists on us buying proper costumes. So bang went another £30 for one school day.

 

Also last night I had to print off a load of bones and mount them on cardboard to make a bandanna bone and some bone shoe laces for Brandon to accessorise his costume. Then Joshua decides he only wants to wear half of his costume and leaves off the belt and the beard. Anyway the boys seemed to enjoy their day even if Tina didn't get the best Caveman poses and smiles out of them in the attached pictures!!! I think she needs to work on her photography skills a bit.

 

 

Caveman Brandon ready for stoneage day at school.

Joshua wearing half his caveman costume. This was the biggest we could find and is 11-12 years old and only just fits him.

Captain Cavemen with some rather dodgy fake camera grins!

Lindt Easter Hunt at Hyde Hall

Continuing with the Easter activities today we took a bit of a punt with the weather and headed over to RHS Hyde Hall for the kids to do the Lindt Easter Bunny trail. We have only ever been here once with the boys many years ago and I think they have also been on a school trip. Holly has never been to Hyde Hall.

 

The Easter trail itself was pretty simple for the kids and they found the 6 clues very easy to earn their little Lindt Chocolate Bunny. The craft marquee was closed and Hyde Hall itself is also shut as they are rebuilding it. So we had a nice picnic over there and took a kite, some Frisbee's and a few other toys. It was the first time Holly has ever had a go at flying a kite and she absolutely loved it, even if she did let go a few times leaving me running after it!

 

The rest of the time there we explored the grounds and what flowers were already in bloom. We played in the den building area, saw some bee hives and then the kids all had a play in the kids play area to finish off the day. All in all a really nice way to spend Easter Sunday.

 

Once we got home me and Joshua set off to make our Sunday desert which was a rather special Cheesecake Filled Easter Egg with Mango and Strawberry yoke. We saw the idea on a facebook post and had to give it a tryout. It came out absolutely gorgeous and made a great sharing type of desert.

 

Off to Hyde Hall for the Lindt Easter Bunny trail.

Holly found a bunny straight away.

Joshua has to climb on everything!

Rest my case as he climbs on a wooden hare.

Brandon with another wooden hair sculpture.

Clue 1 found by the white craft marquee.

Its the Easter Holly egg....

And the Easter Brandon Egg......

Happy Easter from Josh and Holly.

Clue 2 found.

The clue two rabbit on Brandon's head for some reason.

Holly finds clue 3 by the curved bench seat.

I don' t think we are supposed to run off with the hidden bunnies Holly.

Clue 4 found.

Holly getting to fly a kite for the first time.

Holly absolutely loved the kite flying and wouldn't give the boys a look-in.

Brandon started to try and throw the air bomb toy to shoot the kite out of the air.

Clue 5 found.

Holly smelling some nice pink flowers.

Lovely smile on Holly as we explore the rock gardens.

Holly smelling some lovely coloured tulips.



Holly and Brandon in the wooden gazebo tunnel.

At the pond Brandon wanted to know why the male ducks were prettier and more colourful than the females.

Brandon on a bridge.

Brandon and Holly chilling in some of the beautiful gardens.

More pretty pink flowers for Holly to smell.

Plenty of greenery on display but not that many flowers this time of year.

Holly doing some Olympic Lifting in the den building area.

Brandon and Holly climbing a tree.

Tina and Holly exploring the Hyde Hall grounds.

Little H going up in the tree house play area and then down the slide.

 

Brandon thinks he is on ninja warrior!

He nails the rope swing.

Then Joshua has a go.

Holly climbing up higher and higher.

The 3 kiddies enjoying the play area.

Homemade Easter Sunday desert made by me and Josh.

Cheesecake filled Easter egg with mango and strawberry yoke.

Superb pudding for sharing once you have cracked it open. Delicious.