And so it begins.....

All the Christmas shenanigans! No no, don't get me wrong, I do like Christmas but it's a busy time! Today was the first of many things happening the next 4 weeks. The princess' school had their 'Make Christmas decoration for your classroom' day and parents were welcome to come and help. So I did.....
The classroom looks fantastic now, the children are happy and I'm soooo tired!! They do have a lot to tell you this lovely bunch of 7 year olds....

Tomorrow afternoon there's a Christmas party at the after school club. Then we're off to the harbour to see Father Christmas arrive on the boat to turn the lights on, on our town's Christmas tree. Like he does every year so it's ready for the Christmas fair on Sunday. Next week is soooo busy too with more parties at nursery, school but I'll come back to that another day.

Are you ready for all the Christmas shenanigans??

Dripping wax....

Well, that's a direct translation from Danish 'dryppe lys' whether it's right I do not know. It does say what I mean though, literally!
Light a candle and let the wax drip into a small bowl of cold water. That's what the princess, little man and I were doing yesterday. They were very proud to be allowed to hold the candle and use it to light a new colour, then blow out the candle just used. They were very careful and no hair was burnt... Might be because I was constantly reminding them not to lean over!

Pretty aren't they...??
It's a nice little easy thing to make for the grandparents for Christmas.

Something goes away and a new idea arises....

We've (until a week ago) had 2 cars, a little dinky one for me and a family car which the daddy drove. My car had it's MOT 2 weeks ago and failed and I mean failed to the extent that it was only to be driven to my mechanics. What to do now???
Well, luckily my mum lives close and happily helps in times of need! The daddy works a good 8 miles away so 16 all together and we have never thought of him not driving.
"Why don't I ride my bike?" Hmmmm, yeah why not!!
The more he thought about it, the more keen he got so we fixed his bike so it had everything in order. He left excitedly half an hour earlier the first morning and I would be lying if I said I wasn't just a tad nervous. But 55 minutes later a text ticked in, he had safe and sound made it to work in time.... Woo hoo!!!
Ever since he has never looked back and 2 cars is in the past, no need for that. He's happily cycling to work and back, feels less tired and just plain loves it!!
I'm very proud of him and yes of course I've told him.... At dinner today he mentioned again how he loves it and I said as a joke "next stop Tour de France then..."
"I could do that!!"
I'm sorry, what?? But he insisted it couldn't be that tough and 5 days a week he was cycling 16 miles so really, how hard could it be??

But really, Tour de France or not, I'm proud of him for cycling every day to work and so happy to be the one left with the car!!

I'm scared, I'm so scared, mummy!

That's what the little man screamed whilst shaking yesterday when he got, not just one but 2 splinters, for the first time in his life. How's he's managed not to get any at all for 5 years, I do not know. The princess has had several since she was little. So she's a bit of an expert on the subject so she shared her experience about splinters with the little man. Made a big effort to assure him it wasn't too bad, there would be no blood but a needle would be requried.
The little man was crying but brave and the first splinter was removed..... Big cheers and woo hoo's!! Then on to the next splinter. This time the little man had stopped shaking and crying and demanded to see to make sure I did it properly. He even giggled.... What a change in just 2 minutes but two splinters were removed and the little man was so proud.

This morning he needed to just go through the splinter story a few times to make sure we all remembered how scared and brave he was!! I of course told him what a big brave boy he was and that he eagerly agreed with.
Not to forget the princess and her part in the big splinter drama last night, I did remember to tell her what a big help she was sharing her experience with her little brother.

Here they are, the brave little man and his helpful big sister.

The Tooth Fairy!

The little man has lost his first tooth!

Football fan but not your team, daddy!!

The little man has an interest in football, helped by the daddy who's the biggest football fan I know. As the little man has gotten older (now 5) his understanding of the game has increased and he sits with the daddy and watches the games. He loses interest after a while but not before he knows what team the daddy wants to win and more often than not then chooses the opposite team!! That's all fine when it's randomish games but when it's the daddy's team it hurts when the little man chooses the reds not the blues.....
When we went away with our friends the other weekend the men were discussing this as our friends little boy does the same!!! My friend and I said nothing, it was not a discussion for us to interact in!! None of us suprised that our little boys are winding up their daddy!!

Look how proud she is....

Today she got her diploma.... 7 years old and a 1000 pages are read!! The daddy, the little man and I proudly watched. Yes, I shed a tear (or 2, 3, 4....) wouldn't you..?

Have a great weekend!

1000 pages read....

Actually a bit more but who's counting.... Oh, yeah we are!!! At school tomorrow the princess will receive a diploma at morning assembly given to her by the Headmaster. The daddy, the little man and I will proudly be there, taking lots of photos...
When the princess started first grade we were told she had to read at least 10 pages a day out loud to us (Read) She loves it and often reads more than 10 pages which now have resulted in reaching the first goal... 1000 pages!!
She's very excited, proud and a bit nervous about tomorrow. I will defo show you pictures when we're back.
I'm very excited too and very very proud.

A night away....

Saturday to Sunday the daddy and I were in a very nice hotel in Copenhagen which is a couple of hours from where we live. It was a wedding present from our lovely friends. We very much enjoyed our adult time, ate lovely dinner and a fantastic brunch the next morning. The daddy has not often been to our capital Copenhagen so a bit of sightseeing was to be done. The little Mermaid seemed a good choice. We made it just before dark after we've been enjoying coffee and hot chocolate.

The hotel we stayed in was very nice and we slept more than 8 hours without being woken. no children calling for mummy or daddy. I even had a shower in peace, no child chatting away whilst on the toilet. The princess or little man always seem to need the toilet when I have a shower.... I guess that's the beauty of motherhood!! Anyway, we relaxed and enjoyed our 1½ days away.
The little man and the princess had had a great time at home with mormor (grandma) so much they thought it was appropriate to wake at 5am!! Poor mormor... She was tired when we got back!

This is the hotel we stayed in, in the heart of Copenhagen!

"When I'm older I will live in another house"

Stated the little man last night. Okay, where will you live??

"In no 66"

We live in no 77 and as no street name was mentioned, we must assume the little man meant not too far from here... In no 66!!!

The princess and the daddy was playing Guess Who before bedtime.

The daddy: "does yours have hair on the face?"

The princess: "No! Only eyeBROWNS"

She's always said it and we can't bear to correct her.... As we live in Denmark I guess it can take a while before she realizes it's wrong!!