New Year's Resolution

One of my new year's resolutions was to invite friends over even if our house is still in a state of chaos. Being half term last week, we had not one, but four playdates. Some were more manic than others but all were loads of fun and very important to the boys!

On Tuesday Alex and her two boys, Freddie and Lawrence, and Ellie came with her dauther, Olivia, and her son, Ernie. The interesting thing about this ensemble is that the three eldest kids were all born within a week of each other and the three youngest kids were all born within two months of each other. Since we all meet quite regularly the kids are becoming great friends. Only problem is that Alex and her family are moving to Cheltenham in the summer. We'll really miss them!

On Wednesday Claire came over with her gang: Phillipa, George and Annabel. They are practically family to us. The kids are all mad about each other and always have fun together. On Thursday Nicholas joined Phillipa for some arts and crafts. Claire always has something fun up her sleeve and this time it was wooden spoon princesses and pirates. Needless to say they had a ball!

On Friday morning Erica and Genevieve came to visit us. We haven't seen them for ages. It was great catching up with Erica, and Nicholas and Daniel both enjoyed playing with Genevieve. Besides playing in the garden and running around the house with balloons they also decorated biscuits. They enjoyed the creative part, but eating their creations was definitely the best part!

Nicholas' best friend from Peques, Jose-Luis, was here for Friday afternoon. He is from Guatemala and adopted by an American mom and an English dad. It was interesting to see the two boys interacting out of the nursery environment. Unfortunately they decided that they did NOT want any photos taken but I did manage to get this one!

TGIF is what I thought on Friday night!

Mini Maestros

Both our boys are passionate about classical music. Call them geeks if you like but we are pleased with their obsession. LMA Orchestra have a monthly concert for kids at St Martin in the Fields. We've been to a few of them now and they are really awesome. Since the National Gallery is right next to St Martin in the Fields we always try to combine the concert with a visit to the gallery. I can't believe that such a treasure chest of art has been there right under our noses all this time and we didn't even know it. It's something we can all enjoy so we'll try to make them regular outing in the future!

The first concert we went to was all about Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg. Last time, just before we went to SA, it was Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. Nicholas got to hold the sheet music for one of the viola players which was very exciting. Note all the people celebrating Christmas in the background. It was kind of weird seeing hundreds of Santas in Trafalgar Square!

Yesterday's concert was all about Mozart's Jupiter Symphony. This time Nicholas got some hands-on experience with the double bassist. The weather was very wet and gloomy. I guess that's what we should expect for this time of the year!

Pipeline Posts

Today is the day that I will post a few posts that I have lined up. I was getting them ready before we went to South Africa and just didn't get around to posting them. But here they are now!

Book Worms

Few things please me more than the fact that my boys are bookworms. As Nicholas puts it he is the boytjie bookworm, Danny is the babba bookworm and Dad is the big bookworm. In our house books play a major role in the bedtime routine. They are however popular at any time of the day. The boys love being read to but they also enjoy paging through books on their own. It can only be a good thing!

Both boys can often be found near the bookshelf surrounded by books

Sometimes they even share a bookOne sunday morning

10 minutes laterAnother lazy morning

Any book
Any timeAnywhereThey just can't get enough
Best of all is a book (or three) at bedtime

Couch Potatoes

Or should I rather say 'camping chair' potatoes. We're usually so busy with other things during the day we don't have much time for TV but every evening the boys have an hour of TV time and they LOVE it. Nicholas usually chooses what to watch and Danny happily tags along. Danny likes Peppa Pig and Show Me Show Me. Nicholas likes Harry and his Dinosaurs, Princess Flori, Dora and Diego, Mr Moon, Alpha Blocks and Super Why. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is definitely top of the charts for both of them at the moment. And both boys can they do the hotdog dance with great enthusiasm!

Movies are a big no no at the moment. Nicholas usually ends up in tears. He can't handle it when the characters are mean to each other. We're gently trying to re-introduce some movies but we haven't had much success yet. I guess there is no hurry!

Snuggle Bugs

You'll notice from the photos below that the boys aften appear asleep together in our bed. Daniel comes when he wakes up which ranges anytime between midnight and 6am. Nicholas only ever comes at 6am or 7am. The only real problem is that Daniel wants his feet out and Nicholas likes to be covered. The one thing they have in common is that when they are in our bed they sleep until we wake them up. Secretly I like the fact that we all end up snuggling in our bed in the morning especially now that we have a king size bed!

T'was the season to be jolly

As the title suggests it's all about our Christmas celebrations here in London. Daniel didn't care much for Father Christmas but Nicholas realised that the guy in red is very generous so he became a big fan. I must say it's a nice time of the year in the Northern hemisphere!

Dad's office threw a fantastic Christmas party for the kids. They had numerous party entertainers who had the kids captivated at the creative table, the dance floor, soft play centre, cooking corner and of course a Santa who came laden with gifts. One thing about the company is that they are not shy when it comes to parties and gifts!

We braved the cold and went to Carols By Candlelight at the London Wetlands Centre one frosty night. The music from the brass band, the choirs, the candles, the gluwein and all the people singing along merrily made it feel a lot like Christmas!

We even found a Santa in Peter Jones when we were doing last minute Christmas shopping who gave presents to the boys as we walked passed. They were really nice, age appropriate, books. Quite generous I thought!

But you aint seen nothing yet!