Dressing-up chest (part two)

I talked about the dressing-up chest we put together for my sons 5th birthday a few weeks ago.
I wanted to share some of the items I found to put in the box.
One of my favourites is the black cloak in the pictures below.
It is second-hand but homemade and I found it on ebay for a snip.
I love that it is so versatile - perfect for Darth Vader, as seen (rather menacingly) below.
Or Lord Voldemort, or Harry Potter, or Merlin, or Gandalf etc ........
My littlest does seem to be drawn towards the baddies - hmmmmmm, should I be worried?

Card games

We've recently discovered a love of traditional card games.
My boys are at the age where we can play more challenging games together now - and we've had a real game playing Summer this year.

I found this book in the library which has some great ideas for all sorts of games. There is a whole section on card games - some I've never heard of and others I remember well from my childhood.

Here are some of our favourites:

Snap - always a favourite, although someone inevitably ends up stomping off (or is that just my kids!)

War - new one for me, nice and simple

Beggar my neighbour - we knew it as Strip Jack Naked as kids, much better name - great game!

Cheat - what kid wouldn't love a game where they are allowed to cheat

Go Fish - we liked this one too, but they do struggle to hold their cards without everyone else being able to see them, which is essential for this game. Might have to invest in some of these. !!

Do you have any favourite card games to share? We'd love to know about them if you do.

Folksy treasury #2 - Playroom prints

We've decided to convert our cellar into a playroom with sofa-bed for guests.
It was partially converted by the previous owners but we've only ever used it for storage. We got a very pleasing quote from a local company - and I'm very excited. I've already started furnishing, decorating and accesorising in my head, and have been browsing Folksy on the look-out for cute prints.
It will mainly be an extra space for the boys, so I had them in mind when searching.
Here's what I found so far:






Click each image for more details.

Which one do you like best?

5

This little boy was five on Monday.

At five, you:

• Have a 'sense of fun and enthusiasm that is infectious' as your teacher wrote in your first school report
• Love to draw and paint - and have a definite talent for it and a confident, quirky style
• Have recently outgrown your hoover obsession! (thankfully)
• Are loving, caring and so affectionate
• Still have the occasional afternoon nap on the sofa
• Still cry when you get properly told off and it breaks my heart (especially when your bottom lip wobbles)
• Have a swagger about you that is going to get you noticed one day (in a good way!)
• Love to 'pretend', to the point where you can spend all day in character, and we're not allowed to call you by your real name
• Love to help me bake, especially when you get to lick the spoon at the end!
• Don't eat many vegetables but your favourite fruits are peaches and strawberries
• Love jacket potatoes, beans and cheese
• Still fight and argue with your big brother, but you also think he's the greatest.
• Have a soft spot for all your aunties and can charm the socks off them!
• Are the most adorable little boy in the world - and I'm so glad you are my little boy. You make me happy every single day xx

Five

Happy Birthday my sweet sweet boy.

At five years old, you:

• Love computers
• Love books and being read too - favourites at the moment being anything by Roald Dahl, Mo Willems and Quentin Blake
• Are fascinated by mazes and optical illusions
• Eat very well and love anything wrapped in pastry (not especially healthy but you love veg too!)
• Love numbers and counting (you count to 300 every morning on the way to school!)
• Enjoy listening and moving to music and have the best dance moves I've ever seen by a 5 year old!
• Love school and are making amazing progress with your reading and writing (and you are so proud of yourself!)
• Love monsters and anything scary but still get scared by funny little things (like the school teacher in Beegu - although she is pretty scary!)
• Your favourite animal is a bat
• Love to explore and pretend to be Indiana Jones
• Still love to hide (same 3 hiding places everytime)
• Fight tooth and nail with your little brother but are fiercely loyal and protective of him when others are involved
• Still love to cuddle, kiss and sit on my lap (and you still insist you are going to live at home with us forever and come and work with me at school when you are grown up, when you're off duty as a super-hero of course!)
• You are my favourite 5 year old in the whole world and we love you very very much - don't ever change beautiful boy.

Summer holidays

Being a teacher we have these amazing summer holidays - 7 weeks this year (we really do deserve them, honestly!). Being so busy during the year, it is just so nice to be able to wind down and actually enjoy some free time. I always make a huge list of all the things I want/need to do during that time and usually get very few of them of done but I'm never disappointed.

This year has been particularly special because my eldest son starts school in September, so we took him out of preschool when I broke up and we've been spending some 'quality time' together. We've had the luxury of having two days a week to ourselves, with G at work and my 3 year old at nursery and its been lovely.

Just some of the things we've done in that time so far:
Swimming (we've almost cracked it!)
Visiting a museum
Reading
Making party decorations
Walking in the rain
Going to the library (without the added stress of a rambunctious 3 year old zooming round the bookshelves)
Visiting friends/family and having them visit us
Picnics
Paddling in outdoor pool at the local park
Adopting a baby snail (and then frantically searching for him when he disappeared 2 hours later)

He seems to be growing in front of my very eyes and I know I will remember and savour these moments in a few years when he no longer wants to cuddle and give me sloppy kisses.

I know he will love and embrace school, will relish the learning, the making of new friends and all the new experiences, but there is still a small part of me that feels sad at the end of this era.

Mostly, I am excited - I loved school and I hope he will be the same, and I am looking forward to how he will grow and develop away from me. Plus, we also have 2 and a half more weeks to fit in some more adventures!







By the way we did find the snail eventually - under the bookcase 2 weeks later!

And I can't take any credit for these gorgeous photographs - my husband took them.