Coffee!

Dan is really getting to grips with his new coffee machine, and I am reaping the benefits too with some lovely flat whites!

Here are some pics of him in action....

Balloon Modelling!!

I was inspired at a wedding fair I exhibited at on Sunday by a balloon modelling company (www.balloonatic.biz).

I do some balloon modelling at the children's parties, but limited to a minute or 2 per child I generally stick to swords flowers and dogs!

After seeing them in action on Sunday though I just had to have a go though at some of the more interesting designs. After a new order arrived today of balloons, and a bit of help from YouTube, here are my results.....

Now I just have to get a bit quicker!!

Tutorials I found here:-

Fairy

Dinosar

Monkey (the tree I made up!)

and the mermaid I adapted from the Fairy.

Revived jeans!

We have recently been given a great bag of clothes for the boys from an old friend. She has 3 boys so some of the clothes were well worn but she said she would rather them be put to use than thrown and I quite agree - loads of play time left in them for my 2 boys! The best fitting pair of jeans had a hole through the knee, however having recently seen this pin on Pinterest I had been dying for such a pair to come into our lives and couldn't wait to revive them!
So here is my result ...

I'm really pleased with how they turned out - I may even patch my own pair the same way!!

  

Weekend of parties and a visit from Auntie Peggy!

We have just had a lovely weekend with Auntie Peggy coming to visit! It was also a weekend of two birthday parties of friends from the street. So Auntie Peggy was kept busy with lots of children!
Kitty's party kicked off with a fab treasure hunt through the park. The children loved hunting for the next clue and writing the answer on their clip board

 Auntie Peggy ended up helping everyone!

 The birthday girl looked lovely in Princess atire!

 Eden was in charge of stickers for our team and loved giving them out!

 Back to a lovely tea and fun and pass the parcel in the garden.

 The play dough in the party bags was a big hit and Joplin discovered writing with his.

The next day brought another party - despite the birthday boy sporting a broken arm fresh in plaster, it didn't stop the climbing frame fun! 

 Bust days = tired boys, and a snuggle on the couch was the perfect way to end the day!

'Cooking!'

I have found that however hard I try to set up activities for the boys, the ones that really absorb them are the ones they set up themselves!
I found a packet of water retaining crystals (the type used to keep plants watered with a squishy feel like jelly). I put a few in a cup as I thought it would interest Joplin to see how much water he could to add that they would still absorb. I also encouraged him to get his hands stuck in to feel it but he really didn't want to!  However he found an assortment of bowls both from the cupboard and left over from breakfast, and started to mix up a concoction with old cereal, water, milk, berries and bits of left over toast! I quickly moved the cooking area to the mini paddling pool after the 3rd  cup of water was fetched, and found a few more ingredients as he continued his 'cooking'!

 It all went in - breakfast cereal, milk toast, oats, berries, anything out of date lurking in the cupboard ... blue icing, chocolate sprinkles, pasta, and a sprinkling of tea from a tea bag to 'spice it'!

 Here is the final concoction! Yum - not!

Messy Party for Eden's 2nd Birthday.

The Prep

This was a real last minute party in contrast to Joplin's Fireman Sam party which he had been planning (forcing me to put some thought in) for the last year!
I didn't manage a postal invite but did manage to get an e-vite out to most -

I wanted to make glitter playdough for the party bags which I made the day before. I also had sparkly rings and a few messy sweets. I had forgotten however that the party bags were in fact items contained in a 'bag'! A bit of last minute raiding of the stationary cupboard and a trial of the paint and sponges for the party was the fix, and I soon had my envelope party bags!

The Cake

I always have grand ideas for my cakes that my baking skills don't quite live up to! This time though the theme was 'messy' so I figured I would pretty much get away with it one way or another! I went with a messy rainbow theme and layered different coloured Victoria Sponge mix in the tin (the idea was red in the middle working through the rainbow to violet outsides - it was vaguely there but only if you knew what you were looking for!). I had no idea actually how it had come out until it was cut and amazingly it did seem to work! I have hit upon a great cake making solution actually for the less talented of us when it comes to the baking of birthday cakes - freezing the cakes! I made the layers a few days before then popped them in the freezer when cooled. This meant that the night before I only have to concentrate on the decorating rather than the whole process. Victoria sponge freezes really well and the reduction of the stress is certainly worth it!

The night before I sandwiched the pieces together with jam and cream, then iced it with a cream cheese and icing sugar mix. I made up another batch slightly more runny with different colours then splodged them on! The day of the party I decorated with smarties around the outside and of course 2 candles!

The Activities

Messy as possible was the key but I tried to keep some vague sense of system so it wasn't complete carnage! 

A sheet pinned to the ground with plastic pegs, and plenty of paint and brushes provided a blank canvas.

The foam pit was lots of fun - crazy soap which is a bit like shaving foam without the smell. I used about 4 cans.

Next to the foam pit I put a track down covered in the foam and a little soap mix. THis was great fun for slippy sliding! 

 Another experiment was the soap flakes goo! I whisked up half a box with warm water and initially it was similar to the foam, however as it settled it became more mouldable.  I put some animals in there hoping mountains may be made and layed on however the children werre a little reluctant to touch it! Maybe one messy too far!! It did help the slip when put on the slippy track though. 

I filled another paddling pool (I found these in the end of summer sale for 25p each!!) with top soil and hid treasures inside. Lots of tools and also cars went with it and I combined it with the muddy car wash we had previously played - a tray of water with a track linking the two. 

It was a lovely day so the paddling pool was a must - the state of it afterwards wasn't too pretty though!

Baby wash was as popular as ever - both for Mummies and kids!

 Bubbles were a hit as always too, although I think our machine is on it's last legs.

For food I kept it pretty simple with hot dogs on the BBQ, jelly, crisps crudite and fruit. It all seemed to go anyway!

 Eden had lots of lovely presents - a very lucky boy! Thankyou to all our friends and family!

Lots of fun and again we were massively lucky with the weather!  Eden spent most of the day in his Birthday suit in fact!! Happy 2nd Birthday Eden!

Your comments make my day! Do let me know what you think!