Letters to Santa & other stories

It was such a really special weekend this weekend. We had Dylan's second school mass to prepare for his communion. This week it was celebrating and remembering the life of someone who has died. Dylan chose to remember his great granny, he was very close to her and so it was really important for him to bring his 'In memory leaf' to the alter. He listened really well and we were so proud of him as usual.

After mass we went to Starbucks for our coffee and hot chocolate.. Our weekly treat... It was really rainy and stormy outside and we were really cosy having our coffee!

 

Today was the 'BIG day' in our house Santa letters were written and sent! The kids were delighted- Lauren really knows what's going on this year and was so excited!

Look at these faces....

 

 

This year Dylan's school are preparing Christmas cards from each child, you buy the cards from them for the school fund. They are so special because they have the photo that Dylan created on the front and his name and class on the back! I can't wait to send them out!

 

So it was a really nice weekend UNTIL Dylan and Derek got a tummy bug, and Lauren and I have bronchitis... So we are all off sick from work and school today, and all feeling a bit under the weather.... Lets hope we all feel better soon....  We've spent the day doing puzzles, sleeping and painting...... I hate when we are all sick, but I hope tomorrow will find us well rested and healthy!

Weekend in review

We had such a busy weekend this weekend! I worked Saturday and when I got home Lauren and I went to the beauty salon so I could get my gel nails done! I'm really happy with them, it makes such a difference when your nails look good!

 

 

On Sunday the kids got up late at 8:30 and played in Dylan's room for an hour, so we had an extra hours sleep! We got up and did a little spring clean and Derek surprised us by taking us out to dinner in a beautiful Italian restaurant. It was really delicious and the kids did really well! Afterwards we went to Starbucks for some coffee and hot chocolate... heaven...

 

 

When we were done we headed home and we baked muffins together, Lauren absolutely loved every minute of it! Dylan did really well too. It was really nice to bake together! When Lauren's teacher asked her all she did at the weekend she said 'baked buns' I guess she loved it!

 

Today I had to take Dylan to the dentist, I was worried because his upper molar looked like there was another tooth coming out beside it. The dentist said it was entirely normal, that his current baby molar is loose and the adult one would push it out. The bad news is he found a cavity in his bottom right molar that is actually quite big, he was surprised it wasn't hurting him. I was actually gutted and really upset. The dentist said it is often caused by acidic fruits, fruit juices and not brushing the very back of their teeth properly. I felt so upset. The nurse reassured me that at least we caught it and can fill it.

Which brings us to the next saga... I can't imagine Dylan sitting still long enough to have a filling done, and the dentist thinks if he does get upset it could put him off the dentist for life. He recommended referring him to a children's dentist who will anaesthetise him and fill the tooth, and seal the others to prevent further cavities. I personally think its a combination of fruit acids and the smoothies that he drinks in abundance, and not brushing his very back tooth properly. I've stood by him and tried to supervise him brushing, but he just insists on doing it himself. At least he has learned a valuable lesson about brushing properly. It still doesn't make me feel any better as a Mommy, I feel really awful and upset. We will be cutting out all the sugary snacks around here!

Mommy & Me

I had a nail appointment after work today, and I thought I'd take Lauren with me to make some cute girl time. She wanted to wear her princess dress and ribbons in her hair! She was adorable. I asked her could I take a picture with her in her pretty dress and, she planted a big kiss on my cheek.... It was so cute! Dylan stayed here because he was playing a muddy game of football outside with his friends. So off Lauren went with Mommy.

She did so amazingly well at the salon, she sat the whole appointment beside me speaking nicely to the lady and generally having a great time! The lady asked her 'do you love your big brother?' and she smiled and said 'he's my best friend in the whole world'. She kept saying ' I love you mommy, I love this place,' I can't believe how good she was, she even gave the lady a big kiss goodbye.

 

She was amazing and I'm so proud of her.... Adorable....

 

 

~ Be still my heart ~

Wordless Wednesday

A wonderful wedding weekend

Last week I celebrated my beautiful cousins wedding. Sadly Derek couldn't make it, he was on babysitting duty as we had no childminder for the children. So off I went with my Mommy and Daddy! I had a really great time, it was in the UK so we flew out on the Thursday evening and headed back home Saturday night. My cousin Tara married the lovely Major John Malcom, he is a memeber of the English army, he had a guard of honour and the whole wedding was just beautiful. It was so elegant and understated, and the whole weekend was wonderful.

 

Here are some of the pretty touches from the day...

 

The first picture of the married couple

 

 

The guard of honour

 

 

 

My beautiful cousin and friend Sian

 

 

my other lovely cousins

 

 

With my mommy (slightly blurry!)

 

 

'cutting' their cake

 

 

Sian again.... stunning

 

 

Their first dance

 

 

Images from the beautiful town of Staftord - upon- Avon, the home of none other than Shakespeare

 

 

It was a really beautiful weekend and a gorgeous wedding. It was nice to spend some quality time with my parents, I don't see them enough. I felt so priviliged to be a part of my wonderful cousins special day, it was magical....

 

Wordless Wednesday

Pottery painting & School update

Derek took the kids to giddy studios in Dundrum. It's a pottery studio where the kids can chose what they want to create! I was away at my cousins wedding ( detailed post coming up on this!)  so Derek took the Friday off to spend time with Dylan and Lauren. I think he definitely picked the right activity because they had a really great time. Derek said Lauren was so focused and concentrated on her painting. To look at what she created you would expect a child twice her age did it! It was so good! She is so artistic she can focus so intently on art and craft for so long. Dylan loved it too, but had enough as soon as they were done! He created a beautiful little Dalmatian! Dylan wild spend hours listening to music and signing and Lauren would spend hours creating things. It is truly amazing watching the different aspects of your children's personality coming out. They are two special little people creative in their own way!

Dylan's First Term- Second Class

We got all of Dylan's first term school work home, which I've been going through. His comprehension of everything is spot on, and his spellings are great, and he has really come on with his reading. He now reads novels at bedtime, he's currently reading Harry Potter. His maths are steadily improving, but I think we need more work there. His handwriting though! Oh my, he must be going to become a doctor with handwriting like his! We chatted about his great he has done, and set out goals for next term to improve our handwriting and our maths. We are very proud of him and what he has achieved so far. He is getting much more mature in his behaviour. He' coming on in leaps and bounds!

Lauren's First Term- Montessori

Lauren just finished her first term in Montessori! She is really enjoying school and has made lots of friends and she just loves going in every morning. She is really blossoming and becoming more focused on tasks, I think being in school is teaching her to concentrate for longer ! she's already starting to look forward to going to 'big school' in September. I guess Lauren doesn't really have many next term goals apart from enjoying herself some more in school! We're so proud of how well she has done in her first term. I really didn't expect her to settle as well as she has. She is doing really well.....

So that's the update and here's the lil guys having fun at Giddy Studios Dundrum

So cute!

Halloween 2012

This year the kids went to my parents for their mid term break, they really enjoyed the quality time with their Grandparents, and of course Nanna and Grandad loved having them!

After our visit last week we headed home while the kids stayed behind. It was so strange not having them around. So we had our Halloween here together the Friday before, when they have their Halloween dress up party in school.

Here are my princess and Ninja

They had a great party in school!

We carved our pumpkin at my parents house this year so the kids could have it on Halloween! Dylan helped a lot more this year! They loved it.... This was the only pumpkin left in the little shop by my parents!! No pressure Derek! They loved carving the pumpkins!

On the actual Halloween night my brother and my Dad took then trick or treating and Mum said they really enjoyed it! Derek and I made the most of our free night off and we so we went to see the new James Bond movie! Derek took me out to dinner before to a beautiful Chinese restaurant. We had a really great night out so thanks mum and dad!

~ Happy Halloween ~