A note to his father

This happened on thursday when A2 was at home after school with his father. I was bringing A1 to his music lesson.

Seb recounted the following. A2 came into the home office and took a piece of paper and starting writing.  Seb was having a conference call with his colleague then. He did not pay attention to what A2 wrote when A2 presented him the paper. Seb just put a cross on the box 'Yes'.

A few minutes later, he heard the gate opening. He looked out from the window and saw A2 wearing his helmet riding his bicycle to leave the house. Seb quickly shouted at him to come back. He read the paper carefully and realised that he had given permission to A2 to join his friend to ride their bicycles outside.

When I reached home, I saw A2's friend Lucas lingering at our gate. I told him to get his mother's approval to come play with A2 in our garden. 5 minutes later, the two boys were having fun in our garden.

I read A2's note. It was no fault of A2. Seb admitted that he should have taken time to read it. A2 is a witty boy. He knew he could not speak to his father so he wrote a note.

It reads "Il y a LUCAS DEOR (dehors) avec son vélo je pe(peux) ales (aller) avec lui DEOR (dehors) avec lui en vélo. Coch (coche) ui(Oui) Non. LES-clés silteplai (s'il te plait) papa."

Translated to english, it would be "There is Lucas outside with his bicycle. I can go with him outside with him on bicycle. Tick Yes No. The keys please father."

There were a few french spelling error but it was a clear request in my opinion for a 7 year old who was determined to get permission to play with his friend.

When he got his father's approval, A2 looked for the house keys. He called the dog to enter into the laundry room and shut the door tight. The laundry room connects to the garage. As he was not sure which button on the remote control key opens the main gate and which the garage door, he did not want to accidentally open both the gate and garage door and risk having the dog run out of the house.

This he explained to me during dinner time. We all find it amusing but told him that he should have known the answer even before writing the note. Seb and I do not think the boys are old enough to ride their bicycles outside without an adult.
 
This little boy really has lots of tricks up his sleeve.

Grass is the hair of earth

Spring is here and we spent the past weekend spring cleaning the garden. Seb was busy pulling out weeds while I trimmed the rose plants and planted flowers on the bare flower bed. The boys wanted to help and we gave them each a garden scissors to cut the grass growing along the edge of the terrace.

A2 was happily working and we overheard him saying "Les herbes, ce sont les cheveux de la terre." It means, "The grass, they are the hair of the earth".  I asked where he got that phrase from and he replied he thought of it spontaneously. What a poet!

This makes me look at grass and fields with a different view. Indeed, we are shaping earth's head. I hope it won't turn bald though it is losing its hair at an alarming speed. I hope humans will be creative and intelligent to give earth a head of shining, healthy hair.

A2 is 6

I can't believe my baby has turned 6. A2 celebrated his birthday with his friends last Saturday. He invited 6 boys and they had fun.

The theme was basketball. I printed out basketball invitation cards, made a simple butter cake and 2 basketball pinatas stuffed with sweets to be thrown into the basketball loop.

The boys spent their time in the garden playing with balls. They also spent time upstairs playing dressed up and fighting as super heros. It was free and easy as they were not interested in the games Seb and I proposed.

Still at the end of the party, Seb and I were exhausted. The boys were very rowdy. We think this might be the last birthday party at home. We are considering indoor playground for next time.

As for the birthday boy, he was happy to spend time with his classmates. He received toys and games and a book. He told me frankly that he did not like to receive book as a birthday present. That is just so A2.

Can you run?

I told A2 that I am going to learn tennis this fall. 

He asked me, 'Can you run?' 

I replied, 'Running is using the two legs right? Sure I can run.' 

He thought for a moment and rephrased his question. 'When you were young, did you run fast?' 

This cracked me up. 

I told him, 'I don't think I run fast. But it is ok. I just want to have fun at tennis.'

A2 is concern about the running ability of his friends. He had told me before he did not want to invite a certain classmate to his birthday party because she did not run fast. 

Seb and I explained to him that someone else might be running faster than him and running fast is not a measurement for friendship.

I am taking up tennis so that we can play as a family. Doubt I can run fast. Just do it. For fun.

I love you to the galaxy le plus loin and back

A2 used to say 'I love you to the sun and back.' when he realised that the sun is further away from the moon. We read 'Guess how much I love you' and enjoyed big rabbit telling little rabbit that he loved him to the moon and back.

When  A2 learnt that the solar system is in the galaxy, he surprised me one day with 'I love you to the galaxy le plus loin and back.' 'Le plus loin' in french means the furthest. My boy loves me to the furthest galaxy and back. Wow. I am so touched. He told me this again this morning.

At 5 years and three quarter, this boy does know how to melt his mother's heart. An extra melting point is that he is speaking to me in english (with his best effort).

A2's Paw Patrol Party

While preparing for A1's 7th birthday party, I realised that I had not posted about A2's last birthday party. So here is a post for memory's sake.

Last year, A2 asked for Paw Patrol's theme for his birthday party. From internet, I got free templates to print out paper containers for the sweets. I made dog balloons and put them in a box for adoption. At the gate, I put up a sign board saying "beware of nice dogs" in French.

For activities and games, they were the usual stuff like "Pin a badge" on Marshall, throwing water balloons to help Marshall put out the fire and making balloon dog heads. The boys played with cars and balloon swords while a few kids made necklaces out of beads. 

 The boys run around in the garden playing rugby.

 Food wise, I made dog bone biscuits with the names of the kids and a cake decorated with M&Ms. 

 

A2 was pampered by his friends. He had presents ranging from Paw Patrol figurines to Playmobil and Lego toys. The only disappointment was not having a pinata. I promised him I would make one the next time. I was not motivated to make it.

When the party was over, A2 gave his friends each a doggie bag with goodies and sweets. That wrapped up the party for my 5 year old.

In two weeks time, I shall write about A1's birthday party. It has to do with Captain Amercia. Yes, there will be a pinata. It is under construction.

Spiderman theme birthday party

A2 turned four in September.

He had no problem choosing a theme for his birthday party. As you can see, it is all about Spiderman. 

When I asked who he would like to invite before school started, he cited all the friends from A1's class. I was not surprised as the boys were in the same class last school year and he played a lot with A1's friends. I suggested his own classmates and he decided to invite the three boys from his class and another four friends from A1's class. 

A week before the party, I made a pinata by blowing a big balloon and pasting it with strips of newspaper. For the glue, I mixed one portion of flour with five portions of water and cooked it for 8 mins. Once the mixture cooled down, it was sticky. At first, I would like the pinata to be Spiderman but I thought the kids might not want to hit their hero. So in the end, I pasted green paper napkins and drew it to be the Green Goblin. I put in sweets before pasting the green paper napkins to conceal the opening.

My pinata was so solid that it was unbreakable. I made too many layers of paper marche. We ended up putting it on the ground and hitting it instead. The children rushed to get the sweets and a few played with the broken pinata by putting it over their heads as a mask.

The night before the party, I made Spiderman balloons and also a web. I made spider lollipops with little black pipe cleaners. I had a tough time looking for them in france as I did not know the name in french, nor did I know any craft shop. That was the decoration.

 For games, other than the pinata, the kids threw water balloons at the bad guys pasted on the wall. They played a game of "Spiderman is here?". It was like "Duck, duck, goose". In France, it was called "Is the postman here?" One kid was holding a spiderman toy. When we finished the song of the postman by replacing it with "Spiderman", the kid would put the toy behind one of the children sitting in a circle. That kid would then have to chase the first kid until the first kid took the place of the latter.
In another game, they had to throw little cotton balls through the web and went through a mini obstacle course to get to a spiderman pinata which had goodies in it. This spiderman pinata had a slit at the back so the kids could put their hands in to grab a goodie.

 In the party group, there was only one girl. The other girl invited could not make it. This girl was the only one who tried to walk through the obstacle course. The boys all just crawled through. That was an interesting observation.

For the party food, I made a birthday cake of Spiderman face. It was the first time I made this cake and the children were really excited about it. A2 was very happy. However, he did not want to cut his hero. Oops. I should have thought of that. We managed to convince him that it was okay to cut the cake as his friends wanted to eat it. There were also sweets, pop corns and cherry tomatoes with cheese on a stick.

After food was presents time. A2 was a lucky boy. His friends brought him his favourite toys. From Spiderman to Planes to Playmobil. The children were all excited to see what A2 got. 

After 2hours and a half, the party was over.  Seb and I were happy that things went well. It was a hot and sunny September day. Just the kind we were hoping for. Thank God. And the two of us had an early evening that day.

Having put the photos up in Facebook, I got comments from friends calling me a great hands on mother. Before becoming a mother, I would not have dream of making such efforts. Now, it is natural for me to try out new things (I was really lousy at art and craft) to make my children happy. My boys appreciated the DIY stuff I made. This in return makes me a contented mother.

School bag for A2

 As promised in my previous post, here is the bag I made for A2. As he only needs to bring a change of clothes to school, I made him a small haversack.

It is a pirate ships theme bag. When I showed it to A2, he was very happy and immediately had it on his back to show his father and his brother.

At the front, there is a transparent pocket. He can slot his drawings in it. At the back, there are two zipped pockets for him to put his treasures. It was really hard to attach the zips to the bag. This is a difficulty two bag and I took nine hours to make it. I had to unstitch my works twice. Good thing, it looks presentable in the end.

I am taking a short break. I made this bag in the midst of paint works in the house. Over the weekends, Seb and I painted our living room and dining area. Once the kids were in bed, I worked on the bags late into the night.

My next challenge is to do a zipped tote bag for my mother. She requested for one when she saw the school bags I made. I hope to get it done before she goes back home in two weeks time. 

Walking the dog

A2 went for a walk with me and Handsome in the forest during my lunch break. When we were leaving the forest, A2 managed to walk Handsome on a leash.

Handsome is always excited to go to the forest so he pulls hard on the leash during the 100m walk from the house to the forest. Once we reach the forest, we would let him run free.
After the run in the forest, Handsome is usually tired and walks well with the leash to go back home.

As the dog turns two in a month's time, he is getting more obedient. Our aim is for him to walk obediently beside us without a leash. That is in training. . . . .

A2 is off his training wheels

For the past week, A2 had been asking us to take off his training wheels on his bicycle and trying to cycle by himself. We helped to push him as he could not find the balance and the strength to start.
He was a cautious boy and started step by step. He practiced almost everyday for 15mins. Today, he did well. He could turn the handlebars and made a big turn.
It won't be long before he could find his balance when starting the bicycle.
Just four months short of his four years, he has joined his brother in cycling on two wheels. I would have to get on my bicycle if I want to catch up with them when the boys go out cycling. It is hard to catch up with the boys by foot.
Maybe the next post would be about me brushing up my rusty cycling skills.

A knight tunic

The chinese teacher wrote us an email saying that A1 wanted to dress up as a giraffe and A2 as a horse for the performance this sunday. I asked the boys and A2 told me he wanted to be a knight and not a horse.

 

After searching internet for a knight and giraffe costumes, I decided it would be easier for me to do the dress up myself. A1 and I will do a giraffe mask togather. I think that would be fun. I do need to go buy yellow craft paper. As for A2, I found a few sites on making a knight's costume. These are the two sites which I used to come up with the costume.

http://www.creativepartyblog.com/knight-tunic-costume-party-favor

http://crackofdawncrafts.blogspot.fr/2011/01/knight-birthday-party-make-your-own.html

 

Instead of using felt, I used left overs fabric and before one can say 'Knight in a shining armour', I sewed up a blue knight tunic.

 

A2 was delighted to have his costume. It fitted him well. I am rather please with myself.

 Next post would be about the giraffe mask. I am thankful for generous and creative people who share their ideas on internet.

A2's bag

I did it. Here is A2's bag. As I expected, it was too small to be useful. And not practical to carry. I had a hard time sewing it and the end product was not satisfactory.

 

Still A2 was very happy with his new bag. He slept with it and now it was lying on the floor beside the bed.

 

 

Speaking of which, A2 is a horder. When he likes something, he would go everywhere with the thing, sleeps with it and just have it in his hand all the time. The latest 'precious' are his house slippers. He insisted in wearing them to sleep. We took them off when he fell asleep. Yet in the middle of the night, he woke up, turned the lights on, wore his slippers and went back to bed. Seb found him sleeping with the lights on one morning. A few mornings, he had his slippers on without the lights on in his room. Or he would walk into our room in the middle of the night and asked 'Papa, où sont mes chaussons?'

A2 marked the new year

A new year has come. 2013 is declared to be a difficult year in France and Germany. Since I am not working for three quarters of the year, I will not be affected in terms of work. I just hope next year will be better for the economy.

We celebrated New Year's day eve with Anca and family. We had lunch togather and the boys were well behaved. On the second day of new year, I bought some washable felt tip pens for the boys since they had fun using them at Anca's place. 

Yesterday, I was greeted with A2's drawing on the walls after lunch. While A1 was cooking lunch with me, A2 was having a blast scribbling the furnitures, the walls, the stair and the floor. I thought he was playing quietly with the floor puzzle. How wrong was I. Thank God the ink was highly washable and I managed to clean up the mess. Still, it took me a good half an hour to wipe everything off.

I took pictures before wiping the walls. I actually laughed when I saw what he did. If it had been permanent ink, I wonder would I still have kept my cool.

A2 at the Garderie (Daycare)

A2 goes to a daycare two mornings a week. It was meant for me to have some alone time. We started in the beginning of Sept and so far, I had only left him for 2.5 hours max. We started with a 10 minutes separation and gradually extended the separation time. It was not easy as A2 cried once I was out of sight. 
After 3 weeks, he still cried a bit when I was away. Last tues and thurs, I managed to do grocery shopping and run errands during that 2 hours break.
The daycare staff was hoping that A2 could stay for lunch next week. I hope he would cooperate. Normally, he should be there from 8h30 to 12h45. If all goes well, I would bring him to the daycare after I send A1 to school at 9am.

Shoes for A2

Baby A2 has been cruising around the appartment since a few weeks. It was time to get him a pair of walking shoes. For his first walking shoes, I was told to buy him new shoes. Making him walk with used shoes from his brother might caused him feet problems later. He had to form his own prints on his shoes.

Since baby A2 had many hand-me-downs from his brother, we felt that he deserved new shoes. We went shopping at Jardin de Luxembourg area and got him a pair of mid-season shoes. We both liked the shoes very much. The sales assistant told us that size 20 was just right and size 21 would be more comfortable for baby A2.
However, when we returned home, I realised that the shoes were too big. Baby A2 kept dropping his shoes.

This weekend, when Seb was back from his work trip, we went to buy another pair of shoes for baby A2. Ended up at the usual shop at Usine Center near the airport and got baby A2 a pair of Kickers size 20.

The soles of the shoes were pretty unique. The design was different from that of toddler's A1 first walking shoes.

I really like Kickers shoes for babies and toddlers. Think I will stick to this brand for the moment.