christmas moment

The boys had their school Christmas concert today. We all had a moment as we watched them sing their songs and try so hard to remember the words even though they were dealing with a little stage-fright.
Jamie's class was second on stage. He was great and did all the hand actions as well as singing Go Tell It On The Mountain. I thought he would be nervous with so many people watching but he got into the whole performance and seemed to enjoy himself.Cameron's class performed Hark the Herald Angels Sing and he looked very sweet on stage with his little friends and with his tinsel crown. His friend Chase is standing in front of him in the photo below and Chase was belting out the song - he told me the day before that he knew all the words!

christmas tree

We went down to see the National Christmas tree this evening. It is beautiful and is surrounded by miniature trains which the boys love.

Here you can see some the trains and the little villages they have set up.

And here are my boys with big smiles!

And here is the lovely tree. Cameron was amazed by such a big Christmas tree.
Then we came back to Reston for dinner and took a few photos in front of the Reston tree.
We also brought home our own tree today. Not quite as large as the National Christmas tree but it is very grand and when Granny Tina arrives tomorrow we will decorate it together.

One quick mum question - why do boys always have to chew on their winter coats?

letter S and the number 10

This week's art corner is brought to you by the letter S and the number 10.

Cameron's teachers have some great art projects - here is a snowman snowglobe with his name in glitter writing.
And for Jamie we have a dog with 10 spots.
The number 10.
And this is a lovely glittery christmas tree.Yesterday was another cold afternoon. The weather has been a bit wet and cold here. So we decided to do some cooking together. First we made cookies, taking turns to add raisins and stir them in, then we made pizza - what a great dinner!
Cameron and Jamie are very enthusiastic cooks so I hope this interest continues and soon they'll be making dinner for me!

candy canes

How happy can a little boy be?

hot goods - hot wheels

Yesterday, when Cameron was sitting on the sofa after school, he told me he brought home something from school. "It's for you, me and Jamie to play with," he said excitedly. "What did you bring?" I asked. Then out of his cargo trousers pocket came a small matchbox car. It was from school - Cameron had taken one of the cars without asking. Although it was sweet that he wanted to bring home something for us all to play with together I knew I needed to talk to him about taking things that didn't belong to him without asking. So we had a chat. He said he understood and this morning I made him take back the car and say sorry to his teachers. They were very sweet about it. So was the lesson learned by my 4 year old? Guess what Cameron brought home from school today?I will be looking very apologetic at school tomorrow as we do the same apology to his teachers.

art corner

I think I might have missed a couple of weeks of artwork but here are some of the latest masterpieces from school.

For Christmas we have a lovely Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. The antlers are Cameron's hand prints and the head is his footprint - what a fun idea.
He's been working on the letter G at school. G is for Granny - she'll be here in a week. G is also for George - Grant's brother, nephew, dad and of course the monkey Curious George.
Jamie has been working on his numbers. As I picked him up his friend Clare was picking the cheerios off her picture and eating them - eewwww - with glue too! Kids are so sweet.Jamie loves to do colouring.

pretend play

There's a cafe that we've found recently that has a great play area with an indoor slide and dress up clothes. Plus, they do art on a Monday - so today we went over there and Cameron and Jamie both did some sponge painting and dressing up. The part that cracks me up about Jamie is that he puts on princess shoes to go with his fireman coat and hat - and totters around in heels - he's so funny!Cameron was a police officer today and kept racing after drivers who were speeding. He wanted to stop them and give them tickets.
Many of my friends at home will be pleased to know that Cameron wants to be a nurse. He doesn't want to be the doctor he knows he wants to be a nurse. Last time we visited the doctor and the nurse gave him a vaccination it didn't put him off this future career. Brave boy!

campfire capers

It was really, very, very cold at the campfire this evening. We were perhaps a little crazy to go out there, with the freezing cold wind and the radio saying it was the coldest night of the year so far...but I had promised two little boys that we would toast marshmallows with their friend Ruby. So we went!
Cameron is addicted to S'mores. Watch out Uncle John in Canada - you need to be ready with your campfire and toasting sticks this summer. Jamie wasn't so sure about the sticky marshmallows and didn't like having cold hands.

Luckily I had also packed some hot chocolate so that warmed up everyone before we headed home. Next time we might be warm enough to listen to the park rangers telling stories about the animals in the park at this time of year...but tonight was for s'mores and more s'mores.

thanksgiving art corner

This is our wonderful Thanksgiving art corner. As you can see, the boys have been busy at school this week.

Today Cameron produced a full Thanksgiving dinner!And this is a sweet little fluffy, pine cone, turkey from Jamie.
And finally the hand-print turkey from Cameron. This one is also a placemat that he's been using since he brought it home from school.
Rachel has been visiting from Atlanta the last couple of days and it was great to see her. I realised that we did lots of chatting, catching up, running errands, playing with the boys and Rachel even got to watch Peter Pan with Cameron, but we didn't take any photos. My mistake. Hopefully Rachel will visit again soon - we miss her!

Meadowlark morning

It's really cold here today but with two active little boys there's no option but to get out of the house for a bit of a walk and run off some energy. This morning we went to our favourite place - Meadowlark Gardens.
Cameron and Jamie both wanted to try taking photos - normally that's my job - but not today. Here is Cameron's photo...
and here is Jamie's photo...needs some work!
We were so lucky today because the heron was at the pond looking for brunch. We got really close to it. I suppose it doesn't feel threatened at all in Meadowlark Gardens. The boys loved watching it walk with its long legs and pointy beak. Do you see it behind them?
And finally, a quick play in the pig garden before leaving.
And since they look like they are on a horse it reminds me of a game they have been playing the last couple of days. They are pretending to be cowboys. Jamie decided his horse is called Hoany Pony and Cameron's horse is called Super. They are both very fast and gallop around the living room before collapsing on the floor. Pretend play is so much fun!