Barney

A particuarly quiet and slow Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago (for Mummy), and the boys were watching a bit of TV and the Barney show was on. I recorded it, and it instantly became a favourite. A week or so later, early in the morning, I could hear Blake singing in his cot. As I listened, I could make out the words to Barneys song! Since then Blakey sings the words 'i love u, u love me' over and over, as a 15 month old does. Each time I hear it it makes my heart melt. Barney has become a family favourite, and yes we have bought the toy :)

Thomas Cake

Jackson recently had his third birthday. He was so excited, we had been talking about it for so so long! He didn't have a party for his second birthday because Blake was sick, so he couldn't remember having a birthday party before. There was much discussion about what cake he was going to have - each day he would have a different idea, and we finally agreed on a train cake. This soon became a Thomas cake, and a Thomas themed birthday party! Ironically I do remember telling my mother in law when Jackson was born when she bought him a small soft Thomas toy, that we wouldn't get into the whole Thomas craze....

Anyway, we are quite a Thomas household now and with two boys, I am likely to make a train cake again one day, so I thought I would keep my notes on the Thomas Train cake:

I am a big buttercream fan, rather than fondant, so I based my Thomas cake on this one that I found online:
http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/thomas-the-tank-engine-birthday-cake/.  All of the cake apart from Thomas face is buttercream, and the face is fondant. I followed the youtube tutorial for Thomas face http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6mGkcynKQBc which was easy to follow and I was really happy with. I made the face on the Thursday so it had a good few days to set.  I made the cake itself on Friday afternoon. This consisted of 4 loaves - I used this recipe for the loaves, which was a white chocolate cake, yummy. http://www.chelsea.co.nz/baking-and-recipes/1403/train-birthday-cake.aspx.

For Thomas's round engine piece, I bought a jam swiss roll and used some of that.  I iced the cake on Saturday afternoon using the Wilton Buttercream recipe, and used Wilton colours Red Red, and Royal Blue. For Annie and Clarabel, Thomas tenders, I used chocolate buttercream and added some peachy colour that I had. I used licorice for the decoration details, and chocolate gingernuts for the wheels. Jackson requested that Annie and Clarabel be filled with jellybeans :)

Jackson starts preschool!

Yesterday Jackson started preschool! It has been a long time coming, we have talked about it for months and months, and walked past the preschool lots and lots of times,  and finally the big day was here!
Jackson, Blakey and I walked over for the 8.45 start. I must admit I felt a lump in my throat as we arrived and I did feel a bit teary. Within minutes of arriving, he was already sitting at a table and doing a picture with scissors and glue, he was very excited. Blakey and I left after 5 minutes and we went down the road to Mainly Music. At 9.30 the teacher text me and said 'Jackson is doing so well! Happily playing with the bikes!' . We went back and picked him up at 11.45, I was so excited to see him and hear all about it! We went home ( a little reluctantly, he would have happily stayed all day!), and had some lunch. From what I gather, he had a great time, he played with the bikes and drove very fast and crashed into a green door, he played on a firetruck. The teacher told me when we picked him up that he was amazing, and he got involved with everything. Well done Jackson, we are very proud of you!

January 2012 - pics

January 2012

New Years Day - Happy Boys!

Some sun!!

Road Trip: Sleeping boys

 Fresh fish for dinner!

Sunday Swimming

We have started weekend sports already!! On Sunday mornings the boys go swimming. Jackson has been going since he was 7.5 months, and we just started Blake. The boys both love it, and bonus they both have good sleeps on Sunday afternoon :)

Jacksons holiday

We've been meaning to do it for a while, but finally it was time to for Jackson to have his first holiday away without Mummy and Daddy. We went up to Manny and Grubbys (Jacksons name for Barry and Veritys), on the Saturday morning, and Dave, Blake and myself came home on Sunday night, and Jackson stayed until Wednesday! I must say it was a quiet trip home on Sunday, Dave wore his sunglasses the whole way, and a few tears were shed (by Mummy and Daddy). Jackson had a ball - he helped prune the olives, picked and ate fresh strawberries, went to the beach, and played up and down the huge deck and in the Chapel. He had Manny crumble and icecream every night and was spoilt rotten. It was very quiet at home with just one child, I didn't know what to do with myself, but it was lovely to have him home. Here are some pictures of the boys from our weekend away.

Blakes first teeth

At 4.5 months old, after a bit of unsettledness, (which did include a rushed 4am trip to Starship :)), out popped two teeth! Can just see them in this picture