Monster Mash Bash

So we have put the scary poster up...

...lit the pumpkin we carved at the Argory...

...fashioned one more....

...created a Storm Trooper...

...filled the party bags...

...made monster buns...

...and a monster eye cake....

...stocked the apothecary with "potted ghosts"...

...and other ghoulish goodies...

...set the table and put the sausages in the oven...

...it must be time for...

Bea's Monster Mash Bash!

As we waited for the bangers (get it?) to cook for our hot dogs, the little people decorated gingerbread pumpkins....

...while the even littler people had their version of hot dogs...

We also had Shrek's Terrifying Tales which FYI is fairly funny and not so terrifying.  Thankfully, this was what I was going for when I bought the dvd.

We even let very suspicious characters in, and were quite relieved when Lucas revealed his true identity.  We are still not too sure who the other one is...

Then after tea we set off on a spider hunt.  The little people hunted spiders downstairs, while the bigger kids had to search for theirs upstairs...in the dark...with only their torches to guide them!  (OK...I did put one lamp on and two glow in the dark spiders to help them out....but I had hung a couple of giant cobwebs to add to the thrill.)  Incidentally, if you ever consider hosting a monster mash...this game is fabulous, if only for the fact that it kept Bea occupied for an hour this afternoon as she embraced the role of "spider hider" while I baked buns.

"Now all look at the camera and shout SPIDERS"

Yeah..that'll work!

This was "the best" photo

Obviously by "the best" I mean not the worst.  I seemed incapable of taking a non blurry photo all night.  There was always one bit totally out of focus...perhaps I should consider the use of a flash!

Then it was time to tuck into "Mummy's Apple Pies".  Naturally, there were coins and buttons hidden within the apply depths.  (When I had finished clearing up and sat down with a cup of tea and a slice this evening...I got the £1...RESULT)

We also cut into the monster's head.  He didn't like it much.

Then it was time to decorate some masks.

All the mums and dads were given voting slips at this point and asked to indicate the child with the fanciest fancy dress.  Without doubt, the winner was Miss Alana...

With the tiny Scarlett pumpkin attaining a respectable runner up position!

Once the winners were announced, we played a mummy game...because what's a monster mash without a roll of toilet paper to tidy up?  Then it was out into the garden for some sparklers.

Yes, I am aware that the traditional "dunking for apples" game was missing.  After nearly drowning Zachary last year (deep bucket + huge apple + boy determined to get apple = imminent disaster) we had bought two bags of small apples and checked for long stalks.  I had gotten Bea's baby bath from the loft and cleaned it in preparation....Then we completely forgot to dunk for apples.  So if you were wondering why we have a baby bath in the shower room...now you know...and if you fancy an apple...you know where to come ;)

Autumnal Adventures

aka "Pumpkins and Potions"

I'm not sure why I feel particularly sentimental about Autumn this year, but I do.  The colours seem so vibrant and I am a little in awe of the changing season.  Today being a crisp (cold) but dry day seemed perfect to tramp about through the leaves and have an Autumnal adventure.

Yellows

Reds

Oranges

So we headed off to the Argory to see what adventures could be had.  

As we gravel crunched through the courtyard, Beatrice was a little overwhelmed by everything around her...there were witches and pirates striding across the courtyard, elegant looking ladies with large spiders on their hats and an elderly red riding hood who took our money in the car park.  She was reluctant to listen to the spooky story, have her face painted, do some colouring in or make a spider.  So we walked to the front of the Argory to see if we could tour the house.  Something happened on the way to inspire a little confidence.

Perhaps it was chilling with her very handsome Daddy or...

....tossing handfulls of crisp and crunchy leaves.

But whatever it was, as we returned to the courtyard (to buy our tickets for the house tour) she was happy to venture into one of the old stables to make a pink pipe cleaner spider and have her face painted....as a witch...her choice.  So it was with a rather unusual little girl that we returned to the front door of the house. 

The house has never been lit by electricity, but
has a beautiful collection of gas lamps.

 The tour lasted 50 minutes and the guide (a very friendly elderly costumed lady) was unconvinced that Bea would be able to endure it.  "You can sneak out if you need to, don't worry" she asided to me in a dramatic stage whisper.  "Thanks, we'll see how we get on" I replied.  

The house was filled with lovely and very interesting pieces of furniture, like a table inlaid with butterflies in the drawing room, a giant doll's house (OK it was a miniature of an Egyptian temple) in the hall, a rug made out of "real dead bear" in the billiards room and...Oh yes...this tea set in the dining room.

The table set for afternoon tea...perfect

Then we went upstairs...The landing had three cases filled with stuffed birds.  Then we headed along the dim, spooky corridor into a gentleman's bedroom, with a tin hip bath, a hatstand for top hats and a bit of a soldier's uniform.  After that it was into the lady's princess' room.  Along with her glass cabinet of potions, medicines and lotions which I found interesting, there was a mannequin dressed in a full length green velvet gown, a wardrobe filled with delicate shoes and hats, button boots and a four poster bed.

There was so much to look at it was not remotely difficult maintaining Beatrice's attention.  I admit "remember don't touch" was hissed on occasion but she enjoyed the tour, much to the amazement of the guide.  "I thought she was much too young to be interested in history!" she confessed as we left.  I just smiled thinking "she is at the perfect age to be interested in everything".  She doesn't know that it is "history", she hasn't developed the art of academic labelling yet, she just knows it was a beautiful house, with spooky long corridors, filled with stories of long ago people.  What's not to like about stories?

The Rose Garden

  What else was there to do?  Bea had amassed sufficient courage after touring the house to visit the...

The witch's washing line

In her little kitchen there were shelves of potions and a table with five covered boxes.  Bea was challenged to put her hand under the cloth to feel what was in the box and guess if what she was feeling was...

• Newt Eggs
• Witches Warts
• Boiled Worms
• Pickled Eyes
• Witches Fingernail

The witch who greeted us was very friendly, but Bea remained suspicious of her...despite her own witchy eyebrows!

The face paint and spooky spider!

Scaring Daddy with the witchy face!

We stopped in Lady Ada's tearoom for refreshments.  One of us had a toffee apple, one of us had a slice of Victoria sandwich (with jam and coconut on the top....that's one to keep in mind) and one of us had a scone, apple tart and cream......hmmmm....I wonder which was which?!

Then feeling revitalised it was off to find the "Goblin's Gravestones".  The first one was beside a rather ugly governess....

Bea looks quite maudlin over the demise of Scraggy Baggy Rat!

Once we had paid our respects to the goblins we had to return to the gift shop to hand in a list of their names.  Walking through the courtyard we discovered that the spooky stories were about to start.  By now the brave goblin hunter was eager to go into the story room and wait for the witch to arrive.... and arrive she did, warts, pet crow et al!

The tale of the Hairy Toe!

Our final adventure for the day was to go into the pumpkin carving chamber and draw a spooky face on an orange gourd and watch as it was carved for us.  While we were watching supergirl carve our pumpkin a pirate entered the room.  He struck up a conversation with four little sea dogs at the next table.  Their mummy asked him, "are you a good or a bad pirate?"  When he replied "Bad!" a little hand reached up and sought the reassurance of mine, and as Capt. Jack left, a little body slunk behind my legs.  I love the faith that Bea has in me.  Mummy against the pirate....her money's on Mummy!

I told you it was super girl!

There was just time on our way to the car for a spot of colouring in....

...and a rustle in the leaves....

...and that concludes an autumnal adventure.

Lunch!

The day has finally arrived....that fateful day when Beatrice has to bring her packed lunch to school.

Last night at dinner, she informed me what she would like in her lunchbag.  She seemed to believe that the bag had tardis like qualities as the list would have filled a black wheelie bin.

This morning I was asked "did you remember what I want for lunch?"

Bea assisted in the assembly....which was somewhat hindered by the fact that Daddy had smuggled all the bread into school in his sandwiches this morning, so we had to defrost some in the microwave.  (10 seconds per slice if you are interested)

Now, on to the check list....

1. "At least one portion of fruit and one portion of vegetables"....check, box of grapes and cucumber slices.  (Bea was disappointed that there were no crunchy pepper sticks, despite announcing last night that she did not like them and would not eat them when they were cooked in her ratatouille.)
2. "Meat, fish or other sources of non-dairy protein"...check, slice of ham in sandwich.
3. "Oily fish, such as salmon, at least once every three weeks"....erm....5 days left for that one.
4. "A startchy food such as any type of bread, pasta, rice, couscous, noodles, potatoes or other types of cereals."....check, bread in sandwich.
5. "Dairy food such as milk, cheese, yogurts, fromage frais, custard or rice"...check a muller corner or in Bea speak "a ball yogurt" AND a frube!

   

What about the naughty list?

1. No crisps....check!
2. No confectionary, chocolate bars, biscuits, sweets or cakes...check  (only because she ate her gingerbread "4" as we were making her lunch)
3. No meat products like sausage rolls, individual pies, corned meat or sausages....check
4. No nuts....check

At last...we are good to go!

But, truth be told, I am not nervous....I have just made her a lunch she will enjoy.  I allowed her to take a treat from the treat cupboard and she choose a box of raisins.  Seriously!

And guess what her school dinner was on Monday?

Pizza and chips.

I jest not.

P.S.  How cool is her lunchbox?  

Thanks Mark, Di, Jen, Jo and Shep ;)

A delightful day

So I started off this delightful day by putting a load in the washing machine.  Then I met Liz for coffee and gossip in the Garden Centre. 

When I collected Bea from nursery we discovered that her picture of Bartholomew had won the competition and she had up to £10 in "book dollars" to spend at the school book fair.  When Bea realised that she was the only one to get this in her class she was (at the risk of sounding like an American teen) sooooooo excited.  We went to the pet shop, where I wanted to buy dog food and Bea wanted to walk around all of the pets to tell them "I won the book prize".  The rabbits, gerbils, mice, lizard, guinea pigs and ALL the fish now know this.  Then she spotted a sparkly pink collar for Dilly and wanted to buy it to celebrate.  We agreed that it wouldn't be fair to just buy one for Dilly, so she spent quite a long time choosing between a green collar with bones or a blue one with paw prints for Beanz.  The bones won out because....Beanz likes bones.  At the checkout, the assistant who in Bea's words "might be a princess" let her choose a sticker.  Bea choose a chocolate lab puppy to "show people we are a dog house"

Then we had lunch and visited Granny Gina, to show her the book prize on the way to the library.  After the library, we returned to school to swap our book dollars for a real book...

Seriously how could we not choose this book?

After a little interlude of Polly play, and Granny Leona popping in with a toy for Bea and a dress for me, (thanks mum) Bea got changed into her sparkly dress and we headed into town for tea.

It doesn't get any better than a fish supper from Longs.  With gravy....You've gotta have the gravy.

Then we had coffee in the Opera House before watching Angelina Ballerina "The Mousical".  It was so entertaining that Jonathan stayed awake for all most some of it.  By the end, Bea was on her feet dancing along.  I heard snorts coming from the usherette.  As we left, she gave Bea an Angelina sticker for her fabulous dancing.

A bath and then snuggled in bed we read "Yappy Happy Dilly Dog" (and "You can't say no to a Princess"....did you really expect me to come away from the book fair with only ONE book?)

Now...it's time for a chocolate digestive, cup of tea and the conclusion of "The Bletchley Circle".  I might even squeeze in a chapter of "A Dance with Dragons" before bed.

Delightful.

Post Script:   Of course I forgot to turn the washing machine on, so it was teatime before the clothes were fluttering merrily on the line...but they are dry now and smell....delightful.

Friday Stew

This is a stew of random bits of information.   

I am slightly amazed by the amount of letters you receive when your daughter starts nursery school.  It makes one feel very popular.  Today's collection included the very complex instructions for the packed lunches which will be required twice weekly from the start of October.  (To be honest, I was beginning to sweat slightly when faced with the list of prescribed and unacceptable lunch stuffs...and to be honest, wondering how Bea has survived thus far.  I was feeling the pressure of having the contents of her lunchbox monitored and my role as a parent critiqued on it's contents....until I chatted with Sarah on the way back from the morning deposit, and she told me that Katie's lunch partner has an apple and a bag of harribo....is it a bad thing that this reassured me somewhat?  I feel superior that Bea's lunch will be healthier and also relieved that despite the threat that "the nursery will WORK in PARTNERSHIP with the parents to make sure the children have a healthy eating lunch" it is unlikely that they will contact Social Services if I fail to include some oily fish.  In celebration, Bea and I made some Rice Krispie buns when she finished nursery.  We added some raisins to give a healthy balance (just practicing for October).  Then she insisted on taking a photograph of them.  I felt obliged to do likewise....

The buns were to celebrate lunch with Grace and Miriam.  The girls made their own pizzas.  (Honestly...I am not trying to stuff as many bits of contraband in before we start our "healthy lifestyle" in October)

We did indulge in a little physical activity....This is Bea showing Grace the moves to "I like to move it"

Bea has become slightly obsessed with Katie, her friend who lives a few doors away.  When she asks at very inappropriate times if she can go and visit Katie I sometimes say "No, I think Katie has to work on her homework"  (This may be true, but is unlikely at 7.30 am).  This possibly explains why, while waiting for the arrival of Grace this afternoon, she flung herself into her little blue chair, sighed dramatically, drooped her shoulders and announced "I wish I had homework"*

*This is true, I promise you...now let your eyebrows return to their normal position.

Ah....the second letter of the day...an announcement of a Book Fair in school, stapled to a competition entry for the nursery pupils to draw their favourite character.  Ta Dah!  

"Look Bea you do have homework"

"Hooray!  What is it?"

"Go and find me your favourite story."

Now, I'll be honest.  I was expecting "Dogs don't do ballet....Some Dogs Do....Hairy Maclairey...the Gruffalo....the Owl who was afraid of the dark"....what Bea came down with, clutching to her chest was "Get into bed".  A very simple story of two bears, the little one who says "nah" to EVERYTHING and it's dad.  "I just love this book Mummy!"

"OK...now draw a picture of Bartholomew."

Off she goes returning with a dye cut teddy.  She draws around the teddy, colours him in and tries to cut him out.  I finish the cutting.  

"Mummy, you draw his bed"

"No, it's your homework"

But I did help her cut up squares of tissue which she glued onto a piece of paper (Bartholomew has a patchwork quilt).  "What can we do for pillows?"  

"What do you think, what are the pillows like?"

"They are white and fluffy like clouds"

Bea looks up for inspiration and spots the clouds in her creation wall hanging.  "Let's get cotton wool"

It is glued on and then the scrapbooking mother steps in, and with a twist of double sided tape, we made a little pouch for Bartholomew to sleep in.  The entire story is then retold, with Bartholomew saying "nah" and jumping in and out of bed while Bea admonishes "GET INTO BED" in a much louder voice than George ever used.

...meanwhile...mummy was playing too....

Once her homework was completed, Bea made a mummy bear and a daddy bear and made a big bed for them.  Homework Bartholomew popped into their bed a couple of times..."just for a wee cuddle" but eventually went back to his own bed.  

Bea found (I have no idea where) dye cut teddies which I used for her second birthday party invites.  She wrote a secret message on the back of one, made an envelope (a sellotape dispenser is the single best crafting device for kids!) and gave it to her Dad.  When he opened it, he asked if the bear was supposed to be him.  Bea laughed dismissively (if that is possible for a four year old) and pointed out the additions she had made to the bear.  "No Daddy, that bear has boom booms....it's Mummy"

(I seriously need surgery if this is an accurate anatomical representation!)

Finally....I saw this postcard in Paperchase.  I read it and imagined a certain little boy reading it.  I had to get it for him.

Well, who would you give this card to?