We have to do ‘thank you-for-the-amazing-Christmas-gifts’ cards. This task is proving to be more difficult than it needs to be. Attempting to get both boys in the ‘right’ mood to take a photo is almost impossible. Where did they get that moodiness from?!


Okay, so photos taken, printed onto card and it looks okay. Now all that’s left to do is to have Logaan write them up and post them off before, well as soon as possible really. Happy New Year!

We collected a lot of toilet paper rolls and were not sure what to do with them… eventually I suggested some sort of temporary mobile for the baban-brother-to-be. Lo drew 5 snowmen, helped to wrap gold around the cardboard rolls and we taped it all together. It’s fallen apart 2 times so far so I suspect it won’t be around when baby gets here.

We watched Mister Maker and he was using my most favourite material of all (apart from hessian), masking tape! Anyhow, highly influenced by him, the boys (at just about bedtime) got excited about doing a painting using tape.  Lo wanted pink and red and Rohan opted for blue and yellow. After the work dried, Rohan did not want to take the masking tape off so, that aspect of the Mister Maker-inspired-thing was defeated.  Nevertheless it was work that they unanimously agreed ought to be featured on the BLOG.

Okay, I’ve postponed it for long enough. Christmas is officially around the corner. Advent calendar down to one more door to open and we have to fulfil Lo’s request from the very start of this project, to make snowflakes.

I’m not in a very good mood at the moment and finding this process slightly frustrating. I ended-up folding the paper and cutting out the shapes (because the folded paper was a bit too dense for little hands to manage effective cutting), while Lo diligently folded paper into a miniature hat and coloured it in and Rohan took turns with me to use the scissors. He cut straight lines out of another piece of paper and then stuck tape onto it.

I suggested that we paint the patterns onto black paper using the snowflakes as templates. With my weary eyes and aching ribs we resorted to just gluing the shapes onto the paper. Logaan said “I just want to do it the quick way.” Fully agreed!

Rohan was my star at gluing and sticking the patterns on. He loves to sing while he works. Glue finished now. Lo arranged them in the order to be hung. Not such a bad day after all.

We liked the idea of taking pictures of different parts of the Christmas tree and then making a collage of the images. The initial plan was for Lo to take six photos and Rohan to take six as well. The digital camera was on a strange setting that made it hard to not get a blurred image and our front room with curtains pulled open and all the lights on is still as dark as a cave, so, that didn’t help the camera action either.


Rohan delighted us with his rendition of ‘horsie- horsie’ while rocking on his rocking horse. Logaan took some great images and Rohan wanted me to take photos for him. He only requested one specific part of the tree from where hung his special decoration from Grammy. She gives them one every year.

We made Christmas stockings out of brown paper. Rohan did the first one, then Logaan and by the third I had to actually ask/beg Lo for help on getting it to look finished. They were quite time-consuming, but fun to fill with bits and bobs!

Rohan is a king/wise man in his Cylch Meithrin Nativity play. Drawing, cutting, measuring, tracing, gluing, taping, neatening and more measuring. He started to cry when we started gluing gold paper to Logaan’s crown. He said: “don’t do Logaan’s Mummy, do mine.”

They were really good at cutting, taping and gluing and gave the tracing outline a good go! (Lots of practice with that using feet, hands and soft toys as templates). Rohan also said that it was a bit tight. It’s okay when his hair goes through the top.

Wanted to take a picture of him in his costume with the gold crown we made. Logaan is wearing his and completing a 100piece dinosaur jigsaw. Rohan refused, preferring instead to run around in a vest and nappies. His little hands and feet are freezing to the touch.

Lo is Joseph in his class nativity play. Daddy bought a costume and took a picture of him trying it on for size. Using the laptop’s Paint programme, I whited-out the background of the photo and Lo diligently re-designed it, naturally including a Sidewinder snake. Rohan’s running in and out of the room, back and forth to Daddy and asking for something to eat.

Okay, so we’re attempting an Advent calendar based on Steve Backshall’s Deadly 60! So far so good. Lo chose 19cards to borrow from his Deadly 60 collection and we used all 5 of Rohan’s and stuck them onto card (Weetabix box). Front bit of the calendar designed by the boys. Rohan said “wow, cool!”

Next step: cutting 24doors/windows on the front cover. Lo a bit reluctant about that, not wanting the drawing outline of his toy monkey Lliw, to be slit.

Daddy to the rescue. 24 skulls etched out, a lesson on odd and even numbers and with Lo painting bits of white skulls and writing the numbers for the doors/windows – we have the only Advent calendar in the world with a paralysis tick behind door one.

The boys made reindeer paintings with their Grammy. Lo wanted to add them to the blog. He describes the making-process:

“Me and Rohan put our foot in brown paint and then pressed it down. And the same with our hands, put one and one in the brown paint and then put it on the reindeer and paint a red nose. Then, picked coloured eyes and wait for it to dry. Grammy really wanted the antlers to be black, not brown, but we decided it should be brown.”

 I thought they’d make great Christmas cards.

Rohan not well. Asleep. He had Calpol and blueberries, Quorn sausage and cheesy bread in the shape of a dinosaur lovingly made by Daddy.  Logaan and I made Father Christmas out of plasticine. Lo did a great job with the legs and boots, arms and gloves and the beard.  Finished it off with a snowy drawing of Rudolph, the sleigh and two moons (because “Father Christmas is visiting a place where there are two moons”), as a backdrop to the photo.

First stage done, we painted the brown paper white. Both boys sniffling. Lo home from school today. With brushes washed and waiting for paint to dry, I washed bits of paint off of Lo’s locks, accidentally applied by Rohan due to his holding the very long paintbrush at the tippy end.

Okay, so I wanted us to do a Christmas angel, but Lo said he’d rather do an elf, 2 elves! Traced the boys’ body outline, Lo sorted the colour scheme and Rohan had a nap (he has fever today). Lo did very careful painting, drew the faces and in-between Deady 360 episodes, we managed to finish our first contribution.  Rohan didn’t seem too impressed with the final piece initially and admitted that it needed white dots in the background. He had just woken up.