Mummy- the big fat sheep!

Apparently this is me!!! A smily fat sheep. The yellow lamb is FI suckling (her words)- somewhat out of date!! The boys are the other two lambs....

Anyway the house is peaceful at the moment as M has taken the children away to camp with his best friend for a few days. I have had a day to myself and am then at work so didnt go..... Have done a lot of pottering, sorting various bits, taking a huge bag to the charity shop, sorting things to hand to relatives with younger children, sorting our craft drawers and being totally horrified by the amount of crafty kits I have squirreled away, mounting a cross stitch done for FIs birthday and trying to complete the second one in progress.

Am feeling very in limbo at the present- classic post illness blah I guess...lack of direction- need to sort out a priority list, need to move house forward and slowly accepting that we probably need to move a child out of the dormitory to allow them all to spread out a little, need to meet outside commitments, need to plan....need to stop wallowing......

My beautiful Princess

 You are growing up so fast- so very fast and time is rushing past us. You love choosing outfits and accessories and shoes and were soo excited to receive your first make up (nail varnish!) for your birthday. You love typical little girl things- ballet, dancing, pink, princess & fairy, sparkle, colouring and anything pretty. Yet you are really looking forward to joining Beavers and relish getting muddy and wet. Spending DIY time with Daddy in the garage.
You know your own mind and are very strongwilled (just like mummy), stubborn (just like mummy)- I can see that we are going to have fun over the next few years- as long as there is a mixture of fun- with the other fun!

Reading Thomas at around 10 months- always a contradiction!

Summer Activities

 Have to admit this year we are having a little bit of a hermit like summer- just happy being at home or locally at the moment. This last couple of weeks we have dipped in and out of the Olympics- certainly the more eye-catching sports anyway. They have also enjoyed seeing the landmarks that we saw on our visit last year on the TV- especially the rings suspended from Tower Bridge ( I think SJ watched the Opening Ceremony about five times!)

 Anyway- this led to the desire to build London in Lego- so we have FIs Big Ben (very multi-coloured), SJs Tower of London- complete with the White Tower in its original colour and a rippling flag (Union Jack was impossible -so we decided to go with correct colours only) and a horse and carriage. At one point we also had HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge as well- but I didnt quite manage to get them in photos.

And of course education comes in somewhere....the children didnt understand the reasoning why the runners had their staggered run positions in the longer sprints- so daddy drew a circuit and they measured in string to see that the lengths were actually the same- dependent on where you were on the circuit..... of course it was then highjacked and turned into an Olympic arena complete with pole vault and disk

Making Choices in our Green Life

 Hmmmm- well the photos don't necessarily ring true with a claim to be green? - one might say? This little load represent £50 spent with Approved Foods- a company that deals with rejected food products- either nonperishables past sell bys, outdated packaging or packaging with old prices/special offer prices printed on it- for example the Sharwoods Red Curry Paste (green packet at front of above)- 12 for 1p (particularly spectacular- not everything quite that cheap!!)- fruit scone mix- 3 for 99p. Of course some would say that it takes no time to measure out flour and sugar- but at the stage mine are at- it is the difference between being able to do something with only loose supervision ie whilst I am cooking tea versus a frazzled shrieking mummy- ie better to be able to produce somthing other than the continuous promise of 'maybe tomorrow.....'

Of course the real point I am trying to make is that in saving money here- it allows us to spend elsewhere. The credit crunch and rising food prices have forced us to revisit some of the choices we have made- to choose the areas we want to prioritise, those we do if we can and those which have had to fall by the wayside.
Anyway our current priorities are enviromentally friendly (so eco cleaning/laundry products), green energy, seasonal (thus low food miles), high welfare and fairtrade. Unfortunately organic has gone- unless there really is only pence difference.
Then, as far as possible and practical reducing and reusing- buying used clothing- especially childrens- although in boys stuff there isnt always a lot around, books etc- as well as trying to pass on things we no longer use

Four years

 Who can comprehend how time flies?? How that little bundle of personality!!! turned into a handsome young boy- who will so soon be a young man...

You slotted right into the centre of the family and are so different from those before- yet so much that same. You are growing up fast and your language and observation of life around you are so apt (we need to work on tact and appropriateness this year!!)
Sooooo not ready for school even though your little peers are being marched off en masse.

I want the next year to be full of outdoor play, mud and experiments, finger painting, glue and creations, walking under trees and through leaves, puddle jumping and hot chocolates afterwards in dressing gowns. I will read you the Thomas story book (have just realised you don't know who Skarloey is).... but maybe it would be nice if you occasionally listened in a swimming lesson!

Winding up

Have been trying to a bit of finishing off- here is our updated SJ Blob (not the best photo though!) with our multiple body systems that have been discussed, drawn and placed- most of them have involved some physical experimentation as well as, in some, some practical experimentation too. I think they have certainly retained a fair amount- recently applied when an elderly aunt fell and broke her hip and they had a good understandiung of the ball and socket joint principle!
When I say 'winding up' I refer to  the fact that I produce a yearly report for each of them (not yet TP as he isn't official school age yet) based on an academic year- this goes in hand with a daily record of activities that we complete. Neither of these claim to be comprehensive- soo much happens that isnt quantifiable or remembered- like discusions and debates on daily life, questions about news items/radio discussion. They merely serve to be some kind of memory jog for myself - both as a record of our days and in the event that we need to produce LA evidence in the future (currently unknowns!!)

End of Term

 Last week of term always feels a little rushed and mixed feelings- acceptance that everywhere will be crowded (HE is soo selfish sometimes!!)

TPs playgroup trip- the good thing about being Chairperson (Registered Ofsted person- teeheehee- always makes me giggle) is that you can influence things...One of my good changes has been to move the summer trip away from doing glorified soft play trip with expensive coaches- to using our local campsite and having a Forest School type day- the kids love it- the parents seem a little more hmmmmm- (but then they are a bit hmmm all the time). They cooked marshmellows on the fire and saw popcorn popping, ate their playgroup grown new potatos, went bug hunting (and muddly bog hopping), decorated insect houses and did sports day races

Unfortunately the flip side of being Chairperson is that I got a message yesterday saying that our venue had been broken into and both the laptops and digital camera had been stolen, two high security filing cabinets trashed and some of our other cupboards raided..... the second time in the last 18 months...... and a member of staff has given notice of retirement which means I need to employ someone new.....

Hmmm- as this is TPs last year of Playgroup- his 'extra' one- he will be the oldest as all the rest are now rushed off to school I think it may be time to gently start drawing back