My #hoopsandcrosses lunchbox entry for the @tots100 competition
Can you see what it is yet? Tis a stormy scene (Jolly the 10 yr old designed it, naturally). Sharon fruit sunshine waaaaay up above the stormy cucumber clouds with the the pepper lightning, lashing raisin rain coming down on the hoops and crosses house and garden fence. But s’okay – the cucumber fence supports are holding up, and the sweetcorn cheese door is holding fast to keep the rain at bay…(you can see how to enter yourself over her e- you don’t need to blog, just share a photo online, and there’s some amazing...
Dear Children, you are invited…
To kick start the holidays with a bang, we wanted to do something special with the children, set us up for a Super Sixfest over the next two weeks. But for the same reasons we haven’t gone away (i.e., the bank is frighteningly devoid of funds), we couldn’t really do anything big and wowser-ish. But I had a stroke of genius (I do that sometimes), and on to my weekly grocery order I added some of the ‘takeaway’ chinese meals – two boxes of the set menu’s for two, plus a range of extras (they happened to be on 3 for 2, which was a bonus!). I hid them, and then printed this up, and posted the envelopes beneath bedroom doors; Cue much buzzing and twittering and combing of hair choosing of smart shirts upstairs. Princess dress...
If Only I’d Known…
I’ve had four children. Four. Which obviously means I’ve had four pregnancies. And whilst I obviously grew older and much much wiser with each passing child, I have also had to rethink my thinking each and every time. Because each pregnancy was entirely different; as unique as the child that appeared at the end of it. Each baby had different wants and needs to the one before. Each time; each pregnancy, each birth, each baby taught me something new. Taught me, actually, that I know NOTHING. And that no matter how prepared I thought I was, they were there to trip me up a little and remind me that I had No Clue, really. So, as Aptaclub, on the launch of their fab (and FREE!) Preparing for Birth app, have kindly asked us parents to answer “If only...
Christmas – it begins.
We were really lucky with the Holly hunt this year – our first stop gave us all we needed, as opposed to last year’s 2-hr hunt for some berry-full prickles. We decided to decorate the house same day – though this turned out to be not the wisest decision. The trees were excessively tall this year, and need some stump-sawing before we could even get them inside. The treee base broke, necessitating emergency bucket & bricks replacmenet. Oh and it also poured with rain, so we got soaked doing it… But there was a visitor early evening who made it all just that bit more festive… Adore the fact that No.1, at 13, is slightly awkward – but still wants to go see Father Christmas and get his chocolate. I wonder how many more...
Blue goes to London – and doesn’t break the BBC!
We did it! We made it to London and back without breaking anything or losing ourselves! We left home at just after 6, collected by a taxi to take us to the station. When I got up, Blue opened one eye and sighed at me in a ‘you-have-to-be-kidding-can’t-you-see-it’s-still-dark-outside fashion, but by the time I had her lead on she was willing (ish) to go. The show itself was, on the whole, annoyingly pointless. Unlike the normal watchdog show there was no investigation, no resolution, and they simply skimmed the surface of the issue with some platitudes. I’ll write more tomorrow about why we were there i the first place – and I’ll try and video the clip so that you can see Blue-the-TV-star hogging the camera...
What they’re saying