A Scrapbook for Lily

Lily was home sick from school on Monday. She had been ill on Sunday night, so needed to be kept home, but she was feeling a bit better on Monday morning. It's nice to be able to have some one on one time with the children, so I abandoned any plans to get any housework done and just gave the whole day up to her.

We watched a film together in the morning and then I got out all my old craft supplies and introduced Lily to the wonderful world of scrapbooking. I used to love scrapbooking, but haven't really done it since Tom was a baby. I haven't had as much time for hobbies since having children for some reason! I knew Lily would love it as she is naturally very creative and loves crafts. She is also very sentimental, so I knew the prospect of having her own photo album would thrill her. I wasn't wrong, she LOVED scrapbooking. She spent the rest of the day in crafter's heaven and churned out six pages for the album I gave her. I had to make her stop for some lunch, which she ate in record time so she get right back to scrapbooking again. I think she has a new hobby!

Lily with her first ever scrapbook page

Another page for her scrapbook, this time of her baby pictures

Her cousin Rowan got a two page spread in her album.

In which I sort of promise to blog again

Random holiday photo

Remember me? I used to have a blog called Podheim where I told you all about my life with the Podlings. I've been seriously slack about blogging lately. Partly because most of my holiday photos were languishing on Mark's work laptop so I couldn't access them and partly because I just haven't felt like it. I'm not entirely sure why. I think I've been really busy settling into the new school and home routine and I have been so much in the here and now that I haven't been inclined to write about the there and then.  Real life gets busy sometimes and then the blog has to take a backseat. Mark has now copied my photos onto an external drive, so I now feel inclined to record our holiday photos, but I'm not inclined to do it in any systematic way. If you are interested in seeing them, I will be backdating them to earlier in September and late August and I warn you that they will be appearing in a completely random order as and when the mood takes me. I do hope to blog more regularly again soon. Please bear with me during this period of blogging ennui!
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Emma's P.E. bag

I love making P.E. bags, so was quite looking forward to making one for Emma. Tom and Lily have Mummy-made P.E. bags, so it was natural to want to make one for Emma too. I used this lovely cotton fabric that my Mum gave me. It is light blue with ballet shoes all over it. Emma loves pretending to be a ballerina, so I thought it would be appropriate for her (I have enough of the fabric left over to make the girls skirts with it too). I lined the bag with a pretty floral print as Emma adores florals (she takes after her Mum!). The monogram is hand appliqued and I added two ribbon roses to pick up the roses on the ballet shoes. Emma absolutely loved it!

Showing a close-up of the monogram and the floral lining

I took these pictures at night, so the quality of the photos isn't great, but you get the idea.
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Playtime

Emma has both a delightful imagination and a wonderful ability to play by herself for extended periods. She must have been having a really great time with her toys in her bedroom today though. Yikes!
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Back to School 2013

Emma's first Day of School

 The littlest Podlings started school this morning! Where did the time go? She looked so tiny in her uniform. I bought her the smallest size cardigan and I still had to roll the sleeves back! I was able to take her into her classroom and we found her peg together. She then went to sit on the carpet and immediately picked up a book. She was quite quiet, but was being very brave. I kissed her and said goodbye and left her happily looking through a picture book. It's a huge change in her life, but she seems to be dealing with it very well so far. I can't wait to pick her up and hear how her day went. Fingers crossed!

Tom didn't look back as he went into school and I didn't even get a goodbye kiss! Lily was putting on a brave face for Emma, but I know she was sad. She always finds it hard going back to school after a break. She is starting back as a junior this year, so it's a bit of a change for her too. My babies are all growing up so fast!

It's incredibly quiet here now with all three Podlings at school. We've had a wonderful six weeks together and I shall miss having them at home. Love my Podlings!

Cornwall 2013 - Beach Photos

Walking to the beach

Stormy seas

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Cornwall 2013 - Random photos

Buried in a book...she's just like her mum!

Watching funny videos on the iPad

An afternoon of fresh air and exercise at the beach finished Emma off. She climbed onto my lap when we got back to the caravan and promptly fell asleep. She didn't wake up again until the following morning!

She's just so adorable!

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Pendennis Castle

Pendennis Castle in Falmouth was built in 1539 for Henry VIII and is a fine example of an Henrician Fort. It saw action in many conflicts and was used by the military well into the twentieth century. It is now in the care of English Heritage, but can be reoccupied by the army with 48 hours' notice if needed. We really didn't give ourselves enough time here. There is a lot to see and we only had about two hours there. Next time we go we will give ourselves more time to see both Pendennis and its sister castle St Mawes just over the estuary, which we didn't get to see at all. We did enjoy the little time we spent here and as usual the Podlings made their own entertainment as they explored.

Lily and Emma pretending to be shot by the cannon

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Tamar Lakes

One sunny afternoon we took a lovely walk around the northern of the two Tamar Lakes. There was hardly anyone else around and it was so peaceful. We enjoyed a cup of tea in the bird hide and the Podlings enjoyed watching the birds through the binoculars.

 

Blackberry picking

Lily by the lily pads!

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Crazy Golf

We took the Podlings to play crazy golf on the caravan site. They had desperately wanted to have a go at it last year when we were here, but we left it until the last day and it rained so badly we simply couldn't take them. They were very excited to finally get to have a go at it, but Tom found it difficult to co-ordinate and he quickly got very frustrated with it. The girls had a lot of fun and we just left them to make up their own rules.

After playing crazy golf, we went to the park and Lily learned how to swing herself. She was very pleased to have mastered it!

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