The Snatchabook

We love picture books and have a firm collection of favourites that I am happy to read to the children over and over again. A recent addition to this exalted selection is 'The Snatchabook' by Helen and Thomas Docherty. We borrowed it from the library and loved it so much that I immediately ordered our own copy after just one reading. It's that good!

Books are going missing all over Burrow Down and the little rabbit Eliza Brown is determined to catch the culprit. What kind of terrifying monster could be responsible? It's just a little Snatchabook, who is compelled to steal books because he doesn't have anyone to read to him. We LOVE this story and the Podlings love the adorable little Snatchabook. Even baby Alexander enjoys the rhythmic, rhyming text and stares intently at the delightful illustrations. This story deserves to take its place amongst the great classic picture books and should be enjoyed over and over again. It certainly is in our house!

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Life begins!

Happy 40th birthday to my wonderful husband and best friend!

Love you!

You're how old?

The cake I made for Mark to take into work. It was my first attempt at marbling chocolate and I was pleased with how it turned out. Mark wanted his cake to have fork handles. People of a certain age will get that!

Mark assembling his leaf vacuum, a gift from his Mum and Dad. We are so rock and roll!

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Tom's 10th birthday

Ever since he went bowling for a friend's birthday party earlier this year Tom has talked about going bowling for his birthday. Tom doesn't often ask for anything and since it was a special birthday we agreed that we would take him and a couple of friends bowling for his party. We have always done family parties at home before, so having a party in an outside venue was a whole new thing for us. I have to admit it made the whole day surprisingly stress free. I made the cake and cupcakes the day before, so there really wasn't much to do on the day except enjoy it.

Tom woke up early and took his time opening his presents. He is such a delight to buy for as he really appreciates whatever he is given. His wants, as ever, were simple and few and the main things he wanted for his birthday were the remaining books in the  'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' series and a replacement Moshi Dribbles to replace the one he lost. He has also recently started showing an interest in geology, so we started off his rock and fossil collection with a few specimens and some books.

Tom's friends turned up just after lunch and we took them all to the bowling alley for the party at one. Tom and his four friends played on one alley and Mark, Tom's grandad and the girls took another. They had two games each and we all had a fabulous time. Tom got at least one strike and several spares and was over the moon about them! It was wonderful to see Tom having such a nice time with his friends. He was just so relaxed and happy and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of his party. We dropped Tom's friends home and then went back to our house and just had a lovely afternoon with Mark's parents, finishing up with fish and chips for tea.

Tom had a really wonderful day and thanked us again and again for giving him such a special birthday. It was just so wonderful to see him so completely happy and he was just so sweet in his gratitude. It was a special day for my special boy. I simply can't believe he is ten!

Tom wanted me to make him a birthday cake decorated with Oreo cookies. The only photo I managed to get of it was snapped on the iPad before the chocolate had set. It turned out really well though and tasted delicious!

I made some Oreo cupcakes to go with the Oreo birthday cake. They were chocolate cakes, topped with vanilla buttercream and decorated with an Oreo cookie and chocolate sprinkles. Can you tell that Tom is into Oreo cookies in a big way?

Tom had a wonderful time at his party. Love him to bits!

It was the girls' first time bowling and they both loved it

5 Months Old

Gorgeous, gorgeous boy!

A Walk in the Park

On Sunday afternoon we enjoyed a walk in a local park with Mark's mum and dad. The Podlings had a wonderful time playing on the fitness equipment scattered about the park. Lily and Emma loved the playground and Tom was simply happy to bounce his ball around. We all enjoyed hot chocolate, tea and biscuits before heading home to a glorious sunset. Good times!

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A Lapful of Littles

Cuddles with my littlest two. Love them!

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Love and Marriage

All dressed up to go to Liam's birthday party. Liam loves Emma and says he is going to marry her when they grow up. Emma says no he isn't and that she is going to live at home with me. Well, that's that then! Her first marriage proposal received and refused at the tender age of five!

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My Beautiful Boy

He melts my heart!

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Lighting the way

I have to face facts, Alexander is now too big for his Moses Basket. I suspect he is waking himself up by bumping into the sides of the basket and he really is filling it now. That being said, I am dragging my heels about putting him in his own room. I love having him near me at night, not to mention the convenience of not having to walk down the corridor in the middle of the night when he wakes up. Nevertheless, I plan to make the 'big move' in the next couple of days.

Just in time for Alexander's move to his own room, I found the perfect lamp. It is just right for his sweet, traditional nursery and I love it! I am so going to miss my baby boy at night, but at least we will have a soft sweet light to share for sleepy bedtime cuddles.

Traditional Baby

I love this cooler weather because it means I can put Alexander in all his lovely hand-knits. He lives in babygros and hand-knitted cardigans at the moment. I tend to keep my babies in babygros for the first six months or so, only occasionally dressing them in outfits. Alex looked particularly adorable on the school run this morning in a matching blue hat and matinée coat, given to him by a friend. I love traditional baby clothes!

Long overdue!

We haven't quite had this book for ten years, but we do fear the alarms when we go to the library later. It's been lost in our playroom for months!

My Beautiful Boy

I can't get enough of this sweet face! Gorgeous, gorgeous boy!

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Meetings

Alexander meeting his Great Auntie Mary

Sunday was a day of meetings. Mark's Auntie Mary and Uncle Keith were visiting from Devon and staying with Mark's parents. They haven't met Alexander yet, so we drove over on Sunday to spend the day with them. It was so lovely to see them again and I am so glad that they got to see Alexander before he got any bigger.

On Sunday evening Mark's brother Ryan and his wife Carrie came round and we were finally able to meet our little two-week-old niece, Grace. Oh my goodness, she is just so tiny! Like a little doll! I was beyond thrilled to enjoy a lovely cuddle with baby Grace (you can't beat newborn cuddles!) Holding her took me right back to when Tom was a baby. He was premature and was a very tiny 4 lbs 6 oz when he was born. Quite a lot smaller than Alexander, who was a healthy 7 lbs 10 oz.

It was so funny seeing the two baby cousins side by side! There are only four months between Alexander and Grace, but what a difference in size! I am so pleased that Alexander will have a close in age cousin to play with and with Mark's other brother and his wife expecting twins next year, we will be welcoming more babies into the family soon When Greg and Kelly's twins are born we will have seven children between us, so future family gatherings are guaranteed to be fun!

My little man doesn't look quite so little next his tiny cousin Grace!

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