Children in Need

To raise money for Children in Need this year, the children had to go into school in onesies. This was naturally considered to be very exciting! Tom wore his old ladybird onesie, but Lily needed a new one. We took her shopping to pick one out and she chose a Minion onesie (and very cute she looked in it too!) I bought Emma a sweet pug onesie and she looked adorable in it! We called her Pugsy, after Pudsey bear!. I can't imagine the teachers got a lot of work out of the children that day, but they certainly had fun!

Autumn in the Park

After we collected Tom from his Cub camp on Sunday afternoon we took the Podlings to Bathpool Park for a late afternoon walk. The Podlings had a good play in the playground and then we took a stroll through the autumn leaves. It was a lovely end to a wonderful family weekend. 

An Autumn Picnic in the Woods

I love this time of year and Sunday was just the epitome of the perfect Autumn day. Not wanting to waste it indoors, we decided to have a picnic lunch in the woods. We didn't have very long to spend there unfortunately, as we had to get back to pick Tom up from Cub camp, but we soaked up every moment of the time we did have. The weather was glorious, the light was golden, the children were happy and the water on the lake was as still as glass. It was so peaceful and I was so sorry we couldn't stay longer. 

The view from the picnic table. Perfection!

Emma sporting a quality tomato soup moustache!

The man with two flasks...sounds like a mystery novel!

The Littlest Pumpkin

Alex loved the battery-operated tea lights I used in the Jack-O'-Lanterns

 Everything is potential car storage these days!

Love him!

Pumpkin Carving

Tom, Lily, Emma and Alex's pumpkins for Halloween 2015

I was pleased with the car I carved for Alex. It had to be a car for my car-obsessed little boy.

Emma wanted hearts on her pumpkin

Lily drew her design on her pumpkin and I carved it following her pencil lines. I still do all the carving as I am not yet ready to let the kids loose with sharp knives!

Tom wanted a traditional Jack O' Lantern face

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Halloween Fun

The dining room all decked out for Halloween

The Podlings all look forward to Halloween. I endeavour to keep the scary out of it and we make it a fun family day. We don't do trick or treating, so I always give the Podlings a basket of treats in the morning instead and they always look forward to coming downstairs in the morning to find the decorations up and some lovely goodies waiting for them. Mark's Mum and Dad were able to come across and spend the day with us. We carved pumpkins, baked and decorated fairy cakes, played games and had a special Halloween tea. The Podlings dressed up and we all had a really fun time.

Tom had a Cub camp this weekend, but was adamant that he wanted to spend Halloween with his family as he didn't want to miss out on the fun we have. He spent Friday night and Saturday at his Cub camp, but came home to spend the evening with us (briefly popping back to Cubs to watch the bonfire and fireworks display). We ended the day, as always with the doughnut game and a round of Ghost Hunt before packing four tired little people off to bed. 

The Podlings' Halloween treats ready for Halloween morning

Alex's Halloween gift was a sweet pumpkin romper with a matching hat and a cute chocolate lollipop.

I love these little honeycomb pumpkins. I put them everywhere!

I found an adorable vintage graphic of an owl sat on a Jack-O-Lantern (I love owls!) and used it to make a Halloween banner for the mantelpiece 

My Budding Artist

I love these pictures of Lily as they show her in her element.  Lily loves to draw and spends much of her spare time with a pen or pencil in her hand. She is developing her own style and I love her drawings. We had been doing some Halloween pictures and I just snapped a couple of photos of her. She is always happiest when creating. 

A little doodle of a witch Lily put on a Halloween picture for her friend. She was obviously pleased with it as she asked me to photograph it. I think it's really sweet.