Tom's Lego Party

Tom preparing to blow out the candles on his cake.

.

Tom has been quite adamant that he wanted a Lego-themed birthday party for some while. This is hardly surprising given his obsession with all things Lego! We invited Tom's two best friends to tea after school and they had a great time playing together before we all sat down to enjoy Tom's Lego-themed birthday tea. I think everyone had a lovely time and everyone went home in one piece, so I shall rate it a success. Tom certainly went to bed one happy little boy, which is what it is all about!

 .

 The sideboard, complete with Lego models and party blowers.

.

 I used the Lego man cookie cutter I bought at Legoland to make these gingerbread men. I iced them with ready coloured sugarpaste and then drew on the faces.



 Tom's Lego cake.

I made a sponge in a 9 inch square cake tin, halved it and sandwiched the two halves in the usual manner. I cut 8 marshmallows in half and put them on top of the cake. I used ready coloured icing in two colours to give the impression of two Lego bricks joined together. I wish the seam between the two 'blocks' were a little neater, but other than that I am quite pleased with how the cake turned out.

 A vase full of large bricks decorated the sideboard.

.

I made these Lego head 'pops' from marshmallows and covered them in royal icing before drawing on the faces.

.

 I printed off the Lego signs onto white card and hung them from the light fitting above the table. I then chose a selection of Tom's Lego men to hang below the light.

.

We gave Tom this wind-up torch for his birthday.

It made the perfect centrepiece for his birthday tea table

.

A not very good picture of the banner I made, which features some of Tom's favourite Lego mini figures.

.

Special mention: I just want to say a huge 'Thank you!' to Mum and Dad P. who did such a great job taking care of Emma so I could pull this tea off. I couldn't have done it without them.

.

Now we are six

2 days old, cosy and warm in his incubator

Happy 6th birthday to my favourite little boy!

We love you Tom!

Opening his gifts this morning
.

Nocturnal disturbances

Sweet face isn't it? I have to say I find it marginally less sweet at five o'clock in the morning when it appears on my pillow and seems to be attached to a body that takes up half the bed!

It would seem that I am not destined to be blessed with girls who sleep well. Tom was sleeping a solid 13 hours through the night at 10 weeks old, but Lily and Emma are a different story. Lily didn't sleep through the night until she was 14 months old, but then started waking up again a few months after Emma was born. It wasn't every night, but there were many nights when I seemed to spend the whole night alternating between Lily and Emma and got hardly any sleep.

Emma started off well and was almost sleeping through at 8 weeks old. Then she had several bad colds in a row and it completely disrupted her sleep pattern. She has hardly ever given me an undisturbed night since then, but on the rare occasions that she has slept through, without fail Lily has woken up several times in the night. It is almost like they have some kind of arrangement to make sure somebody is getting me up! I think we might finally be turning a corner with Emma as she has slept through the night for the last three nights in a row (hope I haven't just jinxed it!). However, for the last three nights I have been up with Lily at least twice a night. What does it take to get a good night's sleep around here!

There is a line in Psalm 127 that always makes me smile when I read it:

"He grants sleep to those he loves."

Hmmm.....
.

Look who's walking!

My secret desire

.

I am sure most of us have some secret desire or dream job that we like to daydream about. The secret desire of my heart is simply this, that I wish I could home educate my children. Much as I am enjoying the tidier house and quiet times during the day now that Tom and Lily are at school, I can't help but feel that I am depriving them of a better education. You see, here's the shocker, I like spending time with my children and I would love to have the privilege of educating them. I think a love of learning is more important than doing well in tests and exams and I don't think this is something that is of first priority in the state school system.

I often spend my free moments reading about Charlotte Mason and her method of home education. Many of my favourite blogs are those of home-educating mothers and I love to read about what they do in their 'homeschools'. I daydream about book lists, art and music appreciation, nature studies and field trips. I thrill to the idea of my children following their own interests instead of those of the crowd, learning in a way and at a speed that suits them and revelling in their individuality. I think of a world where my children can have their questions answered instead of being made to sit quietly because teacher is talking, where they can play and learn outside whenever the weather permits and where we can learn about the seaside by visiting it instead of reading about it. This is a world where the moral standards my children learn are those we believe in, not those of the state, where we can sit and enjoy books together whenever the mood or an idea takes us and where they know that what they think and who they are really matters. This is not a world that tells a four year old child she can't go and get her cardigan when she is cold, that sends words home when a child isn't ready to start reading yet or makes an almost six year old have to learn in a reception class because the school can't afford a second Year 1 teacher.
.
Sadly, this is just a world that I dream about and that doesn't really exist. As we all learn fairly on in our lives, we can't have everything we wish for. I just wanted to say to any home-educating mothers who might read this, you and your children are extremely lucky. I salute you!

.

• A good summary of the Charlotte Mason approach to home education can be found here
• This article pretty much sums up my thoughts about why I think home education is better than traditional schooling

Messing about in boats

On the last day of our holiday we decided to have a quiet day as we would spend the next two days travelling. We knew that a mere twenty minutes walk away from our lodge was a loch, with rowing boats belonging to the holiday park. We packed up a thermos for tea, juice for the Podlings and some biscuits and took a walk through the woods to the loch. We spent a happy hour by (and on) the water enjoying the peace and messing about in the boats. Tom and Lily enjoyed the novelty of consuming their juice and biscuits on a boat and even Emma got to have a little ride. It was a lovely way to spend our last day in the Highlands.
.

All things bright and beautiful

Marvelling at the glory of God's creation

I love purple heather. I grew up spending a lot of time on Dartmoor and it was never more beautiful than when the heather was in flower. The heather was in full bloom in the Highlands, painting the landscape with its glorious colour.

I was so excited to find this Fly Agaric toadstool (the first of many) in the woods. I've only ever seen pictures of them before. They are extremely beautiful up close.
.
.