A lazy Sunday Afternoon

 

 

On Sunday, Mark and I enjoyed one those rarest of commodities for parents of young children, an afternoon to ourselves. We drove round to Mark's parents' house and after lunch they took the Podlings to the cinema for the afternoon, leaving Mark and me with a few hours with no other responsibility than to put the dinner on ready for when they all got back. The nice thing about being in someone else's house was that I had no reason to feel guilty for relaxing. At home, there is always something that needs doing, so even if we get time to ourselves I tend to either do jobs round the house, or feel guilty for not doing them! Sunday afternoon was a blissful chance to just relax and enjoy some peace and quiet with my favourite person and it was lovely!

 

The weather was absolutely glorious. It was sunny, 16°C and it really felt like the first day of spring. As soon as we waved the Podlings off, we set off for a walk in the country park behind my in-laws' house. We enjoyed a lovely stroll, but had to cut it a little short as we needed to get back to put on the leg of lamb. Once we got back to the house, we made a cup of tea (of course!) and headed out into the garden to relax. It was wonderful to sit out in the sunshine, listening to the birds singing and quietly getting on with my cross stitch sampler.

 

The Podlings got back full of the joys of the film they had seen and were excited to then get to play with Uncle Ryan, who had come round for dinner with his new wife Carrie. We all sat down to a lovely lamb roast together. A lovely end to a lovely day.



 

 

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10/52

"A portrait of my children once a week, every week in 2014"

Tom, this week you:

• Earned a Headteacher's Award for your poem 'The Magic Box' and made us all very proud.
• Looked fabulous as Fantastic Mr Fox on World Book Day, but only decided the night before who you were going to be. Thank Goodness we still had last year's costume!
• Enjoyed going to the cinema with Nanna and Grandad to see 'Mr Peabody and Sherman'.
• Had lots of fun playing Super Dogs with Uncle Ryan on Sunday. You love that game so much and Uncle Ryan is so much fun!
• Drew a lot of maps for the games you are designing.

Lily, this week you:

• Made a fabulous butterfly out of paper and card following a disappointment at school on Monday. Crafting always cheers you up.
• Made a lot of books with your new stapler from Nanny and Grandad. There isn't much paper left!
• Had fun helping to make (and eat) pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.
• Looked adorable as Deborah from 'Teddy Robinson' on World Book Day. I love that you enjoy those stories!
• Loved going to the cinema with Nanna and Grandad on Sunday afternoon.

Emma, this week you:

• Had lots of fun helping to make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. You love helping in the kitchen.
• Fell in love with a pink straw hat!
• Looked so sweet as Mary Had a Little Lamb on World Book Day. You had been looking forward to dressing up for school for so long and were very excited about it!
• Performed brilliantly in your class assembly on Friday morning. You were the cat from 'Hey Diddle Diddle' and just looked so adorable up on stage with all your friends. Despite being the smallest in your class, you sang louder than anyone else and I could hear your voice above everyone. You were fantastic! Unfortunately, you got very sad when it was time for me to leave and cried because you didn't want me to go. I wish I could have brought you home with me!
• Were tremendously excited to get to go to the cinema with Nanna and Grandad. You love the cinema so much!

Podling Number 4 (30 weeks pregnant), this week the results of my blood tests came back and showed that I was slightly anaemic. This explains why I have been feeling so very tired and I am hoping that once I start taking iron tablets I will get some energy back! I have been patiently waiting for the burst of energy I experienced in the middle of my other pregnancies and the anaemia might explain why I haven't had it! You continue to move around a lot and it amuses me to lie in bed at around eleven (when you really seem to wake up!) and watch my abdomen dancing around as you move about. I am very excited, little one, because I am booked in for a 4D ultrasound scan next Friday and I can't wait to see your face! I have never had a 4D ultrasound before, so this will be a first for both of us! I hope you co-operate and we get some lovely pictures of you!

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World Book Day 2014

Today was World Book Day, a day much anticipated by school children everywhere as it means they get to go to school dressed up. The children are supposed to choose a character from a book, nursery rhyme or poem for their costumes and I am a bit of a stickler for this. A lot of people seem to take World Book Day as 'World Fancy Dress Day' and you see lots of children coming to school as Disney princesses or computer game or cartoon characters. Other people go to tremendous efforts to produce wonderful book-themed costumes and the teachers all dress up as well.  I tell the children that there are enough books and stories out there that we are not short of inspiration for our costumes. It is basically a fun day that all the children love.

This year, Tom chose to be Fantastic Mr Fox again, which worked out well for me as we still had the ears I made for him last year and the rest of the costume was easy to put together. Emma was Mary from 'Mary had a little lamb' and Lily was Deborah from the Teddy Robinson stories by Joan G. Robinson. I loved the Teddy Robinson books as a little girl. I gave Lily a copy of the stories for Christmas a couple of years ago and we have been reading them together recently. I suspect nobody other than Lily and I had any idea who she was as nobody seems to read the old stories any more, but I was pleased she chose to be a character from one of my favourite childhood books.

It was Emma's first World Book Day at school and, for a little girl who spends half her life in dressing up costumes, the opportunity to dress up for school was like a dream come true! She was completely in love with the pink straw hat and could actually be found running around the house last night completely naked with the pink hat perched at a jaunty angle on her head. Very cute!

I printed off World Book Day certificates for the Podlings and when they got home from school we made bookworm bookmarks. We had a themed tea with Fantastic Mr Fox's Favourite Chicken Dinner, Teddy Robinson Jelly (jelly made in my teddy bear jelly moulds) and a quick trip to Tesco with Easter on the horizon yielded chocolate lollipops in the shape of lambs for Mary had a little Lamb. To end World Book Day, we finished off the day with stories at bedtime (as we usually do). I think the Podlings had a great day!

Mary had a little lamb

Deborah from the Teddy Robinson stories by Joan G. Robinson. Lily's favourite teddy bear Spencer played the role of Teddy Robinson.

Fantastic Mr Fox

Bookworm bookmarks

Our World Book Day themed menu

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A Headteacher's Award for Tom

Tom with his special piece of work

Tom wrote a poem in school today that his teacher was so pleased with that she sent him to show it to the headteacher. He got a 'Headteacher's Award' sticker on his poem, a little certificate and came out of school wearing a 'My Headteacher Says Well Done' sticker on his top.

Well Done Tom! We are very, very proud of you!

Keep up the good work!

Tom's poem, entitled 'The Magic Box'

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Shrove Tuesday

Tom has very little interest in kitchen-related activities these days, but Lily and Emma had lots of fun helping me make pancakes for Shrove Tuesday. Tom doesn't eat pancakes either, but the rest of us really enjoyed them. I don't why I don't make these for pudding on any other day of the year! There's no reason not to, I just don't think to do it. Silly really, given that most of the family love them!

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9/52

"A portrait of my children once a week, every week in 2014"

Tom, this week we finally managed to get you to the barber's. You have the most wonderful head of thick curls, but it was getting a bit long and the clump of curls at the front was driving you potty! This photo was taken just before we took you to get your hair cut.

Lily, you have been wearing your hair in two plaits most of this week (night and day), just so you could have the pleasure of curly hair this weekend. You accessorized your curls with a length of fairy print fabric worn as a scarf and added your old pink umbrella for good measure!

Emma, you loved using the paints you won in Pass the Parcel at Jacob's party last week. You shared your paints with Lily and Lily shared her glitter glue with you and you both made some lovely pictures. You and Lily have been quite inseparable this week and I love that you are both so close.

Podling Number 4 (29 weeks pregnant), we actually have a picture of you this week thanks to my 28 week growth scan. You are growing well and weigh approximately 3 lb 2oz, according to estimates taken from the scan. Your brother and sisters were allowed in to the scan room, so they got to see you too and were all very excited about it. They all took a copy of your scan photo in to school the next day to show their teachers and friends. You are already much loved by the whole family little one!

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29 Weeks 3 Days Pregnant

Here I am at 29 weeks pregnant with Podling Number 4. There's a lot of bump there given that I still have around 11 weeks to go! It's all in the bump though, I don't look pregnant from the back!

Now you see it, now you don't!

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