Drenched

There was a time when getting caught in the rain would have resulted in a lot of angst and tears and big emotions. Today ot was an adventure. We walked to the library in sunshine, pumpkin, 8, completed the Summer Reading Challenge for the first time, all the children choose a large number of books (considering i had to carry them) and then we made our way home in the pouring rain. Pumpkin asked bean, 10, to ride his bike because he was worried about slipping. We all got drenched. We all had a change of clothes, hot chocolate and marshmallows when we arrived home. No trauma. No tears.

Back home pumpkin put on the Angry Birds followed by bean putting on WallE and everyone ate a hearty dinner. Pippin, 2, came and said she was hungry and asked for broccoli and ham so we cut up some broccoli together and boiled in, put ham on a plate, and she was happy with her meal.

Pippin and plum topped and tailed our trip out with dolly play, doll's house play and role playing mummy's. It was effectively the same narrative but in different forms and places in the house.

People are important

We made it out of the house today and smoothly past the For Sale sign that caused so much distress yesterday. Pumpkin, 8, ride his bike to town, the rest of us walked. We visited the library where Pumpkin chatted to the librarian with ease and joy about the four books he has read for the Summer Reading challenge, the librarian happens to also be his Sunday School teacher so that made all the difference. He choose a dvd and everyone gathered books to bring home. Bean, 10, continues to gravitate towards graphic novels.

We also visited The Works for a new fidget spinner for Bean, the pound shop where he also picked up a joke kit, and the toy shop for some blind bags. Plum, 5, is collecting shopkins, pumpkin got more grosseries, and pippin picked up a peppa pig mystery egg.

Back home we watched Hop, the dvd pupmkin had chosen, pippin slept and we played minecraft together.

Not for saele

Friday we took a trip into town, the library twice, the playpark twice and the toyshop. Bean, 9, ordered Pokemon books from the library and a puzzle story book. We found a book called All aboard the Poo Bus which Pumpkin, 8, chose to bring home, Plum, 5, found a Little Princess book and Pippin, 2, found a Bing book.

The toyshop resulted in new shopkins, grosseries and a pop gun.

And our wander around town resulted in Pumpkin seeing our house for sale in an estate agent window. There was quite the upset to follow, for days, it might continue for days to come also.

Saturday we had no plans. Plum and Bean decided that the paddling pool should come out. We filled it with water and put the slide in. Bean and one go and declared it cold. Pippin and Plum spent more time outside the pool playing with a few toys in it. Pumpkin is immersing himself in BallisticSquid videos on YouTube. There was also more talk from the boys, specifically Bean, about not moving.

Sunday was Mother's Day. Bean had made me some things in mincraft, sculptures of hearts and words that said Best Mum. Plum took daddy to the shop specifically to buy me a present (nail varnish) which we then used to paint each others nails in the garden. We washed the toys in the paddling pool and daddy made us a picnic snack of apples and grapes.
We went to church in the morning, daddy stayed home with Pumpkin. We played cricket in the garden with the other children and Bean wanted to know if we would still come to this church when we move.

We read Bean's puzzle book at lunch time and he completes all the puzzles. And in the evening he dictates a minecraft story to me. We write chapter 1 and part of chapter 2. He has also written two signs for our house. One says 'no moov home' and the second is in our front window and says 'not for saele'.

Blessed

We took a planned trip to town, returning library books and getting some new ones, buying candy canes for the tree, getting kinder surprise eggs. The library has a pokemonGo display currently and Bean, 9, and Pumpkin, 7, enjoyed showing pippin, 2, all the differentokemon and her repeating them when they told her their names. Bean chose another graphic novel to bring home, this time he found a lego ninjago story. Plum, 4, moved the mats left in the children's area from rhyme time and put them all together in a line, she then went tumbling along them, cartwheels and forward rolls, run, skip, and jump. It reminded me to contact the local gymnastics class to see if they have space for her. We bought four boxes of candy canes, each with twelve in them, it was Pumpkin's idea that they can eat one a day until Christmas, although Pippin has already eaten four. Our trip to Sainsbury's for kinder eggs (and shopping for mummy) also ment we bought helium balloons for Pumpkin (darth vader), Plum (frozen), Pippin (peppa pig) and a Harry Potter sticker collectors books for Bean. We dropped the book on the way home, Pumpkin said he remembered that it had fallen out in the alley way down the road, so Bean set off on his own to look for it, fortunately with success.

The remainder of the day Bean and Plum were busy getting a Christmas package together for our friends. Bean made a story book and Plum drew pictures and made cards. We watched Disney's Robin Hood, there were baths and wrestling games and a game of babies. There has been a lot of sibling harmony today and it reminded me that we are blessed to have so much time together to nurture relationships and they really do enjoy each others company and find games that they are able to all play together. Plum and Pippin played doll's house together and sat on Plum's bed and watched cbeebies on the tablet.

On daddy's return home he was joined by a reporter who recorded his entrance into the house. I deliberatly hadn't said anything to the children and we had discussed that the reporter would have to take us as he finds us (i.e. it might be great but we can't guarentee what the children will be doing at that exact moment) but it was a good welcome home, as most of them are. And then the reporter interviewed mummy (he had already interviewed daddy) about the psycological effects of disrupted commuting by train on the commuter and all the time the children watched their film and showed daddy the books they had made and played happily together. It reminded me how much things have changed for us in the last 12 months. We are blessed.

The precious pearl

The boys were up before 6 again today, fortunately daddy takes care of them as he is up getting ready for work. Plum also woke early, before 6 and fed for an hour before declaring that she was not going to go back to sleep, which is very unlike her.


We had a lovely time playing Lego, building boats and using the weaponry to fish with. We had a good chat about all the different ways people fish all over the world and what to do with the fish once they were caught and sustainable fishing.


For the first time today Bean expressed his desire not to go somewhere that we had planned to go to and we had to have our first ever conversation about us needing to go to places for others, not just for him. I'm sure it will be the first of many, I'm not really sure he understood the concept.


Little Verse was none the less popular once we arrived and the boys made two great hats after listening to the story of the precious pearl. Pumpkin then helped to give out the biscuits.


Gymnastics is ever popular too. Bean absolutely loves it. He's not a natural at it and things take some work but he tries and tries and is so happy to be doing it. Today he walked backwards on a beam and jumped two footed onto and off the spring board, both new skills for him.


Pumpkin insisted that we should have a play in the park, understandably. We had a couple of goes on the swings (as always) and watched the Zumba class. Then we noticed that Plum had dropped her toy. We had to retred our footsteps to find it in the lift. Pumpkin was very pleased that he was the one that found it.


We also managed to squeeze in a library visit too. It worked out well actually and we picked up some books on frogs and a crafty book for making gifts (yes, i'm thinking about Christmas already) and the boys chose some story books. The only down side was paying for a second car park in one day. This is the last month I am paid any maternity money and we are going to have to think even more closely about our pennies. It looks like we will have to learn to walk around town more and avoid paying for car parks.

We're at home now, watching Iplayer, planning on having a look at those frogs books and the Lego is still out so I'm sure that'll get another look in.

Rain on the green grass

Today's adventures have included:

•  Pumpkin waking up at 7.30am after going to sleep at 4.30 yesterday afternoon and missing dinner entirely.
• Coming downstairs after feeding Plum and finding a tea party set up in the living room.

• Bean opening up his parcel to reveal a second gift from Big Jigs for him to try out...which he did but probably not the way they had in mind. The focus area was really the road element that became the practise race track for warming up on. He later added the scalectrix track as the main race track. He also included an airport with runway, hanger and flight control tower. 

• Bean and Pumpkin helped make a delicious lunch (rather miraculously as we are rapidly running out of food - always feast or famine in our house!) 

• A much requested trip to the library where we stayed for story time, returned books and borrowed new ones. Bean rather thoughtfully picked five books for Plum.

• Walking round town in the rain, buying bits and pieces to replenish the art supplies and some domestics i.e. a visit to the bank. This also included  Pumpkin repeatedly stating he was hungry and Bean becoming very tired. It was at this stressful moment in time I remembered that daddy was not coming home until late.
• Pumpkin, for the third day in a  row, falling asleep on the way home.
• Tea being served in three sittings.
• Mummy reading bedtime stories to all at once.
• Bean, Pumpkin and Plum all in bed by 7.15
• Feeling a little proud of myself and somewhat like super woman but without the need for a disguise.

Bean took this photo

n.b. read a brilliant and inspired blog post today.