1066 and all that

Friday 3rd August

After yesterdays 9 eggs on the floor moment, Pumpkin dropped his boiled egg on the floor today. A divine moment as it gave rise to the discussion about the breaking habits of cooked and uncooked eggs. 

We spent the day with a friend in Battle. It is a friend that I haven't seen for over 10 years but she has just had a baby girl and it has given us good reason to meet up. The boys enjoyed playing with a whole bag of new toys and exploring the garden. We went to the local park which was further than we're used to especially for a late afternoon walk but Pumpkin managed to walk all the way there and back again pushing dolly in his buggy. The play equipment was different to our normal haunts which was great and the boys enjoyed the new possibilities. Plum suffered a little as she had a sleep whilst at the park and then woke hungry as we left. We had to frog march to my friends house so I could feed her as there were no benches or pit stop places on route.

Being in Battle ignited a whole barrage of questions from Bean about why it was called Battle and I was surprised at how much accurate information I was able to recall from my school days especially as history was low down on my list of interesting subjects.

The journey home was a little long, thanks to the enormous detour I took but thankfully all the smalls were asleep.

Roll over, Roll over

Saturday 4th August

We have nothing planned this weekend except the arrival of Bronwyn, an elderly Golden Retriever who is coming to stay for 10 days.


After yesterday's trip to Battle we found the story online and pictures of the tapestry. We also found an animated version so the boys have been repeatedly watching head chopping, eye poking, limb amputation, in moving tapestry!

We had very few toys out today and mostly there was colouring and sticking and making occurring. Except for Plum who played with this large wooden hammer for ages. She definitely hit herself at least once but was most distraught if you took it away from her. Today is also the day she mastered rolling from her back to her front, although I haven't seen it yet. She whizzed around the living room floor mostly turning and shuffling rather than rolling but it wont be long.


When daddy suggested taking the boys out (with a bike ride in mind) they both jumped up and went to play happily in the garden! 

Plum has been enjoying celery during her food trials and this week we remembered to keep the bulb and have placed it in water to watch it grow. I have included the first photo, shot after two days.

Daddy measures the boys monthly on our wall. The markings in the photo are two months of growth from Pumpkin, it measures one inch in two months. At least this gives reason to his large appetite and unusual sleeping patterns in the past days.

Who is able

Sunday 5th August

Daddy with knitted eyebrows!

A great morning at church where we read the first verses of Luke 7 and I was particularly taken by v.13 -When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” 


I'm also getting very excited about camp this year, spurred on by chatting to best buddy J last night. Lots of exciting things planned and it's only two weeks away Whoop Whoop! Going to do a piece on it in church next Sunday. 


Another day of nothing planned...I almost feel like I'm on holiday. We ate lunch and Plum slept longer than usual so whilst we waited for her to wake (a luxury for her) Bean and Pumpkin watched and I finished knitting all the parts of the snake (hence, above photo) 


We took Bronwyn for a short walk. She really is a poor old girl. went off at a speedy walking pace on the way out, had a five minute run in a field and slowly plodded home. Both the boys had a go at taking the lead and giving instructions. Bean repeatedly stated that, 'this is fun.'


Lots of fun in the garden when we got home. Many a make believe game, swapping from one to another. I couldn't really keep up but I'm sure it wont be long until the dog is incorporated!

Stumble trip

Tuesday 31st July

FA#1 took us to the woods again today with all six boys and Plum. This time I took the sling and Plum was one very happy baby. 
We walked to the bomb crater and played happily in a cave made in the side of the crater with the stump and roots of a very large tree forming the roof and sides.
One of the boys decided to build a bridge across the 30ft bog and began dragging large branches to the site and placing them and levering them into place. There were already a number of branches and cut timbers already there which were used too but soon all the boys were helping out from Pumpkin, 3 to cousin B, 10. They carried together and put them in the right place and levered them and tested them and talked through what they were doing. Bean became chief tester and walked as far as he could across the bridge until the next set of branches were in place. It's a shame there are no photos but the smallest branches were probably 10cm in diameter and 6ft long and they got much bigger! Bean crossed 30ft of bog on this make shift bridge, it even had a hand rail in on place which was supported by two stumps in situ. 


The rest of the day was spent watching olympics, reading books, playing with lego, trying out the skateboard, playing basketball, and playing cars and diggers. 
Pumpkin fell asleep on the sofa about 5pm. 

Go to sleep

Monday 30th July

After a manic morning packing and doing all those other household jobs that need to be done we headed off to gymnastics where again Bean was the only participant. Today he walked backwards on the beam, did a forward roll on the beam, took a turn on the bars and bounced on the trampoline, amongst other things. 
After this we headed of to FA#1 house to spend the remainder of the day with cousin B and stay the night. 
We watched the men's gymnastics and the diving on the television and played at giving them scores. 
There was lots of lego making and book reading going on. 


The journey there had given Pumpkin a huge afternoon sleep and consequently he was up till after 10. He is actually much more pleasant company after having an afternoon nap but usually only takes one if he's in the car, it does always mean that he's up late though when he has slept. 
Bean went to bed as normal but ventured downstairs after half an hour because he was lonely and even though he knew he was tired he preferred to stay with company until he was literally falling asleep and then I took him upstairs about 9. Bean likes his sleep and although he likes to be up between 6 and 7am he is always in bed between 7 and 8pm even if he has had a sleep in the day so to be up this late especially after the super late night on Saturday (11.30pm) will tire him out. 
Plum went to sleep about 7pm and then woke at 9pm but soon settled after nursing. We had a whole bed to ourselves which was nice and I think we both enjoyed the cosyness.

It's Party Time

Sunday 29th July


A busy day. Daddy was leading at church so we had to be out earlier than usual which was a challenge after our late and energetic night dancing at a friend's birthday party. Although the children were still up at their normal times. They were dutifully cranky and edgy and we nearly cancelled the birthday party that we had been invited too but Bean and Pumpkin both insisted that they wanted to go and it turned out to be a good move. Although how Pumpkin managed to stay awake on the way home I don't know.
We had a great afternoon and daddy got to meet some of our home ed friends and there were some other daddy's there too which completed the picture nicely. 

Are you dancing?

mummy and daddy dancing with Pumpkin

Saturday 28th July


Daddy took Pumpkin and Bean out for a short bike ride today. Since Pumpkin has become confident and speedy on his balance bike things have speed up enormously. They sped down humps and Bean confidently started himself off every time and rode uphill too. Pumpkin is now pushing with both feet rather than just using one so it's much smoother.


A late night was had by all as we went to a SGS's 60th birthday Barn Dance and had a great evening. Bean didn't join in any of the dances but took masses of photos and Pumpkin joined in every dance that we joined in. Plum enjoyed the music and was cuddled by many a guest. Bean and Plum both fell asleep on the ride home (only across town) but Pumpkin was still awake. At 11.45 I had to give in and go to bed, I think this showed him just how late it was and daddy put him to bed a few minutes later.