First week of the Easter holidays

To coin a well used turn of phrase; this half term has passed so quickly. Before we could blink, Easter holidays were here. As we had plans to go to France in the second half, I was keen to get the children to meet up with old friends and do as much outdoor stuff as possible during the first week.

On Monday we drove out to Child's Ercle to spend some much overdue time with the lovely Perkins family.

Whilst I was having tests done, Esther very kindly had my children and they spent a lovely day with the Daniels doing all sorts of fun things.

There was of course the necessary evil of last minute holiday essential shopping in the town centre, but a friend of mine joined me and the adult to child ratio significantly improved the potentially stressful situation. To pacify Eden, I allowed each of the children to bring two toys. The above photo probably sums up why I instantly regretted that decsions as soon as we'd exited the car in the car park. As it was so horrendously windy, we ended up eating the pic nic I'd prepared inside, but the kids didn't seem to mind and just enjoyed the adventure of eating opposite M and S!!!

Ethan turns 11

I can hardly believe that Ethan is 11. I still remember getting the news at work at Charlton School and feeling so excited to see him. We celebrated his birthday with a meal.

It's so lovely to see the cousins all together.

Me and my beautiful Izzy.

Libby adores her uncle Jason.

Some things we have been up to........

We got ready for Easter by making some Easter cakes.

We had some friends over to play.

The girls competed in their cross country races, Ismay came 6th and Mia came 11th.

Afterwards we celebrated as a family by having an ice cream.

The first day of spring was beautifully sunny. We went to Ironbridge and decided to walk to Dale End Park. The children did really well on their scooters.

The children always stop at the bear shop and hug the bear.

The children asked to look at ducks on the river Severn.

Our walk ended with a play on the disused rail tracks in Jackfield.

Mothers Day March 2015

I feel so blessed to be a mother to these three incredible children, particularly after the last few months. So grateful to be able to hold them in my arms.

I got to see them sing in Church and we all spoke this Sunday. They did some lovely talks.

The girls wanted to wear navy blue so we coordinated our outfits.

I was lucky enough to get my favourite breakfast in bed. Smoked salmon and cream cheese.

Hostesses with the mostesses

We've always operated an "open house" policy, particularly when we moved into number 20 Swansmede Way.  Growing up in a caravan I was embarrassed to invite people over so ended up spending lots of time at my friends houses. Jason and I really want to get to know the children's friends and have some "control" over their social lives so we've always encouraged them to invite friends over. They've really missed not being able to do this since my illness and recovery and finally this week I felt able to do this. Eden chose to invite Ben and Freya Marchant and the girls chose Aniah and Izaak Polland.

They planned what games they would play, the girls decided that Eden should take the boys under his wing and do super hero dress up and the girls decided they would play fairies and dolls houses.  They then decided that they would prepare "scrummy mummies" for tea, and I asked them to have a practice run before the day arrived. They really did an excellent job as seen in the photos below.  The proof was in the pudding, every plate was empty.

I love how Eden really looks after his guests. He's very good at sharing and ensures that no one feels left out.

The girls played so beautifully together as well. It makes me so proud when I see them being kind and caring to other children.

Mr Toad

Now that the temperature is a little bit warmer, I've been trying to do little bits outside of the house.

I've finally been able to clear some of the fallen leaves in the garden, and the other day as I was doing so I found a toad. Ismay, ever the biologist, ran straight outside to play with it. Mia was a little reticicent and jumped out of her skin when she held it for the first time. Eden preferred to stay inside.

Mia was really excited when she finally plucked up the courage to hold it, I love how this photo perfectly captures that moment.

They named him Jeffrey and made a home for him. They were bitterly disappointed to find he'd hopped away a few days later.