Sports Day

DD1 did us proud today. Even though she was super anxious and miles from her comfort zone, she joined in with almost all the activities.

It was lovely to watch her joining in and showing off some sports skills. I was also touched by the amount of her classmates who approached her with pats on the shoulder and encourage words. 

With all the horrible things going on in the world it gave me a sense of hope for the next generation.

keep supporting each other guys.

X x x

Jelly on the roll.

A very sweet friend of mine gifted me some single duvet covers today. She'd been about to throw them out but suddenly thought of me instead.

Of course I snatched them off her gratefully. There's lots of fabricy fun to be had with a duvet cover! 

My first thought was making a quilt each for the girls to replace some of there older blankets. Both of the quilts had reversal designs so I have 4 nicely contrasting fabrics to play with.

Today I unpicked them, sliced them up, stitched them together and rolled them.

Hopefully tomorrow the real fun begins.

X x X

Pottering in the garden

Even though everything aches this morning I still felt the gardening urge. With all the prep needed for the school Fayre I hadn't been keeping on top of the knot weed and it was everywhere!

I spotted my first batch of courgettes. I think we will be munching them by the end of next week, all this rain has made them grow like crazy.

I spotted my first two tiny runner beans. Hopefully with many many more to follow!

I was shocked to discover a handful of blackcurrants on the fruit bushes. I thought I'D get nothing until next year so the 12 ive spotted will be treasured.

I have three sun flowers almost ready to open. These were from a kit I recieved for mothers day. They have been lovely to watch grow.

And last but not least, a teeny tiny pumpkin has been spotted. Fingers crossed he makes it until October and becomes a giant!

X x X

A soggy days work.

I was quite proud of my little plant stall today. Thanks to lots of donations being added to my own growing efforts, I had a table stuffed full of plant delights.

Everything was priced at 50p and I finished the day with only a small tray of plants left.  Apparently no one fancied spider plants or oriental grass. They've been gifted to the school flower beds, the gardening club will be planting them on Monday.

Once everything was finally packed away I made it home in time to see the girls just before bedtime. It was lovely to come home and see them cuddled up together under a blanket, enjoying a film.

Tomorrow morning I am taking a well earned lay in. But to help Daddy out first thing I've whipped up a nice quiet activity.

Design your own paperdolls, complete with a nice box of shiny, feathery, fabricy,  papery type things to use. 

Hopefully it should give him half hour of peace.

X x X

Strawberries Strawberries everywhere.

Tomorrow is the biggest PTA event of the year and today had been prep day.

I have spent the whole day cutting fruit for Pimms, folding tombola tickets,  labelling prizes and discussing the best possible layout for the cake stall.

It's been epic but I think we've just about got there.

I couldn't take any photos as its all been done on school premises, but I will share DD1's latest Duplo creation instead.  

Wish me luck.

X x X

A day in the kitchen

With my glamorous and hungry assist DD2 I have spent the day making...

...2 batches of Angela's wonderful Rhubarb windows. Check out the recipe HERE

One for now and one popped in the freezer for later.

...one batch of classic strawberry jam. 

...and finally one batch of Rhubarb, Strawberry and Mint jam. 

It used everything up nicely and gave us a lovely stash of tasty treats that should last us a few weeks. (She says watching Hubby polish off another window!)

X x X

Shhhh....

...Grandad has taken Nanny on holiday and left his strawberry patch unprotected. Tonight we took full advantage of the fact and stole all the ripe ones.

4lbs of delicious homegrown strawberries are now waiting in my kitchen.

Double shhh...we stole some Rhubarb too! 

X x X

Getting Summer Ready.

We have officially finalised our 6 themes for the Summer holidays. I know a few of you have been emailing me about organising themed weeks during the holidays, so I wanted to share the process we go through with everyone.

Our 6 themes are;

* Animal week 

* Nature week

* Lego week

* Seaside week

* Music-ish week

* Dinosaur week

All themes are wide open general themes so we have plenty of room to manoeuvre. 

Music-ish week is going to general music, theatre, performance, drama week but for the sake of wasted stickers we've gone with music-ish for short. Lol.

Each week has a real life folder for collecting bits between now and summer. They also each have Pinterest boards for ideas.

I've started digging through 6 for £1 book piles in charity shops looking for cheap additions. The poundshops are also a minefield of craft kits, stickers and toys.

Is anyone else planning? What are your themes this year? 

X x X

Sunday Shenanigans

It's been one of those days where your just glad to stop at the end of it. 

First we were treated to a full English breakfast at our favourite seaside cafe by Daddy Random. Apparently he dreamed about eating one last night  and woke with a craving for one. 

Then the girls went to a friends birthday party. Gman and Daddy stayed home so G could sleep off his gigantic breakfast. I have a sneaky suspicion that that's what Daddy also did,  though he of course won't admit it.

And then in the late afternoon Gman caught his toenail on something. It appears to have ripped straight down the centre. 

We popped him to the pharmacist to see if they recommend doing something with it.  For now we just need let nature do it's thing, unless of course it starts causing G any pain. I'm going to pop a sock on it overnight to stop it catching on his bed covers buy otherwise there isn't much to do

Gman seems blissfully oblivious.

X x x

Post Presents.

I've recieved two lovely parcels in the post this week. The first from the lovely Angela from Tracing Rainbows  . 

The girls loved looking at the book together. We are reading through over the next few bedtimes. It's written in a really lovely way that has kept them both engaged.

I've also recieved this book as part of a giveaway. The wonderful Sara from frugal in Lincolnshire  generously offered a spare copy to one lucky reader.

I was so pleased to have win,  it will be a great help!

I wonder what the postman will bring next.

X x x

Mr.Ribbit gets tidy.

As part of my house cleaning/decluttering mission I am doing all those the horrible jobs you tend to put off. 

On Monday I deep cleaned and organised the TV sideboard. Tuesday I washed one of the white leather armchairs we are hoping to sell.

Today is was Mr.Ribbit's turn for attention.

Safely stored in well covered plastic tub, we hooked his tank into the garden. We've scrubbed and rinsed every part of it to gleaming perfection. 

Even treating him to some fresh gravel and jam jars to hide inside.

 It was quiet a job but we got there. He looks rather happy in there now.

X x x

Kind friends

Gman is getting bigger and bigger. I mentioned to a friend at the end of last term that G was almost ready to go into 12-18mth clothes.

Today that friend gifted us three huge bags of boys clothes in exactly the size he needed. He's set for the duration with an outfit for every occasion. 

My friend said she was glad to pass them on to a good home. It's inspired me to pass some of G's tinier clothes on to a new life.

 Tomorrow's organising job has been decided. Lol.

X x X

Back to school prep.

We are all prepped and ready to return to school tomorrow. A weeks worth of school/preschool outfits are hanging ready to go. Backpacks are packed ready. PE kit has been found and assembled.

All I need to do now is plan a weeks worth of activities to keep me busy while I miss the girls.

Job 1 is reading To kill a mockingbird. A few friends and I have (very) recently formed a book club and this is our first book to read and discuss. 

Job 2 is knitting.  I desperately need to work through my stash! I pick this huge ball of Flutterby Chenille at random. The plan is to make a blanket for Gman.

Job 3 is to dejunk, deep clean and reorganise the lounge. Starting with the TV cupboard! It needs a good polish and sort out.

Gman is far to big for his bouncer chair as well so that needs washing and listing for sale. I've been careful to keep it in good condition so we could

 resell it. We paid £15 so I want to try and get at least £10.

I will let you know how I get on.

X x X

End of half term.

We have ended the half term break in style.

A seaside picnic with Nanny and Grandad. 

We have come home with bellies full of picnic treats and pockets full of seashell treasures.

Gman enjoyed his first chance to touch the sea. He's getting really sturdy with his walking though the uneven surface of the shingle proved difficult for him.

Tomorrow is reserved for back to school preps. Everyone needs a good scrub and hairwash. Plus there is always that one shoe that hides!

X x X

Space week - so many memories.

On Wednesday we took a trip to London.

We spent the morning in the Science Museum and the afternoon at the Natural History Museum.  

The girls loved it as they always do. We took a picnic lunch with us so it was a pretty frugal day out.

The highlight of the trip was DD1 finding out that astronauts wear nappies in space, she thought it was hilarious.

Today we visited a local model village.  It was recently taken over by new owners who have done a wonderful job of repairing and replacing what they could. The whole site was in a dire state when it changed hands, but it's a wonderful place to take the children.

 We also visited the natural history museum in Southsea to see their bee colony. DD2 was fascinated with watching them wriggle around over the combs.

Tomorrow is our last official day of the holidays. Sunday is reserved as a resting and prep day for back to school.

X x X