Let the holidays begin............

What a hectic half term it has been:

I have been teaching (and the actual teaching as all my teacher friends will know is only about half of what needs to be done in a class ) every day which is the most I have worked for over a decade.  In many ways it has been fantastic to have the freedom to plan and teach in the way I want and we have had a really fun time.  The class has been fairly small and I have loved trying out new ideas and seeing the children respond so well to my ideas.  I have had the most amazing and inspirational view from my  classroom

 I have watched spring arrive through the glass wall.

Everyone has been amazing and so helpful, Mr Oldpolicehouse has been even more lovely and supportive than usual.   

Amidst all this the children have all been doing and achieving so many wonderful things.   Grade 3 piano was passed very well by lovely older girl, although  we are all looking forward to hearing some different tunes.

Middle boy played in his first football match,

he is very proud of his medal.  He is also going to put the tooth fairy out of business, loosing teeth almost daily at the moment.   He was also a super reader in the Easter Mass.  Oldest boy was part of the football team at his school who played well and won the County Cup.  He also chose his options (how old do we feel?) and was so lovely and kind to his  Italian exchange partner  that he has made us very proud of the wonderful person he is becoming.

Middle girl had a birthday and impressed her mummy by wonderful keyboard playing at school.  She is always such a sweet girl and so kind and thoughtful to the family.  Ruby has somehow turned into a lively and adventurous almost toddler.  Her latest trick is to climb onto chairs or tables and get stuck, where has that chilled out babe gone?  She will keep a cute headband in her hair which is great news for those who like to accessorize her wardrobe! Little boy is still full of energy ......

Thirteen months

Styling by older sisters, enjoying the garden in the  beautiful late afternoon sun.....about to be squashed by lively older brother.

Sunny Saturday

It was such a beautiful day yesterday we had our first picnic of the year by the sea.

Lots of space to jump and play

Throwing stones into the sea

and getting wet feet.......of course!  

It was so refreshing to enjoy the sea breeze and the sun, we  happily ignored the cold. 

Baby was happy to cuddle Mummy  and enjoy the sun.

The start of summer.....

Who is Phillip?

Little man has been talking about "Phillip" all week,  telling us he doesn't have a washing machine and has to pay to go to school.  We were told he "really is" at little man's pre school and Caroline (his teacher) knows  him too. We were baffled as to who this mystery person was  as he "doesn't go out to play and has no skin!"   As the week progressed we have been hearing more details about him, Phillip lives a shed, is little like him and little man has  to take money  in for him.  

Who was this mystery boy?

It was only after bumping into his teacher as I dropped the middlies at breakfast club yesterday that it all started to make sense.  Philip is the name of the little boy from the Comic Relief pack for early years, a real life person from a village in Uganda for the pre schoolers to relate to and help them understand what Red nose day is all about.  How not all children are  as fortunate as them and how they can share what they have to benefit others.  Little man thought it was very funny to wear his pyjamas to school with a red nose!

Ruby went to creepy crawlies and made very good use of her patch.

The middlies celebrated red nose  a day early by wearing the wrong clothes on the wrong day (also pyjamas which was very easy).  They ate a very small lunch at school to remember those  in need and raise awareness of the work CAFOD does with those who live in poverty.

Lovely older girl is spending the day in silence.........only at school though...........to raise a contribution  for comic relief.  Mr oldpolicehouse was in a bit of a rush and sadly didn't really embrace the "monsters"  day at his school.  My school held a mad hair day, so much quicker in the morning.

Just to let you know it is very hard to take a register with a red nose on!  

Happy red nose day to all.....give  generously!

Pirate Ruby

Ruby is a little bit unhappy which is so unlike our cheerful, smiley, laid back little babe.  Following a visit to the hospital yesterday she has been given an eye patch to wear  which will help correct the squint in her left eye.  She did not like it at first, kept trying to take it off  and was very sad.

To try and distract her we went into the garden and introduced  trampoline fun, it worked and a happy baby enjoyed crawling and gently bouncing.

Enjoy being a pirate Ruby!

Flipping Fun

One slightly mad dad, several excited children, a little bit too much sugar and lots of chocolate spread all made for much flipping  fun  in the  kitchen of the oldpolicehouse last night.

 Much too young for this last year!

The pictures tell the story..............

............with a very predictable end!

Happy Shrove Tuesday!

Baby Thanksgiving

It's taken us a year and we have already done it many times but eventually we got around to officially thanking God for the precious gift of Ruby.  The whole family was prayed for by the leaders of our church  during the sunday service and we committed ourselves afresh to this huge task of parenting.

We invited lots of family and friend round for a cup of tea and yummy cake afterwards.  It's been such a hectic and busy year we've not had chance to catch up with friends much, so it was  lovely to invite everyone over to share this special day.  It was pretty packed as it started to rain and we had hoped to put the children in the garden...I think we managed to squeeze over sixty people  in!  The little children loved playing the Wii and the older boys escaped to the park to get very muddy playing football, leaving lots of time for the adults to enjoy chatting and eating delicious cakes.

Yummy, yummy cakes but even better than cake was spending time with the special people who share our lives.  Thank you if you are reading this!







The lady of the moment looked lovely in her rosy red dress and matching hat . The only photo taken of her in her pretty dress was by her seven year old brother just as we were leaving!