Keeping up

...or maybe not.

I'm finding out the true meaning of plate spinning at the moment. Not only have I got loads on work-wise (not least, the ceremony of the Church School Awards on 24 March, with all the busyness that brings with it), but the boys have sprouted social lives that even the most active It girl would be proud of!

In March/April, we're running at a current total of 6 birthday parties, at least one football match, band rehearsals, football clubs x 2, jazz dance and that's without trombone lessons etc. I'm now beginning to more fully appreciate what my Mum and Dad did for us when we were little!

Can we dig it? Yes we can!

We're digging the patio out and replacing it with a new one so Mike spent a happy couple of days last week digging it all out (and down 6 inches). Number 2 son decided to "help" and chose the right hat for the job.....


Next is the concrete and then the slabs. Mike is going to be a shadow of his former self by the time he's finished!

Lemon and sugar

Well, it's half term and the lemon is that I'm working most of the week. The sugar is that the boys and Mike are having great fun doing boys' stuff, uninterrupted by my pesky female slant on things.

We're all off on Thursday and Friday and will be making a trip to the Cotswold Farm Park, which we're all looking forward to. Then we'll get the boys on their bikes on Friday. Should be interesting....

It's Shrove Tuesday today and, ever ones to follow a good tradition where food's concerned, we've done the whole pancake thing. I made quite a lot, it's fair to say. I limited myself to two and Number Two Son had a little bit of my second, preferring to munch his way through an apple "chocked up".

So, faced with a mildly virtuous pair opposite them at the dinner table, Mike and Number One Son resolved to eat their way through about 9 pancakes between them, with lashings of authentic Canadian maple syrup and chocolate sauce. If they aren't both sick tonight, there really isn't any justice in this world.

Avoiding the chopping block

As Mike was out and about today on a history trip to Tutbury Castle, the boys and I decided that we were not to be outdone. So we flexed our English Heritage membership and went to Boscobel House, a little bit north of Wolverhampton.

A good time was had by all and even the little one eventually caught on and then told everyone that Charles II had hidden there to avoid having his head "chocked" off. The oldest tried sitting in one of the two priest holes. Not comfy and pretty dark, as the photo shows.

Only one 3 year old vs chicken-related incident threatened the general harmony and enjoyment of a lovely afternoon.

It was Harvest festival celebration at church today, complete with Harvest Bonnet Parade for the under 6s.

Loving that tractor look on number 2 son. The wobbly yellow bits certainly made him easy to spot in a crowd.
And then there was tea. We didn't quite plough the fields but we certainly scattered .... crumbs, that is.

After this, a treasure hunt and a photo of everyone baptised at Holy Trinity (or as many as could make it!), we had a little concert and all retired, feeling as though we should be chewing ears of corn and revving up our tractors! Not bad for inner-city Coventry....

A stage debut triumph!

Number 1 son trod the boards for the first time a couple of weeks ago. He took part in a show, organised by the teacher who runs the jazz dance club he goes to after school every week.

Clearly a thespian in the making, he absolutely loved it and, considering that his lot were the youngest by a very long way, they did brilliantly. Even a trip over an unsuspecting curtain didn't dampen his enthusiasm. We all took a sharp breath in as his nose met the stage at high speed, but he was a consummate professional and just got up and kept going. At which point, we all released the sharp intake of breath and carried on enjoying the performance!

Interestingly, he did precisely what I do around a big performance. Cool as a cucumber before hand and then completely buzzing afterwards! It was funny to see my style matched so exactly...

Here he is, doing the Under the Sea dance - he's one of the tallest, so fairly easy to spot. All the little one was interested in was the bubbles which appeared halfway through!

Triple Trouble

Two posers and a poser-in-training. Thursday nights with the family are about to get even more raucous!

Cut price swimming lessons

I reckon this is the way forward - very shallow water in an open air pool, close to home and no annoying changing rooms at the end - just a Bob tent for shelter when you want it.
Not entirely sure it's any good when it comes to diving practice, however.....

Catching up on the celebrations

It's been an all-action kind of a week this week and so I'm catching up on what I haven't posted!

My mother-in-law turned 60 last week and so we celebrated in style - from me and my sister-in-law taking her for a spa day on her actual birthday (and supported Further Education at the same time - would highly recommend it), to organising a surprise gathering of closest family and friends for a meal on Saturday night. All lovely and she seemed to have a great time.

Number one son then went off for a long-promised stay at Graham and Helen's for a couple of nights and was spoilt rotten! An amazing amount of chocolate has found its way in to our house, after they went to Cadbury World and a (seemingly inept) juggler managed to catch number one on the nose. Clearly my boy has heard that "where there's blame, there's a claim" but, true to form, he chose to claim the extra chocolate they offered him by way of an apology, rather than contacting his solicitor!

We, on the other hand, went down to Brighton on Sunday for the end of the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society's London to Brighton run. Now, I'm not a huge vehicle fan, but just very occasionally a rally like this comes along that sounds more interesting than others. Usually because it's somewhere nice.... It was a good day and many, many pictures of old lorries were taken by Mike and his dad. Number 2 son had a great time - a large collection of lorries and buses being his idea of heaven - and even managed to blag his way in to the driving seat of a bus, using his tried and tested unfeasibly cute routine.

I have to say that I often (and, may I say, justifiably) accuse my husband of being very, very sad to chase old lorries and buses and models of old lorries and buses all over the country. However, this kind of event restores my faith in my choice of mate. After all, he could end up looking like the several blokes we saw wearing bus uniforms, with the remains of several weeks of dinner down them, or the young chap who'd spent all day keeping a steam engine going and who was going to need several baths to scrape the goo off. I like to think that I rescued him from these fates but I think that, despite his obsession, he's actually a fairly mild case compared to some of the seriously odd people in that world. I left Brighton that evening, counting my blessings.....

Things they don't tell you when you become a parent

I spent yesterday evening creating an Easter bonnet for the 2 year old's Easter Parade next Thursday. Photographic evidence will follow next week. However, this got me thinking - when I signed on the dotted line for parenthood, at no point did anyone say that I'd have to become a master craftsman as well. A bit like the dodgily-shaped Easter eggs I was sticking on to the hastily constructed hat at 11.30 last night - I'm simply not cut out for this part of the job.

It made me wonder - what else did nobody say would be an integral part of the day job as a parent? Here are a few I have come up with. I'm sure there are more.

1. You will always need to know the answer to "why?"
2. You will never be able to find pen and paper, as the children will always be using them for the latest project (currently school registers in this house).
3. Little boys are like most big boys: no aim.
4. Children will often forget their manners. They never forget the once they heard you swear.
5. The equipment needed and the mess generated is in inverse proportion to the size of the child (see picture below for details).
6. You can take a child to water but you can't make him drink. Pop, on the other hand.....
7. If they're awake and it goes quiet: be afraid, be very afraid.
8. Even the least competitive parent will find themself stifling the urge to ask how all the other children in the class are doing. (I have successfully stifled so far but it's come close a few times).
9. Just because the school trousers say they are teflon-coated doesn't mean that a 6 year old can't put his knee through them in less than 2 hours of wear.
10. You are now the world's expert on all subjects and all you say will be taken in, digested and generally repeated, whether you've made it up or not.

The 2 year (old) itch

It was bound to happen. We only narrowly escaped it last year. Number 2 has chicken pox. And, as it happens, one of about 6 off from his room in nursery!

He's being very stoic, generally, although he's obviously seriously itchy, mainly because he's one big spot. He can't stand still at the best of times and he's even worse at the moment. So much so that he wriggled and fell into the corner of the doctor's desk on Thursday when we went to the GPs to get it confirmed. Think she was more shocked and perturbed than he was!

He is nothing if not a trouper and we feel very proud of him - I don't know if I could smile like this if I was in the pickle he's found himself.

And his face isn't as bad as the rest of him......

Raising a geek....and a bouncer...

We helped out at the show that my mum-in-law appeared in on Saturday. The oldest was keen to help his Grandad Front of House and this was all arranged. However, not content with this role, he decided that he had to have the right clothes. At this point his not-so-inner geek took over and I was asked to provide a waistcoat to go with the musical bow tie he'd had for his birthday. Every aspect of the outfit was carefully considered by my 6-going-on-60 year old and this was the result:

Very smart, I'm sure you'll agree.

The little one, however, decided that the waistcoat that had been found for him (so he didn't feel left out) was not quite his thing. He opted, instead, for a more John Travolta-style look and lacked only the medallion, chest wig and BeeGees soundtrack by the time he was ready....



I don't know what my extreme sons say about the nature/nurture argument but all I know is, they don't get much more different than my two.

Let it snow!

Woke up this morning to a lot more snow than we've seen for a while. Apologies to Canadian cousins - this will look pitiful to you. But it's been described by the BBC as a "snow event" here...

As you can tell - someone had fun driving up our hill early this morning!

There are advantages to having to work from home due to school being closed, however. Having been pretty angelic all morning and allowing me to work, the boys and I spent my lunchbreak building snowmen.....

and throwing snowballs....

Early years adventure

Number two son reached the milestone this week of going into the last room in nursery. He's now in "Early Years", which is the pre-school room. He's gone up a bit early, not because he's superbly gifted (though, of course, he is - in some way or another, I'm sure!) but simply because he loves it there so much when he's been on settling-in visits. There's more room and he likes the way things are set up in there, I think. The other key factor in this devotion is Miss Berry, who is his absolute favourite teacher. She was with him in the baby room and he's been very excited about joining her since she moved to work with the older children. This is true love on his part.

Anyway - he is remarkably cute in his little uniform and smart hair cut. Couldn't resist a picture....

Growing up fast (part 2)

I seem to be constantly reminded at the moment that the boys are not little any more.

The little one is just going up to the pre-school room at nursery, which he totally loves. We have to go and find his little uniform over the weekend. I will be posting photos.... That is now where he'll stay until he goes up to primary school next year. That's just too scary to contemplate. Particularly for his prospective teachers.

The trouble is, he still feels like a baby to me. He even likes to cuddle up like one still. I suppose he'll always be my baby but I do feel as though he's starting to really grow up. The only solution is to have another but that is not on the horizon and is unlikely to ever be, given the trouble I had last time! Anyway, we've just given away all our stuff to Mike's cousin and his partner who are expecting a baby in June. Amazing how much room you can create by giving away pushchairs and cots!

So I suppose that I'll have to get used to not having babies or even toddlers around at home any more and enjoy the fun that older children bring. Oh - and get my cuddles where I can with babies of friends and family. Don't say you weren't warned.....

Now we are six

Number one son turned six today. This is staggering on several levels. Not least of which is the fact that we have had him for 6 years and haven't broken him yet!


I can remember the events 6 years ago so vividly. We arrived home with this precious bundle, completely unaware of just how much our life would change. We knew it would a bit but were stupidly ignorant of the upside-downess that our existence would take on.


I remember my husband walking him round the house, introducing him to his new home and then settling down for the first of what would turn out to be many boys' sessions in front of the TV.


The thing I probably remember most vividly was the way his hands and feet just seemed to be too big for the rest of his scrawny frame. His hands just hung in front of him, as if he had no idea what he was supposed to do with them. I suppose we knew then that he would be big, working on the puppy with big paws principle, but I don't think we took as much heed as we could have done. His current size and build follow on from those big paws....



He and number two are, quite simply, the most amazing, lovely, loving, frustrating, astonishing, funny, exasperating, entertaining and not to mention hungry beings that we've ever come across. It sounds like a long time but it's flown by and I can't believe that the baby I held for the first time six years ago is now a young man with likes, dislikes, a witty voice and more than enough idea of the myriad possibilities of being six (and, apparently, accordingly bigger).

Love is....

...watching small boys' eyes dancing as they see all the presents that "Santa" left them and feeling your heart leap.
...getting the oldest one to switch the lights on on the increasingly tired-looking Christmas tree and hearing the little one say how "bootiful" it is. Again.
...chilling out on Christmas night, in front of Wallace and Gromit with my sister-in-law and her boyfriend and not having to worry about the fact you can only just cut a path through the presents on the living room floor, long after the boys have gone to bed.
...all being with my lovely mum and dad, Grandma, brothers and sisters in and out law on Boxing Day for a second, Arnold Christmas.
...watching my little brother and his wife proudly hosting this celebration in their newly-bought but long-longed for house.
...being with the extended family to help meet and welcome the newest recruit to my clan, a seven-week old little girl who has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. And the loudest burps.
...worrying slightly about my Grandma but watching her eyes light up with her whole family around her.
...knowing that we are seeing the extended Rhodes/Wainwright clan today and looking forward to next Christmas when there'll be a new recruit on this side too. Expecting a good line in burping from this one too. It will have genetics on its side on this front.
...wondering how to teach the oldest how to ride a bike without stabilisers in the next week.
...looking forward to seeing most of my unofficial family on 4th Jan.
...my husband telling me how lovely I look and how well I have done, as I groan about the weight I will have put on over Christmas.

...knowing that this is the kind of Christmas that will long be repeated, as long as the current personnel are in place.

...knowing that I've gone all schmalzy and not actually caring.

...my big family Christmas.

Growing up fast

Last night, number one son declared that he knew that Santa Claus wasn't real because he was just "Mummy and Daddy". Not entirely sure how to handle that one as, well (cover your ears, kids), he's right and I don't want to lie to him but equally there's something rather lovely about maintaining the myth a bit longer, particularly while number 2 is only just starting to enjoy the whole thing. I fudged it, I have to be honest, by asking him who he thought delivered the presents, at which point he got bored and wandered off. Result. For now.

Then, as if I needed a reminder that he's not really my baby any more, his choice of party clothing to take to school for his Christmas celebration was a smart shirt, bow tie and braces. You can just imagine the scene, can't you? All the other boys, too cool for words in their dude-ish Tshirts and trousers and there's my boy, looking like a mini version of the nutty professor. Whatever he looked like, it clearly worked, as he was full of stories of one little girl only wanting to dance with him because he looked smart. She's clearly a young woman of discernment. He, of course, relayed all this in the embarrassed, albeit slightly chuffed, tone that only a nearly 6 year old can manage.

Fortunately the little one is still quite happy to be little most of the time although he did tell me tonight that he's "not baby, I big boy" when I said that he needed to put his bedtime nappy on. Before I know it, he'll be as gap-toothed as his brother and off pulling girls at the Christmas party as well....

The men in my life....

Surrounded, as I am, by members of the opposite sex (a husband and 2 sons), I have a life filled with toy cars and goo. Here are the three men in my life on our holiday to Normandy in October half term. Don't know why the boys are surrendering.....