Half term diary

We spent our half term with my parents in Hampshire. We feel so lucky to be able to regularly visit them. My Mum and I wanted this half term to be a real holiday so we parked their caravan 5 miles from the sea and 5 miles from my Mum's home.

No TV, no distractions, just time to be together and enjoy the wild outdoors, the boys spent a lot of time of their bikes, in the chilly sea and in the woods. We helped with the horses, watched the farrier at work, saw Turbo at the cinema, and collected shells. I want my boys to remember these times, simple days filled with Mummy and Grandma love.

Everyday was not perfect, we had upsets and were late for things, had scraped knees and freezing toes. I slept a lot, the boys had too many sweets and we had a situation with a very big dog. The thing is I am not looking for a perfect life, just one where there are more good days than bad and where I appreciate the small things.

Natalie

Mushrooms

 

Last Saturday the boys and I went for a woodland walk, I packed the first hot chocolate flask of autumn, some apple biscuits and some marshmallows.

 

We found a den, they climbed trees, and to our amazement we found mushrooms, the woodland floor was covered in them. As we walked and looked we noticed so many. The boys were running ahead shouting that they had found another, and another. We talked about why we need to be careful and respectful of them and I had to wipe away the tears when the biggest or smallest one was found by the other brother

 

 

Cycle

 

Finding somewhere to take my boys cycling is difficult. We need somewhere that is flat (ish) with no cars. Cycle paths are a great place for families to go, be relaxed and enjoy the scenery without cars whizzing past their ears.

 

We found this beautiful cycle path last year, it runs from Nailsworth to Stroud. There are sections of tarmac and soil. We spent a couple of hours on Sunday there, the boys cycling with me running to catch up.

 

Have a look at Sustrans website for your local paths

Tired

Last Thursday was the teachers strike so my boys and I spent the day relaxing, they needed time to unwind as this term seems to be lasting forever, 8 weeks! 8 weeks with only weekends to recharge. A and J are tired, when they bicker, cry and need lots of mummy cuddles I know we need some time to just be, no demands of reading homework and the daily pressures of school.

We made cookies, had a long bath together, watched a film and then went for a walk in the woods.

Come on half term, hurry up

Weekend Stories - A collection

 

Slow weekends are my favourite kind, filled with visits to friends and new adventures. We had a weekend just like this two weeks ago. We visited The Wild Place, a newly opened animal park near Bristol and spent Sunday morning with friends walking round a local lake. Time for my boys to run, explore, ask questions and be without boundaries of normal weekday school life. It is what they and I really needed

 

 

A poem

I have sung lullabies to my children every evening since they were born, the first called lullaby song which B and I learned in our baby makaton class and the second written by Oliver Hood called Your are my sunshine which is our love song.

 

Recently though, I have been thinking about poems and one which would be perfect for my boys to hear before they go to sleep. This is a beautiful poem written by E.E Cummings in 1920. One which I now reciting to A and J every night

 

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in
my heart) I am never without it (anywhere
 I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
 I fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) I want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

 Here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

 I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)

After school

Having friends over after school, running, playing, eating snacks, laughing, being little boys

Beauty

This past weekend we went to find the last of the blackberries, having found a perfect spot away from traffic and quiet enough for the boys to run around without me having to worry about where they were, I was in bliss. The berries were big and juicy, the biggest I have ever seen.

Walking back to the car we spotted a field, full of such beauty we stopped to admire it and soak it in. Pops of pink, yellow, green and blue with sunflowers smiling made for such a sight. We picked a few flowers heads to take home and enjoy.

Weekend Stories - A Collection

Our weekend was full of my favourite things, simple pleasures and lots of family time. Den building, woodland walks, shooting bows and arrows, swimming, American pancakes, shepherds pie, home made pizzas, blackberry picking, flower picking, film nights, the occasional nap and lots of time with my favourite men. I even managed to do a little housework in between, cleaning the windows has really made the house so much brighter.

September

I knew you were coming from the start of the summer
Showing yourself with the dulling of colour
Both my boys now at school
Counting down the days till they close the pool
Cheltenham college for me soon, getting ready to learn
The wood burner on, making my toes burn
Every leaf that falls slowly taking our summer away
For it's been the best year yet, how I wish it could stay


Hello September

 

 

Learning

 

After a morning at school J and I scooted home. He tells me what he has been leaning and I tell him about my morning with year 5. He has learnt the letter S, what it sounds like and finds 26 S's on our journey. We've decided to challenge his brother to find them all on the way home this afternoon.

 

Natalie

Fallen

The autumn leaves are falling, after heavy rains and winds during the night the soft green grass outside the school gates is now scattered with dry brittle leaves. As J crunched through them on his third day of school he asked me to look after the snail shell he had found. Then, I was alone again for a few hours with the precious treasure tucked away in my pocket ready for 3pm when I get my boys back for the weekend

Natalie

First day of school

Yesterday was J's first day of school, with this smart new uniform and new mummy made bag he scooted happily along the path to big boy school. It seems these last four years have gone by in the blink of an eye. He sat with his little legs crossed on the carpet under his teachers nose waiting for new adventures and ready to learn.

Natalie