Chloe is 7

We were invited to Chloe's birthday party, which was bowling, so I picked Ellis up from school, he came out skipping after having an amazingly good day and was then very very excited about the party.

We left pretty much straight away and arrived at the same time as everyone else.   There were a lot of very excited girls running around, squealing, and Ellis just hung around the edges watching it all going on.

We checked in and then finally managed to get everyone into teams and playing.  Ellis loved it.  He did so well too.  So well in fact that he won.  He won on his lane and he won overall!  He really wants to go again and I said that we could go back as a family and play, which would be nice as Leo seemed to enjoy it too.

We walked over to the McDonalds and I bought the boys some food.  They sat really nicely, Ellis scoffed his food but Leo didn't really want to eat as he was so tired and too interested in doing some colouring.

The following day was Ellis' last day of school for 16 days, so he keeps telling me.  He had his swimming lesson and he did really well.  I spoke to the teacher after and she was very pleased with his recent progress.  Next week he is going to try and use his goggles.  Hopefully this will help him to not worry about a few drops of water going on his face, fingers crossed anyway.

Grown up boy

The kids are all out of sorts at the moment.  They are tired, Oscar has a cough and cold and they are all just generally worn out.  They are happy enough though.

Nothing much happened yesterday, Oscar's Sing and Sign is off for Easter break but I managed to get to his Jolly Babies group in the afternoon and Leo was really good and danced, clapped and sang along. (Reused these photos).

Today I put Ellis in shorts for school for the first time.  He looked cute and very cool.  It was a bit chilly out to start with but I knew it would get warmer during the day, which it did.

Leo had lots of fun with his friend Ted.  They were allowed in the garden and when they came back in they were both covered from head to toe in mud.  It was so funny.

Helping me with the dishes

After lunch I made Leo walk most of the way to his preschool for a cake sale.  We were running late and he was walking so slow that I had to carry him most of the way.  When we arrived we found that all cakes had been sold! Not impressed.  It was nice to go out for a walk though.

We strolled back, Leo falling over and hurting his knees quite badly, as he was in shorts for the first time too.  He had gym class today and was a total nightmare!  He was so tired he just flopped about with his thumb in his mouth.

We waited to pick Ellis up who was let out early with a goodie bag that contained a sandwich he had made himself. He ate it for tea.

Back at home Oscar napped and Nanny and Grandad Rennolds came over to watch the boys for us so that we could go to Ellis' school to see his teachers.  The teachers said they were very proud of how well he was doing, said he was very bright, in the top groups for everything and that all the teachers loved him.  The area to work on is his social skills but they said he is still young and they are working on it with him.  Rob and I were very pleased with his report but a bit sad that he seems to spend the vast majority of his time, on his own.

The next day was nice and warm too, so I put Oscar in shorts for the first time.  He suddenly looked so grown up :o(

He wasn't feeling 100% so after we dropped Leo off at preschool he fell asleep on the drive up to the yard.

At the yard, Kate was feeling unwell so she put the horses out and then went home, so Mum and I sorted out the stables and then went back to her's for some lunch.  She was going out anyway so we ate and left pretty much straight away.

That evening I went out to meet up with my yoga lot of friends.  I really miss them and we certainly don't see each other enough.  It's usually every 6 weeks or so and not all of us make it but it doesn't ever take us long to catch up and natter the night away.  We have another date set for 19th April which I'm already looking forward to.

The Beach!

Had a brilliant day today. It started early for me as the clocks went forward and Leo noticed the sun coming up on his clock, at 7am new time but 6am old time.  I couldn't not get up with him as it was morning on his clock.  Ellis was totally zonked and I got Leo without waking him up.

Leo and Oscar came downstairs for brekkie and Rob and Ellis slept in.

Ellis has his first ever tennis lesson this morning.  It started at 9am and Rob took him but I did have to wake both of them up.  Ellis was really sound asleep and it took me a while to get him up.  Such a shame the lesson was today as he could have done with the extra sleep.

While Rob and Ellis were out, I got everything ready for a day out by the beach.

We had a brilliant day.  We parked up, met up with Rob's work mate Mat, his wife Emma, and his 2 sons, Thomas (5) and Oscar (18 months).

We went straight on the pier and went on lots and lots of different rides.  Some good, some not so good and some great ones!

We stopped for a bite to eat, the kids played, we did some more rides, including the bumper cars with Leo who wasn't happy to go on but then wasn't happy to come off!

Next stop was the beach.  I wanted to have a walk along, see the donkeys etc but we ended up just setting up a base and the kids played and Oscar crawled around having a wicked time.  He totally loved it.  I thought he wouldn't like the sand but he wasn't bothered and was covered in wet sand, from head to toes.

We said our goodbyes and packed up in the car and drove to a nearby McDonalds to get the boys some food.  They had run out of milkshakes and couldn't do ice-creams which I had promised the boys they could have.  Rob wanted to leave but I said we needed to feed them soon, as they would fall asleep in the car.

It was a struggle to get them fed and Oscar ended up covered in food again so I had to strip him down to his nappy!

We were stuck in a little bit of traffic as we left McDonalds and I kid you not, Leo said "Mummy, does that say Winter?".

Shocked is an understatement.  He is doing really well with all of his phonic sounds but I can only assume he recognises the word from our calendar at home.

I ended up driving home as Rob wasn't feeling well and by the time I got back, they were all asleep.  Rob stayed in the car while I tried to get the boys to the toilet, changed into their pyjamas and in bed.  Unfortunately Ellis woke up and then couldn't go back to sleep until nearly 8:30pm and I had to go up and down to him!  Leo stayed zonked while I changed him and put him to bed.  I woke Oscar up and bathed him as he was disgustingly dirty, which he loved of course.  He had a bottle then went straight back to bed.  He is such a good boy!

Rob went to bed straight away and I spent the rest of my evening blogging and sorting pictures.  I really enjoy doing that, much better than watching some rubbish on TV.

I think the boys will be up early again tomorrow, especially Leo as he was in bed early so I suppose I should get some sleep too.

Celebrations

I've been trying to get Oscar to feed himself a little bit and it hasn't been going that well.  While the boys were eating their lunch I grabbed the camera and messed around a bit.

The results of Oscar feeding himself.

I had help to clear up though which was great fun.

Shame the same can't be said for the play room!  We have a few toys now and they really need sorting out.  I need to get rid of the old, broken, really used, and baby toys to make way for all the new stuff that arrives each birthday and Christmas.  I love getting organised too.  It gives me a real buzz and makes me literally skip around the house! How sad am I!?

I've recently started to take Leo and Oscar swimming each week.  I bought them some wet suits which really really helps to keep them warm in the pool, and while I'm trying to sort things out when we get out.  The first time Leo wore his, he had pink cheeks in the changing room!  Usually he is white with very blue lips and it takes him the rest of the day to warm up.  I did try to use a poncho towel with him but he wasn't impressed.

I rearranged Oscars little tea party and there was plenty of cake to go around.  He had a few friends come over which was lovely, but I didn't take any pictures! I'm really bad at that now.

My other 2 boys are growing up fast!  They look bigger to me each day!  Ellis is really changing since starting school.  I think I've noticed it more since Christmas.

I got the camera out and I was about to take a picture of Ellis and Leo playing on the iPad, when Leo started to fidget.  I couldn't work out what he was doing.

Then I saw this!  How cute!

For Mummy day this year, I planned a family walk, so that way we all got to see each other, and the kids were entertained.  It's much better than going out for a meal as the children get bored and it causes stress.

My day started with breakfast in bed, brought up by all the boys in my life, along with a lovely card and cake.

The older boys had made stuff for me at school.  Ellis made a picture of me in a heart, and Leo had done a card, a soap swan, and picked out and helped to wrap a mug.

Always wanted one of these!

Leo is doing really well at school.  They all think he is really bright and recently he has started to read words.  He read AT and IT and loves doing phonic sounds.

Back to the walk, and it was a chilly day.  We all eventually met up in, or around the car park and had a lovely walk.  There was lots of messing around, paddling in puddles, running down slopes and just generally having fun.

After the walk, everyone came back to our house for a drink and we sang to Oscar.

After some treats (Leo eating an ice cream) the boys had a warm bath and were soon tucked up in bed.

Oscar's Jolly Babies class has moved to a day where I have to take Leo with me.  It's not a problem as he sits like a big boy on his chair and participates quite well.  I'm thinking of starting him in a music class in September.

You would think from these pictures that they get on well together.  Well, you would be wrong.  They constantly squabble and fight over everything!  It is the worst part of my day, having to split them up, tell them off, tell them to stop it and be nice to each other.  It's really hard work and very draining.  If they didn't fight, life would be a lot easier.

Another day at school for Ellis =  another stamp from the headmistress!  Very proud of my biggest boy.

Chilling babies.

I have no idea why this happened!

Ellis' school celebrated its 50th anniversary, so yet again they had a fancy dress day.  I really couldn't be bothered this time after all the effort for The Highway Rat, so I cheated and just bought a 60's outfit online.

Thumb suckers.  All my boys have sucked their thumbs.  Oscar sucks his right, but both Ellis and Leo sucked their left.  Ellis stopped in September nearly 2 years ago, as he accidentally cut the top of his thumb at preschool and didn't like the taste of his dried blood.  I told him not to suck it until his baddy was better.  He asked me every day for ages if it was better and I just kept saying no and he soon gave up asking ;o)

Leo really is quite dependent on his.  I often see him sucking his thumb, not even as a comfort thing but just because.   Not sure how he will stop, but I can't cut his thumb, can I?

Oscar is growing and changing every day.  He watches everything and tries to mimic things, like putting on his shoes and socks.  I didn't really manage to capture it though.

I tried to get video of him sitting up watching TV.

As part of Ellis' school celebrations for their birthday, they had an evening party with only a few tickets going out to families.  Basically they could only sell 100 tickets, (that included children as young as Oscar,) but all the teachers had one, then the helpers/organisers and their families had some, so we were really lucky to get a family ticket.

I dressed the boys nice and smart and I really wanted to get a family photo but it just didn't happen.  Ellis found a friend from his class and he eventually plucked up the courage to run around the dance floor like the other children.  Leo was really good but so tired, and he eventually fell asleep and went in the buggy.  Oscar was really good sat in the buggy for ages but got out towards the end and crawled around.

Rob and I popped home and put Oscar and Leo to bed and then I went back to the party with Ellis.  He ran around a bit more and I helped to clear up at the end, which I enjoyed doing.

The next day we had another party to go to.  Austin, who was born a week after Oscar, was having a first birthday party.  Rob didn't go, so I ended up taking all 3 boys on my own.  I thought my Mum was going to be there to help me out but she turned up over an hour later!  I managed just fine though and I think the boys had a hoot!

We met up with Rob a little later so that we could go and look at cars.  Rob is going to take my Land Rover as his car and I'm going to get a new one.  We just can't decide what to get.  The problem being, that I can't decide what sort of thing we should go for.  If I'm honest with myself, I think I need a Mummy mobile for now but would like just a normal car that can fit us all in. Tricky.