Friday 8th May – Thursday 14th May

Week 8-WOW! What better way to start it, than with a long weekend!
The bank holiday Friday VE Day Celebration kicked off another week under lockdown and the sun is still shining!

On VE Day we spent the morning decorating and making bunting for the front of the house, before heading outside for a socially distanced picnic with the neighbours.  One of our neighbours had put a note through our doors asking everyone to come out onto the driveways to celebrate and it was really lovely.  So many people were out and old music was playing, it was probably the first time I had seen so many people out at the same time in the 5 years we’ve been here.

The sun has shone almost every day since Lockdown started.
I have felt so grateful for this as it has really helped with finding things to do.  The boys are very outdoor kids and if they had had to stay in everyday we would certainly have lost the plot more often than we have.  Some days have been scorching – the sun cream has been on, BBQ on and fun in the Paddling pool and Slip n Slide has kept us going.
The smiles on the boy’s faces say it all.

Films snuggled in Mummy and Daddy’s bed is another firm favourite for a quiet afternoon. Zootroplolis this week.  Anyone else find that their kids talk the whole way through a film and often although they are totally glued to it will all of a sudden say
“I hate this” and just want to watch their fave cartoon eg Lion Guard for the little one.
I have to almost force them to continue watching as by this point I’m into it!

There was an accident nearby this week with a car going through some front gardens, I believe. The whole street came out to watch an air ambulance land immaculately in the park opposite our house.  It was quite amazing and a bit of excitemnt for us all, especially the kids.  Luckily it wasn’t needed and flew off without a patient.

As we’ve been organising the house we’ve moved a little bit of furniture around and the kids ended up with a new bookcase.  We have found that we have now got to the stage where we have three different types of books.  Board books are the ones that P will pick up and flick through on his own having heard the story lots he can start to ‘read’ them himself.  Short story books that are used mainly for bedtime stories and chapter books now for LB. Every night they get a short story for P and then a chapter of a book for LB – recently Daddy has been reading Fantastic Mr Fox and I have been reading Danny Champion of the World.  LB then reads his own book once his brother has fallen asleep. He’s starting to make his way through the David Walliams books starting with Gangster Granny, which he’s loving.

We’ve been adding life skills to LB’s learning recently which we think are just as important as school learning . We may not be getting enough school paperwork finished everyday (somedays are a struggle) so we have tried to add in more helping round the house too.  So we’ve been teaching him to peel potatoes, chop veg and help cook dinner, how to load the washing machine and turn it on as well as bring the washing in from the line (I’m not sure I can cope with the hanging out of the washing-we tried once and I’m surprised anything dried).  He can fold his clothes and put them away and unload the dishwasher too.  Trying to help him understand that we all live here together and need to chip in and help.  He’s absolutely shocking at tidying up and makes every excuse under the sun so finding things like this where he will help and feel good, is great.

Daddy has also been teaching him some plumbing.  LB absolutely loves spending time with Daddy and really listens and takes in things that are ‘outside the box’. He learnt about different fittings and how to connect pipes but is extremely excited about the soldering lesson that’s apparently coming soon. Gulp!

Man I love this big ball of fire in the sky!
It really has helped with any feelings of anxiety and laying on the grass with my eyes closed, just breathing it all in, is a new favourite pastime of mine.

Anyone else’s food shop gone through the roof? I swear with us all eating three meals (plus snacks) at home each day we are going through so much food and the shop is getting more expensive. Also my 7 yr old eats more than me most days! We’ve tried lots of new recipes but when the suns shining there’s nothing quite like a BBQ.

Tech time has been a real issue for us especially with the big one.  I mean we are never going to be a screen free house but I don’t like them spending all day on it, especially because I’m not keen on the stuff my 7 year old gravitates towards.  I mean who wants to spend hours watching other people play computer games on You Tube? Well apparently him! He could literally spend all day doing it and has major tantrums as soon as you say it’s time to come off. P enjoys playing games and watching Dino Dan on his Kindle but he seems to know when to step away and is rarely on it for long.  We have had to put a tech time routine into place.  It’s not allowed first thing in the morning nor after dinner. They are both allowed some quiet time watching something or playing on tech after lunch but the deal for LB is that he has to finish his school work first (sometimes it’s done by lunch other times he’s still going at dinner). We don’t set that much honest, but the moaning and distractions are immense.  He can do it all at his own pace.

Dinosaurs have always been big in our house but since the boys watched Jurassic Park they are a constant.  I’m always tripping over different Jurassic Worlds or being attacked by one dinosaur or another.  The kids also like to give us all the facts they have learnt over dinner.  I’m going to be an expert before long.

Thanks For Reading! x