Friday 15th May – Thursday 21st May

Hello Week 9! I know I’m still playing catch up but I’m nearly there now.
We got out of the house a lot more this week on numerous walks and out over the park, riding bikes, picking flowers and playing football. Although we most certainly have our bad days (sometimes a few hours sometimes the whole day) we have been trying to make the most of our time together, because when we return to work and school this time together will seem like a million years ago.

Nothing like laying on the grass and being covered in flowers.  I always feel so loved when P picks me flowerst.  He brings them to me first but he almost always has one for each person he’s with.  He can be so very thoughful even though hes a complete loony most of the time.

Playing around with my photography again.
In the grass – focussing on different things but catching other things in the background.  This particular photo was Daddy laying on the grass with the kids jumping all over him.

This boy has really taken to his bike.
He’s not always been great at trying new things, as he seriously hates to fail,  or not be amazing at something-he’s definitely got that annoying trait from me. This means he’s a little older than most kids learning to ride a bike, as every year we say we are going to try and as soon as he finds it hard he gives up.  This year though it was perfect.  He certainly needs some more practice and we need to get him out further so he can ride longer distances but it’s a great start.

This little one has loved chatting to people on the phone or via facetime but he’s not really very good at sharing and runs off with the phone so noone else can talk.  He’s got an old phone Grandad gave him a wile ago and i keep catching him having his own little pretend converstauons with people.  This particluar one was to one of his favourite people his Auntie L, whos 11 and he was chatting away to her and pulling some amazing faces.  I’m not sure what he was imagining she was saying back.

Reading is something that happens every day in our house and something I hope my kids keep doing as they grow up.  I must say I’m the one not succeeding in this at the minute.  Even B has been reading books in the evenings rather than playing games on his phone.  I’ve finished a couple of books which is more than i can say for the rest of the year but I could be reading a lot more (rather than scrolling through my phone at bedtime).  LB is whizzing through books which I love.  He goes to bed at the same time as his brother but is allowed to read while P goes to sleep.  This is great as if he reads during the day it would be a chapter here and there and at night he reads for about an hour. P loves when LB reads to him and sometimes if they have an early shower they enjoy laying in bed reading together.

Completely inspired by Brummymummyof2 we’ve enjoyed the cinammon swirls out of a tin for a weekend breakfast-chocolate croissants to try next!

The dinosaurs are now joining us on our walks into the woods.
Walking in the woods is something that really clears my mind. Although it can sometimes be a mission to get the boys out of the house, I can really see how it improves all of our mental health.  The kids run ahead or go off exploring a bit, giving me and B time to chat-I swear every conversation at home is stopped midway by a child asking a question or having a tantrum.  With everyone in the house at the same time right now it can just feel like constant noise and the woods just give us all some mental space.
The running, jumping and stick collecting is good for everyones souls and has become a favourite time of mine.  The kids are finally starting to enjoy the walks more and aren’t complaining quite so much, which is certainly an added bonus!

We made our own little bug hotel.
Hoping it doesn’t get destroyed by loads of rain because we have done the cardboard versions rather than getting wood, bricks and tubes.  The kids enjoyed collecting nature bits to add to their bug hotel and now every time they find a minibeast the poor sod gets captured and sent to the hotel.  He may not wish to stay and he may have just been uprouted what feels like miles from his original path, but sorry mate the kids have a hotel to fill!

Inspired by Donna over at What the Redhead Said we created an object rainbow, finding things from all around the house to create a colourful masterpiece on the dining room table.  It was fun and a nice distraction from school work. An activity that didn’t involve tech or a huge amount of involvement from me, except organising the aesthetics because my creativeness could not handle the order the kids wanted everything in.

P made a comment this week about wanting to go the beach.  I’m not 100% sure where it came from but Daddy was straight on it.  Into the shed and out came the cement mixing tray upside down with a bag of sand.  P had the best day making sandcastles and loved feeling his toes in the sand. LB wasn’t so keen on the feel of the sand but wanted to build the sandcastles and join in as P was loving it and LB has huge FOMO.

A little bit of self care that I’d been telling myself to do for weeks finally happened.  I put on The Willoughbys on Netflix (yes I know its a kids film but it looked so good) and painted my nails like a rainbow.  That really perked me up!

We found out some great news this week that we’ve been keeping a secret, because it hadn’t been announced to others.  Well as you know I’m writing this post a few weeks later anyway, so I can actually explain this smile and high five, unlike when I posted the photo on Social Media.
LB has been doing football training with a local team since September.  He tried the September before but it was painful for everyone invoved-he basically wouldn’t join in with any of the training, only the matches. He hated the weather in the winter and basically stood on the sidelines and moaned A LOT.  So we stopped and never mentioned it again.  Over last summer holidays he decided he wanted to go back again and this time he was completely different.  Never missed a week was eager and has loved it-the training and the matches.  The coach has noted this and awarded him ‘Most Improved Player of the Year’ so he will be awarded a trophy.  He was so happy and I must admit yes there may have been a little tear from me.  He plays football in the garden most days and has been practising more tricks so hopefully he’ll go back in September even more eager and with another great improvement. Super Proud parents!

Watching these two together has been one of my absolute highlights of the Lockdown.   They’ve never really spent an awful lot of time together as B works long hours and when he gets home from work he’s usually still answering calls and dealing with clients until bedtime.  Although he has them when I’m teaching the quality of the time spent together has always been a bit lacking, especially as his big brother requires so much attention too.  I’ve really noticed he’s been getting jealous when Daddy and LB spend time together (and he’s being distracted by me) and B has really started trying to bring him in on everything and spend some one on one time with him, which isn’t always easy.  They are as thick as thieves now though and I can’t wait until P is a little older and can join in the computer games and other things he kind of gets in the way with at the minute as they’ll be a right pair.

PE with Joe Wicks is hit or miss in our house.  We usually start the week off with Joe and finish it with Cosmic Kids Yoga.  The kids love the stories and there’s been a  few times that I’ve even joined in with them.  As long as they are active each day and understand the importance of it all I’m happy.  The boys have noticed me doing my yoga and have started doing some of the poses and meditate with me sometimes (though that part is always interesting). I love that my exercising inspires them.

With homeschooling getting a little ‘boring’ and harder work to keep LB motivated and interested we’ve been mixing things up.  Not always easy but trying to think of a few different things each week.  This week we tried the coke and mentos science experiment where you create a little explosion.  Unfortunately it wasn’t quite as impressive as we thought it might be but it was still fun to try.

Food has definitely played a big part in the Lockdown experience for us.
We have mainly tried to be healthy, but there have certainly been some exception with all the baking.  We’ve been mixing up our lunchtime salads with a variety of toppings, prawns, halloumi, chorizo and leftover BBQ chicken in hoisin sauce.
One of my fave meals we’ve made was this week, though unfortunately it was a bit too spicy for the kids-oops! Indian Chip Butty from Jamie Oliver’s Veg book.
So tasty and something so different to the normal.

Have a great Week! x