Petits Haricots

i am really crap at packing. have at least done the baking for going oop north [and house smelling rather lovely at the moment ]. have a pasta bake in the freezer as well to take, so at least there ready. chris has bought a bike rack so that we can take the bikes and the bike trailer to scotland. woohoo!! i hope its not too hilly, being outcycled by a seven year old will be a bit much! [yes, I know scotland is marginally hillier than east anglia!]. i should pack really.

looking forward to seeing friends at the weekend.

SB, BB, M and E have continued to enjoy playing together and it has been lovely to have them. i was concerned about how well E would settle, but it really has been no problem at all. would be happy to do again – perhaps at a time when i was at home more.

today we were joined by the deependers and so we had a group of daleks racing around as M inducted them into the subtleties of the dalek homeworld etc. lots of swinging and sliding and generally having fun. BB managed to collapse the table in the dining room, but katy came up with a plan that antiques roadshow wouldn’t struggle hugely with. now one of the segments has a huge gash in it, there isn’t so much to be worried about anyway.

katy also brought with her some biscuit dough that L had found arecipe for and was v keen to make, so we made swirly biscuits, which was much enjoyed and stained everyones hands with food colouring. they tasted good too.

my sister arrived earlier than expected and has now been happily reuinited with children [who aare now all asleep] i must have an early night as completely shattered. we have started to think about what to take to yorkshire, and go aargh baking!! and also look at our camping stuff and see what we can cut back on.

and i don’t think i am ever going to do them!! one is about the joys of living in a sea of arable land, watching the seasons change and feeling the rhythms, and the other one is all about watching my family seasons change, BB is no longer a baby, though there is still a scrap of toddler about her, BB is turning into her next stage girl, and i guess i am hurtling towards menopause. see, all seasonal.

in other time frames, yesterday all the kids played nicely together. today chris took them to a raptor centre, which they all enjoyed whilst i was at work

IMG_0411

Originally uploaded by Scrumbledelicious

was rather lovely.

i decided, and chris agreed, that it would be nice to celebrate having family this weekend, so we invited 30+ family members to our house for a party. some of you might have seen the flickr! both sets of parents decided we weren’t going to manage to pull the house in order on our own, so v kindly helped with some tidying. chris’s mum on mon and tues, and my parents from wed.

ooh, that reminds me. SB did manage to stick out the week at musical theatre, and i am v proud of her. she is also proud of herself, so a bit of a result. the video mostly shows her being worried, but about 30% enjoyment too, so thats good. having my mum cheer her on in the audience was good too. she then very happily reprised all the music for us with actions, said she would do it again, but it would be nice to go with a friend another time. we might go for the sports programme elsewhere another time.

anyway, a spruce and tidy to the house and garden, little nanny and my sister and family arrived on the friday. final things done and sat morning it just poured it down! how totally miserable. anyway loads of family arriving, and though i had catered loads, they all brought loads so dining table groaning! we had a fab time. i was sad my dad’s brother, wife, sons and any grandchildren didn’t make it at the last minute, but pretty much full turnout to celebrate the joy of having family.

it also put a big smile on my sisters face, as everyone was lovely to her, complementing her on growing back hair etc etc. she needed a bit of an up! chris and i were a bit bushed at the end, but felt it had all gone really smoothly, and had been great fun for all. we might even do it again in 2 years time! the sun came out in the afternoon, which reallly helped.

sunday and most of the visitors of yesterday were day visitors, and my sister and husband went home on the sunday, leaving us their 2 children. lots of games playing and general fun. my parents and little nanny went home this morning [which seems a long time ago] lots of happy playing by all the children today, a bit of a childrenmoon! makes 4 seem easier than 2!!

someone else had a haircut

Originally uploaded by Scrumbledelicious

chris went to pick SB up from a drama holiday thing she did the first session of [she was less sure than i thought she would be] and also accidentally left the hosepipe filling up the paddling pool…

SB has had fun reading a book about the period table and also about the celts. BB has been entertained by nana and grandad.