North Leigh School Summer Fayre

Today we went along to the school summer fayre, and despite forecasts of heavy downpours, the weather was glorious and we had a great time. Ben couldn't stop eating and by the end of the day was clutching his stomache, grimacing, as he determined to finish his last cup of lemonade! The kids had a go on the bouncy castle obstacle course, the jousting, and generally just ran around with their school/nursery friends. I had volunteered to man the bar (strategically!) and towards the end of my sshift Ben came along to 'help' me. He started checking the coolers to see what was in the 'wine, beer, coke...' and then decided he had to put some more dfrinks choices out on the table - he was really getting into it! I was instructed to whisper the cost of the drinks in his ear so that he could collect the money from the customers, and he was enjoying it all so much that I asked him if he wanted to be a shopkeeper when he is older. 'No, muumy,' he said, 'I want to be a drinks person on a stall at a school fayre'!!! He's so cuuute.

Jasmine's new friend is Annabella. Annabella goes to nursery in the afternoons, so they don't ususally get to see eachother, but we did see her and her mother on the park the other day when I drove (I drove!) the kids to paddle in the big outdoor paddling pool. 'Bella' really likes jasmine and they were like peas in a pod both at the park, and again at the summer fayre. As we were leaving so was she and her parents, and she grabbed Jasmine's hand and the two of them walked out of the school fields hand in hand.....ahhhh

House move update....

The reality of having to pack up and move home again in less than 3 weeks time is really staring to sink in - just how do we manage to accumulate so much stuff! And typically, lots of junk that seems so important at the time, but is actually just that - junk!

We had a viewing last weekend and the letting agent and the prospective renters/buyers arrived at the house just as we were leaving. Poor Ben thought that that was it. We had moved out and they were moving into our home that minute and keeping all of our stuff! I have noticed that he is starting to get clingy and possessive over his things - I think it's a reaction to all this upheaval. I tried to give some of his and Jasmine;s old toys to the school as a donation to the summer fayre they are having, but he was having none of it. He blockaded the classroom door ans refused to let me give the toys to the teacher, saying that he really likes them and will miss them too much (bearing in mind that he hasn't played with them in ages, other than to throw them around the house and make clutter). I gave in and put the toys back in the car. I want both him and Jasmine to be as setlled as is possible right now, so rocking the boat is really not necessary. Hopefully the move will go smoothly, and as we are only moving around the corner, hopefully they'll settle right in, and as quickly as possible.

I Passed 1st time!

I took my driving test this morning at 8:10 in Oxford City (had to leave the house at the ridiculously early hour of 6:30am) with only 6 minors!!! I am sooooo excited and can't wait to start whizzing the kids around the cotswolds!

Welcome Baby Skylar!

On May 21st, my brother Ben's baby daughter came into the world, weighing 7 14 1/2 ounces and looking the spitting image of her proud father! Today we got to meet her for the first time and she is just soooo cute and so contented! Jasmine just loves little babies and kept tucking her in and stroking her cheeks and hands. Even ben likes little babies and they both wanted to hold her - soooo cute! 

Before we went to visit Skylar, we took the kids to the Natural History Museum and they were so excited that they just kept running from one ehibit to the next with barely a pause in between! They absolutely loved the dinosaur bones, but absolutely hated the animatronic, life-sized T-Rex (which came complete with very realistic sound effects!). I tried to convince Jasmine that he wasn't real and that he probably had batteries just like Ben's Roboraptor, but she was having none of it. Even Ben was a little scared. I must admit, I don't blame them - the thing was huuuge and moved in a very life-like way!

Trying to keep an eye on two very excited little children that are running from one thing to the next, whilst dodging crowds is a very nerve-wracking experience. I was worried that they'd get lost or separated from us so found it hard to really relax. We only stayed for about 1 1/2 hrs, but it felt like so much longer - a great place to take the kids, but you definately need to do it in small manageable chunks of time. Needless to say they were both fast asleep within minutes of being back in the car and driven across London to visit Skylar.