A Fond Farewell

I made this picture of our boys and their friends, as a leaving gift for our Headteacher who is retiring after today. 
We will miss being greeted by her in the mornings as we frantically rush in (she knows all the children by name!), her knocking down conkers in the autumn with the kids, her warmth and so much more. We love our school. I've watched our eldest thrive and grow in confidence over the years, and now with our little one joining the preschool, I look forward to seeing how he grows and develops in a nurturing and stimulating environment under the new Headteacher.

I LOVED illustrating the kids in this picture :) Although not very "accurate", I think I was able to capture their character and everybody managed to guess who was who, hooray!

Look Mummy Look!

Our boys like to show me what they've drawn or made throughout the day, no matter what I may be doing at the time. 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you super mums!

Happy International Women's Day!

animal mix ups

Our 6 year old recently came up with some funny animal combos when we had a couple of days off school due to snow. I don't remember how it all started but for a few days it became an obsession - finding animals whose names merged into each other, which he then drew. It was a lot of fun and it reminded me of the Japanese word game "Shiritori" (literal translation = taking the bottom) where you say a word beginning with the last letter of the previous word.

I have reworked some of my favourites.

You can see the original creations below. They really make me smile!

The-Singular-Strong-Arm-Workout

With baby in one arm, engage in single pan cooking, shaking the pan vigorously to try and unstick burnt vegetables. 5 x 10 seconds of vigorous shaking, resulting in singular strong arm and delicious "caramelised" vegetables.

With baby in one arm, search for that elusive piece of lego in the big box. The more elusive the better - for your arm, but maybe not for the impatient lego enthusiast or the ears of a small baby.

With screaming wrigglesome baby in one arm, push buggy homeward for as long as you can bear the noise, discomfort or the looks, to achieve that singular strong arm look.

Special leaf

"Here you go mummy, I found a special leaf for you".

Funny how little people will notice straight away if you are sneakily trying to scoff a sweet treat or something but seem completely oblivious when you are heavily laden with bags stuffed full of shopping and big, heavy awkward things, each pocket and hand full of stuff.