In the bag...

Well its all over...the end of term is finally here...the presents got finished, the last minute PTA events got attended to and the goodbye service to the last class about to take the next big step in their world was filled with tears... So its here at last...the start of the summer holidays...filled with promise, promise of long summer days, eating ice cream and feeling the sand on our skins, BBQ's in the fresh air, camping and meeting up with friends and family...
Most of all, not looking at the clock, days and days of just going with the flow...time to chill, to read with my children, to take slow walks and eat pic-nics and lots craft activities...
Its the best time of year and the start of the holidays is by far the most exciting time...
So whilst I get into my summer groove I am going to be off line for a few days. I need to get into the flow of being free from living by the clock, to reconnect with my little family, to establish the ground rules and to get on with some serious 'making' time. So many things are planned for the summer, I have some goals I want to achieve with the children...learning to tie shoe laces, reading and improving writing, working on the joy of photography with my eldest child and lots of sewing and knitting for me...so please bear with me and I shall be back soon with all the news...Enjoy the summer and take time out to create...create a mess, learn something new or just simply follow your dreams...to me this is what summer is all about...

Photographs....1)teachers presents wrapped and ready for giving 2) Suzie Sews bags all complete especially made for each teacher with the fabric selected by the children 3) a close up 4) a little extra parcel for a little poppet, one of the teachers babes...

Happy Feet

Thank you, Thank you for all the comments yesterday, I really appreciated the fact that you took the time to type these comments, it has certainly given me food for thought and as it is an on going issue for me I shall keep you informed, any view points on the subject are more than welcome.
So it was parents evening last night for my oldest child. Bless him, he was nervous and first thing this morning he asked me how he got on. He was greeted with a big smile form me telling him that I could see he had done his best and I was so very pleased. As children do he enjoyed the moment for two seconds then asked for a piece of fruit!!!

I did find out that once again he is having another new teacher next school year, and by that I mean a not quite qualified teacher, our school, being a very small village school, has little to no money and can not afford qualified teachers...this sounds terrible but the school has a fabulous feel to it and the children have good manners and its a nice friendly environment. New teachers either are very enthusiastic and therefore prove to be excellent teachers or they have no idea how to relate to children as they have no experience. One of my child's teachers started of a newie and I had so many concerns and rightly so, she taught my child for two years, in this time I watched her find her feet, relax with the children and prove herself to be a most excellent teacher. Yet more to think about... Anyway one of the joys of parents evening is reading your child's work, totally uninfluenced by Mom, my personal favourites are the RE books and Literature books. In his RE book he had drawn a picture of heaven and in a speech bubble he had written 'Grandad please do not forget me' as my Dad passed away over a year ago now you can imagine how my heart skipped a beat and I had to quickly turn the page to stop the tears.
In the literature he had written a story about Mommy. He had listed all the points about his Mom (ME)...It went something like this...
My Mom gives me cuddles
My Mom makes me yummy food
My Mom reads me stories
My Mom rides my bike with me
My Mom watches TV with me
My Mom cuddles me
My Mom tucks me up in bed
My Mom makes me giggle
My Mom knits me toys
My Mom sews me toys

Suzie Take the smile off you face you look silly. Seriously how cute is that, what praise is that??? I am one Happy Mommy today I can tell you.
SO I thought I would share with you the Happy Feet, yep we got some sunshine yesterday, not for long as the rain came down, but enough to put on my sparkly open shoes. With the sunshine it means outdoor play so my boys played with their new love...Marbles, Oh how Mom loves the pretty marbles!!! At last I found a use for the Batman fabric I bought a few months ago, the boys are loving their marble bags. It would not be complete whilst talking about outside play without a picture of Archie, he has been so fed up stuck in doors and he sooooo misses the company of us all. So here he is soaking up the rays in his usual chilled out manner whilst keeping a close eye on the piggies (Charlie and Lola) as they hurtle around their outdoor run. Look at the the length of the grass...that's a job for for today.

Eye Candy-lots of words-you pick

Woosh and the weekend is over, my how quick it goes. Only a couple more weeks then its long lazy days with no school runs or time restraints. At the moment I am busy with lots of appointments, sorting out school bits and pieces and a few medical appointments for me. Then its time to relax and get the summer rhythm going...yippee! I have been giving school a lot of thought, I would so like to home school, being dyslexic though fills me with lots of worries about my children's education, I know, if your reader of this blog, I do make more errors than most. I am a believer that this is communicating and it's only recently that it became so important to communicate properly rather than just gets yourself understood. As a mother we want to give our babes the best start in life and that's usually a priority. This weekend I have been reading the blogs of a few favourites who home school, and I have found it fascinating. I have come away with the need to research some literature on the subject. Thanks to Soulemama's recommendations. I met a Mom in a thrift shop recently and we had a really long chat, she talked about her children, they had been removed from school as they had been told they could not be taught and the disruption they caused was not fair on the other children. So with an independent spirit as a single mom seems to have, she moved away and lived in a farmstead in the local hills near by. Numerous years on her children are all in amazing careers, from Doctor to Preacher, she believed in her children and let them just enjoy life and go with their own thirst for knowledge without a timetable or classroom. Amazing story, an amazing women, I wounder if I will ever meet her again. Its parents evening for us tonight and I have so many worries about my child's school and education, his hearing issues have held him back and his report says he is a quite student. Then I think about all this stuff 'Why am I worried, he is a fantastic character, he is kind, caring and such fun to be with, and a great thirst for knowledge and adventure'. I have mentioned previously that a lot of my friends are teachers and if you mention school to them in Mom talk it is difficult to get an unbiased opinion off them as they stick up for one another, I guess if you have worked so hard to become a teacher that's only right, but then I am left feeling worse. (In case your reading Caroline this does not include you, your cool). I think it must take a huge amount of inner confidence to home school. Anyway that has been my thought process for much of the weekend.
So on to the weekend, what goodies and delights have I to share, well first of all I took the boys to the local patchwork and thread shop as it was sale time, I planned for some threads and the sashing fabric for my large quilt, I did buy lots of threads, just too good to resist. The country embroidery machine threads by Brother, half price which made them an even better buy than day to day thread, so I went a bit mad and spend all my birthday money on them. (Thanks Mom , you did say treat yourself to something for me and not the kids, I know she will be horrified I spent it on thread, but it makes me happy). I did not buy the sashing fabric, instead I bought two fabulous fabrics that I have had my eye on all season just not been able to justify the cost. So with 30% off I made the investment.
We returned home to brighter weather, NO RAIN for at least an hour, would it stay off for our school PTA Treasure Hunt around the village...YES!!! The kids really enjoyed this and then we settled in for a BBQ and wore the kids out on the bouncy castle. A great time was had by all, and we won the booby price for taking the most time for doing the treasure hunt!!! Hey we won a bar of chocolate the kids thought it great!!!
SO after a good nights sleep and a bright start to the day, the garden was looking promising, just as some of the work got going the heavens opened. This was tragic as in the afternoon we had friends coming for a little birthday celebration. So in true British style we went ahead with the plans but did get rained off and had to come inside. It was Champagne and strawberries, after all it was the Wimbledon finals so we watched the end of the match shouting at the telly having had one to many glasses of champagne!!! The kids had a great time, the adults became a pile of hopeless giggles and we ended the get together with birthday cake. Now I usual make a cake for my friends birthdays, but I bought one, the reason being it was an operation cake (remember the 70's game) well it was cool, my Friend is a GP, that's Doctor not animal! So it was a joke really, but we dutifully played the operation game before we all dived into the cake with shouts of 'I want the legs' or 'I want the heart' LOVELY!!!!
So we start a fresh week, the Doll quilt has been finished, I have found out I am allowed to show the picture, also the person I am sending mine to does not read my blog as far as I am aware so I have posted the full pictures, so all my swaps are up to date...wounder what I can do next...

Pictures...
1) EYE CANDY...the new threads
2) CHAMPAGNE AND STRAWBERRIES...a little birthday nibble
3) COW HILL...one of the views from my home, cow hill, the children spotted the calf having Mommy milk and wanted me to take a picture, I love this hill, it makes me very happy!
4) DOLL QUILT SWAP...Front of finished quilt
5) DOLL QUILT SWAP...Back of finished quilt