Sherwood

During the Easter Holidays Chips and I went a walk around the village and woods where Robin Hood used to live.

It was a lovely spring day and we had such a good day exploring the village and wandering around the forest,spotting signs of Robin Hood 

wherever we could.

On the village high street is this statue of Robin and Maid Marian

And further up the street is the church where it is said that they were married.

We walked through the forest and eventually came to where the Major Oak was stood.

And I told Chips about when I was a little girl,all those years ago,we were allowed to go inside the Major Oak and look around. I can remember going inside it and peeking around. I think I remember a upstairs or at least a upper level. And I did go inside the tree more than once.

These days you cannot get near the tree. It is all barricaded off. You can't even touch it,never mind go inside it. I feel quite lucky that I did go inside the tree and a little bit sad that my boys have never even touched this piece of history.

Chips wondered if these holes were the bedrooms...maybe...who knows...

What tales that tree could tell! If only trees could talk.

The love birds - Marian and Robin!

It was a blossom type of day - lovely

Chocolate

Chocolate makes the world go round,

Believe me this is true.

A chocolate in your pocket,

Cheers you up,when you feel blue.

It makes you smile.

It makes you go yum.

As it melts in your mouth,

And makes you less glum.

When you are tired or worried or stressed

And the world seems cold and without hope.

A bit of choccy, in your pocket and hey presto,you can cope!

 Spring

I'm really noticing and appreciating just how pretty spring is this year. Maybe it's the beautiful weather we are having. Whatever it is,the colours of Spring seem extra bright this year,the yellow flowers dotted around,the pink blossom in the trees and the greenness of the trees as their leaves grow back,it's all so very beautiful.

We went for a walk around a country park yesterday and it was stunning. Here are the photos to prove it. 

The boys ran around after a football,one blasting the ball high and the other chasing after it and yelling pass. That ball was kicked as high and hard as it possibly could be,it's a good job the field was big and the older boy could control it.

We sat in a cafe and were treated to a cup of tea and a sausage roll. Cup of teas in cafes always taste even better than normal,so sat drinking a cafe cup of tea on a sunny day with people I love was pretty blissful. As for the sausage roll.....yummo.

The water splash

How the kids wait for a big splash

Here they got it!

Someone sneaked their big bro's cap. In the rush of getting ready I never really noticed what had happened and just thought 'nice cap.' II turned out to be a limited edition lots of money cap,which was sat on the head of a little boy who was intent on rolling around everywhere. It survived though! Maybe I should get my brain to register the cap situation more closely next time!

And so I watched the little boy dressed all in red feed ducks,exclaim excitedly over young ducks,sneak up the abbey steps and nearly (accidentally) drop the ball on someone's head,eat a drippy,sticky ice cream,try to spit his drink out when he was walking around the paths "Well 'real' footballers do" (thanks a lot highly paid footballers who spit on the pitch) laugh at cars going through the water splash (forever waiting for the biggest splash) and generally have a good time out with his family.

And the other boy....always makes me smile when he's out...running fast,jumping high,nothing changes,he may be older and a lot taller and drink tea instead of pop but I still see what I have always seen and yes,that always makes me smile,may it never change.

The Cupboard

  The cupboard never got cleaned.

And it needed cleaning and tidying for sure.

Too many coats in there,too many hoodies,bags,scarfs,hats,

gloves,socks,too many everything's!!It needed sorting,a total declutter and a really good wipe out so we could use it properly again. It was not a life or death sort of job but it was on my to do list and it did need doing.

And the dishes needed doing and the washing and the dinner and I had a little boy around.

A little boy who is usually at school during the daytime. A little boy that I only get to spend time with after school,when he is tired and therefore grumpy. And in the short space between the school pick up and bedtime we have to fit in homework,dinner,bath time and the all important Xbox time.

I thought about the cupboard and I thought about the little boy,it was not really much of a choice.

And so we played.

We knocked skittles down and created a elaborate scoring system that made an ordinary skittle game into a challenge of the highest degree. Many post it notes were used as I tried to teach Chips about 'tallys'. Who needs maths homework that nobody understands when you have adding and calculating going on right before your very eyes. Teaching through play at its natural best.

We read a after dinner lunch about The Tobermory Cat and looked for our favourite cats,poring over the illustrations until our decisions were made. Mine were the slightly spooky singing black cats,Chips were the mischievous,chunky,fishing cats. It's good to have a opinion Chips,I love seeing you develop this.

We ate a chickeny soup lunch together,no sandwiches for us today - oh no,instead we had warm soup,a plate of buttery soldiers and each others company as we chit chattered our way through our late lunch. It was blissfully peaceful,slow and steady,no rush whatsoever.

Later that afternoon we played with the leftover birthday balloons. To the sounds of Queens Don't Stop Me Now we energetically bashed a balloon around the room,it was funny and many smiles and giggles were had.

As I prepared dinner that night Simon Mayo played his signature tune Enjoy Yourself and the words struck a chord with me.

"Enjoy yourself,it's later than you think,

Enjoy yourself,while you're still in the pink,

The years go by as quickly as a wink.

Enjoy yourself,enjoy yourself,it's later than you think."

I smiled to myself.

To this day the cupboard remains untidied.

 Splashy Smiles

Let's dig deep and find some smiles

Tennis balls ~ how they fit snuggly into pockets and can be carried around unbeknown to any adult,even to school and eventually after a day and a half in the school playground finally get lost over the tall iron fence where the construction work is taking place. At least they have had their moment of glory and in May,when the construction work is finished,Chips thinks he will get the ball back. I don't quite share his belief. We shall see.

Spring flowers ~ so bright and cheery,on days where the sun shines brightly and days when it doesn't.

Chips' swimming ~ the most perfect breaststroke he has ever achieved! Arms and legs together in synchronisation - circle arms and froggy legs,brilliant.

And lastly a few lines for my boy ~

"Little chocolate faced boy,playing catch on the street,

How many times did it land at our feet?"

The answer is full of giggley sighs and smiles and lots of bending down to pick up a ball.

Splashy Smiles

 We Are Buds

We are buds,you and me. 

We have adventures together. 

We wander off to parks and forests and we walk along river banks. 

We clamber over rocks,swapping roles of who is leading,time and time again - who wobbles most.... you or me?

We have cake bar picnics sat on benches,watching the river flow by and then we get mucky,dirty hands as we dig for stones to throw into the water,forever trying to make the biggest,bestest splash. 

We sit on roundabouts together,getting dizzy as they spin around,and we swing backwards and forwards on the swings,seeing how high we can get and how hard we can push our legs out and in and out and in,forever trying to catch the elusive swing rhythm that as of yet manages to evade us.

We go to parks a lot.

We walk along pavements,chattering about F1,buses,the Xbox,aeroplanes,clouds,you climb on walls,I hold my breath and watch you go.

We visit pound shops and choose sweeties to scoff on the journey home - wine gums rule!

We play the colour car game - we play to win. I never knew there were so many silver cars in the world...I do now! And you cheat and pretend white is silver and I say that Im not playing anymore and you laugh and say sorry,and I carry on playing.

Indoors we build with Lego,none of us are natural builders but we still plug on and build. I build houses and dens and you build towers and meticulously count how many bricks you can fit together before the tower collapses into a brightly coloured heap of bricks.

I read you stories,we both love books,and now you read me stories - how cool is that.

I pretend to eat you up and you squeal and say no. I have done this forever,I will be sad when it stops. I say ''Go on...just one curl,'' and you give me such a fiery look that I collapse into giggles....you do not. 

Mummy is a tease,isn't she.

I also try to sneak a piece of your brekkie each morning,you look at me with those flashing eyes and scold me so sharply and then as I walk away you say "Oh go on then,'' and hand me a cheerio,cornflake,shreddie or rice krispie.

And I smile. As I have just mentioned,Mummy is a tease.

I take you swimming every week,we stand in those hot,hell like little cubicles getting proper wound up,me trying to keep calm under severe provocation and you snapping like a snap dragon at me. As for the swim hat....who hates it most...you or me...

And yet we are both so proud of what you do at swim lessons and your swimming achievements that we wouldn't have Thursdays any other way - with a sausage roll tucked into your pocket and that wet curly hair of yours we rule those changing rooms.

I tuck you into bed each night,sometimes frazzled by the days events and I kiss you goodnight and walk out of your room desperate for space to clear my mind after a day filled to the brim with busy,but I only get to the end of the landing before I go back to your room to say yet another na nites and to kiss you again,because,you and I are buds you know,let that always be so.

Silent Sunday

 Silent Sunday