Growing Up.

The closer it got to the end of this summer term the more aware I was that it has been the last few weeks of Bean's pre-school freedom.

Till now there has been nothing really to stop us having a day at home and skipping playgroup if we feel like it.  Once he starts school he has to be there legally so no more day trips out if the mood takes us.

I'm going to miss our time together each morning and the sneaky trips to town for coffee the weekly Tots morning with more coffee and cake.  I shall miss Tot's itself so much.  It's been a fantastic group and I'm very grateful for my years there.  I've met some fantastic friends through the group and will be keeping in touch with lots of them.

I've missed both the other children when they started school but I think that I am very aware of the fact that this is the end of an era.  Come September I shall no longer have a pre-schooler at home but three school age kids.  There aren't going to be any more babies for me so this is it.  My family is growing up and while I am looking forward to the next stage in lots of ways I am going to miss this one.

Seven On Sunday Foo's Style.

Last night Mr Miffy and I got to see two of our favourite bands play live :)

We've been waiting and keeping our fingers crossed since the dates were announced on 25th October last year and since we managed to get tickets in the pre-sale on 3rd November.  So understandably my Seven On Sunday is slightly biased this week ;)

1) Huge thanks to my In Laws for having the three terrors overnight.  The kids had a fab time including getting taken out for ice-cream.

2) All three children stayed fit and healthy.  Last time we were supposed to go see a concert poor Eldest ended up have an emergency appendectomy so we had to cancel cos she needed her Mama and Dad at home with her and we needed to be close to her.  Amazing how a scare like that puts life in perspective.

3) Our wonderful car got us there.  It got us back too with no problems either but I'd have settled for just there.
 
4) The weather was wonderful.  Dry all day and evening and lots of lovely sunshine while we were waiting for the concert to get going.  There were lots of people to share the good weather with too.

5) Good people to sit with.  We were really lucky to find some great folk to sit with.  We all saved spaces for each other when people went for food, drink etc.  Do you like our steps?  Well what else do you do when your waiting fours hours for the great bands to come on stage except build steps.

6) Good support bands.  We been waiting a long time to see Biffy Clyro (which is the band we were going to see when we had to cancel) so I'd been well pleased to see them as support and they were fab.

7) Lots and lots of Foo Fighters!  Two and half hours altogether and they were completely brilliant.  We had just the best time.  We were right up against the barrier of the runway so we had a brilliant view.  Dave Grohl is such a showman.  Mr Miffy and I had such a fantastic time and we are going to do our best to go see them next time they play the UK.

Of course other good things have happened this week, lots in fact but the Foo's concert has got to be the highlight and really does deserve a post all to itself.

Volcano!!!

When Middle and his class learned about volcano's earlier this school year (read a long, long time ago) the class made a big one and then all the kids made one of their own to bring home.

Middle's has sat on the drawers at home for months cos we're bad parents are we've just never gotten round to exploding his volcano.  So at half term when we were all together at home Mr Miffy decided that this was the time to go for it.

 Middle chose green food colouring for his volcano rather than the traditional red or orange lava and the we had great fun with vinegar and baking soda making the volcano explode over and again.

Seven Good Things

Last week was been another busy one in the Miffy household in a couple of weeks everything will calm down as the end of term approaches but just now the kids are over tired and Mr Miffy has loads and LOADS of school stuff to get done so it's nice to take the time today to chill and focus on the positive things in life in my Seven On Sunday.

1) Coffee with friends.  Twice this week with two different friends.  Really lovely and relaxing both times.

2) New shoes.  After my coffee with L on Monday we went for a quick mooch round the shops and made the mistake of going into the shoe shop.  Now given that I only brought sandals the week before I should not have been looking for me but hey I was naughty and fell in love with a pair.  I um'd and ah'd about them for a couple of days but then went back for them.  Since I got them it has rained everyday and I've not been able to wear them yet but I'm sure they will get plenty of use.

3) It was Mr Miffy's school fair on Saturday so we went over with him while he ran the lucky dip stall.  We had a nice chilled time the boys spent lots of money on the various stalls and we had a burger each for lunch after Mr Miffy had done his time in the stocks having wet sponges thrown at him by the school pupils.

4) Both the boys got woopie cushions from the school fair so there has been lots of hilarity and slightly off colour humour in the Miffy household.  You can't begrudge them though when they are having such brilliant typically boy fun.

5) With this being report writing week for Mr Miffy there's been plenty of time for watching films in the evening while he's been working.  Though I could have done with more than 3 hours sleep I did enjoy my Alien movie fest.  I watched the first one on Wednesday evening and followed that up by watching two, three and four on Thursday evening.  It's been a while since I put them on and I'd forgotten just how much I love them.

6) Hitchhiker progress.  It's almost finished.  Pic will have to follow when it's all done though.

7) Eldest and guide camp.  Eldest went to her first Guide camp over the weekend, her first time under canvas too.  She had a fantastic time even though it rained all night Friday night.  She was sooooo tired though when we got her home.

No pictures today as Blogger simply refuses to load them, much to my annoyance.

Seven On Sunday. On Monday Again!

Well that pesky real life has been keeping me busy just lately and I missed last weeks Seven On Sunday completely and this weeks is another of the On Monday types but hey I'm sure no one really cares.

Seven for this week

1) Last Wednesday was Beans last Playgroup trip.  The staff at our fantastic playgroup organise a day trip for the kids and mums/dads each year and we have always had a fantastic time.  Despite the drizzle we had a lovely day out.  Bean thoroughly enjoyed the fair rides and I enjoyed watching him play with all his friends.

2) Rain is good for the garden.  This is me trying to think positively, it has rained rather a lot in the last few days.  However this morning is bright and sunny and it was lovely to walk into town and back in the sunshine.  I suspect if I were to sit out in the garden this morning I could about watch the plants grow.
3)  Friday was day one of the Rally of the East Midlands.  The boys and I dropped Eldest off at Guides and then stayed in town to watch the cars starting off on the first stage.  When Mr Miffy got home he walked into town to join us and we went over to watch the special stage which is run in the council offices.  It rained on us the whole time but Middle didn't care at all and we had a good time.  Sadly it rained (and occasionally hailed) a bit too much for me to take Middle to see the other stages and the finish on the Saturday.

4) Just how hard can it be to photograph a kitten?  The answer to that is "very"  I have a great many photos of a black furry blur and lots more of bits of kitten where he ran away at the vital moment. Meet Castiel.

We gained a rescue kitten about ten days ago.  It was either us or Animal Aid and while Animal Aid do all they can to provide good lodgings for their guests it not the same as a permanent loving home so I could hardly say no.  It seems Mr Miffy couldn't either and so when he was asked he said yes too.  He's now about 13 weeks old and very, very mischievous which of course makes him lots and lots of fun

5) The joy of knitting.  Whilst I always enjoy my knitting there are times when it becomes all consuming and I want to fill every spare moment with it.  I've been extra busy these last few weeks and so knitting time has been extra precious as a result.  If I get organised I'll post a Work In Progress report on Wednesday.




6) New toys for Spike.  Castiel isn't the only creature getting lots of attention this week.  We gave Spikes tank a bit of a make-over this weekend.  He's got a new side piece (fake rock) and a desert background.  It's amazing just how much of a different it has made to our view of his tank.  It's alot easier to look at now there's not a huge glaring expanse of white burning your eye sockets when you try to look in at him.

7) My families health.  Whilst I always know how lucky I am to have my health and for my family to have their health there are times when it comes home to you just how lucky you are.  There is a blog that I have been following for a few years now and the writer had some very sad news to share last week.  I've met Amber a couple of times at Woolfest and I have one of her wonderful Femmes on my shelf.  Her writing has been an inspiration to me in all sorts of ways.  She and Mr Mog are both wonderful, kind, generous people and I wish them both well.  I have them in my thoughts a great deal at the moment.

Conversations with Bean

I had a very interesting conversation with Bean this morning.  He is four and half now and getting more and more aware of and fascinated by the world around him.  He starts school in September and though, like I did with Middle and Eldest before him, I am going to miss him terribly he is well ready to go.

This morning I had parcels to post and so walked into town first thing.  In Bean's world a trip to town also means a trip to a coffee shop and who I am to argue. 

So there we are sat enjoying our morning drinks and snacks when the Bean began to tell me all about how you have a home and before you have a home you live in a tummy.  I agreed with him and then he sat for a moment to consider things a bit more.  Now it wasn't too busy in the coffee shop but obviously being four Bean's voice is a bit loud and can carry somewhat.  Next question "how do we get out of tummies?"

I have to admit I bottled it completely.  Normally I'm a great believer in the idea that if they are old enough to ask then they are old enough to know the answer.  Questions are always answered simply but honestly.  Today though I chickened out and just said "I'll tell you later"

Seven On Sunday On Monday

Well I ran out of day and energy yesterday so my Seven On Sunday didn't happen instead her are my Seven On Sunday On Monday.

My goodness it's June already, I can't believe we are nearly half-way through the year.  Seven good things in my life for this week are

1) Half term and all of us together for lots of family time.

2) Half term meaning that Mr Miffy did the vacuuming for me.  You cannot believe just how much I hate vacuuming so having Mr Miffy do it is a real treat.  To be fair he does more than his share in the holidays and in term time he works so many hours that's it's simply not on to expect him to do housework when I am not going out to work at all.

3) Coffee out with a very good friend. And lunch too!  Our regular Knit and Knatter home is closed at the moment so there's been no evening meetings and as Mr Miffy was home to have the kids I took the opportunity to meet a friend for lunch, coffee and knitting.  A very relaxing and peaceful afternoon was had.  Roll on the summer holidays so we can do it again.

4) Going to the park with the kids, their friends and my friend.  My friend and I try to get together at half terms and holidays so the kids can spend some time with each other.  L and I manage coffee on a fairly regular basis but as the kids go to different schools they don't get to see each other as often as they'd like.  We had a lovely morning with the kids playing in the park and L and I sitting chatting.

5) Fun with Lego.  This amazing tower was started by the kids whilst I was out for my afternoon knitting and very soon Mr Miffy was helping out.  When I got home it was taller than Middle and the builders had quit for the day.  The next day Middle, Mr Miffy and I went back to work hunting down suitable pieces and putting the final part of the tower on top which was pretty tricky itself.  Still we were all very impressed with our tower and ourselves.  It was a very wobbly creation but despite this it stayed upright for the afternoon and overnight before Mr Miffy knocked it down.

6) Sitting in the garden with friends.  Some friends had a bit of a get together this week which involved letting the kids run wild in a huge garden while we drank tea and ate cake whilst occasionally intervening to maintain some vague kind of order.  The boys and I had a lovely afternoon and I even caught the sun a little :)  Then last night we were invited out to other friends for a BBQ which again involved food and sitting in the garden.  Very relaxing indeed.

7)Yarn shopping.  Well what can I say, you can't beat a bit of yarn shopping and I've been after some of this yarn for a good while now so while I had some spare pennies I thought I would treat myself.  I've got a couple of ideas as to what it will turn into.  Definitely something for me possibly a Centrique.  I think whatever it becomes it will be knit as part of my Year of Projects so watch this space.  I'll show you pics and let you know what it is when it arrives.

Seven On Sunday

We've been rather busy this weekend so I'm a bit late posting this but hey, that's life and here are my Seven On Sunday.

1) First up has got to be "It's half term next week!!!"  This means an easy weekend for us all followed by lots of family time over the next week.

2) In other news I managed to go out for coffee twice on Monday.  Rather naughty I know but it just kinda fell that way.  We also went to visit the new Lakeland on Monday morning.  I do love Lakeland but until now it's been a bit of a luxury because I've had to order online and pay the postage.  It was lovely to be able to go and see the stuff in real life and buy without having to add on postage.

3) I really, really love my winter coat.  And this is a good thing cos it's been back out this week as it's been so cold and horrid.  I had a new coat for last winter as having lost quite alot of weight my old coat (which was getting on in life anyway) needed replacing and I found a fab Joe Browns coat which I fell in love with.  When you wear something everyday you get used to it but having not worn it for a few weeks I discovered all over again just how much I do love it.  Saying that though I won't be at all sorry when the wind drops and the warmer weather comes back to us.

4) Cuddles from my kids.  They've all been quite cuddly this week and it's lovely to get a quick hug now and again.

5) We've named the bearded dragon now.  After some family discussion I lost out and his new name is Spike.  Spike is settling in well and has even been out of the viv a couple of times to sit on my knee.  He great fun to watch and his personality is really starting to show.

6) Still on the subject of Spike we went yesterday morning to fetch him some more live food.  He thoroughly enjoys his locusts so we got plenty of those and have set them up in a tank on top of the viv.  Mr Miffy and I had lots of fun watching them demolish their cabbage yesterday afternoon.  It is amazing how fast they can get through it and you can understand just how devastating a plague of locusts must be.

7) Our pond now has some proper pond life in it.  Mr Miffy brought home a tank on Friday with some tadpole in a a couple of inches of water from the pond where he works.  I can't believe I never thought to get some pond water from someone before it's the most obvious way to get our pond up and running.  There are now all sorts of bugs and creatures living in our pond.  We also took the opportunity to move a few more of the stones around to create a wider swimming space for the new inhabitants.

Seven On Sunday

I'm somewhat later to this today than I meant to be but we've had a busy weekend and I've pretty much only just sat down.

Anyway here are my Seven On Sunday.  Seven reasons to feel good about life and to remember how blessed we are.

1)  My first this week occurred to me when I was watching the kids play in the garden whilst I was washing up.  There are some pretty big bald patches in the grass under the swings.  I think they rather annoy Mr Miffy but when I see them I just remember how much fun the kids are having outdoors this spring.  It's fab to see them enjoying the garden so much and getting so much fresh air and fun.

2)  Next up is my nearly empty bird feeder and the visiting Blue Tit that I saw from the bedroom window this week.We've never had much luck with feeders in the garden before.  I think now that our beloved Felix cat must have been the birder of our cat family.  We sadly lost her last November but since then there have been alot less presents of birds left by the back door and alot more live birds hopping about the garden.

3) Still with the garden theme I am very pleased to tell you that we have our first frogs in the pond.  Much sooner than Mr Miffy and I expected too.  One is a fair size (that's the one in the photo) and the other is just a little one.  We've moved a few of the cobbles in the pond about to make a bigger space.  The kids are very excited about the frogs and have been very sensible (so far) with the pond.  The water is still very shallow but it means they can get a better view of the frogs.

4) We have gained some new family members this weekend too.  First up are the stick insects.  There are 6 at the moment though more may follow.  They are living in the boys room and are kind of belonging to Middle who has been patiently waiting for them for several weeks.  I have no illusions though I know that the cleaning out will fall to me for the time being at least.

5) Middle wasn't the only member of the family to get a new pet this weekend.  I finally got my Bearded Dragon.  I've been waiting to get one for a few years now.  Mainly because we want Bean to be old enough to understand how to be gentle with one.  Someone Mr Miffy knows was needing to re home theirs so we went along to see him and unsurprisingly came home with him.  He is now settled into his new home and right now is dozing.  He's not been handled too much of late but he seems fairly happy with us so we are hoping that he'll soon be out and about with the family and will be able to be held by us all.

6) It's been a busy week here at the Miffy house.  I've walked into town every morning to get the Lego toys being given away by one of the national newspapers.  Not a paper I would ever normally by but it was a great way to get some new Lego for the boys and they have been very excited by it all and also very appreciative, especially Middle, which makes the effort involved more than worthwhile.

7) My last good thing is actually probably the best though it is also the simplest.  Eldest was pretty poorly over last week end and the beginning of this week. She's not often ill and when she is it tends to hit her hard so she was pretty out of it and felt very sorry for herself.  It was nothing serious just a virus but I was still very happy to watch her getting better and to see her back to her normal self. 

So there you are.  Seven positive things to help me remember how blessed we are in our lives.

Seven On Sunday

When I discovered the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week a while back I also found a blogging group on Ravelry which I have joined.  It's very interesting to read and I've found lots of other blogs to read through it.  I happily lurking earlier this week when I happened on an idea of Goodgonegirl (from Rav of course) who posts 7 Positive things each Friday.  I think this is a great idea (and I'm not the only one) particularly for me at the moment and I'm hoping it will help me to focus on the good stuff in my life and not just the hard parts.

Now I was all set to post this on Friday but then Blogger had some problems in the day and by the time it came back up I was in chilled mode and really not wanting to finish sorting this post out.  And then I had an idea.  Instead of a Positive Seven Friday I'm going to have a Sunday Seven.  Not every Sunday but hopefully most Sundays. 

So here are this weeks Positive Seven

1) Our mini Guerrilla Knitting group met on Monday evening.  Really it's just a few friends who get together for a drink and as we all knit we bring our knitting along for the trip.

2) We had a lovely walk home from school on Tuesday.  Bean held hands with me and at the same time with either Eldest or Middle.  We got lots of squeezes and hand kisses and even once had to stop for hugs too.

3) It's rained, mainly over the weekend and there was lots of it which is brilliant for the garden.  I've spent the last few days watching lots of new seedlings poke their tiny heads above ground.

4) I have finally done something to start sorting my head out.  It's been a very hard last few months and I've finally had to admit that I wasn't coping well and so I'm getting a bit of help.

5) I have new stash.  And at bargain prices too so I was able to get twice as much as I thought I'd be able to.  I went shopping at Stash in the Araucania Clearance Sale which I was directed to by Stitched-Together and another Ravely friend.  My parcel arrived very quickly and I am very pleased with it.  Just need to get knitting it now.

6) We treated the boys to the Lego Pirates of the Caribbean game and they were so pleased to get it they were speechless.  This never happens normally and it was lovely to see their excited faces when they realised what they'd been given.

7) Eldest and I went to town Saturday morning to have a wander round the shops and of course we went for coffee and cake in Costa.  I love being able to do that with her just a bit of Mama/Daughter time gives us a chance to chat and relax without the chaos of home and household jobs getting in the way.

Visitors to the Garden.

We got some much needed rain over the weekend.  It's been dry for weeks and we've been watering the pots and flower beds every couple of days which is OK but we don't water the grass and that was starting to look rather dry and certainly not very green.

Yesterday afternoon the world dried out again and the sun came back out and you could virtually watch the grass growing.  I'm hoping that I'm going to see lots of seedlings coming through in the next couple of days now they've had a good drink.

Or course the grass and flowers haven't been the only things to enjoy the rain.  Middle and Bean were fasinated with this snail and spent quite sometime encouraging him to slide onto their stick.  Normally I chuck snails into the composte bin in an effort to keep them away from my plants but I let this one just crawl away on his own.

 Of course the snails haven't been the only visitors to our garden.  Mr Miffy and I spotted these littlies one evening last week.  At this size I can cope with spiders quite well it's when they get bigger I tend to run away.

I took Bean outside to see them the next afternoon he was very impressed by the tiny spiders but less keen when they started casting their webs to get carried away on the breeze.