Return of the sunshine and ice cream!

The spring sunshine finally came out after months of freezing temperatures and almost immediately followed by the family Hammond's passion for an ice cream at Wells! In celebration of this we had the works and topped with sprinkles. Umm! We have had a lovely day playing in the park and playing on the penny slot machines. This turned out to be a very expensive pursuit because by the time the the toy fell out I might have well bought the bloody thing! I did have a major victory as I used a claw to pull out a Dalmatian cuddly toy for Lucy and even got a high five from an empathetic fellow father for my troubles!

 

Anna did not finish the day well with much stropping and whinging at bath time and this ended in a battle royale between us and Anna going to bed early. Just checked on her and she is sound asleep. The women in my life are very spirited indeed and sometimes I need to stand my ground and follow it through. This is something I am not always good at as a parent and sometimes I am just too soft on the girls. I can back down or do not have the energy. I am sad, as I was looking forward to a cuddle by the television with her and have missed the boat on this till next weekend as away with work this week..

Storming the Keep!

Today the adventures of 'Sir Wiggle of Fakenham' continued as she stormed the impenetrable Castle Acre. Armed with her new chain mail, her sword and shield and a mighty amount of cunning she stormed the keep and defeated the bad guys. As she slaughtered the hoards of skilled warriors and barely got a scratch, save one cut knee and after popping into the gift shop for a plaster was right as rain and ready to once again battle the rebel hoards! Anna quite simply loved her first ever trip to a proper 'battle' castle and her imagination did the rest. Sliding down the hills of the defences and having a great time. Charging around and fighting all that got in her way. She did need a cuddle from mummy to make sure she was good to go after sustaining her injury though. Maybe she is not quite ready for a full campaign or crusade, just in case something else happens. Stay tuned for the further adventures of the gallant Sir Wiggle!

Happy Christmas?!?

It has been a strange Easter weekend with the weather, including the snow, ice cold wind and the Siberian temperatures but never the less in true Hammond family spirit we have made the best of it and stayed in the warm and eaten a great deal of chocolate. At lunch at Grandma's today we even opened the leftover Christmas crackers in celebration of the cold!  I have loved being around the girls and Amy in the last few days - just being with them and doing what we do best. Chilling out, hot chocolate, arguing, many cuddles and television watching under a blanket. I really enjoyed messy church on Good Friday (but don't tell Amy as she might make me go again) and making Easter cards with the girls. On Saturday, watching the girls at their gymnastics class was lovely, I was very impressed with the effort they both put in. Anna does seem a bit more flexible and skilled and her 'crab' was sensational.  Lucy just seemed to see it as a path and scheme in becoming a 'ballerina' or a 'fairy', I am afraid she has not quite got the decorum to carry this off yet!  The best part of the Easter weekend was the freezing hour or so I spent with the girls in the park hill rolling and prating about on the new playground things and the zip wire. A good time was had by all. One down side of the weekend - Lucy waking up at between 4.30am and 5.30am every day. I am so tired.

 

Happy Easter or Christmas, which ever it is - to all my girls..... xxxx

Glum girls this week....

It has not been the best of weeks for the female collective in the Hammond house. All three have not been well with a large array of complaints and ailments from an infected toe, mouth ulcers, tonsillitis, running noses, throat and ear infections, cat scratches and back ache. Needless to say it was probably a positive thing for me that I was away with work as all the women in my life have not been the most cheerful of people to be around! Thankfully all are now on the mend and cheerful spirits are now returning. You have to admit - that is quite a collection of ailments! Roll on the school holidays....

Teenage kicks!

My little girl is growing up. Lucy is going pop star mad at the moment. She loves 'Jessie J ' and 'One direction' and I can see her entering a new phase in her life as more things girlie kick in. There is real excitement and sparkle in her eyes when she talks about things such as this with genuine passion. She can be so understated and quietly enjoys the things that are important to her without much fuss as if embarrassed to share what she likes, but in this case she is quickly developing as a groupie! She loved Comic Relief when Jessie J shaved all of her hair off late last week and this has sparked loads of questions about Africa and charity. The things of real importance to her she does not often share with others, such as quiet time drawing and writing, playing in her bed with her small collections, and pretending to be a teacher like her mummy when she thinks nobody is listening. In this case she seems to want to sing this (pardon the pun) from the rooftops, it is sweet and lovely to see. Despite all the gob and the noise, she really is quite shy is my eldest daughter....

Mothering Sunday flies by......

We have done our best to spoil Mrs Hammond today to show her what a great mum she is to the girls, but I am sad to say we have not quite pulled it off. Within the confines of a normal family day, there has not been much opportunity for Amy to put her feet up. With Anna having been quite poorly in the last few days - we abandoned lunch out and Amy and Libby cooked! As for presents we went Blue Peter and made cards and gifts. Lucy excelled herself and wrote a lovely poem on the picture she drew.

 'Mum you are so sweet and smart. Mum you are delightful. Mum you are so lovely. Thank you for looking after me xxxx' Happy Mothers day Mrs Hammond - I think Lucy's words say it all. Better luck next year.....

Arise Sir Wiggle, knight of the kingdom of Fakenham..

I have not yet spoken of Anna's obsession with the TV series Merlin and all things to do with magic, swords, fighting and general mayhem. She adores it and can be regularly found hiding under the duvet on our bed secretly watching the i-player and the latest episode of Merlin. As the series has finished forever she is working her way through all the series and the many backdated programmes. Each time dressing up in a 'knight' related outfit and attempting to kill the baddies. Her latest outfit involved a Apron, her sword and a crown in which she cut eye slits to represent a helmet. There was one slight issue, the eye slits did not aid her in even seeing the imaginary enemy as they did not correspond to the positioning of her eyes! Never mind Wiggle.

 

P.S if anybody finds my children's personalities and lovely natures a reward will be given, as they have definitely been absent from my house this weekend...