Sail away, sail away...

What a great time Lucy had in Brancaster for her residential trip! She clearly overcame her nerves and embraced the couple of days away for all it was worth. She bounded to greet me on Friday when I got home and relayed the adventures she had had with enthusiasm and a twinkle in her eye. She dressed up as a Roman, went sailing, lots of tails of boys in the mud, crabbing and not sleeping much due to excessive talking late into the night with her friends . The down side is that already very tired at the end of term, this packed and active couple of days can only be described as 'finishing her off' and she is exhausted. Her post trip mood at the weekend was less than cordial! We did miss you a great deal Lucy xx

I told you I was right!

As predicted Lucy received a cracking school report full of praise, indication of great behaviour, applying herself and generally being a good egg! Mrs Hammond still seems to be arguing in her head about some assessment criteria in a 'teacher' manner (we stopped listening a few days ago - not sure she has realised!) and a minor injustice. The way I am reading it, she has worked so very hard this year and has done really well, one can overcomplicate these things! In the morning the next major event occurs in Lucy's growing life CV as she goes away to Brancaster for her first residential trip for a few nights. Call it a dress rehearsal for next year when she goes to Paris! It feels like she has packed enough to last her for at least two weeks, not two nights. I suppose I better get used to that! She won't say she is nervous, but we can tell there is definitely a little bit of apprehension there. We have been playing a bit of a cat and mouse game for the last few days in trying not to accentuate the apprehension. Have a great time Lucy, we will all miss you very much. Exciting though..

Great expectations!

I often reflect on my past and how I feel I did not fulfil my academic promise as a child and let down the my foster parents and other people in the time, effort, encouragement and money they put in to give me a very expansive and fantastic education at public school. Choosing to drop out in the manner I did before A-levels has definitely given me a harder path to follow in terms of developing my career and getting ahead in life. There could be an argument that I have learnt so much in working my way up the ladder, but following a traditional path could easily have been equally effective. I suppose the point I am making is I do not want the girls to make the same mistakes as me and learn from me imparting this to them. They are both very bright and work hard at school and have real opportunity in the future. Anna's school report came in and it was fantastic and I am very proud of her and her efforts and application. We await Lucy's with excitement - but I know it will be the same as she has made so much progress this year and keeps growing academically stronger with each month. For example - I absolutely love the fact she now reads for pleasure quietly in her room nearly every night. Neither of my children is a child genius but both have very real potential to excel above the norm and do something with their lives and future careers. They need to stick with their education and build on these solid foundations and I am determined to encourage and drive them to embrace the benefits it offers in this complicated modern world...

As Len would say....

a Seven!!! What a birthday young Wiggle has had! Very chuffed with her swag that included a tent she can use in the garden as a den (already neurotic about it ruining the lawn), football kit and boots (now sporting her favourite player Nathan Redmond's number - a little or rather big crush is going on here), Darth Vader mask, a kite, cash and vouchers for the Canary shop and much more. We finished the day with a barbecue in the beautiful summer sun, drinking tea and enjoying lovely company in family and neighbours. All the people who are important to Anna with the exception of a few. She had a fabulous football cake with thick and delicious green icing courtesy of Granny. I have felt extremely proud of her today with so many 'thank yous' and real expression of gratitude. Before she went to bed she told me she had had an awesome birthday and was a very lucky girl. I agree. She is struggling to settle down to bed - a possible combination of much sugar, excitement and a little bit of worry as she has her induction day for the Junior School in the morning. My baby girl is growing up. Happy proper birthday Anna x

Bananas!!

My baby girl will be the ripe old age of seven next week and to celebrate we entertained several of her friends today with a trip to the cinema to see the Minions movie, party games, British Bulldog (injury disclaimers were signed),  a game of footy, much bouncing on the trampoline, Pizza, cake and NERF guns. I am completely exhausted and this is just round one of the birthday celebrations! It took me hours to clear up the house after our guests left. It was definitely an 'Anna' focused day and all her friends were a real pleasure to have - with many giggles, a few fart jokes and much shenanigans - as Anna said earlier today. Not sure where she got that one from. Happy practice birthday Wiggle! You are truly loved  x

Family weekends to make your heart skip!

Life has changed significantly in the last year - being self employed has given me boundless choices and I choose spending time with my family (apart from the odd coffee in the bistro and home games at Carrow Road - at least I am honest!) I have a warm glow inside after a fabulous weekend with Amy and the girls. A shop till you drop trip to Norwich yesterday and a scouting/purchase mission for Wiggle's birthday. Especially enjoyed the smash and grab raid on the 'Canaries' store. This morning I was woken and cooked pancakes by Lucy, then off we trotted to West Runton for another family fossil hunting expedition. I have to say it got quite competitive in seeing who could find the most belemnites - collective family hoard was around twenty.  In a brisk June ,the beach was beautiful, the cliffs covered in poppies and I sat in the sunshine with my homemade (by Lucy) Pesto, Mozzarella and Tomato Panini and admired the view! Finishing off the trip with an hour or so rock pooling - it doesn't get any better than that! Then home for scones with Libby in her yard and followed by a fabulous roast beef dinner with Granny and Grandpa. Now that's what you call a Father's day, I feel thoroughly spoilt and I love my hammock stand. Thank you girls. Many an hour will be wiled away in that this summer....

Weekends were made for grafting!

The girls definitely prefer leisurely pursuits at the weekend after a long week at school that usually involves having fun, eating and watching television. I had other ideas and decided they should graft for their supper. I gave them no choice and implemented the 'declutter the Hammond house' project in clearing all their rubbish, unused toys and general mess from their bedrooms. Lucy's took nearly five hours to complete! We now have a really good stash to make some money on a car boot sale in the next couple of weeks and  am sure they will buy more clutter with the proceeds (Grrr!). Mrs Hammond decluttered the cupboard under the stairs and the games cupboard (there was a motive behind this in swiping extra resources for her classroom - Mrs Hammond is not normally this domesticated) and I even managed to clear out the garage too. Feeling quite smug and happy with myself, I have now realised the task is yet to be completed and we missed one of Anna's drawers. God knows what's in there and knowing my luck it will probably turn out to be Fakenham's answer to Narnia!