Rowanne and Alfred are Baptised into the Catholic Faith.

Rowanne and Alfred have been baptised at last! They felt they were missing out as older siblings are already baptised. Somehow we hadn't got around to organising their baptisms as babies. Rowanne decided to get things organised herself by approaching our priest Father John on Christmas Eve and so the plans began!
Baptism classes were attended, God Parents were chosen and invited, and to our immense happiness and honour both sets of godparents were able and willing to travel all the way from lands afar for the children's special day!
Thank you to Joe and Teresa Martin for travelling from Colorado Springs USA, and to John and Linda Tye for travelling from Tysnes Norway.
Thank you also to John Tye for taking photos and making a video of the special day.
Click here to view a short video of the Baptism









Thank you also to our family and friends who sent their good wishes and to those who were able to attend this memorable day.

Ruperts Birthday

Rupee is 1! He celebrated by hiding outside and refusing to come in until we tempted him with Tuna.

Lily's 11th Birthday

Lily celebrated her 11th birthday at home with family and friends.

Lily had a "Minecraft" themed party with all her friends bringing mobile devices and joining in the same Minecraft game. They worked hard and built some amazing buildings and had lots of virtual fun!

https://minecraft.net/

Mothering Sunday

I had a really lovely Mothering Sunday this year.
The children all brought home a bunch of Daffodils each from school the Friday before, a lovely surprise, and then on Mothering Sunday itself I was given beautiful purple tulips too and lots of lovely cards!



I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Jeremy cooked a lovely roast dinner at the end of the day too.

Blue Peter Badge Winners!

Both girls had applied for Blue Peter Badges since the beginning of the year, and both have been successful in being awarded badges!
Well done Lily and Rowanne!




http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/directories/blue-peter-badge-attractions

February Half Term

February half term was spent at Grandma's house in North Yorkshire.
We travelled there and back by train and Jeremy and Gabrielle remained at home as they were both working.
It takes around 5 and a half hours by direct train to the nearest station to Grandmas then a 25 min drive to her house.
The children were extremely well behaved for the journeys both there and back. Mostly due to electronic devices (of entertainment, not torture)!






























The trip was cut short by a day because of forecast snow, which did begin the night we left so it's a good job we travelled back when we did!

Rowanne's 9th Birthday

Rowanne celebrated her 9th Birthday at home with friends and family. She had a craft themed party with guests making door plaques for their bedrooms using a large variety of fancy paper, card and stick on things!

Snow 2013

We got a few days of good snow in January. Enough to get the children a day off school, and enough for a lot of outdoor play!

Exciting Ice Skating!

It was the last day for the temporary ice rink at our local shopping center today. We went to skate at the rink one last time before they sadly packed away.
Alfie hasn't been on the rink before as I had assumed he would find it difficult to balance and would quickly become fed up of falling over. Today was his first time skating and surprisingly he really enjoyed it. At first it was difficult for him and he fell over lots, but he was undeterred and pulled himself back to his feet smiling all the time and ready to try again.
Well his cheerful determination paid off and within 15 minutes or so he found his balance and began to skate!

Rowanne was a very kind big sister and gave a lot of help initially and she too was very proud of her little brothers progress.
Lily enjoyed skating with her special friend from school and is also becoming more confident each time she goes skating. We will be sad the temporary rink has gone but very much hope to see it again next year. It has been great fun having such a facility available locally.

Baptism Classes

Rowanne, Alfred and I attended the first of two baptism classes at our church with a view to getting them baptised sometime in the near future.
The eldest two have already been baptised. Gabrielle is C of E like me, and Lily is Catholic like Jeremy.
The class was really intended for adults, though Father John had recommended that Rowanne attended herself too to learn more about baptism. Rowanne has been rather aggrieved for quite some time that she had not been baptised as a baby and it was she who approached the priest on Christmas Eve to ask about getting baptised now.
The class was really good, intermingling talk, video and discussion in small bites. There were several older children there who were going to be baptised too, so we aren't the only disorganised parents around who haven't baptised their children yet!
I am very proud to say that by whatever divine miracle, Rowanne and Alfred sat quietly and patiently throughout the whole hour and a half class like little angels (although the plate of biscuits at the front, which they were allowed to help themselves from might have helped a bit)!

Location:St Margaret Mary Church, Park Gate

Homemade Horsey

If you fancy a horsey ride but haven't the means for a real one, why not build your own!

Ingredients list:

3 imaginative children
Footstool
Blankets
Cat scratch post
Hair bobbles
Dishcloths
Earrings
Pins
Elastic bands
Cushions
Sense of fun!

Hide ingredients in various locations about the house.
Leave the children well alone, they will gather and mix the other items.
Allow plenty of time for recipe to prove. Garnish with giggles.

Location:Locks Heath, Southampton

Moonlight Picnic

If you set off mid afternoon with a teatime picnic, then get distracted by a shoe shop sale along the way (www.littlesoleswarsash.co.uk) it might be dark by the time you reach the seafront. If you've brought along a torch (and a Kelly kettle) its good fun. Remember to wrap up warm though because its chilly after dark.

Location:Warsash

New Years Day Walk

We got lovely sunshine on New Year's Day so made the most of it by going for a much needed walk at Stokes Bay.
We passed Fort Gilkicker which is under development and will soon become lovely homes by the beach.







This is Fort Gilkicker:

Location:Stokes Bay

Christmas Day

We had agreed with the children to get up at 7am this year....not before. Due to a clock setting fail the children were up at 6am so next year we will be sure to check all clocks (including those in gadgets like Nintendo DS's) are set correctly!
The children were pleased to see that Santa had been and finished his milk and biscuits, Rudolph and friends had also nibbled the carrot too.
With the evidence checked to verify the reality of Santa's existence we then proceeded to the living room to see if anybody had made it off the "naughty list" in time to receive presents!

Presents all round, Santa is clearly a very forgiving person! Everyone was excited about their presents.


Lily received a mini sewing machine amongst other items.

Jeremy had always wanted a Bodrum apparently.

Alfie was thrilled with his noisy machine gun (thanks Grandma Marie)!

More sweets!

I got some lovely presents myself too...

Rowanne liked her new scrapbook kit.
After a good breakfast of Quality Street sweets and crackers with cheese, we popped the turkey in the oven (with the assistance of a free iPhone app as the instruction label had fallen off) and went to visit Grandma Gloria and Grandad Peter (waves hello)!

We came home in time to prepare the Christmas veg and baste the turkey, and everyone enjoyed a good play with their new toys after a delicious lunch.

Location:Home