Saturday

Olè! We are off to Brazil today!

It is agreed with the children that this will be our final “trip abroad” this summer, as we need to start preparing to move house. (Besides which, at various precarious points in the day, this feels like the right decision all round!) It’s still lovely, still fun, still top quality family time… but still has far more of those tired, whining, non-compliant moments than we’re used to dealing with on a day off. Time for a rest, I think!

Still… best to go out with a Brazilian bang!



We travel via Youtube, take a somewhat terrifying tour of the Amazon, complete half a jungle safari, (which is extra gutting as I spent Friday making it myself!) Then watch Rio Carnaval, make some masks, take an online Samba lesson and cook tea, (Brazilian BBQ, with vegetarian Feijoada and chocolate pistachio truffles for dessert!) No the wonder everyone is tired…


But hey there we go! Ten countries visited during lockdown, and the map looks pretty evenly spread. I’m rather pleased with that… for now!

Sunday

Thus begins… the obsession.

Does anyone else obsess over things you know are insignificant in the great grand scheme of things, yet still drive yourself mad doing it anyway?

(I’m going to pretend you do just to make myself feel better.)

This week, it’s wall art. See, I love the new house. It is at least double the size of our current abode and has space for things that we are currently living on top of. I am beyond thankful and humbly grateful for absolutely everything about it… apart from the death-by-magnolia! It is literally the only thing. But, as far as first world problems go, it is a thing. We are a very colourful family (as you may have gathered), and so beige will never feel like home! (Sorry beige).

So… to paint or not to paint? Looking at the current state of Husband… I think very decidedly not! So, as you’ve also gathered over the weeks, I’ve been gradually painting our furniture instead- and now, shopping for wall art. (Honestly, my head is so full of frames I worry my skull is developing angles…)

But why today? Oh yes. Snapfish have 50% off prints ending tonight. I go on to order 4 specific enlargements… then wonder if I ought to get a few more while I’m at it… then panic… then order about 30 prints I don’t actually need… and forget half the ones I do need… but checkout anyway because I’ve been on three hours and I must have something to show for it! I then spend half the night awake worrying about wasted money and philosophising over the word “need”, before eventually deciding never to order things on a Sunday again!

Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy… you’ll run out of steam and drive yourself mad if you don’t!

Monday


Our Caterpillars arrived from Insect Lore today! There are five in the tub and so we named one each: meet Mercutio, Barbara, Harry, Maisie and Anna! (I know, quite sensible on a whole?!) Hopefully, this little venture will make up for the tadpole fiasco…

Tuesday

This is pretty much the only day we manage school work this week, to be absolutely honest. We do a “pick and mix” day again, and thankfully The Boy chooses a “full Maths lesson” first! I cram in about three…

Later, the Youngest picks out “go for a walk” and decides it’s a pram kind of day. Cute! Just don’t ever ask her to babysit …


In the evening, I venture to a friend’s backyard…. via B&M Bargains! It’s quarter past eight and there’s hardly anyone in there… I sanitise up, don a mask and collect wallpaper samples for another upcycling project. I also buy a couple of frames that are way cheaper than the ones in my Ebay basket (note to self: real life shops still exist… cease clicking!), as well as two cans of G&T to take to said friend. It’s a long wait to pay, even though there’s only three of us, and it’s getting steamed up in my mask. I finally get out and realise with horror that I put the cans in with the wallpaper samples and didn’t actually pay for them! I stand in the car park for at least a minute, remembering the queue and deciding what to do, before shaking sense into myself: neither my integrity nor my dignity can cope with the knowledge that I just stole two tinnies from B&Ms!

I head back inside, hoping to do a quick deal with the manager, only to end up back in the queue for another fifteen minutes. Maybe I should just stop shopping altogether… ?

Wednesday

It’s my Mam’s 60th Birthday today so, you know, day off school for everyone right?!

We do some baking and throw a little party of our own, while attempting to video call the real garden party on the other side of the Penines. I get slightly emotional when we can’t make it work but convince myself this is silly… in real life the Eldest would be at school, The Boy at nursery and I would be running a play group. We were never going to be there anyway! But I want to be there today…

Husband cheers me up when he comes home from a funeral and tells me he caused a stir at the traffic lights; collar on, window down, shouting, “ALEXA, PLAY LITTLE MIX!”

Cheered up the family in the car next to him too, apparently!

Thursday

It’s too hot today. I manage to bribe the kids to write postcards from Brazil to the grandparents but it is with much, much sweat and tears. They are too hot and tired and so am I. I release them and distract myself with various projects for the move, until the Eldest appears with our wedding video and asks if we can watch it? Well… go on then. What more do you need in lockdown than a video of all the family you’ve not seen in months, gathered together in a crowded room whilst also listening to the voices of your deceased grandparents?!

“Why are you crying Mummy?”

Snot! Snot and tears and all of the feeeelings!

Just… let it all out.

Friday

Well, if the fawcett is open why not rinse the lot?!

Husband has been up in the loft and brought down the memory boxes. I manage to collate three babies into one big box, and finally fold up and put away all of this…


Hand painted decor, made while on maternity leave waiting for the arrival of my Eldest… along with the matching bunting, stitched together with my own Mother and sister the day after my first baby shower. It’s adorned three different nurseries in three different houses for three different children… but now it’s time to retire to the loft until those children have kids of their own.

What the…. ?!

Just like that, suddenly, I know. I’ve heard it so many times in the last few years, how fast it goes. And I’ve understood- or at least I think I have! I’ve understood and savoured it and tried to make the most of every moment. But right, here right now, packing up the Hungry Caterpillar ‘portable nursery’… I really know. And I feel old. I feel old because waiting for my first child feels like yesterday. In a way I’ve never fully experienced before. Where have those 6.5 years gone? It’s not even over for us yet, but this little part of it just passed on… in barely no time at all.

Anyway… speaking of quickly growing caterpillars… check out these bigguns!!

Friday afternoon… friends… I have been given a key to the new house! Not to move, but just to go in and measure up when no one is around. I go in, alone. I measure every room, every window, every wall… I also sit on their sofa for a good half an hour and just stare into space. So clean, so quiet, so beige…

It’s actually bliss today!

At the end of this week I feel… like I really need to do better for my kids next week! We’re finally up to humans in our creation-meets-science theme, so any resources or ideas, please throw them this way! We are reaching the stage where we need all the help we can get…

I think that’s all, folks. Stay safe and sane, much love and thanks for reading xxx