Sunny days...

Swings, ice cream and picnics... enjoying the sunshine! And hoping it holds for our first camping trip of the year - I hope it isn't too cold at night! And also hope we can get diesel to get home as the country has once again bought straight into the eco/financial disaster that is our fuel system by...oh yes, buying more fuel than ever. Gosh, that'll show them they can't monopolise our spending and dictate what we 'need' and when we 'need' it. Glad we got that straight.

In less cynical news, my littlest one had her first ice-cream - a freebie from the lady in the shop who felt she should have one if her siblings were. She certainly agreed - I can see that this will be the first of many - it disappeared in seconds flat!

We're enjoying the sun here, I can't believe it's only March. Pond-dipping boys and picnicking girls:

You can't see my beautiful new (to me) picnic basket in this pic...look out for it in my next post! I've been dreaming of the baskets at our farm shop, imagining all the picnics and teas-by-the-stream we could have (yes, ok, I know we could've had them anyway but the food gets all squished and yucky in bags...) so when I saw one in our charity shop, it felt meant to be! And we have had two lovely picnics and a tea-by-the-stream this week, so it feels justified already :) Simple things...

New shoes, new shoes!

These arrived in the post last night and a certain little boy was extremely disappointed that his baby sister was already sleeping so couldn't try them on! He loves his own new shoes and has worn them all day but this has been the only photo I have been able to get as they haven't stood still at all!

I wish I'd got some of him racing back along the road to encourage her along - not that she needed it - she walked half a mile to toddlers, pausing only to shake her head at me if I offered to pick her up or hold her hand! She's Miss Independence herself as soon as we leave the house - not quite the same story at home, though...(she writes, as said child attempts to tear her legs off because she can't decide whether to get up or down and won't stop shouting about it all...)

These boots were made for walking...

Well, actually, they weren't - littlest girl doesn't have any proper shoes yet so is taking on the world with her feet clad in the mini ugg boots we were given when her big brother was newborn! Despite my objections to them being real sheepskin, they've been brilliant at keeping little feet warm and safe and aren't showing any signs of wearing out despite being very well used by a certain little lady. Today she wore them to walk all the way to the top of Haytor!

She wouldn't go in the sling, or even hold a hand until she really needed some encouragement from her big sister:

And walked most of the way back down again too (she really needs some proper shoes!), but eventually accepted a carry in the new sling I'd been dying to try all day - which she loved, very snuggly indeed. As soon as we got home, though, she abandoned her drive for independence and spent the next five hours in the sling - luckily it's really comfortable for me, too! I'd been wanting a Mei Tai to replace the beautiful Joey Sling which was stolen from someone I'd lent it to, and having sold a sling I don't use, I was finally able to afford one - this is a Kozy, which a friend imports from the US and the body length is lovely! It was £50 - extravagant for me, but a real bargain and so pretty!

This little boy walked all the way up and down Haytor without complaining, too - a first! He was playing heli-pilot rescues with a friend and this inspired him to not even notice the walk. This is the boy who makes me take the pushchair when we walk 200 yards up the road, so I was very impressed today!

And when we got back, our biggest girl (who has something of a sweet tooth) treated herself and her little siblings and the friend to the first ice-cream of the year. It was actually warm enough not to feel silly eating it! I'm enjoying these promises of spring and summer to come - I normally love Autumn and Winter best of all but this Winter has been so bug-ridden that I'm really excited by the warmer days. More gardening today, i think!

And elves in the garden!

This little girl is very pleased with her wellies - they're far too big but they're the smallest pair we have and she's determined to wear them in the garden! I love seeing these two playing together, it's great when their big sister joins in too but it's nice that they can get along without intervention now!

We're so lucky to have this garden, it's such a brilliant place for us right now. It's not the dream house, but it's a magical garden and it's so good at this stage in our lives, I'm very, very grateful for it. The playhouse is a huge bonus and it's funny seeing the tiny girl big enough to play in it! She's delighted to be able to hold her own in here - she's cooking up the 'rhubarb' (weeds, actually, the rhubarb crowns haven't arrived yet) that her big brother is harvesting...

Today, incidentally, the big brother is a 'rocket man' (drives a rocket...no connection with Elton John...) and wearing a rocket on her head is the role he has assigned her in the game. Probably not one for her wedding day!

Lots of learning today, looking at words, sounds and a bit of physics in the garden:

And a very small gardener, helping out!

Little pixies in the woods

I love seeing the children spending time outside - tempers are longer, moods are brighter and life just feels easier. We had a lovely walk with friends last week and, for one little boy, the best things in life are certainly free. There's always a handy stick around for a pirate sword, or a fallen log which makes the perfect train. They spent hours playing a fire engine game on a huge carved chair in the woods, but I didn't get any pictures of that because it was a mummy-free zone.

We had a pathetic picnic as all of our cupboards were bare but the children enjoyed it and the ducks enjoyed the remains! This little squirrel came to investigate and the baby girls found it very amusing indeed!

This funny girl and a baby slightly younger than her had a lovely chat - they blew raspberries at each other and giggled for ages - this is the face my littlest girl makes when she's trying to make someone laugh:

Spring is springing...

We decided to get ourselves out into the garden and try to blow away some of the bugs we've all been nursing for so long. I love the idea of having a lovely, productive, exciting garden but the reality of the hard work always overwhelms me. This year, we're not moving house or having a new baby so I'm going to put much more effort in and see what we can achieve. Scarily, we've ordered a 'grow your own' box and are now trying to work out where we'll put everything. I hope that with a combination of pots, beds and greenhouse shuffling, we'll be able to grow some great stuff and feel much less useless at gardening by the end of the year!

We have three willing assistants. The biggest girl is fabulous at growing things and really is the most committed of us all! She's planted up some peppers and chillis and has also spent time taking beautiful photos in the garden today - see above. I tried for ages to get a good picture and then she took this one and my efforts were put to shame! The littlest girl is less practical, more ornamental assistance...She may not be able to help out yet but she looks cute trying! And the boy, who has for one minute taken a break from fire engine driving, is just great at filling watering cans. They never seem to water much more than the path, but that's a step in the right direction I think...
Lovely to be outside and starting to think about growing things. Lots more to prepare before our plants arrive - I'm determined not to fail this year!