A cow of my very own

I make secret that I have been looking for cow picture for a while and so was delighted when Matthew and the boy arrived from a day out holding a big bubble wrapped canvas of a cow. The artist is Emma Pearson and she sells through the lovely bookshop in Chipping Norton.

Isabel loves it and gets very excited every time she sees it. If we ask her where is the cow she points enthusiastically at it.

Her other favourite animal is Finny Bear and one of her most used signs is that for dog.

It's felt like a long winter with many days when we've been cooped up inside. Despite getting rid of our tv Isaac has ended up watching way too much Chuggington and the like on iPlayer as well as DVDs (ideally I'd like no screen time but that's another story). I don't beat myself up about it as it's helped us get through a hard few months but it's something I want to change. Instead of focussing on what I want to stop though I'm trying to choose what I want to do instead so that I can feel the change before it happens (focus on the positive and all that). So instead of looking at the amount of screen time I'm relaxing about that and instead working on adding other things to our day whether that's more stories or playing outside. The weather has been kind to us so most of today has been out in the garden or down in the park.

I made some jelly for the party that we didn't get around to eating so we had it for pudding tonight. Isabel had her own methods of getting it out of the bowl.

Whilst the boy just used a conventional spoon and then played at wibbling.

Birthday girl

So this weekend was party weekend. There was a lot of preparation to be done like making the cake (I'd bought some ladybird toppers as I haven't played with royal icing before but I was much happier with my ladybirds than the bought ones so they're currently in the bread bin waiting to be used).

Making mars bar rice crispies

And then blowing up balloons

And after a cold morning the clouds cleared and we had a lovely afternoon with friends and neighbours celebrating our little one.

And after cake there was the walk - she took me the length of the garden and back again and all the way through the house. It was slow going but she was very keen to do it.

We'd said on the invites to neighbours not to bring presents but they brought them anyway (thank you) and amongst them was this delight - the lovely Kerry (who surely must have her own blog hint hint) had customised a tshirt with a chain stitch rainbow. Such a great idea that I'm going to steal (ahem be inspired by) at a later date.

A new game

Take one child, one garden table with a hole for a parasol in it and one stone small enough to fit through said hole but big enough to feel satisfying in the hand. Add one or more persons to keep giving the stone back and lots of fun can be had.

A spring in our step

Today has been a glorious day and so we've spent most of it outside. We were invited to join friends at a playground this morning and I was a little grumpy about going as it's a fair drive from here and I don't much like driving places just for the sake of it but it was to see lovely friends so we went. And I'm so glad we did. The playground is so well done with an element of danger (although maybe that's just the adults on the zip wire) and lots of use of the natural architecture of the trees. The play equipment is well thought out and challenging for small children. It was lovely to see the older ones all get stuck into things they've never tried before and take ideas from each other.

The smaller members of the party mostly played with the bark chippings.

Rainbow fun

After numerous attempts to grab a bargain large rainbow I finally managed to get my hands on one at a price that didn't make my eyes water (three previous orders in various places had all fallen through for one reason or another). I've had the small rainbow for a while now and whilst it gets played with it's really not all that versatile but the larger one can be so many more things because of its size but also the number of pieces in it.

Mostly though it was just engine sheds....

The children are both coughing a lot at night still and I am getting very little sleep - as you can see. Isaac is very pleased that he can now take proper pictures as he's worked out that he has to hold the button in and not just press it.

And speaking of expensive wooden toys, Isabel is getting a taste for them, literally.

Winning smiles

We've won a book by the lovely Amy Schimler. I know her mostly through her fabric designs so I'm really looking forward to seeing one of her books.

Up a tree

There was a moment this afternoon when everything was how I imagined it to be. The boy was up a tree having climbed it himself without any help. The girl was on a bike (wishing it to move) being happy to be outside and I was engaged in busy industriousness tidying and hosing and just generally being outside. I'm working up to doing more of this sort of thing instead of spending all day inside as one or both children need milk or naps etc. It didn't last long and he fell out of the tree (no major damage but he wasn't keen to go back up again today) and then Isabel needed a nap and chores were left to be finished off later.

And as always after outside play the end result was a bath in the middle of the afternoon.

Blue skies

It's amazing what a sunny day and a bit of sleep can do to help restore energy. Although I think it'd take a few weeks of both for us all to be 100%.

Variations on a theme

Well the children are on the mend but the adults are a little ropey. I think mine is just too little sleep but I feel rotten. We still made it outside again despite some rain.

And then cold and wet it ended up with bath number 1 of the day. Isabel had a shower this morning too and then they both went in the bath before bed.

He's very fond of getting himself into small spaces...