Today is the day I have two teenage children. Lego, adventure books and Nerf guns were Ethan's favourite gifts; I love that he still like these things and isn't in such a rush to grow up. Though I might have to admit that he does look a little bit grown up in his cool glasses, eating birthday pizza:
Noah: 'Yes! I love pitter-patter bread for lunch!' Ethan: 'It's pita bread Noah.' Noah: (Giggles) 'Oh yeah...well, I think pitter-patter sounds better!'
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Another thing making me smile today is the arrival of these plastic lunch boxes for Rosie and Noah's return to school next month:
I used to have lunch boxes just like these but when my children were old enough to need them the trend for sturdy lunch boxes had been replaced with material cool bags...which are a nightmare to clean (not machine washable!) and look rather shabby after a while. I thank you Internet for finding me a random plastic company that still makes these!
Except that it's not really a clock tower, it's the remnant of a medieval church. You can see in the picture below where the body of the church would have come out from the tower:
Well, as luck would have it, Ethan and I were shopping for Rosie's birthday after his orthodontist visit (braces go on next week, hurrah!) and the tower was open for visitors; in all my years here I've never seen it open before! We popped into the tower and were greeted by four rather lovely and elderly gentlemen, who proceeded to hide our shopping bags in a bench seat they were sitting on so that we could go climb the three floors to see the six bells at the top. Who knew there were so many bells up there? Here's the chunky front door:
And the key that fits it!:
The younger looking gentleman of the group took us on a quick tour of the rather tiny tower, telling us lots of interesting facts as we went. This is the start of the stairwell:
And Ethan going up it. Yes, it's that small:
Here's the view of the stairs from the first floor!:
The clock face from inside the tower on the second floor:
After a climb to the third floor via a ladder, we were able to see the bells:
One of them sounded the quarter hour while we were there, and it was rather loud!
The walk back down was a little trickier, it is very steep and the steps are tiny. We learnt that the stairs go up clockwise because if the church was attacked from below, your left hand holds on to the centre of the wall leaving your right hand free to fight with your sword. Anyone coming up the stairs would find it difficult to swing their sword!
It was also proved that Medieval people were much shorter than me and had smaller feet!:
This afternoon, while Ben was training for the Ten Tors, we stopped at the outdoor shop. We found a climbing wall and the children got to have a go; they did a great job:
My baby is climbing!:
I think Rosie is gaining the upper hand here:
Spiderwoman is thrashing her big brother:
Nearly at the top! Ethan catches up, but Rosie would like the world to know she beat him there:
I think Noah's favourite part was jumping off the rock face...and putting the donation money for mountain rescue in the box!
Today was back to school for Ben and Ethan. It was Ethan's first day at Secondary school and his big brother dutifully walked him to school and showed him the ropes! (By the way, Ethan isn't really tiny, it seems Ben is turning into a giant!) Noah and Rosie were a little sad they didn't start today too (but only a little!).
Today was Ethan's last day at primary school and I attended the Leavers Assembly at the village church along with the other year six parents. The great thing about living in a village with a school close to the church is that we get to sit in a beautiful chapel with vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows! The assembly is an opportunity for the school children and teachers to celebrate the achievements of the year six pupils and to wish them well in their secondary school. Here is a bad shot between the heads of many parents of Ethan collecting his dictionary and mug from his teacher:
A big part of the assembly is for each year group in the school to sing a special goodbye song to the year six children. Now, I am not known for being a teary person but that all goes out of the window when I listen to a piece of music that hits the right spot. Today that was when the year four children (including Rosie!) sang 'Greatest Day' by Take That. These lines were the ones that set me off:
Today this could be the greatest day of our lives
Let's make a new start, the future is ours to find
Can you see it? Can you see in in my eyes?
Can you feel it now? Can you hold it in your arms?
Oh, stay close to me, stay close to me
Watch the world come alive tonight
Stay close to me
Hold your head high, arms open wide
And the world starts to come alive
When you stay close to me
For me it summed up the children moving on, growing up and embracing the world, but wanting to stay close to watch their journey. I don't think there was a dry eye in the church, teachers included! Here's the band's video of the song:
I thought I was safe after that incident, but the assembly concluded with the school song 'World In Union'.... you should check those lyrics out too, it was a total blubfest!
From now on I only have two children left at St Michael's, Ethan will be joining his big brother at Teign School in September. When did they get so grown up?
Today was the performance of the year six's play 'Oink!' for their parents. It is a tradition that marks the end of their time at St. Michael's as they leave to start secondary school in September. I have been busy these last few weeks helping with props and costumes and it was great to finally see everything put together. Ethan had volunteered for a role in the play that no one else would take... the Bearded Lady in the circus scene! (He had lots of extra house points for that.)
I think Ethan rather enjoyed the wig and dress, he was subconsciously twirling his 'hair' and swishing his skirts! It was a fun play and the singing was fantastic. The children were told they could go home in their costumes and return in them a couple of hours later for the evening performance. I said to Ethan that he could change before leaving school, but he chose instead to go home on his scooter looking like this:
It was our primary school fete today and despite all the fun stalls and games, the most entertaining thing for Noah, Rosie and Ethan were the police officers taking their fingerprints:
Every summer sports day comes around. (Except for last year, it was cancelled twice due to rain, and lots of it.) Tuesday dawned bright and sunny so on went the sun lotion and sun hats, out came the knobbly knees and lanky legs! In the morning it was the junior races and because I am such a good mother, I forgot my camera so you get to see this bad phone photo of Noah (in his house colour of red) crossing the finish line. Check out those arms:
After a quick lunch it was back to school for the afternoon to see the older children in their teams. I remembered my camera this time and even put fresh batteries in it. Except, they weren't charged so I got just one photo on it of Rosie in her alternative egg and spoon race. (Personally I think they should bring back the proper eggs and spoons.):
There are 8 different events for the children to complete in their house teams and you follow your child around for each one. It's great because you don't get bored watching other people's kids.... but it is also a nightmare when you have more than one child in the upper school, you have to alternate who you are watching for each event! Here is Ethan jumping in hoops:
Rosie getting some air time and winning a relay race:
Ethan throwing a foam javelin (in my day they were real and pointy!):
All the race winners for the day were added up and it was a close battle between first and second place. In first place out of the four houses were Greenhill so Rosie was especially pleased and ran her lap of honour with her team mates. In second place were Berry Meadow house, which made Noah and Ethan very happy too! Go Greenhill!
The above image is the result of a glorious afternoon walking in the spring sunshine with wonderful friends followed by some amazing comfort food, conversation and a late night film with popcorn and blankets. Thanks to the Marshalls for having us! And yes, Noah is in Rosie's girly pink car seat.
My children don't get into each others beds, it's just not something they have ever done. Much to my delight this morning I found Ethan and Noah snuggled in together. Ethan looked so much younger than his 11 years, his cheeks appeared chubby and he had his pouty baby lips out!
Noah has been telling me all week that he was making something special for Mother's Day, but it was a secret. Today his class came out waving their presents for mum in the wind... but not Noah. I asked Noah where his was. He opened his flat book bag and pulled out his delightful treat, reshaped it and gave me a kiss:
Last summer my rather fabulous friend Lisaorganised tickets for me to see Maroon 5 play in London. (See here.) Unfortunately James couldn't get the time away from work and the venue didn't allow under 18's to attend so Ben and James had to miss that trip. When I got to chat to Lisa's brother James V. (as he shall now be known throughout this post so as not to be confused with my James) after the concert he was so kind and generous and said I should come again in February with James and Ben. It seems awesomeness runs in the Valentine family!
Last night James and I took Ben and Ethan to Colston Hall in Bristol for their first concert, they were so excited to go. Ben loves rock music and has a guitar that he has been teaching himself to play for a couple of years now. Whenever I go to a concert he always asks if he can go along too, so it was great to finally have him come. He really enjoyed James V's guitar solos and head banging with his long hair! Ethan likes to listen to all kinds of music (no choice really when you live with me!) and he loved seeing a live band play. Here are my boys waiting for the concert to start, unfortunately Ben was in the middle of declining to pose for a photo when James took it (he is his mother's son!):
We all had a great time and the boys loved their first show. They were also thrilled they got to stay out late and not get home to bed until after midnight... and on a school night too! The Miles family thank you Lisa and James V.!
When James and I made it known that we were expecting our second child, there were lots of raised eyebrows and comments about how close in age our children would be. Seventeen months apart didn't seem like a bad decision to us, and Ben was such an easy baby that we didn't think anything of it. My only concern was how I would love another baby as much as our first.
Today I went with a friend to her appointment at the maternity wing where Ethan was born. Being there took me back eleven years to when we were eagerly awaiting Ethan's birth. We arrived early in the morning for our scheduled c-section and due to so many emergencies that day we had to wait until after 9pm to get into theatre. As soon as Ethan arrived and peeked at us over the screen I knew that you can love all your babies as much as your first. He fit into our family straight away, as if he'd always been there. I've no regrets about when Ethan came. He is sensitive and caring, he loves to help people and make them feel better. Happy Birthday Ethan!
Today was rather grey and dull but we were getting bored indoors so we wrapped up warm and took off to Teignmouth, for a stroll along the beach. It's breezy at the best of times in Teignmouth, but today it was positively gusty! Noah is happy kicking up sand whatever the weather (excuse the bad mobile phone pictures):
Ben allowed me to take a picture:
Ethan, Rosie and Daddy tried not to get wet jumping on stumps in the water:
The old Lido is now a seafront skate park, so of course Ben had to have a ride...:
James: My partner in crime. Ben: My experiment, 15. Ethan: My cheeky chap, 13. Rosie: My girl, 11. Noah: My Little Man, 8. Jay: My twin. Amy: My little sister. Leah: My big sister.
