Elijah, Lachie and Dad have gone swimming so I have five minutes to catch up on here.
Its been a funny old week this week. The big boys have gone back to school, but the things we do with the little ones arent all up and running yet, so its felt weird! We went to a slingmeet in Banbury this week and met some lovely ladies and Elijah made a great new friend who was boy number 5 out of 6 in his family. It was so nice to meet another younger sibling of a large family; it really helped me to feel like I was an ok parent and that young boys with lots of older brothers do behave differently to only children or the oldest one of that age. I quite often feel like I have to explain that I have 5 boys and the older ones are teenagers to other parents who have never experienced a 3 year old with such advanced computer and games console skills, inappropriate (for a three year old) language, lack of interest in anything "toddlerish" and general cheek ;) Seeing this other lovely lad just made me realise that they are a product of being raised in a large family by a large family. They take on many traits and characteristics that are totally normal in teenagers (for example standing with the fridge open for hours just staring whilst deciding there's nothing decent to eat in this house!) but that people find peculiar in toddlers. I dont think any of my older ones behaved in the same way, as they didnt have the role models. Children learn what they live with. The good stuff and the not so.

The seeds that I planted in our new raised bed have germinated and are looking good. Im feeling quite proud of myself, as Ive never even been able to grow a sunflower from seed before. Here they are in all their small glory: (radish on the left, spring cabbage for overwintering on the right)











We have also put in a new little apple tree:One of our trips out this week was to Toft Alpacas where I managed to pick up some beautiful pure alpaca wool and have managed to do a bit of knitting. Lachie has tried to do some too, and ended up with a beautiful holy purple scarf which he doenst want to share with anyone in the cyber world ;)
Ive done a litte hat for Baby bear ready for the colder weather and he looks sooo cute in it, even if I do say so myself.
And I have made a start on a wee small woolly number for myself (watch this space for more details):