Patch Of Puddles - 4 Puddles & a Sprinkler. We're somewhere between the raincloud & the rainbow.

Win a Centerparcs #CPFamilyBreak

May 19, 2013

I keep peering cautiously outside and wondering if the Summer will ever come… I think it may be here soon though. I really hope so as our Centerparcs holiday is approaching fast now! This month, Centerparcs want to know about your family picnics; all you have to do is put up some photos of your family picnics on your blog and tweet them a link – full rules etc can be found on the Tots100 blog. We picnic quite a lot, in one form or another. To be honest, when there are this many of us, we can’t afford to eat out much (and so I am particularly looking forward to the meal for 13 we are being treated to at Elveden! It may not be very picturesque, but grabbing our bikes and some tuna sandwiches in clingfilm, make a day out pretty good – even better if you add some chocolate biscuits and a bottle of water or two. It has to be said though, for me there is nothing better than a sarnie at the top of a tor that made your legs ache… my favourite picnics are still the Dartmoor ones… and oh, this is such a
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Guest Post: My Quest to Be a Travel Blogger

May 17, 2013

At the weekend I took a little blogger jolly to #blogsummit, a bloggers get together arranged by the Tots100. It’s a serious event, as you can see from the delegate shots they take. There was a challenge to swap guest post with an envelope and the post below is a fab one from Louise at My Gorgeous Boys: My quest to be a travel blogger! Considering we were picking out envelopes from a huge pile, it’s fairly funny she is hosting one from the person I have to send one to. It’s a blog-love-triangle! *** This post has been inspired by last weekend’s Blog Summit when I drew the wonderful Patch of Puddles blog in the envelope challenge! Thank you Merry for letting me guest post on your fantastic blog When our first son arrived we promised him an adventure. At the time we were thinking of all the fun things we would do and cool places we would go to. Little did we know then the kind of adventure parenting really is on its own! Six years on and another little boy to boot I think we have done him proud. We have had city breaks with them to
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Review: Josie reviews the me&i Angel Blouse.

May 17, 2013

Being the youngest of 4 girls does mean a variety of good and not so good things. One is, big people to show you the way. Another is lots of clothes handed down in a mix of styles. Another is NOTHING.NEW.EVER. So this week Josie has struck out a bit. Firsat of all she has made the decision to go to school, making her the youngest Raymond to ever decide such a thing. I think she felt in need of a new challenge and was worried that, with all the big three off to school permanently in September, home would be a bit lonely. (And I might make her work harder!) Since the school Fran and Amelie have gone to as year 6′s is full, it looks like Josie may well end up going somewhere no one else from our family has been. Wow. No big sisters beating the path for her. Big stuff. (I’ll wibble about this some other time). And her other show stealer was nobbling the review clothing item from me&i, a Swedish clothing company ‘for cool people’. She was very pleased to get to choose an item and went for the Angel Blouse, a cute khaki
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An almost finished product.

May 14, 2013

A few weeks ago the girls were involved in a show at a new dance school they’ve joined. All the older three did something solo in it, though Fran also performed lots in group dances, at one point doing three consecutive solos to cover spaces by absentees and also led her little ballet troupe through their first show. And looking at these videos, I can see how very close to being polished they are now. They are like this in nearly ever aspect of their lives; professional, confident, capable, outgoing, talented and full of life. It makes us so proud. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch the videos, even just a little of each. Fran dances beautifully, Maddy sings amazingly (click to the middle for a truly breathtaking rendition of The Wizard and I from Wicked and Amelie… well, lets just say you need to watch it. Fran. Maddy. She was a bit too far back to get a good video but she was amazing to listen to. Brought the house down. Amelie. She had never actually sung to the music before this recording. And frankly, oh my god, we are in so much trouble.
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Review: Hoops & Crosses by Walkers Crisps

May 13, 2013

My children always like the opportunity to review food. Frankly, it doesn't come round nearly often enough So they were delighted at the prospect of reviewing some healthy crisps from Walkers, since we almost never have crisps at all. Their enthusiasm was only slightly dampened by only getting a one fifth of a packet each – but the monkey made up for a lot He's called Gibber; ten points if you can guess who named him that and why? (Edit: my sister texted me the answer first. She might give you 2 points if you are next). Walkers say: “We understand kids can be cheeky monkeys when it comes to eating what parents put in their lunchboxes. Which is why we’ve created new Walkers Baked Hoops & Crosses – a great-tasting, low-fat and fun way for kids to boost their wholegrain intake.“ I admit I was dubious, since healthy does not equal delicious nearly often enough. Bene was very taken with the hard back book that came in the box and I now have to read it daily to him, pretending it is in fact a story and not a series of facts about why baked crisps are better for
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Growing Fabulous Teens.

May 11, 2013

If only there were a manual for bring up the perfectly balanced child. Wouldn’t life be simpler? If only, we all sigh from time to time, parenting came with a manual. Not one of the ones you can buy written by people who never had their own child to care for, but one tailor made for you own child, your own pitfalls and failings. The perfect guide to not adding a layer of your own imperfections on to whatever bundle of stuff, emotions and quirks you created with egg and sperm. Ha. Wouldn’t that make the best selling book of all time? However, there isn’t even enough for a good new fangled blog post about it. My, my stats would go through the roof if only I could. I wish. However. As I watched these two beautiful, graceful, self assured and articulate young women leave the house last night, en route to the rugby club end of year dinner, I mused a little on what type of a family we are, on how our girls differ from who I was as an emerging young woman, on what elements of nature are different and what elements of nurture are different. Mused
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Not just a girl with Aspergers.

May 10, 2013

Todays #10wks10yrs post is about Maddy. It’s written with her permission and explains why one of the biggest elements of our life at times through the last 12 years has almost never been discussed on the blog. *** The internet is full of support blogs about children living with Aspergers and Autism these days. They are great, amazing places to get support and understanding for a condition which defies explanation in so many ways and is still so unsupported in the collective mind of so much of the public. How many Aspergers parents, trying to describe the myriad of symptoms and behaviours their child experiences is met by “by my child does that”. How many, like me, have found themselves up against a medical wall of professionals who believe they can fend off the parents of another inexplicable child who will drain resources. How many, like me, found themselves investigated as a parent inventing symptoms for attention? Those blogs are a wonderful resource for parents who need to understand a bewildering toddlers and preschooler; how I wish I had had those to read, instead of trawling through medical papers and quizzing some of the other home ed parents I knew online
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And now she is 11

May 8, 2013

Amelie. The name most often said in the house. Since way back then… And then…. And oh my goodness, I know this face now. With a certain amount of this along the way… I love them big, but these were special days. Suddenly this. This. Eleven. Almost her whole life has been captured here on the blog. There are thousands of words about her. Funny. Feisty. Fearsome. Ferocious. Fabulous.
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Stitched Sunday

May 5, 2013

With one blanket under my belt this year and the cardigan of doom finished (I don't think I like it though ) I thought it was time to try something new. I've got another throw on the go but it doesn't need to be ready till autumn and I fancied doing something new. I'm rather enjoying that book '100 Bright & Colourful Granny Squares' and I've got lots of back issues of Mollie Makes and Simply Crochet to explore too. I think I'm going to spend the summer on small projects, especially now I have my very own shop with cheap and cheerful yarn in it. There is more coming too, especially some yummies, but this will keep me going for a while. Especially as I really do need to make a hole in my own stash first Have you knitted, crocheted or sewn anything this week? I'd love to look; feel free to stick a link in the comments.
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Making it.

May 4, 2013

We have a few rules in this house, not many, just a few. One of them is to not give up too easily, to stick at something if it feels hard, or too tough and get to the end of a term, or finish the exam you are on, or complete the show, or achieve some small goal ahead of you. Unless it is making you severely unhappy or hurt or not safe, don’t just walk away. Another is to do the very best you can at anything that matters to you, get some qualifications under your belt, have some competency documented you can fall back on. From early on the girls have known that we won’t be able to afford to put them through uni and that if they want to go, they are going to need to have some way of supporting themselves. We’ve encouraged them to see their activities as something that is skill building and making them employable. Lastly, less a rule than a state of mind, we’ve done our best to make them responsible and employable because god knows we’ve had enough utterly unemployable teens come to us for work experience. I’d rather have Josie
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