So, what do you do if you’re not back to school then?

Visit the farm where you can “milk the cow”, play skittles, go through the maze, marvel at the walled vegetable garden (tunnel of pears and giant squash got  thumbs up from the kids), laugh at the playful piglets, spark your interest in old priories and dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII….

Spend the afternoon playing loads of games and entertaining Nanny whilst Mommy slips out to meet Michelle and baby Livvie for a sanity break coffee and cake

Go swimming at Esporta with our free vouchers. The outdoor pool was particularly popular and Alfie challenged me to several swimming races We succumbed to lunch at Frankie and Benny’s afterwards too

Make something special for someone special – all I can say for now

Do some electronics work with Daddy building circuits to make different coloured lights flash on and off.

Read loads of books and do lots of colouring.

Harvest more carrots

Spot a little frog

When is there time for school again??????

Today another park trip with Nanny, this time to Pype Hayes Park. Alfie wanted to see if all the tadpoles we saw in the spring had turned into frogs! We didn’t spot any but had plenty of fun anyhow in the sensory garden, walking round the lake and on the play area. We also spotted another poor sucker who has fallen for Sutton Coldfield Roofcare’s patter. I knocked on the door but no answer, so we’ll have to try again. They are back to advertising now – on Loot, Tamworth Herald etc. They still owe us £2000 and I fear for the number of other people who will suffer the financial hardship, distress and destruction of their precious home that we have faced. Brett Clarke, pay off your debts and prove that you are human. We will not let this rest.

Midwife this afternoon. All is well. I feel so lucky, especially as a lady on my Mums Due November forum lost her precious premature babe this week I have such precious, wonderful children.

Now I’m just waiting to see if Tesco have succeeded in poisoning me with the milkshake dated best before 24 April 2010 that they sold me today (noticed AFTER drinking it)………..

Today we used the blackberries to make a delicious apple and blackberry one crust pie

We also went out to play in the garden and hung lots of washing, went to Sainsburys to recycle loads of plastic bags (and had a sneaky breakfast in the cafe LOL!), spent 2 hours cleaning out the food cupboard (leaked soy sauce made it a very messy job!), played Peppa Pig houses and various other games, coloured, completed magazines, played on the computer, had a pink bath (courtesy of Lush bath bomb!) and generally did lots and lots!

Oh, and Holly’s “friends” watched Peppa Pig

H remains dry and loving her pants She even leapt out of our bed after having her mommy milk this morning and took herself off to the toilet for a wee even though she was still wearing her night nappy (which was barely damp)! Sometimes, when things seem to be happening later than with coerced kids, you have the odd wobble on your unconditional parenting path, but my wonderful kids always prove that we are on the right track

Today was a gorgeous day in every way. The sun shone (at least until 2.30pm when we got home and the rain came down, but we didn’t care by then LOL!) We went to Lichfield and enjoyed the sunshine in Beacon Park. It’s undergoing a major revamp which looks amazing, so there’s only a tiny temporary playground and sandpit there at the moment, but the kids enjoyed it. They also had a free of charge inflatable T-Rex which the kids loved. They had to climb up a rope ladder and in through his mouth which led to a slide and then an inflatable “world” to walk through, coming out at the tail. We then walked through the park, fed the ducks at Minster Pool, popped to a couple of shops, had lunch (in McDonalds *blush*) then went round the cathedral, which the kids loved.

Oh, and today was Holly’s second day in pants. She’s doing really well, although has the opposite approach to “iron bladder” Alfie and goes constantly LOL! Her only real accident was a puddle in B&M Bargains, ironically whilst we were buying her new pants! The lady was lovely about it, although I insisted on mopping it up myself! So, this time round I should only have one in nappies – a breeze after having 2 in all day nappies for a 17 month period and having to carry round a virtual suitcase of cloth nappies every day LOL!

So, some pictures of one of the good bits of Friday. A visit from Nanny and Granddad to build vast train track layouts and allow me to have a much needed soak in the bath was also a highlight

Making peppermint creams

Saturday was a wonderful wonderful day at the Just So festival near Leek in Staffordshire. The kids had an absolute ball. Alfie said that it was all his favourite things at once – woodlands with loads of different mushrooms for him to spot, muddy puddles galore and loads of his favourite activities Particularly enjoyed were circus skills, winning a coconut, listening to favourite stories (like Aliens Love Underpants), meeting the fairy queen and face painting

Today we have been to get new craft drawers and so now have a wonderful craft area in the kitchen where the kids can find everything I am bitten by the nesting bug at the moment (28 weeks!!!!!) but am despairing at actually being able to transform this tip with the kids to look after, so have decided to write a list of what I’ve achieved today

- craft drawers all sorted into the new unit, freeing up a kitchen drawer and a toy cupboard drawer.

- kids’ winter coats sorted for charity and my friend’s little boy

- laundry put away

- muddy festival clothes and picnic blanket washed and dried outside

- hospital bag partially packed

- garden tidied – carrots harvested, everything fed and watered, pumpkins trimmed back and punnets under fruits, lettuces thinned, some weeding done

It’s a good start And I am home educating two wonderfully spirited and wild children, whilst carrying a third and still breast feeding my toddler, so all in all should be proud

On Friday we popped to the supermarket, where the children picked up new magazines (about the most “formal” that any education gets round here and that’s only because they love doing them – any reward charts/stickers are obviously avoided!) Back home we made homemade play dough – a green batch and a red batch. It was a big hit, and proved ideal to make various machines (surprise surprise!), monsters and dinners

In the afternoon Nanny and Granddad came round, allowing me to slip off with Sally for a wonderful birthday treat of coffee and cake (that I didn’t have to pay for!) at the Garden Room at Halls. Lush, and lovely to sit, relax and chat without chasing four kids around

Yesterday we did some major house sorting and spring cleaning in our bedroom, which the kids loved joining in with. Then we headed off for a woodland walk in Sutton Park with the leaf hunt sheets that we had printed off the Woodland Trust website. Alfie had a brilliant time identifying the leaves on the trees and ticking off the ones he found. He was even more thrilled with the amazing fungi he found deep in the woods growing on fallen trees. The rain was torrential and we got soaked to the skin, but had a fantastic time. Many puddles were jumped in Chips from the chip shop and clean clothes soon restored the equilibrium too

Last night was Kim’s hen do at Las Iguanos. I hadn’t been there for years and had forgotten how lovely the food was. I disappeared home before the clubbing part though – I am in no condition at present to paint the town red LOL! To be honest, it made me laugh as I clearly remember my old boss telling me, probably 12 years ago now, how she knew she was old when she left the theatre to go home just as the drinkers were heading out and realised she was so happy to be going home, not jealous. Well, now I can fully empathise

Today a fantastic day at Hatton Farm Village with Bex and Nathan. I totally failed to bring my camera so no pictures I’m afraid. The sun shone all day though and the smiles on the kids’ faces were priceless. Too much to describe really but it involved trampolines, bouncy castles, maize mazes with hidden birds of prey clues, play areas, tractor rides, JCB pedalling, sand digging, swing boat riding, sliding and animal feeding galore A particular highlight was the daft duck trials, particularly when the dog and a duck ran through Alfie’s legs He was laughing his head off! Happy happy days

Holly pretending to be Lady Godiva (with clothes LOL!) in the Godiva Gallery.

Trying on masks in the history gallery. Alfie seemed particularly captivated by the blitz whilst sitting in the Anderson shelter they have there, providing a good opportunity to show him more about WW2. A topic I think we will revisit in more depth in the near future too.

Creating land art in the Elements gallery. They love this gallery with all it’s amazing minerals, shells and sounds.

We had a fantastic lunch at Pizza Express in Coventry, thanks to a gift card from the lovely Sal. We also explored the ruined cathedral, prompting more conversation about the WW2 bombings. It was a lovely birthday and quite strange tramping the familiar streets with the kids that I staggered around in my drunken student days more than 15 years ago. I would never have dreamed then that I would be back with my lovely little family. How things change in life!

Back home, birthday cake, relaxing bath (until the kids came in to “help” LOL!) and alcohol free beer fetched by Rich

Today, plans to go to the farm with Nanny were abandoned due to illness (Nanny), tiredness (all of us!) and torrential rain. Instead we had a “quiet” day doing chores (cleaning out drawers, sorting endless laundry, rationalising the recipe folder, sorting the organic veg boxes etc), playing computer games, blowing bubbles in the garden in a rare sunny spell, making vegetable soup for lunch

making homemade lemon curd (Alfie is washing the pot out ready to be filled)

playing imaginative games

having quiet time watching a DVD

making an origami penguin (Alfie) and butterfly (Holly)

On Saturday we met Steve and Andy at Stowe Landscape Gardens. The place is gorgeous – even in the rain LOL! The kids had  a great time, and Uncle Steve was as popular as ever We shower dodged in the woods, admired the temples and statues, picnicked and nature spotted – Daddy and the children even managed a race around the running track The last picture of Alfie shows him drinking leftover milk from the jug after we had tea

Today we did some essential gardening – weeding, feeding and, in Alfie’s case, raspberry eating, before an early lunch on the picnic bench. We then spent a pleasant afternoon at Soho House, home of Matthew Boulton and the Lunar Society. Unfortunately, due to lack of staff, the house was guided tour only which was a disaster with Holly who shouted and screeched the whole time LOL. The gallery and nature spotting garden trail were very popular with both of them though It all really appealed to Alfie’s current obsession with machinery. The Lego produced some varied machines, including a meat machine from Alfie (who is vegetarian!) and a slug house from Holly The minerals and rocks that could be studied with a magnifier were also popular

This is Holly cutting up an old magazine, before helping me make vegetable kebabs with some of the organic box contents

On Wednesday we spent some time playing at home and doing chores before heading to Kim’s house where the kids had a lovely time making blueberry muffins with Ariana and Bronwyn. The photo below shows Alfie back at home in “North America” where he was apparently working as a chef. He didn’t notice me watching him read his “bedtime book” and it was lovely to see him really poring over his fungus book, whispering to himself and following it with his finger. This is him just after when he’d apparently gone to bed cuddling Spencer and Bananas. Shortly after he got back into his rocket to travel to Australia then back home in time for dinner H meanwhile was on the computer. She has all of a sudden “got” how to use the mouse so now doesn’t just want to watch Alfie but to play games all on her own

A lovely evening followed at the very posh Fairlawns Hotel with Mom, Dad and Matt (who I hadn’t seen since Xmas). It was so lovely to eat a really nice relaxed meal with my family. Thanks so much to Mom and Dad for treating me, it’s somewhere we’d NEVER eat if we had to pay ourselves hee hee

On Thursday Rich had the day off so we went to the library for new books, sorted out lots of deliveries (organic box, Ocado, parcels galore!) then went to Prestwold Hall race track to watch Dad racing in a Lamborghini and Aston Martin. I’m so glad he had a great time. His driving scored 36/40 – dread to think what mine would have been – 3 maybe My idea of a nightmare present but he loved it. Having been blessed with the best parents in the world (and believe me I’ve seen what the alternatives could be LOL!) it’s nice to know they’ve enjoyed a present you’ve given them On the way home we stopped off at Buffet Island for a yummy meal too

Today, a quiet one as the kids had been 2 hours late to bed last night. Playing and cleaning this morning, then a visit to Nanny and Grandad’s house. So much more to say about the kids’ amazing progress in so many areas but I’m so tired and in the middle of several chores so I’ll save that for Sunday when I might get a bit more time. Looking forward to seeing the lovely Steve and Andy tomorrow