The 52 Project 37/52

Insta update Early summer #6

Most favourite of all the equipment at Nostell Priory. These buddies play too fast for focus! #parkcrawl2015 #newbuddies

Cheer me up gifts from friends.

Rare sunday afternoon walk to favourite place Skipwith with my faves. #mcneeadventures

When you bump into the long horned cattle at Skipwith. #run #nodontrun #mcneeadventures 

Seiged! Impromotu water fights #summerloving 

When you go to Grandma and Grandad's and none of the aunties or uncle are there! ' Josh?.......Where are you? Hope?' 

We took the scenic route home from Keighley tonight over the tops to Menston. Brought back some happy memories of travelling to youth activities on this route. Also some hair raising moments too if a certain friend was driving! 

The cutest kid in the class - nailed it! #dailyjosephcharles

  This boy has done a number of assemblies now. Each and every time, at some point he breaks ranks with the rest of the class to come and give me a hug and a kiss. I'll be honest, I'm a conformer so his blatant disregard for assembly etiquette makes me feel like I'm going to get told off by the teachers as well him. But really how cute is my boy for stuffing the rules and coming for a hug! #dailyjosephcharles  #hesonlyseven 

Pre race pep talk for Ben from big bro! Worked a treat - he won!!  #dailybenjaminnathan #dailyjosephcharles #bigbrowatchesover

Two happy boys.

What I see in my driver's miror. Man I love this face. #gettoseethisfacedaily 

If the sons made popcorn!

Up since 4:30am! Ugh I feel ruff!

Some school shirts need documenting!! Must have been a great day! Every shirt tells a tale! #stainremovaltestorwhat #dailybenjaminnathan 

Hanging out with 'Ionman' today! #dontcallhimbatman

Summer loving!

Found a heghog called Spike and followed him on his way around the perimeter of the chapel.

' Mum, I'm 2! It's totally OK that I'm up this high by myself!' 

Sometimes the stars align and these three nail it! #mcneeadventures #eastpark #parkcrawl2015 #hull

3 friends with 11 boys between them and on this occasion only 1 scooter and 1 bike bewtee them made for some extreme sharing! Some found it easier than others!! #sharingishard #boysrock

Kings of the castle #astleypark #parkcrawl2015 #chorley #cousintimeisbesttime

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I am obviously pants at doing this on time, but I am benefiting from having the project as a hint to blog regularly and remember some of the small moments each week. 

Wimbledon week! It's like a time where you think 'How on earth are we at Wimbledon time again?' The weather was great this week, long warm days. We've watered the plants together, Seth using 'ephant' watering can and I've had those moments where you just wish time could stand still.  In this photo, we were watching a bit of the Sharapova v Williams semi final. It was a noisy affair, with them both being squealers/grunters. Seth imitated every noise they made. It made me chuckle but he was deadly serious!

It was Stake athletics. The first for 4 years! Being reigning champions we were keen to retain. Though we were missing some of our quality competitors we had more quantity than other wards and Joseph was more than willing to take up spots on the 12-14 year old team. He ran 800m and on the final 100m stretch made a sprint finish which made me well up. he also did both the 100m and 400m relays. the dot on the photo above is him! On the 400m relay, he got cracked by the baton of another competitor (9 year old) as he overtook which really upset him -.' He cracked my heart!' 'he was cheating!' 'I just want to go back and bash him!' He was also openly tearful when Selby were announced as coming in third overall. I can see that in the future when he is actually the right age, with his determination, Selby won't be coming in a respectable third!!

There are some photos which feel like you dipped into the future and are looking at your children in 10 years time. This is one of those. Our Ben, handsome as they come. He is so tired after a long year at school and everyday is asking if it's the holidays yet! 

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We had a lovely few hours at East Park in Hull yesterday. The boys enjoyed playing in the park and made friends with another couple of boys sharing footballs, Seth very much in the thick of it. There was the episode of the ball getting stuck in a tree, then many a missed attempt at throwing up a shoe to hit it out, only for a shoe twice to be stuck in the tree as well!! East Park has a small but free animal kingdom with; snakes, goats, wallabies, miniature ponies, nosey sheep, deer ( which Joseph was adiment  were Okipi??? Apparently this type of deer are a stage on Sumdog??) alpacas and a variety of birds including peacocks. Unfortunately the water area is now closed but the boys were appeased with the Kyber Pass with its manmade rock formations perfect for climbing,hiding behind and making one mum feel rather anxious about the numerous 'what if' scenarios it presented. Anyway we came a way unscathed fortunately, and then went to collect Daddy who was visiting a friend nearby. We then got to go out on a date to see Jurassic World which was extremely jumpy and my coping mechanisms (clapping, smacking Nathan on the arm and talking to myself) for such were apparently dramatic, loud, funny and might I add totally called for!! The boys had a great time having a BBQ with the trusty clan of babysitters (G&G,AA,AA & UJ) The had a bike ride to the park and watched half a DVD and to say we left them at already 7 o' clock it is no wonder they were extremely grumpy at church this morning. Worth it though! 

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One of those special moments, as a mother which adds to my well, Seth said his first prayer.

Dear..henwe..Fartha

Cancou..food..

In..name..Jesu

AMEN!!

Yeeh!!

Had to take Joseph and Ben to see the optician which meant the dreaded eye drops! They affected Joseph terribly, poor boy! he could barely open his eyes because it was so bright and his pupils were so large. As we had to wait for a while he actually fell asleep in the waiting area! Though I felt bad for him it seriously made it the most stress free wait for an appointment ever!!

Our boy Ben turned 6!!  man I love this boy! he was so excited to go on his expedition to climb Pendle Hill with Dad and the Grandads. On the morning, he came down dressed with his Iron man costume over the top  and who am I to stop Iron man going on an adventure!

I only insisted that the mask stayed on Dad's rucksack until he got to the top!

The first Sunday in June it was actually sunny! Get the summer shirts, shorts and sandals on for church and pose for a picture time!

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I am this boy's favourite person. I love it! He's not overly clingy but when he wants me, he will not be fobbed off with anyone else! I am going to lap it up whilst it lasts. 

This was taken whilst we were having photos taken during the holiday. The boy scrubbed up well with his side parting and white shirt.

Ben and Charlie were the absolute comedy duo of the holiday!. Thick as thieves together. Charlie frequently taking cues from Ben as to how they were feeling. If Ben was giddy; Charlie was giddy. If Ben was to be found in the corner of the garden, head down sulking, then Charlie would be found in the corner of the garden, head down sulking, every so often he would look to the side to check if they were still sulking or not - too cute!

This boy loves his baby cousins. Always has a tender kiss for their head and a comment about how cute they are. Currently, Noah is having his turn at being the family baby. He looked like he grew a tonne during the week as he was held and therefore slept so much being passed from one willing holder to another.

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  Catching up again!

We made it to Hartpiece Farm 9 hours after setting off into the Bank Holiday traffic where most of the population had the same great idea as us, to head to the South west! 

Whilst Sunday Dinner was cooking we went for a walk around the acreage of the farm. Seth spent the whole week, trying to keep up with his older siblings and cousins and most of the time nailed it!

I love it when these boys pose for me, it doesn't happen often at all! But when they do, they do it so well. 

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Wayhoo! A mother's treat! 

This was our morning selfie after camping for the first night of our weekend adventures at Mary's Farm. 

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Finally we went and joined The National Trust! I am so looking forward to maxing out our membership. Saturday afternoon, we spent a lovely few hours at Nostell Priory. Football on the fields, ice cream (though never buying a bubblegum calippo again!) and a fab adventure playground with plenty of sticks to make Star War's blasters made for a lovely time. Next time we'll take the bikes.

Garden family ticket normally £17.50
Parking £3.00

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Arrh I've missed a number of weeks due to being away then ill them a couple of busy Sundays. Anyway without further ado. Here are this week's photos.

Daddy thought it would be funny to tame the boy's locks after his bath. As soon as Joseph saw him he burst out laughing and cottoned onto who Nathan was making Seth imitate - 'Draco! Seth is Draco!!'

This little man just laps us the laughter and joins in. He really does need a professional haircut but neither Nathan or I can summon up the inner steel to take him because it will be a nightmare!

It seemed only a few weeks ago that I was listing new single words, Seth was adding to his bank. Now he is adding phrases which he uses in context!

'Seth'

'What?'

'It's bedtime darling'

'Oh man!'

It does not seem right 'Oh man' coming out of his mouth!! The first time I heard him make the declaration he hand just flew off the bottom of the slide! Another phrase I've done a double take at this week is when Joseph stopped him from taking one of his toys off him.

'No Seth!'

'You mean'

When I said no more juice he responded 'mean'

I know exactly where he has got this from because Joseph has said it to him numerous times after Seth has broken his lego models 'Oh Seth you are mean' 

It's hard being 7 sometimes with a little brother who just want to do everything you can do but without the same understanding or skills. Likewise it's hard being the 2 year old just wanting to join in.

 I am watching what I say like a hawk this boy is a sponge!

I am obviously bombing this photo of Ben. The gap on the bottom is a tooth wider and we are officially the worst tooth fairy helpers ever! Tooth fairy helpers should #1. Carry an amount of coinage on their person change with them #2. Remember to put said coinage under the pillow and retrieve the tooth. We never have suitable coinage (50ps or a generous £1) and if we do we forget to do the essential job. Fortunately, this boy forgets too. Forgets where he's put his tooth, to put it under his pillow, to look to see if the tooth fairy has been. Therefore we are perfectly matched! 

A Ben classic -

'Mum, did you know that no one in Africa likes the X-man?'

'No Ben, I didn't know that. How do you know that?'

'Um, I read it in a French book?'

This photo was taken at Ollie's house. The boys were invited to go for an easter egg hunt. As it was in typical fashion, raining, the hunt was indoors. The each had 

certain coloured eggs to find and then a specific Lindt chocolate bug. In a developed Joseph fashion, he spent a good 30 seconds with his right under his nose before our loud laughter at the situation made him see what was before his very eyes. This happens frequently when asked to go and get things from his room ' Mum, I can't find it!' Only for me to go up and it be right there in full view to anyone really looking. I think it's just a phase. I hope so,  though it maybe infectious because Nathan has become a pretty bad finder recently too and he used to be amazing one. 

The 52 Project 10/52 ( World Book Day & The Great's Birthday party)

Joseph is always quite decisive about which character he wants to dress up as for World Book Day. fortunately they are in the main achievable. Ben on the other hand is late in the day and has expectations that Mum can accomplish any thing! I wish I had his confidence. He settled for Anakin ( I want to add again to the end of that sentence, as I think he may have gone as him before) but in his rebellious persona. I do feel like it is a bit of a cop out, as Anakin is mainly a film character and though we do have plenty of Star wars books I don't think it hits the brief. However, neither boy wanted to take up my suggestions of  Saucepan Man or Moonface from the Faraway Tree which we read at bedtime and like I say, late in the day Anakin it was. Joseph wanted to go as the Lion from       ' The Lion who wanted to Love.'  (Mum alert - worried that he would get mocked for taking a picture book into school!! Stopped myself from intervening as I believe he has enough confidence to be able to bounce of any such banter! Though I did suggest he take his animal encyclopedia in as well as that has lions in it too!)

A trip to Yorkshire Trading was a huge success. We went in with the aim of chunky brown wool to make the mane. Instead found this perfect trim in the remnant basket for £2. The sales assistant even suggested getting an elastic headband to attach it to as an idea - what service! An evening of stitching later and boom - one lion's mane. True it didn't quite last the rigor of the day but it looked great on the way to school. The boys were super impressed with my simple attempts at face painting. Nothing makes a boy smile quite so much as unexpectedly finding giant fangs on his face. After school, Ben did some DIY face painting ' Anakin has a black scar not red Mum!' Then they went in the bin to prevent any disastrous mix of face paints and Seth!

In other news. we took trip 13465362 + 1 to Spec Savers this week. Both boys have one pair of lost glasses, Joseph has now lost his second pair (at school may I add!) and Ben had broken his again (at school may I add again!). Fortunately, Ben's were able to be fixed and Joseph had another pair ordered. We went to a couple of shops then headed home. On leaving the car, noticing Ben was no longer waering his newly fixed spectacles I asked 

'Ben where are you glasses?'

'Errrr..... I don't know... they were in my pocket!'

No glasses in pocket, no glasses in the car,  please hand me my straight jacket now, seriously I think I am going crazy!!! My mantra in these moments is 'Majorie says laugh' 

A phone call later to The Card factory and they were found and I won't go into detail about what happened  to the car he retreieved from the bath, when he came into the bathroom, whilst I was on the loo. Let's just say, I wasn't going to put my hand in there to retrieve it and for a couple of days it looked like the loo was permanently blocked!

 

Seth's photo this week, was taken at Grandma Josie and Grandad Derick's birthday party. He really was not sure about the firework candel on top of their amazing birthday cake and his facial expressions were a picture. 

As were Joseph's dancing moves and Ben's break dancing. Had to laugh that I had organised a craft activity making Mother's day cards and the only children who were not interested in having a go were my own. Joseph did make some fangs though - so creative haha!