Days 349 – 355 of Project 365

by 24 Comments

Days 349-355 of Project 365

349. MONSTER BINGO (… is the phrase that needs to be shouted out by the winner of the latest Orchard Toys game we're reviewing. I love the exuberance on his face here.)

350. Daddy Does Craft (This is not something which happens often in our house, in fact he groaned when I asked him to do this activity, "Homework; yes. Reading; yes. Craft; NO!" However, it was a super easy activity from Toucan Box with idiotproof, foolproof, comprehensive instructions.)

351. Intent (Watching his video message from Father Christmas via the Portable North Pole app, he was enchanted with the whole thing. Every time Father Christmas said his name, he nodded eagerly and smiled.)

352.  Dear Miss… (Making his Christmas cards for his teachers, the effort was immense but he made a super job of it.)

353. Bedtime Reading (New pyjamas and books sent from Marks and Spencer for a bedtime reading project. I love seeing him in old-fashioned pyjamas, he looks so cute!)

354. Hungry (For a few months now we've visited our local nature reserve once a week to feed the swans, our confidence has grown as has their hunger. Yesterday they were starving, and with it a little bit nasty. For the first time, I felt nervous feeding them in the slipway area; one of them hissed at The Boy and flapped his wings, another pecked my hand. We walked up to the boardwalk as they can't manage it and it forces them into the water to have the bread; more controlled you see! Within thirty seconds of us being at the board walk, the 40+ swans had worked out what was going on and swum around to feed on our stale offerings.)

355.  Best Buddies (We ventured to Tredegar House near Newport today to see Father Christmas in his grotto. Normally we go to Cardiff Castle but it was completely sold out weeks in advance, so we decided to try here in their first year as a National Trust property. The Boy was over the moon to see the Big Man himself, and the room was dressed so beautifully! He walked in cautiously, took one look at him and ran at him to give him the biggest, most heartfelt cuddle I've ever seen which was received warmly. Unfortunately the photo is too blurred to share as a 365, but it was a wonderful sight to see. And all for only £2.50.)

—

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 342 – 348 of Project 365

by 18 Comments

Days 342-348 of Project 365

342. Reach For The Stars (We ventured over to Cardiff Bay to the Christmas Food Market set out in the old dock basin. There were a few small, fairground rides there and The Boy relished the opportunity to try out this jumping trampoline ride thingy. I love the silhouette against the stormy sky.)

343. Burp (Reviewing a game sent to us from Orchard Toys, The Boy found it very amusing that the gorilla burps after feeding it junk food!)

344. My Little Star (This is The Boy performing in his first Christmas concert. I took photographs of him walking up and down onto the stage that showed off his costume better, but this is the picture that I love because of the sincerity on his face, filled with the effort of getting it right. I'm so proud of him for fully taking part as he was so petrified during the Harvest service he could only cope with standing on the stage.)

345. Homemade Gifts (I've written in the past about the significance of giving teachers presents to acknowledge their hard work, I decided that we'd make some lovely ornaments for The Boy's teachers and LSAs. With four teachers to buy for, and additional Reception staff, it would never have been cheap and I don't know enough about them to buy a worthwhile present. I thought Christmas tree decorations would be a good idea as they're resuable and show care and attention on his part.)

346. RUDE! (Our weekly trip to feed the swans saw an extremely cheeky seagull swoop in to grab a stray piece of bread lying on the boardwalk. The Boy was incensed!)

347. Wriggler (A busy day Christmas shopping with my mum in Cardiff, taking The Boy to a classmate's house for tea and then me swanning off to Cardiff Bay saw me sneaking a last minute photograph of a wriggling Boy in his sleep.)

348. Family Days Out (On a day when the blogging world is remembering a special blogger and her legacy of Family Frolics, it seemed very fitting to me that we spent the day with extended family; my brother and his family. I'd bought Mr. TBaM a segway driving experience for his birthday and we finally redeemed it with my sister-in-law joining him on a device which I would be useless on. My brother, niece, The Boy and I explored the other adventure activities possible in the centre and made a vow to come back and try the zip wire out when the children are a little bit older. We finished off the day with a lovely meal in a newly-opened restaurant nearby. A wonderful family day out.)

—

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 335 – 341 of Project 365

by 24 Comments

Days 335-341 of Project 365

335. Poser (Today saw our local pier pavilion re-open after extensive building work to renovate it, mostly funded by local people and organisations, along with a National Lottery grant. We went down for the opening and also a charge around in the brisk, Winter air before heading off to a classmate's party.)

336. Poet Laureate (After school The Boy picked up the notebook that he'd had in the party bag the previous day and started writing in it. I love that he loves to write, and that he's started making little notes. I look forward to the day when I find a book full of made up stories.)

337. Big Moment (The Boy always puts the star on top of the tree, and I always have to correct it afterwards; it's a heavy star that goes on a spindly 'twig'. I love the look of anxiety on his face!)

338. Bed Fellows ('Puntsey' has been a regular bed companion since Children In Need, Oliver Monkey doesn't mind as it means they can share watch duties alongside having plenty of cuddles from The Boy.)

339. Bird Man (We went to feed the swans after school; it was just as well we did because they were starving! The minute we slammed the door shut in the car park, they were clambering up the ramp. We got to the entry gate and they were standing there waiting for us! I deposited The Boy on the boardwalk as it forced the swans back into the water to be fed.)

340. Double (I set up a free craft table after school for The Boy and let him create freely. I adore his double chin in this photograph!)

341. Plees (We went to Dyffryn Gardens today to enjoy the Christmas craft fair; the first to be held there in over two decades. I used to go regularly as a child and it's a special venue to hold one. There was a table set up to write letters to Father Christmas, so The Boy sat down and wrote one all by himself.)

—

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 321 – 327 of Project 365

by 22 Comments

321-327 of 365

321. Catch A Leaf (We went into the garden to rake up some of the leaves that have fallen from the cherry tree, which of course led to throwing and catching them! Mr. TBaM and I decided to try and stage the perfect falling leaf photo, it didn't quite pan out how I wanted to as The Boy kept sticking his tongue out, scunching his neck, closing his eyes and everything else in between. In the end this photo actually is perfect to me as I like Mr. TBaM's hand and foot in it, it adds to the moment.)

322. Taking A Break (The Boy threw up in the bathroom at 8.30 this morning which meant he had to stay home from school. Of course he wasn't sick afterwards, he'd just forced his breakfast down and has a strong gag reflex! I'll admit that I lied to the secretary and said he had a temperature, because if I'd said about the sickness she'd have made him stay off for two days, and I'm already in the amber category for attendance! I made sure he did plenty of reading, writing and learning through play to make up for being off school, this was a silly moment we were having in the kitchen when he was pretending to be a baby crawling!)

323. Pinner (I nipped up to town to buy some sausages for dinner, and perused the seven charity shops while I was there. This pin-art-thingy was in one for £1.25 and is one of the best toys he's got at the moment!)

324. Relaxing (All these play activities on other blogs featuring a tuff-spot, and I bet none have them used as chill-out and t.v. watching zone!)

325. Petrol Head (We've been sent some marvellous and limited edition Lego cars to highlight a promotion in Shell garages at the moment, The Boy has never tried proper Lego before and after a fraught first attempt we managed to make the cars together, he now adores them and now we just need to race them!)

326. Scareswan (We went to feed the swans at the local nature reserve and it was obvious they were very hungry as they all came flocking. Once we'd gone through out half a bag, they decided to investigate The Boy's pockets so he stood still like a scarecrow to scare them away.)

327. Who's There? (This morning I set up The Boy's magic elf door from The Magic Door Store, scraped the ice from the back of the freezer and sprinkled some elf dust. When he came into the living room and discovered it, he was completely captivated and we proceeded to watch it for twenty minutes in silence to see if anyone would come through. During that time he saw a hedgehog poke his prickles through, and a Christmas Mouse, but hasn't remembered Edward the Elf will be visiting. We're going to have great fun leading up to 1st December when Edward will make his appearance!)

—

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 265 – 271 of Project 365

by 20 Comments

265-271 of 365

265. Country Kids (We revisited Cefn Onn Park with my brother and his family. My niece and sister-in-law had never been there before and were amazed by it. The children have such great fun together, as soon as we arrived they headed up a tree, closely followed by walking up the stream. They get on so well together, it's really heart-warming to see the next generation together.)

266. Conkers (This week I've been making the effort to set up a play opportunity for The Boy after school, he enjoyed last week's invitation to play so much, and it gave us that quality time together.)

267. Tiddlywinks (On Saturday The Boy begged me to buy some tiddlywinks, we trawled the toy shops to no avail and so I had to order them from Amazon. He was over the moon when they arrived today and he could play them.)

268. Squidgy (He absolutely loved sorting out these pom-poms using the tray and large tweezers. Better still was squeaking them in his ear!)

269. Up (Another invitation to play for The Boy, I was taking an overhead shot and meant to get it of the table but accidentally snapped my son instead. Rather glad I did now!)

270. Swing (The only photo this week taken on my phone, more importantly the only one not taken on manual! We had to battle spiders' webs to get to the garden, I hate this time of year for that!)

271. Bare (We went into Cardiff today to buy some Autumn/Winter boots for The Boy, and called into the Cardiff Country Fayre afterwards. I'd debated trying to get some press tickets earlier in the week for it, but decided in the end that I didn't have time for a blog-post so we paid. I'm rather pleased we came to that conclusion as I'd struggle with a post on an event which isn't really our type of thing. The Boy enjoyed climbing on the tractors and seeing the animals, but we ended up spending 45 minutes looking for conkers instead!)

—

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 258 – 264 of Project 365

by 21 Comments

258-264 of 365

258. Water (The Boy has only just started being able to cope with water on his face in the bath or shower, today he asked if he could lay back in it and found it hilarious. I just hope this isn't the start of his constant ear infections and glue ear in Winter!)

259. Pennies (The Boy asked if he could count money when he came in from school, so we got down the large Whisky jar and he sorted 1p, 2p and 5p coins into piles before counting the pennies into piles of ten.)

260. Mirror (I set up an invitation to play for The Boy when he came home from school, which he found really therapeutic. The mirror on the table gave a wonderful light for playing in, really illuminating his face. He only once noticed himself in it, and the delight on his face was brilliant.)

261. Sparko (It's Wednesday. That means a sleeping Boy photo. I can never have enough of these so it's ok by me!)

262. Splash (An after-school trip to the local nature reserve to feed the swans, and splash in puddles in new wellies. Only the wellies were too big and then soon fell off when The Boy tried kicking water from the puddle!)

263. A Drop In The Ocean (Rather than go to the MADs in London, I chose to stay at home with my family, for various reasons. I didn't want to sit at home and while away the evening on twitter, so we went for a chippy dinner down the beach before nan babysat The Boy, and I went out to the cinema with my husband. This photo of my thoughtful little boy was taken on the steps down to the beach with the rapidly rising tide approaching. The awards are just one night and a minor moment, when compared with the rest of our lives and The Boy's happiness.)

264. Bare (I've felt groggy all day, like the morning after but without the night before. I didn't sleep well because I was beating myself having not won the MADs again, which I now realise is completely ridiculous; it's just a lump of glass! However, after hanging around all morning for a new class-mate's birthday party, we then went to practise bike-riding in the park. As we cycled around, we found an enormous horse chestnut tree ladened with conkers, which were dropping from it rapidly. When I say the conkers were dropping, I don't mean the cases with conkers in; I actually mean the conkers. There was a squirrel sat at the top, having a feast in the canopy as he ripped open the cases and threw them down, stripped the conkers and dropped the remnants too. Luckily The Boy still had his cycle helmet on as he had a few drop on his head!)

—

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 230-236 of Project 365

by 25 Comments

230-236 of 365

230. Plopping (Following on from my brother's goodbye before he emigrates to Australia, I phoned my eldest brother to ask if he'd like to do something. We went to Southerndown beach further long the coast, which is one of my favourite beaches in Wales. The Boy and his Fiery Cousin plunged straight into the enormous rockpool splashing about, followed by a brief picnic and a quick departure from the beach as the tide was rapidly coming in; thank goodness for the RNLI warning klaxon. We then explored the ruined castle on the cliffs before plopping some stones into the tumultuous waves. One sibling may be moving to the other side of the world, but I still have two here to appreciate.)

231. The End Is In Sight (We went to Longleat for a Jungle Dogs event, and although we didn't venture into the safari, we did decided to have a go at the hedge maze. Big mistake. It's supposed to take 45 minutes, but after 55 minutes we were losing the will to live I was beginning to feel tetchy and claustrophobic, when fortunately The Boy found the 'This Way Out' sign. We finally crossed the final bridge to freedom!)

232. Small World (Tuesday was a quiet day after the frantic weekend travelling around the country, involving lots of outdoor play with The Boy's Playmobil pirates and the tuff spot. I love the reflection in this photo.)

233. Full (I decided to finally try out my hand at taking a photograph of the full moon using my tripod and the long – 55-250mm – lens that my husband bought me for my birthday. I'm quite pleased with the clarity of it, what do you think?)

234. Grip (We had a go at decorating a t-shirt for a review and I had to hold the fabric down and stretch it out to make it possible for The Boy to draw on. I like this photo for a few reasons; his pencil grip is cute, and I love the way he's holding my hand, his hand looks so small against mine.)

235. Manual (That photo there of The Boy balancing on a blue pole? I took than on manual settings. Fully manual. Not TV or AV or P. But M. For manual. Me.)

236. Drill (We've been doing a craft activity today which involves The Boy using a hand drill for the first time. I was stretched upwards with my camera pointing down to take an overhead view, and hadn't realised that he was so curious about it coming through the underneath, he'd ducked down. I like his inquisitive nature.)

—

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 216-222 of Project 365

by 31 Comments

216-222 of 365

10th August 2013 (Saturday)

216. Swing Low (The zip wire at Coombe Mill is one of the big draws for children, and I can't begin to tell you how many times he's been on it this week. Sunday was an incredibly rainy day, and I'm so glad that we brought his red all-in-one waterproof, it was very much needed on the feed run and for outdoor play. This was also the last photo taken on my much-loved Canon EOS 300D before it died; one of the mirrors inside broke and every photo was black from a third of the way down. Having just been presented with a brand new 55-250mm lens by Mr. TBaM as an early birthday present, and so I could photograph the wonderful location we were staying in, I was left with little choice but to order a new one and await Tuesday morning's delivery eagerly.)

217. Sodden (I rarely include photos of Mr. TBaM but I want to illustrate exactly how wet it was: we had to peel our clothes off after the feed run and wring them out; The Boy even cried because he was so wet and fed up. Luckily, by mid afternoon the skies brightened and we were able to indulge in a stroll around the farm.)

218. Hero ("Ah, there you are Guy!" was one of the most heard phrases of the week. The Boy adores Guy, one of the Coombe Mill triplets, and was keen to chatter to him about anything he could. We found him in the goat enclosure and he spent a great twenty minutes with us, accompanying us up to see the deer before continuing his game of 'Manhunt' with his friends while The Boy looked on wistfully! Oh and my new camera came: this was taken with it and my new lens.)

219. Farmer The Boy (Need I say anymore? He adores driving the tractor with Farmer Nick!)

220. Wrong Way (We ventured off site today to visit Lappa Valley Steam Railway. I will confess that I wasn't overly impressed with it for the price, but The Boy's eyes lit up when he saw the crazy golf course. Looking at the sky, it's hard to believe the monsoon that plagued us on Monday!)

221. Country Kids Go Rafting (Earlier in the week, we had made stick rafts and Fiona was very taken with the idea of having a competition at the end of the week for organic rafts. It was great seeing people gathering their sticks together on the Thursday and walking along the main path, there was a vast array of designs waiting on the patio tables outside the lodges. It warmed my heart to think that a simple activity I'd done on Tuesday with The Boy, sparked such comradery and good-natured competition. Even Fiona's children made rafts, and families waded down the river watching their rafts from the wooden bridge to the stone bridge.)

222. Birthday (36 today! Driving 5 hours back from Coombe Mill was not the best way to spend my birthday; a) because I had to leave Coombe Mill, and b) because my numpty of a husband forgot to look up directions until after we'd driven past the right road, and then sent me off on country A or B roads, which were little more than lanes, for 40 miles. 40 miles which took 90 minutes. I was pretty cross! Nonetheless, we finally made it to my parents' house for my family birthday tea! )

—

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 209-215 of Project 365

by 31 Comments

 

209-215 of 365

3rd August 2013 (Saturday) for web

209. This Is New (We went to Oxwich Bay with my brother and his family for the day. The Boy's aunty is an outdoor adventure instructor working in a variety of fields and she has been trained in 'beach school' education, so was keen to share her knowledge. We had an amazing day finding anemones, urchins, cockles, and crabs!)

210. Perspective (Off to Parc Play, one of our favourite places to go and far better than soft play! Wooden forts, zip wires, slides, sand pits, pirate ships; all outdoors or under cover. We were meeting up with a friend and her little boy who is a year older than The Boy. We haven't seen them in some time and it was interesting to see how The Boy, who was left behind physically last year, was capable of doing things that his friend couldn't. Well he could by the time we'd finished with him!)

211. Friendship (We visited Yeo Valley HQ in the Mendips today with a bunch of other bloggers to see how they are working with the Woodland Trust. It was great to meet up with Jenny and Burton again, and The Boy and he got straight up to mischief with a tempting pipe.)

212. Workspace (We've borrowed a tuff-spot and stand from the nursery at work for the Summer, definitely The Boy's new work space!)

213. David Bellamy (On Tuesday we did a leaf hunt at Yeo Valley and The Boy has been fascinated with finding different leaves ever since; he spotted the silver birch in our garden and ran to get the sheet to identify it.)

214. Focus (Today my special treat to myself arrived: a fixed focus 50mm lens for my dSLR. I have been quite sceptical about it, not really understanding what the difference would be between my 18-55mm and this. Now I get it! The depth of field is far more pronounced with this lens, as you can see from the photo above which was taken in our local nature reserve. We nipped down there to feed the swans and have lunch with my mum. I actually love this lens, and I adore this photo; it's going up on the wall.)

215. Heaven (And we're finally here! I wanted to leave home at 9am to travel down to Coombe Mill but a late night and sleepy heads this morning meant we left late. It took 3.5hrs to do the 2hrs down to Trago Mills, where we had good fun on the rides, steam train and shopping, and then a further 1.5 hours to get here. It then took thirty minutes to wait for our fish and chips before we could actually arrive at Coombe Mill. But oh my, it's all worth it!)

—

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...