We were just drifting off to sleep last night when Patrick knocked on the door and said, "Mummy, are you awake?" Then opened the door and came in ( Read more... )

Today, it was too warm and the kids all wanted cold drinks. While I was putting ice into a glass for Rhiannon's cherryade, she watched each cube and then said, "What's ice made of ( Read more... )

Shortly after dawn yesterday, my assembled kids, minus the youngest, who was as startled as I was, leapt into the room and sang, "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Bird Day" for Rhiannon, who refuses to be corrected.  Birthdays these days tend to stir in the older kids thoughts of my impending dotage and death, so I was not surprised when Benedict said, " ( Read more... )

On Tuesday, we celebrated the twins' 7th birthday.  Fortunately, they share mostly the same friends, so we didn't need to have two parties.  There was some rain, but the kids thought seeing us rush to get the cakes under cover was more than entertaining and in the dry times, we managed to have some pony related games that were very popular.
Emma ( Read more... )

30th April 2016.
Yesterday, Ravensmoore officially retired and his great nephew, Edward, became our butler.  The kids had made special cards and we had a big cake, but halfway through the party, Benedict suddenly ran up to Ravensmoore and flung his arms around his legs saying, "I don't want you to go!"
"I will not be going anywhere." said Ravensmoore ( Read more... )

As we ate our breakfast today, Frances said, "I hate school holidays! Why do we have another when we only just did Christmas?"

"So that you can have a nice rest." I said, "And so you can spend time with your family."

"But I might forget everything." she said, "If girls don't go to school they end up as second glass citizens."
( Read more... )

As our little bundle of joy made it impossible for us to do anything special for St Valentine's Day, Emma and I volunteered to look after all the Whiteturrets kids so Ana and Tony and Fiona and Sean could go off and enjoy themselves. As a result, we ended up with what seemed like about a hundred kids in the house, but probably wasn't.
( Read more... )

Last night, before she would finally go to bed, Frances told me she was torn between wanting a brother, so the family balanced out properly and wanting a sister so the girls would always outvote the boys.

"You're assuming the girls will always agree with each other." I said, "This has not been my experience."
( Read more... )

29th January 2016 ( Read more... )

With about a week to go before the baby's due date, we're all a little anxious. Emma has disappeared behind a blank smile and a stack of books and only confides in me when she can't sleep and is too tired to pretend she isn't worried. Benedict keeps fretting that the new baby won't like him and often turns up in the middle of the night, needing a ( Read more... )