Willow Weaving

 A couple of years ago I had this really good idea 

that we could have a willow tunnel at school. 

Of course, I didn't have chance to look into the idea -

 but I did tell a few of the parents about it.

They loved the idea - and found funding for it....

so today had the artisan in school with all her materials - 

- lots of mums,dads and children turned out to help -

and look what we made!

Pancake day....

.... so Mr Ben has pancakes for breakfast!

Sunny Sunday

Cold and bright - fine for riding to church (as long as you watched out for the black ice!)

Still sunny (though oh so cold) in the afternoon - 

so out came the bikes again - and it was off to the park

On Al's day off....

He took Mr Ben for a haircut - then 2 games of pool at the Superbowl.

Then off to Liverpool One  for burgers at GBK - where Al had a minor (major!) incident with a spilt chocolate milkshake!

A shop at the lovely John Lewis - 

new camera bag for Al, new lego Hero Factory figure for Mr Ben, new cafetiere jug for me, new (and rather fabulous) black polka dot shoes for Miss Megs.

Cinema - Phantom Menace 3D for Al and Mr Ben - 

a repeat of The Muppets for me and Miss Megs.

Called in to see cousins Miss Stephanie and Miss Charlotte where that was rather a lot of charging around and shouting!

So far...

... this half term...

...coffee at Kathie's, while Miss Megs, Mr Ben and Miss Eleanor played....

...Valentines tulips from Al....

... Miss Megs has watched a lot of David Tennant episodes of Doctor Who...

... Mr Ben has played with bakugan, megazords and on his ipod...

... coffee and cheese scones at M&S with Al... and then a lovely present....

... Miss M and Mr B went on a Cub/Scout hike to The Dream...

... I got a filling replaced at the dentists...

... we all saw The Muppets at the cinema - Miss Megs laughed so much she cried...

... Miss Megs has gone off for the day with her friend Jamie...

... coffee and lunch with Anna, Will and Meredith at a play barn -

 Mr Ben and Will got on really well...


.... we saw a late panto -  "Sleeping Beauty of Burtonwood" at Penketh Methodists...


....3 days left until school is back!

.

Silver

When Mr Ben got his notice about a judo competition he announced 

"I don't want to settle for bronze this time"

When watching Mr Ben practice judo it is very apparent that he's not a born fighter. He seldom attacks, and is usually happy to take the defensive role. I thought it highly unlikely that he would win any of his fights at the comp, and every time he said he wanted to win silver, I was positive, but tried to play down his expectations.

Turns out - he was right. 

He really tried today - he put in lots of attacks and didn't give up. 

Yes he still has a tendency to talk in the middle of a fight, 

to look at the coach when he shouts instructions,

 to stop fighting as soon as he's thrown - "wait for the call of 'mate' Mr Ben"

BUT  -  he won 3 of his 4 fights today - and he got the silver medal he wanted!

So proud of you today Mr Ben - I should have given you more credit

Travelling Light- National Theatre Live

I met dear friend Kathie at a local cinema to see the NTLive broadcast of Travelling Light.

It was rather insubstantial, but cleverly staged and lots of fun. Anthony Sher is always wonderful, but his accent did rather bring a certain meerkat to mind at times! The advantage of a broadcast is the closeups - and the revelation of tears at a key moment was moving. 

It's always good to see Kathie - 

these days we both work virtually full time, and we both miss meeting up in the day

- getting to indulge our love of theatre together is a special thing :)

The rest of the country gets snow...

... we get freezing rain 

and a lethal layer of black ice over everything 

- it's just not the same!

The girls go to Phatfish

I took Miss Megs, Miss Charlotte and Miss Ella to the gig that

 Phatfish were playing at the Foundry.

It was a great night of worship with a great band.

 Lou Fellingham the singing was as inspired as ever - the girls loved it and so did I.

Megs and Charlotte got CDs and had them signed at the end - Megs has been playing "Higher" all afternoon - and has asked to go to more events like this - good stuff!

Three of Meg's favourite songs from last night









 .

So good I posted it twice

One of my favourite verses - 

part of tomorrows lectionary reading - 

well worth repeating!

Source: etsy.com via Ruth on Pinterest

Let me read you a story...

I never thought I would see the day....

Just before bed...