Autumn Photoshoot

You know those magical photographic moments when you click away merrily because the kids are having the time of their lives and you feel full of joy and the setting is beautiful and the light is perfect? I had one of those moments on Sunday afternoon. The green outside our house is ablaze with colour. Every time I walk out of my front door I just have to stop to absorb the beauty of autumn. When we got back from our trip into London the sun was still shining and the boys started playing in the leaves. So Dad fetched the frisbee and I fetched my big camera. We have the most fun with Dad around. The proof is on the boys' faces!

FUNharmonics

Last weekend we went to our first FUNharmonics concert at the Royal Festival Hall at the South Bank Centre. The theme was Nutcrackers but in addition to The Sugar Plum Fairy and Dance of the Flutes it included all sorts of other popular pieces by Russian Composers. The boys recognised most of the music so both of them remained totally entranced throughout. Besides the actual concert they also had loads of other fun activities like a human orchestra (which unfortunately we missed), have-a-go on the instrument of your choice (the boys chose brass and got the trumpet and then strings and they got the double bass and then Daniel wouldn't leave until he had a go on the violin) as well as a post-concert performance by a youth orchestra (which we caught glimpses of from the terrace). What a magnificent setup for kids. We'll definitely try and go to the other concerts in the series!

Mini-Reunion

Nice to see old friends back in town!

Hello Autumn

Wind and leaves everywhere!

And a nip in the air!

As Proud As A Peacock

I can't believe that the autumn holidays have arrived so quickly and that Nicholas has already finished his first half term at school. Things are going very well indeed, especially now that we've all settled into new routines, and found different ways to manage our exhaustion. The most important thing to me is that Nicholas is happy, he likes his teachers and he has made loads of new friends. He has also become passionate about rugby and football. I guess that was inevitable as Donhead is a sporty boys' school. The other night we had our first parent's evening and the teacher had loads of good things to say about Nicholas including: 'Do you know that he can read ... fluently and write ... beautifully!?'. A few weeks ago he also got the weekly star award for being a keen reader. To put the cherry on the top he got the Headmaster's Semper Magis Award for Outstanding Literacy Work at the end of term assembly. I cannot begin to explain how excited and proud I felt when the teacher told me the fantastic news!

Here are Nicholas' first school photos. He hasn't quite mastered the art of posing for the camera yet. In fact he is rather opposed to it at the moment. I have to either bribe him or sneak up on him when he doesn't expect it. I guess he is sick of it, let's face it, a lot of photos have been taken of him in his life!

And now for a lazy week of holidays!

Men At Work

My boys enthusiastically mowing the lawn!

Luckily the frog didn't get mashed!