The best thing about school holidays is being able to enjoy that time with Sophie and Thomas without having schoolwork to worry about. It’s been even nicer this week to be able to meet up with family outdoors and enjoy some time with them too. We had a lovely Easter Sunday afternoon sitting out in my in-laws’ garden and the children enjoyed the Easter egg hunt. Hopefully we will be able to go and visit some of my family soon as well.
I’ve enjoyed time to sit and do some crafts with Sophie or watch Thomas doing jigsaws. Sophie wanted to learn how to ride her bike with stabilisers over the Easter holidays and she’s had time to practice and build up confidence. So far she can ride her bike if it’s fairly flat or downhill and it’s been lovely to see her gaining confidence. We’ve had snuggles on the sofa together and time being silly together as well as fun outdoors. It was lovely yesterday to venture out for a proper day out and have a walk and picnic at Cliveden.
It’s been about as nice as week as I could have hoped for, given the time of year and the tough memories that come with the run-up to the anniversary of Jessica’s death on 14 April. We’ve decided to mark the day again by doing something to make others smile – to #givejoyforjessica. It would be lovely to have other people joining in too and spreading some smiles in memory of our beautiful brave girl who gave so much joy to others in her life.
What I’ve been grateful for this week:
- Day 92 – I am grateful for sleepy snuggles with Thomas after he climbed into my lap for a feed and then fell asleep. It’s been a while since he’s done that – he mostly now only has mummy milk very briefly at bedtime (and then climbs into bed to go to sleep) or during the night when he comes into our bed. Making the most of these moments while I still get them.
- Day 93 – I am grateful for the enjoyment that Thomas gets from his Numberblocks cubes. He loves recreating some of the episodes he’s watched on CBeebies as well as counting with them.
- Day 94 – I am grateful for a lovely Easter Sunday. We streamed the service live from church this morning and then went over to Grandma and Grandad’s for a fun Easter egg hunt organised by Auntie Marls. It’s been so nice to be able to sit out in the sunshine and have time with family and of course the children have enjoyed getting to eat a lot more chocolate than usual today too!
- Day 95 – I am grateful for another Easter egg hunt – this time in our garden.
- Day 96 – I am grateful for time to sit and paint rocks with Sophie.
- Day 97 – I am grateful that Sophie can now ride her bike without stabilisers. Well done Sophie! (and yes she does need a bigger bike!)
- Day 98 – I am grateful for a lovely day out with Sophie and Thomas following the Easter trail at Cliveden.
Other things that have made me smile this week:
- Pink tulips growing in the garden.
- Having a sort-out in the garage and digging out my bike for a ride around the block. It’s been ten years since I last rode it!
- Sophie joining in and singing with me on the online musical theatre choir group.
- Singing with my twin sister on Smule.
- Thomas sleeping curled up like a cat at the end of our bed.
- The little robin in our garden that seems to appear each time I look out of the window.
I’m glad this week has treated you kindly, it seems like you’ve had a lovely time. I will do my best joining in with #joyforJessica wishing you all the strength you need to get through the next week x
Thank you Anne. It would be lovely to have you join in and #givejoyforjessica x
It sounds like you have had a lovely week spending time with Sophie and Thomas and seeing family too.
I will be joining in with #givejoyforjessica and have a blog post half written for Wednesday.
Lovely photos. x
Thank you Kim, it will be lovely to have you join in on Wednesday x
I love the learning to ride a bike stage. It’s back aching running behind them, but the look of independence and achievement on their faces, makes it worth it. I love the idea of #givejoyforjessica. I’ll have a think about what I can do. #wotw
It is lovely to see how proud of herself Sophie now is. She can manage it on flat surfaces and going downhill now – it’s just trying to get to grips with keeping up balance going uphill. It would be lovely to have you join in to #givejoyforjessica on Wednesday.
Well done to Sophie on learning to ride her bike 😀 Sounds like a very nice week. I will see if I can do something for Wednesday too #givejoyforjessica
Thank you Karen, it would be lovely to have you join in.
Glad it’s been a good week. Well done Sophie on the bike riding, it’s such a big milestone for them.
Thanks Emma. She’s so pleased with herself.
I am only just reading this on the 15th and I am so sad that I didn’t read it yesterday as I would have definitely supported you with your giving joy for Jessica.
My eldest is taking a long time to learn to ride with stabilisers so learning without seems huge to me!
Thank you Maria. I think learning to ride initially can be hard anyway – Jessica struggled with learning to ride a bike with stabilisers too. Good luck to your eldest with getting to grips with it.
I really agree about being grateful for having time to do crafts. I’ve really appreciated have more time to craft and bake with the boys during Lockdown! #MMBC
It’s been one of the nice things about lockdown – having that time to do things together.
What a beautiful photo of Thomas asleep in your embrace, you look like a modern Madonna. Big well done to Sophie for gaining confidence with her bike. That’s a beautiful tulip! And the robin looks so curious to see what you were doing.
Big hugs to you today!
Thank you Galina. It was lovely to have those snuggles with Thomas.
Sounds like a good week. Holidays are so nice aren’t they without having to worry about school work!
That is a gorgeous tulip!
It does make such a difference not having the school work to worry about!
Well done Sophie, that’s a great achievement. I miss snuggles and sleeps with my not so little boy, enjoy them #365
Thanks Mary, I’m making the most of those moments while I still get them!
What a lovely week it was nice to have time with the children without the school pressures. I love how Thomas loves the Numberblocks. I might get them for Ethan’s birthday as I have run out of ideas! Well done to Sophie for learning to ride her bike. We had to get bigger bikes last year for both of our children. Sorry I missed taking part in #givejoyforjessica I did see you mention it on insta but I lost track of time to take part #WotW #365
No problem Jane – I know last week was a hectic one for you!
How lovely that the robin appears when you look out the window. I used to love sleepy snuggles with the kids, now I barely get a cuddle
I do love seeing the robin. It visits the garden a lot.
Sounds like it was a lovely week. I saw lots of the GiveJoyForJessica on Twitter and it was beautiful. A hard time with memories and anniversaries. I hope you are all doing ok?
Thanks Karen, it was lovely to have people join in. I’m feeling more settled now that we’re beyond the anniversary again. The run-up is always very hard.
I think the Alpha and Numberblocks are a great learning resource for children as they are so engaging for little ones. Great work on the bike riding Sophie! We need a new SET of bikes, argh! #project365
Alphablocks and Numberblocks are brilliant. Thomas loves both of them but Numberblocks is definitely his favourite.
I agree the holidays are amazing aren’t they to have a proper break from school tasks. We needed it here too. How lovely for the children having two Easter egg hunts. Brill news that Sophie can ride her bike without stabilizers. My boys need bigger bikes too, kids grow so fast!
They certainly do – seeing Sophie on that bike really made me realise how much she’s grown!
Happy Easter to you all. Big well done to Sophie with riding the bike and I love how Thomas uses the blocks
Thank you. She’s so proud of herself for learning how to ride.
Well done Sophie on learning to ride your bike that’s brilliant. Looks and sounds like a lovely Easter for all. You can never have too many egg hunts.
Thanks Clare, she was so pleased with herself.