359/365 Rip, rend, tear... !

Another tradition in my family: on Christmas morning, open presents first - before anything else, before breakfast, still in PJs, that's a rule!!! (I remember so many years when I was little of waiting and being so unhappy about it!) Oliver was thrilled to get his top two hopefuls, a phone and a particular PS2 game. Result! His phone has a camera function (I use the term 'camera' loosely here!) and once he found that, he immediately shot his game! LOL! Jodie got a pony game which she has played on the laptop, Playmobil (pony/unicorn!),

lots of arts and crafts things, and they both got lots of books. We had a very relaxed Christmas Day, we all got something we really wanted.

341/365 Oliver, the Reluctant

Oliver was reluctant to sit still and have his photo taken, but patience was rewarded - he sat with his back to me and I kept very quiet until he could not help but turn round to see why I was not hasseling him to turn round :0) Gotcha!

299/365 Tree by the Brook

Oliver took Jodie and I to the Brook where he meets up with his mates this morning. It was further than we expected, walking across fields, climbing styles and fences, stepping stones across a stream, but it was great to see where he has his adventures and I got some good pictures too. He even helped his little sister over the styles!

257/365 New wardrobe

Oliver's new wardrobe came today - its huge! I was very impressed by the timely delivery and assembly by M&S - 2 lovely lads arrived when they were supposed to, brought all the parts upstairs without damaging anything and assembled it in just less than an hour in Oliver's room, taking away all the packaging as well. Brilliant! 5 star service!

So I tried a few shots and found... well its too big to get it all in one shot (wide angle lens on wish list!) and how do you make a wardrobe look interesting? Oh well... You win some, you lose some... :0)

251/365 Moving on up

It was Oliver's first day at his new senior school today. He was one of many nervous Year 7s in new and sometimes ill-fitting uniform making their way to new friends, new experiences, new challenges, new subjects and new responsibilities. The good news is, they break up early an the last day of each term; the bad news is he has maths first thing on a Monday and last thing on a Friday - his least favourite subject! :0}

231/365 Hello horse

We met some lovely horses at Stonehurst Farm today. There was a Shetland called Yorkie, a Shire, a donkey called Dink, a pony called Squeaker - as well as lots of cows, sheep, goats, pigs, hens, ducks and at least one goose, bunnies, guines pigs - you get the idea! The kids fed a lot of the animals, Jodie had a pony ride (twice!), there were several play areas, we had a picnic, and a lovely cuppa in the tea room - I (foolishly) bet Oliver yesterday's pocket money that he wouldn't be able to finish a slice of very rich chocolate cake...! I took a few photos. Collage necessary. :0)

206/365 Oliver's New Bike

Oliver has a new bike. He has had a bike from around 3 or 4 years old, but never properly learnt to ride - we passed it on still with the stabilisers on. Now though, with all his friends calling for him on their bikes, he said he needed a bike - and we're pleased he finally wants to learn - you can buy a kid a bike but you can't make him ride it! Well done Oliver, day 3 of coaching and he's doing brilliantly! Now, will Mark & I have to get bikes??

202/365 Young Bond

The name's Bond, James Bond.

Oliver won joint second prize at his Y6 Leavers' Party this evening dressed as James Bond. The other joint second was similarly dressed but with a black tie and was one of the Men in Black. Oliver and I have both read the Young Bond books written by Charlie Higson (which are brilliant!) and sometimes watch the grown-up Bond films depending if they are suitable viewing for Oliver. (My favourite is Sean Connery, no other actor has come close so far!)

196/365 The Lemonade Kid

Oliver (far right) looks on as 2 of his friends have a slow-mo 'fight' in the Y6 production of "The Lemonade Kid". Everyone dressed as cowboys (and girls of course), and a Mexican with sombrero and poncho. AC was brilliant throughout as one of the main characters with a brilliant American accent! They all did really well.

177/365 The boys are back

They had a long journey, they're all very tired but pleased to be home after their adventures. Oliver's first priority was to play on his PS2 for a while, followed by some TV, then shower and bed.

173/365 Watch out Devon, here they come!

Here's Oliver waiting to stash his huge bag in the coach, he was more excited than nervous I'm pleased to say, off on a big adventure.

171/365 Remembering Nursery School Days

Oliver & Jodie both attended Whitecross Nursery School. They are pictured here with their folders of work. The Headteacher is retiring, so we thought we'd make a card to send, hence photo-call!

132/365 Oliver's birthday

Oliver turned 11 years old today and we surprised him with his very own deactivated bolt action Mosin Nagant 1938 carbine. Its the genuine article, the real deal, from Russia, via The Birmingham Gun Barrel Proof House (where it was deactivated) and the arms dealer we bought it from. He was thrilled! So he's got all kitted out for his re-enactment hobby rather swiftly (see 108/365) with help from MC & co from The Russians who have been brilliant. The next event is on the 24th May at Whittington, near Lichfield and Oliver can't wait. С Днем Рождения (Happy Birthday)

122/365 Buckets

Oliver had some friends round this morning, four of them had a bit of a water fight. But this afternoon was much quieter, Oliver & Luke chilled out with the PS2, a bit of footy, planning what guns they want to make from wood for playing at soldiers (plastic ones break so easily) and hanging out on the trampoline... They started messing with the buckets of water that had been their 'ammo' for the earlier water fight. I was gardening nearby and managed to nip inside for the camera and get this shot! Had I not been in that particular spot weeding, I'd not have noticed, and was I lucky they didn't move while I grabbed the camera. We like Luke, he's very calm.

108/365 A Russian for the day

Oliver took part in a re-enactment event near York today. We could not have been made more welcome by MC who I had contacted several weeks ago with a view to Oliver getting involved. Now Oliver wants to join, M & C have given him some kit to get him started and Oliver has already been browsing decomissioned weapons on the internet! This shot shows him with a borrowed weapon. There will be an album on Picasa soon of the whole day - we had a fantastic time. Many thanks to MC for everything, and to brothers C & C as well for looking after him all day. See you at Whittington! Brilliant!

See http://www.orlik.org.uk/HOMEPAGE.htm for details of the group, The Russians, a la Dr Zhivago.

101/365 Lasso practice

Our Canadian friends R & C gave Oliver a real lasso, as well as some other cowboy things, when they visited a couple of years ago.

Today he was trying to lasso the washing line.

Jodie enjoyed tying him up!

99/365 Oliver

Oliver seems to be more willing to have his picture taken recently. Today he was mainly chilling out at home recovering from yesterday's water fights, which tired him out! We did go and buy him a large water gun (can't really call it a water pistol, it would not look out of place in Star Wars if it were metallic tones rather than bright orange plastic!) And Jodie had to have one as well of course.

97/365 Busted!

Caught red-handed, using his finger to get the very last remnants of hot chocolate out the bottom of the mug! So, those of you with older children... how old are they when they can drink hot chocolate without getting it all over their face?? Kids... ;0)

71/365 Comic Relief Haircut

Tomorrow is Red Nose Day here, so Oliver decided to have his mop of hair cut off and get his mates to sponsor him to do it! This is the finishing touch being applied - a zigzag from one ear around the back! Many thanks to Steve at Rileys on Kedleston Road for doing the zigzag for free, and to the lady with pink hair for doing a great job with those clippers and giving Oliver another £2 towards his sponsorship kitty. Fantastic! (For those reading this who are clueless about RND, see http://www.rednoseday.com/ for more info!)