Our Family in March

March ended with the not only Mother's Day but also the clocks going forward which means the day started too early. It got better thankfully with a lovely afternoon at the beach with both my babies and my Mum and we got our last minute as ever family photos.  We managed five happy faces looking at the camera in one (never six, obviously) but I think my favourite is this first one where not a single one of us knows where the camera is clearly!

March was full of colour, sunshine and preparing for spring.  We watched daffodils bloom, we considered wearing sandals before slipping our feet back into trainers and we (well I) started buying all the lovely summer things.  We had ice cream at the beach, paddled in the sea barefoot and I am pretty sure that all four children had huge growth spurts as they seem to be getting bigger everytime I look at them!

This month I loved getting back into running, buying sandals in the hope of summer weather, sending the children outside in the garden when they get in and going to the pub quiz with friends.

Ed has loved turning 29 again, watching Star Trek, going to a gig with some friends and a brewery tour.

Dylan has loved celebrating his friends birthday, karate club at school, going swimming with friends at the weekend and bringing me tea in bed this morning.

Archie has loved choosing new trainers, watching Dumbo at the cinema, planning how he would spend a million pounds and afternoon park trips with his friends.

Finn has loved practising writing his name, his very first swimming lesson, having all the bedtime stories and the road map I made on the floor from washi tape.

Cora has loved watching Dinosaur King, cuddling her piggy, playing with water out in the garden and cheesestrings.

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Me and Mine March

I started the year so much more organised than I finished the last one and I managed all of two months before I gave into disorganisation once more.  March has been the month I tried to catch up again, mastered the to-do list and completed failed at the elusive work/life balance.  

Generally it has been quite quiet with more quiet weekends close to home than anything else.  The bloke had a birthday and we had a lovely Mother's Day seeing my Mum and Dad and my brother and his family - these photos were taken on Mother's Day in my parent's garden.

We are all ready for the two weeks off school which start this afternoon and whilst we have few few concrete plans we are looking forward to some spontaneity and family time. 

This month

Mama is loving getting her sandals back out, lighter evenings, eating creme eggs and brunch outside at the beach cafe.

Daddy is loving his new coffee machine (something that seems to come up far too often), Finn's crazy personality coming out more, cuddles with Cora whilst she still feels like a baby and a big night out with old friends

Dylan is loving doing Easter crafts at school, playing games on the X-box, choosing his own sweets at the newsagents for film night and playing Mummy, Daddy and baby zombies at school with his friends.

Archie is loving building 'battle bots' with his Lego Duplo, dodging lasers and crocodiles on the walk to preschool, not having to wear a coat everyday and his new bunk beds.

Finn is loving playing peekabo with Cora, being out the buggy walking more often, singing the Tiny Tim turtle song over and over and counting things.

Cora is loving having breakfast every day, practicing her pincer grip (mostly on my skin), playing with duplo and playing peekabo with Finn.

And finally, to sum up March here is what a real family photo look like - not a single person looking at the camera!

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Me and Mine March

I think the theme to this year's Me and Mine photos is going to be  'ah, it is the end of the month, quick, jump outside and look this way'.  We surpassed last month's 5pm on the second to last day with a 10am on the very last day of the month as the boys were already in bed last night when I remembered.  We did it though, we always get it in there somehow and whilst they certainly aren't the best photos, you can see us.

This month has been about Easter, with the excitement starting very early on, Easter cards being drawn daily, talk of chocolate, egg hunts, time off school and family.  Our Easter was lovely with a great mix of time just us five, time with the wider family and a little spring cleaning thrown in there too.  We are leaving this month with anticipation of a busy April, lots of appointments,  the rest of the Easter holidays to enjoy and hopefully a continuation of the lovely Spring weather we keep getting glimpses of.

This month Mummy is loving how strong baby kicks are getting, having her big boy off school for a while, the way that Finn sings to himself when he is happy and buying the boys matching t-shirts.

Daddy is loving feeling Britney bump kicking, turning 32, Cadburys mini egg cakes and hitting the (dry) ski slopes again when we went to Snozone in Milton Keynes for the day.

Dylan is loving writing birthday invitations to everyone and anyone (his birthday isn't until August but he likes to be organised), playing pirates with Finn as his matey, hunting for eggs in Grandma's garden and paddling in the sea.

Archie is loving the freedom of the empty beach and being able to run around, his new scooter, bedtime sleepovers in Dylan's bed and having his big brother home more.

Finn is loving emptying packs of baby wipes, eating sand, being able to crawl around outside more now that it is dry and his little slip on moccs.

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Me and Mine - March

Another month is ending and it has been one exciting month! The bloke celebrated his 30th birthday and we spent 5 days on a family holiday to Butlins.  My flip flops came out of hibernation and went quickly back into the cupboard as we jetted off early Mother's Day morning to France, where I am now in the snowy mountains getting ready for our first ski lesson in the morning!

This month we had lots of family time and have managed to take a few family photos, but these are from our trip to Butlins last week - I couldn't pick just one!

Mummy is loving - The grandparents babysitting, water slides, time alone with Dylan and body butters

Daddy is loving - the excuse to be a grumpy old man now he is 30, coffee, being the only one to get a question right at quiz night and a battle game on his phone.

Dylan is loving - choosing his pants every morning, going on holiday with Grandma and Grandpa, meeting Billy Bear and mush (baby food pouches)

Archie is loving waving at everyone, climbing in and out of the buggy, pasta of any shape or variety and going on the fairground rides.

So here we are, our little family in March!

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