Fun In The Garden

Today I had a rare chance to have fun with the kids in the garden.

We had a visit from Kelvin my wife's uncle at the same time so all was good.

The washing was done and out drying in the afternoon sun, the house was fairly tidy and lunch had been eaten so off into the garden we all went.

 

To most of you going into the back garden is an everyday occurrence but for us it's a new chapter in our family book, for we now have a garden not just a bit of grass outside the apartment window but a garden with loads of grass and paved area to sit and enjoy the sun on.

 

The kids get to go into the back garden and ride their bikes on the patio and grass (yes we did have a few accidents and falls off our bikes but hey ho never mind lol) and play football on the lawn.

So this afternoon when all was done I along with the kids went off to play in the garden, they rode their bikes and then we kicked the ball round the lawn then had a mini wrestling match (no one got hurt so all was ok).

All in all everyone had a great afternoon and hopefully (weather permitting) we can do this day in day out lol.

Sandwell Show 2013

Today we took the kids to the Sandwell Show 2013. This is a free event which is yearly run across the Bank Holiday Weekend. We try to take the kids to one or both days of the event work permitting.

The boys love going to the show, they love being able to go and look round all craft tents and trying out new things also they like watching the free events in the main event area.

The one tent the boys particularly enjoyed this year was the kids 'make and decorate' tent. In this tent they were able to decorate biscuits and make masks.

  Outside this tent was the animal man. At first my boys were a bit hesitant to go and see what animals the man had, but once they realised the animals weren't dangerous they were straight in amongst them. They stroked and talked (yes stood there and talked) to the geese, rabbits and genie pig.

 

Then J.R surprised me totally, he not only stroked but picked up a field mouse(well i think they were mice anyhow lol). I can't wait to go to Coombe Mill next year for our holiday so they can feed and meet the animals there.

Then J.R was able to ply his football skills in the W.B.A skills zone. To be fair he wasn't too bad apart from the fact he wanted to use his hands instead of his feet.

 

We then pottered about in the craft and fancies (cupcakes and preservatives, they did look totally yummy) tents for my wife, she enjoys seeing what's on sale and seeing if there's any bargains to buy, the boys and I on the other hand prefer the activity tents lol.

 Then we found some well fun looking tents with various activities for the boys to take part in.

First was a Tudor house building project, J.R and T.P were able to help the man who was building the Tudor house put the finishing touches to his walls. Well I say help T.P tried his best to help while J.R wanted to keep going inside to see what items were there to look at.

  We then went and looked round the horticultural section, where the boys got to see various wood carvings and J.R even got to sit in a tractor.

   

Then J.R was able to put his hand to wood carving. I was a little nervous at first, the carving man had let my little boy lose with wood tools. To be honest I don't know what I was worried about J.R was quite good, he listened to the man then put his little creative mind to work and made some pretty little shapes.

Before we made our way home the kids were about to stop and look at the bird man and his birds of prey. Having seen birds of prey before at our local park summer show and at Dudley Zoo they weren't really afraid of them, so it was nice to stand there and admire these beautiful birds.

That was our nice afternoon out, no arguing over what TV channel to watch or what toys to play with but just nice family fun at the show.

Silent Sunday 25/8/13

Emotional Day

Wednesday 14th August 2013 was an emotional day in the Knowles-smith, Knowles and Wootton household, for on that day my sister in law her four wonderful kids and her husband packed up their belongings and moved to Essex.

My boys had their last sleep over with their cousins on the Tuesday night, which they as usual thoroughly enjoyed.

My wife and I got to my mother-in-laws house early so we could spend as much time as possible with them before they left. We took all the grand kids up to see their great grandparents to get some much needed up to date photos of all the kids together.

 

 

When we got back to mother-in-laws my sis in law and her hubby packed their last few items into their car, said their good byes and they were gone. Off into the afternoon sun they drove ( oh hang on we live in Dudley, afternoon rain I meant).

Off  to be together, something they had not been able to do for a few years due to their fathers work commitments in London.

 But they now can be together all day, all night and all weekend in the same house in the same part of the country.

 This is for them a much deserved togetherness, a family separated by work now brought back together by a new home and a new chapter in their book of life.

This was not just a goodbye have a good vaccination or enjoy the summer holiday see you in six weeks, this was goodbye see you when we can get the time to visit and enjoy your new house.

The emotions in our household where slightly different, my wife was going to lose her nephews but mostly she was going to loose her good friend and fab younger sister.

 My youngest lad doesn't really understand that his aunty, uncle and cousins aren't coming back next week or in a few weeks but my eldest lad, he understands, he knows their gone not to return in days, weeks, months or even years. 

His lost his afternoon play mate, his cousin Oliver who was only a few months younger then him. We will now have to answers his " is Oliver coming to play today daddy"? With no son he lives in London now.

 

The emotions were different in the Knowles household though because they were loosing their youngest daughter and four of their grand kids, which can't be easy at all, but to soften the blow they will be able to go down for weekends and visit them in their new house.

# Whats The Story

Like most parents out there, your little ones at some point have done something that makes you proud of them. 

My little princess has recently started to pull herself up and it's great. Although my boys did this day after day at somepoint during their early years I still think its great to see my daughter do it and each time do it for a little longer then the last, also it's great when she looks round and smiles to see if anyone has seen her pull herself up. 

No doubt there are going to be many moments in my children's lives where I will be the proudest daddy in the world but for now the little things make me feel so warm and happy.

# Whats the Story

I was flicking through my photos on my phone the other day to see what I could delete and I came across this one.

It is my daughter on her very 1st Santa visit, we took the kids to the Art Gallery in Birmingham. It only seems like yesterday when she was born let alone visiting Santa having her 1st Christmas and in a month she will be 1 year old.

Where does the time go? Soon the time will come where she will be too old for Santa and the dreams will be over, but until then every Christmas.... Santa here we come.

1st attempt at eating with a spoon by myself

Today my wife and I thought it would be good idea (not sure if it was or not) to let our little princess eat spaghetti on toast by herself and this was the out come lol.

Radical Reward Charts

I was recently contacted through Tots100 on behalf of Amanda  Noble-Simmons to see if I would like the opportunity to review Radical Reward Charts.

At first my head screamed yes yes yes but my heart screamed slow down boy this is your very first opportunity to review anything. Once I had thought it through (all of about 10 seconds) I was replying to Amanda telling her I would love the opportunity to review her product.

So here goes folks my very first review. 

The first thing I had to do was choose the charts I wanted to review. This is very easy to do by going onto the radical reward charts web site and along with your child/children (if you wish of cause) choose the chart they will like to be rewarded on.

 

We decided to chose Orrible Oceans and Gruesome Graveyards (as seen in photos above) as we thought the boys would like the creepy crawlies on the one and the different ocean animals on the other. There are six different charts to chose from (see below).

 

You also have a little character figure that comes with the charts so your child/children can clearly see which reward marker stage they are at. This character can either be the default carrot and stick figure or you can email a picture (ideally head to toe) of your child/children so they can have their very own personal reward marker.

When my boys saw their own little personal figure their faces lit up with excitement, they couldn't wait to stick it on to the chart.

   

Once you have chosen your chart(s) and which marker character you would like you then place your order either via Amazon or through the web site via PayPal.

The cost of the charts are £14 each and come either folded packed or for the extra £3.50 you can get it delivered by postal tube.

At first I must admit that the cost seemed a little expensive to me, but and a big but having the product in front of me I do feel it is worth the money. Unlike the card board equivalents out there this product can be used over and over again, which is obviously a money saver in the long run.

I would also recommend that getting your chart delivered via postal tube is a good idea as the chart will not have any creases in it so it will go up on your door or wall very nicely and easily.

I received this item free of charge for the purpose of this review, all opinions are honest and my own.