My eldest daughter sat me down last week telling me she had two questions to ask me. The first was ‘where were the precious moments posts?’ and the second was ‘when was I going to start writing them again?’
I hadn’t realised they had meant so much to her. Time is getting away from me this year. I am crazy busy with home schooling five children. Thomas has only 18 months left of home school and has his biggest obstacle to his future ahead of him – that of passing his English IGCSE. Anyone who reads here regularly knows just how hard he finds writing. So I am attempting to give him some 1-2-1 attention to help him in any way possible. This takes an hour each day. Lillie is beginning her art curriculum for a level 2 qualification. I am doing it alongside her. I love art, so it is no hardship for me, but requires another hour of 1-2-1 each day. Charlotte works very independently, so does not require anything out of me bar listening to readings of her poetry and other writings. She writes a lot so added up it probably takes an hour or more of my time. She’s not fussed when she reads it to me though so often she is outside the loo whilst I’m using the bathroom, or following me round the house reading to my back as I rush from one activity to another. Poor girl. And of course the littles are not even close to being independent yet so require a lot of my day. None of this bothers me. I love to be this involved in my children’s lives. It is a blessing to hear Charlotte read her work, to draw alongside Lillie and to help Thomas make progress in something he finds so hard. It is a privilege. But it all takes time. I do not want to miss even one minute of the younger one’s childhood, for I now know just how quickly these days past.
So I prioritise. Family first. Family second. And family third. This means I am absent from the blogging world. It means I am so behind on my blogging reading and my blogging writing. I have snatched minutes each day to write. But I now understand that part of putting my family first includes recording their memories, preserving them to look back upon in the years which follow. So I am typing away furiously today, attempting to write a precious moments post for my girls. This is their story, their memories, and is as important to them as the one to one time I spend with them. Girls, this is for you x
This is very hodge podge because I honestly don’t have the time to make it any more organised. But hodge podge describes our days fairly well so here goes…..
Thomas has been making the cajon he received for Christmas:
and last week finished up. He’s chuffed because he can now bang away to his heart’s content:
Life is getting a bit noisy in the angelicscalliwags household, with Thomas and his cahon as well as his guitar:
Lillie has picked up her jewellery making again and is thoroughly enjoying her self chosen project based on Irish Jewellery. It includes lots of wire wrapping so she is a happy girl:
Lil’s jewellery making has inspired our younger two with loom bands. Each day I hear them ‘making a new video’ (YouTube inspired) and it is so funny to listen to them. In the photos below B5 is chatting away to a pretend video camera as she ‘makes her video’:
Lil’s also been doing lots of art, finishing off her Degas study with a mixed media canvas (I will show the finished piece in the Degas post I have yet to write):
Charlotte has been reading and writing (no surprise there):
She is always creating some new story or another and has completely nicked my white board for her own purposes:
She is also a huge blessing to me because she naturally enjoys spending lots of time with her younger siblings:
They four oldest children have begun attending an acting, dancing and singing group and will begin auditioning in a couple of weeks. This is a Christian group and they have been made to feel so welcome. They LOVE it so much and really look forward to going each Wednesday. Whilst the older ones are away, our baby gets to spend lots of time with her mummy and daddy, which she has loved! We’ve had picnics, snuggles and film nights:
Granny turned 73 last week and we all went round to give gifts of home made cards, poems, and gifts. B5 had spent weeks on her card adding to it each day. She was so excited about giving it to her beloved Granny:
I snatched a few photos of the children with my mum:
I had to grab some photos of our family Bible time last week. I am not joking you, we could not contain the hilarity with all of us dissolving into giggles over the slightest thing. It was not very reverent, and you had to be there to understand the photos, but it sure does show that Bible study in our house is anything but boring 🙂
Life is good, good, good right now. I do love my family so very much <3