Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

So here it is again, Sunday evening - where are the weeks going? This weekend we have mainly been wondering where our children are. Actually, we've either had no children to be seen, or there have been 4 of them in the garden / house. Both yesterday and today Abi and Izzy have been off with Grace and Finn with lots of fun had by all it seems. Grace, despite being year 5 is pretty much the same height and build as Abi, and even more exciting for them both, the same shoe size. This means they can swap just about everything so both Elizabeth and I have spent a fair amount of time folding clothes to return back over the road! This evening we have a pair of leggings, a jumper, one sock and one shoe to go back. Only one because they both spent much of this afternoon limping around the garden on crutches pretending to have broken legs. After all, what better to do on a sunny February afternoon?!  I had to laugh when I went upstairs yesterday to check what was going on (it had all gone ...

What a lovely week we have had - the best half terms are the ones spent at home, with family and friends and just being together. If I make the comparison to spending a packet of cash heading off for sun which may or (in our case) may not appear, I'd take home any day. We had a mix of weather, including high winds and day long down pours, and it was still better than being away. Must remember that! We started the week at home, then down to Taunton for a few days at Mum and Dads. The girls just love going down there and the only battle was that I had decided on 2 nights and they wanted more. We arrived to a slight disappointment. - no Ben and Laurie until the following day. They soon got over this as the fun of being at Fifi and Grumps took over and within 5 mins they were helping with baking, off to see the sheep and playing with the dogs. The following morning we set off for the beach in beautiful sunshine, a proper late winter sunny day, cold and clear. The frost in the morni...

 We have definitely reached the point where the girl's social calendars are as busy as ours and my half term challenge is to ensure it all fits in and everyone arrives where they are supposed to be at the appointed time. We are looking forward to is a few days down in Somerset, seeing everyone and hopefully getting a break in the rain for a long walk on the beach. Kerrie has promised to come over and treat us with a home made cake, and the girls can't wait to see Ben and Laurie of course. I'm just pleased to have a week off, no 5am starts, walking in the daylight and seeing lots of Glenn and the girls. I have a pile of admin to do which I know I need to get around to - but maybe later in the week will suffice! Sunday mornings are one of my favourite times of the week. I did reflect as I was out walking this morning that if I wrote this blog on another day it might not be so upbeat. This morning was no exception with Abi and Izzy making us 'omelettes, noodle...

Happy days - I love the weekend, particularly in the moments (sometimes it feels like it's a glimpse, other times it's hours) where everyone is in equilibrium. This week has been massively busy but also full of privilege. On Friday my role at Oxford University resulted in a day where we were shown round some of the oldest and newest libraries, both stunningly different in their architecture and history. We were also given a talk on some of the University's oldest governance records, including the earliest report of the University's inception dating from the early 1200s. What was funny was the realisation that some of the subjects being discussed in the 1930s are still up for debate today in the audit committee - life at Oxford doesn't move that fast! This morning Glenn is out in his new enduro bike - apparently the last one (sold about 6 months ago) was 'never right' and this one is much better. I'm not sure whether he was disappointed or reassured w...

 I'm beginning to feel that running a marathon is a goal I may not achieve. 2 weeks ago I managed 16 miles, but the last 3 were horrible. This week I ran a really nice first 10 miles, started to feel my knee tighten at 11, stopped to cross a road at 11.5 and it blew completely, leaving me on the side of the road, 5 miles from home in the rain, unable to put any weight on it. Ouch, ouch, ouch.  The good news is that we have lovely neighbours and Elizabeth (a runner herself, more successfully than me) came and rescued me with freshly cooked brownies and a warm jumper. The bad news is that I cant see how this situation is going to resolve itself in the next 6 weeks. Time is ticking. The grown up part of me says this is supposed to be a de-stressing activity, a challenge but fun. It says I have a number of other challenges this year to do - runs, rides and walks - I need to concentrate on the bigger picture. It also reminds me that I have a job to do and hobbling a...

I've probably started the blog a hundred times on how fast time seems to pass, but this photo that Jo sent us this week just sums it up perfectly. Over the holidays we had the pleasure of meeting the newest Obbard (a pink one!) and we reminisced about the times they've all spent together, and how fast they've all grown up. Miss Eleanor Charlotte Holly Obbard is so very cute - much as I can take or leave a baby boy, a little girl brings very different emotions and I could happily have held her for hours. So now we are all back into the work and school and it feels like the holidays were 10 weeks rather than 10 days ago. My new job seems to be shaping up just fine - lots to do but I'm feeling incredibly energised by it all - and the girls are pleased to be back into the routine of classes and clubs. That is, apart from the earlier mornings - none of us are loving that. This weekend Abi came home all excited - she has her own licence trial and she is so excited about...

Quick post as after 2 fun filled, rainy but glorious weeks off its back to work tomorrow and if I don't get a reasonably early night I will be a very grumpy lady in the morning. Actually it's a soft landing to start with - I have a day without meetings, I'm in Reading and Glenn is bringing the girls in to meet me for lunch. Not all bad then. Today was a day of contrasts. One of my 'to do's' was to muck out the kids rooms and more importantly their drawers, over the last months it seems we have put more in and haven't taken anything out, to the point where every time they search for a particular item everything else goes everywhere. This meant I had to hold them at bay while I pulled it all out asking the question "does it fit, do you wear it?". Of course they didn't want to get rid of all kids of stuff that they've grown out of so it escalated into WW3 and we all ended up shouting. I then went downstairs to find they'd trashed the p...