The end of the Christmas/Michelmas Term 2022!

Well, the first term of the year is complete and as we steam roller into Christmas I’m reflecting on my baby boy’s first full term of school, my big boy’s last first term of primary school, Florence’s foray into year 8 and Posie Popple Chops having had her first full term of being the only pre-schooler in the house. It’s been a lovely term and we’ve interspersed all the work with the build up to Christmas and lots of lovely Christmas activities!

Florence has done so well at school performing the title character in her play and dancing her socks off as a member of the school company. We felt so proud watching her on stage and even more proud that the teachers all say such lovely things about her. Well done our hard working girl who was exhausted at the end after long days finishing at 6 then having to catch up on all shed missed during rehearsals and take tests she missed in her lunch breaks. She’s a super star and deserves ALL the rest! Hard to believe our little girl will be a teenager when she goes back to school – she waits ALL year for her birthday, quite literally and come twenty to midnight it will be 13 years since this peach landed in my arms.

Jimmy has gone great guns this term, it didn’t start positively but he’s now just flying and we couldn’t be prouder of him for making the efforts to work hard and study hard in the hope he can go to Florence’s school next year too. We have no idea if he will get in or not because it’s such a high bar and who knows but for effort he deserves to and frankly, he’s so brilliant they’d be fools to turn down our clever, outside the box, most excellent boy! Time will tell but whatever the outcome we are just so happy that he’s giving it his all – his determination to get things right, at everything he sets his sights on, is admirable – what a boy!

Raffie is simply thriving at school. All of a sudden he can read and even write a little. It’s just clicked, he gets it and he loves it so much. He’s made great friends, kept old ones and is so entertaining in all his wonderful chatter. He just goes in, happy as Larry every day and on the one day I offered him a day at home with Mummy he declined wanting to go in and see his friends. Watching him sat on the stage at the Christmas fayre, singing his heart out to “Away in a Manger” was a real highlight of the term. Taking him to birthday parties, starting football training and learning to get himself dressed for school without any help is just beyond. How is he now so grown up my beautiful baby boy?!

Posie has just changed so dramatically it’s almost like you can physically see her growing. Her language is now brilliant and she chats away ten to the dozen. She loves Baby Ballet and Gymboree and watching all sorts of things on television. She’s a great sense of humour and as always is the very best of company. On the one hand I feel sad that she’s not super tiny any more but on the other… Oh it’s so wonderful to see her be this amazingly fantastic! She is a gorgeous , happy baby girl and I just adore being in her company all day, every day. She’s simply fantastic!

And these are things we’ve got up to this term, when we’ve not been at school!