Forest Glade 3 - Mornington Boys 3 & Holly Loses her Chord

With 3 children and a manic lifestyle I have a lot to blog about today. Whilst all eyes are on the new addition to our family it is important for me to not forget Holly's two bigger brothers. So lets start with Joshua and Brandon today.

 

Finally we managed to pick up the boys swimming certificates and badges for their achievements last week. Joshua has his 10m distance award and his stage 3 award. Brandon has his stage 2 award. As of this week we are moving them both to a new pool in Wickford which should make things a bit easier for us and I wouldn’t be surprised if Joshua get instantly put up to blue hat stage 5 (but let’s wait and see). The only thing I will really miss from the Sporting Village is my 400m lap of the athletics track after swimming which me and Brandon always do.

 

Joshua with his Stage 3 and 10m swimming award.

Brandon proudly showing his stage 2 swimming certificate and badge.

We have been making Brandon do homework for well over a year now as we have always made him sit-down and do some when Joshua does his homework. However as of last week he now officially gets proper homework from school and is so proud and excited about it (bet that won’t last for long). Currently he gets a picture book which he has to read by describing what is going on in the pictures, then he has his 45 key stage 1 words to learn (which he has been practising for about a year anyway).

 

As for Joshua, well his homework is starting to ramp up slowly as well. Of a weekend he now brings home some sort of exercise sheet which he has to complete. Last week’s one was about how to make various numbers using different values of coins. He usually gets two books to read each week as well, one fiction and one non-fiction. His reading is getting very good now and he has recently been moved up to stage 5.

 

Last week Joshua attended a sports day type of event at Bromfords school for one afternoon session. This all happened on the day that Tina went into labour and hence I have not really had time to put this on the blog. The event was open to all of the kids who actively participate in the school athletics club. Joshua did outstanding as his team won the relay race and he then went on to come 3rd in a throwing event. As a result of his enthusiasm and good team working during the sporting event he was also awarded with "Star of the Week" at school. So all in all he has had a great week winning player of the week at football training, scoring a goal against Mornington Boys, winning the relay and passing two swimming awards!!!

My Star of the Week.

Today Joshua had another away exhibition football match against Mornington Boys from Canvey Island. He played absolutely blinding and made some stunning runs from defence all the way to the opposing penalty box. I would go as far to say he was one of the strongest and fastest players on the pitch. Unfortunately the ball just kept seeming to run away from him and for a moment it just looked like his moment was never going to come. Everyone was willing him on to score a goal as no one on the pitch deserved it more than him. Then in the second half his luck finally changed. A stunning sprint with the ball from one end of the pitch to the other with two Mornington boys chasing him down and he cracked the ball into the back of the net. I was a very biased coach, and very proud Dad and was definitely doing some fist punching and shouting to celebrate. So he capped his week with another certificate for scoring a goal during the game. The final score today was 3 -3 which was a fair result (however we did give them an own goal so really they only scored 2).

Forest Glade Under 6 Tigers/Leopards team just before kick-off against the Mornington Boys.

So that is the Joshua and Brandon updates for today. Now for Holly. Well to start with she had another really good night and only woke up twice during the night. She doesn't seem to be a screamer and again the boys where none the wiser until morning time. Until today I have got away pretty lightly on the nappy front, but today the little girl has certainly changed that as I have had three pooey nappies. Today Holly has had more visits from Auntie Lea and Uncle Michael and also from Nanny and Granddad, needless to say she has been spoilt and showered with more gifts. Last important update for Holly is that today her chord came off when I was giving her a night time wash. I seem to recall Joshua and Brandon's staying on for much longer than 3 days.

Sleeping beauty.

Holly wearing her first hair clip which her Nanny and Granddad brought around for her.

Doesn't she look a little angel.

This hair accessories thing is all new to me, I have not had to worry about such things with Joshua and Brandon!

These are rare pictures where Holly actually is awake and has her eyes open (she does like her sleep!).