Holly's 1st Homework and School Update

Holly has settled in to school very well and is thoroughly enjoying it. The full on school days and doing 5 days are week are taking their toll on her though and she is getting very tired especially towards the end of the school week.

She is already bringing home homework and I had the pleasure of sitting with her for her first piece which was a family tree which she could then talk about in class. She has also started bringing home the picture story books and does a great job of making up the story by describing what she sees on the pages.

Holly hard at work on her first bit of school homework.

Holly chose what family members she wanted to add to her homework and then she had to talk about this in class.

Holly with her first picture story book and her reading diary.

Holly hard at work in blue class.

Playtime and Holly enjoys some fresh air outside with her friends.

Holly with some of the kids from her class of 2018/19.

Holly's first P.E. lesson at school.

21st Anniversary Meal at the Lion Inn



For ages now I have been promising to take the family to the Lion Inn in Chelmsford for dinner and never got around to it. The Lion Inn is somewhere that we often frequent with work but I have never ventured there with Tina or the kids. Earlier this week we celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary and as we had no one available to baby sit we decided to have dinner out at the Lion Inn and take the kids with us. The meal was absolutely lovely and whilst it may not have been the most romantic, it was nice to have dinner out as a family and to celebrate our anniversary with the kids.

 

 

Celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary at the Lion Inn.

Tina with a rather obscene sized pudding!

Tina popping her cherry.

My two ladies enjoying and evening out and a nice dinner.

Playing Out

All summer the boys have been nagging and nagging to go outside playing with their friends or out on their bikes. I am sure at their age I was out all the time at their age but unfortunately the world we live in today is very different to what it was 30-40 years ago and it is a major worry for parents to let your children just roam around the streets.

 

Anyway now that the two boys have mobile phones and we can contact them at any time and more importantly track them via GPS at anytime, we have actually given in and allowed them to play out, albeit under strict rules. We have laid down some pretty strict rules about where they are allowed to go, who they play with, times that they have to check back in etc and so far they seems to be being very responsible. If they want to deviate from any of the rules they generally call us up or come home and check.

 

Playing out has massive benefits for kids including giving them space and freedom to get much needed exercise outdoors, play freely, gain independence and skills, and make friends close to home. Playing out is often described as "children getting exercise without noticing" and this means they are also off of their IPADS and Playstations. So whilst it is a concern having the boys out playing, clearly there are massive benefits to letting them out.

 

Joshua in particular has started to use his bike and hover board a lot more now that he is allowed to play out and that is a good thing. Not only is he getting more exercise but he is finally getting some use out of his toys. You can tell he takes after me with doing wheelies and skids on his bike as he came home Friday with lots of bald spots on his back tire and a big hole and puncture. Tina wasn't too happy and wanted me to have a go at him, but I explained that he is just being a boy, doing what boys do and is no different to when I was a kid.

 

Like father like son, Joshua's knackered his first bike tire by doing skids whilst out playing.

 

Now that we all have mobile phones we use this App called Life360 which enables us to track everyone in the family in real-time. Its a really cool App that enables you to zoom in, send messages, check-in to places and send notifications when people arrive home etc. Big brother is always watching Joshua and Brandon when they are out playing.

 



 

Life360 App to track all the family on our mobile phones.

 



The Last, First Day of School as Holly Joins Her Foundation Year

Today was a very special day for the King family as it marked the last of the first days of school as Holly started her first day in foundation year at Abacus Primary School where both of her older brothers still go. With no more children an option, Holly is the last of our children to start her school journey and out of the 3 kids she was by far the most excited to be starting.

She woke up at 6:30am with her uniform in hand begging to get dressed as she was so excited about school. We could then barely get any pictures of her as she was pretty much sprinting down the garden path and opening the gate. On the walk to school she led the way and raced off ahead refusing to walk with me, Tina or her brothers. Once there she already had a few little friends that she knew and didn’t hesitate once when the classroom doors opened and it was time for her to go in. Given how unadventurous she is with food I will be very interested to hear how she gets on with her school dinners!

So for one year only we have all 3 kids in one school and Joshua and Brandon can look out for and protect their little sister. It seems really weird because on one hand Holly is so ready for school and I think that is partly due to being in a house full of older people and the fact that she has had to do the school run for the boys for the last 4+ years. On the other hand she is still only 4 and is our little baby so it just seems unreal that she is at an age to start school already.

My only hope is that throughout her entire school journey she shows the same level of enthusiasm and excitement for going to school that she did this morning. Just amazing.

An eager beaver up nice and early and ready for her first day at school.

The classic front door picture, looking so grown up and adorable in her uniform.

Her guardians to protect and look after her at school.

A proud Dad walking his youngest to school for the first time.

Until she races off and wants to walk on her own!!!!

All ready to start her Foundation at Abacus.

Playing in the tires outside her classroom.

Holly was very pleased when she heard she was in blue class.

More playground photo's before going in to school.

Holly with one of her friends that she knows already.

A quick selfie with Dad before a long hug and squeeze and she is off.

The teachers made this really nice frame for taking selfies of the kids. Holly broke it!

These are the names of all of Holly's class mates on the big screen her classroom.

Holly sitting down all nicely ready to start her journey.

Dolls in the Jacuzzi!!!

Because I wake up at 5.30am everyday to go training I find it hard to sleep in of a weekend. So when I wake up I usually try and sneak downstairs without waking anyone, make a nice milky coffee and then have some relaxing chill time in the hot tub whilst I watch the sun come up and listen to the birds singing.

Unfortunately Holly's room is on our floor so it is hard not to wake her up when I am moving around and even if I do not wake her getting up, she will wake up as soon as she here's the jacuzzi come on and then bang goes my relaxing morning. Just lately it has got even worse as she likes stripping off a load of her dolls and playing with them in the jacuzzi. This morning she had 7 dolls and expected me to play with her. This just isn't my cup of tea.

When Saturday and Sunday mornings are good and I can chill in the jacuzzi with a nice coffee.

Then Holly joins me and brings along 7 of her little friends.

There's nothing relaxing about my morning jacuzzi's with Holly around and I end up playing with her dolls with her.

Well at least she is happy.

Brandon's 1st Mobile Phone

So Joshua has not had his mobile phone under a month and somehow I have now ended up getting another SIM for Brandon as well!!!! When Joshua got his phone and SIM card we told Brandon he would have to wait a year or so until he was Joshua’s age. Well that all went out of the window with our recent visit to Norfolk when Uncle Steve gave Brandon Leyla’s old Samsung phone. So with him now having the hardware in his phone I was pretty much railroaded in to getting another SIM and now both boys have their own phone.

As with Joshua we have also had to buy Brandon a case to look after his phone and as with Joshua, Brandon also chose a Fortnite case. However Brandon’s case I a much cooler flip cover and is personalised with his name. Joshua seems to have been very responsible with his phone (to date) and the initial novelty factor has worn off, although he does use his IPAD a lot less now that he has a phone. Fingers crossed Brandon will be equally as responsible and for now I am not even going to mention when Holly can have a phone as the exact opposite of whatever I say seems to happen. She has already claimed my Samsung tablet as her own so I’ve lost that!!

A happy Brandon with his first ever mobile phone.

I hate Fortnite, but this is a cool personalised phone cover.

1st Day Back at School for Josh and Brandon

Finally the day Tina has been waiting for for over 6 weeks came as both the boys were back off to school today. Holly has unfortunately got 1 more week before she starts her foundation year. The boys were both very excited and looking forward to seeing their friends and getting back to school in their new uniforms, shows, bags etc. They even walked themselves to school so for the first time ever we did not get to walk them in on their first day.

 

What is amazing is that Tina dug out these old pictures showing the boys when they started in foundation versus this year where they are in Year 5 and 6 respectively. It is absolutely incredible just how much they have changed, especially Brandon who has changed from a chubby cheeked kid to a lean, mean and very handsome boy. Joshua looks more recognisable from his younger picture but has grown up so much, He is looking more and more like a young man.

 

Brandon in foundation year......

 

..... and then 5 years on looking very handsome for Year 5.

A very recognisable Joshua in foundation year.......

..... and then looking more and more like a young man as he enters Year 6 and his final year in primary school.



Regular Pocket Money Starts

The boys are now at an age where they need to start learning about the value of money, budgeting and being a bit more responsible. They also want some money of their own for when we go out or to buy V-bucks for the Playstation etc. So the time has come for me to give in and let them have a weekly allowance for pocket money.

 

In the past they have been able to earn money by doing jobs and helping, but have not had anything regular. As a general rule the kids have always got what they wanted (within reason) as long as we have the money available.

 

Anyway after a bit of googling I was quite surprised at what the going rate is for pocket money lately!!! So after a family discussion at the dinner table we finally agreed on £2.50 a week for Holly, £3.50 for Brandon and £4.50 for Joshua. Then each birthday their allowance goes up by £1 a week. So lets see how this works, September has been the first month we have tried it and 3 days in to the month and the boys have just £2 left to last the remaining 27 odd days (so much for teaching them how to budget!).

Daddy Day Care at Maldon Promenade

The football season started back yesterday and today should have been our first friendly game of the year. Unfortunately the other team cancelled which was fortunate as it gave me the opportunity to spend some quality time with the kids and make the most of another gloriously sunny day. I think Tina has been feeling the strain of having the kids 7 days a week through the summer holidays so she decided to stay at home and crack on with some ironing whilst I took the kids out for the day.

Brandon was quite late getting up and then once breakfast was finally done we had a bit of a debate about what to do for the day. We contemplated golf, Brandon wanted to go canoeing, we spoke about going to Hadleigh cycle park but then finally agreed on Maldon Promenade where we haven't been yet this year. The canoeing was tempting but that would have meant Tina coming with us as well to drive the car back to Papermill Lock.

Anyway we had a good 5 hours or so out and enjoyed the BMX track, the splash park, the pirate ship play area, a picnic, some crabbing and of course an ice-cream. A pretty perfect day really and the kids were all so well behaved and listened to me. I must have tired them out as Holly was sound asleep on the way back home.

Brandon on the BMX track using Joshua's old bike and wearing Joshua's old Westham kit, the joys of being the second child.

Despite wanting to go canoeing, Brandon really enjoyed the cycling.

Joshua using his BMX on the track.

As usual Joshua picks appropriate footwear for the activities (NOT)!

Action shot of Joshua.

Head on shot of Brandon.

Not many pictures of Holly cycling as I had to push her around the track so I couldn't get actions shots as well.

Joshua mastered the skid today and was doing 180 degree skids at the end of each lap.

The track is a reasonable size and plenty of humps, bumps and bends.

The kids were all a bit sweaty after the cycling and wanted to sit in the shade for a picnic before going in to the splash park.

Selfie of me and the kiddies.

Wet suits on and time to cool down in the splash park.

Holly didn't last long even with a wet suit on. About 10 minutes and she was freezing even though it was very sunny.

Holly running through the snakes tail.

Perfect timed picture as Holly gets a good drowning.

Holly about to run through a twisting fountain.

The 3 kiddies in the splash park (just before Holly and B bailed due to being cold).

Holly catching some rays to dry her wet suit out.

The crabbing was unsuccessful and Joshua soon gave up having not caught a thing.

More interesting than crabbing was the radio controlled sail boats which were taller than Brandon.

Anybody would think we was on holiday what with the splash park and then building sand castles.

Holly is now big enough to climb the pirate ship on her own which saves me chasing around after her.

Holly was up and down like a yo-yo on the slides.

Holly on the curly slide.

And again....

Brandon getting cocky on the zip wire and standing up for more thrills.

Brandon chasing after Holly to make sure she doesn't fall off at the bump stop at the end.

And this is why you have two older brothers - to push you back up the hill for another go!

Joshua's turn to spot Holly.

Time for an afternoon snack, ice-cream and cheesy chips.

Just a few calories in the cheesy chips. Holly helped Brandon demolish these,

Love this picture of the kids with an old barge in the background (Holly was actually flossing in this picture).

More flossing from Holly.