Martha's Marvellous Munchies

One highlight of the month was our trip to Dovedale, in the Peak District, which deserves a post to itself, really.  We went with my parents on an icy sunny day, and our intended stroll along a fairly flat river path turned into an epic adventure!  We hauled the pushchair across stepping stones, up steps, and over rocks and mud.  Finally we abandoned it altogether for a rocky climb under a natural rock arch and into a cave.  Going up wasn't half as precarious as coming down, but we all made it back to river level, where we celebrated with a sandwich. Looking down at the natural arch from the cave mouth Toby - was a pro at rock climbing and caving, and is already asking if we can go again. - has made a best friend at school. - always wants to be building, making or drawing. - scored highly on his curriculum topic of "Understanding the World", which is hardly surprising considering the questions he asks.   Tonight, after exploring the con...

A travel post!  I haven't got to do one of those in a while.  But we weren't sure we'd make it through the half term holiday week without going somewhere , and Toby was making noises about staying in a hotel again (I know.  He's five.  I don't think I knew what a hotel was when I was five), so we went, what the heck, and found ourselves a nice cheap deal in Lincoln for a night. Lincoln is only about an hour and a quarter from here, and once you've bypassed Nottingham, you're into a slightly surreal world of fields of vegetables interspersed with air force bases.  We drove to Tattershall Castle before heading into the city, and ate lunch with tractors driving by on one side of us, and Eurofighters taking off on the other.  All the male members of the family thought this was fantastic! Tattershall Castle is a mediaeval brick tower, restored and donated to the National Trust by Lord Curzon of Kedleston - bit of a Derby connection there!  It loo...

Can you believe two years have gone by already?  Our little blondie is still as cute as ever, with an infectious giggle and a gleeful smile.  He'll happily give out hugs, high fives and "hiya"s to everyone he sees (at least after the first five minutes of staring suspiciously).  He likes things in order; he will make sure your cup is on a coaster and that spills are wiped up.  He has a sweet tooth that we struggle not to indulge, and an interest in vehicles which rivals his big brother's.  And he's been singing Happy Birthday for months now, so it's a good thing he finally got to sing it to himself! His birthday was fairly quiet.  He enjoyed unwrapping presents, ably assisted by Toby.  The coach was a big hit, but I think he liked them all!  Graham took him out for breakfast, and I made pizza and birthday cake for dinner. Is it mean to smuggle vegetables into your child's birthday cake?  Not when it tastes this good!  I came ac...

I can't separate you! I don't usually make meringues.  Once, a long time ago, I made meringues, and I think I tried to wedge far too many of them into the oven at once.  They came out extremely chewy.  Usually I tell this story to people and they say, "oh, but chewy meringues can be quite nice..."  No.  This was the kind of chewy where you bit into it and it immediately glued itself to all your teeth at once, and the roof of your mouth, and your tongue, and you spent the next half hour trying to pick bits out with your fingernails. So, I don't usually make meringues.  But recently I had a hankering for American-style pudding.  This, for the non-Americans in the audience, is a kind of thick flavoured custard, and is the only thing an American will think of if you say the word pudding - it doesn't refer to any other kind of dessert, and particularly not the British style of baked or steamed pudding.  This is useful to remember if you are ever...

Wow!  The start of my third year doing Monthly Munches!  Hope you're still enjoying hearing what we've been up to.  Sooo... this month, I feel, has mostly been a sorting out kind of one.  I've been doing some new year house cleaning, Graham and I have been figuring out what to do for some kind of gainful employment.  Toby has been practising on his new bike and scooter, and Theo has been learning to talk and going to bed awfully late. Toby - had his first 'Forest School' day at school, and came home happily plastered in mud. - built a snowman with friends and dubbed it Mr Chillyman Coldhead. - "I want to draw something.  What shall I draw?" is a constant refrain. - had a great time at our New Year's Day party, having a "chocolate party" with the other kids up in his bedroom. - is getting better at dealing with things that scare him. Theo - is learning numbers ("free, four, free, four") and colours (...

To a child, everything is normal. Who knows what is normal for an egg? As a parent, this presents us with quite a responsibility.  Because we very quickly realise that whatever - whatever - we do will be regarded as the way things are.  From bedtime routines to parents arguing, from TV time to what we eat - everything is normal for our child.  They have nothing else to compare it to. And even when they do get old enough to realise that not everyone lives like we do, it's still the other people that are different.  Not us.  Not for a long time.  Perhaps, for certain things, even for the rest of our lives, even when we know better. No, this is normal.  Really. The problem is, as adults, we are still, most of us, trying to work out what's normal.  Especially when we have children, and suddenly a whole host of things become normal that never were before.  Like feeding a baby five times in the night, or negotiating with a screaming...

That's Theo's attempt at Happy Birthday To You, if you can't quite make it out.  He's got the tune down to a T, so we'll give him some leeway on the consonants.  He's had plenty of opportunity to sing it, as it was my birthday recently.  Breakfast in bed seems to have become the custom, so I was proudly presented with cereal, toast and a boiled egg.  I managed the cereal in bed but thought the rest might be safer eaten downstairs.  Toby also drew me two very nice birthday cards. So, apart from having to figure out your age when people ask you (what year is it again?), how do you know you've reached your mid-thirties?  Well, one reliable indicator is that you are actually pleased - possibly even delighted - to receive a vacuum cleaner as a birthday present.  Graham has already been gently mocking me for enjoying my new toy so much, but look!  It actually picks the dirt up!  And my stairs don't have dust in the corners for the first time i...