Archie’s first birthday

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Jeremy

Well, it came and went, with a lot of happiness and some reflection that was a bit sad, but Archie is now 1, and we are very much looking forward to a very positive year that builds on everything he has achieved so far.  It’s his birthday party this Saturday, which we will no doubt blog about, but for the moment I wanted to make a post that included his birthday banner – one of the traditions we are going to try and keep up where each boy gets his own banner for his own birth month.  This was Archie’s:

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The Thirteenth Box

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Jeremy

Jamie has recently been involved in promoting a book written by a local author, Julie Ratcliffe.  It is called ‘The Thirteenth Box’ and is a smuggling story set within the real locations of Christchurch.

Click for 13th Box Radio interview

Jamie was invited to take part in a radio interview and also to read sections of the book for a promo film that was being put up onto YouTube.  The radio interview went on a bit, so I edited it down to Jamie’s bits, and the film contains Jamie at about 4.35 into it.

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It will be Onederful!

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Hilary

We are fast approaching Archie’s first birthday! The 10th November is a big date on the calendar and one which we are very much looking forward to celebrating!

 

 

One year on from Archie’s birth is a huge milestone for him and for us all as a family.  On the 10th November 2010 I was desperately reaching out for anything to tell me it would be ok and although this feeling still remains, to a certain degree, all I really need to do now is to look over at Archie and I am reminded instantly by his twinkling smile, his little chuckle and patting hands that it is ok.

 

In fact it is more than ok – having Archie has broadened my perspective on life and has made me fully appreciate the beauty in difference but most importantly Archie has brought much, much joy to our family and many people around him and that makes me very happy!

This week and next week we will truly celebrate Archie and all he brings to our family – It is gonna be good week and although I recognise that there may be times when I feel sad as I reflect on parts of Archie’s first year, I will also remember how far we have come and feel proud and happy of all we have all achieved in the past year.

It will be beautiful! It will be Onederful!!

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My brothers Ollie and Sam

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Jamie

 Sam

Sam is kind and funny when he gets older he wants to be batman he has curly brow hair and is 4.He has just started school and really enjoys it he is very popular not only in his own class but in other classes to he likes playing on the will  and playing sports he is a very fast runner and can run faster than a five year old so he says.If you are hurt then he will look after you and he will generally help you if you are in need (I think this what makes him so popular).He is very cute but can be cheeky sometimes he loves his friends and can make a lot of people laugh he is quite fearless and will do the most daring thing.

                                                                                 Ollie

Ollie is 7 and is quite fearless as and he says he is the fastest runner in his class he is quite fast but I wouldn’t say he’s the fastest runner in his class.He is quite kind and nice but can get angry he is a good goalkeeper in football he wants to be a professional goalkeeper when he grows up and i hop he suceeds in his ambition he gets wild ideas quickly and has a great imagination.He is very popular in his class and fun to play with he has been a school councillor(kind of like being in charge of the class)

Jamie

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Our terrific trebuchet

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Jamie

For my homework over half term I had to do something about the Stuarts it could be art or could be any on any topic on the Stuarts.  Me and my dad wanted to do something that we thought no one else would do so we came up with the idea of a trebuchet(a kind of old fashioned catapult)we saw a clip on a working trebuchet and then had a look at the instructions about how to make it.  We found out how to make it and set to work,one of the strange things was that we had all the wood and other stuff in our back garden and we didn’t have to buy anything which was cool .

Me ready to fire our trebuchet

First of all we had to get all of the nails and other stuff  out of the wood before we could do anything then we had to get all of the wood into separate pieces.  Then we put all of the wood into the right positions and screwed them into each other then we had to do some other stuff I think the whole process took us roughly about 1 and a half days.  When it was finished I was really excited, for the first few goes we just let the trebuchet throw it but after a little bit we put a fake castle to aim at, then after that we put my brothers Ollie and Sam(for more information on Ollie and sam read my other blog post titled my brothers Ollie and Sam)  in the castle and tried to land it around them or hit them,we didn’t hit them but we almost hit sam but it bounced of the side of the castle and away.  Thank you for reading read more about my family my brothers and me in my other blog posts.

This is Jamie’s first blog post, so we are excited to welcome him to the blogging family.  As the boys grow, we will be adding them to the journalistic team!  Click the link below to open up Jamie’s PowerPoint presentation that compliments his trebuchet project.

Siege weapons powerpoint

Posted in Jamie, Jeremy, News | 2 Comments

Boo!

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Hilary

Happy Halloween!

We love Halloween! Well actually we love the idea of getting together with friends and seeing the kids all have fun together and so Halloween is another perfect opportunity to celebrate and luckily it always falls during half term when Jez is around so I am much more happier to have the house invaded with kids and to do a party!

….and so the party planning began a few weeks ago when invites, designed by Ollie were sent out to all of the boys closest friends.

 

….and we went together to choose our pumpkin from the farm known as the ‘Logs and Eggs’ farm.

We put together our treats ready for Halloween Booing, the decorations went up, the pumpkins were carved and so we were ready!

 

At the start of the week I took Jamie, Ollie and Sam out when it was dark and together we went ‘Booing!’  For those of you who are not acquainted with Booing! let me explain. ‘Booing!’ (and I think I only know about ‘Booing!’ from reading a Nancy Drew book or Sweet Valley High book when I was little) involves putting together bags or cups filled with Halloween treats (the Boo!) and then going to your friends house when it is dark, placing the Boo! on their doorstep, ringing the door bell and running away!  Having looked it up on the internet it is actually meant to be a bit more complicated than that but for our first Booing! experience we kept it simple.  But seriously it was so, so, so exciting for the boys and for me!

Watching them sneak around in the dark, creep across gravel driveways, crawl under windows, discuss the problems of security lights and their plan to get past the sensor and watching them sprint away as quickly as possible and listening to the post ‘Booing!’ analysis conversation was truly fabulous and made my cheeks hurt with laughing.

Sam was beside himself at having the opportunity to be a trickster! – his eyes were wide and twinkly, his speech breathless and once again I was reminded that it is worth the effort – as I stood under the lamp post, in the dark, in the drizzly rain watching my boys being Halloween spooks!

And so the week continued with our annual Halloween Party day.  This involves a party for the little ones in the day and then a sleepover for Jamie and Ollie and friends in the evening.

Much spooky fun was had by all – scariest face competition run by Ollie and Jamie, the mummy game, Halloween art, fill your cauldron with bugs and beasties, old school arcade games played on the xbox, fab parachute games run by Uncle Gaz, Thriller dancing, good old traditional Halloween word searches, hunt for the glow sticks in the dark and all rounded off with watching Ghost Busters!

Many sweets were eaten and much spooky fun was had by all and we are really grateful to our friends the Argents for removing Harry and Archie from the big boys party!

Trick or Treat to be enjoyed tonight by Jamie with his friends Henry and Tom, Ollie and Sam are at Halloween parties and Harry is currently dressed as a black cat although he may choose to change his outfit at any given minute and Archie makes the most cuddly, gorgeous skeleton that you have ever seen.

Enjoy your Halloween Night what ever you may be doing!

 

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Bombs away, Trebuchet!!

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Jeremy

Jamie’s home learning project at the moment is Castles.  We don’t always join forces with him to help with his homework, mainly because we often don’t have the time, however sometimes the stars are in appropriate alignment and there are enough minutes/hours to get into a little more detail and try something new.  The last time we did this, Jamie was asked to produce a piece of work that had something to do with the Battle of Hastings.  This was the outcome (scripted and planed out by J, directed by me with the camera know how…)

We were very pleased with this piece of work, and apparently it went down well with the class as well, so although this time we were tempted to go down the film route again, we decided to do something a little more practical.  Build a weapon!  J had done some research and found out about siege weapons, and so we decide to see whether we could build a trebuchet, an old weapon that was designed to hurl large boulders through the air and smash castle walls up a bit.  A little research on the internet revealed that we could do something like this with bits and pieces from the garden, and so we did.  You can see the progress below…

Raw materials

And then finally we got to try it out on a ‘castle’ with some real life peasants inside.  We’re thinking of going up to London to audition for a part in the next series of Robin Hood…

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Back in the game

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Jeremy

It’s harder than you think, this family lark.  5 children and work seem to absorb every second, which leads me occasionally to completely neglect this blog.  Must do better.  However, Hil is taking up the blogging reigns well, so I don’t feel quite so bad.

Recent news then.  Yesterday Archie and I went for another hearing test, for Archie, not me (we all know I’m deaf at times).  The result was positive, in that Arch has underlying hearing that is within normal parameters, however this is offset by the fact that he has Glue Ear which is interfering with him at the moment.  He’s still a happy little chap, however, and we are going to be referred to the Ear, Nose and Throat people to discuss options.

Harry’s speech is developing well, we’re in the lovely phase at the moment where each day seems to bring a moment or two where he says something completely new and surprises us all.  He’s in ‘running commentary mode’ at the moment:  ’Daddy in shower? Daddy out of shower.  Daddy wet.  Daddy nose wet.  Daddy eyes wet.   Daddy hair wet.  Daddy ear wet‘ etc. etc.

Sam has taken to school like a duck to a small puddle – the upside and downside to having two older brothers in the same school is that he knows it all and is completely unphased by it.  As a result he has ‘grown up’ quite a bit and is currently thinking that he’s a little cooler than perhaps he should do for his four years.

He still manages to come out with gems, however.  Yesterday he announced to Hil that ‘If you didn’t have a brain, then you’d be like this….’  and then tilted his head to one side, crossed his eyes and let his tongue fall out of his mouth.  He followed this up with an explanation that without a brain you wouldn’t be able to send any signals to the face to tell it how to behave properly, so it would just collapse.  Not bad for four years old.  Probably got Nina and the Neurons to thank for that.

Ollie and Jamie have had a weekend of sporting success, hence the title of the blog post, a double reference to my return to blogging, and to the start of the football and indoor cricket season.

Kitted up

Ollie was invited to play in his first cricket match, which was an exciting and nerve wracking event with some potential to go horribly wrong with the old ‘out first ball’ situation.

First ball - FOUR!

Happily, however, he took to the crease with some confidence and managed to score 4 on his first ball, going on to rack up 16 not out.  A very respectable performance for a first timer.

The first scorecard

He was then wicket keeper, a role that we will have to do some work on – it’s a job that needs concentration….. enough said.  Anyway, we returned happy with the day’s work and keen to get out there and have another go.

Jamie continues his commitment to Burton Youth Football Club, a team he has been playing with for about 5 years now.  It has been wonderful watching the team, a hardcore of whom have been there from the start, develop and grow into a fluid group who work together.  Sometimes they can be an absolute joy to watch.  You can follow the progress of the team in this league scorecard.

So, all in all, the Payne’s are moving along well, getting on with growing up.  A small little snapshot of our life – Sam just walked past the door of the office announcing ‘Bunny smells of wee’.  In case you needed to know.

Hilary is, as always, brilliant.  Don’t need to add any more to that.

Finally, I should record on this blog the moment when I reached an exciting pinnacle.  A couple of weeks ago I was appointed as a Headteacher.  Thirteen years into my career with some twists and turns on the way, I’ve taken the big leap.  It’s quite a big job for a first headship, involving building a new school as well, however it’s a great school and I can’t wait to get my teeth stuck in.  Prepare for more periods when I don’t write a blog entry for a while….

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All about me!

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Hilary

This weekend Sam had his first piece of homework to do!! Well actually we both had a bit of homework to do.  Sam had to tell me all about himself and I had to write it down.

This is what he said ….

‘ My name is Samuel Payne and I am four.  I have four brothers called Jamie, Ollie, Sam and Archie.  I like playing transformers and Cbeebies on the computer and playing playmobile and lego and dressing up as Batman and making dens.  My favourite game is the ‘Ladybird Game’ and ‘Guess Who’ and I am really good! I like making up long stories with my playmobile people and lego and gormitti when I am in the bath.  When I grow up I want to be a Power Ranger or Batman or a snowboarding teacher – It’s really hard to decide! Last week we did lots of fun things – we went crab fishing, did three parks in one day, made a crumble, went conker collecting, had breakfast and tea at the beach, had a party with my new school friends, went to Moors Valley and went swimming.  I like going to school because it is fun!’

 

He drew a picture and we chose photos to put on the back and Sam instructed me to draw little pictures next to the words so he would be able to read it and generally it was a really fun experience for us both.  It also reminded me of when I had done this same piece of homework with  Jamie and Ollie and I can still remember some key parts of what they said.

This is what Jamie said five years ago…

‘ My name is Jamie Samuel Payne.  In my family there is Mummy, Daddy, Ollie and me.  we are going to have another baby.  It is going to be a boy.  When I grow up I want to be a ‘jam maker’.  Jam maker is quite a long word.  I think I need some new swimming trunks.  I like to go swimming and I have got my 20 metres badge.  I like seeing Granny and Grandpa who live up the big hill and Daddy’s Granny and Grandpa.’

and this is what Ollie said three years ago ….

‘ My name is Oliver Robin Douglas Payne and I am 4.  When  grow up I want to be ‘Dot Man’ because I want to save the world and rescue people.  Yesterday a bumble bee stung me when I was walking home from school.  It left it’s bottom in my thumb and then it flew off and didn’t say sorry. 

I know that Ollie actually said a bit more than this but at the moment I can’t find a photo.

 

Oh how much they have changed, how much they have achieved, how their likes and dislikes are ever changing and how their vision of their future is ever evolving and developing but these pieces of writing provide a real snap shot of just how they were aged 4! A time when they truly believed that when they grew up they really would be able to fly like Batman and Dot Man and when their biggest worry was that their swimming trunks were getting too small.

Being 4 is fab!

September 2011

I wonder what Harry and Archie will say?

Have a happy week!  Granny and Grandpa are coming to stay with us so it’s gonna be a good one! xxx

 

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First Day!!

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Hilary

Sam has started school and as predicted he followed his class teacher into school with a big smile on his face and he looked delighted to be part of ‘Big’ school.  He turned and waved and then he was gone, caught up in negotiating carrying his book bag and PE bag and chatting away to Oscar and smiling and waving at Jamie and Ollie and their friends as he walked across the big playground.

So here is the photo shoot….. and Sam was a superb model, if you like your model to jump around, pull strange faces and to look sideways at the camera!

 

 

….and for the record I was fine too.  I had a bit of a tear but nothing too much because I know that Sam will love and fully embrace all the fun that comes with going to school and making new friends and finding out new things.  He is an independent, compassionate, silly and fun little boy and he will find his own way.

A ‘Big’ day smoothly achieved – Well Done Sam! xxxx

Just gotta do the same tomorrow and the day after and the day after that…….

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Holding tight – Letting Go!!

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Hilary

Monday is a big day for all of us.  Sam starts ‘Big’ school tomorrow and we are all very excited!  Well,  Sam is excited and so are Jamie and Ollie because he will be joining them in school and I have performed the excited part of the act.  We have gone together to buy school uniform, Sam has new shiny black smart shoes, he has spent a long time finding a ‘Batman’ lunch box,  I have labelled clothes and tomorrow I will wave him off with a smile.  But equally there is a sadness lurking inside me.  I know come Monday 19th September 2011 as much as I will wave, smile and feel happy and proud of my confident, strong minded, sensitive, independent, caring and kind curly topped boy as he walks off in his crocodile line across the playground, following his teacher who will become such a big part of his life, I will smile and cry coz letting go ain’t easy and I want to hold him tight!

So last week we have been making the best of the moments we have together and we have enjoyed a purposeful and busy week.  Sam planned out all the things he wanted to do in the week and I made sure they happened.  So it has been an action packed week with  many adventures some big some little but all of Sam’s choice – to a name a few ‘ visit three parks in one day, go conker collecting, have a party for my new school friends, go swimming with Oscar, have a bike ride, Mummy to play playmobile with me , push me on a swing for a long time, blackberry picking, apple and blackberry crumble making, Moors Valley’.

And we have done them all…… and these are the photos to prove it! We have milked every last drop out of our last week together and we have loved it!

Breakfast at the Hungry Hiker.

Adventures in the woods.

Digging at the beach.

Dinner at the seaside.

Fire engine fun!

Moors Valley trip with best mate Oscar.

Swim trip.

Blackberry eating and a little bit of picking.

Trip trap, trip trap over my bridge!

Fishing for sharks (Sam’s words!)

Sam’s catalogue pose!

Sam practising his song to sing to Mrs Sibbald his new teacher.

Crumble making with our own apples from the garden and the blackberries we picked! Wahoo!!

Three parks in one day trip!!!  We all had lots of fun!

Monday School time we are ready for you! Sam can get himself dressed, he can do all the irritating fiddly buttons on his shirt up, he can pull on his pingy tie over his head and he can put on his shoes and do up his coat.

Everyone tells you it goes quickly and I have always listened to those words and believed them through and through because I understand that the space between now and then is fleeting but equally I have no regrets about the time we have spent together and so it is much easier letting Sam start school knowing that we have made the most of our time togeher.

For the past four and half years we and many of our friends, family and Sam’s wonderful Poppet’s teachers have fed, changed, made dens, cuddled, read stories, played games, done puzzles, comforted Sam when he is sad and celebrated with Sam when he is happy, played outside and poured all their love, goodness and energy into Sam and he is ready to thrive. He is ready to enjoy the challenges of big school  and I have enjoyed and appreciated every moment with Sam and relished in watching him grow in to a confident and cheeky little boy.  So tomorrow after we navigate our way through the bubbling cauldron of children and parents clamouring to be both first in the building and first to talk to the teacher I will resist the urge to hover over Sam and I will wave Sam off with a big hug and a smile and a ‘I’ll be back later’ and let him go and  explore a new world of his own and I feel confident that Sam will run off with a wave and a smile and he will pull from the stash of love and confidence that has been poured into him but if he does need to look back, he will see me there waving and smiling and I always will be.

I will then sit in the car with hot big tears pouring down my cheeks.  Let’s hope that it is a sunny day tomorrow so I can wear big black sunglasses!

Sam aged two years eight months showing us how he would sit at Poppets!

Sam today – two years later!

Thank you Sam for your energy and for being such a delight – you make us all laugh and smile and we are very proud of you.  This last year you just being around has guided me through the difficult days and when I have felt sad and worried your enthusiasm and love for life has reminded me to live in the reality of today .

We know you will thrive in ‘Big’ school and we can’t wait to continue to be by your side as you start on this new path.

And to all our frineds who have little ones starting ‘Big’ school we wish you all lots of fun and adventures as you set out on this new journey.

Uniform photo to come tomorrow!!

Posted in Milestones, News, Sam | 2 Comments

Summer Holiday Photo Dump!

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Hilary

We love the summer holidays and we always make big plans to meet up with friends, go on big holidays and little holidays, explore our local area and visit family and friends.  But we also always have big plans to get jobs done around the house, to catch up on jobs that need to be done and to generally just become more organised!

One of the jobs was to write more blog posts! As you can see this hasn’t happened so to cover this I am doing a ‘Summer holiday photo dump!’

Our summer holidays were full of concentrated happiness! We were all relaxed more, we were busy doing nothing, days were longer, children dirtier and bedtimes later.  All the good things that we enjoy all year round like being outside, spending time with each other and friends and having fun were done but the dial was turned up just a little bit more because we had time – there was no pressure of work, school runs, homework, clubs etc and so we could just Enjoy!

We talk about what the boys will remember and the stories they will retell from their camping experiences, their evening dinners at the beach, the hours and hours stuck in traffic around Paris, the meet ups with Mummy and Daddy’s friends where our children and our friends children are all forced to muck in together and we always come to the conclusion that they will  perhaps remember very little of the details but that these shared experiences will simply strengthen their belief in the importance of adventure, fun, family and friends.

So here it goes…. Payne Family summer holiday photo dump!

French cheese tasting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so that is it,  Autumn is here!  We have started collecting conkers and picking apples and black berries, waking up to dew covered grass and fresh mornings.  It is back to routine of school, clubs and work but we are happy to be back to the old routine and structure.  A new school year, new opportunities to explore and the potential to achieve new challenges and better ourselves.

Happy September!

 

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