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21st July: I got a gift from one of my pupils :) This doesn't often happen - because I teach them once a week, the parents don't tend to remember me when they're getting gifts for the class teacher and the teaching assistant who are there for the whole of the rest of the time. This really doesn't bother me, and I get plenty of thanks from my pupils, but it does mean that when I do receive a gift it's really special because it's out of the ordinary :)

Detail: Gift*

* The Tomboy also received a gift that day! Her teacher gave each child a bouncy ball or football with a personal message written on it for them. I was very proud to read this message :)

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20th July: Last House Group of the year! We had a bring-and-share barbecue :)

Detail: Humph

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19th July: The Tomboy's last Brownies of the year - they had a 'campfire', barbecue, singsong, played games, and gave out some badges and awards :)

Detail: Share

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18th July: The Boy's last session in the after school care! He and the leaders got a bit emotional.... It was the start of a week of lasts for him (and for me!)

Detail: Alarmed

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17th July: Roast pork for dinner, yum :)

Detail: Rain

How to be a great companion

And although it reads as instructions for being a great companion TO me, I'm taking them as instructions FOR me, too :)

This post was brought to you by 52 lists in 52 weeks

PS Yes, The Children had an amazing time at the Doctor Who experience I mentioned earlier - and yes, it was a bit scary! (There were Weeping Angels, one of the scariest DW baddies ever.....) Sadly grown-ups weren't allowed in so all I know of it is what The Children have shared with me, but it sounds like they had a blast reuniting the Doctor with his Tardis, travelling in time and generally saving the world! ;) I wasn't allowed to take any photos while we were in the BBC building, but I did my Week In The Life project last week and started on Saturday so this experience is part of that album via tickets, wristbands, leaflets and recollections :)

In other news, I'm getting there with the packing and The Mother is preparing to take up her house-sitting duties abetted assisted by The New Hamster. We set off on Thursday to spend a few days with The Parents-In-Law, and fly out to LA next Monday. I'll be without internet access for a few days therefore (The Parents-In-Law don't have it) but hope to be back online by the middle of next week, so I'll be able to let you know that we're there OK and how we're getting on! And I hope then to be able to start catching up with you guys, too :) Meanwhile I have enough Project 365 photos set as autoposts to keep my blog ticking over till next week.

Bye for now! xx

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16th July: We had a family day out :) We took a trip to Salford, did a bit of shopping, had lunch, visited The Lowry (which also had an Andy Warhol exhibition), wandered around the quay, popped into the Imperial War Museum, and then visited the BBC studios because we'd booked The Children in for a very special experience....

Detail: Who

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Imagine photo here!

15th July: The Boy's leavers' party! There was still one week of term to go, but the party is always on a Friday night. We had fancy dress, silly party games, pinatas, a delivery of pizza, chocolate fountains, party bags, a big cake..... and a lot of fun! :) The photo shows the whole class in their fancy dress outfits, having a fab time - but I can't share it, sadly!

Detail: Final

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Imagine photo here!

13th July: School reports day! I tried editing out the school name and logo but the photo looked such a mess that I've resorted to yet another 'imagine'..... The Children both got great reports, we're so pleased with their progress and behaviour :)

Detail: Dahl*

*As in, Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the subject of The Tomboy's class project which culminated in them all making their own chocolates :)

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Imagine photo here!

12th July: Induction day! The Tomboy spent the morning in Year 5 with next year's teacher, and The Boy spent the whole day at his new secondary school (which is shown in the photo). He had a wonderful time and is really looking forward to starting in September :)

Detail: Thanks

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Imagine photo here!

12th July: It was the welcome evening at The Boy's school. He just barely got back from his Year 6 residential trip in time for it! We found out which class he'd be in, met his form tutor, and were given a LOT of information...... I had about 12 forms to fill in and sign, which they wanted us to return the following day!! I managed it, but didn't finish signing till about 11 o'clock that night! The photo shows all the information booklets and forms, and includes the name of the school many times over....

Detail: Simple

Class of 2011

Today is the day that my little baby boy is suddenly big enough to have reached his last day at primary school. How did that happen?!

This morning the Year 6 class will be leading a special leavers' assembly, during which they'll share favourite memories from their time at the school. They'll have various special celebratory activities throughout the day, they'll write farewell messages on each other's shirts as a keepsake, and then they'll head off in the direction of seven different secondary schools..... And I will cry, and feel proud, and sad, and happy, all at one and the same time!

Congratulations to my The Boy on this milestone in your education. Enjoy today, my darling. You have 7 years of hard work and great achievements to celebrate. Enjoy xx

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11th July: I dropped off a lasagne for my friend and her family.

Detail: Duty

Rainy Days

Another very quick post to share my latest list for this project:

All too appropriate for this week, sadly! Though today we've seen a bit of sunshine, and oh, that's been so lovely :)

Thanks again for your kind comments and messages, my friends are doing a little better in their difficult situations and my busyness is easing slightly, though I do still need to pack for our big trip.... I hope to get back to 'proper' blogging and blog-visiting once we've settled into our LA home. Can't wait to find out what you've all been up to! Hope all is well with you all xx

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10th July: We went to a summer fair at a big garden centre locally - The Tomboy managed to win a coconut! :)

Detail: Finished

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9th July: In the run-up to the final film in the series, I managed to watch the previous 7! I was up to The Prisoner of Azkaban by this day.

Detail: Case

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8th July: Connect group day! We decorated cupcakes - chocolate ones with mint icing and after eight mints, coffee ones with mocha icing and chocolate sprinkles, elderflower ones with vanilla icing and strawberries, and vanilla ones with vanilla icing and assorted decorations! Oh boy, they were yummy....

Detail: Bagged

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Imagine photo here!

7th July: Helping at the second performance of the school production gave me a great opportunity to take a class photo of them all in their costumes :) Sadly I can't show it here, as it includes other people's children, but I can assure you that they all looked fab!

Detail: Produce

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6th July: Traditionally at our school, the Year 6 class does the end of year school production, with vocal assistance from the school choir. This year they performed Oliver! and The Boy played the part of Mr Bumble. I may have cried..... I may have snuck into the second show the following day as a 'helper'....... I may have cried again......!

Detail: Waste*

*As in 'waste of time', unfortunately. A governor training course that didn't really meet the course description and told me very little I didn't already know :(

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5th July: As another part of the celebration of 400 years of the King James Bible, The Doctor gave a talk on the history of the translations of the Bible. It was a really interesting talk - my first chance to hear him speak since his speech at our wedding! And we had a great turnout for it, too :)

Detail: Caked

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4th July: We had a few jobs done round the house, including having a trellis put up in the back garden :)

Detail: Lucky!

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3rd July: The Doctor was asked to give a talk at an abbey some way away from us. We decided to make a day of it and visited a castle in the same area, had a picnic lunch there, then went on to the abbey. The Children and I stopped off in the tea shop and then wandered round the abbey while The Doctor gave his talk, then tagged along on the guided tour and refreshments!

Detail: Tour

I need to let go...

Yes, I'm still on a blog break, but these lists are so quick to put together that even amidst the busy rushing around I can manage to have a little bit of creative time for me :) And it does me good, which has a knock-on positive effect for everyone else around me! So there will be the occasional 'extra' post like this over the next week or two (or three), and after that I hope to be back posting more regularly again.

Anyway, here's my list:

I just also want to convey my heartfelt thanks to you all for your lovely, supportive comments and emails. I really appreciate your kind messages, thank you xx

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Imagine Photo Here

2nd July: The Tomboy and I met up with The Fabulous One at a local park, and enjoyed tea and cake, photography, ice cream, wandering around, and playing on the swings and climbing frames! This photo was taken when I'd climbed up the ropes and was looking down at Clair as she lay on the ground to photograph me! I don't want to share it without her permission so you'll just have to imagine it I'm afraid :)

Detail: Fed

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1st July: Our church had a special event as part of the celebrations of 400 years of the King James Bible - throughout the day, various people read out selected passages from that version, we had music from different groups and individuals, there were refreshments, and there were display boards and copies of Bibles from different periods of history.

Detail: Berry

Blog Break

Dear friends,

As you may well have noticed, I haven't been around much lately. My Project 365 posts keep coming but I haven't shared many 'other' posts, and I haven't been able to visit your blogs either.

This was always going to be a busy time of year for me - the end of the summer term is always busy for a teacher, and when you add to that the fact that it's The Boy's last term at primary school, which adds the school production, leavers' party, leavers' assembly, school residential trip, welcome evenings/induction days at his new secondary, etc, etc into the mix, plus our preparations for our LA trip (which is now only 3 weeks away!) - yes, no wonder I've been busy.

On top of this though several people I know are going through some very tough times at the moment. This isn't my news and I don't feel comfortable going into details, but I'm doing what I can to support my friends practically, emotionally and spiritually. It's another demand on my time, most willingly given, but another reason to not be able to spend much time online.

I've also found that these events have pulled me away from the computer emotionally anyway. When other things settle down I'll have more time available to fit in all the things I want to do, including visiting your blogs regularly again. For now, I need to prioritise and plan my time carefully, and once the essentials are done, spending time with The Doctor and The Children is highest up my list (this should of course be an essential anyway, but can so easily slip down the list of priorities!) Hence this blog break.

I will be keeping up with my Project 365 photos, because it's useful for me to get my notes about each day written down before the memories fade or escape altogether! And similarly I may add another couple of quick posts here and there. I'll understand if you don't leave comments - I know I'm not the only busy one right now, and after all it's some time since I've been able to comment on your posts! I'm very grateful, as ever, for the comments you do leave though :) I get an email notification to my phone whenever you comment, so even when my computer stays switched off for a few days I do get to see your comment and it cheers me immensely :) I do look forward to catching up with you all properly and hope it won't be too long before I can do so.

For now, though, I just wanted to let you know why I've not been around much, to say 'Hello', and to hope all is well with you. Speak soon, my friends xx

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30th June: Still working on my MIMM project! First page complete and backgrounds to the next couple of pages were drying at this point (I finished them later).

Detail: Morse

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29th June: The MIMM class! I had visions of getting lots done, but I hadn't properly allowed for drying time and simply trying to keep up with the video - I did manage the front cover and most of the first page that night, though :)

Detail: Chai

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Imagine Photo Here!

28th June: An afternoon of meetings! Parents of the Year 6 children got together to plan their leaving party at the end of the year, and then I had a school governors' meeting. The photo shows my notes from both and the agenda for the latter.

Detail: Clear

Books in waiting...

On my 'to read' pile:

This post was brought to you by 52 lists in 52 weeks

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27th June: I got everything organised for my papercrafts class the next day - we were going to be adding embroidered effects to our cards :)

Detail: Ticket*

*NB: The show isn't till the autumn, but the tickets arrived in the post on that day :)

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26th June: The special weekend of church events continues with a barbecue and hog roast after Sunday's service - the weather was glorious and lots of people came, and the food was *excellent* :)

Detail: Pool