On Sunday I experienced a rare moment of productivity and made not 1, but 2, family movies!

To keep things interesting I did one from October 2012 and then last month’s one. I love watching them and seeing just how much Ezra has grown, how long his hair got in just 6 months and how he went from not quite crawling to full on toddlerhood.

I also love seeing how Annie’s dancing has not really changed that much (why mess with perfection!) and seeing how she has lost the last of her baby chub and turned into a willowy lanky kiddo with a ‘unique’ taste in clothes.

October saw some epic puddle jumping in fantastic autumnal storm lighting, Ezra’s first birthday, scootering at the skatepark (Annie not us!), a homemade superhero cape that Annie wore nonstop for days, Ezra’s first night time sickness ‘incident’, pumpkin farm trips and Ez preparing to make the leap to crawling.

April on the other hand gave us afternoons spent in blanket forts, Ezra’s first go on the trampoline, the new play area equipment courtesy of the Actimel Family Well Being Fund, the sport of sofa diving, homemade play dough, invitations to play, dancing, fake crying and (bad) pirate face painting.

Two very different but equally awesome months spent with my favourite 3 people.

Do you make family movies?

I love making our family movies, the hardest, and ultimately most rewarding, part is always choosing the music. I try to keep a list of current music that we like as possible choices, but invariably they’re not the right length and I end up trawling through iTunes trying to find an old song that will work.

I was having real trouble finding a song for the March family movie but when I heard this one I knew it was the right choice. Lets face it, any song with a Star Wars reference is going to be a hit with me and the kids!

The Weight is a Gift, by Nada Surf, is one of my favourite albums, it was one of those albums that fit the first moment I heard it, perfectly, so to be able to put one of my favourite songs from it on to the March family movie is fab.

If I ever have a song lyric tattoo (highly likely) then it’ll be one from this album, ‘always love, hate will get you every time’. If you have a spare 45 minutes I highly recommend checking this album out, it’s gorgeous, uplifting and rocky, a perfect trifecta!

March for us was spent hiding indoors from the rain and snow, going out and enjoying the gorgeous sunshine, watching Annie do swimming lessons and scooter tricks as well as ‘rescuing a massive spider’ and then pretending to the kids that I wasn’t terrified of it! We also treated the kids to a water table, Ez Bear got a nasty cold and conjunctivitis and we enjoyed a long easter weekend.

I leave you with photos of two things that didn’t end up on video, the easter egg hunt which was a huge hit and Ezra’s short lived infatuation with Annie’s glittery Jessie Cowgirl hat!!

What did you get up to in March?

What’s better for a Tuesday than a post on what we did at the weekend, I am nothing if not timely eh?!

This was the first weekend all year that felt warm, with the ‘actual’ sun shining. It’s amazing what a difference the sun being out makes for me, my mood immediately lightens, my patience increases 100 fold and I start feeling able to achieve anything.

Last week we had changed the table orientation so Ez can sit at the table in his new booster chair. When Jon went out to do the food shopping, Annie asked to make a den so I just threw a quilt over the table. I didn’t think it would keep them occupied for very long but I was very wrong.

We ended up re-making the den at least twice a day over the weekend, it was their house, a dr surgery (thanks Doc McStuffins!), one of the litle pig’s houses that I had to try and ‘blow down’, a house on fire, a tent in the forest and a comfy bed. At one point on Sunday I realised I didn’t know where Ez was, I eventually found him sitting in the den with Mr Dinosaur having a little dance!

With the nicer weather we knew it was time to get out in the garden and start straightening up before the summer arrives. Jon washed the trampoline over to remove the winter’s grime and Annie was desperate for it to dry so she could have her first bounce of the year. While she waited she ‘helped’ Jon wash over the other bits. I love that Annie enjoys being out in the garden, she is really invested in helping clear it up and even tried cleaning the toys herself!

It wasn’t too long before the sun dried the trampoline out and Annie got to enjoy a bounce. We stuck Ez on for a wee while and he loved it, but has a long way to go before he’s as adept as his daredevil sister.

On Sunday we had a relaxing morning with a stroll into town. When we got home Jon baked some sourdough and the kids relaxed with some iPad time for Annie and Mickey Mouse figures for Ez Bear.

I love this photo of Annie, in it she is totally engrossed in her phonics app, has dressed herself (like she does every day) and has gone for the obvious combo of light shorts and her ‘Mrs Claus’ slippers, on the wrong feet!

After lunch we went back out into the garden, Annie found a stone that she insisted was a truffula seed and proceeded to act out scenes from the Lorax while Ez spent his time playing with a basketball that was nearly as big as him.

It was a really positive weekend despite the nasty cough that Jon and Ez Bear had, with some good news, lots of sunshine, the right ratio of exercise and relaxing and lots of lovely food courtesy of Jonny.

What did you do this weekend?