The great man is he who does not lose his child's heart. (Mencius, Chinese philosopher 372-289 BC)

Sunday 29 July 2012

The Weekend Picture No.12

Waiting for the Olympic Road Racers 
Olympic fever is sweeping this household.We watched the torch procession when it came to Surrey, the lovely wife and I stayed up until 1am to see the conclusion of the Opening Ceremony and we braved the rain and the wind on Box Hill this morning and afternoon to watch the Women's Road Race.

Wednesday 25 July 2012

You can tell they're growing up ...When Dad isn't always right!

Taken from Centre Parcs website

Being the Dad of a small person can be very good for one's ego. I spoke last week about my promotion to DIY demigod in little Dubmeister's eyes. He loved to mimic me and work alongside his guru as he sought to learn from the master. You can revisit that post here.

The second reason why the fatherhood of the very young does wonders for one's ego is that in our preschooler's eyes we are never wrong.

Sunday 22 July 2012

The Weekend Picture No.11

The 2012 Logo in toast crusts
I love my kids. They have many great qualities. But they are not perfect (an unusual thing for a parent blogger to say I know). One of their most annoying habits is their aversion to crusts. Every morning we have a mountain of crusts cluttering our kitchen table.

This morning, in a spirit of sporting endeavour, I decided to turn their food waste to good use and recreate the London 2012 logo through the medium of discarded crusts.

I hope it gets you in the mood.

Speak soon.
JH

Friday 20 July 2012

The Summer is/might be coming

Sandcastles at West Wittering Beach
I don't want to say this too loudly in case it annoys the weather gods or tempts fate to kick sand in our faces like a naughty boy at the seaside, but I think that the summer is/ might be coming.

Ever since Sunday when I posted a shocking photograph I had taken of a blue sky it has not rained really that much and in fact 2 days since the weekend have been completely dry.

So here are my THREE reasons for saying the summer is/ might be coming.

1. I have been to the beach

On Tuesday I joined E's class on a trip to West Wittering beach in Sussex. 90 hot and sweaty minutes on a coach were followed by 3 hours building sandcastle, digging holes, eating ice cream and getting sand in our knickers. There was no rain. It was a proper summer's day.

2. The weather forecasters have started smiling 

Throughout May and June the TV weather forecasters looked permanently uneasy - as if the weather was their fault. Those nervous looks have been replaced by confident Colgate endorsed smiles as they swagger across their weather maps.

3. We bought ice cream yesterday and they were too soft!

The signs of spring are good shoppers, particularly when they have been bribed. Yesterday, the bribe was not a nice hot cup of soup but an ice cream. The ice creams were too soft. They were not botulism inducingly runny but the chocolate casing chipped off and shattered on the floor and the ice cream inside went just a little too quickly. But still, WE WERE EATING ICE CREAM AND IT DIDN'T FEEL WEIRD!

So that's why I think the summer is/might be coming.

What do you think? Am I being hopelessly optimistic or might the summer be coming where you are too?

Speak soon
JH

This post is part of a Bloghop celebrating the good things in life entitled "Reasons to be Cheerful." In these times of austerity there is no better investment than to spread a little happiness. Let us know what has cheered you up this week and harvest yet more good feeling by dipping into some (or all) of the blogs listed below. Keep smiling!


Wednesday 18 July 2012

You can tell they're growing up when ... helping means helping.

Dad and little Dubmeister painting Baby M's room - 2002
When the Dubmeister was little there was nothing he liked more than helping his Dad construct or paint stuff. At the first sight of a set of tools he would roll his sleeves up, run up the stairs and return clutching his bright yellow JCB stickered tool box complete with saw, hammer and spanner.

He would then dive into the task, insist on doing whatever I was doing, make funny little noises and engage in builder type small talk.

They were special times. I particularly loved the deep respect he had for my DIY skills.

Monday 16 July 2012

Win a Family Trip to Centre Parcs with Sudocrem Mousse

Set the Moose loose!

Sudocrem Mousse is asking you to take their Mascot, Bruce the Moose, on the tour of his life this summer, capture a moment on camera and share your funny or original picture with the community! Only 100 lucky applicants will receive a toy and make it to stage 2, then have the chance to WIN the grand prize of a trip to Centre Parcs up to the value of £1,000.

Stage 1 entry - For all entrants wanting to apply for their Bruce The Moose
To be in with a chance of receiving your Bruce The Moose toy
  1. Go to www.facebook.com/SudocremMousse and ‘Like’ the page
  2. Click on the Bruce on Tour application, register your details and complete the sentence I am going to take Bruce The Sudocrem Moose to.....”.  Make it fun, make it original, and you could be one of the lucky 100.
  3. We will select the best 100 applications for a Bruce toy and send him to you to take on your travels over the summer.

Sunday 15 July 2012

The Weekend Picture No.10

"Daddy, why's the sky blue?"
The significance of this weekend's picture will be lost on those of you who do not live in the UK. But for those of us who are unlucky enough to live in Britain the sight of a blue sky this "summer" is a rare one which causes us to grab a towel, a pair of shades and a good book and get in a decent bit of sun worshipping.

The UK had the wettest June on record last month and seems determined to surpass that feat in July as well.

I was so excited at the sight of this bit of blue sky that I took a picture of it!

Speak soon
JH

PS - New series starting next week - "You know that they're growing up when ..."

Wednesday 11 July 2012

The Night The Tooth Fairy Didn't Come!

E lost a tooth last night. She carefully placed the tooth in a sealed box which was placed lovingly under her pillow in anticipation of a visit from the Tooth Fairy.

The Tooth Fairy did not come!

This is E's take on why the Tooth Fairy did not come last night.


Speak soon.
JH

PS Follow me on Twitter @MisterH14 to find out whether the Tooth Fairy remembered tonight!
 
I selected this post to be featured on Dad Blogs. Please visit the site and vote for my blog!

Sunday 8 July 2012

The Weekend Picture No.9

Life doesn't get much better than this!
We have just come home from a great weekend with friends in the Derbyshire village of Hathersage. On Saturday morning we dodged the showers to take a walk across the hills that surround this beautiful place and stumbled across a flower filled meadow (above).

The sun was shining, the sky was blue and we were with some of our favourite people in the world. Does life get much better?

Speak soon.
JH

Sunday 1 July 2012

The Weekend Picture No.8

Dad, next time can we please have a tent which we can fit our heads into!
The sun shone on Saturday so we went camping. We had a great time with the Dubmeister's Scout troupe on their annual family camp. We learnt archery, sang campfire songs, ate burnt barbecued burgers and made new friends.

And then on Sunday (today) it rained. Only it wasn't "the rain all day, soak you to the skin" type of rain. No, it was "the wait until you are about to pack your tent up and then rain hard for 5 minutes" type of rain.

But that was OK as well because we had had a great time and we could laugh together with our new friends at how typically bad the British weather is.

Speak Soon.
JH
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