The Bank Holiday weekend saw the 10th Independent Baldock Beer Festival take place. This event is a firm Lawley favourite, having been to them all so far. Over the past 3 years, we’ve started volunteering as well as being (very) willing customers. Ross is a dab hand behind the bar now, and I decided that this year, I’d have a go too. It was fun! I selected the Cider and Wine bar as it was quieter, the drinks easier to pour, and I can now tick “Work behind a Bar” off my Bucket List.

My choir, Singing Aloud, performed at the Festival, and it was great to be part of something that had such good feedback. Very generously, the choir gave their performance fee to the Garden House Hospice which has helped my family and I so much over the past year and a bit.

The following week involved both bairns going to their Rugby Award’s Ceremony. As Imy is part of a junior team which is a collaboration of three rugby clubs, she went off for an evening sit down formal do on a school night! I had bought her a lovely dress to wear, but after a conversation with her teammates, it seemed jeans, funky t-shirts and high tops were the order of the day. She did relent to wearing some makeup. (Unusually for a 10 year old girl, she doesn’t like wearing make up!) She came home delighted to have been nominated for Most Improved Player and was very happy for the person who won.

Felix’s awards were an altogether different affair, as it was for the Mini’s section, and they were a bit rowdier! They had a few fun games to start with, and then it was time for the awards bit. There were 6 age groups, and at least 3 prizes per age group, so it took a bit of time to get through… Felix picked up the under 9’s Tackle Machine award and the Player’s Player Of The Year award. He was also nominated for Player of The Year, and so came back with two trophies and lots of sweets. He was so chuffed, and I was so proud.

Ross now coaches Felix’s age group, but unfortunately due to him having to go to New York, he was unable to see Felix pick up his awards, or collect his own gift of Beer for giving up his Sunday morning’s to train the kids. More on that in a bit.

This week has been the week of Imy’s SATs. We decided that the weekend preceding it was not to be for school work, but for fun. We knew we had the rugby awards to look forward to, and planned a visit to the Splash Park too.

On Saturday morning, the postman brought us a rather unexpected parcel. On Facebook, I had seen an advert for Mrs Bee’s Emporium, and she was sending out good luck letters and small token gift to the kids doing their SATs. I thought this was a brilliant idea, so I ordered one for Imy, to show how much we were thinking about her. However, when it arrived, the parcel was A LOT BIGGER than I had expected. Little did I know that a group of ladies who I knew from years ago, on an online forum, had decided to club together and get a gift of a Pug, Star and Letter for Imy, a Pug for Felix and a Star and Letter for me. Once a few dots had been joined and we realised what had happened, Ross and I both had to have a moment! Sometimes we are so engrossed in being in The Eye Of The Storm, and just getting through the day, that we forget that we have a legion of people rooting for us, and understanding that, yes, all families with Year 6 kids are under pressure, but we’ve got an extra layer of unpleasantness going on. Imy has had the star in her pocket all week, and my star has been close to hand too. The gifts were completely unexpected, and very much appreciated. Thank you. xx

And so we get to this week. The week of the Dreaded SATs. In an unfortunate piece of bad timing, Ross had to be in the US with work. So it was up to me to steer the Lawley ship solo. The first time I’ve had to do it on my own for some time. It’s Thursday, and we’ve done ok! Everyone has got to where they need to be, on time, wearing the appropriate clothes. All tummies have been filled with easy to cook meals, and I have only had to call in help once to get Felix to school on Wednesday morning. I’m very tired, so anything that hasn’t been absolutely necessary, has not been done. It can wait.

In one sense it’s good that I have proven to myself that I am capable of doing things on my own, but it has also made me appreciate how much Ross does when he’s around, and how much I rely on him. In general, he takes the kids to school, and will pick them up if I’m too tired. I try and make all meals, but he will step in if it looks like dinner isn’t going to cook itself. He’s back tomorrow, and it can’t come soon enough. I’m looking forward to an epic nap!!

Imy has taken the SATs, so far, in her stride, and we’ll all be thankful when the last one is over and she can go back to being a child.

So, as always, we’ll just keep on, keeping on.

Jx