Saturday Roundup 16th March - longer than usual

Halfway through March already?Wow!
Mother's Day last weekend started early as M was too excited about making me breakfast to let me have a lie-in. She had also written clues to a treasure hunt all by herself, which led me to both children hiding and shouting "Happy Mother's Day!"

I'm glad I took a picture of these. The roses were dead by Wednesday.

I was given 2 cards, beautifully written, if imaginatively spelled, and a lovely bunch of roses. When we went to the church Family Service, I received another 2 posies of daffodils and listened proudly as both children read prayers. Later, P took them to visit his mum while I cracked on with my marking mountain.

I was quite a proud Mummy this week. M came home on Tuesday with a printed card signed by her teacher to say she is Magic at Maths. R let himself in with his key on Wednesday, about 10 minutes before I got home. This is the first time he has ever arrived home to an empty house and, although he acted cool, I know he felt proud of himself. It's a small but significant step towards secondary-school independance.

I had a dreaded annual lesson observation on Tuesday with the Principal. I spent about 10 hours in total planning it and it was a jolly good lesson plan, if I do say so myself but - typically - I had too much material and the lesson itself was a bit rushed so I was disappointed but not surprised to be given a Grade 2 'Good' ("It was fine." Huh. If I'd been planning for 'Fine' I'd have only spent 5 hours!) I also observed 2 of my colleagues from the other side of the fence, so to speak, which meant yet another late evening and an hour of feedback.

The Copper Drive is still running at M's school. When P said "I've got a jar of change on my desk at school," I hadn't quite envisaged this:

That put Puffin class firmly in the lead for the week with £31.07 (not including the £15 in silver which I took out first - that's a takeaway on Friday night, when I get it changed into something the delivery man will accept)

Friday was Red Nose Day, which meant yet another mufti day at both schools, this time with Crazy Hair. I have to admit Crazy Hair is much more fun to prepare for when you have a daughter with long malleable locks rather than with a son whose thick hair refuses to spike even with half a jar of gel. The bizarre monster things are this year's Comic Relief toys and a nose which neither child would actually wear.

I can't quite believe Comic Relief has been running for 25 years. I remember the first one. And this is the first one that I have been able to watch with my children  We ordered takeaway pizza and settled down to enjoy the 'Funny for Money' and the moving films of where the money will go. I haven't previously felt that either of them was mature enough to handle it but last night M stayed up for the first hour and R for 2. I didn't last all night either - just too tired - but the total exceeded £75 000 000. An incredible amount of money to raise during a recession.

My lovely Grandmother, Nanny Linda, is 91 today. We went to visit, armed with flowers and handmade pressies. The heady combination of chocolate bunnies, a game of Newmarket for sweets and a very unexpected visit from the ice cream van in the rain all meant that my children were never going to sit and smile nicely for a portrait with their Great Grandmother. Instead I took these:

And that brings us another week closer to the end of term and our first trip to France of 2013. I hope the weather improves soon.