Um, so what exactly have I done this week...?

The middle girl's finished pony 

It is Sunday night, and the girls go back to school tomorrow. I have managed to find all the bits of PE kit, have made some oat and raisin cookies with Smarties on top for their lunch boxes (and, let's be honest, for me to help myself to as well), have failed to remember to remind them to do the homework they were meant to do (some do as a family hands on junk modelling torture related to their topics)... but have no idea where the time has gone.

There were (burnt) pancakes for breakfast to celebrate the start of half term. There is nothing like the dash from the kitchen to half way up the stairs to switch the smoke alarm off to get you going first thing in the morning.

There was a distinct moment - about half an hour into Tuesday morning - when I remember thinking that an old fashioned nanny would be an excellent thing. I'd been baking with the girls - and we had got everything into the oven, and it wasn't even half past ten. I thought to myself - look at all this mess, and (then as I looked at the clock) how many hours until bedtime?!

The littlest big girl has taken to requesting porridge oats for her pony. I indulged her with this for a couple of days, until she scattered them everywhere, at which point grumpy mummy took over, and the pony went hungry for the rest of the week.

We got the pasta machine out and had some success at making our own fresh pasta. I must admit, I bought this machine for the hubby over a decade ago, and we have used it less times than the number of children we now have. But now, having used it twice in as many weeks, I have discovered this to be a good way to fill an hour or so on a wet weekend - the girls absolutely loved doing the winding.

The middle girl finally put some hair on her pony. And then gave it a trim. The less said about this the better. She is not happy. It puts me in mind of my own Barbie hair cutting trauma some thirty years ago.

She has gone through a worrying development of late of describing many of the things she does (that are not perfect in her eyes) as `rubbish'. The pony now falls into that category, and she will not play with it.

One day in the week (I cannot remember which!) the biggest girl noticed a rainbow out of the window. We raced upstairs to the attic, and enjoyed a great view of it.

After the total sewing failure of Tuesday night (it still hurts to think about it), I had a triumph over the beast moment. Rethreading the over locker. Enough said. Okay, so it took the best part of an hour, but who cares. I did it!

And now, I am about to go and finish off this skirt. Yes. This is a skirt. A bit crazy, but I am going to enjoy wearing it. I think...

There has been a lot of unpicking involved. And, if I stop and say much more about the full saga that has been this skirt right now, I will miss my opportunity to go and finish it before bed.

Hope you've had a good week!