Luna

It's over a year ago now Ruby and I found this crusty old wardrobe at St Vinnies and decided it was exactly what we were looking for. Okay, it's getting close to two years ago this Easter and the eggs have already begun arriving in the shops. Anyway - here it is...and I LOVE it. It was a smart decision to leave it in the Magic Garage. I doubt I could have done anything like the job the elves did, let alone even finishing the job at all. Let me just say that the photos don't do it justice at all. It's made Ruby's bedroom comolete. BEFORE:

Archie's drawings have gone overnight from drawing colourful pets and hapless dinosaurs to sketches of trench warfare. Where's that coming from? Surely if he was needing to express angst in artwork we'd see drawings of playground arguments or a plate of mummy's muffins. Not unarmed civilians being shot by tanks as they climb out of trenches. The air raid looks pretty scary too. When asked he said they were in a different classroom for Indonesian Studies and found an "army picture" under the desk he was at. That day he came home, went straight to his room and whipped up the above two page art extravaganza within fifteen minutes. Army Picture sure made impression.

I've been seizing on Archie's new found enthusiasm for whipping up cards when the occasion warrants (birthdays, Mothers' Day...), delighted to see all the magic a six year old contains expressing itself on paper. These latest examples bring a great big smile (and sometimes even a laugh) to my face.

With my mother in law down scaling her possessions to move into a smaller place I was recently the lucky recipient of some vintage children's books. This one of the Pied Piper (1961 I think) particularly appealed. As a child I would have spent hours poring over these illustrations, the black and white more graphic ones appealling the most. Knowing my youngest had never heard this story before I  grabbed him aside so we could enjoy the book together. I few moments in I remembered the upsetting ending (warning: themes of child abduction and disabled children  being labelled with politically incorrect terms coming up). But we soldiered on and when it came to the Pied Piper luring the town's children away to ensconse them inside a mountain - and then a "lame" boy being left behind - he didn't bat an eyelid. I personally remember finding it  more than just a little unsettling.But which message to leave him with? Always pay the piper (and keep your ...