36/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Previous 52 portraits here.

35/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Three photos taken on three different days:

Lola: Morning, wearing that well-worn and much-loved nightie.

Pearl: Midday, a sit-down protest during our walk around the lake.

Stella: Evening, bath-time. She likes some solo floating time before her sisters join her.

Previous 52 portraits here.

34/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: She (we) made a kite out of paper, pipe cleaners, string and a toilet roll. I was amazed when it took flight. Thank you, August winds.

Pearl: Phrase of the week - "Yes indeed."

Stella: Word of the day - "Whatev-ah."

Previous 52 portraits here.

33/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: She implored me to come to assembly this week because she'd be showing some "incredible artwork." How could I refuse?

Pearl: "I know why it's not working. It's run out of something. We need to put more something in."

Stella: The natural progression of life, according to Stella - baby, kid, big sister, teenager, grown-up.

Previous 52 portraits here.

32/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Almost a week late...

Lola: As interpreted by Stella, giggling.

Pearl: As interpreted by Stella, giggling.

Stella: Self-portrait, giggling.

Previous 52 portraits here.

31/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

We had a very spooooooooooky birthday party here today.

Lola: Vampire.

Pearl: Ghost.

Stella: Witch.

Previous 52 portraits here.

30/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: She likes to share facts. "You know a snake shreds, Mum?" "It shreds, does it?" "Yes, it shreds its skin. It has to." 

Pearl: Watching a roadside crane with great interest, she told me that when she grows up into a man, she'll have long legs and be able to climb cranes. I tried to convince her that, as she was a little girl, she probably wouldn't grow up into a man as such. "Well, Mum...we just need to buy a wand." Righto.

Stella: I call her Mrs McGinty. She calls me Poo-Poo McGann.

Previous 52 portraits here.

29/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: We're all big on trading made-up stories at the moment. When her sisters aren't around, Lola asks me to make up an extra scary one for her - "Make it a PG one, Mum, not just G."

Pearl: If we sing a song together, she calls it "singing all in a row."

Stella: She likes to wear my "dangles" on her wrists.

Previous 52 portraits here.

28/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: Upon being asked if she could sort out the mess in her room, she responded firmly, "I am not a cleaning machine." Teenager much?

Pearl: I looked questioningly at the two little girls in the bath and the flood on the bathroom floor. Pearl's defence - "One of us is responsible but both of us are not responsible."

Stella: I asked her, "Do you know how much I love you? It's a really, really big number, maybe as big as a million. Can you guess?" She thinks for a moment. "Is it 18?"

Previous 52 portraits here.

27/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: Always cutting and pasting and drawing and writing. The other day she came to show me a picture she'd drawn of a "man sitting in a crescent moon with a fishing rod fishing in a pond."

Pearl: There have been a lot of parties recently. Last week she wanted a tiger on her face. Today she insisted on one plait and one ponytail.

Stella: I will never tire of hearing her chase after her big sister calling, "Lolls! Lolls! Hey, Lolls!"

Previous 52 portraits here.

26/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: Someone lost her first tooth. And won an award for "wonderful improvement in reading and writing." She turns six this week. Oh, my.

Pearl: Her negotiating skills are mind-boggling. "I'm going to do three lullabies." "Four." "OK, four, but only four." "Ten. Do ten." "Four, Pearl." Ten lullabies later...

Stella: When she sneezes, she tells me she has the bless-you's.

Previous 52 portraits here.

25/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: She informs me that an orange is made entirely of juice. "What about those bits?" I ask, pointing at the flesh and pith. "Oh, that's just chewy juice."

Pearl: Deep in discussion about how to deal with scary foxes, her sister suggested hair pulling. "No, Stella, they're too delicate."

Stella: I asked her for the 10th time tonight to please stop talking and go to sleep. And 10 times, she continued on in a whisper without pausing for breath.

Previous 52 portraits here.

24/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Previous 52 portraits here.

23/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola, Pearl, Stella...shhhh, they're sleeping.

Previous 52 portraits here.

22/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: She refers to exclamation marks as 'excitement marks'. I totally understand!!!

Pearl: This week, instead of clinging and weeping, she smiled and waved goodbye when I left her at preschool.

Stella: "Is that one of them cock-a-doody-doody things?" she inquired, pointing to a picture of a chicken.

Previous 52 portraits here.

21/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola, Pearl and Stella. My three.

Previous 52 portraits here.

20/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Lola: Doing homework, she reads out the instructions - draw a rocket. "You know, Mum, it should say please."

Pearl: I walked in on an intense game of mummies and babies. She looked up in delight and said, "Oh, look, Stella, it's the REAL mummy." (I should be grateful I wasn't Grandma this time.)

Stella: She will often regale me with stories about when she was a baby "in the olden days."

Previous 52 portraits here.

I hope to see you all here this week - every day! several times a day! - for a Very Bloggy Morning Tea. I'll be back later today to share the giveaway prizes.