Different-choices

Easing back

2012-01-30T10:21:00.000Z

Well that was a break wasn't it?

I developed a certain screen intolerance leading to pretty icky headaches over the past 6 weeks but it doesn't seem so bad first thing so here I am.

Everyone's poorly at the moment, even the big boy who had to miss a GCSE exam today as his chest is so bad, he has been coughing and spluttering since Thursday evening. Luckily he will be able to re-sit in the summer so everything should be ok, the benefit being more time to revise ;) Everyone in the family is pretty much the same, sore throat, headaches, coughs etc. Owen has been the worse and has barely eaten for five days, although he seems better today. The only ones not to suffer are Heather, who shows no symptoms at all, and Cain, who had one day of feeling slightly under the weather.

Owen's reading and writing skills are really coming on now, he recognises all of his letters, can sound out words, and is beginning to put letters into sequence to write words. Reading is not appealing to him yet, he shows no real interest in reading the books in front of him, much preferring to spend time sounding out and writing words. See the words that interest him:

Hmmm, can't remember seeing them on the first words lists the grown up children used to bring home from school...... especially as he has just added wee and poo!

I'm especially impressed by how quickly he understood the double vowel sounds.

Cain is less interested in letters just now, he joins in a little but becomes bored within seconds. He much prefers to use his hands and build vehicles:

After this photo was taken the digger acquired an additional piece which Cain explained was its stretchy snake arm to pick up far stuff.

Good news of my own to share too - our service appears to be having a positive impact on breastfeeding initiation and continuation rates across the borough we work in which means that our contract, which was originally due to end in March, has been extended for a further 12 months. Almost certain it won't go beyond that but hey, we thought it wouldn't be extended at all a few months ago so who knows?

So there we are, still here, still not great, but trying to get back into things. Hopefully I'll be back a bit sooner this time :)

-x-

Most wonderful time of the year.......

2011-12-29T20:31:00.000Z

Lovely days whirling by, filled with fun and family.

On Christmas Eve the Elves filled the final pocket on the advent calendar, the last card simply said "thank you for all your hard work over the past 23 days, and all the special things you made - now we have a gift for you".

Under the tree they found that most favourite of things - brown paper parcels all tied up with string:

Inside were new pyjamas for each littlie to wear for bed on a special night. Hidden in the branches of the tree were three little stockings each containing a little bar of chocolate which Dad reported were enjoyed greatly throughout the day. Mama worked all day whilst the little people cleaned and tidied, and of course enjoyed a Christmas movie together. Home from work, a simple meal and baths all round before these little people all trooped off upstairs and were in their beds by 8pm. Not to sleep, oh no, far too excited for that, but not once did they pop back downstairs for a drink, or a cuddle, or a bit too eat, or to tell tales, or any of the hundreds of reasons they usually troop up and down. No, they stayed in their beds whispering excitedly until almost midnight, just missing Santa who sneaked into their rooms minutes later with stockings filled with goodies. Funny how we haven't once mentioned Santa actually bringing gifts, but the children believe. We don't agree with the tale, or hide from it, but the children want to believe and so they shall.

Christmas morning started early with Heather waking first, noticing a gift at the end of the bed. She jumped excitedly up and down and ran to her brothers' room squealing. Whilst they made toilet trips and tried to wake up older siblings I sneaked down and lit candles, turned up Christmas songs and placed Owens gift in an appropriate place - I couldn't leave it under the tree overnight as Saffi sleeps in the living room.....

Owen was oh so excited by his gift, all the more so by finding not one, but two teeny hamsters waiting for him! Such inquisitive little creatures - Hammy is perfectly happy to be cuddled and handled, Cheezy a little more shy but by Boxing day happy to sit with Owen alone:

A lucky find on Ebay meant that this was the first thing Heather spotted in the room - a beautiful wooden pram to proudly push her new mama made baby around in:

The rest of the morning spent playing games, building jigsaws, and chasing each other around with the other much requested gift - NERF guns! Yes, I know, not in keeping with the whole green, caring, conscious parenting approach, but those boys hoped and hoped for these toys and know full well that real weapons are cruel and intolerable and should never be compared to toys, which these NERF guns are. Also not in keeping was the LeapPad explorer learning tablet that Cain had seen and coveted so, but play can be restricted merely by the fact that it runs on batteries which means that after a couple of hours play between all three littlies the batteries need removing and recharging ready for the next day. A good mix too of wooden puzzles, playdough, puppets, knitted gifts, new clothe, wooden easel and an Etch-a-Sketch meant that all the gifts were loved and played with all day long and still so for days after.

The afternoon meant family feasts and more games, this mama popping upstairs and returning to the dining room for one of those sudden flash moments, looking around the table at all eight of her children smiling and chatting and enjoying a feast, the most wonderful gift of all. Of course this mama would be lying if she didn't admit to being also very pleased with her new Kindle, and a lovely cover with a built in light for bedtime reading, and the new River Cottage book ;) And I know the man was equally thrilled with his collection of Coast DVD's and his 18 year oak matured Whisky......

Boxing day was much the same as the previous day with fun, games, plentiful food, albeit with much longer spent in the kitchen by this mama, preparing a buffet fit for a king, quiches and salads and tarts and breads and scones and pies and cheeses and biscuits and cakes and trifle, Boxing day has to have trifle, all in all all enough food to last through the following few days so that no more time need be wasted in the kitchen, instead spent enjoying a slowed down time with family. And the only photo of a large part of the family together - after being reminded by Cain that I hadn't taken any yet!

Oh yes - Beer and Pringles too, it must be Christmas ;)

So yes, another wonderful Christmas has flown by, and promises of many more lie in our dreams.

With love and best wishes to all of you and hoping your days have been filled with the same joy as ours.

-x-

December day 23

2011-12-23T20:43:00.000Z

Make Christmas crackers

Today we made crackers for our festive table. I have no photos to share as I can't remember where I put the camera! But I didn't want to miss a day at this point :) Our crackers contain a hat, a joke, a Ferrero Rocher (the grown ones love these but we only get one 16 pack a year!), a party blower (because the boys love them) and a party popper. Not at all green or sustainable but we do them this way every year and so we might always do so. And besides, we try so hard all year round, surely we can indulge in a little consumerism and not remotely green behaviour in a tiny amount?

Today we added a knitted Christmas cracker to our advent tree, by lucky coincidence rather than some wonderful planning.

This mama needs for some very excited little people to go to bed now so that tomorrow's activity can be thought up, and the gift from the Christmas elves prepared. And some sleep for me too hopefully, I offered to work the day before Christmas partly to avoid the mad urge to go buy rubbish just because, and partly so that the rest of the team can have the day off and prepare for their own celebrations.

Happy, excited, seasons wishes to you all.

-x-

December day 22

2011-12-22T19:07:00.000Z

Presents for the birds

Usually it's pretty cold by now but apart from the very short icy period last week, all two days of it, it's been quite mild really. I don't think the birds are having any problems finding food right now but as we like to leave them a gift in the winter we made these today.

Whilst mama was at work Owen and dad cut two coconuts in half and drilled a small hole at each side of each half. Dad threaded string through the holes to make hangers and Owen and Cain both got to work on the filling. They tipped a bag of veggie suet into a bowl with assorted nuts and seeds which they then enjoyed squishing together with their hands. They then stuffed the mixture into the coconut halves.

All ready for hanging out in the trees tomorrow, a special seasonal gift for our little feathered friends. Owen suggested we hang two here and take the other two down to the caravan for the birds there.....I hope he changes his mind by tomorrow!

Today we added a knitted snowman to our advent tree. Cain usually does this but this morning he let ?Heather do it as she feels so unwell and is very whiny right now. She is all bunged up, has a nasty cough which kept both of us awake all night, and has been complaining of earache too. Hoping that being poorly right now means that she will feel better in a day or two and not suffer through Christmas.

-x-

December day 21

2011-12-21T20:19:00.000Z

Make gifts

Today was all about making gifts for friends and family.

We made bath bombs first. Owen was in charge of adding the colouring and oils. Heather added the water. Slowly. For the first batch....... The second batch they both got carried away, Owen wanted them to be really red. Heather added a little too much water. By the time we sorted out the resulting bubbling volcano we had quite a few less than we hoped for:

We also made soap. Of course we didn't make these from scratch, we used a melt and pour base and added our own oils, petals and seeds. Owen was in charge of stirring the melting base to make sure it melted evenly:

All I had to do was pour the hot molten soap into the moulds for him.

We only made four soaps as we all got a little hungry and decided to stop for tea, after which the momentum had gone and we went onto other things. We will hopefully get a few more made tomorrow if any of them are up for it.

Today we added a teeny pair of knitted Elf mitts to the advent tree.

I also had a photo of the gingerbread house to share with you but it's stuck on my mobile. Mama's sweetie outsmarting smugness has disappeared, the gingerbread is currently without it's sweets, most of it's icing, and the whole front wall.............

-x-

December day 20

2011-12-21T20:03:00.000Z

Bake a cake

Well three actually!

We weren't going to bake a Christmas cake this year. Every year I bake one, layer it with marzipan, and then ice. Every year the topping gets nibbled away by little people, mama eats far too many slices, and at least half gets wrapped up and given to a friend. So definitely no cake this year. Except.....a neighbour mentioned never having Christmas cake as first of all he has no family to share with, secondly he can't bake, and thirdly he doesn't celebrate Christmas as he is a Jehovah's witness. So I mentioned to John that I would bake one as a surprise general gift. And then certain older children thought it wouldn't be the same without a mama made Christmas fruitcake. So why three? Well when we started baking Owen decided he wanted to make one for Emma and Sophie for a gift too!

So three cakes in the making:

All baked now and waiting for us to ice up on Friday. Owen enjoyed making these and has decided he wants to be a baker when he's a grown up dad.

Today we added a knitted bell to the advent tree.

We have a poorly girl here who is all snotted up, blowing hot and cold, and waking through the night with a cough so we're hoping for some seasonal magic to hurry her poorliness away.

-x-

December day 19

2011-12-21T19:47:00.000Z

Christmas cards

Today we made Christmas cards. We don't usually do cards but we spotted some cardmaking kits when walking past a pound shop and the boys really wanted this to happen at some point. So I picked up two packs on my lunch break and they became the activity for today. They were a wonderful photo opportunity as both all three littlies were involved. Owen made his all by himself, whereas Cain stuck his 3d shapes on and then applied drops of glue to his cards and Heather finished off by adding the little glittery bits. Only thing is my camera battery went totally flat before I could get a picture so I used the one on my phone. I plugged the memory card into the laptop and realised that when the laptop got it's temporary fix the memory card reader was lost, grrr! So all I have to show of this activity is a quick photo I just took of the last two cards, the rest having been written and hidden in their envelopes.

Today we added a knitted gingerbread snowflake to the advent tree. Really should take a photo to show how full it's looking......

-x-

December day 18

2011-12-18T19:15:00.000Z

Christmas Elves home

Yet another activity with Dad joining in, this mama was working again......

So the plan was to bake gingerbread and then cut out the shapes, time had other ideas and this became a bought in idea. Owen built the house, Cain applied the icing, and Heather spent simply ages sticking the sweeties on:

So you're looking at this and thinking "all that sugar, and the sweeties, and the colourings.....no way would I want my kiddies eating that!!" Well same thoughts here :). But you see, it's ok. This house will never be eaten. This house is for the Christmas Elves to say thank you for filling the pockets every night. So that's good, children happy not to eat, mama happy they don't want to eat. Happy all round.

Today we added a knitted stocking to our advent tree. I guess that's something we should add on Christmas eve really but then we already have a special ornament for that day.

-x-

December day 17

2011-12-18T18:50:00.000Z

Festive ornaments

Mama working all day again so yet another activity that Dad and children all enjoyed - pouring plaster into rubber moulds and seeing the festive statues appear a couple of hours later. This was another long task, waiting for the plaster to dry out ready for the painting. And what painting! Owen enjoyed this part the most and created two very realistically coloured snowmen:

Followed by a far more individualised Santa - Well if a certain drinks company can turn him from green to red then this boy can turn him to black:

Owen stuck to a more usual colourway with his red Santa and his green tree, whereas Heather painted a completely brown Robin which Owen helped to become more realistic with it's red breast:

Today we added a little knitted sugarmouse to our advent tree. It's very crowded now with only a few gaps left for the rest of the little ornaments. Those days are ticking down fast aren't they?

-x-

December day 16

2011-12-16T21:30:00.000Z

Winter trees

This idea was blatantly copied from here:

We started off by making handprints with dark green paint as my thoughts were of cutting around them and then sticking them, fingers down, to either toilet roll tube trunks or plain white card, creating lovely green fir trees. The boys however, remembered seeing this film a couple of days ago and so wanted to try it this way instead. They thought the white patches could be snow sitting on the branches of the trees.

Do you see how interested the little girlie is in the tree? Not at all - she's got pasta!!

Definitely inspired by the view from the window as today we had our first snow of the season, albeit only a light covering. Enough to have them outside in vests, pj bottoms and wellies though :)

Today we added a knitted bauble to the advent tree. This one has Owen's name stitched on. I am now feeling pretty certain I didn't get round to making one with Heathers name.....and as I am not feeling so well the past few days, headache, iffy tummy, exhaustion and so on, I don't think I will be able to get round to making one again. Good job she's still too young to realise :)

A full weekend in work coming up so I wonder what simple fuss free activities those Christmas Elves are going to come up with?

-x-

December day 15

2011-12-15T20:59:00.000Z

Chocolate decorations

A good few years ago we bought a little kit to make chocolate decorations for the tree. It contained a pack of chocolate buttons, a plastic tray/mould, a tube of green icing and some cellophane bags and ties. We made the decorations and hung them on the tree. The chocolate tasted awful!! We didn't throw away the mould though, we washed it and put it away for use again....and again....and again! All we needed was to buy a roll of cellophane. Oh and of course much nicer chocolate :)

Again this mama was working but college is finished for Christmas so a big sister was around to help with the chocolate melting.

Today we added a knitted angel to the advent tree although the branches are looking very laden now and we still have nine more little pieces to add!

On a different note this mama is wondering whether a kindle should be the hinted gift of choice this year? And if so would it be the basic kindle or the kindle 3 with all it's little extras..... Coincidentally the Kindle 3 is selling at 149.99 and my lovely man just got an unexpected cheque for 150.32..........a sign? (aaarrgh I have lost my pound signs, how frustrating!)

-x-

December day 14

2011-12-15T20:42:00.000Z

Watch a Christmas movie

An easy activity for dad and children whilst mama goes to work. I'd much rather have stayed home and watched these:

The big sofa pulled round in front of the tv, freshly popped corn, slices of cake, and sparkly apple juice, mm-mmmm, a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

Today we added a knitted sugarplum to the advent tree.

By bedtime this mama was feeling headachey, tired and sickly so an early night and a completely forgotten blog entry!

-x-

December day 13

2011-12-13T22:11:00.000Z

Candles

We rolled candles from sheets of beeswax:

All three loved making these, measuring the wick, rolling the warm sweet scented wax, sealing the sides by rolling over a tray kept warm by the fire. A lovely collection of candles to be shared amongst the stockings of older sisters and friends:

We made candles for the fireplace too:

This was such a simple make. A length of crepe paper wrapped several times around a toilet roll tube with an extra 2" of crepe paper top and bottom. Tuck the extra 2" at the bottom up into the tube. Use a length of sparkly gold pipe cleaner to create a flame shape, push the ends of the pipe cleaner into the top of the tube at the same time tucking in the 2" excess crepe paper. Simple, effective and mess free, not one drop of glue, paint or glitter used!

Today we added 2 candy canes to the advent tree. Very special candy canes:

When I first started knitting these little ornaments I would make one each night ready for the following day. One night I was especially exhausted, with a newborn baby who had been vomiting all day. I went up to nurse her in bed and decided that I could drift off too as I could use a little knitted apple I already had from the autumn season shelf as the next days decoration. I came down at 5am to put the apple in the pocket only to find 2 knitted candy canes already there. I found out a couple of hours later that Helen had sat with the mini decorations book of patterns, and a knitting guide, and knitted these two stripey canes herself. Her previous knitting abilities were garter stitch and stocking stitch in plain blocks of colour. That night she had spent five hours working out how to change colours in the row, on tiny 3mm needles, and then stuffing and shaping the finished piece. These are the two most loved and magical pieces on our advent tree......

-x-

December day 12

2011-12-12T18:54:00.000Z

Felt ornaments

Owen was really excited to read this card today!

He concentrated really hard, and announced that he was sewing properly "just like a real mum".

He told me what shape he wanted, I cut two shapes from felt, Owen then sewed them carefully together leaving a little gap through which to pour in polystyrene beads, before inserting a ribbon and sewing over the gap. He then sewed a little button on the front.

He has a few more cut out that he is going back to every so often, stitching and filling, and trimming. Cain wasn't very interested in joining in this as he wanted to sew with the machine instead so we might make some with that tomorrow....

The right is my demo ornament, the left is Owens ornament. Very proud mama here :)

Today we had an extra advent activity, this time for yours truly, aka Nanny and Grandad. It was Sophie's school nativity and she had tickets for us. The play was called "The Disgruntled Snowman" and was filled with singing snowflakes, a grumpy snowman and the inevitable Nativity characters.

A beautiful angel with a very proud Grandad

A knitted gingerbread heart was added to the advent tree this morning, it's beginning to fill up nicely now and it's becoming harder for Cain to find empty branches.

Hope your days are filling out as nicely as our little tree.

-x-

December day 11

2011-12-11T15:54:00.003Z

Paper snowflakes

Snowflakes to relive a memory for this mama. A memory of a downed phone line, a dad running out in the deep snow to find a public phone box, of a very pregnant mama climbing a ladder to change a light bulb, of a dad panting back in to say there was going to be a delay, of a mama deciding to get on with things anyway, of a midwife hammering on the door, of an instant need for pushing, and of a newborn boy in arms with a midwife grinning at only just being there, and a dad still trying to warm up before greeting his new son.

So yes snowflakes today in memory of the day we finally met Craig, the boy/man who arrived 16 years ago today, 13 days overdue, a trait that continues still :)

This boy/man won't have a photo taken so on with the activity of the day, cutting paper snowflakes, covering with glue and glitter, and sticking on the window:

Today we added a knitted parcel to our advent tree, in yet another unorganized distribution of the ornaments....

Happy memories of years gone by to all of you

-x-

December day 10

2011-12-10T21:15:00.001Z

Aromatic oranges

So you know this activity right? Grab an orange, tie a pretty ribbon around, and then push cloves in all over? Not here! Here we grab an orange, don't bother with the ribbon, and get straight to pushing in cloves to make faces. Owen made his own face, including leaving a gap in his smile to show the two teeth that he lost in summer, now regrowing, and the tooth he lost today. Heather stabbed a few cloves and then gave up, Cain made a smiley face with lots of hair, and mama made a traditional one:

Owen's toothless one to the left, then Heather's with a few extra cloves added by Helen, then Cain's complete with eyebrows and then mama's to the right.

I can't edit the photo's to show them close up as the lovely new laptop appears to have a faulty graphics card and has gone back to its previous owner, and the old one is back in use but has had to have a new operating system installed to combat the virus which doesn't seem to be loading the photo editing part of media gallery :(

Today we added a knitted orange to the advent tree, not planned but just right for today's activity!

-x-

December day 9

2011-12-09T21:25:00.000Z

Decorate the tree

Another day at work so another activity for Dad to share.

Our little tree came in from the gales yesterday looking a bit bedraggled but it's been all blinged up now and looks much jollier.

The grown girls are still disappointed, they think the tree looks too scraggy and want us to get a big cut one but we're staying loyal to our little friend. The boys love him too. Hmmm, I wonder why it became a he?

See the decorations on the tree? Most were made over the past week, some were picked out in Woolworths over consecutive Christmas's when walking home from school with the grown children, and the little stitched snowman? Well they were a gift from a webfriend 2 years ago and still loved. Alison, where have you been lately? The popcorn garland, well, it'll be lucky to make it through the weekend, Saffi has decided she quite likes it!

Our little advent tree has had a knitted Christmas elves hat added today:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

-x-

December day 8

2011-12-08T22:02:00.000Z

Make twinkling stars

So I was mad for taking Saffi for her walk in those gales was I?

Of course not. It meant I could collect a bunch of fallen twigs for today's activity.

Super quick today!

Paint PVA glue onto a bunch of twigs, sprinkle them with glitter dust, turn the newspaper into a bag and with the glitter dust and twigs caught inside give a really good shake to make everything twinkly. Owen especially liked this activity:

When they were dry we tied them together with sparkly embroidery thread and there we were - a bunch of glittering stars for the tree:

Not photographing well but Owen is especially impressed with their twinkliness. (Spellcheck is telling me that twinkliness isn't a word - it should be though don't you think? Describes this activity and this season perfectly)

Today our little advent tree had a knitted holly bauble added to it. I'll try to remember a picture tomorrow, it's beginning to look a little less ratty now ;)

-x-

Cold.

2011-12-07T16:20:00.000Z

This is the thermometer on my bedside table:

This photo was taken just before the central heating went OFF!!

A word of advice - old houses may seem romantic and enticing, they usually are. But be prepared for winter. No loft insulation, no cavity walls, a blocked over cellar. Heat escapes everywhere. Our living room has had the fire burning since 6am....it now 15.7C.

The kitchen is showing 13.3C....with the cooker on.

But good news too - we have a new laptop! Yay!!
Ours was slowly dying for months, was in the pc hospital for treatment but needed a hard drive transplant to give it new life. We've had it for a good few years and it was only a pretty basic one when we got it but it did for us. We decided not to go with the new hard drive as it was working again but it was never the same. Slow, reluctant to multi task, spluttering away, refusing to do anything that demanded a change in it's programming, becoming older and grumpier. And then it was so run down that it caught a virus. A very nasty one. One that made every part of it's workings sick, except for it's ability to stay in touch with all it's counterparts across the world. It didn't want to share any info with those counterparts though, and reluctanly allowed the sending of photo's and words after several hours of thinking about it. So we sent it off to a friend who confirmed that it needed urgent treatment, and possibly may never work again. Fortunately, despite it's grumpiness, it remained loyal and considerate and kept going long enough to share with us every photo stored in it's memory, before finally spluttering it's last.....for now. Hopefully it will be back and willing to do a little around the house again soon. But in the meantime we have a replacement. John has a gadget loving friend who had a laptop he wasn't happy with. He lost his own laptop in a house robbery 5 months ago but luckily was insured well and so was able to buy a replacement. He rushed into the purchase though and 3 months down the line decided tolook for another. What good timing! There's nothing wrong with the one he had, but he's a man, and a gadget lover, as I said. And he doesn't like to think there are better than his. We don't mind though ;)
So the deal was done, we have a 4 month old WORKING laptop for half the price it originally cost. It's great. Although it uses Windows 7, which means I need to get used to it a little. And best of all, the friend is happy to wait until after christmas for the cash, how kind is that?
So I'm cold, but I'm happy.

-x-

December day 7

2011-12-07T12:08:00.000Z

Create a wreath

In a complete reversal of yesterday, for today's activity Cain was the main participant. This was one that Heather couldn't really join in as it was just a bit too fiddly for her, not that she minded as she was busy building jigsaws instead. Owen helped out initially by stabbing lots of holes in the oasis ring, something he clearly relished - pens, holes, stabbing motions, force? all those things he is usually asked not to do!

Once the oasis was ~~destroyed~~ had plenty of guide holes Cain and Owen both started to push fabric scraps in. Owen soon got fed up of this as it demanded more precision, but Cain filled the whole wreath, searching for gaps to push the last few scraps into:

A wide strip of ribbon around the outside and it was ready to hang:

Today we added a knitted pear to our advent tree. Seven ornaments already, how quickly this month is galloping along. And with so much fun in each day, I hope your days are funfilled too.

-x-

December day 6

2011-12-06T22:20:00.000Z

Popcorn and cranberry garlands

More bad planning - the bag of popping corn that I thought was in the cupboard, wasn't! A trip to the local co-op, then further afield to the health food shop, before Dad finally managed to get some in the local Asda.

A certain little boy pretty much skipped this activity, playing upstairs instead with his sister. Owen and Heather enjoyed it very much.

From waiting for the pop:

To tasting the hot popcorn:

To counting the cranberries:

To stringing them up with a big sisters help:

A heavy cold and no make up meant a quick turn of the head when she saw the camera....

And finally a bowl filled with cranberry and popcorn garlands ready for decorating the tree:

Today we added a little knitted trumpet to the advent tree but no photo, the laptop is refusing to upload this last picture.

More tomorrow - I hope!

-x-

December day 5

2011-12-05T20:46:00.001Z

Salt dough ornaments

Well, this was an all day activity!

We started in the morning by making up the dough (250g plain flour, 250g salt, 260mls (ish) water). We rolled and cut and rolled and cut for a long while, they even held a little back for playing with through the day:

Then we placed our shapes by the fire to dry out. Much more economical than using the oven :)

It took until after our evening meal before they were dry and ready for painting:

The reindeer had to be brown of course, and there was a slight overuse of the black which had this mama itching to grab the brush, but I forced myself to stand back and let them get on with it.

All the ornaments are drying once again ready for threading in a couple of days when we finally bring our little tree in from the cold.

Our advent tree showing off it's new knitted addition:

The little red ball has CAIN stitched onto it, I know there is one with Owen's name but I can't remember if I found the time to do one for Heather last year, I'll have to have a root through the pockets later....

Happy December days.

-x-

December day 4

2011-12-04T16:43:00.000Z

Create a winter landscape

The weather forecast says snow over the high ground here up in the north, although not for us just yet. So whilst we wait for it we made our own winter scenes. Black card, cotton wool, glue, glitter, wool, foil confetti all ready so let's go.

Abstract winter landscape by Heather.

Dream winter landscape by Cain

Fantasy winter landscape by Owen (giant snow spider with babies falling from the sky)

And today the advent tree looks like this:

A mix up means that the star is already topping the tree, casting it's light to welcome the rest of the additions.

December day 3.

2011-12-03T17:01:00.001Z

Make Christmas pudding

OK this should have been done already but there you go.

Doesn't sound too time consuming after all that paper chain gluing yesterday, does it? But it turns out this was all the ingredients we had in for the mix we always use, Delia's traditional pudding:

So off to town to get the rest of the ingredients. Getting off the bus we met two young men in medieval clothing who explained that there was an event in one of the local churches. A Christmas tree festival, medieval living display, flea market and cake stalls, with carols in the background. It was only slightly out of our way so of course we had to go, albeit at a very slow pace:

Owen was fascinated by the medieval weaponry on display and got the chance to handle lots of swords, and even an enormous shield. The young man demonstrating told us that way back centuries ago the sons of the upper classes would learn their fighting skills from around the age of eight, only two years older than Owen. The equipment was just so heavy and everyone marvelled at how Owen managed to handle it so well.

Whilst Owen was occupied with all of that Cain had found a magnetic board with pieces to build a nativity scene., including parts for the stable. Cain spent so long arranging the pieces and was not at all interested in the other displays.

Mama wanted to spend a little time watching a medieval craft display but with three little people scattered around the church there was no time to indulge in that, especially as one little girl had discovered the steps to the pulpit and was busily climbing up and down!

After spending a good chunk of time in the church we went into town for our shopping, enjoying cones of hot chips to warm our cold fingers, before getting the bus back home. Once home and warmed up we finished our pudding mix, which is now resting ready for steaming tomorrow:

See how many ingredients we had to add (insert blushing smiley here at mama's poor organisational skills!!).

A little apple joined our tree this morning.

Happy December days to you all.

-x-

December day 2.

2011-12-02T22:47:00.000Z

Make paper chains

Another dad and little people activity whilst mama works. Although mama stayed up late last night getting this activity ready, cutting lots of paper strips, gathering the necessary's into a little box ready for today.

Well over 100 feet of paper chains all glued one by one (hurray for grown children reliving their childhood...)

A snowball for day 2 - hoping we see some of the real stuff soon.

-x-

December Day 1

2011-12-01T19:59:00.002Z

Each morning in December we will open a pocket on the advent garland, and find hidden inside a little piece of chocolate each and a card. Each day different words written on the card. Trying to enjoy a whole month of fun and sharing, not just the anticipation of one colossal day. Today is day one.

Unpack the seasonal decorations

Mama working today so a task easily shared by small children and Dad.

The winter corner - not technically time yet but it certainly feels it!

We have a second advent calendar, a hanging one with lots of little pockets filled with a little knitted item in each one. Each day we empty one pocket and hang the ornament on this little old scrappy tree. It always looks so full by the time it has it's full set.

Wishing you a season of family fun and love.

-x-

Bedtime.

2011-11-22T20:19:00.002Z

It was 3am. The children were all sleeping. Except one. The littlest person has stepped into the footsteps of her older brother, and decided sleeping is something that only needs a few hours of time devoted to it. I know for certain I have mentioned this so many times before. Cain was a terrible sleeper. Well actually no, not terrible, not for him, he got all he needed. It was terrible for me! He went to bed at 10pm, woke at 5am, every night, for many many months and years. Until he turned five in August. Then all of a sudden - sleep. Bed at 9pm, up at 7am. Wonderful. Only now this little girl, having slept perfectly reasonable periods of time since being a dot, has decided she doesn't need to sleep either! Bedtime for this little one is anything up to 3am. She does seem to have stopped waking in the night for boobie, but then to wake, technically she would have to sleep for a length of time? So yes, there we were, last night, 3am, putting the toys to bed. The entire toybox, carefully placed out on the floor, going to sleep. Heather lay with them to show them what to do. She just didn't want to do it herself.

Another game she likes to play with her toys:

And when she gets bored with the toys theres always the "big penis" - oh yes, you can see we have boys and their love of toilet humour!

But the one that made us all smile the most this week.....Mrs. Heather Potatohead!

Who needs sleep when you have this many smiles?

-x-

A giveaway.

2011-11-21T12:44:00.000Z

Head on over here for a mama-made giveaway. A real winter warmer, or a perfect stocking filler/last minute gift for a teen/young woman. I know because I have another four to make!!

Go take a peek right now :)

A special post.

2011-11-17T19:44:00.000Z

I posted over on my other blog but equally suited to here. To avoid repetition travel over and share some extra special memories :)

Seven days

2011-11-14T00:07:00.001Z

Joining in with Jacqui once again.

The past seven days, through the eyes of a five year old:


Enjoying strange reflections on a shiny surface.

Building up courage.


Dual foods - eat the sprouts, play with the stalk!


Enjoying his little sister's creativity.

Sheriff Owie.

Bedtime listening.

Trying to understand.

All photo's taken by Cain.

-x-

Dino day.

2011-11-08T19:13:00.001Z

Today we had chance to visit the Dinosaur exhibit at Liverpool World Museum after a lovely mama at our HE group arranged an educational visit discounted booking.

The day started with us taking a train into Liverpool, something we haven't done for a while:

Watching for the train -Hmm, don't think it will be coming from that direction.....

The exhibition was wonderful, although there were a few scary moments when they couldn't decide if the dinosaurs were real or not. They KNEW dinosaurs were extinct, but these were just so lifelike, and when one blinked and lurched forwards, well........

This was first, and seemed a reasonable enough "statue"...

Until it did this!

The scariest one, so obviously Owen's favourite and Heather's least liked.

Heather thought this one was enjoying eating its eggs.........had to explain they were the babies....

Cain was happy to find a huge version of his favourite toy dinosaur.

Afterwards we took a short walk through town and of course Owen and Cain had to run through these:

Soaking now we had to detour and stop for lunch, and to dry off a little. Once hungers were appeased and clothes a little drier, we carried on to our original destination - here:

John went up to the top many years ago with his mother, when it used to be a revolving restaurant, now it is the home to Radio City and it's sister stations, broadcasting right across Merseyside and beyond.

The views were amazing, despite the dull, dreary weather:

The dark rectangle in front of the white building in the centre is the fountains from the previous post! Yes, it's a long way up...

The Liver buildings way off in the distance, looking over the Mersey, recognised instantly by the boys.

We arrived back home just in time for our evening meal, and then John decided that a family all day ticket should be made the most of, so he and the boys have wandered off again for a spot of trainspotting, and maybe a visit to the infamous Pierhead by moonlight.

A wonderful, happy day.

-x-

Seven Days

2011-11-07T11:28:00.001Z

Joining in with Jacqui, and remembering the week in pictures.

A collection of photo's looking back over the past seven days in no particular:

Helping with the housework.

Dog fights - literally! Saffy and Owen enjoyed a bit too much rough and tumble.

What woo knitting mama?

Firework fun and another photo of one of these boys protecting the important bits!!

Doggily obsessed.

Music to clean to.

A week of smiles enjoyed, another to look forward to.

-x-

The return.

2011-11-01T21:38:00.002Z

At last we seem to be getting back to the place we want to be.

Monday there was more fun to be had with our own little Halloween themed celebration:

That fabric I bought 2 years ago has lasted well! Especially with an unused fly net spread over the top :)

Guts soup aka tomato soup with noodles (tastes just like proper spaghetti according to Sophie!), spooky shaped toast pieces, cookies iced with spooky shapes - in white because I didn't want food colouring, witches fingers with almond fingernails, Ogre soup aka kiwi, pear and spinach smoothie, and eyeball broth aka a bowl of rice pudding topped with a scoop of mushy jelly and a big persons malteser!

Pumpkins carved by Cain and Mama on the left, Owen and Daddy in the middle, and Heather, Jen and mama on the right.

Playing duck apple.

Everyone winning

Such a simple game bringing so many smiles.

Even more smiles with a game of bobbing for apples on a string.

Other games played too, musical statues - Simon Says, spooky films watched by candlelight - Scooby Doo, Casper the cartoon. And excitement at each knock on the door, dutily promoted by Daddy spending a good hour in the street directing small people towards our door!

And then today we went to our favourite HE group, one we have missed these past few weeks.

This boy has been seeking solitude in his play of late, so upset when others joined the game.

Cheered up by finding another little pocket of quiet.

This girl was much happier pushing the swing than sitting on it.

But mostly she enjoyed ladybird spotting.

When the ladder is too steep to climb then improvisation is the key!

Autumn always seems to be our time. A time for routine, for being ourselves, content, homebased, settled and at peace. Winter to look forward to, cold, fresh, exhilarating, homely, comforting and of course celebrations to enjoy. Spring, and re-birth, a wonderful time but then the itching begins, the need to do "things", to seek new adventure, to feel unsettled and tossed about. And then of course summer, long days spent our of doors, venturing near and afar, heat and exhaustion, cramming all we can into each day whilst we have natural warmth and light, forever busy, and of course split between two homes. Each season with it's own joy and promise, but none so welcome as autumn and the return to the place our heart dwells, the comfort of home and family.

-x-

This way, that way.

2011-10-31T11:15:00.003Z

Celebrating.

The popular and modern way:

Minnie Mouse and Mini Witch.

Tring to frighten passersby.

Sophie winning the best costume prize - Emma was delighted that the DJ mistook Sophie for a boy, the desired effect apparently!

Or a more traditional way:

The Liverpool Lantern Parade and an unseasonably warm evening.

This little person was a little overwhelmed and glad to be snuggled up against her mama. (Bravely facing up to looking rough but being there so the photo needs to be shown...)

At the beginning this creature bumped into....

This one!

They circled each other warily, surrounded by holwing wolves and skeletal beings.

The Parade began.....

led by these wonderful musicians in the most amazing costumes.

More fantastic creations....

Accompanied by Chinese lanterns streaming upwards

Wonderful celebrations enjoyed by us all.

Hoping your celebrations are as memorable as you wish them to be.

-x-

Efelant.

2011-10-26T19:38:00.001+01:00

Overheard:

Heather - "Ooh Mrs. Tatohead, you is a efelant."

Mrs. Tatohead (Heather with a squeaky voice) - No my arm is in my mouth hole silly!
Heather - "oh......yes".

-x-

This week........

2011-10-19T02:10:00.003+01:00

....has involved rather a lot of this:

Watching old Mickey Mouse cartoons on YouTube

Waking to this:

Enjoying this:

Carrot, orange, red pepper and lentil soup (aka day before the organic box delivery!)

Spending time crafting:

Breaking the rules:

A mince pie isn't just for Christmas (especially homebaked and accompanied by a mug of lemon and ginger tea)

Anticipating:

Pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins mmmmm

And of course news worth hearing for once:

Living three doors away from this memorial for such a time, passing it each day on our way to school, shops, the park, a part of our lives. Hearing that too-long list of names read out in parliament this week, the connections between the names, sisters, brothers, fathers, sons, families torn apart, and the vile and despicable words uttered over the days that followed, and now at last, after all this time, things beginning to move in the right direction for those left to deal with the heartache.

At last, may there yet be justice for the Hillsborough 96.

-x-

Picture day.

2011-10-11T10:11:00.000+01:00

Last night Cain decided that "tomorrow is picture day". He wouldn't expand on what this entailed, just said that it would be cool when tomorrow. So when I came downstairs this morning this is what I found:

He was right, it looks cool!

-x-

Autumn returns.

2011-10-07T17:19:00.000+01:00

Light the fire:

Time to pull out the slow cooker:

Veggie stew, dumplings and beetroot salad.

And lay down some fat stores:

Apple crumble and cream

Autumn's here.

-x-

Right now.

2011-10-06T20:06:00.000+01:00

An almost full home, each doing their own thing.

Favourite puzzles, played with daily

Old broken niddy noddy, new hammer


Telling about his sore leg

Doing his own thing

A night in

Telling a tale

Posing for the camera

Getting comfy

What are you doing right now?

-x-

Yarn along.

2011-10-05T16:39:00.000+01:00

Joining in for the first time with the yarn along over at Small things:

The knit in progress is a cardigan for Heather worked in Sirdar Click aran. Loosely following pattern no. 2275 for this yarn but with some changes to the collar and maybe more. Just blocking the same cardigan in a bigger size for Sophie but not sure I'm liking it. After initially following the pattern for the shawl collar I thought it looked ridiculous and was clearly wrong so had to make some major adjustments. The collar is much better now and general family consensus is that it looks good but I'm not convinced. Anyway, we'll see.

The book is hardgoing but unputdownable. A mix of personal anecdote and opinion, and an expose of the cruelties of bringing meat to the table. Great confirmation of held beliefs.

Looking forward to reading more yarn along posts.

Judging.

2011-10-03T11:41:00.000+01:00

Walking past a home, raised voices could be heard through the window. A woman's voice, clearly the mother, shouting loudly. "You know well enough to just bloody well stay away from each other and in your own rooms, and you three just shut up and leave me alone, I've had enough of all of you and I'm sick of hearing you, just go away!"

The noise stopped, doors banged and that was that.

I know the family that live in that home, three small children and a couple of older ones. I always thought they were doing ok, loved each other, got on well, and were happy enough. Didn't expect to hear something like that.

Two weeks earlier the mother had discovered she was pregnant again and was so happy. The happiness was short lived as she began to bleed the following day. The loss was heavy and painful over the next week or more but no-one knew and she carried on as usual, shopping, cooking, cleaning, caring for her family, going out to work. She began to feel a little unwell generally and noticed pain in her ear and jaw. To remind herself that life was generally good she went off on a mini break with her little family. The day she arrived at their little holiday hideaway she was in a freak accident where a large rock, the size of a large baking potato and twice the weight, struck her on the top of her head. She cried in shock and noticed the lump erupting. No immediate concussion or visual problems so she laughed it off and said she was fine. An hour or so later the migraine hit and she clenched her teeth and carried on smiling. Thirty six hours later the migraine receded and she could enjoy her break again, although she now had a light headache to go along with the continuing jaw and ear ache. With a day or two she had developed a cold, her sinuses stuffed, her face and neck ached, and her jaw was still sore. But she carried on, having fun, caring for her family, nursing her littlest one, cooking, playing, being mum.

On Saturday evening the family came home, tired but happy, hyperactive after a long car journey and with a sackful of washing to sort through. Mama fed the children, sorted the washing, emptied the car, cleared the fridge, washed the children, nursed the littlest and by midnight everyone was settled in bed.

On Sunday morning Mama woke early after a restless night feeding the littlest several times and unable to settle back to sleep with the pain in her head, cheeks, neck and jaw. The mama carried on as usual, washed, cooked, cleaned, entertained, acted as peacekeeper to grown children, separated fighting little ones, preparing three different meals to different tastes, yet not eating herself as her appetite was gone and she still felt unwell.

By 5pm she was flagging, her head was ready to explode and the children were getting irritable, two grown ones bullying the third, the third being generally rude and aggressive to everyone, the littlest getting tired and demanding boobie, the two younger boys pushing and shoving and being loud. The mama needed a break, just a few minutes of peace and silence. And so she exploded. The children looked at her in shock, and then wandered off quietly to various rooms and play.

How did the mama feel? No better, the silence was unnatural, the guilt was heavy, and the clock couldn't be turned back. But she had her pace and quiet. For a whole five minutes before the family gravitated towards the family room again. And the mama was pleased they were back. Because she was forgiven, and she knew that these days were thrown in amongst the many good ones to be lived through and learn from.

And she didn't pomise herself that she wouldn't explode again. Just that she hoped she wouldn't.

-x-

How life is.

2011-09-05T16:07:00.000+01:00

Today I am detoxing, and I feel terrible. Aching, swollen, craving, tired and emotional. I haven't had a good detox for such a long time, not felt that I needed to really, but just lately I have been feeling tired, sluggish and unmotivated and knew I needed to do something. Too many processed snacks creeping into the diet, it's so easy to grab and go on work days, to serve up a quick and easy scrambled egg and beans with shop bought bread toasted for the evening meal. I need to get back to basics, to feeling good about the food we eat, to feel good in myself. So a high raw, high water composition diet today and tomorrow for a thorough detox and then a healthier approach to food once again thereafter. And hopefully a return to the old energy levels, a surge in motivation, a happier feeling all round.

Ten reasons I'm not the parent I appear to be:

1. The amount of transformer toys in the home - 9 of them, all played with every single day, all found in charity shops over the summer, and definitely to be added to if we come across more, no matter what I feel about plastic toys!

2. The huge bag of Walkers crisps I hid in the pantry, to be given to the children at snacktime.

3. The children staying home all day the past 2 days because I don't want to go out and do lovely nature things.

4. Silently cringing at the high pitched shrill sound of "mama bed booby" and wishing her voice was just a little more melodic.

5. Hearing of a sale in the Asda and buying 4 t-shirts each for the boys.

6. Refusing to bake tasty treats because I will want to eat them all.

7. Wanting to go away ALONE just for 24 hours, and forget all about children and family.

8. Sending Heather to play with the kitten so I can look at Ebay for things I don't even need.

9. Buying a quiltmaking kit of Ebay and telling Craig that I can't afford a school PE kit just for his last 9 months.

10. Screaming back.

Hmm, maybe I will lose this self during the detox and the self I crave will return.

-x-

And........

2011-08-27T14:12:00.000+01:00

Things around here are.........well.........you know..........least said and all that.

So just popping in with a quick post to say thank you for all comments since announcing a celebratory sharing would be done. 26 comments posted since the announcement so I asked Random.org to choose me a number between 1 and 26, with each comment being assigned a number as they appeared on the comments log through the posts. And so Random.org decided that the chosen number would be.............1!!

Sue, (Charlie's wonderful mama) that means you :)

Email me with your address at bexbex71(at)hotmail(dot)co(dot)uk and you will receive a little mama love sharing gift. Now that I finally have something in mind!

-x-

Time.

2011-08-20T21:57:00.000+01:00

Time is going by so fast right now, not just the years, but the days and the minutes too. One blink and a day has gone. Five years ago this day already since I went to sleep for the last time with my seventh baby in my tummy, and feeling that I would be meeting him by the following evening. I was right, Cain arrived in the world at 9:20 in the evening of the following day. How could those years go so quickly, and how could it be the eve of his fifth birthday already?

But like I said, it's not just the years. The days are flying past too. What with work, cleaning, cooking, shopping, being with the children there is barely time left to breathe. I need to make a few changes to how we are pulling together as a family at the moment. The ideas are there but the motivation is lacking. I know I need to do these things but all I can think of in the evening is how soon I can get to bed. And then when waking things begin to roll and there is no time to sit down and think about the changes needed.

If only I had a stopwatch, if I could pause life for a moment to allow myself a chance to catch up with where my mind wants to be. Am I the only one feeling this way? Surely not? But what to do about it? Why does life rush ahead so, why does it need to be crammed full with little time to stop and enjoy the details? And how to snatch back moments in time to enjoy at leisure?

There must be a way, if you know please share.

-x-

Well........

2011-08-16T15:52:00.001+01:00

There are only six comments so far so I've got to say you're in with an excellent chance of sharing some bloggy love next week! So do you want to know what I was thinking of sharing? Haha, so do I! There's a veritable goody bag of gifts just waiting to be sent out but unfortuantely I haven't had a chance to whip the camera out. Maybe later :-) But until then don't forget - every comment has a chance to win.
Strange things are happening in Blogland though - last time I posted was number 400. this one is number 398! No idea what's happening there but if I post twice more by Sunday then it will definitely be the 400 post giveaway!
Odd little fact of the day - I now have 93 followers (been stuck in the 90's forever as I seem to gain one, lose one and never go up lol), and wondering why that number seemed important I had a sudden memory jolt - that was the number on the door of the house I lived in from the age of 12 months right up until 16. Funny how we value the significance of numbers isn't it?

Now I'm off to cushion the entire living room to protect a certain little person who has a new game of spinning until she drops down. Back later with an update of what we've been up to whilst the broadband line was unavailable ;-)

-x-

Sadness and smiles.

2011-08-10T20:57:00.001+01:00

Sadness for the events across the UK now. John has lived through this once before, he was a young man living in Toxteth in 1981 and remembers well how those riots shook his world and the community around him, and now it's happening again, and once again his birthplace became one of the flashpoints. We live only a short distance from Liverpool and still work, play and have friends and relatives living within the area where rioters rampaged the last two nights and we are so aware of the tensions around there right now. But this is not a political blog and I won't enter into whys and wherefores, only to say that my heart is with others suffering, worrying, and living through these difficulties.

So - Smiles!

A big thank you for all your comments on my last post, I really appreciate your kind words and knowing that you were reaching out to me from near and far. I typed and posted without reading back and so wasn't aware of how my feelings would come across. Hmm, bitter and resentful was pretty clear wasn't it? But you know, I have so much to be grateful for.Some good memories of my father, no matter what he was like when drinking, he was a kind loving father at times and it is from him that I get my love of nature, baking, creating and making do. I remember happy days spent walking the dogs, planting in our cottage garden, caring for the chickens and helping with his latest building project. He was a hugely gifted man and could do just about anything he set his mind to. Hey he was even capable of picking up the knitting needles and working a few rows when challenged :) And my Nan and Grandad, the most wonderful people I could ever wish to have known and my safe haven when life at home became unbearable. My hardworking Grandad who woke at 6am every morning to light the fire ready for my Nan to come down. My lovely Nan who had a home cooked meal waiting for Grandad every evening as he came home from working. Their love for each other so clear and so inspiring. Yes, my childhood had some good bits too and they're the parts I will choose to remember. too difficult

More smiles - and how beautiful is this fairy?

Even fairies need to stop waving their wands and have a snack and cuddle with their mama's:

And once fully nourished it's time to be a rock chic fairy:

Before deciding that a break was again needed and best taken right on top of mama's latest make and just when photo's are being taken:

More smiles when this man came calling:

His first day in his new job, in a career he has spent many years learning for. So excited when he popped round to tell us his day went well, that he didn't feel too out of his depth, and that he has his own office and phone line, with talk of hiring an assistant to his role too. After four years working on the checkout of the supermarket and studying at Uni he is finally getting to grips with a career that will challenge him in the way he always wanted. So pleased for this man, our son.

And so, this is post number 400, did you notice? And I promised a giveaway in celebration didn't I? Not quite sure yet what I will be sharing but for each time every one of you wonderful readers around the world comment on any of my posts from now until next Sunday, the 21st August (Cain's fifth birthday!), I will pop your name in the hat for some shared happiness.

And now, time to settle the littlies ready for an early night and the next two days in work.

Although maybe I will get a little crafting in first......:)

-x-

Bitterness is unbecoming.

2011-08-04T20:18:00.000+01:00

I just found out that my sister has given up/been told to give up custody of her 9 year old son. I don't know the full reasoning for this but she has a long history of mental health problems and learning disabilities going right back to early childhood. Maybe with the right parents she would have had a better chance but who knows? I certainly believe that having a father who bullied and rejected her constantly because of her problems, making his preference for his oldest daughter clear, would have been a huge contributing factor to her mental health. I wish I could have helped more back then, tried to protect her, support her, rather than close my eyes, cover my ears and be grateful that it wasn't me bearing the brunt of his temper that time. So my sister is a grown woman now, she birthed a child who also had some learning disabilities and they were a family unit for nine years. But my sister liked to drink and smoke, not sure how much, or even what, but I know it became a problem on top of many others, and so now she has lost custody of her child. Social services have placed her son with the next best option - our mother. The irony! The woman who was more than once reported to social services by neighbours for leaving her own children alone at home whilst she went drinking at the pub, all three children aged under ten. The woman who became pregnant on a one night stand whilst her nine year old babysat her two younger siblings. The woman who left her newborn child in the care of her ten year old daughter so she could resume her three nights out per week. The woman who lied to the police about her husband beating her oldest child and pushing and kicking that child down the stairs. The woman who told the police that the child was an attention seeker and was causing trouble because she didn't want to go to bed. The woman that never once bought her children warm coats, wellies, umbrellas, hats, gloves or any suitable winter clothing. The woman who would allow her oldest daughter to stay off school so that there would be someone home to look after the baby whilst she went shopping or round to the neighbours. The woman who sat in the neighbours house from teatime until late at night almost every single night of the week whilst her children were at home next door. The woman who left her daughter from age ten onwards to cook the evening meal and settle the younger children to bed every night so she could be with her friends. The woman who tried to have a facebook conversation with her granddaughter even though her granddaughter was offline and on getting no response told the granddaughter to "f*** off" and that she was a "stupid d***head anyway". The woman who promised to try and maintain regular contact with her grandchildren, phoned once, talked about her new boyfriend for 15 minutes and then never called again. The woman who has repeatedly swore at and verbally abused her grandchildren via facebook but has not spoken to them in the real world for over nine years. The woman who has never met her three youngest grandchildren of her great granddaughter. The woman who posted up her wedding photos with captions describing her lovely family and grandchildren but denied all knowledge of her oldest daughters family.

Yes this woman now has custody of her nine year old grandson.

I sincerely hope, for his sake, that people do change.

Hmm back to the title, bitterness is cetainly unbecoming. But sometimes it helps to let things out.

Thank you for reading.

-x-

We love to ride.......

2011-07-31T14:34:00.000+01:00

...our bicycles, we love to ride our bikes.

I realised I've not yet shared a photo of my lovely bicycle:

It really needs it's full title don't you think? It is a Puch Toledo which I think dates from the late 1970's/early 1980's and is a wonderfully comfortable, relaxed bicycle to ride. It has a huge thickly padded seat, just how it should be for a mama to enjoy riding, and only three gears so no fussing and clicking and thinking about gears whilst cycling dreamily along. John acquired it a while ago for the princely sum of £10 and I just had to have a lovely wicker basket to clip on the front, which actually cost more than the bicycle itself! I am rather in love with this bicycle and I know it will be in our family for many, many enjoyable years to come.

And the weather is so lovely right now that we are getting lot's of use from our pedal bikes, especially now that the boys are both cycling confidently and only Heather is using the trailer, making it easier for John with less weight to pull behind. Plenty of room left over now for shopping and all the bits that are too big or bulky to go into the basket. Although I think the trailer may be suffering slightly from it's part time use as a log carrier over the winter months......

A final thought - looking at these photo's and realising that all four bikes and the trailer were bought previously owned and cost us just about £100 in total. Not bad when you think that it costs almost that for a child's bike and far more for an adults, and they all end up looking the same a couple of weeks down the line! And we've saved more than that amount in petrol and associated driving costs, plus the fact that we can only buy essentials when shopping by bike as there just isn't the room to buy things we don't really need! An exercise in health and frugality here ;-)

-x-

Ooops!

2011-07-26T20:16:00.003+01:00

I missed my own blogiversary, how bad is that?

Things were a bit eurgh around here so I've been too tied up to get online for more than a very brief spell. Everything's still the same but as with all things when life doesn't go how we'd like we soon get used to the new norm I suppose.

So what have we been up to this week?

Well a teeny bit of normality and forward planning has helped at least. On Monday the boys decided they wanted to be pirates so we spent a big chunk of the day rummaging through the old clothes bag looking for potential pirate clothing and also searching the jewellery box for suitable pirate treasure. After a bit of chopping and sewing we ended up with two little pirates:

(note the pirate grimace on Cain - very scary don't you think?)

The rest of the day was spent casing each other around and jumping out on anyone nearby with shouts of "yarrr" and "awrrrr", both completely different sounds and each sound individual to the child, and not to be used by the other.

Today we continued the pirate theme with not too much persuasion and the morning was spent creating treasure chests and contents.

Shoes boxes covered in paint/pva mix, and left to dry whilst we made saltdough coins and treasures. Then whilst the treasures were drying out we decorated the chests with glitter and shapes. By the time that was finished the treasure was dry and ready to decorate:

(yes this girl likes to be naked - a blessing when paint and glue are in use!)

A walk to the co-op whilst everything dried:

Back home it was time for lunch and then an afternoon's baking.
And what were we baking? Pirate cookies! Yum,yum:

And to finish the day they all jumped in a glitter filled bath and ended up clean and sparkly more than we expected.

A lovely day today to make up for a not so lovely weekend, and plans to keep the pirate theme going for a few more days.

So after missing my blogiversary and the promised giveaway I thought I would wait a few more days and celebrate the 400th post instead. This is post 396 so almost there.........

Back very soon I hope.

-x-

Five.

2011-07-20T21:03:00.000+01:00

Five years on this earth.

Five years a mother.

Five years a grandmother.

A special day for this grandma writing, but more so for this mama and her daughter:

Love to Sophie on her special day.

-x-

To remind myself.

2011-07-20T12:10:00.000+01:00

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” – Buddha

“A jug fills drop by drop.” – Buddha

“Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” – Lao Tzu

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

Blogiversary!

2011-07-19T10:16:00.000+01:00

This Friday sees the third year anniversary of this blog. Three whole years! All those changes since I first started filling this space. Back then I was a stay home mum just about to go back to work after three years at home. Back then I had only one child who had left home. Since then another has left but a new one has arrived. A baby girl, the first girl in sixteen years, the first girl after three boys. Back then we had experience of home educating only from the later period of educational life. Now we are doing it right from the beginning. Back then I was just rekindling my love of knitting. Since then I have learned to crochet, to sew (kind of!), and taken the first steps in spinning too. But mostly life is still kind of the same. Days still spent with family, sharing life, sharing nature, sharing fun. Sometimes I worry that these posts are repetitive, that readers don't want to know the mundane little details. But I read back through posts and see the things we have done together, the fun we've had and I know that I will carry on recording that here, something the children will look back on with fondness and want to share with their families.

I don't write to inspire, I write to remember. And the memories are mostly good. The painful ones are reminders that even when things aren't going well they ease their way into the past eventually. Sometimes this blog seems to have multiple personalities, sometimes happy and upbeat, sometimes calm and contemplative, sometimes lost and lonely, sometimes it races along, sometimes it hides away. But then that's a true reflection of our life, our family, and mostly of myself.

So anyway, the third anniversary this Friday. And another milestone. This will be number 393 so it's fitting that I will be marking my 400th at around the same time as my fourth year of blogging begins. So to mark this I will be holding a little giveaway. Not sure just what it will consist of just yet but I will be thinking about it over the next few days. Be sure to come back Friday and say Hi on our third bloggybirthday

And thank you to everyone who has read, followed and commented here. Thank you for your support, your friendship, your advice, your understanding. Thank you to friends across the country, across the world.

Thank you.

-x-

That kind of day.

2011-07-18T10:28:00.001+01:00

It rained. All weekend. So we all found our own amusement.

For me it involved tipping out boxes and finding new homes for stuff:

Lot's more stuff neatly tidied but these kind of photo's are all kind of samey aren't they ;-)

And the boys did their own thing:

Not mentioning the mama made trousers of Heather's that a certain person tried to pull up over his long legs and wider hips.......and subsequently ripped beyond repair!

A spell playing in the garden in the rain and a slow walk around to the local shops to release pent up energy, coming home dripping wet but so much more calmer. No photo's though as it rained just too hard to stand around for long. And there's the problem of battery life. The camera has a LI-ON battery and so needs it own charger. Unfortunately the charger is currently at the caravan due to one forgetful mama......so for the time being photo's are quickly snapped and transferred to the computer. No time for framing, selecting settings, retaking dodgy shots, what you see is what you get until I get that charger back.

The rain continues today along with howling gales, what fun will we find to busy young bodies and minds today?

-x-

Changes.

2011-07-13T22:08:00.001+01:00

Cain declared he was fed up of long hair in his eyes so yesterday he went out with Dad looking like this:

And came back like this:

Tears held back, mama's boy is growing up and making his choices.

Just got to let it happen........

This girl.

2011-07-12T14:27:00.000+01:00

Finding her own private lunch spot:

(Yes, that is 2 boxes of raw fleece with some washed fleece next to her!)

Because she knows:

(I hope I don't look that uncommitted when she nurses!)

And why she knows:

This girl makes my heart melt.

-x-

A short break.

2011-07-07T22:10:00.001+01:00

Early mornings are so much better when you can do this at 6:30am:

And then meeting this couple practising road safety on the stroll back from the river:

Finding neighbours much closer than we thought, right under the caravan:

And possibly the Mother-to-be, sitting on the garden fence:

Meeting more of the neighbours:

The first few days were so warm they quickly went from this:

To this:

And even falling in and getting soaked from feet to neck could be laughed off:

Then two days of rain saw this:

See the submerged greenery? We were standing on that the previous day when it was solid dry ground! And that step is actually the third one up from the riverbank. Owen and Cain both welcomed the reassurance that the water wouldn't keep creeping up the steps and into the caravan.

It was lovely to get away from life as it is for a short while.

-x-

So.....

2011-06-29T21:56:00.000+01:00

I am now officially a woman in her 40's!

A relaxed day, spent with the children. A stroll around the town and some lovely thoughtful gifts.

You know when you mention that you like a certain thing and then you are inundated with things on that theme? Well these were gifts from the girls:

Lot's of lovely ideas inside although I think we might end up a little over-CK'ed if I try all the makes I liked.

A knock at the door in the afternoon heralded the arrival of the postman and this big box:

We opened the box carefully, the boys so excited by the thoughts of what had travelled such a long way to arrive on my birthday.

We peeled back the flaps and discovered these:

Lovely dyed locks for spinning.

We took them from the box and oh , how wonderful, we came across all of this beautiful fibre for more spinning:

And finally tucked into the side of the box was these books:

What a wonderful box of goodies!

But you know what was the best thing about this box? The thing that really warmed my heart? This box of goodies was sent all the way from America by a friend I have never met. Who I only know from online. I have been privileged to share glimpses of this woman's life through her blog and I know that if we were to meet in real life we would be good friends, she is such a kind, caring, loving mama. I won't link here as I haven't asked permission, but L thank you, you are truly a kind, caring, thoughtful mama. Your gift was the icing on the cake of my birthday.

-x-

A morning out.

2011-06-27T15:16:00.000+01:00

We went to bed and it was 20C. We woke this morning and it was still 20C. With no plans made we decided the beach was the coolest place to be whilst the day warmed up. So off we went to Crosby beach and Marina, one of our favourite places.

We contemplated the ripples made by dropping stones:

We played on the park:

We enticed crabs with lines left by visitors before us:

We scrambled over rocks:

We dug holes in the sand:

We watched the birds whilst they watched others:

We had a lovely morning out n glorious sunshine.

Hope you are enjoying this brief heatwave too.

-x-

Oh, for........!

2011-06-25T20:01:00.000+01:00

This is one of those posts.

You know, a feeling sorry for myself one.

I worked an extra half day this week, all day Friday instead of ending at lunchtime. As you probably know it is just coming to the end of national breastfeeding awareness week so I have been quite busy. I offered to work an extra half day as we were running an awareness stall in the towns market. It was a great day, things went smoothly and we managed to talk to lots of people. When I finally finished I had a headache and felt a bit achey. I hoped it was just from overtiredness so thought no more of it. I wen to bed around 10pm after setting my alarm for 6am, we needed an early start to get to Woolfest at a good time. So this morning I woke up and as soon as I moved I felt my head explode, also noticing that my throat felt swollen and my chest felt heavy. Oh yes, I have a cold/infection/virus of some sort coming along. What wonderful timing.

So instead of having a lovely day surrounded by all things woolly and likeminded crafters, I have instead spent the day at home, aching, heavy eyed and unable to taste or smell, with every sound vibrating through my head.

Not what I wanted just before my 40th birthday!

And to make things just that little bit harder Sophie is staying with us tonight as her mum is going to the wedding of an old schoolfriend and I had promised ages ago.

Oh well, at least if it's all happening now it might be on its way out by Tuesday.........

Hope you're all having a better weekend whatever you're up to.

-x-

Last Halloween...........

2011-06-22T21:02:00.000+01:00

.......I hid a tube of fake blood away from the boys and promptly forgot where.

Yesterday Owen found it:

Washing it off made it worse, the bright red turned to deep pink and stained his whole face overnight!

Fortunately he used the whole bottle in one go........

-x-

Today.........

2011-06-18T13:59:00.000+01:00

is this little girls birthday:

I could blog forever about how much we love her, how smart/funny/amazing/beautiful/adorable she is but you all know that right? Some of you have been with this blog longer than Heather has been with us. Right from the first hint, to her birth, and to now, two years later:

A wonderful journey for us and a special thanks to all who have shared Heather's life through this blog.

Lovely, happy, smiley wishes to everyone.

And now back to HeatherFairy and the Wiggles: quack, quack, quack, quack, quaaaack, cockadoodledoo.........

-x-

Falling to pieces.

2011-06-16T23:31:00.002+01:00

I am not feeling great lately. Two weeks ago we went down to the caravan, I became intensely nauseous on the journey there, which wore off after arriving. Coming home 2 days later same again but less so. Driving to work last weekend I felt sick again, even though it was only a 20 minute journey. Both days. And then yesterday getting a lift home the same churning tummy again. And it's not just in the car. Today I felt it on the bus to work. And then again on the train at lunchtime. I did get a brief spell of travel sickness during my first pregnancy 22 years ago but never since. And no, I'm not pregnant.And my diet hasn't changed, nor has my sleep pattern or stress levels, or surroundings. No idea what it is but it's not nice. In fact I feel sick just sitting here right now.

And something else - I have had this little itchy patch in the crease of my arm for around 6-8 weeks. It is sooo itchy, I want to tear at it most of the time. But I don't. Because it bleeds. And that makes it worse. And now the past few days I have noticed another patch starting on the bridge of my nose. And I definitely don't want that going all scabby!!

And another thing - two weeks ago I cracked my front tooth and it fell to pieces. Very embarrassing because I was in the town centre waiting for the train! So anyway I got an emergency dental appt and he put a temporary crown on so it looks ok for now. It needs all the proper work doing over the next two months though. And then 3 days after that the filling in my back tooth came loose and the tooth crumbled. So this one I have not gotten fixed as it doesn't hurt, it can't be seen, and I want the front one sorting first.

And did I mention - ten weeks ago I stubbed my toe and thought I had broken it but was too stubborn to go to the minor injuries. Well eight weeks later and still in pain I went off to the GP and was told the bone wasn't broken, but the ligament had been damaged instead. And if I'd strapped it and took time off work it would have been all better so it was my own fault.

So there you go, I'm falling to pieces really.I was looking forward to saying hello to forty and a new stage in life. But you know, I'm kind of going off it right now.

Ah well, there's a bright side. Things come in three's right? So that's three done and dusted.
And we won't count in the hay fever because that's a given every year.........

Oh yes, things can only get better now.

-x-

How things change.

2011-06-09T19:28:00.000+01:00

Six years ago this week my life changed forever from what I thought I wanted to what it is now. Six years ago this week I had a lovely modern home with a big garden, I was in university studying for my lifelong career, I had five lovely growing children all reaching different stages of independence, and a wonderful hardworking husband.

I was also heavily pregnant and about to give birth to a baby that we hadn't planned, and had been told we couldn't conceive. When we realised we had conceived this baby we were shocked, unsure, rocked. How could we continue our life as it was with a new baby added in? What about my career? Money? Our home and lovely garden?

But hey, life never runs the way we plan does it?

And so on the 6th of June 2005 our little baby boy was born. We held him, adored him, were all besotted with him. And we knew that life was going to change forever. And we very quickly dreamed of bringing a baby brother or sister into the family to share a childhood together. We were quickly blessed with another little boy only 14 months later, followed by our beautiful girl three years later. Career dreams faded away and being home with our children became the most important thing to both of us. Which meant the man dropping hours and working the minimum to provide the basic cost of living. A return to work part time for myself so that both the man and I could share equally the wage earning and the time with our children. A move to a bigger, older garden free home with lot's more space and at much lower cost. The realisation that life was no longer spontaneous and filled with friends, but that children would always come first and be part of our social world.

Yes a big change in our lives that 6th of June six years ago. And one we are blessed to have made.

With so much love to this boy who changed our lives and our family and our dreams forever:

Birthday and every day love for a special boy.Thank you for showing us what we really desired, what our real dreams were.

-x-

Up and down.

2011-06-05T01:30:00.000+01:00

Has had it's ups and downs.

I had a week off on annual leave last week and returned on wednesday this week. A colleague asked if I had a nice week off. I said that it was ok, we hadn't really done much and then bang came the memory that the reason I hadn't done much was that I spent the whole week with cramps and loss. And I cleared my mind, swallowed hard and continued with my calls to pregnant and newly delivered mama's.

On Thursday I was on my lunch break and my front teeth broke, completely. All that was left was an ugly stump. And I was in the middle of the town centre. So I went straight to the dentist and luckily he squeezed me in within the hour. And then it was fixed and I don't know why I wanted to cry. It was only a tooth.

When I got home Owen had lost his first baby tooth. And so he was a big boy. I went upstairs and got out of my work clothes. And screwed up my eyes, and held my breath. And tried not to cry. They all grow up, I should be used to that by now.

On Friday I worked and the children were with Dad all day. And at bedtime Cain began to sob and said his foot was sore. He had a blister coming up on his heel because he had played all day with shoes but no socks. So I hugged him and let him nurse and he told me that I shouldn't have left him and gone to work because I should have stayed home to help him dress because he can't do socks by himself and he needs me here. And I didn't cry. I just hugged him and closed my eyes and lay with him until he stopped hurting.

And I wanted the same for myself.

But I am me, and I am strong, and I carry on.

Because it's all I can do.

And because there is good too.

And the hard times make the good times sweeter.

And my life is good.

-x-

"I want to.....

2011-05-31T20:10:00.002+01:00

........ make something!"

These words spoken by Cain today whilst I was sat at the sewing machine making a lining for a new bag. I looked at him and saw the hope and dreaming in his beautiful face. Well I really want to use that brief snatch of time whilst Heather was playing with big sisters to finish off the bag but could I say no to such a longing gaze? I swept aside the fabric I was using and turned to face Cain. "What do you want to make" I asked. He wanted to sew something. What? He didn't know, just looked around the room and then towards the window. "A tree!" he exclaimed. So a tree it would be. I had flicked through this book only a week or two ago and remembered the tree quilt project and so thought I would show Cain the picture to see if maybe that was something he would like to try. It was. Within seconds he was rooting (boo!) through the fabric drawers looking for brown for the tree, and picking his favourite scraps to make leaves from. I cut the pieces as Cain struggled a little and was getting a bit upset with himself and then we sat at the machine. Cain was too nervous to guide the fabric through but he did want to "make it go" so he worked the foot pedal instead. He stopped and went as I asked and quickly learnt to control his speed too. He passed me all the leaves and told me where he wanted them to go. When the sewing was finished we found a piece of bamboo cane in the shed and the saw from Cain's toolbox and I helped to notch the cane so that Cain could saw through. We finished it all off with a length of ribbon in Cain's favourite colour and proudly hung it in the living room.

Of course everyone who walks into the room has had to admire it and he is so pleased with his work, telling everyone that I only helped him a little bit.

So today I am thankful that I listened fully when my child spoke.

That I set aside my own desire to put my wants first.

That I trusted in his ability to understand the task.

That I gave him the chance to express his own creativity.

That I put aside my own ideas of what the end result should be.

That I had that time to do those things.

That I recognised how blessed my life is.

-x-

Saturday sounds.

2011-05-28T14:59:00.000+01:00

Several hours of this............or so it seemed to this mama!

And of course a little one has to have a go too:

What are the sounds of your Saturday?

-x-

Friday fun.

2011-05-27T19:49:00.000+01:00

This boy likes to wear his sister's sunhat, covered by his brother's bike helmet, and listen to Abba's greatest hits whilst performing his own special dance:

Lots of smiles from mama today.

-x-

Not all smiles.

2011-05-26T00:28:00.000+01:00

In the last post I wrote about our lovely weekend, and it was. Mostly. I didn't tell you about the whole weekend though. A week ago monday my period was due. I had lots of cramping and expected the obvious loss at any time. By Thursday the cramping was still going on but with no loss. I decided to do a pregnancy test as I remember feeling certain my period was going to happen any time with both of my last two pregnancies, despite then just knowing I was pregnant. So I did a test and there was a faint line in the pregnant space. Only faint but definitely there. By saturday I was still cramping so took another test. Another line but fainter than the previous one. Late on saturday I began to bleed. Not too much and the cramping eased off. By monday evening the cramps were back and very painful and the bleeding was very bright and heavy. This continue through tuesday but has lessened again today. And that's about it. No real need to post but just acknowledgement of what may or may not have been.

I finally told John this morning as he said he was a little worried that I didn't seem right and that I had been looking very pale the past couple of days. He is a little disappointed I think. I happen to have the broodiest husband in the world. But you know, I'm almost 40, I've had gynaecological problems in the past, and I've been lucky to be blessed with eight healthy pregnancies and babies up to now. There's only so far a person can go isn't there?

-x-

Loving weekends.

2011-05-22T20:34:00.000+01:00

This weekend we sold all of this at the car boot sale:

John and Helen came home with £60 more than they left with and relief that other people actually wanted stuff that we didn't!

This weekend we used the wild winds to our advantage:

Flags quickly sewed up by mama, mounted onto bamboo sticks cut by Owen with a newly found saw, and decorated with fabric pencils by small people.

Owens:

Cains:

Heathers:

We turned storage into sleeping areas, well, for fun at least:

We discovered the power of magnets:

We chalked pictures in the yard:

Yes, we are loving weekends.

Hope your weekend has been just as good.

-x-

Staying true.

2011-05-14T10:06:00.001+01:00

Isn't it difficult to stay true to oneself at times? Generally I'm ok with it. Most people know "me" to a little extent and I don't hide from outright questions but often when it comes to it I will skirt round some issues, primarily HE and full term BF. Well three times this week I have stuck to my principles and whilst one time has left me a little unsettled I do generally feel good about this.

So this week I answered the "which school are they in?" question truthfully and said they weren't and wouldn't be for at least the foreseeable future. That news will be round the neighbourhood fairly quickly.

I answered the "when did he stop" question by saying he hadn't and that yes, he was almost five, and yes Heather was too. And there were relative strangers in earshot.

And finally I put my belief in the need for BF support to the front and filed a complaint against a midwife who was, it appeared to me, completely dismissive of our service, the need for such a service, disrespectful of her colleague and lacking in her own support for BF'ing mums. The thought of what the repercussions may be are a little worrying but I have the full support of my manager and I know that I couldn't respect myself if I had let this continue. Hmm, I wonder how my next shift on that ward will go? Worrying as we have an honorary contract with that hospital and aren't actually employed by them, but work for the nearby community trust instead. And we have worked hard to become almost accepted there..........

Oh dear, my figer has hovered over the publish button for several minutes now, not sure I want to admit to being a "snitch". Ok Beck, stay true.........

-x-

Practise makes perfect.

2011-05-10T18:42:00.001+01:00

Stabilisers off on Monday morning.

Lots of riding with Dad helping to balance on Monday afternoon.

And by Tuesday afternoon the result:

One very happy boy!

Adding, the conversation early this morning:

O - "Dad made me lose my balance"

Me - "Oh, well where did you last have it?" (not very helpful I know!!)

O - "on my bike, let me show you"

Me - "where on your bike?"

O - "just here on the wheel"

Me - well what did it look like?"

O - "it was round and red"

Me - "and now it's gone."

O - "yes. maybe it's in the street".

Me - "do you think so?"

O runs through to the living room.

Dad - "where are you going?"

O - to find my balance"

Me and Dad - "ok"

He certainly found it though :-)

Dictionary of an almost 2 year old.

2011-05-10T09:36:00.002+01:00

Yes, no, do it, me do it, Hedder (Heather), Dennie (J), Henger (Helen), moolk, boobie, dinner, egg, nana, apple, saus-beans, silly, naughty, stop, go, run, fast, sleep, bed, show me show me, tumble, dolly, baba, pram, car, shop, park, swing-slide-round-round, out, in, phone, bath, hair, eyes, nose, knees, head, ears, legs, sore, hurt, hand, shingers (fingers), toes, feet, mouth, tongue, solders (shoulders), bum, eenis (penis, shared baths!), potty, birdie, rabbit, dog, cat, horsey, lion, tiger, nake (snake), spoon, fork, plate, cup, dink (drink), chair, blanket, carrot, drums, sing, book, read, caterpillar, shuff-fly (butterfly), coat, hat, gloves, truck, bike, raining, light, dark, bin, tree, flower, dad, mammy, house, bucket, control, boat, toilet, man, shoph (Sophie), day, pillow, socks, shoes, pants, towel, wiggles, door, window, floor, necklace, ring, bag, brush, noise, fish, water, splash, pen, ope (open), shut, on, off, sand, crocodile, chicken, red, pink, pounds, face, wash, wheresit, star, bear, train, squash, oh dear, wake, gone, ant, spider, fire, hot, noodles, kiss, cheese, pen, up, down, fart, burp, funny, pirate, sheep, dirty, pen, eek-eek (mouse), duck, star, heart, ...........

And probably more.

Love these baby conversations.

-x-

Ask and receive.

2011-05-08T09:06:00.000+01:00

So we asked for more rain. And we got it. Torrential in the morning, dry in the afternoon and torrential once more by evening. The littlies must have forgotten what it was after not seeing any for several weeks. They played in the yard during the worst part and came in looking like this:

Playing in the rain must have been very tiring:

And in the afternoon there was more water themed play:

Dry land swimming!

I wonder what today will bring?

-x-

At last!

2011-05-07T11:49:00.001+01:00

It hadn't rained for almost all of April and we really missed it. The local countryside had been burning for almost a week and downpours were prayed for. So yesterday the prayers were heard and the rain came. The boys loved it and when they woke up this morning to yet more rain they were straight out there:

It's still so warm so the rain isn't a big deal. Let's hope we get a few more days yet, the plants could really do with it.

Thick fruity drinks still a staple here. Today was pineapple, peach, mango, coconut and OJ:

Sunshine in a glass!

And last night the craving for sweetness kicked in, but I remembered reading this blog a few weeks ago so gave the recipe a tweak and a try:

Oh wow, Claire, this is just sooo good! The boys loved it, John had a helping and I had several. Just like a sticky rich brownie but no sugar, fat, or animal products. I used half a cup of dates and the same of prunes, with a half cup of walnuts and just under a quarter cup of cocoa powder so not exactly the same but the taste was mmmm! Very, very rich so only small helpings needed and the last bit that wasn't taken last night was quickly demolished at breakfast with the sunshine smoothie. Well we've definitely had our recommended fruit for the day.........

Hmmm, wonder what's for lunch?

-x-

Sunshine food.

2011-05-06T15:38:00.000+01:00

The weather has been so warm and bright these past few weeks that we have found our food longings changing. Out go the warm wholesome soups and stews we have enjoyed so much through the winter and in come plentiful fruit and salads.

The little people love to create new smoothies and sunshine drinks for breakfast and throughout the day:

Cain and Sophie topped the strawberries and and added the blueberries, banana and pears before taking it in turns to hold down the boost button for this thick smoothie. A full litre of soya milk gave it the perfect consistency and flavour and it was gone within seconds! Top of the list of favourites are pineapple, mango and pear with orange juice, and banana, pear, yoghurt and cinnamon breakfast smoothies. Cain is loving peach, banana, strawberry and rice milk:

Sweet tooth snacking comes in the way of this little salad:

Kind of inspired by my favourite sweet snack of all, carrot cake, it's just grated carrot, sultanas, dessicated coconut, sunflower seeds and peanuts tossed in a squirt of fresh squeezed orange juice. Sweet, crunchy, tasty and good for you too.

Tonight we'll have stuffed aubergines with potato salad.

But before prepping that I hear the carrot salad beckoning for a second helping...........

-x-

Back in bowl.

2011-05-02T22:31:00.000+01:00

John and I share a little joke now and then. We watched a film many years ago starring Steve Martin. It may have been called "the man with two brains" but I'm not sure. There was scene where he was running around with this bowl and a mystic was following him shouting "back in bowl" and for days afterwards we would shout the phrase whilst handling bowls of any sort. We still randomly call it out to each other now. OK it's not really that funny in writing but I'm sure most people have those odd little private jokes that other people just don't get.......

So anyway, we were at the car boot sale recently and I gave John a nudge and whispered those words. He looked at me like I was mad so I pointed over to one of the stalls. Stacked up on the ground behind the stallholder was a little stack of wooden bowls. I leaned over and picked one up. 80p the stallholder told me. Hmm, I thought, 80p seems fair enough. So I nodded ok and the stallholder said she would put them in a bag. THEM? And into the bag went the four small bowls and a larger one too. So I gave her a pound coin, told her to keep the change and happily took the bag and wandered away, with John walking alongside muttering "back in bowl".

See the bowls as I bought them:

And after a soapy wash followed by a good polish with a mixture of oil, beeswax and lavender oil:

All shiny and lovely smelling. perfect for the bedside, the mantlepiece and the sideboard to store all those little bits that usually have no safe resting place.

-x-

Housebuilding.

2011-04-30T09:42:00.001+01:00

On a small scale!

Easter Monday was spent building a frame for a little house for the children. John rescued the wood from the yard of a small factory he used to walk past when taking the dog out. He happened to spot a load of wood there one time and asked if he could take it for the fire and they agreed and said that he could take any wood he ever saw in that certain area as it was no use to them. So he takes a walk past every week and usually finds wood suitable for burning. Only this time he found big long lengths of thick wood suitable for re-use. So here's the recycled frame:

Ably assisted by Craig:

And then this next bank holiday and the Royal Wedding. Of course we were glued to the TV during the morning, John, Owen, Cain and myself. The big people were far less interested. Owen and Cain asked a million and one questions - who people were, why they were wearing that costume, what the building was, why all the horses, what model of car, and on and on. Owen pronounced that Prince William looked very handsome in his red soldier costume (red being Owen's absolute best colour), and Cain declared Catherine the most beautiful princess he had ever seen, he wasn't quite understanding the whole deal on titles, mind you, neither do I. Cain was fascinated to see that there were real life Knights accompanying the coach back to Buckingham Palace. The accompanying horserider in his knight-like headgear being the object of that fascination.

So back to the building work. The extra bank holiday meant that after the wedding John had time to get back to work on the building and by evening this is where he was up to:

Just some minor finishing of trims, a door to build and a window to cut out and then it's ready to have an injection of the boys personality. Actually the boys are already in there making plans whilst Dad is out having a wander around the car boot sale. I wonder what he'll bring home with him :-)

-x-

seasonal doings free post!.

2011-04-25T09:20:00.001+01:00

So we painted eggs, thought about re-birth and new beginnings, enjoyed a walk, talked about the Christian meaning and ate chocolate but I know there's only so many photo's of bunnies, chocolate eggs and hot cross buns that you want to see, right?

So here's what else happened over the holiday weekend.

Friday and Saturday I worked both days, all day, on the postnatal ward. Immediately outside the hospital is a lovely big park and this is where I spent my lunch breaks, nibbling on flapjacks and fruit and nuts, and with my crochet in my hands. I now officially love crochet, have I mentioned that already? So easy to slip in a bag and carry around, just one little hook, and a ball of wool. This is what I have been working on during those lunch breaks:

Aaargh just deleted everything I wrote after this point!!!

So the cloths - quick and easy to make, easy to rinse through so more hygienic than the sponges I have been using the past 20+ years (oh the shame, oh the landfill!), filled with memories (crocheted in the sunshine in the park after a morning spent with mama's and their newborns) and just so much prettier (did you ever see a dish sponge as nice as these?).

Heather had a meltdown in the car boot sale yesterday, she so wanted yet another baba. So what could we do? We carried her in the mei tai. We walked with her. We piggybacked. But she screamed and threw herself around every time she saw a dolly. Daddy gave in. 50p for a Tiny Tears. Much better than the other method of "keeping the child quiet" that was so much in evidence - sweets, crisps and ice-creams! And once home we can always give it to the charity shop. After all she already has her favourite baba at home. Must remember to bring baba with us next time. Only it seems this new baba won't be leaving us after all, Heather lost all interest as expected but baba found a daddy instead:

She was carried in Cain's sling all afternoon, ate with him, slept with him and was the first thing reached for this morning.

And just in case you wondered what had been happening with the homelearning lately, well Dad has been teaching Owen all kinds of amazing stuff. They are building a playhouse together so lots of measuring and sawing and hammering of nails. No photo's of this yet as I'm too busy watching little people around all those tools, but here's a photo of something else Dad has taught Owen:

Such a necessary thing to know wouldn't you agree?

Season's blessings to you all.

-x-

Just making sure........

2011-04-20T11:02:00.000+01:00

Owen and Cain get right on with it:

See Heather cauitiously checking them out?

Well the boys are having fun:

So maybe she should have a go too:

And then it's time for the hands to sqishily join in:

If it's good enough for the boys:

Cleaning up - even more fun:

Lovely painty days.

-x-

A rare event.

2011-04-18T01:19:00.000+01:00

Four daughters, three sons, one granddaughter and one husband:

Can anything make the day better?

-x-

Camping.

2011-04-16T21:18:00.000+01:00

Outside:

And in:

Most of the play involved the boys being chased around the "tent" by Heather and then diving inside when she couldn't see before bursting back out on her.

A great way to spend an afternoon.

-x-

Here comes the sun.

2011-04-13T21:09:00.000+01:00

It took him a few seconds but he worked it out.

Now if we can have a little more sunshine and a little less cloud....

Getting through.

2011-04-11T10:03:00.000+01:00

Playing:

Building a high tower to jump off, onto, into, and over. I love how these two boys have really started to play together and take turns, one setting up the game for the other to try and then reversing roles.

Learning:

Cain - "Mum, what begins with P, puh, puh uh?"

Me - "Panda? Polar bear?"

Cain - "No, Car. Car begin's with.......ooops, C!"

Reading:

Learning to understand it.

Sewing:

Getting better. Especially now I swapped the foot pedal to my left foot. Should have thought of that sooner.

Helping:

Sorting out buttons - shades, shapes, number of holes, or just playing tiddlywinks.

Painting:

Spring painting, everywhere green and flowers blooming now.

Sleeping:

Who needs beds?

Thank you all for following, and commenting. I do read them all you know, but then I pop over to your blogs to catch up and forget to come back here and thank you.

So a big thank you today to all who read, follow and leave such lovely comments and thoughts.

-x-

It's coming.

2011-04-07T19:53:00.000+01:00

That feeling again.

I am focusing too intently on new thoughts.

I am creating order to the minutest of detail.

I am crafting with purpose, rather than enjoyment.

I am tired, so tired.

I am pushing myself.

I am offering more than I can capably give.

I am seeking perfection where it doesn't need to be.

I am withdrawing.

But I am recognising all these things.

So that's got to be a good thing, right?

-x-

Lighting a candle.....

2011-04-04T09:46:00.003+01:00

For all mothers in thanks for the love they give.

For those mothers who were and moved on leaving the best of memories for others to cherish.

For those mothers whose hearts have been broken by simply being a mother.

For those women who dream of becoming mothers.

For those mothers who step into the breech and love unconditionally on behalf of mothers that can't.

Blessings to all.

-x-

A conflict of dolly opinion!

2011-04-01T21:29:00.002+01:00

These are mama made dolls, one by me and two by the very talented Pippa. Soft, appealing, cuddly and natural:

This is little baby Annabel, hardlimbed, plastic, glassy eyed:

Mama would love for little one to share the love of mama made dolls.

Little one LOVES little baby Annabel.

Little baby Annabel can not be booted from her position of no.1 dolly.

So what to do?

Allow little one her choice of course!

And so little baby Annabel will be getting a mama made outfit for her birthday, which just happens to be on the same day as the little one:

All thanks to Daddy for finding this oh-so-wonderful knitting book at the car boot sale recently:

Little one loves little baby Annabel.

Daddy loves bargain finds that make mama smile.

And mama loves vintage knitting books and patterns:

Everyone's happy.

Apart from the poor little handmade dollies. Who have to make do with being playthings for growing boys instead. And you can just imagine what that involves!

Choose life!

2011-03-31T22:05:00.001+01:00

Remember that old slogan? Or am I showing my age now?

When I was very young, maybe 7 or 8 years old, I happened to hear my father in the shed "sorting out" the chickens. We had a small market garden and he used to sell fruit, veg and eggs, poached rabbits and chickens too. He used to use what we needed to feed the family and sell the rest to fund his other great pastime. So one day I decided to have a peek in the shed to see what was happening. I knew I shouldn't have looked in there, my father warned me often enough to stay out of there. But I had to go peek. Now I wasn't stupid, I knew that he was killing the hens and they would become food. But I just had to go see for myself. And so I saw. The same day I sat with Silky, my own little white pet hen, and I promised her and myself that I would never eat chicken again.

A couple of years later a neighbour made a big pot of rabbit stew for the local bonfire party. I felt physically sick at the thought of what was in the stew and refused to eat it. How could they cook and eat a cute little bunny, just like my very own Floppy? Someone told me not to be silly, why was it different to eating any other once living creature - pig, cow, fish. And you know I remember having one of those flashes of illumination - that was what meat was, once living creatures. It just hadn't crossed my mind that way.

By the time I was 13 I no longer ate meat, poultry or fish. I wasn't a puritan about it, I didn't check labels and refuse wine gums etc. I just refused to eat anything that I knew had died to become the item on the plate. Then I met John who did eat meat. And quite regularly too. At first I would cook his meat and make myself a meat free version of what he was having. And then the same when the children came along. Eventually I stopped cooking meat and the whole family ate the vegetarian options I prepared. Oh they did have meat occasionally, but John would cook it for them. But it wasn't a common event.

But just lately I have returned to including meat in their meals, if they specifically requested it. John enjoys it now and then, maybe a couple of times a month. The grown up children can choose to eat out and accept poor quality mass produced meat but knowing that I cook delicious meals with organic free range meat means that their meat craving is satisfied and they don't desire to eat meat outside the home.

But I do wonder - how ethical is vegetarianism? I use lots of dried pulses, lentils, beans and peas to provide our proteins. But these aren't usually local, are they? Most are shipped from places across the globe. And I don't like to use soya at all. I did use soya milk for a while when dairy free but now we use organic cow's milk or oat milk.

So which is greener, more ethical? Mass grown imported protein from beans and pulses? Or organic, free range meat from animals raised in this country and within 30 miles of our home? What do we save - the life of a creature, or the planet from the pollution caused by shipping and packaging of protein alternatives? And what about looking back on our ancestry? There is so much evidence that says humans weren't meant to eat meat, that our basic structure intends us to be herbivorous but would our ancestors have survived if they had been? Would the greater being have created humans to eat only plant based foods and then place those humans into an environment where this could prove an impossible way to sustain generations of life? Or is our consumption of meat the main cause of the health problems that increase year on year - irritable bowel syndrome, crohn's disease, diverticulitis, all illnesses largely suffered by carnivorous humans rather than herbivorous?

So much conflicting evidence healthwise, it depends on our own personal interpretation so often. At the end of the day I don't feel happy sitting down to a meal that I know involved a creature dying to give me sustenance when there are other options available. But I'm increasingly concerned by the implications of those other options. And how am I influencing my children? One grown up daughter is also vegetarian but she does eat soya substitutes. John finds this hard to comprehend as he feels that not refusing meat to instead eat something that looks and tastes similar to meat is slightly bizarre and that eating ethical meat would be a far better alternative. I find it ethically unsound to refuse meat but eat an alternative that has been grown in another country, potentially at risk to the lives of the inhabitants of that country, human or animal, and then processed heavily before or after being shipped around the world, heavily packaged and then shipped further before reaching the local supermarket. Maybe local free range meat would be more sound. But there's still the death of the animal to consider, no matter how glorious it's life.....

So, is it possible to eat healthily without causing death, and with minimal processing, packaging and transportation? Is there enough locally produced foods to sustain a healthy meat free diet for each individual?

Thank you to Claire for a thought provoking post on a similar topic recently.

-x-

Nature's playthings.

2011-03-29T21:11:00.000+01:00

Water. Sunshine. Pebbles. Who needs more? Not these little ones:

Sorry, just couldn't pick any favourite shots :)

-x-

Sunshine days.

2011-03-23T20:44:00.000Z

We have had a very busy week here.

Monday we finally found time to meet up with lovely friends at a local HE group. It's at an indoor play centre so we haven't been for such a long time as I don't find those plays to have a good effect on the children, or myself and John come to think of it. But we made the effort as we missed meeting up with this mama and daughter and we all had a lovely time. Not sure when we will be there again but hoping to arrange some outdoor play fun with our friends instead now the weather is warming.

Tuesday we went to another HE group. This one we all love - it's at an outdoor adventure playground and the weather was so warm that the time just flew by. There wasn't many families there but maybe now that Spring is finally here.......although the centre itself is facing closure due to the local councils financial cuts. We really hope it gets funding from somewhere.

We spotted the years first ladybird there:

And the first butterfly too:

It was warm enough to kick off shoes and play barefoot in the sandbox building wonderful sculptures:

Then today whilst I spent the afternoon in work Dad and smalls went off to the beach. A woman was there running some kind of play service, no idea what, Dad didn't bother with the finer details! Heather had a wonderful time playing with water:

Whilst Cain made playdough and sculpted little creatures:

Owen made a new best friend (mentioned often for the rest of the day although not as much as Bella, his monday bestest friend!) and has arranged to see him there again tomorrow, and luckily Dad is happy to take all three again as more activities are planned. I will be in work all day so I'm pleased that they have exciting plans made but do so wish I was going with them.

And then friday will be cleaning day, saturday for visiting the town for the health food shop, charity shops, and maybe even the yarn shop. Sunday hopefully the weather will be good enough to spend the morning at the car boot sale and then monday we are heading down to the caravan to see how it held up to the winter snow and floods.

Oh yes, the return of spring means the return of fun, adventure and sunshine, both out in the world and in our hearts.

-x-

Simple words.....

2011-03-18T16:25:00.000Z

The notelets are kept in the kitchen for jotting down shopping reminders.

What a perfect reminder on the earliest of days.

(Oh and yes I know who wrote each one, even without the signature John!)

-x-

Unwritten rules.

2011-03-16T14:26:00.001Z

Only mum's can empty the toaster crumb tray, or remove the overspill from the work surface.

Dad's HAVE to repeat the telling off as the children obviously can't hear mum saying it.

Even before eating, all meals cooked for a teen will be horrible, especially those that have never been cooked before.

Soup always loses its flavour once its been blended.

Curries always improve their flavour when blended and served over chips.

Toys always become far more appealing when they've been moved to the "getting rid off" pile.

It is always better for a man to stay out of the way and on the laptop whilst mum gets all the children ready for going out.

Men must always use the bathroom once everyone is ready to step out of the front door.

Teens clothes wash far better when packed so tightly in the machine that the door has to be shut by force of the entire body.

Mums dinner always tastes far better than small peoples, ESPECIALLY with the addition of snotty dribbles and eaten off the table.

Small children must always wake at the faintest sound of knitting needles clicking.

Teenage children can only waken when the earphones are pulled from their ears.

Checking out every single motorbike and camper van currently listed on Ebay, gumtree or autotrader is a far better use of time than looking specifically for the model in mind.

Having just brushed ones teeth is a valid reason for not eating any breakfast every day.

The car must be parked in its own specific spot on the road outside the house.

No-one else must park on the public road within the area immediately outside of a car owners house. This rule is most important and no leeway is given, not so much an inch!

All sounds from the front of the house must be investigated by the man opening all doors and standing on the doorstep for several minutes.

All sounds from the back garden must be investigated by the woman closing all doors behind her to keep the heat in.

Mums who are enjoying an early night MUST be woken to be offered a cup of tea approximately one hour after drifting off.

Only mums can answer a phone call from an unrecognised number.

Tools are highly important items and every shape and size must be owned and housed in a purpose built shed.

The film must be left on, closed eyes and snoring sounds are not indicators that the man is asleep.

Bed is the place a man goes when he wakes up stiff and cold on the sofa at 3am.

Socks can only be placed in the washing basket in rolled up bundles.

Only mums can hang out or bring in the washing.

There's no need to raise your voice, just repeat a further ten times.

Once a man owns it it's out of date and needs replacing.

Household items are to be kept until they blow up, collapse, fall down or become a danger to all around.

Employers understand that a teenage girl cannot possibly leave the house with their hair out of place or unmatched bag and shoes.

Newly qualified drivers are obviously better than older ones - well they must be because they have just passed their test.

Everything is a competition which boys must always win.

When anyone is on the internet they only just went on - when mum goes on the internet she has been there all day.

A shopping list is like a bulletpoint presentation - the items are just clues as to what mum really wanted bringing back.

-x-

Who needs Lemsip?

2011-03-15T08:43:00.000Z

Even Heather is enjoying finishing off these warming drinks for me.

-x-

Busy, busy, busy.

2011-03-14T16:00:00.000Z

Still poorly, but mainly just sniffles and snotty noses now. Apart from me, I'm hacking away like an old smoker which is making my back ache and my head throb. But never mind rather me than them.

So to take my mind off feeling rubbish I've been clearing out. In line with accepting things I can't yet change, and changing where I can I'm streamlining and decluttering.

So far we've amassed this lot for the car boot sale/charity shop:

Whilst clearing we came across this:

I think we'll hang onto it for a while as I remember how much fun the boys had with it before it was packed away to protect little crawling ones from marbles. The same fun and fascination it is providing now:

I've also sorted out all the baby clothes I had stashed away. Time to make that break too, I think. It was lovely to look back through them all and it awakened lots of memories but it's time to pass them on. Most of the clothes are more suited to a girl but there is a smattering of unisex and some organic cotton stuff too. In fact there's quite a lot of early sized organic girls stuff lol. So if anyone wants any let me know and I'll sort out some photos for you.

I will end with a quick apology too. For the rather poor photo quality! As part of the renewed "being me" I have decided not to edit photos, unless it is to crop out a person who would rather not be seen. So you get to see blurs, sunstreaks and shadows, plus the bashed in door from a certain teens temper tantrum several years ago which was never replaced but serves as a reminder that things change constantly.

Blessings to all.

-x-