Giggily Soundbite!

Today was the first full day with the boys all together again since Christmas.

The morning started off pretty well with them rolling out of bed in their own time but all were breakfasted and ready in time for Shining Stars, then the fun began!

The next two and a half hours were pretty adventurous and loud - Ben was quite amusing as he was very protective over his Big Brothers, when the first toddler came to talk to them, he went running over and gave them both a kiss and hug as if to claim them as his own, but by the end of the session, both Big Brothers had gained a small band of extra followers.

This evening was topped off before bedtime with the usual playtime, with Robert testing out his latest noise on his Baby Brother, the result is below:-

I will just add that the trumping is the "under the arm" type, I guess it's a boy thing but was surprised that Ben found it so amusing!  Not quite sure how I feel about my little baby being introduced to this before he's at school as it's such playground behaviour but I guess he'll be ahead of the game, and the chuckles are so infectious!

Please note:-  I could only catch the sound as the room was too dimly lit for videoing, so I've played around with the sound and some photos so I could share it.

The Boys Are Back In Town

So, Big Brothers came home today so time to play with more Christmas presents........

But this one looks more interesting, Mum!............. 



Big Brother looks on as the little ones play..................

But caught him with Ben's toys when he thought no one was looking!



Baby Octopus and How to Pose, by Ben

Our baby boy has just found out he can climb into the bath on his own!  Loved how Si caught him in mid climb and so proud of himself!

Busy Reading............

Oh, so you'd like a photo?.............

Maybe a smile?.................

Maybe a full on cheesey!.............

And return to coolness.............



My Christmas Fairy

Well, it's that time of year - tomorrow the Christmas decorations are coming down.  This is the first year I'm quite sad about it.  Normally, by now, I can't wait to reclaim the house, but Ben has really enjoyed them this year.  From the exclamations of "Wow" when he first saw them, to wandering round demanding all the "Lights!" to be switched on - (In Ben's voice, "Lights" is pronounced "Liiiiiiiights!"), and standing in front of the Christmas tree with Daddy, naming all the different ornaments.  He can now recognise and say "Star", "Teddy", "Ball", "Chocolate" in no small part thanks to the patience of Daddy and the excitement of the flashy, shiny tree!

Each year, I would love to have a properly dressed Christmas tree, with a colour theme and decorations all in the right places, but, each year, we end up with a tree that to outsiders would be chaotic, but to me is perfect.

Every one of our decorations holds a special place in my heart. From the smallest wooden figure to the star and fairy on the top of the tree.  They have all either been given to us over the years, or were from our childhoods.  I can remember decorating our Christmas tree with many of the same decorations, and from an even younger age, laying under the Christmas tree, and looking up at the coloured fairy lights, watching the way the shiny baubles and tinsel twinkled in the magic place in the centre of the tree, the place where only young children really look.

I hope I will pass some of this wonder onto my children, and that our Christmas tree will become one of the ingrained memories passed on to them to continue the magic of Christmas for their children.

Our Tree

The fairy and star which my mum bought for my first Christmas.  I have put this on the top of my parents' tree, and then our tree after my mum passed away, every year.  She still lives in the original Woolworths paper bag she came in for the rest of the year and I still make a wish on her as either one of the boys, or I, fix her to the top.

And so, as the Christmas festivities come to a close for this year, we shall carefully pack all the decorations away, along with the memories, plus the new memories from this year.  Then, December this year, they'll all come back out from the roof and the memories will be revisited again, and added to.

New Year, New Flavours!

Think he must be pregnant!  Supper tonight consisted of 6 gherkins, chocolate and a yogurt - Strange child    :-P

Bank Holiday Chill Time

15 hours sleep for BB last night but a rude awakening for me by 7YO - "Mum, the dog's pooed all over the floor in the kitchen!"

Just what you need to start the morning!  Not even the chance to have a cuppa first as the way to the kettle was blocked my two brown stinky mountains and a stench that seemed to hover at nose height.

Three carrier bags, half a roll of kitchen paper, two thirds of a bottle of disinfectant and a liberal spraying of air spray later and the kitchen was restored to it's usual level of disarray.

Made the decision that I really can't put off returning to the Slimming World way of eating for another day.  The bathroom scales are telling me I've put back on a couple of pounds, weigh in is tomorrow, so action stations today!  It's so tempting to not go tomorrow, but I really do need to shift this weight so the self control needs to kick in.

Survived a potentially disasterous trip to McDonalds with my order of grilled chicken salad and Diet Coke, resisted the usual nibbles of the Happy Meals and managed not to drool over DH's Big Mac Meal!

Now sitting snuggled on sofa with the boys, BB napping and feeding again, 7YO playing some violent sounding game on the DS and DH braving the supermarket for bread and essentials.  Struggling with the homemade sausage rolls calling me from the fridge but as BB is asleep on me, moving isn't an option but resisting sending 7YO to get them!  Will my will power holld out?..........

Survived the sausage roll temptation and behaved for tea with JP, beans, ham and some low cal coleslaw.  Still don't think it'll make much difference tomorrow though!

All had a fun evening and finally finished unwrapping Ben's Christmas presents - I wonder how many calories you work off playing the drums on Rock Band Hero?

Well time to finish my cuppa then off to bed x

I love Boxing Day!

Had such a lovely day today!

Got up late, even BB slept in and 7YO was so busy checking out all his new games on the DS that peace reigned in the house until I decided at 10.45am that BB really needed to wake up - he'd gone to bed at 8pm so I really do think that 14 3/4 hours sleep is enough for any 19month old little boy!

Made a small breakfast of toast and tea for everyone then had a fight with the pressure cooker!  This poor piece of kitchen paraphernalia has been sitting on a shelf in my kitchen for the last 5 years - sadly longing for it's chance to show what it can do, only being moved for a dust down occasionally, otherwise shining dimly and longing to be used.

Of course, no instructions are left so tried a mad "Google" search for how to use it - really not much use but as my father in law swears by his pressure cooker to cook gammon joints, I felt obliged to give it a go.  One hour later we had a lovely gammon, egg, mash and carrot lunch - nom nom nom - the best Boxing Day lunch I can remember!

After the washing up, time for a trip to the local park and how cold is it out there!  Managed to stay in the house since Christmas Eve Morning, and then within 5 minutes my hands were throbbing.  Had a really good hour playing on the swings, see saw, roundabout and climbing frame.  No one else around so funtimes behaving like I'm 7 again!  And then I needed to test out the remote control helicopter and Vectron Wave - the kids can't have all the fun!

Then onto sausage roll making and buffet tea before cuddling up on the sofa with a bit of Lego building and Wii Rock Band Hero.

All in all, a lovely, relaxing and fun day!