Just Another Sunday.......

Little Ben managed another good night and slept until 8.15 but he was really off his food again, but eventually ate a banana and I got on with cooking Sunday lunch - really just a mini Christmas dinner;  roast chicken, stuffing, carrots, roast parsnips, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, bread sauce, homemade Yorkshire puddings - and everyone's plate was completely cleared!  Even Ben, so no worries about his appetite, it's just finding what he really wants to eat.

Popped out shopping this afternoon then stopped off at the Sports Complex on the way home for Robert and Ben to try out their new mini skateboards (Yes, I did mean Ben - he was so determined to get one and absolutely loves being pushed around on it - he has to be like his big brother!)

Quick tea then time to try out one of my Christmas presents - a doughnut maker!  It was a massive hit with the family and makes really tasty little treats - the same as the ones you get at the seaside, but at a fraction of the cost!

We had the usual playtime after tea, with Ben demanding his "Bam Bam Time" with Daddy (Bouncing on the bed while watching CBeebies), but he decided it was hard work and wanted to lay down to watch TV, much to the delight of his Daddy, as he assumed he would get to have a little lay down too, but oh no, if Daddy even attempted to sit on the bed, let alone lay on it, Ben went crazy telling him to "Mooooo" (Move!) and pushing him off.  Ben also learnt a new babble tonight, which I managed to catch on tape - I really think it sounds like he starts with "Bugger, bugger" but you have to listen closely!

Played with James and Robert on Si's Band Hero before their bedtime, I'm really not sure how much they enjoyed it, maybe when they're a bit older they may get more out of it, but I'm really looking forward to next weekend when they're away and Si and I get our time!

Finished the evening being a good wifey and mum, all the ironing's done and the slow cooker's on with the chicken carcass ready for soup tomorrow teatime.  All ready for the start of the week!

Snuffles and Family Time

Despite the bad signs of last night, our little man slept in until 10am this morning and didn't seem too bad but has been off his food so we've been allowing him to snack all day as any big meals have been rejected with barely a forkful.

Spent a lovely afternoon with Si's cousin Mark, his wife Gemma and two children, Jade and Logan.  James and Robert had an especially excellent time, playing on the X-Box Live and then playing on the trampoline outside, even though it was so cold!  Ben and Logan pottered around giving us a chance to catch up.

Then a chilled out evening with a fish and chip supper (pasta for me so I can have wine later - I know where my priorities lie!).  Poor little Ben's snuffles have been getting worse as the day's gone by but he's tucked up in bed with euycalyptus oil on his radiator, and is quiet so far!

Short Blog Tonight!

Unfortunately,Ben seems to be a bit unsettled tonight - hoping it's not really the start of a cold,but the snuffling's getting louder, and there's the occasional whimper, so could be a long one!  I really hope that if he has got a cold, it won't completely upset his sleep routine - the 12 hours a night have been wonderful and now I'm hoping I haven't wasted it by not catching up enough, myself.

Today's main achievements have been Ben negotiating the slide at Shining Stars on his own for the first time (check out the Cheesy!)

And Robert, (with help from me!) finishing the Kinect Rollercoaster.

And we have a photo of James' work in progress:-

"And this is what I'm doing next!"

Effect of Girls on Boys, Ladder Climbing and Meccano Building!

Some of you may remember from my Facebook post a couple of months ago, that I had a broken hearted son when his girlfriend dumped him and went out with his best friend.  This was soon fixed on that occasion with a homemade pizza.  (To follow that event, two days later, she dumped his friend and moved onto her next victim!)

Today, I was marched into town after school with the demand of getting his haircut.  This from a child who was determined not to have short hair until the summer as he said he wanted to keep his head warm.  I had tried nagging, cajoling and bribing to try and get him tidied up, but he was absolutely adament that his blond locks were staying - in the end I'd taken to blow drying it after his shower to try and keep it under some sort of control.

Eventually, whilst cooking tea, he told me the reason why he'd had such a massive change of heart - a girl in the other class had asked to kiss him whilst they were lining up to go into lessons!  Tomorrow will be the big day when he and his friend are going up against each other to attempt to win her affections, therefore he needs to look his best, complete with new spikey hair (only slightly spikey as it's now so short!), and the request of a squirt of his step-dad's after shave (compromised with some Lynx shower gel tonight and a little Lynx body spray in the morning!)

All this and he's only 7!

And then, to top this evening off, Ben pottered off to play with Robert in Robert and James' bedroom, for me to be called by an excited Robert because Ben had managed to climb the ladder of his bunk bed and was happily bouncing up and down!

Aaaaarrrrgggggghhhhhhhh!  I went upstairs and found Ben looking very pleased with himself, cuddled up with Robert's teddy (shh! don't tell the potential girlfriend he has a teddy in his bed!), perched on the top bunk!  After much persuasion, I eventually got him down, encouraged him downstairs, then promptly blocked the way to the ladder with a toy box and wash basket.

Within five minutes, Ben was dragging Robert upstairs to play again, two minutes after that and I was being called again because Ben had scaled the box and the basket and was bouncing away quite happily again on Robert's bed.

Now I'm left desperately trying to outwit my little monkey, without inducing the frustrated nearly terrible two's screaming session!  Who will win this battle?  Worse case, I've shown him each time how to climb down the ladder backwards, which when combined with his Tumble Tots sessions, may limit any damage!

In other news, James finished building his Christmas Meccano car - very proud of him because he managed it almost completely on his own, and persevered with it over about four building sessions!

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.............