so here we are, we have come down to devon today to visit ben’s gran and mum who we havent seen for while and we are booked into a b an b in barnstaple, which is very nice actually. its an old vicarage. The trip down was a bit of a chore, we planned to leave at 9am, but left at 1015. Not bad going i suppose. had a few hold ups, like loosing the car keys and then a guy walking past the car as we where putting the kids in and asking us for a drink of water…….yes seriously, that happened. Talk about odd.

then the journey was predictably delayed in places and so with stops took us nearly 7 hours. Isaac gave us both a heart attack at the services when he was playing on a climbing frame and then suddenly disappeared…..panic started to set in…but then ben found him in the services going up and down the escalatour. needless to say talks where had about strangers and the danger of wondering off..once my heart rate had returned to normal.

so we are staying in this lovely little b and b, only just got the kids to bed. it seems so unfair making the sleep when they are so wired because they have been let out of the car after so long. But anyway they have just finally hit the hay. we lamented the fact that we couldnt get into the travelinn for this trip but this is actually tons better, the kids have a different room to us and so we dont have to sit in the dark once they have gone to bed. Our one problem was that as we only have one travel cot where would we put Poppy? We decided not to bother with finding another travel cot to bring with us but thought ‘oh she’ll be okay on a bed’

it did make me smile when i told the owner of the bandb that we would just put Poppy on a bed with a couple of pillow on either side of her. She looked fairly shocked…….maybe she hasnt got three kiddies so close together or maybe she is FAR more responsible than us…..

so anyway at this moment poppy is asleep on our bed with me typing away on the laptop, how cool this bandb has a wireless network and ben is watching the TV. Not a lot different from home but we have had the bonding experience of 7 hours in the car to get here….

Praise the Lord that we got here safely and that not too many temper tantrums happened…….by anyone of us…..

Today we did it, got all of us in a picture, can you believe it has taken this long. It is a bit ropey, we are all in PJ’s but hey everyone is present and correct and vaguely looking in the direction of the camera. Thanks to the webcam on the mac we managed to get the kids to look at themselves on the mac screen which really helps. Of course it deteriorated into goofing about and there are some pretty funny ones. But anyway wanted to post it.

Check out our grown up girlie in the highchair, she is supported by a few soft books but she is there and at the table with the big kids. Maisie gave her a cheerio yesterday morning which she managed to pick up !!!! But fortunately although she tried to get it in her mouth she couldnt quite work out the unclench fist thing and so i managed to get it off her….. from breast milk straight to cheerios..he he..anyone got a problem with that sort of weaning??

Anyway signing off, had a mad day, very busy. Seen some good friends of ours from London today, that just does your soul good doesnt it? Hooking up with old buddies, i love it. I think they probably come to see the floor show. we just had two the last time we saw them. Maisie is putting up all sorts of tricks at the moment. Gosh can that girl shout and scream when she is bothered….sheesh..more on that another day though.

night night and God bless

very quick post to say big welcome back to my cousin and her family from New Zealand. They are only staying for a little while but it will be good to see them in a couple of weeks and meet the new addition to their family. We are looking forward to it.

Had a good evening scrapping with Gill and we managed to trough a lot of those yoghurt raisins, all in the name of inspiration i promise you. I am aiming very soon to post some of my layouts as soon as i can get near a scanner. So i guess you will be able to see what all the fuss is about.

Happy birthday also to my sister in law. We are off to my niece’s birthday party on sunday. isaac is already excited about that. He always is when he hears the word birthday. You know in the far side cartoon he does a ‘what dogs actually hear’ With isaac he just hears CAKE when you say birthday. So watch out izzy, he will be after the cake.

Our Poppy has been playing hard recently, I took this pic of her yesterday. She was happily playing on her baby gym when i looked over and noticed she had gone to sleep….’just too much fun mummy’

Well thats it, and in the words of the eagles…take it easy…

would you look at this, my two little best buds, partners in crime. I was busying myself hanging up washing, looking after the baby, making the beds etc. When i walked past the bathroom to be met with this sight. It made me stop and smile. (and go and grab the camera). Im sure i must have done similar stuff with my big brother ( we are just 20 months apart, isaac and maisie are 23 months). But it was so cool to see them side by side playing together and getting very wet!

I wasnt bothered though. Sometimes the mess dont matter right?

I was saying to Ben (hubbie) earlier that i was taking the pictures and thinking how cute it was that maisie was standing right on her tip toe to dunk her toothbrush in the water, when i realised she wasnt doing it anymore. Took me a few mins before i realised that the water level in the sink was rising high enough that she didnt need to…..see me jump off the floor and run to avert a near flood in the bathoom….oops..

anyway talking of water, a lady walked past me in the park today and said to me ‘can you believe it we have had a least 24 hours without rain’ I almost said back to her ‘havent you heard we are a bit short of water at the moment’ Its funny how we are desperate for water and when some turns up it is the end of the world…maybe its the obesssion with weather in this country. Someone else ..today… said to me ‘can you believe this weather at the moment’ as she was walking past so i couldnt even reply.

Thinking i must have a ‘talk to me about the weather’ sticker on my back. Or a ‘please say random comments to me’ Odd….

But then its been one of those days….

quick nod to a fantastic book. The dinner lady books by J.Orrey. Not the dinner lady that was in the jamie oliver thing but the one who inspired it. GREAT book, i love it. Tried her caribbean rice and beans. It was Yummy. Kids werent too into it but isaac ate some, maisie thought about it, which IS progress.

Dont get me wrong i do love the heavyweights, jamie, nigella etc but a local south liverpool asda doesnt really cater for some of their ingredient choices. But Jeanette…havent found one thing yet that i cant get in asda. Just right for my time of life really.

After going to mosspits school yesterday i asked isaac this morning if he would like to go to school. He said to me ‘no ill go to nursery’

looks like that is sorted then….

God bless…

We all went off to our friend’s house for dinner after church on sunday and had a wonderful afternoon chatting while the kids played or squabbled…..while the rain fell outside.

We got to taking some photos of the kids and little Anya who is not quite two, darted to the back of the camera once her daddy had taken a picture. It made me realise that the kids are never going to know a time when you couldnt see the photo immediately after taking it. weird….

i know that it is a distinct mark of how OLD i am getting but i also had a conversation on monday about the ridiculousness of the current trend towards 80’s fashion. ‘Oh good grief, can you believe that the puff ball skirt is back’ I mean that really is a crime, that had no business being around in the first place.

It just seems to be the way it is though. It gives the generation that is currently embracing the trend to think that they are pioneers and are breaking new ground. Everyone needs to feel like no-one else has been where they are. The good thing about this is the generation that did think of it first are probably, by that stage, to busy raising kids and earning money to even be up for the argument…

Anyway i just think that it is bizarre that my kids will never know a world without DVD’s, digital radio, mobile phones, computers that are weeny weeny, dishwashers (thank the LORD for them) and so much other stuff that just makes life easier to deal with. It makes me wonder what will be around when they are adults tht we cant even imagine at the moment…..

On the subject of the future. Went to see another school today. Mosspits Infants School www.mosspits.com
Actually really nice school, nice headmistress who was very friendly. Very bizarre that the receptionist asked me where Isaac was when i arrived, which i thought a bit strange, and then the Head asked me the same question. It clicked ‘AHH, they thought I would have him with me being as it his HIM going to school’
We walked up and down the halls and went into the reception class rooms. All the kids did that very cute thing of all turning round when we walked in and chorusing ‘good afternoon Mrs woosey’
Dont polite five year old kiddies make your heart melt….

Only had one slight wobbly, which i hope Mrs Woosey didnt catch on to. It was when she showed me the reception class cloakroom and said “this is the cloakroom that Isaac would use’
GULP…my little boy..having to take off his own coat, better start working on that…

Only seems like yesterday I held him in my arms as a wee little newborn, man it goes so quick, slips through your fingers and before you know it you are talking about class sizes and extra curricula activity…..

Just as a little reminder and contrast to yesterday, my wee lil man when he was very new. (lovin’ the shades)

night night…