and whats more, he has learnt them all by himself, we were sent home the lines and they are still on the notice board untouched what with all the ups and downs of the past week!!

what a little superstar.

from my last post i just wanted to say how totally blessed we have been by the fantastic support offered whilst our little girl was ill.

Its so easy to believe in these days that there is little good in people, that human spirit has been twisted and scarred by the horror reported in newspapers and on televisions everyday. But really, im telling you, there is good.

Even if its just the fact that Isaac’s teacher helped him make a card for Maisie and sent some little chocolate treats home for her…..

If i had been loosing my faith in humanity then the ‘thoughtfulness’ shown to us in the past couple of days would have helped me regain it….

been reading my american friend’s blogs and love their tradition of thanksgiving, not least ‘cos they get to have their turkey dinner a month before us..yum…but also beacause itis such a very right thing to do, remember the things you are thankful for and hang out with family and friends. The best things to do.

We have just been to a service at church called ‘messy church’ its aimed at families and we had a little worship, teaching and craft for the kids and then all had a hot dog tea followed by cakes. It was so lovely. But something really heart warming was when the leaders asked us to sit in our families and say what we liked about our family. We asked the kids and Isaac said ‘my favourite thing about our family is that I feel special’

I love that.

So i am thankful for all the people in my life that make me feel special. Not just family, although they are right up there at the top, but some totally wonderful friends as well. Because my community networks are not just the people in my street and down the road. Community is what knits me together with some other fabulous folk, regardless of distance, and makes me feel just that bit special.

Thank you as well for all the thoughts and emails about Maisie, she is doing much better. It wasnt until thursday that she could walk up the stairs without getting breathless. We have been hanging out in the house a lot and just chilling. Both the girls have have handled that pretty well, we have been doing a lot of ‘indoor cheerio’ picnics, colouring, glittering and the like, consequently the house is a bit of a swamp!!! oh well…..would be fairly boring if i said i was thankful for a clean house wouldn’t it??

two little girls…

who are the best of friends….

for the past four days have been neighbours in Alder hey hospital. One with asthma and one with pneumonia. We think they may have planned it…..

sponsored by Dora the explorer (LOL)

Seriously…I took Maisie to hospital on friday evening following a couple of days of watching her struggle with her breathing and being generally unwell. On our arrival we moved through the triage very quickly…(always a bad sign!) and Maisie was put on a oxygen mask, had a chest x ray and was generally poked about. It transpired that she had a viral infection and pneumonia in one side of her lungs……

we got transferred to a ward and had a very disturbed night trying to keep her oxygen mask on and her observation readings up….in the morning my question ‘can i go home please’ got met with a very stern No and we got transferred to a respiratory ward where we discovered, in the next bed, Maisie’s best friend Anya had been admitted with severe asthma in the early hours.

Within a few minutes both girls where sat next to each other, face masks on, saturation monitors beeping away watching finding nemo.

and the biggest plus??

having a couple of our most valued friends next door so to speak…

A bit of a co-incidence you might think? i think more like some generous grace being sent our way.

Maisie is at home now, sleeping, she is on antibiotics and her breathing is so much better. There is a chance that the virus may have caused some scarring on her lungs and she may be likely to get more chest infections as a result. Which is kind of scary. But for the moment, all is well.

which will only mean something to those of you from liverpool. So, briefly, sticky fingers is a weekly toddler group that is run by the wonderful hebe who i am proud to call my friend. She has been doing it for 10 years and a couple of weeks ago she threw a party for all those who have passed through stickies in the last ten years….so thats lots and lots of kids!!!..here are some piccies from the day, totally unedited.