is sometimes hard to take right? sometimes it can come and bite you on the a*** so hard that you jump 5 feet from the ground. Yeah? yeah….

Maisie, for example, walking with me too school the other day said 'mummy you know that Isaac got a new booster seat?'…..( i was going to add my responses but lets say that they were all either ..yeah..or hmmmm…or ……)so maisie again 'it seems to me that Isaac always gets the new things and we just always get the things past on to us?"

reality biting….

although that is not, to be fair, strictly true. Isaac is after all a boy and therefore there is a limit to what can actually be past on to the girls…like his underwear for example…

oh….

wait…

yeah..i gave the girls his too small boxers to wear as shorts in bed…..

hmmmm….

The fact is that in a family of sixty odd that we have you are going to have to suck up some hand me downs..especially as there seems to be no point in the future when the Government will realise they need to pay Nurses and Teachers 6 figure salaries……

Which by the way was one of my favourite bits of the west wing when Rob Lowe's character argued for teachers pay……okay so it as a script…written and acted by people who probably get in a week what we get in a year but i LIKED the sentiment a LOT. 

Maisie who today..couldnt find a clean summer dress to wear …..those pesky washing fairies on strike AGAIN….and had to wear her winter uniform to school…skipped out this afternoon and marvelled as she told me…

'Mummy, all the boys in my class said that i was the smartest girl in class today'…cue mummy wondering what to wear to Cambridge graduation….

Maisie …'because i was wearing my shirt and tie uniform and not the yellow dress'

oh….

teamjames

yikes. 

Today a friend of mine had my two little ones for the morning and lunchtime. This is a rare treat right…'cos i have small kids with me all the time mostly, so much so that i have often found myself about to shout 'Matiiiilda' even when she is not actually with me. Such is my habit of trying to stop that kid legging it. Anyway a friend had offered it to me as a birthday gift and today was the cashing in day. 

So today when i dropped them off i was full of 'ooh ohh ohh..what should i do, what will i do…' Arriving back at our house my intention was to get the ipad and go sit in a cafe with a slice of cake the size of my hand. As i was getting out of the car i noticed the monkey nut shell, the banana skin, the school letters, toys and general detritus and suddenly thought 'nope i can't bear it any longer' 

and so i hoovered out the car, sprayed the fabrics with that covershorridsmellonlytemporarily stuff and removed all the rubbish…then after an hour i went to the car wash and sat reading while those crazy brushes did their thing and spruced up the outside. 

I know….i sure know how to live don't i?

But y'see I am completely unable to clean the car when i have the little ones around. If they are asleep the hoover will wake them up, if they are awake they are trying to run into the road and get squashed…so its impossible and by Natalie having the girls it made it possible and i could sit in my car and look around and see the carpet….and it is sad, and depressing somewhat that, that gave me a really happy feeling but it is what it is….and this at the moment folks, is my life. 

I did manage to squeeze in a trip to Halfords (booster seat) and a quick fleeting trip to costa for a cup of tea….which was great but i think i felt blessed far more by the fact that i could walk into Halfords look at the booster seat, decide on the booster seat, purchase booster seat and leave the shop..whereas normally those very short tasks would be interrupted by 'stop kid climbing on bike, rescue small child from lift/stairs/behind the cash register, say sorry many times as things get moved/played with/opened and leave the shop hot and flustered and shouting 'I"M LEAVING!" at the top of my voice.

do people who don't have children think all adults who do have kids have tourettes syndrome you think?

So now im being all strict and wouldn't even let the girls eat a packet of raisins in my newly clean car but shabby car. Wont last long =)

So happy birthday to me, happy clean car day to my…er….car and thanks a lot natalie =)

teamjames

for another two minutes at least…

How sad is it that this week i have got probably a little bit too over excited about a new kettle…..scanning that sentence back, dont think i need a answer really. But it glows different colours, has a filter and everything. Even Matilda is pretty fascinated..which i appreciate is probably not the best case scenario…small toddler..boiling hot object…disaster type thing. Our old one resembled something you might find in a student house…after they have all gone home for the summer. 

I went to costco this week and came home with above mentioned kettle, a steam cleaner mop thing, some little crocs and big crocs, a t shirt and assorted food items…love costco…love even more than i went by myself and didn't play hunt the toddler for half of my time there. 

My birthday present from my friends and family turned up this week and so far it has been a bit of an effort fighting the kids for my go. It great. I went to the apple store to get a cover and was somewhat shocked by how unaccessible it is somewhat. I mean the staff were very friendly and everything but it was like being in a strange land. The staff had that look of 'why would worn out mother with small children and battered buggy be walking through our doors1' written across their face. 

ahh look its very first week…. 

 Trying to work out a way of getting myself (thats me and no children) across the atlantic to one of these workshops. There has to be a way, i would so love to take part…hmmm..right..where did i plant that money tree 🙂

and lastly because…i can…i am done editing these pictures. Two more shoots this weekend and so excited about one particularly…but this baby blew me away, so so beautiful, such incredible eyes and such a natural.

teamjames

1. So big new round these parts, the Liverpool Womens NICU has been televised and everyone is commenting on it and asking opinions etc. It has been filmed while i was on maternity leave..obviously…but if you want to watch the next one its on ITV at 9pm next tuesday or you can watch it on itvplayer and catch up with the past two episodes. There are certain members of staff getting a bit of a following and earning some celeb points 🙂 *Coughcoughcoughdrdewhurstcoughcoug*

2. you ever have so many screens open on your desktop that when you pull and shrink them all..you think…woooooaaaahhhh. Not sure if you pc users can do that or if its just a mac thing. 

3. Friday was own school clothes day and it is now i can say how thankful i am that our kids wear uniforms to school. Somewhat stressful start to the morning…i tweeted that i could do with a coffee and cake but obviously i didn't follow through with that. Im not insane enough to think that a coffee shop with a toddler and a very mobile baby is a 'rest' So had to make do with a diet coke and a bit of dairy milk. 

4. we have watched a bit of Glastonbury this weekend. Is it crazy that i would love to go?

5. I have been really blessed recently with some great bookings for my little fledgling photog business. I have met some new faces and also got to know some not so new faces even more which is really really cool. Learning all the time though, i need about another day and a half a week to actually sit down and properly 'learn' 

6. On the flip side of that has been a bit of a lesson in providing a service to people. In that they can just easily flip round and change their minds and you are left with gaps which could have been filled with something else…time for a cancellation policy i think 🙂

7. beach day…

8. three weeks till the end of term! Waahoo…love school being out for summer. although that means its about that same amount of time till i go back to work ….

9. Very excited to meet some special little twins this coming week. Its going to be fun. 

10. My girls (the little ones) got a very official letter this week telling them that they have a 'place' at a mums and tots group in September. You know up here..there are waiting lists for tots groups. Its got to be good right? lol

teamjames

I've been getting ready to schedule a photo shoot for my family… I think our photographer is on vacation right now, but I'm getting closer to booking the session. I really am. Its hard for me… I still feel like it just won't be complete. But, for now this is as complete as our family will be. I know our photographer will do their best at creating the best images for our family. A family, that may be missing a very important member, but is still wonderfully… WONDERFUL!!! 

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Brilliant post by a fellow photographer, mummy to many and friend on why you should find time to have some family shots taken. If you are in her area check out the amazing offer she has going right now.