Food comparisons

A quick update on operation P.T - after a valiant effort by BFS it was officially abandonded on wednesday. He gave 3 full and dedicated days to it but LL couldn't care two cahoots about big boy pants or weeing in the potty!

I've been holed up in the office again this week - even popped up to the official one in Ellon on thurs and fri to start my maternity handover (yaaaaaay!) so not much to report there....

I decided to make our boys a nice pudding for after dinner yesterday instead of their standard yogurt. BFS was going to make rice pudding, but had left it too late - so I grabbed a packet of semolina from the cupboard and decided to make some good old fashioned semolina and serve it with a dollop of jam (sure to be a winner). After bigging it up to the boys it was duly served looking a bit like dodgy pink gruel as daddy had mixed up the jam into it. Oooh - it's just like porridge mummy was BB's response, ....just......ike....orrid......mummy was LL's (he tends to copy everything his brother says verbatim at the moment). Both boys tucked in enthusiastically, but after polishing off the majority of it BB informed me that he didn't like it!

What don't you like about it? - Me

I don't like the taste - BB

Why, what does it taste like? - Me

Hmmmm, it tastes like (eyes wandering about the kitchen) ...... clocks!


No answer to that now is there?

Operation P.T.

Yesterday BB and myself were banished from the house. Late on saturday evening (after a lovely dinner at a friends house where our boys discovered chocolate fondue!) BFS made the firm decision to start potty training LL the next morning, and apparently to do this properly and the way he wanted neither BB nor myself were allowed to be present!
He suggested taking BB to the flicks, and since this is a treat that I don't normally get to do with my eldest I embraced the idea.

We were up sharp and had left the house by 9am (which on a sunday is quite an achievement!) We had a choice of Shrek 4 or a Tinkerbell movie, and since BB hasn't seen Shrek 1,2 or 3 we plumped for the what would probably be thought of as the 'girlie' option. Not surprisingly though BB didn't mind! (I think it helped that were were sat next to another little boy!) We donned ourselves with a big blue slush puppie to share and a choice selection of about 10 sweets to share from the pick & mix - which still cost about £2! I discovered very quickly that 'sharing' the blue drink consisted of me getting a taster at the start and then having to forfeit any other claim I had to the cup for the entirety of the film!

Film over we went to Fat Face for a gander and I treated him to a couple of tops, and myself a pair of summer pumps (mine in the sale!) then we had a stroll up to the other centre for lunch, but when we got there BB decided he wanted to eat at 'Unit Square' so we headed back down from whence we came. We stopped at M&S cafe to re-fuel and call BFS to see how things were getting on back at Station House. The reply was mixed. Very positive on the fact that LL was choosing to sit on the potty for stints and was proudly sporting his big boy pants and showing his dexterity at pulling them down and back up again, but less positive on the actual use of said potty as he was still choosing to wait until coming off to wee in his pants (hmmm, maybe he thinks they have the same function as a nappy and that's where you're supposed to wee?) Still positive about the whole thing though I said goodbye's and we headed up to see Great Grandma A. (via a stop at Halfords for an inner tube which I was unsuccessful in sourcing!)
G.G.A was in fine feckle. We had a chat, a cuppa and BB had a gingerbread man which was bought for him in M&S which kept him happy and after another check in at home we left the bright lights of the big smoke to head back home....

If you want to know about the P.T - you'll just have to log into BFS's blog to see how it went (once he decides to write about it!) but from a Mummy and BB point of view P.T led to a brilliant day with mum and son and can be repeated as often as daddy likes!

One top tip though....if you do take a little one to the flicks and they insist on blue juice then do try and constrain their portion size. Gross as this sounds it was a source of amusement to myself (and consequently BB after he asked what I was laughing at) when I discovered that almost unbelievably the colouring was so strong that it had managed to turn BB's poo a luminous shade of bluey green!!! I'm sure it would have glowed under ultra violet!

What to do?

I've been struggling to think about what to write about. I decided not to let this blog go by the wayside as it has been for the past few months, but to be honest, when BFS returns from work and I get holed up in the office day in and out, I kinda struggle for anything interesting to write about. Pictures of the boys sat around the kitchen table soon get repetative, but when that's about the only place I see them (at meal times) what else can I capture?

On the odd occasion, however, when I draw the bedroom curtains I get faced with a scene that asks for me to head downstairs, grab my camera and capture it for prosperity.

So until my life perks up with something noteworthy to write about pretty pictures it will be....

Oh and btw - that's the sun in the picture - not the moon! It was a very foggy morning.

Who needs the sun?

Station House has officially turned into a campsite this week. I was in the pantry the other day doing a bit of sorting out when LL managed somehow to set off a pop up sun shade in the limited space we were both confined in. Being in the middle of something, I gathered it up as best I could and deposited it on the livingroom floor...Well that was it - BB clocked it and imagination city kicked in! A short trip up to his bedroom cupboard saw the emergance of two sleeping bags, an led light and a few other 'camping essentials' for him and LL to play with.

That was now four days ago and the novelty hasn't yet worn off. Even though the 'tent' doesn't have a door the extra shelter of being indoors eliminates the requirement for calm weather and a touch of sunshine!

That'll be two gay boys then....

This was BFS's reply when I told him about going to buy LL his first dance shoes on wednesday! All in jest obviously.

However no-one could deny the excitement that was filling LL this morning when he sat in the changing room waiting for mummy to put on those new pumps just before he stepped into his first class on his own. He practically skipped through the door once he was given the go ahead. Admittedly he did stop dead once through, but I closed the door behind him anyway! There was a bout of tears after a few minutes (there is no doubting LL's wail - easily picked out from 50 yards!) but they subsided after a minute or so and a very pleased with himself little boy emerged from the class after an hour.

Did you have fun? - Yes!
Do you want to go back next week - Yes!

Gay? I don't think so.....more like getting ahead of the game. When you're in a nursery class where there are 6 boys and 1 girl , it only makes sense to enrol in a class which has 15 girls and only 1 boy!!!

As Daddy says - up there for thinking....and down there for - well - dancing!

Say what you see son!

Today was particularly restful After morning nursery and playgroup, we spent the afternoon at a friends house. After initial stand-offs the boys and their friend (who is ages with LL) settled and played well together. Although I took the camera I didn't pic it up. I spent the afternoon playing with my friends one instead. She has a lovely Nikon and was gifted a gleaming new 50mm lens for her chrimbo. BB happily posed for me as I explained some of the features so I captured him in a lovely pic - but I'll have to wait to get it!

As we were getting ready to go, I quickly twisted my hair up into two knots on my head (kinda Princess Leah stylee). When I came downstairs BB said to me ....'Mummy why do you have two round things on your head?'

Hmmmm - 'to keep my hair off of my face - why do you like it?'

A cocked head to the side and a touch of contemplation preceded the simple one word of approval - Yes! and with a cheeky grin he ran to the door expectantly.....

Guilt blog and an 18 hour sleep-a-thon

I've been guilted into this blog by the simple words of my hubby - 'I knew you'd only last until the 3rd!'

The truth is I'm in bed, I don't feel so hot and my hands are covered in Bio-oil from smearing my ever growing tummy......so BFS if you find traces of oil on your laptop it's your own fault!

Two days at their grandma's obviously took their toll on my boys. BB came through this morning as I stirred and I didn't actually believe the time on my phone. It said 11:55 am!!! Not only that LL was still sound asleep. I got up to make 'breakfast' with no reference to the time as BB was oblivious, and after a few trips upstairs to check LL I decided at 1pm to get him up as BB is back to nursery in the morning and we all would have an early start!

Not wanting to scare him....a lot of gentle stroking of the face and calling of his names eventually roused him. It led to a pretty short afternoon. The xmas decorations were taken down with lots of 'help' from the boys. However after 5 frustrated re-sweeps of the discarded needles I had to relieve them of their duties and finish the job on my own. What had been lovely little piles of needles somehow managed to spread themselves all throughout the downstairs everytime my little helpers got near them with a dustpan! I thanked them very kindly for all of their help but informed them it was a job for grown ups and removed them to a safe distance!

Come 7pm BB told me that he 'would not be going to bed - and that as soon as I got downstairs that he would just get back up again!!!' He was instructed that if that were the case then I'd just come straight back up and put him back to bed, and that it didn't matter what he got to do at Grandma's house the rules at home didn't change! After a load of bubbling and oscar winning dramatic performances (and a threat of taking his story away) he finally realised this was one he wasn't going to win and gave up!

Sensible boy.

p.s pic above was taken of LL at 1pm - and that was him sleeping from 7:30 last night!!!

I have a new best friend

For a long time now I've had a hate-hate relationship with Dyson cleaners. I have always struggled to see what the hype is about and personally think that they are s**t! I feel as though I am an outsider to what appears to be an exclusive club. All my friends rave about them.

I have owned two now. I upgraded my last model as I thought it was maybe because I'd bought one at the 'budget' end of the scale that it was crap, but no! my 'multi cyclone super woofer picks up pet hairs (although I have no pets) and stops allergens' in my opinion was just as crap. Feeling heavily pregnant (although only 29 weeks) and having lost patience with having to get on my hands and knees and take off the brush head just to pick up fluff from BB's carpet (surely this is what the bloody things are designed to do from a simple upright position) I decided to hack into my mum's 'which' account to see if they truly were the dogs boll***s.

I had thought that my problems may be because I prefer cylinder models - and was all set for purchasing a dreaded 'upright' vacuum. My choice was going to be the all singing all dancing DC25 ball as my theory was that maybe it was the hoses fault for the rubbish suction. Maybe the cyclones just needed to be nearer the surface from which they were sucking? Makes sense.....but alas I was truly delighted to see that the Dysons were nowhere near the top of the 'Which' best buys.....not by a sniff!

There was a choice selection of Miele's cylinders and uprights, but I found myself scrolling down the list until I found the first bagless design. I have a lovely shagpile which would end up costing me more in bags in the first year of use than a stinking new dyson would annually! Anywho's I plumped for a lovely Bosch cylinder (yes a cylinder) model. It scored a whole 6% more than the DC25 for performance and was a whopping 19 models above the 'ball' in the list. Dyson Schmyson!!!

It does weigh a ton (well just over 10kgs to be precise) but when that's being wheeled behind you in the form of a cylinder it doesn't have much impact! and the best part (for the bargain queen) was that it's on special in John Lewis at £150 - almost £100 less than the schmyson! I wrapped up against the weather and found myself on a mission. I just had to get this machine.

Admittedly shopping wasn't a great experience. I think my body is broken! I lasted about 10 minutes walking before the waddling and aches started. My back ached, my legs ached and I felt as though my ab muscles had given up the ghost......then the doubts began to creep in. What if it didn't live up to my expectations? I really do believe that vacuum cleaners should be sucking so hard that you should have to nail your children to the floor for fear that they will get pulled up through the hose! Anyways they had them in stock, I could collect by car, how much better could it get?......

Although it was 8:30 before I got home, and I had the children put to bed I couldn't resist giving it a go (oooh did I mention it's also a 'super silent' model). My heart melted and I officially have a new favourite domestic appliance (that is until I get a Kenwood mixer!!) for those of you who have a nervous disposition you may want to look away now.......but for those of you who like a bit of the gruesome. Here it is......the proof. Look what the Dyson left behind!

and yes - that is the bottom half full of fluff also! Eugh!

All about me!

That's what today has been all about - and I've milked it big stylee.

With the boys away for more than 24 hours I set myself plans to catch up with chores and other things needing attention. That was before my lecture from BFS to take it easy. My number one chore just now is apparently to grow another big and healthy baby. I 'of coursed' at the appropriate moments, but with actual intentions of actually still doing the chores. TBH I didn't think I could really relax knowing there were things to be done - but the reality has been that I did! I've taken my lecture fully on board and have spent the laziest day I can remember since I was actually so physically sick that I couldn't peel myself from my bed a couple of months ago!



I did contribute to my chore requirement by surfing tinternet and choosing a new vacuum cleaner (which I hope to get tomorrow) so don't feel entirely bad!



The other thing I've found the time to do is to get my xmas pressie out and have a play. I was bought a lovely tripod by my hubby and combined it with a new remote control to record my growing bump....

New Year New Start?

Tonight I have no excuse. The boys have been hi-jacked by my mother and I actually picked up the camera today - so hello blog....I'm back!!!

I'm really hoping that I can maintain a concerted effort to update regularly and post what we've been up to.....

2010 was a busy year (or so it has felt) and major landmarks have come and gone and not been marked. LL is now 2, BB is now 4 and another addition to the family should be here around the end of March! (and I don't mean a pet.....)one of my oldest friends emigrates to the other side of the world in a fortnight, our roof broke and we've acquired 2 cats from the now departed neighbours!

We saw in the New Year in a very subdued manner. BFS is away at work, the boys were sound asleep and I was in bed! (I was hoping to be asleep, but did actually see in the year awake at midnight. I even got up to look out the window as I heard some firework action going on!

I've made a bit of a vow to myself to pick up my camera more often, and more than that......to actually get on the pc and download and edit my pics. (That has been the hardest part). I don't want to look back on 2011 as I do on 2010 and think....what did we do? Why the hell did I not take the time to record it all....

Sooooo - here's the choice of pics from today. As I said it's been pretty relaxed. BB was in his PJ's until 1pm, lunch was combined with breakfast and LL was up to his usual antics. Mummy and LL got a lesson in playing the air guitar from BB!



LL was captured at his best with jam smeared on his face, mum's hairband in his hair and a cheeky glint in his eye.


BB eating as usual!

Then the is the capture at the top that every mother loves of her children playing well together with a look between them that only they know what it means!

Happy New Year Everyone - here's to a happy, and healthy 2011 x