House hunting!

Today we spent the day in essex looking at houses and getting a feel for the area. This is the first house we viewed today. A lovely countryside location.

Boxing Day

Boxing day was a quiet day at home with plenty of opportunity for the children to play with their new toys - here are a few pics of the younger children enjoying themselves!

Christmas Day!

Christmas day was brilliant! We went to bed quite late the previous night - Jeremy went to midnight mass first.

At 2am the girls appeared in our bedroom - asking if it was okay to go downstairs and check to see if Father Christmas had been... we put them back to bed after explaining that it was too early and we needed to keep the lights off to let Father Christmas know that we were still in bed!!!

The next time they got up it was 7.20am - much more civilised.

When we got downstairs the girls were so excited - they had got a rocking horse for Christmas - Lily said "Mummy, I always wanted a rocking horse!" - this was a huge relief to me as every day she had been asking for a "Pink Nintendo DS" - which I didn't want to get her just yet as she is still pretty rough on her toys and I don't think it would stand up to being hurled across the room!! We had got Lily and Rowanne a rocking horse to share instead. I asked Lily why she hadn't ever asked for a rocking horse - and she said it was because she never thought she would get one! Rowanne was particularly thrilled with her Ariel "Barbie" doll, along with the Rocking horse - which is a big hit with her too!

Alfie took a lot more notice than we had thought, he seemed quite keen on ripping open wrapping paper and seeing what was inside - he caught onto this very quickly and was soon looking across the room to see what surprises other people were getting too!

Gabrielle was also very pleased with her presents - a set of the "Twilight" reading books, some clothes, store vouchers (always a good buy for the teenage girl!), makeup, jewellery etc. etc...

Father Christmas had eaten his mince pie, and Rudolph had taken shared his carrot with the other reindeer - and Father Christmas had even left some powdery snowy footprints in the living room!

We went over the Grandma and Grandad's at lunchtime, and had a fun afternoon there and a really good Christmas Dinner (turkey and all the trimmings!) before bringing the tired children back home and putting them all to bed.

Christmas Eve!

This week has gone soooo quickly! Lily and Rowanne had the last few days of last term off as they both had conjunctivitis - luckily that has cleared up now - but it gave me more days to fill with activities than planned - and less time to get organised for Christmas than planned!

I just finished wrapping the last few presents today - with some help from Lily - who LOVES to use scissors and cut the paper and the sellotape ready.

Lily and I went shopping for a few last minute bits this morning - she had lots of fun choosing the longest carrot in the shop - I asked her why - and she told me it was because Rudolf is not the only reindeer and the other reindeer must get hungry too - and she thought if Rudolf was given a really LONG carrot - he would be able to share it with his friends - they could all line up and bite it at once!

Daddy came home at about 4pm - after an early finish from work and the long drive home.

Lily, Rowanne and I made mince pies this afternoon (while Alfie sat in his chair and watched with quite some interest!). We really did cheat - buying ready rolled out and ready made pastry and a jar of mincemeat - but the girls enjoyed it thoroughly! They liked cutting out the circles of pastry and finishing the edges with a fork and spooning in the mincemeat by themselves. They don't even like mince pies, but they were making them for Father Christmas!

The girls went to bed quite nicely, they know they have to go to sleep quickly if they would like Father Christmas to visit - If he sees lights on, he might pass by thinking the children are still awake!

I think they will be pleasantly surprised in the morning - it looks like Father Christmas has been already - snowy footprints on the hearth and all!!!

(Gabrielle worked very hard on the "special effects" on behalf of her sisters and brother - and even went as far as to bite rudolfs carrot in several places to make it look like he was a good reindeer and did share it)!

Sunday.

Another early start...

I gave Jeremy a haircut this morning (at his request!), it worked out okay again - I'm getting used to doing this now as I've been cutting his hair for about 2 years now I think! We just have some of those Wahl hair clippers and I follow the instructions that came on the dvd. A mans short haircut on straight hair is not all that demanding.

Spent most of the day tidying and cleaning - now the bathrooms are sparkling and we can see the bedroom carpets once more! We are still very pleased with the "Hoover Hurricane" vacuum cleaner that brushes the carpet and sucks up the dirt at the same time - it's much more effective than the last vacuum cleaner we had - by miles! There is something very satisfying about hoovering the carpets in our house - with 6 of us living here you can imaging they get dirty quickly - and even after only one day - you can see a significant difference after vacuuming the carpets!

Jeremy popped out to his dad's to watch the footy - Lily and Roro played polly pockets, Gabi tried to tidy her room - but apparently it needs another clear-out....so she's not done yet!

After that Jeremy went shopping mainly for milk, to save me having to bring it back one bottle at a time on the pushchair..... we get through a LOT of milk in our house - about 4 pints per day on average!

Alfie has grown a LOT lately we are now getting him clothes in 9 - 12m size and sometimes 12-18 months. He is still so smiley and happy most of the time, but the last few days he has begun to squeal if you take something off him - for example I gave him the closed pot of nappy cream to hold while I was changing him (mainly to stop him trying to roll over mid nappy change!) and when I took it back to use it - he started squealing and crying!!! Oh dear - is this the start of tantrums already?

Tomorrow we have planned - a trip to the post office to post a parcel, a trip to the shop to buy apples and mincemeat - and some ingredients to make ginger bread men, and another trip to the newsagents for more glue - so the girls can have one of their favourite craft and painting sessions.

Saturday...

Jeremy arrived home in the early hours after a Christmas drink with friends on his way home from work. Still, he was home just in time to settle Alfie back to sleep - several times!
The girls were up early as usual, but big sister Gabi kindly took them downstairs for breakfast, giving us a small lie-in - until 7.30am or so... (yet that IS a lie-in in our house)!
We spent the morning trying to get the house "ship shape" with Christmas in mind...

In the afternoon after dropping Gabi and her friend at the Cinema - we went into town on what was supposed to be one of the busiest shopping days of the year - and found out that the town center was much quieter than your average saturday even! Is this the result of the credit crunch? Did everyone else think "Oh, I'm not going shopping today - it'll be horrible and crowded in town".... or perhaps they've all done their shopping online this year!

We look like we've been burgled!!!

Of course we haven't been burgled at all - but, if a burglar did call - then he would definately think we'd already been done!

This is what happens if 2 of the kids who were expected to be at school end up having the rest of the week off due to their conjunctivitis.... grrrr!

At least Lily and Rowanne were calmer yesterday - and Gabi went to school for a change - she has been doing mock exams - and has had a lot of "study" time at home. Rowanne was very helpful with the dishwasher and setting the table, and Lily helped out with tidying and laundry.

Today I have allowed Lily and Rowanne to unwrap a present from under the tree in the hopes of keeping them occupied for a short while.... so far it's not working...

Alfie has tried a new food - Tuna - and he likes it! He feels heavier today - perhaps I am tired - or perhaps he gained some ounces while he was sleeping last night?!

Well, I can't write too much - got LOTS to do - (mainly cleaning and shopping for food)!

Here are a few pics from yesterday:

The "Nigella"-esque soup (roasted butternut squash with sweet potatoes and red onion) was not a big hit with the younger children - but they liked the bread rolls, and at least they tried the soup.

Oh, and I'll tag on a pic of Gabi's birthday cake for those who missed it (she was 16 on Saturday!).

Not the easiest of days!

Today I was woken up very early by Lily - who was complaining her eyes were stuck together (she meant the eyelids!).... then Rowanne was complaining that her eyes felt funny... and we quickly established that they both had conjuntivitis!

As this is highly contagious - they are not allowed to school until the infection has cleared up. So - that's it - end of term already for us. The children were due to break up on Friday, so now I need to organise the bringing home of all their stuff - pe kits, christmas makes and art work etc.

I'm hoping a kind friend (preferably one with a car!), will help out.

Lily is also full of cold and quite miserable with it - and when Lily is not happy - none of us are happy!

She cheered up a little when helping me to bath Alfie but that did not last long!

We tried making paper chains, which was okay for a short time - as was watching cartoons - but all in all, it was a difficult day.

Lily and Rowanne saw the dr in the morning about their eyes - and he gave a "delayed prescription" only to be used if really necessary - and for the next few days I am to bathe the eyes about 4 x per day and let their bodies immune system try to clear the infection before the antibiotic droppers are used.

I took Alfie along in his babyhawk sling with minkee lining (lovely soft furry stuff!) and threw the Aiska poncho over us to keep warm - this was much quicker than getting his snowsuit on and fastening him into the pram. I didn't even need a nappy bag, as he had just done a huge poop (and been changed!) before setting off....so there was no risk of him doing another one while out!

Luckily we saw Dr McFarlane - who is a lot like "Doc Martin" (played by Martin Clunes!), which meant there was no long wait.....what he lacks in social graces he totally makes up with in efficiency!

Everyone ate a different lunch - it was totally disorganised - everyone was fed - but as I had expected them to be at school nothing had been planned in advance - which led to more grumbles and people eating one after another rather than together. Dinner was only beans on toast - met with strong protests - and a lot of arguing before they ate up and then concluded that beans on toast was a nice dinner after all!!!

Tomorrow WILL be more organised. I am hoping there will be butternut squash at the shops - I plan to make a "nigella" soup - without the blue cheese swirl though - although they will be allowed a yoghurt swirl instead!

Alfie is eating really well at the moment - and is still breastfed inbetween, which is just aswell, his immune system will need all the help it can get in our household - because the girls going to school bring plenty of sniffles and tummy upsets home.

I'm finally going to bed now - VERY late indeed. At least the baby is sleeping soundly right now...

Alfie in Scandi-waves sling!

On my back in a didymos wrap sling (colourway is cassis waves ltd edition - but I call it "scandi-waves" due to the laplander-ish colours)!

Alfie 6 months

Alfie 2.5 weeks old.