A blogworthy half term?

Well, I really wasn't going to write anything about half term.  No photos were taken, children played out with their friends, jigsaws were made by Sophie, plenty of soft toys were played with, Luke made some wargaming banners for a chap at the club.  We did manage to get to the park whilst looking after a friends lad one afternoon, Luke was went to the cinema with a friend, and we managed to overcome the logistical nightmare of the parent to child ratio when going swimming!  (Admittedly we all ended up in the training pool, and pretty much cleared it, I hope everyone decided it was lunchtime, and didn't disappear because it had been invaded by our four!)

Stuart's brother visited for a day and a bit, which included a meal at our favourite Indian restaurant.  We had an engineer look at the dishwasher, declare it needed lots of parts replacing, and it couldn't be done for another week and a day!  And then we were struck by a horrid stomach upset :( And in amongst all this I did some spinning, knitting and crocheting (and lots of washing up!)

I really wasn't going to post at all, as nothing really stood out at me that made me think that I should either take a photo or blog about it.  But then I thought better of it, because after all, as the title of this blog suggests, it is simply...life!

School's broken up!

We are in  our first week of the Easter holiday.  I like the Easter holidays, not too much emphasis on having to do things (as there is at Christmas), but a well timed break, just as the weather starts to improve.  Unfortunately we have been bug fighting this week.  Sophie has a rather nasty cold and temperature, possibly a mild chest infection, but has spent the last few days demanding feed upon feed upon feed, which seems to be working, and her temperature is now gone, so hopefully we have turned a corner.  Luke has had a tooth abcess (must be about his 10th by now, poor lad) and this has been a really stubborn one, which he has not been able tolerate without regular pain relief.  Hoping that the anti-biotics are doing their stuff now. 
So, not much time spent outside really, more nursing the poorly ones, and letting Alec and Ethan entertain themselves, which has meant them playing outside with the neighbours children, or more often than not them all on the trampoline, trying not to fall out the enormous holes in the safety net (although I think one game was actually to fall out and get rescued by the others!)

Some crafting has happened, with varying interest from the children.  We made some yarn bowls that I had been shown here.  Ethan, Alec and Sophie lost interest at different points along the line, Ethan sat there for a while just picking the wood glue off his fingers (mind you I love doing that too!)

 We also had a go at making felted eggs.  I could only find two plastic eggs in the play food, so can only do two at a time, but Ethan and Sophie enjoyed helping me with these.

 The highlight of the week so far is probably the discovery of 3 mice in a box of Traidcraft stuff I had stored in the garage.  Fortunately there wasn't that much stuff in there, but blimey, they made a mess of what was there!  Two jumped out the box pretty soon after I had popped it in the backgarden.  They legged it down the garden, with chickens following in hot pursuit!

The third one stuck around for a few photos.  It was very sweet, and the children enjoyed watching it, but it too decided thought enough was enough and braved the chickens to earn its freedom!

Hopefully next week will see us enjoying the outdoors a bit more, and eventually getting the potatoes planted!

Introducing Playmobil!

We have a silly amount of playmobil, from castles and farmyards to houses and shops. All of it packed away in boxes as the boys had moved on to things like lego and xbox's!  Yesterday, Sophie was feeling a little off colour, so I thought I would get some of the playmobil out to take her mind off feeling unwell. 

I love playmobil, the detail that they go into, how it is sturdy and well made, and brings out alot of imaginary play.  Sophie was really taken with the house and the shop, and it certainly tookher mind off feeling unwell.  I secretly enjoyed a little play too, remembering the hours I had played with it with the boys when they were younger.

When the boys (well, Alec and Ethan) got home from school, as they walked through the door they were chatting about playing on the latest lego star wars game on the xbox, but then as they walked in the lounge, they got distracted, and spent the afternoon playing with the playmobil. 

 Later, as we approached bed time, once again there was playmobil playing going on.

And then this morning I had to drag the boys away from it (not literally!) to go and get ready for school.  I can't see this being packed away into boxes again for a while! 

Best laid plans...

...always go awry.

Illness has struck, along with just enough snow that makes using Stuart's car a suicidal mission. This has meant that I have been carless all week, which has been an eye-opener to say the least! We only became a 2 car family about 6 years ago, when it seemed mad for Stuart to be commuting in a 7-seater car to work, so he bought a Mazda which is a lovely car in the summer, but in the winter it will spin on the slightest patch of ice, so to play it safe he has used the big car for work. For me it has meant walking everywhere, something I wouldn't have given a second thought about a few years ago. I didn't think I used the car much anyway, but my body is telling me otherwise! So one thing I have learned from this week is to get fitter, and perhaps ditch the car much more!

Alec and Ethan have had time off from school, Alec with a cough and temperature he has kindly shared with the rest of us, and Ethan... well... he had a day off but I think it might have been false pretences!

Some music has happened...
...but sadly not my cello, it has managed to detune itself something chronic! Another thing learned... to get a cello tuner!

Sophie has a bit of a thing for "The Hives" and their song "tick,tick boom!" This is her dancing around to it. I think on this particular occasion we had around 20 renditions of it!

Advent has come upon us. We have a lovely advent calendar with little sacks for each day to hang from the reindeers antlers.

Each day is filled with an activity, but to date we have not managed to do any of them.

My plan was to wait until all the children were home from school, and do the things then, and I had especially put simple activities such as "hot chocolate" on the busy days when we have after school activities. But, the only time we have all been together has been mealtimes, and then it is the whole bed time routine. I think perhaps I will just have to get on and do them with whoever is around at the time. I must say the lure of snow has been hard to compete with!

Hot chocolate has been had though. And thoroughly enjoyed!

Some activities have happened. Some thumb print snowmen...

...and robins made from a chopped up carrot. But I think I was probably the most enthusiastic about all this :(

One thing that has really brightened my week though was an arrival of a Christmas present. Stuart asked if I would like it early as it was too big to take away with us. Well, of course, I said I didn't mind, but Luke insisted I have it now.

I have been trying to get me head around it all. Looking at the price of fleeces, and the children have all been having a practice treadling! Ethan, bless him, suggested we could have some sheep in the back garden, and Alec suggested we could buy that cottage in Wales, have sheep, chickens, a farm shop etc. Stuart reckons I've been brainwashing them, I promise I haven't!!

Poorly eyes

Alec was sent home from school yesterday as he was complaining of his eye itching. Typical! He has had an eye that has looked really sore all half-term but wasn't bothering him in the slightest, so we let it be, hoping it would sort itself out. But as soon as he returns to school, with it actually looking better (due to magic mummy milk!) it starts to bother him. And school won't let him back unless it is being treated with drops (I don't think Mummy milk qualifies for that :( )

Anyway, once home he is feeling much better, so I get an afternoon with a bit of extra time for him, which I love! We delivered pumpkin soup to his grandparents, then returned home to play with non-Newtonian fluids (aka cornflour and water.)

I could play with this stuff for hours! As could Alec and Sophie!

And then a spot of baking. Cheese scones.

Delicious!

I do love it when they are "poorly"

Just a little bit poorly

But well enough to start wondering about what life is like for blind people, and therefore exploring Braille. And writing his name in Braille

And just a little crafting for the season table.

I love these days when they are just not well enough to be at school, but well enough to do stuff at home. Stuart even commented that he's probably learnt more at home than he would have at school!

One step forwards, two steps back

After having had a successful weekend in sorting out more "stuff" either redistributing it into relevant rooms, or getting rid of it, and the fluttering of feelings that it really is possible for us to have an ordered house, rather than boxes of things, long forgotten about, sitting around the place. We then got hit by more bugs!

Luke had to come home from school early on Monday. By the evening I was feeling ill, and then by Tuesday morning Stuart had to come from work, soon after arriving there! So any good work was soon undone by nobody feeling up to doing anything, and it's amazing how quickly mess accumulates again! To top it off Sophie seems to have a perpetual snotty nose at the moment, turning her cheeks bright red. So Sophie is trying a dairy free diet, and hopefully it will make some difference. Luke was off school all week, but did muster the strength to take his grade 2 drum exam.

Fortunately, Friday everyone was feeling well, which is a good job, as it was Ethan's 6th birthday. More about that later.

The general feeling though at the moment is rather depressed, as Stuart and I feel so run down at the moment, a kind of apathy has set in.

Oh, and to top it all off, the chickens gave me a scare on Tuesday, after I found them picking over the carcass of a rat. My worry was that if the rat had been poisoned, that they too would succomb. And after speaking to the vet who gave me rather in depth details of how they would die depending on the poison used, I dreaded letting them out the following morning. If they had been poisoned, they would have been dead within 24 hours, it really made you think though about how actions have ripples beyond the intended action. And whilst I never would use anything like poisons, there are many other aspects of our lives where the intended action has far reaching consequences, from how we speak to each other, to the foods we eat.

So with such a realisation, I am going to try and look at things more positively, and pull myself, and the rest of us out of this sickly rutt we have found ourselves in. Sophie has loved having someone to share her passion of books with, with somebody always sitting around feeling sorry for themselves! I have started knitting a cardigan for Sophie with some wool given me by a friend. Ethan was invested at Beavers this week, and was very proud of himself. Luke is feeling confident about the results of his drum exam. And we have 2 weeks to live as fast or as slow as our bodies need. Onwards and upwards!

The joy of being ill

This last week four of us have been fighting off a stinker of a head cold. You would think there would be much whinging and whining, and granted there has been a fair share of that, but it has also given us all space to just "be", and to find blessings in the quiet.

Organising the larder, so things can be seen, and making meal plans, which is wonderfully liberating.

Finishing books that have sat for too long, untouched. And finding inspiration in their pages.

Finding beautiful words written by Luke, now displayed for all to see, rather than languishing in a pile of paper.

Making dishcloths, strangely rewarding

An evening of making paper aeroplanes.

Eurgh!

This week has pretty much been a right-off. Sophie's cough has developed into a chest infection, and after a slight recovery on Wednesday I decided not to give her the antibiotics prescribed by the doctor. However, she is now struggling so decided that breastmilk and cuddles is not enough and she is now on the antibiotics, much to her disgust!!

Ethan has been fighting some bug that gave him a temperature and some sickness. Alec has a tummy upset, and Stuart has had blocked ears!

Luke was rather upset at being the only one going to school, but at least he is healthy for now, if a little exhausted! He went to see Muse with Stuart on Tuesday, which kept him on a high for Wednesday despite the return home at midnight, but he definitely crashed and burned on Thursday!

I've heard alot about juicing recently, and years ago bought a book with various juicing recipes in. This has been brought out again this week in an attempt to stave off the inevitable illnesses, I haven't even offered the children any, as I'm pretty sure they wouldn't go for pepper and onion etc. If anyone has any child friendly immune boosting juice recipes I'd be grateful to hear of them!

I have been trying to sort everyone out and do a few things for myself too. I have finished off the longies for Sophie for Christmas, I just have to tie-dye them now. Doing some little knitted projects as and when I can, and trying to get my head around patterns etc for a big sewing session! Also managed to use some more of the cooking apples up to make 8 jars of apple chutney, in the slow cooker of all things!

However, due to Sophie being ill, she is wanting to be carried much more, and I have really noticed the effect on my pelvis following the SPD during my pregnancy. I guess it will always be a weakness, I just hope, as she is getting bigger now, I can carry on wearing her without too many repercussions.

The chickens are not laying regularly now, I guess with the awful light we have had, so we may get to a point soon where I have to buy eggs! And the poor allotment has not had a look in!

A mish mash of things

Apart from the ongoing saga of my parents-in-law (MIL back in hospital with a racing heart), what else has been happening this week?

We had the boys returning to school. They have all settled in ok, although Luke had some teething problems with his rather strict form teacher. When will they learn that to gain a child's respect you have to respect them, not dominate them or strike the fear of god into them?

Mum, bless her, has been down the allotment regularly harvesting what is ready. We have maincrop potatoes coming in now, along with more runner beans, cooking apples, plums, a bit of purple sprouting, we had to pull all the carrots and they were riddled with carrot root fly, but we were able to salvage some. And we should have had some lovely sweetcorn, we'd just been waiting for it to plump up, and when Mum went to harvest it at the weekend she found some vandals had beaten her to it, and have destroyed some plants, strewn the ripe cobs around which have subsequently been eaten by local wildlife, and we are left with a few cobs which are not ripe, but, fingers crossed, will come to something later. It has been a regular occurrence on the site, but the first time we have been hit. Hopefully the instilation of high, locked gates will help deter the trouble makers. Only time will tell.

I have managed to add to my jam store with damson jam and plum and apple jam, which will hopefully help to make up some jam hampers for Christmas, hopefully I'll be adding quince and blackberry to this. As far as Christmas goes I've also made a start on some longies for Sophie, it will take me til Christmas to get them done, as she seems attracted to the needles!

Stuart is planning to go back to work this next week, his recouperation has not been as restful as we would have hoped, but he has put a very brave face on it all.

And the rollercoaster carries on!

A week after Stuart's operation, his Mum had to go in for a routine op. No problems there, it went as planned. However, Stuart phoned his Dad to see how he was, as he gets nervous when in the house by himself. Stuart felt his Dad was not sounding right, so made his way over to see him. On spending a couple of hours with him he felt he needed to see a doctor, so the GP came to the house, who then called the paramedics to admit him to hospital with suspected pneumonia.

Well, the week has had its lows, with concerns over Stuart's Dad, trying not to let Stuart overdo things, and exhaustion creeping in with trying to hold everything together. There have been highs too, this time Luke's birthday (although quieter than he would have liked, and marred by the return to school on the same day), joy that Stuart's Dad has responded well to antibiotics, and a chance to see family as Stuart's sister and family arrived with Jessie to visit and see the poorly crowd!

Stuart's Dad has now been discharged, a little too soon I feel as they do not see to have recognised the needs of Stuart's Mum who is recovering from her op, and whilst she is very stoic, she too is elderly and treading a fine line between health and illness. Therefore it has fallen to Stuart to try and ease the situation. Family is everything to him, which is one of his wonderful qualities, but I do worry that he will hamper his own recovery. I am hoping things will calm down soon, although I said that last week, and look what happened!

Sad times and a little chaos!

I was not looking forward to 5th November. Why? Because it was a year since we lost our dear cat Hobbes. He was such a special little creature, who was so loving. There is a little ditto somewhere that says something along the lines of cats leaving paw prints on your heart forever. That certainly was Hobbes.

Another reason for not looking forward to the 5th was the date some dear friends were finding out if their unborn baby was indeed suffering with the fatal Edwards Syndrome. Unfortunately they had bad news. Such difficult decisions to make, and a life, not yet known, to mourn. It has generated so many mixed feelings, but the overwhelming one is of stunned sorrow, which no words can describe.

Turning back to the lives of the little ones. Luke had his long-awaited sleepover last night. Four of his mates from school, supposedly sleeping in his room. One lad managed to grab 4 hours (I think he must have brought sedatives with him :D The rest had no sleep!!! At 5am they were playing hide and seek, which sounded like a herd of elephants. I really don't know how they kept going, although Luke didn't quite, he is now soundly asleep on the sofa having fallen asleep in Sophie's playnest!!

Earlier this week I was supposed to be meeting with some e-friends from GP forum. But unfortunately Luke and Alec were both ill. I hope it all went well for those who were able to make it, and I will have to try and keep the boys healthy for the next meet-up. Their illness also scuppered my plans for getting some craft stuff together following the aborted attempt at the garden centre the other week. I guess that will now be a job for next week.

Having the boys at home was nice though, as I was able to spend a bit more time with them. Luke and I made some honeycomb (courtesy of Howie on GP forum), which is so easy, and delicious too. Luke and Alec were able to spend some time together too, which they don't tend to do normally, as Alec and Ethan are usually playmates.

Pretty much sums up this week, but one I would rather not repeat if it can be at all helped.