Happy Birthday to my great big ball of WWWAAAHHH!!!

At five minutes to midnight four years ago I was handed a snuffling baby bundle and was told it was a boy. This was a huge surprise and I really didn't know what to do with him, I'm still trying to work it out!

To me Patrick is the most frustrating, stubborn, loud, selectively deaf, shallow, whingey, sensitive, deep, caring, outgoing, shy, cuddly, happy, funny, friendly, clever, quiet ball of contradictions wrapped up in a wriggly, always grubby body. He's like a puppy and needs to be exercised daily or he explodes. He's always after food or cuddles, I suppose the puppy thing follows there too?

Patrick is my joker, he does loud slap-stick style but he can do clever quiet humour too. He doesn't always like the obvious boy things and is never scared to try new things (mussels, jumping off high walls, swimming under water), although he says blue is a boys colour he still sneaks pink stuff into his pockets.

I'm looking forward to seeing him grow in the next year (hopefully not too much more physically as he's already looking a bit big in the 5-6 clothes) - I can see us having a few sleepless nights with a worried little boy but school will be great for him. He'll love being big and important like Anya. I will miss our days off together but at least I will have some peace!

Have a happy fourth birthday Bucks xoxo

"Today's my last day at nursery - I'm going to school tomorrow" - Getting the going to school when you're 4 thing a bit muddled up!

Here comes summer :-)

Last weekend we had the first real taste of summer - the children played outside constantly (Anya mainly out the front with the older neighbours, Patch trys hard to keep up but he's still often left behind).

Patrick and Euan spent ages chasing bubbles in the garden and laughing. Anya finally came inside with a war wound after falling off her scooter. We had our first barby of the season. Days like this are fab, I'll have to keep hold of the memory of them during the wet school days!

I had an afternoon off (after much sorting of childcare - thanks again fabtastic aunties and friends!) to go western riding on the most gorgeous Argentinian criollo horses. After a sunny afternoon day dreaming about growing up to be a cowboy I felt like a bit more like myself and less like only a mother/wife! I'm now saving so that I can one day have my own pony (feel like I'm 8 again!).

I had a suprise visit from a family of ducks on the doorstep - the mother had 15 ducklings (and I moan about having 3).

Quote of the season - 'A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.' ~James Dent

For my very own Blueberry Girl xo

"...Dull days at forty, false friends at fifteen;
Let her have brave days and truth.
Let her go places that we've never been;
Trust and delight in her youth.

Ladies of Grace, and Ladies of Favour,
And Ladies of Merciful Night,
This is a prayer for a Blueberry Girl,
Grant her your Clearness of Sight.

Words can be worrisome, people complex;

Motives and manners unclear.
Grant her the wisdom to choose her path right,
Free from unkindness and fear.

Let her tell stories, and dance in the rain,
Somersaults, tumble and run;
Her joys must be high as her sorrows are deep,
Let her grow like a weed in the sun... "



By Neil Gaiman

OK, it's official I'm rubbish.

Real life got in the way of my blogging so I am frantically trying to remember the highlights of the last month and a bit.

Euan has started to talk and sing pretty much non stop he tends to go around babbling E-I-E-I-O, baabaa and caaaar lots. Euan also calls everyone Daddy including me, Anya, Patrick and anyone really, this has caused some interesting situations. The first one was when the gas man came to service the boiler, he walked in and Euan shouted "Hello Daddy". The gasman said no, I don't think so! The next we went to a Mass at Anya's school church, Father Michael stood up to talk and Euan screamed DADDY, DADDY, DADDY.

Patrick and his good friend Charlie stripped naked at the very top of a soft play area (in a clear plastic tube) and refused to get dressed, myself and Charlie's mum had to run around after them screaming put your clothes on. The whole of the cafe area had noticed and were all pointing and laughing, embarrassing but hilarious and something to raise in his wedding speech!

Attended my first ever school disco - Anya pretended I was nothing to do with her and managed to ignore me for most of the night (thought that this started at secondary school). Luckily there was a bar at the disco and a glass (paper cup) of wine made the night oh so much better!

Half term was great and we did loads of fun stuff. Probably the best was going to Alton Towers we got there very early, Anya managed to go on the Run away train 4 times in a row - Patrick did go on but said he would go on it "again tomorrow", meaning that he didn't really like it but didn't want to say so.

We were really lucky over Easter and it was sunny for most of the holiday we did lots of egg hunts. On one we went to a friends farm and got to see the new born lambs. Anya's friend explained birth - "And the mummy and daddy sheep get married, then the daddy jumps on the mummy's bottom and after a while the mummy has a lamb come out of her bottom".

Here's a few photo highlights...

The funny quote I can remember - Anya when talking about what her Dad does at work "he's mainly on the phone".

Anya making cakes - "They're rising, they're risen from the dead!" - that's what you get for going to a Catholic school!