birthday celebration interlude

Just a quick Happiest Sappiest Bo Nappiest birthday to my one and only.

I gave him monstrous windchimes. I took him sushi, egg custard tarts, and a potted sunflower for lunch. I surprised him with a meal out (albeit kids n tow) (which we didn't even pay for THANK YOU ANNIE). We had a bath with wine and vanilla bath salts. We have to move bedrooms because we left our velux open and our bed got soaked. I've been trying to convince him to sing old Michael Jackson songs and record them. We tried a few out earlier. Now it's time for more wine and board games. Turning 37 can't be half bad even if he isn't out doing what he did when he was 27. I know he prefers the here and now.

Happy 37th honey pie. I hope you enjoyed your special day. We love you.

Home movie forthcoming-Internet is being a crapmaggot right now.

At least he knows the alphabet....

Digi: Mummy, I did pop out a t shape poo!

what ever will be next?

Ipod boy

He stole it from daddy and now he wants a Dr. Who lunch box for school. He is becoming a mini Nik. OMG.

And he claims that he is too big for bob the builder and fruit shoots. (he still likes both but he thinks it's grown up to claim otherwise)

Right now I am trying to focus on the little funny things like this. I'm so thankful for my two pint sized buddies.

Good things come to those who wait.

I've been putting off writing this post and debating whether or not to but here goes...I've had another miscarriage. Bit of bad luck for us really as only 1 in 100 women have two recurrent miscarriages. On the positive side, it was very early on and I've not had to have any medical intervention so far except for a couple of blood tests to check hormone levels. My hormones are totally out of sync and I feel quite moody with little patience for anything. I know it's the hormones. I'm a little bit disappointed but I knew it wasn't quite right. I am reassured that I can get pregnant very easily. We only started trying again last month and I got pregnant. Now my body just needs to hold on to it! Bodies are strange things. I'm sure if it's meant to be and everything is just right, a little star will be born. It may take a little longer but that's ok. Good things come to those who wait and all that. I'm not very good at waiting though. Guess I'd better learn.

Time for a rest. x

This won't be the last time he asks.

Digi (stalling before bed as usual): Let's have a chat mummy.

Me: Ok, What shall we chat about?

Digi: Let's chat about how things are in our bodies.

Me: Ok, like what sort of things?

Digi: Let's chat about how babies are made.

Cue much internal laughing. I managed a pretty blunt description. He didn't ask any questions. I'm sure this will resurface again somewhere in the future and he will shout, "daddies put their willies in vaginas and move around."

Well, he did ask.

listen everybody anymore.

sign o the times


Digi excitedly, " Iphone! Iphone! I saw an Iphone!"

I can see someone taking after his father.

Kalila, "I take this in to garden center" (motioning to some lip gloss)
Me, " Let's just leave that in the car until we get back."
Kalila, "I take this!"

I can see this one taking after her mother.


Digi told me that he learned from Tricia, one of his teachers, why toy shops closed at night. According to Digi, it's so nobody goes in at night and the people can go to sleep. He also learned from Lesley why the shed at school was wooden. It's because it was made of wood. Who would have thought? Digi only has two days of school left! I can't believe it.
Digi has taken to pronouncing thing lately with what can only be described as a nana accent. I think he is experimenting with L sounds as it only happens with words that have L in them. For instance, Blue would become Ba-lue. Play is Pa-lay. etc. It's endearing and will make nana proud.

Kalila's interpretation of sentences is pretty nifty. She speaks very well but a lot of the time she adds extra words that make no sense really and it too is very endearing. She often says things such as, "mummy, I haven't got blu-tac everybody anymore." or "My shoes aren't in bed anything anymore". Everybody, anything, and anymore feature quite a lot. I also like the way she refers to all children as her friend even if she doesn't know them. If they are naughty then she will call them "that boy" or "that girl".

and that is all anymore anything everybody.

I kiss my kitchen every day.

There has been a large art project going on in our house and the transformation so far is so damn purty it's enough to make a grown man cry. This was all handmade by Alan and his hands are one part cuddly bear paw and one part sawdusty genius.

This was before. Nice enough but seriosuly lacking space and organization.



During



Installation





No, you can't have it. It's mine muhahahahaha. Sorry Nik, it's ours (but mine) muhahahaha.

Nik and I spent hours filling the cupboards. Deciding the new homes for sugar and flour and cereal etc has never been so fun and probably never will be. You haven't seen the best cupboard. Maybe I will post a pic of that when the other cupboard over the fridge has been put in.

We finally took delivery of our American fridge with ice maker etc last week. You would have thought that the ice maker was chucking out money by the way we all got excited over it. OOh shall we have cubed, crushed, shaved...the choices, the variety. I know this is ice I am talking about but people I have missed my lovely friend, the American fridge with it's nice ice. It says to us, "Ya'll are hard working fellers .Ya'll deserve a nice cool refreshin drank. Put yer cup jus here an let my ol spout make a drink for ya'll." Our fridge is of the southern American variety. We had a day of ice and then ol johnny up and died on us. So we are anxiously awaiting our replacement and then we can feel safe in the knowledge that our ice will be pinging it's way to us in a few short hours.

An open air experiment gone right!

Last night we experimented in a way that could have gone horribly wrong for all involved. We took the kids along with us to see Crowded House in Thetford Forest. It started at around 7:30 which is just when they would be tucked up in their beds looking like adorable comatose angels. We decided against taking a stroller and instead converted their radio flyer wagon into a traveling bed for two, complete with blankets and a pillow (note to self-always take two pillows). They didn't need tickets as under fives are free although when we rolled up to the entrance, the man asked me if they needed tickets. As we made our way into the beautiful woodland many people smiled and commented to us and the children. Most people thought they looked so comfy and a few wanted an adult size wagon, myself included. I was getting the feeling that Crowded House have the friendliest fans in the world. I wasn't a big fan really when we went (Nik is) but I think seeing them live has made them go up a notch or two in the list especially when they spontaneously started playing The Cure's Forest.
The only drawback of the evening was Digi was so excited before they came on that he shit himself. Toddler with boxer shorts+poo+porta toilets=big feckin disgusting mess. But we got there in the end and we changed him into his pajamas. Shit happens eh? Digi danced, Kalila clapped, they were on our shoulders some, they played with blankets, they had snacks, and they thoroughly enjoyed their first concert. We all did. On the way out, some guy stopped Nik and said our kids were so cool and well behaved and then a few feet later someone else said almost the same thing again. They definitely drew a lot of positive attention and I genuinely think people enjoyed watching them. The guy beside us certainly did especially when Digi tried to sing along to one of the songs. I was concerned that some people would tut and think they were too loud or irritating. Actually what the hell am I saying? I wasn't concerned in the least bit. Crowded House fans are incredibly chilled. We'll see what happens at their next open air event. I plan on making this a family tradition. Nik agrees as long as it isn't MacFly, who are playing tonight.

When it comes to choosing a set of people to be your child's or children's godparents, supporting adults, secondary parents, Guard parents, guide parents, or fairy guard parents (as ours are called), one needs to take it seriously. We didn't appoint ours upon birth for many reasons, one being that we wanted people who actually enjoyed and liked our children and you never know how people, including family, will react to your children. But I am not talking about our choice today and how we came to it (even though fairy guard mother Karen and fairy guard father Simon are simply the best), I am going to talk about how NOT to ask someone. Firstly, this didn't happen to me but to someone I care about. This person was sent an invitation to a naming ceremony. AFTER receiving the invitation this person was asked to be a supporting adult by EMAIL. This person then responded and said something along the lines of, "Shall we get together so I can meet "baby" and then we can discuss all the details". There was no response. A while later one half of the couple emailed to ask for an RSVP and it was confirmed. Less than a week before the event, there was another email from the parents of the baby to say that as person had not confirmed in such a way that showed complete enthusiasm, they took that as a no and found someone else for the job adding, "hope you are not too miffed". This is NOT the way to choose a supporting adult for your child.
I highly doubt that the parents involved read this website but if they do--SHAME ON YOU. Choosing someone who is to feature prominently in the life of your children is such an important task. It is probably even more important for the one who has been asked as it is a life long commitment. In my eyes , fairy guard parents will be at birthdays, normal days, school events, graduations, and everything else in between. It's kind of an important decision. Not one to be undertaken by email and certainly not before you have met the child.
To quote Flight of the Conchords: what is wrong with the world today?

My babies are lucky as they are half American, they will have American guard parents too but those people don't know it yet:-)

Legs

Sore

For Cancer Research

I did it! May not have done it very quickly (42 minutes) and may have walked most of the way but so did loads of others and I'm glad I did it. I almost didn't make it as I was quite ill this morning and I had no stomach (or should I say intestines) for lunch. Nuzzles to everyone who supported,sponsored, texted and phoned. We've made a positive contribution. *Now fuck off cancer.





*if only it were so easy.

PS If you missed donating, you can still do so for a while longer. It still helps.

I am touched.

Thank you to auntie K for creating this masterpiece with the funniest drunken version of the Star Spangled Banner I have ever heard. Click fast as it's a one day only special.

And to my other fellow Merkins, Happy 4th July. I hug ya. Kapow.

just to clarify.

I feel I must add this. Insulation is not pronounced in-shoe-lation.
It's In-sue-lation.

Mujer

Wondering what I have been up to and how the weekend and week have flown by. It's Wednesday and I'm ready for a nap. On Saturday we had auntie K and uncle S over for curry and board games. We were so lazy and actually got a take-out but we were in the middle of kitchen renovations (more on that exciting development later) so it was acceptable. On Sunday we went to Lisa and Paul's Canada Day bbq where we indulged and indulged and I drank some of the finest home made lemonade. I tried to get Lisa's secret family recipe for bbq sauce but Paul was tight lipped. That was two nights of indulgence on the trot. That makes for one enlarged gut!
Yesterday before we went swimming, we made some banana bread. The kids were "helping" again which they love to do. If it's cooking related, they will be there sampling and spilling every step of the way. Usually I give them some pastry to roll or some bowls and spoons with "cake mixture". I have to be careful because they will eat anything. Seriously anything. Handfuls of raw oats, raw brussel sprouts, limes, raw pasta, hair etc. Ok, maybe not hair. Anywhooblydo, I was trying to quickly put in the last ingredient, vanilla, before any spills were made. I grabbed the bottle and put a big splash in and thought it looked a bit watery. Turns out it was Pimms! Oops. I bet you are wondering how on earth I could confuse a bottle of Pimms with a bottle of vanilla? Well my bottle of vanilla is from Mexico and it's about as large as the bottle of Pimms. Need any vanilla, I'm your Hombre. Actually, I am your moo-hair. Still tasted nice. Kalila and I also made freshly squeezed lemonade. Bee-u-tee-ful.
Actually I am having a streak of domesticity. It is usually short lived due to low energy levels but those around me benefit immensely and are ever so grateful. If only I could sleep ten hours a night. This is going off into a right old tangent.
The kids and I (and Digi's girlfriend) picked some gorgeous strawberries, some about the size of lemons, and I am not even exaggerating. These were giant mutant radioactive strawberries. Kind of like those octopi.


It was 26 degrees c yesterday and it feels like summer. I didn't complain of the heat once. I just opened my arms and gave it a big hug and hoped it didn't think I was stinky and would stick around for a while.


And can somebody tell me how to remove the phrase "I can't" from Kalila's vocabulary? Digi and her are such copycats. They use the same phrases ALL THE TIME.