Making friends during the week during a trip to the cosmopolitan delights of Bracknell.


Noah this morning sharing some guy time with Seamus (or is it Humbug.. we still cant decide!)


TKFKAH enjoying watching Amie eating her lunch.


This fella was down the bottom of our garden, I'm pretty sure he's a toad as he was pretty big with bumpy looking skin.. didn't seem to be afraid of the kids and was there for a good half an hour before hopping off.


A picture paints and thousand words, but not all of them are true. To look at this it would seem that Jessie and the kitten are making friends. What you can't hear is the low rumble of a growl that emits from Jessie everytime she sees him. However it's a good sign that they are starting to share some personal space, and hopefully in a few weeks they will be friends.


The kids having fun driving a tractor on a day out with Grandad to Odds Farm.
http://www.oddsfarm.co.uk/


Noah using his ear phones as cheek warmers on a visit to MERL (Museum of English Rural Life in Reading) http://www.reading.ac.uk/merl/about/merl-about.aspx


Amie looking very pleased with herself after being allowed to hold a guinea pig at the local pet shop.


Relaxing at the MERL with grandad


Displaying their finger puppet butterflies that they made at a workshop at the MERL.

Jasmine popped in today to meet him




Sharing some guy time with dad

Meet Seamus

After 2 weeks of Amie waking up and saying "How many more sleeps till we get the kitten?", we finally have Seamus here with us. We went to pick him up today and I'm amazed at how well he has taken to us all, espcially to Amie. Jessie isn't too impressed with him, but he's not really taking any notice of her and I'm sure in a few days they'll be friends too.. he's so cute! His legs are really long and bandy so he resembles a gawky teenager at the moment even though he's only 3 months old.

Enjoying some ice-pops with their friends Emily and Katie.


Emma made a flying visit to us a few weeks ago... Amie in particular was delighted, getting up extra early to go into Emma and chat to her, girl to girl.


Even with exciting new toys, "Coco" is still a firm favorite. I got Amie this doll when she was 1 year old and she loves her to pieces, literally.. the doll is falling apart. I keep meaning to buy another one while they still make them, because Amie will be devastated if she loses her.. which considering the fact she insists on taking her everywhere, is likely!


Whats nearly even better than Coco? A real live baby sitting on your knee. Amie has suddenly developed a fascination with babies, and seems to be pretty good with them. Handy bit of pocket money coming up for her when she's older!


Sometimes life here can be a little too hectic. This is how I discovered Noah when I noticed he'd gone quiet (a rare event) during dinner time. The fork was still in his hand pretty tightly so I think he feel asleep mid shovel. When I woke him he started crying "I'm hungry" and was very pleased when I pointed out his dinner was right infront of him.


This is Amie's impression of a turtle....obviously.



Amie is pretty handy with the camera, and took these two pictures of Noah... which doesn't take that much skill really as he is like her shadow, constantly trailing after her.



There is a lovely farm shop just up the road that we visited on Friday. The kids had fun feeding the sheep and goats.


Noah leading a congo line at a friend's birthday party


Amie and Noah riding on "Max", the beautiful rocking horse Granny sent all the way from Ireland...


... which seems to have given them a few ideas... how long until they are asking for one of these?

'Fun' Run?

Before the run, topping up with energy of 99's... mmm

Whoever calls these 5k runs fun runs is obviously a maschoist... of all the things I can think of doing for fun, hawling my butt uphill dripping in sweat and fearing I'm going to have an accident of the kind usually reserved for 2 year olds in potty training isn't one of them. However I'm pleased to report I made it round the course in 30 mins, as promised jogging all the way... and have raised £165 for Cancer Research. And, I do have to admit I did enjoy it. The atmosphere was great, and having the in-laws, Rich and the kids there cheering me on was a real motivator. Thank you to everyone who sponsored me, you made it worth it :)


Warming up, Noah and Amie had good fun doing this as well!


In the home stretch...


Smiling at the end of it all, because it's over!

Amie's first book...

Amie made a book at nursery, or at least she came home with a few pages stapled toogether, with some drawings on them. When I asked her about the story, she delighted in telling me it in some detail. She asked me to write it for her while she dictated it, and this is it verbatim... the next Booker Prize winner pehaps?

"Once upon a time there was a boy playing hide in sick in the garden and then all on a sudden the warm sun came up and then the boy saw that there was a monster in his garden. And then the boy ran in to tell his mum there was a monster in the garden and then the boy called the mans to come pack all his toys in a big box and put them on a plane to go to the new house, and they flew in the airplane to the new house.
And then the monster called to the plane "Please can you put the steps out at the front please" and then the monster climbed up them. But then all on a sudden the plane goed faster and then the other plane with the monster got shocked and then the monster fell out and then when he looked up he saw a big thing and it was cross. And they lived togeather happily ever after"

Noah has decided he's ready to wear pants. On Tuesday at toddler group he asked me to take him to the toilet, and he sat on it and did his business.. so I've bitten the bullet and put him in pants only during the day. We've had a few accidents but more often than not he gets it where it's meant to be. His sticker chart is filling up fast, and we're well on the way to no nappies anymore.. Hooray! :)

Heeeeeey

Noah insists on holding onto a big fistful of my hair whenever I have him on my shoulders, even though he insists before I lift him up that "I won't pull your hair mum"





Well we've moved house, that was the big bit of news that I meant to report. We've actually bought a house, so the bank owns it, but we have to pay less rent which is good :)


Eoghain and Tanja paid us a visit, and it's thanks to them that we have some photos to put up on the blog :)



We have a new addition to the house, a butterfly, who as yet has no name. Eoghain got the kids a butterfly set for Christmas, and we've seen 4 caterpillars turn into butterflies.. however one of the them has a dodgy wing, and even though I did release him yesterday I felt a bit guilty being sure he was going to end up as some other creatures dinner, but then I figured that's the way nature works. However, Amie found him this afternoon on our back step.. looking even worse for wear, so we've decided he can spend his remaining days, or weeks living in the hatching habitat... he cannot fly so it's not as though it's cruel to keep him captive, and at least we know he'll be fed and not end up getting eaten. (and he's less work than a puppy)