Catching Up! (Get a cuppa- it's a long blog!!)

At long last, here is our latest update! I'm going back a bit here to half term. We had a very low budget half term as we had a rather large car repair bill to pay just before the holidays started but we were creative & had lots of fun! On the very first day we went to Lister Drive Fishery & Pet Shop. It is in an old Victorian swimming baths that Lee used to go to every week when he was in primary school. The fish are in one of the pools, all the green Victorian wall tiles are still there & all the alcoves where the changing rooms were. Lee tells us little stories about when he used to go there as a child everytime we visit. I love going there for several reasons- one, it's part of Lee's past that I can connect with; two, you can feed the fish for 20p; three, it's like going to the zoo but free & the kids love it! We spent ages looking at all the tropical fish, rabbits, guinea pigs & birds. When Timmy saw the parrot sitting on it's cage he said 'Oooh! A chicken!' & Luke called the rabbits 'guinea rabbits' which I thought was sweet! We were all fascinated by the bubble eye fish & the golden frogs. I'm amazed at all the weird & wonderful things God has created!

The boys love this space rocket! We fly to Button Moon & Mars in it & past all kinds of aliens! The twins & I went to this park today & they both had a pretend space sleep on it!

Jordan learnt to swing himself on a big swing during half term too. He really is growing up!!

This is Timmy on the helicopter roundabout. He just loves to stand on it & watch the world go by!

This photo is of Jordan & Timmy in the flying saucer with Luke pushing them round! They did this for ages!

On a different day we went to another park with some friends. Timmy (top 2 photos) is so confident climbing up & down the hoop ladder & over the ladder bridge! He does it all by himself no trouble. Luke prefers to stay on the ground for the most part, although he loves climbing up to go down the fireman's pole!

We had some lovely weather over half term so spent a lot of time in the garden. We even had our first picnic & ice lollies of the year too! Timmy & Luke really love wearing the crowns that they made at their birthday party too. They wear them everywhere! Luke wore his on the weekly shop in Asda a few weeks back & made several old ladies days! I got stopped every few aisles with comments about how gorgeous he looked & was it his birthday? Jordan stayed at my parent's for a few days over the holidays too which he really enjoyed. We also visited our friend Jean for the afternoon which Timmy & Luke thought was fantastic! They are always asking to go to Jeanie's house. I was amazed to see how many goldfinches they had in their garden. They are such beautiful birds.

Jordan surprised us all by getting his face painted by the United Colours of Kensington group who have been coming into the kids sessions at church over the past few weeks. He has always refused to have his face painted except by me before! UCK are part of a regeneration initiative in a part of Liverpool called Kensington (where Lee grew up). It is very run down & deprived but a lot of fund money has been made available to re-build housing there & generally make it a nicer community to live in. UCK are training up people to become professional face painters & were in need of willing models to practise on so our church volunteered! In case you are wondering, Jordan is painted as a dog! He also had a lovely butterfly painted on his hand.

It's also that time of year again when Lee delivers the Yellow Pages. We had over 1000 books delivered to our house. The twins loved watching the man unload them all for us. Jordan was a great help to Lee delivering the books. He worked so hard doing it that we said we'd pay him! He is really looking forward to spending his wages in the toy shop! His current ambition is to be a postman (although he was toying with the idea of being an artist yesterday!). He was certainly in his element delivering the books!

We looked after our friend's Alistair & Rachel's cat for the weekend while they were away. The boys absolutely loved Alice the cat! Timmy was convinced that Alistair had turned into Alice & kept saying 'Alistair's not here! Alistair's turned into a white cat!'

Last week Timmy & Luke got their big boy car seats which they love! It was a little sad saying goodbye to their baby car seats but it is great to see them growing up into such lovely boys. It is also so much easier & quicker to put them in the car & they can get themselves out of the seats at the end of the journey too!

Our last bit of news for now is that it was my birthday on Sunday! My sister, Helen, took me shopping for shoes at Cheshire Oaks on the Saturday. I got 2 pairs of Sketchers that I am very pleased with! Lee took the boys over to my parents for the afternoon & Helen & I joined them there for tea. While I was shopping the boys, Lee & my mum planted up some flowers for a surprise for me & made me some beautiful cards & a delicious cake with chocolate hearts on it- yum! (No piccies though- bet you're relieved after all this lot here- as my camera refused to work!) On the Sunday I had breakfast in bed & a lie in. Luxury eh?! I spent the afternoon cleaning up the house (yes I know it was my birthday, but I really enjoyed doing it! Timmy & Jordan helped me too while Lee was out with Luke) in preparation for the evening when we had a few friends round for a cuppa & cake. All in all it was a lovely day, very relaxing & I felt totally spoilt! ;O)

Well, you can breathe a sigh of relief now because I have finished my update! Phew! I really mustn't leave it so long next time! Hope you are all well. Look forward to hearing all your news too!