Run! Run! As fast as you can!

The Gingerbread Man may have thought we couldn't catch him but catch him we did last Sunday after church! We had great fun decorating him (& his 4 siblings) with smarties & icing. It was even more fun eating him all up! Yum yum! ;0)

Nyew Shoes??

Way back in November we bought Timmy & Luke some new trainers. Both of the boys are very decisive when it comes to choosing shoes so it is usually a very quick trip to Clark's. On this particular visit the boys chose their shoes in seconds & we paid for them & left the shop. As we were getting into the car I noticed that one of Timmy's trainers lights didn't flash. I went back into the shop only to find that there were no more pairs of those trainers in Timmy's size & the shop couldn't order them in for us. So Timmy tried on a LOT of other trainers but was still certain that he liked the grey ones the best. The manager gave us the customer order number for us to ring & order the shoes ourselves but in the meantime she said Timmy could still wear the faulty trainers...

Lee rang Clark's warehouse a few weeks later & they sent out a new pair of shoes which we had to pay for over the phone & then when they arrived take the faulty pair back to the shop to get a refund. Anyway, when the new trainers arrived they'd sent the wrong size!!!!! By the time we got back to the Clark's shop Timmy's trainers had gone into the sale but luckily there was one pair left in his size. So we ended up getting a refund on 2 & a half pairs of shoes & Timmy had a new pair of shoes 2 months after we'd bought his last pair even though his feet hadn't grown! I was quite pleased, but what a palaver eh?!

By the way, the title of this post is how Jordan spells new! And lastly, a big Happy Birthday to Lauren for today! ;0)

Chef Jordan

Last Friday Jordan cooked us sausage casserole for our tea using some of the vegetables from our yummy organic fruit & veg box. He really enjoyed washing the very muddy parsnips & carrots...

...peeling them...
...chopping them up (although the parsnip was a little tricky!)...

...stirring it all in the pan...

...adding the sausages & tomatoes...

...serving onto the plates with the rice...

... and 'being the server' too. We all thought the meal was delicious & Jordan was really pleased with himself for having cooked us our tea. I think he ate better too! ;0)

I'm Back!! ;0)

It has certainly been very strange intentionally not blogging for a whole week I must say! But it has also been very good to take time to pray & re-assess stuff.... Anyway, last week was actually quite eventful for us in an ordinary kind of way so over this week I shall endeavour to update you on it all.

By far the biggest thing that happened last week was that Jordan was discharged from speech therapy! He has been having therapy since he was 3 years old & in the past 6 months everything seemed to slot into place so much so that now anyone who meets him for the first time can, usually, understand every word he says. He has worked so hard at his talking & we are so proud of him! The little video above is of him singing our friend Rachel Happy Birthday in June 2005 so he was a little over 4 & a half years old & had just started the more sound specific group sessions of speech therapy. You can see he is really concentrating to say the words so much that he's lost most of the tune bless him! He is holding a cake that he made for Rachel. (There's a photo of Jordi with the cakes in case you can't view the video!)

Hope all you blog readers are very well. Have a good week & I shall see you tomorrow for the next installment! ;0)

Yummy Yummy!

One of the things we wanted to try this year (perhaps it might be called a resolution?) was buying our fruit & veg direct from the farmer. We had discussed it but not done anything about it until a leaflet popped through our front door one afternoon from a company called Abel & Cole. they deliver all kinds of organic products straight to your door! So we took the hint & ordered a box of yummy produce. Our first order arrived on Friday morning in a bright yellow van much to the excitement of the boys! I must say that, although expensive, that box of fruit & veg has proved to be wonderful this week! Timmy has eaten (& enjoyed) parsnips for the first time & Jordan has eaten oranges for the first time EVER!!! All because it is special veg from the farmer!! I must say, it is the most delicious fruit & veg any of us have ever tasted too....

We have made lots of delicious meals with the contents of the box but you will have to wait to see piccies as I am not going to be using the computer for a whole week! (Our church is having a week to pray about different issues & people are giving up things in order to focus on God. A lot of people are fasting food but I am fasting the computer so I can pray more instead. It will be a challenge I can tell you!)

But before I leave you for 5 days, here is sweet little Annie Joy enjoying her play gym. Her favourite toy is the same one Jordan loved at this age too- an octopus with different textures in it's legs. It's amazing how much she has developed in just 4 months! ;0)

Have a great week everyone!

Little Pieces of History

Now, this photo may not look like very much but...

...if you take a closer look...

...you will see that in amongst the rubbish is the remains of the most beautiful swan mosaic. I have no idea why it is wasting away by the side of Edge Lane Drive or why it was so loving made in the first place but I do know that I wish I had photographed it when I first walked past it almost 5 years ago because back then you could see the swan's lovely orange beak & long curving neck. There were words underneath the picture way back then too, which I think said Old Swan (which is the area it is situated in) but I can't be sure as time has not only eroded those tiny square tiles but my memory also! Anyway, what is left of it is now preserved for posterity on this little blog of mine... Timmy said after we left the mosaic behind 'Thankyou for letting us look at it Mummy!' It was a fun little educational interlude on our walk to the doctor's surgery....

We were going to the doctor's so that Annie could have her final set of jabs at the Baby Clinic. It's a drop in clinic so I always go prepared to spend an afternoon there as invariably we are there all afternoon! The boys enjoy having a pack lunch in the waiting room. This week they both took their doctor's kits (which are just pretend as Timmy kept telling the Health Visitors & other children in the surgery!) & had fun listening to people's heart beats, giving oxygen & taking blood pressures. Despite a long wait, the boys were very good.

Annie was weighed & measured before her 3 needles containing about 6 vaccines. She weighs 15lb 14oz & is 63cms long (which is above average length & a bit of a surprise seeing as Lee & I are so short!!). Annie did well having the injections but she clearly didn't like them! She reacted badly to them this time & came out in nasty rashes where the needles went in & wasn't very well for 24 hours. Still, it's better than her getting the illnesses themselves, isn't it?

Annie had gorgeous rosy cheeks after the jabs & even though she wasn't feeling too good she still beamed her big smiles at me when I went to take her out of her pram... The trouble is, I can't seem to capture her smiles on camera! The best I get is a little hint of a smile or a puzzled frown!! Quite cute though....

Hope everyone is well, you've all gone quiet on me! Do leave us a comment on the comments page- you know how I love comments! ;0)

Chef Luke

I must admit that I am flabbergasted at how well behaved Luke has been today! It's not that he's usually very naughty because he isn't, more the fact that he has very strong willed nature... Imagine my surprise when we walked all the way to school this morning in the wind & rain & at quite a fast pace without one single grumble or Luke saying that we were walking too fast! I was even more surprised when Luke repeated the pleasant walk on the way home after nursery too! When we got into the house he took off his coat hat & shoes without a murmur & went to look after Annie (who was still in her pram) while I took my things off. Luke wanted to hold Annie so I took the opportunity to snap a few piccies before Luke made us our lunch!!
Luke made us scrambled egg on toast! He loved bashing the eggs up & stirring it carefully on the hob till it was cooked.
Luke buttered the toast beautifully....

...dished up the egg onto plates....

...& served it to his brother (who had been upstairs having the HUGEST tantrum ever!!). It was the most delicious scrambled egg & we all enjoyed it very much!

So Luke has been rewarded for his helpfulness & good behaviour with a great many stickers which he is very pleased about.... And I am enjoying a day where, so far, I have not heard the word 'NO!' about a hundred times or had to repeat myself endlessly (with Luke anyway)!!!! Bliss! ;0)

Pretty Girl

Little Miss Annie is growing fast! I did a mini photo shoot yesterday of Annie wearing the gorgeous dress that my mum bought her because she looked so sweet in it. Annie Joy will be 4 months old on Thursday- how times flies! Here's what she can do now....
...at every opportunity Annie tries to sit up or sit forward. She is trying to roll over, can lift her head & kicks her legs a lot!
She can yawn...

...frown...

...and make all kinds of gurgles & noises. She has developed two distinct sounds one being a kind of throaty growly sound that she does in response to Lee making the same sound & the other is a kind of short sharp 'A' sound. She is also giggling & is very ticklish, much to her brothers delight!

Annie's favourite things at the moment are her hands! She loves to chew her hands (or her dress or muslin cloth!). In short, she is totally gorgeous & as Jordan says, she is the best baby in the whole world!! And Timmy says he is really glad that his Annie Joy is living with us now & not still in my tummy... ;0) Hope all you silent blog readers are well- do write us a comment by clicking on the word 'comments' underneath this post- we love to hear from you!

Musical Minis

We love music in our family & so do lots of our friends. Timmy & Luke had a fantastic time playing their friend Anya's piano one afternoon....
...and Jordan discovered that he is quite good at playing the violin when we went to visit the Pendray family on Monday (the boys also discovered John's drum kit & piano were great fun to play too)! It could get a lot noisier in our house....!!