The Cats

Last weekend we managed to finally get to the caravan. We were away for 2 nights and the cats got to stay outside for 2 nights.
Nothing marvellous about this, apart from the last time we went, Prenzel took off in the 3 nights we were away, and it took us 2 weeks to find her and get her home!
So this time we were a little wary, even decided that if she disappeared again, then No, we were not looking for her!

2 lovely nights at the caravan and on our return, 2 lovely cats sat at the door waiting for us and telling us off for leaving them over 2 cold nights!

Looks like she might be happy and have decided to stay?

Another Birthday

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Dad and Harvey,

Happy Birthday to you.....

Have a great 5th Birthday Harvey, hope you enjoy starting school next week.

Happy 65th Birthday Dad (Granddad) hope you have a good day as well.

Toilet Training

Both of my boys are toilet trained, well I would hope so at 4 and 5 1/2 yrs old.
Neither of them are night trained though.
I am in no hurry to have them night trained, although I do think about the fact that I think the younger one will be trained before the older!

We do remind them about their nappies in the morning, unfortunately Ben wanders into us about 5/6am and we are not sure if he is dry as he comes into us because when he takes his nappy off in the mornings it is not always dry! Plus at that time of the morning he creeps in next to Steve and we are both still a sleep. Sometimes I can't even tell you what time he came to us because neither of us have woken to him coming in!
So we don't actually have any idea as to when he wet it?

But the other problem, is that I don't think he is ready to be trained yet, because he does not wake in the night.
To prove this, he proved it to us himself, by me finding him at 10 pm the other night a sleep in a bed full of vomit!
Yes he had vomitted and not even woken to the fact!

Now if he can vomit and not wake to it, then I don't think we stand a chance of him waking to needing to pee just yet!?

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Andy,

Happy Birthday to you......

Happy birthday to a dear friend of mine from the US. Have a great day and don't eat too much cake. Oh and also happy birthday to your twin bro Ed.

Also happy birthday to another dear friend of mine, Sam from England.

Hope you are all well and have a great day.

Lost

And sadly I do not mean the tv show that is all the rave at the present moment.....!

I mean Alex, who managed to dissappear today at the shopping mall for 10 minutes!

The ladies in one of the shops were very helpful indeed and I am very grateful to them.

To begin with I ran around looking for him and I was fine, but when I actually had to ask someone for help then the horror sets in and you loose it!

When found he said 'I was trying to get Grandad a box of chocolates for his birthday', we had been talking about that just before we went into the shop he wandered from.

All ended well and he was very good for me after that, even sat and smelt the flowers in a gift shop while I paid for our purchases.

Shame the flowers weren't real!

Food

Ben is a fussy eater, there is no 2 ways to put it to even say he is not.
He just doesn't have the wide palate of taste of others and so is very limited on the foods he will eat.
He doesn't like dairy, no cheese, yoghurt etc
He is not a great fan of tomato based sauces or spicy.
He only likes potatoes that are mashed, doesn't like things that are fried. Not a great fan of the fat. (not that that is a bad thing)
He is also not a great fan of sugar, again not a bad thing. He does like chocolate cake and twix bars but doesn't eat candy.
He will eat rice and pasta, plain, until there is nothing left! He will also eat bread continuously until there is nothing left!

He loves Apricot chicken, mac cheese and fish fingers, chicken noodle soup, meat balls and fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, mince and pots with sweetcorn and sausages.

So when you do serve a dinner that he likes, then it disappears very fast sometimes.

BUT he has got into, not sure if it is a habit or not, of wanting something to eat an hour later just as he is going to bed. Now usually it is cereal and I have no problem with what he is eating prior to bed, it is just the fact that sometimes he is planning this cereal whilst eating his dinner!

He will finish dinner, in which he will eat everything given to him. We will then sit down and watch Friends on the tv, and he will then say 'Can I have something to eat please?'
10 minutes prior to this as finishing dinner he will say he is full and then suddenly he is hungry and wants food?

We tell him that he has to wait for his food to go down, to even register that he has eaten dinner, which he will do but he is still then planning food prior to bed.

So is he really needing this food at bedtime or has he got into a habit?

It doesn't happen every night, so he can do without it. But it is the fact he is planning it during dinner time. He will say 'if I finish all this can I have cereal before bed?' We do then tell him that finishing dinner has nothing to do with getting food later and that if he is hungry then to say now and we will get more food for him, but then he says he is full and doesn't want anything!
Sometimes he is having as much on his plate as I eat. I am nearly 40 and he is 5 1/2!

Is this normal?

Getting Older

This will hopefully be my attitude and outlook when I am older......

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly.

As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself.

I've become my own friend.

I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed.

Or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio.

I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon;

before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60's, 70's & 80's and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will!

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.

They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful.

But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten.

And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken.

How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car?

But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.

So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think.

I don't question myself anymore.

I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question..............?

I like being old.

It has set me free.

I like the person I have become.

I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be.

And I shall eat dessert every single day(if I feel like it).

MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!

MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE A RAINBOW OF SMILES ON YOUR FACE AND IN YOUR HEART FOREVER AND EVER!

FRIENDS FOREVER!

Ponderisms

I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

Never take life seriously Nobody gets out alive anyway.

There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.

Life is sexually transmitted.

Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

T-Mobile Mom to Mom Quiz

Mary over at Owlhaven had this quiz on her blog. Looked like fun.

T-Mobile Mom to Mom Quiz: "

You find opportunities for learning everywhere. Curiosity is the natural thirst for knowledge and you always encourage your kids to discover, explore and ruminate. You want them to think for themselves, but will point them in the right direction.

Accidents

Ben has managed to have another accident with something sharp and his fingers!
This time he was at school, and whilst using safety scissors has manged to attempt to cut off a finger on the other hand!
Clean and simple cuts, well one is a little deep, he has managed to place a cut either side of the finger at the base.
No problem with this but try telling a 5 yr old not to move the finger whilst it is healing!?
Exactly...!
So he now has a splint on the finger, it actually looks a little over the top for what he has managed to do, but hopefully it means it will heal great. Sadly he is not a fast healer, things seem to take ages, he seems to have fragile skin.

He is coping very well with a splint on his hand and one finger pointing upwards. Sadly it wasn't until my cousin visited yesterday that we noticed that he is actually showing us 'the birdie' or 'the finger' everytime he puts his hand up to show anyone.
Quite amuzing actually. Good job he is only 5 and has no idea!

Before I Was a Mum......!

Before I was a Mum,

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.


Before I was a Mum,

I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts...

I slept all night.


Before I was a Mum,

I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mum,
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mum.

Before I was a Mum,

I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body..

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mum,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth,

the joy,

the love,

the heartache,
the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mum.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,

before I was a Mom......

Awesome Mum's

To all the most awesome mums in the world...Happy Mother's Day

We are all truely lucky to be able to place ourselves in this most wonderful group.

Hope you all have a wonderful day and that whereever your munchkins maybe, that they remembered you in someway or other.

To all the new mums this year, welcome to an amazing group, you are very special indeed.

So did my wish list get answered?

Yes........

I got a Willow Tree Figurine and a Jewllery Tree and the most adorable hand print card from my school child with choc dipped goodies all wrapped up. What a fab teacher he has.

Memories

Since re joining Facebook in January, I have hooked up with several really old friends from long ago.
We are talking about friends from over 20 years ago.
And so the memories have been flying around in my head for the last month or so.

I am having my own little party, in my head, remembering all the fun times I had in my youth.

Things like.....

1. Wapak State Fair
2. Walking in the rain
3. Friends Wedding that I went to the US for
4. Visiting OSU
5. Happenings at school (I went to a boarding school, so lots of things to remember)
6. Trip to Jersey
7. Funerals
8. and many many more things

I am having a great time at the moment!

Updated Wish List

Last night I suddenly remembered 2 other things I would like on my wish list.

A Wii game console wouldn't go a miss in this house, which means that I could then get the Wii Fit add on to go with it. Looks like such fun.

I also quite fancy one of those Nintendo DS. I think a bit of brain training is just what I need at present, keep my brain active and sharp and all that etc.

Whats on your wish list?

Wish List

Mother's Day is 1 week away and I have dropped lots of hints to the boys as to what I would like. Not sure whether they will have told Steve, or even be able to remember what I have hinted at...!

So here is my wish list, just in case you bump into Steve during the next week!

Anything by Danielle Steel is always going to be on my list. I have read just about all of her books, but she still keeps coming out with new ones. So the latest book will not go a miss if it came my way.

A new tv for the bedroom would be good too. We currently have one in there, but it is so old, it can't have a DVD player attached to it, as it does not have the outlets for one! Not that we get to lie in bed and watch many DVD's, but would be nice to have somewhere to go and watch something if Steve is watching something that I don't favour!

A new scanner for the computer would be nice too. Steve managed to burn out the other one when he connected the computer up last year!

As all women would like, I too also want a Pandora Bracelet, a gold one, as I am a gold person not silver. This bracelet would be the gift that keeps on giving, as they would be able to buy me new charms each occassion they needed something to buy mummy and all their problems would be solved for years to come. Although occassionally I would like to receive more than just a charm. At the end of the day though, just a good old fashion bunch of flowers would be totally sufficient, given to me in bed with big hugs and lots of sloppy kisses. Oh and maybe with breakfast on a tray?

Cats Update

Prenzel has settled back into the house as if nothing had ever happened!
She actually seems more settled this time. Her and Barney are getting on very well, as if they have been together for ever. A little bit of sqwabbling, but nothing 2 cats don't always do.
They are peaceful and quiet in the evenings, and apart from the odd day when you have to throw them out at 4am, they are pleasant in the house at night.

Maybe the next time we go away, she will stick around and be more pleasant!?