Cannock Chase

I'm not going to lie, when all the Bridgwaters get together, getting ready to go out is no easy feat. I was surprised at how much Lily slept last night, especially as she is poorly at the moment. By the time i'd gotten the kids up, washed and dressed, and everyone else doing the same, it was near 11am.

Dad came with me into town to post my ebay items before going home for lunch. The plan was to go to Cannock Chase for a walk at lunch time. It takes so long to get ready when we are all together! We didn't get there till 3.30pm. The weather was beautiful! We went on a walk that had different outdoor sculptures dotted through it. I didn't bring my camera as Abby brought her awesome one. She took some brilliant shots! I wish i could upload some of the photos. We stopped off in the park at the end of the walk with Ethan. He loves the slide. Lily clung to me most of the day, she still is quite poorly. Whether she liked it or not, she was held by others!

One of the exhibits was some blue drums. Dad, Nick and Jake banged on it, creating a beat. It sounded awesome! Two of the family members we didn't see as they'd seemed to have had an argument. Hmmmmmmmmmm.

When we got home, Joe and his fiance, Jenny, made this dish called jerk chicken. It was so nice! We had it with black bean rice and salad. I am definitely going to make some for the family when they next come to visit.

The kids just would not go to sleep tonight. I don't know what got into them. In fact, it was nearly 10.30pm before both of them were asleep. We spent the evening playing scatigories and spitting in your eye. It was so much fun. Again, it was a late night!

Clean up and Tidy.

I really havent done anything worth blogging about today. It was a clean up and tidy day. The washing needed to be sorted, bathroom cleaned and just general tidying. I put Ethan in front of a film while i did that and Lily slept. It really hasn't been exciting at all! I did plan on going to a festival in Pontypark, but decided to go tomorrow instead.

In the evening, i continued to finish off the jobs that needed doing. Jared watched the Olympics. As much as i enjoy watching it, i can tolerate it for about an hour, then i'm done.

I am going to my parent's next week, so i will be doing lots of prep for that! I can't wait!

One Whole Year On.

Today is a day i have not been looking forward to. I took my time getting ready today. Clearly the kids were not happy either, as they both kept crying! Arrg! After getting ready, i made a present for each of the Evans'. It's a bookmark with Philly's testimony on it. I have ummed and arred about whether i should give it, as i don't want to cause more tears but i felt it was a good idea.

I got there for 11.30am, just before having lunch. Peter and Pauline seemed really upbeat. We have to treat it like a normal day. I waited for Pauline to be by herself before giving the bookmarks. She was very grateful. It's one thing that Philly has left behind that's so strong. Her love of the gospel was so obvious for all to see.

After dinner, Peter, Sam and Jared headed off to Cardiff to see two matches in Cardiff. I thought about going to Parc in Cardiff. It was a nightmare. We spent an hour and a half driving round Cardiff trying to find it. No signs! Satnav Charger broken! It was such a waste! The kids had had enough too. In the end, we stopped at Techniquest to ask for directions, and she got us to the right road, but wrong turning. By the end of journey, we both said that we should go home. Parc Cardiff, your directions are rubbish and i don't know why you aren't sign posted! We even stopped to ask people where it was, and none of them knew or even heard of it! Nightmare! I felt terrible too, especially as I tried to make it a busy day.

On the way home, the sun had picked up and it had warmed up loads, so we decided to stop at Ponty ark. I haven't been there in so long. It was a big trip down memory lane! All of it came flooding back. Ethan loved it too. He loves slides.

 

 Lily took a while to warm up to the sand.

 

 Nanny pushed Ethy on the swing.

Ahh it was fun. Ethan enjoyed it. They had the best rope swing there too! We went for some chips in a local chippy - there was a middle eastern man there, serving us. Ethan looked at me and said he was a naughty man. When i corrected him, he said 'No, it's OK mummy, like the naughty ones of Rio!' Haahaha! We laughed and laughed at that comment. We walked back to the car, got the kiddies home and to bed and watched the Olympics. It wasn't such a bad day after all. I thought it would have been worse. We are all one year closer to seeing her again.

Swimming and Park!

Today has been a lot busier than I expected! Rhian is having baby James for a few days and wanted to get together with us during that time, so we decided on swimming. Pauline was up for coming too, so we met at the pool for 10am. Ethan was so excited! The only problem I have with getting Ethan out the door on time is him getting distracted easily. Trying to get him away from his trains to get socks and shoes on without tears is just about impossible! So the journey down to the pool was a teary one. It wasn’t too busy there, although it was busier than a normal Saturday. Lily and Ethan really loved it. Ethan was running around the pool, going down the slide and playing with other children. I wish I’d got a shot of them together in their suits. I put Ethan in his big swim suit to cover all the spots! Lily would crawl around the water and get too deep into the water, and not care! She would cough and splutter but wouldn’t faze her. So I spent a lot of time pulling her back out of the deep water before she had a chance to drown! Rhian couldn’t stay that long at all as she’d forgotten to give James a feed, so after 5 minutes in the pool and a sad baby, she had to leave!

We stayed in the pool for a good 2 hours before Pauline treated us to a lovely subway. It was lush. Subway is my favourite quick food from a food joint. It was nice to have some time together! I wasn’t sure what to do this afternoon, and with the crappy weather, I was limited with choices. Pauline suggested a visit to Sarah Hutchinson’s house, so after getting her car back home; we drove over to her house. Oh, it was the best idea ever! I had so much fun! She was taking her kids to a mini athletics that’s held once a week. The kids were so excited to see us too! I need to spend more time with her; she is so lovely to be around. She suffers terrible with her hip, causing a lot of pain. She is hoping to get some answers tomorrow! They are such a lovely family.  They had a park nearby that we all sat in as her girls played. Ethan was excited to play with Josh!

Fearless Lily.

She is just so squishy!

Not sure what he is talking about here.

Queue for the giant slide.

The faces say it all!

Lily and nanny.

Hannah is so cute with her gruff voice and cheeky face.

Weeeeeeeeeeeee!

Cuddles with mummy.

Hahaha.

I was a little disappointed in Ethan’s behaviour today. He kept hitting Hannah and making her cry, despite constant reminders and caution from me. I feel that he becomes so excited at being around children, he comes off hostile and mean, bossy and aggressive. I don’t know what to do about it? It’s embarrassing and frustrating. Overall though, we did have a good day. He enjoyed himself, i just wish he would do it without the temper tantrums.

We got back at 5pm. Lily slept all the way home, the little chickadee. I made a quick tea (left over’s from last night!) before having FHE with the kids. I did the plan of salvation again, where I’d printed off little cards with all the different steps to this existence. Ethan enjoyed it. Jared then veggied in front of the TV to watch the Olympics while I listed some things on eBay. These blinking suspension files are the bain of my life! Hopefully they will sell this time.

I spent the rest of the night defrosting and re-packing my freezer, putting away 3 baskets of washing, blogging, cleaning up and ebaying! Busy busy! It’s not just after 11pm, and I am flagging. I have to say, tomorrow is a day I am not looking forward to. My dear sister in law, Philly, was killed in a car accident this time last year. I miss her so much. I cannot wait to give her a massive hug again!

Clean up and unpack day!

Today has not been exicting really. I always find that after i come home from a visit at my parents, the house needs a massive clean, washing is sky high and food supplies are low.

We all woke up quite late, esepciayll as we had only finished watching 24 near midnight last night. Ethan ended up between us again. He's so sneaky! I don't even hear him coming in. I had a very strange dream where i was being forced to sign up in the military, and the whole dream involved me trying to run away from them and constantly getting discovered. Trying to call someone, type and text or write a letter took so long! I even remember thinking in the dream, 'this is just a dream, i want to wake up now!' Strange!

Anyway, i just got straight into the cleaning without even getting dressed before i remembered that the V.T.er's were coming! I was still in my jim jams! Ha! They didn't care though. They shared a lovely message on what V.Ter's can do. It was a great visit, just what i needed.

After they left, i sorted the kids out and cleaned the house from top to bottom, washed everything in the wash basket and did a quick run through Tesco. Not really exciting. I did pop into see Pauline for a minute before going home to make tea.

We watched some Olympic action tonight together before putting kids to bed and some 24 time! Season finale tonight!

Home Time.

Ethan is still infectious, so i stayed home from Church with him, while Jared took Lily. I have to admit, it was nice to have 3 hours to myself. Rachel stayed home too as she had some nasty chemical burns on her eyes from the pooling on Thursday. I think she's allergic to Sundays- every Sunday she is getting through roll after roll of toilet paper and leaving it all over the floor!

I spent the time cuddling Ethan, watching a little bit of Olympic action, reading some Ensigns and tidying up for mum. Exciting! I also made a chocolate brownie. My chocolate brownie rocks! The missionaries came for dinner too which i was surprised at - one of them hasn't had chicken pox yet. Mum said that they might have just been desperate for a nice dinner. Hahahahaha!

It was so nice to spend time with everyone at the dinner table, laughing about stupid stuff. It wasn't long before Jared and i had to make a move home. While getting packed up, the boys decided to get in the pool;

Ethan totally perked up too!

Bee had some cuddles with a sleepy Lily. Look at that little face.

Playing swingball!

I totally would have gotten in if i wasn't leaving. Boo! The journey wasn't too bad, although Jared got a taste first hand of Lily's hysterical crying. We pulled over to calm her down. It was a relief to pull into the drive! We put the kiddies to bed, unpacked the car and watched 24! The housework can wait till tomorrow :)

The Last Possible Day of Sun...

Well, according to the weather reports, today is the last day of full sun before the rain hits. I really hate the weather in this country. It drives me mad. I know that once Jared is qualified, he would be quite happy to leave this country. I, on the other hand, can't! 

Lily slept for a while this morning, and mum got up with Ethan, so Jared and i had a child free bed for a bit. It took a while for me to get going today, so after getting the kids ready and myself, it was near mid day. Ethan was still infectious, so we just took Lily to the park. Jared is so sporty, and will adapt to any sport no problem. Me, on the other hand, just can't do anything remotely sporty. He wanted to go play some tennis, so i humoured him. Ethan stayed with grandma and grandad. Lily came with us. Sitting in the buggy is just no fun:

Jared showing his skills:

She is just so squishy!

Handsome!

We didn't stay long as there were quite a few people who wanted to play (not bad for a free tennis court!) so we did a little stint in the park with Lily. She loves the swings:

She held on as he spun. Not too fast though, he isn't that cruel:

 

We walked back to the house together to wait for Thomas to finish his shift at work. Jared and him are going out on the kayak for a few hours. I dropped them both off at a place called The Riverside Inn. It looked like a lovely place to eat - definitely going to schedule a date there! After dropping them off, I headed back home to wait for their call to be picked up. In the mean time, Pete and Bea came. It was so cool to see them again. I love how Pete has got to cuddle Lily, even though she is clambering to get back into my arms. Haha! 

The call finally came for me to get them - thank goodness Thomas is with us as lifting that blinking kayak onto the roof of our car all the time is hard work! It's so, so heavy. I dread it when Jared wants to take it out and there is no other male about. 

When we got back in, mum and dad had cooked all the BBQ food and we had a meal all together. I love family get together. It's a shame that Ben and Georgie couldn't be there too. After food, a few of us got into the pool. Peter totally chickened out and got out within 10 seconds of getting it. It's such a fun pool! Best £50 Thomas has ever spent. 

There definitely was something in the air that night as everyone was so tired. Jared fell asleep beside Ethan at about 8.30 and eventually moved into his own bed. I wasn't long behind him!

The Peak of Chicken Pox

I woke up today to Ethan crying. The poor boy has a terribly high temperature, pussy spots and a sore mouth. I went to cuddle him in his bed (he sleeps in my mum's room to give me some rest) and he sobbed and cried that he wanted to get better. We all got into my mother's bed and i explained to him that i had chicken pox when i was a little girl, but got better. He looked at me and stated, 'i want to be grown up now too!' 

So today is going to be a bit of a 'cuddle Ethan and not do much else' day. We got him washed and dressed with Lily, which was a challenge. Eventually he was snuggled up on the couch with Jake so we could go get some shopping and medicine. Mum the star bought it all! It's always nice to have a break from the kids. Even if it is just going shopping. Once we got back, we started to get the medicine into Ethan. He will NOT take medicine, no matter what way i give it to him. I think he is finally getting that it's good to him, and worth the sacrifice of taking it, as he took all the amount needed. Poor boy!

Within 20 minutes, he was back on his feet. It was like that for the rest of the day! Up and down! Poor boy. He had a really long sleep to get his strength back. It also meant i had a break from crying!

I picked Jared up from the train station at about 8pm, before getting home to watch the Olympic ceremony. I watched most of it, but it wasn't finishing till 1am and i just couldn't stay awake anymore, so i put Ethan to bed and fell asleep beside him. I have to say though, i was so impressed. I did feel proud to be British!

Grandma's house!

Today we leave for Grandma's house! I don't know who's more excited - me or the kids! I was up, washed and dressed and packed before long. Ethan woke up and was covered in spots. He sat crying in the bath till i came to him, then i saw the horrible spottiness. The Pox has struck us finally. Jared left before me to go with Sam to the Forest of Dean to do some biking, as part of his birthday present. I am a little jealous!

The journey was the same as it has always been: Lily will fall asleep for part of the journey, wake up and then cry. Usually this happens half way up the M5. Ethan gets fractious at her crying, and starts crying himself. Lily gets hysterical, Ethan gets more hysterical, especially as he's poorly. Needless to say, i pulled over at the nearest services to get some munchies. It did the trick! It wasn't till we were on the M54 that Lily started to get upset again. It's always such a relief when i am able to get the kids out the car!

We had some lunchies before chilling outside for a bit. Ethan's temperature started to peak again, the poor boy, so we put on Nanny McPhee for him to watch. He kept asking for 'Nanny Guffee.' So cute!

Ben and Georgie came up to see us and cook dinner. Fajitas are one of my faves! Everyone started to come home from work about 7ish before deciding to get in the pool that Thomas bought. The water was at such a good temperate from the heat in the day, we were in there for ages! Ethan and Lily stayed with my mum while i went in - the little tinkers wouldn't go to bed. Mummy managed to get Lily down to bed for me, and Ethan. Thank you mummy! :)

Dad, Thomas, Georgie, Ben Rachel and I got in and it was so much fun, i felt like a little child again. We would circle round the pool as fast as we could then follow the flow round. Oh, it was so good to be silly, i was the last one out of the pool:

Eventually went to bed at 11.30pm. I am going to be tired in the morning! 
                                                                      

Carfatha Park

Its another sunny day! Yey! I don’t know what has gotten into the kids- Ethan slept till 8.30 this morning. The poor boy is shattered. I had to do a few jobs around town, like buying some packing materials for eBay and getting some foodies in for Jared. Ethan walks by the pram so well, and then other times he will run away. I am always on my guard, that’s for sure. He loves to follow the tile patterns on the floor, even if there is someone in the way. He imagines them to be train tracks. Ha-ha. Lily is so lovely to listen to in the car. She chats to her self and sings. It is so cute. Definitely makes me want another one!

After getting home, unpacking and making lunch, I put Lily to bed. She is so clingy when tired. A quick feed always puts her in a good mood before sleeping. She went down for a good few hours too. Ethan watched some Thomas Tank on Netflix while I tried to bag up my eBay stuff. I am trying to clear out some folders for the filing cabinet. I finally sold all of them but grossly underestimated the postage. Royal Mail are greedy blighters! So I had to withdraw the sale and refund all the buyers. 

Pauline came over just as I was finishing up to go to the park. It was so hot! I lifted Lily and off we went. It was packed. I knew it would be packed, but not as bad as it was. No photo’s either, as it’s not allowed. There were kids everywhere. I think Ethan found it quite overwhelming, so we left after a few minutes. It would be too easy to lose him in the massive crowd. So we walked down to the little train.

Pauline had her first turn:

 

 Such a cheeky chappy:

We took a brief walk around the little lake before sitting under a tree. It really had heated up. Lily and Ethan enjoyed playing in the grass:

It wasn't long before thirst kicked in, and we decided to leave. The traffic to get out was terrible. They are doing road works right by the exit, causing stop start traffic. Tedious! Pauline bought the kids a drink to help stem the tears! She took my bag of ebay posting and posted it too! What a wonderful mother in law i have.

I made it my task for the day to organise Ethan's toy boxes. It took a heck of a lot longer than i thought it would, but it was worth it;

Lily and Ethan played around me as i did it. Lily is all for me! It's so funny to watch and a little frustrating for other family who want to cuddle. I like it :) Poor Ethan came down with a temperature just before bed, so lots of cuddles were needed. Lily took ages to go down too, standing in her cot, crying at me. I have become really soft! For the rest of the night i cleaned up, organised washing, studied the scriptures, blogged and squeezed in an episode of 24. I can pack for Grandma's tomorrow... :)