Monday Club - Our Christmas Tree Farm Visit

       

I've had a brief break from writing the blog due to illness this end - Andy had a chest infection the same time as Baby M had bronchiolitis.  But both now on the road to recovery, thankfully.

So while I turn my attention to the ridiculous back-log of cleaning / tidying / washing, etc, I am joining the Monday Club this week, but my post is going to be a short one & instead I'll share some photo's.

As Baby M started to feel better, we wrapped her up, bundled her and the twins in the car, and went for a very short trip; our first family trip to a Christmas Tree Farm (the first time I've ever been to one, actually).

I thought the twins might burst with excitement as they realised there were Christmas trees as far as their eyes could see.  As they raced off around the forest (ok, so my 4 year old's thought it was a forest, it reality it wasn't that huge), they whooped and squealed with excitement, only stopping when they slipped over in the mud (several times), pushed each other over in the mud (several times) or to yell out "this one, I like THIS one best!".


Here are our pics....

Have a good week, all...

Monday Club - Outwitting The Sock Monster

It's Monday again; the twins are back to school after half term, and Baby M and I are beavering away at home, starting the mammoth post half-term clean & tidy-up.

We're having a quick cuppa / dance (I'm the one with the coffee; she's the one doing the dancing, in case you're wondering) while I write this week's Monday Club post.  I'll keep to the theme of our day.

You can find the other Monday Club posts over at Hello Wall.

                                      


Outwitting The Sock Monster


Do you have one in your house?  A Sock Monster?

I've never spotted ours, but I'm certain it exists.  It lurks somewhere between the laundry basket and the washing machine.  The reason I know it is there, is that no matter how many pairs of socks go into the laundry basket, or into the washing machine, I am always left with an odd sock or two at the end of the wash.  Somewhere along the way, no matter how hard I try to outwit the sock monster (pairing socks, putting them in a separate laundry bag, etc) it still manages to snaffle a sock or two each time I wash.

I keep the odd socks at the bottom of the ironing basket.  We play matching socks fairly regularly, keeping on top of our pairs, as any good domestic goddess does.  (Though if I'm honest this is nothing to with my home-making skills; this is more to do with once inventing a game to keep the twins out of mischief; it worked, and we've carried on with it ever since).

The twins have got the hang of the game, and enjoy it, seeing it as a serious competition of who can match the most pairs (which admittedly does sometimes result in some questionable couplings).  Baby M is a bit too young to understand the game, preferring instead to sit in the washing basket and balance as many socks as she can on her head, or runs giggling around the house, trying to post her hoard into the toilet or out through the cat-flap, leaving a trail of fluffy footwear behind her...

I suspect we may never trace many of our misplaced socks; our Sock Monster is a clever one, that's for sure.

But on the plus side, we also, handily, enjoy making sock puppets....

Monday Club - When A Baby Becomes A Playmate

Good morning.

I hope everyone has had a good weekend.  This is my first Monday Club post; the Monday Club being the creation of TheVoiceOfSarahMiles .  Do take a look at the other blogs & blog posts on this link, and thanks Sarah for getting this up and running!

So here's what I have been thinking about today...

When A Baby Becomes A Playmate

There has been a lovely change in the dynamics between our children over the summer.

This is largely due to the fact that baby M, now toddling and trying to talk, has also been discovering how to play and interact.

We’ve had the newborn stage of her being unaware even of the twins’ existence; we’ve been through the newly mobile stage of M grabbing whatever toy or object the twins have at the time and vanishing with it, oblivious to the frustrated wailing behind her (this phase felt like it lasted for a verrrry long time); we’ve also been through a similar stage of toy-pinching whereby she has twigged that the wails are related to her actions….but the little monkey runs off, proud and chuckling to herself, with whatever “treasures” she’s acquired regardless.

As for now, now is the stage that I love most, so far.  Little M is copying her big sister L, and is pretending to cook in the toy kitchen or learning to feed her dolly.  Likewise she is copying her big brother H and happily pushes cars and trains around the house accompanied by “brrm brrm” noises.  (Yes, I know – very stereotypical).

Even better, to H & L, is the fact that not only does M love to play alongside them, she is also learning to take turns, and (sometimes!) gives a toy on request. 

As L and little M played together yesterday, L informed me “I really like playing with M, Mummy, she’s like my friend now”.

I may well have rose-tinted glasses writing this; there's still wailing, fighting and toy-pinching, and plenty of it....but for now, it's just so lovely to see the baby become a playmate.