Visiting Sarah

On Wednesday we went to visit my friend Sarah (Who entirely fails to feature in these photos!) and her lovely family. We've not seen them since last summer and those six months have been the world of difference in the amount of language her lovely daughter has. I love seeing my children with little people, because they are so kind and gentle. Jaiden especially enjoyed using their bricks to make an assortment of different buildings and factories, and little miss enjoyed knocking them all over, when she got the chance! We had a quick run in the drizzle to the park nearby, and all got covered in mud, but it was good to have an outing before we got back in the car. Little miss enjoyed trying on Sophia's boots, and generally bossing us all around! It was a long drive, but totally worth it to see my lovely friend. We first met at university, so it's lovely to be introducing the next generation to each other!

Jaiden loves this song (and so do I!)

Throw back Thursday - August 2012

 

Because who doesn't want to see these cuties?!

Words

I found this in my drafts. Unfortunately I'd clicked on edit, which overwrote the original date. But I'm guessing he can't have been all that old. Maybe 1 or 2?
He was too cute!
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Words Jaiden pronounces incorrectly

Boh-bot (robot)
Mine instead of my ( that's mine car, foe-fee)
Foe-fee ( Sophie)

Experimental cooking

For dinner last night we had a random things out the freezer night. I found two 'white fish' fillets and decided to feed them to the kids.
We've made homemade chicken nuggets before so I decided to use a similar method with the fish. We coated them in cornflour (well, barely, I was running out). Then dipped into beaten egg and then into breadcrumbs (just some dry bread ground up in my ninja bullet with the grinding bland). Each child got to get messy and coat their own. Then onto a greased baking tray and into a hot oven and cooked until the breadcrumbs we're golden brown.

The verdict....

Soph - I like it a little bit.
(Mummy - that's better than "I hate it", I'll take that!)

JJ - yeah, good.

Mummy - no fish smell! Result! Would make this again for them (I don't eat fish)

Where we are

Life in our house is noisy. Soph is five now, obsessed with school and writing and cutting and drawing and generally covering six million pieces of paper in mostly unintelligible scribbles. Actually, to be fair to her, they are becoming more comprehensible, as she puts her knowledge of phonics and blends to piece together words and sentences, although she hasn't really mastered the art of putting spaces inbetween words.

JJ is all boy, climbing, running, jumping and generally doing all the things you never even thought of banning them from doing, until he had done them. He's three, and goes to the school nursery at soph's school, he's ever so proud that he has a big boy uniform to wear too.

I am still being a stay at home mummy. Enjoying my time with the kids (mostly!) but also my time without them - oh how I love my time in the morning without them, although it gets rapidly filled with all the usual mummy stuff, volunteering in soph's class, and church stuff.

M is still around too, working all the crazy shifts his job throws at him, meaning sometimes the kids and I have to do weekends without him, but other times we have to put up with him around the place for several days on end. We mostly survive both. He's also really getting involved in church stuff, which is great, as that's exactly why we moved here about 14 months ago.

We've settled in well, more than well, and really enjoying being a part of this community.

Aspirations

Me: whatcha gonna be when you're older, JJ?
JJ: I be bigger and bigger and bigger
Me: ok, but what do you want to do when you're older?
JJ: I be a tiger
Me: um, ok, but what job do you want to do?
JJ: I be tiger who goes work.

Well, there you have it folks! He then proceeded to spend the rest of the car journey practicing his roar.

The highest compliment Jaiden can bestow

Yesterday JJ and I popped to tesco to pick up a couple of things. (We came out with five bags full, but that's another story!).
On the way out we spotted a man in a high visability jacket standing in line at customer service. JJ was very excited "look mummy, bin lorry man! Bin lorry man!" (garbage truck guy, for our American readers). When we got outside he looked all around and said "oh no! Bin lorry gone. Bad man took non lorry, Bin lorry man sad".  He cannot comprehend the idea that someone in a fluorescent jacket could be anything but a bin man.

Case in point. As we got in the car, we spotted a guy who works for the store, also in a bright tabard, pushing trolleys to go away. JJ shouted with abundant glee " 'nother bin lorry man  mummy, 'nother one!".
Absolutely no persuading otherwise, that guy was clearly a bin man, moonlighting as a trolley pusher, or maybe just being helpful in a spare moment. He was a bin man, no doubt about it, and most importantly, as far a JJ was concerned, it was the best thing ever!

melts my heart to see this

My babies

Soph Feeds Goats!

We went with a friend and her daughter to a local 'garden centre' which also has an animal area. 

('garden centre' cos it seemed to sell anything and everything)

The girls had a fantastic time feeding goats 

(food available for 20p a handful from a little machine)

And JJ missed all most of the fun by being fast asleep. 

Chicken photographed especially for Bren

Words JJ has said so far today

Mummeeee
Bah (Bath)
Bye
Dir-dir (dirty)
Hat & Head (patting the top of my head|)
Ooshed (finished)
Shoo (tissue)
NO!
More!
Meeeee
Nana

And that's just the ones I remember. He has soooo many words now.

Horsie horsie don't you stop

Riding nappy packet horses!

Jaiden - things I'd like to remember, but don't have time to make into a post of their own

Today's accessory of choice is one welly boot (Soph's old ladybird ones, so two sizes too big). Every so often it will fall off, and much is the gnashing of teeth before it's properly restored onto his foot.

JJ's started having a name for himself.  Especially if looking at a photo of himself, he gets very excited, pointing to the picture and then to his belly. He says "Ja-da" (Ja pronounced as in German for yes), or "Ja ja" - the variations of what we call him - Jaiden or JJ.

He's obsessed with Sophia's fluffy bear. Fluffy is the bear of the moment for Sophia, and consequently for JJ too. Fluffy has a nappy and soph often declares that he needs his nappy changed because he's done a poo-poo. Today I left JJ while I was in the bathroom, and I thought I heard him saying "poopoo". When I came back into the room he triumphantly waved bear's nappy above his head shouting "POOPOO!".

Cake Pops

A lovely lady called Hazel (who happens to be the mum of Danielle, who has the honourary title of auntie to my kids) has a new venture in cake, and we all know how much I like cake.

I haven't actually tried any of her cake pops yet (hint hint), but my children have, and judging from their enthusiasm, it was good!

Go check out her facebook page and like it, and then come back and see my kids enjoying her work!

Here are some pics of them enjoying the amazing cake pops she sent them for Easter...

 Soph excited about a parcel with her name on it!

 "Look mummy, it's Peppa Pig"

 It went in his mouth all at once! (It was a hot air balloon)

"Yum!"

In appreciation

My lovely friend Julia set up a group on facebook for people in our local area to share and request 'family' items. Soph and JJ are modelling the lovely welly boots that we got today from two of the women in the group. Thanks ladies!

Jaiden's approach to eating

Jaiden's reacently got into using a spoon (or at least trying!)

But now he wants to use it for everything.

Sandwich? Bring on that spoon!

I *think* that's progress

Morning conversations

Soph: I want more milk
Mum: There's still milk in your cup, you can drink that
Soph: It's too wet
Mum: What?!?!?!


 Mum: Jaiden, kiss Soph to say sorry
Jaiden: Mwah
Soph: *wiping slobber off her cheek* Jaiden, that's NOT a nice kiss

First time in the snow

(not more snow, just a photo from when we had the snow)0

Do all the things

My children graciously decided that they would wake up at 5.30am to give me plenty of time today to do all the things. So before 7am came around I'd already got a load of washing in the machine and done almost all of yesterday's washing up!

It's not yet ten o'clock and I have thus far done breakfast, caught up with the online world, stripped and changed the bedding on my bed, put the wet washing out on the airer, sorted dry washing and started putting it away, dealt with wee on the floor, and consequently bathed two children. The one that did the wee, and then the little one wanted to jump in the bath too, so he also went in, dried and dressed the kids, half dressed me (the other half is still pyjamas) and started another load of washing (bedding and towels and all that was wee-ed on).

Now I am just sitting for a minute before I make white sauce and assemble some lasagnas.