Photo fun!!

Following on from the success?? of the WI photo I decided to have a play at home with my studio lights with less than fantastic results. I was asked by the local WI to take their yearly group photo this week - one of the most frightening experiences of my life - 36 middle aged and elderly women with one very scary 'boss' - 35 copies have been ordered though so must have done something right! Not a business woman though so charged peanuts and giving any profit to playgroup - I'll never make a business out of this.

Decided to try to take a photo of my 4 - Meg was surprisingly cooperative having just woken from arefreshing sleep, Thomas was great, Sophie was moody and sensitive having fallen at ballet this morning and knocked her front teeeth - one will be out very soon. Benjamin was a typical 4 year old and in the only half decent shot he is staring at the TV screen behind my shoulder - they were not up for trying anymore :( The set up was not ideal either - there just is not enough room with all our stuff and people kept tripping over wires etc when I tried to set up while Meg was asleep so I had to move it and try again with her awake. Might try again tomorrow - but here are 2 I quite like - even managed a bit of editing :)

Journal Your Christmas

Have signed up for Shimelle's Journal Christmas online class.....WHY??....HOW??? do I think I am going to find time and energy to do this?? - last night I was woken at 1,3 and 5 by Meg - she refuses a bottle and just wants to feed feed feed from me - Sophie has been poorly and is more sensitive that usual, Benjamin is full of beans and questions from the moment he wakes until bed - he woke this morning with the statement "Remember Mummy operation is rubbish" after we got rid of the game because it really is rubbish!! Thomas is..........................Thomas :) But I felt especially at this busy time of year it is important to give myself ME time - just a little every day to keep a smile on my face and this seemed the perfect way to do it. I may not keep up, I may not even finish it but I am going to have FUN - and that is why I am doing it :)

7 already!!!

Went for a lovely family walk last weekend before everyone got poorly :( - Tom enjoyed finding the deepest muddiest puddle he could and jumped in it repeatedly then wondered why he had wet feet ! The night before his birthday - the traditional sleeping picture - in his new bedroom but still with his old covers as I hadnt Ben 10 decorated it yet - did that while he was at school on his birthday - think he was pleased - he was certainly happy to see the floral lightshade go.

Tom didn't want a cake - he asked for a Vienetta with candles - easy and tasty with no leftovers - perfect!

Feeding Meg would be easier and less messy if she didn't put her thumb in after every mouthful.

We had a Pinata yesterday as part of the 'party' Tom had invited 2 friends for the afternoon - they all enjoyed beating the living daylights out of the cardboard model until the sweets spilled out - Sophie was the hardest hitter - Ben sort of tickled it :)

Solids

Had forgotten how messy feeding is when first starting solids!! so far we have had banana, apple, pear, carrot and butternut squash - the last two got everywhere and stained but she seemed to enjoy them. We are feeding with two spoons as she insists on grabbing one!

Back from hols!!

For some reason Blogger has mixed up the order of the photos I uploaded - not helped by me trying to do it quickly with meg screaming and Tom watching ben 10 on youtube loudly beside me!! First Ben very cold in a park in Aberdeen Then the three older ones listening carefully to a presentation in the rock pools at Deep Sea World - we had great fun there and Tom was very animated and enjoyed it - great to see :)

Some very cold sheep outside james and Lynsey's house - we had a lovely lunch there when we finally made it out of the car - the wind was so strong it was difficult to get the doors open. James and Lynsey have made such a fantastic job decorating their house it is unrecognisable - especially love the living room wallpaper - soooo cool - they have great taste :)

This is the park we visited - notice noone else was mad enough to brave the cold despite the great play equipment it was empty :)

Sophie wrapped up warm and still smiling

Even the birds were cold

We got snow the next day which made Tom's holiday - he and Sophie had fun - Ben wasnt so sure it was too cold

Mum wanted a picture with all her grandchildren - this is the best I could manage - lewis was straight in from school but happily got changed - posed without moving a muscle :) shame some others weren't quite so cooperative but not bad

Wrong order again - Meg had her first solids today - she wasnt that thrilled - her thumb was more interesting but she managed about a teaspoon full

Poor car died at Gretna - had to be towed home :( waiting til Monday to get it into the garage to see if it can be fixed or if the damage is terminal

Happy halloween in Perth - we managed a couple of houses but as they were old friends by the time we had stopped for a chat Sophie fell asleep - still they looked good in their costumes and Tom said it was 'the best halloween ever' - easily pleased

And the cousins - Ben is scowling cos he didnt get to hold Megan

Weekly update!

What an exhausting week :) or two :) When we went to Mum's for tea a couple of weeks ago Meg was still in her pyjamas - luckily she doesnt mind as she was cosy and nobody knew as she had a snowsuit on top as it was soooo cold. She loves being chatted too and does her fair share of chatting back now - giving Granny Pat lovely smiles and me plenty of photo opportunities.

Her skin has been worse than ever and really disturbing her sleep - BUT we saw a fantastic doctor who prescribed the perfect cream and it is dramatically better and she is a happier baby for it - this was a bad day ....... before the cream.... Tom decided to be brave and try having his stabilizers removed - he needs a new bike his legs are getting too long - all the bigger bikes cant have stabilizers fitted so he really needs to get to grips with riding - he tries really hard but just doesnt have strong legs and finds coordinating movement difficult - he perserveres though......

Sophie agreed to have one stabilizer removed for the moment - she is pretty wobbly but was determined to do it.....

Ben and I had great fun making a rocket and some aliens. The rocket started as a house and we were going to make a road and several houses for his toy cars - then it became a science museum and finally a rocket. We had fun making potato aliens and flying the rocket round the garden. Then we made a papier mache moon surface which 6 days later is still sodden because I left Ben unattended while i dealt with the Tescos delivery and he got carried away with the wallpapaer paste!! had fun though :)

Sophie had her Promise Party at Rainbows - unfortunately her uniform did not arrive util the following day so she was the only one in 'normal' clothes but she coped well with that, she remebered her promise perfectly and had a beaming smile on her face throughout. Ben loves these glasses of granny pats she bought them when she was teaching and needed old sunglasss etc for a project - he has to be persuaded not to wear them out of the house he loves them so much!!

Unfortunately ben was poorly for Meg's Christening and so not cooperative but hopefully our photographer (James!!) got a couple of shots.

I enjoyed taking a few of Meg with her beautiful skin (thanks again Eileen!!) and took advantage of James having her set up with Lynsey holding a reflector - I am sure James version will be much more professional but I like the few snaps I got of the day.

Tom was on top form enjoying mucking around in the leaves - didnt manage to get a decent shot of Sophie - she wasnt cooperative and has been poorly today so now I know why.

Playgroup

At Ben's playgroup now they have individual learning journey books for staff to complete with what they ahve done and learnt - a way to keep parents up to date with their child's development. Parents are encouraged to put photos in from home too but I didn't want to fill the book up with photos so created this collage of Ben from the last 6 weeks - he was thrilled with the result and we will be sticking it in his book tomorrow :)

young artist!!

Thomas often doesnt get his school work finished and when he does it is full of crossing out, scribbles and mess - the ideas are there but he struggles to get them down on paper. This week they have been looking at the Funnybones books and he has had to write his own Funnybones story and make a book cover - I was amazed at what he managed to do and made sure he knew how impressed I was with his art work - Ben has asked for a copy for his wall!! sweet!

Photos and family fun!

Having fun doing another of CJ's creative photography courses - really find them good for giving me inspiration and an excuse to ask the children to let me take even more pics. Ben needed bribing with painting but had fun taking shots while he worked.


Trying to get all three to cooperate at the same time was less than easy but still got a couple of shots I enjoy even if I did miss the course deadline for uploading - the second made CJ smile :)

Went into the boys bedroom in the morning to find Sophie reading to Ben - so sweet - and Tom is now regularly doing Ben's bedtime story and really enjoying reading to him.
Ben and I did some baking - he wasn't sure about cracking the eggs and it ended up in his hair, on the walls, floor and cooker but the cakes were delicious so that is ok!

Molly obliged with a well timed yawn !

Sat in the front garden with Sophie and Meg hoping to take pics of passers by for the course - hoping maybe someone on horseback - nobody walked by :( had fun taking shots of the girls instead and some insects :)

We have been playing a lot of board games recently as the children have been unwell adn the weather pants - Splashy the Whale is a big hit !!

Ben provided the perfect excuse to sit on a bench and people watch in harrogate yesterday - I was able to get the three photos I needed for the course without looking too conspicious.

Sophie kindly posed for the candid shots - she is eating the first apple picked from her tree - the tree is called FIFI - forget-you-not!
She enjoyed holding Meg in the sling for a walk round the garden - Sophie is surprisingly strong for a 5 year old!!
At playgroup today Ben spotted his best friend who has left playgroup to go to school - they waved at each other and shouted messages from their repective playgrounds - sad :( I know Ben misses him but he is making new friends now thank goodness and really having fun at playgroup - I was Mummyhelper today and he used Megan for show and tell and delighted in telling his friends that she does 'smelly poos!!'