BIRTHDAY UPDATE

So here, here and here are some posts on A&D's birthday that I have just got round to finishing and publishing. 

 

Enjoy!

xx

LETTER FROM SANTA

This afternoon, after nursery, the children heard sleigh bells and couldn't see anything out of the window so I sent them to the front door where they found a letter had been hand delivered through the letterbox  which read as follows;

 

"Hello children it is Father Christmas here.  Do you remember that one of my trainee secret elves, Elsie, came to visit you a couple of times last year just before Christmas?  Well I am sure you will be pleased to hear that Elsie managed to graduate to a fully qualified Elf just in time for this Christmas, but sadly this means that she will not have time to pay you any visits before Christmas as she is busy with her Elf duties.  She sends her love to you though and says that she will miss seeing A and D this year and is sad that she will not be getting to meet Teeny.

Elsie’s little brother Ernie is still in training as a secret Elf though so I am sending him to stay with you very soon and it will be his job to keep a close eye on the three of you until Christmas.  Your mommy has let me know that A and D have been playing up a little bit at home lately, although she tells me that you have been very good at nursery so I am sure that you realise now how silly playing up for your mommy and daddy is and that you will behave really well while Ernie is visiting to show him just how good children behave.  You may not be able to see Ernie, but he will explore the whole of your house and make a note of your behaviour and then report back to me everyday. He will then come back to The North Pole with me on Christmas Eve.

You should probably know that Ernie can be a little troublesome and has been known to play tricks on the families that he stays with so keep your eyes peeled for any mischief he might cause and please let me know about it."

Obviously A&D are extremely excited by our impending arrival and have phoned Daddy to tell him and to ask him to bring a box home so that they can make Ernie a nice comfy bed this evening.

 

I can't wait to see what Ernie gets up to while he is with us.  I hope he doesn't wreck too much havoc as I have enough to do between now and Christmas without cleaning up after somebody else.

Ernie if you are reading this please play nice!

PLAYING CATCH UP AGAIN!!!

Well my laptop profile has corrupted taking with it what feels like my whole life hence another long absence from my blog.  I have set up a new profile on it, but don't have access to any of my recent photos or videos or anything else for that matter as I hadn't backed them up since Teeny arrived (slap my hands!).  I am assured by a very lovely IT literate friend of mine that everything will still be on here so there is no long term damage done (fingers crossed) it all just needs to be accessed by him and copied across to my new profile (as I am a complete technophobe and would have no idea how or where to start doing that).

 

My laptop/internet always goes haywire at the most inopportune of times and this one being A&D's fourth birthday last week which I now need to find time to blog about before Christmas is upon me (can you hear the panic in my voice?).  I have too many blog posts backed up in my head that I just don't seem to be about to get down on virtual paper.  Seriously there just aren't enough hours in the day.

 

Argh!!!!!!!!!!  Help!!!!!!!!!!

REFLECTING ON OUR FOURTH YEAR

 

So the tiddlers are now four. How on earth do I have two four year olds?  More to the point how did I survive the last four years because to be honest some days I have no idea.

 

When I was pregnant with them I assumed that once twins were past their baby stage it would be no more challenging than having two singletons, but some days I look back and think give me two babies any day even with the endless feeds and the sleepless nights.

 

Every new stage that we reach I am having to do twice over with two completely different individuals even though I have no clue how to do it. I don't get the opportunity to try it out with one and master it with the next; instead we all bumble along together and there are lots of mistakes and tears along the way (usually mine!). If I am honest I have to admit that I have found this last year the most challenging so far with them and it has very little to do with Teeny; in fact I can hand on heart say that I don't think it would have been any easier without him.  The challenge lies in the fact that they have more opinions, ideas and desires of their own than they have ever had before and I have no idea how to balance their expectations with my own.

 

This year I have lost my temper and shouted more than I should, cried more than I should, beat myself up more than I should and failed more than I should allow myself to, but despite all of that I am still here.  I still have a wonderful husband and we love those two little people more than anybody else ever would.  They, along with their little brother, are my world they are the reason why, when all I want to do is hide under the covers, I get out of bed and face the day.  My family are my reason for being and they make me who I am.  Granted I am no domestic goddess and a far from a perfect parent; we live in what I label organised chaos and most some of the time I don't get it right with the children, but they challenge me and I try my hardest to learn from them and to do better next time. 

 

After all nobody is perfect. 

FOUR YEARS OLD (2)

 

LIKES:

 

Everything that Daddy likes!!  Seriously Son it surprises me that, despite the fact that on a day to day basis you seem to be surrounded by women and are a sensitive little soul, one of your favourite things is just being one of the boys.  There isn't much you love more than chilling with the boys and the camaraderie that comes with it; whether it's rough and tumble or motorbike talk with Daddy, trying to play computer or getting the tools out with your big cousins, feeding the birds or checking out the shed with Grandad Bobby or an activity at nursery with your (male) teacher you are most at ease and at your happiest when you are to quote you "with the boys doing boy things."  Even when you play with your sister your favourite things to do together are to play with the trains, the Hot Wheels or ride your bikes!  Although on occasion you have been known to wear the odd clippy cloppy shoe and push the hoover or pushchair around with some of your girlfriends.

 

DISLIKES:

 

Hurting yourself which, given that you are your father's son, doesn't bode well as he has had more trips to A&E that your nan has had hot dinners.  You could almost win an Oscar for your acting skills following a slight fall or bump, although you haven't perfected the fake cry yet as I am afraid there are still no tears!  I am pretty sure that with you a trip to A&E is inevitable and it is probably a case of when and not if.  Your other big dislike is playing baby or pupil or whatever other submissive role your sister has in store for you on any given day, but you have not quite learnt to stand up to her yet without resorting to whining at her or smacking her depending on what mood takes you.  Like I said before though you are a very sensitive and caring soul and as dominating as your sister can be sometimes you still love her and your little brother dearly and it really upsets you to see them poorly or hurt or sad in anyway.  As much as you hate hurting yourself I'm pretty sure you would walk on hot coals for them if you could.



FOUR YEARS OLD (1)

 

 

 LIKES:

 

Jewellery, handbags, dresses, lip gloss, nail varnish, clippy cloppy shoes as you label them and anything else remotely feminine that you can lay your hands on; I can't even begin to imagine where that comes from because, as much as I like to get my glad rags on for a night out, I am not what you would label a girly girl so that is definitely nature and not nurture!  What else...?  Being outdoors; you are rarely more happy than when you are running about in the garden, the park or the playground at nursery school and poor weather doesn't phase you.

Your other big things are singing, dancing and generally performing.  You have recently developed a real love of music and are happy to listen (and wiggle) to most of what I play, but your current favourites are (thankfully) anything by Kimbra, Hottest Girl in The World (JLS) which I don't mind, but the rest are far too cheesy for me and include Live While We're Young (One Direction), Candy (Robbie Williams), Call Me Maybe (Carly Rae Jepson) and We are Never Ever Getting Back Together (Taylor Swift).  Yuk! ;-)  I think it is because you hear them on TV alot; you definitely know exactly what you like.

 

DISLIKES:

 

Not getting your own way.  You are a strong willed and impulsive young lady and not a force to be reckoned with; a leader and not a follower.  Oh my darling as much as I love you there are days where I find you such a challenge.  My poor mother must have said the same about me though!  There aren't many other things that I can think of that you don't like.  You're pretty adventurous and fairly happy to try most things as long as it is on your terms.  People had better not mess with either of your brothers though; there is no way you can stand for that.