quack quack

Boxing day has arrived, the duck is in the oven, me and cherub are peeling the potatoes and parsnips getting ready for a boxing day lunch.
Laying up the table with our new place mats and penguin glasses and crackers. Dishing up the dinner and putting it on the table realised that I have forgot to do the sprouts and piggies in blankets amd today I have just seen I didnt even put out the napkins I got months before! Always the way, oh well they will come in handy later on in the year perhaps valentines day.
Lunch all over and now to open our boxing day presents to each other,  kids have been spoilt loads and I got my slippers and knife set. Can definitely tell I am a grown up getting excited over knifes. Oh I got yankee candle set which is fab, how much I love my candles.
Hubby opened all his presents,  such a shame I have to take the, back to be exchanged as he isn't as skinny as I thought he was! Well got that wrong, but at least he loved all the other bits he got and didnt know about which made me feel so much better.
drinks are flowing kids are in bed, time for me to kick back and relax watching Netflix.

All unwrapped

Christmas day is over, all presents from santa opened all before 8am, and piles of wrapping paper just chucked everywhere, in my very small lounge piles high of presents for each of them all just from santa,  still loads more to open at their grandparents house in the afternoon and even more under the tree to open on boxing day, but a remark from my 7 year old has left gobsmacked,  im bored what can I do!  You have just opened about 35 presents and your bored! Pull the other one young man, take a few new toys up to your room and try them out while we help the baby with his presents. But obviously that is out of the question and just even stupid to even suggest that to him. anyway after having a little conversation and a little sweet talking he decides to take a few of his new toys up to his room while we help the little one with his presents and tidy up a bit so they can both play together before going to their nana's for a lush Christmas dinner.
After 10 minutes of being upstairs, he comes down saying that he got the plane out and it broke! So second Christmas in a row he manages to brake an item within seconds of opening,  this year it was the a remote control plane which he and daddy could play together up the field,  but before even getting a chance to fly the bloody thing he decides to try and do it himself straight into the wall and snap the propeller off at least it wasn't the £60 I was going to get him just a £10 one, so before he can even get the quad copter out and break it we have hid it until he can be trusted to play with it under direct supervision!  Much to his disappointment!!
 After such an eventful morning we soon head off to nana's house, armed with more presents for the family. Soon as we get there we can see the lovely Christmas dinner wont be long until on the table,  with nibbles all laid out in the lounge tying to stop a 7 year old from snacking is practically impossible,  after a ton of sweets eaten we all sit down around the table, crackers pulled and party hats on to tuck into one of the best dinners iv had in a long time, drinks are flowing as is the conversation. And to my surprise my 7 year old has eaten his whole meal until my cherub who doesnt like to sit anywhere apart from on my lap,  so while trying to feed myself and cherub he decides that eaten just a bit of Turkey and a few sprouts is more than enough and wants to get down. As we are still eating or waiting for pudding he decided he wants to try and feed me his dinner as I obviously cannot do it myself clearly, dinner eaten and pudding going down nicely out come the party poppers, every single one makes me jump cherub thinking its funny to scare mummy and wants to help grandad do them. clearing up the dishes my 7 year old cannot wait any longer and wwnts to open presents as in his words my dinner has already gone down so we can play now, my mum bein the soft one she is says he can open one present each to keepethem quiet while the clearing up takes place, cherub wants to help clear up dustpan and brush in hand on his knees helping pick up all the confetti and empty crackers popping then in the bin.
Now its time to hand out all the presents from each other, my 7year old just like the tazmainiane devil rips through everything without even looking at what hes got where as cherub is still on the first one and wants to play with before moving on to the next one,
all presents opened I think everyone is happy with what they all got, but you can never tell as they won't say it to your face, would rather them say oh thanks its not really what I like or I already have I hope you don't mind if I swap for something else!  But I was lucky, I got all what I wanted and asked for. The children have so many toys we could start are own toystore, but all in all it was a great Christmas had by all.

let do some painting

While the boys are upstairs playing well more shouting at each other who can play with the Henry hoover of all the things that are in there room I decided its time to paint the hallway and up the stairs. This was a good idea in theory what could go wrong... haven't even got the lid of the paint before all I can hear is, I want henry,  its mine, no its mine, its mine, oh my god it doesnt even have a fuse in it! Then its mummy mummy look what iv found, its only the fuse!  So think oh that will keep them quiet while I get on with the painting.  So on with the painting hallway touched up so thats done, now onto the stairs making a great start, then more arguing about who's book is who's.  Apparently sharing is a totally barbaric idea and will never happen,  so a selection of books each and toys separated into a corner each peace at last and on with my painting, with red paint to cover with a coffee cream colour I think it will need more than just one coat, but that can wait for now.

some people shouldnt really be let outside...

Off for one of our many day out trips just my cherub and myself.  Cherub really doesnt like his pushchair after sitting in it for more than 5 minutes and likes to make everyone around know this. After looking on the argos computer for last minute ideas he decides to try and escape the pushchair obviously after being in the shop for more than 2 minutes was enough for him after putting him back in amd handing him a pencil and a load of paper he is quiet so on I carried on with having a look at items much to my disappointment most the items were out of stock or could be ordered in for the afternoon which was no good as we live 10miles away and cant hang around.  Anyway on to proceeding to order the one item that was in stock cherub by this point has had enough of colouring in and started whining while at the checkout anf having to wait for our item to come out. My little cherub is crying as he is a typical man who hates shopping and making this known,  in walk an old couple who very rudely said "oh I wouldn't let a child sit there cry thats really not right"! Our item couldnt come out soon enough so we could get out of there before they say what else I'm failing at at parenting. Soon as we walk out my cherub is quiet fresh air always does that and the old couple say "see its quiet now soon as they have gone".  If didn't have my cherub with me I would of said something. Im sure their children were perfect bloody angels and never made a peep were always on their best behaviour, or they locked them in the cupboard before they went out!! Why do people have to judge other people for the sheerhell of it, doesn't achieve anything just makes it worse, their hurtful words could of really got to be and could be sitting at home crying for all they know.
Like they saying goes if you haven't got anything nice to say don't say anything.
Im sorry I dont have the luxury of a babysitter or to go out without my children, they come along with me, if you can't stick the noise of crying children stay indoors!!

chocolate brownies

Baking with my two munchkins on Sunday. First we made chocolate gooie brownies,  whivh were just perfect even with the munchkins helping,  and they were very good helpers indeed, but they didnt help with the cleaning up, just helped licking the bowls out, and help me eating the brownies.  We shall be making them again.
Next we made a keylime cake which well I believe was tasty but as I didn't get to sample any I cant say myself but my two little helpers sure did tuck in to it, before I even had chance to make the cream cheese frosting to go in between and on top.

As it was such a success I think I will definitely be baking with my two munchkins on a regular basis.

oh Christmas tree

Putting up a Christmas tree ... easy you say... well yes it sure is...if you dont have children who insist on trying help or as I say getting in my way touching my decorations putting them where I don't want them.
So after 2 days of them fighting over my tree I decided to go and buy them their own to do, what could go wrong with a 7 and 2 year old upstairs using decorations I have bought them, or I dont want. Well what can go right, screaming at each other having glitter stars and tinsel chucked down the stairs, and all the candy canes eaten! Oh the joys, at least they haven't touched my tree for atleast 30 minutes.

advent calendars

Being first of December I have put together homemade advent calendars for the boys.
getting creative for each of them, and to get my ocd out of control party poppers in a few and to make it even funner for me they are on different days,  more work for my poor vax hoover. Thought it would be a bit different this year as last year we done advent books, it was a good idea at the time, but I doing a pile each of books not short stories either full books so we never got around to reading every book before Christmas, to be fair we are still reading them now in hindsight I think I should of just took it in turns doing them books and making sure they were very short stories...perhaps next year...

Christmas jazz

Oh how I love this time of year... traipsing around all the shops with hundreds of other people trying my best to manoeuvre my cherubs pushchair around the Isles without taking half the rails with me I swear they make shops so pram unfriendly on purpose to keep all the mummies out! anyhow onwards with getting gifts for the family while keeping cherub happy without vandalising the shop; getting more stressed as each shop we go into with the rain pouring down people taking cover in doorways saying excuse me to them all and smiling sweetly inside thinking oh just get the fuck out of my way if i didn't like my pushchair so much I would take more ankles out.

Finally getting more and more presents for all the family, feeling rather proud of myself for being so productive everything is finally going my way ticking more and more off my list until it is all done.

Back home lets start the fun of wrapping all presents putting everything into piles for the kids. With little cherub trying to play with everything thats laid out mixing everything up anyway lets solider on getting this done...

A week later with everything almost all family gifts wrapped, all Santa's presents wrapped up and hidden away from little people thinking to myself iv done a good job with getting everything I think they want and would like oh how wrong could I be...3 days of feeling very proud my eldest decides to redo his list to Santa declaring that everything was wrong and didn't want any of that anymore but all different stuff!
Trying to talk a 7 year old round that after sending his first list to santa that he cant just change his mind as santa has probably got his elfs working on his list already is going down like a lead balloon....oh the joys! And I thought I had done well atleast the cherub is happy with what ever he gets.

We will see how Christmas morning goes after santa has been.

A morning in life with children

A morning in life with children. By Gemma Thompson.

So they say not to work with children and animals dont they? Well I thought oh well whats the worst that could happen? All the children and still alive and so are most of the animals...
I dont know if being a stay at home mum is counted as a job, well put it this way when I was working full time I didn't have a little cherub that I created myself chuck random items he can his hands on at me, smear what ever they had in there hands down my top and hanging off my trousers in a supermarket, oh no far from that it was peaceful, I had time to myself I could even shave my legs in peace. That seems a whole life time ago now. Now its school runs with mix and match clothes most the time they are clean when they are put on, hair looking like iv been dragged though a bush backwards and its not even 9am. To come back from that to my little cherub to see what hell we can cause for 6 hours.

9.20am and it looks like a tornado has gone through the lounge, toys chucked from one end of the room and my cherub sat at the other side of the room with a grin looking at me saying come and get me if you dare. After fighting my way through the mountains of toys which I again stupidly bought myself for them finally get to the cherub and try and make it a game to pick up the toys, after a huge battle of packing everything away having a room back to looking like the way it should be thinking brilliant must be time to pick the big brother up from school but no such luck only 10.30.

Getting our wellys on and go for a walk, all suited and booted ready to go on our walk get down the drive way and the dog sees a peacock for all of things joys of living in the countryside I guess with not one but two cats trying to chase this peacock and the dog joining in. This peacock is twice the size of the cats and dogs but there is no stopping them until the peacock flew over the wall to ruin there fun. So on our walk with one cherub one dog and two cats...