My old friend.

Whoa! Look at these 80's chicks! I mentioned before that I was looking forward to my old school friend, Michelle, coming to visit. She thinks this was the last time we saw each other. It was her 18th birthday. We are now 38. I don't know why we lost touch.

She told me that she had teenage children. I was a bit surprised to see them come with her. From what I often hear from others with teens and what you see on the telly, I assumed they'd be off skulking somewhere. How wrong I was. They did not fit the stereotype you see and hear about. They were perfectly normal, actually they were lovely. I thought they must be so bored listening to us two going on about old times. They probably were, but they didn't show it and often joined in with the conversation. I suppose I've got used to little ones constantly interrupting and trying to hold the thread of a conversation with another adult so it was refreshing to keep the chat on an even keel. If our kids turn out anything like hers, I'll look forward to the teen years, not dread it!

I really enjoyed our afternoon, catching up. We won't leave it so long next time.

Cot update:

Hope slept well in her cot last night. As well as has been usual, anyway. I had to feed her at 3.30am and 6.30am. When I got her up at 6.30, she felt very cold. I think the hammock kept in more warmth and because it was much smaller, her blankets were folded a few times over. So I need to get the bedding right to keep her warm.

The cot!

Oh, and I'd better post, for the record that Hope has just gone into a cot. Hubby put it together this afternoon and I put her in it a few hours ago. She cried for a bit, but when I went back in she was asleep and still under the covers. I wonder how it will go....

Gratitude Friday and Peter Rabbit.

This is what we had for dinner tonight. Salmon pasta bake. I made it up based upon what needed to be used up in the fridge/freezer and what is on offer at the supermarket. I rarely buy a newspaper now. (I can't see the point of paying 50p per day to read about people's sex lives, or lack of it. One week it was the woman who wrote about how she gave her husband, for his 40th, the gift of sex every day for a year and the following week another woman who wrote about not having sex for, oh, I don't know how long it was. But I decided then I was giving up the Dailys!) I did get one this week, though and read about a journalist who switched from shopping at Sainsbury's and M&S to Aldi and Lidl and worked out that if she did this properly she'd save herself about £3,000 a year. I've personally found Morrissons a bit of a star this week. A pack of 4 kiwi fruits cost 30p! The kids have chopped kiwi and peaches for their dessert. And tinned salmon was buy 1 get 2 free! So I did and mixed 2 of the cans with wholewheat pasta and a mix of frozen veg, cream and cheese. We had this with chips and garlic bread and a dish of celery and cucumber sticks to nibble at too. It was very nice. I even lit a candle!

These little cherubs are now waiting for me to come and read Peter Rabbit because it is Beatrix Potter night! Yay!!

Such a naughty rabbit!

I don't know if it is because I'm so very tired, but I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself for the last half hour so it'll do me good to list some things I am grateful for...

1.) HUBBY - cos to cheer me up he set out a cup of camomile tea and a couple of 'munchies', those little chocolate thingys, for when I came down from the bath. I asked for vodka but this is nice. Thanks. XXXX

2.) Friends. I recently found an old school friend on Facebook and tomorrow she is coming to visit. I haven't seen her in about 20 years! I'm grateful for my other friends, too. I only have a few, but they are good ones and they know who they are. Big kisses to you too! XXXX

3.) The comments left by the ladies from Faith and Family after my Small Successes post. It's the first time I've joined in and it was lovely to read their encouraging words.

4.) Moonlighting - It is being shown every night on CBS Drama channel (Freeview) and is on right now. How can I be miserable when bears bear and bees bee????

Here is Hope playing with her 'treasure basket'. She played with the lid, mostly!

Henry is very helpful. He's been desperate to have a go at feeding the baby for ages, so I finally let him.

Today I am taking part in Faith and Family's Small Successes.

My 3 small successes for the week are...



1.) Remembering to keep my seedlings watered.

2.) Using the 'n' word with my big girl, yesterday, and not giving in even though I think it hurt me more than it hurt her!

3.) I'm struggling to think of a third.... erm, ...

No.

I'll ponder on it for a while and maybe come up with something for my next post this evening.


3 hours later....

Ha, ha, ha. I've got one. The kids are in bed. I've had a bath and I'm in my pyjamas and it is only 7pm! That's not even a small success. That's a big one!

Flu buster!

I have a cold. Today I made my flu busting hot n sour soup. I usually make my own stock from the carcass of a roast chicken. Yesterday we had chicken wings for tea so afterwards, I put all the bones in the slow cooker with a couple of chopped onions, chopped ginger, chopped garlic (a couple of cloves) and a few sticks of chopped celery. I then cover with water, throw in a few bayleaves and add about a teaspoonful of paprika and turmeric. As some of the chicken wings were left uneaten, I removed the meat and put aside in the fridge.

About 24 hours later I have the stock. In this bowl I have just added some of the chicken meat and some frozen sweetcorn and baby carrots. The kids eat this version. (I whizz up the baby's portion.)

And then for us, I add some chilli, fish sauce, chicken meat (or prawns if there's no meat left), kaffir lime leaves and at the end a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.

I've just had mine. It's certainly cleared the nasal passages for the time being.

My other secret weapon in the war against the winter bugs is Medised. It's meant for children but I find a few teaspoons of this helps me get a more decent nights' sleep.

I sometimes do Nigel Slater's version too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/thaiinspirednoodleso_92377.shtml

Yum.

Little Hope is 10 months old today so I thought I'd do a little update on what she is doing.

Her first tooth has just broken throught the surface of the gum but isn't really visible yet.

We are still breastfeeding. Since Christmas she has not been sleeping throught the night. She was ill at the beginning of January and woke every 2 hours for nursing. She is still doing this but now just once or twice a night. She has 3 'solid' meal per day, mostly roughly pureed, and seems not to mind what it is apart from avocado. She's only liked this when mixed with banana.

She is sitting up, unaided, crawling and trying to pull herself up. She doesn't babble as much as the other two did, but likes to make animal/lion noises, hums and 'sings' and attempts to make signs for milk and waves. I think she said the word 'dog' yesterday when we were looking at a book together.

She is generally a very happy, easy going child and only seems to cry when she has a good reason ie tired, hungry or wants her nappy changed which I sometimes miss because I can't smell it! She does hate being dressed and undressed though and gets very angry, then!

I had a sort out of the toys this afternoon. Here I have assembled some collections of toys and 'real' things based on the treasure baskets you get in heuristic play and put them in these floral boxes and wicker baskets. For more information on heuristic play, follow this link: http://www.littleacornstomightyoaks.co.uk/Articles/Treasure%20basket.php

Here are a few of the things I have included.