Still alive...

Seeing as it's nearly 2 weeks since I was last seen on here, I thought I should post a few lines so my few readers don't think I've decided to quit blogging! Sorry for the lack of posts, and also sorry to anyone who's left me a comment & I've failed to respond. I am always glad to hear from you all, but the past 2.5 weeks have been quite hectic and there's lots of thing I haven't done.

The main reason for a rather difficult 2.5 weeks is that the children have been unwell (well, Benjamin in particular). Abigail was the first to get it - tiredness & a temp for a few days and then cold like symptoms - but it didn't seem to affect her that much. Benjamin got it a few days after her, with a temp for 3-4 days (once as high as 102.4F) and then he also started coughing etc once the fever left. He went off foods for about 2 weeks (really, hardly eating a drop of anything - just lots & lots of mummy's milk - which to keep a 28+lb 14mo boy from being hungry means a rather tired mummy! especially when he's not sleeping much - apart from in my arms - so that's less sleep for me too! But whenever my babies are unwell, I'm always thankful to be able to have a ready supply of something wonderfully healthy to keep their tummies full & happy!) Anyway, his coughing was really bad a lot of the time (mostly evenings/nights) and he would frequently gag and end up vomitting. As a result, any tiny bits of food I managed to get in him occasionally were usually lost. :( Anyway, by the end of nearly two weeks he seemed to finally be improving and was starting back on foods etc. - much to my relief, as I was feeling I couldn't possibly cope with many more days like that (esp since I'd now come down with a cold!). However, on Tuesday it seemed he had a turn for the worse and the cough was getting lots worse. We took him to the doctors and now he's on a course of antibiotics. I really didn't want him to have any, but since it seems he developed a chest infection and wasn't getting better, I felt it was necessary. Within 12 hours it seemed he was already improving and he's lots better now, even if his chest is still quite noisy (and nappy rash from the antiBs!). But thankfully no more bad coughing and no vomitting at all since he's been to docs, so big relief! :)

So, apart from looking after children, I haven't done a lot else! On the days that were warm & sunny we spent lots of hours outside. Benjamin is sure to always be happy if he's in the great outdoors. :) Here are some pics, taken randomly since my last post.

Playing in the garden on a particularly warm, sunny & beautiful afternoon

Riding a cow together: best friends! :)

A rather hot looking Benjamin!

A cute smile for mummy, from the opposite end of the tunnel!

At first glance you might think he's upset, but really he's laughing hysterically - they were having so much fun together!

Together again!! Colouring pictures - as you can see, they really do spend a lot of time with each other and always miss the other if one is sleeping!

Like father, like son! Benjamin wants to help with the painting .... think it would be rather messy! lol

Our little helpers - cleaning up the old chipped paint from the porch/path! And it was all their own idea too - guess they thought it looked rather a mess .... if only they had the same idea about the millions of toys, books, clothes & other items they throw all over the house! :)

Abigail showing her new hair bows

Playing with "punch ball" balloons (though the balloons didn't have a very long life!).

Well, must head for bed. Have lots to do tomorrow - will try to get something up here again before tooooo long!

Summer has arrived in Scotland!!

Yes, the title says it - summer is here! Ok, maybe only a 3 or 4 day summer, but still it's lovely & warm and just absolutely perfect weather. The sun has been shining nearly all week (I think) and the warmth just makes everything (and everyone!) come alive! :) Abigail & Benjamin have probably spent more hours outside than in! Not sure what the temps have been, but upstairs in the house it's got up to 75F, though the downstairs seems to stay quite cool most of the time.

Nothing much out of the ordinary happening - just the usual work of selling books and all that it involves. And in between book orders etc I've been spending a fair bit of time outside with the children, or nearby to keep an eye on them, and a bit of sewing too (making another skirt for Peter's mum, etc).

Yesterday was the monthly homeschool meetup in Inverness. It was nice to see everyone again and the kids got to play together with other little ones. Benjamin always has fun playing with his little friend - the boy who was born on the same day as him! :) We went through on the train, as usual. Not sure though that trains are so good for hot days - it was sooooo hot inside. The train coming back did have the windows open, but it never got going fast enough to do much good. So by the time we got back and walked home we were rather overheated! I stopped in Woolworths to get a small paddling pool for Abigail & Benjamin (in the hope that Abigail could cool down with it & stay occupied while I got the book orders packed up & post done) but she fell asleep before we even got home & slept for 2 hours! Not sure if it's some sort of illness that is making her so sleepy this week or if she has hayfever - but she seems to be falling asleep most days (and still ready to go to bed early-ish at night) - one day she just collapsed on the couch & slept for hours. She's got sore/sad looking eyes & keeps rubbing them, so I worry it's hayfever or similar allergy! :( Guess we'll have to wait & see if it continues.

So...now it's time for some photos! Probably most all of them will be outdoor shots, and all taken this week!

Always with a car/truck/train in hand! He's really into things with wheels and will spend *ages* looking at books about them!

Running in the garden - he's really getting up to speed with his walking, and very fast too!

Enjoying an ice cream on Tuesday in the hot weather.

Later on Tuesday we did some baking (changed her out of the winter dress she was wearing in the morning in the pic above!). We got a DK published Angelina Ballerina My First Cookbook from the library and it has lots of yummy treats to make. Angelina is a mouse but the book has photos of little girl's doing the baking and it's really sweet/cute - all dainty/feminine looking girls making tea-party style goodies. So we made some cupcakes!

Here's Abigail filling the cup cake papers - she started doing it *all* by herself - before I even told her what she was meant to be doing! Her stuffed cat Pilchard is closely watching her! lol :)

And the finished product! The cakes were actually very very yummy! I'd previously bought boxes of cupcake mixes for her to do (with various kiddy decorations/characters) but the cakes always tasted like paper - yuck. However, this recipe was really good and buttery! Only made 12 cakes, but really the ideal amount if you just want a quick kitchen activity with a little one. So, I'll be writing down the recipe to make another time. :)

Car in hand again! :)

Playing football in the back garden - Tuesday afternoon

Night time sky on Wednesday, I think

A funny face from Benjamin (on Thursday)

Some of you might not think this looks like Scotland (bare feet and shorts) - especially when it was nearly 6pm - but it really was that warm! Benjamin is watering some plants, with a neighbor boy looking on through the gate.

Abigail and the pool - though the water comes out of the taps *very* cold, so they weren't able to actually get in - at least not with the sun gone away by then. Maybe later today...if they wake up! Both are napping again - wonder when the sleepiness will ever go away! Well, a nap is normal for Benjamin just now - but Abigail's not done regular naps for about 5 months now!

Well, I'd better head off - need to have so lunch. Wow - a daytime post from me - might be a first! :)

Dad's Engaged!!!

Congratulations to Dad and Anna!!

Exciting news - they got engaged last night (Friday, 2 May). Some of my blog readers won't even know he was seeing anyone, so even bigger news for you! :) Anyway, no date yet for the wedding, though I'm thinking it will be sooner rather than later! ;-) Here's a photo of them below (pic taken by my sister Sarah, I think):


So now that the exciting news is out, probably no one will bother reading any further! LOL I don't actually have anything to say, as I must get to bed. But always must post a few pics of my little ones!

Here's a lovely pic of Abigail (and B in the background). Taken by Sarah when we were in Fort William last weekend.

Benjamin - isn't he beautiful?! :) He looks so grown up here - I think he looks quite like his Daddy (as a young man, rather than a baby)!

The ever climbing Benjamin - he carried Abigail's potty all around the house and finally found this ideal place to put it so he could attempt to look out the window. Poor thing - all the windows are up soooo high - and he just *loves* to look out and watch the birds. He's a bit bird crazy at the moment and would probably spend hours in a window just looking out for them!

The seedlings (and strawberry plants) which Abigail and I are growing. We've got all sorts of things growing and the warm days we've had lately are helping them to come on. At least being up on tables in the shed keeps the pests from destroying them (the back garden is *full* of slugs, snails and woodlouse - yuck!).

Peek-a-boo - can you find me?! Abigail didn't want her picture taken, so she hid behind a rose bush - the result was a very cute pic! :)

Benjamin today - sitting in a very small space!

OK, to bed I go. :)