Dad & Anna's wedding - part 1

Here are some photos from Dad and Anna's wedding, which was yesterday (24 July) in Glasgow, Scotland. They had a lovely day - beautiful sunshine, if not a bit too hot! Not sure my photos are very good, but hope everyone will enjoy them anyway - especially those in Texas who weren't able to come over for their special day.

Dad and Anna, outside the church after the ceremony

Benjamin and his daddy

Abigail and her Uncle Nat

Guests outside the church afterwards

My three lovely sisters: Sarah, Leah and Anna

Us four girls (with Abigail bent over at our feet!)

Bride and Groom with groom's immediate family

Bridal party

Bride's family

Abigail and Benjamin playing on the steps at the church

Dad & Anna's wedding - part 2

Mrs Mackay (Anna's step-mum) and my sister Sarah

Abigail playing with one of Mr Somerset's little girls, outside after the service

Benjamin with his Grandpa

Dad, Anna & Naomi

The wedding party about to leave the church

The head table standing as the Bride & Groom enter the dining room

Head table

Amelia and Abigail - two cousins having lots of fun together!

Cutting the cake

Abigail, Amelia and Benjamin running around the lounge area at the Hilton while the speeches were going on - they'd had to be quiet & still for so long that they couldn't possibly contain any longer. They had loads of fun playing together and running about. Needless to say, they were totally exhausted by the end of the day! :)

Beds, Bees, Beach & Benjamin!

Looks like it's nearly 2 weeks since I last posted here, so thought I should try and get these photos up now, as the next blog should have photos from Dad & Anna's wedding! :) Which btw, is already on Thursday!

Not sure what I've been doing these past weeks, but life has seemed busy, even if there haven't been any specific events to occupy me! Abigail hasn't been sleeping very well lately and has built up rather a lot of tiredness I think, which has made her rather difficult at times during the days. Not exactly sure how to get extra sleep for her, as naps always result in very late nights, which seem to make matters worse. She's had "accidental" naps a few times this past week. For example, yesterday I was reading her a couple of stories from a Jungle Doctor book and she insisted she wanted a 3rd chapter read - but 3/4 into the 3rd (and rather longer one) she was sound asleep next to me! I laid her down on the couch hoping the noises around her would make sure she didn't think it was bedtime, as it was only nearly 4:30pm. However, she didn't wake up until about 5:45 when we were having dinner. Although she still seemed quite tired, she wasn't able to fall asleep until 11pm - me having been trying since about 8:30 to get her to sleep! Then she woke up at 6:30 this morning - *not* in fit form to start the morning. I finally managed - about an hour later - to get her back to into a settled sleep (she'd dozed about 12 times in the past 60 minutes!), and I got Benjamin back to sleep too, as he wasn't ready to be awake either. Both ended up sleeping until 9:30am, which I was glad about - except being so late of a morning meant Benjamin wasn't ready for his 11am nap and ended up not having a nap at all - which never happens with him! The both played in the garden quite a bit of the day and were happy to go to sleep as soon as possible after dinner. Just hope they don't wake quite so early in the morning tomorrow. :)

I've been trying to get a video of Benjamin saying "puddin" (for pudding - his favourite thing to eat - as in tubs of chocolate or vanilla pudding, which we get from Lidl). He sounds rather Southern American the way he says Puddin! Anyway, I have several but they will probably take *ages* to upload to blogger. Maybe someday I'll try - but not tonight. :) He's really learning to say lots of words. I'm trying to teach him the idea of being quiet at certain times and I think he's beginning to understand what I mean, even if he's not always silent! I was quite impressed yesterday when we first got to church and I said "Benjamin, now you be a good boy for mummy" and he said "shhhhh"! :) So he realises that I'm wanting him to be quiet - but we'll see how long it takes for him to actually be quiet! One problem is that he has a daily nap at 11:30am (which would be 30 minutes into the church service) and he always gets louder and louder as he gets tired, so the result is that he finds it nearly impossible to be quiet for very long. His favourite time to use the word "shhhh" is to his big sister! He's usually quite a happy little boy, but his sister hasn't been the happiest (or quietest!) lately, so he likes to tell her "shhhh", which usually has the opposite effect! Also, he has noticed me saying "go away" to the neighbour's cat when it tries to come in our house, so he like to tell Abigail "Shhh, go away!" when she annoys him! So they're quite a humourous pair. :) Benjamin's favourite letter of the alphabet is M for mummy! :) He can spot a M just about anywhere and is very fond of it, which is sweet. He's not as advanced as Abigail was at his age (just about singing the whole alphabet) but he's certainly keen on letters and numbers.

Look what I got off Freecycle??! (just the frame btw)

A wonderfully sturdy triple bunk bed! No, Abigail isn't sleeping on top of a bunk bed (or even on the bottom yet, for that matter). We've had a spare double mattress for a couple of years now (stacked under our "foam" mattress that Peter got for his back), which has meant a very high bed. Anyway, I was trying to think of a way for it to be useable in Abigail's room, since Jett & Evelyn are hoping to come stay with us next week. I've always liked the idea of triple bunk beds, but thought that nearly 200 pounds (including postage) for a new one was rather a lot of money on a bed just needed for a weekend, when it wouldn't really be necessary for us for a few years yet. So I put a message up on Freecycle (not expecting to get a reply) and a few hours later I had an email from a lady who said she was taking one apart the next day and had already planned to put it up on Freecycle, so we could have it! And it wasn't one of the cheap, noisy, squeaky 150 pound ones - it was one that sold for about 350-400 pounds new. And it is in excellent condition - only about 6 months old - but her daughter just decided she wanted a different bed!! Peter hired a van to collect it and needless to say, I was very pleased with my bargain bed!

Benjamin taking the neighbour's cat for a walk! He's got such a funny, smug look on his face! (btw, I did tell him not to pull the cat's tail! I think he thinks it's OK since he holds his toy stuffed cat Pilchard by its tail.)

Sitting sweetly :)

Bee hunting!

A "cuddly" looking bumble bee on one of our roses

Giving his Pooh bear a cuddle

On Saturday we went to a small sandy beach in Rosemarkie. The children had loads of fun - once the rain passed and the sun came out again. We had to eat our "picnic lunch" in the car while it rained (and Benjamin slept!). But it was nice & mild down by the water and best of all, the air by the sea is wonderful for Peter's hayfever, so he could actually be outside getting some fresh air! I think we should buy a house next to the seaside - just to prevent hayfever! :)

View of the water from the sand - there was a nicer beach (less messy looking sand) at the other end, but there was a noisy event going on there (Gala or something), so we were glad to find a quiet "corner" away from it all.

"I thought sand castles were *just* to knock down!"

And the blanket is especially for putting sand on! :) Cute smile from Abigail.

They loved the sand! Though Benjamin seemed to think he was meant to build his castles on top of his Daddy!

Fort George - I hadn't realised how close we were to this until we looked out across the water. I got this with the zoom on my camera.

Well, I should have been in bed *ages* ago - must go now. I think I've said (rambled!) rather too much - probably doesn't even make sense! Goodnight. :)

NHS *doesn't* always mean long waits....

Just in case anyone has the idea that trying to see a doctor in the National Health Service will mean long delays to get an appointment and then further waiting once you get there .... that's not always true! Yesterday I phoned the local clinic at 10:30am to ask if I could see a GP that day. At first she was going to say I should come at 4:30pm and just wait till I could be seen, but then she realised there was 1 opening left for 4:50 so I got it! I walked into the clinic at just about precisely that time, sat down and was immediately called - even though the reception room was already full of paients waiting! Guess what time it was when I left the clinic? 4:55pm - a mere 5 minutes from walking in to walking out! I don't think I've ever had such a quick doctor's visit! lol However, seeing as the visit was rather pointless, I was thankful to have only had to waste 5 minutes (apart from the time it took to get kids ready and in & out of carseats, etc). My reason for requesting an immediate (emergency) appointment was that I found myself covered with red spots that morning!! I'd just finished a course of antibiotics last Saturday (for a urine infection) and then Monday evening the doctor I'd seen last week phoned to see how I was and inform me that just about any antibiotic would have been effective for what I had *except* the one she'd prescribed me! It wasn't actually her first choice but she went with it because it only showed up in trace amounts in breastmilk. Anyway, because I didn't feel entirely better (though probably 90% recovered) we decided I should take a different antibiotic - to start yesterday afternoon. So when I woke up all spotty, I worried if it had any connection to the meds I had the previous week and thought I should see a doctor before taking new ones. However the doctor didn't seem interested really - just assured me it won't be connected to the antibiotics I took last week, he hadn't a clue what it was, said I should take the new ones, and come back if I'm not better in a few days. Soooo.... none the wiser as to what I have! They're still not gone either, tho not changed dramatically - looks a bit like how chickenpox looks when it first appears but without changing in appearance. Thankfully there aren't *any* on my face, but they're just about everywhere else - mainly my legs, arms & feet. Oh well.

Nothing much else is up at the moment - just a tired me after being poorly for so long! Abigail has been sleeping a bit better the past few days - ever since I finally got some blackout fabric to put over her windows! She kept thinking it was time to get up when the sun was pouring in through her blinds & curtains at 3 or 4 in the morning! But she's still rather over tired from various things and in need of a lot of catch up sleep, I think. Benjamin seems to be teething again and has had a few bad days - slightly elevated temperature and going off food a bit. He's wanting to chew everything in sight and lots of dribble too. Can't see any sign of new teeth yet, though he doesn't really let anyone look in his mouth, so don't really know.

I took a few photos of the children in the back garden yesterday evening, as well as some of my plants - so here they are. :)

Abigail & Benjamin playing in their favourite corner (by two bushes and a fence).

Benjamin showing some of his teeth

A big grin from Abigail :)

As I said above...chewing everything in sight! lol

My (and Abigail's!) gardening adventure - sunburst squash (which we had for dinner the other night - very yummy!) with a sunflower in the middle (not yet opened) and the strawberry plants with lots of flowers in front of the squash. The smaller pots are various flower plants which we grew from seed - not yet in bloom.

Some of our very sweet strawberries - for some reason even the very light pink (nearly white) ones are very soft, sweet & juicy!

Bird watching, with lovely Feverfew flowers behind him

Probably looking for bees now!

Abigail's other sunflower which is already open - we took it in the house to brighten up the dining room!

This was taken this morning, probably just after breakfast. Sitting in a rocking chair with their Bob the Builder tent over their heads! :)

OK, enough from me for tonight. I think I should try and get some sleep.

Gerrit's birthday etc

Just a quick post here before I head for bed. Didn't want to neglect this space too long, else it might end up being ages before I post something again! Haven't been feeling too well this past week. Went to the doctors on Monday and got some antibiotics (yes, within the past 2 months, 3 out of 4 of us have been on antibiotics for one thing or other - tho first time for me to have any, unless I had something when I was a child for an ear infection etc). Anyway, I was feeling loads better the first 12 hours after starting them, but not been so great the past 24 hours, so we'll see. Just hope I'm back to normal again soon.



Here's Abigail with her ladybird umbrella - a cute face, even if she won't open her eyes!

Last Saturday morning we went for another walk - this time down a quiet "farm" road just outside our town. This is a view looking down the road towards the firth.

Another one of my pieced together photos! lol I took a photo of them together but Abigail was looking the wrong way, so I just stuck these two together.

Isn't he cute?! :-)

Happy 10th Birthday to my "baby" brother Gerrit! We went down to Fort William on Tuesday for his birthday. He'd invited a few friends who live in Glasgow and we came along as well and stayed overnight.

Benjamin thinks the wrapping paper is the best part! He and Abigail had loads of fun with it - making a big mess too!

Some of Gerrit's birthday guests watching him open his presents.

Gerrit and his soon to be step-mum Anna :-) with the cake she got for him.

Anna had his photo printed on the cake, which was a surprise for Gerrit!

The above photo was Wednesday evening after we got back from Fort William. Gerrit gave these big trucks to Benjamin & Abigail (as he's now outgrown them!) and the children have been having loads of fun playing in the garden with them. You can see my well overgrown bushes in the background! I spent this afternoon trimming that side of the garden (sorry, no after photos! lol). Abigail & Benjamin spent the entire afternoon outside and were absolutely exhausted by dinner time. They did manage to stay awake to eat some food & have a bath, but were both desperate to get to sleep. Hopefully it means they'll sleep well tonight.

Off to bed now - goodnight. :)