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. :)