At the moment my lovely Clement has:
Yep, chicken pox! If it wasn't for the spots, you'd never know he had it. He's super happy and not even thinking about scratching (which is a big relief to me, as Abigail had it when she was about 6m older than him and she scratched till they got infected!). So yeah, his face isn't too spotty in the above photo (taken yesterday morning) but it has about twice as many spots today - and of course tummy/back/bottom are covered! But as I say, he's not bothered - so it's nice to not have to worry about him having it, and hopefully in the next couple of days he'll not have to be "isolated" anymore either!The past 2 weeks have been a bit of a nightmare though! Clement got ill first and then Abigail - a very nasty tummy bug that they had for 8 days! And just as they got better, Benjamin and I got it too. Benjamin only really took one day out though (as far as fever and sleeping goes) and has been full of energy whilst not feeling very well, which I don't think has benefited him overall. And as for myself, combined with being pregnant, I had like the most extreme "morning sickness" (except it was all day), for 3 days - and couldn't keep anything down! By Tuesday night (this week) I couldn't even keep water down and was feeling very weak. Thankfully I was feeling so much better the next day and quite normal by today, which is a big relief. It's not easy trying to look after 3 active children when you are feeling so ill. Peter has also had it, though a bit off and on over a period of several days. But it looks like everyone is finally over it - which is nice after being shut in the house for 2 full weeks with it all!
So, lots of photos here, mostly taken 2-3 weeks ago.
My boys playing in their tent together in the front garden. Clement is rather addicted to the outdoors - he just begs to go outside. He'll go to the door and near enough ask to go out - and gets very upset if anyone goes outside and doesn't include him! But he's still not bothered about trying to walk - I'd say rather uninterested even! He loves to walk along things holding on. But he refuses to try and walk otherwise. And outside, he just crawls all over the place. We have to secure the gate with a bungee cord, otherwise he's out and down the pavement within a matter of seconds! lol
Benjamin
There are 3 very similar photos here, which are to illustrate how I've lost my daughter to ... books! :-) She's doing very well with her reading which means she can just pick up any one of their books and read a number of words from them - and simple books, she's able to read the entire book! It's lovely to see her sitting and reading stories to her brother (mainly Benjamin who loves books too, as Clement won't sit still long enough! lol) So anyway, as you can see, her brothers are up to climbing and general wildness right next to her - but she's buried in a book!
And still, reading away in her book!
She never even noticed me with a camera (and flash!) - she's just totally taken up with her story! :-) I had rather anticipated that this would happen with her and she'd be buried in books. But I have to admit, I didn't think it would happen at only age 4! lol
A happy Clement clapping his hands
Again, the climbing my boys get up to! Benjamin tipped the pushchair over on its handle and then they both climbed up it like it was a fort or something! I think Clement thought he might be able to climb over the railing of the stairs!
the climbers
Sitting through the handle on the floor!
Benjamin and Clement looking very calm and peaceful in the car on a nice and sunny day! We had to get another car when our other one died earlier this month. It wasn't worth putting any money into it when we'd be needing a bigger car later in the year when the baby is born! So we went ahead and got a bigger one now - a 7 seater VW Sharan. The children get a lovely view while riding in it, thanks to large windows and high seats.
Abigail and Sarah in the back seats
The Saturday before Sarah and Josh left we went to Dornoch for the morning. We went to a farmer's market and a car boot sale, as well as taking them for a look inside the Cathedral there. Being an American, I have to say, it's quite neat to live only several miles down the road from a building with such lovely architecture!
Some of the ceilings (I'm sure there are proper names for such structures like these, but I'm ignorant!)
Sarah next to the big organ
Josh taking a photo of something else (I think this is the only photo I've got of him from his visit!).
Outside of Dornoch Cathedral
Dornoch Castle (hotel)
Some buildings along the road in Dornoch
I wanted to attempt to get a photo of the view I have from my kitchen window (though this was taken with the zoom on my camera, so my window is a few more feet away from the back fence!). Anyway, yes there are clusters of trees/bushes there, but if you look closely between the branches you'll see blue! And no, it's not the sky (though we are on a bit of a hill) - it's water! The Dornoch Firth. I love to be able to have a "sea view" from my house windows
Tarbat Ness Lighthouse, which is about 8 miles or so from here
OK, so not a scenic photo - probably boring to anyone but me! :-) This was Abigail and Benjamin's "art project" yesterday! However, it wasn't exactly their combined efforts - Abigail did one half and Benjamin did the other. Any guess who did the orderly/coordinated side and who did the more "freestyle" one? Yep, Benjamin makes sure everything is done just right! So he can make a work of art out of just about anything. Though this was a rather temporary one, as the clothes pegs soon were all put in use hanging clothes outside!I have been planning for a couple of weeks to post something about what I've been reading in connection with diet and healthy gut, etc. It started out with online reading and then I've bought a couple of books. I was thinking about it in connection with Benjamin's eczema and suspected egg allergy and overall health etc. I thought it was quite remarkable that the same week I bought a book about it, a blog that I've followed for several months now (an American lady with 3 children who have severe eczema) actually mentioned the same book! She's now trying the diet, so I'm kind of watching with keen interest to see how she gets on. It sounds very daunting and is a complete change of diet and eating ideas. And when it's hard enough to get Benjamin to eat mashed potatoes and chips(!), the idea of giving him meats and lots of vegetables seems *impossible*! Here's a link to an article which gives an overview - very thought-provoking! http://www.westonaprice.org/Gut-And-Psychology-Syndrome-GAPS.html The book is titled the same, and whilst it focuses on disorders such as Autism, she mentions allergies such as eczema and asthma as having connections with the gut too.
So, I should get to bed! This post is long enough without me saying anything more.
