50 life lessons..

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

I read this column by Regina Brett this evening & it made me smile - & in fact it made me light a couple of candles. We all need to take a step back and put our life in perspective sometimes. Appreciate the small things in life, f you let them they will make you happy all on their own...

xxxxxxxxxxxx

PS update on family & trooping to come soon, there are other priorities when your 6-month-old has croup!

quick update!

I've not updated here for almost 2 weeks now, how bad of me! I had been writing something every few days! We've been rather busy so i've had very little time to stop & type so here's a brief summary of what we've been up to....
Lyra started preschool last week and does love it while she is there but separation itself is heartbreaking - she cries and begs me to take her home with her when I leave. She stops crying pretty quickly now (been to 4 3-hour sessions) & has a lovely time but does get tearful when I come to pick her up saying "please can I come home with you now mummy". I'm finding it very difficult to tell you the truth, not only is this upsetting goodbye-bit happening but she is growing up so fast! At the moment she wants mummy a lot more than she has done but still wants daddy more!
Talking about daddy, David is in the midst of stormtrooper fever, his stormtrooper armour is almost completely ready to wear. Good thing really since he's off on his first "troop" tomorrow in Taunton! We've been having a lot of late nights with both of us working on it in a bid to get it ready & tomorrow is the day! That's all I'll say for now as this project really deserves a post all of its own after the event (with pictures...)
Logan has a cold at the moment (so does Lyra in fact, she was sick last night) so he's all snotty & not sleeping well. He is sitting treally well, rolling front to back occasionally now & burbling beautifully - on wednesday he started saying "dadada" a lot but we also have a lot opf "blurblelurblelurble" & almost words "Heeyaa" "yeah" & what sounds a lot like "hello Lyra". he's eating really well & now on 3 full meals a day - from today with a pudding afterwards as my health visitor suggested his being sick is because he needs more food & less breastmilk.... He's fantastic & so cheerful despite being so pukey, though I do wish he would sleep a little better! he's still settling himself at the start of the night though so I live in hope...
As for me... what can I say?? I've finished a crochet diplodocus for Daniella's starting-uni pressie (she's off to Portsmouth on Thursday!) have made a little cotton crocheted blanket for Logan & in the process of making a pure wool cardi (pics to follow) as Lyra has had most of the clothes I've made it's Logan's turn for the moment! I'm int eh process of organising the lounge STILL & we have one of the Ikea shelving units up. i think the other may have to wait for next weekend though as I've not had time to sort things enough to get that up (need to sort Lyra's room too you see as current TV cupboard will go up there as toy cupboard) we're getting new carpetsin a couple of weeks, I've spent a lot of time chatting to Genni (we loved that it was09.09 :09am on 09/09/09 recently) & discussing life the universe & everything. It's wonderful tobe so close to her now.....
Anyway this "quick" update was quite long really! I'm sure there's more to add - I'll be back & I shall add photos soon too.... adieu for now!!

hello!

Hello, hello - goodness it's been a while since I've blogged (over a week!) We have been rather busy, visiting my parents then in Bristol with my lovely sister Genni (staying at our Godmother's) then rearranging/ organising the lounge & sorting the garage while David was off work last week. Normal service should resume from now on....

Our 3 days away in Bristol were lovely, we went to the city farm with my Godmother, popped into the city centre, met up with Jenny & her twins who are 3 days older than Logan (we met online on pregnancy messageboard & she was my texy buddy but we ended up being in hospital at the same time!) & lovely chats - though 3 nights of drinking wine int eh evening followed by very poor sleep due to Logan's teething left me feeling rather hanging by the time we came home (via Ikea!) on wednesday!! It was fantastic spending a decent amount of time with Genni & Jo & Rob, who are very lovely & more like our Aunt & Uncle than anyone else. It was a bit like therapy though & I felt pretty wrung out emotionally by the end as we talked a lot about my childhood - & it was a pretty hard childhood in many ways that I'm not going to elaborate on. Some bits Genni shared in but I think some of it was new to her but it was good to talk it through. I'm so glad that I'm so close to her now, she's like a best friend and a sister in one..

The lounge is looking much better - a large part of the change has been to move one of our large 3-seater sofas out into the garage pending imminent rehoming (we hope!) so it feels very spacious. We're getting new carpets int eh next 3 weeks or so & some storage units ordered from Ikea online so really can't wait for the end of this month in many ways as the house should hopefully feel a lot more together... We did take the children swimming yesterday (more successful than last time as Logan had a mini wetsuit to keep him warm) & I made a huge roast dinner. David went back to work today but we've kept very busy & went to the park this morning & to Hestercombe with Tina & Lindsay & their children. we weren't home until gone 5pm so Lyra was knackered & I had to organise food with 2 screaming children!!

In other news Daniella has sorted her house for Uni - she didn't quite make the grades for UCL so is going to Portsmouth instead so had to find a house as halls were full. She's made friends with a nice young man called Josh who she will be sharing a house with (and 4 other students!). David's sister Vicky has announced she is expecting a baby in May which was rather a surprise as a week before conception her husband had been expressing that he did not want any more children (their kids are 6 & 8), & most important of all to our little family Lyra is starting pre-school tomorrow for the first time!! This will be the first time someone outside of our family has looked after her (Isa & Tom count as family really) so very big step for us. I'm rather nervous but managing to hide it well in front of her!

special delivery.....

David has bought himself a present... can you guess what it is from this picture of Lyra trying out the contents of the package that arrived yesterday....

Yes he finally decided that now is the time to invest in a full set of stormtrooper armour.. obviously!!! Unfortunately there is a little work to be done on the ensemble before I can reveal him in all his glory, ready to annihilate any rebel forces that may happen our way. He still needs his blaster and boots before he's fully ready, but he is so excited by the prospect of actually being able to take part in the comic book event (where several stormtroopers will be making special guest appearances) on 19th September in Taunton that it makes up for any expense - well the amount he's spent anyway....

Logan is more interested in bouncing around in circles, rolling onto his tummy and chewing things...

& has been rather distracted by being a bit sick today - well very sick really any time he wriggles it seems to make him sick poor lamb. He's got a bit of a chesty cough so I think that's upset his tummy a little.

What with Logan's sickness and Lyra's tantrums today has been rather trying, with about 1hr 45mins worth of screaming tantrums from Lyra this afternoon while Logan wailed because his dinner wasn't quick enough because I was trying to prepare everyone else's food too while being distracted by Lyra's howls. I was impressed with myself for keeping calm... We have managed to make time for playing with toys and having afternoon tea from a real fine bone china tea set that I bought the other day for just £5 from a charity shop - bargain as it has 6 cups & saucers, sugar bowl & coffee pot with lid & is a nice Royal Standard set. No matching milk jug sadly, only real negative as I really want a coordinating set. & for that price it's not a worry bringing it out for afternoon tea with a 2 1/2 year old, even if I do ask her to be careful. One cup already hs it's handle broken off so I think we'll just have to make sure we always have it on a table rather than on the picnic blanket as yesterday's breakage has shown! I think it's a lovely tradition to start that she'll always remember.

In the same charity shop I also managed to find a wooden elephant that holds a certain significance for me - it is slightly bigger than but identical to one that I already have - inherited from my grandma who passed away 3 1/2 years ago aged 90. She received it and its 4 fellows in graduating sizes (each grandchild has one, I am the middle grandchild so I have the middle sized elephant) as a gift from my grandfather when he was away in India, carved in a little Indian village.... & I have managed to find an identical one in slightly different wood so perhaps from a different tree. OK the tusks are missing (as are those of the one I already have) and it is slightly damaged from time and poor repairwork on a chip but I'm so happy to have it.How lovely, really - & how meant-to-be....

our holiday in pictures....

Good morning, I hope you've had a good weekend? We came back from holiday on friday so here's a little summary of our week away......

A couple of days before we went Logan decided to start sitting up all by himself for several minutes (until he gets excited or carried away eating his toes!) just over 4 1/2 months, almost exactly the same age Lyra was...
We swam in the cold sea in our wetsuits, at high tide Lyra loved jumping fromthe low wall into the sea...

Lyra spent plenty of time undressing & lining up her teddies....

We spent a lot of the time on the beach... (I made the dress Lyra's wearing here!)

Logan dipped his toes in the sea for the first time... (not too impressed!)

We admired the views...

& built sandcastles perfect for sitting on (& a sand aeroplane!)...

& went to Newquay aquarium...

As there was just a shower in the flat Lyra & Logan bathed on the balcony in the baby bath (notice how close the sea is behind them this was at high tide)

Logan had his first ever ice cream & loved it...

Lyra & I collected lots of sea glass & shells so that we can make a more personal souvenir than we could ever buy....

& this was the view we were greeted by every day from the balcony of the flat we were staying in...

We had a really lovely time, even though Lyra decided to whinge a ridiculous amount. She felt a little poorly & was in a strange place so ended up sleeping in the double bedroom with the rest of us as the first night saw her waking screaming a lot. Such a daddy's girl she made him sleep on the floor next to her half of most nights (pushover? absolutely!)

We spent most of our time on the beach as it was so close we only had to walk down a slope to get there... well you can see from the pictures. There were lots of shells and sea glass which I loved collecting with thoughts of making pretty things from them. We ate fish & chips, Lyra insisted on going to the pub "I need to go to the pub daddy, I want a pint" (hahaha!)

busy busy

Good evening! & it is indeed, nice & cool after a hot day & I'm sat here with a nice glass of wine & two children blissfully sleeping upstairs! We had a really lovely day today. I took Lyra and Logan over to play with Molly, Pippa, Celly, Maya and Dylan at Elaine & Molly's lovely house. The children had a great time running in the garden, playing doctor/ dentist (with a flowerpot ornament as a "light"!), sliding, bouncing on spacehoppers, blowing bubbles and eating peas straight from the pod. I had a lovely time chatting with the lovely mummies too - Lyra is a great conversationalist but regular adult conversation is a must for sanity purposes!! Jo and Pippa and Me, Lyra and Logan stayed for a picnic afterwards. Jo is about 30 weeks pregnant and still cycling! OK just for short distances but still rather impressive!

Yesterday we saw Isa, Tom and Jack for a brief visit with shameless kissing between Lyra and Jack (OK slight mummy encouragement there but the pictures are SO cute!!), Tuesday we spent a lot of time in the park & had a picnic (I got sunburn on my shoulders!) and on Monday we went over to see Stacey, Ollie & baby Thomas so we've been realy busy this week. Tomorrow Daniella will be here ready for holiday cat-sitting....

We're off on holiday in Cornwall on Saturday so I doubt I'll be updating my blog again until we get back, when I hope to write a nice long summary of Logan's first proper holiday! We're going to Portscatho in Cornwall (near Falmouth) and plan to go to The beach, Flambards, the beach.... well we shall see what the weather has in store for us. This week has been gorgeous so I'm really hoping for more of the same, fingers crossed!!

illness again!!

Good afternoon, I hope you had a good weekend? Poor David has had severe tonsilitis since wednesday, typically this weekend was gorgeous & sunny - the first in ages - and he was most definitely not feeling up to doing anything like going for a walk or similar that we would usually do on a nice weekend day. He even went to the doctor, which is unheard of for him, and has been dosing himself up with penicillin since friday. Obviously he was convinced it was swine flu at first because the symptoms were similar at first, thank goodness it wasn't!!


Logan is a bit grizzly at the moment, I think he must be teething as he's so chewy and dribbly. It's so unlike him to be grizzly and grumpy that I don't know what to do with him! If he's in a grizzly mood he likes to be carried around. It also means he's been waking more in the night - last night 10.30, 1am, 3am, 5.30am & he was awake then so avid brought him downstairs so I could get another half hour's sleep. Oh the joys of parenthood! Lyra is being very good, though she's determined to thwart my efforts to get rid of her dummy. David has suggested "forgetting" the dummy when we go on holiday next week so she has a whole week without it & with none scattered around. We must make sure we dispose of the ones around the house before we go!! Genni and Daniella are sharing responsibility for house & cassie-sitting while we're away



I've made a start on my first crochet blanket!! I ordered some patons washed haze aran yarn in 2 shades of pink, blue and lilac last week on ebay, which arrived on Saturday, and made a start on it on saturday evening. I'm making a smallish ripple blanket to start with but will probably make a little blanket for Logan too as I have some green cotton yarn that would go well with the blue. The cotton means it won't be at all scratchy and he'll be able to chew it! I've been making lots of other things too - Eric the zombie was finally completed last week and given to Genni on friday, I've made a skirt and a dress for Lyra and 3 bandana bibs for Logan (he's so dribbly at the mo!) feeling really pleased with myself as they are pretty productive hobbies & the results were pretty good :o)
& to finish - here are a few pictures. First my gorgeous litle ones having a cuddle as they often do ....

the start of my crochet blanket...

Eric the crochet zombie by my many tomato plants...

& inside....

Lyra's patchwork skirt....