Easter Bonnets

So yeah, I was meant to post this last week but with the run up to the girls’ birthday and Ff being poorly I didn’t get the chance. But the two L’s worked so hard on them I wanted to show them off anyway!  Of course we did them very last minute so we had a costume change into jammies midway through while they were waiting for turns and the photos are a bit scarce as I was trying to do about 137 things at once!

We started off with some really stiff paper plates, not the cheap budget ones, these cost more than I would have liked but it’s my own fault for leaving it till last minute! We then got one of our bowls, which we checked fit over their heads, and drew a circle to cut out. The plates were so stiff neither got very far without me thinking they would slip and chop off a digit so I did this bit of cutting.

LM needed hers yellow so she painted hers, (she has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Hypermobility Type and struggles to hold pens or pencils hence the odd way she’s holding her brush)

We had cut some A4 card lengthways into strips and *very carefully* using the glue gun stuck them together. We used one of the pieces of the plates to protect the table, I’m sure you could find something much better than this though!

 

 

I tried to tell him he just needed to decorate it, but he wasn’t having any of it so I guessed we should finish it properly! We pulled the plate over the top and bent the edges up.  We then glued these ends down. It was a bit fiddly but once they were all bent into place it was easier to work on the ones closest to the plate and work your way to the outer ones.

Poor LM gave up waiting for hers to dry so she brought out the big guns, fair play it did the trick.

I had some foam sheets and glitter glue pens so using some cookie cutters they pressed the shapes of an egg and a chick (we also had a bunny) into the foam, cut them out and decorated.  They stuck a few fluffy chicks around and we also had some other bits to stick on.  Can you tell what their hats are meant to be? These were two very proud but very tired hatmakers!

Here’s a close up. I think we should have let the glitter glue dry a little as we had a few drips but they were soon remedied with a cottonbud.

I wasn’t sure how the strips of card would look but I liked how they turned out.  You could use these as a base for any type of hat, you could even weave things like patterned paper and ribbon around the strips of card. Or even make the strips themselves out of material I guess. I can write a proper tutorial with better pictures for the hat if anyone would like me to.

 

Did you make any Easter bonnets this year? I hope you were a bit more prepared than I was. Let me know

Why I don’t like disposables

This weekend O has been wearing disposable nappies/diapers.  I now remember why I hate them.

Let me first explain why he was wearing them.  With Ff being really poorly and developing this rash over her face I thought it best to be prepared for the worst and buy some disposables on Saturday morning just so I knew no matter where O was and who he was with there would be something clean for him to wear, specially as we were on wash day and there were barely any clean nappies left.

It took me ages to figure out what brand and size to buy, I settled on the Pampers size 4. Of course I also bought some wetwipes too, these were Pampers sensitive.  I know I was buying from a local shop but the prices just made me want to cry and I almost didn’t get them at all.

I put him in one before I left for the hospital and the first thing I didn’t like was how skinny he looked! He is on the small side still, barely creeping his way up to the 25th centile line in his charts.  Also the only trousers he owns, apart from wool longies,  are leggings and they are all really loose on him.  There’s no big butt to make him feel solid to hold onto and to keep him in the sling, it kept sliding up over his bum.  Maybe this is why some mums don’t get on with ringslings if they don’t use cloth?  Maybe just those with slimmer babies? I’ve never really thought of it before.

So I took him with us, obviously he’s still breastfed so there was no other option.  By the time we got there I took him out of the carseat and all I could smell was urine mixed with chemicals.  This was after 20 minutes. He isn’t a heavy wetter and you couldn’t even tell he had peed, the nappy was still bone dry and didn’t even feel like it had absorbed any liquid. In all it took us 2 hours to get home and I changed him as soon as we got here.  The smell of the chemicals was quite bad by this point.  Then I cracked open the wetwipes.  I remember wetwipes smelling clean and fresh but these ones don’t. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it’s almost as if they have taken out the fragrance to make them ‘sensitive’ but left them smelling rather unpleasant.

Even though Ff was home she was still very ill and being as we had these nappies open I decided it was easier to use them for a few days(dh doesn’t like my Disana tie on nappies and all the pockets had been used already) plus it meant I could give the nappies an extra good wash and an extra vinegar/bicarbonate of soda wash too. Over only three days using disposable nappies we have had:

• One case of poo up the back and getting on his vest resulting in a two man job to remove said vest without smearing it everywhere.
• One case of poo leaking out the leg hole and down the inside of his trousers, I hadn’t realised when I pulled them down and managed to get it over his legs and socks, and all over me!
• Two cases of dampness by the leg holes.
• Numerous attempts to pull the nappy off
• a bin full of stinky nappies, even though they were tied up in scented bags(even more icky chemical smells!)

In all I am so glad I use cloth. I use wool covers exclusively and I haven’t had a leak or a blow out since he was tiny and exclusively breastfed, not even had so much as a case of compression wicking.  I used disposables on my first three and I can honestly say I would never go back to using them daily, but I am grateful to know I can just pick up a pack in an emergency, even if they seem like more work lol.

Do you use cloth or disposables, or maybe a bit of both? Let me know how you get on with them.

The Twins Turn Thirteen

So I was supposed to be writing today about the wonderful time my twin daughters had on their 13th birthday yesterday.  Unfortunately one of my daughters got to lunchtime and started to feel unwell.  Over the course of the afternoon she developed nausea a headache and an extremely high temperature, she woke at 5.30 this morning vomiting.  I was quite concerned about her as she had a pin prick rash over her face and called the out of hours doctor for an appointment.

The poor thing has a nasty urine infection so is now on antibiotics.  The rash is apparently from the strain of vomiting and should subside in a few days. Fingers crossed the medicine will kick in quickly and she will be able to have the cake I have put in the freezer for her.  I had surprised them by baking a swirly coloured cake and hidden it under vanilla frosting.  I hope it survives as I have never had cake in the house long enough to freeze before!

Luckily their birthday celebrations started early this year so she did manage to have some fun before she got unwell.

On Wednesday the two L’s were still in school but E&Ff had an inset day.  They have been desperate for clothes for ages as they have grown out of pretty much everything they own(thank goodness for school uniform and dark winter afternoons) so I thought it would be nice to spoil them by buying a whole new wardrobe each for them.  We spent hours trawling round Primark and managed to spend quite a fortune, I haven’t actually told dh the full total!  At 5′ 4″ and skinny as rakes they have the best of both worlds.  They are able to fit into the largest kids clothes (12-13)  and also into a size 6 in the ladies section.

On Thursday they spend the afternoon at a shopping outlet with a group of friends from school and watched the Muppets most wanted movie.  In the evening we went to a local Chinese restaurant. My parents tagged along and a friend of the girls came too.  This is a restaurant that my mum and dad go to at least once a month so all the staff know them and they even get a free bottle of wine from the owner who often sits and chats with them at the end of the night.  The kids said they were like celebrities with everyone talking to them and even knowing their names lol.

We had loads of food and everyone enjoyed, even LM who is the pickiest of eaters learnt that she likes honey glazed ribs!  I’d bought a One Direction cake which they brought out at the end and the pianist (yes a REAL pianist!) played happy birthday.  They were all fascinated by the pond in the middle of the restaurant with Koi carp in and a little bridge going over.

So we finally come to their actual birthday.  The Two L’s wanted to give them breakfast in bed and insisted that I make them pancakes. They actually sat in our bed and enjoyed American pancakes with syrup, strawberries and whipped cream which they thought was fab being as they are not allowed to eat upstairs lol.

Then they opened their gifts.  There was just a few token things being as they had all their new clothes but they were still just as excited to open their presents!

The only thing they wanted to do for their birthday was visit a small castle nearby that is close to the beach and has stepping stones going across the river. They had fun wandering around all the rooms and playing football in the moat! It was at this point Ff developed a slight headache and even though we went to the beach we didn’t stay long. I did manage to get a couple of pictures though.

Our kids usually get chose one activity that they would like to do for their birthday, this was obviously a special day as they were turning 13. How do you celebrate birthdays in your house?

Word of the Week

This is the first time that I am linking up with the ‘Word of the Week’ linky over at The Reading Residence.  I found it a few weeks ago but this is the first week I have really had a word that sums up my entire week, apart from exhausted that is! That word is:

 

Today is a bittersweet day for me.  My darling twin baby girls have turned 13 and we have officially been thrown into the world of teens, times two!

We have already had at least a year of build up to this with the tween stage, filled with the burden of impending hormones, boyfriends, hormones, girlfriends and let me tell you the girl friendships are much more complicated than any other relationship, more hormones, I think you get the picture about the hormones?

But even though we have been dealing with all the You hate me don’t you’s and But that’s not fair’s and the crying, eye rolling and sighing I fear the worst is yet to come! Any of you fellow Brits should know of Harry Enfield’s ‘Kevin’ character? Well we didn’t wake up to that this morning, but I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time. Before I know it, I will have two sullen faced teens, with bizarre dress senses who are incapable of rising from bed until 3pm can’t possibly be expected to do chores and who find it impossible to be polite to us.

Until that angst ridden pair arrive I will savour the moments with my, more often than not, sweet girls.  Who still have the ability to think rationally, sometimes, are often silly and gossipy and will still hold my hand and give me a kiss in public.

It is strange to think that 13 years ago I was a nervous 18 year old trying to figure out how to hold two tiny floppy babies at once and now I’m a mother of teenagers who are just creeping past me in height and shoe size and haven’t stopped yet!  But they will always be my little girls, even when they are 23, or even 53!

Do you get a little sad even though you are excited when your children reach certain milestones? Like reaching a special age, 1, 13, 18 etc? Or on the first day of primary school, secondary school, college? Let me know.

Such an annoying question!

Now before I get flack for dissing formula feeding mothers let me just make a few things clear. I have no issues with how a mother feeds their child. I have had to formula feed 3 of my children from different ages and for various reasons, which I will go into more detail at a later date.  I fully understand and support that some women choose to bottle feed from the start, that is their right. Nobody should ever be shamed or made to feel guilty for not wanting to breastfeed, or wanting to for that matter!  Okay enough of my disclaimer and onto the actual post

One of the most annoying questions I seem to be getting a lot at the moment, actually since O was born is:

‘Is he sleeping through the night yet?’

Why are people so obsessed with if my child is sleeping 12 solid hours at night? But it isn’t even the question that annoys me the most. It is the fact that when I say he wakes a couple of times to feed people automatically feel the right to presume that it is because I am still breastfeeding and if I gave him formula milk he would sleep.

Yes he probably would, but they never seem to realise that they also ask this same question to bottle feeding mothers and their only reply to if their child still wakes is usually something along the lines of:

‘Well… it will come eventually’

or

‘It’s just one of those things’

I have even heard the same woman who, a few weeks earlier had advised that I switched to bottle feeding, then have complete sympathy with a sleep deprived formula feeding mother of a 6 month old and stating that their own child still wakes up at 5am every morning for a bottle and refused to go back to sleep at the age of two!

What they don’t seem to realise (and mostly don’t give me chance to explain)  is that yes, my nine month old child wakes at 1am then again at between 4 and 5am. But he also goes straight back to sleep. I don’t mean I feed him, then we go back to sleep. I mean I pop a boob in his mouth and within a minute we are both flat out again.  In the early morning I can usually lull him back to sleep till after 7am by keeping him snuggled up close to me, feeding if he wants.

I don’t have to wake up fully, get out of bed, make a bottle, give that bottle, burp baby then try and go back to sleep.  If he is already in bed with me I don’t even have to sit up. Just turn over with him on my tummy then pop him on the other side.  Obviously if he is in his cot I have to sit up and he has stirred more but he still goes off easily.

We have our bad nights of course, as does everyone else, but I actually feel that I have the better end of the deal!

In fact, far from looking down on bottle feeding mothers, I pity them having to go down to the freezing cold kitchen to make up a bottle.  I applaud them for being sleep deprived yet managing to get on with their day even after being woken at 3am but not able to go back to sleep until 5.30am knowing that baby will probably be awake again at 6am.

To all those formula feeding mothers who wish to suggest that I, or anyone else, stop breastfeeding just to get a full nights sleep, how about you don’t? If you would still like to know if my child wakes at night ask away but please, unless you have breastfed a baby yourself, don’t offer me advice, just give me the same sympathy as you would have liked to be given yourself.

Do/did you get asked this question a lot?  Did you also get the same advice as me or similar? Or maybe you’ve had your own annoying questions or advice? I’d love to know.

Making birthday cards with baby

Saturday was my mother’s birthday.  She has been really unwell with a nasty kidney infection and only just got out of hospital on Thursday after spending Mother’s day there. I knew just the thing that would cheer her up, homemade cards!

The kids usually make cards every year but this would be the first time O would get to make one for her 🙂

Now this isn’t his first attempt at becoming an artist, we have done finger painting and handprints before now. But the kids had already been using the watercolours to paint theirs so figured we would give it a try and not worry about dragging more stuff out of the cupboard.

Just so there was a little something extra on the card I wrote Nain on it, which is Welsh for Grandmother. At first I tried to paint his hand but he was more interested in grabbing the brush so I let him use it himself and just loaded it up with paint.

Each time I loaded the brush I put it down on the card so he would make some marks while he tried to pick it up and give him some idea of what it does.

Of course he also wanted to make himself a little more colourful!

I was lucky to have E&Ff sitting either side of him giving him a little help, lots of encouragement and plenty of praise, also to grab him when he made a beeline for the water glass while I had my hands full of camera! Seriously, if you ever want to do an in action photo shoot with babies get yourself a set of teenage twin girls as assistants!(I have a set who would gladly work for tea and cake)

In all I think it worked out quite well, we managed to get more paint on the card than the child which is always a bonus, plus he had a great time 🙂

Here he is showing off his creation

And here are all of their cards together

Needless to say my mother loved them all and they really did cheer her up. We even got to visit for a while which she hasn’t had the energy for, for a few weeks which was nice.

Do your kids like making birthday cards for family?

 

 

Baby’s got bite

At the grand old age of (almost) nine months O finally has a tooth! The photo isn’t the best as I was trying to hold him and take it but you should just be able to see it.

Out of all of my babies he is the oldest to be getting his first tooth and you have even been able to see them inside his gums for weeks just hanging around, not in any rush to come through.

I should have realised something wasn’t quite right with him earlier in the week, he’s had slightly pink cheeks and has been chewing extra hard on his thumb. But he has been pretty good, and believe me I have had some horrendous teethers! E used to get a blood blister on her gum with every single new tooth that was about to pop out 😦

So fingers crossed, if this one is anything to go by , we shouldn’t have too bad a time at least with these first front ones anyway. Although by saying that I have now jinxed myself and he will scream for a week straight on the next one, guess I’d better get the cooling teething toys in the fridge pronto!

I have actually been dreading his teeth coming though. He isn’t the gentlest of feeders at the best of times and has often bitten my nipple with his gums hard enough to make me squeal, then him cry because I squealed. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he has gone past that stage, the last few days he has been blowing raspberries and trying to chat with the boob still in his mouth, very messy with the splashing milk but much less biting involved.

What ages have your babies had their first teeth? Or are you still waiting for them to arrive? Let me know your teething stories 🙂

The problem with having lots of kids

I had a commenter on my last post who coined some phrases that really got me thinking.
This is what the moon is a naked banana had to say:

Collective untruth is difficult to deal with. And that is one of the wonderful

things about siblings. It’s one in, all in.

and

 ‘Similar to collective persuasion, or collective bribery, or … or ….

You’re lost once you have more than 2 children!’

And honestly? I think they are right! As much as our four oldest bicker and squabble they do stand together against their father and I at least once or twice a day.  What am I supposed to say when they are all denying that they even took the milk out of the fridge let alone left it open and sitting on the work surface. Or when someone has tipped cereal all over the table and not cleaned it up, yet amazingly nobody tipped the cereal. Deny, deny, deny really does seem to be their mantra.

I hate to imagine how many times I have been bombarded with 4 separate but simultaneous conversations and then 5 minutes later when I’ve had time to process the situation find that I have agreed to something without even realising it! My reaction is usually wonder and awe at how they manage it rather than annoyance.

Then there are the times they ask me when I am obviously stressed or under pressure and agree just to get them to stop pestering! I often don’t realise of course until they feel that it is time to cash in on my promise of a trip somewhere, or ice cream, or whatever else took their fancy.  They can keep these promises quiet for months and spring them on me at any given moment that conversation usually goes a little like this:

Them: Mami, you remember you told us we could go to THAT PLACE?

Me: Ummm?*runs through every conversation we’ve had over the last two weeks*

Them: Well, Dadi said that we’re not doing anything tomorrow, and the weather is going to be nice.

Me: Right?

Them: And you did promise, so can we go? Please? Huh? Pleeeeaaase?

Me: When did I promise? I don’t think I remember saying that.

Them: Yes, you remember that time when the dinner was burning, and the baby was screaming, and you were helping LV make that school project, while juggling.

Okay, I might have exaggerated there a bit but you get the picture. The planning they put into these conversations is fantastic they manage to ask only for things that are suitable for a  given day, for example the local country park on a warm day or an indoor activity on rainy days.  They even manage to play us off against each other. Plus they never, ever forget! I have been reminded of these promises I apparently made years and years earlier!

My husband and I often find ourselves looking at four pairs of puppy eyes asking for something, the ‘oh please Mami, we promise ….(insert any good deed imaginable) if you give/let us…’  When we send them away with a resounding ‘No!’ We will eventually get them trickling back one after the other over the next few hours, or days with their individual pleas.

There are even times that they know when to pull out the big guns. What is this secret weapon you ask? It is none other than the baby brother!

For almost seven years, until O was born, LV was the baby. If there was some stubborn situations that hubby and I refused to budge on he would be the one sent down with his quivery bottom lip and big brown eyes.  Softly whimpering things like ‘but I think I would have really liked to go there’ or ‘I really do like ice cream Mami!’

Luckily for me he has had a bit if a growth spurt, and a big boy haircut, over the last 6 months and of course he is now no longer the baby so his effect is waning but I’m sure they will all train O well, in the ways if parental wrangling. They have had a trial run with LV so they will now know all the best tricks and I’m sure he will be a formidable ally for them.

Now don’t think we are push overs. Yes our children outnumber us but they rarely actually get their own way on things we don’t want to do or give them anyway.  But these kids really do have some power of persuasion in their little gang.  And that is great!But it seems their loyalties only run so deep.  They will defend each other to the last, unless of course they have actually been caught out doing something then they will instantly try and blame it on someone else.  Also, I actually brought this subject up with them the other day and E said that, one day they should all claim it was them, just as a change, they them all looked at each other and decided that was a bad idea as what if they said it first and no one else did too, so I feel there may be chance for me to use a little reverse psychology in the future!

So how about you? Do you often find yourselves being outwitted by your children? Do they use their collective powers to persuade, or even trick, you into doing or giving them something? I’d love to know we are not alone! Let me know in the comments.

 

I am linking up this post with @twinmumanddad’s binkylinky.  This is a great linky for those who have been blogging for less than a year.

The case of the lying children-AKA Custardgate

This evening has been very hard for me.  One of my children lied.  Lying is something I do not condone and I would normally punish them but there is one small twist which makes this issue even more problematic.  I don’t actually know which one lied. Nor do I have any way of proving it, without the use of a stomach pump(which seems a little extreme).

Let me take you back to the beginning.  We have had plenty of bugs going round our house since last week so have had at least one child off school all week.  Yesterday I made apple crumble for dessert but *lets say child A*, who had been off ill, did not eat theirs.  Today Child A and child B were both off. A asked to have their crumble with their lunch so they opened a tin of custard and put about a 3rd of the tin on the crumble. They then left the open tin on the table (Why I’m not sure as it should have gone in the fridge!).  While O napped I went upstairs to carry on with my clothes sorting leaving both suspects, I mean children, alone watching TV.

Fast forward to this evening and I find the tin on the table, Empty.

By this point the other two were home but had barely spent any time in the living room with the custard. I knew I hadn’t eaten it and O can barely pull himself up by the couch let alone climb up to the dining table.  This just left A and B as possible culprits.  Of course they both deny it.  I told them they wouldn’t get a row if they owned up. I even threatened to punish them both if they didn’t own up to the deed by bed time.  I said that they could just come and whisper it to me and all would be forgotten.  But nothing.

B, the younger one, cried. A just denied. Me I felt sad looking at their poorly faces and just wanted to cuddle them, which I did.

I really couldn’t care less about the custard, it is just custard after all and neither of them have had much of an appetite recently, I would have gladly given them both a spoon and said tuck in. But I don’t appreciate being lied to.

So now I’m at a loss of what to do next.  Should I just let it lie? (no pun intended!) should I give them another chance to confess? Or should I punish them both as I threatened? Being as they have been unwell my choice of punishment was only going to be no dessert for the weekend(I haven’t told them this).

I just want to leave it, forget it never happened.  But I also don’t want to let them think they can get away with lying, or stealing if you really want to push it that far.

So how about you? Have you ever caught one your children lying to you?  Have you ever had an inkling that your child is lying but you can’t disprove what they say? What did you do?  What would you do in my situation? Please let me know in the comments. below.

I am linking this post with Twin Mummy and Daddy’s Binky Linky for new bloggers (this is my first attempt so I hope I do this right!

Help! The clothes are taking over the house!!!

We have been going through all of our clothes recently trying to get rid of everything that doesn’t fit, won’t get worn or is torn/stained.  If we had the money I would happily throw the lot and start again but that isn’t the case and needs must, so to speak.

What I realised though, is that no matter how much I get rid of, we will always own a stupid amount of clothes..  There are seven people in this house and even if we all only own enough clothes for a week per person that’s:

• 7x pairs of trousers/skirts
• 7x tshirts/tops,
• 3x jumpers/hoodies/cardigans
• 7x pairs of socks
• 7x pairs of underwear
• 1x pair of tidy/school shoes
• 1x pair of trainers
• 1x pair of wellies
• 1x pair of walking boots
• 1x winter coat
• 1x thin jacket

Times that by 7 and that is 175 items(maths is not my strong suit I hope that’s right?!) of clothing or shoes and this list doesn’t take into account items such as the kids( x4 for the older ones):

• 1x swimming costumes
• 2x party clothes
• 3 x pyjamas
• 3x school jumpers
• 3x school shirts
• 3x school trousers
• 1x PE shorts
• 2x PE tshirt/rugby shirt

That’s an extra 72 items of clothing (even though my girls have more than two party dresses lets just keep this to basics)

Then we have hubby’s work clothes, he’s a mechanic so his stuff gets real dirty and fast!

• 3x hoodies
• 7x tshirts
• 3x trousers
• 1x work boots
• 2x luminous vest
• 1x overalls(work washes these but they come home every night)

That’s another 17 items of clothing.  I don’t work now so I wont take mine into account.  Did you add that all up? What number did you get? I got 264, but like I said, I really suck at maths so please correct me if I’m wrong!

But yes, 264 items of clothing to meet the bare minimum.  LM is lucky to get her sisters hand me downs so she has more clothes than all of us so with all the extras of hers, the fact that E&Ff are almost teenagers(need I say more?), who only owns 7 pairs of underwear? Plus the extra party dresses, fancy dress costumes, hubby’s wedding/funeral suit(x2) and whatever else I may have forgotten we are well into the 300’s even if you take into account that O doesn’t have shoes or underwear his nappies and wool covers more than make up for them!

So when I look at this broken down list, I don’t feel so bad that we are as disorganised as we are.  It does make me realise we desperately need much more storage space than we currently have and when the kids bedrooms are finally sorted this will be my main priority.

Did the amount of clothes surprise you as much as it did me?  Try this is for your family, it really puts things into perspective of how much we actually own.  Let me know what you think.