Two Little Contrasting Characters

We're at a Bank Holiday BBQ today - as is tradition - 'cos you know, if we weren't at someone elses we'd have our own.

And in a quiet moment I managed to snap two pics that, I think, show the differences in my girls' characters quite well.

The Quiet, Mature One

She's sitting next to me quietly, refuses the offer of a drink and is just...taking in the conversation around her.

The Attention Loving, Energetic One

She can't sit still for one second, she's been on and off that chair ten times in the last few minutes. She's chatting away but has been told to sit still.

So she's hanging all over the chair, tipping her head upside down and leaning backwards over the arms.

Complete opposites these two are!

Online Games For Pre-Schoolers

The internet is no longer just for the grown ups. Now even young ones can learn and have fun on the internet with these online games for pre-schoolers!

Here are some websites recommended by us :)

Nick Jr. Online

Click on Nick Jr. Playtime and let your kids learn and play with their favourite Nick Jr. characters like Dora and Blues Clues. Click on the Games & Activities box to browse all the activities on the site.

Fisher Price Online Games

Fun and educational games for toddlers and pre-schoolers. The Fisher Price games are a great way to teach your kids the basic skills and let them learn at their own pace. One of our favourites on this site is the Learn Your ABC's game.

Sesame Street Online

This site has great graphics, a welcoming layout and most importantly, tonnes of games! Each one centering on a particular subject eg. counting, alphabet...

(Remember never to leave your children unattended on the computer. They could click on inappropriate pop-ups or even cause your computer to crash)

Bring On The Shirts: It's Football Season

Yes, it has started. Football season is here and with Daddy being an avid football fan and the girls' following in his footsteps - we're all about this game.

First of all, for some reason J.R will watch it with Daddy, and like it. She thinks she knows what's going on.

Second of all, both girls have football kits "same as Daddy's".

Third, both girls were being taught football chants even before they started learning nursery rhymes - I'll have you know I did not encourage this!

But they absolutely love it, they love the undivided attention they get from Daddy when they're having a kickabout with the foam football in MY front room.

Daddy gets really into it, bless him. From downstairs all you can hear is endless belly laughing and cries of "Goal!!" He has the same spot on the bare wall that he aims for all the time, apparently this 'stops him from hitting any of my vases or photo frames'...

But then again he was the teenager that kicked a football at his mothers' cast iron patio table and knocked one of the legs clean off... Should I be worried? LOL

Cue That Upcoming Birthday Madness

"It's my baby's birthday in just over two weeks' time.

She'll be two! So not really a baby anymore huh :(

I'm a little bit anxious as to what's gonna happen at the moment, grandparents are asking me what they should get her, I haven't come up with a design for a cake yet, Daddy has been too busy recently to really properly discuss if we're having a family party. Meal? Day out? And i'm finding it quite difficult to choose just one big present..."

Boost Their Mornings

They say "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day". Essentially because a good breakfast will release energy slowly and keep us from snacking til lunchtime. But children are different, even though they may well finish their breakfast that morning, their stomachs are only small and they normally burn more energy than we do - through all that running around! So, they'll need a little energy boost between brekkie and lunch. This is when they normally reach for snacks. But there are healthier options than crisps and cookies. This is where introducing healthy foods early comes in handy! My girls both love fresh fruit, bananas and berries etc. And these are the best snacks, but if your children aren't that keen on plain old fresh fruits, there's plenty of other healthy options...

• Downsize! Swap full-size chocolate bars for treat size ones, large muffins with mini ones and 4 biscuits for just 2.

• Give dried fruit a try: bags of dried fruit come in many combinations and taste completely different to fresh fruit, and small snack size bags are available too!

• Make a finger buffet: Serve up vegetable sticks (carrot, cucumber, peppers) with plain yogurt as a dip, along with crackers, breadsticks, rice cakes and cubes of cheese.

It Isn't Always Hugs & Kisses...

In the past people have seen J.R spontaneously grab and hug her little sister tight.

They'd ask me, "Are they always like that?" And i’d be like, "Noooo! Of course they don’t always hug and cuddle each other lovingly."

After all, they're both two seperate individuals who have unique characters.

And not to mention their own different needs and wants.

For example, Baby E.M would want what her sister has (and whine and complain when she doesn't get it). J.R can be impatient with Baby E.M and give her a push so she "walks faster". Baby E.M would refuse to share her favourite food and J.R would in the end sneak over and snatch some anyway.

Really. The list can go on and on.

But then again, kids - in any family - are like that, aren’t they?

I mean, it's impossible to have siblings who never bicker or make each other cry. It's human nature.

If you ask me though, I think the focus shouldn’t really be on how much they don’t get along with eachother, but how often they actually do.

"Baby books" always advise us to encourage good relationships between brothers/sisters from day one. Because peaceful relationships between siblings are possible to achieve.

Hmmm...

This is what happens when something bugs Miss J.R soooo much, she simply has to do something about it.

See that heap of sand there?

Underneath that is a small mound of moss.

And by small I mean just a bit bigger than a £2 coin.

The girls were happily messing about in the garden when J.R discovered the moss on the ground and the first thing she did was report it to me. But then when she realised that Mummy wasn't actually going to do anything about it, she decided to take matters into her own hands - and buried it under a tonne of sand. The sand table is now pretty empty.

Then not long after I took this photo, the girls proceeded to dig up the offending moss and smash it to pieces all over my patio.

And there's now a big muddy crater where the sand was.

Wonderful.

Tuesday's Fly On The Wall

Baby E.M is playing with the sand table outside, when the girl who lives next door comes out too. From their garden she calls out:

"Mummy?.... Mummy!" (No reply)

Girl Next Door "Mummy!"

Baby E.M "Yes?"

Girl Next Door "Mummy!!"

Baby E.M "Yes...?"

Growing Fast

A quick update for you:

Miss J.R is 3 years and 5 months old. She's 94 cms tall, and right now weighs 2.5 stone.

(Means she's put on half a stone at last!) Absolutely adores watching children's dvds, since she loves to act them out. Currently going through the 'lazy talker' phase though.

Baby E.M is 23 months old, 80 cms tall and weighs 2 stone! Her favourite word right now is "pink" and she really loves asserting her independence.

Still prefers things clean and tidy and will quite happily take out a wet wipe and clean the table or straighten all the shoes out in the hall...

Raising Respectful Children

Children learn by example, put simply - they copy what they see.

For this reason the main role models in children's lives are usually their parents and guardians, so who better to learn from when it comes to good manners?

If you want to raise thankful kids you have to show that you yourself are thankful. Show and give appreciation but most importantly be consistent.

Children mimic what their parents say and do, so be sure to treat them, your partner, school staff, sales assistants...everyone with the same good manners that you would expect from your children. It may sound old-fashioned but I think you're never too young to start learning manners. It doesn't need to be complicated and up-tight, a child saying "Thank you" is always smiled upon.

Even when Baby E.M was very young and couldn't demonstrate manners verbally, I taught her to say "Please" and "Thank you" in baby signs. She was eager to learn, and though some days she got lazy, consistency was always the key.

Provide a training ground for your children to practice good manners.

At home make sure you're always polite when you ask your child to do something, remember to show appreciation and encourage the use of good manners between siblings.

I've been encouraging Baby E.M now that she can talk well, to ask her sister properly if she would like something from her. Promoting both good manners and the importance of sharing.

Every day i'm seeing improvement in the girls' manners, not just towards me but also towards eachother.

There are times when they think i'm not around, and Baby E.M will ask her sister for something using "Please" on the end of the sentence.

J.R will respond politely also, usually something along the lines of "There you go sweetheart" and always replies to a Thank You with "You're welcome".

It really is rewarding to see such good interaction between the girls. Having good manners will boost their confidence both now and in the future.

Another beautiful day...

and endless fun for just 59p!

Resistance Is Futile

The four of us went into town today, bit of clothes shopping, retail therapy - that sorta thing.

And all was going fine until Daddy decided he wanted to go into GAME. No i'm sorry, apparently he needed to go into GAME.

We had a bit of a nose into what sort of games were out on DS at the moment, and he found the kiddie games section. There were lots of games on popular children's tv characters such as Peppa Pig, Dora the explorer...and Pocoyo.

Unfortunately J.R spotted it at the same moment I did.

"Look! Is Pocoyo!" she exclaimed at the top of her voice, letting the whole store know.

"Go get it then," I said to her "Let Mummy see."

J.R ran over to the display, bursting with three-year-old energy and returned to me with the game. I took it from her and she threw her arms around my waist, squeezing me tight.

"Oh thank you Mummy! Thank you soooo much!" she blubbed.

"Um...honey..." I raised my eyes, Daddy was staring at me from across the store. He raised his eyebrows in a "Your problem!" kinda way, then carried on reading. Thanks Daddy.

Read about the "Dee Ess" here:

http://thegirlsatnumber64.blogspot.com/2009/03/dee-ess.html

Kiss Kiss

I’m not sure what got into her just before she went to bed today. Baby EM came up to me, gave me a big kiss and left giggling away.

Then she went to the dining chair, kissed it and giggled away again. She did the same thing to the tv, the side table and the cushions on the sofa...

I guess some kids are just so full of love sometimes, that they just have to share it with everyone and … everything? Hehe.

Television - Good or Evil?

Sometimes I wonder if our lives would be better if we got rid of our televisions.

Could this family actually make it through a day without tv? Well, that would certainly depend on what day it was. I mean monday's, tuesday's, thursday's and friday's are a NO because Eastenders is on and I absolutely cannot miss that...And when I somehow do (for whatever reason) I sit down that night and catch up using BBC IPlayer - but that's still television, just a smaller screen. I guess I could read about that week in the tv guide, but what fun would that be? But, I digress. Television has certainly evolved over the years. We started off watching in black and white, then we had the four standard channels (wasn't it called terrestrial or something?) and now we have satellite, cable, Sky+...you can pause and rewind live tv! And record without a video! Yeah...but back to my original question - is TV good or evil? I don't really think it's either, but I would love to know your opinion. Also, what programmes could you absolutely not do without?

In our house the television is on most of the day but that's because we switch from children's channels to regular channels to the radio channels. So it tends to serve as background entertainment.

Have a think...How much tv do you allow your kids to watch?

Mine certainly don't sit in front of the tv for hours...I mean that would make me a bad mother, right?

Tuesday's Fly On The Wall

I was running around busy doing chores when I caught J.R going quietly in and out of the kitchen several times... So just before she shut the door the last time I slid through into the kitchen with her.

"Hiya jelly, what'cha doing?" I asked her.

"I'm hiding." "Why you hiding?"

"I get yummy food..."

Ever said something and then instantly realised you shouldn't have?

Her face was a picture XD

This is gonna get messy!!

It's a hot day, and working in the garden is never an easy task, but when the kids are out there too...

I was only supposed to be re-potting the strawberries, sowing some seeds and clipping back the tree branches but J.R insists on taking all clippings for herself to make her own "tree". Ok, but I had to put an end to this after a while since I couldn't back in the house.

Then I decided to clean out the shed - oh my god - who would've thought that a three year old could find a use for four empty paint pots and a short length of wooden border... it may have taken a long time to sort out, but it took twice as long to get the stuff back in!

Making: Peppermint Creams

Recipe:

500g icing sugar

5 tbsp condensed milk

peppermint oil

food colouring (optional)

Mix ingredients together using a spoon (or hands!) until a dough-like consistency is formed, use as much or as little peppermint oil as you like. If you want to colour the mints like we did, seperate the dough into equal amounts depending on how many colours you're using. Knead colour evenly into the mixture. Roll out small balls of mint paste or flatten on a board dusted with icing sugar and cut with a cookie cutter into bitesized rounds. Leave to dry out.

Igloo Cake

Some days I fancy baking something, I just can't help myself.

Today is one of those days. And here it is...Igloo Cake!

All that's missing are the eskimos :)

It's vanilla sponge filled and iced with vanilla buttercream and covered in mini marshmallows. Best served with vanilla ice cream.

LEGO In The Letterbox

Every day baby E.M becomes less of a baby and more of a proper little madam! When I tell her off, she laughs at me...

Here she is having a quiet moment to herself in the hallway this morning. She looks so serious, the story behind this is that I found her stuffing the letterbox full of Lego bricks and forcing the flap closed. So I told her not to do it. That's all, I didn't tell her off.

But the face that she gave me suggested she took it very seriously, she immediately sat down on the floor in front of me. And doesn't she look 'told'!

For a good five minutes she sat there, just picking at the floor and fiddling with the rug. Gosh, I don't even know what I did!

Tuesday's Fly On The Wall

J.R "Lola, come here..."

Lola "Yeah wait a minute sweetheart."

J.R "Lola! Come here!"

Lola "Ok, ask me nicely. What's the magic word?"

J.R "Now."

Siesta by Baby E.M

I love this...it's Baby E.M after a rather large spaghetti dinner.

Took us a while to finish, but credit to Jeeses for editing for me :)

It's one thing to be woken up by the sound of the girls shouting playfully - but it's a whole different thing to wake up to them shouting "SPIDER!"

Jump out of bed to see them pointing at a big black garden spider standing in the corner of my bedroom. Because of it's size it was obvious it had come in through the window (I left it open lastnight).

I swear, nothing can get you out of bed quicker in the morning than a huge black spider...

LAYzy Sunday

Says it all really...

Mummy & Daddy: 4 Years

Four years. That's four years of good times, bad times and crazy times. Of parenting worries and sleepless nights - we've been through it all together. But when it comes to this parenting thing, I know he's always got my back. Supports me 100% in my decisions (because otherwise, he'd have to make them!) and stands up for me when the girls are trying to wind me up... He is the first person I call when something goes wrong, and the first one to know when something goes right. When we first got together he promised he would make me smile or laugh every single day... well, so far so good!

Making: Flower Collage

I was about to throw out a big ol' cardboard box when I looked at the size of it and thought: surely there's something we can do with that!

So here it is, I call it...Flower Collage

We went on a bit of a walkabout in the back garden, gathered some interesting leaves, different flowers, grasses, nuts etc. Painted the length of the cardboard blue like the sky, and went mad with some glue! J.R enjoyed herself, and the finished product was quite nice too :)

Check It Out!

Curvy spaghetti - Don't see that very often do you!

A Moment To Calm Down

Having kids really takes it out of you, both physically and mentally - and no I don't mean 'having' as in giving birth to them, I mean keeping them.

My neighbour said to me a while back, her daughter was such a pain in the ass at one point that "I didn't know whether to throw her out the window or throw myself out..."

And that's how i'm feeling right now.

I'm writing this in tears at the peak of a nine day stint of bedtime battles. If the girls aren't battling with me - they're battling with eachother. To the point where one girl gets tired and starts screaming at the other one to shut up, until it all becomes one big joke and they both resume their whinging and moaning for attention.

The whole thing can go on for hours and upsets both girls at some point as well as me, since it's either E.M standing at the end of her cot attention-crying for an hour or she's trying to sleep while J.R fidgets around, taking out toys, deliberately making noise to wake up her sister, or more recently calling out for me and lying.

Telling me she's hungry/dirty or she's hurt herself.

This usually leaves me in bed unable to sleep or just lacking any quality sleep in general, and then there's the early mornings.

With all the disruption and constant arguing, it's easy to lose hold of your emotions. I found myself shouting at Daddy tonight for this very reason. Through no fault of his own he is at the receiving end of all my anger and frustration. Had our relationship been weaker we would have fallen out bigtime. But since it's coming up four years strong, we're past that. We know a lack of sleep makes anyone cranky and as he clearly points out when our conflict is over, he doesn't snap back at me - he knows what i'm going through, and I always apologise.

Tuesday's Fly On The Wall

We have these little round and yellow fridge magnets that J.R used to keep taking from the kitchen.

One day I asked her why and she told me they looked like they were money.

So I let her keep six of them in a little bag. This week she had the bag out and was playing pretend with the money, casually handing the coins to Daddy who was taking them, then freely giving them back to her (he was mid-conversation).

"I like money." J.R said to me, I acknowledged her with a nod.

Then she turned to Daddy, "Daddy I like your money!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I bet you do..." came the reply.

Today was the big opening of our neighbourhood's brand spanking new Morrisons.

It officially opened at 9am, so I thought what the heck, we'll get there for 10am.

OMG.

Have you ever seen hundreds of ants just swarming out of the tiny little entrance to an anthill?

Yeah, like that.

Had a half-decent look round to get a general idea of prices etc. How people were actually able to buy anything at this point is beyond me. People were literally stepping over eachother with their little baskets full of impulse buys. All tills were open, and the queues were insane.

We made our way out of there by the quickest exit...the entrance doors!

The whole place looks nice and fresh, but then it is new. Plus it's been proven that I can only buy frozen food in Iceland, and ASDA is my one-stop-shop for everything else grocery.

Sorry Morrisons, my loyalties lie with them!

I totally forgot to post this...like, OMG!

J.R went for a booster jab last week, although when we got to the surgery we found it was actually booster jabS. Great, I thought.

I'd never 'done' a jab for J.R before, not since she was a baby and had her heel prick (but then that's hardly a needle is it?) And by 'done' I mean the whole sit-child-on-lap-and-restrain-arms procedure.

So to find out this one was a double whammy? Brilliant.

It was rather cute actually, the nurse explained to J.R that she needed to prick both her arms to stop her getting sick. In laymans terms I added that the nurse was "going to put medicine into your arms." Just to make sure.

Two nurses poised with needles, one at each arm, J.R watched with curiosity as they did their job. But that was all, she watched...and it was over.

No crying, no flinch, I swear she didn't even blink! To say we were surprised would be an understatement. I was actually starting to feel disappointed!

"When the shock wears off..." one nurse started, I stared at her blankly. "What shock?" I replied.

"Oh my gosh, sorry!" she laughed, patting me on the arm, "I'm just so used to saying that everytime y'know..."

They gave J.R a sticker. Then they let her choose another one. My eldest daughter was a star that day, although she did milk it a bit when Daddy got home...

Baby E.M is quietly dribbling the foam football round me while i'm sitting at the table. She's a smart one and only does it when she thinks no-ones looking, love her.

*How The World Caught The Flu

Mother, Mother, I am ill,

Call for the doctor over the hill.

In comes the doctor,

In comes the nurse,

In comes the lady with the alligator purse.

Swine flu, said the doctor.

An infection, said the nurse.

Nothing, said the lady with the alligator purse.

Out goes the doctor,

Out goes the nurse,

Out goes the lady with the alligator purse.

The situation regarding Swine Flu here in the U.K has become a bit of a debate.

9 people I know are suffering from flu-like symptoms at the moment with 7 of them claiming they have "Swine Flu". 1 claiming it's a chest infection and 1 who says not to worry, it's just your average summer virus. All 9 of these people think that Tamiflu is a "Swine Flu tablet". 28% of people think that with the disease now present in this country you can't eat pork.

Congratulations to the british media for succesfully causing widespread panic.

*The Irish Times, 01 August 2009