Monday 13th April - Zoe's First Birthday

I think Zoe's teeth know when there is a major occasion happening - the last time she was this bad with her teeth was Christmas! Still, I think she had a nice time (sponsored by Calpol!)

Zoe with Ian's mum, Emily and Rachel, Ian's nieces, Linda, Ian's sister and Robert, Ian's sister's partner in the background.

The Birthday girl in her new frock

Zoe and the party spread - it soon disappeared! (apart from the mini rolls for some reason which have been sent to work with Ian before I eat them all)Zoe tucking into her party lunch.

Ben helping with the cake and candle. The cake was delicious - I love M&S cake!

I didn't give Zoe any birthday cake (that would have been far too messy) but she did enjoy sucking all the chocolate off one of the chocolate finger 'spikes' from the back of the hedgehog :-DBen giving Zoe her Upsy Daisy dolly.

Getting to grips with her Wheelybug which my mum and dad gave her. She got some lovely presents - a Fisher Price 'Pretty Learning Purse' from Ian's mum and dad; a baby tent and tunnel from Ian's sister and family; a 'buggy driver' steering wheel and book from my brother and sister; a cutlery and plate set from my cousin Angela, and some money from my aunties and uncles.

Sunday 12/04/09 Easter Egg-stravaganza!

We have had a lovely easter weekend, despite Ian working for some of it. I had my parents on hand to help with Ben and Zoe, so it was good.

My dad and brother have been sorting out our back garden to make it more child friendly and just more practical in general. It was a bit of a state as I didn't really do anything to it last year, and Ian can't tell a geranium from a dandelion! I will do a full before and after once it is all finished, but here are a few 'moments' from the weekend.

Ben playing with his tools and the wood offcuts - he's had a great time, running from job to job in the garden and getting lots of adult attention.

Stephen, wondering whether my dad is going to fall forwards through the new trellis or backwards into the garden of the house behind ;-) (whose washing I am trying to hide with the new fence!) Ian put Ben's hard hat on and Ben sang 'Daddy the builder, Can he fix it? Daddy the builder, No he can't' :-D

Finally, I could not believe how much chocolate Ben and Zoe were given for Easter, so I took a photo of it. This is just for them, Ian and I also have a more modest collection hidden from little people. I've been through it all and checked the best before dates and it will probably last them till Christmas!

22/03/09 Mothering Sunday

Ben made me a lovely card at nursery. He says that is a picture of me on the front, and I can quite clearly see a body, a head, two arms and two legs. I think it's great! I also got a card from Ben and Zoe that Ian had organised, and Ben had written his own name inside. I should take it to nursery and show Mrs Crampton that he can write his name, and tell her that maybe they'd get somewhere if they stopped trying to get him to write 'Benjamin'! I also got some Body Shop Almond hand care stuff, which smells yummy and will come in very handy (ha ha! Sorry)

And after only one week, we already have some sunflower seeds sprouting which Ben is very impressed with.

21/03/09 At last!

Zoe's underwater photo arrived today. I'm very pleased with it - even Ben said 'wow' when I showed him it :-) This is a photo of the photo. If you click on it, you can see it even bigger. Now all I have to do is get myself organised and get it framed.

15/03/09 Planting Sunflowers

I noticed that the Council are running a 'tallest sunflower' competition this year and I had been trying to think of something to grow with Ben, so I asked him if he wanted to have a go.

We started with a trip to Tong Garden Centre and after looking at the animals, fish and the fountains, bought the seeds, pots and compost.

As we might actually get round to entering the competition, I decided to let Ben do the work, with just a little supervision. Ben might not have a competitive streak yet, but I do ;-)

Here he is filling the pots with compost.

Planting the seeds in the pots. He did need some help with this because he was shoving the seeds so far down in the pots they would have taken months to come up!

Finally, watering the seeds. Because I'm a bit sad, we have planted two varieties - 'Giant Single' and 'Titan' - both of which sound like promising names for giant sunflowers! If anyone has any tips for growing really big sunflowers, I'd love to hear them. Ben really enjoyed himself and even helped to sweep all the compost off the patio. All we need now is for them to grow!

24/02/09 Shrove Tuesday

We had a go at making pancakes this year. I'm not sure why, but I've never got organised to do them before. Anyway, out came the trusty Bero Book, and Ben helped me to make the batter. He is a very good helper!

After tea, I cooked the pancakes. Ben and Ian had theirs with nutella and I have to say, they were yummy! Zoe tried a little bit, but I think they were just a bit too floppy for her to get hold of properly. I'm sure she'll do better next year!

21/02/09 Edinburgh Visit

We went up to see my mum and dad in the February half term which Ben was very excited
about, but I think he found the drive very long! I did try to make it more interesting for him, by having the AA out to the car when the engine management light came on.

We had a little shopping day with a trip to a cafe (which Ben loves!) as the weather on Friday wasn't very nice. On Saturday we went over to Linlithgow and had a bracing walk round the palace and lake. We even managed a picnic lunch, but I don't think Zoe was too impressed, as you can probably tell by her expression!

Ian and my Dad tried their best to wear Ben out, as you can see.














As it was my Dad's birthday on the Monday after we left, we had a little party to celebrate with pizza and cake. Ben loves a good birthday party! We had a lovely weekend, but hopefully next time we go up, it will be a little warmer!