I've been spending a lot of time in blogland of late, reading what other people are up to, being amazed by the beautiful images they post, and generally being inspired in all areas of life. That much definitely is good. One blog in particular, Life Set to Words, has become a daily read. Not only for the absolutely amazing (and I do mean AMAZING!) images posted, but also for the inspiring, encouraging and often humorous words that accompany them. The author, Maegan, has been running a series of posts on Fridays where she recounts some of the not-so-lovely parts of her week but looks for the good in them. Which got me to thinking, what a great idea! Like l said in my last post, it's very easy to see the bad stuff in an average week and believe that's all there was to mention when the reality is that there is much more good than bad. So I'm jumping on the bandwagon and hoping it's somewhat cathartic and will set me off on a positive note as we head into our Easter holidays.

Reality :: Today Conor went to the paddling pool in Ards leisure centre with his playgroup. It was an outing that had 'potential nightmare' all over it what with him not liking change and preferring that I tag along on such ventures. I worry far too much about how he does in unfamiliar situations (I can remember all too well the sinking feeling in my tummy when faced with such occasions when I was small and painfully shy). I had decided, along with his teachers, that it would be good if he could do this without me. And while this is what I want for him, it's another signal that he doesn't need me as much as he used to. Which is a bit sad.

Blessing:: He was absolutely fine! He scuttled off with his little chums to get changed without so much as a backward glance. He even managed to fool the teachers that he ate all his party food afterwards, when he had actually kindly donated the sausages and crisps to one of his obliging friends! He is smart and becoming more independent, which in turn will make the transition to primary school in September that much easier. He is also deadly cute - even while aiming a bow and arrow!

Reality :: I was particularly frustrated today when I eventually went to buy my copy of New Moon (the special 2 disc version, obviously!) at HMV. However, it turned out that all their card machines were down and as I wasn't prepared to run up the street in the bucketing rain to extract cash, I came home empty handed.

Blessing :: I have saved a whopping £3 by ordering it from Amazon who will deliver it to my door (thereby allowing me to keep my car in the driveway and not take it into the centre of Bangor which is hell on earth for traffic at the moment). The parcel will also be bringing a cd for Michael and an Oliver Jeffers book for the boys as an added bonus! I love online shopping!

Reality :: I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time tidying up after the boys at the minute. Lego, paper, Match Attax, pens and pencils. And for the seeminly hundreds of things I tidy it seems there are hundreds more just ready to take their place.

Blessing :: The boys are in an amazing creative phase right now. It's all about the drawing, colouring, experimenting and building. This makes me smile and feel a bit smug since the creative gene mostly came from me!

Reality :: It strikes me a lot at the minute that I can't properly remember what Patrick was like when he was Conor's age. I looked at some photos of him earlier today and was amazed at how small he looked and how much his expressions were like Conor's. I really don't remember him like that even though it was only 3 years ago. In my head he has always looked and acted like he does now. Time is going so fast and I'm not doing a very good job of documenting all the things I want to remember about him.

Blessing :: We had a meeting with his teacher yesterday and she had only the loveliest things to say about him. She commented on his fluent reading, his vocabulary (love that he loves words!) how popular he is with his classmates and how kind and generous he is. He is growing into an amazing little boy, who is soaking up all his world has to offer him. And he still thinks I'm the best mummy in the world, which isn't bad after almost 7 years of fumbling along as a parent!

See, now all that searching for the goodness must surely make my weekend all the lovelier! Other things that will be helping my weekend along are:

lovely tulips - a veritable Tesco bargain!

lovely cupcakes - yet to be made, but I shall keep you posted!

I hope your weekend is filled with as much sugary goodness as I intend mine to be :)